Jamaican in China!

October 2015. Well, it’s happened again! Back on Oct 12, the island of Saipan was visited by the Holland America cruise ship, the Statendam, and some of their passengers got treated to a personalized Jamaican on Saipan tour experience! Here are some photos from the day!

In years past, I’ve had singer and entertainer Gus Kaipat, Carolinian elder Lino Olopai, Humanities Council director Scott Russell as special guest guides for my tours!

Unlike any other tour available that day, we could boast that we had Robert Hunter, the director of the CNMI museum, as the special guest guide for our clients! Thanks, Robert!

Picking up vans in the morning.

The Statendam docks!

Entering the port with Statendam in the background

Getting through the chaos in the parking lot

Click here to watch and listen to the welcome at Memorial Park

Touring the Memorial Park grounds

Robert Hunter keeps ’em enthralled at the Carolinian Village Utt

A light moment while spam shopping!

Okay, let’s roll!

Entering the Bomb Magazine at As Lito

Inside the Bomb Magazine

 

We had four vans rolling convoy style around the island!

At Lao Lao Bay golf course

 

Posing with the Ladies of the Statendam!

 

Overlooking the Statendam

Banzai Cliff

Revealing secrets

Driver/Guide Catherine confers with Robert

“I think it’s THAT way!”

 

The Last Command Post

Robert shares some history

My troopers were willing to brave the elements muddy water and all to get inside and experience a bit of history

Inside the Command Post

Bird Island

 

Of course, there was a whole lot more we shared during the day, but you’ll have to book your own personalized tour to get the full experience!

 

Special thanks to photographer, Ferdinand Ramos of facebook.com/paradisesaipan, and also to Willy from Fiji, Microl Toyota, Hertz, Kathy Odle, Cathie Slota and to all the guests who made the day special!  To book your own tour, visit www.discoversaipan.com!

For those of you who are inquiring, I was not on Saipan at the time of Typhoon Soudelor, but thank you for all the inquiries about my safety as well as the well-being of everyone on island. I’ve been in touch with a few people on Saipan, and while the island was, in fact, battered, there have been no reports of any fatalities. Here are some resources to keep up to date:

Video of drive through Beach Road and Middle Road

News report about gas lines and essential services:

Saipan’s Local Newscasts
http://kspn2.com/archive-v.asp

Admit it! You’re dying to know what I listen to while
I write my books and enjoy life on Saipan, or during airport layovers while I travel! Therefore, I offer to you:

THE JAMAICAN ON SAIPAN’S TOP 10 FAVORITE COUNTRY SONGS
Following a recent conversation with a friend about the music we listened to growing up, I decided to spend a few hours compiling a list. My favorite country music songs are from the 70s and 80s. (Yes, we listened to all types of music in Jamaica!) In my humble opinion, Country artists/writers have great lyrical dexterity, great melodies, great hooks and represent all around great music making!

The following are in no particular order, but if you’d like to know which song I listen to most often, it would probably be Ronnie Milsap’s He Got You (‪#‎3a‬)

Most of these youtube versions I found have the lyrics onscreen for your contemplation. Please take a listen to a few. Even if country’s not your thing, take a little adventure with me and let me know what you think! Thanks!

1. Your Memory by Steve Wariner

2. Middle Aged Crazy by Jerry Lee Lewis

3. He Got You & Any Day Now by Ronnie Milsap

4. Foolhearted Memory by George Strait

5. Highway 40 Blues by Ricky Skaggs

6. I Don’t Need You by Kenny Rogers

7. Luckenbach Texas by Waylon Jennings

8. Hard Candy Christmas by Dolly Parton

9. Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue by Crystal Gayle

10. I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool by Barbara Mandrell and George Jones

If you’re hearing any of these for the first time, I’d love to
get your feedback and which ones stand out to you!

Chinese Idol Group SNH48 films video on Saipan

As I prepare for the next “Jamaican in China” nomadpreneur travel adventure starting with Macau in a few days, I’ll share my most recent “passionpreneur/follow your passion and do what you love/Jamaican on Saipan/saipanpreneur” adventure!

Now it can be told!

