Saipanda!

Saipanda! Saipanda! Saipanda!

O' though, where are you Saipanda?

Ahah.. we found Saipanda hard at work, standing along paseo' drive!

Have you eaten out at local restaurants and got your paseo drive stamps yet?
Kiki is standing infront of a display case of prizes you can get! They are awesome!

Hey, how come I never knew that Sponge Bob and Patrick were making a trip to Saipan?

I am so glad my kids were able to take a photo with them! LOL see below!

Saturday September 13!

Saturday was a day for me and the kids, we went around and looked at the stores!

I was looking for stuff for obento, but could not really find any.

We went to lunch at Moomin, in Garapan, behind Hard Rock Cafe! It is really reasonable! It looks small and cramped from the outside, but it is actually spatious inside! Check it out!

All lunches below are only $6 and iced tea is included!

Hot Beef soup (you have to ask for the rice to be in a separte bowl)

My son got the beef soup!
He also did not want me to take a photo of him! LOL

My daughter, miss photogenic as ever, always ready for a photo! LOL
She had Yakiniku!

Japanese pancake.... savory! But I do not think I would order it again!

Although it did match my craving for japanese otomaki! yummy!

YUMMY! and affordable!

si, marianne

COPS

This police car, not only drove right pass a pedestrian waiting to cross the crosswalk! In the mainland, they would do sting operations on drivers that do not let pedestrians cross on the crosswalk! But in Saipan, officer's pass right by them! Any courtesy here? I do not think that pedestrians are given crossing rights here!! Pedestrians beware!

Plus, this driver was texting!!!!!!!!! OMG

Obento crazy

I am ADDICTED....

OMG... I need to deactivate my ebay account!

I have bought so much obento items, I can't wait...

Ultimately, my goal is to send my kids to school with bento boxes like this:

and my son with a bento box like this:
Call me Bento Crazy... OMG, I am so excited!
I am planning a trip to go to Japan in November, just so that I can go to BENTO HEAVEN!
I can't wait to see the bento racks..full of bento items.

Call it Bento heaven!
I dream about this..... LOL

CUC PROTEST

Need I say more?

Come on.. let our voices be heard...

What's your IQ?

Take the IQ test..
http://www.iqtest.com/

Wish me luck..

So, have you heard the promotion between Power 99 and Megabyte?

Well, usually, I would not just dig into promotions, as my older sister had thought me... LOL. Here is some history about my promotion phobia!

My parents ran a small mom and pop store when we were growing up. Naturally, we would get alot of promotional items such as shirts, hats, pens, towels, etc. I remember that Benson and Hedges towel that I really liked, but my sister told me if I was going to use that towel she would beat me up... LOL I also remember this Calrose rice promotion shirt, I liked it because it was bright yellow (hey, I think I was like 8 or 9 years old), but she told me that girls do not wear promotional shirts... LOL........ HA! so, there you have it, every attempt I had on promotional freebies was shut down..... either that or I would be beaten... he he he.. Well, as you guess, my promotional item phobia stuck, and therefore, I have never worn any other promotional shirt.....

Anyway, Megabyte had a promo about winning a laptop, so the kids wanted to stick a sticker on the car. Reluctantly, I agreed, especially after being right infront of the power 99 cruiser several times.

Yesterday was the last day for the power cruiser to get an entry into the raffle for the Acer laptop... this laptop would be great for my kids........ please, let me win it.. LOL

Guess what, we did win! LJ called out our car license plate yesterday afternoon, and my kids were screaming of excitement!

Hopefully, we will win that ACER laptop... for the kids.......

si, marianne

Sept 12 obento

Well, it has been a while since I posted photos about the kids lunch, so here it is!

• Grilled (beef) Short Ribs
• Steamed White Rice
• Fried Immitation Crab Claw
• Tofu Steak (Tofu with dried bonito flakes on top)
• Cheese Quessadila
• Scrambled Egg
• Drink - Kool Aid

Enjoy!

si, marianne

Yummy for my Tummy!

COOKIES.......

are yummy for my tummy..

Malagu hao?

Northwest Airlines Special Promo

Want to fly somewhere, just to get away from it all? Would you have imagined that a round trip to Tokyo may be cheaper than your utility bill?? LOL, only in Saipan.

Here are the special fare's that Northwest is advertising!
Fly to Tokyo/Narita, Nagoya or Osaka/Kansai for only $369.00 plus taxes. Familiarize yourself with the shopping and dining delights of Tokyo, visit the famous Nagoya castle or experience Universal Studios in Osaka/Kansai. Travel must begin by or before October 31. Tickets must be purchased at least 7 days prior to departure or 3 days after the reservation is made, whichever is earlier. Minimum stay is 2 days, maximum is 30 days. Last day to purchase is October 15. Other terms and conditions may apply.

