Day 3: Sharing the Love!

Sunday in LA and I was set to preach at Sarang Church.

I got ready by 7:30 in the morning. Pastor Steve Choi came to pick me up. You may remember him from JAMA Jr in 2005. It was really good to see him again. :)




Anyways, he took me out to breakfast with his pastoral staff. In the photo below, they are from left to right: me, Pastor David Cho, Pastor Jeff Hyun, and Pastor Steve Choi.




The breakfast was huge! I'm not used to eating so much for brekkie!

The whole feel of the church was quite similar to Saesoon. Much better facilities, and 3-4 times the size, but the overall atmosphere was familiar.

Anyways, Sarang Church had a missionary guest today. Rev Art Kinsler was born in North Korea to missionary parents, and in his late 70's he's involved in outreach to North Korea. Anyways, I was invited to the lunch with him, and ate at a local Korean place where we had dok-bo-sam. I've really, REALLY missed it! It's starting to appear in Sydney, but they don't do it properly...hehe

And during this lunch, I met a guy called Scott (photo below).




We got to talking, and it turns out he knew some Aussie Koreans. So I asked about that, and he was close friends with David Jung, fiance of our very own Eunji Kim!




The world truly is a small place ... 6 degrees of separation and all that. :)

Anyways, after the very satisfying lunch, Pastor Steve Choi dropped me off back at my hotel.

I got changed out of my suit and then walked down about 5 blocks to get to a Mexican place that was recommended. The food was great...once thing that Sydney doesn't have is great Mexican food. So in LA, that's where I have to load up! :)

I got back to my hotel around 8:30ish. I turned on the TV and was watching the various football games that were on. But I was deadbeat tired...having been awake since around 3 in the morning plus the effects of jetlag. So after about half an hour, I turned the TV off and went to sleep. :)

Day 2: Travelling Back in Time!

One thing I realised staying in a Transit Hotel is that Airports are very boring places when they close down.





Around 11pm local time last night (Midnight Sydney time), I got really hungry so I went out to see if there was anything open. The terminal was completely deserted! Every shop shuttered and not a soul to be seen. This is how Tom Hanks must've felt in The Terminal! hehe




So I just went back to my room and tried to sleep. I don't know when I drifted off to sleepland, but I woke up and it was pretty late...10:30am. I quickly showered, got dressed, and went outside to get some food into me.

Went to this place called Welly's Food Court and ordered abolone jjoog. It wasn't too bad.




Then popped in next door to a cafe called...Welly's Cafe and had a coffee. The mug was really pretty.




Pity the contents weren't quite as good...

Anyways, I walked around the terminal watching people, then went back to my room to watch a bit of TV until I had to check out.

Checking out was done, and I moved down to the gate I'd be departing from.





On this flight, I was way up the back...I didn't mind as long as there was power on the seat. Unfortunately, when I got to my seat (54J) and plugged my computer power in, there was no response. Apparently, all the power outlets were turned off for this flight...don't know why!




But the private screen with VOD (Video on Demand) and the INCREDIBLE amount of space I had more than made up for it. :)



My seat was in the section of the back of the plane where the fuselage starts to taper in to the tail. So there's not enough space in the cabin to fit 3 seats in the window row, so they settled for 2. What this meant was that I had copious amounts of leg space and storage space next to me. And since I had my noise-cancelling headphones, I wasn't worried about the engine noise. :)





The flight was 11 hours, 40 minutes long, and I was planning to stay awake for the whole flight, so I could adjust to LA time ASAP. I was afraid I might be a nuisance to the flight attendants, because I'd be asking for drinks and munchies throughout the night instead of sleeping. But thankfully, the one who was mainly looking after my stretch of the seating didn't mind too much.









Finally arrived in Los Angeles. I just love how flying to LA means you get there before you left! Because of the International Dateline, I arrived in LA 11AM on Saturday, 28 October. I'd left Seoul Incheon Airport at 3PM on Saturday, 28 October. hehe









I caught a shuttle bus to Travelodge International Inn, Anaheim. That's what I'll be calling home for the next week or so...hehe










Checked into my room (231). By that stage, it was around 2pm. I was really hungry as I hadn't had lunch yet, so I went next door to a diner franchise called Denny's and got myself some food.







