* awe *

So I guess I also owe this blog a picture.

And what better picture than Daisies! :)

I've always snitched pictures of these online - but now I get to take some of my own. 

And that makes me happy. 

And feeling blessed. 

And daisies are such happy flowers. 

And they're also so random. 

And sometimes I really think you don't get what you ask for, you get better. 

How can I stand here and not be moved by You? 

Hope Floats on the English Channel, Michelle thinks while waiting for Pie to Bake

So this will be my last sailing journey. 

And I have finally finally gotten sea legs!

I don't feel the ship moving. 

Granted, the English Channel is probably a lot smoother than the other seas we've been through.

Still.

I threw up on the voyage from Dublin - Cardiff. My first time. ( and that right after I tried taking the pill for the first time. )

"Boss, I just vomited for the very first time on a voyage."

"CONGRATULATIONS!" *hugg*

haha. 

But then it seems I have 'gained' tolerance because of that inside-out incident.

I'm totally a-okay on this journey.

I can even read, write, type and not feel anything - which is a lot. 

So yayy :)

This'll certainly come in handy. 

Maybe I can try reading in a moving vehicle next. That I could not do that has always irritated me; all that 'travelling time' reading potential.. ( i travel quite a bit, so - that's a huge chunk of time there.. ;) )

Anyhoo, in other news, our ship caught fire yesterday. 

To be exact, toilet paper caught fire. Rolls and rolls of toilet paper.

It was a smoky affair, and could've been very very dangerous. We were all quarantined to a deck for almost 3 hours or so? 

One of the biggest fears for ship is fire. So, it was quite a biggie. 

But, 

I was cool as a cucumber the entire way. 

I don't know what to feel about that.

I find my lack of fearful response sometimes disturbing. 

But at the same time - I guess it also springs from the fact that I think I do not fear death. 

No, not anymore.

Like, before the whole perforated appendicitis thing - I wasn't ready. Nosiree, definitely not. 

Maybe then I feared it a lot more. 

But thereafter I've been living everyday with the thought that it could very well be my last. 

I wake up everymorning with my first thoughts being :" Good morning Lord, I'm alive! Thank you."

And everyday you have - another shot, another chance - what a gift! :)

And everyday you wake up still - it means you still have something you need to do. Your life still has some sort of purpose that needs to be unfolded. I believe that. 

These days I try not to have very many things 'hanging'. 

Especially not at this point of life. I mean, I don't even know what'll be when I get back home. 

6 months at a time. One day at a time. 

One day at a time is all it takes. 

And really, if you think about it - that's all we have for sure. 

Today.  

Today. 

Chee Yong this is for you

Sweeede

SO it's Sweden's National Day today. 

And the Swedes are celebrating it. ( but they say that they've never really been conquered, so they don't really need to celebrate independence, but the national day is just a day to remember all things Swedish ) .

And so you do stuff like stuff miniature Swedish flags in your hair. 

Or walk around with a blue and yellow IKEA bag full of meatballs and other IKEA stuff.

I like the Swedes. They're nice. :)

This is a Rastafarian Swede ( heh ):

Nooks around Cardiff Bay

This on a wall near home. ( uh, I mean, ship. ) :p

I just thought it was a good picture. 

Speaking of which, this one's picture-worthy too. 

This is the water we are on. 

I thought this was a funny sign. Especially the 2nd, 3rd and 4th line. 

Okay. :) 

Hopetimist

Okay.

So I've been getting a lot of little notes saying I don't do enough updating. 

Guilty as charged. *weak smile*

And I do feel it tugging at me, everyday.

But the internet has been a pain the last few ports.

Thankfully, that has improved since Cardiff.

A whole lot of things have actually - even the weather.

The saving sun. 

The sunshine is lifting everybody's spirits to record high. 

I'm going out for lunch and dinner on the grass almost everyday -- and it only becomes dark at about 10 at night so that is VERY cool. :) 

Just to get me in the updating mode again, I have decided to a set of "A Picture A Day" for the next 10days. 

Here goes today's picture of the day :

But of course it had to be something to do with HOPE.

... and my on-going fascination with cool tee-shirt statements, not forgetting my innate ability to walk up to almost-strangers with the daunting statement question : "Cool tshirt, can I, uh, take a picture of it?" ( insert wide eyed innocent no-i-am-not-a-serial-killer-freak-person smile )  "Uh, not you -- just the tshirt." "You sure?" "Yes thank you very much" Snap snap. :)

I was at ART vs MUSIC - a fundraising event in town where artschool students auctioned their work to raise funds for a ministry called REVIVE. It was good, I had much fun - but more importantly I was inspired to do something similiar back home. Reminds me of a conversation I once had with Kester. Maybe it's time we dig up some of our old wild ideas and bring them to reality. Could be should be fun. :)

And if anything else -- there's always a Hopetimist hanging out inside of me waiting to come out. Always. 

And I'm glad. :) 

To be WOWed a million times over

So I got a FEDEX package this week. 

It took them awhile, because they didn't quite comprehend a ship address. 

Ahnywayyyy... 

Took me a lot of walking about to find payphones and emailing and waiting at the window for almost an hour for the great white van with white and blue fonts on it to arrive just 5mins before the ETD. 

But - it was sooooooooooooooo worth it.

OMG you guys! 

Opening up that stack of postcards, seeing all your messages, putting everything together was -- more than overwhelming. WOW. 

I could've cried, I probably did. 

Not to mention being flocked by random shipcompany passerbys while I was piecing the thing together. 

"You have such good friends!"

"You mean this was self designed? ( eyes wide open ). Wow"

"Your friends are so creative"

Yes yes yes. :) I was the happiest most touched most overwhelmed person on board that hour - no doubts about that.

So thank you. Dankiwell. Spesiba. Takk Sumiket. Takk Firyol. Danke schon. 

I miss you guys.  No, actually - I prefer the French term : "Tu me manques". -> You are missing to me. I don't just miss you, but you are missing to me. 

Yep. 

I am touched. It was one of those moments where you for a splinter of a second feel : "I must've done something right.". 

Thanks for giving me that. 

i am SO beaming. :) 

you guys deserve a kiss

NICE to "see" you too, all of you. :)