Friday the 13th—Not too Bad!!!

13-May-2011, 2115

A week and a half now at PNG, slowly adapting to the PNG life, so far so good though I really didn’t sleep that well last night as I tossed and turned in bed for a good amount of time before finally getting some zzzz’s.  The notion of bad omen and unfortunate events that is associated with Friday the 13^th was discredited since today was basically unremarkable.  Ironically, PNG, with its many myths, beliefs, and traditions, presumably do not believe in the folklore of Friday the 13^th either because it was not even mentioned in the office.  I asked a few staff about it and one of the response was “Why, what’s today supposed to be?”.  Need I say more…

There is a restaurant inside the compound where I am working—The Point International Cuisine—and I tried it twice this week.  From what everyone has been telling me, the place caters to Japanese, Malaysian, Chinese, Korean, and Filipino patrons so they all say that I ought to try it.  So I did with the USAID and CDC group!  The place really should have been called “Asian Cuisine” since it’s really not international, eh?  But, somehow, I can say this place brings a little bit of home, and since the menu even listed the food items in Tagalog, the group basically asked me which items were good to eat.  Since I knew all of the Filipino food items in the menu, I told the group all were good, palatable, and I have had before:  sinigang – a brothy pork or fish dish with vegetables and lots of stock made sour by tamarind base, served over white Jasmine rice (Dana, you’re favorite!!!); adobo – pork or chicken dish sautéed in garlic and onions then generously glazed with soy sauce and vinegar, then served over white Jasmine rice, truly full of salt and sodium but nevertheless so good; pansit bihon, canton,  or sotanghon – all three are variations of noodles that is sprinkled with calamansi, lemon, or lime juice on the top for extra added flavor, can be consumed by itself, or with choice of bread or white Jasmine rice; and tortang talong – eggplant omelet, somewhat akin to the American Chinese food Egg Foo Young.  So, we all ORDERED these and had a very good lunch!  Having these food items just made me feel good because it reminded me of home. 

Papua New Guinea is a country that lies in the midst of Melanesia and Oceania, just north of Australia and east of Indonesia.  Yet, here I am watching American Idol tonight!  Actually, Thomas and I were watching it last night as well and both of us were so sure that it will wind down to just the two guys—country singing sensation Scotty McCreery and hard-rocker James Durbin.  Thomas and I are still largely baffled over Haley’s continued presence in the show and yet singing powerhouse in the likes of Pia, Jakob, and Stefano were already voted off early on.  Tonight, we were both in disbelief when James was voted off!  I probably share the same sentiment amongst many Americans in asking why it is so.  Oh well, life goes on.  Though, with Haley, Scotty, and the other girl as the last three contestants on the show, I must say this year has been the worst year ever for American Idol, the second worst was the “Battle of the Davids” year, when David Archuleta lost to David Cook.