Pinehurst, North Carolina.

We've arrived in Hampton, Virginia, and obligingly welcomed by Melissa - my ex-girlfriend whom I've not spent much time with in years. I still haven't fully recovered from what I think is pollen allergy from Pinehurst. Even though I've taken allergy medication, my nose is runny, my head is stuffy and my throat is itchy - I'm not feeling very well at all.

Pinehurst with my auntie was beautiful. We had reached her home at 930pm after a big day of sightseeing Washington DC (pictures in previous blog) and 6 hours in the car driving from DC to Pinehurst, NC. We discover her celestially elegant home at the end of a cul de sac within National Golf Club, and what a sight it is! This is the most impressive home I've ever been in, and was even more impressed when I found out that Juergen had architecturally designed it to the detail himself! The interior is tastefully decorated by objects of  personal significance by auntie Glenna. Gorgeous!

The next day, we awoke to a hearty breakfast and beheld the tranquil lake and garden behind the house. I had no idea I could experience such peace and tranquility "at home." 

We spend 3 nights and 2 full days in absolute luxury here. Beautifully decorated and fully equipped for guests, we are pampered with sumptuous meals and snacks, a lavish guest bedroom with ensuite bathroom, and a bed fit for a King. Most impressive of all, however, was the kindness and selfless generosity I witnessed in my delightful auntie. Amber loves her very much and did not want to leave!

I thoroughly enjoyed spending the time I had with uncle Juergen and auntie Glenna. Juergen gave us a tour of the Pinehurst and showed us the previous home they lived in before moving into this one three years ago. He drove us around for about 45 minutes showing us particularly prominent houses and the impressive new-state-of-the-art hospital compound that was being built. I tried to concentrate as hard as I could to what he was showing me but my attention was heavily distracted by the exquisite interior of the very sophisticated Mercedes he was driving - and contemplating what it would take for me to become this rich. 

Ineluctably, we leave on friday morning, but after being educated by Juergen on how to eat Breikwerst? (veal sausages) properly. I don't remember if I say this out loud to auntie Glenna, but I promise to visit again soon. She has a beautiful spirit.

Juergen, me, Amber, Glenna, Sven (Juergen's son)

East side, baby~!

This is going to be one Big-As blog as numerous mind-expanding events have occurred since arriving into NYC five days ago. I am now here at auntie Glenna's on our last night and am happy to have finally gotten the chance to scratch my blogger's itch. It is absolutely wonderful here at auntie Glenna and Juergen's home and I am thrilled to have added this trip onto our original itinerary.

We were scheduled to spent two hours in transit in Lima, Panama. The flight was delayed, and we watched with uneasy feeling the mounting impatience and aggravation of passengers as they lined up waiting to board the plane. It was unpleasant to watch disgruntled passengers criticize unpracticed staff and I empathically shared the indignant stares of passengers having their bags checked before boarding toward the ground crew. Copa Airways is not a well-established airline by any means and pondered the arrogance of people who chose to take out their frustrations on airport staff who hardly had anything to do with the flight being delayed and were merely doing their jobs. Amber and I stayed seated while the plane was filled up and were the last ones to board. As we were having our bags checked, the boy next to us screamed! The handler that was checking his bag broke the zipper, and he flew into a rage! The mother started yelling at the hapless employee, accusing her of being mean and incompetent. The drama escalated when she tried to explain that it was a mistake (it was one of those kiddy bags with flimsy zippers). I was horrified to see the woman continue to scold the employee, then her colleagues and then the head of ground crew who tried to instill peace. Not only was she emphatic about the "injustice" of the destruction of her son's bag, her retorts were unfounded and malicious. Spurred on by her behavior, the boy yanked the half opened bag from the table it sat on and stomped toward the bridge, then vomited on the carpet by the entrance way - the mother vindictively repeating, "Do you want to clean that up? Look what you've done! You want to clean that up!?" I just stood there stupefied and open-mouthed at her And the child's behavior, heart racing with a lump in my throat. She and the kid disappeared around the corner and Amber joined others consoling the luckless employee, by this time clearly distraught and sobbing from the abuse. In my seat waiting for take-off, I was left completely flabbergasted.

We arrived in JFK International Airport at approximately 4am on Sunday - received apathetically by an immigration officer and waited zombielike by the luggage carousel. We had landed, but our journey was not finished. We located the air-train, took it to the subway, and rode it to Throop-Kingston station - then walked 7 blocks in the rain to our friend Paul's house. It's almost 7am.

