Ifagalz

Hello again everyone and good morning from I-hop in Federal Way, Washington. Just wanted to congratulate you all for every success you have made in your life this past year and wishing each and everyone of you a very successful 2012.

There is really nothing important to share with our group, it is just that I was so busy I haven’t had the chance to stop in to say Hi. We are doing alright here in the state of Washington, at least now that the SNOW has melted and the roads are cleared up and the power came back within 24 hrs.

To our Ifalik Students, let me remind you of several important things. January is really a busy month for a lot of students for a lot of reasons. And most of the time, students forget the importance of renewing or applying for Financial Aid in January, even if you or your parents have not filed the 2011 taxes. I must say February 15th is the absolute latest for you to turn in your FAFSA. Why? Because it places you on a priority listing of students that can be awarded financial assistance including scholarhips. Most students failed to file on time causing them to loose out on some aids like SEOG, Work Study, and some state funded aids. So I urge you to complete and/or prioritize filling out your FAFSA!

And for High School seniors or transferring students, do not forget that colleges use the same deadline for scholarship priority placements too. So I urge you to get off Facebook Now and finish filling out the forms. .

Just so you know, I waited too long to help my daughter Jayjay apply for colleges within the state and I am regretting it now, so please do not make the same mistake that I did. Jayjay, my second daughter, got admitted to the University of Idaho but it could have been much better if she got into the University of Washington so she can stay with me and go to college. But it’s too late now.

I still got her FAFSA done way ahead of time and all scholarship forms ready to be mailed, but not meeting the application deadline for the University of Washington was something I regretted. I have already done her scholarship apps for the Yap State as well as the Chuuk State and FSM scholarships, but I missed some deadlines on some other very important scholarships that she could have applied to.

My Summer fun plans were all out the window now that I have to take my daughter to Idaho for her orientation as well as getting her ready to move into her dorm. On top of this, my old boy Junior was selected by his school to represent them in the PEOPLE TO PEOPLE forum in Washington DC. Jun will be in Washington DC for 6 days this summer, probably the same time I will be in Idaho.

Please Uncle Martin and Senator Jerry, give us updates on our Ifalik students. I really want to get in touch with them if only to give them a few words of advise. I may be corny most of the time, but my passion for getting our youngsters educated can pierce the skies. lol !

The following is an excerpt of a Letter Written by FSM Congressman David Panuelo… I just simply added the pictures of my Nephews here to show that we do have our citizens serve honorably in the US Armed Services… Just out of our little island of Ifalik, with a population of maybe 500, we have more than 15 serving… Just a little piece of info for your consumption. Enjoy it!  “As a citizen of the Federated States of Micronesia, I have been very saddened to read recent reports of negative attitudes and discrimination directed at our fellow Micronesians by some on the United States. We hear stories about Micronesian schoolchildren being singled out by bullies, Micronesians families being discriminated against by landlords, and Micronesians crowding homeless shelters. Perhaps more disturbingly, this stereotype of Micronesians as victims, scapegoats, and scroungers has been fueled by politicians characterizing Micronesian migrants as a drain on government resources, in what has been described as a “Compact Impact problem.” Having recently received an email from a cousin of mine, Hainrick Panuelo, who is on the U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan asking what we are doing about the criticism that are being directed against Micronesians in Hawaii, Guam, and elsewhere in the United States, this issue is very personal to me. Micronesians are on the front lines of war zones, fighting alongside American citizens and defending the same freedoms and rights that Americans value so much. There is a disconnect between the United States government’s honoring of our fallen servicemen at the Pohnpei International Airport and the talk of “Compact Impact problems” from American citizens and officials alike. I also have personal experience of the compromises we have made in voting to support the national interests of the U.S. at the United Nations at the expense of our relations with other developing nations. So, here I say today, where did our real friends go?

