The Guamanian Lawyer

Dagupan City - February 2010

2010-02-22T03:10:00.000-08:00

Dad on Burgos Street where my great grandfather Generoso Siapno was born. And where my great grandfather Polikarpio Siapno died in 1952.
Mayor Felipe Siapno (a picture from 1987). There was also another mayor of Dagupan City who was a Siapno who served for several years back in the 1950s. We also discovered there was a mayor of Baguio City who was a Siapno, and a street is named after him.
Dad, me, Ninoy Siapno in his restaurant and bakery Pinkie's, Pastor Carlos, four of his Victory pastors from Dagupan area
Ninoy Siapno, former barangay chief, and Felipe Siapno, former mayor.
Fringes of Dagupan City. The Lingayen Gulf in the distance. This is where MacArthur landed to take back Luzon Island from the Japanese in 1945.

Voyage of Discovery

2010-02-22T02:59:00.000-08:00

An average street in Dagupan City with the omnipresent Jeepneys and tricycles.
Fishing village on the river in Dagupan.
Fishing village on stilts in Dagupan City.
The most famous restaurant in the area (my Filipino ancestors last name: Siapno).
Faithie and Mommie on the bus.

Pictures from Trip to Dagupan

2010-02-22T02:47:00.000-08:00

Dad in the bus for our day long trip to Dagupan City.
Bangus (milk fish, the specialty of Dagupan)
A wonderful lunch with 5 Pangasinan pastors and Pastor Manny Carlos.

Jen and Jed's wedding with several attorney friends from Manila.

Random China Pictures

2010-02-22T02:40:00.000-08:00

Guangzhou - February 2010

2010-02-22T02:33:00.001-08:00

Guangzhou

2010-02-22T02:19:00.000-08:00

Chen Clan Academy architecture.
We had a driver and two tour guides for the day. See the little Chinese Communist flags in the window of our vehicle.
The front of the Chen Clan Academy.
Six Banyan Trees Temple...yes, that's a monk on a cell phone. What is wrong with the world?
Faithie climbing over statutes.

2010-02-21T03:04:00.000-08:00

Six Banyan Temple pagoda in Guangzhou (or Canton) in Guangdong province.
In front of the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial. Built in 1928.
Faith and I in a ferry up the Pearl River.
St. Paul's cathedral ruins.
The Grand Lisboa casino (in the shape of a Lotus) towering over the Macau skyline from the top of the Portuguese fortress built in the 1600s. This was a Portuguese colony from 1557 to 1999.

Macau

2010-02-21T01:26:00.001-08:00

Picture of the ruins of St. Paul's cathedral from the fortress and looking into old Macau and over the river into mainland China.
Chinese New Year decorations in the old town square.
In front of the Ama temple where Faith became a minor celebrity in which she dozens of people had their picture taken with her or just wanted to take a picture of her. It kind of became a swarm after this.
Our mode of travel.

Hong Kong

2010-02-21T00:56:00.000-08:00

Chinese characters on a door I found. I thought they were beautiful.
Faith watching an old man in Tai O village make these amazing cake waffle things.
The Fisherman's Temple in Tai O.
An old smuggling village where Chinese mainlanders used to be smuggled to freedom in Hong Kong and where tvs and radios went back into the mainland before China opened up.
Another picture of the Po Lin monastery.

Hong Kong - February 2010

2010-02-21T00:45:00.000-08:00

Po Lin Monastery.
The Po Lin Monastery giant buddha. The movie Family Stone discusses a visit to this monastery and giant buddha.

This thing was massive. It was almost a hundred feet high. It is the largest seated outdoor buddha in the world. And if faces Beijing instead of India, as buddha's generally do, because the Chinese government apparently funded it's building in 1989.
Looking down on some of the high rises on Lantau island near the International Airport as we go up on the cable car.

Hong Kong - February 2010

2010-02-21T00:23:00.000-08:00

Ngong Ping Cable Car on Lantau Island - 5.7 km long
The view through our suite's windows across the bay to Hong Kong Island. We stayed in Kowloon.

We stayed in the YMCA in Kowloon which this marker shows was built in the early 1920s during the British Colonial period. It was a lovely hotel in an ideal location.
This is also through our bedroom windows. It's the former Marine Police Headquarters Compound built in 1884 by the British.

