GUAM: Visiting somewhere obscure for no apparent reason (NGO-GUM-KIX on UA J)

[smit0847]

I won't completely let the cat out of the bag but if you have been reading this site regularly you've probably seen the letters 'GUM' used
many times in a particular FF program forum over the past 12 months.

Before visiting GUM I could not find much information about the UA J Micronesia product nor a proper trip report on GUM itself. Given so many AFFers are similarly travelling there over the next 12 months for no apparent reason, I wanted to share my experience. This is not a 'I did this and you didn't so sucked in' TR, its purpose is to share my experience if you are heading to this obscure place for no apparent reason like I did and learn from my experience.

I have read hundreds of TRs on various sites but this is my very first. I'm only going to include the information that I like to see in TRs and skip things like telling you whether I had a coke or a lemonade (and showing the corresponding photo) or showing you the inside of a toilet. One thing I dislike in TRs is seeing photos or descriptions of meals with no information as to whether it tasted any good so I'll be giving my thoughts about some of the meals I had, both in the air and on the ground.

This trip was booked 10 months ago as part of a larger

MEL-SIN-NGO-GUM-KIX-BKK-MEL Japan trip. I began the trip flying SQ J MEL-SIN-NGO both flights being on their A330. I won't cover much of those flights as they have been covered many times before but I do note:
- The Koru Club in MEL is so small! The SYD one is like a barn in comparison. Considering how many airlines use it I'm surprised it isn't
bigger. The refurbished SQ J Lounge is good in that its comfortable and very quiet but pretty sterile with so much white light.
- The SQ flights were flawless. The food and service were excellent and I found the angled 'regional J' seat very comfortable (I fully knew what to expect).- The on-board champagne was Bollinger which was a very pleasant surprise and its one of the few champagnes I really like - I actually
liked it more than the Dom I had on TG F but I don't know much about champagne.
- My Indian lamb shank ordered via Book The Cook was probably the best dish I have ever had on a plane. The lamb was soft and tender but spicy and the rice tasted very light and fresh.
- The SilverKris Lounge at SIN was absolutely PACKED at 00:30 but thinned a fair bit with the departure of a 77W to LHR. I was most
surprised as I didn't think SQ operated many flights after midnight?
- Loads in J on MEL-SIN were about 40%, while the SIN-NGO was 100% full with myself and best mate being the only non-Japanese passengers on the second flight.
- The language skills of the SQ cabin crew were incredible - they switched from English to Japanese instantly without drawing breath from passenger to passenger.

Dinner entree

Lamb shank - I highly recommend

Japanese breakfast

I spent 8 days skiing in Hakuba and my birthday weekend partying in Tokyo and loved all of it. I've been to Japan before and its a fantastic country - so full of contrast.

The day before heading to GUM we took the Nozomi Shinkansen back to NGO airport.

A proper Bento Box onboard the Shinkansen

We had decided to stay there the night before for our 11am flight rather than risk getting a (very) early train the following morning. We stayed at the Comfort Hotel NGO which was perfectly fine for the purpose - clean, comfortable, quiet and good value. Most of the other guests seemed to be layover crew from mainland Asian airlines. We spent a very strange Australia Day evening listening to the Hottest 100 on the ipad with vending machine beers in our room with freezing weather outside.

More to come...

 

[robd]

Looking forward to it. So far so good!

 

[smit0847]

