[Special] “Ahoy Stranger! Come Aboard” – A Tale of an “Outsider” Joining the Crew

In this SailorFanTalk special, we have a guest writer, Ernest Cheong! Ernest joined The Crew and SailorFanTalk in Korea for our clash against Jeonbuk last month. Here he writes about his positive experience and why he believes more should join in and lend their support to the Sailors #allhandsondeck

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time, there was a lone man on a deserted island. He would watch the seafarers from afar, intrigued by their bravado and vigour when they sat sail on their voyages. He could see them even from his lonesome abode, for the sea was vast and wide. It represented the unknown, both the waters and the humans who navigated it. You see, the man had never once left shore, worried about the uncertainties out there. 

One fateful day the man spotted an abandoned raft that had washed ashore, it bore the same insignia of the ships he had been in awe of. Curiously, a note was intact on the interior of the waterborne craft: “Ahoy stranger! Consider this an invitation to set sail with us on an adventure of a lifetime. Now the tide is too shallow for us to reach your residence, take this raft and come aboard to experience the thrills of sailing with us!” The man was confounded – his curiosity had been noticed by the seafarers after all. Perhaps there was something out there for him other than his life of solitude.

Thus the man left the island on the said raft, into the vast unknown. The ship was not hard to spot, the crew were expecting his arrival. Nearing his hosts, however, his anxiety took over – what if his sea-legs did not work, what if he would not belong among this trope of experienced sailors? 

The man went aboard the ship with conviction. To his pleasant surprise, the seafarers were not unlike him. They were once all island-dwellers like him, curious about the wonders out there. Each took a plunge and eventually formed a community of explorers. Inspired, the man and his fellow crew set sail for new lands, recruiting new like-minded individuals. The island days soon became a distant memory.

Back to the Present

That was an elongated figurative account of my experience meeting the Crew, but what an adventure it has been. It isn’t everyday you take the plunge to go overseas with strangers you’ve never met. 

We travelled 4521 km to Jeonju, South Korea, to support our beloved Sailors for their ACL match against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, but that wasn’t all that transpired. The Crew felt like family – we didn’t just bond over football. 

This was a group of passionate people from different walks of life that banded together on a chilly night in Jeonju. Though the match result wasn’t to be, we made sure we did not let ourselves down with the boisterous support we displayed.

The First Meeting

The vibes were immaculate the moment I met The Crew for the first time at Changi Airport Terminal 3. I’m not exaggerating – I tend to sit alone or with my own group of football kakis during LCS games. This was my first time interacting with the ‘Ultras’, and my only regret is not taking the initiative to do so earlier. I am fortunate to have been chosen by the club for this particular expedition – it was actually my second attempt nominating myself. Eddy was the one who encouraged me to try again. Frankly if it wasn’t for that, perhaps I wouldn’t be here sharing my experience with all of you. 

Anyway, we collected our complimentary gift bag which included the ACL meal tee (how thoughtful of the club), took a few pictures for the club’s socials, checked in and had some time for ourselves before the flight. It took no time at all to warm up to my new acquaintances – again, the vibes were immaculate. Before long we were chatting away, and the smaller group I was with barely made it in time for boarding! It was a 2:45am flight, so once we got on the plane we knocked ourselves out. We had a long day ahead.

Arrival in Korea

After a flight where I could barely sleep, we touched down in Incheon and were greeted by our amazing guide Sujin. We were advised to pack some refreshments for the 3.5hr transit to Jeonju, and soon after we were on our way. I remember marvelling at the Incheon Bridge, a 21km cable-stayed bridge connecting Yeongjong Island to the rest of the cities. It gave us magnificent views of the Korean Peninsula and that was the first time it truly clicked in – we are finally here in Korea to support our Sailors! 

Now the coach ride was where things became interesting. You wouldn’t believe it, but many of my core memories of the trip were from the time we spent traveling between places. We made full use of the microphone onboard, playing ice-breaker games that honestly were less cheesy than expected. We also recorded ourselves trying to sing parts of Korean songs – we were in Korea after all! There was a great enthusiasm on show, despite the long flight, and looking back it set the precedent for the amazing 3 days we would spend together.

We stopped by a local rest stop along the highway. This might not sound like much but it was jam-packed with amenities. In Singapore we have petrol stations, but in Korea we have establishments with multiple food courts, eateries, convenience marts and the like.

