The Nippon Maru Ship's Blog 2005

Sep 30, 2005: The Sailing Route

2005-09-30T17:04:00.000+07:00

8-13 November 2005 Malaysia (Starting point)
16-20 November 2005 Thailand
23-26 November 2005 Vietnam
28 Nov-1 Dec 2005 Brunei
4-7 December 2005 The Philippines
8-11 December 2005 Cruise to Japan
12-20 December 2005 Japan

Sep 17, 2005: Photo shoot

2005-09-30T15:43:00.000+07:00

"Whew! The photo shoot is over!" That's how we all felt after it's all done.
It was one of the hottest day in Bangkok, and we all had to wear the traditional Thai costumes. The fabric and accessories alone already caused itch and sweat, and now added the sticky heat from the midday sun in Bangkok. I am certain that this is one of the most difficult missions of the TPYs.

We started early in the morning. Me and some of the TPYs spent the night at Pat's place (should have been called "Palace" since it's soooo big!). We didn't sleep well though - spending most of the night playing cards, karaokeing and drinking gin-tonic - Yes! this is the country representative - the young talents - the super youths of Thailand! Hehehehe. C'mon! You gotta let your hair down sometimes.) We got up and got fully dressed, then left Pat's around 8 am for our first phot shoot location, the Vinammek Palace.

This is one of my favorite tourist destinations in Thailand. The Vimanmek Palace is a large golden teak mansion - actually, billed as the world's largest teakwood building! It was built as a royal residence in the first few years of the 20th century. It was only used for a few years before it fell into disuse and was practically forgotten until the early eighties. Now, it's become one of the must-see sites in Bangkok.

We only had 1 hour permission from the palace authority for the photo shoot, and we were neither allowed to go inside nor make loud noise. Thus, we mainly did the group photos on the palace ground in front of the mansion. Then, shortly after that, the whole group of 28 PYs (plus one NL) moved to the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall, which was not far from the first location.

The Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall was built in the reign of King Chulalongkorn. The style was derived from the Classical Roman dome. The construction was of Italian Renaissance period (That's what they said! I don't really know much about this stuff!) They also said that the shape of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall was the same as that of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome which is considered an old cathedral and is also the same style as St. Paul's Cathedral in London and Queen Victoria's Monument in Calcutta, India.

The heat was the toughest part of this photo session! It was around noon, and there was no shady area around the hall AT ALL. Some of us had to stay in the air-coned car while waiting for their turn. Here, we took more individual photos and SG group photos. We had so much fun since there was no officers or authority to shoo us when we acted like crazy lunatics. It took us over two hours to finish all the photo shoot. Then, we had lunch at the Kaeng Pa restaurant, and went back to Pat's place. And that's the day!

August 6, 2005: The Training Program

2005-08-07T16:09:00.000+07:00

People say, 'time flies when we have fun'. The training camp for the 32nd-batch TPYs has just finished, and I feel like the 10 days have passed so swiftly. During the training period, Ploy, one of our friends, said that miracles happened every day. At first, I did not truly agree with her, or in fact, did not really understand what she meant. The situation was hard enough for me at that time. Being a chemist made me feel so isolated and unfit to be there when most of the discussion issues were related to social problems and international relations. The fear of being useless in the team then severely increased. However, though I couldn't really see what miracles could happen at that time, in the end, I am convinced that a miracle has really happened to us, the 32nd- batch TPYs.
The training program was scheduled for 10 days and was divided into two main parts. Firstly, an academic session was held in Bangkok from the 26th to 29th of July. It was mainly lectures, which were organized to complement the pre-determined discussion topics. The second session was the activity session, which was held at Wanakorn beach in order for us to acclimatise to living onboard. This second part included various activities ranging from enjoyable stuff like Thai traditional dancing class and 'Group Solidarity' (SG) activities to serious events such as mock discussion activities and the elections for Youth Leader, Assistant Youth Leader, and Sub-committee members for each activity.
The first academic half of the program was very informative and thought provoking. All the invited speakers were experts from different fields, and their lectures were superb. Since it was all new for me, I had so much more fun than I initially thought I could. In the second half, the program became more relaxing and enjoyable. I really liked the Thai traditional dancing class. In the past, I always thought I wasn't born to do Thai dance, and could never do it. After practicing a lot, I realized that there is no such thing as just talent, and that even the best natural-born dancer needs to practice. Maybe it's like what Nong Krit always says, "Practice makes perfect."
I believe that our batch has been through such a memorable experience that it has greatly strengthened our friendship. The first one is obviously the difficult living circumstances at the camp (such as a lack of blankets and bathrooms), from which we learned to share what we had and to look after each other better. The second one is our differences and diversity. Some people believe that too many good cooks can spoil the broth. Nevertheless, in our case, we learned how to use our abilities to create synergies. Besides, the support from the Ex-PYs is also one important factor that helped us through the difficult training process, especially from Batch 31 and P' Aek, our OBSC, who were always there for us. Finally, all the fun activities and hard work we did together during the training program helped develop a bond between us - a bond that will be strengthened as time goes by.
Today, there is no doubt in my mind that what happened to us is a true miracle. It is amazing that there are so many things 30 people could go through together in such a short period of time. The friendship between us that has blossomed in these 10 days is just the beginning of our journey. Now, I feel that we are like a family - the SSEAYP family!

