ok so my trip...

We arrived in Samoa on a thursday morning at 10:30am local time. Were greeted by the warm rush of hot tropical air as we steped off the plane...I always remind myself to prepare for that first rush of hot air :)

We were able to rush through customs and what-not as we had mum with us who was in a wheelchair *yay mum lol*

Managed to get a taxi van into town (remember it was me, my 14yr old daughter, my younger bro, two cousins and two nieces) Fit all our luggage into the van also...taxi into Apia was $80WST but we chose to pay $90 for all the luggage we had with us :)

Dropped one of my cousins off to an aunts house a coupleof minutes from mum's place in town, then we proceeded to mum's place...it's a work in progress...but it's out little slice of paradise and I LOVE IT!!

Got unpacked and taxi'ed into town $5 WST, went straight tothe markets, bought woven hand held fans to help survive the heat, bought a drinking coconut each...bought a pair of jandals for everyday wear for $6 WST lol. Went back home, had a cold shower (no other option actually as mum (and 99% of Samoa) don't have hot water lol) and of course by the time you've dried off (I prefer to air dry lol) you start to sweat again...sooo humid - but I LOVE IT!!

Spent the first two nights in town, then shared a taxi van with my cousin and her two daughters to Lalomanu (mum's village where my parents are based).

Arrived there late morning, managed to buy a whole bag of pawpaws on the way ($7 WST for about 10 large pawpaws!!) Spent our first evening relaxing.

The next morning we woke up around 8am (actually I was awake at 5am but just lay in bed relaxing, finally got up, had some pawpaw for breakfast, got dressed for church at 9am, had extended family lunch straight afterwards...I could only eat the chop suey...and not much of it cos I had been nibbling at dad's fish he was cooking for him and mum back in their house. Anyway, the ice cream truck went past so I used that as an excuse to escape...spent the rest of the afternoon in mum's house....in and out of the shop...

The next morning I was up at 5am, woke up my daughter and two nieces if they wanted to go for a walk to the beach, they did...so off we went, only takes couple of minutes to walk to the beach...by 5:30am, I was having a swim with my 11 yr old niece...swam for about 30 mins - water was absolute heaven!! The girls had a ball!

Got back to mum's house, had a shower got dressed and got ready. Today both my parents, my brother, little sister, myself and my daughter were all going into Apia for lunch - my shout. Went to a place called Seafood Gourmet...I didn't order, knew I couldn't finish anything so I just nibbled off everyone's plates, but basically I only had two prawns, bits of cucumber and couple of fries. Lots of juice though...that was a lovely place to eat, mum and dad enjoyed it!

My daughter and I were supposed to farewell Lalomanu on Tuesday morning and spend the rest of our trip in Apia, but we decided to stay on in Lalomanu for another two nights to be with my mum, help her out with a lunch she was hosting for a friend who was visiting from Ozzie.

Really glad I stayed on...had a great heart to heart with my mum, each evening we'd sit out on the verandah and talk, just the two of us, on one of these evenings, I broke down into tears and told her how much I loved her, and how thankful I was that she had raised me the way she did, and that if something happens to her while I am not there, that she is to know that I love her soooo much...and thank you for being the best mum I could ever had asked for, even though as a youngster I was rebelious...didn't appreciate what she had done for me...the sacrifices she made...I told her how I admire her so much....

Was a really special night, am glad that I have had the chance to tell her all that I did.

Wednesday we went into town, not to mum's place but to a cousin/friends house...actually she was working so we met up for lunch, she took us to a flash little cafe...it was mostly panini and other fancy bread sandwiches toasted, filled with all sorts of exotic ingredients...I opted for the 'side dish' of mediteranian meatballs, three large meatballs in a totmato based sauce...I managed to eat 2 of them. Also ordered an iced coffee...I couldn't even do half of it - was thick of ice cream...

We spent four nights with them...thurs & fri when she went to work, we caught a ride into town with her, walked aorund the market, then spent the day at mum's place in town as dad was there with my bro putting up the weatherboards on the extention....we'd had lunch with my friend, then diner we had back at her place.

Thursday night, we spent the evening with a couple of her girlfriends, the house we were at was up on a hill in an exclusive part of Apia...I;m talking million dollar homes with views to kill for...a side of Samoa you have to see to believe!! Spent the evening sipping away on the 42Below feijoa vodka that I got dutyfree...our host served us a huge platter of sashimi (with wasbai & kikoman sauce)...thought I was in heaven!! Just a perfect evening!! Got home around 2am - I was buggered!