Our Travels

A preview from "The Orator" movie. According to Samoa Observer it's been picked for the Venice International Film Festival. I really want a copy of it. It sounds interesting and it's all in Samoa which should be interesting. Moreover it's written and directed by a Samoa born son Tusi Tamasese.

So we went to the Deira City Centre which is literally across the road from the hotel we're at. This hotel which hubby's work use for all their employees when in Dubai for work turned out to be conveniently located. You step out the door and you enter the metro station stairs where you can walk across to the mall or you can just cross the road at the lights(but it's too hot for that now). The metro below can take you to a lot of attractions across Dubai which is very handy. We walked across to the mall and had a look around and oooh the sales were just in your face, inviting you in to buy buy buy! Uh huh they appealed to my weak mana'o tele self. After looking for hubby's new toy to no avail, he and our returned to the hotel while I feast my eyes and brutalise the bank card at the shops. I'm normally not an impulse shopper but today really tested my willpower! I bought this cheap eye shadow kit in May. Result is every time I wear the damn thing my eyes get ...

Thank goodness for creche's that run summer programmes. I put my son in one not too far from where we live and it's been great. Every time I pick him up he runs out with a new craft that they made in class. Sunday were the birdies Peter and Paul sitting in a boat, Monday was a turtle and Tuesday was a frog that he had attached to his hand like a puppet. Each had a little rhyme attached to the back of the craft. Very clever crafts using paper plates and card boards. He came back with more creative things in 3 days at this creche than a whole year at the one before! Anyway he's enjoying making new friends and he's happy to be going to 'school'. Hubby had to come to Dubai for his sim on the week-end and I decided that we'll tag along and enjoy lounging around the hotel room and swim in the cooled pool. And that's what we did yesterday. When hubby went off to work we went down for a swim at 7.30pm and stayed there for about an hour. Got back to the room ha...

An amazing swimming hole called the To Sua(with water) and another To lesua(without water). This is where my youngest sister's wedding was held. A spectacular location and the family that own this land keep the land beautiful and natural and have all sorts of exotic plants growing on it. An ideal wedding ceremony location, as the sun sets, the natural colours all around are magnified along with the colourful attire of the guests, while the wedding vows are drowned out by the crashing waves below you have but the newly weds body language and the beauty around you to go by. Sunset from the Cross Island Road looking back at Siumu.

A Mastercard ad for the Rugby World Cup at Wellington Airport earlier this month. It would have to be changed to "When a Minnow Swallowed a Wallaby:) choo hooo The showing off continues...

Dropped Sonny_Tau off to Nursery this morning and now I can go pay the bills, do grocery shopping by myself and do other stuff that needs to be done without my little shadow hanging off me. yippee. Sad sad occurrence in Norway yesterday! It seems if it's not a natural disaster plighting a people it's a human caused tragedy. So awful that there is so much evil in people. And then Amy Winehouse dies at 27! I mean where the hell are the people that are supposed to love this girl! Blimin' sad how society stands by and watches a destructive person kill herself slowly. It comes out that she's been cancelling shows and basically have been sick on stage. Can't remember her lyrics and I just saw a footage where she got booed off the stage as she's shaking and just looks dazed. WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE that should care for her. Weird as I just watched a movie called Country Song last week starring Gwyneth Paltrow which is not much different from Amy's life. A destructi...

I ran into old male friends in Samoa one day. It was good seeing them and then we sort of planned to meet again the following week for lunch or drinks or something. I suggested we all bring our partners and two of them shook their heads and said 'no partners'. Typical I thought. A few days later I ran into one of the guys at a shop as he was hopping out of his car and his wife was inside so I waved and I said 'hi' and this guy mate just sort of nodded at me; 'nodded' at me, yep the one that was so vocal about meeting up again that week. I waved at his wife too and said hi(I knew her as well) and I continued into the store to do my shopping. I ran into 'my mate' in the shop aisles and he was the same guy I met the week before. All chatty and cool "Hey what's up? what did you get up to after we ran into you... blah blah. We chatted for a bit then I went on my way but I was left gob-smacked. What the hell is going on here? Is he so afraid of his w...

