Our Travels

Went back to work last week. It's nice to have an aim in life once more, something to wake up to and sleep stressing about hahaha! Ok not stressful really. I work from 4pm to 9pm which I think is pretty good. The boss has been trying to get me to work in the mornings too but I think I would like a quality of life rather than money. Or am I just lazy...well somebody shoot me... I also have a husband whom I think would like to see me at some point in the day. heh heh. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. So Muscat is still recovering from the remnants of cyclone Gonu and they're doing great. Though there are some areas that still don't have running water however water trucks are sent there every now and then to replenish people's private tanks. Today before class I went to help David move one of their cars to the school compound where his partner works in case there's flooding tomorrow and their cars turn into floaters again. (See David, your name's me...

Here I am blogging from home once more. The phone came back on last night along with the internet and showtime TV. Just as well as I've just about read every book on our book shelves and have had enough of conspiracies of taking over the world and lawyers making and spending too much money...! I think I should move on to more philosophical stuff for a little while...or not. Lately I would pick up a book and start reading and if I'm not in the mood for it I would drop it and look for another. Maybe this is normal for others but I never used to do that. I got a list of books from my nephew Ben in Brighton so I'm now on a quest to find them and start reading some more. . First of all let me go back to work. Hopefully on Saturday our classes will start again. The school was totally flooded and they were working on re-wiring the whole place due to water damage! And air-conditioning is a must as 45 degrees Celsius is not exactly an ideal classroom temperature! I hope for my boss...

Photographer: anonymous Photographer: anonymous

O lea e lelei mea uma. E leai se mea o faaletonu ai maua. Faafetai i le alofa o le Atua ona o lana puipuiga alofa mo i maua i taimi o lologa ma matagi malolosi. Faafetai foi tatalo mai i aiga ma uo. Ia God bless. I was in the middle of updating during the cyclone when the internet got disconnected. We still don't have the internet at home but will post some pictures afterwards. We continued to have electricity up to now. Water got cut off just for one whole day. After the cyclone we drove around Muscat and were shocked to find that there was heavy flooding, roads and cars were washed away. Houses were flooded as well. We were very lucky compared to many people around Oman. The damages are estimated at around $1billion! BUT this is an oil rich nation so it won't take long before everything is up and running again. I must commend the effiency of the government departments in issuing warnings to residents before the cyclone. Even their post-cyclone efforts have been remarkable. O...

June 07, 2007 It's still pouring rain here. Power is still on and so are the phones so its not too bad. Our bedroom window started to leak through earlier so we're just mopping it every now and then but otherwise all is well. The cyclone is supposed to pass Muscat and head up to the coast of Iran. Due to the dry air from the desert it has supposedly slowed down the winds and breaking up the cyclone so hopefully it'll pass soon. All I know for sure is that Muscat plants are now well watered for the next few days. There's flooding in some areas apparently and our friend by the beach didn't call us back to pick them up. I take it they left with their neighbours as that's what they were about to do when I last spoke to them. My other friend who lives in a house at the university in Al Khoud texted to say their windows were all leaking through and the trees around the area had fallen and there was debris around the area and she had had enough of Cyclone Gonu! So I sa...

Here we are in the middle of Cyclone Gonu in Oman. It has been raining since about 2.30am last night and its pouring down now. A bit of wind but not too bad. It's cooled down a bit too but so far we still have electricity, phone and internet. The TV satellite is down. The power has been flickering. Compared to what I've been through before this is mild and thank goodness it is so. However I just called friends that live by the sea and I was told that the waves are pretty big out there and that their garden has started to flood. We're waiting to see what the next plan of action would be. Over and out from Cyclone Gonu.

