Merry Christmas to all on the opposite side of the International Dateline….Pigging out at the buffet…

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Hmmm…prime rib and spice drops. Tasty combination, Mr. Lyman!

It proved to be a good day although it was rainy, hot, humid and we were without power. We decided to bring our laptops, an adapter and one set of plug ins so we could recharge our laptops while at the resort, if at all possible.

The band was excellent singing many familiar songs.

As soon as we walked into the lobby of the Pearl Resort in plenty of time for our 1:00 pm buffet reservation in the Riviera Restaurant, I scoped out the plug in options finding there were plenty of possibilities. 

This was my entrée and dessert…delicious seafood.

Asking at the front desk if we could sit in the lobby and plug in our equipment after our meal, they happily obliged saying we could use the outlets and stay as long as we’d like.

Octopus, a favorite, although rather chewy.

The thought of relaxing with power after the upcoming big meal was appealing, especially with the massive doors opening to the bay offered a cooling breeze. 

The meat station had prime rib, ham and turkey. Tom had all three but I chose only the prime rib.  Tom said the ham was great.

After checking in for our reservation, I wasn’t thrilled with the table selected for us with our name imprinted on a plastic coated card. It was too near the entrance to the dining room, the band and people coming and going out to the deck. It was noisy, making it nearly impossible for Tom to hear a word I said, with his bad hearing made worsened by background noise.

Check out the size of those slabs of prime rib and prawns. It was the most tender beef we’d had in months.

We decided to make the best of it and kept the selected table when we noticed the only other available table was too tiny for two diners, my camera and our computer bag on the floor. 

This was my single plate, piled high. I didn’t eat the relatively uncooked green beans but found everything else terrific.

Immediately after we were seated, I scoped out the buffet for photos and to check my dining options. A white hatted chef was behind the food stations happily pointing to each item I’d be able to eat that didn’t include starch, sugars, grains or flour. There were more options than any buffet we’ve visited since the onset of our travels. I felt like a kid in a candy store!

Tom sure enjoyed his first plate and every other plate to come.

Back at the table, I suggested Tom get his food first while I stayed behind to watch the camera and laptop bag.  In no time at all, he returned with a small plate of meats from the carving table and alas, a large pile of candy spice drops. I couldn’t stop laughing. All of those wonderful dishes and desserts, and he had meat and spice drops!

Yum, baby octopus. Those heads are a bit tricky to chew. I ate four of these, less one head.

Of course, he went back many times sampling more and more meat and seafood items and eventually a few desserts. But, each time he went back to the buffet he returned with more spice drops. Love that guy! Five plates of food and candy? I didn’t say a word, smiling over how well he does at “home” when our daily meals deprive him of many foods he loves and yet, keeps him lean and healthy. 

I didn’t feel the least bit embarrassed when my plate was piled higher than any other diners as they left food stations. However,  a single plate was my plan piling everything I could possibly eat to fit on my plate. (I savored almost every morsel leaving only one small octopus head that was particularly chewy and several undercooked green beans, too crunchy to get down).

Tom’s second dessert plate with caramel and apple pies, brownie and more spice drops.

It was a wonderful meal. As it turned out, half of the food on my plate consisted of a variety of fish shells and I wasn’t overly full and uncomfortable. When eating only veggies and protein I never seem to get uncomfortably full, nor do I eat until a point of feeling miserable. That’s never been my thing, nor is it healthy for me when too much protein or vegetables in a single sitting can exacerbate inflammation and raise blood sugar.

A portion of the dessert table. Tom must have eaten one of those entire containers of spice drops.

Once we finished our meal, we sat quietly at the table for a while sipping our water (Tom didn’t order a cocktail when he doesn’t drink alcohol with sweets) while he munched on his spice drops.

Notice the yellow pudding to pour over the brownies or whatever else one may choose.

Finally, we asked a waitperson to find our server. After 15 minutes, we asked again. Finally, after a total of 40 minutes, we managed to see our server who experienced difficulty having us pay when all the other guests were staying at the hotel and had only to sign the slip. Service at this bar and restaurant was certainly less ideal than the impeccable service we’d experienced in the Seduce Restaurant on Tom’s birthday. Fiji time.

Decorations and imprinted name tag at our table.

The bill resolved, we headed to a seating area in the lobby, close to outlets while Tom proceeded to set up our laptops enabling us to send more Christmas wishes to family and friends throughout the world. We’d recharge the laptops sharing the plug in back and forth with a plan to head home by 5 pm when hopefully, the power would be back on.

Most diners were hotel guests, not outsiders like us.

We only lasted until 4:00 pm. The cushion-less wicker chairs cut into our legs and backs making sitting nearly impossible. We decided to call the taxi and head home, although Tom’s laptop wasn’t yet charged. My was at 98%. If we had no power throughout the evening, at least we could watch a few shows in the dark.

Tom wrapped up his meal eating a couple of candy canes. 

Walking into the house we were thrilled to see the fans whirring. The power was back on. The power also went out twice during the night awakening us both each time, lasting for a few more hours, making sleeping fitful without a fan or the wall AC unit running.

Tom didn’t have any dinner last night, although I had a few items ready in case we were hungry. By 7:00 pm, I ate a cup of salmon salad while I spotted Tom snacking on a paper napkin filled with spice drops he’d placed in his pocket. I laughed. 

The deck on the bay at the Pearl.

It was a good Christmas Day especially when we had a chance to talk to some of the family on Skype with more today, had a good meal and managed to end the day with electricity.

Today, Christmas Day in many parts of the world, we wish everyone a blessed holiday season and New Year.  May life bring each you the fulfillment of your goals, dreams and wishes, all filled with love.

Photo from one year ago today, December 26, 2014:

This was one of our favorite scenery photos taken on the Big Island, so clearly illustrating the power of the surf at the houses we rented for the family visit.  For more details, please click here.

Power outage…Christmas Day in the South Pacific…Dining out midday…Merry Christmas to all..

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Another boat heading down the Qaraniqio River.

Oh, another power outage…on Christmas Day. Wonder when it will come back on. 

In yesterday’s post we failed to mention the cost of the fine dinner at Seduce Restaurant at the Pearl Resort on the evening of Tom’s birthday. Including the meal, the gratuities and the bar bill for his Margarita and my bubbly water, the grand total was FJD $256, USD $106. 

Had we been dining in many other countries such an evening could easily have cost well over USD $200, $FJD $427. As the Fiji dollar changes daily as is the case for currencies worldwide, our round trip taxi fare was FJD $4.68, USD $10 including a 20% tip. When we leave Fiji in 10 days, we’ll give Alfaan a more substantial tip as we often do when we have an opportunity to work with one special driver.

The pebbly road for part of our walk later turned into a paved road.

Yesterday afternoon, when the rain stopped for a period, we ventured out on an ambitious walk through the neighborhood. A dog living two doors from us, followed us during the entire almost hour-long walk, making every turn we made continually watching us for our next move.

A house in the area with a commonly seen stucco-type exterior and tin roof.

It reminded me of our old lives when walking our two dogs (Tom didn’t walk in those days) on a vigorous walk in the neighborhood often every day, including the cold winters unless it the temperature was too cold for their little paws walking in the winter’s snow and ice. There was more than one occasion during which I had to carry one or both of our little dogs home when the tiny pads on their feet were too cold to continue on. 

The walk, in addition to working out almost daily at the local fitness club provided me with ample exercise.  Now, with pelting rain most days and no access to a fitness center, a good walk as often as possible brings considerable energy and a sense of well being. 

A vacant lot in the neighborhood collecting debris from an adjoining building site.

In a mere 12 days I’ll be working out on the ship in an attempt to rebuild my fitness level after this lengthy hiatus without much exercise. I haven’t belonged to a fitness center since living in Trinity Beach, Austalia from June to September, 2015.

Another vacant lot behind this neighboring house.

Soon, living in Taranaki, New Zealand with several nearby fitness centers (within 20 minutes), I’ll be back at it again for another three months. At this point, I have no idea what I’ll do once we arrive in a remote area in Bali, there again, perhaps unable to find a fitness center which has been the case in Fiji.