We wake up and I check my watch - 12:30pm. "Oh good, that's not so bad!" We go outside to greet our hosts and are pleasantly surprised with an almost already prepared breakfast. Bacon, sausages and eggs on a bread with hollandaise sauce with strawberries!

Paul, Gina and Steve (Paul's brother) laugh when I realize that I read my watch Costa Rican time. It was actually 3:30pm in New York! These are wonderful people, and we spend a leisurely sunday afternoon lounging and chatting in their very stylish apartment.

We pick up our rental car at 8pm. I had booked it for 7 days from our Macbook in Costa Rica, and since we had only just woken up from our slumber a few hours ago, we decide to venture into Manhattan Island - with the intention of gazing at the statue of Liberty in the night time. We get lost (Our GPS doesn't work, it's a long story) but stumble onto Times Square. Buildings and skyscrapers and draped with posters and electronic screens that light up the night so intensely that it feels like daytime! You don't know what New York feels like until you've been there. The following photos are taken past mid-night on monday morning. As Amber and I walk hand in hand on these famous streets we marvel over the fact that we are very fortunate to be having this experience, at this time of our lives. A dream (amongst many others) come true!

By the time we're done sight-seeing and having dinner at a tasty Irish restaurant, we head back into Brooklyn. We are scheduled to leave for auntie Glenna's in North Carolina, 600-ish miles away (1000km) by 9am, via Philadelphia and 1-night in Washington DC.

The Big Chair, Philadelphia

Washington Monument

White House

Our mate Lincoln

In Remembrance

Korean Memorial

Our primary intention is to pay auntie Glenna and Juergen a visit in North Carolina. We have spent 3 nights and 2 days here in their very impressive home, but it's late and we have a long drive to Hampton tomorrow where we have 2 days/2 nights with my ex-girlfriend Melissa - more quality time with family/friends and exciting experiences! My next blog will be about our stay here with my lovely auntie. She's AWESOME.

San Jose part dos..

WHEW!

Amber and I have just got back from our day venture into frenetic downtown San Jose. The contrast of experiencing the hectic city coming from the tranquil beach village of Santa Teresa has Worn.Me.Out. The plan at this stage of our travels is to settle ourselves in Singapore (early August) and find work for a year. After the traumatic episode I've just had, I don't know if I want to - or if am even capable of, living in "civilization" again. If you can accept that heaven and hell are psychosomatic experiences on earth, this is hell.

Our (mine) mission was to locate several museums of interest spread throughout the downtown area. The one I was most interested in was the Criminology Museum. I read in some web threads of bizarre human body parts on display. I felt like being freaked out. We had a good look around, asked a couple of people for directions, and found out that it has been closed for about 10 years. I should have checked the date-posted label when I did my online research. Then we found the Jade museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Entry fees were US$8 and US$3 respectively. Flag.

We decided to chill out at the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library). Sweet. I'd find a comfy couch, a reasonably interesting book, and chill out for an hour or so. We get there, there is an almost empty study area on the left wing, and a "research" area on the right with some free but occupied internet stations. The only available publications available for browsing are displayed on an uninspiring metal rack. I pick one up about foreign film festivals. It's dated 2000-2003, and toss it dispairingly onto the seat next to mine. Amber asks a random where all the books are and she explains that to borrow a book, you'd have to tell the librarian what book you'd like, and she will issue it to you. We leave to find a cafe where we can read our own books.

This event pretty much sums up my entire experience of San Jose thus far. Thank goodness we didn't stick around to look for jobs here when we first arrived. It would've driven me bonkers!

BRING ON NEW YORK CITY!!!

San Jose

GRUELING! ...was the 7 hour trip into San Jose. The bus took us to the Coca Cola Terminal and we lugged our travel packs to Rojo Molino -  a backpacker outfit about a 15 minute walk away. We're here for two days before our flight into the Big NYC on saturday.

It was about 2pm when we arrived, and thought we'd have a bit of a wander. The guy at the front desk mentioned the Museum of Art down the road by the park - so we went. When we get there we are greeted by who I guess is the curator of the museum - judging from his educated manner of speaking and demeanor. He spoke warmly to Amber in spanish, stated that the building was being renovated and kindly suggested a couple of alternative museums close by we could visit instead.

We decide to wander in the park adjacent to the museum. There are various "works of art"distributed throughout the park in attempt to beautify it. I found these objects hideous and unpleasant to my senses. 