July 18, 2005: Have a break with Harry Potter 6

2005-07-18T12:21:00.000+07:00

There are still over a week to go before the SSEAYP training camp starts. So, I think it would be a good opportunity to keep you posted on what I have been doing these past weeks apart from looking forward to the SSEAYP trip.

I have just received my new Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince book, the penultimate book of the Harry Potter series, on Saturday morning. Well, to make it more specific, I got up as early as 3 am to line up in front of Asia Book waiting for this new Harry Potter, an got to be th 8th owner of this new sequel in Thailand! It doesn't matter much though, because the press only paid attention to the first owner of Harry Potter. Hmm... maybe when the 7th book comes out, I should just be there at 9 pm waiting in my sleeping bag or something!

Well, never mind how I got this book. The point is I have finished it and I want to share my feelings about it with you. I try not to make this a review and try not to introduce any plot spoilers for the sake of those who have not yet read it. Although I am a fan of Harry Potter books, this sequel has definitely letf me with a very despairing and defeated feeling, and at the same time, a question of what Harry and his friends will do next. The story has become so problematic and intense that at the end, Harry even thought of not coming back to Hogwart for his 7th year and instead, trying to hunt down Voldemort on his own. There were also a lot of new magic, a lot of love and romance, and sadly, death, which significantly made the ending twisted - too twisted for me, to be honest.

Personally, I prefer this book to book 5, though my favourite sequel of all time is book 3. I must say that book 6 is a very informative sequel. JK has revealed a great deal of information about Lord Voldemort, and how to kill him. No wonder why JK herself decided not to make this book the second sequel (as some of you might already know that initially JK was going to make the Half-Blood Prince the second book, but later changed her mind because it would reveal too much information too early and made it the 6th instead).

On another note, I do not agree with the title "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" since the half-blood prince himself had so little importance in the story. Besides, after the truth about who the prince was was disclosed, JK just simply stoped talking about him. In my opinion, if it were my book, I would name it "Harry Potter and the seven horcruxes", because it's the horcruxes - not the prince - that JK has placed huge importance on. Now, who is the half-blood prince? What are the horcruxes? They are for you to find out!

July 3, 2005: Preparation

2005-07-12T00:09:00.000+07:00

Hello again!

We still have almost 4 months before the journey kicks off. Luckily, there are quite a number of things that need to be prepared, so it doesn’t feel much to me like a long period of time at all. The discussion activities and the cultural performances have become the major concerns that consume so much preparation time from all of us.

Regarding the discussion activity, there are 8 topics provided. As a pharmacist, I am apparently the only scientist out of all 28 selected youths. This slightly worries me, at least at first, since most of the given topics for discussion are related to social sciences and political sciences. Thus, I chose to work on the issue of the environment, the only given topic that is related to science. After doing some research on the matter, I now comprehend the topic better and am sure that I can enjoy the activity more. Another thing that worries me is my lack of experience in discussing in a group of international colleagues. However, I am also very excited, because I always love debating. I am also a big fan of my old university’s (Khon Kaen University) debate team. I particularly like it when they debated on the issues of the environmental problems. Therefore, I am certain that this will become one of my wonderful experiences that can surely help stimulate my brain.

Perhaps equally significantly, our team has definitely placed importance on fund raising. One of the reasons is that our formal attire and national costumes are awfully costly. Initially, this activity is not at all my cup of tea. I sometimes felt rather uncomfortable going to somebody’s house asking for their money. However, since money is the main factor that significantly lubricates the whole preparation process, I guess I have no choice. Now, to my surprise, I started to like this activity. This is mainly because when we approach companies or organizations to ask for sponsorship, we also have to provide details about the program. It is like we are advertising the SSEAYP. I must say that though, in Thailand, the SSEAYP is very competitive and prestigious, it is not very broadly known. This activity can definitely promote our program to the country, as well as surely be beneficial for both us and the sponsors. I personally believe that the fund-raising activity helps promote us as much as we help promote those sponsors.

So, that is basically what we have to do so far. Although the complicated preparation process makes this 4 months' time sound like a short period of time, it's still some time to kill considering how eagerly I am looking forward to spending time onboard with other youths from all ASEAN countries and Japan.

Note: This is not the SSEAYP's official website. All articles and stories are the writer's personal opinions.

Welcome to the Ship for Southeast Asian Youths Program (SSEAYP) 2005

2005-07-10T15:44:00.000+07:00

Welcome to my ship's blog!
Cruising to various SEAsian countries and Japan on the luxury Nippon Maru as a selected goodwill ambassador of your own country is surely a dream of many kids. Given this privilege, I would like to share with the world my memorable onboard experience as a Thai Participating Youth (TPY) of the Ship for Southeast Asian Youths Program 2005. Check out new photos, read my diary, share your opinion and sail along with me!

Note: This is not the SSEAYP's official website. All articles and stories are the writer's personal opinions.