I am back, but my heart and mind is still back on the Pallada. I will be transferring my experiences which I have recorded down in my little journal over to my blog. I think most people might find it a little boring, but hey, the sea-life is not for everyone, that is something I am very certain of. Well, here goes:

Day One:

Today we more or less slacked the whole day. The soup served is nice but I didn't really like the pasta, it tasted very weird. The weather was good and the sea was quite smooth by my standards. Made friends with a couple of Russians while Li Jie and I sat at the bow to star-gaze. But it was more or less too dark for me to actually see their faces, so I had no idea who I was talking to, lol!

Day Two:

The weather is still fine today, albeit hot. I got a little burnt on my right arm because I was doing some ropework and I had my side facing the hot afternoon sun. Later in the day, we climbed the mast. Since I was stationed at the main mast, I climbed that one :D The rope part was easy, but I had so much trouble climbing up the platform. A couple of guys helped to pull me up, but on the whole, the thing went well and I managed to climb up to the second platform as well. But once again, at the second platform I had some trouble, and the guy up there helped to pull me up but he pulled me up from behind, so my harness choked me. Added to that, my cap was blown off, and the string had entangled itself around my neck. My face had turned red by the time I managed to get onto the platform, and I was gasping for breath so my friends thought that I was having an asthma attack. Going down was worse because I got so nervous that my thighs cramped up, refusing to let me move up or down. A guy had to keep his arms around me not only to make me feel secure, but to keep me safe because by this time, the wind had picked up speed. But I am glad to say that despite my anxiety, I managed to climb up to the bramsel :D But what really made my day was the fact that there was a small group of delfin (dolphins really, trying out my Russian,lol!) swam beside us for like ten minutes. They were so adorable! It was most probably the best sight that I've ever seen in my eighteen and a half years of life.

Day Three:

I woke up with an aching body, but still looking forward to what the day has in store for me. I did the usual duties like sweeping the deck and polishing the metal, but I also climbed the mast for the second time today. This time it was easier for me to go down, but I still had a little trouble climbing up the platform. The wind picked up speed yet again today, so there was some pitching. 4 people got seaick, including Elaine as usual. But I had fun, the motion rocked me to sleep. The wind was so strong that when we were climbing up, Sheng Hao's spectacles were blown off and ended up somewhere in the South China Sea. I may be fine going down, but all the same, the Russians discussed and agreed that those who were partnered with girls (including me) clipped themselves to their partners just in case the wind blew us offbalance. In fact, I was halfway up the mast when the ship pounded. Both hands were firmly on the rail as they were supposed to be, but one of my feet was already on the way to the next rope, so I was a little shocked and went "Oh!". My partner immediately grabbed my wrist tightly, thinking that I had lost my grip. But I quickly regained my composure and continued scaling up once the ship stabilized a little.

Day Four:

Today was pretty much normal (as compared to the rest of the sailing days so far) and we didn't have to climb the mast today. The good news was that the ship is no longer pitching. But the bad news was that it started pounding instead so those who were seasick yesterday got even worse. I was fine until I walked past the mass room, and the smell of the stinky food got to me. I felt nauseaus for a moment, but once I rushed away from the room, I immediately felt loads better. I got back on deck and spent a whole hour at the bow just watching the waves. Skipped lunch, tea and dinner, eating apples and two digestive biscuits to sustain me. But still, I had a great time.

Day Five:

We didn't climb the mast today, but we did have something new to do. We were asked to sand all the metal bits (bars and pulleys) at the Kofelnagel near the Grot Machta. We started with seven people, who barely finished one of the smaller Kofelnagel before leaving the other four to me and Sheng Hao. I grew darker again, working in the hot sun. Damn, when I get back to Singapore I am going to need a lot of whitening lotion!! Since it was my duty day again (for the toilet) I took a shower. I decided to bathe on alternate days (but actually ended up bathing every single day) because of my oily scalp/ hair problem. I skipped lunch and had instant noodles, but the dinner they provided was too good to miss. they served a salad made of capsicum, onions, tomatoes and cucumber, chicken and potato soup followed by roast chicken with mashed potatoes. I skipped the soup, and had some of the salad. Damn, I didn't realize just how much I missed having salads until I had some. I made a mitake of finishing most of my mashed potatoes, so I didn't have enough room for more than half of my chicken. For the first time, a lot of the SMA Cadets actually asked for a second helping of the mashed potatoes. We usually force down as much as we could before rushing off. How I wish every dinner was like that. But then again, skipping a couple of meals isn't all that bad either.

Day Six:

I finally got to paint something today!!! I've always wanted to paint something, but my dad doesn't even allow me to even mention it! Wow, it really made my week, painting that door! What made it simply heavenly was the fact that I painted the door with the hottest guy on board, Siersh!! Okay, time to calm down a little now, hahahaha. Hm, it was a fairly normal day, went around teasing every single person I know. Did some sanding, more slacking, listened to some music from my mp3 as well as Ashraf's Ipod as well. We had to watch a boring video which lasted over an hour. It was shot entirely on Pallada. It wasn't so bad if not for the fact that the whole video was in Russian, and I had no idea what was going on the whole time because there were no subtitles. Kosta asked for a massage, so I gave him one that lasted for ten minutes because his muscles were not tense at all.