"Mama, be patient" says my three year old Tauilagi when I told him to return the rest of the chocolate croissants to the kitchen! We had planned to go to Marseilles to meet up with my sister and family next week. However after our long trip to Samoa, NZ, UAE and finally back to Muscat, when I told Tauilagi that we were going to France he shouts "NOOOOO" I said, Tau we're going to see your Aunty and your cousin-sister MM and baby Sebastien. Emotional blackmail will surely do it. Tau's reply "No mummy, I don't wanna go, we're home now, this is Myyyy Muscat" ooookay Different approach, appeal to his boy adventure-ish side: "We're going to ride on an aeroplane AND train". Tau: "NOOOOO, I'm too tired mummy" And that was that. Yep just last week we were on a 20 hour flight from NZ so can't blame him for being tired of air-crafts! Samoa through Tau's photographic eye:

I highly recommend these stories by Samoan author Lani Wendt-Young. Don't Tell" A story about Susanna's ordeal as a victim of abuse and how she is not victimized in one way but many other ways as society tries to deal with her dilemma. A True Samoan Woman This is a funny and light hearted read about Mele's Samoan-ness being born overseas and idealizing her heritage. The Beast that Came from the Sea A snippet of a tsunami survivor's nightmare. Well written and descriptive. So descriptive that I can't stand the Sina the Snake Killer story. I hate snakes almost as much as the heroine so I had them crawling all over my sensitive skin as I read it. Pity as it was a great story in the end but I'll be honest snakes and moi don't get on in real life so I wouldn't even go near them in my virtual existence. I say buy the e-stories on Amazon and see how you too can be like Mele. A True Samoan Woman...heh heh

My favourite article by Wayne Smith on Samoa's win over Australia. The best part is this "Demographically, this is the equivalent of Australia being beaten by Hobart. Indeed, it is worse than that because the population of the Tasmanian capital is nudging 215,000, whereas Samoa boasts only 192,000 people, every single one now deliriously happy." Oh yes, we're all deliriously happy where-ever we are:) Disrespect to blame for Wallabies' loss | Rugby | Fox Sports

Yep, I'm one VERY HAPPY Manu Samoan supporter today. That was an amazing game today in Australia by the Manu Samoa. Alesana Tuilagi scored an awesome try in the first half and the game was 10-0 to Samoa for awhile. It was just beautiful to watch. The first time Samoa has beaten Australia and the commentators were quiet not knowing what to say really. In the second half they then commented on how frustrated the Aussies looked and that they were 'rattled' choo hooo. About time. More tries were scored by Kane Thomson, Paul Williams and someone else. The whole team showed guts and team work. Now I must say I have hope that they can do well in the World Cup if they keep that kind of play up. The most remarkable moment during the game for me was when Alesana Tuilagi tackled an Aussie winger and drove the guy out of the field then he pats the guys head and gets up with the biggest smile on his face. Just love the kaufa'alili la lea. Fa'amalo lava i le Manu Samoa today an...

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...

I went to Amanaki with my social butterfly buddy in Samoa. My mate SK is one you can be sure is ready for a few whenever. So off we went to Amanaki and my re-introduction to Apia nightlife began.(As per popular request by ONE reader here's a take on the watering holes in Apia) Amanaki has any drink you want and the service is very good. After a couple of drinks there we went on to Y-Not. As it was a Tuesday it was a quiet evening. Again efficient service and nice atmosphere. The music and bar pretty much closed at around 10.30pm. The law require bars to turn the music off at 10pm and close business at midnight. We ran into other old mates at Y-Not who said to come along to a new club called Tausala in Vaitele so SK and I thought why not as the night was young. Well Tausala is a dump to put it bluntly. The building was like an abandoned warehouse with a bar near the entrance and toilets that an outhouse would have been a better option. The only positive outcome of that outing was ...

Made it to Dubai safely after a long journey that started in Wellington at 11am. My sister picked us up at Auckland airport and off we went to my Aunty's place to say hello and hang out for a couple of hours before our connecting flight at 6pm. We had fun catching up with my Aunty and sister and then headed back to the airport to check in. At Auckland airport an old colleague and mate checked us in which was nice. Ran into two other people I knew from Samoa. Auckland is an extension of Samoa it seems sometimes. We got Emirates lounge passes which was good and not so good. My terror of a three year old decided it was fun to jump from couch to couch and then run to the other side of the lounge and yelled at the top of his lungs 'Mummy, Mummy, come and find me'. To which I pretended I couldn't hear as I enjoyed my cup of tea, fruits, crackers and cheese. When I was done and ready I went over to fetch him and found the lounge attendant was bribing him with another activity...

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...

We're in freezing Wellington after tropical Samoa. We've basically stayed close to the toasty fireplace to keep warm. Today the sun is actually out but still quite cold. Friday we caught up with hubby's fam and friends at the Tasting room in Courtney place. Nice bar and yummy tapas to boot. By 1am I'd had enough bought a yucky kebab and came home. The kebab was bland and not worth my troubles. Headache the next morning with my usual promise of never consuming alcohol again...oi auee lo'u moa e. Saturday night we went for dinner to my bro-in-law's house. What a lovely dinner prepared by them. Met nice friends of theirs and was quite a pleasant quiet evening of discussing all sorts of issues in NZ and the world. The next morning which was yesterday we went to brunch at hubby's Uncle's place. Nice seeing them all again. Tauilagi is of course enjoying meeting more family everyday. The grandparents are enjoying everyday with him that I sometimes forget I cam...