Omar Samad

1. Michael Phelps

Ok, can anyone else say big deal? Wow you got 8 gold medals, good for you. Does that mean that we have to hear about it 24 hours a day ?! I dont think we’ll see anyone running 100m dash backwards anytime soon. So please give it a rest with all these lame variations of how fast you can swim across a pool.

2. TV Coverage

So when theres a Canadian athelete our Canadian broadcasting company usually tries to do their best in covering them on tv, which is great! I love being able to support my fellow countrymen in whatever sport they’re participating in. So why dont they do it ?! We had a Canadian table tennis player competing in the first round, and the CBC schedule showed that the match would be broadcasted from 02:00am — 05:00am, and omg what was on the air at the time?? Yup you guessed right swimming! They actually did show a 5min clip of the highlights of the match, where our fellow Canadian lost 14-11 in the 7th set, and had 4 match points.

3. Lame Sports

Wow I didnt know ballroom dancing was actually a sport., and wtf is equstrian ?? riding horses is a very popular spectator sport for the wealthy, but somehow managed to make it into the Olympics.

4. No Squash

OK, so im a little biased on this one being a squash player and all but come one, squash is a great sport even to watch. Ive had so many non-squash players ask me why squash isnt in the olympics and it makes me laugh everytime. Like I honestly wish I could be at the meeting when they decide becuase its actually mind boggling to see some of the activities that actually make it into the olympics.

5. Professional Atheletes

Stay at home please. As if anyone had a chance at winning tennis with players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal playing in it, like come on you guys have enough glory, leave the competitions to the amature atheletes across the world. Professional atheletes should be banned from all of the competitions in major sports period.

Regardless of these 5 major factors the olympics have sparked some intersting conversations with people, and been great background noise, and im hoping for the day when they actually are a little more concious of what the olympics actually are. For those of you that are so excited to actually watch swimming for the duration of the olympics while theres real athletes competiting in sport then im happy for you.

im just thinking to myself, all my loved ones havent heard from me in a while and i thought i would say hello.

I started off saying hello to an old friend, she was very happy to see me and made me feel so cozy again. shortly after I could hear the rain coming down, so i decided to go for a walk, and getting about to the end of my street i thought to myself.. why am i walking lets ride!!

I ran back home to grab my bike, and booked it over to the creek. I drove in the main gate, one of the rare times i have but now that i have a membership it rocks!! i

Just as i was pulling up to a set of picnic tables just off to the side, opened up a rather large field that absolutely lit up completly by a sharp bolt of lightnign right in front of me!! i dropped my bike off and climbed up onto the table for a while, reaching for my bag i grabbed my water and just stood there for a minute just watching the night sky.

A strong gust of wind came along and gave me the signal to move on, and onwards I rode. what an incredible sensation it started to rain, only drops came but it was enough to let me feel it.

Next I came up to the shore line, an elder tree agreed to watch over my bike if i would return one day and tell him about how the world has been changing. He showed me his three children and just as it turns out they were watching the night sky also. I sat down beside the youngest of the 3 and we were so engrossed into watching the night sky shine bright with light, that it was the entire universe. I returned back to the elder and pulled out a snack, i packed a grape fruit earlier and omfg was it evar delicous, it was the most lucious juicy fruit that ive ever had in my life. i sat down on the ground emcompassed by the warmth of the elder i was rejuvinated from the cooler temperature, and I enjoyed that grapefruit so much, i worked my way down to about 1/2 of the fruit left, and i broke it in half. A little snack for someone i thought to myself as i dug a lil hole in the ground and put my peels away.

the sky was lit up with colours that will only ever exist in that moment of time. The wind returned to guide me as it again was time to ride on.

oh k btw, just figured out that computrer problem (xp) i found an old ide kicking around and slotted her in.

I was being engulfed by the forest as I carried on my journey and it was just amazing to feel the energy like that at that moment. I was completley in the heart of the woods now, and I took a stop to meditate here and absorb, resonate with the earth as much as i could.

it was pooring rain down so hard at this point, it was incredible i was just sitting there and not even getting that much wet, pure bliss.

The rain stopped and i knew it was time to go from here. I continued on, and shortly after i came to a clearing that was well light up by the sky. I needed to take a pit stop, and nows my chance i thought, i pulled up beside a tree and started to let it drizzle out. A sharp snap of a twig caught my attention and the sounds of little footsteps coming towards me made me feel a lil funny.

