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I was reminded of something that happened in Singapore, while my ship was there for 5 or 6 days. It was 1979, it was early in a 6 month, western Pacific deployment, which turned into 9 months because Iran invaded our embassy in Tehran later on.
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I was reminded of something that happened in Singapore, while my ship was there for 5 or 6 days. It was 1979, it was early in a 6 month, western Pacific deployment, which turned into 9 months because Iran invaded our embassy in Tehran later on.
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There was a USO in Singapore & they arranged a tour we could sign up for. Biggest attractions were Tiger Balm Gardens and a 9 course, Chinese dinner at a fancy hotel. Not being one usually interested in tours, I didn't sign up. Being in deck force, it was a working port.
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On all ships, when it stops moving, deck is over the side to clean & paint. I was at water level, painting the black waterline on the ship. It was then I discovered that rats can swim underwater. I saw several pop to the surface, from where I don't know.
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They swam over to the underside of the pier to crawl around. Ships use "rat guards" around the pier end of mooring lines, water hoses & electrical cables to try to keep them from getting aboard. So if you're drink & miss expiration of liberty, you have to get around them.
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Well back to the tour. First group back raved about the dinner. Said that the price ($5) was worth it just for the food. Also, they had brought back what looked like ivory chopsticks. It was 79 & no one was talking about elephant slaughter then, so chill the eff out.
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2nd day, same thing. We heard about the great dinner, & they had the chopsticks. 3rd day is a repeat. So I sign up to go on day 4. We leave the ship in a bus. Singapore, I believe from the words Singa and Pura, meaning Lion of the Sea, was very beautiful.
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We went to Tiger Balm Gardens. It was very popular and a lot of nature stuff was there. This is the same Tiger Balm that comes in the tiny glass jars & smells like Ben Gay.
From there we went to the hotel that had the restaurant. The building was about 10-12 stories.
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From there we went to the hotel that had the restaurant. The building was about 10-12 stories.
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Very fancy. (fancy is relative to me being a naive hick from West Virginia, although it was pretty dang fancy)
We get to the top floor. It was a huge room. Large, round tables throughout. All had red tablecloths, fancy place settings, with ivory chopsticks.
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We get to the top floor. It was a huge room. Large, round tables throughout. All had red tablecloths, fancy place settings, with ivory chopsticks.
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They lead us through the room to 2 tables by the windows, that looked out over the city. On our tables, there were wooden chopsticks.
Lesson learned: It takes Singaporeans 3 days to figure out that it's an American custom to steal your dinnerware.
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Lesson learned: It takes Singaporeans 3 days to figure out that it's an American custom to steal your dinnerware.
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