Scuba Diving in Guam

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I stayed in Guam for more than four good weeks. It was another business trip with my second company.

I remember landing at the airport, which was overlooking the city and the sea. Guam is pretty much small that we were able to drive around the main island of Guam in about two hours! I liked it. It was small and sunny. I can say it has the best of both worlds. As my boss says, you live a life like you are in the Philippines due to similar weather and timezone, but you earn green money!

My coworkers were mostly immigrants from the Philippines. They say they make up more than 50% of Guam's population. The second largest group are the natives themselves, the Chamorros. Imagine that?! The natives are outnumbered by us Filipinos?! My coworkers taught me to say "Hafa Adai!" (pronounced HALF A DAY) which is a Chamorro greeting. It is like saying "Mabuhay!" in Filipino or "Aloha!" in Hawaiian.

I stayed in Guam to visit the hotels that my company does business with. Not surprisingly, a long string of hotels line up the bay area. Tumon Bay is where the big names are. They say it's a smaller version of Hawaii's famous beaches. The hotels were open-air, letting in the warm and salt-kissed air. It was something new to me since in Manila, all hotels are thoroughly enclosed and thoroughly air-conditioned.

I also noticed that most of the signs are in Japanese. I learned that the most frequent tourists in Guam are Japanese, so they had to adjust to them. Guam also had its share of war stories. We went to the South Pacific Memorial Park, which is in memory of the people who died on the war with the Japanese. We chanced upon a wedding being done in the nearby church/chapel. And yes, the Japanese choose to take vacations here than in their own country since it would be cheaper to go abroad. Isn't that weird?

The highlight of my trip to Guam was to try scuba diving. It was sooo exciting! We took a short lecture, classroom-type, for just about 30 mins. We were taught the basic underwater signals, how to get your reg when you loose it, and how to control your BC. Then off we go to the beach, at Piti Bomb Hole. Entering through the beach was haaaard. Our tanks were heavy and we had to walk till it gets deep. It took more than a kilometer to go to the deep part of the beach. My legs and back were aching. Then after a few more practice and last minute lecture, the divemasters led us to the deep, just 20 feet or 7 meters. I loved the feeling of being one with the ocean though I had trouble controlling my depth underwater. I was going up and down like crazy, my divemaster had to hold me instead. This caused me to spit out blood when we surfaced. Bad bad mistake. So underwater, there were fish of all colors and anemones! I waved at the people behind the metal wall that separate us. They waved back. They are in the Fish Eye Underwater Observatory. Below me were a few women in skimpy swimsuits enjoying the Seawalk tour. They were wearing helmets like the old and ancient divers used. Interesting, really.

I spent a weekend with my workmate's family gathering at the Ritidian Point. White sand. It was nice too. The tide was low so I was able to walk to the far end. I was curious when one man was at a distance and fishing from there. I walked over many sea cucumbers to get near him when my workmate warned me not to go further. I was disappointed. I wanted to go where the man was but she explained it's dangerous at that distance. She said Ritidian is like a mushroom-type stucture where it's shallow in the top of it then suddenly breaks into deep waters. Falling off would entail death. Ok, fine. So I walked back to the shore with her.

As for the food, it was in Guam where I had my first lamb curry in an African restaurant that I barely remember. My boss was a huge fan of steaks and he talks a lot about what he cooks for his wife and kids. I tried to cook steak like he showed me. I was alone in the apartment and the smoke detector alarm went off! Whaaaa! I had to open all windows to let out the smoke. I prayed the neighbors won't notice, let alone the firefighters! I remember having 8 bottles of Smirnoff and vowed never do it again. But my favorite was my "discovery" of two dishes I have never had before: Poke and Chicken Kelaguen. Poke was readily bought in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. It's raw tuna in sesame oil and we ate it as is with chopsticks. It's raw yet smoky (thanks to the sesame seeds too)! Chicken Kelaguen is something I had at a Filipino birthday party. It's a Chamorro dish made with minced chicken (not raw this time) with grated coconut and green onions. I forgot how it tasted and I never had it again in all of my stay. It was a rare opportunity. I wonder when I can have it again.

An interesting tourist spot is Two Lover's Point, the tourist Mecca of Guam. "Legend states that two 'star-crossed lovers' tied their hair together and jumped to their death in order to avoid a marriage arranged for the girl with a Spanish occupation officer. During and sometime after WW11 this was known as "Suicide Cliff" because the enemy rather die that way than meet the US Marines; also they thought it was a disgrace to surrender, so they jumped." [source: somewhere in the internet]

Going to Underwater World was my favorite. I have never been to any place like that before. It amazed me! I think my friends think I was crazy because I turned into a 5-year-old in astonishment. It was there that I saw a real Manta Ray swimming above me. We also got the chance to pet on starfish.

In the midst of all these natural sights and vast ocean view, lies a modern city. They have K-mart, which is the largest store one can see in all of Guam. They have Guam Premium Outlet for your shopping needs. During my first few weeks, we got the chance to visit the Snow Festival where there was, err... snow inside the warehouse. We had fun sliding down the slope. It was cold and wet. My heeled boots got worn out. I should have worn rubber shoes instead.

Getting Lost on My First Day

I got lost in Guam on my first day. We arrived early morning (around 4am) and had to take a short rest. At 9am, we drove to the office to see the site. Met a few new faces whom I shall call my counterparts. Going back home, my boss' instruction was for me to follow him, driving his car, while he will be in his Harley in front of me. As I was driving, I got distracted switching radio stations of the car radio, then I realized I can't find him anymore! I got scared! I thought of pulling the car over and make a phone call. I realized I can't because I dont have my wallet nor phonebook with me! And it was my first day! I prayed and hoped I would see him again after driving some more.... so I continued driving and hummed a song I don't remember anymore... after 10 or 15 minutes of driving aimlessly, I saw our office building! There was hope!!! I parked and told my counterparts what happened to me and was worried. After a good 10 minutes of fast heartbeat, my boss appeared. Pale. Or maybe red in anger. I was relieved. Geeez! Stupid car radio.

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