McSamoa’s….or, Polynesians Got Back

I’m going to combine the Samoa and American Samoa McDonald’s entry because they aren’t interesting enough to do separately. As far as I can tell, there is only one restaurant in each county. The Samoa McDonald’s is right in town a block off Beach St. and the American Samoa restaurant is out near the airport. …

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McDonald’s Noumea

The McDonald’s in Noumea wasn’t anything special. Nothing special on the menu. The only thing of note was how they organized their value meals. You picked a sandwich, you picked a side (salad or fries) and a drink. Each meal was the same price. They also had the Royal Cheese from Pulp Fiction fame. Not …

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You Do Not Need A Guidebook To Travel

If you have been reading the news the last few days, you have probably come across the “scandal” about the Lonely Planet writer who wrote parts of the Colombia guide book without ever traveling to Colombia. Actually, it is a non-story. He was never supposed to go to Colombia. He was just supposed to write …

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The Most Beautiful Island In the Pacific

Pohnpei is the most beautiful place I’ve visited in my trip so far. Hands down, no questions. I was completely taken aback at the flowers, birds, lagoon, mountain, and the reef. The place I stayed was the Village Hotel, which is exactly what you think of when you dream of living on an island. All …

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McPacific America

I’m lumping McDonald’s for Hawaii, Guam and Saipan all together. They are pretty much the same and all share the one unique thing I find interesting. The McDonalds in Waikiki did something I liked an haven’t seen anywhere else. They gave you a free package of diced pineapple with every meal: breakfast or dinner. It …

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Evri samting you wantem save long Bislama be yu fraet tumas blong askem*

First, I’d like to suggest the following to every college student who needs to satisfy a foreign language requirement to graduate but doesn’t really want to study a language…. LEARN BISLAMA. I was totally able to understand a conversation a man who was helping me had with a coworker. Only a few words were beyond …

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Best and Worst of the Pacific

The following lists are based on places I actually visited. If you know of a place that should be on this list but isn’t there…oh well. You will notice a big discrepancy between my top 10 and what you might find in the 1000 Places to See Before You Die. I swear the book was …

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The Happy Prosperous Restaurant of the Golden Arch

For all the new readers, you can get the background on why I’m writing about McDonald’s here. McDonald’s Taiwan is the first McDonald’s I’ve experienced since New Zealand to have a completely unique item on the menu: the rice burger. The rice burger is a burger where the bun is replaced with rice and the …

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Staying Fit On The Road

One of the biggest problems I’ve had while traveling is staying fit. I’ve heard many people say that they lose weight while traveling. I can totally understand that. Depending on where you are, you can walk a lot and eat well. When I was in the Pacific and in Japan, I probably lost about 10 …

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