Guam Travel Notes

E chose "Guam's the Bomb" for our travel week because that's where Uncle J lives.  We were fortunate to get this first-hand information about Guam . . .

From Grandma L, who visited:
In Guam they have huge storms, you get see the trees blowing.  They have huge water buffalo-type animals just lose grazing in the fields or along side the road.  We went to a fair where they were building a thatched house.  They don't live in them, but the people did along time ago.  These kids are doing some traditional dances.  These fish were in an underwater aquarium.  It was a fun trip and very beautiful.  Latte stones are ancient religious monuments.  We loved the beaches and went out on a boat to see some fish.  My favorite place to go was the beach.  We also went snorkling.  We went out into the ocean in a boat.  You could get off the boat and swim in the water and see all the different fish under the water.  The boat would take us to different places to see different fish.  They have huge caves.  Grandpa liked all the historical war sites, and I liked the beaches.

From Grandpa B, who visited:

"Favorite Thing":  There were several things I liked about Guam.  I liked the beautiful sandy beaches.  I liked the old Spanish buildings that still exist in a couple of places.  (Guam was first discovered by Magellan on his first journey around the world in 1565, and then it was a Spanish colony until the late 1800s).  The people are really nice and friendly.  There are lots of pretty and colorful fish to see.  And Granma and I saw lots of dolphins, and lots of flying fish.

"Favorite Food":  They have good bbq ribs and bbq chicken.  And they have a good recipe for a salad that includes macaroni noodles and peas.

"Favorite Place":  Guam is kind of a tiny island, about the same size of the Hawaiian island of Maui, and so there were not a whole lot of places to go.  My favorite was:  A big metal tube with a spiral stair case inside it, and a lot of windows on the sides of it.  The big tube went 50 feet down into the ocean, and people could walk down the stairs and look at all the pretty fish.

From Uncle J, who lives there:

Favorite thing about Guam - the beaches. Guam has beautiful, white-sand beaches. They are just like the beaches you see in the magazines with the acqua blue water and coconut trees.

Least favorite thing about Guam - the warm, heavy, wet air. It is very humid here. When you step ouside, the air almost assaults you. The humidity level is about 80-90% and at an average of 85-87 degrees F, you literally feel like you're in a sauna.

Kids - the kids here go to school, they play soccer, and they play in the water at the beach.

Favorite food - my favorite food is probably Mexican food, but that's not what you're asking. You're probably asking about my favorite food in Guam. I like their short ribs. Here, theycut across the ribs so you have little one or two inch squares of rib instead of the full rib. Then they marinate it in a soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sauce with peppers in it. The food here is quite interesting. You can find good Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai restaurants. Chamorros are the natives here and their food is most similar to Philippino food. One interesting thing they have is "red rice" which is white rice mixed with a seed that colors the rice red. The seed doesn't really have a taste to it but is kind of oilly. So red rice tastes like greasy, oilly rice.

Favorite place visited -  that is a tough question. The great thing about Guam is it is very close to Asia. I've been to Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. I was most impressed by Tokyo which to me was like a jungle of buildings and skyscrapers. I've never seen so many skyscrapers. The Japanese are very organized. It is really impressive to see how they can have so many people living together in on place comfortably (although Tokyo is not the biggest city in the world, the Tokyo metropolis is). But I also like Hong Kong which really has its own, unique, "Chinese" identity. It is so big and crowded that at one point in my trip, I was on my hotel's street and about three blocks down, but so lost I had to call a Taxi and give him my address.