Fly to Manila for only $340.00 plus taxes. Travel must begin by or before December 11. Tickets must be purchased at least 14 days prior to departure or 1 day after the reservations is made, whichever is earlier. Minimum stay is 5 days, maximum is 45 days. Other terms and conditions may apply.

Fly to Honolulu, Hawaii for as low as $950.00 plus taxes. Travel must begin by or before October 31. Tickets must be purchased at least 3 days prior to departure or 3 days after the reservation is made, whichever is earlier. Minimum stay is 6 days, maximum is 60 days. Last day to purchase is September 30. Other terms and conditions may apply.

Fly to various cities in the U.S. mainland for great low fares: LAX ($1049.00 plus taxes); SFO/SEA/PDX ($1148.00 plus taxes); Orlando ($1214.00 plus taxes); Denver ($1214.00 plus taxes); Las Vegas ($1154.00 plus taxes). We have great fares to numerous other cities. To qualify for these fares, travel must begin by October 31. Tickets must be purchased 3 days prior to departure or 3 days after the reservation is made, whichever is earlier. Minimum stay is 6 days, maximum is 60 days. Last day to purchase is September 30.

Other terms and conditions may apply. Note that fares may vary depending on whether your date of travel is on a weekday (Monday-Thursday) or weekend (Friday-Sunday). Seats are limited so date flexibility is a must if you want these excellent rates. To avail of these great promos, please visit www.nwa.com/gs or call our reservations department at 1-800-447-4747. Plus, check in online between 3 and 24 hours prior to departure for all trans-Pacific flights and receive a $5.00 snack coupon redeemable at Guma Natibu at the Saipan International Airport. For more details on this or any of our other great promos, visit www.nwa.com/gs and click on Promotions & Products. We look forward to seeing you on our flights!

So boys, bring me back some fritada' lai!

LOL

What do you do?

What do you do when

You Eat Chocolate Cake...

All by yourself!

CUC SCHEDULE

On Saturday 09/06/08 CUC published a new power outage schedule.

I looked at it and said, whatever, why would the papers run that add?

even the paper's run stories about CUC not following their schedule!

OPEN MOUTH, INSERT FOOT

Oh what a week!

Today is Saturday, it is also the final weekend of Summer for most school children in the CNMI. All Public School's are scheduled to open on Monday, September 8. I believe school's in the mainland open on Tuesday, Sept. 09. There was a letter to the editor from a mom who was concerned about her kids not having enough sleep the night before school, and she was urging PSS to delay school's another two more weeks, September 16.

You see, September 16 is a magical day. It is the day that CUC should be back on track with their power. This means that Agrekko would have already completed installing the new generators and transferring the power supply to our local power plants. This means that CUC says there should be no more power outages and or power rations after September 16. So, you see September 16 is a magical day. For me, I will just wait and see.

This week was good to me, I have accomplished alot of things both on my personal life and also professionaly. So much paper work that needed to clear off my table are now almost gone! LOL@ almost gone, like my english? ha!

I took my daughter to the clinic on Thurs and she has gained additional weight. I decided to start excercising with her, so this morning we went out for an early morning walk. In order to motivate her, I told her she can bring her puppy with her, and she woke up instantly! We got ready and went for a 45 minute walk. That was nice, ofcourse we got drenched not from sweat but from the rain!

I have to start taking photos again, perhaps on my next blog!

Enjoy the weekend! It is time to get the fire started and start the barbecue!

si, marianne

misc

My daugher wrote a letter to the "Owner of CUC" on Saturday. I asked her if she wanted to publish her letter in the local paper's and she agreed. Yesterday, M. Variety featured her editorial, and today the tribune did also. It was completely her writings, unedited. For a 8 year old girl to be so upset about current issues that she took the time out to sit down a write a letter is just amazing. But, like mother like daughter. Only that I have chosen to stay out of the limelight these days. I used to always talk to the media, now, I just stay back and observe from the sidelines.

Fall is just around the corner. I was hoping to take a family trip somewhere this summer, but with kids starting school in August, we just never got to going somewhere. Anywhere.. LOL

My sister sent me several boxes yesterday, it was like Christmas! I was so glad to receive the boxes, it meant so much. Now, I really need to get on my butt and start sending her boxes from here too.. you know, sembe, achote, etc.

Anyway, life should be getting better in Saipan. The power situation is getting a tad bit better. We still have power outages, but they are much more tolerable now, or is it that we are used to it, which has decreased our living expectations and increased our tolerance level.

