August
21, 2018 Tuesday
Enroute
to Singapore
"Vanguard --> The position of greatest advancement or
importance, leading position on any position or field"
"Vanguard"
is definitely a Japanese made ship , even at first look I could easily tell.
The architectural Japanese concept of minimalism and space conservation is
evident amongst the structures of this ship. Almost everything here is
miniaturized. Cabins, Laundry rooms, toilets, working spaces even at the bridge
etc.
This
maybe a cool concept back in land, however if you're a Filipino this concept is
not ideal as Filipinos need a much bigger space to move around with. Everything
here in view as a Filipino is cramped and not enough leg room. Even the pipings
here have a lower vertical clearance which I might think that the Japanese who
built this doesn’t have a human height of more than 5 and a half feet tall .
For me I'm almost close to 6 feet and every time I had to go over on the other
side of the ship (left to right , vice versa) I had to literary crouch down and
bend my spine every now and then just to get on the other side. Really
punishing for my knees.
Anyway
"Vanguard" is the newest ship , I had sailed with so far and from the
time writing this, the ship is just barely 2 years old (launched at October
2016). Almost absolutely rare to find rust in the deck area , and if there is
rust its almost very small and not noticeable, Practically almost low
maintenance. Most of the time the only maintenance job I could think of as of
the moment which we had been doing for weeks is mostly painting.
In
other news ….
I
just found out a few moments ago that every week here has a drill, and same
goes also on cabin inspection. So basically I had to deal with this
complication for now for the next 8 months till my contract finishes. Anyhow it's no surprise for me since the
senior officers here are "uwak's" , usually when this people are
around - they prefer more in meddling other people's business than doing their
work and what are they being paid for. They spell and bring trouble for
Filipino sailors.
"Uwak's"
are so obnoxious that a majority of Filipino sailors population dislike them (I
myself included) and these folks keep getting offensive that its even reported
that most Filipino crew refuse to join a ship when they find out that ship officers
are "Uwak's" . Even on recruitment in companies, some Filipino
applicants , turn down job offers when the interviewer tells them that the
principal has an "Uwak" presence. (and eventually some companies lie
and hid the fact to job applicants that there are "uwak's" in their
principals).
(
Now I understand clearly why my fellow Filipino co-workers in "Eagle
Boston" acted so harshly when they found out that there were
"Uwak" officers rather than Myanmar ones. )
In
the afternoon we had a drill and for a long time , I haven't worn a fire
fighting suit (except on the training center) and not even shell's harsh and
punishing policies were enough to make me even wear one. But this time around,
I wore it and there is no pressure coming from my co-workers this time, I just
did it voluntarily and I'm happy that no one here is saying any bad comments on
me donning a fireman's outfit, and I'm glad no one did - if anyone does , then
I don’t give a fuck and I'm old and experience enough to handle myself.
