Arigato Kunisaki
The night before the final closing ceremony for the Pacific Partnership 2010 in Cambodia, the JDS Kunisaki transport ship, anchored at the SihanoukVille Port, held a pre-closing ceremony
Hundreds of surgeries aboard the USNS Mercy, and thousands of patients later in Sunny SihanoukVille, and in the remote provinces of Cambodia, the Pacific Partnership 2010 ended it's humanitarian mission to Cambodia. Free glasses, free drugs (the good kind), and free medical services for all. Even thousands of animals were helped, thanks to the veterinarians on the ship.
The USNS Mercy hospital ship, along with the JDS Kunisaki, and dozens of NGO's and hundreds of volunteers came to Cambodia to help build (schools), repair (medical equipment in the public hospitals), drill (for water), and perform many other humanitarian tasks for almost 2 weeks.
We had an opening ceremony
at the start of the PP10 mission, so we had to have a closing ceremony. And you couldn't ask for a better location or a better crew to do it. The Kunisaki brought a banquet hall that could have hosted thousands of people for the task. It was a night of thanks to the crews of the ships and the hundreds of volunteers that made the Pacific Partnership 2010 in Cambodia a great success.
Thanks again for all your help. We hope to see you back in Sunny SihanoukVille, Cambodia soon. Drop by anytime.
Arigato!
Lights aboard the JDS Kunisaki
The entrance to the Kunisaki
If you salute the photographer, you get your picture on the website.
Cambodia's largest banquet hall and hovercraft transport (for 2 weeks)
Big doors need big pistons.
Garrison Owl Kunisake. Landing ship tank 4003
Vietnam came to help celebrate too!
Don't forget to tip your waiter
The best crew pours the best drinks
Opening ceremony music
A big 100 liter glass of wine
The official PP10 cake
The official greeters assistants aboard the Kunisaki
A view of SihanoukVille's bay from the ship's doors
Loak Song, (a Cambodian Monk) came to give us all good luck. And it worked!
You can't have a closing ceremony on a Japanese ship without Sushi
Or is it Sashimi?
This isn't a picture..... it's dinner
Waiting for a dance
Lao's Navy came too!
Vietnamese and Laotian military representatives
And the really big glass of Japanese wine gets drunk.
A giant hovercraft (actually 2) aboard the Kunisaki
The hovercraft cockpit (or is it a bridge?)
A hovercraft fan
Inside the bridge of the hovercraft
The hovercraft troops go in this little room.
(so they don't get blown away by the fans)
All the guests behaved, after seeing the punishment hammers.
Angkor Beer. It's good for any occasion. Brewed only in SihanoukVille, Cambodia
The famous SUZUKI's of Japan came as well
Don't mess with these guys.
All good things must come to an end. Leaving on the ferry for the USNS Mercy
Please watch your step as you disembark.