Tagachang beach is a small beach easily accessible from a parking lot. The water is shallow until the reef, where it does have sharp rocks. Several fishermen were fishing off the edge of the rocks. Owen and Milton loved playing on top of the big boulders.
The Proa Lantern Floating Ceremony is typically a yearly event to pay respects to our loved ones who have passed. The past two years the ceremony was delayed due to Covid concerns. Each person is given a paper box-like paper to write messages or draw which is then put on a floating frame by volunteers. I was able to write a message in for my dad. Milton insisted on drawing a tank. The messages are put on little boats with candles and set out at sunset. They do collect them back up to use the boat part again next year. This is similar to lanterns I saw at a temple in Seoul where a white lantern represented the deceased. Also similar to the Chinese floating lanterns at the New Year. The Proa Lantern Floating ceremony is put on by the Guam Nikkei Association which perpetuates the culture of those with lineages from Japanese ancestry.
This amusement park (being the loosest definition of the term) is Talofo'fo Falls. The Tripadvisor reviews are fairly entertaining. I was surprised at how well it held up after the typhoon. The main attraction is the beautiful waterfalls with a gondola ride down to the bottom. Next to the falls was the hiding place of Yokoi, a Japanese soldier who didn't get the memo that the war was over and hid in the jungle for 28 years. The gondola ride and waterfalls were very cool. It was nice to get to see a waterfall without the sweaty and slippery hike part. The bumper cars, teacup, and spinning swings were a thrill. The boys did not like the haunted house. The Guam Museum was a series of murals depicting the Guam historical periods. The most bizarre was Love Land which was about 20 erotic statues around a trail on the back side of the bumper car ride. The parking lot has two cars up on blocks and one missing an entire engine block so I was grateful to have all 4 wheels when we returned.
We used another Hilton pool day pass. It was a bit rainy, but fine for swimming. The boys love the hot tub at the Hilton. The boys are really good swimmers. Milton loves to dive for things. His favorite goggles are the ones he found at the lost and found pile at Bethany Beach (not pictured).
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We used one of our PHR hotel passes for the PIC for the weekend of May 5. We saw the circus in the evening and then spent the next day at the pool. Milton and Owen discovered the mini golf course that they loved to do. They also did great with the saltwater snorkeling pool.
It was just later in May when Typhoon Mawar hit. PIC was closed for a while clearing up the damage and the saltwater snorkeling pool was closed. Many trees came down. But overall they did a great job getting the pool back up and running. We returned for another night's stay on August 12. Damon tried out the windsurfing lessons. The boys and I took out a kayak to do a couple laps around the roped-off area that the PIC lifeguards cover. They don't want people going out of the buoys.
Another visit on September 3rd and we saw the circus again. It was slightly different, but still really super duper. The boys got to try the trampoline event and then also the archery lessons. Milton wasn't too thrilled about going high on the trampoline, but he did like the archery. Some of the 4x4 posts for the mini golf got totally snapped off during the typhoon. They were repairing the roofing on the restaurant by the pool while we were there.
