Happenings on this Voyage

On the eve of the seventh anniversary of my father’s passing, I cannot help but reflect on the life he lived, the father he was to me, and the years that have passed that I have been without him. My father was, is, and will always be my greatest inspiration, my greatest motivation and my most humble foundation, my Bapa Udi. Anyone who knew my father, can attest to his consistency, his discipline, his dependability, and soft-hearted nature. My father was… Welcoming My earliest memory of my father was in a full home, our home with 5 doors that all opened at sunrise and closed only when the house turned in for the night. In this home we all lived, my parents, all my siblings, several cousins, and my maternal grandparents, all of whom stayed with us – and regular visits and sleepovers by my paternal grandparents. I remember that when my father was around, which he always was, he made sure there was food and coffee and that everyone was well-fed and taken care of. The fi...

I was raised in a home where I learned very early on the value of keeping your word. As a child, this meant that I could trust that whatever either of my parents said, no matter how small or how big, was going to be done as they had said. Back then I did not know this is what equates commitment when you become an adult. Becoming a teenager and then a young adult, I learned that value of commitment, which started out as commitment to what you say. This would eventually be the beginning of me valuing dependability, reliability, and accountability and they have become a great part of my life.  I attach great importance to the latter three words in addition to commitment. It saddens and disappoints me when people do not commit to what they say and therefore render themselves as unreliable people. These words are not just mere words. These words in school mean something. In school it determines whether the division of labor in a group project will be fair. At the workpla...

So August 25 comes around, I'm tired from the 2 weeks of CBI but a bit excited and anxious to actually start my program.  Mind you, I have no clue as to what the program entails. Remember that thing I said about ambiguity, yes, it's still lurking around on the first day of the program.  By now, I had already met most of the people in my program, but still a bit nervous.  This is the day of the actual program, we have gone over the self-introductions, we are beginning to figure out who we can joke around with in a certain manner, who is still kind of serious.  But all that aside, we walk in to our very first lecture, in the Pacific Room, which is organized very much like the UN General Assembly Hall, half circle shapes and each person with a microphone. Pretty cool huh. Then the lecture starts..... The Pacific Plan... I immediately panic. I skimmed through the plan and went through all the websites that were listed on the pre-arrival assignment and even took down s...

Thank goodness for fast internet connection so I can actually update my blog.  So..... I arrived on Honolulu on August 12, two days before my 28th birthday supposedly to start the Pacific Islands Leadership Program. I know it sounds very ambiguous, and believe me it still is ambiguous to me, a month later. But that's for another conversation, or it may very well pop up sometime in this post. Haha. Anyway, little did I know that I was arriving 2 weeks prior to the actual start of the program.  The first 2 weeks was spent participating in the Community Building Institute (CBI), this 2-week long thing where all the participants of any East-West Center program are to attend to get to know more about Hawaii, their programs, the center, and to mingle and network with each other.  So that was alright for the first week, and then the second week came along and it became more apparent that CBI had overstayed its welcome.  Assignments that could have been completed withi...

Hello Everyone!!! So I haven't blogged in a while but here are some updates of what's happened in the weeks past. I think the pictures should suffice for a while at least until I catch up with my school work so I can blog again. To be continued.... on the next post!  Da Wan Beach  Figuring out if the water is too cold to go in on this overcast day Beach Volleyball  Vino - Our Party Planner  Manny Goose - best cousin ever!!!  Party Bus Fabi and Felix  I turned around and thought this would be a good picture  Beach Party - It was too windy for a bonfire  Bartender from Brass Monkey giving me a free shot  Success!!! I learned how to ride a scooter!  After a Foam Party- just chilling at the Rendezvous Bar  Hotel grounds - heading out to the beach Early morning on the beach

As mentioned in the previous posts, I said I would take more photos around Taiwan. I could take the touristy photos of manicured and perfect landscapes, but that would only be one side of Taiwan. So instead, I've taken just random photos of the places I've visited over the weekend.     This is my roomie Kaiyo! We went on a little adventure at a place in Taipei we call Manila Town.  You can find all sorts of goodies from the Philippines and some things we don't find normally anywhere else in Taiwan such as Gatorade. Haha. Yes, they don't sell Gatorade in most stores in Taiwan.  So we got lost and walked in an alley and found a chain of markets. I thought I'd take a picture of this for you all to see. So that's a nice animal print dress on a mannequin that you see to your left. It's a small shop that sells dresses, scarves, and some dressy shoes. Right next to it is live chicken in the cage.  Cuck-a-doodle-doo! This is an upclose p...

           I've been thinking a lot lately about my family, especially the last couple of days. I've reconnected with an uncle of mine who's in Afghanistan, reconnected with my family in Chuuk, and had a few conversations and emails with my bestie Ribka also about family.            Recently, I heard news of a friend's grandpa whom I know and saw briefly the last time I was home cause he was sick and didn't spend as much time on the front patio of his house that I've been accustomed to seeing every time I go over for a visit. I'll admit, I don't know him personally but I do know him as Grandpa. All the stories I've heard about him are nothing short of that of a man who has showed deep and unconditional love for his family. I was no stranger to this treatment myself. Even when I visited while my friend was not there, I would greet him as Grandpa, that's who he was. And he would be there sitting on his chair, with his cigarette...