364: Amphibious duck boat

With Shen Jiaxuan cheering up again, Li Qinghe led her slowly across the Helix Bridge.

He had originally planned to go for a ride on the Singapore Flyer first.

But then he suddenly saw the Duck Boats on the Singapore River.

"Jiaxuan, have you ever ridden that boat?" Li Qinghe tugged at Shen Jiaxuan.

Shen Jiaxuan was fully engrossed in licking her ice cream, and when Li Qinghe tugged her, the ice cream almost fell to the ground.

"Oh my, you scared me to death."

Shen Jiaxuan held the wafer ice cream with its paper wrapper while looking up at Li Qinghe, her small mouth involuntarily pouting: "Brother, you're so mean, the ice cream almost dropped."

"How about we go on that boat?"

Li Qinghe looked at this little glutton and couldn't bring himself to be angry; a greedy little kitten protecting its food was nothing but cute and adorable.

Shen Jiaxuan followed Li Qinghe's finger:

"It's the Duck Boat! It's very expensive, you know, 43 singapore dollars per person. My mom and dad took me and my sister on it once when I first came to Singapore."

"Alright, then let's go on it again and see if it's the same as when you were little."

Five minutes later, Li Qinghe put his arm around Shen Jiaxuan's shoulder and started walking towards the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

He had already checked and bought the tickets; the starting point of the boat was at the City Tourist Hub in Marina Square Shopping Centre, which was about a twenty-minute walk from their current location.

Li Qinghe hadn't originally planned to drive, but since the boat's boarding point was a bit far, driving would be more convenient.

They could take a walk after the boat ride.

Shen Jiaxuan didn't care where Li Qinghe took her now.

Anyway, she felt very safe by Li Qinghe's side. With Li Qinghe's arm around her shoulder, she didn't have to watch where she was going and could devote all her energy to the brick of ice cream sandwiched between wafer biscuits in front of her.

As the two walked to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel parking lot, Shen Jiaxuan had just finished her ice cream, her pink little tongue even licking the ice cream paper.

It was as if she hadn't eaten for days.

As Shen Jiaxuan reluctantly threw the ice cream paper into the trash can, Li Qinghe went to the car to get a bottle of mineral water, pulled her to a drainage ditch, and helped her rinse her fingers.

Shen Jiaxuan licked her lips again with her tongue, her eyes narrowed as she smiled: "Brother, you're so good."

"When there's ice cream, it's 'my ice cream,' and when the ice cream is finished, it's 'Brother is so good.'"

Li Qinghe also feigned unhappiness.

Shen Jiaxuan looked left and right; there was no one around, and no cameras were pointed at them.

She took a step forward, wrapped her arms around Li Qinghe's neck, stood on tiptoe, and offered her red lips.

"Brother, let you taste the ice cream, see if it's the same as the one just now."

The warm, small mouth with a creamy fragrance made Li Qinghe feel a different taste.

"Alright, I'm not mad at you anymore. Let's get in the car and go on the boat. I've never ridden this kind of boat before."

Li Qinghe pulled Shen Jiaxuan into the car and stepped on the gas, driving towards the Duck Boat boarding point.

"Brother, let me tell you, when the Duck Boat is on land, it's nothing special, just like a tall bus, but when it enters the water, it's really exciting~~"

Shen Jiaxuan gesticulated wildly with her arms, describing the feeling of riding the Duck Boat to Li Qinghe, and also introduced him to its origins.

It turned out that these Duck Boats were amphibious combat vehicles, modified from the amphibious landing craft used by the US military during the Vietnam War.

In this way, it could be considered recycling old items.

When the US military attacked Vietnam, they used Singapore as a logistics supply base, leaving behind quite a few good things here.

This was also one of the very important reasons why Singapore, having witnessed the powerful US military during the Vietnam War, has consistently sided with the United States and the West for so many years.

In Singapore's view, there was no army in the world that could contend with the US military.

But who would have thought that such a powerful United States was not only soundly defeated in Vietnam but also became increasingly muddled thereafter.

No wonder many countries commented that the US military, starting from the Vietnam War, degenerated into an army only good at fighting counter-insurgency wars, only capable of crushing opponents when there was a huge disparity in strength.

Once the opponent was of a similar size, the situation became difficult to manage.

However, these amphibious combat vehicles, left in logistics warehouses by the US military, were spotted by Singaporean tourism companies, who modified them and painted them with cute designs.

The originally ferocious war beasts transformed into adorable Duck Boats, becoming a major feature of Singaporean tourism.

Li Qinghe listened to Shen Jiaxuan's explanation and soon drove near the Duck Boat's location.

After parking the car in a parking space, Li Qinghe and Shen Jiaxuan walked hand in hand to the tall Duck Boat.

By this time, many tourists were already waiting for the Duck Boat to depart, with those bringing children taking the opportunity to help them pose for photos with the Duck Boat.

Duck Boat

The Duck Boat tour route covers both land and water sections, lasting about 1 hour in total.

So, the tourism company arranged for it to pass through some classic attractions on land and some famous attractions in the water.

For example: the Singapore Flyer, Merlion, Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Gardens by the Bay, and other well-known attractions.

Allowing everyone to see the attractions from different perspectives.

Soon it was departure time, and Shen Jiaxuan finally found a bit of her childhood excitement, pulling Li Qinghe and running towards the boat:

"Brother, hurry up! Let's sit by the side of the boat, that's the best way to see the scenery."

Looking at this excitable girl, Li Qinghe raised his eyebrows and smiled, following her onto the Duck Boat.

One such Duck Boat can seat about 30-40 people.

In wartime, this would be the strength of a platoon.

If commanded well, this would be a formidable landing force.

Dozens of these landing craft could transport a division's worth of troops to a landing site.

In the context of that era, this was a truly terrifying projection capability.

The world's largest Zubr-class air-cushion landing craft can at most carry 360 soldiers, which is just one battalion.

Now, these amphibious landing craft, transformed into personalized tourist vehicles, have found a perfect home.

The boat Li Qinghe and his companions were on was not completely full, with about twenty people. There were families with children, elderly people seeing the world, and also those like Li Qinghe and Shen Jiaxuan who were simply there to experience life.

After boarding, everyone found their preferred seats, and the boat quickly became lively.

This boat had English narration. Due to the increasing number of Chinese tourists, the Duck Boats also offered tours with Chinese narration, but language was not an issue for Li Qinghe and Shen Jiaxuan.

As the Duck Boat started, the buzzing roar of the engine immediately quieted everyone on board.

Soon, the Duck Boat smoothly drove onto the street at a steady speed.

Duck Boat