A Dot In The Pacific

Finadene Sauce Makes Everything Nice

fuschiaandpucedontmix — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:09:19 +0000

Finadene sauce is a staple in every meal. Some prefer it with chicken while others use it as an all-around dip. This sauce is served in almost every food establishment on Guam- and there are not that many exceptions really. Even fastfood joints on Guam, with global franchises, serve finadene with their chicken.

This recipe is pretty basic. You just mix an equal part of soy sauce and lemon juice. Then add chopped peppers and onions. Serve with meat. Preferably, barbequed chicken or pork.

Guam Weather

fuschiaandpucedontmix — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:30:34 +0000

Guam’s weather is erratic and very hard to predict. If you’re somebody who is used to having consistent weather patterns for weeks or months, like a full season of rain or sun, then Guam is not for you. Since I came here, weather’s been unpredictable and I’ve seen days when rain and sun interchange like a pair of dancers doing the cha-cha.

There is supposed to be a wet/rainy season (fanuchanan) from July to November and a dry season from December to June (fanumnangan). Generally, it’s warm and humid throughout the year.

But this is what makes Guam interesting. You don’t have to check the weather report (except when there is a typhoon) to know if it’s going to rain or not. Most likely, there would be some kind of precipitation within the day-ranging from a light drizzle to a downpour.

Ancient Chamorros Practiced Celestial Navigation

fuschiaandpucedontmix — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:24:48 +0000

Ritidian beach is located at the northern side of Guam. In 1999, it was thrust in the academic spotlight when a star map (pictograph) was found etched in one of the caves located in the area.

The discovery of the pictograph proved that the ancient seafaring Micronesians were adept at celestial navigation—determined location, time weather patterns and ocean currents from the movement of stars, setting and rising of the sun, moon and, other natural phenomena.

This star map can be interpreted using the Micronesian Star Compass or the sidereal compass (another example of ancient technology). It has 16 months/navigational beacons of unequal length each representing a star or constellation.

Visit this site to learn more about the Star Map: http://guam.org.gu/starcave/

Brown Tree Snake

fuschiaandpucedontmix — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 13:48:51 +0000

I don’t know why I started with a post on the brown tree snake but since a representative of this specie crept into my room a few weeks ago and scared the hell out of me, I felt that I need to find out more about this critter and why it invaded my space.

Aside from the well-known fact that it is nocturnal, lives in the boonies (jungles of guam) and is not endangered, here are other interesting information about the brown tree snake.

Infamous for nearly wiping out the endemic bird population of Guam.
It is rear fanged thus, makes it difficult for the snake to convey venom into humans.
Venom is a neurotoxin but with no serious medical consequences for humans-primarily used to subdue prey.
Likes to coil around electric posts and power lines thus its species has been linked to unexplained power outages in the island.

The brown tree snake hitchhiked to Guam from another country in Asia or the South Pacific (Australia?) via a cargo ship or an airplane. One thing’s for sure, before World War II, Guam was snake-free and the country had its endemic bird population intact.

Interesting links: