Poop Deck

I finally got my fingers to punch in on my latest expedition on the ship.
How could I not write about it, I was after all the first Lady on this brand new Ship called Sichem Edinburgh. At last my hubby (Rahul) got his command after 13 years of backbreaking in the merchant navy.

So, I decided to join him once he set sail on his maiden voyage. He set off from the yard in Korea and we decided to give it a good month for things to settle aboard and then I’d hop on.

The two of us haven’t spent much time together since Dec'06. He came home in April'07 but had to leave in a week as he was getting promoted. (I call myself a part-time wife, which makes him a part-time husband). The only way for us to be together now depended on me joining his Ship.

This time the thrill was different. I wasn’t scared for sure (I made myself believe that). In fact I was walking around pretty confident; Been There Done That attitude. I was just ecstatic to be the so called Mrs. Captain. I knew the Ship was mostly going to be around the S. E. Asian waters which again got me excited as I have never been there except to Singapore & Bangkok when I was 11years. (You’re lucky I don’t remember much of that trip else I’d probably bore you with that too).

I must admit that I was a little worried, not about how I’d pass my days on the Ship and what will the food be like, but it was the monsoon season. South China Sea is generally not very known to be friendly. Besides I had just seen on CNN about the torrential rain that had killed some hundreds of people in floods, house collapses and rockslides across southern China with more heavy rain predicted for the coming weeks. The worst news was on a Ship that ran aground due to the uncontrollable weather. All crew members were rescued. *SIGH*

There was no chickening out of this, and as I said I was really thrilled to be with my Captain and spend some quality time aboard for at least 2 months. I thank my dear boss for approving this longish holiday of mine.

June 22, 2007. Next port of call was Singapore, where I was to be escorted by the local agent on the Ship. The ship was anchored, we had to take a boat ride. 45 minutes long ride and I was getting jittery.

Voila! A beautiful brand new freshly painted Ship awaits me. Capitano was too busy to come to the gang way. Instead he ordered his “men” to lift me and my Oh so heavy luggage out of the boat and on to the Ship deck. I was then ushered four levels up to the bridge to finally meet The Man. *happy happy* *Joy Joy*

My first port was Mailiao, Taiwan. Took us some 7 days to get there. Everyday I’d run up to the bridge around 4pm like I did in my previous Ship, to look out for my best friends – The Dolphins. Nowhere to be seen. Forget dolphins, I saw nothing apart from flying fish. The hungry fishing industry has sucked the marine life out.

Taichung was the nearest big city, so we got us a guide who drove us for 2 hours to the city and dropped us in front of a mammoth of a departmental store I have ever seen. 14 storey and we had 4 hours, could be pushed to 5. I was accompanied by the cadet who couldn’t have thanked me enough for being on the Ship. He would have never gotten the chance to get off and venture out alone.

Taichung was like any other big city, bright lights, traffic, tourists, malls, sex & gambling parlors and loads of karaoke joints. I found the shopping very expensive. They had just about every brand which I will probably never see in Bombay in my life time. I didn’t eat, though I was hungry. I have a stupid mental block that everything in the “chinki” land has either insects or some other animal added as an add-on ingredient. Besides nothing was in English. We tried speaking to at least 20 people but no one understands English. Jeez! I had to go to the extent of flashing my winkie to more than 5 people trying to explain them that I need directions to the loo.

Next destination: Zhuhai, China. We got there in 3-4 days, I think. The view was gorgeous. I just love seeing mountains and the sea, reminds me so much of Vancouver. I was quite kicked about being in China, cheap shopping, loads of shopping. I had a different perspective on China. I know Beijing, Shanghai are big happening cities. But other than that, I thought the rest would be laid back, poverty stricken, underdeveloped. Was I in for a shock??? Well, Zhuhai was so not like anything I just said. The roads were wide, well made, well structured. We had about half hour drive to get to downtown (the happening area).

Again I was flashed by scenes of what any normal developed city would be like. Unlike Bombay – developed yet so underdeveloped. I felt jealous and angry on how so many cities are better than my city. Why? Why? Why? Is there any hope for Bombay?

Geordie was my English speaking guide who took us to a street where we could buy DVDs or any electronic goods. I spent more than 2 hours in one shop buying 150 DVDs. Each cost me 5 Yuan. Cheap eh! Rahul then called me on my roaming mobile only to give me the worst news. The office sent a message to him for the next voyage. AFRICA.

One would think why that is the worst news. Well, the voyage from Singapore (where his ship would stop for fuelling) to Africa is 25 days long. Na ah! I have a lil bit of sanity in me and I don’t plan to lose it over this. No seeing land for 25 days and gawd knows what type of storms I would have to encounter. There was good news followed by this awful one. The Ship would stay in Zhuhai one extra day. Which meant Rahul had a chance to take a break from the Ship and tour around the city with me the next day.

So, I took him to the same DVD shop, as he wanted loads more DVDs. After all their only entertainment is watching movies. So we bought 150 more, digi camera, clothes and a karaoke set for his Filipino crew. Macau is a famous gambling city which was just a bridge walk away from where we were. Unlucky that we were, we couldn’t go there as it requires a separate visa and we had no time nor the option being seamen.

Time to say good bye to my voyage was nearing. I decided to get off in Singapore as I was not ready to head out to Africa. My 2 months plan was cut short by 2 weeks. Both of us were miserable but it was a sensible decision. I’d rather save my holiday for when he comes home.

I stayed in Singapore for 2 days before heading back to India. Shopped, saw a movie, went for the night safari and met up with my colleagues from the Singapore office. I loved every bit of Singapore.

Now, I am back to reality and back to work.