Terminal 1: Betel Nut
“A Couple of No-nos”, Kiunga Airport Terminal, Papua New Guinea
Speaking of betel nut, I caught this image at the small terminal of Kiunga Airport in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea. The sign prohibits not only smoking but also chewing of betel nut, a sign which can also be found in other terminals of the country including in Port Moresby.
Chewing betel nut, the fruit of areca palm, reportedly has similar effects to smoking and is likewise carcinogenic. But, unlike smoking in public where non-smokers get a share of second hand smoke, chewing betel nut doesn’t share the effects with non-chewers. The problem is that betel nut chewers tend to spit a lot and, when the spitting is done anywhere, it leaves unsightly stains on the floor like a cluster of watery-red droppings from some hemorrhagic bird.
Also with this post, I’m starting a photo series about airport terminals — images I captured while waiting for my flight or worse, getting stranded, in various terminals around the world. And so this can be a long series as I expect many more travels ahead and, who knows, I may also catch a few images about bus terminals and train stations to add to my tales later on. It should be fun. I hope you can join me. 🙂
Related Posts by Shutter Bug:
- Children of Papua 15 (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
- Children of Papua 11 (travellingartist.wordpress.com)
The drag of endless mental work in a strange land takes its toll. Fatigue can kill so petty escapades provide hopeful deviations from the brewing madness. An aging DSLR keeps good company to a walk around the neighbourhood, a short drive to a scenic place, or a silent recollection in a quiet nook granting that the host community and the elements of nature would allow one a safe passage to solitude and contemplation. Loneliness quickly turns to joy when something exciting gets captured by the cam’s shutter then set free into the laptop’s screen followed by electric words that rush from the fingers to the keyboard in an effort to describe the moment. Alas, the brain is alive once again!
That info about the betel nut is pretty interesting. I just can’t get behind that chewing and spitting thing. Ugh! I’m happy to tag along on your travels with you. Thanks for inviting me 🙂
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Sorry, Gina, if I was a bit too graphic with my description but that was how I saw it. And thanks for letting me know that you’ll be with me as I look more closely at airport terminals. Stay tuned. 🙂
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Ahh, recalling those red-stained teeth from my tour in Vietnam 🙂
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I don’t know how true but they say that chewing betel nut also makes the teeth stronger. Apparently, the more obvious results are found in red-stained teeth. Thanks for the visit, Stephen.
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Sounds like a nice project, airport terminals are (from my limited experience) very singular places.
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When you have a camera in your carry on luggage and you have hours before the next flight, there,s a good possibility that you’ll try to catch something with it 🙂 Thanks, Carlos.
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I look forward to the series! I love knowing what happens at transition points. What is the place like? The people? How do they act, what do they do? What signage will you find? (Who would have thought “No Chewing of Betel Nut” would be a posted sign somewhere???) There is so many interesting things found at transition points.
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Wow, I felt like you have read my mind 🙂 Those are exactly the things I want to capture. I already have a number of images in my file which I plan to post as a continuation to this one when I’ve completed the PNG series in a week or so. Thank you so much, Dezra.
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Interesting explanation but it makes sense 🙂 I’m looking forward to the series, should be a lot of fun… in my last job I used to travel a lot and I got stuck in one too many airports, too bad I wasn’t into photography back then!!
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🙂 Glad to know you’ll be able to relate well with the series. And thanks for letting me know that you’ll be with me in this one. 🙂 Cheers!
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Jessie, I always look forward to your posts. How else will I get to see so much of the world if I didn’t follow you? And I agree, the few airports I have been in always have interesting “things.”
If you are a photographer everything holds something of interest. 😀
In fact my daily photo blg for this week has several airport photos planned.
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Thanks a lot, Shez, and I agree with you, it’s almost like seeing the environment from a camera’s viewfinder all the time 🙂 Will look forward to your airport photos.
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Looking forward to this new series!
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Thanks. Will try my best not to disappoint. 🙂
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Love the picture and looking forward to the airport series!
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Thanks a lot, Gaby. Glad to know you’ll be with me in the series. 🙂
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Was the no smoking sign ignored? Tall person saw similar signs during his world travels and most were completely ignored by airline staff and travelers.
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Well, I see people ignoring these signs everywhere and PNG is not an exception. Thanks for the visit.
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Awesome job on that picture!
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Thanks a lot, John.
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This really caught my eye Jessie. So simple yet graphically superb.
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Thanks, David.I picked up some of you techniques, I guess. 🙂
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