Apologies for Hiatus from Blogging

2010-02-19T18:00:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,
The explanation for my extensive hiatus from blogging is that things have been quite busy in the courtroom and in our lives together over the last five or six months. I have traveled several times, but none of those trips have merited any new photos as of yet. I traveled to Yokota Air Base, Japan in November for 8 days of leave to play basketball in the Samurai Warrior Basketball classic, which my team won in blowout fashion. The credit for our tournament victory however goes to Nick Welch who averaged 23.0 points per game and carried the team. In November, I traveled back to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa for another court-martial. In December, my trips took me to Washington DC for a sexual assault prosecution course and meeting my future bosses in JAJG and then back to Yokota Air Base for the Pacific Trial Advocacy Conference. Since I've posted many pictures from Yokota and Kadena before, I didn't see any reason to post more pictures from those locations. However, my wife, our two girls, and I just got back from 15 days vacation in China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. We had a wonderful time, visiting with friends, family members, attending a Filipino-Chinese wedding in Manila, and relaxing Asian style. I will shortly be posting quite a number of pictures from all the locations we visited during this trip. This is probably our last big trip in Asia before we move to Germany in July. We should be off the island of Guam by July 10, 2010. We are counting down the days even though we will miss this beautiful place.

Ben

Even More Pictures from Okinawa

2009-09-26T04:47:00.000-07:00

More Pictures from Okinawa Trip

2009-09-26T04:40:00.000-07:00

Special suicide planes for the kamikazes.
These are the little bunkers or "hangars" where those planes were stored until they were sent off on their death missions against U.S. ships.
This is my buddy's wife Sierra standing in front of one of the ever present tombs on Okinawa.
Another castle.
The "haunted" hotel across the hill from Nakagusuku Castle. It hasn't been used for 30 years.

Okinawa - Aug and Sep 09

2009-09-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

Looking south along the walls of Nakagusuku.
Standing on the walls of Nakagusuku Castle. We weren't supposed to be up here. Oh well. It's only a World Heritage Site and I can't read Japanese.
The gate to Shuri Castle.
A cool sign in front of Sam's Restaurant in Awase. It say it's 1417 miles to Guam from that location. It also lists a lot of other locations in the Far East I've been to now.
Palm trees on the walls of Shuri. This castle was devasted by World War II, when it was a headquarters of the Japanese military. It was bombed to smithereens. It's since been rebuilt, unlike Nakagusuku.

Okinawa in August and September - 2009

2009-09-22T04:02:00.001-07:00

So, when our new daughter Micah was only 11 days old, I had to fly to Okinawa to Kadena Air Base for 11 days for a General Court-Martial. Fortunately, my mother was in Guam for 3 weeks to help Carrie and I with Faith and Micah. Although I worked almost the entire time, I did get a day to hang out with Reagan and Sierra Beaton and Sierra's uncle Brad. We visited several Okinawan castles and one of the Japanese last stands during the battle in 1945. The cool thing about Okinawa is that it was its own kingdom and ethnicity until the Japanese empire conquered it in about 1878. Prior to that, the Ryukan kingdom ruled this island chain.
Gate to Shuri Castle in Naha.
Inside the tunnels of the Japanese Naval Underground where 4,000 Japaneses committed mass suicide.
The crumbling walls of Nakagusuku Castle farther north on the island. Absolutely stunning craftsmanship, built in the mid 1400s. In addition, the United States Marines had to capture it in 1945 early in the battle.
There are several concentric defensive rings in the castle. And it sits on a ridge with views far north and south and of both sides of the island.

Reenlistment of SSgt Simon

2009-07-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

That's our house in the middle, to the right of the one with the white roof. It's a particularly dry time of year for Guam, so all the grass looks brown.

I think Jordan is getting sick.
Giving him the oath.

More Pictures from Reenlistment of SSgt Simon

2009-07-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Spanish Steps. Farthestt westerly point in the world that is still U.S. soil...or is it the farthest easterly point?
Spanish Steps again. We did the oath hovering above.
This is the munitions dock in Apra Harbor.
Tumon Bay.
Jordan and I.

Reenlisting SSgt Jordan Simon Above Spanish Steps

2009-06-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

Down south on Guam.
Cocos Island.
Mangilao Golf Course from the air.

Reenlisting SSgt Jordan Simon Above Spanis Teps

2009-06-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

SSgt Simon asked me to be the officer who reenlisted him. We got an incentive ride for an hour around the island of Guam and pretty much flew up and down the length of it. He swore his oath in the air above Spanish Steps.
Above Tumon Bay at low tide.
Two Lover's Point and Tumon Bay in the background.
Northeastern coastline.
Some communications facilities and listening posts on NCTS.

Mary's Trip to Guam

2009-05-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

The water is so clear that you can see the sand and coral 60 feet below.
Ready to dive.
More caves.
One of the Japanese tunnel caves behind the Superior Court building in Agana.
A blue starfish.

