It has been nine years since I left the navy, but visiting navy ships, especially the frigates, is something that always brings back fond memories. It is really like going home. So when I saw that RSS Stalwart, one of the Singapore navy's frigates, was hosting a reception on 20 August 2024, I immediately signed up for it.
RSS Stalwart had just completed RIMPAC 2024, a multilateral exercise off Hawaii led by the United States. It is stopping by Yokosuka while on the way back to Singapore. As luck would have it, the ship's arrival coincided with a typhoon, and the ship had to delay entry into port.
Sunset was at 18:24, and I was hoping to be in time for the sunset ceremony, but as luck would have it, the shuttle bus from JR Yokosuka Station was a minibus and I ended up arriving just as sunset was taking place. (I snapped some photos from inside the minibus just as we passed by.)
The familiar buoy at the gangway.
The event was attended by Singapore's ambassador to Japan too, who was giving a speech just when we got onboard.
The ship served Singapore food, which was my other reason for coming to the reception. There was laksa, satay, chicken rice, and chili crab sauce (there could have been crab too, but by the time our turn came after a long queue, we only saw sauce... 😅). They even served Singapore sling. The ship's crew did not put up any tents on the helicopter deck, which we used to do in the past. We were quite lucky that it didn't rain, especially because this area has been having sudden showers (and thunderstorms) at night recently.
I also managed to spot some familiar faces and talk to them, including the CO and XO, who used to serve on the same ship as me many many years ago (RSS Supreme and RSS Formidable respectively). The coxswain was also a familiar face, and there were a few others who used to serve with me on RSS Formidable too.
Having written calligraphy pieces for RSS Formidable, RSS Intrepid, RSS Tenacious, and RSS Supreme, I thought I would try to complete the circuit and write something for RSS Stalwart too. So I wrote the words 忠诚 which is the ship's Chinese name, and gave the piece to the CO. Hopefully they can get it framed up after they arrive back in Singapore. I wanted to get it framed but this period happens to be calligraphy exhibition period in this area, and the framing store that I know told me it would take at least 1.5 months since they are busy with framing for exhibition pieces. Anyway, all that is left is RSS Steadfast.
As luck would have it, it was a full moon that night, and I managed to get a shot of the moon low in the sky from the helicopter deck. The lack of tents on the helicopter deck meant it a bit dark and people had to watch their steps, but made it conducive for a nice view of the full moon.
(After the reception, I got back and took a photo of the full moon, which was a supermoon, apparently.)
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