Our Travels

And so we're back to Square One as one brave lady in Samoa Sina Retzlaff speaks to the media with a bruised face from a recent beating by her ex husband the well known ex-Manu Samoa ex- Highlanders rugby player Brian Lima. It's disgusting that after she's divorced him he still did what he did. I saw Ms Retzlaff's picture with bruises and all on the Samoa Observer  site but what struck me is the determined smile through the pain. Domestic violence in Samoa and every where in the world is disgusting and I hope this particular abuser Brian Lima gets time in Samoa's horrid prison for what he has put his ex-wife and their children through. What bothers me more about this case and many other cases in Samoa is the fact people are quick to return the blame on the victim. Asking questions like, but what did she say or do to get a beating? The fact remains that a coward is the man or woman that beats on his/her physically weaker partner.  My journalist younger sister ha...

Cyclone Evan has been and gone from Samoa but it left a lot of destruction on the island of Upolu especially in the capital Apia. Many families have lost their homes due to flash floods from heavy rain. About three people died and many families are still at evacuation sites. Just a terrible thing to happen to our beloved country once more. But we have done it before from Cyclones Val and Ofa and we'll do it again, rebuilding and starting from scratch. Samoans are resilient people and they will bounce back once the sun dries up the mud and it's easier to shift all that debris and rebuild their homes. The economic costs to families and the country is going to be immense but they can only move forward from here. Now the awful Cyclone Evan has just reached Fiji and I pray it dissipates soon and not cause so much destruction as it did in Samoa though they now class it as a CAT 4 Cyclone which is just awful. 

Big party in Samoa today for the Diamond Anniversary. Manuia le 50 Tausaga Samoa. Facebook is hot with overseas Samoans yearning to be home on this very special day for our country. As for us, we were at an Australia/New Zealand Moulin Rouge themed ball last night and the lovely band upon request did a shout out for Samoa at midnight which we really appreciated. 50 years of FREEDOM. Woo hooo I wish I was watching the fautasi races this week. 

So I'm still unwell. I don't know what the f*** is going on but the meds I got from the doctor last week didn't do the job and I had done everything the doctor ordered. So I'm back to paracetamol until my next appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning to figure this bug out. But I'm learning online and from my personal almost doctor special person what might be wrong so I'm getting lots of rest, lots of fluids and back to basics use vicks on my chest. lol Got to love good ol' vicks. That is a Samoan mom's answer to everything or at least my mom and grandma, if not Samoan oil, it's vicks, then on to lau gogu(gogu leaves), and lauti(tea leaves) and so on and so forth. Which brings me back to our upbringing. Growing up in Savai'i my family were a family of healers, our grandma, great aunties, and some uncles were traditional healers of sorts. So when my sisters and I were old enough...9+ we each were specialized in something. We were all healer...

I wrote a whole blog about staying put this Christmas and celebrating it at home the way we like it only for all that to be turned upside down, inside out when hubby's roster came out and he's working on Christmas and New Year! So off we go to Samoa to celebrate with my Mama or Granma to Tauilagi while poor hubby stays back to work throughout the "holiday season." Tomorrow my son and I start our journey via Bangkok, on to Auckland, Hamilton to see the whanau and then continue onto Samoa. I'm looking forward to the week-end in H-Town as self and my three sisters will all be together once more if only for a little while. Tau's doting Nana and Papa are coming up from Wellington to spend a few days with the little rascal so it's going to be one heck of a week-end.  Monday self, my son and Lagipoiva are catching the same flight to Samunda and boy I've now worked myself up to much excitement about Christmas back home. I'm looking forward to seeing my m...

                                                World Cup Fever                                                   Blue Fountain for True Blue fan                                                Scotsman had too much?                               Hubby with Kenya mate Ali supporting Samoa:)

I can't wait to see this movie. So my sister FJ was planning to take our mum to see The Orator next week when she goes over to visit H-Town and she feared mum might sleep through the movie. And I wondered about that too, Mum is an orator for/in our family and is so well-versed in the Samoan culture that she is a tricky one to please. I just got off the phone with Mum in Samoa and she happily informed me that she had been to the premier of The Orator movie in Apia last week and....:  What a fantastic movie it was! I kept prodding why she thought it was so good and she said to her it got the message across that in our culture whether you're big or small or however you look like when you can speak or orate then everyone looks past that and see only the Orator, as the message is brought across with a gift that only an orator has. She also said that the movie was well made and to the point, no gasu and overdoing. There it is, now I just wish I open the paper tomorrow and it tells...

