We Love Pohnpei

Well, I love it here.  We are having a fabulous vacation.  After two days of diving, yesterday we took a "break" and went on a five hour hike to see six waterfalls.  We learned that they really mean it when they say "it's a strenuous hike" here.  

It was an absolutely amazing hike.  There were a lot of climbs and descents down a very steep trail, a lot of walking across, up and down the river, swimming in the river, bouldering and generally slippery walking.  Of course, I loved it.  Our guides all did the trek bare foot, and had better footing and better traction than any of us hikers.  

We saw six waterfalls in all.  I have pictures of four of them, which I will post soon.  I did not get any picture of the sixth, and most secluded of the pristine, secluded waterfalls because we had to swim upstream for probably about 50 yards or so to get to it, and I would not risk the camera, even in it's dry bag.

So after that light activity, it was back in the water today.  We did three dives again today, and now we are finished with diving here.  It was incredible.  We dove with 10 manta rays surrounding us, swimming and doing acrobatic feeding loops.  They came within inches.  The mantas a beautiful, graceful creatures.  I, for one, was stunned by them, I believe we all were. 

Tomorrow we have a tour of Nan Madol, the ruins of ancient civilization in Pohnpei.  

The connection is not so fast, so picture posting is slow.  I will load them all up back in Guam.

Merry Christmas from Pohnpei

We arrived safely in Pohnpei yesterday afternoon.  Immediately after checking in at The Village, we headed out on the boat for a dive.  It was pretty amazing, we saw three big manta rays at a cleaning station, where they circle in the current to have small wrasses eat the algae out of their gills.  

Today we did two pretty spectacular dives.  We saw a school of over 20 sharks (just little white tip reef sharks), a school of big barracuda, some very large Napoleon wrasses,and a plethora of small creatures.  On the way back we came through a channel in the mangrove forest (I guess you would call it a forest).  It was pretty cool, and probably one of the few remaining intact mangrove habitats in the world.  

I did not take my camera out today to take pictures of the island, but here a is a picture of our room - it is a thatched hut with screen windows.  More photos to come soon...

Christmas Party

I suppose it is a sign of how fast time flies between Thanksgiving and Christmas that I have not blogged since Thanksgiving.  Admittedly, that was not much of a post either.  Anyway, I am back now.  We have been busy lately, but without much photo-documentation.  

We are gearing up for our Christmas trip to Pohnpei, I am trying to motivate myself to put up my Christmas tree (85 degrees just does not feel like Christmas to me), and we had our first real Tropical Storm scare since moving here.  This past week, Tropical Depression 27W threatened us briefly, but thankfully formed up to close to Guam to do any damage here other than blow some things around.  I, for one, am very happy that there was no real storm.  

Yesterday Tom and I ran in a 5K race in the morning.  As much as I actually enjoy doing the races (not so much racing for me, just running with a big group of people), I also hate the fact that they all start at 6:00 a.m. to beat the heat.  That was an early start to the day.  We also had the Coast Guard Christmas party last night. 

Can you guess who played Santa for the party?

That's right!  Tom graciously played Santa for about an hour and half at the beginning of the party, giving out the door prizes and sweating to death in the poorly air-conditioned lobby where we had the party.  Here is Santa giving presents to our friend Elizabeth and me...

We had a nice time at the party.  There was plenty of socializing and good food.

Here is a shot of two Amys in front of the very large Christmas tree...

After the official activities a group of people went out for live music at two different places in Tumon.  It was a big night.  We got home at 2:30 in the morning.  I have not stayed out that late in quite a long time.  Getting up for the race in the morning and staying out dancing until 2 in the morning made for a very long day.   It was a fine time, though, and good to get out and have a nice evening.  

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. Tom and I had a nice Thanskgiving dinner at a coworker's house yesterday. We are headed out for a day of jet skiing and swimming at the beach with friends today. I hope you are all having a nice holiday, and hopefully enjoying a four day weekend.

Rota and Coconuts

Our trip to Rota was a big success. We had two full days of relaxation (there is not much to do in Rota but relax). Here is the Coconut Village Resort.

Our cute cabins...

We rode bikes to the simming hole. Here is Marcy and I on the beach cruisers, followed by a shot of the swimming hole...

