Archive for category Tourists

Local Music changes its tune

Posted by Wilson in Tourists, music, video on June 21, 2009

fiji music

When the words “Local Music” is mentioned, what springs to mind? Cheery, smiley fijians standing on white sandy beaches, smiles beaming away, ukaleles in tow, harmonious tunes echoing in the pacific breeze? Calm stringed melodies singing of times of old, when times were simple and the grog flowed like the stream next to the house?

If you were just visiting our shores at the local hotel then, yes.

However, a cursory glance at localmusicinfiji.com will reveal a totally different picture.

Times are a’changin’, and amongst many young musicians today, its definitely all about the hip rap hop.

With the advent of westernisation, cheap computers and coupled with the ease at which the internet has made itself available to many families today (ah the good old days of dial-up…or maybe not), anyone and everyone with a musical bone or a lyrical leaning towards rap can make themselves heard. Several rappers have already made a name for themselves, such as Sammy G, Mr Grin, and Red Child, to name but a few.

The distribution channels for local grown music has improved with the help of the internet via bebo groups, reverbnation profiles etc, but the traditional means still remain, either through radio, a music video (if you’ve a video production company at your disposal), and even through public performances:

Not to be outdone by the advent of hip hop, krumping is also making headwaves with its subsequent introduction and growth.

It would be interesting to see just how far this genre of music and dance would develop, and with plenty of raw talent and the internet as their oyster, we should be in for alot of surprises in the coming years.

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Top 5 Posts of 2008

Posted by Wilson in Tourists, anatomy, bloggers, celebrity, fiji, rugby on December 30, 2008

Image source: www.theiia.org (Because I was lazy to find a more specific picture)

Ah 2008.

2008 was many things to many people, but to this blog, some things never change, especially in Fiji. Sure, we’ve got dark times ahead with our somewhat soured relationship with New Zealand, but then again, when were we ever good friends with them to begin with? The way I saw it, we were always enemies, since Rugby brings out the worst in their devoted followers ;) Also, the world economy took a hit, and soon we’ll be all feeling the familiar pinch of tight pockets and careful budgeting.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom you know. In terms of the much under appreciated sport of rugby league, the Fiji Bati fired up the hearts and minds of fijians everywhere when they made a surprising run at the Rugby League World Cup in Australia, showcasing a quality of rugby that echoed the awesome performance of the Rugby Union World Cup 2007. Fiji also took a step towards Hollywood popularity when they designated the pacific as “Bulawood“. Oh. And we got another hurricane.
And throughout all the posts (or the lack thereof), you’ve always commented, letting us know just what you think of whatever was posted, agreements, disagreements, flames, trolls, the work. Here are the top 5 posts of the year by feedback:

It was all about 2007 apparently. The mandatory lookback at our humble beginnings, our noobish attempts at blogging, the unwittingly popular posts about crazy air hostesses, 2007 was a year that heralded a new local blog into the somewhat sparsely populated blogging scene (save for the contraversial, army hating regulars). It happened. And there was no turning back.
OMG a dilemma! It was the weekend of weekends, with a showdown between two events that locals were preparing to follow and adhere to. Earth Hour, the initiative to save the world from its eco-gulping inhabitants, was going to be started around the same time as our beloved Hong Kong 7s matches, and a pros and cons list had to be drawn up to decide who was the ultimate winner. Of course, a cursory glance at the game times revealed that Fiji’s matches were roughly 2 hours ahead of Earth Hour. So in the end, both parties won. Rare.
Fiji has only just being exposed to the West and all its ways in the past few centuries, and seems to haven taken most of the influence in its stride. Franchise in all its glory has not been left behind, and has taken residence with an almost enviable ease. However, a few have since hiccuped and closed shop, due to either near impossible competition (all hail Comsol the mighty dvd distributor of pirate dvds), bad business decisions, or just plain bad luck.
Heh. Best photo of 2008 in my humble opinion, which is mostly overrated, and never paid any attention, but I digress. Vodafone and Digicel, both warring business houses in the field of easy phones and bright splashy full page advertising, go out of their way to grab the consumer’s easily lost attention, though Digicel went one step further, and brought in chubby R&B crooner Sean Kingston on their opening day. Of course, never one to lose sight of any opportunity, Vodafone staff somehow managed a photo with the star when he landed, with the digicel staff nowhere to be found. Lols ensured.
In a very pote kind of way as well. World famous magician and all round slick haired Harry Houdini visited our shores back in 1910 and upon seeing some locals perform a diving trick, bested them at their own game. I can just picture it. The local divers, after being made to look like fools, scratch the back of their heads, grin, and swear silently before going off to town to shoot a few games of billiard and curse at all tourists in general. At least that is what I’d do. Early 1900′s or not.
With that behind us, I’m certainly looking forward to what surprises 2009 has in store for us all. Stay safe this festive season.

