CHILLIN‘ in Fiji
A LAND WHERE TIME STANDS STILL
“Sometimes I’m overcome thinking about, Making love in the green grass, Behind the stadium. With youuu, my brown-eyed girl... Youuu, my brown-eyed girllllll...” La la la...
THE heady mix of the Kava (a local drink made from the roots of the Piper methysticum plant) which I’d enthusiastically downed after a hefty farewell seafood dinner coupled with the moonlit serenade of this Van Morrison classic by a trio of Fijian buskers looking like a bunch of rugby players in their light blue jerseys have certainly induced a state of happy high in me. Not THAT kind of high but one that Fijians, as a people, seem to exude.
You don‘t even have to stay here too long before you realise that the people of Fiji are generally a happy lot. They laugh with abandon. They break into songs at the slightest chance. And with a life mantra that seems to excuse any form of urgency — ‘it’s Fiji time!’ — it’s no wonder that the kind of stresses that are the bane of our daily existence appear to escape them.
Fiji, a country in the South Pacific, and an archipelago of more than 300 islands, has been voted as one of the happiest countries in the world. Or at least according to one independent market research firm in its WINGallup survey, which showed that 89 per cent of Fijians report that they’re happy.
Although caught up in the revelry of this final night in the land of smiles, I can‘t help feeling a little downcast at the thought that my island bliss will soon be over as I return to the humdrum of reality and smack into the rat race.
It seems like only yesterday that I was bouncing excitedly on my seat, preparing for departure in the contemporary confines of a Fiji Airways plane, gawking at the matronly stewardesses with their hibiscus tucked behind their ears, and looking forward to a trip I never knew I’d ever make.
Fast forward six days later and here I am at Nadina, a restaurant among many located at the bustling Port Denarau
Retail and Commercial area, that boasts authentic Fijian fare
(fish and root veg- etables make up a significant portion of the local diet), tucking into some of the freshest seafood I’ve ever tasted, enjoying the melodious singing of the talented buskers and being lulled into a state of bliss by the caress of the balmy evening breeze.
As the sun begins to set in the distance, transforming the hitherto azure blue canvas into one of shimmering gold, I couldn‘t help but chuckle at the thought that barely a week ago, Fiji was just like the Moon. I had no idea where it was!
Suffice to say, prior to the trip, my geography — at least when it comes to Fiji — was rather dodgy. When the invitation arrived to explore this country, famed for its rugged landscape, palm-fringed beaches and breathtaking coral reefs with crystalclear lagoons, I’d thought I was headed somewhere near the Maldives.Or maybe Hawaii?
But I take comfort in the fact that I’m not alone. Ask the average Malaysian where they think Fiji is, and watch them
fumble for an answer. “Somewhere near Hawaii?” “It’s a Polynesian island?” “Ooo the men there wear grass skirts!” Well, ‘Polynesian’, ‘grass skirts’ et al, I duly discover, are certainly in the picture, but Fiji and its people are definitely so much more.