This was a proper mall. 

We stepped out into the cool air, the seasons were still changing and the temperature was just right. The rest stop served as the first time many of us tasted authentic Korean food, and though it was not extravagant, I am sure the travelling party enjoyed our first meal together. 

The rest of the way to our hotel was largely the same, we even had time to teach our Shopee giveaway winners a few of our matchday chants! Sean and Xinhui were up for the challenge. Though this was their first time supporting local football, they certainly did their part during this trip, singing their hearts out for the Sailors at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. It was heartening to see them enjoy themselves as much as we did. We have much in common and I’m grateful to have met them, hopefully we can meet at Bishan Stadium too!

(Editor’s note: For context, the club ran a giveaway for 10 Sailors fans to go to Korea to cheer the team on, but Shopee also ran a similar giveaway for 2 Shopee users – they need not be Sailors fans. Sean and Xinhui certainly weren’t at the start of the trip)

The Beginning of the Madness

After checking in, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. 

SailorFanTalk managed to get in touch with Sehun, the head of the Jeonbuk Ultras group “Mad Green Boys”, and he proved to be as great of a host as Sujin. A local chicken eatery was recommended, he dropped us the address and we made our way there to meet our new friends.

For some reason, we didn’t take public transport or a taxi to the location. The tour coach was also retired for the day. Instead, we walked almost an hour there on a whim. This proved to be one of the best decisions we made. We admired the streets of Jeonju at a literal walking pace, which was the perfect gateway for meaningful conversation. Everything is so fast-paced back home – I’m glad we made the spontaneous decision to take things slow and get to know each other better.

An hour later, we finally made it to our destination, but we had no trouble locating the exact eatery. Sehun spotted us from a distance and immediately called for our attention; “LION CITY!” It was hilarious but also foreshadowed the enthusiasm they had in hosting us. We made it to our seats and exchanged gifts between the fan groups, and in the blink of an eye the alcohol was served. 

The Koreans can certainly drink. After we taught them our Singaporean ‘Yam Seng’, we picked up local drinking etiquette and useful phrases from the Korean language from them as well. A highlight of the night was both groups doing our matchday chants. 

We went back and forth, as we had many in common with Jeonbuk. Even though the language barrier was present, it did not stop us from having the time of our lives. What we experienced that night was truly special (quick shoutout to Papago for being the translation app of choice).

Food was then served, with the main dish being a slow-roasted chicken stuffed with glutinous rice. To say it was delicious would be an understatement – it was a culinary experience. I could talk about how you would need to carefully wrap the succulent chicken meat and sticky rice with some crispy seaweed, and then dab a little bit of a secret sauce on it before wolfing it down with glee, but you’d need to try it for yourself to understand. Having stuffed ourselves with the food and hospitality, we made our way to our next destination.

There was more food – seafood this time. Despite our peaceful protests, massive plates of sashimi were served. The seafood was really fresh and had we not had so much chicken in the last place, we might have asked for more. Not being used to consuming so much food, I felt bloated and a little under the weather. 

However, the ongoing conversation and warmth of the hosts kept me engaged, and one thing led to another. I ended up performing the Maxime Lestienne rap that brought me to Jeonju in the first place. It was really fun to see everyone hyped up, even the Jeonbuk Ultras who probably had no idea what was going on but bobbed along enthusiastically. I have to thank my roommate Joseph for this – I was hesitant at first but I recall him saying something along the lines of “You only got this one night bro, just go for it”. Great guy honestly. He’s single, by the way.

We finally called it a day, we had noraebang (korean for karaoke) on our minds prior but after the 2 full meals it did not seem like a good idea. We bid our farewells and headed back for some much needed rest. We had a football match to go to after all. It was jokingly mentioned that the Jeonbuk Ultras wanted to wear us down, that was how exhausted we were. Despite this, we brought our A-game the next day.

Out and About in Hanok Village

Sujin returned with the tour coach to bring us to the beautiful Hanok Village. It was a surreal sight, the kind of location Korean Tourism Board would certainly film at. We even met some of our players who were lodging nearby. 

Guess what – Sehun and Co. showed up again. They recommended bibimbap and we were happy to try it with the track record of the previous day. Rather unfortunately, the restaurant they had in mind did not have enough tables for us  – largely due to our party size, well done Crew and Mad Green Boys. We went to another bibimbap place instead, and it was the same friendly atmosphere as the previous day, complete with banter and light moments due to the slight language barrier. 

