Spear Fishing & Snorkeling

Well, things have definitely slowed down around here at PIC, which has allowed me to catch my breath and sort of regroup. I am in a new room now, by request, up on the third floor. No problem with the old room, its just that this new one has a view, and some really cool kids all around. So far it is working out great, having a lot of fun, putting some personal touches to the walls and what not, and the balcony is the best part. I spend tons of time just hanging out relaxing there with friends, sometimes just by myself to watch the sunset over the thick jungle below me.

This week hasn't been as crazy as some of the past weeks, but it did start out with a fist fight. No, not between someone else and I, but rather a professional bout between mixed martial arts fighters. It was my first MMA fight and boy was it intense. Guys were being thrown, kicked, punched and the crowd was LOVING it. The more hits, the more cheers, the more blood the more howls. I could  have cut the testosterone in that venue with a knife. Manly men type stuff.  It was quite the spectacle. The main reason for my attendance was because a buddy of mine out here had an extra ticket and let me tag along with him. It was a good experience. Will I be going to another one anytime soon?..probably not, unless another free ticket comes my way.

This week on my day off, a few friends and I thought we would head south to a cool little beach that our friend Halley had been to. The beaches here are all so different and beautiful that you could visit all of them and be mesmerized every time by how tranquil and unique each of them are. This beach had a sandbar that stretched out a hundred yards, with sea grass slowly waving back and forth in the current, as if a slight breeze was moving them underwater. Small rock formations would protrude here and there, some with vegetation growing on them, some barely holding on, succumbing to the slow erosion of the ocean water. Beyond the shallows were some breath taking reefs. My new room mate Nick and I decided we would try some spear fishing in these crystal clear waters, so we geared up, got our Hawaiian Slings (type of spear) and started the hunt. There weren't really a whole lot of fish in these reefs. Maybe it was our presence, or maybe we just picked a bad spot, but we couldn't catch anything for the life of us. These fish were quick and easily escaped the sharp tips of our spears. After an hour or so of failed attempts, we decided to retire back to the beach and enjoy the sun for a bit. I didn't however leave empty handed. Right before I threw in the towel I spotted an exquisite looking shell bigger than the size of my hand. So even though I failed at catching fish, I was proud of my shell. The rest of the day was spent driving around the island, stopping off at cool look out points to take pictures and just enjoy the time off.

Next week I should have quite the blog for you to read. My good buddy Justin Roy is flying in from Southern California to enjoy all of the beauty that Guam has to offer and also visit yours truly. I have some amazing things planned and can't wait till he gets here. But in the mean time, enjoy the pictures and I will write again soon!

Weird Frog Calls at Tarzan Falls

So it is definitely busy season here at PIC. Our resort is maxed out at over 100% and I'm working like crazy! But I love it! I'm outside all day sailing, snorkeling and doing the stuff I love, so it makes time fly by so fast I don't even want to blink. This week was quite interesting because we actually spent time with some different weather other than 80 degrees with a breeze. We had torrential downpours for three days straight, and when it pours, it poouuuurrs here. I have never seen so much rain in my life! And so much wind as well. My sailing skills were definitely tested this week with the winds blowing as hard as they were and with as much rain falling at the same time. Another co-worker even flipped one of the catamarans that we have. I did well though and escorted my passengers safely on the sailing excursions, thank God. We are however back to sunny skies and happy coconuts again now.

With this change of weather, we had a going away BBQ for another PIC employee, however this one didn't have any foreign foods like Balut (chick fetus egg thing I wrote about last week). It was a fun BBQ shared with friends, music and dancing. This particular friend was the one that sparked my interest in possibly going to northern Japan next to possibly be a snowboard instructor at a resort in Hakuba Japan (I'll tell you more about that later). So Alex, a bunch of PIC employees and I had a great night, wishing him farewell and good luck on his journey ahead.

