Northern Marianas: Chewing betel nut in Saipan

I've been quite busy here in Saipan so to keep you entertained, here are photos of me eating betel nut or nganga to us Filipinos. Yikes! I didn't realize chewing on it gives you a high!

Guam: ATR42/72 plane to the Northern Marianas

Today, we left Guam for Saipan. Our flight was in the afternoon so we had some last minute meetings before we flew out. After breakfast, we made a courtesy visit to Walter B. Dias, the Staff VP for Sales and Marketing of Continental Airlines. After the visit, we were invited to visit the Hyatt Regency Guam to check out the facilities and savor their sumptuous buffet lunch.

The view from the rooms was picturesque! All their rooms are actually on the side of the beach and thus get a wonderful view of Tumon Bay. Lunch was at La Mirenda Retaurant. Everyday, the theme of the buffet changes so expect to try out something new. For today, it was Mexican so I had nachos and made my own burrito with guacamole in it. But the pièce de resistance was actually their dessert table. Yummy!

We were running late and had to rush to the airport. The counters were actually closed when we got there but they let us in anyway. We were already late, but when we placed our bags on the weighing scales, everyone was overweight no thanks to the shopping! So all of us were frantically opening our luggage and taking out stuff. Good thing Lou gave us a travel bag from Continental so we were able to balance out the stuff between the two bags. Whew!

The plane is actually a 42-seater ATR42/72, the ones with the propellers. I already had some misconceptions about these planes and was pleasantly surprised that it was a smooth flight since I had motion sickness. In fact, I was asleep for the most part.

We landed at the Saipan International Airport at about 3:30 p.m. To get into the Northern Marianas, you either need a U.S. visa or a visitor's entry permit. You could get an application form at the Marianas Visitors Authority office in Manila and fax it to CNMI Immigration. Forms can also be downloaded at the website of the CNMI Attorney General's Office.

We got a warm welcome when we got out the airport courtesy of our hosts, the Saipan Grand Hotel. They gave each of us plumeria leis which really smelled good.

From the airport, we went to the hotel. But they took us for a brief drive around the island center in Garapan first. Our rooms had a really great view of Susupe Beach which was right beside the hotel. The group had a lot of time to rest since our only activity today was dinner. So after getting settled, I went down to the beach to swim a bit.

We had a BBQ dinner at the beach. The atmosphere was so relaxed and we had our feet on the sand. They served us salads, roasted oysters and mussels and steak. They also let us try Tinian chili. I dipped the tip of my fork in it to try it out. Wow! The effect of that very small amount was overwhelming since the chili was just soooooo hot!

The great thing about this hotel was that they had free Wi-Fi internet access at the lobby! Hehe! Anyway, time to sleep now. Lot's of stuff to do tomorrow.

Guam: Snuba diving in Tumon Bay

Today, we visited Tumon Bay, one of four protected marine reserves of Guam. Tumon Bay is actually the area of the hotel row which is why visitors residing in the hotels could easily access it. Our plan was to snorkel from the Ypao Beach Park.

Instead, we found ourselves going snuba diving, which is a mix of scuba diving and snorkeling since although you have the oxygen tank, the tank is floating on an inflated raft above the surface. It was a good thing Snuba, a company which offered this great activity, had clients on Ypao Beach that day. So we were able to join in. A thirty minute snuba tour around the reefs of Tumon Bay would cost you about US$65 per person.

We got ourselves some underwater cameras yesterday night. It was a great deal since we got the reusable ones with flash for just US$15 at K-Mart. So you just have to change the film when it's done. So I'll post the photos of our snuba trip once I get the photos developed.

There was a lot of marine life in the reef. Not as much as the deeper reefs but going snuba in Tumon Bay was a good introduction to scuba for a beginner like myself. The fish aren't scared of people since no one is allowed to go fishing in this protected area and they are used to people too. I think I'll try the real scuba diving one of these days since checking out the marine life was really fun! I didn't expect it to be that tiring though because when I got out of the water, I was so exhausted. My throat was dry too!

We had to rush and get dressed since we had to catch the rest of the group for lunch at Tony Roma's at the SM Store. Yes people... Henry Sy has landed in Guam! It was hosted by SM Store GM Tes Reyes and the marketing heads of Continental Airlines and the Guam Visitors Bureau namely Lou Sanchez and Pilar Laguana.

My lunch really accelerated my food binge. Talk about American servings! I had a large serving of ribs and chicken, coleslaw and a mound fries all in one plate! And to think I had tortilla chips and salsa before the main course.

I decided to take a nap after lunch since I didn't want to go shopping anymore plus I slept quite late the night before since I was maximizing my Internet access which was US$15 for 24 hours! So they brought me back to the hotel while the rest went shopping or were doing more interviews.

From the balcony of my room, I took some photos of Tumon Bay. Really great view! It's a really good thing Guam was able to take care of its environment which is why you have these really blue waters right beside high-rise hotels.

For dinner, we met up with successful Filipino businessman Emilio Uy at Proa Restaurant. Again, another large plate for dinner. I could feel my stomach and my face expanding! Mr. Uy was the owner of a very large office supply store in Guam and was very famous for his generosity to visiting Filipinos. He even sent us some pasalubongs at the hotel.

We had to rush back to the hotel since Probe had to interview Cueshe, a popular Filipino band, who was in Guam for a week for some gigs. Cheche Lazaro did the interview and we got to listen in. We found how they started in Cebu and the gamble they took by coming over to Manila without any assurance of gigs and all; how they lived in a single apartment, living on canned foods and noodles. Well, obviously their gamble paid off.

After the interview, I went up again to my room since I wanted to maximize the remaining minutes of the Internet connection. Haha! We leave for Saipan tomorrow.

OT: The M/S Nippon Maru is now docked in Manila. And I missed the SSEAYP reunion on board the ship! Oh well! I will have to wait for 2008 since it's not docking in Manila next year. Thanks to SSEAYP International Philippines for the SIP National Award for Arts & Culture. I apologize for not being there to receive the award personally since I'm still working here. Thanks again!

Photo credits: Karlo de Leon who took most of my photos, Jodi Madridejos and Cheche Lazaro.