Dive to Double Reef and Agana Bay - May

2009-05-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

The northeastern coastline near Double Reef.
Ben jumping into the water.
Ben and Mary in the water. We saw 4 manta rays that day as well as 4 sea turtles.
Carrie and baby out at Spanish Steps.

Mary Vojta's Visit to Guam - May 2009

2009-05-30T19:36:00.000-07:00

Agat Bay where the Marines landed in 1944.
A Japanese bunker overlooking Agat.
One of the Spanish forts from the 1700s overlooking Umatac Bay where Magellan landed in 1521.
Umatac where Magellan landed in 1521 on his way to the Philippines.
A carabao.

To Misawa Air Base Japan on the Shinkansen

2009-05-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

The mountains of Japan through the Shinkansen window. It was quite a comfortable ride with some great views. These pictures really don't do it justice.
Stopping at the train station in Sendai.
Rice paddies with hills in the background.
More Japanese industrial landscape.
Mountains of Japan.

Visiting Misawa Air Base, Japan - May 2009

2009-05-30T01:37:00.000-07:00

Misawa Air Base on the northern tip of Honshu Island. I was here for four days for a court martial. I saw almost nothing outside of the base or even much of the base. I was stuck in the court martial. I did take the bullet train (up to 217 miles an hour) from Tokyo to Misawa in 3 hours (425 mile trip) to get there after flying into Narita Airport in Tokyo.
The base Officer's Club.
Snow covered mountains in the distance. The day before they were brilliant and clear. Not this day.
Faith wearing the colors of her future alma mater.
Wahoo wah!

Diving at Gab Gab and Gab Gab 2

2009-05-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

Treading water.
The wing of an old Japanese airplane enrusted into the reef by coral. This picture is taken off Japanese Refueling Piers where they refueled seaplanes and where the PanAmerican Trans-Pacific flights landed back in the 1930s. They were seaplanes as well that crossed the Pacific via San Franciso-Hawaii-Wake Island-Guam-Hong Kong.
One of two large moray eels we saw at Gab Gab 2.
One of the school of Jacks we saw feeding at Gab Gab 2.

Diving at Gab Gab and Gab Gab 2

2009-05-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of me on Gab Gab 2 reef as the Atlantis submarine full of Japanese tourists pass by. This is at about 50 feet.
This gives you an idea of what the reef was like at Gab Gab 2.
This is a picture of the sea turtle swimming away I saw at Gab Gab.

This is me swimming into a school of Spade fish that were everywhere.

Leo Palace Golf Resort

2009-04-26T19:32:00.000-07:00

Ben looking for a broken tee while eyeing the approach into the green on #2, Palmer course.
Bill taking some practice swings with the Leo Palace resort in the background.
The dark area on the hills is a wildfire that almost hit the course during the dry season, but Leo Palace soaked the course so that it wouldn't burn.
Kevin on the tee box. The ocean in the distance.

Ten Days in Tokyo - April 2009

2009-04-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

Ten Days in Tokyo - April 2009

2009-04-13T05:22:00.001-07:00

Cherry blossoms in front of the Kanto Lodge on Yokota Air Base, where I stayed for 7 days during the general court martial I litigated up there. It was third visit to Yokota AB. I'll probably be back. I played the par 3 course on base, and didn't get a chance to play Tama Hills, about an hour away.
The Meiji Shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo. Dedicated to the Great Imperor Meiji. Destroyed in the fires that burnt Tokyo to the ground during our bombing of Tokyo in 1945 and subsequently rebuilt. Hillary Clinton visited the shrine two months before I did in her first visit abroad as Secretary of State.
The torii leading to the Meiji Shrine.
Some sort of political rally of cultural rally with singing and political speeches. It was quite a vibrant weekend all over Tokyo with everyone out to celebrate the coming of spring and the cherry blossoms. I picked a good week to be here. I spend the day seeing as much as I could of the city with Maj Andrew Kalavanos, my senior counsel on the case.
A zero in the museum at the Yasukuni Shrine. The museum is a revisionist defense of Japanese expansion between 1890 and 1945. It's amazing the perspective put forth by this museum at the most important of all Japanese shrines. I would recommend visiting.

Ten Days in Tokyo - April 2009

2009-04-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Cherry blossoms through the train window. Tokyo has the most expansive and impressive train and subway system I have ever seen bar none. I've never seen a train not on time or early and they seem to run continuously all the time, everywhere.
A reflective garden at the Yasukuni Jinja shrine.
Everyone outdoors on Saturday during cherry blossom festival season. Had a great meal here that I had no idea what I was eating.

The Yasukuni Jinja war shrine that memorializes the 2.5 million Japanese war dead since 1869 when it was built, including all the war criminals interred here from World War II. It's the Japanese version of Arlington Cemetery.

