praise the King for...well, everything really. but here are a few specific ones i want to name:
• a healthy baby girl born to my cousin ines and her husband ed
• a healthy baby boy born to my other cousin michael and his wife insook
• a good, loving man for our sujan
• an awesome pad and a new path for joo
• my sister's new job as a financial analyst for the east coast department store chain "BELK"...a job she really really wanted
• His oddly comforting peace in a possible lawsuit...whatever the outcome, we're fine with it. we know it'll just be for a season and that His grace will enable us to get through
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
oahu highlights
MONDAY
• explored the island
• walked along the main waikiki "strip" perusing shops and trying not to get overwhelmed at the sheer amount of people [mostly asian tourists] crowding the streets
• discovered TWO baskin robbins' within walking distancee from our hotel!
• sat in stunned silence as eman devoured a pound and a half of crab legs for dinner
TUESDAY
• went to a timeshare presentation...was there for six hours [i had a LOT of questions]
• had dinner at Nick's Fishmarket, a very upscale restaurant we had a coupon for...food was DIVINE
WEDNESDAY
• had lunch with james, an old buddy of eman's from michigan who's in the navy and stationed in oahu
• visited the u.s.s. arizona memorial and u.s.s. bowfin submarine [cracked up coz i immediately thought of the movie "bowfinger"] at pearl harbor
• drove through downtown honolulu and walked on the palace grounds
THURSDAY
• snorkeled in hanamau bay [almost died of embarrassment when eman kept calling after a park official, "excuse me sir? sir! SIR!"...because the park official was a WOMAN, not a man]
• slept in the car ride home, only to wake up and discover that eman had driven to the diamond head crater instead of to our hotel. i was displeased with the spontaneous turn of events [i was beat from snorkeling all afternoon] but got my butt out of the car and started hiking up the freakin' crater. the sign said that it would take about 45 min to an hour to get to the top, but i was so frustrated with eman that i marched right up to the top in half an hour...in my miniskirt. once at the top however, my sullen mood vanished as i was took in the awe-inspiring view. =)
• ate an authentic, traditional hawaiian meal at a family owned, hole-in-the-wall establishment called ono's [got a dirty look and a gruff "are you from the mainland?" from the owner upon ordering just spam and rice]
FRIDAY
• drove the scenic pali hwy
• planned to relax and lay out at the kailua beach park, but got talked into ocean kayaking instead. i was so pissed that i couldn't just lay out and do nothing on the beach that as soon as i got in the kayak i grabbed the double oar and started rowing with all my might. turned out that i was doing all the rowing for a while...i was so frustrated at eman that i didn't notice he wasn't rowing. i took the kayak out to the middle of the ocean by myself! =D
SATURDAY
• explored the north shore area
• ate at a "shrimp truck" [like our taco trucks but the food is practically gourmet] and listened to a brief, impromptu testimony from the owner...turns out he was in an accident, "found God" and started to change his life...his shrimp truck is evidence of God's goodness and grace...neat, huh? =)
• watched the sun set at sunset beach
SUNDAY
• packed up and came home =)
• explored the island
• walked along the main waikiki "strip" perusing shops and trying not to get overwhelmed at the sheer amount of people [mostly asian tourists] crowding the streets
• discovered TWO baskin robbins' within walking distancee from our hotel!