My older sister wanted a malu(female traditional tattoo from the knees to the thighs) for awhile now to mark new beginnings for her. We were busy with baby sister's wedding so weren't sure if it was going to go ahead. However the Wednesday after the wedding we found the tattooist and his two assistants at the family house. LM was no doubt ready to face the music of the tattooist the very next morning. After a hearty breakfast the tattooist started on my sister's left leg. They completed the one leg by lunch time. LM's husband arrived with their four kids as they were completing her leg and their eldest, my 13 year old niece YF immediately took to the artwork and announced that she wanted one too. Her father and mother both said to her it was painful and she would have to be quite brave to get one. The 13 year old kept saying she wants it on the same day as her mom and her granma(my mom) has one and she wanted one too. My Mom heard all this and sat her down and spoke t...

My sister-in-law happens to work with an old classmate of mine. So I got her number and arranged to catch up over lunch. Yesterday I went into town in my three layers of clothing plus my heavy coat to see my friend Angelina. It was so exciting to see her again after so long. We went to Uni Prep Year in Samoa back in 1997. This was a prep year for university or further studies. Ange and I were in the same English class. A very memorable one because that year Mrs Lesina Aleki and Mrs Sina Va'ai and their fellow English lecturers decided that we had an English night, where each English class had to come up with a play, drama or poems to be performed and read on the night. There were about 10 in our group and we decided to use a Samoan scary myth, superstition(true to some) and made up a story around it. Our play went really well and we were very proud of ourselves. We also did another one that imitated the birthday announcements and notices on Samoan TV but instead of photos we too...

Observation: There are so many small hotels that have popped up everywhere in Samoa especially in Apia. Hotels, motel-like accommodation with restaurant and bars. I didn't get to check them all out but wow Apia has really changed. It's become quite fast! Faster than 3 years ago I'd say. I did try out the Amanaki Bar and restaurant a few times. They had affordable and tasty food and the service was quite good. One wasn't left with an empty glass or bottle for too long. Result: legless when drinking White Russians! Kids Do not try this at home! They had nice fresh sashimi everytime we went there which was good. Seafood Gourmet at Matautu opposite the new marina is still my favourite eatery in Apia, affordable and I always walk away full and happy. I love their fish and chips, grilled fish, fresh yummy oka and their chicken salads. I like the latter as you feel like you're being healthy when you order it but then it comes with the thousand island rich dressing with th...

I've been in Samoa for over three weeks and none of where I stayed had easy access to the internet so when I had the time I stop in at LeSamoa Net at Lotemau Centre and check my email and updated my facebook status. The first week I tried to do this often but mostly to keep in touch with hubby and with sidda from the Waikato who hadn't arrived yet. By the third week it occurred to me that I couldn't care less if I went online anymore because the people that I wanted to be in touch with the most were all in Samoa with us. My immediate family that is. When I got to NZ to my sister's house I went online for awhile to get updated on facebook and realised what a waste of time it was. I mean everyone knows that 'right?' but I thought gee why do I want to know about someone else's day in the sun on the other side of the world and why do I bother updating others about the fresh tuna sashimi I ate last night at Seafood Gourmet to the over-priced nice cold vailimas we...

Our Samoan rugby team won the cup at the Wellington Rugby Sevens tournament last week-end. They beat Fiji 17-14 who were the finals favourites. Fiji gave New Zealand a good beating at the semis 34-0 and everyone thought they had secured the Cup. With a bit of strength, technique and throw in a lot of heart, Samoa came away the winners last week. A big congratulations to them for the great effort. They are now heading for San Diego for the other tournament there. We hope to watch them again at the Hong Kong sevens in March! A bit of fanaticism? Maybe just patriotism!

Last night we had the Fiji day celebration at the Lee's here in Muscat. All the Fijians turned up in their island glory and it was a lovely fun evening. Lots of island food and of course the grog (ava/kava) was flowing free mixed and served by the grog master Qorio. Queen Mary, Lynn and Bubu lead the dancing show with all the kids having a ball. It was a lovely evening with great Pacific atmosphere in Muscat. The Fijian kids. The Fijian ladies. Qorio the grog master. Clem and her lil' modela Caydens. Queen Mary and Aunty Lynn leading the dance.