Goldie River, Central Province, PNG

Yesterday, my friend asked me if I wanted to go to Sogeri. As I haven't been there for a while, I agreed. However, this plan quickly changed this morning when we got at the meeting place over at Erima and I was told that we were going to Goldie river.

The road to the river takes you through the Hiritano highway. You take the left fork at the nine-mile intersection. You will go through three narrow steel bridges, several copses of trees and a bit of rough track once you turn off from the highway. You turn right before you see the rubber tree plantations. The dirt track is very muddy and slippery. There is also a part where you have to go over a shallow rocky stream.

I was told by a local guide that there is a gold mine closeby hence the name. The river is composed of two strongs streams of water flowing down and converging into one. The banks are rocky and the river is quite shallow though there are parts where it is deeper and you can take a dive. There are some shallow rapids here where you can lie down and let the water refresh you all over.

The foresty department has an office here and several picnic huts have been set up for visitors to have a barbeque. There are grills available and our group brought lamb chops, sausages and of course, some foil to cook the meat on. The picnic area also has some sandalwood and eaglewood trees surrounding adding to the pleasantness of the area.  There are quite a lot of butterflies fluttering around the area.

It was indeed a pleasant afternoon spent with friends having a good feed and a yarn. On the way back to Port Moresby, we passed by a curious sight. A hunter was selling some wallabies by the road.

I recommend visiting this place on the weekend. It's nice and close to the city. Ciao!

Anti-Piracy Raid in Port Moresby

A lot of people think that Papua New Guinea is far behind from the rest of the world. This is far from the truth and even modern crime has reached its pristine shores. Piracy has hit Papua New Guinea in a big way.

In 2009, the Asian shops around the country specifically the Asians from China introduced a battery operated boombox to which you can attach a flash drive to play your music. This device proved to be disastrous to the music industry and in 1 year, industry sales fell by more than 20%.

The company that I work for is the biggest record company in the country and through the years, we have done many raids. I personally have led quite a number of investigations and raids. It used to be that piracy was done on cassettes and CDs. Today, it has gone all digital and shops around the country use computers to sell MP3s. These unscrupulous businessmen not only sell illegal digital copies of music, they also sell videos including pornographic materials which they sell to anyone who can pay including young people. They do not care if they corrupt the country's youth.

We have been investigating a number of shops involved in piracy around the city with the police and we finally got the search warrant to go after these pirates last February 29, the leap day of all days. We had 11 teams as this was to be a simultaneous raid as we knew that the pirates had their own network and they only need to hit the delete button to destroy all evidence. I joined the team for Gordons market, the toughest area amongst all the ones we investigated.

We deployed at 10am after a briefing by Chief of the Criminal Investigation Division. We had a heavily armed mobile squad with us who were armed with AR-15 rifles. As soon as we arrived at the location, members of the mobile squad quickly secured the perimeter as the area can quickly explode into chaos.

I along with 3 policemen from the mobile squad quickly went up to get the customers to serve the warrant, leave the premises, and conduct the search. Our search quickly bore fruit as the computers were loaded with thousands of songs and videos which included pornographic material. The shop keepers, one of which could barely speak english were asked to produce their work permits & passports. We quickly rounded up all evidence and took them back to the Boroko police station to do a more thorough search on the contents of each and every computer.

Here are some photos from the day:

mobile squad securing the perimeter

inside the computer shop

going through fake windows and other fake software

the various computers containing illegal copies of music

I hope these pirates learn their lesson. In today's world, so many people disrespect copyright. In fact, most young people these days think it should be free not thinking of the cost of production and all the time, effort and resources that went into making a song. Three cheers for the good work done by the PNG Royal Constabulary specifically the CID.

Ciao!

Paradise Cinema - Vision City, Port Moresby

Finally, Port Moresby has opened a multiplex cinema. It is called Paradise Cinema and is located on the top floor of Vision City. I never would have thought this day would come when I first moved here 6 years ago but here it is. Watching movies is a hobby I have sorely missed and I hate how I'm left out when conversations touch the subject of movies with friends.

The cinema currently is screening 4 titles namely Sherlock Holmes 2, Journey 2, Darkest Hour and Alvin & the Chipmunks. Prices are at K25 for the normal cinema and K45 for the premium cinema. Kiddie prices are K5 cheaper. 

