Guam Vacation Day 4

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:

     Since I am done grading and tutoring students for the day, I thought I would update our blog and talk about our Thursday in Guam.  One of the first things we did on our Thursday after sleeping in late and watching cable T.V. at our hotel was to go to the Ramada hotel down the road to swim.  The Days Inn, Guam has a deal with the Ramada that allows guests to swim at their pool.  The pool isn't anything special, but it was fun to relax in the sun and swim in water that was not salty.  We had fun just being together and reading the complementary paper that comes with being a guest at our hotel.  

     After the pool, we decided to drive around and in the process we stopped at Ritidian Beach at the northernmost point in Guam.  We went there because the friends we had met (Glenn & Sandy) told us that it was one of the beaches they were most impressed with.  In order to get to Ritidian Beach you have to drive on the incredibly bumpy and hazardous road that goes around Northwest Field (which used to land B-29 Bombers during WWII) and when the road abruptly ends there is a road that goes to the left and is nicely paved.  This road leads to Ritidian Point and snakes its way down to the end where the beach is located.  Ritidian was the location of a large Chamorro settlement 600 years before the Spanish arrived in 1521.  To the Chamorro it was called "Litekjan."  From 1668-1690 (22years), the Chamorro population on Guam dropped from 12,000 to only 2,000 due to the Spanish Chamorro War and European influenza.  By the 1680's, the Chamorro had abandoned their village at Ritidian.  Today, this beach is a beautiful white sand beach with virtually no litter on it.  While we were there swimming/snorkeling and just enjoying the sun there was a Korean orchestral group there having a lot of fun and being really loud as kids are.  Besides that minor annoyance of people having a good time, the only other thing is that the beach is relatively shallow.  My suggestion to anyone who goes there in the future is to bring some sort of shade as there is virtually no shade on the beach and unlike Saipan the beach is wide and if being in sun directly is not your cup of tea... bring something.  Luckily I brought an umbrella that made our time there a little more bearable.  It would make a great picnic area.  Oh, and one last thing I forgot to mention is that because this place was made a wildlife refuge in 1993 it is only open from 7:30am-4pm.

     After deciding to leave the Ritidian Beach area, we drove to a lookout point that the rangers at the War in the Pacific Museum told us would be beautiful and informative.  The first place we stopped was the Asan Bay Overlook Unit (so named on the map).  This overlook was where Japanese were positioned to shoot at Americans arriving at the terribly exposed Asan Beach where the Americans landed.  At the memorial is a list of military personnel that died in the battle and there are depictions in metal plating that show the forced labor of the Chamorro under the Japanese and the emancipation of them by the U.S. forces.  I was also touched by the marble monument dedicated to the local islanders who died at Pearl Harbor, of which there were twelve.  Having visited Pearl Harbor, I feel that their particular sacrifice was extremely sad and worthy of remembrance it it jump started a nation into a mode of industry and defense not often seen in history. We then drove further and found another overlook from which we could see Tumon Bay.  The picture is of the Tumon Bay area (if you visit Guam this overlook is not named to my knowledge so you just have to find it).

     After viewing such beauty, we got back in the car and Kara let me stop at a museum that only cost 3 dollars to enter.  I cannot remember the name of the museum but it was pretty cool.  They had all sorts of donated WWII automobiles and fully restored military vehicles used during the war in the Pacific.  I chose to share some of the historical pictures of people and things rather than the vehicles for the blog as I believe the people are more important.  Since Kara wanted to wait in the car and read, I promised that we would next try and find the Latte Stone Memorial Park in Guam.  Luckily, it wasn't too far from the museum we visited but was a bit tricky to find.  

     The last part of our day was meeting up with Glenn and Sandy and two of their three kids at the California Pizza Kitchen in the Tumon Bay tourist area.   I hope you enjoy our pictures. Remember to click on the pictures to view a larger image.

     

This is the view of Ritidian Beach from the beginning of the
road that snakes its way down toward the gate and entrance
to the beach.

A view of the gloriously clean and awesome beach of Ritidian.

Who else but Kara and I at Ritidian Beach, Guam (no idea why
our hair is so frizzy...)

