A visit to Saipan: Another island in the Pacific

Saipan: Hafa Adai! That’s "hello" or Mabuhay in Chamorro. We’re here in the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) with a group of media friends for a familiarization tour of Saipan Island, courtesy of Continental Airlines, the Marianas Visitors Authority and the Pacific Islands Club Resort Hotel. With us as our escort is Continental Airlines sales manager Ray Samonte and their marketing officer Marissa Torres. Saipan is the capital and the largest and most populated of a 14-island island chain literally in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and a three-hour 20-minute direct flight from Manila via Continental Airlines (CO 890) which flies to Saipan twice weekly. But from the way things look, Continental Airlines ought to add more flights to Saipan as their planes are fully booked, thanks largely to the Nursing Certification & Licensing Exam (NCLEX) that many Filipino nurses have to take in order to work in the United States and Saipan is certified to handle this exam.

The two other big islands are Tinian and Rota. Though we didn’t visit these two other islands, let me just note down that Tinian Island is known as the take-off point of the "Enola Gay", the B-29 Superfortress which dropped "Fat Boy" the first Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima, Japan. Able Runway, where the Enola Gay flew from is still there. Tinian has a five daily round trip fast ferry service ala Supercat called Saipan Express to and from Saipan.

Yes, it is my first time to visit the island of Saipan, which to a World War II buff like me is a very historical place as the Marianas island group were part of the grand plan by then Gen. Douglas MacArthur to conquer and defeat Japan, island by island. Right on the beach of the Pacific Island Club Resort is a war memorial marking the beach site where on June 15,1944, the US Fourth (4th) Marine Division landed up to Chalan Kanoa and were caught in a deadly crossfire from Japanese positions in Pt. Agingan and suffered heavy casualties.

Saipan was liberated on July 9,1944, but after heavy fighting with the Japanese defenders who were trapped in the northernmost side of Saipan and there on Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff, hundreds of Japanese soldiers and their families chose to jump to their deaths rather than face the humiliation of defeat. Yes, today, there were many war memorials honoring the war dead from both sides of the conflict and you can still see naval guns, pillboxes, machinegun nests preserved for tourists to see. But even without the World War II relics, Saipan has its own beautiful sights, like the Bird Island, which is a favorite tourist site.

We also learned that the hotel where we stayed, the Pacific Islands Resort Hotel (PIC), is itself a tour attraction when Ms. Kanae Quinn, senior director of sales and marketing of PIC showed us around. PIC is just a five-minute driver from the Saipan International Airport and is famous for its spectacular waterpark. Yes, we were treated to a very wet and very wild artificial "The Wave" machine, which gives surfboarders a chance to train for big time surfing.

In my two attempts, I was blown completely out by the surging wave, but I eventually learned how to "ride the wave"! If that’s not your thing, you can take a rubber tire and just float down the Lazy River. Since I was literally on a "cellphone vacation", it meant that we could focus on what we were there for. Hence I did a lot of firsts at the PIC… the first time I tried kayaking and yes, for the first time, climbed up "the vertical wall" and conquered it by ringing the bell at the top.

PIC is not just a resort you come and visit, eat, swim and sleep. It is a self-contained entertainment park. Aside from the various waterpark activities, which include windsurfing, water polo, kayaking, snorkeling or scuba diving, you can enjoy tennis, aerobics, badminton, golf driving on the range or a mini-golf, rollerblading, wall climbing and yes, even archery. Yes, this must be the only resort hotel I know that offers archery and it brought me back to my archery days… so I obliged and shot a few arrows… instinctively of course as their bows didn’t have any sights and I’m proud to say all the arrows hit the target butt and yes lots of bull’s-eye. But I was only using a 20-pound bow… but that was a great lifetime experience for an old archer like me.

Later in the evening, the Marianas Visitors Authority (MVA) hosted us to a sumptuous Chinese dinner at the Ming Palace where we met with MVA marketing director Wayne Pangelinan and Marie Castro who gave us more information about CNMI and Saipan whose population is around 70,000 people of which some 30 percent are Filipinos. Few Filipinos apparently come here as tourists because they have integrated themselves as a part of the Marianas Islands. Practically every shop, store or counter is manned by Pinoys, including hotel staff from various positions. Yes, Filipinos are very much a part of Saipan as it is in the Philippine Sea.

One of our drivers, a Rene Camacho who is also a Filipino, turned on the radio in the van and yes, Saipan radio stations were playing Anak of Freddie Aguilar and Spaghetti pababa and Ocho Ocho… it was surreal, it was as if we never left the Philippines! There are two Jollibee outlets bigger than the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) outlet. But yes, they do have Tony Roma’s Steak and Cappriciosa Italian Restaurant that serves great pasta.

Rene Camacho also told us that jueteng is legal and available in Saipan and who else would run a jueteng joint if not a Pinoy? Yes, it is called the Numbers International Corp. owned by a certain Mr. Marasigan from Makati, which doubles as a Lotto outlet. And to complete the Pinoy influence, there’s a US$3 Dollar store selling various clothes, which is their version of ukay-ukay.

The next day, MVA assigned Francisco "Cisco" Aguon to be our tour guide and we went to the island of Tasi Managaha, a tiny "Kawit-sized" island, which is a favorite for tourists. It’s just a kilometer or two from the main island of Saipan, a mere 15-minute boat ride. Yes, we saw two 10-inch naval guns placed by the Japanese defenders and neutralized by American bombs… it’s still there in its ruined splendor. More on Saipan in later columns.

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For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]. Bobit Avila’s columns can also be accessed through www.thefreeman.com. He also hosts a weekly talkshow entitled, "Straight from the Sky" shown every Monday only in Metro Cebu on Channel 15 on SkyCable at 8 p.m.