Okra

One of the few things being in the bilum bags of the few elder people who come to visit our place of work on some random days to peddle various home-grown vegetables is okra. Surprisingly, when I asked for okra's local name from the two of our staffs on separate occasions, none of them knew because neither of whom had tried it yet, which seemed odd to me because there was always an okra on the market stalls anywhere here.

The street sellers who come over here to sell call this the lady finger. Wikipedia, on the other hand says that most English-speaking countries call it the ladies' finger. One can probably surmise that naming it after a lady's phalanges is unquestionably deliberate because of its shape.

But an okra can also grow longer than 4 inches, and with such length, one cannot help but think of a movie character with which we can imagine of having such a humongous finger. My imagination has led me to think of Neytiri of the Na’vis from the movie, Avatar.

The okras in the picture are what I bought today from a persistent but polite street seller. They only cost K1.00 a bundle and by some Papua New Guinean standards, 1 kina is neither expensive or cheap, but is rather affordable. I bought five bundles, not because it was my favorite number, but because a K5 note was the only money left in my wallet.

While I’m not an expert on nutrition, I can cite out some of its benefits that I've read from Wikipedia. But why Wikipedia, you say? Because that website is pretty cool! 

Just kidding! 

It's probably tempting to discuss about the advantages of trusting Wikipedia but i'll make my reason simple for now. Contrary to other informative websites of the same category, Wiki has many anonymous contributors  and the articles are always updated to the current events. These contributors mainly consist of professional editors and amateur writers and they write collaboratively  within the boundaries of Wikipedia's Five Pillars by which it operates.

Not sure if I'm clear enough.

Anyway,  let's go back to our topic. According to "them," okra is rich in essential things that our body needs to keep it in good health, having 20% more of the daily value in dietary fibre, vitamin C and vitamin K.

Another source on the internet also talks about okra’s wonderful benefits, saying it is good for preventing and improving constipation, lowering cholesterol, reducing the risk for developing some forms of cancer like the colorectal cancer and improving energy levels due to its high carbohydrates and vitamin contents.

One must also learn to keep in mind that okra is a functional food. That is, it's a disease-preventing food. In Papua New Guinea, when we buy an okra from street sellers, we are not only supporting the local communities but we are also packing in some good stuffs to our own health once we eat it. 

Coffee, Anyone?

When one's life finds itself in a similar ride like that of a roller coaster rides, the constant vicissitudes are wearing.

But the wearing does not always result to exposing the boundaries within, sometimes and probably most of the time, what ensues is a lesson learnt. Therefore, the person bearing that life may mystically morph into something else in the end like a determined butterfly emerging from its deep slumber in a claustrophobical cocoon.

Hopefully, into a wiser person.

To honour those who persevere in the difficulties of life, here is a brittle biscuit and a cup of coffee to cheer you up in a true Filipino fashion of consuming both. Yes, I think you may find it a bit odd that I dip the biscuit into the coffee but I guess that's one of the peculiarities we Filipinos have that can be easily forgiven.

Enjoy your coffee!

Gutpela Dei!

Hello long ol man meri!

Disla dei, mi laik traim long writim wanpela post
long tok pisin.

But tok pisin bilong mi, em no gutpela yet so mi tingim
mi bai writim short post tasol.

Anyway, yupela olgeta husait ridim disla blog,
mi laik toksave long yu na gutpela dei!

Tenk yu tru long ridim!


For all those who may have knitted their eyebrows for trying to understand what I just wrote, it was my another attempt to write a supposed-to-be form of English-Tok Pisin hybrid. But before I posted it here, I had asked Rodney, one of my staffs, to check the Tok Pisin grammar for me. To make things easier, I sent him an English version of my originally written thoughts and told him to translate it in a conversational way.

My original sentences in English:

Hello everyone!

Today, I like to try and write one post using Tok Pisin.

But my Tok Pisin isn't good yet so I will just write a short post.

Anyway, all of you who are reading this blog, I'd like to say good day!

Thanks for reading.



Here's Rodney's own translations:


Gutpela dei long yupla olgeta ridim pos bilong mi.

Tete mi laik raitim wanpela pos long Tok Pisin.

Tasol Tok Pisin bilong mi i no gutpela tumas olsem na mi bai mekim sot.

Gutpela dei long yupela olgeta ridim pos bilong mi.

Tenkiu long ridim.


His translations seem to suggest that Tok Pisin is probably easier to convey in words than in writing. I believe I was able to get some of the words correctly but I still think that my skill in Tok Pisin is still in its infancy.