DAY 1: Flight UA176 NGO-GUM


It felt very odd waking up at an airport! We had a quick breakfast and then made the short walk to the UA check-in counter in the main
terminal. We arrived just before check-in opened 2 hours before the flight. I thought it was odd they had 5 counters for their single 737
flight.
We were quickly served at the premium counter. The check-in agent was most confused by both our itinerary and luggage (which included a giant snowboard bag - an odd thing to take to a tropical island), but quickly found our details and checked-us in. When we put the snowboard bad on the belt she then measured it with a tape measure which began a good 20 minutes of checking manuals, consulting with other staff, and making phone calls. I'm guessing it was the first snowboard bag she had ever checked in on a flight to GUM. After much confusion she eventually came back to us and said very apologetically that because the snowboard bag was oversized she would have to charge us USD200 as the standard UA oversized baggage fee, despite the fact we were both travelling in J and all other luggage was well within weight and size limits. To be honest we hadn't checked the policy so both whipped out our iphones and were fortunately able to connect to wifi there and then at the counter. We both googled 'UA excess baggage' and came up with different UA policies. My mates page said each passenger may check 1 piece of sports equipmentas checked baggage per flight, regardless of class (which specifically included snowboard bags), my page said checked luggage longer than 158 cms will be subject to a USD200 penalty fee (the bag was 168cms). My interpretation of the two policies is that you can check a snowboard bag in as checked baggage but any checked baggage must be under 158cms to avoid the fee. We (perhaps sneakily) only showed the check-in agent my mates policy saying he was entitled to check-in a snowboard bag. She took his phone and commenced another hurried round of solemn meetings with colleagues, phone calls and checking policies. We were asked to have a seat while they considered this further. They were extremely polite throughout this whole process - I felt they were unsure of the policy, not that they actually wanted to charge us the fee.

Eventually a supervisor came and politely advised us that they would waive the fee as they agreed the policy was unclear but if we were returning on UA from GUM it would be at the discretion of the UA GUM check-in agent as to whether they would charge us. Very relieved, we thanked them profusely and decided to take our chances in GUM and checked it in. The check-in took well over 45 minutes because of this problem.

 

[smit0847]

We were provided with lounge passes for the Sakura JAL lounge which I thought was very odd because I know *A have a purpose built *A lounge in NGO (one of the few solely *A operated *A lounges in the world). I'm guessing this is because although *A member ANA have plenty of flights from NGO they are almost all domestic meaning they have little need for an intl lounge.
We made our way to the Sakura Lounge which was almost deserted. Food offerings were fairly meagre although the sushi was fresh. I couldn't see any liquor anywhere but then found this really strange County and Western-style Saloon Bar at the back. They were offering free 15 minute massages in a private room which was a nice touch.

 

[smit0847]

Confused as to why we were sent to the JAL Lounge we then found the *A Lounge. I liked the layout, views and decor of this *A lounge much more as it is far more modern but the food offerings were almost nil. I believe it operates mostly as a *A Gold Lounge with UA J pax sent to the JAL Lounge as its considered 'better' but apart from the food, free massages and saloon bar I probably preferred the *A Lounge (neither were amazing though).

NGO is a surprisingly busy airport for a city I had never heard of. Alongside the expected Asian airlines (TG, SQ, CA, PR etc), I was most surprised to see AY and LH planes on the tarmac and to see a direct DTW flight on DL (I'm guessing because they are both major automotivecapitals?).

 

[RooFlyer]

Great start! I've eyed off GUM myself a few times. Looking forward to the remainder.

 

[RooFlyer]

Suggest image with Boarding pass be modified or deleted.

 

[amaroo]

I'm another that has enjoyed some GUM and also SPN. Very interesting places and well worth a visit particularly if you're into natures beauty or WWII history. We went in 1989 so I guess it's changed - look forward to seeing what it looks like these days.

 

[bass_ke]

Suggest image with Boarding pass be modified or deleted.

And possibly passporto desu on the check in counter.

Enjoying the TR, looking forward to the next part!

"For the hell of it" is why I'm heading to Thursday island in a couple of weeks as part of a bigger trip!

 

[smit0847]

Boarding was called and we headed to the gate. I was fully expecting to board a 737 that was older than the crew but I was pleasantly surprised to enter a clean, fresh and well-maintained cabin. The 2-2 J seats were big, plush, comfy recliners with plenty of leg-room that were perfect for a day flight of 3.5 hours. I was actually morbidly excited for my first UA flight as I had heard so many horror stories about the appalling service and inedible food. Cabin crew watched us as we took off our coats and stowed our luggage and made no offers to help with anything. We were served Pommery champagne in a cheap plastic tumbler before take-off. I was surprised to see this sells for about the same price as Bollinger in Australia because I thought it tasted horrid.

