10/28-30/2005 Atlantis Women at Bangkok Sevens

Emil Signes
November 2005
JUNE 28, 2013
REV: December 17, 2016 11:01 NEARLY FINAL DRAFT (but still DRAFT)

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NOTE of December 2016. I just discovered that I had written this article in 2005, and uploaded it to emilito.org in 2013, without any photographs whatsoever. The current effort is an attempt to remedy this. All other text in teal (aqua, whatever it is) has also been added at this time.

As most Atlantis tours, this was a great experience and from time to time I think of returning. It's a good thing we didn't plan on going this year, however: the tournament was cancelled due to the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Atlantis Surfaces in its 25th Country: the 2005 Bangkok Sevens

Emil Signes

In the 20th year of Atlantis’ existence, a women’s team of this American invitational sevens side participated in the 11th edition of the Bangkok Sevens. They easily beat all comers by a combined score of 315-0 to take the title.

2005-10-30 Coach & Capt w trophy.jpg

Emil & Krista: Coach & Captain with trophy

It wasn’t supposed to be this easy. Auckland Marist, one of the leading teams in New Zealand, with several Black Ferns (national team players), was registered, and the Atlantis side was picked with the intention of fielding a team capable of beating the Kiwis in the final. Two weeks before the event, however, the Marist team dropped out, as the majority of their team was picked to represent New Zealand vs. England at the same time as the tourney. Nevertheless, you can only play the people that take the field against you, and we carried on, driven by the challenge not just to win, but (sometimes a more difficult challenge) to play to our potential and provide the crowd with attractive, wide-open, continuous rugby.

Atlantis’ Travels

I could never have envisioned, when I first fielded an Atlantis team at the Harvard Sevens in 1986, the extent to which the program would grow nor the places in which we would participate. A complete list of the countries where Atlantis has played follows. The month of our first appearance is given, and in addition whether men, women, or both have participated in that country at any time.

USA	4/1986	both
England	3/1987	men
Scotland	8/1987	men
Spain	5/1988	both
New Zealand	2/1990	men
Ireland (Republic)	5/1992	both
Ireland (Ulster)	5/1993	men
Uruguay	1/1995	men
Bulgaria	3/1995	men
United Arab Emirates (Dubai)	11/1995	men
Trinidad & Tobago	12/1995	both
Fiji	3/1996	men
Hong Kong	3/1996	women
Japan	4/1996	men
Australia	2/1997	men
Argentina	12/1997	men
Canada	7/1998	both
Holland	5/1999	women
Portugal	6/1999	men
Venezuela	7/2000	both
Cuba	9/2000	men
Cayman Islands	8/2001	men
Brazil	7/2002	both
Singapore	11/2002	men
Thailand	10/2005	women

The 2005 Bangkok Sevens trip represented not only the 25th country, but also Atlantis’ 115th tournament and 161st squad.

December 2016: Since this tournament we have added seven more countries - Paraguay (2007, men), Malaysia [Borneo] (2008, women), Italy (2009, men), French Polynesia [Tahiti (2009) and Bora Bora (2010), both men], Mexico (2010, men and women), Laos (2013, women) and Barbados (2016, men and women) - bringing our total to 32. In addition, since 2005 Atlantis women's teams have now played in Fiji (2014) and Cuba (2011), adding them to the "both sexes" list. We have now participated in 160 tournaments with 246 different squads. We should hit 1300 players in 2017.

The Atlantis Squad

This strong Atlantis squad included 4 current national sevens team players and was captained by “legend in her own time” Dr. Krista McFarren, a mere 44 years young. Krista, a current US women’s national team assistant coach and long-time Eagle, was also the captain for the first-ever Atlantis women’s tour (Benidorm, Spain) in 1992. In addition, Australian national team player Bronnie Mackintosh, who played in the US and represented the Eastern Rugby Union in the mid 90s, joined the team as well.

