DiamondK going DEEP

I had a great time yesterday scuba diving. There's definitely something cool about being 40 feet under the ocean. I couldn't believe how easy it was. After a 30 minute class on all things diving, we did a few underwater tests and we were off into the blue. We saw sharks, turtles, eels, crabs and tons of fish. I also learnt that turtles are really curteous. One of them was swimming towards a fellow diver who was in the turtle's path. When the turtle reached the diver, he waited until the diver got out of his way and then proceeded onward.

I am late for a windsurfing lesson today already, but I also did some running yesterday! 4.4 miles in 39 minutes. Pretty leisurely, but fun nonetheless. I also managed to fall off a ledge during the run while jumping between two ledges. It didn't stop bleeding all night. Its a deep one. Chunk of my skin is missing. This one hurt!
All Patched up!
You know, I am putting lots of thoughts down everyday about people and life, but now I am really looking for the big thing. The meaning of this trip. There's gotta be some big lesson that I can take back from this trip and keep it close to heart forever. We'll see. I am searching.

Getting Schooled!

Yesterday was the first day in my WHOLE life when I went forward with my kicks. I had an excellent coach. John swims channels whenever he feels like it. He's an olympic level long distance swimmer and he was helping me improve my freestyle stroke. At the start, I was abysmal. He was chuckling :-). But with a few minor corrections in my form, I was doing awesome! When I put the fins on, I was like a motor boat, just flying across the water. People used to make fun of me cause I'd go backwards with my kicks :-D.

Funny, but it took a little guts to admit I suck in front of everyone, but with the right attitude to try to learn something, someone was able to help me get to the next level. AND I am not stopping now. Off to the beach to do some more swimming!

Downtime Day was Yesterday

Wow, wow, what a day yesterday was! Since I woke up more sore than usual cause of the 5 hr hike, I decided to call it a rest day today in terms of excercise. Instead, I decided to work on my ultra brilliant super duper unbelievable incredible idea. I ended up at starbucks in Ala Moana mall and started reading the book on UML (Unified Modeling Language). That book will be my guide to designing my idea into something tactile. Incredible book.

Well, surely enough, while I was at a cafe, I started talking to a couple of strangers. Obviously, they aren't strangers anymore. Ray is the striking gentleman in the picture. He is a true free spirit in the midst of self discovery. After working so many years under the "head" (which I am doing also), he decided to leave it all to pursue peace of mind. Now, he's been living in Hawaii for three years and he's never been happier! Currently, he's a freelancer and he's focusing on writing his own novels. Talking to him open doors to new ideas for me. Folks, this is rare that someone gives me something new to think about. He talked about how there's a link between the human collective and each individual and how that link affects us daily. Some aspects are positive and some things aren't, but they shape our lives and guide us to our destiny! I had never thought about this concept before in detail so now I have some more thinking to do. Claudia is the beautiful lady in the picture. She is a marine biologist who left the blase life of materialistic pursuits in long island to do what she loves the most. That move takes a lifetime of courage since everyone else is doing the path that was obviously paved for them! She's very young, but has the intellect of someone far more experienced. From our conversation, I noticed that the best part about her is that she's ready to learn new things and keep an open mind to whats out there. Thats remarkably different that most people who have their opinions and will not budge. This point touches back to my blog about variable change and how someone who can deal with it is most likely to achieve what he/she desire. The most succesful people (with regard to any goal) are the ones with open minds. And by success, I don't mean wealth. To each person, success is different. It could be to discover a new species. It could be to help the poor. It could be to raise your kids such that they have a better life.

Speaking of success, my goal in my twenties is financial freedom. My ultra brilliant super duper unbelievable incredible idea is how I am going to get there. As I read the UML book, I started to see how I could put this thing together. I have this dream and using this book, I am seeing the steps I need to take to get to where I am going!! Its SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL! I took my first steps yesterday on how to get my idea off the ground. Here's another beautiful part. Actually its very beautiful. Its the most beautiful thing. All the resources I need to achieve my goal are all within my means. I want everyone who read this sentence to realize how incredibly lucky I am. There's a lot of people out there who have passion, who have ambition, who have drive, but they just don't have the resources. They can't get the resources. Thats a sad situation to be in and majority of the world faces this problem. Lucky, I am (Yoda style).

Ok, I am off to swim today and maybe I can find a swimming lesson to help me out with my kicking.