We get down to the far end of the park and notice a small crowd of people gathered - a policeman amongst them. Then we see a mature older male lying motionless face down by some trees on the grass. I resist the urge to linger and we meander onto the path on the other side of a small lake. We gawk at a couple more ghastly "works of art" and Amber says "Take a photo of the gathering, hun!" Later, Amber sees another officer arrive on motorbike with some police tape. I think we saw a corpse.

We walk back from where we came, find a park seat, and reflect on the creepy sequence of events we had just experienced. As I sit there, frazzled from the arduous bus journey into San Jose, and from the soul-sapping saunter within the polluted city, I feel antipathy. The constant assault of stampeding vehicles, incessant honking, carbon monoxide thick in the air and apathetic faces plodding along the sidewalks. This is no way to live!

I'm hungry, and we find a 'soda' nearby. I order a meal and Amber orders a shake. We notice a young fellow juggling three bowling pins in front of cars stopped at a red light. He does this for about 20 seconds - just before the light turns green, and walks up between the cars scanning hopefully for someone to lower their window to give him welfare. When the cars move off, we steps of to the side, waits for the red light to come back on, and does it all over again. I feel incredibly saddened by this. He looks young, healthy, and I would have even assumed educated. I wondered why he did this? Couldn't he get a job? I asked Amber if we should give him some money. I remembered a story about a western tourist visiting India. She got out of the train and was greeted by an Indian child, asking for a coin. She gave her a coin, and almost immediately was surrounded by 3 other children asking for the same thing. Soon, she was swarmed and gave everything she had away save for the clothes on her back and her return train ticket. 

We finish our meal/drink and head back for our hostel. At the next intersection we see two more middle-aged males - one with 3 similar while bowling pins as the guy a saw just before, and another with 3 white balls. They were doing the same routine, at a different intersection. I was tormented by a multitude of questions and rebuttals. Should I have given that first busker money? I would have felt better giving him money. I couldn't possibly give to all three buskers! Does giving them money make any difference at all? What is the wisest decision? Why do I bother!?

I understand more why there is so much robbery and petty theft in this country. People are destitute! Given such conditions what choice do you have?

I've got some nerve grumbling all week about the petty glitch in our Macbooks' trackpad.

Adios sand, surf, sea.

It's our last day in the realm of the gods - Playa Santa Teresa. I call it that because this is arguably the most chilled out abode I have ever lived in. A haven for men reeking of machismo and scantily clad women, constantly in search of the best wave or surf spot. You could call it paradise, and once upon a time I did, but I've adapted, and am looking forward to moving on.

We successfully sold both our surfboards today. Amber got US$300 for her Placebo, and I got US$150. Hooray! They were definitely worth more but we are very pleased to have someone take them off us. We have no more surf destinations ahead of us, and taxes to get the boards on the plane are exorbitant (est. US$100 per board). If we didn't find any buyers, I probably would have given mine to someone I considered deserving. Goodbye Placebo and el torpo! You've served us well.

We bought two more books at the bookstore. Amber purchased 'Ismael - An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit', while I got 'Your Aura and Your Chakras - The Owner's Manual. We unburdened ourselves with four books, 1.) The Tibetan Book of the Living and the Dying, 2.) Spanish in 3 months, 3.) Mundo Unido, 4.) Costa Rica Lonely Planet, for US$6. Goodbye deadweight. I prefer traveling light.

On the way home, we cut in from the beach onto the main road to pick up an ice cold bottle of coke (our first fizzy drink in - forever!) just cos we were melting under the scorching sun. 100 meters from our casita, an oncoming car slowed as he approached and Pollo, being his usual sprightly self, failed to get out of the way. The car hit him squarely on the side and he give out a giant yelp, and hurriedly limped off. The driver slowed down and wound down the window, his expression visibly sympathetic. I reacted  with a disgruntled "Too Fast!" Amber later felt that I lost it, and shouldn't have acted that way as it was an accident. My position was - he's driving on the road and he hit a dog. He should have slowed down. I hope Pollo doesn't have internal damage and learns to look out for oncoming cars from now on.

We catch the 6am bus/ferry/bus tomorrow morning. ETA San Jose at 2pm. We've got a double bedroom waiting for us for 1 night in the city before catching our 4pm flight to New York City on saturday. I'd like to explore a little bit of the city before leaving Costa Rica, some of the museums sound interesting.

Rock my chakra, baby!

I've just finished Dan Millman's Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior, and it BLEW ME AWAY! I never knew a book of fiction would have such an impact on me. This is the 10th book I've read this year, and perhaps the one that I resonate with most - ever!