We also had a sunset picnic of Champagne and cheese at the Bird Sanctuary.

This is the fishing cliff.

We also drove around a mostly abandoned part of the island, visited the Taga Cave and spent an entire day lazing on the beach and playing Scrabble. Yup, we are crazy vacationers!

Amy's Favorite Places

In celebration of Marcy's long journey to Guam we have been adventuring around Guam. I am in people shock after living by myself for the past few months, having not just one, but two people in the house is a real treat. Tom was feeling sick early in the week, but he has just about kicked it and is feeling much better.

Lucky for us, Marcy arrived on Monday night and we had Tuesday off from work for Veteran's Day. We took her on a drive around the rather lovely southern side of the island. Here are a couple of pics for Fort Soledad.

Yesterday we went to my absolute favorite place on the island, Talofofo Caves. I have been there a few times and I LOVE it. I found a "new" cave yesterday (new to me). That one involved crawling on our bellies to get through the small opening at the beginning. The reward was a beautiful view on the cliff side.

Unfortunately, we had to go back out the way we got through, because even though the cave did come out to daylight on the cliffside, there was nowhere to go from there. You can see how thrilled Marcy was with this...

Actually, Marcy liked the caves too.

Today we had a picnic at Ritidian Point, which is my favorite beach on the island. After the beach we stopped in Tumon for gellato and a trip to the Underwater World aquarium.

Tomorrow we are flying to Rota for two nights so Marcy can see more of the Marianas. Rota is a pretty little island with nothing to do but relax.

There are more pictures from the visit on Flickr.

Here is one more of Tom from our kayaking trip a couple weekends ago...

And one of the two of us...

Visitor Update

Sorry for the lack of blogging.  We have been doing a lot of stuff lately and Marcy is here to visit!  She came on Monday night and will be here until next week.  I have pictures from our kayak trip two weekends ago to add to the blog.  More to come soon..

Happy Halloween!

Tom is home! He arrived on Tuesday at around noon. We have been having a grand time since, it is great to have him home.

Last night we went to a small Halloween party at our neighbor's house. I reworked a costume idea I used a few years ago, I think it came out better this time. Here we are, the bather and the bath...

I hope you all had a fun Halloween, despite the snow for some people. My costume would not have been so good for Trick or Treating in the snow.

Sylvester likes to blog..

I ran to get my camera the other day when I saw Sylvester posed at the computer... funny!

The trip to Japan two weekends ago was good. Tom and I had a nice time in Yokusuka and Yokohama. We just happened on a street jazz festival and an Oktoberfest in Yokohama. I am very happy that I went, it has made these last couple of weeks bearable. He should be home early this week. I don't know exactly when yet, but soon! Hurray!

Last weekend I ran in a relay team for a 20K. We each had a 5K leg, which is not bad except that we had to be there at 5am, which meant getting up before 4am. I ran the last leg, so I did not even start until close to 7am. We did alright. None of us are particularly fast runners, so we made a good team. My leg was almost all up hill - arg. I did not do too much for the rest of the day last Sunday besides lay by the pool and sleep.

Nothing exciting this weekend either. I did a lot of cleaning and baked pumpkin scones for Tom's homecoming. It is amazing that he has been gone since June! So much has happened since June. Hopefully there will not be anymore long trips between now and next June when we depart Guam.

The Jet Set

Well, I am flying to Japan again tomorrow. Since Tom is delayed and Tuesday was his birthday and Friday is our Anniversary, I am going up to see him again. We have been married for four years tomorrow. It was quite smart of us to get married on a holiday weekend! We get a guaranteed day off every few years for celebration. I don't plan on taking my camera to Japan this time since we will not be leaving Yokosuka, but I will update on the trip when I get back.

Enjoy Columbus Day!

Indiana Jones Adventure

Today I went on a hike with my neighbors from across the street to an old, overgrown burial temple built by a wealthy Chinese man in the 1970's for his tomb. He is no longer buried there because his family had his remains moved to China, but the remains of the temple are still there, and it would have been quite a sight when it was new. Here are a few shots of the entrance arch and the burial area.
There was a paved walkway with several stairs leading from the entrance to the burial sight. As you can see, the whole place is quite overgrown now:

The hike was a nice welcome back to Guam after my latest round of travel. It was a lovely day out, no rain for the whole time we hiked.

