Fun Foods In Guam...

Guam has some fun foods. We have influences from all over Asia, the U.S. and unique local foods.

Anna and I went on a hike recently and on the way spotted some red seeds that the locals use to make red rice. We've had it a number of times, but we had to try to make our own. The local red rice is more than just rice colored red, it has a unique taste. Despite it's looks, it taste nothing like Mexican style rice. Often it has added onions and some pig fat. We chose to mix in some bacon instead. It was really good.

Home made red rice.

One of the local foods I've always liked is breadfruit. It's a fruit that grows in a tree but has a starchy, almost potato-like taste to it. Traditionally it is cooked in coconut milk. But I've also had it as a delicious substitute for french fries.

Breadfruit Fries

I also buy breadfruit chips when I can, but Anna eats them so fast, I couldn't even get a pic of it.

Recently, Anna and I saw some local yellow watermelon for sale. I had to get it just because it was like nothing I've seen before. It tasted very sweet. I think I like it more than the regular old red stuff.

Red and Yellow Watermelon

My last trip to Palau I even got to try a food that is illegal most places. Fresh Sea Turtle. Three months a year in Palau there is a legal Sea Turtle eating season. I couldn't let a trip there during the season go to waste. The serving I had was cooked in coconut milk. But I have to say, it was much better than I would have guessed. Almost like a pork and beef dish.

Sea Turtle cooked in coconut

I recently was given a food from Japan. I don't know what the label calls it, but I call it Cake-in-a-Can.







In case you were wondering, it wasn't as good as real cake. It's like the difference between fresh peaches and caned peaches.

And it goes without saying that you almost always have to wash food in the islands down with a fresh coconut.

Always refreshing; Coke-a-nut drink

Anna Turns 26...

In Vietnam a birthday is no big deal. Yes, they keep track of them and will wish you a happy birthday if they happen to know, but that's about the end of it. For me, a birthday has always been like a holiday dedicated to that person. When Anna and I began dating I expected much more from her on my birthday than she was prepared to give. I understand now that it was because that idea was foreign to her.

Since then Anna has caught onto the idea. And I always keep up birthday traditions for her even though she didn't really see a need for it. Last year, I may have overdone it. I took her to a small island south of Guam called Cocos and we went para sailing. I kept it a secret to heighten the experience. It never occurred to me that she would later expect me to match that.

Last week, a couple of days before her birthday the below conversation took place. She shocked me when she said she wanted a surprise activity.

Ngoc: ghosh, sometimes I like surprise
amazing what you can do to me

me: yeah, I'm confused. Usually you can't stand it when I try to do something secretive.
that's why I didn't plan anything this year.
i guess I have to now... :-o

Ngoc: no, all I need to know is what I am getting

me: dinner does not count?

Ngoc: no need go into detail. tell me when how where who whom why

me: oh, so when, whom, where and why are not details?

Well, I don't think I ever did compete with her expectations. We did have fun, though. On her birthday we went out to dinner at Tony Roma's. Following that we went over to our friend's house where we had high quality home made cake. Then on the weekend we had some other friends come over and eat dinner, share more cake (with candles and singing, of course) and played some Wii games.

No matter how good Anna's birthday was, one thing brought all the fun of birthday celebrations crashing down. She found a white hair on her head. She was already feeling old (even though she is only 26) but that white hair clinched it. It was just one hair and that will be the last one for a long time, but that came of little consolation to Anna. Needless to say, that hair was readily plucked.

The only thing I could try to make Anna feel younger was to remind her that I turn 30 this year. And then she was reminded that she is also married to an old man...

Well, happy birthday anyway. I think next year I will have to both surprise Anna and raise the bar. Can you sign someone up for plastic surgery without them knowing it...?

Your Friendly Neighborhood A+ Remote Support Technician...

I read an interesting news article that narcissism is on the rise. Blogs, YouTube, twitters and the like are blamed for it. Funny enough, one of the first things I wanted to do when I passed my latest certification exam was blog it.

So, everybody admire me!