Ten Days in Tokyo - April 2009

2009-04-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

One of the final days of cherry blossoms as they start to fall off the trees after their two week life.
The snow covered cone of Mt Fuji.
Mt Fuji 50 miles in the distant looming up over the Kanto plain. This is from the golf course at Atsugi Naval Air Station that I played three straight days in a tournament.
A green on the golf course at Camp Zama, the major Army post in the foothills outside Tokyo.
The "two-way" street in front of Bill and Carol's house in Yamato.

My Daughter

2009-03-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

Faith on Valentine's Day.
On her tricycle that her legs are too short for.
Faithie and mom on Ritidian beach.
The storm is coming in. We better head to the car.
Faithie with her cheerios and one of my mommy's high heals.

Hickam AFB, Hawaii - Two Cases in February 2009

2009-03-09T19:22:00.001-07:00

Waikiki Beach. It's a rough job that takes me to dingy places like this.
One of the two golf courses I played in Hawaii: Ewa Beach and Coral Creek. Both beautiful courses, even though I didn't play that well.
Waikiki with Diamond Head in the background.
The view from my hotel balcony in Waikiki.
The view toward the ocean. Not quite on the beach!

Ben in Seoul Dec 08

2009-01-13T04:24:00.000-08:00

I saw snow for the first time in two years (other than the snow I saw on top of the 13,000 foot mountains on the Big Island of Hawaii).
Songtan District with Josh Grissom.
The DMZ.

Christmas in Guam 2008

2008-12-31T22:05:00.001-08:00

Faith dressed up for Christmas dinner.
Look at those eyes.
Christmas morning.
Ben trying on Faith's sunglasses.
Faith is terrified by those big red men with the white beards.

Ben in Korea - Dec 2008

2008-12-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Propaganda Village, the fake North Korean town they built years ago to try to impress South Korea. No one actually lives here, and a few years ago they stopped blaring propaganda incessantly over the loudspeakers. The flagpole is 600 feet tall.
This is building T 2 where the Ceasefire was signed in 1953 and where all meetings between the two parties are held to this day. It sits right on the border of North and South Korea. Those are two South Korean guards.
This is the "Welcome House" where the North Koreans watch the South Koreans from and occasionally venture out to harass them. You can see a guard looking at us through his binoculars. He's in front of the leftmost door.
A North Korean guard post. Behind, you can see the North Korean hills which are competely stripped of trees to fuel fires. See what Communism gives you!
This is Freedom Bridge where 12,000 American and South Korean POW's walked to freedom in 1953. Also, about 80 Americans were released across this bridge in 1969. They were the sailors from the USS Pueblo which was seized in 1968 by North Korean commandos.

Operation Christmas Drop 2008 - Micronesian Islands

2008-12-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

Carrie took this photo out the back of the C-130 over some island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The crates attached to parachutes have just been dropped off the end of the plane. The crates are full of antibiotics, fishing tackle, and other necessities to help the islanders on these remote islands without even an airstrip to survive through the year.
A crate about to be dropped.
Both Carrie and I are involved in volunteering with Operation Christmas Drop, the oldest Department of Defense humanitarian effort. It has been in continuous operation for 56 years helping to provide basic supplies to islands across the Pacific where Islanders truly live on the very edge of survival. No connection to civilization, no trade, no runway on the island.
High above Chuuk Lagoon, where the Japenese fleet was sunk in February 1944. The flight Carrie was on was dropping on islands near Chuuk Lagoon.
Carrie looking back at Andersen Air Force Base's airstrip after taking off.

Manila, Philippines - November 2008 - Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T05:00:00.001-08:00

That's me up there second from the right.

The beautiful lobby of the Peninsula Hotel, which was the scene of the unsuccessful coup attempt of November 2007. We ate here prior that in summer of 2007 and had dinner here once for part of the Gusi Peace Prize Awards this time around.
Carrie and Mary Lou Horecky.
Fred Horecky as MC of the Awards.

Thanksgiving in Manila

2008-11-30T04:50:00.000-08:00

My beautiful daughter Faith.
A poor attempt at capturing the night time skyline of Manila from Kourtney and Jun's place.
Eyes on the prize.
Cute.
Out our bedroom door in Forbes Park.

A Guamanian Thanksgiving in Manila (with a Korean Dinner)

2008-11-30T04:40:00.000-08:00

With Jed and Rey, two International Justice Mission's attorneys in Manila, with over 200 rescues of trafficked women and girls under their belt (two of Carrie's friends from working there in June and July of 2006).
An old Spanish church in Chinatown.
Carrie and Faith at Mrs. Camcam's home. We got in the Christmas spirit from all the lights and Christmas music in Manila.

