Thoughts on starting a new blog + the last 6 months of life (or so)

Hi there blog,
It's been a few months since I've last posted on here but I just wanted to write something here in hopes that it'll inspire me to do something that I've been thinking about doing for a while now.

but first, before I go into this, I just wanted to bring you up to date on the last few months.

In March, Gabby and I had our Shanghai wedding. It was really fun, and we even had our friends from Rose lane come to Shanghai to experience it with us.
When we came back from Shanghai, Gabby's Mom and her best friend Yiping came back with us to visit the USA for 2 weeks. Thinking back, not much else happened between April - May. At least, not much that stands out. May came, and I guess June hit before we knew it. Gabby finished her Spring semester, and I continued working at UC Berkeley in my HR position. In June, Gabby and I on a last minute trip went to Las Vegas to EDC. It was pretty fun, although I wish we had a group who all went together. I think it would have made the trip a little bit more crazy/interesting. July came around, birthdays, Vegas trips, and Gabby left to go to Shanghai in mid/late July. This left me alone for about two weeks - the longest I had been without her. For those two weeks, I felt like something was missing, and for the first time in about 2 years, I felt like I had to fill my time when I hadn't had to think about the question: "what do I do with my free time?"

We planned our Honeymoon for August, so after those two weeks passed, I was pretty excited about going to Shanghai to meet Gabby for a few days. August 3 - 6: Shanghai, China
August 6 - 8: Athens, Greece
August 8 - 11: Santorini, Oia, Greece

August 11 - 15: Prague, Czech Republic
August 15: Arrived back home :(
I wish I already had the pictures uploaded to my computer - I might save the pics for a hopefully soon future blog post. We were able to meet up with friends/family in Shanghai, see lots of historical sites in Athens (it was unbearably hot though), relax and sightsee in Oia, and take in a bit of history and city life in Prague. Overall, the honeymoon was too short... Also, we were able to take business class for a mini-round the world itinerary:

SFO-TPE-PVG = EVA Business 777 and 747
PVG-HEL-ATH = Finnair Business A350 and A320
PRG-FRA-ORD-SFO = Lufthansa Business A320, LH First 747-8i and United First 757-300

More stories about the honeymoon coming soon.

Anyways, getting back to my main point:

I've been thinking about starting a YouTube channel and travel blog. I think that the last few years and especially last 9-12 months of churning has given me a lot of perspective about what I personally have a lot of passion for - and to be honest, I'm more passionate about travel than I am HR, or at least, I think that this is my new calling. While I still like HR and I think that it'll stay as my main career path, I think that travel has become my #1 hobby and I think that writing about travel (past experience and future plans) would give me the proper creative outlet that I think that I've been missing lately...

We shall see... I'm going to say right now, that in by next week, I want to have a new YouTube account created and a new blog site created. I just read about WordPress and I've heard that it's a very popular option - we shall see. I still have a special place in my heart for you, blog.

Til next time. Good night.

Dear Blog...

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything here. I only had one post in 2016. Well, here's my first post for 2017.

I wish that I posted more often, but life keeps moving, ya know?

Two weeks from this Friday, I'll be headed back to Shanghai with my wife and we'll be hosting our "Shanghai Wedding" on March 24, 2017. I have my Rose lane friends (John, Dat, Cindy, Javier) and my Altawaty cousins coming (Dahlia, Yasmeen, Omar) coming to see me get married. It's gonna be a fun trip and I'm sure I'll have many pictures to post when I get back. I need to get back to writing about life here. It felt good. I felt based when I came here a lot... It was and still a place that has meaning mostly and only to me.

Married life is great. I couldn't be happier with my wife. She really gets me and knows me better than anyone else in this world and supports me more than anyone else in this world. I write this as she's laying down on our bed at home in ElSob... Hopefully we'll be adding a new addition to our family in the next 18-24 months... I'm pretty sure I've already mentioned this but I always wanted to start a family earlier than later and I think I'm mentally ready to become a father. Maybe not financially ready, but I think that as far as parenthood goes, I want to create a bigger family with my wife.

Anyways, It's late and I have work tomorrow. More to come...

I love you Gabrielle

I just wanted to write that this is how I feel about you. I love you so much. I love you more than anything else in this world. I want to start a family with you. I want to go through this crazy journey of life with you by my side. You are my soul mate.

Dreams

I still have big dreams. Huge dreams. I still have these dreams. And I want to be with someone I can share my dreams with. That's my life goal. 

