I am not sure if people will still visit this blog, but hey i m just making a comeback after that trip of a lifetime.

Being on board was totally a wonderful experience- something i will not trade with any other things at all. The things that we went through, the frienships fostered, the knowledge gained were more than what words could describe. It really was a lifetime experience. I am sure some of  you, if not many, share the same sentiment as me.

To be honest, I don’t know what else to write, but I just feel this urge to contribute again to this blog and to tell how happy I was to be in this programme.

Right now, we are back into our lives again. Adjusting has been a problem to some (me included), but  the book of memories that we have of the trip will always be alive and kicking…

Reez Rasit:-D

so yupe! this will be my first blog entry since its creation like some 4 months ago. HAHA! yes, it takes me THAT long to write an entry… oh well…

anyhow, what spurred me to write this is because of this one particular song i am currently listening to. yes, it has alot of reference to the trip we will all be partaking in. The producer is BASICALLY FANTABULOUS! (Fantastic + Fabulous) its as if he, himself is going for the trip! (or is he?? )

in two days time, we will all be embarking on a trip that may form a bond that is unbreakable. a total of 53 days, away from our loved ones, to be part of this group with a similar passion and zest for enrichment and growth, for ourselves or for others.

its not like i do not have those feelings previously. its just that these emotions and feelings, these daunting thoughts of how will i cope over there came rushing in these days. (i guess its from all the packing) i guess it is because when one puts in so much effort and passion into doing something, one will always feel the jitters at the end, hoping that all the hardwork and time spent will be worthwhile.

i can’t really say it would be. no one can actually. it really depends on the individuals to realize if the ‘pay-off’ is there or not. or for that matter, even there in the first place.

so what is on your mind today? what sort of expectations are you bringing there in two days time? what kind of returns to you want to get?

should one even hope for any in the first place?

Eric Cohen once mentioned of the kinds of tourist that exist when one travels. he sub-divides tourist into four major classes, they are: Organized Mass Tourist, Individual Mass Tourist, the Explorer, and the Drifter. (Cohen, 1984)

i just hope that we will embark on this journey as Individual Mass Tourist or as Explorers, soaking in all the richness and beauty the other countries and contingents have to offer.

E. Cohen, 1984 “The Sociology of Tourism: approaches, issues, and findings” in Annual Review of Sociology Vol.10 pg 373 – 392

- Rizal

ok here’s my debut entry…

Like it’s 2 days before our PDC. You guys have been great… in every little and big ways…

Let’s keep the spirit high that nite.. it’s time to showcase whatever hidden talents that we have and to appreciate our loved ones of their sacrifices of not having us at home at night for the past few months…

And from the bottom of my heart, to each and everyone of you, THANK YOU for being the special you in the special way that you are and for making all us SPECIAL in our way….

I love you guys… *BIG HUG*

-Pun
There’s a lot of hidden talent and good lookings in the SPY contingent this year. One of which, is the good-enough-to-be-model Jason.
Below is a possible advert he could do:

And his direct rival would most likely be:

The writer strongly suggests for Jason to consider going down the modelling line after SSEAYP.

Malik Badaruddin

Countdown spotted! If there is one thing that can keep me excited, its a countdown. There are so many countdowns that we can count down to such as the countdown to the New Year, also another favourite is the countdown to PDC…and the list goes on and on and on …ariston

OKAYYY anyway a countdown was spotted! It states as the PMP Premiere!

Hmm I wonder what it could be.

Anyways Hit the picture for a full view of the countdown

Countdown!

10 SPYs stayed for the RnR (Rest and Relax) session one saturday. There was no photo recording. What was left of that event were sweet memories, new friendships and a kick-ass poster!

Well, the group of us are going down to do REAL salsa this coming Tuesday… We’ll definitely get you the photos then! So stay tunned!

-Pun

It’s been a while since we have posted any Rest and Relax photos of SPYs. This is a mini-gathering before our first first-aid course. Tammy’s decided to stay over at Lily’s and the rest of the people just stay in the area, so voila! First photographed chill-out session. Where there’s syahms, there’ll be camera light!

From left: “Good night Dennis”, Lily, Tammy and Syahms

Check out the smile! Lily’s high on REDBULL!! AHAHAHA

We are at the stage of… What shall we do with all the drinks and chips??because it doesn’t make sense to play drinking games with red bulls.. what’s drinking game without getting drunk!?!

