Monday's Moment: Tomato Season

Cousin Fun

So we had two other days of fun with Maralee and Lindsey before their whirlwind trip ended. The first day we opted for shopping, as I had mentioned Richard had a work thing come up and the kids were off at school, so we stayed in town for the day. First, I took them to one of our favorite breakfast restaurants, Governors. It's a great place; delicious food for breakfast, cute historic 'front page' placemats, they have historical memorabilia on the walls (in particular old movie posters from all the movies filmed in Fiji), and a little boutique.

 

Not wanting to look like a complete tourist, people pic (with more movie posters).

Next, we headed up to a fabric shop. Lindsey is engaged to a nice Samoan/American boy and something caught my eye when I had been there a few weeks prior to their arrival. With Samoa being a neighboring Pacific Island and they plan to incorporate parts of his heritage into their big day, so why not take advantage of the inexpensive fabric here. It was super exciting being there for some of Lindsey's first wedding decisions (Godmother duties, check)! I would love to show you what she got, it is beautiful....but it is a secret...so you will have to wait till their big day!!

Next we headed downtown to hit the tourist shops and get their Bula wear gifts & souvenirs. I realized I did not have a Fiji shot glass for my collection yet, so I had an opportunity to pick one out. When we had been out on Leleuvia Island, we had picked up a post card for Bushia (my & Maralee's grandma & Lindsey & the kids great grandma). We all wrote her a little something on it and then bought a stamp and mailed it.....I haven't heard if it has arrived yet...

We then headed over to the handicraft market. This is where they sell the items handmade in villages that are then sold at the market. Ironically, I ended up getting ourselves another carved bowl. We already have a tanoa (kava) bowl which is round and relatively deep. The new one is oval and traditionally used at birthdays and weddings. The detail on the bowls is just so amazing (the white triangles are mother of pearl shell inlays)...we just can't get enough hand carved stuff (my degree in Marine Biology and everything carved with sea turtles and fish isn't helping either).

We walked along the Suva Harbor to the fruit/veggie market....which is a good place for a selfie!

Once we made it to the market, we got some fast food, Fiji style.....

We then headed home to meet the kids getting off the bus. Even though we had left the house and headed one direction, I had made a giant circle throughout the day and it only took a few minutes to get home which amazed Maralee. When the kids got home, it was made quite clear to me that I was no longer the preferred reading buddy for Clarissa's homework and apparently Mason also wanted to be where all the action was too....Maralee got some cute pics of the kids.

After we had dinner, Clarissa took a great picture (no cropping or anything!) of some Mother/Godmother induced noogies on Lindsey....muwhahahaha....

The following day was our fun up the Navua River which I already wrote about. Their last full day in Fiji, we drove up to Pacific Harbour....had to get some more beach time in! So once the kids were safely on the bus and on their way to school, we dropped Richard off at work (weren't we sweet) and headed to the beach! It was overcast most of the drive, but as long as we had a little sun so they didn't go back stateside paler than when they arrived it would be all good.

We opted to go to the Uprising. They have a tasty restaurant we could eat lunch at and they are very nice about letting people use their beach. When we got there it was a probably around 9:30 in the morning, we were the only ones there! The Fiji Rugby 7s had been staying at the Uprising for several weeks prior to do their training for the Olympics on the beach and an adjacent rugby field. I had seen on the Uprising's Facebook page, they had departed the previous evening to head to Rio....had we come a day earlier we would have been hanging on the beach with some future gold medalist!!

So we did the best we could with the secluded beach and all the quiet.....

There may have been some quality time video chatting with people back stateside....you know just to share the beautiful view and all, don't want to be greedy or anything ;)

We headed up to the restaurant at lunch and got some super tasty sandwiches and burgers. Don't you wish every restaurant had this view?  We did notice more people were starting to show up to eat and hangout at the beach/pool.

We followed the Uprising's rules....

After lunch, the tide had started going back out so we went looking for sand dollars. We found a few (most still in the water). At low tide, this would be a fun place to look for sand dollars!

All in all, I think it was a picture perfect day on their trip.....hee hee.

We then headed back home. After the kids got home and we had all gotten cleaned up, we met Richard for dinner at the Grand Pacific Hotel. Our old home away from home when we had first arrived in Fiji. It has one of the best views for seeing the sunset while dining out....so it was the natural choice. Maralee & Lindsey got to experience a traditional Lali drum sunset ceremony.

Though overcast again, the sky did produce some pretty colors and Clarissa did her own little dance ceremony for Maralee...

Maralee was kind enough to give both kids a little trim....Clarissa being the stubborn Taurus she is insisted her trim be done while she was in the bath....a first for both....but if this becomes a trend I totally claim patent rights....lol.

The next day was departure day. Boo.....Maralee and Lindsey took it easy after getting most of their stuff packed up and chilled by our pool some (I had to run to the grocery store...something about the kids wanting food in their lunches). After we had our lunch.....guess where we were headed....here's a clue:

Oh yes! I booked us three Tropical Massages at Pure Fiji! So not only do they produce a line of beauty products that smell wonderful and do wonders for your skin & hair, they also have a spa that uses all of said beauty products.