Atl. #	Rookie?	Name	Age	Club	Select Side
721		Christine Barber	31	Buffalo	Midwest
671	R	Beth Black	26	NOVA	MARFU
428		Dana Creager	32	NOVA	NOVA
734	R	Trish Curtis	26	Chicago North Shore
706		Casey Gallagher	20	Princeton U
616		Pam Kosanke	27	Chicago North Shore	USA
735	R	Jackie Limberg	22	Chicago North Shore	Midwest
736	R	Bronnie Mackintosh	35	[Sydney club]	ERU, Australia
169		Krista McFarren	44	Maryland Stinger	USA
558		Daniela Mogro	26	New York	USA
674		Alison Price	28	New York	USA

Staff

Manager: Sarah Schooler, ably assisted by Debbie Schooler
Coach: Emil Signes

The Atlantis team prior to the tournament:

2005-10-28AtlantisWomen.jpg
Atlantis Women at 2005 Bangkok Sevens, October 28-29, 2005
L to R, standing: Sarah Schooler, Bronnie Mackintosh, Trish Curtis, Jackie Limberg, Dana Creager, Alison Price, Christine Barber, Emil Signes
L to R, kneeling: Pam Kosanke, Beth Black, Casey Gallagher, Daniela Mogro, Krista McFarren
Photographer: Debbie Schooler

Arrival

2016: I didn't write anything about our arrival, as the players arrived a couple of days earlier than I (the first pictures are dated October 23 - Sunday), to sample the wonders of Bangkok without having to deal with a coach and practices. I did, however, have access to their pictures, which included their visits to the Grand Palace and the Floating Gardens. The first pictures seem to indicate that one of their first tasks on arrival was to kit themselves out with the robes that came with each room and enjoy a beer.

2005-10-23 Team in robes.jpg
Team relaxing in hotel room
More or Less L to R: Sarah, Beth, Dana, Jackie, Pam, Trish, Alison, Daniela

Off-the-field

Although every Atlantis tour is centered and scheduled around the rugby, no tour would be complete without taking in some of the local sights and culture.

The team took a guided tour around the city of Bangkok, visited the beach area of Pattaya and a nearby island, and also did some shopping in places like the Floating Market and the Chatuchak Weekend Market.

20015-10-26est floating market 3.jpg
Floating Market

During the week, in our interactions with the Thai people, we discovered that the “hands together just below the chin and bow” gesture is not just something from “The King and I” days, but is a very typical current Thai greeting, called the "wai." In fact, we – and the other teams – began and ended each game by bowing to the crowd in just such a manner. 2016; Although we have no pictures of this from any game we played in Thailand, the custom is similar in Laos where it is called a "nop," and the picture below shows Atlantis manager Sarah Sall thanking one of our hosts at a 2013 tournament in Vientiane (this tour is described here: http://emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/2013/t_138.html). (And as all good things, they say, come in threes, the visit to the other country in our Southeast Asia tour trio - Malaysia, in 2008 - is described here: http://emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/2008/t_126.html.)

The wai is completed with a bow to the opponent.

girl-thai-dress-thailand-wai-cheeful-asian-sawadee-30744938.jpg // 2013-0127 Laos-Sarah thanks host with Lao nop-IMG_4858_ed-900w.jpg
Left: Thai doll demonstrating the Thai greeting called "the wai"
Teams began and ended each game by greeting each other in this manner
Right: In 2013, in neighboring Laos, manager Sarah Sall thanks one of our hosts
[just noticed, 2016, that if you google "Lao nop" this is one of the images you'll see :)

We also found that, compared to other Asian countries in which we have played, English is a far less understood language at all levels. Even among hotel employees (and we were staying at a hotel frequented by foreigners) English was broken at best and communication in most places – except for the imaginative – was difficult if not impossible. Thailand is the only Southeast Asian country never to be taken over by one of the European powers; could this be a reason?

There are lots of places in the world, of course, where we can be stuck and have no idea of what street signs, etc., say. For some reason, Thai strikes me as one of the most arcane. The alphabet is unique and goes back to the 13th century. Want to know what “rugby” looks like? Well, รักบี้ฟ, of course. Thus you may recognize such phrases as สหพันธ์รักบี้โลก (International Rugby Board), or even the governing body of Thai Rugby,
สมาคมรักบี้ฟุตบอลแห่งประเทศไทย ในพระบรมราชูปถัมภ์ (Thai Rugby Union under the Royal Patronage of H.M. the King) (no spaces between words in Thai.)

Do I digress?

bangkok-grand-palace.jpg (picture from Internet)
Grand Palace of Bangkok - Overview

Group at Palace

2005-10-23 palace shiny.jpg // 2005-10-23 palace shiny.jpg

Left: Group at Palace
L to R, top: Debbie Schooler, Krista McFarren, Jackie Limbert, Sarah Schooler, Dana Creager, Trish Curtis, Alison Price, Beth Black
L to R, bottom: Pam Kosanke, Daniela Mogro
Right: Hmm, shiny!