Faith at the park.

Manila, Philippines - November 2008 - Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T04:14:00.001-08:00

In front of the Meralco Theater in Ortigas, Manila for the Gusi Peace Prize Awards.
With Mrs. Edna Camcam at the Divisoria-168 Shopping Center in Chinatown (Binondo).
Me presenting one of the Gusi Peace Prize Awards (Gen Morales on my left, Mrs. Philippines on my right - trying not to trip on her dress).
With Jun and Kourtney Camcam at their 38th story penthouse condo in San Juan, Manila.

Phil's Visit to Guam - November 2008 - Part 2

2008-11-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

Phil's Visit to Guam - November 2008

2008-11-21T03:17:00.001-08:00

Phil spent 10 days in Guam in early November. We played tons of golf and did plenty of hiking and snorkeling. Here are a few pictures of his great time with Carrie, Faith and I.

Carrie's Business Trip to Hong Kong - August 2008

2008-11-21T02:56:00.000-08:00

Carrie's buying trip to Hong Kong for the Andersen OSC Gift Shop. She spent 8 days here shopping and schmoozing businessmen. They spent $75,000 on the shipment and had it brought to Guam. If you watch Family Stone, Sarah Jessica Parker talks about the Kowloon Side and the Hong Kong Side. She also talks about being at the Peninsula Hotel. Carrie had high tea in the Peninsula Hotel.

Manila and Los Banos in July 08

2008-07-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

The American Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio where over 50,000 Americans and several thousand Filipino soldiers are buried. Absolutely breathakingly beautiful.

A very cool floating restaurant. I forget the Filipino word for this type of restaurant.
Looking from the mountains toward Manila cross Laguna Bay.
Dad and I in front of the Victory Christian Fellowship Fort Bonifacio church.
At the American Cemetery.

Cairns, Sydney, Brisbane - Australia - June 2008

2008-06-26T21:44:00.000-07:00

First dive on the Great Barrier Reef - Michaelmas Reef.
My two ladies north of Cairns.
Douglas MacArthur's office in Brisbane.
Faith admiring the Sdyney Harbour Bridge.

2008-06-20T18:11:00.000-07:00

Watching the crocs at Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo north of Brisbane.
Carrie reading on a warm winter day in Brisbane.
Beautiful Manly Beach in Sydney Harbour.
Bondi Beach on a freezing Sunday afternoon after attending Hillsong Church.

Faith petting the kangaroos.

The Opera House.

More Pictures from Australia

2008-06-19T18:01:00.000-07:00

Faith and I front of Sydney Harbour bridge near our bed and breakfast. It was chilly!
Across the water from the Opera House.
Michaelmas Cay.
An amazing fig tree west of Cairns.
Faithie on her first flight ever. She's been on many now!

Tokyo - March 08

2008-03-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

Me and my defense paralegal, SSgt Linda Nixon, in Tokyo. Capt J. Oliver is taking the picture.

Me in front of a temple at Asakusa.

Operation Pacific Lifeline 2008

2008-02-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

Our little temporary camp for Operation Pacific Lifeline 2008.
View of Kona, HI from military helicopter.
Flying from Guam to the Big Island of Hawaii in a C-17. That's me on the right about midway up.
Another picture of the crater at Kilauea.
Me in the helo.

TDY with 36 CRG in Kona, HI - Jan 24 - Feb 10 2008

2008-02-27T15:46:00.000-08:00

On a rainy day at the foot of Mount Kilauea. This is Capt Kevin Heacock, our flight doc.
The crater. Still spewing lava.
The rainforest area of the Big Island.

Our tent for 17 days. That's me on the left shooting air basketball shots, my signature move famous the world over.

Oahu, Hawaii - Ben in Jan 08 for Tax Law Course

2008-01-22T01:13:00.000-08:00

Waikiki from Diamond Head.
Ben on Diamond Head.
The North Shore in January.
Driving up to Punchbowl Crater and National Cemetery.
The USS Arizona Memorial.

September in Guam

2007-09-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

Ancient petroglyphs in limestone caves near Ritidian Point.
This marker marks the spot at Northwest Field, a now defunct airfield on Air Force property, where the last mission of World War II (August 15, 1945) departed to bomb Japan (17 hours roundtrip for the B-29s; today it takes us 3.5 hours each way to fly there on Continental) .
This is the island of Rota 35 miles to the north of Guam. It is another island in the Marianas Island archipelago. There is a freighter of some sort in the foreground.
A view of the Tarague watershed on the very northern part of Guam. As a part of my duties as a Special Assistant United States Attorney, I am currently prosecuting in federal court several poachers who were hunting illegally in this area. It is a national wildlife refuge, so I'm prosecuting individuals for both spearfishing and for hunting the local deer.