It's 6.40pm here in Muscat and the country is in a state of emergency due to Cyclone Gonu heading for the coast of Oman. Everyone was sent home from work today to await or sit out the cyclone at home. It hasn't arrived yet and hope it has missed us altogether. It is predicted to hit the East coast of Oman and Muscat would just get heavy rains and gusts of wind as we'll only get the fringes of the strong winds. So Inshallah as they say here it doesn't affect too many people and it breaks up soon. Its apparently unusual for these parts to get hurricanes or cyclones but somehow the Indian waters thanks to global warming has now provided the perfect conditions for a cyclone to form. I am not one bit excited about this because I thought I was far away from the Pacific prone to cyclones and here I am in the Middle East and it has followed me here! Isn't it ironic. This would be my fifth cyclone in my young life! Oh well such is life!!! . On a lighter note I heard yesterda...

We landed in Heathrow at about 6.30 pm then went straight to the hotel to see Rudi. We hung out with Rudi for about 2 hours until Netia and Rich came after work to fetch us. We had a couple of pints at the bar before we headed to Winchester. We got there and went straight to bed in our comfortable beds in Nets and Rich's spare bedroom. . The next morning after a hearty English breakfast cooked by a Samoan :) Alex and I walked down to the village and caught the bus into Winchester. We got to town picked up a map and followed the walking tour route. It's a nice little town and we had a look through the museum about the history of the area. We then went to the Cathedral which was amazing. Huge and had many extensions over time. And the main architect was named William and the renovator was another William and a diver that saved the church by diving under and replacing wood with cement over a period of five years was also called William!!! Many of those buried in the crypt were arc...

Alex in his team colours Nets and I flying the country flag. Afeleki Pelenise after scoring a try. Samoans in action. NZ performing the haka after beating Samoa in the finals...arrrggghhh

We were woken up by Nets and Rich who drove in from Winchester for the rugby. WE all stayed at the same hotel which was not far from the stadium. Matt and Cherna arrived and then we all made our way to the Twickenham stadium. We met up with other Samoans who lived in England and around Europe and we all sat together to do our cheer together. As Samoans it turns out we all know each other one way or another and some were old schoolmates. Small world this is. The rugby was great, our team won all our games and the people we were with made it even more fun. We went home around 6pm and went to get dinner from a nearby pub which served Indian cuisine. Went to bed early ready for another day at the field. . We woke up early to catch the huge inclusive English breakfast and caught a taxi to the stadium. Once again great rugby and we were having more fun off the field than on. Our team lost at the finals to NZ. Upside was my cousin Alf was playing for NZ and he had a good game. Our team didn...

Samoa vs Australia Samoa vs Argentina Samoan supporters Utu, Nets, Richard, self & Debrah

Alex with his cousin Matt and James. Shirna, Matt and I. Alex and his cousins Ari, Matt and Shirna Tired after a long day of sight-seeing in the rain. Netia, self and Shirna In the Tower of London, Rich, Netia and I.

Netia and I down at their village pub. Alex and Rich at a pub in Bishops Waltham. With friend James at Covent Garden Market, London With my cousin Mark and his girlfriend Kaye whom we met for dinner at Joe Allen's at 13 Exeter St, Covent Garden. First time we've met Mark and Kaye though we've been emailing for five years. This was also a lovely restaurant with a theatrical atmosphere. My nephew Ben with his head in the wishing well thingy in Shanklin, Isle of Wight.

On Monday morning after eating our fill of English breakfast at the hotel in Hounslow we checked out and started our drive(Richard driving, Alex, Nets and I yapping) towards Lymington from where Alex and I caught the ferry to the Isle of Wight. The ferry ride was short and sweet but the day was so cold and cloudy. We were met by Neil and my bouncy brother Jos. The first thing that hit me about Jos were his startling blue eyes! They was amazing, quite a contrast to the dreary day. I hadn't seen Jos since I was 8 years old so it was lovely to see him again as well as Neil and my sister Leigh. We took the scenic drive to Ventnor and stopped along the way to see the land slip and the white cliffes. So nice for me to be back there. I could only get out of the car for a few minutes as it was just too cold for me. We got home and Ben(Leigh and Neil's son) was there to greet us too. He's my oldest nephew and 3 years my senior. First time I've met him. Unfortunately I was so tir...