View from Canco Hill
The sunsets this weekend
Lit up my life
Sunset glow
After swim
Coconut oil
Cheat Day
Do you really need one?
Indulging in a Banana split sundae with Koko samoa brownie base, coffee and vanilla ice cream, and a mochi brownie mmmmm
Cheat Day now has smoothies too! 
First Friday at the Fagatogo Market
Fagatogo Market
Last night with Ian at First Friday.
I brought Sutton (my camera) along because since I started the Moments page on my site, I’ve been feeling motivated to photo journal more.
We arrived at the Fagatogo Marketplace a little past 7:30pm. I was surprised at how dim it was in there – most of the overhead lights weren’t working anymore, and they had one big floodlight on the ground that kind of made it feel like a dark busy alley. It gave off a slight ‘black market’ type of vibe.
Really loud music blaring from grainy speakers outside.
Glimpses of bright fabrics through the shadows.
The smell of fried food.
Fresh produce lining the floor on cardboards.
A low hum of chatter – people exchanging cash for goods.
We hadn’t eaten dinner yet so we headed straight for the Filipino food table and got a chicken adobo, rice, and lumpia plate for $4.75! Then purchased a couple of niu for $2 each.
Walked over to the parking lot by DMWR and sat by the Pago Harbor.
We watched the moon come up from behind Mt. Rainmaker. What a sight.
And I swooned at the moonlit ripples in the pitch black ocean.
I like going to First Fridays at the Fagatogo Market.
There are handicrafts to peruse (I bought an intricately handwoven pale for only $10! I plan to wear it on my birthday coming up in a few weeks!), different dishes to try (Filipino food, Mexican food, and Samoan food), and entertainment (usually an array of local church groups or small bands).
I snapped this photo of styrofoam piled up in the trash because it made me kind of sad. We had a styrofoam plate from our dinner that we added to the bin and I kept thinking I should have brought my own tupperware and my zero waste kit. Next time.
The market’s entertainment for the night was a small carefree band with an electronic piano. If you know island jams, you know da kine.
These 3 dancing kids were the real entertainment though. They were so unashamed dancing out there, and made a lot of us laugh.
We left close to 9pm, and offered to drive one of the market vendors – who was a friend of my parents – home to Nu’uuli since we lived nearby. We chatted all the way home.
It was a good night.
INTERNET IS UP – I’m Back! (Post Cyclone Gita Updates)
Hello again 21st century world!
I’m writing from my laptop at home – which I haven’t been able to do for the past 2 and a half weeks since Tropical Cyclone Gita. I’ve just been posting from work or on my phone (another reason why I started Moments on my blog), and so here are some updates!
Since the cyclone, we were very fortunate to have our water restored the same day though late in the night. We had prepared with several gallons of water for drinking and collected rainwater for dishwashing/ tooth brushing/ toilet flushing. This was our most basic need so we were truly very blessed to have our water back within 24 hours.
Five days later, electricity came back on! We fared decently without electricity. We bought canned food and ice to keep perishable food in two little coolers, used a tiny gas camp stove to cook, had romantic candlelit dinners, and slept earlier. The hard part: no AC and no fans! Gita must have taken all the wind with it because the humid tropical summer heat made the air feel hot and sticky. We couldn’t get much relief – other than cold showers; we slept with our windows open, tried to sleep in a tent on the porch (hahaha), and on the living room floor – desperately hoping for a cool gentle breeze to keep us cool while we slept. So when the power came on in my village, I literally shrieked with excitement, immediately turned on the air conditioning, and finally enjoyed a cozy night of sleep.
Eighteen days later, and here we are. The Internet is back up. I’m laying in bed with the AC on right now, streaming Netflix (currently binge watching Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee), typing up this blog update, and feeling so grateful. Also, another update: my landlord is back in town and she’s getting our roof and ceiling fixed! I was a little worried at first that the repairs would drag on the same way all these FEMA and Red Cross assessments are. But she’s way better than FEMA because the supplies have already been purchased and just earlier this afternoon there were like 5 guys on the roof.
Oh yeah, life is good!
Why I started Moments
To bring back the good old Tumblr vibes.
To record the little snippets of life.
To keep me writing candidly (without feeling the need to edit myself so much).
To keep my blog more active.
To share my favorite little memories.
To get photos off my camera roll.
To express myself.
To revisit later on.
To remember.
PS- I made a new section on my site called Moments.
might change the name of the page later on but this is where I’ll be posting more frequently and casually.
Expect a lot of throwbacks on there!
Underwater Gataivai
A photo diary underwater in Gataivai
Saturday 2.24.18
Right before snorkeling at Gataivai
PHOTO DIARY: Aoloau Lights
A super cute night, all lit up with Christmas magic at Aoloau. I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who felt super Christmas-y this year, because the entire village of Aoloau got together and each family decorated a “tree” made up of lights and garlands along the road up to the lookout that oversees the Tafuna plains.
xoxo
Oh Starry Night
Something so serene about lying in the dark looking up at nature’s night lights… A friend texted me early Wednesday evening to look out for a meteor shower that was peaking at 1am. It was only 8pm but we grabbed our big pillows and blankets and drove to our usual vista in Vaitogi. We laid in the back of the truck ready to behold the Geminids Meteor Shower. We didn’t stay out for long but for the 45 minutes we were out there we caught a glimpse of 4 shooting stars illuminating the starry sky.
Didn’t manage to get any of the comets on camera
but that’s life, fleeting.
Pacific Roots Open Mic #12
It’s been a year and some months since the last Pacific Roots Open Mic (a.k.a. “PROM”). A lot of the “usuals” have left the island and if you were worried that there would be less performances, you’d be wrong. Fresh new talents got up and spilled their struggles, their criticisms, their voices out on a borrowed stage.
Between spoken word, original poetry, reenactments, singing, rapping, instrument playing, and excerpts read aloud – that Tuesday night was not short of encouragement from an audience of young adults all different walks of life.
Shout out once again to Tamiano Gurr, owner of Pacific Roots and fellow poet, for inspiring us all and providing a real life/offline social platform.