Today is Christmas Day here in the South Pacific. After a delicious dinner and  movie last night, we wandered off to bed, content for another good day. Sure, it doesn’t feel like Christmas without all the festivities associated with the holiday celebrations we experienced in our old lives. 

Finally, we reach the paved road making walking easier.

There are no twinkling lights on the houses in the neighborhood, no front lawns littered with lighted snowmen, reindeer and Santas and few Christmas trees visible through living room windows. We’ve become used to the lack of hoopla, decorations and festivities as a normal part of our life, without disappointment or a sense of loss. 

A fairway on the Pacific Harbour/Pearl Resort golf course only steps from our house.

Instead, we revel in the spiritual aspect of Christmas easily appreciating life, our good health and the health and well being of those we love and the many blessings we’ve been given.

At 2:00 am this morning, we were startled out of bed by outrageously loud fireworks in the neighborhood. Fijians sure love their fireworks, day and night. Wide awake after the heart racing awakening, I decided to listen to a podcast on my phone to lull me back to sleep which often works better than reading.

We’ve often seen these boats heading to scuba diving on the reefs.

Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know about “sleep hygiene” that bespeaks reading and listening in bed impedes quality sleep. I tried over and over again to break the habit, often spending night after night lying in bed wide awake unable to fall back to sleep. Ultimately, the total combined amount of sleep seems to suffice to keep me alert all day.

There are many homes in the area with Qaraniqio River frontage property, docks, and boats.

When I couldn’t connect to the house wifi to download a podcast, I got out of bed to reset the router, necessary every four or five days. Once back in bed I was able to get download a few podcasts and listen to two 40-minute broadcasts. Finally, I fell back to sleep awakening at 6:30 anxious to get the day underway.

With solar power here and no sun in well over a week (its raining now as I write), its not unusual for the shower to be cool in the morning. Susan, the owner, explained there’s a switch on the wall in the master bedroom to turn on the electricity to heat the water heater. We often turn it on for an hour in the late afternoon when the water is cold for Tom’s shower and for washing dinner dishes. 

The bridge over Qaraniqio River we cross on our walk.

Preferring to shower upon awakening and not wanting to waste power overnight, my showers are often cooler than I’d like. So it goes. I guess its part of life living in the tropics, including the near-constant rain often preventing us from daily walks.

As many walks as we’ve taken since our arrival almost three weeks ago, we’ve yet to experience a single walk on a sunny day, as shown in our cloudy day photos.

A scuba diving boat heading out to sea via the Qaraniqio River in Pacific Harbour.

With today’s upcoming buffet lunch at the Pearl at 1:00 pm, we hesitated about making tonight’s dinner. I rarely eat during the day and most likely won’t feel like eating again later in the day. This low carb way has a tendency kill the appetite, only feeling hungry every 24 hours or so.

Tom, back at the carbs again during today’s buffet and perhaps after eight more slices of bread or bread-like items, most likely will be hungry by 7:00 pm. With this in mind, I’m making a few items just in case. By 1:00 pm, when Alfaan picks us up, I’ll have everything prepped and ready to complete later in the day when we return from the Christmas lunch.

Hibiscus, prolific year-round are the most commonly seen flowers in tropical climates.

Its a good day, this Christmas Day 2015. The love we feel from family and friends from afar, the love with share with one another, and the joy we experience each and everyday, making this day as special and as meaningful as all the rest.

May all of our readers and their family and friends have a joyous Christmas Eve and Christmas Day filled with love and wonder. We feel all of you with us, each and everyday. We appreciate each and every one of you for sharing this life with us. Have a beautiful Christmas!

Photo from one year ago today, December 25, 2014:

I wish we’d taken more family photos last Christmas when family was visiting. When I was preoccupied with everyone being there, I just didn’t take many photos of “people” always one of my photo-taking downfalls. We all spent Christmas Day at a picnic at a beach park in Hilo, Hawai’i, on yet another cloudy day. For more details, please click here.

Credit card compromised…How to handle…Out to dinner with friends in Fiji…

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Danny, Samantha, me, and Tom, standing outside our house in Pacific Harbour, Fiji.

Handling our five credit cards requires a certain amount of attention other than merely paying off the balance each month. The vast amounts we charge on the cards often including rents for three months, full cruise fares, pricey airline tickets, long term car rentals, groceries, and dining out. The new statements can be well into the thousands in a given month.

Keeping an eye on these expenses for their accuracy and for any potential unknown expenses, excess fees or instances of fraud drives me to check online every few days. 

With a tile for each credit card company on my touch screen desktop in Windows 8, it takes only seconds to log in and check each of the five cards with the fact they’re all from only two banks making the process easier. We seldom find an error.  When we do, we contact the toll-free number on the card and get to work to solve the problem.

Last year around this same time, one of the credit card companies had contacted us by phone and email to notify us of fraud charges that hadn’t yet posted in “pending transactions” making it impossible for us to see online. 

Danny’s curry dinner, which he said was good.

The credit card company’s system is sophisticated enough to be able to pick up “test” charges used by credit card fraud companies and individuals to determine if they will in fact be able to use the card for larger purchases.

Over the past year, most of our cards have been replaced with the supposedly more secure cards containing “computerized chips.” However, having these cards with chips hasn’t prevented fraud on the cards.

A few days ago, we received a fraud alert to which I immediately responded with a phone call. Yes, Tom’s card number with a chip that replaced his compromised card last December was compromised and charges had started rolling in, first in “test” charges for $1 and then hotel bills and fuel charges in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. 

How did this happen? This occurred both last year and this year (in December) on the card, we use most often when Tom usually handles the checking-out using that particular card when we’re dining out and purchasing products and groceries. 

We’ve been in Fiji for almost four months. Most likely at some establishment where we’d paid using the card, the number was noted and “sold” to those who conduct such illegal behavior across the globe. 

The upper portion of my plate contained the salad with the entrée on the bottom right. There was a tiny portion of squid, perhaps a tablespoon. To balance my meals carbs and protein, I must eat a larger portion of protein at least 6 ounces. Thus, I ordered a small steak, which worked well. (The plate appears larger in this photo).

The fact that we’re in Fiji didn’t necessarily create a greater risk. This transpires throughout the world with billions of dollars each year. No one is exempt from the potential risk.

It may surprise some, but when this happens, it’s not a personal serious situation. It is definitely not as serious and destructive as “identity theft” when a person’s entire credit profile is compromised, which may result in the life-changing destruction of one’s entire creditworthiness. A compromised credit card is a simple process for the customer:

1.  Immediately respond to the email and/or phone card from the credit card. Those with late payments or a poor credit card history may hesitate to return the call when they may assume the call is for collection purposes. Failure to respond to the inquiry can, in fact, create a more difficult situation after the fraudulent charges have been posted.

2. The quicker one returns the call, the better, using the phone number on the back of the card (for added security). The bank’s fraud department wants to decipher which charges the customer actually made as opposed to those charges made fraudulently to avoid further fraudulent charges. When doing so, the customer will not be charged any amount for the fraudulent charges. The concept that you’ll only be charged the first USD $50 is not true unless you are aware of some obscure stipulation in the bank’s regulations that allows for such a charge.  It’s unlikely.

3.  Carefully review all the charges you’ve made with the fraud department representative We’ve read online that there have been a few rare instances whereby customers of less than ideal ethics attempted to pass off some of their own purchases as fraudulent when they were not, hoping they’d “go away” during this process.  This behavior, in itself, is fraud and may result in termination of the card, bad credit ratings, and possible legal charges. 

4.  Upon the bank’s recommendation destroy the card from which the charges were made and any other cards with the same number. The card will no longer work after the company has posted the number as compromised. We usually cut the card into tiny pieces and dispose of the pieces. Even if the card could be pieced together as in a puzzle the fact the number has been flagged, it would never work anyway.

Tom and Samantha had the burger topped with egg and fries.

