In the wake of the events of March 11th, I had done all the worrying and help I thought prudent and came to the conclusion that maybe now was the time for the vacation I had kept putting off.

Money being a bit of an issue, I ruled out Hawaii–I have other plans for Hawaii later on in life–and Taiwan and Korea, as I’d been there before. America was also out, as I’d just been back.

So we decided on Guam, as my friend had found a really good deal.

Guam is a popular tourist destination for many Japanese, as it’s really close, only an hour time difference, and definitely caters to a Japanese tourist market. You can pay for almost everything in yen, everyone seems to speak Japanese, and information on everything is available in Japanese.

That said, though, sometimes Guam is seen as a “discount” destination, and Hawaii et al are held up as the pinnacle of island vacations.

Now, I’ve never been to Hawaii, but my friend said that the ocean was way more gorgeous. Yeah, no surfing or anything, but it was perfect! Super still, shallow waters out almost to the horizon. Warm without being hot. Plus, once you go out the hotel, the pools are RIGHT THERE, and then you get out of the pool(s!) and the beach is RIGHT THERE.

The food was great. We ate Mexican food, which is my #1 weakness, and then just anything we could stuff our faces with.

Here are some pictures; I’ll try to provide some commentary. We were only there for 3 nights which was really just the right amount of time, given the amount of stuff to do.