Country Info
- Saipan
- Capital
- US Dollar (USD)
- Currency
- 74,612
- Population
- MP
- Country Code
Saipan Slideshow
Travel Blogs from Saipan, Northern Mariana Isl.
Happy Birthday to Suka!
Today is Suka's Western birthday. The way we count it, this is the day she was born. She turns 28 today, also by the way we count it. I gave her a digital camera. She tried to take a picture of a sunset and fried the sensor in her old one. She had ...
Hashing
So I dropped the car off at Global at 3. Kramden (Wolf) picked me up there so that Suka could have the car. The trail was pretty lame in and of itself. It was mostly roads. It only had one boonie section. It was a little surprising where it ended up ...
Rainy Season
So this is the rainy season in Saipan. On the plus side, that means that the breezes are stronger and the temperatures are marginally cooler, topping out around 85 during the day. It also means that the rains are stronger and more regular and that things ...
Busy Sunday
... She's been through the U.S. immigration process and is now a U.S. citizen. They've had some of the same teachers at Northern Marianas College (although not Dave). They shared the guest worker experience in Saipan. The both love animals and gardening. And ...
Fun Saturday
The other part of working Saturday morning other than needing to do laundry is that Suka arranged to have her replacement trainee work in the afternoon so she could take the afternoon to do the Hash. We had set the alarm for 7:00. I barely realized it ...
Sea Day
... if an American flag could be seen lured me away from my rest. Dressed quickly and walked around deck 7. I saw the shore of Saipan and 4-5 grey military looking ships that surrounded the QM2, with no flags raised. I went up to deck 12 to see our ...
Prime Minister
Na een rustige nacht, weer een vooroordeel ontkracht, bezocht ik vandaag de hoofdstad van Australië. Canberra werd in 1911 ontworpen als zetel voor een nieuwe hoofdstad. De rivaliteit tussen Sydney en Melbourne was de aanleiding om een stad te ...
Grolsch
Loop je een beetje te flaneren door Canberra, valt mijn oog op een hek met daarop Grolsch. Het gehele terras was omzoomd met borden met daarop Grolsch. Nou Jop, dat is nog eens wat anders dan Oost-nederland als acquisitiegebied. Niks voor jou om hier aan ...
Wrapping Up
I'll finish this entry, put in entries for the trip home, then go to the hotel to start packing. Suka is treating me to a special dinner, a crab dish at one of the local Chinese restaurants that she tried to arrange when I was here at New Year's. ...
Lazy Saturday
... also watched their 21 minute movie. I ended up buying some books and a History Channel DVD. The DVD was about the WWII battles for Saipan, Guam, and Tinian. I still had more time to burn, so I tried out a new coffee shop while I finished the book I was ...
Christmas Eve
Not much happening this week so far. Suka actually had a night off Monday night. She wanted to cook a nice dinner for me. We did sam-style pork belly. Very delicious. Sam is any style of eating that wraps things. Typically, you use lettuce, tofu sheets, ...
Easter in Saipan
... to be on Topochau at 5:30 a.m. after a Hash night can be rough. Also, this week is Spring Break week for all the schools on Saipan. Pretty much every friend of mine who is a teacher ended up in Java Joe's while I was working Friday and Monday. But I'm ...
The Trail On Home
... ! Religion was one of the most fun for a long time and lasted pretty late. As a parting tribute to what may be my last Saipan Hash, I gifted my machete (which was accused of not being used because of the density of some of the tangle) to the hound who ...
Brutality Under the Full Moon
So do you like the melodramatic title? Sounds like a pulp horror novel, doesn't it? Well, dear reader, the truth wasn't far removed. Bwahahahahahaha! We had the good fortune (or so we thought!) of having a Full Moon Hash while I was here so we could ...
Fish Love Hot Dogs!
Mr. Shin of Tinian Fun Diving Club met us at the hotel at 8:40. We took a quick jaunt to their shop to get Suka's gear and my weights and tanks, and to discuss the dive sites. We decided to go to Turtle Cove and Tachogna Beach. Turtle Cove was a ...
Miscellanea
Here are some odd details from the past couple of days. I now have a part of Saipan named after me. Following my naming at the Hash this weekend and some side discussions with other Hashers about climbing, I seem to have reinvigorated the local ...
The last days on the island
Amidst the clutter and chaos of our beloved home, I write what will probably be our first and last entry from Saipan. The shippers come on Wednesday and phones and internet will be shut down that day. We leave at 3pm on Friday the 11th for ...
A Great Weekend
... -volitans.html). After a quick gear rinse at the hotel and after returning the gear and tanks to Mr. Lee, we went to the northern tip of the island to explore Kalabera Cave. We visited there briefly when I was here at New Years, but because of the ...
Scouting Trail
Thursday morning, we started scouting out our Hash trail. Just recently, they were complaining on the Hash mailing list that they didn't have enough people signed up as hares. The April 18 date was open and happens to be the anniversary of my first ...
Rock Climbing!
So after the August 11 Hash and talking to Alan about rock climbing, it finally came to pass. A small group of us met at Spreadable Crag for a morning of rock climbing. Alan has a lot of gear including ropes, webbing, carabiners and extra harnesses. ...
Notes on Food
Well, I've found something that pushes my limits for what I enjoy eating. Last night Suka prepared a spicy octopus dish. Imagine octopi about the size of a fist, legs and all. I guess some people even normally eat them raw. She boiled them, but only very ...
Quiet Saturday Night
We went to see The Bucket List after getting $1 tacos and Corona at a local restaurant on the water. The movie was very nice and thought-provoking. I can definitely recommend ...
Suka Gets A Hash Name
We went on the Full Moon Hash last night. When I got up to speak, I invoked the Palauan method, which involves getting someone to drink your beer for you in exchange for a kiss before and after they drink. I guess the assumption is that they want to kiss ...
Thai Night at CoffeeCare
I took some time off in the morning. Suka was helping some friends get some stuff from DFS at discount. After, she very pointedly suggested that she and Judy wanted to go shopping more and maybe I should go to work. I called in the remains and the bombs, ...
Leave for Hong Kong
Left on schedule. Flight was smooth. We were actually early getting to the airport because we were packed and all. Interesting watching the crowds. Lots of vacationing families and honeymooning ...
In the Paper Again!
... one picture. But the title of the post was not incorrect or misleading. For the second time that I know of, I've made the Saipan newspapers related to a bike race. I'd give you the link, but apparently they wanted to conserve paper online; my name only ...
The Wedding
We were married at the Mayor's office on Thursday. The whole family and Suka's friend Judy were in attendance. We were the third wedding for the mayor to perform that afternoon. He found out after we were done that there was a fourth. The photographer ...