A Destined Detour: My SSEAYP Experience

10 years ago, I had an incredible journey that totally changed my life… In 1999, right after graduating from UP Diliman, clueless about what to do with the Creative Writing Degree that I just earned, I threw all caution into the wind and decided to take a detour instead of heading on into the working world, or Law School as I had originally planned. I was neither ready for a “career” nor for Higher Learning… BUT I was craving experience… I hoped for an adventure… I longed to feel life and see the world. And well, my wish practically landed on my lap.

So I saw this ad for the 26th Ship for South East Asian Youth Program on the newspaper and I just knew right then and there that I was going to be a part of it. They were looking for young people aged 18-30 years old, Youth Leaders specifically, to become Youth Ambassadors for the Philippines who will travel around South East Asia and Japan for about 2 months on board a luxury liner. It was a Cultural Exchange Program sponsored by Japan, so basically it meant that it was a subsidized trip A.K.A Free.


Here’s the thing. I wasn’t really THAT active in college any more than I was back in High School for me to really qualify myself as a “Student or Youth Leader”… BUT somehow, I just really felt that this gig was for me. Yeah, I’ve been civic-minded. I’ve had my hands on socially-relevant activities. They weren’t very recent though but I told myself, nothing ever happened to those who didn’t try. So I sent my application. And since I just got back home in Davao City that time, after 4 years of college life in UP, I decided to apply as a Representative for Region 11. Imagine my surprise when I came in for the panel interview. There I was, waiting in a room filled with University Student Council officers, Councilors, Lawyers, Doctors, Honor Students, Scholarship Grantees… the bigwigs!!! I’ve never felt any smaller than I already am in physical size. There were around 40 applicants for Region 11 and they were only going to get 2 – a male and a female. I thought, gosh, how can I even compete with these people who sure looked like they were sure about themselves, their advocacies and their career plans? I was but a Fresh Grad who didn’t even know if she could actually make a lucrative or even just a decent profession out of her college degree.

The moment I stepped inside the interview room, I got the reaction that I was expecting… “You’re so small!” The interviewer glanced back and forth from my application form to me, surprised that there weren’t exactly hints about my short stature in the 2x2 ID photo. Duh! I just quipped back with a smile, “The photo’s not lying. I’m really larger than life!” In my head, I was laughing out loud and telling myself “Ang yabang mo Virgilind!” But guess what? My witty comeback actually sealed the deal. The five panelists (from the National Youth Commission and the SSEAYP Alumni Board) enjoyed my “joke” and from then on, they were just interested in ME and dismissed the fact that I didn’t do anything socially-relevant during college except to have a major crush on a Student Council Officer with the initials A.K.P. Hahaha! But hey, kidding aside, I really had a nationalistic heart and my passion for promoting Philippine culture was undeniable. More applicants had better resumes but at the end of the day, it was my personality that won them over. I guess they needed someone to make Philippines “memorable” during the program. Or perhaps, it was just really my Destiny… Just don’t quote me on that. Haha! The present NYC officials might raise some eyebrows.

Anyway, so the rest as they always say is history. I emerged from the regional applicants and became part of the 30 national youth delegates to the 26th SSEAYP. Fresh from college, I had the privilege of traveling to Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam (for free!). I met State Dignitaries and even Royalty. We traveled around Asia with 300 fellow Youth Leaders from the ASEAN countries and Japan on board a cruise ship called Nippon Maru. I lived with foster families and experienced local life in these countries. I saw the world… grew wings, an open mind and a bigger heart.

SSEAYP really changed the course of my life. I found true friends and learned a lot about people, other cultures, and life in general. SSEAYP really planted a seed of Nationalism in my heart. Before anyone ever knew what Pinoy Big Brother was all about, we already had our own sort-of PBB experience in the ship… the drama, the back-stabbing, the romance, the tasks, and most of all – the responsibility of being an exemplary Pinoy in the eyes of our Asian neighbors. Nippon Maru was our version of Bahay ni Kuya.