But learning Tok Pisin is fun and it comes with an ocean of intangible benefits. While majority of  the nationals are known to speak English fluently, some will still uphold the colloquial way of verbal communication by letting Tok Pisin be the language of choice for any given situation. I have once been confined in a situation where a national assumed that I knew the local language very well and spoke to me in pure Tok Pisin without prior hint of hesitation. My immediate reaction was to explain to him in English and in the politest way possible that I didn't know his language yet.

Perhaps by some humanitarian reason, he said, "You should learn Tok Pisin while you're here."

Since then, I realized how important it was to reflect on proverbial things I initially thought I never had the need for, like learning Tok Pisin for example. Adding Tok Pisin to my vocabulary arsenal marked yet an another turning point in my life here in the land of the unexpected.

I have since acquired a considerable number of Tok Pisin words that I am still figuring out how to use effectively in times necessary. As a man of patience, given how patient I am on being patient, I worry not about not getting it right for most of the time. For I believe that there comes the day when one shall reap what one has sown. 

Feel The Love with Christian Bautista

“The only thing better than singing is more singing.”

-- Ella Fitzgerald

In general, this quote holds true in some degree. And while I think that voice quality isn't an issue on premises that singing is for everyone and most of the religions known to men require singing at some point during a congregation, we still prefer to listen to someone who can sing better than what we can do. Someone who can serenade us with soul-soothing love songs, if that's your genre.

For example, I sing like a frog. Even if I try hard and sing better, I'd still sound like a frog--although, it might be a different kind of sort; like a bullfrog or a toad. I'm not sure how many people in this world are a fan of a singing froglet but I reckon there's not so many.

Hence, on 11^th of this coming March 2017, FAPNG will bring us singers from the Philippines namely Christian Bautista, Sheng Belmonte and Richard Villanueva, to give us a chance to see them perform live and entertain us with post-valentine love songs at the Dynasty Restaurant, Vision City.

While I’m not particular about who’s coming in to sing, I still appreciate it that Christian Bautista will take his time off to visit Papua New Guinea.  I’ve known in the past that he was kind of well-known in Indonesia for his talent in singing and his cool looks.

One of my favorite songs from one of his albums is Hands To Heaven.

This is the poster that Levi was carrying around this morning and he was supposed to post it outside the shop that we are working with. The smiling woman is one of our staff who happily held the poster up for me.

 As what it says on the poster, part of the proceeds that will come from the show will go to the Tembari Children Care. The picture above is the Center itself. (photo credits to: http://tembari.blogspot.com)

The Tembari Children’s Care is a day care facility at ATS Oro Settlement at 7-Mile, outside the vicinity of Port Moresby. According to Tembari Blog, the facility has taken care of more than 200 former street children in 2015 alone. Taking care of the children means giving them meals at least twice a day and providing them an early education. (photo credits to: http://tembari.blogspot.com)

All of the street children being are comprised of orphans, abandoned and the unfortunate ones.  While the Filipino Association of Papua New Guinea is an avid supporter of the Tembari Children Care, significant assistance in terms of food and money are also coming in from other groups and individuals.

I’m not a fan of watching concerts but perhaps watching a concert for a cause is something that is worth considering.

Spread the Red

Lately, the company that I work with has received a request from the Port Moresby General Hospital asking us for volunteers. PMGH has an ongoing program they call “Spread the Red,” and its aim is to encourage the healthy younger generation to donate blood to assist those who are in need of it. The donated blood will go to PMGH Blood Bank where it undergoes a screening before it gets stored. As blood can only be stored for a certain time, the blood bank team is urging blood donors to donate regularly to prevent a dwindling supply of safe blood.

I guess that with more people stepping up to donate blood, the chance of getting the right blood type prior to transfusion increases and the result of which is more lives saved.

This is the roll-up banner that they put in place to easily let anyone know there’s a bloodletting activity going on. If you notice the Brian Bell logo in the banner, it’s because Brian Bell is an active partner for this project and this particular PMGH drive has been receiving a good funding from the Sir Brian Bell Foundation.

Our staffs took turns donating blood with the blood bank team systematically assisting them. The person wearing a blue shirt is our staff, and his blood pressure is being taken. I’m a bit concerned about the fact that some people are scared of needles. And when someone gets your blood readings while you‘re in the middle of imagining things involving a large hypodermic needle puncturing your skin, you may get really nervous and the readings from the sphygmomanometer can make the examiner think you have hypertension.

On the other hand, I have seen children who cried their hearts out in the mere mention of “injection.”