Too Funny!

Tom sent me this photo of himself, Matt (his CO) and a random baby. I think it is hilarious!

Where will we go?

I have been keeping pretty busy, but not really doing much too exciting lately. I dove a few times in the last couple weeks, no pictures because my underwater camera died.

I also did a couple of "failed" hikes. "Failed" meaning that I did not find the destination or even the trail I was looking for. I am going again this afternoon with a friend, and I am determined to find the waterfall this time!

My big accomplishment over Labor Day weekend was to clean my closet, and I have actually kept it that way since then. I am working on establishing a good habit before Tom comes home (which is now sometime later in October, by the way, we don't know when). You know, they say it takes weeks to establish a good habit and luckily for me, I have those weeks to work with. Now, if that is not seeing the upside in a crappy, long separation from Tom, I don't know what is. So, anyway, although not exciting, here is a picture of the closet as it has been for the past two weeks. I am determined this time to break a life-long messy closet habit.

Perhaps by showing everyone this picture, I will feel bound to keeping it organized and clean.

I also flew up to Saipan and back for work last week. I was there for a couple of days and got to have dinner with our friends Julie and Rusty Friday night.

You may be wondering what the title of this post is all about. Well, the Shopping List of jobs for our impending transfer came out. So, now the reality that we are almost done with this tour in Guam is very real. We are looking over the list, trying to find the best jobs which will allow us co-location. This is not as easy a task as it may sound. Unfortunately, since Tom is delayed, we will not be able to talk in person about this rather large decision, and will have to do it over the phone. We will make do. I am more disappointed that he will not be home for his Birthday or our Wedding Anniversary this year. I even already have his birthday present (unheard of for me, as most of you know). Speaking of Birthdays, Happy (slightly belated) Birthday to Peggy and Karen, who share a birthday in August!

Next weekend I fly to Virginia again. I have a week of training in Williamsburg, then I will spend the weekend with Karen and Rahul and Krishnan. I am looking forward to that, although not necessarily to the flights...

Hopefully I will have some waterfall pics to post later on today.

Update: Ah, Guam. Turns out that the only place it rained today was in the valley where the waterfall I intended to hike to is. Good for falling water, bad for hikers. We abandoned the hike about halfway in for fear of the muddy, slippery, steep traverse back out. Somehow it would be very embarrassing for two CG officers to need inland SAR assistance. I will not be deterred, though, I will see Upper Sigua Falls if it is the last thing I do on Guam!

Domo Arigato Japan

Tom and I had a great time in Japan last week. I flew up on Thursday and stayed until Tuesday, so we had a nice block of time to do some exploring. Since Tom had to be in a recall distance to the ship, we spent most of our nights in Tokyo at the New Sanno Hotel. For those of you out there with access to military hotels, the New Sanno is the equivalent of the Hale Koa in Honolulu, a very nice place in a very expensive area for very affordable prices.


We did have one overnight outing to the mountains. Tom was lucky to find an available reservation at an Onsen Ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn at a natural hotspring). It was a beautiful place, and fun to stay in a traditional room. Dinner and breakfast were served at the inn also, I have never eaten so many things that I had no idea what they were before! The server at dinner did not speak any English, and well, our Japanese is not quite at the level of useful. She would just talk and talk to us, and we just stared back at her, then ate the food. Most of it was good, some of it was odd. Some of the food tasted good, but had a texture that I could not really enjoy.


Oh, and the best part, aside from the amazing natural hot spring baths, was that as soon as you arrive you change into a cotton robe, called a Yukata, and you don't get dressed again until you check out.


Here are some shots of the inside of our room, the view from our room and the view along the river.

Our room is the corner room on the first floor of this building.

After that outing, we stayed in Tokyo for the remainder of the trip. I always thought that all of Tokyo was bright lights and tall buildings, but it is not. When traveling, I much prefer smaller towns to big cities (Rome was my least favorite part of Italy). We were able to find some small neighborhoods in Tokyo away from the flashy, neon Shinjuku area.

We visted the Imperial Palace Gardens. Unfortunately, you can not go inside the inner moat to see the Imperial Palace, but here is the view from the closest place you can get, along with a few shots of the city over the top of the gardens.

