A night walk along the beach

I went to Jumeirah public beach tonight. The flow of thoughts and emotions were stuffing my mind and I could not stay home letting my brain filled up with silly speculation. I took my ipod and hit the road.

The beach was quiet as expected. I rolled up my pants and put on my beach sandals. Walking for a few minutes, I started to listen to those songs that I posted during past days.

Under the pale moonlight along with tiny waves, I stopped walking along the beach and started to wonder where this dark water and dark sky meet on the horizon. When this song was playing on my iPod, I suddenly had to sit down and take a deep breath. I stayed like that for an hour.

On the way back to my car, I realised my eyes were wet.

Lingering attachment..? Woo,... What are you waiting for? Why are you waiting?

Listen to Sometimes it snows in April from blip.fm.

Where will you go by Kip Winger

Winger was quite different from other hair metal bands from 80s. Always well-arranged melodic sound seasoned with rather charismatic on-stage performance. After the band faded away, Kip Winger continued with his solo career with a number of soulful tunes.

He recently came back with a new solo album with this beautiful song 'Where will you go'.

I could not find this song yet on blip.fm or youtube yet. However, last.fm has a 30 second preview to this song. Try this out.

This song is on my iTunes all the time just as some of my fave songs once had been. I feel that this song explains a lot.......

---

Tears are running through your make up
See the water touch the ground
I never know quite how to love you
Only how to let you down

Every night I hear you wake up
From a dream that never came
But something's keeping you from running
Afraid to be alone again and again

Where will you go
Now that you know the laughter
May not last very long
And how will you know
That you won't be walking out
But your heart will still be holding on

Through the garden to the sidewalk
Hearing the words tearing you down
You thought that nothing left could faze you
Watching the water touch the ground

Where will you go
Now that you know the laughter
May not last very long
And how will you know
That you won't be walking out
But your heart will still be holding on

How many times I never gave up
A simple love for simple love
I never know quite how to know you
But I know I'm still in love

Where will you go
Now that you know the laughter
May not last very long
And how will you know
That you won't be walking out
But your heart will still be holding on

Things I plan to do within a few years

• Annapurna circuit trekking
  This 300km trek around the Annapurna mountains in Nepal has been one of my ultimate destinations as a backpacker. Now that I live not so far from Nepal, I think this is something I should do before I leave Dubai.
  
• Cruise trip in the Mediterranean
  A cruise trip always means soomething very special and very romantic. This should happen before I get out of this age bracket.
  
• Traveling around Latin America
  After I read 'Fingerprints of the gods' by Graham Hancock, I became immensely interested in looking around ancient heritages and its unique culture throughout Latin America. As my previous attempt of going to Guatemala back in university didn't work out, I would love to make this trip before too late.
  
• Learning another language
  As I would travel to Latin America, I am currently thinking of Spanish, Yet, who knows?
  
• Sailing on a yacht in the Atlantic
  Couldn't be too difficult. One of my good friends got a yacht and he goes on sailing every now and then
  
• Become a PADI dive-mater
  I am an advanced open water diver already. So this should not be difficult.
  

Life is a constant change

I just saw this line from a friend's Facebook profile. Great words of wisdom.

Life is a constant change...Love is the greatest surprise! Friendship is your best defense...Maturity comes with responsibilities & Death is just around the corner...SO LISTEN... Expect little...Assume nothing...Learn from your mistakes...Listen to your heart...Take care of your friends...Treasure your family...Achieve goals...Cry cause of laughter...Laugh cause of pain...& Always remember, Life is the best gift...

Out of Africa. Out of Africa.

Back in early 2007, I was pleading with myself that the harsh emotion that I was suffering from was only a byproduct of a necessary healing process. That rootless sense of longing was just another chemical reaction in my brain.

Out of Africa was the most memorable epic story for me. Well, I have not been lucky enough to find many movies/novels emotionally compatible. Yet, this story of a Danish baroness, Karen, has electrified me when I watched it again a few years back. I felt as if I was a Karen.

I was growing disappointed and depressed by a relationship which confined me within the walled garden, even though it was beautifully cut out for my comfort and safety. I felt protected but my liberal disposition had to get me out of there.

When I looked out to the world and found another one. I felt my patience was constantly challenged by being together with a person with different understanding on being liberal and being engaged.

When Karen was facing her reality, being left out there in Ngong Hills without Denys, she finally made a reconciliation to herself, of what she was and what she wanted to seek in her life.

