Ever met someone for the first time and immediately thought, "This person is going to be my friend someday," and then it comes true? I thought Jaemen Busby looked so familiar when I first encountered him in a Launching Leaders class. […]

I know Koni from when we worked together in a contact centre. The first words she ever said to me - while I was in 'the zone' gunning it towards my data entry targets - after distracting me, first, by […]

I was well out of high school before I fully understood that the history we learned there is not really mine. I mean, I loved the stories of Socrates, Da Vinci, Magellan and Napoleon, Martin Luther and Abraham Lincoln, and […]

In my culinary fantasies, I can walk into any café and ask for a fresh brew of sweet, black koko Samoa. That world is not reality just yet (at least not in New Zealand) but I know connoisseurs of this 'black […]

The early 2000s were a difficult time for my family. In the space of 4 years, 6 of my close relatives died. Our first loss was my 46-year-old first cousin. His sudden, cardiac event widowed his wife and left his […]

In early June this year, the Balmoral Seventh Day Adventist school in Auckland celebrated Pasifika night by hosting an auction of artwork. One young artist’s painting caught our eye and we posted it on the Manaui Facebook page - to […]

SASA. That was the first Samoan word that came to mind when asked the question, “What is your favorite Samoan word?” ATUA, was the second. Shouldn’t I have thought of GOD first? Apparently, I need to be disciplined first, to […]

Every now and then, the stomach craves the foods of my childhood. Among the many – Spam musubi is ranked in the top three. This Hawaiian snack (with Japanese origins) is made in a variety of ways depending on […]

Tonga, a pacific island country made up of 169 islands, 36 of those uninhabited, most well known for their continuity of having a monarchy and given the title of “The Friendly Islands” by Captain Cook on his first arrival many […]

In the Cook Islands, I've recognised that age is not a factor when it comes to bombing. Wherever there is water you will no doubt see people of all ages competing with whoever is there. For the locals, this […]