Why such a short memory? Micronesia and the United States have a unique and special relationship, following the U.S. trusteeship of the region. Our Compact of Free Association with the United States permits our citizens to enter, work, and reside in the United States, and grant similar rights to United States citizens wishing to live and work in our islands. While the Compact Impact costs is a mere speck in the totality of the U.S. economy, the immigration provisions of the Compact are a lifeline for small island economies like that of the FSM. Although some may choose to focus on the benefits Micronesians receive from the United States, the totality of our relationship is more complex. The Compact gives the United States government veto powers over the nearly one million square miles of Micronesia’s water and air space. The U.S. can no more unilaterally create a bottleneck for FSM citizen’s right to freely travel and work in the United States, than the government of the Federal States of Micronesia can revisit the defense provisions of the Compact. Aren’t the veto powers over the waters and air space of the FSM that the two counties agreed in the Compact a security and strategic lifeline for the U.S.? As a student at the time of the Compact was signed and as a congressman now, I have always believed that is a fair exchange. And so Micronesia shouldn’t be looked at as a charity case. I am not denying that the reliance of some Micronesians on social service programs in the U.S. is a valid concern. The reality is that some of our citizens are not prepared to enter the competitive U.S. job market. Every new migrant group faces this kind of hurdle. Our Compact negotiators on both sides early on foresaw this issue and include compensation provisions in the Compact for the U.S. federal government to reimburse U.S. territories or States affected by the kind of Compact Impact we are talking about today. So, why such a short memory? But we are mostly hearing negative reports about the impact of the Compact. By contrast, every time I travel to the U.S. it makes me proud to see just how many Micronesians are working hard at U.S. airports, in the U.S. tourism, and service industry, in the manufacturing industry, in the fields of Maui and on farms elsewhere in the U.S, in the fast-food industry, and in nursing homes caring for seniors citizens. In fact, a great number of our citizens are productive members of the U.S. workforce contributing to the U.S. economy.

Just among my own circle of friends and acquaintances, I know many FSM citizens who are succeeding in the United States. Len Isotoff from Chuuk is currently the general manager of Matson Navigation Co. for Guam and Micronesia, and the chairman of USO in Guam, a non-profit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military. A cousin of mine, Walden Weilbacher from the island of Pohnpei, is the head of the secretariat of the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures based in Guam and an active member of the FSM-Guam community. Aren Palik, from the States of Kosrae, is the president and CEO of the Pacific Islands Development Bank base on Guam, which was established in 1989 to help accelerate the economic and social development of member countries. Viladino Raatior, from the State of Chuuk, is currently assistant director at the International Program Office at Santa Clara University in Northern California and has sent to more than 105 study abroad program locations in more than 50 countries. Mr. Raatior also has a successful home-based web design business. Rocketchun Holden, an FSM citizen from the island of Pohnpei, employs around forty people in the courier business he started fourteen years ago in Idaho, and another twenty in his expanding chain of sushi restaurants. Mr. Bruce Musrasrik, an FSM citizen from the State of Pohnpei who in June 2007 was promoted to hotel manager for the Ohana Islander Waikiki, which is part of the chain of Ohana Hotels and Resorts.

I also have many well-educated FSM citizen college classmates and friends, too numerous to mention here, living across the United States in gainful employment and contributing to the U.S. economy in their respective professions and skills. Most of these friends have lived in the U.S for a long time with their families and children. A am encouraged and feel hope for your our future as a nation when I see and talk to their well educated children. Together with our real friends in the U.S., we need to do more to promote the positive impact that our relationship has on both our nations. I hope that together we can begin to create a climate where American officials and citizens can focus on the benefits, and not just the costs, of the Compact. One of our founding fathers, the late John Mangefel, said it well during the negotiations when he said, “You cannot put a ship on a canoe, but you can put a canoe on a ship.” In other words, when there are challenges to be faced in our relationship, the shop of the United States has more capacity to address then than the FSM canoe.”

