Jason Mraz’s blog, staying positive and doing the Chicken Dance

There’s nothing more inspiring than reading the words of this boy wonder. I am absolutely in awe of how he goes about making music and inspiring change and positive action in everything that he does. Please check out Jason Mraz’s blog here.

Honestly, it is a challenge to stay that kind of a person everyday, but I believe that it is absolutely possible. To rewire the brain to learn about looking on the bright side of Life. It’s all too easy to just raise your hands to and say ‘I give up! Life is shit! Whatever!’ or to close your eyes and ears to all that is happening around the globe. But it speaks volumes when you go out there and seek change, to stay positive, to be grateful and to be humble. It is as hard as hell, but do it anyway, because you want to.

Meanwhile… here’s the Chicken Dance! Love it!

The worst (but funniest) spiral wrap tutorial ever!

This is my dearest German friend Karsten, who was so sweet to remake his tutorial on Spiral Wraps in English because I begged him to. And the results are bloody hilarious! He says: I’ll do it again! I promise, but i thought that might be a good example of “how not to do it”. You can also check out his blog CaPoiEira too!

About Greed…

So I spent the weekend on a cruise-to-nowhere and I came face-to-face with 2000 dirty greedy faces, stuck on a floating casino, eager to gamble their days away. Or engage in extra-marital affairs, smoke, drink or stuff their faces at the buffet line.

Buffet Pile Up

The experience was grotesque and revealing about the nature of Greed I suppose…

One interesting thing about greed is that although the underlying motive is to seek satisfaction, the irony is that even after obtaining the object of your desire, you are still not satisfied. The true antidote of greed is contentment. – HH Dalai Lama

It was no wonder that the feeling of insatiable hunger for both food and money
hung thick in the air while on-board the ship. Thankfully, I was kept busy with my photography assignment and spent my time taking photos of the cabin crew or chilling out at the helipad doing Poi-tography. Enjoy my point of view below…

Crew Only

Minder

Kitchen Staff

Helipad Poitography

Amazing Talking Bird

This is the bird that we met back in Bali. My jaw dropped when I first met it. OMG!

Hippie Meh?

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a couple of people comment that I’m a real hippie. What with the fire-twirling, the clothes, the holiday in Bali, the kumbaya music and supposed vegetarianism… oh? That’s giving it away? Right…

First and foremost, I don’t think I even qualify to be a hippie, my view on politics are a blur, I wouldn’t know what to do at a protest, and I don’t subscribe to weed and tie-dyed clothes. Secondly, I am probably too much of a capitalist who believes in the power of money and the scales of economics. I mean, I am Singaporean after-all, it’s built into our psyche the day we’re born on this island. Thirdly, I consume like any old greedy consumerist. I produce too much waste and I don’t recycle enough, I drive an SUV and I definitely consume too much electricity with my love of gadgetry and technology. Needless to say, I am also totally consumed by shiny bicycles and I love dressing up in obscenely tight lycra bike suits.

Finally, I maintain a healthy skepticism about new-ageism and most modern-day sages dressed in flowing white robes. I am just a boring old Buddhist, chanting prayers and plodding along with everybody else. Basically… I think that I would make a terrible hippie. I don’t have that kind of will to change the world/make it a better place/ for you and for me/ and the entire human race…

But then… I did a little more research online, and found the term Neo-Hippie:

someone who believes in peace and love…interested in several of the following things: vegetarianism, the environment, animal rights, gay rights, feminism… paramount among their ideals would be that you need to be happy in life… They will drop everything to help a friend in need, and often feel a sense of family within their community.

Right… erm… I think that I just might be a neo-hippie, if it means that I choose to be happy and I choose to eat less meat, and that I choose to believe in peace and love, the power of a community and align to mostly liberal agendas…

But wait a min! Doesn’t this apply to everybody nowadays? All of these ideas are rampant in the newspapers, and in the everyday media. Everyone knows that they should eat less meat, recycle more, have less prejudices against women or gays/lesbians. In fact, I would say that most of these ideologies are so mainstream, and so grounded in the public conscience, that I think that a neo-hippie label would even apply to those who’ve termed me a hippie.

So… if I’m a hippie… I suspect that you’re a hippie too.