In Channeling - What It Is and How To Do It, Lita De Alberdi describes briefly about energy systems in the body - The seven Chakras. I had surfed the internet recently for more information to no avail (at least from any reliable sources). Then-voila!-on page 94, chapter 11, entitled "The Tower of Seven Floors," shows a diagram of a man with seven points along the body indicating the first to the seventh "floor," - the Indians called these seven levels chakras.

7. PURE BEING AND BLISS - Pure spirit, no self remains.

6. UNITY - Pure light, communion with Spirit.

5. MYSTICAL REVELATION - Pure Inspiration, eyes turned toward Spirit.

4. TRANSPERSONAL LOVE - Pure compassion; open heart; ego no longer center. Issue: How best to serve.

THE GREAT LEAP

3 PERSONAL POWER - Issues: Discipline, commitment, will.

2. SEXUALITY/CREATIVITY - Issues: Reaching out, embracing life; energy and relationship.

1. PERSONAL SURVIVAL - Issues: Taking care of self.

Mama Chia, a leading fictional character in the book, explains that each floor has distinct qualities, and each, from the lowest to the highest, represent a more expanded state of awareness.

She explains this system to the leading character in the book, Dan Millman (author), and I find before me an expounded unraveling of the episode of my life before the Landmark Forum, what I got from the Forum, the experience I got from my first 10-day vipassana meditation retreat, up to my present issues with maintaining the discipline of regular meditation and mastering my emotions.

1st chakra: My experience of life was primarily 'Taking care of self.' I carried around baggage from previous romantic and platonic relationships (mostly unaware that I am carrying them, and even if I do - helpless to do anything about it). Life is normal, nothing bad really, but I am unhappy. I'm lost in life, directionless. In university but hating every minute of it, exposing myself to drugs and unhealthy relationships, not knowing any better.

Then I do the Landmark Forum (thanks mum!), and on the 3rd day of the course, somewhere in the recesses of my brain, over two full days of absorbing the communication of a very inspiring Forum Leader, neurons connect and click into place, and in a single instance the burden I carry that restrict me from having a "relationship with the world" are lifted - a miracle! Any words fail to describe the feeling of that moment I sat open-jawed and bedazzled by what I had just experienced. I didn't know it then, but I was over "personally surviving." I was free now to have a "relationship with the world." I was liberated.

2nd chakra: With this new-found freedom, I was able to explore what I was deeply interested in. I quit architecture school, transferred what credits I had, and completed a BA in psychology. Although an 'A' would seldom come by, I enjoyed what I studied and it didn't feel at all like school work. I deeply felt I was searching for something, and perhaps it was to be found in a Masters or phD. But after graduating with a BA and having a taste of academia, I was sapped and felt that what I was searching for wasn't here. In the meantime, I opened myself up to a plethora of experiences like volunteering for the Wellington Samaritans, residential youth work, martial arts AND GETTING MARRIED! The event that was to rock my world again, was vipassana. The grueling 10-day retreat in solitude was the hardest thing I had ever done, but it paid off. Words again fail to describe the illumination I felt, and I got that (among other profundities) what I am seeking for is not 'out there,' but 'in here.'

3rd chakra: The Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior has given me a map of where I am in my seeking. I feel physically and spiritually reinvigorated after reading this book, and feel providence in the happenstance of coming across this book. I have always felt led to 'master the self,' and the chakras have shown me why and how. 

Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior.

The rainy season is here! We woke up late this morning at 730am to the sound of steady rain hitting our zinc roof. Amber had made me promise yesterday to go out on the beach to capture a video(s) of her on a wave after morning meditation. This was not to be, so Amber ended up doing a couple of blogs instead. I now finally have a turn and have decided to follow suit. 

A brief update on our plans in Europe:

We are rigorously planning our itinerary for Europe. Our latest deliberation is on a 'Mystic Tantra' workshop in Switzerland on the 21st of May. I've done a fair amount of research on the teacher and like his 'credentials.' Among them he has studied psychology under Carl Rogers -one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy, and awarded the Noble Peace Prize. He also spent 8 years an ashram learning from Osho Rajneesh - Indian mystic and spiritual teacher, of whom I've read a couple of books. It was an article Alan Lowen had recently written that caught my attention. It's fairly lengthy and I had to read it twice to grasp it's message. Here is the link to his article, and his website: http://www.artofbeing.com/publications.php

Osho

Amber and I consider the course to be fairly priced. However, the location where it is held incurs extra costs for food and accommodation. The fact that it is in Switzerland makes it very expensive. We are still seriously considering doing this though as we feel that it might be beneficial for our growth as partners. 