Wooo.. interesting questions are being asked across the table…. though Lily clearly looks uninterested..

The unlady-like laughters… That must be the result of the “I’ve Never” game… OH! I think this is the result of.. “I’ve never been called a XXXX before” and the laughter was induced by Dennis calling everyone XXXX immediately after the statement was made, and we ALL had to drink for that round.

There were 6 of us that night.. but only 5 feet… because MINE WAS ON THE CHAIR! remember??

Secrets were shared, a lot of secrets. But it was funn.. I had too much to drink obviously, that I don’t think I can recall much of what was said!

But I’m sure that everyone (except Garry) remembers the legendary FALL. It was a very graceful fall I must admit. =]

Day 2 of First Aid Training, at my “kampong” : Choa Chu Kang.  13 September 2009.

We had another trainer that day : Jun Jie or Andy. He is a young Police Officer, and an “ex-Nurse Man” ( as introduced by William ). Like William, he is a funny man. However, his sense of humour is very different – very cold. He finds it amusing that hospital emergency department doctors like to amputate patients’ limbs. So, remember : Do not tie up the bandages too tightly!

He made up a story while showing us bandaging techniques on William. Following are the photographs showing the transformation of William.

Before the story begins.

Jun Jie rendered help to William who hurt his head.

An angry wife was chasing her husband with a meat cleaver. William got chopped by accident.

His palm was injured while blocking her attack. Good bandaging! He can still use his left hand to flag taxi.

His knee got injured too.

See William's legs all wrapped up? He needs to be carried now.

Which is why we gotten our 4 hercules to lift him up. I thought I heard someone said :"William's head is very heavy!"

William kept saying : ”Don’t drop me, don’t drop me!”. Of course, he made it safely home that day.

We were very attentive in class and keen on learning. =) =) =) We took the opportunity to ask questions.  Two questions which we asked :
1. Can we use our legs to do CPR??? Of Course NOT!!! ( by a sexy lady contingent mate last week =) )
2. What if we do not have triangular bandages with us? Use any non-cotton cloth materials. A good choice would be Adidas dri-fit tee. ( see below )

Our lady in Adidas dri-fit tee.

See how attentive we were???

Now, the time comes for us to bandage one another. See some photographs of our masterpieces :

Jermaine with her hubby

Our Best Actor Award goes to ... JASON LEE !

Me, nicely wrapped up by Naj.

A happy victim. =)

Say HI!

Next, we learnt the steps to perform CPR. We did hands-on on “Annie” too.

Our YL, proving us that it is a piece of cake!

Jason, trying his hands on Annie.

Next, Lieja's turn.

YL's wife

My Buddy, Lily, trying out her skills.

Manhunt Singapore giving the kiss of life.

We did not have enough "Annies" to go around. Some volunteered to be man-handled.

An intimate moment between my SG Buddy and William.

I’m glad all of us passed the paper test and CPR practical test. We will get our certification card within weeks. Hope all of us learnt something and had fun! Cheers!!!

Dear Pan Pan:

Late has been the hour for us to show our appreciation of your love.

In Sseayp; it has been the greatest encouragement to see you work with burning passion. That unselfishness, undying passion and enthusiasm is exactly what sseayp should be all about. That unfaltering dedication and self-sacrificial commitment you have for sseayp is what we, as leaders should be instilled with from the start. The amount of effort you have poured in for our cultural performance is pure insanity (perhaps only Malik/Jason is as insane as you).

During exco discussions, you never fail to contribute constructive ideas to improve our contingent while  prioritizing our contingent’s well-being before anything else. While attending cultural practices, you never fail to turn up with your trademark 1.5 liter ice mountain water bottle; it seems so comical but it brings out an undistinguished sight of you. =)

The aura you evoke during our cultural practices demonstrates nothing less than a general’s before a war. Our confidence in the performance comes from your unwavering trust and faith in (maybe not all of) our hard work. I have this premonition that every audience will be able to tell how much brain-storming, blood, sweat and tears the cultural committee has commit themselves to. (GOOD JOB cultural committee) I assure you, our performance will be a master piece!

Lucky? Fortunate? Elated? These are words that vaguely describe my jubilance when I discover that both Sasi and You are going to be my SG mates.  Having a extremely great combination of both cold (Sasi) and hot(You) worlds; I can only pray that we won’t attract too many PYs to join our SG-K  group. (K stands for kawaii)

You are a totally awesome gal and I am totally looking forward to our sailing days and partying nights in sseayp.

