Swim, Work, Travel, Live Healthy, Live Single, Live Christian....Oh Jeah!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Mongolia-The Blue Sky Country (Summer trip July 2011)

The current flag of Mongolia was adopted on February 12, 1992. It is similar to the flag of 1949, except for the removal of the socialist star. It has three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), blue, and red. Centered on the hoist-side red band in yellow is the national emblem (the Soyombo symbol[1] - a columnar arrangement of abstract and geometric representations of fire, sun, moon, earth, water, and the Taijitu or Yin-Yang symbol). Wikipedia

Air China that flew me from Beijing, China to Ulaanbataar, Mongolia 7.2.11. From Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion International Airport) after my trip in Israel for 10 days, Air France flew me to Paris to Beiing, China, I needed to have a transit visa in China because I need to leave the Beijing airport and take the 15-min airport shuttle bus ride from terminal 2 to terminal 3.

A souvenir (wooden horse that plays like a violin) a traveler from Mongolia who were in the same plane fr Beijing gave me! A good welcoming gestures of of the people of Mongolia 7.2.11

Horse..an iconic symbol of Mongolia. In Chinggis Khaan Hotel, UL, Mongolia 7.2.11

Chingis Khaan Hotel, Sukbaatar, Mongolia. Just arrived 7.2.11

Ghenghis Khaan statue in Sukbaatar Square, Mongolia 6.2.11

Sukbaatar Square, Mongolia 6.2.11 The day of my arrival in Mongolia! Bright and warm sunny day!

It's so open space!

Sukbaatar Square

The blue sky..This was the bluest sky I've ever seen!

Mongolian Traditional Dance in Sakbaatar Square, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia ... 2 days before I left UB..back to Cali..This was a Dance and Song Festival before the Mongolian Nationwide Holiday Festival on July 11-12, 2011 as part of the independence day celebration as a democratic country after long reign of communism. Click link below.

Mongolian Traditional Dance

Strolling in Ulaanbaatar Streets after a short rest in the hotel upon upon arrival from Beijing, China 7.2.11

Hustai National Park in Mongolia is the land of Wild horses Przewalski horse-Takhi, the only still living ancestor of domestic horse. It's current population now is 250 only.

Inside the museum in Hustai National Park. Painting of Takhi and true skull of the ancient horse.

Takhi behind me. This horse is wild and protected. One should not get any closer to them.

Pointing the "lone" endangered ancient Mongolian horse. Unluckily, the horse has a broken hind leg. It was painful to see as this horse struggles.

People keep a certain distance to the ancient horse. They are wild.

Hike in Hustai National Park in search of the ancient horse.

Gers (yurts) in Hustai Natioanal Park

Just posed for a photo shoot with the ger as a background. I slept in one the tourist gers in the Gobi desert. Very cool!

A burrow of a marmot at National Park in Mongolia, the the land of Wild horses Przewalski horse-Takhi, the only still living ancestor of domestic horse. It's current population now is 250 only.

Eagle on my head in the museum at Hustai National Park in Mongolia, the land of Wild horses Przewalski horse-Takhi, the only still living ancestor of domestic horse. It's current population now is 250 only.

My lunch in Hustai National Park... I'm really hungry 7.3.11 (espresso, Mongolian soup with sheep meat, rice, veggies, ground camel meat)

Aero Mongolia flew me to the Gobi. (1 hour 45 mins air travel from Ulaanbaatar to Gobi flying southwest)

In the plane Aero Mongolia flying back to Ulaanbaatar from the Gobi desert.

"Three Camel Lodge" in Gobi, Mongolia's premiere luxury expedition camp (I was in ger # 1, close to lodge reception, restaurant, showers, wash rooms, kitchen, and of course a nice overlooking view). One-hour ride from Gurvan Saikhan Airport in Dalanzadgad, Gobi to the lodge.

Ger #1 This was the tourist ger (yurt) at "Three Camel Lodge" where I stayed in my trip to the Gobi desert.

Inside the tourist ger

The ger camp where I had Mongolian lunch upon arriving in Gobi from Ulaanbaatar via Aero Mongolia.

