Freedom of Entry to the City

I wanted to write about this event the day it happened but some things prevented me from doing it which I'll tell you a bit later.

If memory serves me correctly, this would be the second year that this event took place, and since I didn't witness it last year, my wife and I thought why not this year. It was actually by accident as well that we attended this event. My wife wanted to buy some fish at the main market in town and so we had decided to go there early so that the fish were still quite fresh. The market was crowded as usual, so I double-parked somewhere and waited in the car with Adelle while my wife went about doing the shopping. She was to call me when she was done, and I'd go and pick her up.

So, I received the phone call and instead of just telling me to pick her up, she told me that the stretch of road in front of the main market (I was parked at the back) was closed, and she was wondering why. So I went to pick her up, reversed into one of the parking spaces on the empty street, and we all got out and walked ahead to see what was going on at the marquees that we saw had been put up. It was then that it occured me that it the day of the Freedom of Entry to the City. My wife enquired from one of the navy officers what the programme was like and he gave us a programme sheet, we looked at it and it sounded interesting. We decided to go home first to keep the fish in the freezer and also to get my camera. We still had time because the opening event, the parade, was only going to start at 10 am, and it only about 8.30 then.

So, went home, got ourselves ready, picked up a friend whom we called, and went to the event. I parked the car slightly further away just in case we'd have a hard time coming out of the place because of the crowd the whole event was going to generate. By the time we reached there, the parade was just about to start. The different contingents were already in line, waiting for the start. I, of course, started clicking away. Here are a few photos to share.

The Indian Navy doing their thang!

The US Navy strutting their stuff

Malaysia's very own Terminators in white!

The Indonesian Navy marching band - the most animated among all


A sharky member of the Indonesian band (you see the walrus in the background?)


The might of our fast attack ships


Head on collision! Not!

After the whole parade and some naval demonstrations, and numerous cups of free milo later, we boarded a free shuttle service to go on board a naval ship, the KD Kedah, which according to the guide on our ride, is the most advanced warship in the southeast asian region. The ship was quite impressive and the officers onboard were ever ready to explain the workings of the ship. We then went to visit the another ship next to the KD Kedah which belonged to the Brunei Navy, called the KDB Pejuang.

All hands on deck. Captain on the bridge!

The KD Kedah

There were other ships docked at the port but they were a bit far away, and we were quite tired then plus the weather was extremely hot and sunny. And it just happened that the coach back to the city came at that moment when we were done with our visitation of the two ships. So, back to town it was. And then to lunch, then then back home to the sweet comfort of the air-conditioning after a nice, cool shower.

But, that didn't help the sunburn that all of us got, especially Adelle and me. We had forgotten all about putting on sunscreen (probably due to the excitement of the whole thing). And this daddy fell sick yesterday, partly due to the heat as well.

Hence, this late entry. But, I've recovered...mostly.

p.s Oh, did I say that my wife and Adelle appeared in a local paper as part of photo coverage of the event? No, well they did!