This year, our batch is celebrating its 10th Anniversary. It’s been a decade since our SSEAYP experience but ‘til now the stories just don’t cease around reunion dinner tables… the after-curfew cup noodle trysts, guessing who’s dating who or who locked themselves inside the storage room… the gossip, the games, the parties, and the debates on politics… Whew! It was like High School all over again except that we were all in our twenties!

I was so naïve back then – all set to be consumed with adventure! The experience gobbled me whole but I managed to come out alive! SSEAYP may have a different effect on every other person but for me, it was certainly a Coming of Age experience… a Rite of Passage of sorts… my Debut into the Real World. The little girl turned into a woman, in more ways than one.

If you want to take the same "detour", check out the National Youth Commission website for the SSEAYP Application Process. Deadline for Philippine Participating Youth will be on April 13!
Be a Youth Ambassador for the Philippines!
Check out some more of my SSEAYP photos HERE

My Pink Skirt Past: A Visit to my High School

It was my brother’s Recognition Day last March 26. He’s in 3rd Year and happens to go to the same High School I went to. It was so surreal. 15 years ago when I graduated from this school, the University of the Immaculate Conception was the last remaining All-Girls’ High School in Davao City. And now they have BOYS in the BUILDING! Unfair!!! Hahaha! Nah… I liked it better when we were all just girls. Growing up and facing your awkward adolescent years sure was easier without pesky boys around.

I was able to say hello to some of my old teachers, all of whom are retiring this year. Wow! Has it really been that long? Come to think of it, some of my older teachers back then were also teachers of my mom. Yes, mama went to my school too and that time it was still called ICC or the Immaculate Conception College. During her time, Ateneo De Davao was still an exclusive school for boys. Thus, they had the traditional and “notorious” Ateneo-ICC Soirees. I believe a lot of the sweethearts back then ended up marrying each other (and maybe some already divorced, hehe, ssshhh).



Anyway, although it was exciting to go back to my old High School, I couldn’t really reminisce that much because the building that my brother’s class uses now is not the one we had before. Our building was at the old (original) campus on Bankerohan Hill while theirs now stands at the new Bajada Campus. This was actually the site of the former Retreat Houses. When they began accepting male students in the High School department, naturally they had to expand and make facilities fit for boys. Our old building didn’t have comfort rooms for men. That was just one of the many challenges.



Back in High School, we often wondered how it would be if we had boys in class. Surely our Prom would have been more exciting. Imagine going to a Ball, all glamorously made up and pretty in our glittery dresses, and end up getting jiggy wit’ it with your female classmates. Don’t make me say it. Okay, I admit. It was practically Lesbo-land. Hahaha!

If we had boys back then, my friend Jenny didn’t have to play “Jason” and Zharon & Leizl didn’t have to turn into dykes while singing “Mahirap, mahirap ang maging pogi”. Geez, we actually did stage plays in the true Shakespearean manner. We crossed-dressed for art’s sake!!!

Because we didn’t have boys we were practically an all-woman army in our CAT. Basketball was always a funny game during Intrams. And falling in love with the University College boys was natural. In our old building, some of the college courses held their classes on the top-most floor so there were some memorable instances when some of the college cuties managed to tug on some of the younger pink skirts. Whenever the Student Council (that was basically my barkada) planned a school fund-raising event or party, we always invited the college guys.



But even though we didn't have boys inside the classroom, lesbian relationships were rare. We were still princesses in need of our Knights in shining armor. I remember that every afternoon, our classmates’ boyfriends from the other schools could be found waiting at the cafeteria across the street. Well, there was indeed some novelty and intrigue into being the ONLY all-girls school in Davao City. We were after all girls in pink skirts! What could be more adorable than that?

1st Year -- St. Ma. Goretti Class

2nd Year -- St. Scholastica Class

3rd Year -- St. Agnes Class

Time Travel to the '90s with Swatch

Swatch turned 25 this year and Gift Gate (the exclusive distributor here in the Philippines since the early '90s) celebrated the silver anniversary with an Ice Theme party last December 2 at Greenbelt 5. It was also the opening day of its new Swatch store inside the said mall. I was part of the production team that put up the event, which was directed by Swatch endorser himself Rowell Santiago. The idea supposedly was to turn the place into sort of an ice bar with an ice piano as the centerpiece. There were even two Alaskan Malamutes to add to the "winter ice" concept of the event. The concept was to put something like this (see photo below). This was a real playable ice piano unveiled in China sometime in January 2008.