Back in January, ZanyBros, Korea’s biggest video production company (known for their work with K-pop artists in the global “Hanryu” Korean Wave pop culture explosion) , contacted me to help them arrange a video shoot on Saipan for Chinese idol group, SNH48, for their latest release. After months of planning and preparation, an advanced team arrived on March 17, the remaining film crew arrived on March 20, and filming took place from Saturday March 21 to Monday March 23. Here are just a few of the 1200 photos documenting the project with me as location manager along with my project partner, Chang Yoon Suk, PR Director of the Korean Association here on Saipan.
(photos by Ferdinand Ramos)

Meeting Director Kim, Assistant Director Lee, and Producer Nomura at the airport

Chang, me, Lee, Kim and Nomura scouting locations days before the shoot

Chang has an idea

Shooting around the island ( Banzai Cliff) 24 artists, 25 artist support staff, 17 film crew, 5 fifteen-passenger vans, 2 siennas, 2 pickup trucks, Korean-English translator, Korean-Mandarin translator, drivers, equipment, generator….now let the fun begin!

Doing the location manager thing…

Internationally famous Carolinian singer, Gus Kaipat, as sound engineer

Drivers for a day, Mario, Conrad, Kevin, Alejandrof, along with me and Nomura

Producer Nomura, Chang, Marlin and me

On location at the Bird Island trail

Behind Hyatt Hotel

Camera on the ground, camera on the crane, camera in the air

Me and a little more than a quarter of SNH48

Chillin’ with the local crew

Watching the filming…it’s a great gig if you can get it!

Final shot at the airport with ZanyBros! (photo by one of “Saipan’s Finest!”)

The weather was perfect!
And with our international team consisting of a Chilean overseas marketing producer, Korean film crew, Chinese artists, Japanese producer, along with a uniquely Saipan mix of Chamorro and Filipino drivers, Carolinian sound engineer, vendor owners and hotel managers from Czech Republic, Bangladesh, India, Russia, Korea, Hong Kong and the United States, along with one Jamaican location manager, we pulled it off! Things went smoothly, and all filming was finished in three days! Stay tuned for info on the release of the video and see if you can identify the various filming locations around Saipan!

SPECIAL THANKS TO
Angelina at ZanyBros, Nancy McDowell and Pamela at Hyatt Hotel; Kazu, Martin, Das and Joseph at Fiesta Hotel; Helen, Yukari and Yulia at Aqua Resort; Hafa Adai Hotel; Doug Brennan and Jocelyn Pangelinan at Microl Toyota; Alex and Kit at Hertz; Divine at Islander Car Rental; Ephraim at Thrifty Car Rental; Tati and Shane at the Department of Public Lands; Top Development; Coastal Resources Management; Saipan TV, Noli at Marianas Studio; Domingo at Hanmi Hardware; Gus Kaipat; Cinta Kaipat; Lino Olopai, John Joyner; Joe Hill; Godfather’s Beach Bar; Anna Chang and the staff at Canton Restaurant; Byung Hoon Park at The Grill Hai (Fusion) restaurant; Frank Li at U-Save Car Rental; Darlene and Debra at Joeten Supermarket; Joseph at Island Equipment Rental; Gordon Marciano; Mario, Alex, Conrad, Jude, Kevin, Alejandrof, Gids, Dave, and Joe , Ichi Ban Marine Sports, plus all the security personnel, front desk clerks, and other staff, plus extra special thanks to photographer, Ferdinand Ramos, for capturing it all!

Check out SNH48 at http://www.snh48.com and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNH48

Read more about the idol group phenomenon which started in Japan at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_idol

Check out ZanyBros at http://www.zanybros.com

Read more about DestinationSaipan’s business services (location management/logistics) at DestinationSaipan Business Services

I went snorkeling last week. You may be asking yourself why this fact and occurrence is worthy of a blog post. Well, I’ll tell you. I grew up in Jamaica,
but never learned to swim. I learned to swim in college in the states and had a near-drowning experience during the semester. Consequently, I’ve lived on a tropical paradise since 2006 and have never gone more than ankle deep in the waters. That changed last week.

Two recent guests from Germany visited Saipan to experience diving at the Grotto and Wing Beach as well as snorkeling at Obyan and Pau Pau and convinced me to get my feet wet, so to speak, so I did! (Those Germans can be quite persuasive!) I also had a great teacher (Thanks, Yumi!)