On-the-field: practices

Perhaps the most fun was a joint training session Thursday with a group of Thai rugby players at the national stadium (no pictures :( ...). First we were escorted into the offices of the Thai Rugby Union where we were greeted by several officials, then headed to train at the soggy pitch (it was the end of the rainy season) which we turned into a mud bath following about an hour of scrimmages with mixed teams of Atlantis, the Bangkok PE team which we were to play the next day, and others.

That was about the only practice space we were able to use, as Bangkok is a city without too much available field space, and what there was was soaked. We worked on scrums, lineouts and a trick “Marino” penalty play on the beach at Pattaya on Tuesday, and then Wednesday found a tiny patch of squishy ground at Lumpini Park in the heart of Bangkok.

Luckily we didn’t need that much practice time, but had the opposition been better I would have been upset by its lack of availability.

2005-10-26est-scrimmage in park.jpg
Scrimmaging at practice in our newly de rigeur skirts

Pointing
in different directions

2005-10-26est pointing@practice.jpg
On reflection, if this was a drill to coordinate their directions - e.g. a defensive drill - they were confused ;)

2005-10-27est scrumming on beach.jpg
We combined a trip to the beach with some last-minute practicing

2005-10-27est dana pointing at daniela toes.jpg
On revisiting this picture in 2016, I can't recall what critical comment Dana had about Daniela's toes

Bangkok Sevens

The Bangkok Sevens has grown progressively since its start in 1995 when 4 international teams joined 14 Thai teams. Since then its aims have been developed around bringing Bangkok and Thailand into broader international focus as a significant rugby destination within Southeast Asia. The women’s division was added in 2000 and in 2001 a veteran (men)’s division as well.

Men’s Division

The first champion, in 1995, was Te Awamutu of New Zealand, and the most successful team in the history of the tournament has been Davetalevu of Fiji, which did not participate this year. Last year the Marauders of the UK won, and in 2003 the British Army defeated Marist North Harbour in the final. The women’s champion last year was the Royal Thai Air Force.

Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos)

In 2005, one can’t imagine going anywhere in the world for a sevens tournament and coming across a team from Iraq. 30 years ago we would have said the same about a team from Vietnam. Or, for that matter, from Cambodia or Laos. This year’s Bangkok Sevens featured teams from all 3 nations – the Hanoi Dragons, Les Pilliers D’Angkor, and Xang Lao (Lao Elephants), respectively.

Granted, they were populated mainly by ex-pats, but by all accounts the missionary aspect of rugby is at work and locals are in fact being drawn to the game.

Note of 2016: not only has rugby in this area of the world grown, but girls' and women's rugby has blossomed. See http://emilito.org/rugby/atlantis/2013/t_138.html for an extended discussion of the Atlantis Women's 2013 tour to Laos. And in Laos almost all the players are Lao natives.

The US was also represented in the men’s division by Santa Monica. Unfortunately, they were knocked out fairly early, I believe in the Plate Quarterfinals. 2016: The American representatives joined forces for a group picture at the hotel. On reviewing the picture below, I thought I recognized Dallen "Paki" Stanford, and he indeed confirmed he was on this tour with Santa Monica. Paki and I were on many USA National Sevens Team tours together from 2007 to 2009, he as an Eagle player, I as Video Analyst.

IMG_5256-2 teams.JPG
I found this picture in my files... It's the Atlantis women and the Santa Monica men
Paki (Dallen Stanford) is in the black tee shirt
Paki would later receive the great honor of becoming Atlantis # 829!

Men’s final

The final was always going to be between two sevens powerhouses – New Zealand’s Marist North Harbour and the Samurai, a high-powered sevens team based in England, making its first appearance at the Bangkok Sevens.

Knowing the Samurai’s reputation, I pegged them as the winners, but I must admit that watching Marist North Harbour in earlier games I was enjoying the way they were playing – in part – the classic, even “old fashioned,” “keep away” sevens.

In the Samurai game they showed they had quite a bit of confrontational skills as well. After a close start, Marist put the Samurai away by a score of 33-12. The English language paper “The Nation” stated that the Samurai “fell on their swords in the final to some of the fastest, flowing rugby ever played in Thailand.”

Women’s Games

The pool play and the quarterfinals of the women’s tournament took place on Friday, with semifinals on Saturday and the grand final on Sunday prior to the men’s finals.

Atlantis clearly was the class of the field on Friday, chalking up pool victories over Bangkok PE 39-0, Thammasat University 54-0, Lopburi 61-0 and a quarterfinal win vs. Rattanarat Bumrung, also by a 61-0 score.