With all of this inclement weather, I thought I was going to have a day off actually spent at PIC, but sure enough, I had a great day out and about doing all sorts of things. I started off with a little business; sending some documents, mailing some mail, taking care of things, and then started the fun stuff. I headed out on my little scooter (which I have to get a picture for you guys of me on it..comical).. towards Tarzan Falls, which is supposed to be some famous, beautiful water fall hike. So after much driving on a not so fast scooter, which was actually nice because I got actually look at the scenery, I arrived at the trail head for Tarzan Falls. The trail was actually quite decent for Guam which made for an easy hike, except towards the end. Strangely though,  I kept on hearing a noise around these giant mud puddles that I couldn't put my finger on. It sounded like baby alligators calling for their mom, but I know Guam doesn't have alligators, so I was intrigued at this curious sound I was hearing throughout my hike. So through the jungle, tall grass (not painful grass this time) and mud I adventure towards another sound now that I am hearing in the distance. Rushing water. It gets louder and louder the closer I get. Finally I hit a river crossing, but no falls. So I hike up the river, through the water and slippery rocks, because there are slick, tree dense slopes on either side preventing a trail of any sort to be made. The rush of water as I am trudging through becomes more rapid. Each step has to be planted firmly and carefully so that I would not  slip and lose ground. Finally a calm pool with a stunning, cascading waterfall behind it came into sight, and I knew I was there. I spent a good half hour at this natural pool, swimming around, admiring this incredible waterfall and relaxing.The  mosquito's began to annoy too much however, so I then started my journey back. Again, when I hit the marked trail, I heard the same puzzling sound that I had heard earlier. My curiosity got the best of me and so I crept up very slowly on the mud pool and waited for over 15 minutes to try and get a glimpse of what was making this sound. I finally saw some eyes poke up on the surface of the murky water and then with a quick hop, out came a toad! He just sat there making this odd sound and so I began to approach him. He ended up letting me snap a good picture or two before he bounced away into the jungle.

After the hike I headed back home to meet up with a friend and his family to go to Chuck E Cheese. I know, this was an odd invitation to hang out, but I had a great time playing games, racing around the place with his kids while he and his wife took a bit of a load off, well deserved. So after hanging out with the giant rat and his friends, sort of weird mascot to have, I went out to dinner with some friends to an awesome sushi restaurant called Hanagi with sushi that was right up there with some of the best I've had. It was great. Amazingly fresh and delicious. It even came close to the sushi I had in Kobe Japan. So after some green tea ice cream, we decided to check out the rooftop of another local resort (Sheraton). It was beautiful! We were forty- somethin floors up with a view that was breathtaking. I could see all of Tumon bay and all of the city behind me. The moon was shining brilliantly, lighting up the dark ocean and its surf out in the distance. I wish I could share just how tranquil it really was on top of the rooftop. Cool breeze blowing, with the waves crashing in the distance. I will definitely be making some more trips back there soon.

After the rooftop we decided to call it a night and head back home. Another great week! I'll have to tell you about some future adventures I am thinking about one of these days. I have been networking quite a bit and have met some people that have made millions here, and all they did was take people out para sailing with one boat; now they have several boats, jet ski's, and other water toys too. There's also northern Japan...some other time though, I gotta get some sleep.

Love and miss you,

 giant mud pools

 view from top of waterfall

 waterfall in the distance

Mr. Toad making weird sound. 

Big Waves and Deep Caves

Happy new year everyone! I hope that all of you rang in 2011 with friends and family with a glass of champagne! I certainly did, however my new years was a bit different, just like most of my experiences here on Guam. So, of course there I was working new year's eve, which actually wasn't bad at all because I pretty much got to play games with guests and mess around with friends on the clock all night. I ended up getting off at 11:30 which gave me just enough time to get changed and make it down to the beach, where we had a classic rock band playing for the guests. PIC was the only place on Guam to have a firework show for new year's so I was in a prime spot to ring in the new year. So with a glass of champagne and my new year's kiss next to me, 12am hit and the fireworks went off! It was an amazing new year's to remember. Yes, I was with new friends and in a new place away from those friends and family I love, but it was definitely an experience that I will never forget. After 12am hit we danced the night away to classic rock songs on the beach. I had sooo much fun and cannot wait to see what 2011 brings my way and what adventures I will get myself into.