I was still firehosing away and was not ready to stop yet, but the footsteps were closer and closer, and finally i could see it what I was fearing .. the penetrating white lines of hair on black. A skunk, im not really too familiar with behaviour patterns for them but this one was coming closer and closer to me, I made out a shhhhhh’ing sound to try and scare him off, but he started to circle me in a 2m radius ok finally im done pissing!! yes, i grabbed my bag and hopped on my bike fast i couldnt get my pack around my shoulder and it swun back down towards my handle bars, fuck the strap is caught in the wheel as im frantically pedalling away, FUCK the skunk is charging at me as i look back,,k after a nightmare few seconds of trying to get my strap out of my wheel, as the skunk is barrelling down the path at me its only 1m away and i can see its eyes glowing. Finally my strap breaks free of the wheel, with one swift motion i swung my bag over my shoulder mounted my bike and rode off into the woods. before the skunk got me.

wow what a rush, obviously i was creeping in on his home and taking a piss at his tree he prolly wasnt too happy with the idea of someone moving in on his terrotory but whew, it made me laugh so hard after that i was tripping so hard about not getting sprayed by him.

I carried on my way. and for a good while i just biked, no direction or aims, just rode through the darkness as a king and his horse. the woods guided me to the exit and i made my way to the street, i was just crossing the street when i saw a pretty big frog down below, i immediately parked my bike to the side and watched him, i thought to myself id love to hold him, but then part of me thought that would scare him, i watched his throat bulge up and down as he sat there, and as i approached he stopped. BUt at this point i decided that he can feel the energy around him and know there is no dager from me, i grabbed for him, he slipped right through my hands the first couple of grabs but i got him this time,kneeling on the ground i opened up my hand and he jumped right out. My warrior instincts took over at this point and i grabbed him again , and this timei raised my hands up to my eye level, and then i released my grip on him. Excactly as i thought he wouldnt jump out becuase we’re too high, i told him i was sorry for disturbing his peace but i wanted to to touch him. he was responsless to me, and he made me laugh as i knew he wasnt going to budge., I lowered my hands to the ground and he stayed there for a sec, and then with one big leap he jumped into the bushes, off to share his encounter with me to his companions.

I eventually returned to my home, and started to trouble shoot my dads vpn problem, time is running out and i gave my word that i would fix it. Im happy to report that the xp install is about 90^ done now, and the xplite seed worked like a charm, on that spare ide drive that i found kicking. and its like 7:00 now everything working perfect dad is actually eating breaky and lookin foward to a stable VPN.

Love to Live

What an amazing past 2 days. I believe it was just meant to be for me to be there, like get this,. most of you know about the new website design I made for my site www.omarsamad.com .. these big bright colours of the rainbow .. I came up with this idea one day in Australia just a thought I had . There was a big festival taking place that weekend of nov 11th, and I was so lucky to be part of it. It seemed that everything that I believed in was at this festival, Peace Love Unity Respect .. it was called the Rainbow
Festival for Love, in celebration of World Peace Day, Nov 11th. And the Theme for this festival was the rainbow!! which is a remarkable simliar concept to that website design I did. I remember first getting there only knowing Uki San, and his friend Baba san which were both volunteers to help support the event and soon left me to my own. As I was walking past the various booths setup, I said Konichiwah to a girl and she greeted me kindly she was part of a group called the OK Cafe .. where everything is OK!! and she introduced me to her friends, and omg, what an amazing group of people they were, we sat down and talked about me for a bit, and everything and we ate food, being hand fed by some of the most beautifull girls ive ever seen! and guys too! lol but they were so warm to me, and I really got attached to them over the festival days.

There were many musicans that performed, the main stage was setup really nicely where there was plenty of room to go around. Every 30min there would be a couple of songs played that were very happy and dancy, and EVERYBODY was dancing so much! there was some traditional songs also that had pre-set movements and they did a really good job of showing off the actions first and everyone could follow allong, and omg it was soooooooooo much fun!! We danced and played all day, and the sun began to set, now im not sure of his name right now but there was a famous singer from Okinawa that came up at about 18:00 .. and I wasnt sure at all about what he was singing about but .. the vibe that was going on right about that time was unbelieveable I was already starting to get teary eyes just from hearing it the tone of the sitar, the crispness of his voice .. spectacular, suddenly I felt some arms wrap around me from behind and it was Aki San!! she started to tell me about what he was saying .. ‘he wants to take the energy that people use in the world to fight each other, to use it to love each other and take care of the earth’ .. and just wow .. tears just started streaming down, and I looked at Aki san and she was crying just as much!!!! she gave me another hug, and we started to sway to the beautifull song with the rest of the people. What an amazing moment, I also tried my best to capture some of it on video!! so keep it tooned. And the whole crowd linked arms around shoulders and we just swayed .. so amazing!!