So, here are the exclusive shots of me enjoying my first-ever glimpse of life beneath the waters of Saipan!

Jamaican with the Germans! Claudia and Christian from Berlin! Gosh, that guy is skinny!

Gotta make sure this contraption doesn’t slip out!

Breathing was easier than I thought! Yep, I’ve got the hang of this!

 

Processing the new experience before part 2!

Hellooooooo starfish!

 

“Welcome to OUR world,” said the Damsel Fish (at least I think they’re Damsel Fish)

Christian and me, under the sea

Wrapping up the day with dinner at 360 Revolving Restaurant. l. to r. Christian, Claudia, Yumi, Me

Next milestone: Scuba diving!

In a few hours, I plan to close out Day 14 of my water fast here on Saipan. While there are always deeper levels of cleansing to achieve by going longer, I think this is the right time because:

(a) my tongue has been clean and pink (no white coating) for the past few days

(b) seems my digestive processes are reactivating and causing gurgling in my stomach and some gas

(c) I’ve been dreaming of food (I read somewhere that’s a sign–a message from the more accutely bodily-intuned subconscious, perhaps)

(d) a bump on my temple (a location that corresponds to the liver, according to Traditional Chinese medicine face map; see image below), which has been present throughout the fast, is now disappearing.

(e) the healing shall go on! Even once I start drinking juices, the healing won’t stop, it will merely slow
and continue on the trajectory I’ve set!

I put out a call here on the Saipan Facebook page for anyone who knows where I can get locally-grown oranges, as that juice is the first step of transitioning back to solid food! I got one lead I’ll be following up on today!

To discover more about the process, including my daily fasting log and other “secret” practices I use to stay young, check out the brand new: Yesterday’s You: How to reverse aging using special foods, vitamins, natural supplements and a few secret practices

Order ebook (6.97):

Order paperback ($14.95):

Order paperback Amazon

Kindle:

BREAKING NEWS! On Tuesday, July 22, 2014, between 11:30am and 1pm, a group of about a dozen culinary adventurers transformed the Northern Marianas College (NMC) Boardroom into Vegetarian Central Station!

Yes, it’s true! It was an event conceived and spearheaded by Lisa Hacskaylo, long time Saipan resident, currently working with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness at the college. With the support of NMC Radiant (a newly formed group focused on improving the health and wellness of everyone at NMC) and The Spirit Squad (A group of employees who lead activities that promote camaraderie and team spirit!), whose members contributed to purchase the food and supplies, I was invited to do a brief, healthy cooking demonstration for folks looking to lose weight, have more energy and simply eat healthier!

The day before the event, we went shopping around island (Joeten, I Luv Saipan, 99 Cents Store, Sunleader, San Jose Mart and Payless) for all the ingredients–from coconut oil to dried mushrooms to broccoli, Terra Chips (and, Lara bars, of course) and much more! Locally-grown avocados for my magic coleslaw provided courtesy of group members.

In attendance at this groundbreaking event was a mix of administrators, staff, and faculty from all over the campus.

The event was a success, and as difficult as it may be to believe, 11 people were fed (albeit small portions) and not a single animal was harmed in the process!

THIS JUST IN: Word’s getting around, and according to feedback I just received from Lisa: “The NMC Breakpoint Cafe (snack bar) is now going to offer brown rice and a vegetarian stir fry dish prepared with coconut oil as a lunch option once a week–every Wednesday. Yipee! It’s a HUGE start!”

Stay tuned for more!
(Yep, I think I’m getting better at writing compelling headlines! Made you look!)

Lisa kicks things off with a welcome and introduction

Healthy shopping tips, products and dishes!

…And not a single animal was harmed during the preparation of this meal

left to right: Christopher Morabe, Amanda Allen, Ivyanne Ealy, Ni Deleon Guerrero, Frankie Eliptico, Jacqueline Che, Lisa Hacskaylo, Velma Deleon Guerrero, and the Jamaican vegan on Saipan. (Not shown: Floyd Masga and Jack Kiyoshi.)

