Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Survival Guide To Tahiti - Everyday Life
Life in French Polynesia is a real pleasure, life starts and ends with the sun. You have to be in sync with the local rhythm to really enjoy the place, there is nothing worse than coming to Polynesia expecting to live as in any other cities.
The people are up around 6 in the morning and start working around 7, you don’t have to follow that rhythm but lets say that it is quite nice to have a change from time to time. Besides you wake early and you go to bed early so you still get the sleep you need. The main reason to keep your routine is that there is only one road to go around the island hence going to Papeete, there is a huge traffic jam every morning when everyone is going to the city to work and around 4h00 PM when everyone is driving home; if you stick to your routine you will avoid all that. By leaving work around 4h00 PM even with traffic you have time to go hang out at the beach with your family, time to go surfing, time to go fishing, time to practice your va’a (the traditional canoe). As the sun sets at 5h30PM, staying late at work means not enjoying the sun as much as you should which is sad in a place like this.
If you don’t have too much work you can go have breakfast on a terrace in the city center, you will find all the French pastries you might fancy. In my case, on the days I wouldn’t be too busy I would go for a dive before coming to work. The best dives are done in the morning, as the water is extremely clear and there is almost no current you get great visibility, you just need to be all woken up at 8 in the morning. After the dive there is no muscle in my body that isn’t relaxed.
In the evening you can go grab something to eat « aux roulottes » those are vans that are transformed into mobile kitchen, you can find them on Vaiate square or almost everywhere on Tahiti Island. There you will be able to eat pizzas, crepes, waffles, brochette de coeur (veal hearts on a stick), chinese food, raw fish salad (local dish), tuna sashimi... The local population isn’t famous for eating healthy food, you will quickly see how fat some men and women can be because they love eating a lot. The local dishes are very healthy but consumer society has arrived on the island so people prefer eating burgers and pizzas, every evening cars are queuing up at the 3 Mc Donald’s of the city (they are all located in a 3 mile radius). The Polynesian population used to stay fit thanks to traditional activities but as society changed due to outside influence the youth preferred the American way of life to the Polynesian one.
Here is one story to explain how much people like to eat. It is possible to buy a whole frozen sheep in the shopping centre for a barbecue. If you go there on Friday evening you will see people with carts containing 2 or 3 sheep.
This is the last part of my survival guide, enjoy your stay in Tahiti.
La suite!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
My Sound Of The Day
This is a song from soundtrack of the great Cowboy Bebop Knockin' On Heaven's Door movie, this down this piece is a real jewel: The Seat Belts - Rain.
La suite!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
A Fistful Of Commercials
It's been a while since i posted a few funny ads: The Yomiuri Newspaper - Olympic Ping Pong.
Nokia - N96 Bruce Lee Edition.
Pepsi Max - I'm Good.
Boris Becker - High Precision Rackets.
La suite!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Carousel From Philips
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Ultimate Phone
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Fly A Singapore Airlines A380
There are very few moments when i think i don't make enough money.
I received this week the Singapore Airlines brochure for flights from Paris in A380. I first was stunned by the pictures (you can see below) of the business class and the first class. I was baffled by the 2500€ (promotion rate) minimum you will have to pay if you want to fly business, they didn't even specify the first class rates! One thing is for sure, the day flying business or first class means having a larger seat is really over.
Business Class
SuitesLa suite!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Imagine Greater
Sci Fi Channel decided they had to rebrand themselves because they thought the channel name was too geeky, they came up with SyFy. If you compare Sci Fi to Syfy, it just sounds the same so this is just stupid for me, then again the rebranding power is strong on this world.
Anyway to celebrate the new SyFy name, they created this gorgeous video:
La suite!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Hot Damn!
That is what i told myself when i saw this video shot by Jon Rawlinson at Kuroshio Sea, the 2nd largest aquarium in the world located in Okinawa Churaumi in Japan.
I have to go back to Japan!!!
La suite!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Survival Guide To Tahiti - Bar And Clubs
In Tahiti there is a limited number of bars and even less nightclubs, it is a little like a small village where it is almost impossible not to meet someone you know when you are out having a drink. It can be annoying but you always keep in mind that you can’t really get mad at someone.
If you split the bars and clubs in categories you will have the following:
- places with only popaa (white people)
- places with only local population
- places with only people below 20 years old
- places with only people above 30 years old
- places with military personnel
You can have fun by mixing two categories together but be careful because some of them just don’t match.
When you go out you usually have a fixed schedule which will change only depending on who is going out with you, for some going out is a little bit like a ceremonial: first you will go have a bite at the mobile restaurants which are parked on place Vaiate and/or you will go have a drink at the 3 Brasseurs brewery, then you will move to another café to have another drink until it closes and you conclude the evening with a nightclub till 3 in the morning. Here is a small list of places that belong to a category:
- For popaa: the Ute Ute (means red in Polynesian language) is located close to city hall; this is a lounge bar sporting an all red design, the place is cosy but when they decide to pump up the sound to force people to dance it is time to move to another location.
- For the locals: the Kikiriri is the place to be to discover traditional Polynesian music and dance. I highly recommend to spend an evening in this unique place, there is no real need to try and dance if you don’t feel like it just looking at people dance is enough to give you a good time.
- For people below 20: the Quai de la Gare will give you your mandatory ration of the latest hits with the young and rich youngsters of the island. No one has a care in the world in this place is pure.
