Back to Fuji Maru as an ExPY

I have to take an hour flight to Manila a day before Fuji Maru reaches the bosom of the Philippine port.
On my way to see her, I had mixed of emotions.

I am very happy to see her again after a year and of course very much elated that I will have the opportunity to be with my SSEAYP Batchmates again, only this time we are no longer called PYs butEXPYs. Well I find it rather ironic to be called an EXPY as there is a popular saying amongst PYs that goes: ONCE A PY, ALWAYS A PY. Anyway my radical side was tamed as I come into terms with the tradition; when your journey has ended as a PY, your are automatically an EXPY.

Fuji Maru finally docked. The PYs went out from wherever they were to see the welcome program prepared for them. Down the Ship were the EXPYs, and I am one of them. I waved my hands as I was reliving those sweet memories we have everytime we docked in a Port of Call. Not long, I saw some PPYs whom we have been with in the past months. Seeing them again made me reminisce the times when I was the one on the Ship, one of the JASEAN youths being welcomed.

Few hours more, I and the other EXPYs were enduring the scorching heat of the sun. We were then called to go onboard. Every step on the gangplank was a walk down the memory lane of the flag cheers and all sorts of activities that required passing through it.

After a tight security check, we finally got on board. The door opened. Each of us walked slowly, it's as if we savor every step we take. Funny as it may seem, one common observation was uttered: "Oh, Fuji Maru still smells the same!" Yes, that distinct smell has the capacity to make all those bliss come rushing.

We took the stairs and not the elevator. We want to revisit the places that have been venues for us to forge the kind of bond we all share.

We finally reached a room on the 4th Floor. It feels like it was the first day I got on Fuji Maru. We seemed to have a race on who gets which bed. haha! I chose the upper portion of the double deck as I did not experience sleeping there before.

I heard the bell, a call to meal time. The same tune, the same excitement it brings. What will the menu be?!?

Going around was quite a struggle. It's a deafening silence I must say. Laughter and chats were not heard. The crazy rush in the aisle, the bumping when others are in a hurry, were never a scene. However, empty as it may appear, flashbacks came right on time. At a glance nobody is there, a second after, vivid pictures of noodle parties, SG/DG/Contingent gatherings come at once. Illusions it is. It helped me big time!

I walked some more, this time I went to places I did not pay much attention to before. I regret that I have only seen their beauty now, too late I suppose.

I am very fortunate that I do not have to wait for more than a year to sleep again on board.
I slept for three days in the cabin. The opportunity such as this can be likened to a lotto winning in the perspective of any PY. Yes, everything is almost the same. Had there been any changes, those were too petty to be noticed.

Fastforward:

The Send Off Ceremony is not something new to me. I did not also wonder why I cried for I am a crybaby through and through. However I did not expect that I will cry the hardest this time. A hanky will not suffice; thank you to an EXPY who brought a scarf with him which i used to wipe away my tears.

When ticker tapes were thrown down, tears were gushing non-stop. I might have cried before as a PY but those instances were easily offset by the life on board. However, the story now has a significant twist. There is no life on board to get back to after the hard cry. What's more difficult is - you send them off, look up to the direction where PYs line up in a row to throw those ribbons down; that instance, an EXPY realizes that the journey is over. This time, I am not the one who leaves others behind the port. Now, I am the one left behind in the port. I do not have any idea how it feels like until I experienced it firsthand today.

The Ship sets sail to another country. Fuji Maru gets smaller and smaller. How hard the cry was, that's immaterial. What matters is, how does one get the courage to accept that some things too great do not last forever; surprisingly though - a 53-day journey can change a person for a lifetime :"(


Fuji Maru sets sail to Brunei Darussalam :"(