Sunday's a great day for some INTENSE hiking on Wiliwilinui

Just look at me. Thats a happy face.

THATS WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!!! See the bright light of truth right behind me. Its Luminous.

This hike lead to top of a mountain high as the himalayas. It was so rainy and foggy and windy that we all thought we were f****** at times. Nonetheless, we forged on to the summit. The ridges were we walking on were only a few feet wide at times and we were in slippery mud. Deceptively, the white out fog made us totally oblivious to the bone crunching fall we could have taken. GOOD, otherwise we probably wouldn't have gone. I was trying to take a picture of a huge valley with my digi cam, but I was just getting white out

Now think about it, you are on a mountain looking over a ledge onto a huge valley, supposedly. BUT there's no direct proof. Its blocked!!! There's supposed to be this grand view. What view? I don't see it. Is it really grand? Is it all what people said? Can I trust them? I was asking myself these questions. I was definitely not getting the feeling of inspiration that I wanted. I was doubtful of the whole thing. We could have been just a few feet off the ground for all I knew. Well, now I have something to say about my bad attitude :-).


Sometimes I HAVE TO JUST BELIEVE. Give trust when its just so hard. I am so afraid to put ourselves on the line. I have been duped so many times; I am jaded. Now, I say PISH-POSH! I'll use my gut. I'll not let slight setbacks ruin my times. I'll look at the big picture.


There is a view! It is inspiring! I'll go back to see it before I leave hawaii. I'll touch more on this subject at other times as I learn more about it. I didn't get a chance to think during the hike cause I had so many people with me to talk to.

Everyone in the group just had something very cool about them. They were all so open and so relaxed. They are all going to live long and happy lives. I feel privileged to have met them. And so we finished the trail with great passion and drive and lived to tell the story to our grandchildren, but we got really muddy.

Ok, I am going to go watch Serendipity.

Saturday Night FUN FUN FUN

Yes, Yes, once in a while diamondK gets a chance to go out also. This time it was through the Oahu new residents yahoo group. The organizer, Shilpa, is the most wonderful and amazing person I have EVER met. We met at Mike's Garage (an art gallery with some nice paintings) for an improv show at their theatre where they probably auction nice paintings at other times. This show was the most hilarious piece of comedy I have been to in years!! Laughter is the best cure for anything. Anything. Having the ability to make someone laugh, its is equivalent of being a saint. That 90 minutes of laughing made so much of my lingering stress melt away just like butter. Every moment I spent blinding the people on the stage with my pearly whites, was a moment when the world didn't exist anymore. There was no tax deadline on the 15th, there was no terrorist marathon bomber who blew up the Sri Lankan dude (why make marathoners look so bad dammit, we are peaceful people, we get excited by running for goodness sake), there was no spoon. I'll like to take all of my friends to a comedy show when I return.

Well, Shilpa, at first sight was a very beautiful woman. Wearing red dress, kinda like those romance novels which we all have read secretly. "Lady in red, blah blah blah .... dancing blah blah." I don't remember the song. But anyway, beauty doesn't do it for me anymore. I have talked (etc etc) to SO many beautiful girls who think they are SO amazing, its just not my thing anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'll still look and talk anyway, but with no heart. If they are gone, I'll forget before the next time I blink. What I look for is way deeper. I look at their soul and and I look into the depths of their character. Things they probably don't even know about themselves. But I have been kicked around by some smart girls, too smart ain't good, hehe. This girl has one great thing about her (probably among many things). She has sensitivity to her surroundings. She'll is one of those good people who'll help a stranger when someone needs help just to do good and expect nothing in return. She can understand where others are coming from. All that good stuff. Funny part is people like her are often misunderstood. And usually, people like her live stressful lives because majority of the people (who aren't like that) and who are close to her, don't understand why (oh why) she's the way she is. Well, for her (or you) its key to be with a person who's similar to her (or you) in that one regard. It'll make for a grand life. One that'll live on forever in the hearts of the people who lived it.

We thought about calling it a night, but we ended up taking the tour of downtown honolulu nightlife. I loved it. Threw down a couple of goose martinis, shaken not stirred. Saw so many places to hang out. Shilpa knew exactly who has happy hours and at what times. She's good with numbers. Afterwards, we went to her favorite joint in waikiki and listened to live music and had very deep conversation. I almost cried a few times!! Sissy. We had to top off the night with a walk on the waikiki beach. It was tremendous at night. Just the sound of the surf and the dark ocean till the horizon.