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There’s a sinking feeling abound…

Posted by Wilson in Tourists, environmentalists, nadi, water, weather on November 23, 2008

Image source: www.the217.com
It is the year 2027 and Nadi has become an underwater ghost town. The former ‘jet set’ town of bustling tourists, taxis without taxi meters, and persistent salespeople now belongs to the fishes and coral of the sea.
At least thats what is predicted by Professor Patrick Nunn, who’s part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and apparently it’s quite serious. Since Nadi is built on a delta, and the forests upstream have been deforested, water is coming down alot more often and is bringing with it silt and soil, resulting in an increase in drainage blockage and thus flooding. More soil and silt means more weight, which means Nadi’s going down, ‘abondon ship’ style.
All’s doom that ends in doom. And the Nadi Town Council agrees. Infact, they’re so shook up by the statement of Professor Patrick Nunn, that they’ve gone all religious in the hope that the Almighty One will intervine intervene and save the town from its wicked ways from its own weight. Of course, it’s either divine intervention or GTFO/relocate, the later option being less popular with the Council, since nobody likes shifting house, forget a whole town.
20 years is a long time to wait to see whether all this is going to happen (though there’s nothing in the way of saying that it won’t), and a lot of things could occur between now and then. The Nadi Town Council could order a relocate for the whole town. Or they could look into trying to save the town by looking into investing into proper drainage systems, though with the current worldwide economic slowdown, that could remain a dream and nothing more. Or they could just wait and see if what the overseas scientists predicted would come to pass. After all, one statement at a conference is one thing, official orders from the government to relocate after a million dollars of research from top scientific communities in the Netherlands (I’ve always had the notion that the most brilliant scientists came from Europe) finds that the town is indeed sinking, is another.
What will this mean for Nadi and the rest of Fiji?
Obviously, Nadi is going to lose its status as the coolest town in Fiji. I mean, let’s be honest here. When you think Nadi, you think Airport, hot tourists, and 24 hour beach parties. With that gone, Nadi’s going to end up as the town without its mojo. After all, Labasa’s the edge of civilization, Sigatoka’s got their sand dunes (which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, bonus!), Lautoka’s got their sugar sweet status, and Suva is…well…only like the capital city of Fiji and all that.
This won’t bode well with our fellow Nadi…arians. Here’s hoping that either science will get it wrong, or divine intervention will play its part in the years to come. That or in 20 years time, there’ll be a new town in Fiji called “New Nadi”.
You heard it here first folks ;)

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6 Signs Fiji is nearing ‘Civilization’ Quality

Posted by Wilson in ISP, Tourists, fiji, history, internet, lifestyle, television on September 9, 2008



Having come in contact with several tourists over the past few weeks and hearing their impressions of Fiji, it dawned upon me how far we’ve progressed from its days of head hunting, neighbour eating, and selective afro growing. A simple stroll through town will reveal important looking businessmen sealing important deals on their important cell phones, while children hum along to the latest hip hop/pop/reggae tunes with the help of their iPods. Giggling teenage girls compare their latest trendy buys from fashion stores around the corner, and in the midst of this all, various street modded cars zoom around, blaring ‘Gasolina’ through their daddy bought speakers.


Sure we see these things everyday, but to the first time tourist, first impressions last. Out of curiosity, I decided to take a look around and tried to see things from their point of view. When a tourist first sets foot on our land, he/she would run through a mental checklist that may include whether or not the locals have electricity, (running off assumption here folks, feel free to think otherwise) running water or anything that represents said ‘civilization’.
Of course, as all locals know, Fiji passed that test a long time ago, and then some. While I’d like to think that we’ve come a long way, lets take a look at exactly how much has progressed since good ol’ Bligh set sea-weary eyes upon our infamous shores.
1) We got McDonalds

Nothing says global commercialization like Mcdonalds. When you can open up a small version of 1st world ideals in the remotest parts of the world, Fiji doesn’t seem that far off from everyone else. Considering the fact that the first branch was opened in Nadi, the gateway to Fiji (thanks in no small part to their airport), the golden arches are a welcome sight to all incoming tourists familiar with fast food and the slightly creepy mascot. When the second branch opened in Suva, we knew they were here to stay.

