Misc.

The "initial impressions" post I had meant to write never did get written and now, over 2 months in, I don't remember all of them very well anyway.

 

I do remember that it took J. and me awhile to realize that comparing this place to other tropical places we had visited just didn't make a whole lot of sense.  The main reason being that Saipan is an island in the Pacific, and our other tropical experiences were in Southeast Asia, mostly on the mainland. 

 

Breakfast trip to the beach

Besides the price of goods, one of the main differences between Asian islands and mainland Asia is the fauna and flora.  Mostly the fauna: there are many, many imported creatures on the island, and plenty of native ones.  Even still, this jungle is really rather quiet.  Especially at night.  Not nearly the buzzing and chirruping and all the rest that you might think.  It is calm and quiet here.

 

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Maybe the quiet is explained by the fact that the wildlife in these parts caught on to the lacksidaisical way of the human islanders.  The joke is that "Hafa Adai" (which means "hello" in Chamorro) refers to the way local businesses are only open for "half a day."  I mean, why work more than you really need to, right?  J. makes endless puns associated with the expression, but I will spare you.

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Lego dragon (of course)

This has nothing to do with the rest of Asia, but is a "fun" fact: there are no physical addresses on the island! 

 

Two things are not fun about this fact: if you want to receive mail, you need a P.O. Box.  The only hurdle being that the U.S. postal service ran out of them years ago (decades ago? who knows), so now the rest of us get to rent some from private companies.  Second problem: there are plenty of US. companies that won't ship to P.O. boxes, so that makes life just that much more interesting when trying to order necessities online.  (And don't even get me started on how many companies won't ship to Saipan, along with other U.S. territories.  I cannot understand this, given that postage rates are domestic.)

(the kids love to play "spa" now)

The other absolutely hilarious thing about having no addresses is that there are no addresses at all. 
And no recognizable street names outside of Middle Road and Beach Road.  (To be fair, there are streets with names, but no one knows them since it is fairly recent). 

Allow me to explain why this is a problem: you can't just tell people where you live and have them look it up.  You must provide detailed directions, or draw a map, or meet them somewhere and then have them follow you.  Because kinda everyone lives down an unpaved road of some kind with multiple turns and you have to pass a chicken farm at some point (why is it always a chicken farm?).  A little like life on the Rez, to tell the truth.  But the main difference is that destinations are all within a 44mi. square radius so this should be easier, in theory.

Some friends told us about a live radio broadcast they heard once during which the two co-hosts of a morning talk show tried to explain the location of an upcoming event by referring to nearby landmarks.  Evidently, it was a little complicated to do and they kept correcting each other and the conversation lasted for almost 10 minutes.



view from the Forbidden Island hike

Now, you might think that folks would get pretty good at giving directions in a place like this, but it is quite the opposite.  I can't count how many times I have been told, "Oh, you just go down there, and keep going and then it is on your left!" and that's all I have to go on.
 
As a very orientation-conscious person, who prides herself on knowing how to get from here to there, and being able to describe it to others with both detail and precision, with plenty of landmarks and street names included, this just makes me ab-so-lute-ly nuts.



Rainbows pop up just about everywhere. There is just so
much moisture in the air

Tropical storms: A typhoon recently hit Guam and Rota (another island) but we barely saw any of it.  Others have told us that when the season really kicks in, the island's supply chain can get delayed for weeks and supermarkets run out of essentials. 



The supply ship.  Here every Friday.  So far.

Luckily, we have a breadfruit tree in our backyard.  Phew.*


* that's a joke.  I have yet to find a practical use for breadfruit.  (Although according to Wikipedia, "Native Hawaiians used its sticky latex to trap birds, whose feathers were made into cloaks"! So that's always an option...) 

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There are monitor lizards on the island.  They can get pretty big--someone told me that at least one has been spotted that was 5 feet long.  Daddy and BR saw one in our neighborhood that was somewhere between 18 and 24 inches long.  Very cool.

And then yesterday an equally large one showed up on our back patio and was caught sniffing around at the pool.  No photo this time, and I missed it again, but hopefully I will get a glimpse next time.



[more] signage

a sign in five languages, not one of which is English

we like to think that the Art Man takes all of our garbage away, and then makes art with it

(my favorite is "price of the common" and "newold")

I love this especially because it is at the fake Abercrombie & Fitch store
(attached to fake Levi's and fake Guess)

 

 

This is a sign placed in the middle of the lawn at the police station:

I attracted so much attention taking this photo that I got followed by a police car and
questioned later. 
(And what have YOU done for the sake of your art, lately, huh?!?)

