;)
tagged: Stuck in Singapore
Posted by Charlie in 2002 VCR Far East Tour
After messing around at Singapore Air Base for the best part of 6 hours yesterday, only to be told at the last minute that the “plane was broken” and we would NOT be flying out, we returned to the hotel. (I believe there is a bit more than meets the eye here. It is a convenient way of limiting the number of civilian personnel on the island in the event of an escalation of hostilities, and anyone watching the Iraqi stand-off right now would understand the military point of view regarding “unwanted personnel”)
There then followed a number of international phone calls, after which an agreement was reached that, if the military could guarantee (in writing) all our flights, we would leave today for Diego Garcia and fly back on Saturday, arriving home on Sunday, thus enabling us to all fulfil our respective commitments on Monday! I wasn’t about to hold my breath to see what the Navy were going to say, because I already had a good idea!
And so, this morning dawned, and the Navy’s reply was a polite “no we cannot guarantee anything, and we certainly will not put it in writing”.
As of right now, 5 people are already confirmed on flights out of here tonight (I am NOT one of those people). Frankly, apart from the boredom factor and wanting to get back home ASAP, I don’t mind being here for another 24 hours. There are far worse places to be stranded!
News at 10….
CM 
;)
;)
