Our Meals for the Past Week

Aloha Everyone,

Here are our meals from the past week.

Aloha -- Cathi

Sea Day, Acrobat

Aloha Everyone,

Variety Showtime in the Princess Theater was Acrobat, Reuben Dot Dot Dot. Slight stature, flexible body, he’s perfect to do acrobatic stunts on a moving platform.

He invited 4 well-built volunteers from the audience to help him. Light entertainment on this sea day with rough swells.

I also attended the Enrichment Presentation on Keeping Your Mind Sharp. Some good points were included from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, MD’s book “Keep Sharp’’. Though I  had practically memorized the book’s content, this presentation served as a good reminder.

Aloha -- Cathi

Moorea

Aloha Everyone,

Our final shore visit, Moorea was as enchanting as we remembered from our first trip. Although last year J.J. and I joined an air conditioned bus tour, we decided to hire a taxi for two hours.

Nadette was a large Tahitian woman who needed cigarette breaks while J.J. and I went to take souvenir photos. She was born on another island. Her primary language is Tahitian but she also speaks French and English. On account of her heavy accent and J.J.’s weakened hearing, occasionally, there were miscommunication. Nothing too alarming.  After we spent less than the agreed two hours, J.J. asked her to take us back to the pier.

Nadette was a good tour guide. A couple of things which she proudly shared are there is no criminal or gangs on Moorea. The island is very safe, everyone knows everyone and they all take care of one another.

She also mentioned that the Tahitian Black Pearls are not cultivated in Tahitian water. To grow culture pearls, water must be clean and should have current. So all these stores in Papeete and Moorea who are promoting Tahitian Black Pearls are getting their products from elsewhere. Interesting to do research on its actual source and who or what companies are behind this lucrative market.

We paid Nadette US$200 in cash. She was all smiles and asked us to look for her when we return to Tahiti.

Aloha -- Cathi

Papeete, Tahiti

Aloha Everyone,

Tahiti is laid back. Warm breeze, soaring mountains, bright tropical flowers and the smell of pineapple in the air. It is no wonder that so many people seems to get confused with the Hawaiian Islands and French Polynesia.

Our shore visit in Tahiti was spent walking around the main road facing the harbor. The two of us also made a stop at the Papeete Tourism office to use their free WiFi.

Chance to take photos at their marketplace. The only thing I was looking for was a cloth backpack with reproduction of images of Gauguin’s paintings. Interestingly, we saw no images of works by Gauguin or Van Gogh making us wonder if this was done on purpose.

Aloha -- Cathi