I'd arranged to meet up with a guy called Alex (some of you may remember him from JAMA Convention last year) tonight. He was going to come and pick me up around 5:30ish, so I was waiting in my room watching a bit of TV.




Unfortunately, I'd dozed off, and when I woke up, I thought he'd left. I quickly called him, to find that he was still waiting for me in the car park. Thank you Alex!

I'm so glad that he did, because where he took me was really nice!

We went to Redondo Beach and had fresh steamed crabs. YUMMY!!!!!!












They were excellent! I could seriously eat about 10 of these by myself! Then we walked around the pier area a bit, and got back to my hotel.

Day 1: In Transit...

My long awaited trip began today.

Woke up early...4AM to wash and get dressed, then pray with Sunny. I wanted to get to the airport by around 5:30AM for an 8AM flight.

Why?

Because I wanted to confirm that my pre-reserved seat was one with a power outlet, and if it wasn't I'd hopefully have enough time to get it changed. Apparently they recently upgraded, and so every 2 seats share a power outlet.

After Checking-In, Sunny and I went off to have a bit of a bite to eat...last meal together for quite some time...

She had bibimbab and me...I had a meat pie...hehe




Anyways, I went in through Customs and Immigration around 7 since Sunny had to go then to make it to work on time. No problems through Customs or Immigration...then onto the plane.

My seat...35B which is an aisle seat just in line with the leading edge of the wing. So I got my noise-cancelling headphones out of my backpack then stowed in the overhead storage area. My laptop bag, I put under the seat in front of me so I could get to it quickly. :)




We were delayed a bit because some connecting flight didn't make it on time and we had to wait for those passengers, but soon enough, we were taxi-ing through to the runway to take-off. I was sitting next to an old Japanese lady who was heading over to Japan to visit some friends. Her English was remarkably good! Actually, we got to talking because of my cough! I've got this wretched cough that's been hanging around for several months now, and just won't leave me alone! Being in the dry, air-conditioned air didn't help, and I coughed a few times. She asked me if I had a cold. I explained my coughing situation and she tells me she has a similar thing too, then coughed at the end of her sentence just to prove it!

She then reached into her handbag and pulled out some cough lollies and gave me a handful. Nice lady. :)

By this stage, I was mentally praying about how I could speak to her about Christ.

Anyways, we took off without incident, and around 10 minutes into the flight, I got out my laptop computer, plugged it in, and powered it up.

Lo and behold!

There was a wireless access point available and I was connected up. I started up Firefox (browser of choice...I mean why would you use Internet Explorer? Even IE7? hehe), and logged in with my account details that I'd made a few weeks before. And as simple as that, I was online!




My MSN tray icon started flickering between the grey and green to indicate it was hooking up. So I got my emails, replied to the ones that needed attention, looked at all my usual websites, and chatted on MSN.

I'd asked Sunny to be online especially today, so that i could chat with her. I wanted to webcam with her too, but unfortunately, her workplace network didn't allow that...hehe

But, I chatted with quite a few people, most of whom were initially confused as to why I was online.

"Steve...? Weren't you meant to leave today...???"

I also webcammed with a few as well. :)

Anyways, all up, I was online for about 6 of the 10 hours. The rest I was reading a book. I didn't watch either of the movies that were on...the first because it was such a lame Korean movie about a horse...Sugar Lump or something. And the second, which was Lake House, I didn't watch because I want to watch it with Sunny...hehe

Through all this, I was very much aware of the lady sitting next to me. I was wondering how we could start talking about Christ. She slept through most of the flight, but was awake for the meals, so after lunch, I grabbed my chance. I asked her how long she'd lived in Australia because her English was excellent. 40 years!!! So I asked her how hard it was living in Australia in those days...especially as she was Japanese and all. Yes, it was hard, but she managed. And she told me that now, she loves Australia and wouldn't live anywhere else!

So I asked her about her kids...she had one son who is a doctor, but did an MBA after his medical degree and is now working at a pharmaceutical company.

Of course, after that, it's just natural that she ask me what I do. I explained I was a minister, and we started talking about God, religions, and faith.