After the meal, we went on a guided tour of the village. It was particularly intriguing for me to learn about the engineering practicality behind various structures.

The match was to start in a few hours, and we could feel something change in the air. When it was time to head to the stadium, the passion was dialled up. This time, the coach was as loud as it had ever been. 

We chanted in the bus with increased urgency, warming up for the battle ahead. It was Sailors v Jeonbuk, and we were no longer friends and no longer tourists, we were there on a mission.

The Massive Stadium

Oh crap, but how do you remain not a tourist once you see the gleaming huge Jeonju Stadium? Not only was it huge, it was well-maintained and packed full with amenities. They had 2 club shops, one for general merchandise and another for authentic match jerseys. Safe to say we spent quite a bit of Korean Won there. Making our way into the stands, we came to appreciate the behemoth of a stadium this was. It was a proper footballing venue.

Tourist moment over, we set up our drums and flags as we always do at Bishan Stadium. Remember our friends, the Mad Green Boys? They sat right opposite us at the other end, and it was clear they dwarfed us in every single way you can think of. The way they moved in unison in the thousands was inspiration for us to aspire to achieve one day. 

They had numbers, but we had patriotism. We came all the way to Jeonju to support our team, and what we showed on and off the pitch would rightly be representative of Singapore football.

I am certain we did ourselves proud. Though the score on the board may have said 3-0 to the home side, the players and Crew never faltered and gave our all throughout the night. The referee certainly did not do us any favours, and I clung on to that in an SFT interview later that night. What the game showed us was we had a steep learning curve ahead. Much had to be done to bring ourselves to the level of Korean football. And that starts in the stands, with our support.

Post-Match Festivities

Though our spirits were down, we met up with our hosts for dinner again that night. Can we say we visited Korea if we didn’t have Korean fried chicken?

We were gracious in defeat, they were humble in victory. We met high-school student Sangsup, who despite being the maknae (“youngest” in Korean) was very outgoing and sincere in making conversation with us. It must be said his command of the English Language is commendable, we could understand each other well without the need of Papago. I appreciate his willingness to speak in a foreign tongue for his guests, and even today we are still communicating through social media. Jisu is another one of the fans who hung out with us since the first night. She rather affectionately called us ‘Ryan City friends’. Though that might have been lost in translation a little – it still brings up cute images of the Line character, perhaps representative of our friendship. Sehun, Jisu, Sangsup and Jeonbuk friends, we hope to see you one day in Singapore!

Remember the noraebang that was postponed? We certainly went through with it. Being a self-declared ktv aficionado, I dare say this was one of my most memorable sessions ever. Here I was with my group of new-found soulmates in a foreign land, singing our hearts out and enjoying each other’s company. We didn’t care that we had already lost our voices at the stadium, we simply found another. The end of the music was a bittersweet moment though. It was to be the last time we met the Jeonbuk fans for some time.

One thing’s for sure, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors is now my adopted K-League team.

Back to the Lion City

The next day went by in a blur, we packed and got on the coach for transit back to Incheon International Airport. Though the trip was coming to an end, everyone was bantering on the way back. 

I suddenly recalled my initial apprehension before the trip, I was worried about not fitting in, not being able to ‘speak the language’ (ironically I don’t mean Korean in this instance). Sure, I considered myself to be a LCS fan who attended games, but I certainly did so in my own comfort zone. The conscious decision to move out of that boundary was vindicated. 

A smile came over my face.

Now, I make sure to join the Crew for as many games as my schedule allows. We’ve since beaten Jeonbuk 2-0 at home (what an amazing night) and lifted the Singapore Cup. Though it is not only about the positive results, I can see something great happening here. 

All we need is to band together and do our part as fans. Had I not joined the Crew, I would not have experienced all this, and I am so grateful for it. 

So I humbly invite you, the reader, to join us for one last time this season at Jalan Besar Stadium. The boys are playing Kitchee on the 13th of December 6pm, and your support is needed.

Get your tickets here!

“Ahoy stranger! Consider this an invitation to set sail with us on an adventure of a lifetime. Now the tide is too shallow for us to reach your residence, take this raft and come aboard to experience the thrills of sailing with us!”

Written by Ernest Cheong

Edited by Eddy Hirono

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