Famous Yoling Valley, Gobi Mongolia 7.4.11. It was a three-hour bumpy ride in a tourist van on the unpaved roads of the Gobi. The Russian tourist van below was unbelievably strong in the sand.

Sand dunes of Moltsog Els, Gobi 7.4.11
We (with my local your guide and the local driver) drove 3 hours on an unpaved roads to reach the nomad family in the sand dunes of the Moltsog Els of the Gobi desert. The nomad family let me ride in their camel to the sand dunes.

Notice the blue sky!

Notice the red color of the sand dune

Notice the 2 humps of the camel

Notice the yellow-orange of the sky

Greenhouse in Gobi

The tourist ger where I stayed in my trip to Gobi desert

Inside the tourist ger

In Gobi, Mongolia

Tourist gers (yurts) in the background

The blue sky! The bluest sky I've ever been under!

My breakfast in the Three Camel Lodge

Mansushir Monastery, Mongolia 7.6.11

Imitating Buddha posture

Yak in Yolin Valley Natural History Museum

Vultures in the natural museum

Mansushir Monastery ruins

Gun Galuut Nature Reserve 7.7.11

Gun-Galuut, 130 km south-east of Ulaanbaatar, is the state combined from diversity of ecosystem although it owns comparatively small area. The complex of high mountains, steppes, rivers, lakes and wetlands are kept in their original condition. Visitors to Gun-Galuut see vast steppes seeming to meet the sky, the imposing mountains of Baits and Berkh, the homeland of rare creatures, Ikh-Gun and Ayaga lakes, a paradise of birds, Kherlen, the longest river of Mongolia and the Tsengiin Burd wetland, where water and wetland birds lay their eggs.

Spotting wild sheep in Gun Galuut Nature Reserve

Terelj National Park 7.9.11

With my horse ride Mongolian guide in Terelj National Park

With a Mongolian family living in ger in Terelj National Park

Khan statue (Mongolians call him Chinggis and Europeans call hin Genghis) 7.9.11

Just arrived in the Jinhangxian International Business Hotel in Beijing, China from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 7.10.11

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Haughty Eyes! What do they mean?

Click here to watch part of my trip to Mongolia in Mansushir Monastery, July 2011

These are my thoughts. You do not need to agree to me.

July 24, 2011

It's Sunday and it was my first day back to church since I left the country for a vacation in Israel and Mongolia on June 21. It was an awesome feeling seeing other church members, though not all were present. I felt so blessed and I felt that I have more strength than before to encounter the oddities of daily life. Yesterday, I had a short chat with Lydia at the gym, a Christian senior citizen from Cuba, who, I think, one of the most mellow and positive senior (in her late 70s) at the gym. One thought she said that triggered my thoughts so much to be more reflective that day was when she said, "I try to be friendly to everybody. In such way, I pass to them the power of Lord though my outlook." What a powerful message she imparted to me that very moment. What came to my mind in that instance is the the word "countenance."

It is from Dr. Charles Stanley from his daily podcasts and TV messages that I came across of the word "countenance," and since then, I began thinking of the real essence to word to my daily life. In my understanding, it's how people perceive you- both words and deeds, and more so, by your mere physical presence. I know there are so many other things and better explanation about this word. As I think about it sporadically and occasionally (specially when the messages I hear or read has some thoughts about it), I began to think of the facial expression. In our face, the eyes, I believe, are the most important structures because eyes can tell more about us - as in the saying goes, "Eyes are the windows of our emotions." I do not know who said this, but I know that I read, learned and heard it sometime in the past.

In the past, I came across of the passage below that talks about haughty eyes. The website I posted in this blog made me recall the exact verse, in fact, it is from the website where I copied and pasted the full verse below.

"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers" (Proverbs 6:16-19).

Click to see explanations about haughty eyes in a Christian perspectives

As I read through this article from be website above, I had a clearer understanding about haughty eyes. What a great reminder not be proudful on what we have! Many people will find this to be very difficult, as our human tendency is to keep on achieving both materially and physically.