We lucked upon two street festivals in different neighborhoods. One was just a nice little celebration at a temple and down the surrounding streets. The other was a festival of the "fools dance" called Awa Odori. We stood in the pouring rain watching a parade of dancers in traditional costumes. There were 10,000 dancers in the three hour long parade. We only stood in the rain for a little over an hour to watch, then left. I don't have pictures because of the rain.

So, that is pretty much the synopsis of the trip. As I said, we enjoyed exploring and seeing new things. Even though I never thought I wanted to go to Japan, I would recommend it to anyone, especially if you are already on this side of the world.

Since I got back late Tuesday the only exciting thing that happened was a visit with two former shipmates from WILLOW. One is now on MORGANTHAU and they had a port call herein Guam. The ship left homeport in Alameda in April and is not due back till October. Now that is a long deployment! The other is the CO of KUKUI now, and they are in town covering for SEQUOIA during the drydock. It was good to see both of them.

Well, I should probably do something with this lovely Sunday afternoon. My plan is to organize my closet, but the sunshine looks so inviting, I don't know if that will happen!

This weekend sponsored by the number 5...

I had quite a weekend! On Saturday morning I ran in a 5K race. I started running again a couple of months ago, and this was my first race in Guam. I did not place in the finish, but I did run the full race and I had a decent time for me. I will have some pictures of the race to post soon.

After the race, I headed down to Inarajan, near the south tip of the island, for day one of a two day yoga workshop. So, after running a 5K I did 5 hours of yoga on Saturday. Whew! I was quite tired at the end of the day, and slept well. Needless to say, I was a little sore this morning when I got out of bed, but I had 5 more hours of yoga to attend.

The yoga workshop was wonderful. Here is the view I looked at for 10 hours over the course of two days (that is, when I was not upside down and backwards).

and here is the spot where I enjoyed my lunch today...

I am very happy I did the workshop, although my body is feeling sore and tired. The teacher was a woman named Ki, who is based out Seattle, but travels quite a bit internationally to teach workshops. If she ever comes to your neighborhoods, I highly recommend her workshop.

Finally, two pictures in what I would like to call my "Clouds of Guam Obsession" series.

Aren't they amazing?

I have a big week coming up. On Tuesday I have a seminar to facilitate and on Thursday I am flying to Japan to spend time with Tom. I will be there from Thursday until next Tuesday so it will be a nice visit.

Still more new places...

It is hard to believe that after fourteen months on a tiny island there are still places I have not been, but it is true. On Sunday I drove to Ritidian Point which is the northern most point on the island. Many people have told me that it is one of the nicest beaches on the island, and it is true.

As you can see in the picture the sand is wide and actually sandy, rather than all coral and rocks. The beach is on a wildlife preserve so it is quiet isolated. It was a nice day trip, and it actually took a whole hour to get there!



Other than that, I have mostly been working and readjusting to Guam time and living alone with Sylvester.

Tom made it back to Japan just fine, tired and weary from travel, but fine.

To VA, PA, NY and back again...

I am home safe and sound from my two week trip to Virgina and Pennsylvania and Sylvester is very happy to see me. It is nice to be welcomed home and loved, even if it is just by a cat.

I had a great trip. Week one was in Virginia for a conference which Tom attended also. We got to see Joe, Katie and Robinson, Kristen, and Kelly, Matt and Jimmy, along with some other folks we have not seen in a while.



After the week in Virginia, Tom and I parted ways. He headed to New London for a leadership class and I to Pennsylvania to spend time with my family after a brief stop in Westfield, New Jersey to visit my oldest friend, Marcy. It was a lot of fun to see my sister Jennifer's girls and just relax at home in Browndale.





I was also lucky that Karen drove all the way up from Northern Virginia with six-month old Krishnan to see me while I was in PA. Here is a pic of baby Krishnan and one of me and Karen.



As a final treat before returning to Guam, Jennifer and I drove to New York and met Marcy and Joy to see RENT on Broadway. The show closes in September, and I was very happy to get to see it again before it closes. It was fantastic, of course.

So now I am back in Guam, recuperating from the journey and preparing to return to work tomorrow (blah).

There are many more photos over on Flickr