2) We got Internet


The world became that much smaller when the internet was brought to Fiji. From that fateful day when Telecom introduced the concept of shared communication, we were never the same. Imagine – now we could keep in touch with the rest of the cool people from around the world via MSN! Now we could read the latest news of what was going on continents away and not have to wait for the 6pm local news! Email made itself at home with both business houses and private homes alike, spam and all. Porn was no longer restricted to the tattered, well thumbed magazines that were a few years old, but was readily available in all its full, DVD quality glory! Of course, the hourly disconnects were a pain, as were the high phone bills due to the numerous reconnection attempts the computer modem made to the overloaded telecom server, but it was a small price to pay for downloaded seasons of The Simpsons and Takashi’s Castle.

3) We got MTV



Albit on a pay channel, but still! To prove that Fiji is up-to-date with all that is ‘hip’ and ‘cool’ (makes alien ears sign with fingers), we brought MTV to our shores, and the corruption of the future generation began anew. To be honest, it was (correct me if I’m wrong) the Coca-cola Power Jammer that started it all, but the influence of MTV cannot be denied. Even today, we can see the influence of such a life style, with krump and local hip hop in full bloom. Where will this all go from here? Who knows?

4) We get Movies before Australia and New Zealand (sometimes)

For serious? Well…to the best of my knowledge, yes. We, the little country in the middle of the pacific, constantly pushed around by the upper powers of the 1st world country watch dogs (or so the left wing conspiracists would like to believe), by some strange powers that be, have Hollywood movies that open first at our beloved Damodar Village cinemas first, before they even see the light of the projector in Australia and New Zealand. I may have to check now to see if that still happens, but when I was growing up, it was common knowledge to people who had just arrived from Australia or New Zealand that movies that had already run their screening course in Fiji were just beginning to open there. This, I believe, is something worth investigating :)

5) We got more than one television channel

The ultimate pointer when deciding whether Fiji is still in the dark ages or has settled amongst the stars. One locally produced television channel in a country is mandatory, when the infrastructure has been set up by the local government and set in motion. We were there once. Fiji One Television dominated the … television landscape for so long, it seemed almost blasphamous to even think of having an additional station take up space on our local tv screens. Who out there was brave enough to take on the titan that was Fiji TV? Not only did they bring us ER, Seasame Street, and X-Files, but for a time (all too brief in my opinion) they provided BBC free to air during off peak hours. That was awesome. However, after showing Hercules reruns again and again, another channel didn’t look so bad, and with the government breaking open the tv market, it was only a matter of time before Mai TV stepped in to provide an alternative. And we were happy.
6) We got four two lane roads (corrected because I’m a noob)



This particular point is something close to my dear heart. In the dark ages of single lane roads between Suva and Nausori, traffic jams were such a common occurance that I began to believe that all of civilization ran on roads such as ours. Seeing multi-lane roads in the US through movies was an eye opener to what we were missing out here. Then, lo and behold, the government (then :P ) stepped in and began the arduous task of building a highway that had – what? 2 lanes? No. Way. But it happened! Now queues are a thing of the past (in the old queue places, but with poor planning, bottling up of traffic happens else where now =_=)! Now we can speed through certain parts of the Kings Road on our superior 2 lane road, confident in the knowledge that this is how it’s done overseas. This is how Uncle Jone in California drives to work. On a road with more then one lane. Beautiful.
Bear in mind though that this post doesn’t reflect the real thing when it comes to Fiji and its development pace. We’ve still got a long way to go if we want to look anything like Australia/New Zealand in terms of the advancement of society. Look at this as merely an observation more tongue in cheek then mirror reality, and make your own hypothesis from there.
Agree? Disagree? There’s the comment button ;)
PS: I’ve posted a poll on the right, asking you people what you think was the most important development that brought us in sight of being nominated as a country that isn’t missing out much on some of the creature comforts easily afforded by our neighbours.

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Dealing with Countries 1st Line of Defense a.k.a. Embassies

Posted by Wilson in Education, Tourists, annoying, tipsntricks, travel on July 8, 2008

Who wants to go overseas when you have everything you could ever need right here? Who needs fine wine when we can make the most serious head tripping home brew that’ll guarantee your not safety? Who wants to travel in limousine style when we’ve got private cars that’ll spring up to serve your every need whenever a bus strike happens?

However, in the far-fetched scenario that you do indeed need to leave said paradise shores, then getting your passport and countless papers are in order. And the place to go should you want access to your destination country are the Embassies.