Mayumi san was busy working away with mom on preparing some more soup for the festival.. oh yeah, I spent the previous morning in the kitchen with mom and Mayumi san, helping to prepare vegetables for the soup, (which was my job) ^^ and I did a SUPER job they said!! so for 2days I helped out with that kinda stuff in the cafe, they only let me do about 2-3 hours a day, but it was a pleasure to help. So Mayumi san quickly made me dinner for the last night here, and omg what an amazing dinner it was, chicken, black bean rice, seasoned seaweed, green tea cake, some amazing salad that i couldnt get enough of and some fresh lotus root and okra!! wow every meal that Mayumi san made was un believeable .. and I always told her it was the best meal ive ever had in my life, and everything was different never had the same thing twice!! so as I was eating Aki san came back to the cafe to drop off the rest of Mayumi sans dishes, and she started to talk to Mayumi san in japanese .. just wow . I dont think ive ever been more turned on my two women in my life, just the tones and expressions on both of them, the sounds of Japanese words , and not to mention that they are both some of the prettiest girls ive ever seen!! hehehe so then Aki san started telling me how 2morrow the festival is going to be really good as well and I should go, she showed me the schedule and I just thought to myself wow theres no way I can miss out on it, so I planned to stay till about 15:00 then leave for Tokyo fair enough. So we sat and had tea and talked for a while and eventually she left and we went to bed.

Now in the morning I quickly packed up my gear and cleaned up my quarters, ate breakfast and we were off to the festival!! this time it was Mayumi sans father that took us there, and Mayumi san was able to stay for a couple of hours, we get there and wow!! they had a big globe in the middle with all the rainbow scarfs that were made in clumps around the globe on the floor and people were hunched down by it holding on to it. what a site to see, there was a countdown in Japanese to 11:11:11:11 and wow, a minute of silence, folloewd by a speach, and people doing the wave with the scaves in their hand, what a vibe!! and as u prolly guessed it yeah we were crying!! but only teary this time heheh. So today I was making no mistake in getting one of those rainbow necklaces and I got 2 1 for Mayumi San also! and we’re never gonna take them off !!! hehe but I went and found all my friends from the OK Cafe again, and OMG they were just as happy to see me again as I was to see them!! Tiger san, Tao san, and lots of others that i forgot the names of!! hehe but they wrote down in my address book! so we walked around for abit, and soon after that I was standing on my own just watching the people around here, and some guy approached me Takahiro .. ‘I heard you are from Canada friend’ he said as he extended his hand to me. So we talked for ages, and it was amazing to connect so well with someone, he actually invited me to stay with him in Osaka .. and im regretfully writing this journal on my way to Tokyo ;( if I could be there now I would!! hehee but I think my own desire to explore abit of Tokyo in my last 2 days in Japan was a little stronger than getting to know an amazing person… which makes me wonder why I chose to go on my own to Tokyo!! But i also rememberd that I havnet unsheathed my blade in Japan yet, and the desire to do so overrides any personal desires I may have. He was truly an inspiring person that volunteers his free time to helping save sea turtles, and is going to be studying marine biology in University in Australia next year, so im deffo gonna cross paths with him again.!! but regardless .. I might go there to spend some time with him before I go yet. Probally not.. but its a nice thought to know I could make it so. So again there were more amazing songs after each other, and omg wow, its already 16:00 .. I think i better go, one by one I said goodbye again, and had to pry away, and yes!! u guessed it again!! I think spending those days in the Zen temple .. made me remember how amazing it is to be me again.. even more so!! and to walk through life with an open heart at all times, which I have been living everyday since I can remember. So wow as I was making my way out of the park, the Singer from Okinawa came on and I could hear that one song from yesterday it was one of the traditional songs with the special movements, and wow touching experience!! hehe but I kept going. and omg on my way down, I saw Tiger san with his big sign .. Stop Rokkasho (Nuclear) .. he said he was going to nara station .. to promote, and while we walked we linked arms, and chanted ‘Stop Rokkasho!!’ he made his place to the Nara station and we said our good byes again!! hehe, he started to chant even louder and also sing I lost the meaning of what he was saying, but I just watched the beauty of someone taking a stand for something they belive in .. and doing everything they can to make a difference in the world.