My best night in Hawaii.

Saturday Morning Surfing

So I got up this Saturday morning and decided to (duh) surf again. Hauled my board down to Waikiki beach and it was an AMAZING day. I saw the bright sun gently touching the soft sand and bunches of sun bathers were hogging the sun by casting their shadows. The water was a sparkling blue with a touch of green. Just beautiful. I took another look at the beach bums. I was like, lazy buggers! Then I jumped in and paddled out to the horizon where I saw a couple of waves, but by the time I got there the waves were gone and were crashing much more inland. Fiddlesticks. The tourists on a massive catamaran were staring at me and taking pictures. I gave them a wave (I was the one who needed a wave), but I could imagine the news, "Newbie surfer gets run over by catamaran." I furiously paddled out of the way till I was pooped. After chilling for a bit, I realized I probably should paddle back since I'd take me a while to get back against the current. While leasurely paddling back, I thought what is it that guarantees the success at anything, whether it be career, sports, getting laid, or even making a difference. The answer is simple. Its just pure ATTEMPTS! "Just keep at it," we have all heard that, but its actually not that simple. While doing multiple attempts, there one thing you, as a master of his/her life, have to deal with.

Variable Change

Simply saying, things change and you gotta adapt and you gotta adapt fast! I struggle at this cause I am a person who's works through his heart. If I believe in what I am doing, I will keep going against the odds. As oppose to a person who works with his/her mind, who'll know when to give up and choose his/her battles wisely. Lets me give you an example, I hurt my right knee really badly running a half-marathon in beginning of Feb in Maui Run for the whales marathon. Before the injury, I was going at a break neck pace into getting into peak shape. I had lost 20 lbs in about 5 months and gain a tremdous amount of fitness (I ran a marathon in Dec 07). I was running 7 miles a day and I was tireless. I had to contain myself, hold myself back, otherwise, I'd keep running till I touched the horizon. Well, until my knee broke. Since then I been in a spiral till now. And the old me would still be in a spiral until my knee totally healed. Behold, I am different now, I can deal with variable change which in this case is my bad knee. After waiting for a month to the knee to improve, in March I started swimming at the campbell community center. If my legs don't work, I'll use my arms! It didn't come naturally. I still spent time running on a bad knee, thereby delaying its recovery. Now I am surfing almost everyday and paddling MILES and MILES! It was slow though cause I was depressed from my injury and started to lose the drive. Those pesky emotions! This whole change was slow, cause I was so dedicated to running and running FAST that I just didn't want to give up that goal. Well, a person thinking with his/her mind will find this change obvious and that person (maybe YOU) are better adapted to live life and what it throws at you.

Just then I hit a reef! Can you believe like hundred yards out there was a reef about 1 foot deep? I was stuck!! Also, my arms were running out of juice paddling for so long. I look at the guys in kayaks with a sneer, (variable change) got off my board, lifted it up and threw it over the reef and was off in 30 seconds. Cha-Ching!

Birthday Surfing

Thank you to everyone who wished me happy bday yesterday. I really felt that I have so many great friends! Its amazing!

Guess what I rented my surfboard! Its a 9 footer tanker, yeehaw! Check out the white beauty with mini red stripes.

Then I went surfing again yesterday. Thats twice in 3 days. Was out there for over 2 hours and caught 1 wave... 1 wave!! There were no waves in Waikiki. I probably paddled for miles, I was more than a few football fields out. There were sailboats passing around me. I realized one thing out there. Life is about compromise for most people. My surf instructor from the day before was buffed. Kinda like what I wanna be, but he was asking me for a tip cause he makes only $8.50 an hour (I gave him 20 bucks later and doubled his salary). He said he's been in Oahu for 10 years and thought he'd be earning more by now. On the other hand, he said he has a beautiful finance and loves living with her. So he has two out of three things that a man needs. Love and Body, but no Money. I was thinking all I have is career. Even that is in shambles right now cause I dunno what to do next and cause of polictics. My girlfriend and I broke up last year and I got out of shape over last two and half years. So all is going south... BUT the funny part is that I am better than ever before at all things. There's few people you can find who know how to what I do better. I can run 15 miles in any given day. I was playing around with 4-5 girls at a time, until recently when I decided to just go for one special lady (You know who you are =]). There you go, Money, Body and Love. Maybe, I AM JUST BEING AN ASSHOLE TO MYSELF!!! I need to make friends with my inner voice.