A picture of the sign at the Asan Bay Overlook Unit showing
tourists what they see in the distance.  This is the same view
the Japanese gunners would have had of our troops landing
along the beach exposed.  You can see the peninsula and harbor
in our picture below. 

Kara and I at the Asan Bay Overlook Unit.

This is one of the metal memorial depictions at the Asan Bay
Overlook Unit.  It shows the Japanese rounding up the
Chamorros from church and farmland and forcing them to work.
The last section shows the American liberation of the island.

View of Tumon Bay from the un-named overlook area.

Picture I found striking at the $3 museum.
And stay they did.

This is Japanese General Takashi Takashina.
He was the commander of all the Imperial
Japanese on Guam.  He died in battle on July 28,
1944 during the battle of Fonte Plateau. 

This is a picture of Sgt. Yokoi  I mentioned in the
previous blog post. This was taken the day after his
capture 26 1/2 years after the wars end in April 1972.

The kid in me couldn't help but post a picture of the American
Bazooka rounds on display.

Picture of Kara standing in front of the latte stones at the
Latte Stone Memorial Park.  For some traditional locals these
stones may be a sore spot in their memory.  These stones are
original and were moved from their ancestral resting places
after the war because construction of the military bases
needed to occur. These particular stones are probably about
8ft tall.  They were taken from Mepo Village in the Fena Valley
and placed in this location in 1955 & 1956.  Latte Stone construction
occurred from 1100-1700 A.D.

Kara and I have seen this in Saipan, but if you didn't know what
a Chamorro house looked like this is how the latte stones
were used. 

Kara and I with two large hot fudge ice cream desserts from
California Pizza Kitchen (One was actually Sandy and Glenn's
but they wanted us to pretend haha)

Guam Vacation Day 2

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:

            I am here to update you on our second day of vacation in Guam. Tuesday was the day we traversed the entire south end of the island.  The first thing we did was travel toward Inarajan pool. On our way to Inarajan we visited some of the WWII invasion beaches like Asan Beach.  Upon arriving at Inarajan we saw a little pool with a makeshift diving platform made out of concrete that was rusting and cracking. The waves from the ocean would hit the reef and trickle over into this pool.  There were lots of people there and many pavilions for grilling out and having a good time. Were there fish in this pool?  Yes, the fish eventually get swept over the side into the murky depths of Inarajan trapped until an unseasonably large surf forms on the ocean to provide an escape on a rough day. Videos of Kara and I jumping off of the platform can be seen on facebook for those of you who are friends with us.

            As we continued down the slow/winding road, we stopped at many scenic overlook areas. We had a great time just slowly making our way around the southern tip of Guam. We eventually made it to a seaside bar/grill called Jeff’s Pirates Cove and the museum that is attached to the restaurant. The restaurant had o.k. food, but I felt that it was overpriced for the portion size I received.  I ordered a fish sandwich foolishly expecting to see a large hoagie bun with a slab of fish at the center but instead got a dinner bun with two pieces of fish meat with lettuce on top…the bun was so small that the fish wouldn’t even stay inside the bun while I tried to eat (I almost thought the two pieces were more energetic fried than when they were alive).  I would go to Jeff’s Pirates Cove again if I were only wanting a beer and some chips.  It has some great touristy items in the gift shop and t-shirts, but I was not impressed by the service or food quality.  The other thing that was strange was that they ended their service 10 minutes early just so they could leave work on time.  I saw two poor Asian tourists pull up just as we were leaving, but they were out of luck.  We were also not allowed to go out the front door because the lady had locked it and she told us nonchalantly to go around back through a fenced gate on the side of the building…very poor service in my opinion.  What made Jeff’s Pirates Cove interesting was the museum.  Inside this super small (free $$ to enter) museum was the vast array of island trinkets.  There were glass bottles from Japan and America from the war, WWII ammo, tons of Japanese Glass Floats, and a rather detailed glass display case with many of the shells I’ve collected on Saipan with their known names and scientific classifications.  I would go to the museum rather than eat at the restaurant.