Our staffs seemed not bothered by an impending pain from the sharp tips of hypodermic needles; perhaps they had become more like responsible adults who were able to trade away the sensation from a stingy injection for an ant bite.

People can actually donate up to 350 ml of blood every three months provided that the donor is somewhere around 18 and 60 years old and not physically malnourished.  Within 24 hours, your body replaces the amount of plasma in your blood that you lost during the donation. In case you’re wondering, the plasma is the clear and watery portion of your blood after some quintessential parts are removed, e.g. platelets or the red blood cells.

In about a month or more, the red cells in your blood will have completely recovered in number. Just to be on the safe side, the blood bank team may not allow you to donate again until at least it’s been eight weeks since your last donation.

The company that I work with has assigned a space appropriate enough for the blood bank team to perform their duties like interviewing the donors and physically checking them up. There’s also an allocated space for our staffs to undergo blood extraction and those purple curtains are up there to give them an adequate sense of privacy.

There are many reasons as to why a patient may need a blood transfusion. For example, if someone has had an injury that resulted to severe bleeding, his or her body may not be able to reproduce enough blood to recover the loss in just a short while, especially if it was excessive. Usually, we can lose about 450 ml of blood without an adverse effect but losing 900 ml of blood may flip a switch to compensate for the loss.

At that rate, our brain will know that there's just not enough blood circulating throughout our body. It will then instruct the heart to increase its heartbeat output in an attempt to restore normal blood flow. But again, 900 ml is just too much of a loss and with not enough blood to pump around, most cells in our body will start losing oxygen. To compensate for the oxygen loss, the subconscious part of our brain will command our breathing mechanism to collect more air by speeding up our breathing pattern. During this time, we may appear to be desperately gasping for air from someone's point of view. 

Since oxygen is carried out by the blood, and in which case, it is the blood that we were lacking of in the first place, there would not be enough blood to transport oxygen around. As a result, blood pressure will decrease below the safe levels. All the cells that don't get an ample supply of oxygen will begin to die off, including the organs that they comprise. The organs will be affected and may fail. For example, if the kidneys fail, the body will stop producing urine and if the brain cells fail, the patient may fall into comma. All of which can be alluded as symptoms of shock from losing about 900 ml of blood.

If we lose about 2,300 ml of blood, which is about 9 cups in layman’s term, we could usually die. This is why it’s important for the blood bank to have as many blood donors as they can get to keep a steady supply of blood so that those in need can be attended to immediately rather than wait up for possible donors.

It’s 2017, A New Beginning

This coming first of April, I will mark my 6^th year anniversary in Port Moresby. It’s still a long way to go but I kind of observe that time flies so fast in Papua New Guinea. Right now, I may be thinking that I’m still young but the next time I bring a topic similar to this; I might be in my 50’s.

Anyway, it’s 2017. So many years have come to pass and with the new contract that I’ve signed on, I’m looking at another three years of endeavor which I am hoping to be, if not as fruitful, as joyful at least. Despite the wonderful experiences, I’m still pondering on the thought that everything here is just temporary and that life back home will pick up again once I decided to go back for good.

But until then, I’ll try and live life to the fullest but as decent as possible and with hopes to continue sharing the experiences that I’m having in this country.

Here’s a PABX system that I installed in my bedroom, with PABX being a Personal Alarm w/ Blinking Xmas-like-lights.

Just kidding.

PABX means Private Automatic Branch Exchange. The purpose of which, for example, is to allow people living or taking office in the same house or building to be able to make calls to each other without the need of a telephone company service.

But on top of that, I actually use it as my alarm clock with the help of someone whom I put my trust to ring me in the morning for breakfast.

My PABX can accept three external lines and can have 8 extension numbers. The router-like device at the back is a GSM-modem from Digicel which you can get from any of their offices here in POM. Basically, it can allow an analog phone to make calls if connected to its telephone auxiliary port.

The antenna in the front is for the GSM-modem that's using a BMOBILE SIM. It too, can allow calls under the same idea. Both of these modems and a Telikom landline are connected to the PABX’s three CO lines so we can also receive and make outgoing calls aside from it being just an intercom device.

The area in which I needed to run the UTP cables is with several buildings built next to each other. In PNG, the sun can get really hot and even a limited exposure to the sun may cause minor sunburns. It’s a good thing that I have arranged for the warehouse staffs to come and help.

They say that two heads are better than one; I say that eight arms are more effective than two.