As luck would have it, I get a call about an hour before our massages from the school. Clarissa wasn't feeling good, could I come get her. So I quickly grabbed her iPad, found her headphones, some markers/coloring book, and some snacks. We picked her up from school, took her to the Med Unit at the Embassy (she had been complaining of ear pain since we had been snorkeling all the previous weekend on Leleuvia), her ears were indeed a little irritated, got some medicine for them, and headed on to the spa. Maralee & Lindsey had been scheduled in the 'couples' massage room.....and Clarissa and I were in our own 'couples' room. Clarissa did pretty good, she was even kind enough to share a fruit snack with me during my massage (I suddenly felt small fingers shoving the unwanted flavors in my mouth)....lol. Though, I think she really did enjoy the coconut milk soak at the beginning I shared with her.

And after.....(by Clarissa of course).

Later that evening, I drove them to the airport and had to say good bye. Boo. We (okay maybe more I) really enjoyed having guests for a week. They picked a perfect week to come, it has rained so much since they left (we have this yellow orb looking thing in the sky today....I think I know what it is....). I hope they enjoyed their trip as much as we did. 

Suva Municipal Market Tour (also called Fresh Market)

Soon after arriving in Suva, I went to my first American Woman's Association luncheon (AWA) and have since joined. It is a pretty casual group (and you don't have to be American to be a member either). Every month the AWA meets for a lunch. Sometimes it is a potluck, but most months it is at a different restaurant. It allows you to try out different places you might not otherwise encounter or stop at (such as the Cajun restaurant 45 minutes away...probably would not have gone there on a whim...but it was cute and tasty...now I might go back with the hubby).

The AWA does organize some other events, one of which was a tour of the market downtown. So I jumped at the opportunity to go and learn some new things. Richard and I had gone several times, but it is a place we have been warned to be cautious of pickpocketing as it can be very crowded on the weekends. There is an indoor vegetable market that is open Mon-Sat and an outdoor vegetable market that is open Fri & Sat. The outdoor market has farmers from all the small villages from outside Suva come in for the weekend....so you have the best selection of the most fruits and vegetables on Fri & Sat.....as well as the biggest crowds. We met first thing Friday morning, before it got too crowded....it was also a lovely rainy day.

One of the nice things with the tour is we learned the Fijian or Hindi names for the different foods. The first one being bhindi...aka the southern staple okra. We are really enjoying the availability of bhindi after being deprived for two years in Georgia....

Looks like a lime but it is orange inside! (Tastes like an orange too!)

Discovered there was an upstairs! What?!?!?!

Downstairs has more fruits and veggies....

while upstairs has kava, spices, potatoes, onions, garlic, and dried beans. Kava root is prepared as a drink with water and used to "relax without disrupting mental clarity" (or so wikipedia says.....you can learn more about kava there). It is very important to Fijian culture and if you visit a village it is recommend you bring kava root as a gift. I would say about 1/2 the vendors upstairs are selling kava root.

Bags and bags of different types of dhal (lentils).

Back downstairs, we headed to the outdoor section. We learned about a lot of the local greens and their nutritional value (who knew ota...a fern, was so nutritionally dense....not sure if I will buy some to cook with on my own at home though...I can only imagine the kids' faces when they say 'what's that?' as they point to curly greens on their plate and I say 'steamed ferns, eat up').

Uto (breadfruit) grows on trees. It is starchy like potatoes. You can peel it and then cook it just like you cook a potato. I need to try that (but I won't tell anyone and see if they notice a difference)!!

Three lovely sisters we stopped and chatted with for a bit.

Coconuts....yum yum!

We then walked all the way to the back of the market to the fresh seafood area. There was a whole array of fresh seafood here, many of it made into lunch size servings to go.

Dairo....tasty sea cucumber anyone?

While you can't see their eyes watching your every move, the crabs were still alive....another vendor had a large selection of multiple species of crab.

Namakeibelo.....sea grapes. The little white pouch is a coconut milk sauce to serve with them to counter balance the saltiness of the sea grapes.

Back in the vegetable portion, heading towards the flower market we passed a pineapple vendor. I learned a bit about picking the perfect pineapple. Unlike a lot of fruits that continue to ripen after picked, once cut from the plant the pineapple will not ripen any more nor get any sweeter. The ole sniff test is necessary to pick the perfect pineapple. If it smells like a pineapple should taste then it is good one. If it has no scent then it was picked too soon and will not be that sweet. If it smells of fermentation (alcohol), then it has begun to rot and will be bad.

As I mentioned here, I also picked up some flowers for Clarissa's birthday at the market that morning. It was a fun morning and I went home with a bag full of fresh and tasty fruits and veggies.

Edited: I forgot to add how long the string beans are here! Very tasty though!