Guam Getaway

As I'm sure most of you have figured out, I've been away from the blog for a few days because we were on vacation in Guam (or Gua-moo, as Japanese people say).  Last weekend we took a bus to the airport, stayed a night in a hotel, and then flew out early the next morning.  Tokyo to Guam is three hours....it's almost one third of the way to Australia.  So why did we go to Guam, of all places?  Well, we had heard from former expats that is was an easy and quick trip, with all the benefits of a tropical island tourist destination PLUS (since Guam is a US territory) American goods are available in stores. 

Guam is a very popular vacation destination for Japanese people, I'd say 98% of our fellow tourists were Japanese.  This makes it a very interesting mix of cultures.  It's half American, half Japanese with a touch of Spanish (leftover from colonization in the 1600's) and a little bit of the native Chamorro culture.  Since Guam was a hotspot during WWII, there's also a US military base on the island which contributes a bit....mainly a proliferation of strip clubs, massage parlors and adult bookstores.  Jammed in between those is the requisite high-end shopping to appeal to the Japanese tourists.

We saw a movie, laid around by the pool, took in the views and visited some history.  We enjoyed the comforts of Wendy's, Chili's, Subway and Little Ceasar's.  We also successfully continued the Hotdog and Mexican Food Tour of Asia and the South Pacific.  We had Christmas early in the local Kmart.....Skittles and Gatorade!  A1 and Neutrogena!  Wheat Thins!  Tostitos! 

It was a good trip, I even figured out how to take some videos of a Polynesian Fire & Dance show that our hotel (the Hyatt) put on every night. I don't like how they come out here on Blogger so I put them on Shutterfly along with all the photos!  Enjoy!

cannons at the Spanish Fort Santa Agueda,
overlooking Agana Bay

caves used by the Japanese army during WWII

there were at least two of every high-end designer
store imaginable on the island...how many Louis
Vuittons does one small South Pacific island need?

skeevy strip mall, one of many (click to enlarge...if you dare)

diagram of an underwater observatory built in a
WWII bomb crater

latte stones, built by the native islanders
between 1100AD and 1700AD

  

Chamorro latte stone explanation (click to enlarge)

there were a lot of weird & tropical trees and flowers that
 I'd never seen before

At Two Lover's Point, tourists leave luggage tags for
some reason?  And yes, there's a sappy story about two love-lorn
teenagers jumping off the cliff...