Adventures in Guam: February 2011

So I was thinking about it, and you have all read a bit about the amazing sights to see around Guam and seen some pictures, but you haven't really seen where I live, work, and play everyday at the resort. So, I am going to give you a little "tour" as it may, of PIC. Starting off we have my room, and the lovely view of the dense, green jungle.

The sunsets are amazing to watch right out here. Right as I get off work, the sun beams into my room, filling it with all kinds of oranges, yellows and reds. It's nice to just sit out there and watch the sun sink into the green jungle below.

The tower I live in is the tallest building in Guam from foundation to roof top. I live on the third floor, but have been to the top many times to check out the view.

This is one of three towers that guests stay at. I was fortunate enough to be able to stay here. Only off island employees live here, so it is nice to be so close to those that you work with. It gives it more of a family feel for us, which is nice since most of our families are thousands of miles away.

Path Leading to Water Park

I'll start off with the water park since it is one of the main attractions here at PIC. We have two main water slides which lead to the "slide pool" and then three more mini slides that lead down to the "main pool".

The towers that you see in the background are the royal towers, where our premier guests and VIP's stay. We have all sorts of activities that go on in this pool including water aerobics, water hand ball, and special group activities. Our other pools are the laps pool, which is strictly used for lap swimming, games pool, which has tug of war, a rolling log, water volley ball and water basketball, and our kids pool, which is very shallow and has a bunch of floating animals in it for the kids to play with. Our last little pool is the Shiheky Splash pool, where young kids and go and run around and play:

This is probably the most popular pool for kids 2-6 or so. There are slides, a giant bucket of falling water, and multiple water spouts, splashing water.

Next we have our lawn, looking down at the swim through aquarium. We use this lawn for all sorts of activities, games while guests mainly use it for lounging and catching some shade by the enormous trees that surround it.

Next we have the swim through aquarium, which is one of three in the world. It is an actual 300,000 gallon aquarium thriving with fish, giant clams, and more.

It may just look like another pool with rocks sticking out from the surface, but if you go below, you will see some of the most tropical fish Guam has to offer. Guest can use the swim through aquarium through instruction only. All amenities and facilities are free of charge for resort guests, so all you need is a reservation and you can get some good snorkeling in without even leaving the property!

Covering a large area of the property is our lagoon, where guests are able to kayak around and get a more adventurous tour of the property. It is only three to four feet deep and nothing really lives in there, we think..haha but it is quite fun to paddle around and see much of PIC

Lastly we have the marine center, which is where I am at a lot of the time and by far my favorite area to work here at PIC. This is where I take people out on sailing excursions, snorkeling tours, and teach windsurfing to those who are up for the challenge.

Learning how to sail has been one of the most exciting new things in my life. It is such a tranquil experience to be out on the open water with nothing but a sail pushing you as fast as the wind will take you. When I first came to PIC I was told that I may or may not get the chance to learn, but I made a point of bugging the supervisors enough to where they took me out a few times until I was ready to go for it on my own. Marine center is one of those areas of work that just isn't really work. Sail for an hour, take out a snorkeling tour to explore the reefs for an hour, teach an eager group of people how to windsurf. This is exactly why I am here. I am outdoors doing the things I love to do and ya I may not get paid the most, but I've never been happier working.

One of our boats

For those trying to take their relaxation to the next level, we have the Jiivana spa that includes everything from Thai massage, steam room, yoga pavilion (on the beach) and much more to make your experience that much more reposed.

We also have the Racquet Center which isn't really much to see other than our indoor tennis court (only one on Guam). There is also an archery range here and a challenge course, which is basically an obstacle course kicked up a notch.

Picture from Lobby

Last but certainly not least, in fact probably the best part of working here in Guam, we have the family. We are a crazy group of people that all love adventure and having a good time. This group of people is like none other you have ever met. They are the most spontaneous, crazy, eccentric, loving, optimistic people you will ever come across. Guam certainly would not be the same for me without these people here, and yes for some, you only get to know them for a couple months, but when you step foot in tower, you are family.

Love and miss you..

Hafa Adai,

Let me start off by just saying WOW, what a week Justin and I just had. We did so much, and had so much fun this past week. It is now Sunday, and thank God I took the day off because I am completely exhausted. So as I wrote about in my last blog, I had been eagerly been awaiting the arrival of my good buddy Justin Roy from Jr. High/ High school. He needed a vacation, and what better place to come than Guam for white sandy beaches, amazing snorkeling and enough fun for anyone. So we started the week off with a birthday bonfire for Justin that a bunch of friends and I enjoyed the night he arrived. It was dark when He arrived, so the next day he explored the resort while I worked. After work, we went to a surf competition at a local break and later that night we went to an awesome reggae concert, which was full of dancing and singing. Guam doesn't have too many concerts, so this was a special treat for the both of us. The next day it was back to work for me, but I was determined to show Justin a good time every day/night he was here, so being the friendly group we are here at PIC, I asked all of my friends to show Justin a good time, while I was at work. So off he went, exploring all different parts of the island with different friends of mine, and then when I would get off work, we would go out and have our fun. Every single day was spent doing some sort of activity and every night some sort of crazy night time fun.