She didn't not believe in a god, she said, but she didn't really think about it much. And so for about an hour after lunch, we had a good chat talking about Christianity. I explained what I was doing, and I invited her to church with me once she was back in Sydney. We exchanged contact details, so I'll give her a call once I'm back. :)

Hopefully, she'll be open to giving Christianity a try.

One last thing, as we were coming in to land at Incheon, she looked out the window at the sunset which was throwing out a blaze of deep and vibrant pinkish/purple across the horizon. With a smile on her face, she turned to me and said, "When you see things like this, how can you not believe in God?"

That was really encouraging. Hopefully, the God she speaks of is the same God Christians worship and adore. :)

So we landed in Incheon, and since I'm transitting through to Los Angeles, I'm actually staying in the transit area until my flight tomorrow at 3pm. No, not just sitting around in front of some gate, but in the Transit Hotel in the airport. It's not bad...cosy... :)




After checking in, I went downstairs to get some dinner into me.




And now here I sit, writing this while chatting with a some loved ones.

Once this is done, I'm off! SLEEP! :)

Poor Guy!!!

Imagine if you saw this on TV....



Poor guy....




I'll be off for 20 days tomorrow to attend some seminars and conferences in America and Korea. So take care everyone, and see you when I get back. :)

And if you see me online, drop me a line and say hi...hehe

Getting Old...

I went in to get a haircut today. Not just a trim, but back to the short, almost-buzz-cut length.

I was growing my hair, but 2 things made me chop it all off.

Firstly, it got to that annoying length where it kept poking my eyes. I hate that!

And secondly, with summer coming on, I don't think I'll be able to handle long hair in the heat! hehe

So, it was time to get it shorn. Funny thing was, my hairdresser's name was Sean. hehe

Anyways...

While I was getting my haircut, I noticed a patch of hair on the front-right of my head that was a bit more shinier than normal. So I looked hard at it and it looked like a patch of grey hair. I couldn't check really closely, since it's not the best idea to move around too much when your hair's being cut.

So I asked Sean, "Hey, are they grey hairs there?"

"Yep. You're getting old." was the reply.

So there you have it, I'm getting old! hehe

On a related note, while I was in the chair getting the haircut, an old man came in to get his haircut too. He sat down in the chair next to mine, and the girl who was going to cut his hair asked him something I've never heard ever in a hairdresser's place.

"So do you want me to trim your eyebrows and ears as well?"

What the...?!?!

I was desperately trying hard not to laugh! hehe



Onto something totally different.

They're starting to make waterproof mobile phones.




I think that's just a dumb and stupid idea. There are some places where we should just not be reachable.

When you're swimming is one.

Another is in the toilet. It's really disconcerting when you walk into a public toilet and you hear one half of a conversation coming from a cubicle. It's not normal to carry on a conversation while you're doing your business. Isn't it?

Those of you who know me know that I screen my calls when I'm with someone. I figure if someone gives up a bit of their time to meet with me in person to talk face-to-face, they take precedence over most people who call me on the phone, expecting to get through and speak with me at their convenience whenever they feel like it (the only exception is my wife Sunny!).

I realise most people don't do what I do, but think about it. Isn't it rude to the other person to simply take a call in the middle of a conversation? What do you think?

Left is Right...

So I got myself a guitar today. Not a new one...someone had a spare, so they were kind enough to lend it to me until I get my own. :)

I sort of mucked around with the guitar before, but I was never any good. I spent more time on my saxophone cos I liked the sound better. hehe

Since I pretty much have to start from scratch again, I've decided to teach myself how to play the guitar left-handed.

In case you didn't know, I'm left handed. But I'm kinda ambidextrous - I do some things left-handed while others right. For example, in golf, I'll drive right-handed, but putt left-handed. Yeah, I don't know how that happened either...

Anyways, I just naturally played the guitar right-handed because that's how I saw everyone else do it. But I think left-handed is the go this time around! Besides, if nothing else, I'll be different! hehe

It's going to be odd, but should be fun. :)





Sunny and I also went and watched The Departed tonight.

So, what did we think?

I have a one sentence summary for it...but you'll need to scroll to the bottom of this post. This is for people who haven't seen the movie. If you don't want to read it, then don't scroll down! :P

So if you read my summary and it ruins the plot, then don't blame me! Besides, it's a remake of a Chinese movie anyways. hehe









































The movie seems to be saying,
"People are never what they seem, and then they all die."

