Hey Ho Sailor!

After a two-week exercise out at sea, my friends and I were all very happy to find out that Jack A's ship was coming back to our sunny shores for a few days.

Rachel, Sexy Scooter, Huney and I went down to the port on Saturday afternoon and met Jack A, who agreed to give us a tour of the frigate. Jack A was in his Officer's Whites and looked really cute, especially with his knee-high white socks!

We were welcomed on board by a drop-dead gorgeous Guard (I didn't catch his title, I could hardly concentrate while he spoke as I was trying my best not to drool). In his camos and carrying a big rifle, we are talking seriously YUM. Before we were allowed to run amok on board, he had to give us a safety briefing. During this, I rested my head on his broad and manly shoulder and he let me. The girls just cracked up. We all loved him, what a charmer!

Jack A then took us to the wardroom, where we had cokes with no ice. Apparently the ice chest was locked up, weird but hey, it's the navy! We were given a tour of the officer's quarters and I think we must have woken half of them up with our giggling and carrying on!

Afterwards we were taken to the bridge. The equipment and fittings looked like something out of an 80's movie, really quite dated but super cool nonetheless.

The highlight for me was seeing the Merlin helicopter, which my cousin Lt RC also flies. None of us expected it to be so HUGE! We all gasped when we walked into the hanger. Besides carrying two pilots and several 'strategists', it can also hold a fair bit of cargo (both human and non). It is one kick a** machine and I was well impressed with it.

During our tour of the ship, Jack A showed me the navy's flight magazine. My cousin Lt RC was featured in it as he had successfully carried out the first ever One Engine Inoperative (OEI) landing on a Type 23 Frigate during a multi-national ASUW sortie off Pakistani Makran coast territorial waters! In simple English, it means that he managed to land his helicopter back on the ship after one of the engines failed, saving both the valuable crew and aircraft. To say that I felt proud when I read that article would be the understatement of the century. Respect Cuz, you never fail to amaze and inspire me.

A very BIG thank you to Jack A for inviting us on Her Majesty's Ship and to all his colleagues who made us feel so welcomed, especially you, Mr Hot Stuff Navy Guard!

You guys can come back to our very small island any time (though night would be best haha)!!

Mwah!

Her Majesty's Ship is Alongside!

My cousin Lt RC is a Merlin pilot in the British Royal Navy. Earlier this week, he told me that one of his friends, Jack A (who also flies a Merlin), would be in town with his ship and asked if I would meet up with him. My cousin is one of the most outstanding guys I know (I'm not being biased, he really is) so I figured that he wouldn't hang out with losers. I agreed to meet with Jack A and we had our first "blind date" on Thursday.

Neither my cousin nor Jack A would tell me what the latter looked like. In fact, in one of his smses to me, my cousin wrote, "He's about 3 foot 6! Face like a comfortable pair of slippers. Friendly smile. When you see someone like that, call his number, I bet it'll be him who picks up!". Not really something to instill a whole lot of confidence, so I was a little bit apprehensive about meeting him.

I got to the bar early and found myself a corner to hid in. Shortly afterwards, a very pleasant looking man walked in and looked around. Luckily, he was a wee bit taller than 3 foot 6 and my cousin was right, he did have a very friendly smile. Also, he has gorgeous killer blue eyes!

We had drinks and dinner and I don't think I stopped talking or laughing for the entire time. Jack A is a great guy and we even called my cousin and left a semi-drunken message on his answering machine! As it was a school night, we cut the evening short and agreed to meet up again the following night.

On Friday, Rachel, Natalie and myself joined Jack A and the Seaman Officers for drinks at the Insane Creature with a Trunk. Some of the SOs were pleasant enough but personally, I still think pilots are the best!!

We ended up at a dance club where I ran into some other friends, including my all time favourite Aussie, Crazy C, who told me that after seeing my dragon tat, he wanted to get an eagle tattooed across his entire chest! For your own sake honey, I hope that you are just kidding!

