:: Find Saipan ::

I do love Friday’s newspaper it’s almost like a rap sheet of the week’s shit list. Lets see few of the headlines.

Saipan Tribune: Survey: 6 garment firms seen to close after July.

“This forecast was based on a survey of the 15 remaining garment factories in the Commonwealth.”.. “based on the survey, there would be about nine to 12 garment factories left on island within months of the first wage hike.”

Seems like July 24 is CNMI big D-day.. Departure day for what was once a very revenue rich industry. But honestly we all knew this day was gona come. All the signs were there.. the dead albino cat that was run over in middle street to the spontaneous fire that started near Price Costco’s wetland area. Everyone is so mystified of this news the Garment industry is really.. I mean really leaving the CNMI. How about we talk about the so call calling center in Naru Building … I want to know what happened to that?

Saipan Tribune: Saipan casino proponents gather 3,090 signatures, submit petition.

I can’t believe we are doing this again… and again. What makes it that this time it will pass at all? Is it because we are in deeper shit then the last time? Is this the type of decision one wants to make when we are so desperate, that we will take anything offer to us. Or is this someones get rich fast scheme?

Lets see…

Under the proposal, the commission “shall issue the casino license only to the Northern Marianas Descent Investment Corp., which “shall be a profit corporation” whose “incorporators, directors, officers and shareholders shall be of Northern Marianas descent.”

So under this law only Northern Mariana descent will be allow to hold casino license.

The initiative also gives casino employment preference to “residents of Northern Marianas descent in the Commonwealth.”

And the jobs created, will be held by Northern Mariana descents. Can you name one type of organization that has worked with the above mention idea and hasn’t worked at all? And is fat, bloated, inefficient, corrupt, lazy, and filled with nepotism? Can we say the current CNMI government? People wake up! The same people who has messed up the CNMI government is looking for a new fat cash cow to suck on and make sure their families will have some new fat cash cow to suck on too.

“Casino is not about promoting gambling. It is tourism. It will attract our Asian neighbors, even tourists from Australia, and even the U.S. mainland. We’ll do the Las Vegas example. It won’t be just casino but also family-oriented amenities to attract family tourists,” said Guerrero.

What research have they made to even back up the above statement?

Lets look at Asia shall we,

Singapore is building two casino resorts, estimated at $3bn, aimed at oversea visitors, ending a 40-year-old ban on gambling.

China, which has Macau, and is becoming what, is called Las Vegas of Asia. Last year alone the gambling revenues from its 17 casinos topped $5bn, roughly on par with Las Vegas.

Tahi is currently floating the idea of licensing casinos in tourist resorts.

Malaysia has an offer from the Malaysian gaming company to build a glitzy casino near the holiday island of Phuket.

Korea has state control casinos that only foreigners with foreign passports can enter.

What makes anyone even consider this backward, poor infrastructure, poorly kept, and even more disappointingly managed island a place they might want to go to gamble away. Oh and I do love how, when the government talks about tourism on the island, they love to slap the family value aspect of it. Have they even been in Hotel Street lately? Of course they have, they visit there every other Friday to places like Apples and Tomato club.

Someone has been watching the movie field of dreams. If you build it they will come… yes some will come, the prostitutes, the drug dealers, and the gamblers that are not welcomed on other casinos. Lets not forget the organized crime, which will run over the local police department like stealing candy from a baby. This people, is not something you want to vote on now… when people are at their weakest. When people will take what ever they can get. These are desperate times but I tell you this… casino is not going to solve anything but make things even worse.

Saipan Tribune: Asia a viable market for Pagan’s pozzolan

Okay you might be asking what the hell is pozzolan, because I was. This issue has been floating around for years, and I mean years.

A pozzolan is a material which, when combined with calcium hydroxide, exhibits cementitious properties. Pozzolans are commonly used as an addition to Portland cement concrete mixtures to increase the long-term strength and other material properties of portland cement concrete.

Okay so this article had me confused… at first it looked like this John W. Wilson a consultant overpaid by DPL, was trying to sell me the idea that CNMI can profit from its pozzolan deposits. But after re-reading the article I came up the conclusion, that this Wilson character has no fraken clue what he is talking about.

Lets take a look.

He noted, however, that there are competitive products that can be used in blended cement at a much lower cost. For example, waste materials such as fly ash from fossil fuel burning and slag from steel making. These pozzolans are being used more extensively-not only as filler but also as a strength-improving additive.

So he is stating that there are tons of cheap pozzolans out there in the same market he says there is demand for Pagan possolans…. Okay (this guy should be a use car sales man)

Citing a new study from a Cleveland-based industry research firm, Wilson also reported the demand for cement is expected to grow 4.7 percent annually in the next three years. By 2010, demand will reach 3.1 billion tons valued at more than $200 billion.

He also said he was not very successful in developing information regarding costs and selling prices of cement.

Wilson also collected incomplete data about shipping costs for cement in Asia.

Lets review what this consultant has given us so far. There is high demand for pozzolan in developing countries like in Asia. CNMI has some number of pozzolan deposits, which no one really knows for sure. He has no idea how much the value is, or what price country will buy from us. There is an equivalent material that is also relatively available in mass quantities in the same developing country that the demand is in. As in form of fly ash and slag, which are waste by products of burning coal and refining iron ore. So … how is this a viable market? And how they hell did he get this job, I could have done the same research over afternoon on goggle and wiki.

