The Pursuit of Happiness II

Due to the number of response I get in my last post, I felt it's only right to write on what I've learn in my journey so far.

• Get to know the girl first and ask the BIG question when you know its not just infatuation and you are prepared to take the relationship up another level
• It comes down to a point where you just have to take the risk. Just a note for the girls out there, when a guy decides to pop the question, it takes tremendous courage. He is putting himself on the line..pride and dignity, something we value alot! (But obviously you are worth alot more than that, so we'll gladly take the risk ;) ) So even if the guy is rejected, kudos to him for taking that brave step.
  
• The guy has to always be one step ahead of the girl in the relationship. Take the lead and make her feel special :)
• Respect her as though you would respect a sister. Also, don't mess with her, she could be someone else wife in the future!
• Have a group of man that would pray for you as pursue that special one. (I'm glad there are plenty of guys I can talk to and be vulnerable with in this matter. Thanks for the support buddies!!)
• If she is uncomfortable with the whole thing and just wants to remain friends, respect that! Again.. RESPECT the girl!!
• Make sure the lady shares the same values. Very important that both have their priorities right.
  
• Pray, pray and pray more! Right now, I'm praying that that lady would grow closer to God and somehow thinks that I'm ridiculously good looking ;)
  

This post serves as a reminder to myself, to keep me in line with my belief and moral. You have total right to disagree. Post a comment and I would love to hear from you :) Thanks to those who responded to my last post. There are lots more points to consider in regarding to relationship, but these are just the few that I need to remind myself at this stage. So please don't take this as a blueprint on how to pursue a lady :)

The Pursuit of Happiness

Disclaimer: This post is just a current flow of thoughts. On another note, I feel the need to say that happiness doesn't come only from being in a boy-girl relationship.

So I was reading this post on How To Pursue A Young Lady. The question I have in mind is, when do you start pursuing? Is it when...

• When you think the girl is hot?
• When you know you want to be in a relationship with the girl?
• When you just want to get to know her a little better?
  
• When you feel that you enjoy spending time with her?
• When you think that marriage is a possibility? (I guess if you know for sure you do not want to marry the girl, why get into a relationship in the first place? AND I'm definitely not saying that you should only go into a relationship knowing you want to marry her!)

I guess it depends alot on the culture you are in as well. Then there is the question, how do you ask a girl out (just to get to know her better) without misleading her?

So girls out there, help me out here. At what stage do you want to know what the guy is feeling? When he is slightly interested, when he "loves" you or somewhere in the middle.

Little things that makes me happy

After church the other day, Josh came up to me and ask if I would like to be there for his baptism. It's difficult to express how I felt at that moment. Honored, joyful, happy and proud. Yeah, a mixture of those and alot more.

So it made me think, it doesn't take much to make me happy. Here's a few things that would make me smile..

• seeing friends I walk with grow to be a better person (what a great investment!!)
  
• a simple acknowledgment (recently a friend thanked me for all I've done..guess what, it made my day!!)
• hugs from friends that cares for me
  
• a smile from a friend sitting at the other side of the hall
• a word of encouragement

I need to stress that I don't do the stuff I do expecting people to repay me in some ways. Even if it goes unnoticed, it really doesn't matter.

So tomorrow we're driving out to the Waimakariri River(picture) and I get to witness a brother make a public proclamation of the love and saving grace of God and the life he has choose to live!

Graduation

Congratulation to three gorgeous ladies on their graduation. Very honored and proud to be part of it =) Take note of those beautiful flowers ;)

p/s: glad I don't have a gf.. Flowers are expensive!

Abel Tasman

What an amazing place! I was trying to find the right words to describe the two days in Abel Tasman and the closest I could came out with was paradise. Josh summed it up well... just one word, epic.
So I went with Andy, Josh and Simon. There
wasn't much planning before the trip and it was amazing how perfect it turned out to be. Couldn't have came out with better plans if we tried. The first day was all kayaking. The red lines on the map is the path we took on the kayak. Went to check out Split Apple Rock, then went to the two islands to check out the seals and some penguin looking bird, stop at a few bays and then pitch tent at Anchorage. Some of the bays were just amazing. My favourite is Te Pukatea Bay (picture at the top). So peaceful and serene... Whats exciting was because we were in our kayaks, we felt like explorers. Going around the point and discovering each of those bays were so exciting! Oh, and our mexican feast that night was one of the best meal I ever had!

