i went skydiving

Skydiving is the most electrifying rush in the world. Take all your roller-coaster experiences and add them together and multiply that value by infinity and you might understand the rush of skydiving. Anyway, as to why there aren't any pictures of me really skydiving, it's because i would have had to pay $100 extra for that and I was not going to do that. Photos spoil the memory. Here are some photographs...



Here's a picture of the name of the place where I went for the skydiving experience. If you guys want to skydive, come here...



One reason to do it here in Hawaii is because of the beautiful scenery. You get to see the mountains from a completely different angle. From way above them. The most stunning visual experience of my life. I managed to see Waikiki and Diamond Head all the way from the North Shore. I need to repeat myself, BEAUTIFUL...



Random person falling...



That's my Tandem Master Jim coming down with some random person. I think he did several dives that day.



This is a picture of me and Jim. This guy technically saved my life. And he was really cool too. Before we jumped, he asked me how strong my stomach was. My reply, "Let's find out". And we did. It was a lot stronger than I imagined. I think we did countless 360s during the freefall before he finally pulled the cord. After that he allowed me to grab the reins and control our descent and he gave me a sky tour by directing my attention to all parts of the island. It was AWESOME...

christian fellowship

Today I went for something organised by the campus ministries of UH called Light Up UH. It was a prayer meet comprising all the campus ministries in UH like the Baptist, Episcopal and Catholic Campus Ministries. I think that this is something that I should bring home.

There are many groups in NUS like the Campus Crusade and Varsity Christian Fellowship and the Catholic Students' Society. Wouldn't it be cool if everybody could just come together for one night and pray for the school? God knows we weould need the prayers. I mean we all believe in the same God and so we should all just put our differences aside for one night and just pray for the greater good of our university.

The prayer session was as follows. It began with about half an hour of Praise and Worship followed by a talk by the Lt. Governor of Hawaii who talked about the benefits of prayer to school life. He shared about how a particular high school had benefitted a great deal from having a prayer session in their school. Then we had another short talk by a fellow student about Love, Forgiveness and peace and how if we prayed for these gifts for the university the place would be a better place overall. Next, we were sent out in groups to pray for different parts of the school. These groups were made up of random people and so you got to meet new people. I prayed over the car-park, the law school and the university's tennis courts. Hey, who else is gonna pray for these places if not my group and I?


So yeah, it was a good night and a real educational experience for me. Apparently there were more people at this prayer gathering than there were at last week's Bush Bashing Rally. Yeah, there was an anti-Bush rally held in school last wednesday and so this shows that there are more people here who love God than hate Bush. That's a heckuva lot of people there.

Anyway, I just think that maybe NUS as well as other institutions of educations could use this as an example and have a similar united prayer rally. Just forget our differences like St. Paul urges us to do in the first reading of today and come together to proclaim God's name and make the world a better place by first starting with what's closest to us.

sorrowful mystery

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. I don’t really like the sound of that. I mean I understand it but it just sounds erm, bad. I’d prefer Our Lady of Faith in the Face of Sorrow. But I’m long winded like that.

Whenever Mary was confronted with sorrow, she responded with faith. Maybe that is something we can all try. When we are feeling sad and dejected, let us have Faith in the Will of God. Let us remember that His wisdom might seem foolishness to man because we lack understanding and what we lack in understanding, we can make up for with Faith.

Faith is committing to our words we pray in the Lord’s Prayer. We need to tell our Father in Heaven that His Will is being done. We do not say that His Will will be done, we say Your Will be done. This is directly echoing Mary’s words at the Conception and Jesus’ words at the Garden of Gethsemane. Interesting when you put those 2 occasions together ya? When Jesus’ life is about to start and when it is about to end. They speak of the idea that His Life comes full circle.

And these are also two points where Faith is seen to be the response to extreme sorrow and confusion. So let us try to respond with faith the next time we are faced with confusion and sorrow in our lives. Let us trust in The Lord and allow Him to work through us.

i went for a luau

A luau is a traditional Hawaiian party. You get to experience many aspects of traditional Hawaiian life and get to make stuff too. The girls made stuff like bracelets and anklets and i threw spears and stuff. We all got lei'd too but it has to be said that I think they lei'd us wrongly or maybe there is a difference between the way you lei a person with a flower lei and a shell lei.


