'Cap'n! What gives? We don't care about your jar o' dirt or money, we just wanna see the ship!'

The aforementioned man, in his leather hat, billowing white shirt and tanned pants, swayed slightly aboard the ship, and took another swig from his bottle of rum.

'You,' he started, staggered slightly and caught himself from tumbling overboard, 'ain't steppin' on this deck.'

'We don't want your ship either,' the other girl beside the first one added in.

'Ya ain't comin' up.'

'Well, watch us!'

The first one headed towards the bow of the ship, with Captain Jack Sparrow in his infamous swaggering following in tow.

'No ladies aboard the ship! Ged away from my ship!'

The short-haired girl merely grinned as she found grip on the seawater-slicked rope that tied the ship to dock, and started the arduous climb up. Arduous, it definitely was, but it was going to be worth it, for all of the Captain's grumble and fury.

And did we make it?

You betcha.

Yes, I love to pull off jokes.

That above, ya see, belongs to a traditional and old-fashioned ship of the old that was wrecked, studied and rebuilt. It is the Swedish ship, the Gothëborg.

And it looked sweet. One could've almost imagined being aboard the Dauntless or the Black Pearl. All it needed was some redecoration.

Yesterday after school, I hightailed out of the MRT station and found my twin sister waiting most impatiently for me. We both planned that we would board the Gothëborg and tour it, nevermind the drizzle that had started a while ago.

Making our way up the steep and slippery metal gangway, we found ourselves on the ship deck, slightly crowded with other visitors who milled and took in the gaping sails that shifted noticeably against the grey sky above - and promptly had raindrops on our face.

We found the deck most interesting, interesting as we took in all the ropes that led from deck to the sails, masts and the crow's nest. I suggested that we could climb them and reach the crow's nest if we tried, but my sister immediately disagreed.

We went below deck, which was air-conditioned - much to our surprise. A video was playing from a projector about the ship's voyage before it docked at our country, and what the crew did on the ship while it made its way across the big blue.

Wandering through the mess, we found large cannons stationed at the cannon windows, much like what we saw in Pirates of the Carribean.

A picture nearby revealed that they were real - unmistakable smoke rose from an open window on the picture. The cannons were fired as a farewell as the ship left Guangdong, China.

Heading topside, we decided that making a trip to the upper deck would be a good idea - but the ways were blocked by the crew being briefed by the brass. Meanwhile, we busied ourselves taking pictures for other visitors who wanted a memoir of their visit - my sister did the shooting, I did the waiting.

When the crew finally split to their tasks, we took the chance and clambered up the steep stairs. Our father, a naval enthusiast ever since he worked on a cargo ship, remarked that when stormy weather came, the crew would be hurrying up the ropes to the sails and running up and down the steps to the upper deck to secure the steering wheel. It would take at least four men to hold down the wheel and steer it in worse conditions.

So when we found the steering wheel had a location below deck, we thought it was a pretty wise idea of the ship-makers '- until we found the outdoor steering contraption.

The drizzle started to worsen and the steps grew slippery, so we had to call our run through the Gothëborg to an end and disembarked.

'Oi.'

Captain Jack looked up the mast to the crow's nest, busy trying to keep his men away from the main mast and not to look up.

The two girls were up the mast and in the nest, the long-haired one having nicked a stray spyglass from somewhere that was later discovered to be his quarters and was currently putting her grimy fingerprints all over it.

He wondered if it was a good idea to cast off right now and receive two new crew members for free.

Then again, maybe not. Knowing women, maybe not.

Up above, twin and twin stood shoulder to shoulder, one with a spyglass trained on the horizon and the orange-tinted clouds of the sunset.

'Do you think Jack Sparrow'd like his telescope back now?'

She paused and looked back at her sister, 'I don't think so.'

And both waited for the large orb in the sky to disappear into the sea, before making the climb down the ropes and to the galley, possibly to the steering wheel along the way and maybe the captain's quarters to see what else the nice captain had to play with.