Life in Saipan

Nasa kritikal na pagobserba po ang blog ko para maisama sa mga listahan ng blog sa Saipan e tama ba naman kasing magblog ako ng tagalog e puro ingles lang ang nasa listahan nya…  kaya po gagawin ko na ulit na ingles ang mga blog entry ko tutal naman ang mga pilipino magaling bumasa ng ingles e bihirang bihira lang sa ingles ang marunong sa tagalog…

My English version of the previous blog post (Buhay sa Saipan) solely dedicated to Mr. Angello Villagomez.  For most of you who are wondering, He is the founder of Saipan’s Blog!  He compiles all Saipan-related blogs.  Any interested individual may view his blog or CNMI Blogger’s Guide to know more about him or other bloggers in Saipan.

“Sorry Miss but Saipan is not in the list of our states… Where is it located?  What country is it in?  Is it a United States property? ” These were just some of the questions I get whenever I say I’m in Saipan….  Especially, two years ago when I got back here from the States and I had to call every creditcard company to do a change of address over the phone – I sometimes had to stay on the phone for more than 15 minutes since they can’t find Saipan… ***sigh***

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands though it’s just a small dot in the map I honestly think Cabanatuan is bigger than Saipan. As to why it’s not in the list of the states/countries of the United States I have no Idea...  It sometimes annoys me when I try to order something online where websites ship products everywhere in the United States except here in Saipan… sometimes they even ship in other continents like Asia or Europe – but not in Saipan!  Hey, we’re part of the map too you know!  My husband was happy when he found out end of last year that majority of the sellers in ebay started to ship products here in Saipan.  Finally, they are beginning to notice this small island!

Other than Chamorro, Carolinian or other local residents of Saipan,  there are contract workers or immigrants from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea and majority I think is from the Philippines.  There are also American in the Island.

I first got here in 1999 then left in 2000 then went back here December 2006.  Saipan’s economy was a lot better when I first got here.  Now, well… hmmm… A friend of mine, who used to work here, now compares Saipan to a ghost town… perhaps that’s because almost every businesses are closing and residents are leaving the island that’s why whenever you’re driving around the island you’ll see hundred of “For Rent” sign or vacant lot.  It was more like a ghost town when we had 2 to 12 hours power outage everyday for almost a year… You’ll see more about that in my family blog or other Saipan bloggers’ blog. Fortunately, that problem was resolved in September of this year.

Saipan is not really a bad place to live in especially when you’re blessed with a good job or a profiting business.  I think the cost of living here is lesser compared to some states in the US but extremely higher compared to that in the Philippines (there are thousands of products/goods here from the Philippines and their prices trippled or quadrupled but we’ve no choice except to buy them since our option wasn’t that many).  This is an excellent place for divers – a dream that I’ll never have the guts to try so I just read other blogs and look at their pictures from under the sea… hehehehe… I actually wanted my hubby to go to diving school but we’ve been so busy especially after giving birth to my now wonderful 6-months old baby girl and I also don’t know how much that will cost us…. Hopefully before we leave the island he or both of us will go diving.

Life here is simple – most employees, even teachers, can go to their workplace wearing shorts, shirt and slippers (zories) or any island wear without worries of being fired, no traffic except when it’s government payday.  Tourist attractions are nice (I especially love the Managaha Island) though after a week of visiting those places you’ll run out of places to go to, there is a galleria/dfs, hard rock cafe and price costco the only ‘mall’ in the island – if, however, you wanted to see a real mall you’ve to pay between $70 – $100+ to go shopping in Guam, which is about 30 minutes away from here if you travel by plane.  I especially liked the fact that life is not fast paced – there’s more time in your hand to relax and unwind (walk to the beach and watch the sun set).

Another excellent reason it’s better to be here in Saipan compared to the States is that we’re only about 3 hours away from the Philippines, we can go home anytime we want to as long as we’ve the budget to go home, compared to that in the States where we’ve to pay about $2k+ roundtrip and travel about 2 days to go to the Phils… Anyway, more of my coming blog entry will be about Saipan, tourist attractions, restaurants and just about anything while we’re here in the island.  We may as well enjoy what we have here while we’re here!  teka nakumbinsi ko na ba sarili ko na maganda naman dito… lab kumbinsido ka na ba? hehehe