Every time I watch this movie, especially every time I picture Karen making her last words in front of Denys's graveyard, I felt a sense of assimilation. These days this Karen in myself brings me back to the time when I was meaninglessly looking at my bedroom wall back in 2007. What do I want in life again. Where does this surge of emotions lead me. Why have I tried to find it in another person else than myself.

Listen from the blip.fm. Click

I had a farm in Africa. I had a farm in Africa.

Cook Islands, a heaven on earth

Cook islands was my ultimate destination since I met Robert back in 1996 in Coober Pedy, Australia. After Australia, he was going to fly to Cook Islands. Later on when I lived in Germany, I visited him in Munich and had a chance to look at his photo album. I knew I had to go to this place at some point in my life.

Last year (2008), my itchy feet took me away from Dubai, down to Southern hemisphere. For 6 weeks, I went to Australia, Cook Islands, New Zealand, then Thailand.

These are some of pix from Cook Islands. It was truly a heaven on earth.

Have I told you lately that I love you?

Originally written by Van Morrison, Rod sang this song again in 1993 for his wife. Along with a gin & tonic, this tune perfectly drifts my soul away this evening.

Listen to this song on blip.fm, click

Have I told you lately that I love you
Have I told you there's no one else above you
Fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do

For the morning sun and all its glory
Meets the day with hope and comfort too
You fill my life with laughter, somehow you make it better
Ease my troubles, that's what you do

There's a love that's defined
And it's yours and it's mine like the sun
And at the end of the day
We should give thanks and pray to the one, to the one

Have I told you lately that I love you
Have I told you there's no one else above you
Fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do

There's a love that's defined
And it's yours and it's mine like the sun
And at the end of the day
We should give thanks and pray to the one, to the one

And have I told you lately that I love you
Have I told you there's no one else above you
You fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Take away all my sadness, fill my life with gladness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do
Take away all my sadness, fill my life with gladness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Surge of emotions

I finally came back from a trip to Fujairah, on the East coast of UAE. The beautiful resort, great company, nice drive. Royal Beach Hotel was better than I thought, although it was a bit crowded by family with lots of noisy kids running around the pool all the time.

Well on the surface, it was a good trip. I wanted to see where I stand, how I was doing in my life. The weekend was full of emotions. Yet, talking about my past, how things have gone not so well. In fact, this drained me out a lot.

As they grow older and more experienced, some people get smarter in expressing their heart and sharing feeling with others. Me? Well I feel I am a baby out there on the beach being left out alone. More and more these days. The surge of emotions can come at any second and sweep me away from my own sentimental experiment.

I have been out there for past few weeks. The experiment that I haven't carried out before. It was like a roller coaster going into a dangerous circle. After a month, I only realised rushing into a certain state of feeling and emotions could only make things worse and put me in a unstoppable plunge.

Now feeling like going back to ground zero. feeling like falling off again.

An evening at Sushi buffer dinner

One of my good friends, Anit, has just moved to the Address hotel residence. Jeremy, Okhyun, Anit and I decided to have this nice sushi buffet dinner with unlimited sake at Fazaris restaurant at the hotel. Food was good and unlimited *ehem* warm dokuri sake was faaaaaaaaaaaaantastic for the price of USD 50, AED 185.

If you like to have a boozy night with quality sushi, I highly recommend this place on Wednesdays.

Insomnia or passion for gourmet ,,, or insanity?

Look what I did this morning, at the expense of a much necessary night sleep. Sheer excitement of making sushi at 3am.... :D

All the material ready on the kitchen table. It is being rolled and rolled.


Now, it is being sliced.


Yummy... Now put into a small plastic box.


Lovely... no? It tasted very good.

This 'Gimbap' reminds me of this happy feeling of going on a picnic. Along with orange-flavoured fanta, Gimbap is the icon of school excursion to nature. I was sitting around under the tree with some of my close friends and we exchanged our Gimbap.

What do you need?

• Gim (Nori)
• Rice seasoned with vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, a tiny bit of salt
  
• Pickled radish
• Egg
• Ham
• Razor-clam / crab-meat
• tuna with a bit of mayo
  

Gran Canaria, back in 2002

Back in 2002, I visited Gran Canaria right before Christmas. This Spanish island was truly impressive!


