Snapshots In Papua New Guinea

According to Albert Einstein, happiness becomes true if it is associated to goals and not with something else. An object, or money, for instance, do provide happiness at some point in time and pretty much they make living our lives easier. Yet at the end of the day, only us can tell if it's hollow or not.

For me, as being a man who is always in pursuit of happiness, I do think that my happiness is simple. But purely, as a result of my imagination, I am always inclined to believe that anything that makes me happy is tied to a simplistic goal.

Take my photography hobby for example, although I am not blessed with an inborn-talent that turns anything crap into a framed art, I persevere to learn the trend but I don't exhaust myself to the point that it's no longer a hobby.

Dynasty Seafood Restaurant In Port Moresby

In the eve of the Chinese New Year Holiday, the management of the company that I work with sets a dinner at Dynasty Seafood Restaurant which is located in the heart of Vision City Mega Mall in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

I actually never had a chance in my life to say Kung Hei Fat Choi to somebody during this celebration since I mostly grew up in a place where majorities of business owners are also the locals.

In Manila, where there is a prevalence of Chinese businessmen, Chinese New Year are actually being celebrated particularly in Ongpin where the community of Filipino-Chinese population is highly concentrated. Wandering there might actually feel like being in Hongkong. 

Drawing Comic Strips With Adobe Photoshop

As an IT Manager in my company, I'm more exposed to handling computer stuffs 80% of the time as opposed to managing staffs. My day to day job includes driving around Port Moresby when purchasing IT supplies, supervising the computer-related technical side of the operations, programming new and maintaining existing software, attending to various problems and occasionally finding myself doing some artwork for the marketing side.

Enjoying Sopas In Port Moresby

Being an OFW can be quite intimidating at first. Expectations in the workplace can sometimes succumb anyone into becoming a workaholic freak and a less sociable person. A day in the office can feel like a lifetime and staff house can become a dear to you. In our effort to make the staff house to be as homey as it can be, the ate's and nanay's in the house occasionally prepare foods that can make us sit altogether in one table and enjoy.

Cheaper Fruits And Vegetables In Papua New Guinea

So, you want to buy cheap fruits and vegetables in Port Moresby (POM) but you'are afraid to risk safety? 

The cheapest items like fruits and vegetables can actually be found in open markets and Malaoro Market is one of them. If an expat wishes to go there, I recommend that it is with the presence of a local friend or a staff in your company. Although this is not necessary, the local friend can serve as a guide and can be of help if something unfortunate happens along the way. 

If an expat is still conscious about safety then there are stores like Tango, RH Hypermart, Boroko Foodworld, Vision City or SVS that meet the safety standards. They usually have a sufficient number of security guards to see that peace and order around the store is implemented. But one must expect the prices to be a bit higher (around 4 to 8 Kina difference) which is reasonable after considering their operation expenses.

My Unforgettable Trip To Lea Lea Beach

Four years have passed since the first time I set foot on Papua New Guinea, and since then I was starting to wonder what it's like beyond the self-imposed limits that I had put myself into. 

 What it's like outside the 4 corners of my room? Well, technically, it was a patio which was changed into a canopied aisle, but beyond the patio and what's behind those hills in the horizon is still unknown to me. 

 What's preventing me from exploring POM is something that must have originated from various unsolicited advice that tells me it's not safe to go out there . There's probably an elephant in the room and I can only guess that the answer closest to reality is being afraid of uncertainty. 

 Well, I was given a chance one day, when a persistent cousin and his brave friend visited me and Harold (my cousin and an office mate) to brave those anaphoric warnings of don't go over there, don't lose your life. They want us to try a place where they had previously 're-discovered' unintentionally.

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My Humble Beginning in Papua New Guinea

My journey in Papua New Guinea began in 2008 at Lae, Morobe Province, PNG.

During that time, I was working as the head of IT Department in a mid-sized micro-finance company in Nueva Ecija, Philippines. The pay was good and I was enjoying my job which was more on being an in-house programmer and a little bit less of being a manager to a handful of tech-savvy people who were in my team. I say 'less' because having personally interviewed and selected them myself, I know their capabilities. I knew then that all of them had potentials and  a simple nudge was all they needed on such a young age to release their insatiable hunger for success.

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