 

[smit0847]

Lunch orders were take before take-off and we were offered a choice between Asian chicken with rice, or green pasta with fish. I chose the chicken and my best mate chose the pasta. For some strange reason after take-off the champagne glasses were switched to proper wine glasses. The Pommery continued. Our meals arrived shortly after take-off and I was actually quite impressed. The presentation was fairly good and it tasted pretty nice for both meals. I would compare it to an ok VA 737 J meal. The salad was also good and we were offered various types of bread. Wine and refills were offered, as were tea and coffee afterwards served in huge mugs.

Asian chicken with rice

Green pasta and fish

The only IFE on offer was a tiny, grainy, blurred screen above our heads so we watched some TV shows on our ipad that we had downloaded.

Our J crew member really started to warm up during the latter parts of the flight but had a very odd demeanour. My Mother would say she was 'off with the fairies'. She was most surprised that Australians were travelling to Guam (a theme that would be repeated the entire trip) so asked us where we were staying and what we were doing etc. We asked her various questions about Guam and this is where it got weird - some questions she would answer perfectly in a light-hearted flirty way that made us think she really loved her job but didn't take it or herself too seriously. Other questions she would just stare at us blankly, smile and not answer (questions like 'has it been raining today?'). She was a caucasian American with perfect English as her first language so I don't think there was a language problem. Despite not answering many questions at all and saying strange things like 'I don't even know my son's age' she was keen to hang around us and chat for most of the flight rather than hide in the galley. What questions she did answer she managed to give us some good tips for the island. UA GUM-based crew only do same-day same-plane turnarounds so she never gets to visit the destinations she flies to (NRT, KIX, NGO, SPN, CTS, ROR, MNL, HKG, HNL, CNS etc).

 

[markis10]

NGO is a surprisingly busy airport for a city I had never heard of. Alongside the expected Asian airlines (TG, SQ, CA, PR etc), I was most surprised to see AY and LH planes on the tarmac and to see a direct DTW flight on DL (I'm guessing because they are both major automotivecapitals?).

Delta has a very strong presence in Asia and especially Japan as a legacy of their merger with Northwest, which of course was previously known as Northwest Orient after establishing a foothold in Japan not long after WW2 (they were the first US Airline to have direct flights and helped with the foundation of JAL), along with MSP, DTW was a hub for them after they took over Republic.

 

[smit0847]

As we commenced our descent I became very excited for my first glimpse of the island expecting to break through the clouds to the sun glistening off the ocean and a tiny lush island paradise below. Instead this was the view:

Coming in over the naval base

Rain, rain and more rain.

We landed smoothly and on-time and exited the plane first. I knew nothing about GUM airport - I found it dated, but functional. There was an enormous queue of Japanese tourists at the foreign passports line (literally hundreds and hundreds) so I was very glad I could go straight into the non-existant ESTA queue. Apparently you do not need an ESTA with an Australian passport visiting US territories but it is well worth getting one purely to avoid the massive foreign passports queue (clearly Japanese tourists don't get or need an ESTA). Our priority baggage was amongst the first bags out and we then picked up our rental car for the week which was this beauty:

I hired this through Alamo for $95 per day. I had a lot of trouble finding an available convertible and Alamo were very slow to respond to queries or confirm my reservation but the car was fantastic - zippy, pretty fuel efficient, sexy and the top was very easy to put up and down with the push of a button. We had a bit of a struggle trying to fit the snowboard bag into a convertible (it looked like we were trying to transport a dead body Weekend-at-Bernie's style) but we managed and headed to the hotel. The first three things you notice about driving in Guam: 1) the roads are in a terrible condition; 2) there are hardly any road signs, and 3) there is LOTS of traffic ALL the time. Although we were staying in Tumon and the end of the runway was very close to our hotel it took us a good 30 minutes to find Tumon and our hotel (the pouring rain didn't help). I would recommend working out on google maps before arriving where your hotel is near and when you see that landmark (i.e. ours was 'next to the Westin') just head in that direction once you see the landmark. We eventually found our hotel - the Bayview Guam in Tumon. Accomodation in Guam varies widly in price but none of the 5 star options seemed very 5 star in anything other than price. We had considered staying at the Hilton as I have HH Diamond status but the reviews were not good and it was not cheap. Instead we scored 2 x queen beds at the Bayview for just USD90 per night. I thought this was excellent value and although the Bayview does not have a pool and is up a slight hill, it's in a great location 5 minutes walk from the beach at Tumon Bay. The hotel was full of both Japanese and Russian tourists. I've noticed Russians travelling internationally more and more over the past few years and I can't say they're my favourite types of tourists. I would politely describe them as 'new money'.