The other avenue I am strongly contemplating is Past Life Regression held in Singapore, november. They have advised I do a certification in hypnotherapy before I attend this course, and I am considering the one they're offering in Penang, Malaysia, in August - My birth place!

Book:

I'm blazing through Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior. It's fiction, very easy reading and I love the pre-chapter quotes provided that suggest the lesson ahead. Here are a couple from my favorites so far.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

"To really help people, you first need to understand them - but you can't understand someone until you understand yourself. Know yourself, prepare yourself, develop the clarity, courage and the sensitivity to exert the right leverage, in the right places, at the right time. Then act." - Mama Chia

I only bought this book yesterday for US$4 and am already half way through it. It was supposed to last me until thursday! The problem with the e-book that I'm concurrently reading is that I hog the Macbook to read it, resulting in a disgruntled wife with no other access to cyberspace. 

I love.

Canine Amigos.

We did a big trip into town today. Big trip because it's a 45 minute-ish walk with two surfboards and a backpack full of day trip stuff. We had 0 dollars left and planned to do this final withdrawal in Costa Rica. Ugo and Cody (the landlords), and Andreas and Frederica (their Italian friends and neighbours) left early this morning for another surf spot 6 hours away and won't be back until monday. So we've pretty much got the property to ourselves, save for the security guard at night. Also, their dogs, Maya and Pollo are staying behind. They have gotten very friendly with us and hang out with us all of the time! Maya (Ugo's dog) just about sleeps on our patio every night, and Pollo (neighbour' dog) sleeps under the casita (the casita is on concrete stilts). They are a lovely pair. Maya is chilled out and very docile. Once in a while she will spot an iguana, suddenly perk and sprint-chase it up a tree! Otherwise she's very downtempo and relaxed. Pollo is younger and make. He is Very active, and loves to play. Both of them are close and are very comfortable with each other. I love how every time Amber and I are preparing to leave the casita, they will react by jumping to their feet and wait for us at the bottom of the casita steps. They ALways follow us to the beach, or even our big trips into town. Once we were coming back from a surf with the dogs, their owners passed by us and said "looks like they're your dogs now!"

These pictures I took today on the way to town. Maya stuck by us all 7 hours of the trip. Pollo arrived into town with us, but disappeared when we were having lunch, probably on another one of his adventures. I LOVE them.

Our canine friends

Besides completing our final cash withdrawal, we went into surf shops to try to sell our boards. Owners were not around at the couple we saw, so I left my board at the 'Shit-hole' (surf shop) and will return tomorrow, hopefully to a willing buyer and at a good price.

We had the Best lunch today. I got a Fillet of the day with dill cream sauce, Amber got tuna fish cakes on seaweed, and we shared a ceviche. It was to die for! I shared with Amber that eating well was one of THE pleasures in life, along with reading, contemplating and surfing/jumping into the ocean.

I bought another book too. It's the sequel to Way of the Peaceful Warrior, entitled Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior. I finished The Tibetan Book of the Living and the Dying a few days ago, and been reading Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich on e-book format, which I will elaborate on in another blog entry later. I noticed 2012 (the book I sold them a few weeks back) on the shelves for US$8. They bought it for US$4. I'm glad I could contribute to a thoroughly useful bookstore in Mal Pais.

My cousin - hypnotherapist, confidant, kindred spirit.

I had an fascinating conversation with Sherwin (my cousin in Singapore) this evening on MSN messenger. I deliberately went online to see if he was there as I had a couple of questions I thought he could specifically answer. He was, and he did.

I have been researching what I would like to do to make the best use of our time in Europe. After ample time of contemplative reflection in the mountains and shores of Costa Rica on what I feel is most important in life, I foresee the next leg of this journey to be of learning and understanding. More and more I feel inclined to create my life around fostering spiritual growth, and so I have been exploring various forms of 'alternative medicine' or spiritual practices I could dabble with and use professionally in the future. A few fields of study I have been considering are:

• Hypnosis/Past life regression therapy
• Ayurveda
• Shiatsu
• Reflexology
• Neuro-Linguistic programming 

Sherwin is a certified hypnotherapist, and I've been fortunate enough to undergo a session on the day of my wedding (he was my best man). It felt enlivening to be able to share my strong interest in past lives and reincarnation without fear of being judged. Competently, he asked why I was thinking of pursuing hypnotherapy training and/or as therapy, and I responded that ever since reading Brian Weiss' 'Many Lives Many Masters,' the phenomena has perked my curiosity. I mean, if reincarnation is factual (and there is plenty of evidence to support it) then the bulk of the human race is living an untruth. Discovering reincarnation in Western society will have gargantuan implications in how people conduct their lives (in this life) and is undeniably a solution to serious global issues such as climate change. But before I get on to saving the world..