You are not just a leader; but also an example. =)

Hikmat

I know you will NEVER read this entry. cos you don’t even really check facebook!! but I just wanna let you know that besides the cliche things which everyone has been saying (i.e. Hikmat really stood out in his life story), which I absolutely agree with, I wanna tell u that u come up with the most hilarious/tacky gangway cheers! HAAHAHAHAH it’s not an insult la. hahaa it’s so cute! with the Soccer song/cheer coming in oso.. hahaah.. It’s so Hikmat. I like your style.  Ok correct me if I’m wrong, but I think u r absolutely filled with love and compassion! It’s such a touching thing to hear the cub story and looking at u, u’ve really come a long way fr what u said u were like!!

I really appreciate u taking so much time and effort to learn ur dance steps, especially that the Malay and Paparazzi dances weren’t easy (ok, ALL the dances aren’t ez for amateurs like us). Thank ur wife for her great support and understanding too!!! I hope that if u can, bring her to show us oso laa!!! Whole day see the husbands of other girls, I need to see some wives tooo!!!

Syahmi

I know u expect a lot from our performance, and u’ve put in a lot of effort, composing the songs, doing the sound recording for the mock-up vid, the selection of songs etc. and I’m so sorry that our brain child was to be genetically modified after prolongued deliberations. We’ve tried our best, and I really am proud of ur persistence! I am glad you are so honest about ur views and I am glad that we can talk it out openly face to face. It’s also very heartening to see you exploring various alternatives and taking initiatives in finding alternatives to meet the constraint we are having. Thanks for the support and sharing of burden in the moment of great constraints. Also, though we don’t communicate as often as I’d like to, you get things done by hook or by crook! Thanks for the song clearance!! opps, to end off w that would trivialise this whole thing. But AIYA, we’re always dispersed into various corners of the dance room… It’s only the “I’ve Never” that I got to talk to catch a glimpse of who u r beyond sseayp. and boy was I surprised/shocked. =]

Dennis

Muscle muscle jiu shi li liang… Mr Singapore, u r one weird person. Ok not the best dedication to give I admit. But I am really impressed by your love for violin, n ur quirkiness, n ur cold sense of humour that’s so out of the blue but so refreshing! Esp how u played along with Malik’s joke in ur car the other night! You are so sporting that it’s SO EXCITING To be planning things for u to perform! HAAHAHA I LOVE IT!! and Thanks for being so supportive and so chillax. I always verbally abuse u from time to time, but I’m so glad that you didn’t take it to heart!! And THANKS FOR THAT SWEET BOOZE! I totally “FELL” for it.. literally. hahaha.. But i still want my pinot gris.

I really didn’t talk much to you prior to Sat Night, cos u r either in some corner dancing arnd some tree, or u r not there. so… I’ll dedicate a longer n more juicy one after ur wondrous performance ok?

Meanwhile.. “Good night Dennis”

p.s. u do very good chicken-dances..

Charles

Thanks for selling ur backside (almost!) I’m always very tickled by your chattiness. U were my public enemy no. 1 for exceeding the life journey time limit by more than 100%!! AND STILL BACKTRACK TO PRIMARY SCHOOL STORIES!! OMG!! but Thanks soooo much for fetching me to nygh the other day despite ur busy schedule.. and thanks so much for going to SIM countless times, knocking on countless doors and being slammed on the face by some pple, n having burnt ur bridges just so that Culture could have a more unconventional/creative venue for PDC. You have been giving me so much good advises on things these days and I just hope that I could translate that into some tangible results, but I suppose there’s a learning curve… and I don’t liek to use my brain that much. BOOHOO!!! (-_-!) haha.. I was very touched that u sabo me for First Aid course because it makes the lesson so much funner! and I think that is a show of closeness and friendship! (haha i sound realli pri sch to say sth along the line is “yay! U FRIEND ME!”)

Charles, thanks for rushing down fr ur trainings and competitions too! I noe tt u will help ur dancemates because u haf always been a considerate n sensitive team player! I look forward to more fun on board!!