            Lastly, we went to Talofofo Falls.  There are several falls on Guam, but Talofofo is the touristy one. Upon arriving there were pigs in the parking lot wandering around and a complex that used to look really nice, but was falling apart.  We got a local discount for being from the Marianas and enjoyed our ride down on the Gondola system.  There are actually two falls at Talofofo and they are both beautiful.  The falls used to have a little train/monorail like the one we had ridden in Hawaii at the Dole Plantation, but it was extremely run down and probably didn’t work.  There was also a museum with poor depictions and some grammar mistakes.  Below Talofofo one could also see the cave where Sgt. Yokoi of Japan had been hiding for 28 years after the war.  He survived on the fruit, shrimp & eels (found in Talofofo river), and various other unsavory things, and by bathing frequently to avoid disease. 

            I hope you enjoy the pictures! Remember to click on them for a larger image.

Kara, hanging off the barrels of a Japanese Anti-Aircraft
Gun from WWII that was on display at one of the invasion
beaches southwest of Asan Beach.

Inarajan pool taken in such a way as to look beautiful.  To
right (outside the frame) is the jumping platform and
pavilions. I tried to get most of the people out of the picture.
The pool extends further to the right and is fairly deep.

This is Kara and I behind a beautiful scenic backdrop
along Guam's southern tip.  It was taken at the Guam Vietnam
Memorial Scenic Overlook.

Another beautiful view somewhere along the southeastern
side of Guam.

The big sign you see outside of Jeff's Pirates Cove.  For a
while we thought we'd missed the restaurant until we saw
this sign.

One of the pigs at Talofofo Falls parking lot trying to find
shade wherever possible.

Kara at Talofofo Falls (Fall 1)

Grant (me) at Talofofo Falls (Fall 1)

A rather graphic depiction of Japanese ritual suicide that
occurred at the falls during WWII.  Since the American's
were able to land tanks on the island, they had the upper hand.
The Japanese would rather die than be taken alive and dishonor
their country.

WWII Relic Hunting in Saipan Update

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers,

As I get closer and closer to leaving Saipan, I have been busier than ever looking for relics and having fun digging in the jungle.  Today is an update for you of some of my exploits and research for those interested in collecting, want to try a new hobby, or simply like history and investigative blogging.  These pictures were taken all over Saipan, but as usual I will let them do the talking.  One unfortunate thing that did happen recently is that many of the coke bottles I sent back wrapped still managed to break in the USPS... I wish the mail would take better care of my find.  I guess in the future I will have to double wrap bottles... ugh.  On a happier note, don't forget to click on the image for a bigger picture.

These are only some of the hundreds of bottles that I see at this one point along Obyan Beach. I decided it might make for a cool picture if I were to show the amount of beer American forces drank and disposed in just one part. There were hundreds more along this small section of shoreline I didn't pick up.  If any one would like to hike with me to this point and get dirty doing so feel free to facebook message me and you can come along.  It might be just above the place some call "Boy Scout."

This is a picture of a Japanese Cache I found along Obyan. I only took two of the bottles because I didn't want to carry too much weight. If anyone wants the other 3 feel free to come with me and I will take you there.  There were 4 or five other bottles that were broken due to rain and falling down the cliff.   

A=  Armstrong Cork Company Bottle that may have contained Lysol for disinfection during the war.  Most bottles I can find online, however, say that such bottles were amber colored.  I could not find much more information on this bottle since it is clear...

B= Wild Root Hair Tonic Bottle.  This company was originally locally owned and operated in Buffalo, New York during the war.  I imagine that during this time the company grew too large for its britches and was sold to Colgate/Palmolive Co. for $10.5 million.  A website article on this company can be found on:
http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbuffalolost/wildrootfactory.html

C= Standing at 11 ½ inches tall this bottle was made by the Kirin Beer Company of  Japan. It is identified by the mark that has a vertical line with a sideways lower case “m” with a “V” superimposed over it.  You can kind of see the mark in the picture.  This online article was very helpful to me in my research:
http://sfu.academia.edu/DouglasRoss/Papers/154927/Identification_and_Dating_of_Japanese_Glass_Beverage_Bottles