..I subsequently asked Sherwin how he felt about PLR and he unraveled his answer pensively. Although he hasn't experienced a past life, he believes in it. And that we are "spiritual beings having a human experience, rather than human beings occasionally having a spiritual experience." I think it was Wayne Dyer who originally said that, and it did sound a tad corny reading it again on the wall of my MSN chat. But I recognize Sherwin's communicated 'spiritual' experiences, and it is bolstered by the way he lives his life - authentically. A essential quality for any kind of metaphysical practitioner. It is valuable seeing things from another persons perspective, and I notice how automatic it is to judge someone else just because I don't share the same experiences.' But life is vast and complex and every person's experience of the world is his own and is as valid as anyone else's.

East coast agenda.

I remember surveying the spaces, corners and edges of what felt like the living room of a new house/apartment I am buying. I liked its earthy interior color and meandered through its several clean, empty rooms. There were two entrances/exits. One was clearly the front door, and the other one on the right led out to an open green lawn. It was stretched along the side of the house and led to an even larger lawn which I envisioned could be used for car parking. Next I was outside the front door closing the drab aluminum gate to create more space around me. My apartment is on the ground floor and there is a stair well leading up to more apartments with the same designed entrance. 


Dreammoods interpretations:
New house -To see a new house in your dream, indicates that you are taking on a new identify and developing new strengths. You are trying to be more emotionally mature about things.
Green lawn - To see a green lawn, represents hope, pleasure, and well-being.� You are in control and making steady and smooth progress.

I have spent the last couple of days planning our itinerary in New York, and am well pleased.  
25th April, Sunday - Arrive JFK 0230hrs, Paul's house in Brooklyn. Reserved 7-day rental car.
26th April, Monday - Leave for Washington DC, stopping in Philadelphia. Spend night in DC
27th April, Tuesday - Leave for North Carolina, visit with auntie Glenna and Juergen.
29th/30th April - Leave for Hampton, visit with DOCTOR Melissa Yang ;)
2nd April, sunday - Rental car due back 8pm, and NYC adventure begins. 


I am looking forward to experiencing the big city again. It's been 3 months, and I am eager to observe my sentiments moving into a metropolis. I surfed the web for some gyms in Manhattan I could go to and was blown away by what New York has to offer. Les Mills Extreme and Exodus Gym, eat your heart out!

ONE month in Santa Teresa!

I'm sitting down inside air-conditioned RendeVous Cafe with a watermelon and mango juice while Amber is just outside painting with an art teacher. Amber got inspired last week to express her creativity and we chanced upon this art teacher's advertisement at the cafe entrance. She's a young Costa Rican lady and by judging from her body language, she seems to know what she's doing. However, I've come to trust less and less my own impressions of people behind their appearances. I tend to attribute negatively more often.

We returned our 24 hour rental ATV this afternoon. BOY, was it fun riding it over the mountains to Montezuma yesterday - Even though Amber and I spent most of the afternoon being annoyed at each other. She had wanted to ride it first probably because she didn't completely trust me riding it safely. Only problem is I got really peeved when she discovered that she had been riding with the parking brake on almost halfway over the mountain. The ride was noticeably less labored with it off. She also doesn't use the full range of gears available and I have to remind her constantly to go up a gear (She does this with her Hyundai back home too and I get tired of reminding her). It's not something I can easily ignore either because the sound of a straining engine drives me nuts! And she drives at the speed limit! 25km/h. NObody drives 25km//h here. Other vehicles zoom past us which makes me nervous, and she stops in the middle of intersections to look at trees or directly over bridges to watch the "beaaautiful" cascading streams. Then when it's my turn she tells me "You're going too fast!" or "Keep to the left of the road!" which drives me insane because I don't think she drives better than I do. I do think I'm a pretty awesome drive by the way, and I probably want some validation and get irritated when I don't get any! We get back to Mal Pais late yesterday and straighten things out successfully. Clearly this is a very one-sided account of what happened so you'll have to read Amber's blog for her point of view.