Anyway, I realise the place where I truly let my inner Singaporean out is, surprise, surprise, in a buffet line. Hahaha. Really, it's like I hadn't eaten for days, just piling food onto my plate. My excuse was that it was just super expensive lah. The thing is I guess we were paying for a lot more than an all-you-can-eat buffet, we were paying for a whole cultural experience. They really did go out of their ways to make everybody feel like part of the ohana. (that reminds me, i need to watch lilo & stitch soon)


I've been told recently by several different groups of people that I think too much and so I shall over-analyse this. Firstly, sometime, we overlook the purpose of doing what we are doing and only concentrate on some small insignificant thing. For me, it was like I forgot about the whole experience and just concentrated on the food. (being Singaporean again) I think oftentimes we tend to dwell on the not so special instead of really partaking in the once in a lifetime. This is extremely true in relationships.


In relationships of any kind, family, friends, lovers, we tend to look at what we can get out of them. The gifts they give us or the attention they shower upon us. We tend to miss out the once in the lifetime opportunity, that is, just to be there. Like most people, I only realised that when I started missing my friends and family being away for so long. Sometimes we just need to appreciate the people who are there for us and the people we are there for. Being there is what matters.

Secondly, this experience at the luau made me remember Sheri's family because they made me feel like a part of their family. I truly appreciate what they did for me when I was a stranger in this new land. But, you know what? Apparently, it might just be the land. This land is such a lovely place because most of the people you will meet will readily welcome you into their ohana (family). Now let us reflect upon ourselves, do we welcome strangers and make them feel like part of our families?



You know I think that's what makes people come back to Hawaii so often. There are beautiful beaches in many other places in the world and Hawaii is most probably one of the more expensive and probably the most inaccessible of those places. But people just keep on coming back because of the Aloha spirit. Aloha is a spirit of love and thus when one is greeted with Aloha, one is told that one is loved just for being there. Aloha is what people say when ways are parted as well meaning that even though you might leave, there is still love for you. That is what makes Hawaii such a LOVELY place. (sorry about the pun but I just had to do it.)

I wrote recently about openness and I guess this just adds on to that. Let us strive to be open and welcoming even to strangers but let us start by practising with our family and friends first. If this Aloha spirit is spread around the world, the world might be a much better place to live in.

i am an idiot

I am an idiot because i missed my mum's birthday... and there is no excuse for that... but eventhough there is no excuse i'd like to try and come up with one... i've lost all track of time i think... i hadn't even realised that i've already spent a month in Hawaii... Anyway, I'm really sorry mummy... Happy Belated Birthday!!!

openness

I was just reflecting on the Gospel reading for Sunday where Jesus heals the man who is deaf by saying “Ephphatha”, in English, “Be Open”. It is interesting that He uses those words isn’t it?

In the hymn “Amazing Grace”, there is a line that goes, “(I) was blind but now I see”. For me, I feel that oftentimes I am blinded by my own close-mindedness and hence I fail to see all the beauty that’s around me. Sometimes when I’m not as open as I should be, I am deaf to the beautiful music that plays around me all the time.

I think that being here, a foreign land that’s foreign even to the majority of the people here is a great place to let that openness flourish. Everybody is open to diversity because everybody you meet is different. It’s very much like Singapore because of that. I actually am very thankful for being Singaporean because of that. I feel that it has made me a very open person in terms of my views.

I am writing this on September the 11th, 5 years after the horrible tragedy that happened not only in New York, but all over the world. What has changed after that fateful day. The world started to close in on itself. But then again, in another way, the world began opening up. Closed for a while because of fear and suspicion, but after a while open because people began to realise that there’s just so much out there that we tend to pass judgement on without really knowing anything about the history of whatever happened.

This is why history is important, because it helps us understand our world now. Here’s something that I learnt rather recently. Sometimes when we learn about the history of a place that is completely different from the place we hail from, we understand more of our own history and culture. It is often overlooked but it is true. We always think that all we need to know is ourselves but when we learn about other people, we begin to understand aspects of ourselves we have never thought about before.

So let us be open and let other people into our lives for they can affect us more when their in our lives than when they are just on the outside. And when they are in our lives, we can make a difference in their lives too and really, isn’t that all that really matters?

Oh, some word play i just thought of... The more open we are, the closer we get... Food for thought eh?

more people

This is my group doing something called a cinnamon roll hug... very fun and provides great photo opportunities... and by the way, the yellow colours, (my group name) rock!!! yeah...



here's some people being pirates cos pirates rock too... erm, yeah...