5.  When the new card arrives in the mail, immediately sign and activate the card which has a new number.Visit every website where you may have stored the card for frequent purchases, and change both the number and expiration date which will also be new, or the next time you make a purchase it will be declined. The three or four-digit number of the back near your signature will also have changed. Use your best judgment, only releasing this number of highly secure and reputable sites.

Done and done. When chip technology is used on a shared account, Tom and I each have a separate number as opposed to sharing the same card number. Thus, my card, a different number, wasn’t compromised. Until we receive the new card in an upcoming supplies shipment while in NZ, we’ll use other cards or my same card for this particular account.

While traveling, every 60 days, we contact the credit card companies either by phone or online to notify them of “travel alerts,” specifically in which countries we’ll be using the card including when we’re in the US in May 2017. The alerts only last 60 days. This information prevents the card from being declined when rightfully making purchases while traveling. This must be done each time one leaves their home country to avoid the resulting embarrassment and delays.

Feel free to contact us if any of this is confusing, or better yet, your credit card provider with specific personal inquiries.

On to the second part of today’s post. First off, our newly made friends, Samantha and Danny (he’s from Minnesota, she’s from Wisconsin, small world) have left Fiji to return to their new home in Seattle, where Danny returns to his medical residency (sure, Tom asked if Danny worked at “Seattle Grace”) and Samantha to her social work practice.

We noticed the lily pad flowers close at night as darkness fell while we dined at Oasis Restaurant.

You may ask, “How do we refer to people we met for short periods as “friends? Doesn’t a friendship require time and nurturing?”

In this life, with access only to short term relationships, we prefer to call those with whom we especially connect and interact in social settings, as friends. For us, these short-term interactions possess a special meaning often staying in touch for years to come. 

Dinner at the Oasis Restaurant at the Art Village was enjoyable with the lively conversation between the four of us. Tom enjoyed his burger, as the best of the three burgers he’s had to date in Pacific Harbour. 

My entrée was tricky; the portion tiny although tasty, a spicy squid and vegetable stir fry (no sugar, starch soy sauce or rice). It was no more than one cup of food with a small side salad without dressing. 

As an “intermittent fasting” advocate consuming one meal, no snacks a day, a one-cup portion of food with a salad without dressing won’t cut it. After the small entrée arrived, I ordered a steak, which was quite good, cooked to perfection. 

We shared a taxi ride home, hugged goodbye, and had the driver take today’s main photo of the four of us, once outside our house. It was wonderful to spend time with this lovely honeymoon couple and we’re grateful to our host Susan who encouraged our meeting.

Last night, we dined at Baka Blues in the Arts Village, which we’ll share photos and stories in an upcoming post in a few days. For today, we’re content to stay in on a rainy, hot, and humid day preparing enough of a dish to last for a few upcoming meals and to freeze the balance for a later date, as we wind down the time in Pacific Harbour, Fiji.

For our readers, take a break from the busy activities of the holiday season, grab a cup of coffee or tea and read our posts as they’ll continue through each day of the season with Tom’s upcoming birthday celebration on the 23rd, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve.

Photo from one year ago today, December 20, 2014:

Tom is at the far left.  TJ is in the middle and Jayden is on the far right after they decided they also needed haircuts. Three generations of Lymans having haircut simultaneously. Too cute! This was the last day, the hair salon was taking customers. They were closing the next day for the arrival of the lava flowing from Mount Kilauea. For more info and close up photos, please click here.

Part 2…Road trip…Tour of Suva, the capital city…

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TappooCity, the four story mall in Suva surprised us with its familiar brands.

Suva, the capital city of Fiji with its over 330 islands has population stats as follows:

  • Capital City: Suva (88,271 pop.)
    (175,399 metro)
  • Fiji Population: 849,000 (2010 est.)

Driving through the countryside as we made our way to Suva in an hour (each way) reminded us of many tropical climate countries we visited over these past years with an abundance of banana, palm, and coconut trees, the lush green hills, fields, and mountains with one pasture after another of cows and horses grazing off the land. Beautifully familiar, but always pleasant to see.

Driving in hired car with vehicles behind us, with no shoulder or spot to stop for photos, I’ve given up attempting to take good photos from the moving vehicle. It just doesn’t work. 

Many popular brands of flat-screen TVs. Many residents, including many in the lower-income ranges, have TVs and satellite dishes.

When we have a rental car, Tom is masterful at anticipating when to stop before the words, even leave my lips when we spot a good photo op. He manages to find an appropriate stopping point and turns around if necessary to ensure I’m able to take the shot.  He never ceases to amaze me.

A hired driver? Not so much the case when they don’t know our preferences for photos. Well, perhaps Okee Dokee in South Africa knew, who stopped at each photo-worthy scenes long before we even spotted them. 

How many times I’ve wished we could have packed her up and taken her with us. We’re happy for her when last Saturday she was a beautiful bride marrying the man of her dreams. Thank goodness for Facebook and email for keeping us informed about special people we’ve come to adore in our travels.

Furnishings and housewares of every type is available.

Once we entered the city limits of Suva, the city streets were jammed with cars honking as they maneuvered a mishmash bottleneck of many streets joining at most intersections. Jaywalkers were everywhere making a driver’s attention intense in an attempt to avoid hitting a pedestrian. There was hardly an opportunity to stop for photos.

An occasional crosswalk brought fewer walkers across the road than other non-marked areas. It could have been a busy intersection anywhere in the world. Our eyes dashed back and forth at the endless shops, office buildings (not skyscrapers), restaurants and markets and numerous cell/data stores each packed with many locals and tourists seeking the best possible deals of the day.

There are rows upon rows of exquisite colorful Hindu gowns worn by Indo-Fijian women on special occasions. 

Our goal while downtown was simple; visit the Suva Municipal Market (a huge farmers market) and drive-by various points of interest to take photos of the more popular tourist attractions in the center of the city. 

Keeping in mind, I was feeling awful from a poor prior night’s sleep with hardly enough energy to open the heavy door of the SUV, I knew getting out of the vehicle more often than we had to, was not on the agenda.

Typical kitchen appliances in familiar brands were offered for sale. Pricing on these items was a bit higher than in larger countries. The tea pots listed at FJD $119, are USD $55.

Tom, who’s interest in big cities has waned more than mine over time, was content to do only as much as I felt up to. In all of our travels, he has never insisted we see anymore than is on my radar on any sightseeing tour.  Overall sightseeing is not necessarily on Tom’s radar, unless its something really big like safari, historic and military sites and outrageous scenery. I get this and we adjust accordingly. 

Busy cities and shops are definitely outside his realm of interest, although he’ll always come along if its of interest to me. Fodder for posting each day falls into my wheelhouse leaving me open to seeing anything of interest locally that may inspire a story.

I was fascinated with the gorgeous women’s Indo-Fijian gowns.  Surprisingly reasonably prices they were elaborate costumes with many layers of colorful silky fabrics. 

After the awe-inspiring trip to the farmers market, where for awhile I almost forgot feeling tired, our driver was waiting for us outside the parking ramp.  With a need for a quick restroom break, Alfaan directed us to the fourth floor of the building in front of us, the popular giant, multilevel mall, TappooCity which attracts tourists and locals alike.

It was surprising that a trip to the restroom necessitated making our way through this enormous mall, searching for escalators on each level. (The few elevators were jammed). This allowed us to see how many foreign brands monopolized each level of the mall with familiar brand merchandise we haven’t seen since Hawaii. 

Had I felt better, I’d have enjoyed perusing the racks.

Even while in Australia for three months, we never recognized as many brand names of clothing, shoes, appliances, housewares with an endless array of cosmetics and accessories, a shopping enthusiast paradise. 

Prices were reasonable for the merchandise when on several occasions I stopped to peruse price tags, my mind performing quick calculations from FJD to USD. I’ll still hold firm to my assessment that its cheap to live in Fiji, as long as one knows where to go to shop.  Suva definitely fulfills the needs and expectations of any buyer from around the globe. 

The food court appeared typical for malls although we didn’t recognize many of the vendors.

Finally, we were back in the car, ready to move along. At that point, I advised Alfaan and Tom I was  fast running out of steam and asked if we could head toward the area of the grocery stores.  I was determined I could eek out a little energy to shop and be done for the day. In any case, we didn’t return home until almost 4 pm ample time to wash the produce, put away the groceries and prepare what I hadn’t yet prepped for dinner.

As mentioned yesterday, Cost-U-Less was comparable to a less well-stocked Sam’s Club or Costco, carrying many of the same brands in bulk sizes. None of this worked for us with our short remaining time in Pacific Harbour. After an exhaustive search through the big warehouse, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. 

We found three escalators are various areas in the mall to get us to the fourth floor for the restrooms.

Oddly, Tom lingered in Cost-U-Less, curious to the items they carried particularly the candy and snacks, none of which he’s had in many months.  Although he was tempted he didn’t purchase anything as I kept my mouth shut. From there we headed to IGA New World market where we found some, not all, of the items remaining on our list.

Over these past few years he’d gained back 25 of the 40 pounds, 11 of the 18 kg, he’d originally lost in 2011 when he joined me in this way of eating.  It wasn’t necessarily from eating junk food which he only does on cruises and when dining in restaurants, but more due to eating too much low carb food having breakfast and a lunch snack day after day. There’s no way of eating that one can consume vast amounts of food and never gain an ounce.

Many departments in the massive store consisted of a wide array of merchandise.

Over the past few months, he’s cut back on the number of meals per day and is now back to his original weight loss of 40 pounds, 18 kg, easily fitting into all of his pants and shirts minus the big belly pulling tight on the buttons. I’m thrilled for the improvement in his health having rid himself of the dangerous disease producing belly fat. (Link is to the Mayo Clinic on the dangers of belly fat).

Sure, in a little over two weeks we’ll be on a 14 night cruise. Once we settle in New Zealand for three months after the cruise with more readily available food products, in no time at all, he’ll drop whatever 10 pounds, 4.5 kg he may gain on the cruise, typical for most cruise passengers. We don’t eat lunch or snacks on cruises which if we indulged further he may gain 15 pounds, 6.8 kg, or more.

Speaking of food, last night we had dinner with Samantha and Danny at Oasis in the Arts Village. In tomorrow’s post we’ll share a photo taken of the four of us by the taxi driver, food photos and some of the remaining photos from the visit to Suva. Plus, we’ll be sharing a cultural story of life for locals in Fiji.

A less busy side street in downtown Suva.

Paeta is here today cleaning the house.  Another glorious sunny day will take us out to the pool for a cooling swim in this heat as soon as the pool guy, her brother, is done cleaning the pool. 

Tomorrow evening, Saturday, we’ll be heading back to the Arts Village to try yet another restaurant. Gee…this dining out thing is fun, affordable and easy here!

For those preparing for the busy holiday season, we wish every one of our readers safe and meaningful experiences. We continue to treasure your readership which for us, that along with good health are the greatest gifts we can possibly receive. A heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you for being beside us during this unusual life we live.

Photo from one year ago today, December 18, 2014:

Tom got a kick out of the fact that we visited the Lyman Museum with the family one year ago in Hilo on the Big Island. For more photos, please click here.

Part 1…Road trip…Tour of Suva, the capital city…

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Breathtaking shades of pink.

With it planned for over a week, we’re looking forward to getting out to see some of the sites in Suva on Wednesday morning as well as take a trip to a pharmacy and market for a few remaining items on our list.

Unfortunately, on Tuesday night, I barely slept all night, tossing and turning, reading intermittently, and spending hours wide awake just laying there most of the night. I wasn’t necessarily in a state of worry.

As we’d seen at the huge farmers market in Cairns, Australia, beautiful bouquets of locally grown flowers are offered for sale.

I had most of Wednesday’s post completed so there’d be no issue uploading before our 11:00 am driver appeared in his air-conditioned vehicle on a very hot and humid day. I was feeling fine. There was no reason not to be sleeping at least for six hours, my usual skimpy night’s allotment.

Never a good sleeper, fitful most nights, and always an early bird, if I’d get a full six-hours,  even in a few segments, I’d feel fine. But, yesterday morning, dragging myself out of bed, I knew I was in trouble. Most likely I hadn’t slept three hours off and on. 

Individual flowers for those who prefer to make their own arrangements.

The thought of sightseeing, shopping, and taking photos all day didn’t seem possible in my exhausted state.  Had we been staying in, it would have been easy to pamper myself resting for a few hours here and there, although I can’t nap during the day, never have. 

Making certain everything we’d need for dinner when we returned home took every last bit of energy I could muster;  making the salad, slicing the cucumber, and preparing the vegetables wiped me out further. With roasted chicken planned as the entrée, by the time we left, dinner was under control. 

No photo can do justice to illustrate the massive size of this market.

We could have dined out, but I knew by the time we returned home, my comfy long tee-shirt would be my single article of clothing on a hot day while Tom languished in his swimsuit with no shirt, his usual warm day outfit.

Ready to go at 11:00 am, Alfaan arrived with the newer SUV, another driver with Alamanda Tours. The round trip fare for the day was FJD $100, USD $46.70 plus we gave Alfa a generous trip for his fabulous help, even pushing the cart of the New World Market and helping carry the groceries into the house. 

Lettuce is easily found at this market at FJD $1, USD $.47 per bunch.

By the end of the day, I was determined to notify the tour company that we wanted Alfaan as our permanent driver going forward which I did by email upon returning home. This morning I received a confirmation that they’d arrange for him to handle all of our trips.

As it turned out, during the long drive each way, sitting in the front seat, in my exhausted state, I interviewed Alfaan for details on his lifestyle as a local Indo-Fijian and will share his story in a few days. He was eager to answer my questions while I was enthralled by his interesting responses.

This Women’s Centre has clothing, handbags, and jewelry for women only.

Had I felt better, we surely would have visited more sites. I just didn’t have the energy to do much walking although, in all, we walked a fair amount. We did what I could and by 2:30 pm, I’d was done-in and ready to wrap up the day.

We’d made it to the pharmacy to purchase contact lens solution to ensure I have enough for the upcoming cruise and my second bottle of fingernail polish in order to do my own pedicures. 

Handmade ribbon bouquets for the holiday season and other celebrations.

Through these past three-plus years, I’ve managed to get by with one bottle of red fast dry polish.  Now, it’s thick and unusable and going into the trash. I purchased a regular polish (no fast dry here) in a pinkish color which most likely will get me through the next three years. 

We also purchased 3% hydrogen peroxide which we use regularly when brushing our teeth and for mouth rinsing after we’ve done the daily coconut oil teeth pulling we’ve described in earlier posts. (Please write if you’d like more info).

Handwoven bags made onsite at the Women’s Centre.

At the end of the day, we headed to the Cost-U-Less store which is comparable to a lesser version of Sam’s Club or Costco. We walked out empty-handed when they had few items on our list and only huge sizes of most food products, not suitable for our remaining 18 days in Fiji.

Alfaan drove us the short distance to the New World Market, similar to the same-named market in Savusavu and although we couldn’t find a number of items, we wrapped it up and headed home. Aside from eggs, cream and produce, we won’t need to grocery shop again other than purchasing the chickens each week.

The locals hope to earn a reasonable day’s wage working in the market. But, most tourists don’t purchase produce when they’re staying in hotels and resorts, other than fruit. Mostly, the customers were Fijians.

Finally, back home, I was grateful I’d prepped everything for dinner other than toss the salad, cook the veggies and reheat a chicken.  We’d purchased many veggies at the huge farmer’s market in Savu, known as the Suva Municipal Market, as shown in these photos, one of the biggest we’ve seen to date. 

I washed everything putting it away, relieved when done, anxiously to plop into my comfy chair with a fan blowing on me. It must have been 90F, 32 C inside the house when we entered. When it hadn’t cooled off by the time I lumbered off to bed at 9:30 as late as I possibly could, we turned on the wall AC for the first time. I needed to sleep.