“What’s the cost of living on Saipan?” “Can I survive on my $700/month SSI?” I get questions like that a lot on my www.saipanliving.com website. So, as a public service for those seeking to relocate here, here’s what you can get for $20 on Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as of Saturday, July 12, 2014.

1 pineapple ($2.60)
1 watermelon ($4.50; ~7lb @ 0.65/lb)
1 pack peppers (1.00; 24count)
bananas (0.75; small bunch)
1 papaya (2.00)
guavas (1.60)
avocados (1.50)
sweetsop (2.00; plate of 6)
soursop (1.00)
mangos (1.00; bag of 5)
dry coconut (1.00)
Total: 18.95

…purchased at the Sabalu Market* on Saipan! (*every Saturday from 6am to noon next to World Resort/Hanwha Hotel and Naked Fish Restaurant). If you hurry you can still catch it!

Narcisim Alert:
That list also answers another frequent question I get: “What on earth do you eat, then, you crazy vegan nutjob?” Well, for the past 44 days I’ve been doing a completely raw food diet; nothing fried, poached, steamed, boiled, baked, or barbecued. Simply fruits and vegetables (including sprouted lentils). Except for coconut water, lara bars, Terra chips, and my “Jamaican-Superman-please-stop-I-can’t-take it anymore” Coleslaw (top secret, but if you ask nicely, I’ll share it) that list is pretty much all that I eat. That purchase should be completely consumed by about Tuesday–just in time for the Tuesday Market in Garapan!

If you’ve ever wondered what you’d look like if you ate completely raw for 44 days after being completely vegan since 1992, here’s a sample (your mileage may vary):

Vegan nomad eats raw; Fries brain with cell phone

On the final day of the Pagan adventure, we pack our gear and say our goodbyes…

JR, Ern (boat captain) and Sandy share a few laughs

 

We head north up the west coast of the island and circle

down the east side…

passing the southern end of the island

Pagan in the mist

 

The dolphins gave a brief send off as flying fish also escorted us on our way!

 

 

Dolphin and flying fish send off!

 

Final look at  Pagan

 

As I take my final look at the amazing island of Pagan and settle in for the 18-hour sail back to Saipan, I know there is more to come. There's much of the island I didn't get to see and experience. There's more of the history of the island, the story of the 1981 volcanic eruption, the lives of the displaced residents, the story of the resettlement efforts, the US Navy's plans for using the island for war games as well as more of the lifestyle and ecosystems on the island! So much more, in fact, that I've vowed to return to help tell the story in its entirety. There are still interviews and photos I haven't blogged about, as well as the unique contribution of a Saipan resident and well-wisher (Atty. Joe Hill) to the island's new era of ecotourism! All this and more shall be told over the next few months here on this blog as well as in other media, including, perhaps…wait for it….wait for it…a book! (You knew it was bound to happen!) Stay tuned!

 

 

"…to boldly go where no Jamaican has gone before!"

[Bob Marley painting by Analee Camacho Villagomez]
More to come? 

 

NOTE ABOUT THE FLIES: Before I embarked on my Pagan adventure, people on Saipan were warning me: "I hope you like flies!" "Watch out for the centipedes!" As a result I bought a special hat with netting and high-top sneakers in preparation.

 

Well, I can now report that–for whatever reason–there are no flies on Pagan! Of course, if you chop up freshly-killed boar and cow, or prepare a meal out in the open on any tropical island, they'll come uninvited. However, the great infestation that people have associated with Pagan (co-captain Waki told me that the last time he took the trip, "As far as three miles out at sea, the ship was still covered with flies!")–that level–at least as of April 2014–is no more! It is now the stuff of legend!

 

And while one fellow did get bitten by a centipede while I was there, I personally only saw ONE centipede the entire time I was there! (and that one was in a crate, caught by someone who wanted to show me how big they grew!)

So, pack your bags, leave your fly fears and centipede cautions behind and take a trip to Pagan!

 

Make sure you didn't miss any of the adventure: Visit Jamaican In China! and check out the China, Singapore, Laos and St. Thomas adventures if you missed them!

 

Discover about the military's plans for the island at

SAVEPAGANISLAND.ORG

 

Learn more about Chamorro people and culture at

CHAMORRO.COM

 

Book your own adventure to Pagan at

DISCOVERPAGAN.COM