[masamaaso]

Me,, Not much to it really
I was born in Dublin Ireland,,sent to the U.S.when i was 12 to live with a aunt and uncle,whom I never met until then and still hate to this day,,,needless to say, things didn't go so well there,,I soon found myself at Fork Union Military Academy in southern Virginia,, which is where I discovered Weeeeed,,after 7 years there i was excepted to Annapolis Navel Academy,,and received my commission in the United States Marine Corps in 1980, retired in 2007 at the rank of Captain.. ,,SMOKIN THE WHOLE WAY..
Been married 3 times,,one of um i actually liked,,, got 2 grown kids,,I like both of them..

My wife,,
Wife's name is Sabuya ( SAA-BOO-YAA ) just one word,,,, no middle name ,,,no last name,,shes givin me the ok to post a foto of her as long as she oks the foto first.
She was born here,,, ok now get yer hankies out for this one,,, her and her mother caught lobsters paddled out to the sea lanes and sold them to the cruise ships to get enough money to send her to Jakarta when she was 13 where she worked as a house maid in exchange for being sent to Highschool,,after high school the lady she worked for sent her to Palawan State University on the Island of Palawan In the Philippines where she learned to speak English and French and got a degree in Accounting and Business management ..
Her first job was with a Singapore bank that took her to the Netherlands when I met her she was working at De Netherlands Banks main office in Amsterdam,,she shared a flat with 2 other girls in the city and kept a small flat in Delft.

We met,,, at a bakery in Delft the coolest town in the Netherlands,,I was trying the country side on my annual Mecca and found this little town,The B&B I was staying at had a little bakery downstairs ,,on a Saturday morning I was down there having coffee and a woman walked in dressed in sweats pants and a T shirt,,she sat down at the table next to mine,,we made a little eye contact,,her order was ready she got it and left,,next morning same thing,,I'm havin coffee,,she walks in,,,table next to me,,little eye contact,,,order up ,,,out the door she went.
Monday morning she comes in dressed in this Hot tight Euro bich skirt and heels,,hair and make-up,,, i was staring,,,,I'm talkin I was blatantly oggeling her,,,I was floored,,I was knocked to ma fukin knees right there,,,I couldnt take my eyes off her,,I watched her as she walked up and down the counter,ordering her coffee and croissants little heels clickin on the tile floor ,,AND THEN,,,,, lil bich turned around,, looked at me,, and asked "did you get a good look ??" ..Welllllll,,,,,,,,It was pretty much on from there,,cause I was waaaaaay beyond just looking,,I stood up,,,, circled around her like she was a prize Lipizzaner mare,just short of a close arms inspection,,,,looking up and down making comments on her shoes,,hair ,,,make-up and style of dress,,,comments she ate up with a big wooden pastry spoon, cause we've barley been apart since that day.

How'd we end up here ??
Wife hasn't seen her family for over 20 years,,,she has 3 sisters and 2 brothers shes never seen,,didn't take me long to figger out the sad side of her,,she missed her family..I tried to plan a surprise trip ,but when I found out where here really was and what it took to get here I had to involve her in the plans,soon after getting info on how to get here I found out this island and 5 others in the archipelago are World Heritage Sites for Indigenous Tribal cultures and visiting is only permitted with permits and approval of the W.H.O,,, It took us 8 months to get approved,,their big deal was our influences on the their culture, if my wife wasn't born here we would have been turned down for sure ,,and you better believe they let us know that... They tried to convince my wife it would be better for her family if she were to not go,,tried to tell her because of her experiences and education she could possibly make detrimental changes to their lives,,,well ya know what ??? their right,,she has every intention of changing their lives,,,like steady food supply ,,livestock tending, raising other crops besides corn and rice,,,better water supply for "stick town" ( shacks built over the water )3 years ago we started paying a Malaysian doctor and his nurse wife to come here every 6 months,,now they come and stay for a week every 6 months but no longer charge us,,we just pay for their boat rides here and back..Last year we sent 2 girls to Bali to be trained as Midwives,,one decided she wanted to work in a bar and entertain men the other returned and helped my wife set up a small one room birthing center that she funds herself,,and offers it to any one who needs it in the area not just this island,,,, most births here go ok,,,sum don't...