Not unlike the rest of the world, Fijians have cell phones and are often found talking loudly in public.

Today, I’m feeling much better although I awoke dozens of times during the night when the air-con cycled through various stages. Unless it’s as hot tonight as it was last night, most likely we won’t use it again. Hot or noisy, which is preferable?

Tonight, we’re meeting honeymoon couple, Samantha and Danny, for dinner at the Water’s Edge restaurant at 6 pm. We’re looking forward to a casual dinner out with this lovely couple who Susan, the owner of both houses, encouraged us all to get together.

Although I asked the vendor the name of this item, I was unable to understand his response. Looking online, I couldn’t find it. Any ideas?

I’m now in the process of laundering all of Tom’s cruise clothing which on this beautiful sunny day will readily dry carefully hung on hangers on the clothesline. Yesterday, we purchased a roll of plastic bags. 

The day before we depart to fly to Sydney we’ll carefully wrap each cruise item in an individual bag for wrinkle-free clothing when we unpack on the cruise. This has proven to be the perfect solution for wrinkle-free clothes upon unpacking.

Fruit of unknown variety. They looked like pears but upon closer inspection, we weren’t certain.

We’ll be back tomorrow and over the next several days with more photos from the trip to Suva and later share details of tonight’s dinner at another new dining establishment.

Today’s another scorcher. Soon, we’ll head out to the pool for a refreshing swim. Enjoy the day!

  Photo from one year ago today, December 17, 2014:

Our family members found a level spot easier for getting in and out of the Kapoho tide pools. With no post on this date one year ago, here is the link from the prior day’s visit to the tide pool and why we stayed behind rather than walk over the uneven terrain of massive lava rocks. 

Cranking out the plans…Acquiring visas for the not-so-savvy-Internet users…

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Fiji décor made from some type of small vines.

Everything about our lives requires planning. Oh, I’m not complaining. It just “goes with the territory.” At times, we chuckle over the irony. One cannot settle back and let the days roll out, one after another, routines firmly in place, comforting and easy.

This morning, Tom held up the contents of the remaining ground coffee he’d put into a Ziplock bag and said, “This looks like enough coffee left including the one unopened bag to last us, doesn’t it?” 

Looking at the bag, I shook my head, “No, Honey, we’ll need to buy one more bag of coffee.”

They don’t sell ground coffee anywhere in Pacific Harbour. Tomorrow, we’re heading back to Suva where the airport is located, for sightseeing and shopping, a 70-minute taxi ride each way, FJD $100, USD $46.83 (cost for the round trip).  It would be worth buying one more package. If we ran out it wouldn’t be worth the time and taxi fare to drive back to Suva only for coffee.

A cloudy evening at the beach.

Yesterday, I completed our menu and accompanying grocery list for the 19 remaining days in Pacific Harbour, a combination of cooking and dining out. We scheduled dining out on six occasions, one including Tom’s birthday on December 23rd at the #1 rated (Trip Advisor) restaurant in Pacific Harbour, Seduce at the Pearl, a luxury resort.  

On Christmas Day we’ll return to the Pearl for the Christmas lunch buffet at the Riviera Restaurant. Yesterday, I booked the reservation, paying the required 50% deposit over the phone. We haven’t decided on New Year’s Eve with no specific festivities as yet posted. 

Leaving us with approximately 13 nights to cook, six of which we’ll have roasted chickens for which I’ll prepare a variety of side dishes, our grocery list really boils down to the equivalent of two week’s grocery shopping. Each week, we’ll head to Arts Village to pick up the chickens as we’re doing today with a stop at the nearby vegetable stand to fill in what we’ll need.

With every day’s meals and dining out plans on my online calendar, it’s easy to ensure we’ll have enough on hand, leaving little unused food behind. In Fiji, steaks and roasts are tough. Mince beef and pork, chicken and canned Pacific wild-caught salmon (for me) and tuna (for Tom) from which we make two separate salads with celery, onions, hard-boiled eggs, and homemade dressing. These are the only main dish options that work for both of us. The mince works well with other ingredients for a dozen or so recipes we alternate depending on available ingredients.

We often spot the lali in Fiji, the wood hand carved ceremonial announcement bell.

We don’t purchase locally caught fish when we’ve heard and read online that much of the fish caught is done so in the toxic reefs close to the shore. Considerable sewage disposal goes into the ocean here.  No, thank you for the fish. (Most restaurants purchase seafood from suppliers which are often imported).

With the limited cooking options for our way of eating and the availability of great restaurants in this area, we’re happy to dine out a few times each week. 

On Saturday night, I felt like a kid in a candy store when we dined out, not due to the fact that I didn’t have to cook, but more so due to being out among people, the fanfare, the special meals prepared for me, and the pleasant surroundings. 

Other than Tom’s upcoming birthday dinner at the fancy restaurant which will be more expensive, I doubt we’ll spend more than FJD $100, USD $46.83 on any single occasion dining out even with a beer for Tom and Fiji water for me. With taxi fare relatively low cost, it’s a no brainer for us.

Pool table and bar at the Uprising Beach Resort.

With the grocery list on a handy app on my phone for tomorrow big shopping trip and today’s return trip to Art Village to wander about and to pick up the two roasted chickens, (we called yesterday and placed the order) we’re feeling comfortable that the food situation for our remaining days is in place. 

Of course, if opportunities arise that we decide to dine out on additional occasions, we can forgo one of the chickens on any given day.  We always like to keep our options open with a goal of flexibility.

Another area of planning during this remaining period centers around clothing for the upcoming cruise.  Mine are all washed, hung to dry, and wrinkle-free on hangers in the closet. Thursday, I’ll begin washing all of Tom’s clothing and bleaching all of his “tidy whities” which become greyish when the washing is done by household help.

I’m now the household laundress don’t mix whites and darks if I can help it. At the moment, I’m otherwise totally caught up on laundry with virtually no ironing on the horizon. I haven’t ironed in over three years.

Its common to see “parasitic plants” where coconuts are attached to an earthy structure eventually grow a coconut palm.

Besides food and laundry, we’re in the process of reviewing the required visas we may need over the next year making notes on the calendar as to dates we need to apply online using the cruise line’s recommend CIBT service. 

It costs a little more to use this and other such services than applying on our own but we’d be highly concerned about shipping our passports while living in a foreign country as opposed to doing it easily online, scanning, and sending documents by email.

Sadly, many senior travelers, unfamiliar with using the Internet burden themselves with copying and mailing all their documents including their passports to various consulates in order to acquire visas when any of it may be lost in the mail or stuck sitting on someone’s desk. 

If any of our readers find they need help using such a service, asking anyone of the younger generation could easily solve the problem when they’ve grown up with iPads, smartphones, and computers on their laps. In today’s world, it’s astounding what even a six-year-old can accomplish online.

Tom, at dinner, looking forward to his first beer in many months. Although, finally having some “starch” including bread and fries was more on his mind.

Also, if you need further reassurance from us, please don’t hesitate to contact us by posting a comment at the end of any day’s post or by clicking the email link at the top right of the post. Other than travel days, we’ll reply within 12 hours at most (due to the time difference).

In an hour, our driver will collect us for the drive to the Art Village. It’s a 45-minute walk each way which we could manage but who wants to carry two greasy chickens and a few other items in the heat and humidity attracting flies and mosquitoes? At a taxi fare of no more than FJD $10, USD $4.68 for the round trip, it’s worth it.

Living this life requires planning.  Moving every one to three months is a daunting task. Moving on and off every two or fewer weeks on cruises is also challenging. 

Although we don’t have to move furniture and household goods it does require forethought and careful planning. It’s necessary to condense every material item we own to fit into three suitcases, one duffel bag, one computer bag, and one yellow Costco bag. 

As we peruse everything sitting out at this point, we’re always in awe of how it manages to fit in those few bags. My cruise clothing consisted of one medium load washed in cold water with one hand washed item. Tom’s won’t be much more. For us, our limited supply of “stuff” elicits a sense of satisfaction over what we’ve been willing to let go of. How we’ve changed that way!