D= This is what I believe to be the biggest sake bottle I’ve found on Saipan as it stands just under 16 inches tall. It held 1800ml of liquid and has two identification marks on it, neither of which I was able to find online as of yet, but will continue to try and find out its origins at some point.   What I did learn from reading a graduate thesis about Sake is that during the war rice and those need for brewing Sake were in short supply. The serving style changed and no longer did they use a tokkuri (a large clay flask) to serve warm sake, but rather added ethyl alcohol to sake because of the rice shortage and started putting the liquid in large glass bottles. This occurred during the “Showa Period” 1926-1989.  The blue color of the bottles may be related to the fact that Sake traditionally has many spiritual links. One such link is to the mythological creature the “Kappa” which is a water spirit.  Perhaps the blue is meant to symbolize water or even various other Shinto spirits.  This graduate thesis was a big help to me in understanding sake in the Japanese culture:
http://www.well.com/~pyarrow/tokyo/thesis05.pdf 

E= 1-Way Beverages, American Amber Beer Bottle 10 ½ inches tall with stamps on the bottom 3A 2765 GK  Duraglas

F=Might be a WWI canteen.  I found this canteen in the jungle of Saipan along with another that was missing the top.  This one has only one small hole in the side and no cap.  I believe it is WWI because there is no ridge going around the center of the canteen.  During the war, many troops did not have adequate gear and were using things from WWI until the arms industry kicked into gear (literally hahaha).  If it is not an American Canteen it may be Japanese.  I say that it might be Japanese only because the threads on this canteen appear on the outside unlike the example G Canteen below, of which I am certain is American.  I still hold to my gut feeling though that this is a WWI canteen because from what I have seen Japanese canteens were mainly corked and not threaded.

G=This canteen was gifted to me by a friend on the island and is in better condition in that it does not have any holes, but is missing the cap.  This is a WWII infantry canteen.  The ridge exists because during the war they would fit into a nice metal holster that troops could tie to just about anything in case their carrying pouch broke.  I suppose they could have even eaten out of the holster as it would have made a good soup container.   I’ve heard on documentaries that troops even used helmets to cook food sometimes among other uses.

H= This is a hair/scalp product bottle I found in the jungle that is from 1936, but was used throughout the war.
Lucky Tiger MFG  Co. is still in existence today in Kansas City, MO.   A funny ad from the period is shown on this link below and matches the bottle description.  The ad was shown on pg. 55 of Liberty Magazine in 1936.  The bottle changed shape in the 1950’s.    
http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/show-picture?id=1191891856&size=FULL

I hope you enjoy my history lesson and can share in the joy of relic hunting.  Saipan Time is also Guam time:

Spelling Bee/Trip to Guam on Business

     On March 3rd, 2012 was the annual regional spelling bee in Guam at the Sheraton Hotel.  I have so many pictures to share that once again I will let them do the talking by describing their importance below the picture.  I traveled to Guam to support my student Ms. Tiglao in her efforts to win the Spelling Bee.  I must share my gratitude toward the Tiglao family for having been so supportive of both their daughter and myself while in Guam.  They met me at the airport Friday night when I arrived and led to the hotel.  They even blessed me through helping with meal expenses.  It brings joy to my heart to know that teachers play a special part in the lives of their students and to know that their families are appreciative.  Without the Tiglao family my experience in Guam would not have been as stress free as it was.  I pray that the photos both from my trip, the bee itself, and the sightseeing I did will be informative for those wanting to taking part in such things themselves someday.  Enjoy the pictures and explanations... don't forget to click on the picture for an enlarged image.

