Saipan Ocean View Hotel

... Along the way we found several signs of war activity, including man-fortified hiding spots, shoe soles, cooking utensils, and even a six-pack of hand grenades.

We found a much easier way out, coming onto the road from a path that we had completely missed when we walked in.

On the way home, we picked up sushi at Himawari, which we devoured before cleaning up to get her to work.

... through the surf when the beaches gave way to rock outcroppings. I ended up carrying Suka's shoes while she swam much of the way. In a few areas there were little tidal pools in the rocks with salamanders jumping all over them.

Once we got to Obyan Beach, I dropped the shoes and Camelback at the head of the trail back to the car and went swimming, as well.

Suka had to work in the afternoon. I dropped her off and decided to check out a shop ...

Suka wanted to stay home and do stuff around the house while I went to Java Joe's to work. I caught up on dozens of code reviews to keep my team moving, which can be exhausting.

When I came home, Suka had used the rest of the dough and fillings to make more dumplings. That and a stir fry of pork with garlic shoots was dinner.

I had done a lot of internet checking on the prices for the watches we looked at the night before. The price the shop ...

... time and being caught, so I may not have gone as far up as I should have. Suka was waiting for me at the checking. We set a flour trail onto the road nearby and down the road to where the beer truck was waiting for us, where we set an on back (dead end marker). We then drove to the on home. We had a nice time drinking beer, swapping stories and hanging out on a beautiful afternoon until close to the time we thought they would show up ...

... out this week from A Word A Day is an excerpt from some writing by Cicero and not just bogus Latin. How about that? I managed to relate Korean, Latin and English in the same string of thoughts. Anyway, once Suka got back from her contract signing, she went to fill in at Global while I worked at Java Joe's. She was officially a pinch-hitter while they got some paperwork straightened out. After, she stopped by the mailbox. Lo and behold! The ...

... at Global will happen while I'm here, so this will be her real apartment until she leaves Saipan. We're right across the stairs from the apartment on the back side of the building that we have had the last couple of trips. This apartment is a little bigger and they've done some recent repairs and maintenance. It also has more furniture, including a desk and nightstand.

... and DFS. We decided to skip the burritos this week and each had a 6 for $5 combination. We also had some of the Hyatt's home made strawberry yogurt drink. Very tasty. We bought a sticky tapioca cake for this morning's breakfast. This morning we ate our light breakfast. We checked the PO box (nothing). We tried to get my hair cut, but we hand't called ahead and the lady couldn't give us an appointment until Monday after I leave. Oh, well. Then we went over to the World Resort ...

... to see some different parts. The plan was to go out the middle rope, head north along the reef, and come out on the northernmost rope. A simple plan. I was breathing a little heavy for various reasons, but I thought I had a good enough sense of where we were at that I had enough air for the dive. However, Rose's friends broke from the plan. Rose felt a need to stay with them. Suka was following us. I didn't know how to ...

... to stay in bed when Suka went to work and ended up getting out of bed at 11:00, just in time to clean up before she got back for lunch. Contrary to our expectations, Mr. Ham said yes to the requested time off. This was good in that we could go, but also had some consequences. We were originally hoping to get the answer in time to be able to also ask for her to leave a couple hours early today to join the Christmas Hash. If he hadn't answered, she also would have asked or ...

... with in this year's, was there. His wife is head of HR for DFS Saipan. Of course, I knew Wolf and Tokie. There were also a few of Suka's co-workers that I had been introduced to. Along with dinner and entertainment, it was more than enough to fill the time that Suka wasn't there. The party was in the Hard Rock (map pin), which is attached to DFS. The whole place was reserved. They usually have it at one of the hotels. DFS headquarters had ...