My only complaints about the Bayview are that because of the extreme humidity everything constantly felt, looked and smelt damp (see windows above), and the housekeeping were pretty hopeless. We would leave at 10am some days (with housekeeping on our floor at other rooms), and return at 5:30pm and the housekeeping STILL would not have made up our rooms but would knock on our door 5 minutes after we arrived home asking us if they could make up our rooms now. I'm sure I'm not alone in not feeling comfortable being in a hotel room while housekeeping are cleaning it.
I've never known any housekeepers in hotels to work after lunch!


Feeling a touch dejected at the inclement weather (it was still raining 2 hours after landing) we did what any Australian does when there's nothing to do - found the nearest bar. We walked down to the Green Lizard which is a rather gaudy neon lit wooden outdoor structure the other side of DFS Galleria in Tumon. We were lured in by their advertising of a Monday Special of '5 beers of your choice and a plate of chicken wings for USD13 until 7pm'. This seemed like extremely good value. We walked into an almost deserted bar bang on 7pm to ask if we would still order the offer. The female bar tender took an instant shine to us and replied with a wink 'what time do you have?' We replied '6:59' despite the fact that it was now 7:03. She replied 'then of course you can order it!' This began 4 hours of absolute debauchery. With an almost empty bar (being early on a Monday night) and intrigued by our unusual accents (she had never met an Australian) she proceeded to absolutely drown us in beer, spirits, coughtails and shots all while telling us all about Guam and asking us all about Australia. The bar was extensively stocked with various bottles I had never seen before and when I asked about them she would insist we try everything in sight. We were unsure whether we would be charged for all these drinks as we didn't really
'order' them (she would say 'you haven't had that before? You must try it! - I'll make you a shot') but everything was very reasonably priced so we didn't really care. We ordered some more food for dinner which was fairly standard American diner fare and continued to drink and drink and drink (and drink). I knew mixing drinks was a bad idea but they just didn't stop - the combination of boredom from the rain and the excitement of arriving in a new place was lethal! The bar tender was a really, really lovely young woman - a theme that would continue with all the locals we met. She also asked us why on earth we were visiting Guam - a question we would be asked many many times over the week. Interesting she was born in Saipan which is a small neighbouring island. It is also very similar to Guam in the reason Australians might travel there this year. She warned us not to visit Saipan as the economy there is terrible and the locals not very friendly.

At 11pm feeling extremely inebriated we made the sensible decision to head to bed. We had 5 food dishes between the 2 of us, and I am not exaggerating when I estimate we also had at LEAST 25 drinks between the two of us (a mixture of beer, shots, coughtails and spirits). We asked for the bill expecting it to be around USD250 and when she brought it out with a wink it was USD86. She hadn't charged us for most of what we drank. We gave her a very generous tip and thanked her for a great evening and stumbled back to the hotel room.

 

[markis10]

I wonder how many new GUAM inquiries are made as a result of this trip report. We have had some fantastic reports over the last few months.

 

[TomVexille]

I've been intrigued by the idea of travelling to GUM for a couple years. Following this with interest!

 

[RooFlyer]

Great tip re ESTA and I agree re Russian tourists!

 

[robd]

How's your head this morning?

 

[smit0847]

DAY 2
We awoke the next morning with somewhat sore heads and opened the curtains to see overcast skies and drizzle.