Long heralded by 1st world countries as the best deterrent to mass migration, embassies are, as the title says, the first line of defense against anyone and everyone interested in crossing their hallowed entry points. Government bureaucracy, inept staffing, long queues and snobby nosed secretaries all conspired to make the stamp on your passport worth its weight in blood. Now, thanks in part to 9/11, border control has taken on a whole new meaning.

Of course, when all else fails, there’s always the internet yes?

Mayvelous May has taken the arduous, near herculean task of reviewing a few of the major embassies here in Suva, including the British, American, Australian and even French embassies.

At the beginning of each embassy review she gives the name of the embassy, as well as a summary of what to expect once you step in through the doors (French Embassy – Very quiet). A few paragraphs of policies, procedures and at times, frustration should give you a fair idea of how everything goes down in said embassy.

At the end of the embassy review, she’s placed the contact details, as well as how easy it is to get in contact with them, a very handy feature indeed (Phone Support: The number mentioned on the website is useless, once called, tells you to call another number. Extremely RUDE and snappy response).

After reading the whole article, the first prize to the most difficult, hard to get to, hard to go through embassy comes as no surprise whatsoever. Of course, you may have had a different experience with said reviewed embassies. Who knows. So, if you’d like a head start through enemy terrain, then look no further then May’s “Embassies: Knowing how anal your local one is”.

Ok. That was a bad title. So sue me.

PS: May, use review stars! Everyone loves review stars :D

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Harry Houdini Makes Fijians Look Bad :(

Posted by Wilson in Tourists, history, pwnd, suva on March 3, 2008

You have to admit, nothing beats magic like old school magic. Top hats, wooden coffins, and the distinct lack of bad 80s music to kill the atmosphere. Also, showmanship was on a whole other level back then. Sit in an ice cube to get the family jewels frozen? Bah! Try chaining yourself up, locking yourself in a crate, then have said crate chained for maximum effect, then tossed into the local river.

Of course, I refer to one who was both a magician as well as one of the greatest, if not the greatest escape artist of time, Harry Houdini. Stuntman, actor, and sported a nice hairstyle to boot. And no, this isn’t a post dedicated to him, but rather about his somewhat curious interaction with Fiji on his travels around the world.

I came across this story while browsing Google Earth’s pics of Suva, Fiji, which Thrashor of Digital Fiji complained were not updated recently. I noticed that there was a yellow dot indicating a link to a story about the area, and clicking it revealed the following:


Whats this? Harry Houdini came to Fiji? Thats right. The infamous escape artist, who’s name is synonymous with handcuffs and seances, really did drop by our sunny shores, enroute to Vancouver, Canada aboard a cruise liner.

According to the blog Houdini reappears, when the liner arrived in Suva, the locals (thats us! >< ) "put on their usual show of diving for coins and catching them in their mouths." Now, this is where it got tricky. Apparently, Harry realized that the locals (thats us! ><) weren’t catching the coins in their mouths at all, but using their hands. Thats when he issued the smackdown. 1 dive against the best diver, hands in rope, and they'd go for separate coins. So some poor Fijian, probably oblivious to Harry's name and fame, "In the water, the Fijian soon gave up, but Houdini freed one hand and grabbed both coins, popping them in his mouth and resurfacing." Well I'll be damned. Not only did Harry visit Fiji, but he ended up making the local divers (thats us...damnit) look like amateurs at their own gig. To put it into todays standard, think of some random asian guy who manages to not only out-run Sir-revi, but does the infamous goose-step along the way. I’d burn houses if I ever saw that happen.

Nobody likes to be shown their limitations, especially if said victor is not a local. I’m surprised the divers, after being shown a big pote (embarrassed infront of everyone else), didn’t just grab Harry and dump him in the nearest lovo pit. Or maybe they just weren’t hungry. That or they were quickly fired on the spot by whichever boss they were serving at the moment.

Moral of the Story?

Don’t accept challenges from anyone with nice hair. Especially tourists with a name that ends in ‘arry’.

Note: Paul of Houdini reappears, upon request from one of our readers, was kind enough to send two page scans from Harold Keller’s 1928 book “Houdini: His Life Story” which goes into detail about the “diving with Harry Houdini” event.


Also, Harry Houdini was kind enough to mention the local firewalkers in his own book, Miracle Mongers and Their Methods.

Enjoy the light reading.

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Sit at home and watch shit fly.

Posted by Wilson in Tourists, hurricane, weather on December 6, 2007


Yes ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of the year again where Fiji experiences the joys of mother nature and what she has to offer, namely in the form of a Hurricane called Daman. Thats right, if the geniuses at Fiji Meterological Services get this one right, by tomorrow night, Fiji will be adding yet another historic event to its logbook.