A view from a cathedral over Las Palmas - 1



A view from a cathedral over Las Palmas - 2


This is the cathedral. :)


A view from my hotel room in Playa del Ingles


Maspalomas sanddune. Gosh, I was still young at that time.


Resort area next to Maspalomas


Maspalomas sanddune

The true meaning of 'religion'

Last one.

The true meaning of ‘religion’	September 14, 2006
Guest entry by Woo Jeong Kim	Unsubscribe
Ken: Wrapping up a tour around the world, Woo Jeong Kim (Korean) concludes his three part series! During the winter of 1996, I travelled for 3 months around India. I first landed in Delhi and travelled south down to Kanyakumari via Rajasthan, Goa, and Kerala, then went up to Calcutta (Kolkatta). To me, India was a sacred destination, or more or less the country represented an ultimate backpacking destination among backpackers at that time. Once while camel-safariing in Rajasthan, I glanced at a piece of a bright-coloured dress that had been deserted in a sand-dune. Naked little kids standing before some gorgeous castles. From deserted remains of Vijayanagar empire to the mesmerizing Taj mahal, from aggressive camels in the burning Thar desert to White-sanded Goa beaches. All the imaginations of the country were extremely contrasty, just like that. As all others who have travelled around this magnificent and mysterious subcontinent, I have gained extraordinary experiences and memories. I was amazed, I was shocked, I was overwhelmed, I was pleased, I was rewarded. Out of thousand other special memories from India, I would like to share with you the most important one. For about a week in February 1997, I stayed at a guesthouse in Kovalam in southern India. (Kovalam is a well-known beach resort in Kerala.) Whilst there, I had the chance to see another philosophical as well as cultural world. I saw it through the eyes of an Indian. He was the guesthouse manager who also worked as the hotel masseur. He explained that during meditation, he prayed to three gods in his heart. The first was Shiva and the second, Krishna. The last one was a Swiss lady, a massage customer the previous year. I was surprised and asked "I understand you may have fallen in love with her, but how could she be a god that you pray to alongside Shiva and Krishna?" He replied. "She gives me great comfort and peace of mind. A god represents an idea or a feeling to me. I respect the woman so I pray to her. Religion is not concerned so much about the physical form we give to it but more for the discipline and lessons we take from it." I was temporarily speechless. For me, it was a moment of true recognition of religion. I finally realized the reason why I could not respect garish and colourful figures of Hindu gods, often strangely decorated and why they disturbed me. I was looking just at the physical forms, not into what they meant and what they represented. I spent the rest of that day at a little temple near the beach thinking about what and how he has enlightened me. After travelling around the world for some time, I felt I was open-minded enough to another culture. However, somewhere deep down in my heart, I was still blinded by the superficial understanding and exploration into other cultures. It was clear to me since that day. Being open-minded to another culture is not just learning about it, but making a continual effort to open eyes beyond our personal boundaries of philosophy and belief. Woo Sunset on Kovalam beach, February 1997 Anjuna beach in Goa. The evening was unforgettably beautiful, January 1997 55m high unbelievably colourful Gopuram at Madurai temple, February 1997

Anything is possible when you have a dream

Story continues...

Anything is possible, when you have a dream	September 13, 2006
Guest entry by Woo Jeong Kim	Unsubscribe
Ken- In the middle of his three part series, Woo Jeong Kim (Korean) continues his story! My first backpacking trip around Australia was an eye-opening experience to me. When I first landed in Sydney, I did not speak a word of English and everything felt just new and strange to a 19-year-old boy from Korea. Everyday was a discovery and an learning experience of a different language and culture. Indeed after this trip, I realised that two month period of time on the road was much more beneficial than my two years at university. After returning from Australia, I decided not to go back to university but to continue my discovery of different cultures and lifestyles by travelling to Canada. In a small hostel room in Vancouver with a view to the Pacific, I was wondering how I could make this trip more meaningful. Then I decided to hitchhike across the continent, from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Initially, I was afraid. During these trips I encountered frustrating cultural and linguistic barriers. In many ways my decision to travel through an unknown country was reckless and the uncertainty was one of the biggest challenges I have had to cope with. But I wanted to prove to myself that I was no longer afraid of new environments and achieved this without assistance. After three weeks from that day I had gained many unforgettable memories along the road including facing a grizzly bear family on a small scenic road in Alberta, sleeping overnight on the road in the prairie and being immersed in an angry mob in Quebec City. Arriving in Halifax on the east coast I immediately ran into the Atlantic and jumped in with my shoes on. That day I wrote in my diary the most important lesson of my life: 'Anything is possible, when you have a dream.' Woo I would like to share some of the pix that I have taken on the road. Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Canada, June 1996 Moraine Lake, it was by far the most beautiful lake that I have ever seen in my life.