Came here just for a visit,,only supposed to stay for 21 days,,that would be 6 years ago this Jan...............

[castout]

You are a true romantic...she is a lucky woman, and I think you are also a lucky man!!!!! Have fun on that island!!!!!!

[lost in a sea]

great read masa!

you've seen a few places and peoples in your life lol

good to have you here buddy

[vukman]

Nice........and welcome from the Great White North...
Have a similar story as well except for the meeting the woman of my dreams part that is....'92 went to Fla. to work in the clean up effort after Hurricane Andrew. After a while, met up with people...last names ending in vowel type of people..The last 6 months I was there, I spent on a small privately own island in the Bahamas.
Best damn 6 months of my life. Could go waist deep and collect the conch you wanted to eat that day.

Ahh.....you are indeed a lucky man......hope you find everything you're looking for here.

Wow, WHAT a story!

So the comment about Tagalog makes a lot more sense, IIRC PI has a significant percentage of the earth's languages that remain still being spoken on the islands.

I hope this isn't an insensitive question, but I am curious. Did the Japanese make it to those islands during the war? Or were those people able to remain untouched by the brutality other islanders experienced?

[guineapig]

Amazing story....

I would love to learn more about the history and culture of these World Heritage Sites...

I guess this is close to "Micronesia" that is on those old world maps?

kind regards from guineapig

[skullznroses]

you stole my dreams and made them real. Thank you, at least one of us got there!

oh, and you brought cannabis to the island. Or was it there? Bad white man. lol

[masamaaso]

Originally Posted by SeaMaiden

Wow, WHAT a story!

So the comment about Tagalog makes a lot more sense, IIRC PI has a significant percentage of the earth's languages that remain still being spoken on the islands.

I hope this isn't an insensitive question, but I am curious. Did the Japanese make it to those islands during the war? Or were those people able to remain untouched by the brutality other islanders experienced?

Not a bad question at all, I asked it when we first got here, the answer is a Nat Geo style killer.
But im gonna dole it out in snippets.

This was told to me by my wifes grandfather (a word thats not in their language, to her he is "the father of her father".) and translated by the wife and her mother.He's told this story before and people gather around when he's talking of the past, hard to say how old he is but theres plenty who are older, these people live long lives.

80 some years ago they were cannbilistic headhunters, but not for food, for the beliefs they had (some still have) when one takes the life of another warrior. Theres 100s of islands within a 2-3 day paddle of each other not all are habitated, some no bigger than yer backyard, theres 7 tribes here now ,they say was more long ago. Tribes fought each other for sport and bragging rights more than land or possessions, some tribes were warring people some were not, in a way some still are, when one was killed in battle he was beheaded, and consumed by the one who killed him,(not the whole body just certain parts) gets into stuff like afterlife ,,the dead warriors spirit lives in the one who killed him, stuff like that, best one was the dead mans strength and skills in battle were now in the one who killed and consumed him, so if you kill 10 you now have the power of 10 warriors (easy dave) but ya get the picture.
These days they have "festivals" big ones and recreate battles when a certian warrior was killed, or one tribe over took another, they eat like pigs ,drink ferminted coconut juice and the local made rum and get all fucked up for 3-4 days, needless to say I get involved with all the above and have a blast. I look good in a loin cloth and body paint:laughing :
Ight, so a few 100 years ago the dutch covered the region with missionaries who were instantly killed as they were getting out of boats on the beach,the color of their skin was frightning to them some tribes accepted them others did not. I guess they wern't interested in bein forced to change their lifestyle and pray to an unknown god,,they have plenty of their own gods, one for just about everything, but not gods, they have spirits, and everything has a sprite, everything.
The Dutch tried many times to inhabit this island and those around it but never did. the fotos here show the beach where all the killing took place, one of 3 sandy areas on the whole island the rest is mountians dropping off into the sea.

Next WWII and the cave of the dead.

You've got my attention, I look forward to reading more as you dole it out. LOVING the pix, truly.

Once, in a past life, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Took some anthropology courses, then learned what an archaeologist typically earns (earned, back then, different nowadays) and eschewed it for the idiotic world of graphic arts. I shoulda been smokin' some better shit back then.

[headband 707]

Yeah finding the Island now that is still the dream right lol.. Well I'm sure it will happen just have to give it a bit more time and space headband 707