The capital is Hagatna, and the population is 178,000. Two languages are spoken here….English and the ancient native Chamorro. The total area of this island is 212 square miles, and we happen to be visiting during their dry season which is December through March. During the wet season, they can get as much as 110 inches of rain in a year. Although, it was apparent that it can rain anytime here, since the dock area was under two inches of water. You might want to stay away during the months of October and November, because Guam is located in "Typhoon Alley". Another impressive fact is that this whole area is situated near the Mariana Trench, the deepest waters in the world.
The entire island is filled with WWII history and so are the surrounding waters with sunken ships and aircraft from both American and Japanese forces. These days, turquoise reefs and white sand beaches attract mostly Japanese tourists, escaping the bitter cold of their country this time of year. They also come for the flame trees in bloom, waterfalls, and exciting diving. Card rooms for poker, and duty-free shopping is a big draw as well.
Things to see here include towering latte stone pillars, believed to be ancient remnants from the first houses on Guam centuries ago. See Talofolo Falls from a wooden swing bridge, or check out Chamorro Village National Market, where unusual woven items are sold. Actually, our friends went to a smaller version of this native village, and discovered that these woven items were indeed made in Indonesia. At least the vendors were truthful.
A special local sauce is called finadene. It is made with hot red peppers, soy sauce, lemon juices, and chopped onions. And their drink that goes with it is "tuba", a fermented sap of a young coconut tree.
Originally, the local authorities were to board the ship right after 8am. However, we understand that time here is more like the "hang loose" time in Hawaii. So the check for immigration was delayed for almost an hour. We had all gotten a letter with a number on it for a time we would be called to go through the check. They always start with number five, but the numbers can run into the 20's. We had been given # 7, which should have been "S". Christel did note that we were President's Club, and gave us permission to go anytime.
After breakfast, we took our signed forms and headed up to deck five, and the upper dining room, where the check-in took place. Christel waved us right through, where we picked up our passports, then proceeded to the custom agents. It was done quite well, but we understand that earlier in the morning, impatient people were getting testy with each other as the line extended all the way to the casino.
Because this check was running late, the tours were an hour late in leaving, so our departure time was extended to 6:30pm. Captain Jonathon state that we were close to Saipan, tomorrow's port of call, and we could make up the time getting there by 8am tomorrow.
We ended up leaving the ship by 9:30am, and took the waiting free shuttle bus for 18 minutes to the Guam Premier Outlets. Familiar stores were Ross, Levi's Outlet, Forever 21, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Bahama to mention a few. Some of the nicer stores were footwear, such as Famous Footwear, Naturalizer, Nike, Nine West, and Tommy Hilfiger. The most crowded store had to be Ross, Dress for Less. There had to be 50 people in line with shopping carts full of various clothing. Could not help but notice that the vast majority of customers were Japanese. Makes sense, because they can buy quality clothing here compared to buying clothing in Japan. Everything in Japan is expensive. Good thing there were almost 20 registers in Ross to handle the over-flow.
The majority of folks that had come over to this mall from the ship came here to find free internet. They did locate it in the mall, but we heard that the more people that came, the slower the service got. We never do this because frankly, we would rather spend our time doing something else. Don't know if a lot of folks ended up going elsewhere for the service. Someone on the ship mentioned that not all wifi is secured in this outlet mall.
Noticing that there were more shops a block away, we went exploring to find several restaurants, more strip mall businesses, and even a warehouse store, similar to Costco. We were able to find corn chips and a few more cans of dips.
It was nearing noon, so we headed to Ruby Tuesday for a burger and cold sodas. At home, we do not have this chain, so we chose to by-pass the pizza place, because it was a counter-service restaurant. We split a bacon cheeseburger with fries, and one dessert of lumpia…..deep-friend bananas served with vanilla ice cream. Sure was good.