We’ll be back tomorrow with more new photos posting before we depart at 11:00 am for the day in Suva, the capital city of the Fiji Islands. For those of you on the other side of the International Dateline, have a fabulous Monday and for the rest of the world, enjoy Tuesday! 

Photo from one year ago today, December 15, 2014:

Grandsons Jayden and Nik checking out the roaring surf outside the vacation rental in the Big Island of Hawai’i. For more details, please click here.

Part 2…It was a Bollywood night at the Uprising!…Health concerns while cruising…

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 Our video of the Bollywood dancers on Saturday night at the Uprising Beach Resort.

Our new friends and neighbors, the honeymoon couple from Minnesota and Wisconsin, stopped by to take us up on our offer of borrowing one of our two wifi dongles. We’d offered several days ago when they weren’t able to get online at their vacation rental house after trying for several days. 

With over 16 gigs left on Tom’s device, it was unlikely we’d use the balance before leaving Fiji.  With our upcoming cruise in three weeks and five other cruises circumventing Australia, it would have been nice to be able to use the balance of the data on the devices when the ship docks in Fiji on a few occasions. Unfortunately, the data on the SIM cards expires 60 days from topping it off.

The Bollywood dancers prepared for their performance.

With wifi expensive and metered on most cruise ships (a few ships are offering an unlimited package), it would have saved us metered data time while in Fiji ports. Long ago, we decided to stay on the ship when in ports we’ve visited in the past, unless there’s a particular venue we missed on a prior visit. 

Yesterday, we checked in for the upcoming cruise on January 5th. Always a time-consuming process, requiring that both passports and a credit card be available during the online check-in, we worked our way through “pages” of inquiries. With no printer (our portable printer died) we’re unable to print the copies they request for check-in at the pier.

A band performed before and after the dancers.

Over these past years of travel, we’ve learned that paper copies of transport documents simply aren’t necessary other than for passports and visas. For the greatest ease, we take a photo of our “tickets” on my phone, bringing up the photo as needed when we check-in. 

There’s never been a single occasion where this has been a problem. The days of finding a printer at the hotel or an “office supply” store in a small remote village are long in the past. 

This method also applies to flights, trains, tour venues, and cruises. We even used the photo of our tickets when boarding the Eurostar (the Chunnel) when we traveled from Paris to London in August 2014.

The locals perform their routine on Saturday nights.

It’s hard to imagine we’ll be aboard a cruise in three weeks. It will have been seven months since our last cruise ended in Sydney when we immediately flew to Cairns, picked up a rental car, and drove to Trinity Beach where we lived for three months. 

Our biggest concern when cruising has been avoiding the “cruise cough” which can spoil a number of days of cruising. Of the 11 cruises on which we’ve sailed to date, we’ve ended up with the cough three or four times.  Preferring not to whine here, we haven’t made a big deal. But this time, we’re determined to avoid any illness. 

Regardless of a passenger’s immune system, it’s easy to fall prey to one of the many cruise-related illnesses including the dreaded Norovirus which fortunately we’ve never contracted. Fanatics about washing our hands, not shaking hands, and steering clear of others who appear sick, we still have become ill.

There was a post blocking part of our view but I didn’t want to obstruct anyone else’s view by standing.

Implementing a few new protective actions, we’ve emphatically decided on the following:

1.  Twice-daily mouth rinsing with pure organic unrefined coconut oil for at least 10 minutes on each occasion.
2.  Twice-daily mouth rinsing for 5 minutes with hydrogen peroxide (kills bacteria and happens to whiten teeth).
3.  Under no circumstances touch another guest; not a hand, not a shoulder, not a hug. When hearing a sensitive type of story from a guest, it’s easy for women to reach over and touch her hand in a supportive manner, especially me. Many people aren’t offended by the kind and caring touch of another. Men are less inclined to do this.  I know these simple acts have been instrumental in our previous illnesses when in most cases I’ve become ill first, then Tom.
4.  Washing hands immediately before and after eating and using offered sanitizer at every possible opportunity.
5.  Using a linen napkin wrapped around our hands when serving ourselves in buffet restaurants, immediately tossing the napkin after serving, taking a new napkin to use with the meal.
6.  Carrying hand sanitizers. We have several packets of these we carry with us throughout the ship that cleans both surfaces and hands. I have no concern over the dry skin using these frequently can cause. A swipe of coconut oil on my hands totally reduces any dryness. As a matter of fact, I’ve been using coconut oil as a face and body lotion both mornings and nights and am thrilled with the results.

The couples were in sync while dancing the traditional Bollywood type performance.

Hopefully, these amped-up proactive measures will serve us well.

Yesterday, we decided on a long walk to the neighboring market we’d yet to visit located in a gas station on the Hibiscus Highway. At our relatively leisurely pace on the rock-covered roads, we estimated we’d be gone for over an hour. With an overcast sky, the walking was easier than on a sunny day.

Over the past three days, it’s been cloudy for most of the day, making walking a little easier. The mozzies aren’t as bad here during the day as they were in Savusavu.

Many of the guests joined in the dancing. Neither of us likes to participate “on stage” during performances of any type. It’s never us on the stage!

When we dined outdoors on Saturday night at the Uprising Beach Resort, only a few swipes of repellent kept me free from bites. The only bites I’ve received have been while hanging the laundry outside especially on these cloudy days. Learning my lesson, I now use repellent on laundry days.

As for the walk, we checked out the merchandise in two tiny markets finding little we use when all the meats were of unknown origin and frozen and with no produce other than potatoes and onions.

Leaving the area of the markets we spotted a vegetable stand across the highway. Could we possibly find lettuce, a product difficult to find in Fiji? Alas, we were in luck. We purchased six small bunches of lettuce, a few carrots, and a bunch of green onions for a total of FJD $10, USD $4.69. 

Another view of the astounding sunset on Saturday night at the Uprising Beach Resort.

Tom only had FJD $20 bills in his wallet. The kindly vendor had no change suggesting we take the produce and return when we have a $10 bill. When we head out tomorrow for the roasted chickens at the Arts Village, we’ll get change and stop to pay her on the return drive.

The ants are under control. There are no cockroaches running across the polished wood floors. We have plenty to keep us busy at home today and we’re as content as we can be. 

May your day be filled with contentment and ease.


Photo from one year ago today, December 14, 2014:

TJ is the king of video, rather than taking still photos. He does a great job. The scenery on the many drives we took together on the Big Island was outstanding. For more details, please click here.

Part 1…It was a Bollywood night at the Uprising!…

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The sun was already behind this hill when we arrived, but the colors remained long enough for me to take a few shots.

Going out to dinner last night proved to be more fun than we’d expected. We always have fun when we go out and also when we don’t, but we had no idea that Saturday night at the Uprising Beach Resort would include Bollywood entertainment.

As we entered the Uprising Beachside Resort.

We (me, particularly) became fans of Bollywood dancing, having watched it years ago on a few dance competition type shows and also after scenes in the popular movie, Slumdog Millionaire.

Signs were posted for the night’s specials.

Once we arrived at the Uprising Beach Resort for dinner we discovered that it was Bollywood night. Preferring reservations early in the evening is a must if we plan to take photos before dark, so a 6:30 reservation always seems to work well.

As we entered the bar, we spotted this gingerbread house.

It was raining when we arrived, but soon cleared in time for the 7:30 Bollywood performance on the lawn, a short distance from where we were seated at a cozy table for two. I took many photos which we’ll share over the next few days. By the final set of the sun, we were able to grab a few shots of the amazing sight we’re sharing here today. 

The menu options befitting my way of eating were reasonably good, especially when our waitress summoned the chef to our table.  Showing him the food list on my phone, he shook his head, acknowledging the good and the bad. 

The pool and deck at the resort were packed with guests. While we dined, a guest playing ball in the pool dislocated his shoulder. It was quite a painful sight to see as they whisked him off for medical care.