I got some more cash out and some food for my journey, and I was back at the cafe, I kindly asked if Mayumi san could prepare me a final meal, and she was more than happy to. and wow what a meal it was.. she kept passing me plates of food untill I couldnt have another bite!! hehe and treated me to more of her delicous green tea cake!! Sugoi !!
I was just eating the cake, and wow just realized Im leaving the cafe soon, the sounds of that Burnam woods cd was playing , and omg i just started streaming tears again! mom was asking me questions and when she looked up at me, just smiled and handed me a tissue. I finished up and began to make my way out, I got a big hug from mom and Mayumi san and promised to keep in touch, and instead of saying goodbye it was a see you soon!!

and here I am. 20:42 on the way to Tokyo.. and im a lil anxious about the hotel situation.. hehe cuz I was suppsed to be there like at 20:00 but I called and said I was going to be late, and the attendant was not too happy at all!! lol he said 21:30 maximum and hes leaving at 22:00 so I hvae to call him when i get to Tokyo and he said hed wait for me if i called before 21:30 which is theoretically possible cuz the arrival time is about that, so then its about a 20min subway to the Hotel.. so HOPEFULLY ill make it.. if not .. then ill be writing about my Tokyo Night time adventure!!! so keep it tooned everyone and remember I love you all !!

so just so u know, the dood waited up for me and i got to the hotel at 22:43 he didnt seem too bothered about it either, but on the fone he sounded like a dick about it. anyways it all worked out

zen

There are many ways to explain what zen is and before I experienced it I had a pretty sound explanation, now I know it means nothing.
I just returned from the Anataji Monestary which was a 4km hike into the mountains of Hamasaka, what an amazing place, I just wish I had more time to spend with the monks there. I was there for 2.5 days, but every moment added to the experience of a lifetime. Lucky to find one of the rare Zen temples that accept foriegners the head monk here was actually a foriegner.

The stairs.. after reaching the top of the mountain, which was one of the most beautifull hikes in my life, I came to a giant stairway of stone, that led upwards even more so. I couldnt get over the spectacular beauty of the place, I met this Japanese girl on the bus and she also was on her way to stay a few days. We were greeted by some friendly faces in the kitchen area when we first arrived. Got the tour and setup our quarters for the time being. There was 8 people in total, and interestingly enough many of them spoke english, however it didnt really matter much as there was no talking unnecessarily during the whole duration of when i was there.

03:45 was the wake up call for morning saZen (silent sitting). There was a monk running up and down the hall waving a bell, and it was almost like part of my dream waking up ina black room hearing this sound and footsteps, especially in such a foriegn place. saZen started at 04:00 we silently filed into the hall and then we took our place for meditation. I was uncomfortablefor the last part of the hour some tightness in my hips were controlling my thoughts, and I was consumed. there was a 15min walking meditation which was like the slowest walk you could ever imagine, a half a step every 4-5s .. after this, and then we followed that by another 45minutes of saZen which was much better. “STOP IT” yelled the docho-san which scared me so much, and pretty sure evryone else, it was like a slap in the face to wakeup, he was yelling at this one guy that was yawning during the walking meditation steps and i remember that clearly cuz i was looking right at him while he was yawning.lol

Initially I was still in awe, and never felt my seat of power during each of these sittings, and we broke up for breakfast. Now also when we conduct ourselves in the Monestary there is no talking at all, unless its a relative question. and most of the time we could easily follow suit to what others do as that is the way of Zen, to be aware of the surroundings .. to be aware of everything. Meals was like a race, there was a strict code of ettiquette that must be followed, from placing the chopsticks over the miso soup bowl, to the positioning of all the bowls in front of you. and it was imperative that everything must be followed. and how u sat. the chants done before and after every meal, and especialy when there was no snacking in between, and from the hard work inbetween the aura that was created while we waited and chanted reminded myself of how fortunate we are to have this food to eat, this water to drink. The monks that live here grow everything themselves, they have no money for personal possessions, or anything else, they just exist to swim in the wonderfull bliss that life is, right in the heart of the earth away from the maddening cities and tucked away from destructive power of humans .. for now. It was a magical place.