We all went out again on Saturday with the usual suspects, this time including Oral Fix and Andy. There was also a few people that I'd only met a couple of times before. Jack A came with an Engineering Officer, who is one of those seemingly quiet on the surface but has a wicked sense of humour type guys. A lot of fun to chill with and very down to earth.

I don't think the two Brits were quite prepared for our crowd. Besides simulated 'pole dancing', one of the girls also conducted a hands on "who has the biggest package" poll! For a change, it wasn't me getting up to mischief. I was too tired from partying the night before and just watched all the naughtiness with amusement.

Well, the ship will be back in a couple of weeks and hopefully, Jack A will be able to get us on board and give us a tour. When we were at the Insane Creature with a Trunk the night before, I had asked Jack A as a joke (sort of), "Can we come into your cabin?!". At that exact moment, the music dropped and a woman sitting at the table next to us looked at me askanced and said, "I heard that!!".

Oops!

She's Been Inked! Part 2

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so here are two thousand...

Thank you to Rachel and Oral Fix for holding my hand during the outlining and shading sessions respectively. The moral support meant a lot to me and I really appreciate the two of you taking the time out to be there for it!

In case you all are wondering, hell YEAH it hurt! Especially over the hip bone. I was breathing hard trying to keep my cool and moaning involuntarily when Oral Fix quipped (much to the amusement of the tattoo artist who luckily has a steady hand), "If I were a lesbian, I would be so turned on right now!".

The head of the dragon was traced from a pattern but the body was sketched and shaded freehand. J is a real artist and a cutie to boot! I love the way the dragon looks and to me, it symbolizes power and strength. After what I've been through this year, I know I have a lot of both!

It doesn't mean that I don't feel pain though. In the cab on the way home, Oral Fix said to me, "Girl, your nostrils were so flared, you could have popped a baby out through them!". Hahaha, well I know that even though it hurt, I got past it. Yee haw!

If you want to see more of J's amazing work, you can check his website www.kustoms7tattoos.multiply.com.

Sunday: The Day of Hash

Another fantastic bike hash Sunday with an amazing ride through some technical offroad. Certain portions of the trail were pretty tough (I dismounted and walked those bits) but it was two hours of the most sweaty fun I've had in months! No disrespect to you boys out there but the hash IS hard to beat!

My poor Dad took quite a tumble towards the end of the ride. I missed seeing it live in action as I was doing my "Back of the Pack" special i.e. being the slowest one in the group as usual. Another hasher, Fat Crashing B*stard, fell into a hole and my Dad followed shortly afterwards directly behind him. My Dad went over the handlebars and hit the ground face first. Luckily he escaped with only a bloody nose and a sore shoulder. Thank you to everyone on the hash who helped him, in particular Barbarian and Goes Both Ways.

I also had some assistance hitting a super steep hill. I was so tired by this point and was on my last reserves of energy. A very special German had his left hand steering his bike and the right on my lower back. We cycled side by side and he literally pushed me all the way up! Fat Crashing B*stard asked me what I was doing while the German had his hand near my a** and I said in all honesty, "Panting hard!"

A bunch of us then spent the rest of the afternoon at Coo Chi Coo and No Good's poolside drinking and talking trash. Their condo overlooks the south of the island and we had a beautiful sea view. It was a gorgeous sunny day. What more could one really ask for?

Have any of you every hung out with three Americans? Oral Fix brought two US Marines that she works with. Don't get me wrong, I love my American friends but they sure do talk a lot! And coming from me, that is really saying something. They all tend to speak at the same time but claim that they still manage to understand each other!

Now I'm at home, tired out and it's almost time to hit the sack. I hope all of you out there are having as much fun as I am. I LOVE my life!

She's Been Inked! Part 1

My flatmate Rachel had been thinking about getting a tattoo for the longest time. She did it this week. Here she is with her symbol of freedom!


Watch this space for "She's Been Inked! Part 2".