Connected in the Air!

I've been looking into options to keep me occupied on flights for my upcoming trip. I figured if I'm going to be spending a collective 48 hours in airplanes over 2 weeks, I wanted to something more than the in-flight movies, reading, or simply sleeping.

That's how I stumbled across this service called Connexion - providing internet connections while in the air! When I first looked at it about a month ago, the price was pretty steep - US$30 for a flight. I'd like internet access on a flight, but not at that price!

But I decided to check the details again today because I read somewhere that this service was being closed down at the end of the year because not enough people were using it.

Boy, am I glad I did!

I'll quote the page: "Starting on Oct. 2nd, 2006, the in-flight Internet service will be free of charge."

FREE!!!

So I'll be making sure I'm in a seat with a power socket and I'll be online through the duration of all my flights! :)



On another note, tomorrow will be the last Sunday I'll be hopping from this to that church guest-preaching. From the following week, I'll be in preparation for my ministry next year. :)

Meeting Yourself...

Have you ever tried Googling your own name?

I just gave it a go then, and the search came up with a ridiculous 58,900,000 matches. I guess that's the price I have to pay for having a name that doubles for a nickname for just about every Steve there is - Steve-oh!

It's not exactly a normal thing to do, but I tried it because I was curious to see how many other Steve Oh's there are out there in the world.

What prompted this?

I got a really unusual email asking me for a quote on my "DJ services" for a wedding. I thought the girl must've made a mistake looking for a DJ who called himself "Steve-O" or something of the like.

It turns out her fiance's name is Steve Oh. So it got me thinking about all the Steve Oh's out there...

It'd be pretty cool to meet someone with the same name as yourself...except when your name is something as common as John Kim :P (Sorry to all the John Kim's! hehe But you must admit, you do have a pretty common name! :P)

On another note, I finalised my bookings for some conferences in the US and Korea. I'll be heading off on October 28 and coming back November 12 to go to the NYW Conference in LA and the CAL Discipleship Training Seminar in Korea. I'm really excited about heading off, although I'm not too keen on the trip over.

I enjoy flying a lot, but I was really burnt several years ago when I came straight through from LA via Seoul. That's a 13 hour flight followed by a 10 hour flight with only a 2 hour stop in the terminal in Korea.

That's a recipe for total exhaustion! And I'll be doing the same thing on my way to America...

And now something for your visual confusion...




The squares labelled "A" and "B" are exactly the same colour!

Making Melody

So I've decided to get back to my saxophone. I think I've been letting what musical ability God has given me go to waste for too long.

So it's going to be pretty noisy in my place for a while until I get the hang of things once more. And my lips are going to be rather swollen and cut on the inside...but all for a good cause. :)

Also, I think I might have to (re)learn the guitar. Anyone out there have any good online resources or books they can lend me? :)

See The Morning

After spending the morning cooped in my study preparing for several talks I have to do, I decided I needed a break. So where else would I go but my friendly, neighbourhood Koorong? :)

As I got there, I wondered if the new Chris Tomlin CD was out, so made my way to the Music Section.

And Yes! It was in.

So I bought my copy of Chris Tomlin's See the Morning and put it on in my car while I went for a drive.



My impression?

To be honest, after all the hype this CD had got in CCM circles, I thought it was a bit of a downer. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with the songs. They're all the usual Chris Tomlin fare.

But I'm one of those people who really want at least one song on a CD to just leap out, grab your attention and take you on a whirlwind spiritual tour! Sort of like "How Great Is Our God" in Arriving, Tomlin's previous CD. But there was nothing making such an impact on this CD.

One that almost did it was track 4, "Everlasting God". But the instrumental was way too similar to a song called "Gypsy Fair" by an Irish band from the late 80s called Hothouse Flowers.

So, all in all, this CD is one of those that's probably going to grow on me as I learn to really appreciate the songs. But there wasn't much right from the initial hearing.

Is this too harsh?

Possibly.

But those who know my know I'm pretty picky with my music. 10 years of violin has given me a fussy ear that's hard to please! :P

But as I said, it's filled with the usual Tomlin-esque stuff. Just nothing that marks it out as a momentous CD release.