DURING THE ANNUAL WESLEYAN CHURCH CONFERENCE IN NUKU'ALOFA, I had some free time to walk about town and see how things might be different in the two years since I lived there. I was teaching at Tupou Tertiary Institute and Tupou High School in 2005, at the Fasi Mo Afi campus which is right next to the downtown business district. This is the area which was mostly burned down during the 'democracy riots' of November 2006. I guess I'm glad that I was not there during that period, as the riot mostly took place right next to my house! You can see pictures of my old house and the Tupou campus.

I love this old church right across from the Royal Tombs with the flying butress. It reminds me of the great cathedrals in Europe. I have never been inside this church but I think it is a Free Church of Tonga demonination, another Methodist sect within Tonga (along with the Wesleyan church, the Church of Tonga, and the Church of the Chiefs). They recently held the royal wedding of a princess here at this church with much celebration and formality as befits a royal wedding.

This is a typical view of the horrendous traffic which now plagues downtown Nuku'alofa. This is the main intersection downtown where all the businesses were looted during the riots. The liquor store is now the main TCC outlet (for mobile phones, internet and phone services), so that is an improvement of sorts I guess. Next door is the Friendly Island Bookstore, certainly a good sign to see their downtown location restored after the very nice one they had before was burned to the ground by 'democracy supporters'.

This is a live performance I happened to catch one afternoon. I know the keyboard player, one of the best working musicians in Tonga. He has some really nice sequences in his Yamaha keyboard and he sings very well, as is common among Tongans. I think it is very interesting that in Tonga all the working musicians I have ever seen use these 'consumer grade' PSR keyboards, instead of the 'professional' models like the Motif. They make good use of the vocal harmonizer function which is common on these instruments, giving a solo musician the full background harmony parts of three more singers.

I have often wondered why China, "the sleeping giant" which has produced such gains in manufacturing, has not produced more musical instruments? Walking along the main road I came across this window display of what must be Chinese keyboards I had never seen before. Would you like a nice Jinle, Yongmei, or Meike keyboard perhaps? They look unbearably cheap, but I think the Meike has midi on it. I shudder to think what they must sound like but I believe that Chinese industry has to be considered for what they may become in the future, perhaps if they get a little design help from musicians overseas, such as the Tongan working musicians pictured above? There is an interesting connection between China and Tonga, with many Chinese merchants gaining Tongan citizenship some years ago when they were made available for purchase (no longer available in that manner). I wish that there was a cooperation that would bring Chinese manufacturing to Tonga someday.

Here's the little club I used to play at along the waterfront. It looks to have been closed for quite a while now. I think this would have to be the only place that had any American jazz in the last 5 years. I enjoyed playing here, had some good times and met some interesting people. Too bad the jazz jam session with the Crown Prince did'nt happen (he plays some jazz piano from time to time). I know the new owners of the Bounty Bar in Neiafu, Vava'u hope to have some jazz there soon, and I heard that there was a nice jazz pianist at the Dateline Hotel a number of years ago. That place has really fallen on hard times and it is mostly a big joke to locals who call it the "Dirtline Hotel", possibly due to the thick green color of the swimming pool (yecch!).

Speaking of thick green pools, one cannot pass up the downtown monument to the HMS Dolphin. The smiling dolphins have always been a fixture of the downtown waterfront, and their pool has always had this rediculous filthy appearance, even before the riots. The Dolphin and her captain Wallis visited Tonga in 1767, the third known European visitors to Tonga. I think that was the last time anybody cleaned this fountain and it has never been seen to be working by anyone I have met. Still, the dolphins seem to be happy.

Just behind the Dolphin monument is the Vuna pier, where I used to go swimming. The wharf has always had "the unsafe of the surface" problem but it was'nt really much of a concern. Now, it seems to have become a concern as this sign indicates no swimming is allowed any more. The places left to swim right in town would be much less desirable. There is the one little spot down the way with the steps down into a small protected area where there are usually small kids playing, splashing, and crying about having to leave and go home. People usually park right in Vuna road to use that spot, I wish they would'nt.

It was nice to see the various businesses outside the downtown area seem to be thriving. This little stand has a very nice variety of wood carvings available. You can watch them carving with chainsaws and handtools along the waterfront near this shop. I used to love the sign next door, it said something like: small engine repair, funds transfer and dentistry. Some Tongan entrepreneurs are very resourceful and this is the strength of the Tongan economy. It looks as though the downtown will make a nice recovery in the next few years.

All along Salote Road there is a new business district that has grown sort of replacing the downtown. Here is an EM Jones hardware business and a Friendly Island bookstore warehouse that I think was funded by overseas donations. Both businesses suffered a big loss during the riots, but came back into business here along the Salote strip. There are quite a few new businesses along this streach of road as well, and the Kinikinilau center is booming too. It will be interesting to see if building in the downtown area leads these guys to relocate there again.

There are half dozen new restaurants along the waterfront, the biggest one is this new sports bar called Shooters. It's pretty nice, downright luxurious by Tongan standards even. They have a nice menu and kitchen, with the type of bar food that I know American's will love. There's a snooker table, a dance floor, a small bar with a TV and a lot of nice outdoor seating around the front and the side. Like many Tongan nightclubs, there is a pair of big imposing bouncers at the front door so don't try and wear your hat inside, as they really don't like that.