This is just off the wire coming to you from the home of the Seattle Sea Hawks and the Seattle Mariners, that the girl’s Team had tapped deep into their line of chefs, this time recruited a new and unknown chef to help them get ahead. She showed up from the jungles of Meseyong Island in Chuuk, fully versed and well equiped with the cooking recipees of Faaluul Iyefang on Ifalik atoll- this newbie has brought some great excitement and some new challenges that the boy’s team will have to face.

Rosie Gonzales is the new addition to the Girl’s team and is exciting to watch as she tossed the flour all over the place. Her roots into the Mexican Tijuana Culture had helped her in her creativity trying to get the enzymes flared up so they can get the flour out of the mixing bowl and into the oven. Amazing what a girl of this background can do…

A mixture of many cultures of Uman, Chuuk, Ifalik, Yap and Tijuana Mexico, you cannot go wrong in what she can accomplish in this competition. So far, all she had added is excitement. We are still waiting to see what she can do…

Calson was already trying to give up thinking that the boy’s team cannot compete with a newbie like Rosie . I cannot wait to see really what this newbie can do. One thing I notice though is that she just woke up and head straight for the flour bowl, leaving her pacifier in her crib…. lol.

Ifalik should be proud to have a great Chef in this girl. Same goes to Uman for they have finally produced a chef of their own, not to mention those folks down in Tijuana, Mexico. Happy Cooking day!

Shown in the picture on the left, the newby is busy mixing her flour and in the process painting the entire dining table white. I can see that she can fit in the bowl herself… Hahahaha…. Sorry Rosie.

Reporting to you live from the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington is yours truly. lol. ! Have fun everyone!

Well, remember that competition we had a few days ago? Right, the donuts or bread making competition, yes. That’s what I am talking about. Since then, I had been perfecting my bread making techniques. And for better or worse, I am already sharing my findings with other people. Guess you can call me a rookie Chef. No not that, a Wannabe Chef, I think is more fitting. lol.

Tonight, at this very hour, 2:58 in the morning, I just finished finalizing my techniques and the results were amazing, at least to my taste. I know you can blame me for thinking that I have the eyes of everyone, but that is not what I am talking about here. I am just sharing what I personally think of what I did. I have evidence since my toy, a Rebel T2i Canon is doing its job collecting them for me, so you can judge and let me know what you think. There is that facebook like button at the end of this blog, so go right ahead and hit it for me. Willya? lol.

While everyone in my house was busy dreaming and snoring, I was pretty busy preparing the dough and raising the Yeast enzimes, melting the pretty yellowish butter from my favorite state of Oregon, while eyeing the clock ensuring that the timing is just about right while listening in on the cricketts roaming my Garage.. I can even tell that my years of  raising a few kids helped in figuring out the temperature of the milk and water as I was comparing it to the times one of these kids would steam-off the cold and flu… . It is why experience matters! lol.

As you can see in the pictures provided, the results of my labor was a success. I burnt the most precious ones though, which was sad cuz I was reserving those for thy Chef Wannabe. They were overcooked but still yummy and soft and everything on the top. They were so delicious. Amazingly delicious I might say.

So, if you ever have a question or two about making a bread roll, you now know that you have an Island Chef Wannabe that can be called upon for help. It will only cost you a Like Button! lol. And I pray and hope that my best friend in Portland found my technique amazingly useful and easily applied. May God bless guys and Good Morning from this corner of these United States of Micronesia…. Ooops. I mispoke again… the United States of America! Yes indeed.

Now that the tearing down of the boat has done and the dust has settled, let us turn to the latter part of this huge project. Actually there is still tearing apart going on as I was still removing little things from all over the boat, including the windshield, wiper, the navigational lights and so forth, but everything seems to be falling into places.

How much fuel can this thing carry? Where am I taking this thing? Or what kind of fishing am I thinking in these harsh waters of these United States of America? These were the type of questions that bugged me throughout this project and especially when laying the flooring.

