Category Archives: Popular

2023, Popular

Jamaican in Macau…again and tips for Thai visa applicants

After not traveling since pre-pandemic 2018, I’m slowly getting back into the nomadpreneur headspace. Basically, I’m just walking around the streets, observing life, noticing patterns and allowing my wanderlust to re-ignite.  Not too much interacting except for the required wait staff, cashiers, Grab™ (Uber clone) drivers, and the occasional random stranger who’ll ask, “So, what country you from?” (A Filipina lady in SM supermarket in Manila said I looked like I’m from the Middle East and she wanted to practice her Arabic!)

In any case, I’ll do my best to get into the performer headspace for my upcoming colonic in Hong Kong on Monday, and my Thailand trip next week. Traveler alert: The Thai visa application process is now completely online. There is no longer a need to visit the Thai consulate in person:

From 26 September 2021, 11.00 PM (UTC), it is no longer required for e-Visa applicant to submit his/her passport and original supporting documents in person at the Royal Thai Embassy/Consulate. After the e-Visa application has been approved, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to applicants. It is kindly requested to print a copy of the confirmation e-mail to present to airline and Thai Immigration officials to carry out checks when travelling to Thailand.

Meanwhile, here are some shots and video clips of my day in Macau:

Macau in the morning (about 5:30am):

On my way to Sum Yuen Vegetarian Restaurant

This is actually my SECOND time here since arriving ONE day ago! It was the first place I visited right after landing at 7pm yesterday!

Spicy oyster mushrooms (#080;,68MOP), brown rice (#119;68MOP), vegetable soup(38MOP) Total: 174MOP =  $21.53USD

*Item numbers and price as seen on the menu at:
https://www.facebook.com/sumyuenmacau/photos

1USD=8.08Macanese Pataca (MOP)

I arrived at 2:30pm, JUST as the kitchen closed for the day (to reopen at 5:30pm). However, the staff was kind enough to allow me to order and dine…

After serving my order and having me pay (so they could close out the day shift), the girls went home (or wherever they go for their three-hour break), and I dined alone–like really alone, as in no one, not even staff in the restaurant! The front desk manager left after charging my card. The last waitress to leave gave me the  plastic take-out bowls I requested and then she too left.

After my meal, I walked around Nova Mall for about an hour (purchased some Terra chips at Taste™, hopped on a free shuttle provided by my host’s apartment complex, and took a drive through Macau! I’ll document that in a video!

Subscribe to the AskaVegan video channel to be notified when the videos are released!

 

2021, Popular

What’s it like being Jamaican on Saipan?

WATCH NOW! What’s it Like Being Jamaican in Saipan?”
Leave a comment on Youtube, ask a question! If you’re Chamorro or Carolinian, let me know if I got anything wrong!

BACK STORY:
Way back around 1996, before many of us even heard about the internet, Jamaican native and techie, Xavier Murphy, got a head start and was able to secure the JAMAICANS.COM domain name in anticipation of ‘big tings to come!’ His prescience proved correct, and over the years, this wildly popular website has served as a repository of all things Jamaican for Jamaicans and the people who love them!

As Youtube, Facebook and other online media platforms gained in popularity, Jamaicans.com was there as well! Xavier’s popular Youtube video series, “What’s it Like Being [probably the only] Jamaican in ___________?” has provided a way to connect Jamaicans around the world and showcase our presence and impact abroad! Korea? Ireland? Norway? Zambia? Kuwait? Bali? Russia? Malawi? Yep, we deh deh! (Translation: We are there!)

A few weeks ago, I sat on a beach on Saipan while Xavier–about 8 thousand miles away–asked me that very question: “What’s it like being Jamaican on the small, remote, Pacific island of Saipan???” We had fun as I shared facts and trivia about my new island home, talked nomadpreneuring and escaping the rat race, and during the course of the conversation, discovered that Xavier knows one of my long lost primary school classmates and has helped me re-connect with him!