Lloyd McDermott

The semifinal seemed to be the only game in which an Atlantis miscue could lead to trouble. Lloyd McDermott is an Australian team of Aboriginal players named after the first Aborigine to play for Australia. Originally focused on boys at the U-16 and U-18 level, Lloyd McDermott has recently included girls and women under its umbrella. Players come from all over the country and the Bangkok Sevens featured both a men’s and a women’s Lloyd McDermott team.

Despite taking several huge hits (which generated loud “ooh!”s from the crowd), Atlantis was able to keep the ball alive, make all their tackles, and finish up with a 34-0 win.

2005-10-30-IMG_5229-Trish with Krista in close support.jpg
Trish takes on Lloyd McDermott big girl with Krista in support

Alison and Bronnie in background
(this is the only action shot we have)

The final was really a formality with Atlantis posting a 66-0 win over the Royal Thai Air Force, defending champions.

2005-10-30Teams after final.jpg
Atlantis and Royal Thai Air Force after Final
Top Row Atlantis: Emil, Dana, Beth, Trish, Christine, Bronnie, Pam, Jackie
Bottom Row: Alison, Casey, Daniela

Atlantis Scoring

Name	Tries	Conv	Points
Kosanke	8	26	92
Black	5	9	43
Gallagher	7	0	35
Limberg	6	0	30
McFarren	6	0	30
Barber	5	0	25
Price	5	0	25
Curtis	3	0	15
Mogro	2	0	10
Creager	1	0	5
Mackintosh	1	0	5
Total	49	35	315
Opponents	0	0	0

Dash for the Cash

The local BMW dealership sponsored a “Dash for the Cash” race, a 100-m race-off among representatives of each of the 24 men’s teams. Not wanting to be left out, representatives of the women’s teams faced off after the men’s preliminary heats on Saturday. Although this was not “for the cash,” it was nonetheless a race. Atlantis was represented by Princeton’s Casey Gallagher, who came in second to the wing from Bangkok PE. As Thai players, although very small, have a reputation for being very fast, and as their ranks are usually filled by track athletes, this was not a bad finish at all (although Casey apologized for not winning).

2005-10-30 Womens Race Final.jpg
Casey got by the woman in red and yellow at the finish to take 2nd in the women's final

Daring the Avian Flu

2016: We were a bit concerned about the Avian Flu epidemic (and feared pandemic) that had hit Southeast Asia in early 2005, just 2 years after SARS had devastated the area.

More technically known as H5N1, the Avian Flu was most severe in this part of the world, particularly in neighboring Vietnam, where more than a million poultry were killed to prevent the spread of the virus. Up to 140 million birds are believed to have died or been killed as a result of the outbreak. And by December of 2005, there had been 14 human deaths attributable to Avian Flu in Thailand. Furthermore this tour was only 2 years after SARS caused a disaster in this area.

So - approaching the tour with a bit of gallows humor - we brought our own Flu-themed mascot with us - Avian the Chicken. Furthermore the tour theme was "Trick or Flu." (This has always puzzled me because Trick and Flu are both negative outcomes; I reckon it should have been something like "Treat or Flu," or maybe "Flu or Treat!")

2005-10 Avian takes boat ride.jpg

Earlier in the week: here is our mascot, indelicately named Avian after the then-currently feared pandemic

2016: I discovered a bunch of pictures seemingly from Saturday night, i.e. between the Saturday semifinals and the finals on Sunday, with a bunch of scenes of which I had little if any memory. The following explanation comes from Alison and once again Avian is involved.

Alison in 2016: "I actually don't fully recall what happened, but I think the self-appointed fine masters came up with this game. We split the team into 2 teams, probably coke vs pepsi* or something of that nature. Each team had to choose someone on their team and dress them up as Avian using only what they had in their rooms (Good thing many of us brought costumes for Halloween/Tourney Party). Each team had to present their 'Avian'. I think we had to compete in various games to see which Avian (and team) won... "

2005-10-29 the two avians.jpg
Debbie and Alison as Avian

Alison continues: "There were so many funny things that happened on this tour. It was for sure one of my favorites. We also turned on the self-appointed fine masters, Pam and Dana, and made them do a scavenger hunt. They objected at first, until we said we would have to see who would win and they were off to the races. The scavenger hunt had many tasks, I don't remember all of them, but I do remember the last step was to "pick a snack at the convenience store across the street for your opponent to eat". In actuality the plan was to make them eat the snack THEY chose, but both of them chose a Chicken-Curry Doughnut. They were great sports and the whole thing was hilarious. I wish I had pictures."

