Guam
First, a thanks to Rikki for the adorable little dragon. I think I'll name him Beaux.
Now, an in depth description of my very brief trip to Guam.
Flew to Guam on Sunday for job interview. The interview wasn't until Tuesday, so I spent a lot of time relaxing. Sunday night consisted of locating the beach, wading along the beach, laying in a hammock (strung between two palm trees, looking like all those post cards), and eating a fucking delicious burger with a pineapple margarita on the side. I took advantage of the delicious beef while I could. Chatted with some locals, got some advice about things to do, petted the wild dogs bold enough to come near a human (Guam is overrun with feral dogs, but some of them [the omegas] will make friends with you,) and walked back to my hotel along a moonlit beach.
Next morning I slept in and headed to the beach around ten thirty. Applied copious amounts of SPF 50 (I'm white like a ghost) and swam for about two hours. The bay is really awesome because there's a shelf of land that juts out maybe 1000 yards where it never gets particularly deep. Swam with my contacts in and my super water-tight goggles. Saw loads of tropical fish (listing so I can remember, a multicolored medium size blue fish, two fish pretending to be seaweed, one of those flat fish that blends in with the sand, tiny little blue fish, a medium size yellow bottom feeding fish, little black and white zebra fish, and some small flat fish that dwell in holes in the sad, not to mention tons of hermit crabs and regular crabs) lurking in the seaweed and was deeply troubled by the insane number of sea cucumbers. They're relatively harmless, but if you bother them, they spray you with some sort of white substance that stings like crazy. Avoiding them was a serious pain in the ass because they are EVERYWHERE.
Sat out under a palm tree to dry off (didn't bring anything with me except sandals, a T-shirt, and forty dollars stuffed down my cleavage) and chatted with one of the guys running jet ski tours. He was really nice and we talked for quite a while. Went for lunch at around 12:30 at ate real American pizza like a boss. Went back to the beach, which was a high tide, and swam some more (after first reapplying sunblock. This was my third coating of the day.) Clouds rolled in and we had an afternoon squall, but that didn't stop me. Made friends with some little black and white stripey fish who ate the dead skin off my elbows.
Wandered around the beach and collected seashells as the tide went out. Low tide was about four or five so I had to go pretty far out to keep swimming. Went back to the hotel and showered. Went to a Thai place for dinner and had some fucking delicious Thai food. Went to bed at a reasonable hour in preparation for the interview.
Woke up early and nervous on Tuesday. Was sunburned in spite of my insistent coats of sunblock. Showered and reapplied sunscreen. Allowed that to dry before putting on makeup to hide the worst of the burn and just so I'd look presentable. Rented a car from the hotel front desk, where the desk worker managed to fuck over both my credit cards, so I got the rental for cheap as an apology. Stopped at a cafe for breakfast before driving to the interview location. Chatted with the men manning the consulate desk before being called in. Overall, I think the interview went well, considering they asked me if it would be possible for me to start earlier than July. They didn't specifically say I got the job, but that kind of question tends to make me think I'm in. I'm betting they're strapped for workers because of the current stigma surrounding Japan and the quake areas.
After the interview, changed into normal clothes and drove out to Two Lovers' Point. It was pretty, but not all that great. Kind of wandered around the Chamarro village, but the bone necklaces were super expensive and there wasn't much else of interest. Poke at the mall and K-mart. Bought American food I'd been craving as well as souvenirs for my boss and choir. Looked at the cathedral, which was gorgeous. The high point of my day was locating a park on the other side of the bay and then wandering out onto the rocks that are piled up to keep waves from wrecking the boat fleet. The tide was coming in and the wind was very strong, so the waves were impressive. There was also a guy out wading (remember, the water's super shallow until the shelf drops away) and fishing and I got to watch some para-sailors too. It was a nice way to spend my last evening...at least until after dinner that is.
Went back to the hotel and ate more Thai food, which was also delicious but rather unfortunately gave me food poisoning. Spent an extremely uncomfortable night and then got up at 4:30 in the morning to catch my plane. Caught the plane. Slept most of the way back and arrived in Narita in the middle of a snow storm, which is still continuing. (Note: When I say snowstorm, I mean snowstorm for the Kanto region. People wouldn't even sneeze at this kind of snow back home.) Now I'm getting over the last of the sickness, which means no work tonight, thank god. All in all, the trip was so worth it, though.
Guam is lovely and also much cheaper than Hawaii so I can happily recommend it to anyone looking for a tropical getaway.