The interview is FINALLY viewable:

The Youtube version of the video has a lively discussion to join in

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=431285311574616

 

OUTTAKE
Here I am prepping the day before the interview:

Want to learn more about Saipan? Here’s a tour/documentary filmed by LaMancha Media featuring a guest tour guide you might recognize :

 

UPDATE (12 days later)

Narcisism alert! Yes, as a former civil engineer, these sorts of things
keep me awake at night. Ever since the release of the Jamaicans.com
interview video (“What’s it Like Being a Jamaican in Saipan?”), I’ve
been tracking the daily views on Xavier’s Youtube channel and Facebook page.

Here’s what my analysis revealed:

• The Youtube version had a total 599 views in the first 3 hours; and jumped to 766 in the 1 hour while I watched it

• The version of the video on the Jamaicans.com Facebook page already had an astounding 15,000 views by the time I first checked it out 3 days after upload; it now has 19,000+ views 12 days
after release.

• Here are the daily stats for the Youtube edition
Aug 30, 2021 3:00am 0 2,253/day         39 comments
Aug 31, 2021 3:00am 2,253 1,861/day     55 comments
Sep 1, 2021 9:00am 4,600 1,652/day      90 comments
Sep 2, 2021 9:00am 6,252 1,854/day      98 comments
Sep 3, 2021 9:00am 8,106 2,107/day        113 comments
Sep 4, 2021 9:00am 10,213 1,326/day         117 comments
Sep 5, 2021 9:09am 11,539 1,327/day        135 comments
Sep 6, 2021 9:01am 12,866 1,609/day       139 comments
Sep 7, 2021 9:00am 14,475 909/day           160 comments
Sep 8, 2021 9:00am 15,384 1,055/day      168 comments
Sep 9, 2021 9:00am 16,439 563/day         166 comments
Sep 10, 2021 9:01am 17,002 355/day      168 comments
Sep 11, 2021 9:00am 17,357 285/day      170 comments
Sep 12, 2021 9:00am 17,642                          170 comments

I discovered that my Canva.com account that I use for creating Youtube thumbnails, also has a graph feature. So, with nothing else to do on a Sunday morning at 6:00am:

Xavier has 25.2 thousand subscribers to his Youtube channel and this video generated an average of 1,500 views per day. If you have your own Youtube channel, this is definitely the sort of daily view activity you want to aspire to!

ANOTHER UPDATE:

26 days to get to 20,000 views! (Plus, there are an additional 21,000 views on the Facebook upload with its own set of comments.

2020, Popular

In Search of Her Joy on Saipan!

“Can you tell me what has happened to Her Joy Apartments in San Antonio, Saipan? (Large apt complex, White with blue, right on the beach) I lived there many years ago.”
–Joseph Reynolds (comment on the PassionProphet Youtube Channel)

 

My response: hey Joseph! Thanks for checking in! You can find the answer to your question in this brand new video on my DiscoverSaipan Youtube channel, created for tour clients and “Saipan on Demand” requests like yours!  Join me as I go in search of Her Joy here:

 

 

2020, Popular

The Reconstruction Crisis, toxic people and taking advice from Donald Trump…yes!

Here is an interview from the archives shortly after my 6-months in China! I explain the Passion-to-Profit phenomenon I refer to as the “Reconstruction Crisis,” I talk about how to “manage” toxic people and you’ll want to hear what I say about taking advice from Donald Trump (This was in 2012! Who knew?), and more in this (a favorites) interview hosted by Lisa Bullard of Blogtalkradio’s A Ripple Effect!

 

 

2020, Popular

A Skype interview during my 6 months in China

My buddy, Winston Wu, founder of www.happierabroad.com, suggested I post my archived radio and skype interviews for the Youtube audience. Great idea, Winston!

Several years ago, as part of my 6-month adventure through China and beyond (Beijing, Kunming, Hainan, Laos, Singapore), I found myself in a small hotel room in China, Xishuangbanna, being interviewed via Skype by KY of the KYShow Podcast. We talked about turning passion into profit, the nomadpreneuring lifestyle and much more! It’s one of my favorite interviews from that time! Check it out here as part of the Passion Prophet channel’s “Turn Your Pandemic into Profits” series!