Speaking of which...So after a visit to the dentist on my day off to a get a chipped tooth fixed from biting into a coconut (God I love those things) I thought I was going to have a pretty mellow day around the resort until I ran into my buddy Kevin. It was Kevin's last day here and he wanted to go explore some new sights. Of course I hopped on board that train and we ended up getting a group of 4 together to go venture out and see what we could find. We started off at this spot called Jones' Point where there was an abandoned stair well leading down to the ocean cliffs. Now I know what you are thinking, and no I didn't jump off of any cliffs this time, just to spare you the heart attack, haha. But, we did get right up to the edge of the cliff to witness a rare event that only happens during the winter season here in Guam. Now let me preface this with some description that was going on; I am walking down these damp concrete stairs that seemingly lead straight down into the violent crashing waves against razor sharp cliffs. I am hearing what sounds like thunder each time a wave strikes the sides of the cliffs with so much force that not only sounds terrifying but also feels as if an earthquake was rumbling the ground below me. Upon reaching our destination we were literally showered with salt water as a wave impacts the side of the cliff, sending a wall of water 30ft into the air. With each powerful crash between water and earth, there was a rumble, quake and downpour of fresh ocean rain pouring down on me. I was quite hesitant at first to get right up to the edge of this cliff to witness this anomaly, but curiosity got the best of me and between the unsureness of how safe it actually was and also the beauty of nature at its harshest, I  gathered up enough courage and saw this spectacular event from a rare point of view that I will never forget. (make sure to click the video below).

So just when I didn't think the day could get any better, my other buddy Steve drives us to some caves that are supposedly bigger, deeper and darker than the ones I wrote about before. We started our journey down to the caves on a grassy narrow path with brush on both sides of us that quickly turned into a steep unmarked trail that weaved through dense jungle and over huge boulders. Along the way I saw some things that I had never seen before like trees growing directly out of rocks, roots and vines that went on for what seemed like hundreds of feet, and best of all the rain! I could hear the rain, but couldn't feel it. As we traversed through the jungle, a downpour began but the canopy above us was so dense that it served as an umbrella. Upon arriving at the mouth of the cave, Steve busts out a waterproof flashlight and said to stay close and to watch our step because the slope leading down into the cave was slippery and unpredictable. As we descended deeper and deeper into the cave, I soon realized that the only light source was now coming from the flashlight. On and on we went, sinking deeper into the earth, trusting that our one flashlight would hold through. Then we reached the water. Fresh, cold, crisp water hundreds of feet down created an enormous pool, that we waded through, squeezing between tiny crevices hoping to God that we were the only living things in this underground abyss (doubtful). We then came to a huge opening where the ceiling above us was maybe 20ft high with stalactites (dripping rock formations) piercing down towards the pool. What sounded like an assembly of leaky faucets was the only sound we could here as water from the surface came trickling through the ceiling and into the translucent water. We swam around in the pool for a while and as we did our minds kept playing tricks on us. "Was that a shadow from the flashlight? Or was it some underwater cave creature?" "Did you hear that?".  am not going to lie, as amazingly beautiful as the cave was, it also had an eeriness to it that was quite daunting. However, after closing our awe dropped jaws, we finally decided to make the ascent back up the slippery slope we came in on and headed out, not without getting a quick glimpse of the eastern coast of Guam before our excursion back.

After leaving the caves, we were on our way to a friends BBQ when Steve told us we had to see this quaint little beach to watch the sunset. I have never seen anything like it.There was maybe twenty yards of whit sandy beach with beautiful puca shells scattered all over the place. Encompassing the beach were green vines that outstretched towards the blue waters.  I seriously wish I could build a house on this amazing little beach and live there it was that beautiful. Check out the picture below. 

After a day full of excitement, amazing natural sights, and memorable new experiences, I was quite tired, however I have made some pretty good friends here in the last two months and because many of us that work here are on six month/year contracts some of those good friends were leaving. So later that night our good buddy Art threw a going away BBQ for those friends departing. At this BBQ were traditional Philippino dishes, as well as traditional Chamorro dishes. The food was delectable! I must have had three plateful. Now aside from eating all the food and, I will tell you about one particular delicacy that I experienced. It is called Balut, which is a fertilized duck or chicken egg with a partially devoloped embryo inside that is hard boiled and eaten in the shell. Now let me tell you, I have eaten some interesting things through my travels, but one bite into this egg was so much more foreign than anything I have experienced. Upon biting into the egg I could feel the feathers on my tongue, and as I chewed, there was a crunchy sensation that was later told to me was the developing beak! I will stop there to save you from any more disgust, but all in all I was glad to have had the opportunity to try this Philippino delicacy. The picture below isn't one that I took, but is exactly what it looked like when I opened up the shell. 

What a fun, exciting, crazy week it has been. I cannot imagine what the next week has in store.

Love and miss you,

Trees growing out of rocks

Balut