What's the hap in Yap?

We left Chuuk to visit our last destination Yap (pronounced yap). But before we could get there, we had a layover in Guam. It’s probably better known as the Japanese Hawaiian islands. The territory is US owned and there is no visa required to visit this area. I would highly recommend anyone visiting Hawaii to take that extra flight and also include Guam on your travels. I saw American chain restaurants including TGIF, Outback Steakhouse, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, CPK and many others.

Guam is definitely geared toward the shoppers in all of us. I saw a lot of brand name stores and their store sizes were huge. Everyone was fluent in English and then there were those who also spoke Japanese. There were many tourists from both USA and Japan and everyone was really polite. The food was really good, too.

We ate at a Japanese restaurant. The food was made from scratch and the seafood was extremely fresh, as depicted in this image. This is a lobster of some variant. The sushi was really good, too. As was the sukiyaki. As was the teppanyaki. As was the shabu. Everything was really good. The table next to us ordered this little guy here.

We’re staying at the Manta Ray Bay Hotel. The rooms were very comfortable and though electricity isn’t a problem as it was at Chuuk, internet is not reliable. My ability to blog may/will be impeded, sorry! Apparently, our hotel has the best food on this island and has yet to disappoint us thus far. The hotel also holds a very strong reputation as the island’s premiere provider for divers.

The main town is located 500 feet from our hotel. It spans a half mile stretch and that’s pretty much it. The building you see here is the “mini-mall” of Yap. The hospital is located about 2 minutes from where we are staying. Though there is obvious western influence, Yap is very traditional. Many women are bare breasted. Men dominant the decision making process.

This is a “men’s house” where the local men gather to hold political, social, or any other discussion. If you look closely, you can see stone money around the house. Yap is where stone money was invented. The monetary stones range in size and value. To my understanding, the Yapese have a currency system like our own in America. Instead of literally moving the stone money, the two bartering patrons would agree that who “owns” the stone money and it will be physically left at that location with new ownership (think of our Fort Knox).

Gira spotted this plant and it was one of the strangest things I have witnessed. Once the leaf is agitated (physically touched) it closes. It was raining when we saw the plant and the water droplets made the leaves close. The best way for me to describe this phenomenon is imagine the leaf shaped like your hand. Once you become agitated, you would make a fist. I have the video so come see me and I’ll show you.  ;)

Team two pow wow!

I’m pretty tired so my imagination is not very rampant. Hopefully a good night’s rest will fix my creativity. Good night!

Download cover orange if you haven’t done so already!