We were all assigned work, and I was paired up with the girls, Tomoyo-san, and Shinako-san. I dont know why but .. it always seems im paired up with girls naturally.. lucky me!!
our task for the morning was to chop firewood for the kitchen, which was small. So we made our way to the barn where the wood was, and we began. At first I was struggling with it using a strange technique I didnt have the flow. The monk came up to me grabbed the axe, and put a new piece of wood up, and showed me. Nara ho di neigh (I understand) I said to myself, and he made his way to continue on with what he had to do. I instantly found the hand of zen, as I watched myself do the rest, and it became a meditation as we silently worked on chopping and placing the wood up on the shelf, we had a tea break, and a lunch break, the lunch break was informal, and we were allowed to eat in the kitchen and not the dining room, however being such a beautifull day I decided to eat outside suprisingly I was the only one who wanted to eat outside which was fine by me, and what a fantastic idea as per usual, I lost the track of time, just being amazed at how beautifull it was up there, there was a distant sound of water coming from the nearby moutain stream. So back into the hall for instructions, this time we were set to harvest buckwheat and Atzuki (sweet beans). Which was so fun, under the blazing sun I went inside to get one of those Trinangle hats and it felt so kool!! like those hats are so good for keeping the sun off, and made me feel like jubei .. kibagami jubei. hehe and again while we worked in silence I found the mind of zen as the work became timeless and a pleasure to be of service.

15:00 officially done work, and time for showering, now this time, waking up so early in the day, kinda played off with my bodys schedule and I didnt have time to take a proper shit, so I wasnt feeling that good about it now, and decided to get it out, I did some yoga thats designed to get it all out and things started moving!! and shortly after took a nice hot shower, and wow just feeling amazing now!! We soon after ate. And this was an intesne meal, I mean, after working all day, we built up somewhat of a hunger for this, and when it came time to chant before we ate, to thank the universe for allowing us to eat, really resonated with me and I could feel the aura around me amoung everyone, the paitence we endured, and then finally .. Ikadakimass !! (Something like lets begin this meal together) after the meal and at the evening tea ceremony I announced that it was a honour to be welcomed into their house and to learn their way of life, and it was my final night here.

An hour and a half later, we began the evening saZen and this is where it got interesting to me, part of the way of zen in saZen is that you sit with your eyes open, and it was different to me, and finally it sat with me .. im not sure about when it was time wise, but I remember just looking at the wall and in my peripheral vision I could swear the lights were dimming and returning to normal, .. I didnt move a CM to check, but I could still see this.. wierd, and then also what was even more interesting I started to hallucinate .. yes thats right, i could see a pair of pants in the wall in front of me .. and there was a pattern of leaves that were around the crotch area.. and they were waving slightly .. like regardless ive felt this sensation before through meditation and it was amazing to be reminded of it once again, I had to close my eyes now to be sure of it, but I did, and wow.. it was there. those colourfull shapes and patterns you see when you take magic mushrooms.. (from what i hear anyways) wow, it still amazes me thinking about it, and I couldnt stop smiling now, this was it.. my seat of power is what I call it also I had tears streaming down my face, my awareness was back at one with every part of my being, I could see everything so clear, and bearing witness to all the love that exists in my life, the people around me, the connection I have with people, the energy in this room, that poor little boy and his family that I sponsor, the faces of time that paved the footsteps in my life. Shortly after .. the sound of the meditation bell rang, and it was time to leave the hall and prepare for bed. wow was it really over??! Honestly it didnt feel like it had been an hour, and I was left with this feeling .. I couldnt stop smiling, and I went into the kitchen for a cup of sencha and then I was outside under the stars..

wow, it was truly incredible out here, just as amazing as it ever had been in my life. we were on a 4km high mountain, so i wrapped myself up in a blanket or 2, and layed there with my tea. Then there it was!! it wasnt the biggest one ive ever seen, that was actually in Australia when me and Karryn were laying there looking at them, im still sad that she didnt see it at the same time, but this night, hehe was ahlg 3/4 that size and that is pretty big so prolly like 6 or 7 dots of stars connected to make a line, thats how big, pretty big eh?!!? after my tea I retired to my room. and stayed for my final night.