I made a huge mistake in leaving the old tank at my old house in Oregon, now I have to buy new fuel tanks. Already purchased the tanks on Amazon, each tank can hold 35 gallons of fuel so as of now, the boat is ready to carry a total fuel of 70 gallons. Am not sure how far that’s going to take the boat but if I am thinking Tuna fishing then we are talking about at least 100 nautical miles offshore… wow. Long drive! I still have one more room on the boat for one more tank, that’s leave very little room for the catch… lol. Freakin small boat man.

To my relieve, the Transom has done, the motor well is in, and the flooring has laid. Now the easy and fun part of painting the entire boat. But before that, I had to sand the old paint down trying to take off the chalky peeled paints so that the new paint can be attached. It was a very meticulous job and one that has to be done so not to waste your time. I think this is the most important thing in the painting process, let’s call it the preparation part. It must be done right the first time so you do not regret it.

Weather plays a huge role in how you approach your painting process. And since I do not have the privilege of an Island weather, it makes it a lot more complicated. You have to work or paint in a temperature of no less than  50 degrees Fahrenheit  (10 degrees Celsius) and with the minimum of moisture in the air. Another problem I have is that I have no access to a boat OVEN…. yes to bake the boat! … And you know what? My oldest son told me we should cover the boat with Tin Foil and let it baked under the sun. Not a bad idea. We just have to run to Costco for a huge Tin Foil bag…

This is not part of what I learned via the Internet but while in Japan, yes in Yokohama. We used laundry soap to wash down parts of boats before we painted them. So as you can imagine, this is not the first time I painted a boat. This is the first time I did it all alone by my body and soul. lol. And fully enjoying every moment of it.

There is a twist to this boat making process. I was going to let it sit this summer and just enjoy my vacation but my Friend Mark from work challenged me to finish this damn project. He told me since I built the shed before the boat, it means the boat is going to be sitting around for another 5 years! lol. Thanks to my friend Mark, I am very close to being done with this project. I was up very early this morning to pull the boat out under the sun to dry it up very good and to warm it up a bit before I put the Bikini Blue on there. Don’t ask me why they call that paint Bikini but I think I like that name. lol.

So here we go. In the afternoon, I should have a bit more story to tell you about the Bikini Paint and if I still have a positive look and feel of it. We shall see. If I do not like it, then it means I aint say nothing about it. lol.

Hello friends again. Good Afternoon from the Puget Sound. Well the first Bikini Blue coat has been completed as you can see in the following pictures. It came out pretty good. We’ll have to see when all is said and done. It took me about 30 minutes to complete the first coat, using a roller and a brush. I will have to go back to Home Depot again for more good brushes. The normal brush I got didn’t turn out good as the fibers kept falling off and onto the paint. The roller was awesome!

Well between painting and baking the boat under the natural oven (the sun), I was able to put two layers on. The boat looks pretty new now, at least the top side. I am not planning on touching any other parts until tomorrow. There is an 8 hours wait between coatings and that is if the temperature is above 90 degrees. Today was hovering between 80 and 85, no more. It’s only today that I wished I am in Dallas to get the boat baked well. lol. Sorry Dallas folks, but I really do not know how you guys handle the heat down there. lol.

I am including more pictures of the painting job that I did today. The baking part was not too bad at all. The sun was out and there was no wind at all so it was a pretty good day for painting. After we did the second coat, then we just spent the afternoon taking in the sun as well as the many commercial airplanes that fly by our house on their way to SeaTac airport… Great time with the boys!

Drinking circle is a tradition where islanders (men) come together in the evenings to drink their daily collections of tuba. Tuba is fermented alcohol from the Coconut Tree where it is in abundance on the islands. Every evening, men would gather in front of the men’s houses to drink… and basically have fun.