Here are the 2 angelas. angela rubang and angela gonsalves i think... probably got the spellings wrong but i guess they'll correct me... maybe...



Here's mike and his girlfriend wendy... awfully cute couple and they're really into extreme sports, how cool is that... mike's a diver too and he's got lobangs for good scuda diving deals... a new best friend because of that... hahaha...



And here's a picture of ryan the campus minister and michelle, mickey mouse from the previous post... two super cool jobs... a campus minister who looks after the flock of college students is something i can really see myself doing just because i know i can do it and i know i can be good at it. and mickey mouse, who doesn't want to be mickey mouse?
and yes, ryan needs to go to the beach more...

retreat at camp homelani

This weekend I went for a retreat with the Catholic Campus Ministry and it was a really good experience. I was a little disappointed though because I wanted to hear more cool songs during the retreat but there was no praise and worship element in the retreat. But it was a good Vacation with God. I got to meet more people and try new things. I had my first taste of s’mores and a game called psychiatrist, which I will definitely bring back home and share with everybody. (the game not the s’mores)

It was enjoyable because there was a lot of games and free time to do what you wanted. And it was really cool to meet all the new people that I met. All with so many stories to share and if there’s one thing I’m passionate about, it’s stories. Anyway, here are some pictures to share.

Oh and I finally figured out how to use the macro function on my camera. Haha…






Yup, a good camp with beautiful mountains, beautiful seas and most importantly...
















Beautiful people...

people

Ok, That's Angel from Spain, (pronounced like Juan Pablo Angel), Diego from Colombia, and Mieu from Thailand...



That's Don, Jess, Esther and Fairoza... All from Singapore...
It's amazing how excited one gets when one meets people who can speak singlish...
Singlish Rocks!!!

Diamond Head

Diamond Head is beautiful. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...







Yup, everything in Diamond Head is beautiful...

i went camping

This post is rather late but i really wanted to post something about my reflections while i was camping somewhere near sea-life park. (oh, by the way, i heard that sea life park has a wholphin, half whale, half dolphin. How cool is that?)

Anyway, my roomies and I decided on the spur of the moment to join fellow roomie Dan on a camping trip. It was the most I've ever spent waiting for buses and other forms of transportation in my life. It beats my walmart experience by a mile. But, that's not what's important.


When we arrived at the place, we were all singing praises of the natural beauty of the place. There was the beautiful open ocean on one side and stunning mountains on the other side. However, by the end of the trip, we were all complaining about nature and one aspect of nature in particular. The rain.


The wisdom of going camping without a tent baffles me. But in all honesty, most Hawaiians will tell you that rain is nothing, It usually just sprinkles for a while and then it goes away so it didn't seem like a bad idea at the time and plus, when i first started sleeping on the tarp and i looked up at the sky, I was just so happy to be sleeping under the stars. It was a truly beautiful sight. But then the rain came and everything changed.

So here's my reflection about my camping trip. When you go camping, bring a tent. In other words, be prepared for all experiences that you might be likely to encounter before you start any new phase of your life so as not to ruin your experience. Everything can be a whole lot more fun if you're prepared and sometimes, even if you've had a bad experience, don't choose to harp on that but just reflect on all the positives, like these pictures...

i went surfing

Today I went surfing and it wasn’t the best experience of my life. But I learnt a lot from going out there.

Firstly, I need practice. I am not a natural born surfer even if I have all the clothes. Most of my own faults make me a lousy surfer. I have no sense of balance. My arches are too high. Lots of physical problems but you know what… I’ll keep on trying… I’m in Hawaii, dammit…

Secondly, surfing is all about choosing the right wave and riding it. That is something I’m not great at too. It means waiting for what is right for you and taking full advantage of it. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s letting opportunity slip through my fingers. And the other thing I’m good at is choosing the wrong thing to jump onto. I’m the only one I know who jumped on Star Trek cards when everybody else was doing Magic™. Yeah, making the wrong decision is like my ™.

You see, everybody here looks for the perfect wave and from what I gather from my lit class, perfect means complete. In other words, we are all looking for the wave that completes us. Let’s now apply this to life…

We are all looking for something perfect. Some of us are looking for the perfect guy or girl or the perfect religion. Well, if it completes you then it is complete. I’ve been looking for the perfect girl since like forever and you know what, I have yet to find her. Maybe I have yet to find a girl to complete me.