He seemed excited to make me a suitable grilled seafood platter atop a bed of roasted vegetables.  Assuming the portion would be too small to satisfy my appetite, I ordered a Caesar salad with both the croutons (for Tom) and dressing on the side. 

The bar at the resort.

Tom ordered the burger and fries, which looked delicious, although he thought it was bland and unseasoned. Go figure. The guy who doesn’t like spices likes some seasoning on his meat. (I always well season protein sources to avoid bland tasting food).

Arriving early, we had several options as to which table we’d choose. As it turned out, we chose a table that gave us ringside seats to the Bollywood show.

My meal was over the top. Since I don’t consume any vegetable oils, only butter, coconut, and olive oil, dining in restaurants can be tricky when most foods are sautéed in who-knows-what-kind of cheap vegetable oil. The chef promised he’d cook my seafood in a spotless skillet using butter, olive oil, and fresh garlic. 

We could only imagine how pretty it would have been on a sunny, cloudless evening.

With big chunks of squid, a half dozen head-on prawns, and a variety of unknown locally caught fish it couldn’t have appealed to me more. My Caesar salad, with huge uncut Bibb lettuce leaves, bits of bacon, and a soft-cooked egg on the top would have been more enjoyable had the leaves been cut into pieces as opposed to each entire leaf. 

We chose a table near this two-seater close to the lawn.

Served on a large square wooded platter as were all the meals, it was awkward cutting the leaves. I always eat salad the European way, after the main course. That way, my entrée is warm while I eat it. Having salad after dinner tricks my brain into thinking of it as “dessert” when I don’t order any sugary desserts.

It was raining as I took this photo while close to the water’s edge.

In essence, I ordered two entrees when the salad was listed as an entrée portion.  Rarely do any type of starters (appetizers) work for me. This wasn’t the first time I’d ordered two entrées. 

Tom’s big burger and fries. Our total bill for dinner with bottled Fiji water for me and one beer for Tom, including tax and tip was FJD $91.08, USD $42.72. 

When one doesn’t include any starchy sides with a meal, only the protein, and a few veggies, it’s often inadequate to feel satisfied when the entrée portions are small. When cooking at “home” I can easily add a number of suitable sides and control for adequate portions.

My Caesar salad on a wooden board.

In any case, the food was good and we’d consider returning on another occasion. The atmosphere was ideal with the Uprising Beachside Resort. The service was friendly but included way too much “hovering” over our table with little knowledge of the menu offerings. We assumed the waitperson was new and we treated her kindly and appreciatively.

My entrée of seafood atop a bed of roasted vegetables.  It was delicious.

The chef stopped back at our table to see if his “special” entrée was satisfactory. I enthusiastically assured him it was perfect (which it was) and didn’t bother to comment about the salad. As always, we attempt to avoid being the “ugly American” by maintaining a friendly and appreciative stance.  

In the long run, staying positive even when products or services aren’t perfect has been our motto which ultimately avoids us experiencing angst and frustration. Unless something we’re served has bugs on it, is spoiled in some manner, or is uncooked, we don’t ask for a refund. 

It was almost dark as the sun made its final descent.

We stayed longer than we’d expected, almost to 9:00 pm when we had a little difficulty getting the taxi driver back to pick us up. He’d gone to the wrong restaurant, leaving us waiting outside the Uprising for 15 minutes, finally calling him a second and a third time. Oh, well, in the realm of things, it’s no big deal.

Today, another walk is on the horizon when and if the rain stops. If the sun stays comes out, it may be a good day to spend time by the pool. We’re content to spend a day at “home” while looking forward to two outings planned by Wednesday.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with a fun Bollywood video and lots more photos.

Have a fabulous day!


Photo from one year ago today, December 13, 2014:

Tom and grandson Jayden walking to a secluded scenic spot we stumbled upon. For more details, please click here.

Trip to the Arts Village…

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Ponds with gorgeous lily pads surround the Village Arts area.

Prior to visiting most venues we diligently check online reviews, mostly on TripAdvisor, taking negative comments lightly (except for flights and hotels) knowing full well our expectations may be less than others on a one or two week vacation/holiday.

When we read reviews about the Arts Village in Pacific Harbour, a round trip taxi fare of FJD $10, USD $4.67, we realized it certainly warranted a visit regardless of the comments from online reviewers.  Here are few reviews we read:

“Mediocre 😐”

3 of 5 stars Reviewed 2 weeks ago

“I think it was originally designed for big things when Pacific Harbour was expanding, but seems a little run down. It’s a mix of tourist shops and local businesses. Worth visiting just to get out of the hotel for a day.”

“Not much here”

3 of 5 stars Reviewed 3 weeks ago

“But not much in Pacific Harbor anyway, so if you’re in the area, it’s worth doing for lunch or coffee. There is no real “art” in the Arts Village…Just a couple of touristy shops and some cafes.”

 

A view across the lake of the Arts Village.

Sure, it’s a touristy location with many local wares, handmade crafts and flower printed shirts and dresses.  Sure, it was run down and unlike any mall, one would find in more modern communities. However, we found it charming and befitting Fijian culture.

Inside the courtyard of the Arts Village in Pacific Harbour.

The shop owners were hungry for business when we only spotted a dozen or so other visitors in the two hours we spent wandering about the fairly good-sized open-air mall, wandering in the shops, sharing-friendly and warm “bula” with every passerby. 

We purchased two decks of playing cards for a total of FJD $16, USD $7.47, the only items other than a few food items we purchased at the Indo-Fijian market which was our final stop in the Arts Village.

This is the Fijian bell, the lali, carved from the trunk of a tree often used to alert villagers to church services and other events.

Susan, the property owner, had suggested we stop at the vacation home rental office located in the Art Village for the company that manages this property in her absence. We needed to schedule the weekly cleaning person, discuss the rate, and thought it would be good to say hello. 

We met with Richard, who has lived in Fiji all of his life. We took a seat in his office in air conditioned comfort and chatted for a bit. We arranged for the cleaning person to come this and each Friday, adjusting for the date when Christmas falls on a Friday. The cleaning rate is FJD $30, USD $14 (the exchange rate changes daily) for the full day from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. 

Spas and salons are plentiful and affordable in Fiji.

At most, the cleaning person will be here for three hours since we keep it clean, but we’re thrilled the pay the full rate. Goodness, in the US it was USD $30, FJD $64 an hour, not the full day! The longer we’ve lived in Fiji, the more we understand why many retired foreigners decide to settle here with free medical care, reasonable priced restaurants and groceries, and low cost for most services. 

Here’s the buffet offered for Christmas day lunch.  We’re dining at this restaurant on Saturday. If we like this establishment, we may book it for Christmas day as well. At FJD $55, USD $26, this may be an option for many in the area.

Hoping to fill in the blanks in our grocery list, we were disappointed but not surprised to be unable to find 10 basic food items on our list. The bottom line is that we’ll have to travel the long drive to Suva once every 10 days to buy groceries. Good public transportation and low taxi fares could easily eliminate the need for a car.

Another dining option for Christmas day which has few options suitable for my diet but may appeal to Tom for its “basic” holiday meal. I’m always willing to compromise. Priced at FJD $95, USD $45. 

The taxi fare for the round trip (an hour each way) to Suva is FJD $120, USD $56 which includes a two-hour tour of the city and one hour of waiting time at the market. At most, we’ll make two trips during our remaining time here, taking advantage of the touring time seeing many of the sites in the bigger city. 

With apartments above many of the shops, this occupant is airing pillows on a sunny day. We spotted a few clotheslines on the grounds.

Once we were done at the Arts Village market, we still had to find tomatoes. We’d driven by a few vegetable stands to no avail. Once in the market, a kindly helper pointed to a nearby stand outside the Art Village where he assured us we’d find tomatoes. 

Most products were reasonably priced including handmade crafts.

After filling our Costco bag with three heads of brown and beginning to spoil head lettuce at the market we’d hoped to find more lettuce elsewhere. Lettuce is not a popular item in Fiji. Overall, we’ve had to forgo lettuce salads with dinner since our arrival over three months ago.