Travel : Life on the road

This is a part of MBA diary entries I made at IMD, about great memories of being a humble and reckless backpacker.

Life on the road	September 12, 2006
Guest entry by Woo Jeong Kim	Unsubscribe
Ken: While Rafael celebrates the birth of Ana Maria, Woo Jeong Kim (Korean) offers a three part series on travel, life, and where things take us. Enjoy! There have been many important factors and turning points that have driven my life to where I stand at this moment. However, above all others, travel has been the most important element which has obviously expanded the boundaries of my life. I have had itchy feet since I was very young. After one of my uncles returned from his backpacking trip to Europe in early 80s, I asked him to unfold his dramatic stories on the road. I often got excited by picturing myself in similar settings. I knew that someday I would make my own stories. I could not wait for the day to come to go on a backpacking trip on my own. Finally, in December 1995, I bought a small backpack and booked a flight ticket to Sydney. When the plane was taking off, my heart was pounding from the sheer excitement. I was wound up by the challenges that I was going to face. My life on the road started that way. After several months in Australia, I would later go on to Canada, South East Asia, India and Europe. Travel has brought me lessons beyond simple cultural curiosity and pleasant memories. It has shown me that life is much more diverse than I could ever imagine. Being open-minded does not mean just accepting things without prejudice but actively exploring them beyond the boundaries, and most importantly how to enjoy and deal with challenges. If I had not been courageous enough to travel alone around the world, I guess I would not have wanted to pursue such a challenge at IMD. Those experiences on the road have enriched my soul and made me realise that there are a lot more things that I could learn and do beyond my home. I would have been complacent with what life in Korea could offer me. On returning from months of travel from Canada in 1996, I made a promise to myself that I would live and enjoy my life just as I had done as a backpacker, being open-minded and mobile. I was young and reckless but full of energy and passion, willing to challenge any boundaries that constrained my life. Years have passed since. Even though it has not been exactly like what I had expected, my life so far has had many challenges and moments of excitement. Being back in Singapore currently for a series of job interviews, I felt thrilled at how my life has changed over the time. Indeed I may not be that far from what I wanted to be. My life is and always will be mobile in many ways as I had wished while travelling. During the next two days, I would like to share some of the valuable lessons and episodes that I have experienced on the road. Maybe this will motivate some of you to spend a wild and adventurous vacation of your own! Woo Byron bay in Australia, December 1995

Butterfly in the stomach

I need to be in the airport in about 5 hours to pick som'one up. Someone important. I spent past 2 good hours working in the kitchen to prepare sushi (maki-sushi). Egg, radish, ham, razor-clam meat, sea weed, tuna, seasoned-rice, ginger. Everything's ready!
.
Ah, I am feeling a bit nervous. I feel that butterfly is coming back to my stomach. :-)

Blackberry wins

It's still too early to make this statement, as I got this Blackberry curve late less than 24 hours ago. Yet, I am very impressed by its simple user interface and fantastic data comm tariff. The idea of being 'connected all the time just thrills me. It is simple, affordable, intuitive, 'light', small and highly functional!

iPhone was nothing but a toy to me in the end. I loved the way it looks. Yet, the virtual keyboard was still cumbersome and it eventually led me to make some ridiculous typos in some texts to clients.

Will never go back to iPhone, I am sure.

Insomnia

I have been listening to 'Fake Plastic Trees' during past hours. The play count of this song on my iTunes is now 70. This Radiohead song truly put into an infinite loop of emotions. After unexpected phone calls from ex's, I realised again how fragile I still am. Can we ever do without melodrama? At least would I ever become less susceptible to this emotional hiccup?

I need to move on. We all need to move on.

2.30am. I am still sleepless.

Are we having fun?

"Are we having fun?"

I just read this single line post by another twitterer. Why are we struggling everyday? Why are suffering from rootless anxiety and constipated heart? Last year on the way back from Cook Islands, I swore to myself that I would focus all my efforts on making life simple and beautiful. Months down road, I feel my life has strayed from where I intended to go.

I need to focus again... because life is indeed simple and fun. Only that way, I would be happy.