I don't care if the dreams get slightly changed... It's that I find someone I can have a normal relationship with and accomplish our dreams together. 

Please life, for me, let's do this right...

You

Cause I need to know...

Promise me you'll remember me tomorrow. Because I'll remember you.

Clear

For the first time in a long time... I'm clear.


I feel good. I feel great. Clear mind. Wow. This is what I needed.

The Application

Today was a very decently productive day. I've decided to live a new life. Make something for myself, and do the right things that will lead to a happier and more fulfilled life.

I talked to you again today. I know it was something I didn't want to tell you but I'm glad that I talked to you again. I don't think that getting over you is going to be easy or something that I'm going to want to do. You made me feel disappointed in myself for what happened. I'm sorry for everything.

And you, I'm going to be honest here. I'm just kinda mad at myself... I mean I know I have no right to be mad either... but I am. I made some bad decisions. Sigh, why can't things just be a little better? Things are never going to be the way you want them to be though... I need to continue to learn about myself and keep making the improvements that I need to, to make myself a better person.

And Raymond. Congrats on today. You did a good thing today. You made a lot of progress. You are going to be a champion. You are going to make a difference in other people's lives. 

Live life.

I'm Sorry

Someimes I wonder if I made the right decision. I know I did... I guess, but I just feel like we were two good people in two bad spots in our lives. It sucks, I know, and sometimes i want to talk to you...  I still miss you. I really do. I think about you and realize that you were a great person who i learned a lot from, but I can't forget the things you lied to me about - nor could I really accept those things and continue a life together with those things being a part of our relationship.

I could talk on and on for hours about this subject. And I could literally say I love you still. But I need to move on. For me. 

I believe there are a lot of great things still in store for me.

Goodnight.

First Post of 2015

I found out a new phrase today that I totally could identify with:

"Idle hands are the devil's advocate"

I really need to find purpose in life... no matter what that purpose may be. I just want to feel like the work I do will make an impact. Right now, the job search is cruel. We shall see in the coming weeks whether or not I can find a job. I feel like I need some sort of miracle to get the ball rolling to somewhere. I want this to happen so bad. Let's go Raymond.

Oh btw, Asia was fun. I don't regret anything.

Headed to South Korea!

I've spent the past 3-4 hours traveling from Kyoto at my hostel (Peace house). Met some really nice people there and had a really nice day going through Kyoto to a few different temples... I wish I had more time to go and really explore Kyoto, but Seoul is calling my name...

I'm going to be staying at the Bong House in Seoul.... The reviews say positive things about the hostel and the price is right... Just about $20 a day. That will nicely fit the budget. Currently, I am sitting in the terminal 2 gate area of KIX (Kansai) airport. My flight leaves in just under 90 minutes so I thought I would go ahead and just start typing away. I've felt like I've had a lot to say the past few days. Maybe it's because I am literally on my own on this journey and I feel like I need to be speaking my mind in one way or another. The music currently playing in my headphones-- Cavalier by James vincent McMorrow... I haven't heard of this artist until just today, because a friend suggested to listened to this song and I really just took off with it...

I hope I get the chance to talk to you before you head back to Sydney. My hope is that you don't end up going back home and I lose the connection I had with you early Wednesday morning.  I still keep going back to that in my head. I never thought, just from our brief conversation on Tuesday morning that i would keep in touch with you the way we have been. You were completely right, I feel like I have known you for years... It doesn't happen often with me, and so when it does, I really need to embrace it and appreciate the feelings that come along with it. 

I feel that traveling has helped me open up to others in ways that I wouldn't normally open up... This whole traveling thing has taken off with me. Like one of my many other addictions that I have grown to develop over my lifetime. I'm starting to appreciate that this is the way that I've been built, and I just need to embrace this part of myself rather than try to push it further down.... I've never felt truly happier, and I've never felt more alive...

Right now - I can't describe my emotions

I should be really excited and happy. But I feel like there's something missing. I'm not sure what that something is. I feel like I need to start over... I want to start over. I want to...

Learning to live more profoundly

I am learning to live life more fully everyday... Live more while consuming less... We all could learn that there's more to life than we currently think...

That's a goal I can get behind.

I want to learn about my spirit...
I want to learn about my thirst...
I want to learn about my ... self... what drives me? What drives you?

Can we all be better people and just learn to give back to others?

Strictly Technical

I really want to learn more of the programming skills that my job has to offer. I see it coming very soon in the future...

You

You're not who I thought you were.