• sat in stunned silence as eman devoured a pound and a half of crab legs for dinner
TUESDAY
• went to a timeshare presentation...was there for six hours [i had a LOT of questions]
• had dinner at Nick's Fishmarket, a very upscale restaurant we had a coupon for...food was DIVINE
WEDNESDAY
• had lunch with james, an old buddy of eman's from michigan who's in the navy and stationed in oahu
• visited the u.s.s. arizona memorial and u.s.s. bowfin submarine [cracked up coz i immediately thought of the movie "bowfinger"] at pearl harbor
• drove through downtown honolulu and walked on the palace grounds
THURSDAY
• snorkeled in hanamau bay [almost died of embarrassment when eman kept calling after a park official, "excuse me sir? sir! SIR!"...because the park official was a WOMAN, not a man]
• slept in the car ride home, only to wake up and discover that eman had driven to the diamond head crater instead of to our hotel. i was displeased with the spontaneous turn of events [i was beat from snorkeling all afternoon] but got my butt out of the car and started hiking up the freakin' crater. the sign said that it would take about 45 min to an hour to get to the top, but i was so frustrated with eman that i marched right up to the top in half an hour...in my miniskirt. once at the top however, my sullen mood vanished as i was took in the awe-inspiring view. =)
• ate an authentic, traditional hawaiian meal at a family owned, hole-in-the-wall establishment called ono's [got a dirty look and a gruff "are you from the mainland?" from the owner upon ordering just spam and rice]
FRIDAY
• drove the scenic pali hwy
• planned to relax and lay out at the kailua beach park, but got talked into ocean kayaking instead. i was so pissed that i couldn't just lay out and do nothing on the beach that as soon as i got in the kayak i grabbed the double oar and started rowing with all my might. turned out that i was doing all the rowing for a while...i was so frustrated at eman that i didn't notice he wasn't rowing. i took the kayak out to the middle of the ocean by myself! =D
SATURDAY
• explored the north shore area
• ate at a "shrimp truck" [like our taco trucks but the food is practically gourmet] and listened to a brief, impromptu testimony from the owner...turns out he was in an accident, "found God" and started to change his life...his shrimp truck is evidence of God's goodness and grace...neat, huh? =)
• watched the sun set at sunset beach
SUNDAY
• packed up and came home =)
Sunday, August 06, 2006
what can i do?
i always write later. rather than disclose what's on my mind and heart soon after i've thought and felt them, i always sit on it...for a long time usually...and write later. it feels a little "safer" that way.
right now however, i'm writing just after finishing an article on the sex trade in cambodia. i've figured out that there are two things in this world that i know little about, yet feel very strongly about...adoption and forced prostitution. the first can be a positive thing, depending on the angle. the second is lurid, sordid, and cruel...from every angle. words seem inept at describing what one feels after reading stories of girls...some as young as six...forced to endure being raped as much as 30 times a day. and no matter what whirlwind of emotions it evokes in the reader, you know it's nothing compared to the whirlwind of emotions, questions and muted cries of the girls featured in these stories.
it's easy for me to feel a sense of compassion...after all, i'm not there. i'm far away from that mess...i'm safe in my upscale american apt. but yet, it is not easy to sit here, the article on the desk beside me, the photo of a 17 year old prostitute gazing back at me. i am all too comfortable...am accustomed to all too many of life's finer things. the pictures of the girls in this article...their sunken faces, the hopelessness in their eyes...makes me wonder how it's possible for such crimes to go forgotten. [i know i know...there are MANY crimes that go forgotten or dismissed.] it seems too far-fetched...these girls...their lives...it can't actually be some teenager's reality, can it? but it is. what can i do? there must be something i can do. my donations seem trite and useless. i can't send my heart with my money. i can't send my eyes, my ears, my arms. and i so desperately want to send my arms. i want so desperately to embrace them.
what can i do? what can i do?
right now however, i'm writing just after finishing an article on the sex trade in cambodia. i've figured out that there are two things in this world that i know little about, yet feel very strongly about...adoption and forced prostitution. the first can be a positive thing, depending on the angle. the second is lurid, sordid, and cruel...from every angle. words seem inept at describing what one feels after reading stories of girls...some as young as six...forced to endure being raped as much as 30 times a day. and no matter what whirlwind of emotions it evokes in the reader, you know it's nothing compared to the whirlwind of emotions, questions and muted cries of the girls featured in these stories.
it's easy for me to feel a sense of compassion...after all, i'm not there. i'm far away from that mess...i'm safe in my upscale american apt. but yet, it is not easy to sit here, the article on the desk beside me, the photo of a 17 year old prostitute gazing back at me. i am all too comfortable...am accustomed to all too many of life's finer things. the pictures of the girls in this article...their sunken faces, the hopelessness in their eyes...makes me wonder how it's possible for such crimes to go forgotten. [i know i know...there are MANY crimes that go forgotten or dismissed.] it seems too far-fetched...these girls...their lives...it can't actually be some teenager's reality, can it? but it is. what can i do? there must be something i can do. my donations seem trite and useless. i can't send my heart with my money. i can't send my eyes, my ears, my arms. and i so desperately want to send my arms. i want so desperately to embrace them.
what can i do? what can i do?
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