Been meaning to do a post on 海王丸(Kaiwo Maru) since we paid a visit to it last month under our host Chin Leong. Visitation rights to the ship docked in Kobe this time was closed to the public, but with our great "connections" we managed to get in and have a grand tour of the ship. This uber cool ship was built to train future seamen and it runs on wind and engine power. All the better so they have more to learn. From a distance, this ship is a magnificent sight to behold. Its so grandly piratey, I kept thinking Pirates of the Caribbean...Pirates of the Caribbean. Im visiting the Black Pearl. Hahaha.....but its white and made of steel. Sigh, one can keep on dreaming right.
It even has a figure head and all. Double cool. All ships that run on wind power do. They believe that it protects the ship. This one is glided in GOLD! Aren`t they afraid that someone might try to scrape some off? Sigh, so leng.
This is Chin Leong and his beloved ship. *peace*
Does anyone recognise this? Yes...yes .....yes.....no? Is the thingy they crank up to call the Kraken in Davey Jones ship. :D But in real life this thing has a more boring abeit important use, its use to roll up the ropes used when the ship is in full sail. Cos man power cannot compare to those elements out at sea. Muahahaha.
This ship has not one but two steering wheels. If im not mistaken one full turn will make the ship turn one degree.
The thingy below is to keep the ropes in place. The darker one is made of a type of super hardwood that is extinct edi,
magnus something, my memory fails me. :P
All those ropes are connected to the mast and sails, and seeing no tags in place, i asked Chin Leong how they know which rope goes where. Apparently they have to memorize it. Fuyoh, and I thought memorizing for exams were bad enough.
Dining area where they eat. Very nice and clean.
Kitchen where the cooks whip up yummy(according to Chin Leong) and delicious dishes. So delicious in fact that he skipped dinner wif us to dine in the ship. -_-
Classroom. Very neat again. Almost too neat. Feels a bit like the army.
MayChing can never miss a change to indulge in her favourite activity-Camwhoring. Vincent happily joined in. :P And we introduced Chin Leong to it too, who after months out at sea, is losing touch wif our land antics.
At the bridge, trying to disturb Chin Leong by asking him multiple questions about the flags stored in the shelf on the upper right hand of the pic. I dunno why my face looks like that -_-"
Seafaring charts. *gasp* How cool is that. Had a short demo by Chin Leong. Its amazing how they transfer all that into directing the ships course.
Dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant. Chin Leong came to "pei" us. The food was really good, and the waiter a bit too over enthusiastic. Very friendly, with lots of smiles and hand gestures, asks lots of questions.......*sweat* He even remembers me from last time, which was last year. 0.o!!! Seriously, its an experience on its own.
So thats that, and Chin Leong is out and away at sea, should be in Hawaii now. Lucky fella. Thanks a lot for showing us you ship! :D Twas very educational and interesting.
Did it bring a smile to your face too? Haha.....i hope it did.