A check of the local weather channel reveal rain for the next two days followed by sunshine later in the week. We had always planned an 'inside shopping day' during our visit so decided to do it then. The entire island is duty-free and this is a significant industry. There are super high-end DFS at Galleria (Burberry, Bally, Cartier, Bvlgari, Versace etc) as well as large shopping malls (Micronesia Mall and Premier Outlets as well as the worlds largest KMart). We wandered through Galleria, but not wanting to spend USD1000+ on a handbag or pair of shoes, we didn't purchase anything. We then headed to Micronesia Mall which due to the humidity and low light had a very depressing ambience but did find some bargains in Macys. Retail shopping overall was very well priced although I haven't been to the states for a new years so can't compare to mainland prices. The food courts at these shopping centres seem especially popular.

Damp and humid EVERYWHERE.

I should point out that Guam as a whole is pretty run-down. The duty-free in Tumon is new, sparkling and modern but the rest of the island is pretty 'ghetto'. This is the word I kept coming back to when describing the island. There are loads of crack-den type strip malls outside of Tumon with strip clubs, gun stores and really run-down, awful looking restaurants. Combine this with the terrible roads and endless beat-up pick-up trucks on the roads and its just, well, ghetto. It's like there was a huge investment in Guam in the 90s but all the wealth and hope moved out 20 years ago. This also had a knock-on effect with the locals. Although the staff we enountered (esp wait staff) were extremely professional and took real pride in their jobs, there's a lot of locals who just mope around the streets looking pretty dejected. There's not much to do for locals (especially when its raining) except eat, drink and shop and if you have no money you can't even do that. Most locals we met had never left Guam and asked us with a sad longing about the rest of the world. I can't imagine spending my whole life there. I was expecting most of the locals to be caucasian Americans so was surprised to find almost all locals are the indigenous Chamorro people with their dark skin and mix between Asian and Pacific Islander appearance. I had also expected to see military everywhere but they are all on base and fly in and out on military flights so unless they are on R&R you don't see them.

It continued to rain all day - the terrible road can't cope with much rain so this is what you see out of the window:

We also visited Premier Outlets which had a slightly better ambience (i.e. more light and less damp). You do need to dig through a lot of rubbish when you are outlet shopping to find anything good but there are some gems to be found - I found some nice desert boots which were oddly modern in amongst the other dated styles.

For dinner we looked up the best rated restaurants in Guam. #1 was a place called 'Proa'. The reviews said there was 1 location in Tumon near the Hyatt which always had a line out the door while there was a second, newer, lesser known location at Tauming which was better food, service and wait times. We attempted to find the Tuaming one based on the reviews address and google maps but, like the exact location of our hotel, this was way off and we couldn't find it at all (we did drive past it a few days later - it's on the main road #3 heading north towards Tumon). We eventually found the Tumon location which is on the main road before the Hilton complex entrance. Sure enough, there was a line out the door. We took this as a sign of a good restaurant and many people waiting were local Chamorros (alongside Japanese tourists). We had to wait a good 40 minutes for a table as the line moved pretty slowly. We eventually realised why - restaurants in Guam are PAINFULLY inefficient. If there is a group of 4 waiting first they will let tables of 2 sit empty while they wait for a table of 4 to become free (rather than seat groups of 2 whenever tables of 2 become ready). They also took an extremely long time to turn tables once pax left which was very frustrating when they are in clear view of the line. There's nothing more frustrating when you are waiting in a line at a restaurant than watching empty tables and oblivious staff! This seemed like such an obvious solution to a simple problem but the staff couldn't care less - I guess they're very set in their ways and efficiency is not a valued quality when you're on island time.


Nevertheless, when we were eventually seated our waitress was very friendly and professional (a continuing theme amongst locals we met) and once again asked us why we decided to come to Guam. The portions were huge and the food was good. It promised local Chamorro fare which is traditionally bbq meat with red (orange) rice. The signature bbq was good but it was just meat and fat - not a lot of herbs, spices or flavour. The quality of the imported meat (being an island with no livestock) is not good enough that the flavour really stands up on its own - it would really benefit from a spicy rub/marinade or a great dipping sauce. I enjoyed it but prefer spicy Asian or Argentinian grills with more added flavour.

