I can't believe my trip to Saipan came and went so quickly.
Come! Take a little photo journey with me. It's going to be so much fun!!
February 10, 2011.
After 90 days of work Clubbies are given three days off to do with whatever they please. I went to Saipan with my friends Rene, Jessica, Christina, Lindsay and Ryann. Here we (Rene, me, Jessica, Christina -- Linds and Ry had to come the next day due to scheduling) are at GUM's Duty Free shopping; wearing, not buying, $200+ shades.
Guam from small plane.
HEY! Tumon Bay! I live there!! (The tallest building on the left. )
Saipan from plane. Green, green as far as can be seen.
The coral reef breaking into the deep.
We're here! C's parents came with us.
PIC Saipan. Included in the three days off, we each get three days free at PIC Saipan - YAY!! Good deal. We played in the water park, lazed in the lazy river, mastered some wicked waves in the simulated wave rider: Flo Rider, kayaked and generally played all around the property. They had a playground with - wait for it - a teeter-totter. R and I enjoyed that.
Thursday night is Saipan's Night Market. That plate of tasty-tasty(!) Thai food I split with J was only $5!! Perfect amount and a perfect price. Definitely one of my favorite things was how much cheaper Saipan was compared to Guam. I also really loved the small-town, laid-back island feel. As slow and laid-back as it can be here on Guam, Saipan is much more chill (a smaller island not occupied by military might do that).
We met up with the Saipan Clubbies and they took us around the town.
No night would be complete without karaoke (note: I was not the only one singing, this was just a solo moment in one of the many songs I sang that night; aware this picture was being taken.)
We ended up sitting on top of the world.
It was pretty wonderful.
The next morning we had a chance to meet Saipan's Siheky (PIC mascot that yes, I have been inside of. Saipan's is new and so much better than our old, stinky one, but now we have a new one and I wore it in a wedding - yes! story to be told from that one.) before getting started.
After getting loads of food and drinks and BBQ things, we took this magical ferry to Managaha, an island off the coast of Saipan. About a 15-20 minute ride. Also, I'm not sure about the cost as we talked our way on saying we were locals, which I didn't know about at first and almost ruined it for everyone during my making friends with strangers.
On the boat! MANAGAHA (fun to say, right?) in the background.
Thar she be!
Managaha is a really small island, and had we not stopped every 46 seconds to take a photo, we could've easily walked around the thing in 30 minutes if not less. Beautiful beaches, and the BBQ pits were so well kept. (Another thing I loved about Saipan = it was so clean and you could tell that the people really loved their land with all their parks and paths and nice places. Guam is pretty dirty.)
Just one of the pictures we took. Maybe my favorite.
Snorkeling is always fun!
We also had to talk our way on to the boat back. The captain happy obliged while a ticket taker woman scorned.
Yes, we yell-serenaded this yellow submarine with its theme song.
Lindsay and Ryann arrived!! We're all together! YAY!! (We had to leave and arrive on different days because they couldn't have the same six Clubbies not on schedule for three days.)
The beginning of the best [recorded] sunset I've ever seen.
That's me. It's real life.
Completely and totally a high five moment. These days I often find myself cheering/high fiving/clapping for Mother Nature's awesomeness.
Everyone in the sunset.
And then we did a silly sequence. The photos are blurry, but they make me smile.
Just one more.
HAPPY HOUR!! We got a nice discount and enjoyed $2 mojitos! Vacation, sigh. You're lovely.
PIC Saipan's pool bar is way cooler than Guam's. Live music and karaoke every night, bigger and better space, and they stay open until midnight unlike our 10p closing. A really fun time for the guests at Saipan.
We went out dancing at this crazy club called G.I.G. There were these two Sphinxes flanking the entrance and the whole outside seemed more in place at Disney's Pleasure Island and not Saipan's downtown.
Ooh! On the way back from dancing, a friend and I stopped at Wing Beach to marvel at the millions of stars shining in the sky. (low light pollution = another Saipan win!)
Welcome to the Grotto!!
Thar she blows! Cave diving.
Suiting up with Axe Murderer Tours.
Pre-dive/115 stairs suited. The Grotto was super cool. Cave diving; we got to use flashlights and went all National Geographic-y in seeing a sea turtle and ink-squirting octopus (not so happy about that because Harry, our dive guide grabbed him, and I'm all about experiencing the ocean's beauty with my eyes only).
Post-dive with Harry and Kelly.
Post-dive Harry and Kelly drove us to Bird Island to check out the view. Supposedly a wonderful hike containing beautiful views and - yep! - birds! Sadly we had no time.
Last Stand/Suicide Cliff. Saipan has a brutal WWII history.
Gunner.
Listening to Harry give us some info on the last Japanese command post.
That's me. Look at that sunset. Sometimes I feel like pinching myself to ensure that this is real life. Ouch! Yeah, it is.
Sunset with Jess, Christina and Rene.
Jess, Christina and I walked back to PIC from the Spicy Thai restaurant - super cheap prices for the tastiest Thai food I've had since Thailand. The papaya salad is eye-wateringly divine, and their curries are something to clap about.
After dancing away the previous nights, we all decided it was necessary to relax with a game of cards. I was thinking some Go Fish with my Communist cards from Beijing, but Uno was the winner. OLE!!
Helping Tiger draw his four from my Wild. Turns out it's kind of difficult to play Uno with 10+ people. Who knew!?
Now it's time to say good-bye. Saipan, you were lovely. I highly recommend you visit if you ever find yourself in the Marianas Islands, Micronesia.
PS - the lovely photos are courtesy of Christina, Jessica and Lindsay.
