The Journey(s) of Ian

I spent a pleasant and enjoyable time in Singapore (it is hard not to do so). Singapore is a nation and city designed to keep the tourist busy and entertained (and spending). However, beneath the (thick and well maintained) facade of confucian conformity, and mandated prosperity lurks a “heart of darkness”. That is, a city of sin, which caters to the carnal desires of the native Singaporeans, and their lackeys (more on this later). This libidinous locale is the suburb of Geylang. It is this story, not that of the bright spires of the metropolis, nor the dancing dragons of the Chinese New Year, that I shall expound tonight! You will not find Geyland marked on any map of Singapore (that is not correct, it is clearly marked on all the maps, but to deny this is far better story telling). It is a low income area, where in fact few, if any, Singaporeans live. It is the abode of the “guest workers”, those who get there hands dirty in Singapore. This group is composed of Indonesians, Phillip...

Ian in Command !! "Full speed ahead" Entering Port Klang The Ship Crossing the equator! The engines and the chief engineer. Looking down at the 7 levels of the central stairwell from the Bridge. Everywhere there are signs like this. From Fremantle to Singapore via Port Klang on the MV Theodor Storm! Again I decided to turn the five hour plane journey between Perth and Singapore into a five day trip on a freighter, only this time it would take eight days as the ship detoured to Port Klang in Malaysia, and only then onto Singapore. My reasons for making this trip were similar to those of my first nautical excursion. Essentially, I thought that a few days at sea would be a few pleasant days of peace and quiet, untrammelled by the demands of a noisy and intrusive world. This, fortunately, did prove to be the case. The vessel I travelled on was the ‘Theodor Storm’, a 34,0...

I returned to Perth on the 27th of August, safe and sound. My plan was to return to Cambodia within the month, however, I few issues kept me in Perth. Thusly, the remainder of 2006 was spent in Australia. This was time pleasantly spent, however it is now time to move on. On the 11th of February 2007 I will again be leaving the fair shores of Australia to sail north to the busy port of Singapore. Why, you may ask, am I choosing to sail again, on a freighter, rather than on the speedier, aviation based transport system? The answer is that it is more fun, more relaxing, and (not withstanding the previous point), at this time of year there is a good chance of a tropical storm. On my previous freighter journey (June 06) I found that I was not adversely affected by the ship's pronounced movement. I would now like to discover if this immunity extends to a day or two or wild tropical storms! Waves a-crashing, wind a-howling, and so on, whoopie! The ship I am sailing on this time is the MV...