Unfortunately given the two weeks notice for the event, the complicated engineering (nobody had the slightest idea how we would be able to smack an electric keyboard into ice) and duh the tropical climate that we have here, this ice fantasy had to melt away and instead was replaced with something like this...

That's Rico Blanco playing on the keyboards surrounded by huge blocks of ice. Good thing Rico Blanco didn't get electrocuted. Hehe. The ice was starting to melt and parts of the floor were already wet. Anyway... despite that little failed attempt, the party turned out okay. Although personally I think it could have been much bigger (hello it's the 25th anniversary) but I guess the Gift Gate people were simple folks. They were quite easy to please. It was just rather surprising to me that they had a very light approach to the event, considering that it was a milestone. I guess, I just got so used to over-demanding, over-critical, and hard-to-please clients. Despite technical mis-cues here and there. the Gift Gate people didn't seem to mind. They were just all happy to be there with all their celebrity friends. For a grand occasion like this, the Gift Gate folks were very relaxed. It was just too (delightfully) strange for me. Personally, I commend them for being true to the theme of the night -- BEING COOL!

And because I had the privilege of working on the event, I got my hands on some vintage Swatch photos that were going to be used for the video materials. Here's a quick trip to the early '90s...



Mikee Cojuangco (left), the first Filipino Swatch endorser, and Geneva Cruz (right). My gosh, I perfectly remember Geneva's first solo album which had Swatch splashed all over it. Remember the Swatch theme song she sang that time? Remember her very first music video for that song "I Like You"? It's on Youtube. Check it out. It will bring you back to 1992... Ahh, those were the days. Remember those colorful Swatch phones that didn't quite make it? Come to think of it, I guess Swatch was just practically ahead of its time. The idea of fashionable phones is actually not a bad idea. They should have just made it as a cellphone instead. They could have paved the way for all we know.

The '90s are definitely back! See... girls are wearing leggings again just like Mikee and Gen did back in the day. Check out Gen's leggings though. I haven't been able to do a lot of shopping lately. Are the stirrup leggings back? I won't be surprised if they are. But please I hope those hair scrunchies don't ever come back. They're the '90s version of the shoulder pads. Let's bury the dead shall we?

And do you remember this TV ad?

Yup that's TJ Trinidad circa early '90s in the infamous Swatch "kiss" commercial. I forgot the full name of this girl Joanne or Joanna something. That ad really made a good dent on me.



The '90s won't be complete without THE SMOKEY MOUNTAIN! Tony Lambino on the left photo and Jeffrey Hidalgo on the right, together with another Swatch endorser Alvin Patrimonio. Look at Geneva, still with the scrunchie. Hehe.

It's kinda funny that on Wikipedia, Swatch was labeled as an '80s fad, when in our case here in the Philippines, Swatch was very much a '90s icon. It was a must-have back in the day. Unfortunately, I don't have my old Swatches anymore. My condo unit was robbed sometime back in 2001 and the thief ran away with my entire watch collection -- Tag Heuer, Gucci, Anne Klein, Technomarine, G-shock, and yes the Swatches!

Anyway, it would be nice to build a collection again. However, I'm just not quite sure if it still matches my current lifestyle. I think I'm leaning towards investing in more classic pieces now. BUT if I had the money (which I don't, hehehe) I would love to give my husband this...

The Swatch 007 Villains Collection! It's a 22-piece collection inspired by the Villains in all the Bond movies. I've seen some of the watches up close and they really look nice. I think this entire collection costs something like $4000. Whoa! You can buy the watches separately. But it surely looks snazzy with the case and all. Anyway, if you're still thinking about what to give your boyfriend, husband or any one of those significant male characters in your life, I think one of these babies would be nice to give.