A cursory glance at the above picture will show how Hurricane Daman, when formed, was travelling away from Fiji. Somehow, along that trip in the opposite direction, Daman decided, “You know what? It would be fun to say hello to Fiji on behalf of dear ol’ mummy. After all, they do have interesting beer. Or so I’ve heard…” Next thing you know, Fiji gets a hurricane, and a weird sounding one at that.

They’re moving the tourists from the smaller islands back to Nadi, which sounds like a safe plan, though I’m wondering about the poor guys left behind on the island.

And this hurricane can’t even get its timing right, choosing to visit just on the eve of Friday night for crying out aloud. There goes most people’s night out. Mine included.

On a more interesting by-note, the local Meteorological Services name their hurricanes in alphabetical order. Their last hurricane was called Cliff, with the current one Daman, and they’ve already planned ahead with the next hurricane christened Elisha.

Its a rather comforting feeling knowing that the National Meteorological Services has the country’s best interest at heart by naming hurricanes before they arrive. Be prepared, as they say.

Because Hurricanes often have a soft spot for Fiji, it’s often hard to imagine life without one. A friend of mine was chatting me from Singapore, and he found hurricanes intriguing.

Friend: Oh dear. You’re getting a hurricane?

Me: Bah. No biggie. We get them all the time. (Which isn’t far from the truth…if the truth were to be stretched abit…)

Friend: jeez.

Me: Don’t you guys get hurricanes?

Friend: Hehe, just monsoon. Lots of rain. Like you said, no biggie.

Me: Ahh glad to hear that.

Friend: From the sound of things, you seem to be on the worser side of things.

(pause)

Friend: So…what exactly do you do during a hurricane?

Me: Hmmm. Sit at home and watch shit fly.

Friend: Ahh.

What else do you do during a hurricane?

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Night Scene – Eds Bar

Posted by Allen in Bikini, Tourists, nadi, nightscene, pic on November 17, 2007

“Eds bar” is the name of a popular nightspot in Nadi, and is frequented by many locals and tourists. I particularly mention tourists because you are bound to find one there each time you visit. In my opinion, “Eds” is the only decent nightspot in Nadi i.e. if you’re looking to have fun without getting a black-eye, compared to most of the dodgy nightspots there.

Unlike many of the bars or clubs in Suva, “Eds Bar” doesn’t have a strict dress code, and you can basically show up on a busy night in shorts and flip-flops.

Well enough with the seemingly promotion of “Eds Bar” and on to the main issue of this post. If you’re from Fiji or have connections to Fiji, most of you would have probably received an email in your inbox with the subject “Eds Bar”. If you haven’t, then you can probably expect one soon or you can view the main content right here. Please, no applause, I insist.

The email contains pictures of two females in their bikinis dancing on poles, posing behind the bar, on the dance floor, etc. What has made this email so popular in local circles is that occurrences such as this are rarely caught on camera for the amusement and entertainment of people here.

The background story (thanks to the coconut wireless), is that this incident occurred on a quiet Tuesday night (if it were a busy one, they certainly would have been swamped left, right, center, above, below), and the two performers were flight attendants of a foreign airliner. At the rate that this email is traveling, hopefully it doesn’t land in the inbox of their boss.

Special props goes out to the photographer for sending out these pics. To the two performers, we at “Failed Paradise” and our readers sincerely hope that you won’t get into trouble with your boss over this, and we send a big warm “vinaka vakalevu” for entertaining this tiny nation. [snickers]

As you can see, a replay of the Fiji vs Wales 2007 Rugby World Cup match
 is shown on screen

It’s quite obvious that they’re rooting for Fiji


The victory dance…

…Wait for it… 1, 2, 3…


… “It’s Britney B*tch… Gimme Gimme“ …

…“Gimme Gimme more”

Yes, a local female patron in the background is
loving every moment of this


For those that have never been to “Eds Bar”, here is proof
of the laxity in dress code. Shorts and Flip-flops. Suva, please take note


The slogan on the guy’s t-shirt says it all


I wonder what that guy is smiling about… hmm


Isn’t it amazing that there’s more than
one photographer at work


That there is a nice “Bula shirt” a.k.a. Hawaiian Shirt


How many bottles can you see in here?


Taking time out to pose with a fan. Which one’s the star?


Are those Milo cans in the top right corner?


Notice the red eyes in amongst the crowd below? Cool!


I saw a scene like this in Coyote Ugly


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