The word "snobbish" is included in the definition of "haughty eyes" from the website. (The definition of haughty is as follows: disdainfully proud; snobbish, scornfully arrogant; supercilious.) This made me ask myself of the question: "How about those people you know but they pretend that they did not see you at all (considering you both are in the same location). Please do not tell me that this is not true and never happen. There are instances that someone will give a side look whom he/she knows pretend that he/she did not see him/her. Oftentimes the two-way interaction will only happen when the other person started saying "hi" or give a nice wave of hand as acknowledgement of his/her presence. Of course it is true ...it is very difficult to find a true person to be considered as a "true friend," One may not even find one. I have several friends on different levels

-good friends (may include acquaintances most frequently visited places such as the gym, colleagues in work places). I would say they are the "Have a good day" or "See you next time" kind of interaction. As Charles Stanley said, "They are the "fair weather" friends.

-close friends (may include people that you know for a long time that you can share thoughts and opinions but still you keep most of your private and personal concerns)

-true friend (this include the people who will still accept you after knowing who you are..and will always be there for whatever reason and circumstance in life you are in) I include my parents in this category.

As a Christian, my true friend is my Lord Jesus Christ....As the hymn goes..."What A Friend We Have In Jesus." One of my old time favorite hymns, which made me learn how play that piece in the piano...just one of the few pieces I know how to play.

Back to being "snobbish," I think a simple "hi," wave of hand, and a positive facial expression as a sign of acknowledging the presence of the other person will be good enough (specially during those instances that we do not want to be disturbed in the middle of our task) instead of totally ignoring the person. I believe that acknowledging the person boost the "sense of belonging" of the person that we acknowledge.

In my daily activities (at work, neighborhood, travels, in the gym, in the pool, groceries, etc.), I've encountered...let me put it this way...real and sincere people. As for me, they are the ones who will exert an effort (big or small) to show acknowledgement of your presence. In some cases, there are people that I met who will certainly "drop the ball" and take the time.

What are your thoughts about this?

Make it a great day...Jeah!

Photo taken in the Jumping Board in the Nam Song river during my visit to Vang Vieng in Laos last July 2010

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Very Grateful .... Etcetera...

Click here to watch part of my trip to Mongolia Summer 2011

June 19, 2011

In today's message in the church, Pastor Richard Bowman used a floral arrangement with 3 red roses in a single vase. It was very illustrative and made me easily understand one of the facets of his sermon. "We are all I interconnected with individual differences." The flowers are in one vase. Human beings have many "gifts and talents" but we all belong to one "human" genome. (All human beings have 23 pairs of chromosomes = 46 in total.) Scripturally, "one body, one spirit."

As for me, it's pleasant to see how each of us differ from each other in many aspects: physically, mentally, culturally (language, gestures, costumes, customs and traditions, ideals and beliefs...and many more.) In effect, this makes this world a "colorful" place to live in which makes it challenging. Challenges are good! At least for me, it test my patience, acceptance (in contrast with tolerance), and my spirituality. This quote is not always true: "One size, fits all." If otherwise, life is so dull and bland...Envision a house painted with one color - grey everywhere! - What will you feel?

Another facet of the "floral arrangement" analogy is that we are not alone. At least in our daily existence, we interact (phone, emails, Facebook -hahaha, Twitter- hehehehe, friends, colleagues, parents and family with an exeption of those who are incarcerated in a dark jail). I am flying my life solo and I love it...As I always say to anyone who ask me why...my answer has been always ----> "I do not like compromise." Inspite of this fact, there is always interactions in my daily existence and I find it so welcoming and I approach it as new learning and awareness. I am so grateful to our Lord and I am so blessed with good people including my parents, brother, sister, nephew as well as friends and acquaintances at the gym, pool, work, few from the neighborhood, stores (such as 7-11 in Portola Ave., Santa Cruz) and elders at the church. Not to forget to include in this list is Dr. Charles Stanley who had been in every step of my way has been used as an instrument to keep my faith in God burning through his daily messages from his podcasts and Internet broadcast. In addition, the Daily Audio Bible family (www.dailyaudiobible.com) has been another instrument, too. I am always in touch of His words from the daily oral readings Brian do in his podcast, and of course, the people from Windfarm who, every time I post a prayer request specially for my world travels, always responds and always says a prayerful thoughts upon my request.

