Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category

Saturday Morning Choices

Posted in Travel on Saturday, 9 September, 2006| 4 Comments »

What to do on a Saturday morning?

FG’s choice: Sleep in and have a “homebody” day. FM’s choice: Whatever! He’s usually game for anything  My choice: Charity 5K at 6 am

We decided to run/walk in the 1st Annual Marianas Classic which started at the Governor’s Complex. So, for the second consecutive Saturday morning, we dragged FG out of bed at 4:30 am so we could make the start time at 6 am.  We got there RIGHT before the race/walk started and we couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning. The moon was full and low in the sky ~ gorgeous way to start the day.

The 5K was a charity run for “Operation Christmas Drop” which is an Air Force program that was started in 1952 and distributes toys throughout the Pacific Islands at Christmastime. The entry fee for the 5K was a new toy.

FM ran the race and ended up getting third place in his division. His division is now the “masters” since today is his birthday and he turned the big 4-0.   

FG did great until we hit the “turn” then she decided she was tired of walking. That’s when I hit my stride so I was double timing it and trying to pass a few people 🙂 It was a fun event.  The Governor of Guam handed out the awards and the raffle prizes included flights on Northwest Airlines. Too bad we didn’t win anything.

We’ll let FG sleep in until 8 am tomorrow since I already know we have more early plans for next Saturday!

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Double Time at the Beach

Posted in Travel on Monday, 4 September, 2006| 1 Comment »

We went to the beach not once, but twice today. We woke up at 6:30 am so we could sneak the dog to the beach without anyone around. Uh, not quite…there were many campers at the beach and they were already up when we got there.  The dogs enjoyed their swim anyway.  Whenever Bennett goes swimming, I think of him as a young puppy ~ he loves the water so much.

FM was busy laboring over a shelving unit: repairing and painting it and I went out to give him a coke when I realized it was an absolutely gorgeous Guam day. It didn’t take much for me to talk FM into going back to the beach but FG was another story ~ she was happy as could be just hanging out. You would have thought we were dragging her to the dentist rather then the beach! Once we got there and saw a ton a fish while snorkeling, she forgave us for forcing her to have some fun. My favorite fish is the trigger fish. I followed one for awhile and he kept swimming up to my mask to check me out.

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My favorite Guam Blog

Posted in Blogging, Travel on Monday, 4 September, 2006| 1 Comment »

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I finally got to meet my “blog hero”, Josie from Latitude 13, on Saturday. We went to an Art Show at a club named Live House where a couple of Josie’s photographs were being exhibited. The local artwork was great and we had a small world experience when we walked in and saw a Bayern flag, some Oktoberfest items and other German things on the wall. We spoke with the owner who turns out to be a German woman from Baden-Baden. So not what we were expecting. It looked like a fun joint to ‘hang out’ so we’ll go back with friends when we have a sitter for FG 😉

It was a thrill to finally meet Josie. I’ve been reading her blog since we found out last September we were moving to Guam. She provided a lot of positive and pertinent information which I couldn’t find on other Guam websites. If you’re moving to Guam or are just interested in Guam, Latitude 13 is the site to read. It’s professional, positive and has gorgeous photos.

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Mission: Declutter!

Posted in Travel, TV on Saturday, 2 September, 2006| 7 Comments »

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Now that we’ve unpacked our boxes and watched one too many episodes of Clean Sweep, we’ve decided to sell, give or throw away our excess items. Our neighbor advised us of a good “sell” location just up the road where you pull up and sell out of the back of your vehicle but the catch is you have to get there EARLY. We got up at 4:30 and headed out by 5:30. While FM was packing the car, he was stopped twice by people trolling for tag sales on base. I didn’t think anyone else would be up at 5 am on a Saturday. When we got to the location at about 5:40, we were mobbed and some people even helped us “unload” the car so they could get first dibs. We got rid of a lot of things but we have more that wouldn’t fit into the car ~ if it doesn’t fit in the suburban, you know it’s a lot of stuff. FM is thinking about going again tomorrow but FG has put her foot down and refuses to go again ~ she wants one day to sleep in and I don’t blame her a bit.

Since FG is a huge pack-rat like her Daddy, I was proud of both of them for making an effort to declutter. We told FG she could keep the money for any of her items that sold and she had a say on picking out what we would sell that belonged to her. We noticed quite a few things from her “sell” box were disappearing throughout the morning.  I thought FM sold them and he thought I sold them. So when we got in the car to leave, we were surprised to find these items had mysteriously migrated into the backseat of the car! Our tricky girl decided at the last minute that she wasn’t so keen on selling those things 😉 I have to say, she was pretty stealth about the whole thing since FM, nor I, had a clue what she was doing. 

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First Day of School

Posted in Favorite Girl, Travel on Wednesday, 30 August, 2006| 3 Comments »

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Yesterday was Favorite Girl’s first day at her new school. Her attitude has been wonderful considering this is her third school in three years. I’m glad we’re moving so much when she’s young and hopefully we’ll be settled in one place when she’s in high school.

Children are allowed to walk to school alone but, being the over-protective mom that I am and since we’re about a mile from the school, I will either walk with her or, more likely, drive her.

First impressions of her new teacher are positive. I met with the teacher after class and she mentioned needing parent volunteers. Since I’m actively seeking a job, I didn’t want to commit too much too soon so I said “Yes, I will help when I can. I did a little volunteering in Germany.” Well, FG piped in with “A LITTLE ~ you got an award for all your volunteering last year.” So much for trying to keep a low profile.

