Singapore

[philabos]

Had the opportunity to visit Singapore for a day before a Singapore-Okinawa cruise in December - managed to snap a photo of the Municipal Building -
site of the Japanese administration and also site of the Japanese surrender to the British in 1945.
Never uploaded a photo to the forum before - hope it works.
Have some more if any interest - apparently only one at a time allowed.

[thegreatwent]

Nice photo, always interested in places my ones and zeros are fighting for[:)]

[philabos]

Thanks
Next up is the OCEAN PRINCESS preparing to sail from Singapore with the Red Ensign at the mainmast. This photo may not be particularly topical but sets the stage for the next two. She is just out of drydock after a multi million pound refit at Keppell Dockyard in Singapore (she went in as TAHITIAN PRINCESS). Much to my surprise the UK MOD still retains some presence at the Sembawang Dockyard.

[philabos]

This photo was taken on December 2, 2009, looking out over the Malacca Straits at about 5:40PM, just days short of the 68th anniversary of the sailing of Force Z through these same waters, and near to the same time. Dinner was not until 8:00PM, so had some time to reflect and take in the view of Singapore as the ship slipped by the city. The Japanese fleet sailed from Lingga Roads just south of here for Leyte Gulf. HAGURO sailed to her doom at the hands of the RN in 1945. Not too many happy returns from here for either side.

[philabos]

The next morning we are about 320 nm north of Singapore, south of Kota Bharu. Force Z would have liked this weather.
There were a good number of British passengers on board. One fellow's grandfather had served in the artillery in the 14th Army
in Burma - he retold stories of the guns being broken down and moved on elephants in the 1945 offensive to Rangoon.
Particularly in these waters, I really felt like I was sailing through history. We would eventually arrive Hong Kong on the 11th after
4 more port stops in Thailand and Vietnam - but the distances are vast even on this corner of the WITP map.

[Titanwarrior89]

How much did this cruise run you if you don't mind me asking?[;)]

[philabos]

The cruise lines always fidget with their itineraries and ships from year to year - the closest I can find is shown below. You can do better on price than they show with a good travel agent. Our trip was a 16 day Singapore to Shanghai but we got off in Okinawa since our daughter was stationed there at the time.
It's not cheap - but if you tried to do this with airplanes, taxis, hotels, meals through all these destinations I think you would spend more and be quite exhausted.

http://www.princess.com/find/itineraryD ... tion_name=