I had to show him the caves, which really are one of the most unique sights to see here on Guam. I have written about both Marbo Caves and Paget caves before in previous blogs, but it was totally different experiencing it with someone from back home. Being able to share this beautiful island with someone from back home was so cool for me because even though the pictures are cool, experiencing it in person is something I think Justin appreciated. After the Marbo caves, I took him to Jamestown Cliffs where the waves crash against the razor sharp cliffs and shoot way over head in the air. Even though the waves weren't as big as last time, it was still a cool spot for him to see. Later that night, PIC was throwing a New Year's celebration for Chinese New Year's. It was an amazing spectacle. We were able to see the dragon dance they do as well as some other cultural practices done by the Chinese/Taiwanese. Later that night we did something that happens once ever two months or so here at PIC. We went out in a group of about 15 people and sang karaoke. It was soooo much fun getting on the microphone and singing our hearts out to our favorite songs with such a fun group of people.

The next day a few friends, Justin and I went and checked out the pitch black caves of Paget. The hike was quite eventful through the dense jungle, down steep slippery slopes and then down even deeper into the heart of the cave. The cave is so far down and deep that natural sunlight is unable to reach the main part of the cave. We wanted to hang out in the cave and swim around, so we lit candles and had an awesome time taking pictures, and having fun. Once out of the cave I took them to the coast to another cliff jumping spot, however the waves and tide didn't allow us to make the plunge. It was a little too dangerous this time and we didn't want any injuries being hours away from help. Our journey back to car was quite interesting. We ended up getting a bit turned around in the jungle and wandered around for about 45 minutes. Luckily though, Justin had his wits about him and recognized certain trail marks and got us back on track. We made it out with about an hour left of sunlight, so we decided to go check out this tranquil little beach called Tanguisson Beach that had some excellent snorkeling. We spear fished, snorkeled and played until we could take our eyes off of the mesmerizing sunset that we watched until the great ball of fire sank into the distant horizon. After sundown we went and check out this statue of Confucius, the profound Chinese thinker. There was an entire Chinese garden with Confucius being the center point of it all. There were some intriguing quotes from Confucius that we looked at for a bit, then headed out to dinner. Justin hasn't tried too many foreign, Asian foods so I made a point of getting him to try some Thai, Vietnamese food, as well as some other South East Asian dishes.

On Justin's last night here we went to an event that not everyone will necessarily approve of, but both of our curiosities got the best of us and we decided that we would go with our good buddy Art to a Cock Fight! I wasn't really sure what to expect because I had heard from a few different friends here different stories about their own experiences. All I knew was that there was a lot of betting and a lot of bloodshed. So upon arriving at a huge out-door warehouse type looking structure, we noticed the large number of cars stretching hundreds of yards back from the warehouse. Closer and closer we walked up to the structure and the louder and louder it got. We could hear the calls of the roosters, proclaiming their dominance. Once inside we saw a huge arena with hundreds and hundreds of people surrounding on the floor. A few yards back were the grand stands, packed with people, making bets and shouting at the roosters. There was a thick musk of smoke, body odor and I guess death, because it was a smell I hadn't experienced before. Sticking out like the bunch of tourists we were, we tried to stay close to our buddy Art as he led us through the mob of tenacious gamblers. The crowd was primarily Philippino and the betting was something I had never seen before. All sorts of hissing and waving of the hands and people literally throwing money at one another. It was interesting seeing how they get the roosters all riled up and mad at one another. They basically let 4 roosters peck at each other and then when they seem angry they pick the 2 most furious ones to fight each other. They then attach a 3 inch blade to the back of the rooster's talon and then drop them in the ring and stand back to watch them go at each other. It is about 30 seconds of chaos with feathers flying, men yelling and then everything went quiet with one rooster dead and the other not looking too good. It wasn't as bloody as I thought it would be, but it was still pretty gruesome. We watched about ten more fights go on like this, making bets and cheering on our chosen roosters, but at about 12:30am we called it quits. I asked Art how much longer this brutality would continue for and he said that it wouldn't end until 12pm the next day! Incredible yes, but he said as long as there are bets and money flying around, they keep fighting.

What another amazing week here in Guam. Thanks again to Justin for coming all the way out here. We did it good man, can't wait to see you again. Hope you all enjoyed the stories, now here are some pictures.