The mysteries of Zen revealed themselves to me during my time there. faces of the nameless monks that vibrated throughout the universe as I stepped into their path.. it was a very profound reason that I was here with them, it all was meant to be. I remember on my journey up I was worried abit that I had taken a wrong bus, and I did actually so I was behind schedule by 45min .. but I remember saying to myself that if it was meant to be it will be. and truly it was. The time there didnt give me a chance to think about anything. the time gave me the chance to remember that nothing really matters .. everything that really exists is a preception of

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, 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.

–
Omar Samad

Ive only been here a few hours, but man, what a beautifull place.. this is what England I wanted to experience, the country side. Meeting my older cousin, Athar bhai and his wife and 2 of the most beautiful little girls ive ever seen in my life today for the first time!! what a fantastic day, I was just crying a bit ago while sitting in my room and had to write about it!! hehe

Ill have to post the pics up especially for you Claire!! its amazing, on the road that led up to the house theres no street lights, just lush forest on both sides of the road, with little driveways  on the one side, so coming into their house it looked amazing, nicely trimmed hedges, lush natural trees and greenery all over the place, all while it was a cloudy evening with a light mist hissing down from the skies. 

I left Birmingham this morning at about 9:30am. met a very kool chick on the ride to london, she was going there to purchase some makeup from Harvey Nichols, and then come back. thats like a posh shop or something. and then I coached to Peterborogh from London, then off to Kings Lynn, but the ride from London to Peterborough was fantastic!!! had both seats to myself so I got to sprawl and I actually fell asleep for a good hour or 2wo!!

Got a long day of table tennis, then sight seeing, then squash coming up. so we’ll catch up on that later!

Love you all!!!

Just sitting down with uncle Rahman, right now, he’s so peacfull, I put on this Indian comedy show it’s actually pretty funny I think he likes it, we been having broken conversations here and there. but im soooooo tired right about now also, i think i woke up pretty early and did lots of running around today. im so tired right now i dont wanna move .. but i gotta brush teeth and then pass out somewhere.. had some wild dreams last night.  one i was just sitting down with christine in my bed, just chatting about stuff,  another one was i was being hasseled walkin through an airport terminal or somthing cuz they thought my watter bottle was a bomb or something, but i remember i just ran when they started chasing me or someting like that.. im sure ill be dreaming again soon. its a Full Moon Tonite aswell. i was actually out in the stars earlier on tonite also but not long enough. Oddly enough for some reason , i havent been meditating at all since ive been here.. actually there was 1 night where i did, but never .. maybe the chaotic lifestyles of those around me are starting to get to me abit. lol. which im realizing is even more of a reason to meditate.

And im finally back on track with eating well and stuff, everyone around here eats so much crap !! i cant belive it. like every house i been at, is lined with Sweets and chocolates and that kinda stuff usuaually i dont eat, but for some reason i been pokin away at them slowly, gotta snap out of that .. jhee.  and i need to start exercising much much more.. like only hit 2wice since i been here, goin to athars for the weekend, so gonna be lots of stuff goin on there 4sure. and bringin my raquet to AUS for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it’s gonna be summer there!! heheh x0x00x0x

Couldnt sleep on the plane at all, so there goes my nights sleep right, anyways the immigration line at Gatwick was insane!! so i was kinda making my way back to the end to jump in, and omg i hear someone calling my name, it was Ruth-Anne!! omg thanks for saving my life which saved me from like a 2hour line. lol. and then hit up the train to victoria, then from there had to tube it down to Shepards Bush. which was like a trip too, especially with my 2 suitcases, but wasnt that bad, just annoying when switchin lines.
ok, just woke up a while ago, funny night that was woke up like around that time aswell and saw this dood out the window. total nutter.
been doin the same obsessive compulsive things over and over, its like hes trapped in a loop.

anyways gonna get cleaned up a bit, and then head out to town, first stop gonna be the internet cafe check some mail and look up a squash club,
then check out the town abit see if i can get a trip down to see stone hendge one of these days while im still in london. i saw a day trip thing
for 30 quid the other day, so we’ll see if we can sort that out.

to be honest the only thing that bothers me about stayin here with them, is the smoke, makes me feel icky.

Been an intersting buzz so far, and just getting started!!