These drinking circles are meaningful and of course suppose to be fun. They are meaningful for men would come and discuss daily issues pertaining to community matters on a regular basis. It is also a way of getting these men relaxed after long days of labor, either looking for food (mostly fishing) or working on big projects like house building, canoe buildings, etc.. Usually after the gathering, men would team up and head for more drinking and this is where family secrets (magics, know hows, traditions, etc..) passed down to the younger members of a family or clan.

From my own observation, islanders are pretty good drinkers. They don’t usually go “SARDINES” when drunk. Sardines is the name given by islanders to drinkers that go crazy and do crazy stuff while drunk. I guess the comparison make sense because the sardines that Islanders know are the canned ones without heads…. lol.

One interesting phenomenon is the changing from consuming the domestic Tuba to the importing Yeast. As you can see on some of the pictures used in this blog, the container I assumed is full of Yeast. I guess it is similar to tuba cuz it is also a fermented kind. ! I think so! hehehe. On the picture to the left, it looks like our boy from Hatiewa Mr. Paulino is leading this drinking circle. I have to find a photo of him fishing cuz I really do not feel like it is the right thing for me to post him being the leader of this group. lol. But thanks to Paul for taking care of our folks back home.

After the 4th try, our dough finally turns into Mr. Indian Chef's dough! lol.

It took the boys and I four tries to get it right, much much righter… lol. We decided on following this Indian Chef we found on Youtube. The problem was that he was using a very different kind of Yeast than the one we found in our kitchen cabinets. . As you can see in the photo on the left here, that thing swells to the top threatening to get out of that bowl. Too much Yeast enzimes? I wish I had a microscope so I can examine this little bugs growing and expanding, forcing the dough to reach this high.

Thanks to the Indian Youtube Chef, we are well on our way to the perfect Ifalikese morning bread ever designed and created… lol. Jun and Cal were telling me the next thing we should try adding cantolope and see how it taste in the morning with a cup of coffee.

Ifalik Donuts made of banana and egss with Yeast and Flour.... lol

Grace and the girls opted on making the usual Ifalikese style donuts. The funny thing is they used up Rosie’s bananas. The poor girl had to go on hunger strike because she has no bananas to play with. Lucky I hid some tapioca and taro so she has some island sweets for dinner.

Not a bad day to be involved in this donut making competition instead of painting our boat. It was raining all day long. The boys and I had to take a trip up to Seattle Fisheries Supply Store to buy paint and supplies and by the time we arrived back home, it was pouring like rain. Ooops, it really is raining. Tomorrow should be fine so we should be able to do some painting on the boat.

As I was trying to put this site together yesterday, my youngest son came out with a flyer and told me we had won something from this car dealer. I looked at it and it said we won one of five prices. I really do not pay too much attention to this kinda stuff but my son insisted that we go check this out. He told me that the reason the dealership kept on sending this stuff to us is because we spent so much money with them.

He won me over and there we went. It turned out, we won a Walmart $5.00 gift certificate. Wow! I don’t want my son to feel bad so I told him it is better than nothing. He agreed and that was the beginning of our day.

Today’s schedule is loaded. My sons and I have already decided to challenge these girls on coming out with a new recipe for bread making. Actually we are think of cheating and we already watched this Indian guy on Youtube did his thing and I think we can pull this one off. We are going to make some delicious bread!

And then in the afternoon, we will continue with painting our newly remodeled boat. If those guys at the marina can get their acts together and have the paints we needed, we can start painting anytime soon.

Today is August 21, 2011. Just arrived from Church and here I am tapping away at this keyboard, writing a history of my life. Actually I just finished installing the wordpress program am using for Ifagalz.

As I was uploading my pictures on our Ifalik Family group on Facebook, I noticed how annoying it would be to see a lot of pictures as posts, including the millions of emails telling you about the new posts. I decided to reactivate Ifagalz and tell the whole universe about my life. And of course about my island of Ifalik.