* Emil: Coke vs. Pepsi goes back to a division of teams instituted when I was the US men's sevens coach in the late 80s, during an extended period in which popular Pepsi ads called it the drink of the young, of the "Pepsi generation." Coke was for the old folks. Coke vs. Pepsi in our vocabulary referred to contests - usually touch games, but could be anything - contests in which the younger half of the team represented Pepsi, the oldsters were Coke.

According to Alison, incorporated into this game was another popular Atlantis tour game, "the murder game" **

** Emil: when the US women were in New Zealand in 2001, NZ All Black Sevens Coach Gordon Tietjens (now Sir Gordon) volunteered to run a practice with us. We arrived at the end of an All-Blacks' Sevens practice at which point one of the men collapsed on the ground. "Oh, we're just playing the 'murder game,'" Titch volunteered, then explained their rules. We modified the rules to suit us, and it's been a part of many tours on which I've been since that time.

Alison: "We were playing the murder game and I think Pam was the killer. It came down to Debbie and me, we were still both alive at the end of the game. So ... they made us compete as Avians." Alison won.

2005-10-29 final death.jpg
Debbie's demise ends the game as a lot of the men's rugby players look on, intrigued
I believe that's Trish looking on
Debbie's end ruined the hopes of this team's Pepsi generation

Sunday in the Stands: We meet the Champion Spark Plug

2016: The Champion Spark Plug made its appearance as a costumed person. Inspired by the costume, Beth Black made some kind of deal - I was not privy to it - to become the person in the plug. Here she is, first prepping herself, and later making herself known to her teammates. Finally, Champion joins as Krista receives the award for the tournament champions. (Whether or not this was Beth or the original Champion, I no longer remember. But --- does it really matter?)

By the way, this followed the last women's game, while the men were wrapping up their divisions of the tournament.

Beth starts on
becoming another Champion

2005-10-30 Beth Black start on Champion.jpg /// 2005-10-30 Champion visits Dana.jpg /// 2005-10-30 Krista receives trophy-w Champion.jpg
Left: Beth preparing to become a Champion Spark Plug
Center: Champion Beth makes herself known to her Atlantis teammates
Right: Krista receives trophy with Champion in Attendance

For me, this was a great leap forward during our few days in Bangkok. We had started accompanied by a mascot that represented a pandemic virus that brings death, but we finished the week in the person of a mascot known for providing the spark that initiates life.

Halloween in Bangkok (and Stuck in an Elevator)

Self-appointed social chairs Pam Kosanke and Dana Creager decreed that all members of the tour party should dress in costume to attend the post-tournament function held in our hotel. Dressed and en route, a somewhat-unnerving thing happened: someone tried to open the elevator door to let more people in (to an already crowded lift). Unfortunately the elevator was already in motion and got stuck between floors.

And there it remained, seemingly interminably, between the 16th and 17th floors, while the emergency button was pressed and we waited for help. I don’t know just how long we were in there, but I do remember that we were so far down the repertoire of songs that my rendition of “Found a Peanut” was joined by all 11 marooned travelers. And we got through even more verses than I thought I knew.

Left: 2005-10-30 Elevator doors stuck.jpg / Right: 2005-10-30 freed from elevator.jpg

Left: Workers Struggle to Free Us // Right: Finally, Freedom is at hand!
Beth Black is on the right, Pam Kosanke in the back; the bare midriff belongs to Bronnie.
2016: Per Krista, these pictures "had to be from me or Sarah as we were the ones who notified security that you all were stuck! Funny!"

When we were finally freed and made our entrance to the banquet, the sight of an entire team in costume drew loud cheers from everyone in the room (a couple hundred rugby players in more traditional banquet attire). Luckily Halloween seems to be an international tradition (see, e.g. Wikipedia), so they knew what we were up to.

2005-10-30 Atlantis with Cambodians@party.jpg
Atlantis at Banquet (picture invaded by part of Cambodian team, who obscure Krista)
L to R, top: Sarah Schooler, Debbie Schooler, Alison Price, Daniela Mogro, Pam Kosanke, Christine Barber, Casey Gallagher, Bronnie Mackintosh, Emil Signes
L to R, middle: Krista McFarren (obscured), Jackie Limberg, Trish Curtis, Dana Creager, Beth Black
Bottom: 3 unknown Cambodian players

From a group of several banquet pictures:

Left: 2005-10-30 Bronnie interviewed-narr.jpg /// 2015-10-30 beer-challenged-ghost.jpg /// 2005-10-30 Alison post-ghost.jpg
Left: Bronnie interviewed at banquet / Center: ¿how does the beer get into the ghost's mouth? / Alison has the answer

And at 3:30 AM the bus came to take us to the airport: another successful sevens tour had reached the time for dispersal and return home.