These past weeks, people who knows about my travels starting on Tuesday had been sharing good thoughts and prayers for me. Wow! They are all sincere people including my neighbor this morning who I always inform of my absence at home since no one except my plants are in my home each time I leave the country. The home security I have will not be enough. It's alway a great I move to inform a trusted neighbor. Doris at the church hugged me so tight and said, "Honestly, I do not ,want you to go there." What a real elderly concerned I felt from her. I was about to shed tears." I replied, I will safely return and I have praying for it." There are other important people in my life that I am very grateful because of their thoughtful wishes prayers they have for me in this trip --- my mother, my father, and my sister. Thanks mom for all the prayers....I know it and it has been very powerful. Thanks for the zucchini bread, too that you always bake for me each time I travel...so I have diet food on the plane....hahahaha....True. My sister, of course my travel companion in Costa Rica last November, who always there each time I ask for a request! Of course, my father, more often than not, always show some fears each time I leave the country. His fearfulness about where I go makes me feel "very special" for him. Jeah!

To be continued...I'm tired.

June 21, 2011

I'm very grateful for the safe trip from home to the San Francisco International Airport and the safe take off. It's been almost an hour now since this plane Air France took off. Hmm....I smell food..I hope they give me the pre-requested meal I asked almost 2 months ago. Opss, got sidetrack!

What a good timing this morning before I left. I saw my neighbor (who I seldom but a trusted one) and took the opportunity to inform them about my travel out of the country. it's always a great idea to inform a trusted neighbor each time out of the country. Also, they keep eyes of the surroundings of my home. I am grateful to have good neighbors.

I am grateful to have....

....a mother who is always there..and I know that I am always in her fervent prayers. I like the zucchini or banana bread she always baked for me each time I travel. They are light and healthy! There's no other mother like my mom.

...father who always think about me each time I travel. Last night, i went to their home and he looked worried (as always) in my travel. I assured him that all will be safe. I am leaving away safely and returning back safely. He has been a great provider for the family.

...a sister who always ready each time I ask or request something, plus, she is just wonderful. She is a one-woman band...a single mom, a worker, a marathoner, a student. She is "strong."

...work which provides me opportunity to grow professionally and, of course, the economy it provides...and not to forget to mention...many days of vacation I have..and that's why I decided to be a teacher....hahahahaha. I do not like swing shifts, grave yard shifts and I need my Saturdays and Sundays as weekends. Thank you work.

...church where I belong. I have been at Prunedale United Methodist Church for almost 7 years now. It's a small parish and mostly elderly. I feel like I'm home surrounded by people with great "wisdom." I believe that wisdom comes with age as long as a person looks at life with full positive learning opportunities and open for constructive change.

...time to swim and time to workout. Swimming and working out has been parts of my daily routines no matter what. I've established sets of swimming and workout routines. I am a self-thought swimmer and each time I hit the water there is always something new to refine and practice and get better. In addition, the workout routines I've developed have been so encouraging for me. This makes my work out day a brand new one with eagerness each time I hit the gym. Swimming and working out do not make me tired because the benefits it gives me. On the other hand, working (as in job) gets tiring oftentimes. As the saying goes..."You work for someone when you work and you work for yourself when you workout. Do you see the analogy?

To be continued...about to land in Paris...

June 21, 2011 in the plane en route to Tel Aviv

Before boarding Air France bound to Tel Aviv, the screen by the Gate E15 says: "Certain country follows other security measures in entering their country. Our sincere thank you for following security formalities. Carry on luggage will be hold by the aircraft upon boarding." At first it was not clear to me. I observed what was going on. Luggages hand carried by passengers were tagged and stored as they present their boarding passes. I waited in line and they just let me go with my luggage as I presented my boarding pass. As I walked in towards the tunnel, I looked around and found some passengers were pulling their luggages to the plane. Woowhooo! I was spared. I always wanted to have my stuffs next to me so I will not think about it as I unboard the plane. This is another simple moment that I am very grateful. I said a prayer and silently uttered Joshua 1:9 ("Be strong and courageous, do not be discouraged nor dismayed. God is with you everywhere you go.")

almost time to land now.... In Tel Aviv, Israel!

To be continued .....

Photo taken in Beijing, China July 10, 2011