September in Guam

2007-09-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

A glimpse of our bedroom with the newly installed crib and baby changing table/chest of drawers.
Posing with a pillow after finishing the construction of the crib.
Our nutty dog Hazel. She likes to relax by propping herself up against the wall.

Quick Visit with Old Friends

2007-08-16T13:00:00.001-07:00

Great to see Ann Robinson, Jonathan Marx, Eric Poole, and Tricia Freshwater for a few hours in Baltimore at Porter's before they all head in different directions (LA, Atlanta, and Eric and Trish get married and settle in DC).

I was able to see then during my quick trip to Annapolis, Maryland where I stayed at the Loews Hotel in downtown during August 6-10 for a National District Attorney's Association institute on the prosection of sexual assault crimes. It was an excellent class and I was also able to see friends from JASOC and meet some other Air Force JAGs from PACAF. I went to a Baltimore Orioles-Seattle Mariners game at Camden Yards, continuing my tradition of four consecutive years of seeing at least one game there. And the last day I was there, the course ended at 10:45 and my parents and sister came up from Cville to visit with me for the day.

All in all, a brief but wonderful trip. Learned a lot. Spent a lot of time with friends and family. Ate a lot of crab cakes.

2007-08-02T02:26:00.001-07:00

Sitting in Greenbelt 3 eating outside at a restaurant watching the rain drive off other customers...we ate Persian, Indian, Thai about 3 times, French, Filipino multiple times, Korean twice, and perhaps a few more I can't remember right now. Great restaurants, and very affordable in Manila.
The Shang Tower where we stayed (the President of the Philippines has one of her primary residences here as well) for 8 days is the second highest building in the picture, the one right in the center of the picture, with a kind of greenish tint. We are standing in Greenbelt 3, one of a series of malls and outdoor eating areas that are in Makati and make the place a wonderful one to visit.
Carrie and I with our friends Mary Lou and Fred, who are our "Guam parents." Fred is a fellow alumnus of UVA Law. Yes, the UVA bond runs all across the world :).
This is a picture from the patio of a restaurant that we ate lunch at on Corregidor (the only restaurant on the island which isn't very big though it housed 13,000 American and Filipino troops during the war) looking across at the Bataan Peninsula.
Carrie and I at the Every Nation Conference in Araneta.

More Pictures from Manila

2007-08-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

The American Memorial built by JFK in the 60s on Corregidor.
Ruined American barracks on Corregidor.
Taking the ferry from Manila to Corregidor.
On Corregidor looking across to the Bataan Peninsula.

Manila Photos

2007-07-31T05:48:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Daniel and I sitting on one of the cannon that defended Corregidor Island in Manila Bay before it fell to the Japanese in 1942. It was a dream come true to visit this historic location that lived as a symbol of hope in the early part of World War II when the war wasn't going so well for us. When I was out in the countryside away from Manila, I also visited the Filipino memorial at Capas, the location where the Bataan Death March ended and the location of a prison camp for all the Americans and the Filipinos who surrendered on Bataan. They were later moved to Cabanuatan, a little bit farther north, where they were rescued in 1945, as depicted in the wonderful move The Great Raid (2005).
This is a picture of Manny and Minny Carlos and their sons Jeremy and Daniel who hosted us in Manila. Manny is the pastor of the Victory Christian Fellowship church on the University of the Philippines campus. Manny went to UVA Business School in the 80's and met my parents.
This is a picture of our living room in the condo where we stayed in Makati. It was a great place to hang out and venture out across the city shopping at many different malls and shopping areas, which they have in abundance. The malls in Manila put the malls in the U.S. to shame in their beauty and their fascinating design and people.

Eight Blessed Days in Manila

2007-07-31T04:36:00.000-07:00

This is the view out our 24th floor window of the Shang Grand Tower, a condo owned by our friends Fred and Mary Lou who graciously let us stay here. The view is out toward Manila Bay and is hard to beat. It's located in Makati, one of the 13 cities of Metro Manila. The picture above that is inside the Araneta Coliseum (where the Thrilla in Manila took place in 1975) where we attended the Every Nation conference the first weekend we were here along with 13,000 other delegates from 54 nations.