 

This is a commonly found notice in restaurants.

(note the inclusion of a photo of them back when they made homemade soba!)

But WHAT is the reason?!?

Sunset on the lagoon

J. and I went out on a dinner cruise to celebrate our 11th anniversary.  The boat took us out to a tiny island just offshore where we bobbed around and had dinner while the fishies waited for us to toss them our extras.

 

  

(so that's what a 12 mile long island looks like from a couple of miles away)

Korean tourists love to wear matching outfits.  I hope to acquire a
"his-and-hers" set for J. and I at some point...

Managaha Island

 

looking down through the floorboards of the boat

 

A date with BR

This morning I announced that it was BR's turn to go on a "date" with me.  He immediately rushed to his room and reappeared in a new outfit: a button-down shirt and dress pants, and--in good San Diegan style--flip-flops. 

We made our first stop at the gift shop of a museum so that he could purchase a camo helmet he'd had his heart set on.  We walked into the building and instead of going toward the exhibits, he strutted purposefully into the gift shop.  The ladies behind the counter couldn't contain themselves.  ("Oh, just look at the little man!  All dressed up!  Oh, and he knows where he is going, too!  Yup, he must have his mind made up already...") He counted out his money and then added in enough for an American flag patch, too.  He felt SO proud. 

"I suppose that next time we go hiking into the jungle you'll be wanting to wear that hat, eh?" I asked.  "No!" he answered, emphatically.  "It's not a 'hat.'  It's a helmet." 

Eventually it was time for lunch so I took him to a favorite place right on the beach.  He placed his order then set up a game of dominos for us.  When the food came, he couldn't get over how delicious it was.  "Oh man, this is just SO good.  How do they even know how to make this?  I just can't believe how good this is..."  Talk about a satisfied customer.

And then I tried to share my portion with him.  He took a couple of bites but became suspicious when I kept pressing him to eat as much as he wanted.  "Hmph... Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do, Mommy." He wagged his finger at me. "You're trying to fatten me up so you can eat me!"

Pose au-Naturel...



I wish I could leave this as a stand-on-its-own post, but we have exactly one solitary blog reader who would get the joke, so I really ought to explain. 

 

Remember that Saipan is a destination for Japanese, Chinese and Korean tourists (and Russians, too, although I have not seen the Russians keep to the same photographic traditions as the others). Every day we pass by many, many such visitors enjoying a joyride in their rented brightly-painted American-made SUV or convertible (usually a Ford Mustang).  A favorite activity is to drive to an especially scenic point on the island, and then to strike a pose in a sundress--or bridal gown!--with a tropical flower tucked behind an ear, or while leaping in the air, silk scarf blowing in the breeze.  Yes, often the setting is the beach at sunset, but a good portion of the time the car is the main backdrop.  But always, always, the peace sign.  In EVERY photo.

 

My spoof is not only inspired by the old Keenes, man-shorts, and Dr. Seuss t-shirt I happened to be sporting that particular morning, but also the especially attractive-looking vehicle in our scenic carport, with its busted up fender and headlight.  Busted, mind you, by a careless Chinese tourist driver in his rented bright orange sports utility vehicle (none of us were hurt, thankfully).

 

L. was right there with me for the photo-shoot, catching the ironic vision:

 

Breakfast Picnic

 

Hey, P-roc, check out the right angles of the branches on this tree!

 

stringy-haired-tree (it should be called that)

 

We tried to find a beach and instead we went on a long hike (and then finally found a beach)

The title basically sums it up.  Except that it was really much more dramatic than that.  This was before we knew that some of the beaches were so remote that it required a serious hike through the jungle and some steep downhills, to reach them.   I had simply set out one day, with the kids and a map, and thought I would actually end up at a beach relatively soon.

Silly me.

We would never have even found this path except that some other cars were parked in the brush over by the side of the road and we pulled over to investigate.

 

"Oh, a path!  No problem at all, we'll just follow it"

There were some ropes and vines set up on the steepest parts, to help keep your footing in the mud.

 

 

And then you had to pick your way over and under some of these branches (I forget the name of this tree but it is so weird looking!  No leaves!)

 

Still going...(are we making any progress??)

 

And finally...sunshine!

And we could see immediately why this beach got its name.



"Old Man By the Sea"

 

Totally worth the hike in.  And out. 

 

(It is also worth it to wear some kind of shoe, and not just flip flops.)