____________________________________

Everyone has a passion.
Every passion has value.
You CAN make money doing what you love!

Take the Personality Test: https://www.passionprofit.com/itest

____________________________________

WHO IS WALT?

Who is Walt: https://www.waltgoodridge.com

Media Kit & CV: https://www.passionprofit.com/cgi-bin/new/redirect.pl?LL=mediakit

Amazon Author Profile: https://www.amazon.com/author/waltgoodridge

____________________________________
1. PandemicProfits-1: https://youtube.com/watch?v=EpsNndvFU-0
2. PandemicProfits-2: https://youtube.com/watch v=yP3WGmKTdsA
3. PandemicProfits-3: https://youtube.com/watch?v=QQSDf8F8Kgg
4. PandemicProfits-4: Radio Interview-When I was in China https://youtube.com/watch?v=sSYfGIl7YvU

2020, Popular

It’s MLK Day in the Marianas! Who you gonna call? The Jamaican on Saipan!

1. “Marianas Stories” host, Catherine, had to re-upload the MLK interview video for technical reasons. Please like/love/share/comment again at the new link location! Thanks!

NEW LINK LOCATION ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/670humanities/videos/473130970051332/
MLK Day special! Catherine Perry of the Northern Marianas Humanties Council asked me to share a few of my thoughts about civil rights, human rights, my travel experiences, life in America and life in the CNMI from a non-American, Jamaican on Saipan’s perspective on Martin Luther King Jr day in the US and its relevance to life in the CNMI! Watch and share on Facebook:

"Marianas Stories" with Walt Goodridge

"Marianas Stories" on this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day features Walt Goodridge and a discussion on civil rights in our nation and our community.

Posted by Northern Marianas Humanities Council on Sunday, January 19, 2020

2. Here is the same “Marianas Stories” interview on Youtube for easy sharing

3.I may now have become the de-facto “go to guy” for things MLK!
Here’s ANOTHER MLK Day piece with KSPN-2 TV News reporter, Sally Limes features my thoughts on MLK Day in the Marianas:

p.s.

If you’re curious about news on Saipan in general, here’s the full 30 minute news broadcast for that day:

 

Walt F.J. Goodridge!

 

2019, Popular

The Maasdam 24 see Saipan in a Day

[Photographs by Ferdinand “Ding” Ramos]

“It was a dark and stormy night…” Oops, wrong opening line. (Sorry, Snoopy.)  Ahem. It was a bright and sunny day,  and the Holland America cruise ship, Maasdam, was scheduleed to dock at the port on the island of Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on Sunday, Sept 8, 2019.

As an island consultant, I’m occasionally asked to provide information on the islands to visitors.

This time, my photographer, Ding, and I showed up at 7am to be sure that THIS time, the ship would, indeed, dock. (Yeah, that’s a whole other story for another time!)

Maasdam at the dock. Check.

With that little detail confirmed, we headed back to the airport to pick up the vans for our arriving guests.

Invited guest guides for a day, Robert Hunter, and Gary Liddle and I discuss logistics.

While awaiting the paperwork, world renown author, ethnographer, oral historian and “birder,”  Rlene Santos Steffy, arrives from Guam. I had the pleasure of meeting Rlene on Guam during my recent Guam Writers Workshop Learn more at : https://guamwriters.com/

Gary, Rlene, Robert and I chat while we wait

The paperwork is completed, vans are assigned, drivers are briefed, microphones are checked, signs are posted in the windshields….time for a convoy!

“Pig Pen this here’s the rubber duck And I’m about to put the hammer down.” (10 points if you know that reference!)

Once at the dock, guests begin exiting the ship after passing through US Customs, and we load up the vans. Two of my guests, Lorrin and Nina Lee, are on a three month tour (see Lorrinlee.com), and were the first of my guests to sign up way back in March!

Finally, we meet! (See www.LorrinLee.com)

We head out to our first stop: American Memorial Park.