At the cinema's foyer is a snack bar and a cafe. You can buy popcorn and other goodies and even a choc-top just like in Australia. The cafe serves the usual coffee concoctions plus some chai and a host of baked delights such as brownies and muffins. Inside the cinema, the sound was good but I thought the seats were a bit uncomfortable. My thigh ached a little after the movie but hey, I'm still glad there's finally a cinema in Port Moresby and I bought another ticket for tonight.

One thing though that I didn't like was how the guards are too strict. Not all people like being touched and the guards can get a bit touchy when they scan you with the metal detector. But I guess they have to be strict so it's alright. The big challenge here would be the maintenance of the cinema. I hope the operators do periodic maintenance especially with the toilets.

They don't allow cameras inside which I totally agree with so I was only able to take 1 photo outside.

Well, I'm off to watch Darkest Hour. Ciao!

Bratwurst / Mettwurst Sandwich

Bratwurst is a very popular German sausage available as a street food in a large number of countries. It's made from pork with some marjoram as a spice. Mettwurst is also made from pork but is usually smoked and strong in flavour. I believe combining the two in a sandwich would make for a delicious delight and boy was I right.

 

The ingredients:

• Multi-grain cob
• Bratwurst
• Smoked Mettwurst
• Mustard
• Dill pickles
• Butter
• Cheese

The procedure:

 

Pan frat both sausages until they are brown. Slice the cob and slather one side with butter and theother side with mustard. Put cheese on both sides of the cob. Slice the sausages and arrange them on the cob then put the dill pickles across. Close the sandwich and start eating!!!

 

Here are some photos:

 

 

the bratwurst is on top and the mettwurst at the bottom

bratwurst is darker than the mettwurst

 

This is quite a spicy salty sandwich so make sure you have some water close by to wash it all down. Enjoy! Ciao!

 

Tuna in Blue Cheese Aioli Sandwich

I've always loved tuna but I'm not such a big fan of those tuna melt sandwiches. I feel that a cold tuna sandwich is immensely better as I feel that fish is a dis better served cold. Anyway, I felt like making some aioli which is essentially garlic infused mayo. Today, I've decided to make a nice tuna sandwich using freshly made aioli from scratch on a fresh baguette.

The ingredients:

• 1 egg yolk
• Oil - up to you if you want to use virgin or something else. I used peanut oil.
• Lemon juice
• Blue cheese
• 1 bulb Garlic
• Flaked tuna
• Brown onion
• Tomato
• Apples
• Baguettes
• Mustard to taste

The procedure:

Slice your apples, onions and tomatoes and set aside. These will be used to garnish your baguette later. Chop the garlic and set aside. In a blender or food processor, mix the egg yolk with about 150-200ml of oil and about 5 teaspoons of lemon juice. Blend until thick and creamy then put in about 75 grams of blue cheese and all the garlic then blend again until it's all smooth. You can add salt and pepper if you want.

Slice your baguettes lengthwise and garnish this with the slices of apple, onion and tomatoes. Drain the flaked tuna and put in a bowl. Mix the aioli with the tuna along with some mustard. It is important that you do not put too much aioli and make the mixture too wet as it will ruin your sandwich and make it hard to eat. Now scoop the tuna mixture out and lay it thick onto the baguette and serve! This is delicious!

Here are some photos: 

Make only enough aioli for what you need as this can spoil fast especially since the yolk is raw. Adding salt will make it last a bit longer. Enjoy! Ciao!

A Focus on Dance in Papua New Guinea

Yesterday, I attended a book launch in Boroko. The book being launched is called "A Focus on Dance in Papua New Guinea." It is the first book of its kind in the country and was a project 3 years in the making. Alot of research and work went into the making of this book and the result is a wonderful work detailing the various dances in the country.

The book launch was held at the Institute of Papua New Guinean Studies in Boroko a few blocks away from where the office of the National Cultural Commission is. The programme was hosted by Don Niles who is an American ethnomusicologist who has made PNG his home. 

The primary researcher for the book is Naomi Faik-Simet, the country's first and only dance researcher. Martin Tonny from Transparency International as well as Dr. Jacob Simet who is the Executive Director of the NCC were also contributing authors.

Sophie Naime from the University of Papua New Guinea officially launched the book and the event was capped by a brief performance by the Cont Cho dance group.

Here are some photos:

I apologise for the photos in advance. The venue was pretty dark and my camera is a dinky point and shoot.

don niles

naomi faik-simet

martin tonny

dr jacob simet

sophie naime

here's the book

The book is now available for sale at the IPNGS! Email them at ipngs@global.net.pg or call them on +675 3254644.

Ciao!