I guess the best thing I can compare it would be a jigsaw puzzle. If you were one half of a jigsaw then when you meet your other half, he or she would complete it. The problem here is, what does it mean to complete yourself. The funny thing for me is that today, my lit lecturer told us a story about a guy name Aristophanes and his theory of love from Plato’s Symposium.

The story goes like human beings were all made with four arms and four legs and two faces and we were all very powerful and wanted to overthrow the Gods on Mount Olympus. But the Gods figured out the plan and Zeus decided that instead of destroying his beloved creation, he would just split us into two. So we were all split into 2 which is why we often refer to spouses as our better half.

I guess we all just need to ask ourselves constantly what completes us. My answer is I don’t know but I will when I feel it and I guess that’s it. I once told some people that I had a list in my head of the Perfect person and in reality the person who completes me is the person who throws that list right out.

Same as in surfing. There are many waves out there and the perfect wave for all of us is the wave that compliments our level of surfing. The perfect wave for a novice like me would be different from the perfect wave for a seasoned pro. Thus, whatever is perfect for us is what completes us and nobody else but us.

So, Let us go and search for whatever is perfect for us. Whatever completes us and makes us whole. Like Jerry McGuire, Let’s search for that one thing that makes us go, “You complete me.”

Damien

Today was just a normal day until just a couple of hours ago. Then it became a pretty good day. You see, I went to a place that combined many of my loves into a single package for nothing but an hour of my not so precious time. I went to watch Damien. For Free.

I realised when I came back to my apartment that I should just tell everyone that no, I did not watch The Omen. I would not make the same mistake twice. It was a horrible movie and left me sick to my stomach because it was just a pain to behold. No, no, I went to watch a one-man play about the life of Fr. Damien of Molokai.

I think many people already know the story of Fr. Damien or to be more accurate, Blessed Damien but for those who do not then here’s the News, in brief. Damien was born and raised in Belgium and I think from what I gathered in Leuven to be more exact. Why did I include that? Because it was the birthplace of one of the loves of my life that I did not partake in tonight. Those of you who know me well know who I’m talking about. For the rest, google it…

Anyway, from Belgium, he went to do missionary work in Hawaii and while doing his pastoral work here, he noticed that the lepers in the community were expelled and forced to live on another island called Molokai. When the lepers asked the bishop for a priest to be stationed on the island on a more permanent basis, Damien volunteered. He faced much persecution from all over especially from the Department of Health but he persevered and served there for 16 years until he passed away from Leprosy.

The show was awesome. The actor was so good that I actually let myself get so immersed in the story that I could feel the emotions that Damien would have gone through during those periods of his life. That was love number 1, Theatre and good acting.

Second love, it was a great story. It was a story about heroism and sacrifice. It was a gripping account of fighting not against a disease of the skin like leprosy but a disease of the heart, discrimination. It was a story one could easily get lost in and therefore, a great story. (Side note: I was thinking about history and how it could actually be easily and maybe a little oversimply defined as His Story. Just a thought…)

Third love, cookies. After the show, the Newman Centre and the Catholic Campus Ministry gave out free chocolate chip cookies and soft ones at that, the ones I really love. Yum… If they gave milk as well I’d be uber-happy but ah whatever.

And then, God. The show talked about God’s love and had very good quotes about His love for us. Here are a few…

“Sometimes God gives us flaws to keep us humble.”

“Just trust in His prodigious Love.”

“Sometimes, people get called but for a few very lucky ones, we receive a call within a call when God tells us more specifically what He needs us to do for Him.”

I think I remembered these ones specifically because they all touched some parts of my heart. Kinda the same for most of the quotes I remember. I like quotes because they just put everything so succinctly and make you think about think you never thought of thinking off before.

Anyway, remember I said it was a free performance. Well, it was a free performance that cost me ten bucks but it was the easiest ten bucks I’ve paid for anything since I’ve gotten here. The performance was free but anyone who wanted to donate to the Damien Centre was welcome to do so. In all honesty, I did not treat it like a donation but more of a fair payment for a good show.

Upon conversion, it cost me twice as much as watching the Omen but I had an infinitely better time and so the math made perfect sense. It was well worth it.