Today marks the beginning of yet another era of Ifagalz. Ifagalz was a domain I purchased for my daughters and my nieces and as a means of both learning and keeping in touch with loved ones. It was quiet an experience and lots of its stories will come on here in due time.

But today, I celebrate the rebirth here in my little corner while waiting for donuts. Ifalikese donuts that is. My sister and my daughters are trying to out-chef me by coming up with their own recepies. I do not think they can do that to me with my over 10 years of being in the Restaurant industry. I hope so! lol.

Have you made up your mind yet on what kind of boat you are going to buy? Have you own one yet? Do you have the money for it? These are a few of the many questions came to mind while contemplating buying one.

It is not cheap to get a boat here. At least that much is very crystal clear. The one I was looking at and wishing my heart out that I get, was a Trophy 20 footer with diesel and a range of 400 miles. But the cost is well above my pay grade… Too much for an islander like myself.

On a sunny afternoon as I was driving around town, I came upon a boat that was up for sale. Price tag? $600 bucks!  And it came with a Trailer. I stopped in right away and inquired about it. The poor dude told me he was selling it for 600 bucks since he was moving. I slowly took out my wallet and saw that I only had 200 in there. I told the guy that I had 200 cash and that I was going to call my wife to see if she can agree that I buy this thingy. As soon as I got off the phone, I  told the poor dude that it was not my lucky day since my wife turned down my request that I borrow money from her. As I was making my move toward my vehicle, the dude stopped me and told me that he can sell it to me for 200 bucks. I was so happy, I almost kiss the man! lol. No. Not at all. I was just happy.

I bought the boat and head straight for Autozone to buy something so I can hook it up to my truck and tow it to my house. In no time, the boat was in the front of the house. But there is a huge problem, I have no way of getting it to the backyard.

Time to  cut out a whole part of the wooden fence! That was exactly what I did, cut out about 10 feet of the fence and pushed the boat right through there. Now the hard part of tearing that thing apart.

First thing first, cutting and tearing everything off the boat until I reached the shell of the boat itself. As you can see in the picture on the left, I took out everything including the inboard engine down to the bare minimum, the plastic shell itself. Lots of work and lots of trash too.

One thing keeps me going though, the idea that I will see it through until the finishing touches and see if I can really do such a thing.

If there is anything I regret about this project, it’s that I had no plan for it. I was working out of the total blue. I should have at least came up with some blue print as to where I needed the project to be when all said and done. But then it was the very first thing I ever did and is a learning project.

That is the "Senap" lol. Putting the new Transom in.

The Transom was rotten to the core. It took me  a while taking the old one out, using all sorts of tools and techniques. I actually celebrated the time I got that damn thing out. You can see my face with dust in the picture on the left as I was trying to put the new Transom I created in its place. What a job! It was  a relief that I finally got this thing in as I was very sure then that this project was sure on its way somewhere.

The challenge that I got working on this boat was that it was an inboard so it has a hole in the plastic that needed to be blocked up. I know putting the new Transom in will cover the hole, but then what I do. I came up with a plan of adding two 2×4′s, one on the outside and one in the inside and use long steel screws or whatever they call those to pull the plastic wall toward the New Transom. In addition, I added three layers of fiberglass cloth between the transom and the wall and just simply spill resin in between while tightening the screws on the 2×4′s. After that, I filled in the hole with more cloth and finally fillers.

New Flooring, half of it at least is already in place. Keep a vacuum handy!

Installing the new floor was the easiest part I think. All you have to do is to cut out the plywood to match the boat flooring layout, cover it with fiber cloth and resin on both sides and then attach it to the boat. Simple and easy. Fairly straight forward. Oh, do not forget to add foams in there too. I added the foams after laying the entire floor out. I just bought the spray ones from Home Depot and sprayed it into an open I created in the floor. It was fun! lol. Do not forget to wear gloves or you will have foams all over your hands.

Alright folks, the next Article will be about the other side of the project! When it’s nearing completion.