This is a picture of Ms. Tiglao being required to spell her first word, which was "magnolia." The Scripps Spelling Bee had 74 schools participate this year.  The first student to drop out of the competition failed to spell the word "discipline" as they forgot the "e" at the end.  For those who have not gone to a spelling be before, when a speller misspells they put the microphone down on the pillow and step off the stage to have a medal placed around their neck and are allowed to sit with their family.   As the bee progressed the words became harder.  The following are words my students had to spell correctly for each round:  2nd "libretto", 3rd "infinitesimal", 4th "kielbasa", 5th "globular" (at this point the words were no longer on the study sheet and were from the unknown portion of the pronouncer guide) , 6th "iambist" (at this point there were only ten students left in the 6th round), the last word she attempted to spell was "cicada" (which she misspelled but managed to take fourth place overall and thus earned a $50 certificate and medal etc).  She did remarkably well and should be very proud of herself despite her desire to win first place and go to Washington D.C. The final two competitors were both from Saipan!  A girl from Cha Cha Junior High School won the overall competition in round 15 by spelling the words "biliousness" and "Ichabod" two in a row correctly. It was a very intense hard fought battle.

Me with the whole Tiglao family in support of Ms. Tiglao's achievement of being in the top 5!

At the bee there were a lot of refreshments for the students (for free) for everyone else it cost $1.

View from inside the Sheraton Hotel, Guam

During my exploration of Guam's Highway #1 I went on an off road and found this Japanese Buddhist Shrine Monument that is a peace memorial for the Japanese spirits that are trapped at the base of Mt. Matagi (more like a small knoll).  At this location a Japanese garrison was cornered by American troops.  To the right of the memorial there are stairs leading down to a series of highly fortified caves/bunkers.  It was at this spot on August 11, 1944 that the troops led one final charge to their death after their commander, General Hideyoshi Obata, committed suicide after one last transmission to the emperor stating, "I shall be the bulwark of the Pacific Ocean." Below the monument are bones of the fallen Japanese that are periodically found around the property. The white spire is to symbolically represent two palms praying.

These are one of the two sets of stairs.  It definitely needed some repair and upkeep.  The other set to the far right not visible in this picture were well kept.  Not sure why this set was not... At the bottom of the stairs there is actually a water collection reservoir the Japanese would have used and it is still collecting to this day even though the pipes that once transported the water are now gone. 

A picture of one of the four heavily fortified cave bunkers.  If I had brought my headlamp for exploration I probably would have gone inside.  Anything was better than being eaten alive by the mosquitoes.  In front of the entrance is a small shrine paying respect to the fallen.  There is a Buddhist chapel of sorts on the property and inside are many of the relics people have pulled out of these bunker/caves over the years.  The bones that are periodically found in the jungle surrounding this sight have their place below the monument above.

This is the pathway at the memorial where the massacre occurred.  I took this picture with panoramic going straight up to show the height of the bamboo surrounded the whole area.  I am not sure if that was planted before or after the war, but they were very tall and they made an especially eerie sound clinking together in the wind.  I wish I had taken a recording of it, but it was an unnerving sort of feeling.  Not to mention you wondered if a piece would snap off and fall on you.

While in Guam I had to stop at Two Lovers Point, which has a cheesy local legend and a beautiful overlook of the ocean at sunset. This is a place where tourists can take pictures inside the heart.  Without  wide angle lens it is a little tricky to get the whole phrase in there.

When Kara and I go to Guam over Spring Break I will bring her here and we will pay the $3 per person they charge to go view the ocean at sunset from the platform.

A view of the ocean artistically.

Artistic View #2

Artistic view #3

Artistic view #4

Links to articles relating to the spelling bee (if the links become obsolete I apologize in advance to viewers of our blog):

 Information about the Top Ten from the Pacific Daily News:

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20120304/NEWS01/203040325/Saipan-girl-wins-bee?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage

Other Links from the PDN with Spelling Bee Galleries

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=M0&Dato=20120302&Kategori=NEWS01&Lopenr=203020805&Ref=PH

http://www.guampdn.com/article/20120303/NEWS01/120302023/VIDEO-Watch-replay-today-s-2012-regional-Spelling-Bee?odyssey=mod|breaking|text|Frontpage

http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=M0&Date=20120303&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=203030801&Ref=PH&Item=0&odyssey=mod|mostpopphotos

Saipan time is also Guam Time:

WWII Relics and Exploration on Saipan

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:

It is time for me to write again about my adventures while exploring, but rather than write too much about the experience I'm going to let the pictures do the talking and write information below them for those that are interested in the history or may be interested in proper identification of things. I hope you enjoy the pictures and find the information useful in your relic hunting and boonie stomps. Oh, and before I forget, these photos are taken from Naftan Point and from the public land between the two cliff lines near Santa Lourdes Shrine Saipan.  Remember to click on the pictures for a better view.