As soon as the telephone cables were laid down, I went on to do the connection. The endpoint to which all of the connections should meet must be in some type of enclosure for protection. Luckily, I found an unused power socket attached to a wall and placed all the convening wires there and had it covered for neatness sake.

And here’s the fruit of labour.  I asked one of the company drivers to get us cold drinks and some bread after. That set me back about K50 kina but it’s worth it.  We finished the job before noon.

While going in one of the busy roads in Port Moresby, we drove past this commotion that was happening on the roadside. I was not able to get a clearer photo but it looked like there was a minor road mishap involving this car.

I believe the problem was quickly settled down and did not cause too much for concern, but I still find it amazing how pedestrians could quickly amass into a big crowd when incidents like this happen in Papua New Guinea.

Last week, a power box belonging to a power company has short-circuited and caused a few shops in the area to lose power for a day. The reason for which is believed to have largely been due to the continuous rainfall this city has received during the last few days. Here, workers from the power company came to clean the box and prepared it for restoration.  The next day, it was all done and the power was restored to the shops around.

Thumbs up for the good work guys.

During our off days, it was nice to go around the city and visit places. If you’re fine with it, you can visit second hand shops and get lucky with finding branded clothing being sold for a fraction of whatever its original price were. This particular shop is called Labels and they got a lot of pretty decent hand-me-down clothing.

Second hand shops also sell almost anything you may ever want. Well, not really everything, but most of the relevant to it. For example, you can find from them branded bags, books, toys and bed covers.

Although I’m not a fan of second hand shops, we do come here whenever there’s a window of opportunity. A few of my bags are bought from here. 

The tall building behind the welcome billboard is the Stanley Hotel. This is one of the newest hotels in Port Moresby. It’s just standing next to RH Vision City and people can actually walk back and forth the two buildings through a special area.

Oh by the way, the gentlemen on the welcome banner are, the Minister for Sports, Hon. Justin Tkatchenko,  the Prime Minister Peter O’Neill and the Governor of NCD, Hon. Powes Parkop.

Here’s what the Stanley Hotel looks like in the night. I’m guessing that the rooms with the lights on are the only ones occupied by the guests.

We came here by way of this small, but pretty neat company car. The parking space in Stanley Hotel is enough to accommodate more than twenty cars on this area alone. I saw some curved entrance near the parking area that led to a basement which was probably another space devoted to the same purpose.

This hotel is really nice in the inside. It sure felt like we were in those big and expensive hotels back in Philippines. They also have these escalators that go up to the second level. Last year, Port Moresby was the chosen location to hold the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Most of the international players from other countries have checked in to this hotel.

I can only imagine how busy these escalators were throughout their stay.

For some reason, I love going to hotels even though I can only count in my fingers the number of times I had actually booked in one. Here’s the hallway after the entrance. There are quite a number of things that are nice to see in Stanley Hotel.

Two of which are a shiny floor and the intricate designs on the walls.

The pillars that stood in the restaurant are gigantic and they seem to dwarf the chairs around.  The restaurant offers a buffet for about K90 but if you're not up for it, you can order your own choice of meal 

The reason being that we went here was just to have a look at the place. Being a practical man that I am, we just ordered this beef burger with ground black beans and chips for less than K60. The potato chips are sliced thinly and when foods are sliced this way, it is for the fact that thin slices get cooked in just a short while.

I don’t really declare things much but I can honestly say that this beef burger is the finest beef burger that I've had in Port Moresby thus far.  In General, beef burgers have a distinctive aromatic scent and to discern whether it's a factor for inducing hunger is up to everyone's personal preference. 

I like it when the scent is not too strong.

And here, once again, is our friendly co-worker, kuya Levi , who gave out a Monaliza smile when I said “cheese!”

Camping at Koitaki Country Club (Part 2)

The first part of my post about our Koitaki Country Club camping trip was just enough to show most of the pictures that I took there during the first day; and I did not want to bore you with too many pictures shown at once in a single post. Hence, I decided to write a part 2 of what went on in the second day of the trip.

This scene is what greeted me the next day. I had actually woken up in the wee hours with a slight feeling of being cold from the cool breeze that usually results to a build-up of mountain dew. The thing I did not bother to bring was my favorite blanket, which was actually not necessary because my tent has a door cover that I could zip up in case the weather got really colder.

I did zip it up and slept like a log.

In the early morning, crows flying back and forth with their loud callings loitered the place. I thought that it would be nice to record a video of them flying around while the crickets fine-tune the hum of their peculiar chirping sound in the background. 