It didn't stop us from having an amazing time though. We both loved riding the quad and just riding it in the middle of dense jungle with no one in sight was such an exotic experience.

In Montezuma, we stopped at an organic cafe and had some great food and cold drink. It had such a good, loving vibe (as indicated in the shop sign) and made us think about having our own. The town felt rather seedy though. Young local tico men could tell we were new and several helpfully came up to ask if we wanted some ganja.

Back to today...

So Casey had a quick once over when he picked the quad up from our agreed meeting place. Amber and I were a little tense about wearing out that parking break and didn't tell him. Yikes. It wasn't discovered and we left it at that. I really enjoyed having the quad and didn't want to return it. I might rent it again next week.

Hung over in Costa Rica.

9:00am

It's mid-morning on Easter Sunday and I am lounging lazily on the patio hammock, with a cup of hot chocolate and soothing flemenco guitar music emanating from the Macbook. Amber's gone for a surf and should be back any minute, unless the waves are really good.

I've got a massive headache from drinking too much last night. Paul and Gina brought a bottle of red wine and vodka mixed with carbonated water over and we got pretty boozed by the end of the night. We got talking about what New York was like and what we could do when we were up there. Knowing that we have friends in New York has multiplied our excitement of visiting a hundredfold!

We prepared onion omelette with chopped green beans, eggplant, 

zucchini and red cabbage with rice for our vegetarian friends.

5:06pm now and just back from a surf. It was pretty gnarly out there and only one other surfer besides me. Since Amber went for a surf this morning, she didn't bring her board out with her this time. She caught me with the Lumix catching some waves. I'm still far from being comfortable out there, but am feeling more confident each time I come back in from a surf.

I thought I had caught a big one here but it fizzled out soon after I got to my feet.

Most of my surfing has been done on white wash like this one which I'm pretty comfortable doing now.

I think I need to move on to a short board.

This is when I've had enough and decide to come back in to shore.

It's strange, but the part I am enjoying the best about learning how to surf is the big paddle out past the crashing waves. My shoulders burn out pretty quick, and I've learnt that it's more about endurance then anything else. Hint for all you newbies: paddle with your shoulder rotator cuff, not your arms! The waves on this part of Santa Teresa are big and El Torpe is too thick to be doing duck dives on, so to get past each wave I have to go under and turn the board upside down. It's a workout! And I'm learning to work with the ocean than against it.

We're getting used to having pasta with chopped sausages, with a side of veggies drenched in olive oil. It's cheap, healthy, easy to make, and oh so delicious! Check out the double portion I had for lunch today. YUM!

We've decided to rent an ATV (quad) this week to explore our surrounds. Time is starting to fly. We've got less than 3 weeks left in Costa Rica!

Dream, Paul and Gina.

This Dream moods website is pretty amazing. I had another dream last night which I quickly scribbled down when I woke up. Events in the dream seemed pretty unexciting but when I looked up specific words (in blue) on the online dream dictionary, I felt that they were remarkable.

• I am in the company of old friends in the USA.
• Sneak (stealing?)into cousin's house, hiding in several distinctive rooms avoiding aunties, uncles and cousins.
• I find a room filled with clothes and shoes. It's a pair of shoes I'm looking for.
• I find the pair I'm looking for! Gold-ish converse-type walking shoes. It might be 1 or 2 sizes too big.
• Feeling glad I found it, I put these on and head back outside to rejoin my friends.
• Extended family, mum and dad are outside hanging around not doing anything in particular.
• Dad just barely manages 3 pull ups on the clothesline (haha)
• Mum complains about her tummy getting flabby.
• In response, cousin jokingly asks me, since I'm a pt, how she can get rid of it.
• I half-jest in return that she'd have to pay me for me to tell her. It only gets a couple of laughs. *My feeling here is I was avoiding speaking in front of a group (family) because it made me uncomfortable. I avoided the situation, but didn't feel happy with myself.
• In a studio apartment. Friend tells me he's staying for another month or 2. I think to myself, "jeez, what are you guys going to do for so long?" and felt better that I was 'returning.' He leaves, and a feeling of loneliness overcomes me.

More often than not, I was able to find significance in the interpretation of these words for my life. The ones that particularly stick out, are 'shoes' and 'stealing.' According to Dream moods, shoes represent my approach to life. It also represents my convictions about my beliefs. If I am changing my shoes, then it refers to my changing roles. I am taking a new approach to life. The dictionary came up with 3 possible interpretations for 'stealing,' and from the available options I took that it meant I had unrealized and unfulfilled goals.