In the photo, FG is holding a ‘schultüte” which is a cone filled with goodies i.e. candies, pencils, stickers, fun shaped erasers, etc. The German tradition of the schultüte is: it is given to 1st graders on their first day of school and the children take it to school with them. FG’s cone for her first grade was huge and matched her backpack but other kids, with more creative moms, had home-made cones which were GORGEOUS!

Last year on the first day of second grade, FG’s German nanny Nadja gave her a smaller tüte and this year I continued the tradtion by using the same cone and filling it with goodies. FG was so happy when she saw it. She loves traditions!

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Back to the Boonies

Posted in Guam, Hiking, Travel, tagged , , , , , on Monday, 28 August, 2006| 3 Comments »

After several weeks off, mostly due to rainy weather, we returned to Boonie Stomping. We explored the southeastern coast and ended in the village of Inarajan. It was a beautiful day ~ sunny, clear and, most importantly while hiking, not too hot. The drive to the area is spectacular. Gorgeous views of the ocean and the southern part of the island is much less developed. Our hiking guide got permission for us to park at someone’s house which sat right on the beach ~ so lovely.  As always, we were welcomed by the local hospitality.

The entire five mile hike to Bear Rock, at Agfayan Bay, was along the coastline in water up to my knees. Talk about a good workout for my legs. Can you make out the “bear” in the photo below?

There were a few waves which made me a little leery and concerned for my eight years old but we were able to time it so we made it through without getting pushed around too much by the water.  Being from Hawaii, I have a healthy respect for waves and never turn my back on the ocean. Sometimes there are rouge waves lurking…

On our way back home, we stopped at a fun seaside restaurant called Jeff’s Pirates Cove for a late lunch.  It’s a tourist stop but you can’t beat the atmosphere, beach-side location, good food and fast service.

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Bees! Part Deux

Posted in Guam, Travel on Sunday, 27 August, 2006| 1 Comment »

Both FM and FG were not overjoyed with my post yesterday about the bee attack. FG doesn’t like to remember and FM thought it was bad mojo to talk about it. So it was strange when FM took the dogs out for a walk around 5:30 pm and got attacked by  “boonie bees”. These boonie bees look like small wasps to me because they are darker than regular honey bees and have a wasp shape. While on the walk, FM stopped to talk with the neighbor across the street and was standing near a palm tree.  One of the dogs must have brushed the hive and they went after FM, stinging him about 10 times, mostly on his scalp. He said the one on his lip hurts the most and feels like he just got a shot novocaine. Lovely, eh?

On the positive side, the neighbors have three young children and I’m glad FM found the nest rather than one of them.  FG had a chilly response when I told her what happened, she said “I guess you’re next, Mommy.” You can bet I’ll be checking carefully as to where the dogs stick their noses!

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Way before the dawn

Posted in Travel on Friday, 25 August, 2006| 1 Comment »

FM gets up at 3:50 am on weekdays because he has a half hour drive to PT (physical training). PT is done very early here due to the heat and humidity. The early mornings also holds true for organized runs on the weekends. A charity 5K scheduled for tomorrow has a showtime of 5:15 am and the run starts at 6 am.

It makes for early nights for FM, my night owl. The strange thing is, I, the morning person, recently turned into a late-nighter. What’s up with that? It’s like we’ve switched biorhythms. I still have to get up early (between 6-6:30) to walk the dogs and it’s made me a little sleep deprived, not to mention a little cranky. I’ve found the best way to “get over” the lack of sleep is to head to the beach. Swimming is so invigorating and watching the fish is like having my own huge acquarium. I’ve been there everyday this week.

Each time I go snorkeling, I see such different types of fish. Could have sworn I saw a snake the other day. It was way too skinny to be an eel but perhaps it was a baby eel. The best time to snorkel seems to be late in the afternoon (around 5:30-6 pm) so FM has joined us a couple of times. FG got a little freaked out by a few fish who turned the tables on her, swam close and checked HER out. She thought one was going to bite her.  That ended her snorkeling for the day.

Tomorrow’s weather looks favorable so we’re going to attempt the scheduled boonie stomp.

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Not pretty but it works…

Posted in Travel on Thursday, 24 August, 2006| 5 Comments »

It may not be pretty and, it certainly isn’t fancy, but if you want to know current Guam time, click on “Guam Time” in the right-side column. A big, fat, disproportioned clock will appear.  It’s the best I could do for now.

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Days of Summer

Posted in Guam, Travel on Wednesday, 23 August, 2006| 3 Comments »

The days of summer vacation are fast coming to a close for FG. She’s more than ready to get back to the classroom even though she is still having a blast with snorkeling, playing with her friends and her favorite: staying up late and sleeping in.

The other day, FG mentioned how she liked the German school schedule a lot better. I have to agree. The Germans have a year-round school schedule and it allows for time off throughout the year not all at once during the summer. They start school in September, have a week off in November, two weeks in December/Jan, two weeks over Easter, two weeks in late May or early June and then the month of August off. It allows the children breaks throughout the year and they don’t get bored to tears with three months off in the summer.

We don’t find out who her teacher is until Friday at 5 pm when the school will post the classes on the front doors. Hmmm….I got a little spoiled with the Würzburg school which had a open house BEFORE school started so all the parents could meet their child’s teacher. And since FG loved her teacher so much last year, she’s anxious to see what her new teacher will be like.

Now that she is back to school and we’ve unpacked the boxes, I guess it’s time for me to get serious about working again…

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