Have you ever visited the pawn shops lately? OMG, this weekend, Raymond and I decided to go pawn shop hunting, and for whatever reason I was dodging in and out of the car, because I did not really want to be seen getting in and or getting out of a pawn shop. Whatever! We saw some really nice stuff, but they must have been stolen, or their real and true owners, must be down on cash...whatever the case, they are worth visiting.

Hmm.. we had breakfast at the Hyatt Kili yesterday morning. They raised their breakfast price, it is no longer $14 but $20..... perhaps we will now be going elsewhere for breakfast, can't afford a $20 breakfast........ even if Raymond and I get 1/2 off because we have a club at hyatt card, it is still much more than what we were used to..

It has been raining this entire weekend. Must be somewhat good. The rain helps to cool down the concrete houses, which in turn does not make the temperature within the house so hot! It is also good because our water tanks have water, and therefore I got rid of those buckets of reserved water just to flush the toilet.. ha!

The weekend is here, and there is nothing going on this weekend! No parties to attend, no barbecue to go to... I guess that means, yours truly will be firing up the grill herself. LOL

The Public School System will open it's doors to local public schools on Monday. Oh boy, get ready for rush hour traffic!

I miss going to school... I am considering going back to get my doctorate's degree... yeah right! Unless someone can donate $$ for my tuition, otherwise I would be unable to get my doctorate's! Isar' salape! LOL

si, marianne

~Simple Things make me HAPPY~

5pm.... WE HAVE POWER

I got home after work, and noticed WE HAD POWER!

I immediately started filling up the buckets in the bathroom with water, and even searched for more buckets arond the house so that we can have an extra reserve water for flushing the toilet!

I did all my other house chores, sweep/mop, wash the dishes, cook rice, etc.

6pm... WE HAVE POWER

I was actually able to watch KSPN2 News LIVE, no streamcasting online was needed, as we had power to turn on the tv!

7pm... WE HAVE POWER

Washed the dishes after dinner, washed the cooking pots, and was surpised we still had power! By this time our power usually gets cut!

I threw in a load of laundry....

8pm...WE HAVE POWER

by this time I was confused...

You see the norm now is no power by this time.

I was confused why we still had power...

9pm.... WE STILL HAVE POWER!!!

I was so confused, I started freaking out....
Like, what is wrong with CUC? Why do we still have power? LOL

I was so glad that I had finished washing three loads of clothes,
washed and dried the clothes, if you will.

10pm... We still have power!!

Have you ever been so glad to do laundry? I swear, I was so proud of the laundry that I did!
I even asked Raymond to take a photo of me smiling with the laundry basked full of clean clothes! He just stared at me and said are you kidding? LOL...

The simplest things of life make me happy! Especially having power and running water! OMG!

11:00 pm, WTF?
We laid down to sleep, said our prayers, and then I cmmented to my husband how glad I was that the air conditioners are all on, and that we can lay down, feeling completely clean as the house was clean, the bathroom was clean, the kitchen sink does not have dirty dishes, it felt so good.. I was commenting about the power being still on, and how happy I was!

I swear, I felt like I had hit the lottery bigtime! seriously..

Then...... and only then....kaboom......shwish, swash, and the power dies off!!!!

Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted!

I got a good night's sleep, I got the laundry done, I got everything done!

Thank you CUC.......

HA!

si, marianne

Moomin Miura

Have you been to the Moomin Restaurant? It is

in Garapan, located behind DFS/Hard Rock. It is a Japanese Restaurant. I did not really dare go there in the past, but my hubby went their with his friends, and he said it was actually a good place to go eat, so we went there together!

Turns out they have really delicious food, if you like spicy, try the spicy beef soup! OMG, for $6 it is a great deal............ Moomin is known best for it's japanese pancakes, they are savory and more like a lunch or dinner meal! I have yet to try it, but I will soon!

Enjoy!

si, marianne

The NIGHT LIFE...........

Every evening our power gets turned off,

sometimes for two hours,

sometimes four hours,

sometimes shorter

and

sometimes longer!

Sometimes it gets turned on and turned off right away

Sometimes it gets turned off during night and on at day...

Oh Saipan how I miss the old you,

Not the CUC blues..

Oh Saipan, where are you at?

Why are you wearing such an ugly CUC hat?

Oh Saipan what did they do to you, how did your power crisis become so unbearable,

it is so hot at night, it is so intolerable!

Oh Saipan your children are suffering,

school is delayed because of power cost,

didn't you once say that education shouldn't be lost...

or that education should not be in the middle of debate,

on whether the power could be turned on and fully restored by September eight!

to be continued.......

WHAT DO YOU DO DURING A POWER OUTAGE?