Work Boating Trip and Carrie with Baby

2007-07-17T03:44:00.001-07:00

More backyard

2007-07-17T03:40:00.001-07:00

Dungcas Beach

2007-07-17T03:36:00.001-07:00

I recently discovered that our backyard, Dungcas Beach, is where 5,000 Japanese landed on 10 December 1941 to capture the island. Afterwards, they expected the Americans to attack here as well, so they lined the beach with mines, torpedoes, and other explosive devices, but the Americans chose to attack at a different spot. Until 1965, after the war, the location was an EOD post in order to clear out all the leftover explosive devices found on location.

Pictures of Us on Cocos Island

2007-06-27T04:11:00.000-07:00

Sonogram Results: It's a Girl!

2007-06-18T19:53:00.000-07:00

Carrie and I went to Guam Naval Hospital today in Hagatna and had the sonogram done. The baby is over 4.5 months old now, almost 5 months. And it looks like it's going to be a girl. So we are scrambling for girls' names. We are pretty confident of the middle name but have no real strong idea for the first name. So we are thrilled to also discover that everything is healthy and normal so far, so please keep praying for the health of the baby and the mother, who got stung by a Guam "boonie" bee which had her hand pretty swollen. We had two trips to the ER to get the swelling down for that. These bees out here are particularly nasty. But she's fine now.

Father's day, my first, was fun. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time in the ER that day. We also had a nice time walking on Gun Beach with the dog, who is a great swimmer.

In other news, my work is going well as Chief of Civil Law and Legal Assistance for Andersen AFB. I'm getting pretty involved in the military justice side as well with involvement in several drug case investigations right now that will probably be going to court. I was also elected vice president of the Company Grade Officer's Council for the base, but I'm serving as president since the newly elected president was tasked and sent to Afghanistan for six months immediately after our election. Carrie is good, and getting large. We go for long walks in the evening with Hazel, and we watch lots of movies. We've also had a lot of friends over to the house for dinner, and I'm getting better on the charcoal grill. We love our condo, and it's looking great!

Ben

Carrie's Soccer Triumphs

2007-05-14T04:17:00.000-07:00

In the weeks before Carrie found out she was pregnant with our first child, Carrie played for the Andersen Air Force Base Bombers, in the Guam Women's Soccer league, the highest level of soccer on the island. In her five games, she was voted player of the game three times by the opposing team's players. Playing sweeper, she reprised her role as vicious defender that she played for her college team at Western Illinois. I personally enjoyed watching her play serious soccer for the first time. I didn't know her in college, so I didn't get to watch her play at that level. So it was a real pleasure for me to watch her play. She is quite an aggressive player and has no problem with knocking down players on the other team and intimidating them into complaceny. Right before she was forced to stop playing, she was offered a spot on the Guam Women's National Team, a team ranked 75th in the world out of 126 women's national teams worldwide, not too bad for a little island 30 miles long in the middle of the Pacific. Carrie looks forward to playing with them as well as her Andersen Bomber team when she returns to fighting shape after the birth of our firstborn. Here are some pictures of her in her uniform!

Graduated from JASOC and back in Guam

2007-05-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

It's wonderful to be back in Guam with Carrie, who is almost three months pregnant. We didn't find out she was pregnant until after I'd left for JASOC in Montgomery, Alabama. I was there for nine weeks with the exception of several days down on the Florida panhandle touring Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force and a week in early April in DC getting sworn into the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals, and touring Bolling AFB and the Pentagon. It was a tremendous trip, and it's nice to have JASOC succesfully behind me. I made a ton of friends in our class of 68. I only knew about 4 before I showed up. The faculty were tremendous as well. But it's great to be back in Guam with Carrie, and our friends and church family here. I've been back in Guam for three weeks now, and work has been tremendous, and Carrie and I have enjoyed Cinco de Mayo parties as well as a big boating trip from my office, from which we will include pictures soon. Life is good.

Here's a picture of myself with Chris Obenshain, Jonathan Marx, and Tim Bosson, some of my buddies I got to visit with in DC.

Wedding Photo

2007-02-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

For all of you who love black & white pictures .... I am SO with you!!!! Here is one of my favorite! Enjoy ~

First Dance

2007-02-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

Our View the First Morning in Guam

2007-02-13T03:30:00.000-08:00

Our New Dog, Hazel

2007-02-13T03:27:00.000-08:00

Our Backyard: Agana Bay

2007-02-13T03:20:00.000-08:00

Me and My Boys

2007-02-13T02:15:00.000-08:00

A Great Photo

2007-02-13T02:03:00.000-08:00

Contact Info

2007-02-13T02:01:00.000-08:00

If you want to mail something to us, our new address is:

Ben and Carrie Beliles
125 Dungca Beach Way
Agana Beach Condos, Unit 604
Tamuning, Guam 96913

And our phone number is 671-649-2236. Remember we are 15 hours AHEAD of you! Guam's motto is "Where America's Day Begins" because are on the other side of the international dateline in the Pacific.