Koi in the pond.

After calling our new driver Freddie to pick us up, who requested a 10 minute lead time, when we didn’t get an answer, we wandered across the road to the vegetable stand purchasing 10 perfect medium tomatoes for FJD $5, USD $2.33.

When we made our way to the bench at the taxi waiting area, we called again. This time Freddie answered arriving in 15 minutes apologizing for the wait. Fiji time. No complaining. 

The walkway from one area of the Arts Village to another.

Overall, we found the Art Village charming and worth a visit for anyone in this area. Most likely we’ll return weekly to purchase roasted chickens from the “roasted chicken store” and to dine at one of the several casual restaurants. Checking menus at each restaurant we discovered many options suitable for my diet.

Upon entering the above walkway, this coconut fell from a tree landing in front of our feet. Good thing we weren’t further along and didn’t get hit in the head, always a concern when walking near coconut trees.

The recently cleaned pool on yet another sunny day is calling us. Once done posting and hanging the laundry outdoors, we’ll lounge and finally swim in the pool, the first time since our arrival. 

Aside from the difficulty in finding some food items and the ants which we continue to work on, we’re content. The house is ideal and is as comfortable as we’d hoped. 

Photo from one year ago today, December 9, 2014:

Here’s our visiting family of four from left to right, Jayden 10, Nik 15, TJ, and Sarah. We couldn’t stop laughing when we took this shot at a local stop in Pahoa one year ago. For more details, please click here.

Photos of the beautiful grounds…Pool…Booking dinner reservations…Outing today…Back tomorrow with photos…

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A bouquet of these scented flowers awaited our arrival.

It feels good to be settled in, unpacked, and becoming familiar with our surroundings. After posting today, we’ll be heading to the Arts Village, a local arts and crafts area with a variety of shops including a farmers market and grocery store. 

Right now, we need to fill in our grocery shopping when we weren’t able to find a number of important, although basic, food items necessary for our way of eating. Hopefully today, we’ll be able to pick up what we need.

Table and chairs on the veranda. 

We’ve arranged with the driver to pick us up today at noon. Again, we checked out car rentals in Pacific Harbor hoping to rent a car for a few days. At USD $80, FJD $171 a day, it’s just not worth it when the cost of the driver is less overall. 

We booked with the same tour company (by email) for today’s outing and Saturday night’s transport to a popular local restaurant. We’ll be back on Sunday with photos and details of our first dining out experience since the day of our travel anniversary on October 31st. Both of us are excited to be dining out after such a long haul. 

The veranda winds around the entire house.

Generally, dining out in Savusavu was tricky with few food options that worked for me. Here in Pacific Harbour, there are many resorts that welcome “outsiders” to dine in their restaurants whereby in Savusavu, the resorts were all-inclusive and less amenable to outsiders. 

We’ve always found resorts more able to accommodate my way of eating than local restaurants when they often have guests staying at their facility and must accommodate the religious and health preferences of many cultures.

These doors lead to the master bedroom, but with no screens, it’s unlikely we’ll use them.

As a result of this availability in Pacific Harbour, we’re thrilled to be able to dine out at least once a week if not more. By purchasing two roasted chickens each week we’ll only have to make the sides dishes to accompany them, resulting in making only four complete meals a week. Less cooking. Less ants. Life in the tropics.

In some countries and vacation homes with pools, we’ve noticed the pools aren’t regularly cleaned and may not have adequate filter systems. Dumping a dose of chlorine and sifting out a few leaves doesn’t indicate a thorough pool cleaning. 

Side view of the house.  The landscaping is lovely with many nice shrubs and flowering plants.

Having grown up in California with a pool and me designated as the “pool guy” I remember only too well the work required. Sure, that was many years ago and equipment has greatly improved.  Still, pool maintenance requires a pool service or homeowner dedicated to conscientious attention to detail. 

As a result of some pools not properly being cleaned regularly, we’ve avoided using them. Can you imagine the bacteria that lurk in stagnant pool water? When we arrived here the pool looked a little murky, mostly due to leaves and bugs floating on the service. 

Rearview of the house with the pool hidden behind the bushes. No fences are required to enclose pools in Fiji.

We wrote to Susan, the attentive owner asking as to the pool maintenance. Within five minutes of my inquiry, a pool guy appeared spending several hours tending to the pool, leaving it impeccable.

A short time later she replied assuring us that regular pool maintenance comes by a few times a week. I apologized for “jumping the gun” explaining the pool frustration in some prior vacation homes.

Front view of the house.

Today, the lawn maintenance person is here and the smell of fresh-cut grass is wafting through our senses, actually a pleasant smell. It amazing and actually quite wonderful that none of this work is up to us. We need only to make the bed, clean up after cooking and eating and do our laundry.

The washing machine is outdoors as shown in this photo with clotheslines and plenty of clothespins to handle however much we may have. After living in Savusavu I finally accepted the fact of how unimportant it is to do laundry daily when laundry was handled twice a week presenting no issues for us. We certainly have enough clothing to last three or four days. 

View of the pool and patio from the veranda.

In this house, there are enough bath towels and kitchen towels (including our own we carry with us) that we can make it several days without doing laundry. The hardest part is keeping the dish towels away from the house after use during food prep. 

The ants love the kitchen towels I use to wipe food off of my hands or clean up spills while cooking when attempting to keep the use of paper towels at a minimum for both ecological and financial reasons.

This roofed area is where the washer and clotheslines are located, perfect for drying clothes on rainy days.

As I sit here now in a relatively comfy leather chair, the overhead and two-floor fans cooling us while we enjoy the French press coffee Tom has meticulously made again today, we have the TV on in the background to Nat Geo Wild, with one interesting wildlife series after another. 

How enjoyable this is while I work frequently lifting my head to check out the story! I guess we’ve missed having a TV these past three months. When we return late in the day from our outing, we’ll turn on BBC world news, keeping us well abreast of what’s transpiring in the US and throughout the world. 

Another view of the pristine cleaned pool.

It’s important for us to see which countries may be unsuitable for future visits at this time while it’s saddening to see what’s transpiring throughout the world. We don’t watch any other programming when we have plenty of our own shows and movies to watch in the evenings. 

Tom was able to watch Sunday’s disappointing Minnesota Vikings game on the TV instead of the laptop using the HDMI cable.  Last night we watched two shows using the HDMI before heading to bed, The Blacklist (season 3) and Scandal (season 4). I use an app on my phone to track the last episodes we’ve watched for every series we’ve seen referring to it nightly to ensure we watch episodes in the correct order. Lots of record-keeping in this life.

A suitable deck area allows for sunning near the pool.

After logging many expenses and upcoming destinations into our Excel document with many worksheets, we’re entirely up-to-date. Now caught up, we need only to log expenses as they occur over this next month or, any other bookings we may make while here. 

Yesterday, we paid the balance for three months’ rent in New Zealand. In the next several weeks, we’ll pay the balance for the first stay in Bali. We’ve already paid the balance for our upcoming cruise in 28 days. 

Two comfortable chaise lounges await our use providing both sunny and shady areas.

At this point, we’re paid for rent, car, and cruises through April 15, 2016, including the upcoming flight and one-night hotel, stay in Sydney on January 4th, the cost of the cruise on January 5, 2016, the three-month rental car in New Zealand, the three month’s rent for the alpaca farm in New Zealand. 

All we left to pay during this time period (between now and April 15th) is for one more night’s hotel in Sydney, another cruise on April 16th from Sydney, and the rent for Bali. It’s comforting to know we’ve paid so much in advance although, at times, we cringe at the prospect of deposits paid for rentals well into the future.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with photos from today’s outing which we’re both excitedly anticipating. Please check back for more.  Happy day!

Photo from one year ago, December 8, 2014:

Our first whale sighting in Big Island, Hawaii, spotted by our grandson Jayden. Good eye, Jayden. And Nik spotted the first sea turtles. Guess “safari luck” is hereditary. We were having a fabulous time with the first of our family to arrive. For more details, please click here.