2016 Note: I've been on more wee-small-hours departures from far away places "with strange sounding names" [sorry - "Far Away Places with strange sounding names" is a song from my childhood] than I care to remember ... [but now that I think of it, I've now been - for rugby - to the 3 far away places mentioned in that song*] These wee-small hours departures from far-away places always mean an arrival home in far less than optimal shape. I actually don't recall the arrival or aftermath of this return, so I suspect it wasn't horrendous. But regardless of the immediate effects, the tour created great memories, indicated by the fact that I'm enjoying working on this article 11 years later and adding pictures. And, Atlantis and "far away places": a perfect time for a digression.

*Far Away Places, sung by Willie Nelson & Sheryl Crow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q3ZdKny6IM

Far away places with strange sounding names
Far away over the sea
Those far away places with the strange sounding names are
Calling
Calling me
Goin' to China or maybe Siam
I wanna see for myself
Those far away places I've been reading about in a
Book that I took from a shelf
I start getting' restless whenever I hear the whistle of a train
I pray for the day I can get underway
And look for those castles in Spain
They call me a dreamer
Well maybe I am
But I know that I'm burning to see those
Far away places with the strange sounding names
Calling, calling me
***************

This entire song and its story - “Far Away Places … are calling me … I wanna see for myself” speaks to me.

In the link above, I’ve substituted the Willie Nelson - Sheryl Crow version for the original I heard as a child, because - well, who wouldn’t want to hear Willie Nelson and Sheryl Crow?

In each of the following lines (after the first) I’ve substituted two countries in the line “Goin’ to China or maybe Siam” that includes every one of the countries we’ve visited (except Spain, I deal with later). I repeat the phrase "I wanna see for myself" on each line, because this was the impetus not only for the original song, but also so many Atlantis trips that I initiated.

Goin’ to China or maybe Siam, I wanna see for myself [this is the line that’s actually in the song; then I wrote the following of places Atlantis has visited, 1986 to 2016]:

Goin’ to Cuba or maybe Brazil, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to Laos or maybe Japan, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to Fiji or Bulgaria, I wanna see for myself
Off to New Zealand, and then Uruguay, I wanna see for myself
Off to Australia and then Paraguay, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to Scotland or maybe Dubai, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to England and South Africa, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to Holland and Portugal too, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to Trinidad, Tobago too, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to Ireland, South and the North, I wanna see for myself
I’ll see Argentina, the End of the World, I wanna see for myself
Off to the Caymans and then Canada, I wanna see for myself
Off to Malaysia, to dense Borneo, I wanna see for myself
To Bora Bora, and Tahiti too, I wanna see for myself
Goin’ to Mexico, Venezuela, I wanna see for myself
Off to Barbados & then Singapore, I wanna see for myself

That leaves off Spain, which is the third country mentioned in the original song:
    I start getting restless whenever I hear
    The whistle of a train
    I pray for the day I can get underway
    And look for those castles in Spain…

I also have a substitute for this verse already made up to include the USA:
    I start getting homesick whenever I hear
    The humming of a plane,
    I love being away but I'm glad on the day
    I return to the US of A.

That's all 32 countries in which Atlantis has played.

To mix all the others to substitute for Spain and follow the pattern of the original song would be difficult (though do-able), because I’d have to replace “Whistle of a train” with something that rhymes with an Atlantis country, and that’s not easy for so many countries - nor a priority).

So, for just one example

I start getting restless whenever I see
An airplane flying high
I long for the day I can get underway
Ride a camel all over Dubai.

But enough is enough: I was just excited to realize that the recurring theme of this song, “I wanna see for myself,” has been a driving force behind Atlantis. That’s been one of my goals - to help us actually see all the things that so many people wanna see for themselves. With Atlantis we go see them together … (and play a little rugby while we’re at it) …

So much for lyrics-writing.

***************
In summary: Our 2005 Bangkok tour was another classic Atlantis adventure! Play to our potential (win if possible), enjoy ourselves - on this tour we met all of our objectives!

--- emilito

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