I find this entire process of interpreting my own dreams powerfully compelling. It feels reassuring to acknowledge an inspiring interpretation from the deeper levels of one's own psyche. I may not be so aware of my life objectives and intentions on the surface level, but exploring the possibilities and questioning myself about what my "convictions" and "changing roles" could possibly be, is uplifting. It propels me forward.

Amber and I went to the beach late this morning to read. We bumped into Paul and Gina, an American couple who arrived a few days ago from New York  and are leaving on monday. Paul's rental surfboard was too small and he was going to change it with another when Amber suggested we swap. What a great idea! Paul's board was just slightly shorter than mine and much thinner. I was able to attempt several unsightly duck-dives on it, and overall felt that it was a good board to progress my surfing abilities. 

As we were yarning on the beach, Paul communicated to us, to our delight, that he had an extra bedroom and generously invited us to stay in his apartment in Brooklyn for when we are up there in April. We reciprocated by inviting them over for dinner tonight. They're vegetarians, so looks like Amber will be Chief Coordinator on the kitchen floor tonight.

Muay thai and exploding eyeballs.

Dream recall:

I was watching two men fight it out in a ring muay thai/kickboxing style. One was shorter than the other, stockier, heavyset. He looked like the more comfortable of the 2. The other fighter was taller, leaner and younger. This one seemed more on edge and less experienced. In my dream I think I labelled the stocky guy "Champion," just cos he looked more like one.

They fought for a bit and both were doing quite well land solid punches and kicks. Soon, Champion got one really good hit in, then two. His opponent fell to the floor, lying face up, grimacing in pain. I (or maybe 'we,' as I think I felt I wasn't watching this fight alone, as if Amber was watching it with me) watched him in agony on the floor and noticed his eyes starting to bulge. At first it was only small protrusion from both eyes, but the swelling started to escalate. It reminded me of a scene in Total Recall starring Arnold Schwarzenegger when a bad guy got thrown out into the atmosphere of Mars and his eyes bulged and popped out. This was like that for the downed fighter and watching this made me cringe. I also felt concern for the person watching with me (Amber?) as this was a pretty traumatic sight to see! His eyes kept bulging and increasing in length until it was fully stretched from his eye sockets causing the whiteness to reach almost maximum transparency. Then both eyeballs burst!

Next I saw the fighter's head/face on the floor facing up in a state of decomposition. It was a mess and I could not make out any facial structure. The head seemed to be deflating slightly and discharging puss.

Then I watched the same fighter do the after-fight interview. He's got his eyeballs back! He looks different. Emotionally deflated and dweeb-like but not deplorable. he expressed how he feels disappointed that he has lost the match after all the practice he had put into leading up to it. His voice was high pitched and I thought the last place he should be in is a boxing ring! He was like a nerd that had trained his body hard to fight. 

Researched dream entities:

Eyes - To dream that your eyes are injured or closed, suggests your refusal to see the truth about something or the avoidance of intimacy. You may be expressing feelings of hurt, pain or sympathy.

Fighting - To see others fighting in your dream, suggests that you are unwilling to acknowledge your own problems and turmoil. You are not taking any responsibility or initiative in trying to resolve issues in your waking life. 

Attempted interpretation:

I can see in my relationship with Amber that there are areas in which I am not willing to take an active role in healing. These areas are issues I've experienced in past intimate relationships and accept that these short comings are solely my individual issues. I accepted with slight repulsion to Amber's impressions the other day that I might be slightly "sexist." In retrospect, the way I reacted to her confronting the issue was one of evasiveness, behavior reminiscent to my interpretation of the dream.

I saw myself in the beat down fighter - committed to regular meditation and study (reading) and achieving a certain level of aptitude. However when it came down to really what mattered, (ie. the fight), it isn't enough. Dream moods convincingly suggests the symbolism of 'damaged eyes' as the avoidance to see truth about something or avoiding of intimacy. And I took the words expressed in the post-fight interview to mean that it didn't matter how much I read, or meditate - If I didn't use this knowledge and insight actively in life, then inevitably I would lose the fight.

Perceptive observations:

I remember that I was aware enough to remind myself (in my dream/sleep state) to remember the details of this dream for my waking state. So much so that after the dream had ended, I was able to go back into the dream and bring into memory the most provoking images. I am not certain if in this state I am awake, or aware in my sleeping state.