Day Seven:

Hm, did some polishing, sanding and sweeping as usual today. Had a little tiff with Jason, but managed to smoothen things out within the hour. Chatted a bit with Siersh, god he isso krasivi!!! Promised him the last of the size "L" SMA shirt, which I will be giving him tomorrow. Tomorrow is the games day, and I am a little nervous but still, I am looking forward to it. Another enjoyable day for me, on the whole. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I taught Kosta a little English today. I hope that I had been of some help to him. I also forgot to mention that I tried some of the Russian Wasabe. It looked a little thin and runny, so I put a small drop of it on my bread and took a bite. Oh my god, the Wasabe was so strong!!! It shot straight up my nose and into my head. Damn, the Russians were laughing so hard at me, their faces turned bright red! Another Russian asked me to massage him today, saying that Kosta had told him just how good I was. I relented, and after I was done with him, Baka rudely squeezed into the small space and asked me to massage him, not even waiting for my consent or anything. But I didn't want to kick up a big fuss, so I just did a quick massage, doing it anyhow just to get it done and over with, lol! I didn't like his attitude, and the rest of the girls didn't either.

Day Eight:

We only did some sanding today, as there was an "abandon ship" exercise after tea break (which means that the games were postponed). Now I can officially say that I took a swim in the South China Sea, woohoo!!! And that was my first jump without a life vest/jacket either. The water was a deep blue, but it was so clear that even without my specs on, I could see the color of the shorts the Russians were wearing. After the jump I took a shower, ate a pretty good dinner and Kosta taught me some Russian while we sat on deck. Siersh gave me something from his uniform, the gyuz, as a present and I managed to exchange a tee for a belt!! Wow, I finally got a beautiful belt!! Massaged Siersh for about 45 minutes, his muscles were so tense that my fingers almist cramped. Most of the students were unhappy with Mr. Foo, and I too, found him a little unreasonable (but I still remained a neutral party). But he, some time spent with Siersh and a present from him is more than enough me make me ecstatic!! :D

Day Nine:

Today we did quite a bit of rope-pulling. The initial plan was to set some of the sails up since the wind was quite strong. So all of us dorned the heavy harness and walked all over the place pulling ropes when needed to do so. After that we did the basic cleaning as usual before having the rest of the day off. The games were once more postponed till tomorrow, so after the cleaning we were supposed to have the rest of the day free. However, because the wind had calmed down a bit, we had to pull the sails up once more and switch back to the engines. So right now we are going at about 6 knots, which is pretty fast considering the fact that I am wishing with all my might that somehow, my trip on Pallada could be extended by another couple of months. I am beginning to love life on Pallada, out at sea. No major problems, no worries, few responsibilities. That is exactly how I want to live my life. Spent about 20-30 minutes massaging Siersh, he works way too hard for me to soften/ relax his muscles within fifteen minutes. And yes, I couldn't help but enjoy today as well.

Day Ten:

Today was a little slow, but I managed to climb up the Grot Machta one last time. Supposedly there might be bad weather in the next couple of days, so Captain Jimmy Chew asked the officer if the SMA Cadets could climb up the mast for one last time. Initially they said no because of the poor response, they didn't want to waste time and energy gathering the Russian cadets just for a handful of people. But in the end, there were about three instructors (Russian of course) who guided us along with about two or three of the Russian cadets who happened to be free at that time. I managed to climb all the way up to the Grot Bom Bramsel this time without any problems at all. I even managed to climb onto the platform without problems, woohoo!! My thighs also no longer cramp up like they did the first time. It was a little sad, to come and think about it, that today will be the last time for us to climb up the mast. Just as I was getting the hang of things as well! The games were held today, and as expected SMA just couldn't win against the Russians. But all the same, I had fun. The problem was that not only the SMA Cadets were weak physically as compared to the fitter Russian Cadets, we were also hindered by the language barrier because we didn't fully understand the instructions given. I did the pencil game whereby I had to put a pencil into a bottle using my mouth only. I managed to get second place, but got penalized because I didn't realise that my hands had to be behind my back at all times. After dinner, we had a short dancing session before the night ended at ten as everyone was pretty ustali.

Day Eleven:

The sea got really rough today as there was a mini storm. Everything was a shade of grey, including the water. The ship was rolling, pitching and pounding all at the same time, and on the upper deck I could barely stand the cold despite wearing multiple layers and my thick jeans. So I spent most of my day at the lower deck where it was warmer. Even Mr. Foo got seasick, and he was a seasoned Chief Engineer at that. I guess it has been some time since he went out to sea. Spending most of my time indoors wasn't too bad though, I had a lot of fun. I was teased a lot today, mostly by guys whose name I don't even know, lol! They seem to have a fetish for my cheeks, for some strange reason. I think every single one of them pinched my cheeks at least once just now. But all the same, I know that they are just teasing, trying to find something to do to while the time away, so I don't get bothered by what they said or did. I think I am becoming famous for my massages. I had to massage three people today who literally queued up beside me to wait for their turn, lol!!

*Accidentally skipped Day Twelve :P

Day Thirteen:

We arrived in Hong Kong one whole day ahead of schedule because a Russian Cadet fell down the stairs and hurt his jaw. So the lecturers made arrangements and we left Pallada at one in the afternoon to spend a couple of hours in Hong Kong. But Hong Kong is very similar to Singapore, so I didn't take any photos. But my friends did take a lot though, so I will most probably get the pictures from them or something. I got most of my shopping done today, so I don't really have much to buy tomorrow onwards. Also bought some food for Tyoma (or is it Atyom?? I forgot his name, OMG!!), Alex (the one who speaks the best English on board, lol) and Sierch. Alex was so grateful that he hugged and kissed me on the cheek. The first thought that crossed my mind when he did that was "You need a shave". Decided to change my SP hoodie with Tyoma's jacket, it is very cool and can only be found in Russia. Massaged a total of 4 guys today. Managed to relax their muscles in ten minutes for most of them. But I spent a full hour massaging Siersh. I knew because I kept my eye on the time. I stopped counting when he went off to smoke, but when he came back in about 5 minutes I had to continue. Not that I mind though, but this time it lasted at least two times longer than what he usually want me to spend massaging him. He must have been tired, the poor thing.

*To be Continued*