Anna pointed out that I did not yet get a certification that I was halfway through. It is a two part test and I needed to take the second part. Now that I have one year left before I switch modes to Facilities Management and leave IT behind, it's now or never.

I signed up with one week to study. I casually looked at some study material, did some last minute cramming last night and as of 10:30am this morning became the latest person to join the ranks of certified CompTIA A+ Remote Support Technicians. And just to emphasize how great I am, guess how well I did... Go ahead, guess.

I got 874 out of 900. My math may be wrong, but I believe that's just a touch over 97%. Yeah, it's easy to be narcissistic when you are me...

The Big Promotion...Right...?

I've been keeping this on the "down low" until now in case it didn't happen or I would do something to mess it up. But now it's happening and I am free to speak.

Late last year a co-worker of mine, Joe, in a different department told me that he is now looking for his replacement (he is retiring). And one person he had his eye on was me. His department is Facilities Management and Project Management. Basically maintenance and construction.

When I was a kid, I used to do some side jobs with my dad. He was a finish carpenter. He was the sole employee of a contractor. On smaller tasks my dad did the work himself. On larger jobs he hired Mexicans or specialized contractors and would oversee the work. When I worked with him it was tuff work. Sadly, it was probably the most exercise I ever got as a kid. And as much as I liked the money, I really didn't like the work.

That was one of the reasons why I chose the work I did. I got the education and then a job in radio where there was no fear of breaking a sweat. I transitioned into computers again comfortable in the knowledge that I had an inside job. And now someone wants to take me out of that?

Well, truth be told, I was not so sure I would want the job at first. But I learned that it's more about managing the work and people. My new mentor says we are in the business of people, not buildings. That sold me. Well, that and there is a serious promotion involved.

So I took this special $900 talent assessment test last month (at the Church's expense). The results must have been positive because shortly after that, I got the call and was asked to come aboard.

On Monday it was announced that I would be the new protege. Joe will retire in about a year, so I will spend the next year at his side trying to soak everything up like a sponge. While doing this, I will still be fulfilling my full time responsibilities as the only IT guy in Guam. And until Joe leaves and I go solo, my pay will remain unchanged. Yeah, this is an investment for me.

Six months ago I was speaking with my niece, Sammie, about my work. She honestly thought that I did construction already. I am pretty sure an old post about a one time side job I did gave her this impression. Or do I have that vibe? Am I just destined to do this? My dad might have had me work with him over those horrible summers knowing something because he never really did get his money's worth. Is construction in my DNA? Well, either way, it's about to become so. Watch out world, Jared The Builder is about to be let loose!

Easter 2009...

Just because you don't have kids does not mean you cannot have Easter fun. We didn't really do much, however. We stayed home all day. We watched conference in the morning and slept in the early afternoon.

When we got up we boiled 6 eggs and began to create. Well, ok, I have to admit that we were not very creative this year. It was very low on the creativity scale when compared to previous years. But we had fun.

The only problem with making these eggs is that Anna won't eat them. The coloring seeps through the shell and slightly colors the egg below. It has never bothered me, or anyone else that I know. But Anna just can't bring herself to eat them once they are stained. Which means for the next week or two, I have to be creative and find ways to eat hard boiled eggs. Are there others who go to all that effort to make eggs but won't eat them because of the color?

It may take extra work, but I try to make sure I use every egg we make. I don't want to end up doing what we did once in my childhood home. My parents hid candy and real hard boiled Easter eggs around the house. The kids then scoured the place looking for hidden goodies. We found them all, except the one behind the couch. We did later find it - the following year on Easter. I don't remember how we determined it was a year old, but I'm pretty sure it involved a very disappointed and disgusted kid expecting something else.

Our collection of simple Easter Eggs this year.

We bought a Shrek pack to make it easier for us to have nice looking eggs with minimal effort. Also, it was on sale last April for $1 and have been holding onto it for a year.

I make Shrek, Anna made the other two and she is very proud of her Fiona.

The left is a "school teacher" style. The center is, well, what it is. The right one is Anna's "Ocean View" featuring the sun, a dolphin, air balloon and sailboat; all on a different scale.