~Jade
Now, an in depth description of my very brief trip to Guam.
Flew to Guam on Sunday for job interview. The interview wasn't until Tuesday, so I spent a lot of time relaxing. Sunday night consisted of locating the beach, wading along the beach, laying in a hammock (strung between two palm trees, looking like all those post cards), and eating a fucking delicious burger with a pineapple margarita on the side. I took advantage of the delicious beef while I could. Chatted with some locals, got some advice about things to do, petted the wild dogs bold enough to come near a human (Guam is overrun with feral dogs, but some of them [the omegas] will make friends with you,) and walked back to my hotel along a moonlit beach.
Next morning I slept in and headed to the beach around ten thirty. Applied copious amounts of SPF 50 (I'm white like a ghost) and swam for about two hours. The bay is really awesome because there's a shelf of land that juts out maybe 1000 yards where it never gets particularly deep. Swam with my contacts in and my super water-tight goggles. Saw loads of tropical fish (listing so I can remember, a multicolored medium size blue fish, two fish pretending to be seaweed, one of those flat fish that blends in with the sand, tiny little blue fish, a medium size yellow bottom feeding fish, little black and white zebra fish, and some small flat fish that dwell in holes in the sad, not to mention tons of hermit crabs and regular crabs) lurking in the seaweed and was deeply troubled by the insane number of sea cucumbers. They're relatively harmless, but if you bother them, they spray you with some sort of white substance that stings like crazy. Avoiding them was a serious pain in the ass because they are EVERYWHERE.
Sat out under a palm tree to dry off (didn't bring anything with me except sandals, a T-shirt, and forty dollars stuffed down my cleavage) and chatted with one of the guys running jet ski tours. He was really nice and we talked for quite a while. Went for lunch at around 12:30 at ate real American pizza like a boss. Went back to the beach, which was a high tide, and swam some more (after first reapplying sunblock. This was my third coating of the day.) Clouds rolled in and we had an afternoon squall, but that didn't stop me. Made friends with some little black and white stripey fish who ate the dead skin off my elbows.
Wandered around the beach and collected seashells as the tide went out. Low tide was about four or five so I had to go pretty far out to keep swimming. Went back to the hotel and showered. Went to a Thai place for dinner and had some fucking delicious Thai food. Went to bed at a reasonable hour in preparation for the interview.
Woke up early and nervous on Tuesday. Was sunburned in spite of my insistent coats of sunblock. Showered and reapplied sunscreen. Allowed that to dry before putting on makeup to hide the worst of the burn and just so I'd look presentable. Rented a car from the hotel front desk, where the desk worker managed to fuck over both my credit cards, so I got the rental for cheap as an apology. Stopped at a cafe for breakfast before driving to the interview location. Chatted with the men manning the consulate desk before being called in. Overall, I think the interview went well, considering they asked me if it would be possible for me to start earlier than July. They didn't specifically say I got the job, but that kind of question tends to make me think I'm in. I'm betting they're strapped for workers because of the current stigma surrounding Japan and the quake areas.
After the interview, changed into normal clothes and drove out to Two Lovers' Point. It was pretty, but not all that great. Kind of wandered around the Chamarro village, but the bone necklaces were super expensive and there wasn't much else of interest. Poke at the mall and K-mart. Bought American food I'd been craving as well as souvenirs for my boss and choir. Looked at the cathedral, which was gorgeous. The high point of my day was locating a park on the other side of the bay and then wandering out onto the rocks that are piled up to keep waves from wrecking the boat fleet. The tide was coming in and the wind was very strong, so the waves were impressive. There was also a guy out wading (remember, the water's super shallow until the shelf drops away) and fishing and I got to watch some para-sailors too. It was a nice way to spend my last evening...at least until after dinner that is.
Went back to the hotel and ate more Thai food, which was also delicious but rather unfortunately gave me food poisoning. Spent an extremely uncomfortable night and then got up at 4:30 in the morning to catch my plane. Caught the plane. Slept most of the way back and arrived in Narita in the middle of a snow storm, which is still continuing. (Note: When I say snowstorm, I mean snowstorm for the Kanto region. People wouldn't even sneeze at this kind of snow back home.) Now I'm getting over the last of the sickness, which means no work tonight, thank god. All in all, the trip was so worth it, though.
Guam is lovely and also much cheaper than Hawaii so I can happily recommend it to anyone looking for a tropical getaway.
~Jade