inspiration...the loving gift for u

just received in my inbox a pdf file of a wonderfully put-together slide show entitled "the loving gift for you"

among all the inspiring quotes, i was most struck by the following two:
1. a successful relationship requires falling in love many times with the same person...
2. don't marry someone you can live with, but marry the one you cannot live without.

the others are great as well:
"life will be more simple if you let down dome non-sensible rules"
"it's not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts"
"think out of the box"
"don't let the word 'impossible' stop you from doing something"
"to love someone deeply gives you strength; being loved by someone deeply gives you courage"
" sorrow holds tight to those who will not let go"
"dare to fail, dar to free, and dare to fly"
"happiness is everywhere, only if you see it or not"
"the greatest discovery in life is to find your own self"
"what happens happens for a reason"
"be light and love"

to my beloved baba-bebe

dear baba-bebe

it's your 60th birthday today. have you gotten the cards that i sent you? knowing that three of us are not around you, i feel sad and guilty. but it is not only this one day that i feel this way. i know how much it means to you to have all of us around you. i know i have been gone for a long time. you haven't watched me grow for a long time and i missed all their important birthdays as well as yours. please know that i think of you often and i carry your teachings and pride with me every day. you are my hero, my compass and my model. thank you for setting such a good example for me to follow. i hope very soon, i can provide you with all you need, though your need is so trivial. i hope you can retire and enjoy life with us, and your grand children around you soon. thank you for all you have done for us and please know that you are loved forever!

love
your #1 daughter from whom you learned to be a daddy the first time. you did a good job!

attitude is everything

after being hurt, i changed my attitude toward this friend and i don't feel hurt as much. but disappointment keeps coming, however it comes and goes easily. it takes time to see a person. and sometimes a life time is not enough to see all sides of a person.

i am so glad that i have my truely wonderful girl friends with whom i hang out, i am already so content and feel very mentally challenged and soul comforting.

the new semester has started. first day of class already put me to sleep. but i do want to sustain on my own attidude to learn and to strive. studying is much of a personal thing. having a good teacher/mentor is a bonus, not finding one is the norm. it's time for me to execute this understanding, no more excuses. i can do it!

one more day

one more day, my buddy wiliwili will be back from the phillipines and one more day i can move to ala moana. i hope this time i can live there happily for at last 5 months.

new year's eve

here i want to note a very interesting experience of mine on ala moana beach, it took place on new year's eve.

alone i went to the beach to practice swimming as my beach buddy had gone home to the phillipines for the holiday. as i was treading in the relatively shallow water, a 10-year girl came up to me, asked me a bunch of questions,"are you japanese?"
"no," i replied.
"are you korean?"
"no," i replied.
then i told her what i am.

the girl was playing with her boogie board so i asked if she's learning how to surf. but she said no she already knows how to surf. "cool!" i said. and i kept swimming.

a bit later, she returned and invited me to swim over to the rock (the reef about 60 feet away). knowing that there was a drop of 20ft deep of water in between the reef and where i was, i politely turned down her invitation and told her honestly that i am just learning how to swim.

she offered the boogie board and said that it would be more fun to swim there together. so after a few moments of pondering and with the sincere look in the girl's eyes, i took the challenge. we held on to the board together and i asked her must not let go of the board and me. i kept talking to distract myself from thinking about the 20 ft deep water body underneath as we swam through. soon after we reached the reef where we could stand. i then met the two cousins of the girls, who are 11 and 13 years of age.

we had a great time chatting. they were genuinely curious about my origin and about what i am doing on the island. in return, i was curious about them as well. but i was most inspired by the bravery in doing all the water sports at such young age and that gave me strength to learn to swim, to surf and to dive.

afterwards, we swam back to shore, the little girl wanted to play in the sand, especially burrying me. so she and her cousin burried me on the beach until i had to take off to join a friend for new year's eve dinner.

that was a marvelous afternoon on the beach. the three delightful little friends were sweet and adorable. i wish to meet them again.