We went up to the third floor of my mom's building, set an old comforter down, and layed down to watch the stars and the moon.... It would have been nice if there was some silent moment in there somewhere, but to the left and right of us we here generators!

Saturday Night.......

The NIGHT LIFE...........

Anyway, Kiki was practicing her violin...

Raymond was trying to read a book....... candle light, CUC style

I was unable to take a picture of the stars, but all in all, it was a nice "cool" evening outside!

atleast until it started to rain.........

TEEPEED Office

Guess What.... Someone TEEPEED the Governor's Office last weekend... not sure what date, but we were passing by the Governor's Office building on our way to Kagman this past Sunday and my kids noticed toilet paper, TEEPEED all over the office!

It was inbetween hilarious and frustrating.......You see, when we lived at Corvallis, which is home to Oregon State University, TEEPEED front yards of sorority and fraternity houses were the norm! After all, it was a college town! But, what message is being said here when the office of the Chief Executive is teepeed!

I wish they'd donate those rolls of toilet tissue to the Public School System!!

HA!

si, marianne

CUC Does not want us to cook food for our family... We have no electricity! CUC Does not want our family to eat, we can't cook...

We have no electricity!

So, half the people of Saipan go out and eat at restaurants that have generators!! They have electricity!...

So we use our money to pay for eating out, to pay for gas for the generator.. even our time.. we tend to find ourselves taking it easy when we are at a store that has electricity or at a restaurant, what is the use of rushing home when their is no electricity?

If we do cook, we are stuck with a sink full of dishes, YUCK!
For those that opt with paper plates, or foam plates, think of all the increased waste we are producing....

The worst thing about it all, is the inability to FLUSH the DAMN toilet!!

Or, wait, would the worst thing be trying to drive through a busy intersection, risking your life and that of your passenger's because their is no traffic light? I tell you, driving on our Microl Intersection and the other intersections are highly dangerous, and I the chances of getting into an accident on a state freeway versus our intersections are much higher! Thanks CUC.... no electricty again...

Heck, I'll take cold water, anything as long as we can have WATER!
Talk about the laundry piling up... it used to be because we have no electricity, now it is because we have no water and no electricity!

The moral of the story:

Work your ass off just to pay CUC, and to afford to eat out! Also, work your ass off to replace those damaged appliances, as the power surges, and low voltages, plus the constant on and off, of power (for the record, there are more power outages than there are power)...

and PAY NO BILLS.. but CUC!

Ha!

post word doc

Does anyone know how to post a word attachment or a pdf to the blog?
My daughter wrote a letter to CUC, which I would like to share...!
let me know!.... email me: rayrian@aol.com

-marianne

What happened here?

What happened to our sanity and our love of free living? I can't believe that CUC has now taken over my life. Seriously. Not only are the electricity rates extremely ridiculous, but what is happening now is even worse than that. Every day different villages/different feeders go on and off with and without power. Take for instance, Garapan. Our neighbors across the street from us are on a different grid, when they have power, we do not, and when we have power they don't!

Now, I have been trying my best at spending time with the kids, making their homework and class work a priority. Half the time, we sit down and attempt to study the damn power goes out! So we grab our books and head out for some fresh air. But when the hot sun is blowing and their is no breeze blowing our way, we resort to go back into the house. Back in to the hot house, that is. What kid can study when the comfort level in the house is too outstanding to endure.

So, not only have we lost the time to study, we have lost the energy and also lost our sanity!

For the past few weeks the power has been dying at an almost constant rate of atleast under 3 hours. Now adays, there is no telling how long the power will die, and worst of all, there is no telling WHAT TIME the power will die.

As I sit here on this labor day morning, a holiday I am supposed to be enjoying, after all, I along with you all, work our asses off every day of the year just so we can pay our damn bills.....LOL

Anyway, what is going on with our society, and what will the consequences of these power outages? Does every household have buckets full of water for shower, washing the dishes, and most importantly flushing the toilet? All and all, more reasons to pack up from this island and move on. How many of our residents have gone to the mainland for greener pastures? Perhaps some of them are not necessarily after greener pastures, but just after a structured and stablized environment.

As I think about this further, I wonder what happens to the senior citizens who carry around their oxygen tanks, or to the infant babies who constantly cry because it is so hot. I mean, if you don't have power, you don't have a running a/c to keep the house cool and make the baby happy!

Oh my gosh.....when will we ever get out of this? I had to buy gas, and sweat, I mean literally sweat just to get the generator turned on so that I can plug in my modem and router and charge my laptop. Plus, I am sitting in an a/c room thanks to the generator! Now, if only we can get constant water so that we don't have to have buckets in the bathroom that would be great!

Well, what are your power-"less" experiences?