Some Other Behind the Scenes Pictures

2007-02-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a Kodak gallery slideshow of about 40 pictures that Carrie's aunt Beth Benevento took of some of the behind the scenes activites surrounding the wedding. We enjoyed them a ton!

We also have a Kodak gallery slideshow of 50 photos from Carrie's aunt Julie Linkman. Hope you enjoy!

Video of Our Wedding

2007-02-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

We also had a friend who took about 4 hours of footage from our wedding and reception, post clips from the wedding online. Here they are and they give you a bit of a feel of our wedding ceremony. Hope you enjoy!

The Pictures of the Wedding

2007-02-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, here are all the pictures from the official photographer of the wedding. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did. There are a ton here, so it might take a while to go through all of them, but it is certainly worth the time.

Thanks Jonathan for doing a great job!

Schedule of Events

2006-12-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

Today - December 6th - Charlottesville (Carrie in Pohang, South Korea in the midst of her finals for her last semester of law school at Handong International Law School)

December 18th - Emily, my sister, arrives home from Cairo after 6 months of missions work.

December 21st - 1Lt Phil McDowell, one of the best men in my wedding, arrives home from Balad, Iraq, Camp Anaconda for Christmas and my wedding.

December 27th - I drive to Chicago with Kevin Finnegan and Brian Gunn, two of my groomsmen, stopping in Louisville on the way to visit with my Granddad, Granny, and Uncle Joe.

December 3oth - Carrie and I are married. Check out our wedding website at www.bencarrie2006.com.

We spend our first few nights at the Hotel Monaco in Downtown Chicago, a gift from her sister Katie Vojta.

We drive back to Charlottesville on January 2nd, stopping overnight in Lexington, Kentucky. Get home to Charlottesville on the 3rd. On the 4th, the Air Force packs all our stuff up in a crate.

January 5, 2007 - Carrie and I fly out of Charlottesville Airport to Guam.

January 7, 2007 - 1:15 a.m. - Carrie and I fly into the international airport on Guam.

For the first 2-4 weeks, we stay in the Guam Marriott on the lagoon, until we find a place to live.

February 20 - we start JASOC or JAG School at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama. Two months of that. Carrie will be with me.

Somewhere in here, we go to DC for a few days, so I can get sworn into the United States Court of Appeals for Armed Services and tour the JAX Headquarters in the Pentagon.

April 20 - we finish up and we head back to Guam, our home!

Further Thoughts

2006-12-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

So I have gotten to find out a lot more about Guam since I set up the blog and left it sitting here for a few weeks and I am even more excited about the opportunity go over there.

First, I will be in Guam as an Air Force JAG for from 2 to 3 years. I've talked with my sponsoring officer over there, Captain Jennifer Sanchez with the Andersen Air Force Base (my new base) Legal Office and she has told a ton of things about my new place. First if all, she's told me a lot of what I will probably be doing for the first year or so on the job. It looks like I will be the Chief of Civil Law for the next year and that means I will be doing a variety of things that I'm not going to list here. But I'm excited about doing it!

Secondly, I intend to make this a blog that harasses my law school classmates and buddies who are now working intense law firm jobs anywhere from DC to Manhattan to LA to Palo Alto. Think of this as the antithesis to The Anonymous Lawyer, a blog about a stereotypical firm lawyer. Here I'll tell you about the extended honeymoon that is Carrie and my life on Guam, our scuba diving adventures to see Japanese fighter planes shot down 60 years ago, our hopefully extensive exploration of Micronesia, our flying Air Force planes around the Pacific Rim and Hickam AFB on Hawaii.

Thirdly, I just finished reading an excellent book entitled Goodbye Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester. It was a powerful book, and I highly recommend it. One section was about our capture of Guam in the summer of 1944. We suffered over 7,000 casualties in two weeks including between 2,000 and 3,000 dead. I just found it amazing that we lost that many people in a time when our entire population as a nation totaled around 130 million, and yet losing 3,000 men in Iraq in 3 years of warfare is considered heavy casualties. It's a very different world. I do not mean to minimize or trivialize the deaths of our young men and women in Iraq at all, merely to point out the difference in perspective.

Fourthly, my parents have friends who started a church on Guam about 14 years ago and is now a thriving church. I spoke with Taylor Stewart, the man who founded the church and I plan on trying it out when I get there. He says it's a tremendous church.

The Story of Ben and Carrie's Adventures in the South Pacific

2006-11-09T22:16:00.000-08:00

This is where to follow our adventures, pictures, and love story.