We had a relatively early night after our boozy previous evening and kept our fingers crossed for clear skies the nest day (we had not even seen the beach yet).

 

[smit0847]

DAY 3

The next morning we again pulled the blinds open to see overcast skies but no rain. This didn't really mean anything as the weather changes very, very quickly in Guam and can be sunny one minute then pouring with rain the next. We were unsure whether it would clear up or rain so headed to the worlds biggest Kmart for the morning. I personally wouldn't bother going again - it wasn't that big and the stock was a lot of junk that seems to have been neglected from the mainland years ago.

We left the Kmart to clearing skies and raced home to finally get on our bathers and head to the beach almost 48 hours after landing. Sure enough, as we were walking out of the hotel it started to pour again. Frustrated, we decided to go and see a movie instead of trying to avoid the rain. We went down the cinema at Premier Outlets and watched the Wolfe of Wall Street. Day-time week-day tickets were only $5 each which was fantastic value and we had the entire cinema to ourselves. It was an enjoyable movie and the perfect way to pass a rainy afternoon. It was still raining when we left the cinema late afternoon so went back to the hotel to mope around and wait for the rain to stop.

It cleared a little in the evening so we walked down to the local Churassco grill for dinner. This was standard Argentinian grill where they walk around the meat on metal sticks and feed you until you can't eat anymore. The meat was better quality than Proa but also significantly more expensive. The salad bar was fairly dull and straight out of the 90s. It was REALLY nice to have a bottle of red with dinner as wine is fairly rare and expensive in both Japan and Guam. Upon leaving the restaurant it was absolutely bucketing down and we got completely soaked. The streets are not designed for rain like this and there was huge lakes forming at intersections. I was getting very frustrated with the endless rain by this stage as it was supposed to be the dry season and I felt like I was wasting a week doing nothing (trying to avoid the rain and boredom at the same time is not easy in Guam).

Running past the Green Lizard we decided to pop in for a drink as there was little else to do. Our friendly bartender from Monday was not on but the two bartenders who were also took a liking to us and spent their time chatting to us (almost jostling for position and ignoring other customers). When we arrived soaking wet they invited us to take our tops off! There's a swimming pool at Green Lizard for some reason and a few customers (young adult guys and girls) had already stripped to their underwear and had dived in and were horsing around. It creates a fun atmosphere and the staff and management are very, very relaxed - I imagine things get pretty wild and loose later in the night if that is your sort of thing. We took it MUCH easier on the booze that night despite again being offered all sorts of additional drinks and headed to bed at a reasonable hour. They too asked us the standard 'why Guam?' questions.

 

[smit0847]

Day 4

I once again crossed my fingers and opened the blinds and took a HUGE sigh of relief to see a sunny sky with dry roads! (i.e. no rain for the past few hours). We raced down to Tumon beach and spent a very enjoyable lazy day lying on the beach, and sitting in the water relaxing and generally doing nothing. I would describe the beaches as fairly good - the sand is quite soft and white although there is some seaweed, the water is warm and a striking bright turqoise (I had never seen water that colour) but very very shallow out to the reef and very rocky. It was mostly Asian tour groups who are bussed in to use the facilities of the local beach club (kayaks, jetskis etc).
The best part of the beach is right near the shore where it's only knee deep (so you can sit flat on the sand) before the rocks start. The currents/rips were very strong further out - you are literally dragged strongly sideways even with your feet flat on the ocean floor. If you are not a confident swimmer do not go beyond waist deep water in Tumon. The sun was out, the beach was peaceful, the water was warm and life was good. After 2 days of moping around in the rain I felt like the tropical paradise was finally happening. There were some interesting military aircraft flying overhead doing all sorts of drills. I'm no expert at spotting non-commercial aircraft but on a good day Guam is a fantastic place for unusual plane spotting. Just another reminder of the huge military presence there.

After spending the entire afternoon at Tumon Beach we headed back to our hotel room with a slab of very cheap Bud to enjoy on the balcony and watch the sun. It really is a great view - the Bayview really earnt its name that day!