The next day all we did was walk, walk, walk.. Basically tramped from 9 - 6.30 with lots of stops. Went to check out Cleopatra's pool and the few bays we missed while we were on the kayaks. Went for our daily swim/bath at Appletine Bay (marked X on the map). Then it was decided that we're gonna take the coast track back to Marahau to add a sense of adventure to wrap up the trip. Went around and over some rocks. Was literally living life on the edge as you don't know what to expect on the other side of the rocks. Even had to do a few rock climbing manouvre with out huge packs on our back. When we reach Marahau, it's already 6.30. Glad we made it before we lost complete daylight. At the end of the tramp, we have four smelly guys with cuts and bruises and aching muscles.

We had fish and chips at the kayak base and drove back to christchurch at 7.30. Reached Christchurch at 1.30 am and went straight to bed. Had such an amazing time :) I think my best memory of the trip is sleeping to the sounds of crickets, waking up to birds chirping away and taking a nap on golden sand beach to the rhythm of the waves.. ~~bliss

p/s: I even made it to soccer that morning and played the full game. We won 5-1!! What a way to start the season =)

For more pictures, check out my facebook album. Here's some of my favourites.

Pre-Abel Tasman

Leaving for Abel Tasman tomorrow and I'm excited! Been a while since I went for a proper tramp and I'm dying to get in the wilderness. This is roughly what I'm going to do for the next four days. Start kayaking from Marahau and head for either Fisherman Island or Adele Island. Have lunch amidst the seal colony and then kayak again till Te Pukatea Bay which is near Anchorage. Gonna camp at Te Pukatea Bay and have a Mexican in the Bush night. The next morning, tramp back to Marahau. Depending how fast we go on the first day, might end up kayaking further up. So looking forward to it!! Three days in the wild amidst awesome company, can't see anything going wrong :)

Maybe next time when I have more money would kayak all the way up to Onetahuti Beach. Thats the furthest you can go in a kayak. Just our 1 day in the kayak is gonna cost us $70. But from what I heard, it's all going to be worth it!

We're gonna leave tomorrow morning after the BIG Champions League game and returning on Friday night. I'll probably be in a no cellphone coverage area (not that I'm gonna switch on my phone anyways). See you on Friday.

Oh, and church league football starts again this Saturday! Fun Fun Fun..

I SURVIVED!!!

So I made it.. :)

This was what i went through last week. 6 assessment due in 5 days, one after another, among which are a 3000 word work report, 40% design assignment, 2 test worth 20% and 25% each and the designing and modelling a go-kart suspension system ready and fit to be manufactured (can't wait for race day!)..

After quite a few late nights in uni, reality sinks in and I came to the conclusion that this is not doable.. Amazing huh, how at your lowest point God picks you up and takes care of everything. Thats when the bible verse in the previous post (see below) really came to life for me. Indeed I came to a point where I gave up and surrendered it all to God. The sense of peace is just indescribable.. As days pass, all of a sudden things aren't that difficult anymore.. I mean it's not like i just don't care and let God take care of it. But rather than feeling like jumping in front of a car everytime i cross the road, it all seems very manageable. It was still hard, but it helps knowing theres a big guy covering your back ;)

Now that the madness is finally over (for the next one week at least), I'm looking forward to a good rewarding break. Maybe the next few days would be just relaxing but i'm looking forward to building relationship with people, going into the wild and exploring the unknown (Abel Tasman here i come!!YEAH!!) and futsal! All that stress should give that ball a good beating..better if it ends up in goal (hopefully not anyone's face or bum)..Sadly it'll be all work again after that but i'm gonna enjoy my holiday! Oh and also I'm borrowing Nisarg's PS2, so swing by to hang out if any of you are keen!

Alright, time to hit the sack. Only had 3 hours sleep last night. I miss my bed..