A picture of me wearing my dad's old Martin Sexton (an indi-rocker) shirt with five of the six blue WWII Japanese bottles I found.  I cannot say for certain if they were beer or wine bottles as I am finding there is a lot of misinformation out there on the internet as to their identification.  I do know that the bottle making process was different as the tallest bottles have holes near the neck where the could be opened like expensive beers from Europe.  The smaller blue ones I believe to be wine bottles that once held a simple cork.  While at this location, I also found a dark olive green bottle that is smaller and has Japanese writing all over it.  I am not sure yet what it is, but from what I have read it may be a Japanese cider bottle.  That was probably my find of the day I think.

This a WWII beer bottle from Nippon Brewery LTD of Japan.  Dai Nippon was originally founded jointly in 1906 by three different beer companies in Japan.  After the war, this beer company was bought by Asahi in 1949 and split into two major groups one that continued to produce Nippon Beer and the other Asahi. I am not sure if this bottle will be worth something someday, but perhaps it will because of its uniqueness.

Some cool sites for identification of Japanese bottles are 

Japanese Beer Timeline for Research of Dai Nippon Brewery LTD:

http://www.asahigroup-holdings.com/en/company/history/index.html

 

Great PDF Link for Proper Identification of Japanese Bottles:

http://www.sha.org/publications/technical_briefs/volume04/article_02.pdf

This is a Bireleys Soda bottle from circa 1940's. This particular bottle was most likely an orange soda bottle; however, it may also have held grape.  I couldn't find too much online about this bottle, but Bireleys produced at least 4 main products including: orange, grape, natural fruit (w/o carbonation), and milk.  I didn't really find this bottle so much as I came across a pile of bottles someone had left near the side of the road at Naftan. Since this was the only bottle of the three Bireley bottles that had the stamp still visible I took this one.  On e-bay they are selling for $4-10.  Websites that talk briefly about Bireleys are listed below:

 http://www.angelfire.com/tn/traderz/bireleys.html & 

 

http://www.usasoda.com/Bireleys.htm

View from the cliff line I was exploring near Santa Lourdes Shrine

This is a picture of one of the three/four?  gun emplacements at Naftan.  You can see the small ammunition storage bunks.  I'm guessing there would have been a huge gun in the center of each of these.  I'm really not sure what the history is behind these emplacements but seeing how well they have withstood the test of time shows Japanese skill. Concrete reinforced with re-bar. To see them in the jungle is really astonishing.  I may update this later if I find out more from American Memorial Park in Saipan.I imagine Iwo Jima as having similar heavily fortified gun emplacement designs.

I thought this was a pretty cool picture of a Japanese grenade that had been decaying where it was left.  You can see the fuse to the left surrounded by the hard metal shell.  The green,white, blue inside is the decaying T.N.T.  While watching a documentaries of WWII I learned that Japanese used all sorts of grenades and mines.  On Guam, one was so powerful it flipped a Sherman tank on its back!  This was taken at Naftan.

A bomb or at the very least some type of mortar lying in the middle of a trail at Naftan, undisturbed.

This is a bomb or large mortar shell I found split open and decaying at Naftan.  The length of this shell was at least 4 ft. long maybe longer.

A friend of mine said this structure at Naftan was located on the highest point and once held a Japanese radar dish on top of it.  To the left of this structure, not in the picture, are the remains of a fortified building that was destroyed.

This is a picture I took at Naftan Pt. On the right side of the road there is a short trail leading to this vantage point.  During the war, the Japanese must have had this exact view because just below the picture frame is a coral wall they built and while looking out at Obyan Beach you stand on large slabs that they must have used for traction.  I'm sure This would have been a great gun emplacement at one time.

Crazy picture of a butterfly at Naftan next to where my car was parked.  Turning on the flash in a dark jungle makes for a cool picture sometimes.

Saipan Time is also Guam Time: