Omar Samad

Day1

06:58 Just took a nice shit and shower gonna eat soon, kinda nervous about what is to come its day 1 of the dive course. didnt sleep much only about 6h which is only thing that worries me a bit. so now im all packed up and ready to go.

21:40 Well it went a lot smoother than I thought, everything was so well organized and the whole breathing under water, flooding the mask with water and clearing it was a snap, and it was so much fun! The training and all the skills we learned put me at ease cuz i didnt understand how u did some things and excited me even more, emergency breathing techniques and all that stuff. My mind is fuzzy now just spent the last 2 hours studying that book. more 2morrow.

Day 2

• get alarm clock
• rash vest
• towel

23:10 Ok i Fuckin passed!!! was easier than i thought, 96% wasnt sure about getting all the gear or not unless I actually passed the course, but I did !!now just have to lug it around the world But man I dont care .. im gonna be entrusting my life to technology to take me below the sea, so im gonna get the best you can regardless. IM SO EXCITED!!!! hehehehe 2morrow morning we are off to sea something ive dreamed about for evar !! gonna pack up and rest.

oh yeah just before when I was walkin home from the restaurant, I heard Table Tennis.. omg , and it was a round robin night!! how could a warrior resist sharpening his sword!! some excellent players there, I eventually leveled off with this older man and we did drills and played a match he beat me, 11/9, 14/12, 11/5, 11/9 it was close, but it was his day, i was happy regardless We played till 22:30 when the club closed last 2 to leave!!!

Day 3 - Set Sail

09:26 So just woke up from a power nap, and we’re on the boat!! only I am way to excited to get on here hehehe just got my mask all cleaned up n shit, all my gear out fuk yea! The view is just incredible I still cant get over im gonna go top deck for a bit to see more of it, and maybe take a seat with the captain for a bit.

12:41 -FIRST DIVE!! wowowowowoowoowowowowowowowowowowowowo!!!!! hehehe, i was just floating upside down looking at everything, it was incredible, this big fish, (bigger than my head) was like less than 10cm away from my face! looking right at me. my mask fogged up and i had to clear it up a couple of times, which was annoying but i felt comfortable doing it so it wasnt too bad. gonna go eat ttyl!

Day 4

14:10 PADI CERTIFIED — Now offically licensed to be an open water diver!! so a few more skills dives we did, i think 2 more, where they check all the skills we learn, again and again, which is great .. really makes evreyone feel comfortable and safe . Im not sure about my partner Hannah, shes racing through everything like way too fast, i mean if it was a race.. id be number1 regardless, but this is different for me slowing down and enjoying the enviorment is what gets me off, i still cant belive how amazing it is here.

16:49 First Free Dive — un fucking believable .. the great barrier reef is the most amazing place on this planet, I had no idea such a marvelous place existed, and to be there in the water .. Stringing words together like this is no justice to how beautifull the natural earth is down there. I switched partners at this point, I couldnt stand being with Hannah anymore she was on a rush to maybe try and impress the coach, or whatever, i dont care, Im really glad that I could swap and be with Andrew, I really like this guy, even when I was staying close to him during the training dives, hes on the same tracsk as me, being safe as the number1 caution checking out the meters regularly and saying OK everytime we look at each other .. which is like couple times each min!!! heheh it makes me laugh now cuz its like an exaggeratted effort but.. it just makes everything feel so much safer and then more fun.
The coral .. the fish .. I can’t belive the kinds of fish there, and OMG we saw 2 giant sea turtles !!!!! and a shark!! white tip reef shark, it was about 4m away, but what a beautifull creature, so smooth and slick, and also I wasnt scared at all in seeing him. k (night dive briefing time)

21:58 Night Dive — Ok just got back from the night dive there was a full moon out tonite!!!.. wowowowoowoowow, feels great, there wasnt so much activity as in the wild life down there, but the ones that were out were incredible, our coach Dave pointed out a fish that blows a bubble of mucous around its self for protection .. looking at it, was just amazing.. he says that he dives there lots of times, and sees new things all the time. The whole experience of night time diving is unbelievable .. the calm serene waters, and wow saw a shark, aswell this was a baby only about 3m in lenght, but sooo pretty!! Regardless of all the fish and everything, my favourite part of that night dive was when we came up to a small gully in the coral, where the full moon jus shone right down into, and light the gully up, I found my own space away from ppl and i would just hover upside down watching my bubbles float up to the moon, just floating .. same position.. im so controlled and good at breathing and floating , and swimming now this stuff is a breeze and again being with Andrew as a buddie makes the whole experience that much better. comparted to how i felt on the first dive with Hannah, having her rush off like that. heh well Desert time Mathais is an amazing cook as much as he is in person, really spoiling us i think its a chocolate cake if not mistaken!!

11:44 All Good Things; nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo we started our ascent back into the land now =/ what an amazing experience im still at a loss for words when I try to think about it, I hope my pictures help paint the picture. More than just the dives the social part of talkin with group,, instructors and other divers from around the world was fantastic, so many beautifull people ive met here everybody was just so amazing to be around and it does look like theres some life long friends ive made here, just hanging out on the deck, eating , waiting for the next dive, just incredible. its just the start of a new love for me, and im feeling that totally giddy thing about it. hehehe oh btw, I did the adventure diver course while I was here so I could goto a depth of 40m now!! great for those wreck diving, and eventually check out the elora corey.!! and I started my thing on photography!!

Again only pictures will be able to help here, there was literally walls, that were 10m of coral, which connected and made caves and small passageways for exploration, they were just un real, Completely different plaent, I remember just standing at the bottom of it, and looking up, lol next thing i knew i was at 21m at depth oh no!!! i said to myself no more than 10-12m so I can make my air last longer!! hehe but im so glad I went there, it was incredible, and even so was a different planet, theres fish that we saw on our 30m deep dive that only live at that level, the lion fish.. what a beautifull fish, google it!!!

I had a camera with me so I was snapping away as much as I could, I actually went to 21m cuz of it so burned air faster, only was down there for 27min but never the less.. heh

OK, sorry for not updating with my journal from out at sea yet, but I just have to write about tonite as it was a very important night to me., and i’ll update the journal of my reef trip next!

Battles are part of my life, and for me theres nothing more exciting than a battle against someone strong., that can bring out the warrior within me. Tonite it was a battle of squash, ive been playing number 1 position for the A league on the Northern Subburbs squash team, and havent had a challenging match really, I lost a 5 set match the other week, which was dissapointing,,but the level of the player wasnt exciting and although i didnt want to loose, i wasnt really playing my best I thought. but tonite..

He was strong .. I felt the energy the moment I saw him, and I was already excited, the first game he came out strong, and fast, I drew the first blood, but he took the first game quite easily. I walked off the court smiling, and back on again, now the fun starts, I started to move and my spirit force began to take over, I could finally play someone at full strength!! and not hold back, the second game we were level with each other untill about 5/5, a very long crunching ralley now, especially for him, my movement slowed down to my comfort zone, and I was in control, but he didnt give up, I won that ralley, and right then I knew I could do it, I could hear myself screaming inside me .. I CAN. I CAN I CAN. and I went up 6/5, 7/5, 8/5 and then a couple tins by me, and he was at 8/7, oppps i did that again.. heh, i hit a dying length off his serve and then a very steady rally after that to win that game, the next game was 9/5, and by now there was no stopping me, last game was 9/2.

This feeling .. is what i live for, and doing what I love around the world .. is the most amazing feeling. Evrything just attracted into my path here, finding the club, and the people there, it felt just as warm and homely as it does in Canada, squash is a lifestyle and most amazing part of squash is the people that associate with it, everytime I played there I loved the feeling of looking up and seeing everyone in the club watching the match, the love for squash here is just amazing, something that I cant thank myself for.

State of Mind. What a fukkin night, nick i tried my best to capture some of the night, it was .. off the hook. Model T one of the hottest dnb djs in Australia was on earlier in the night, but he set the whole place up for the night, banging selection early on and more than enough to move me, i rode that shit all the way to the darkness that was soon to come.

I lost my voice a little earlier than expected, like midway through Model T’s set, but it wasnt so bad actually cuz it was a smaller club and I didnt have to yell so much anyways Crowd was soooo wikkid and the smaller club made it a lil more intimate on the floor, reminds me of those back in the day parties ^^ And actually there was 1 lil thing that made me feel abit wierded out, at one point this girl was dancin beside me and she bumped me really hard on the hip, and I was gonna say sorry, but first thing that comes out of her mouth was fuck you, so after a thought I was like bitch, fuck you too. And then she kinda just went away and that was the end of it thankfully.

But everyone eles was soo wikkid, and the sets got nice and dark.. sooo dark, and next thing we knew omar is on dnb .. uh oh!!! Breaking out all my original jungalistcal bad boy flow, and always inventing the new steps to go with the new sounds.

Raving across the world .. just incredible how regardless of where you are the energy is the same, and the people that attract to it and are there are so close to home. I love how theres a general kinda style to ppl how they dance and how they set into the drumandbass culture, over here its pretty safe, there was a big support from New Zealand krew over here with the state of mind label, and they were all pure vibes.

So after the party was done, about 05:00ish we chilled out on the streets for a bit, I ran around for a bit lookin for some food, really nice pizza place I eventually found which was top. But then, we did my 2nd most fave thing todo on a night out, AFTER PARTY!!!!! One of Johns good friends Craig was at the club too we hung out inside, and he invited us all over to his place, which was amazing!! I loved this part so much, cuz me and lady sat on the sofa witha blankey and John was playin some amazing Chicane music on the computer, which was PURFECt!! if you never heard chicane before, it’s a chill trance label, and i’ll send a link if u want. and Craig was just on a single sofa beside us, he popped on some strange dvd that seemed to flow with the music that was comin on. These kinda times remind me of when Jay used to take me round Toronto, we’d always after party till about 9:30–10:00 !!

Being with these people .. My heart just echos ripples of love throughout the footsteps in my path, when i feel the love from them for me being there that moment makes me cry, even when i think back on the faces that are in my life. Craig was a really amazing person, he gave me a gift!! and also hes a head chef somewhere and invited me to the restaurant for a free meal!! so im deffo gonna take that up

I think we just decided to get a lil closer to home now, and we moved the after party to Johns now, so we went over to Johns, and i had some of his lovely Marberries and Bannanas we chatted and chilled abit, and I was like in need of sleep with a 17:00 flight comin up to Cairns I kinda needed to get some ZzZzzzzzz. John and karryn went over to Sarahs place to chill with her a bit, shed been out partying but just ended up at a different club, not sure where but sure she had a good time.

I remember waking up shortly to Johns wakeup call, and then Lady and mom and dad came to pick me up.

Just getting back to the inner city life in AUS, spent the last 2 days at a rave deep in the bush, and .. just wow. Not only was the venue one of the most amazing places ive ever been to, but the crowd was just wikkid!!! it was smaller more intimate, and had the kinda vibe that everyone knows everyone.

I know my path as a warrior is ultimately to walk alone here, but the love in my heart makes me miss some of the magical people that have come across my life. Everyone comes into my life for a reason, and the energy that they eminate has a strong connection with me regardless, and experiencing that connection if only for a short time makes me realize how many wonderfull people and things there are in this world.

We set up our campsite some time on Saturday afternoon, and met some of our neighbours in the area, and settled into the grounds. I call this place dinosaur valley becuase the way it looked.. the trees, the raw earth, the way the hills looked reminded me of broncosaurus, well some of them anyways.

The biggest hill was North of our site and when it was approaching sundown I decided to climb it, and what a climb it was, taking my time and listening to the story of the trees as I ventured into the woods I was still in awe as I progressed. Finally reaching the top of the hill, the sudden sounds of branches breaking and footsteps startled me, it was a kangaroo!!!!! only a small one but still!! i just managed to catch a glimpse of it as it ran off, didn’t even have a chance to snap a few photos.

But as I moved onto the flat hill top, just wow. the view downwards into the valley was mainly blocked by the tall trees, but to the distance I could see clear and vividly deep into the valley, really amazing. Also the music … Psy Trance at its best very light and atmospheric to suit the time of the day, (can hear abit in one of my videos, msg me for a link) I stayed there in meditation for about an hour untill I could feel the suns energy leaving us for now., I watched the sun go down. and it was one of the most spectacular sunsets ive ever experienced, I could literally watch it moving as it set off past the tree tops on the far side. The time of sorcery was about to begin.

We raved that night .. and day, there was nothing like being on the earth surrounded by love, and energy , barefootThere were many faces that came across my path that night, and the energy is engrained within my heart. Jenatia, Hannie, Greg, Michelle .. some of their names. Hannie what a beautifull girl!!! I always love when people come up to me and talk to me, she said right away she loved the little line of hair I had under my lip.. something I came up with back then, and still carry. also how lovely my eyes were!! I love it when people feel the need to talk to me, and im sure she was happy also.

That night, we raved!!!! the energy waves from the sound form different ways inside me, trance .. its not drum and bass!! hehe the movements that I come up with are different yet beautifull in their own way, and it was amazing to experience the rave here. the different ways people move, the little sub-cultures that form here, it was pure hippy and there was so much love !!!

Nick .. The stars are different here!! so amazing, and so clear I couldnt get over it!!! I still wish I could go back to look at them some more! not that night, but that night me and Karryn curled up in our sleeping bags by the hot coals of the fire, and slept under the stars, what a beautifull sleep. we laughed and giggled for a while, untill sleep. John chose the car after the temperature began to drop.

I loved every minute while we were there.

I woke shortly before sun rise, and while it was still dark out it made the fire up. to me there has always been something magical about building a fire under the stars, and sitting there I spent hours in meditation, even just laying down beside the fire and looking at time. Some of my visions were magnificant that night, but that is another story.

Oh, so during the day there were many flies and were kind of annoying I discovered that when I stood by a tree that they would not come near me. and didnt think much of it, but that morning I was being harassed, and it just clicked to me that its because they are eculaptus trees! quickly i grabbed a nearby branch that had fallen, broke some of the leaves up and rubbed on my face and neck, stuffed the branches down my shirt so the leaves hung over my face and viola !! no more bug problems!! and i Looked soooo kool also (Sorry Nick forgot to snap a pic =/ i know.. i know)

That morning 2 warriors came across my path, Jimmy .. a native Aboriginal that has lost his path, and Nick a travelling companion of his. He shared with me tales of his travels in search of his roots, he walked with everything he owned in his bag, a few photos, and some other small items, he made his way all across Australia, he only gave me a glimpse of his face but it was enough.

amazing.. just finihsed watching naruto on the plane to aus, im crying still. but man looking out the window .. one of the most amazing sites ive ever see, this truly is the land of the rising sun, i been sneeking peeks every now and then while i was watching naruto but man.. the colours ive never seen before, the suns tint is bringing out the blues and hues, … just amazing, i could even see the stars when it was first creeping out, now its a little bit more lighter outside but still .. AUS time is 05:29, so 1h 30min to go!!!

im soo excited can’t belive it, im actually gonna stay with ladyk .. funny how we lost contact for couple of years, and was able to pick up back where we left off and also how warm and inviting she was allowing me to stay with her. Truly an amazing person, I really look forward to spending time with her and learning her story a little bit at a time while im there. Besides all the sites and adventures.

Just being in the airport i was all excited about japan, getting closer to AUS makes me all excited about that now!! being just above the clouds .. woowo i can see the formation and shapes so clearly now its a little more brighter. i slept about 4 hours tonight so not feeling that bad, when i woke up i knew i wasnt able to get back to sleep so perfect time to pull it out. ;0

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Omar Samad

sugoi!! just landed in narita tokyo airport, not too long ago, the flight was actually pretty nice!! i had a glass of wine with dinner on the flight over, and i passed out completely after it!!
woke up with like 2h left in the flight!! and the service was sooo nice on there. Just getting here man, i know it’s only a glimpse of the culture but shit its amazing!! im soo excited about being in Japan even though i wont be for a couple of weeks. heh, but man i dont think ive seen one girl here thats not gorgeous, the women here are incredible, ive only talked to a few around the shopping area here, but man .. heh.

met a pretty nice Australlian chap on my flight over, he gave me his contact number and invited me over for a couple of days in Sydney, so i might just take him up on that.

its about 17:00 now, my flight is at 21:30, so got lots of time to chill and such, didnt get a free link over here just went to where my gate was so i know where it is in relation to the shops. still pretty early to start calling people, might get a bite to eat in a bit actually.

ok, so 2h 58min on the coach from Kings Lynn to London, 1h 26min on the tube to Heathrow airport, baggage checked in and waiting for the gate to show up.

its 16:26 right now, my flight is at 19:00 so just chillin a bit doin some offline computer stuff, as like every internet thing is like 5 quid for an hour. Gonna have another bite to eat at like 6ix i rekon and then just chill till boarding time. Its kinda gay here how theres no free wifi =/

but man, was talkin to this aussie earlier and he was from Sydney telling me all about it! and wow, it’ made me even more excited to get there!! hehe and Japan too!! mfg this is really gonna be the adventure of a life-time!!

Kinda did the family thing for a bit, which was wonderfull in its own way, although i snuck in some partying while i was there, itstill felt kinda sheltered when i got to brum, as in dont wanna be labeled as the bady yet.. heh but when i get back its on fersure. theres some mad dnb clubs in burm, and besides that bristol, and london gonna rock it!

cuz it really doesnt seem like anyone really parties family wise over here, but i guess we’ll find out soon ;0

so far everything been pretty smooth, i still have to sort out some of the arrangements in Japan, like getting my rail pass, then my 7day stay in Nara, then i’ll prolly just hotel around here and there shouldnt be too bad i rekon.

so i guess now it really begins, like i felt that everything was soo sheltered staying with family, and didnt get that part of taking care of everything myself, even though most things i did do myself. I started to feel it abit when i went on that bike ride through those woods i found in Kings Lynn.

I had a vision of myself taking power .. while i was there, i didnt think i needed it anymore, but i thought i heard it calling my name. my spirit force seems stronger than ever, and i have become a stong warrior .. very strong. the waiting is just a task of patience waiting for the next battle to call my name.

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Omar Samad