 

First stop, American Memorial Park…Welcome! Introductions….and the strict rules of my tour! (You’ll have to sign up to discover just what those rules are!)
Watching “An Island Called Saipan” at American Memorial Park

 

Post-documentary debriefing and preparing for day’s tour

 

Robert Hunter, Director of DCCA (Department of Community & Cultural Affairs) shares facts and triva about wartime Saipan

 

Pointing to the Court of Honor (currently under construction)
Visiting the Chamorro & Carolinian memorial
Yeah we got a little ol’ convoy Ain’t she a beautiful sight
At the Carolinian Cultural Center

 

Robert gives background on boat building and celestial navigation
At the boat house, one of DCCA’s projects

 

At Ladder Beach

 

 

As Lito Airfield
What on earth is everyone staring at???

Answer: One of the largest war time structures on the island: the Bomb Magazine at As Lito airfield.

Inside the Bomb Magazine
The sad, yet beautiful Banzai Cliff

 

Gary holds court at Suicide Cliff

 

Looking down at the suicide leap from another vantage point

Then we went In Search of Amelia Earhart

The Old Japanese Jail
Going back in time through the corridor of the jail in search of Amelia Earthart
Read more about Amelia on Saipan here: https://www.discoversaipan.com/amelia

By this time, the “Saipan in a Day” adventure is officially ended. Robert and Gary have departed and taken our visitors back to the dock, However, a smaller group of WWII buffs are treated to a special private collection of relics and artifacts from the Japanese era and Battle of Saipan.

a unique collection
Guests enjoy interacting with the pieces
Explaining the uniqueness of this particular relic

 

The Maasdam WWII History buffs on Saipan

 

We say our goodbyes!


“What’s that?  Yes, you can definitely write a TripAdvisor Review! I’d be honored and it would help a lot! Thanks for asking!”

Maasdam departs Saipan

“As the sun sank slowly over the horizon…” Oops, sorry, wrong epilogue…Wait! That one fits! As the sun sank slowly over the Saipan horizon, Maasdam pulled away from the dock, and sailed off into the sunset on its way to Guam!

“We’ll catch you on the flip flop
This here’s the Rubber Duck on the side
We gone – Bye Bye!”

Thanks to everyone who made this tour special and run smoothly!

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2019, Popular

Saipan: the history, the mystery, the culture and the cuisine!

One of the great things about my life on Saipan is the broad cross section of unique personalities I have a chance to meet and spend time with!

Earlier this year, Michelle and John got to experience Saipan’s history with a ride in an actual WWII jeep courtesy of local resident, Juan Villagomez. John’s father worked on the Manhattan Project during the war, so he wanted to get up close and personal with Saipan’s and Tinian’s history!

Michelle, John, Juan and Luise Villagomez, Alexandra (front), and me!

I also had a chance to hang out recently with Konstantin Symonenko from Ukraine….


Konstantin discovers the mystery of Forbidden Island

Konstantin, among other accomplishments, has the distinction of being the first Ukrainian to have visited all the countries in the world! It’s an accomplishment that was verified and documented as blogged about on his https://konstantin.travel  website:

 

“Today the representative of the National Registry of Records of Ukraine directly on Easter Island, handed me a diploma as the first Ukrainian to visit all the countries in the world.

Konstantin got to experience Saipan’s culture with a visit to the DCCA boat house to watch a canoe being constructed…


With John Castro at the boat house

John and me….A Sattawal navigator works in the background

Another guest, Neal P., has visited 297 of the 327 destinations recognized by The Traveler’s Century Club (TCC)! Saipan was his 298th and he’ll hit 300 soon and be part of the Diamond club! Congrats, Neal!

Neal got to experience authentic Chamorro and island style cuisine at JC Cafe on Tinian…

 

at the Street Market on Saipan….


Red rice at the Street Market

…and at Twenty-Two Rams (Owners of the restaurant are brother Michael Salas and cousin Ed Cepeda.)

Lunch at Twenty-Two Rams. Located in the CDA complex in Oleai at the old Boka Boka restaurant location.

Delgadina Matagolai, Manning Salas, and Mom Sophia M. Salas.  (Michael and Ed not shown) “Thanks for stopping by our family restaurant!”--Manning

Stay tuned for more!

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