Garry

Garry, thanks for the car rides home… I sound so user-friendly. but I really missed those times when i haf free transport!!! T_T Free good music oso!! u always got golden oldies!! haahha I have ur CD!!! U know, I can never be more grateful to u for encouraging me to DO THE RIGHT THING with regards to my job and all.. after that, I really see why you are a counsellor! I am glad that you initiate to learn the dances as well! BUT!! WE NEED PEOPLE TO VIDEO THE DANCE STEPS MORE THAN ANYTHING!! SO.. BAI TUO NI LE!!! =]

For PDC, we might need ur help much more than before, so THANK U in advance for helping with the sounds n all!! n realli.. thanks for organising the sat night.. it’s realli v generous of u!! though i must sae.. the gentlemanly part can b improved.. i.e. HELP TO CARRY HEAVY THINGS N GET THE ICE FR THE SHOP LAAA!!

Derek

I MISS GOING HOME WITH U!!!! You are so full of ridiculous comments but it’s SO DEREK! I think ur constipated look when we did the “My Bony lies over the ocean” is really king. It’s such a pity I don’t see your sexy ricky martin butt shake for the training much!! GET UR BUTT HERE MORE OFTEN OK!! But thanks for coming for trainings and working the steps out though you are two left feet.. I hope that you do enjoy the process of learning the dance and putting up the performance because much as we are after the result, the process of getting to the result is even more important because that’s what we’re spending 99% of our time on!

I really appreciate the support ur wife gives, coming to first aid course together and all. She has been amazingly understanding! please thank her! I love her hair btw.

Damien

Thanks so much for telling me the thing abt social groups and facades and what-nots. Though it’s purely based on ur own guestimation, it does reflect that u think really highly of me! Thanks so much for being the videographer and uploading all the long videos… Your sense of humour isn’t exactly much better than that of Boon’s but thanks for trying anyway!! haha.. you know that we’ll be SG mates in time to come, so I’m looking forward to more great stuffs fr u!! pls praise me more ok!

Boon

Hope u r alright. Have not been toking to u in a while.. I really have this innate fear for u! you don’t seem to like me much T_T Then again I think u like me enough to kachiao me.. But most of the time I think you still hate me.. Though you hate me, I still think that you are really harmless and nice. Your impromptu and countless attempt at trying to Salsa with me is really touching. I hope that one day we can indeed dance together! Please have more faith in yourself! U definitely know all those steps, you just have to keep believing that you do! I’m sure that it’d b a lot of fun dancing with u as soon as you have a drink or two.

Meanwhile, hope all’s well!

Hyder

Thanks for assuring me in times of confusion. Thanks for giving me so much credit for the venue. I really felt very much appreciated by you. You have been really appreciative and sensitive all this while. I think it must’ve been really tiring to try to make everyone happy, cos who will make you happy then? Thanks for sacrificing so much for the contingent and thanks for being such a servant leader. you really lead by example (except the occasional lateness, which I think we all are guilty of.. hehe). I really appreciate it that you would ask me ever so nicely about how I am doing, and you are just so sporting and spontaneous in giving those funny expressions! It’s really cool to have u as a teammate and a leader. BE STRONG HYDER!! U CAN DO IT!

Malik

Dear Malik,

I told you that I’d save the best for last, that is a lie. I realise that after saying so much word of love, I am somewhat stuck at what to say to you! Words become superfluous when it comes to people who matter all the more most to me.

I still remember at teambuilding session, you struck me as someone who is quite funny, but I could never figure out if you were Indian or Malay. That wonder continued all the way even pass our one-day partnership as the leaders during one of the weeks. I never imagined that this chap (yes, you) is to become so close to my heart that it’d hurt to see you down.

You are the life of the party. I always like to say that in PMP, “you can take the malik out of pan, but you could never take the pan out of malik”,  it’s true that malik has become so integral to my involvement in sseayp that I can never have come so far without your support, and I could never have made it without having part of u in my mind when I brace those rough times. “I’ll make a wish for u, and hope it would come true, that life would just be kind, to such a gentle mind… ” =]

Much as I do not believe in pure altruism, I see how altruism is indeed not something to be looked upon as sanctimonity, but something that people like you truly believe in and live to its true spirit.

You defined what passion should be about for me. You taught me how to fight for what I believe in. I never really cared much about a lot of things till you showed me that living is all about caring enough about things to want to make a difference in them. Thank you for teaching me such an important lesson about life. I wish that I could live with as great a passion and certainty as you, some day. =]

From Pan, With Love.