37th SSEAYP 2010 - Shooting Stars

Day 51 - 14 December 2010

I had a big headache, not because I caught on the Influenza A virus, but because after about 50 days of travelling, I realised it was not at all easy to pack all my belongings into the suitcase. Perhaps the quarantine measures taken by the Ship Administrator, on instruction of the Japan Government, were blessings in disguise. It allowed us an entire day to do packing.

The prayer rooms were converted into sick bays

My cabin was situated right beside the sick bay, but the corridor wasn't as sick as the cabin.

Lovely hearts from fellow Singapore Participating Youths (PYs) :)

The table "belonged" to Singapore

The hidden sofa "belonged" to Japan

Indonesia was generous and modest enough to let us have our spaces

My beloved bed

Nom's (Japan) bed

Neat and Tidy Ade (Indonesia) could enjoy his sleep while we continue packing

During our 37th Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Programme (SSEAYP) journey, our cabins were routinely cleaned, and our towels were frequently changed by the ship crew.

While packing, I found the birthday gift from my gangway Partner.

Men's Pocky - Only in Japan

Let's take a look at some of the beautifully decorated cabin doors:

Cabin doors make good publicity boards too

Namecards were common on cabin doors

The Jokers' room

Cabin 455

Any forms of fridge magnets would be appreciated

Lots of thrash left behind

While packing, many exchanged contingent attires and national costumes.

There were separate Laundry rooms for Men and Ladies

Laundry room equipped with washing machines and dryers

Doing laundry was a pastime for some PYs

Irons were not supposed to be used in cabins due to fire safety

Warm room to dry clothes

4th deck for the males

The timing for meals were staggered for batches of contingents to minimise contact. Even at the canteens, contingents were allocated separate corners to prevent one another from having contact.

In the afternoon, we settled our contingent logistics.

During our contingent meeting, our temperatures were taken and new masks were availed for us. 

At the Veranda

Everyone wore double-masks

Filled in our Health Quarantine forms

"What Home means to you" publicity for Singapore contingent's national presentation

Paper Hearts from Singapore contingent's Club Activity session

Despite the quarantine, many PYs roamed about Fuji Maru.

♥♥♥

Fuji Maru sailing the deep blue ocean~

The "Tiger" and "Cat" gifts from Vietnam National Leader Blue Rose

In the evening, was approached by Japan Youth Leader Kimi to help draft a speech for her to read out to everyone on board Fuji Maru. Her speech would be recorded on video and then with the help of the ship crew, to be broadcasted to all the televisions in our cabins. I felt honoured to take up the task and yet felt the immense pressure. Thanks to some experience in Toastmasters, I was able to come up with a speech that I thought covered many aspects of our unforgettable journey.

And then it was cabin mates time!

We had noodles, watched interesting videos and recorded some videos.

Penning calligraphy messages for friends

It would be very meaningful if you could read Japanese

The Master Calligrapher

And then we suddenly had a random idea...

We each wrote a message on a paper, thanking our families and our loved ones, and requested the person who reads it to help us convey our gratitude in case we never made it back to shore.

It was pitch dark outside at about 10pm.

Thanks to Nom, I could log on to the Internet as Fuji Maru was already within Japan waters.

Some Japan PYs learnt about the rare occurence of a high frequency of shooting stars that night, and for the first time in my life, I saw shooting stars! Made some wishes, while trembling in the chilling night.

Postscript: The messages in the bottle were discovered by a Japanese who contacted Nom shortly after the programme ended.