- For people above 30: the Villa Gourmande will welcome you with live bands playing good music while you change the world on the patio. You might have salsa one night, funk another night and jazz the day after, the Villa is always a nice surprise and you always feel welcome there.
- For military personnel: the Paradise will provide you with an unbeatable choice of single ladies looking for a guy for 6 months (time a military spends on the island). The only problem is that if you are a woman and you are not interested in military men, they are interested in you and then can ruin your evening.
- Special Category: the Tikisoft cafe is the best place to have a drink in Papeete simply because there is live music every week-end and mostly thanks to the family vibes that you get when you are there, the bartender Step is the reason for that.
3 months ago, the clubs were still closing at 4 in the morning but as the clubs are in the city you need a car to go have fun, as the inhabitants of Tahiti love alcohol there is a lot of car crash after the clubs close their doors. The authorities decided that the clubs had to close one hour earlier which is totally stupid because instead of having drunk drivers at 4 in the morning they now have drunk drivers at 3 in the morning. If only they had banned the consumption of alcohol after 3 and left the clubs open till 4, the people would have 1 hour for the alcohol to leave the body; that would have been far more efficient.
When Polynesian people are drunk their resentment for the French reappears, you have to be careful when you go for a drink with a colleague. It can become pretty unpleasant at one point because you will be accused of being the source of any problem the island has. I will explain more in the next post.
La suite!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Survival Guide To Tahiti - Occupations
Going to French Polynesia and not enjoying what occupations it has to offer is almost a crime, you just can’t do anything when there is so much to do around.
Snorkeling is a prelude to diving; with a little bit of bread you will create an underwater riot and will have the opportunity to take great shots. Even though you will get an eyeful of great fish colours you will soon find their size to be too small. Snorkeling is a great time waster on the beach and good alternative to sun bathing. Don't forget to put cream on your back, a lot of people forget that their back will be facing the sun all the time they will be looking at little fishes.
Diving is a dream pass time. Depending on where you will dive you get to see dolphins, black tip sharks, barracudas, caranx, grey sharks, flying fish, tunas, ray fish, hammerhead sharks... the list goes on, even when you go diving with friends not one of you will see exactly the same things.
The Polynesian islands are volcanic, when hiking you will witness some amazing viewpoints on the lagoon and its motus. Tahiti and Moorea are filled with hiking trails that will get you to valleys and caves while walking through rich and often compact vegetation.
For the stronger ones, the va’a is the traditional Polynesian canoe, they come in different sizes: for 1, 3, 6 or 12 people. With the va’a you will be able to go anywhere on the lagoon and enjoy the quietness of the see without having to drive a boat it is a great way to exercise and enjoy oneself at the same time. Each year va’a races are organized and they are really popular, one of those races is a relay race around Tahiti, this means that during the race the people rowing will throw themselves in the water on one side of the va’a and their replacement will climb up on the other side and start rowing, it is quite impressive. One of the most famous va’a races is the Hawaiki Nui Vaa that goes from one island to another: from Huahine to Raiatea, from Raiatea to Taha’a and from Taha’a to Bora Bora.
Surf is the obvious thing to do on the island, each year the best surfers in the world meet at Teahupoo on the far end of Tahiti Island to compete, there have been cases when waves are 2 meters high. The beginners can go to Papenoo where the waves are more than enough to have fun, you will be able to rent a long board, as it is larger and longer than the regular surf you will have more stability on the board.
For those who don’t feel like doing anything there is the beach; whether the sand is black, white, pink or orange the beach is always beautiful.
La suite!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
If You Drive On Drugs, You're Out Of Your Mind
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
My Sound Of The Day
I couldn't choose between the jazz version and the lounge version of this song: Jazzanova - That Night Feat Clara Hill.
Jazzanova - That Night Feat Vikter Duplaix (Wahoo Mix)
La suite!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Survival Guide To Tahiti - Shopping
Don’t come to the French Polynesia if the only thing on your mind is going shopping, you will be disappointed. Here is a quick look at what you can buy.
Miss Tahiti 2009
Here is an important bit of information, most clothes found on the island come from abroad and are very expensive because everything that is not produced locally is subject to heavy taxes, it is possible that you pay 2 or 3 times the price of something you can buy home. The ladies will be able to find a huge range of swimsuits which will be as cheap as 150$. If you like that your clothes have flowers on the fabric, you have to know that Tahiti is the capital for such clothes, almost everyone has either a flower shirt, a flower short, a flower dress or a flower skirt.
The Tahitian pearl is know worldwide, everywhere in the city you will find jewellery shops that sell their high end pearl creations. If your budget has a limit, I would recommend you to go to the pearl market; it is a 5 floor high building where you will find different pearl quality at each floor: on the ground floor you will find the roundest pearls and on the higher floor you will have the cheapest pearls which have the weirdest shapes. Once you have bought the pearls, take them home with you and have they mounted it will be cheaper.
If you go to the market in Papeete, you will find all the local products: vanilla, monoi, nacre, ukulele… The fact that you are in a market doesn’t mean that it will be the place where you will find the cheapest prices, keep in mind that except for the food part the market is there for the tourists hence you won’t be able to bargain the steep prices. If you don’t stay long on the island this is the easiest way to bring back souvenirs.
Don’t forget to visit the Hinano shop (Hinano is the local beer) to bring back a souvenir with the famous vahine which the brand’s logo.
La suite!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Blur Studio
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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