Reading some of the brochures we got at the entrance to the outlet mall, we found the bus schedule for the free shuttle that goes between the Tumon Sands Plaza and the outlets stores. This shuttle took folks to another mall that lines Tumon Bay. Parked right next to this shuttle was a trolley that had a charge to it. This trolley went to the second shopping area with high-end shops. However, if you wanted to ride it, it would cast $4.00 one way. If you wished to take this shuttle both ways and get off at various locations, it would cost $12 per person. One couple we know, only took the round trip on the expense tickets, and was trying to sell them for half price. Don't know if they had any luck, but we have to give them credit for being creative.
We really did not need anything, so we headed back to the ship, taking photos all the way. If it wasn't so hot outside, perhaps we might have made our way to Tumon Bay and the row of nice hotels on the ocean. Our friends were pretty impressed with what they saw on their taxi tour of this area of the island.
We checked the aft deck at 4:30pm to see if the sail away party would be taking place even if we were not leaving yet. Turned out, it had been delayed until 6:30pm. Coming back at 6pm, we stayed until the sun was down. It was even better than last night. For a change, it was pleasant sailing out of the harbor in the dark, mostly because it had cooled down a whole lot. Might be cooler tomorrow if the forecast of rain is correct.
At dinner tonight, we all had stories to share of our day in Guam. We all did something different. Only Martha had taken a 3 hour tour, so she filled us in on the history she learned. Others did some shoe shopping, most did emailing for free, and some of us went out to lunch. A good day all-in-all.
This evening we tried to catch Barbara's talk on Saipan on TV, but we could only find shore ex talks on Korea and Japan. This drives us nuts. Wish a channel could be dedicated to each department. Port talks on one, and shore excursions on the other. How hard can that be???
Bill & Mary Ann
A passing ship on the way to Guam
Arriving to Apra Harbor on the island of Guam
Dock facilities in Apra Harbor
Harbor storage…..FYI gas was $3.45 a gallon in Guam today
Dramatic clouds this AM
Cranes for containers
Harbor ships
Local tugboat
Bet it is raining in the mountains
Our guide into the harbor
Working vessel across from our room
No cargo ships in port today
Immigrations and Guam Customs Officials
Security tent on the dock
Must have rained last night
Flooded area
Harbor buildings
Philippine Sea
High surf this morning
"Flower Pot " rock of Guam
Not really, we just named it that
Swaying palms
Reefs off the coastline
Palms that survive typhoons
Park on the way to the mall
An underwater aquarium in the bay
Called the "Fish Eye"
Park grounds
National Park
Well maintained
Typical seaside stores
Apartments
A small reef area
Government complex
Governor's complex
Good palm
Many palms line Marine Drive
Small stretch of beach, but no swimmers
Marina
Chamorro Village
The village depicts the ancient civilization
Ad for the Beach House
Cemetery
Strip mall
Large hotels on this peninsula
One is the Sheraton and the other is Onward Beach resort
Reef
Hotel balconies
One of many buses here
Steakhouse
Fire department
Well-wishes from the island of Guam
GPO or Guam Premier Outlets
The busiest store in the mall
"Be Fed" food court at GPO
Several shoe stores here
Many small shops too
Chili's Restaurant
Pieology and IHOP
Older strip mall nearby
Warehouse shopping
Water buffalo…..symbol of Guam
RubyTuesday……..great burgers
Mini biscuits to snack on
Sharing a bacon cheeseburger with fries
Fruit covered ice cream with banana/creamcheese-filled lumpia
Shuttle bus to Tumon Bay hotels and shopping ($12)
Bank of Guam
More stores
Another Guam bank
50's style building
Wall art
Different type of roof
Cathedral in Hagatna
Big building, but not sure what it was
Many shops and restaurants
Another large cemetery
Statues of saints
The power plant near the pier
Harley Davidson shop
Like the art work
Amsterdam in Apra Harbor
Very tight security
Gangway
No, don't take a picture….just got wanded