The next day, we still have a lot of firewood left for cooking. The person in the red shirt was chopping firewood into smaller sizes to make it easier to start a fire. Others just stood there in admiration of what I can say an impressive display of Boy Scout skill. 

The morning dew has moistened the firewood, making it difficult to burn. But this guy is not backing down that easily and in a couple of minutes later, he seemed evidently happy to have made the fire.

Great! Now, if I could only find where I kept my 3 in 1 coffee.

Cess boiled a pitcher of drinking water and Malou poured in 3-in-1 coffee to the cups. Some were still asleep in their tents but I reckoned I would much rather rise up early to witness sunrise from this hill. If I get lucky, I might get to see a nocturnal animal retreating from an overnight spree.

While the sun has not risen up yet, the misty fog enjoyed the liberty to emblazon the horizon with blinding spectacle, stretching from where I stood and far beyond those mountains. You can see that the fog has made things less visible.  On times like these, an air traffic controller will divert incoming airplanes to the nearest airport or advise them to stay aloft until it is clear to land.

Or before they run out of aviation gas.

These tiny mounds are probably an ant nest. It’s a good thing to examine the grounds properly before setting up the tent, because the last thing we ever want to see in the tent is an army of crawling angry ants.

Cess and Malou prepared something more appropriate for breakfast. I helped by grilling up the eggplants which would be made to tortang talong later on. We had some leftovers from last night and Cess had fried them after the eggs were done. Everyone ate his or her share of breakfast in silence without qualms, I guess that’s because it's either the foods tasted great or it was just the morning dizziness.

Here’s Paul showing me a big bug he got out from his tent. I’m not sure if it was a giant mosquito or just a mayfly, but it’s an interesting bug to see. Actually, all bugs are an interesting sight to see.

As long as they remain tiny.

After having our breakfast, we went down to see the restaurant. I looked back and took one last shot of our camping spot. It’s nice to see how surprisingly small our tents were from afar. By the way, it’s a lot easier to walk down than to climb up. And if there’s some kind of an empty drum, I would so much like to lie down in it and ask someone to roll it down the hill.

Just kidding.

Here’s Malou with some kids. The restaurant has some washrooms where the guests can freshen up. You’d be allowed to take a bath if you wanted to, but I opted not to and did that in the house a few hours later.

There is a large pool at the back of the restaurant. I noticed that nobody was taking a dip. It was probably due to the warning sign that said, “Sharks have been spotted in this pool, they come out when they smell pee.”

Yikes!

The restaurant has a distinctive ambiance like that of a ranch and it looks wider from the inside. Even if you come with a busload of people, there is still enough space for everyone.

In one corner, this sign says, “Captain’s Corner.” I’m not sure what that means but this table is probably reserved to someone worthy of the Captain status.

As in Captain Hook, Captain America or Captain Barbell.

There are many tables in the lobby and there are some tables in the enclosed area as well. I believe that the ashtray on the table offers an obvious hint that this specific area in the restaurant is cut out for guests with smoking habits.

The foods are listed on the menu in this corner. The T-Bone Steak is around $25.00 USD. It’s a bit pricey for an average earner like me but it’s worth the price for all these amenities. On a side note, food servings in Papua New Guinea are generally more than enough for one’s regular consumption.

Although secluded, there is a mobile phone signal in Koitaki. In fact, we never had problems with uploading our photos from last night. There’s a large satellite antenna sitting outside near the restaurant but I’m not sure what was that for.

I guess I must upgrade my ability to ask.

If you’re not wary of horseback riding, like I do, you can try and ride one of these horses for free. If it’s your first time, you can say that to these staffs and they will guide you accordingly. Here’s Cess’ daughter being lectured on by one of the staffs as they prepare for a galloping-ride around the meadow.

My late uncle Alex used to have three horses in his A & J Farm, where I worked for a very long time. Compared to these, his horses were smaller and skinnier. We used to ride those horses around the farm. When he learned later that the horses were getting thinner from malnutrition, he sold them out immediately. A move that, I believe, was wise since nobody from us knew how to properly care for a horse.

Horseback riding is a fun activity because it somehow lets you experience one of the oldest mode of transportation known to humankind. Equestrianism is the proper term for horseback riding and people have been in this practice since 3,000 BC.

On the way home, there is an open market near the Koitaki Country Club. We stopped by and bought some fresh vegetables. I bought some Ampalaya sprouts and some other things that I already forgot. 

It’s a good thing to buy from them not only for the reason that they sell fresh-from-the-farm produce but also for the fact that it supports their livelihood.

That’s all for our camping trip. Until next time!