.. okay I am going to end here.. I am getting a head ace.

Please note I took as much time researching the above items as they did writing it and coming up with the above ideas.

Ps. If the above didn’t piss you off at all…. Paris Hilton got out of her jail time and now is serving at home.

In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, Americans received word that three years of concerted war efforts had finally culminated in D-day–military jargon for the undisclosed time of a planned British, American, and Canadian action. During the night, over 5,300 ships and 11,000 planes had crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy. The goal of every soldier and civilian involved in that effort was to drive the German military back to Berlin by opening a western front in Europe.

“Fitial off to Japan next week” declares today’s (June 5th, 2007) copy of the Saipan Tribune. Fitial is once again on his crusade to try to woo back Japan’s airlines to Saipan. Though I applaud him for his efforts, I would like to warn him that he is starting to look more like a jilted stalker. From the start of Fitial’s administration, perhaps even before, Fitial has shown an obsession to bringing Japanese to Saipan. Sure, Saipan’s history with Japan has had its ups and downs, and it certainly looks like we’re at a down point now. I want to pose the question though, have these trips shown any progress whatsoever? Or is this an effort to boost Northwest’s load factor percentage? The CNMI has long shown a preference towards the Japanese tourist, but is this preference now baseless? Arrivals from Japan have decreased, as have investors. Heck, Japanese investors are fleeing the island as if a tsunami is coming! Northwest airlines have been blamed for the reduction in tourists due to their proposed change from the larger 747s to the Airbus 330s. The papers quote:

Fitial said there is no reason for the seat or flight reduction because Northwest “is currently enjoying an average load factor of 93 percent” using its 747s at daytime.

93%? The last several times I have rode on Northwest’s 747s, all the seats around me were empty. The plane was perhaps 40%-60% full. Take a look at the planes, they are 747 – 200! 200! These planes are about 30 years old! Northwest, if they were at 93% load factor, would have no financial reason to downsize their planes. Closer to the mark is this:

Airlines have cited the low profit margin as a major reason for discontinuing direct flights to and from Saipan.

Ok, so how would an airline be earning a low profit margin if they are at 80-90% load capacity? Well, how did they get 80-90% load capacity? Bargain pricing. I’ve been traveling to Japan from Saipan for $420. I’m not an expert on the airline business, but when the usual price is around $600 to $700 dollars a seat for economy from Narita to Saipan, then we can pretty much guess that Northwest doesn’t make that much money from the flight. Northwest has no reason to increase their capacity, because there is no demand at the price level at which they can earn a decent profit! Larger planes have been shifted to Guam, which offers Japanese better bang for their yen. If anything, the newer Airbus 330’s are better equipped with in-flight amenities, and should raise the overall quality of the flight experience, making Saipan’s route more competitive.

Ok, lest I earn the wrath of Keiki N. Santo, and be accused of only complaining without offering solutions, let’s talk about something positive. Asiana Airlines and its parent company, Kumho Asiana, has shown clear commitment to developing the Korean market. While the Japanese investors have sold their hotels and pulled out their airlines, Korean investors have stepped in and them snapped up. There are probably more Korean – owned hotels on Saipan now than Japanese owned. Market momentum thanks to the efforts of Asiana and World Resort (a Korean – owned hotel) have raised Korean arrivals steadily.

Consider Asiana. Asiana bought Lao Lao Bay Golf Resort. They are investing in a new hotel. They have increased service to Saipan. Go to their Korean webpage: http://flyasiana.com. What’s that on the left? Is that an ad promoting Saipan? Ohh, what’s that on the right? Isn’t that a picture of a golf course in Saipan? I think so! Asiana’s webpage, on the front page, has at least 2 images promoting Saipan! There may be more, but I can’t read Korean. Go ahead, click on it. Hey, that looks pretty nice! And it even clearly splashes Saipan across the picture, in English. Now take a look at Northwest’s webpage in Japan: http://www.nwa.com/jp/jp/home.html. No pictures of tropical paradise… I think I see Micronesia mentioned on the page though… Instead, we see pictures promoting their frequent flyer program, WorldPerks… They are doing a promotion for their Airbus 330’s to Hawaii, Guam, and Saipan. It’s the first link at the top. Hmm, not quite the same is it?

World Resort, stripped PIC’s claim to the Korean crowd when investors dumped money into a first class water park. This not only increased Saipan’s profile as a tourist attraction for younger people and families, but raises the bar of what’s expected from hotels expecting to do business in Saipan. Even the Japanese tourists want in on World Resort’s theme park. Not only did World Resort commit financially, they followed though by constantly promoting the hotel in Korea though cross promotions like the Korean drama that was filmed here, as well as the beauty pageants and cultural events. World Resort Hotel made regular screen time in Korea, and along with it, Saipan.

People may argue that Japan is still Saipan’s largest tourism market. That may be the case, but the trend is still downward. We should ride, no, BOLSTER, the upward momentum of Korean arrivals. There’s no shame in Koreans becoming the number one arrival if it means an increase in our tourism industry.

Korean, Russian, Chinese, Japanese. Anyone should be welcomed, and if investors have the money and the will to promote the CNMI, then we should be assisting them. Its time to put aside our infatuation with the Japanese and just realize that their interest with us may be at an end. Its time to move on and work on developing new tourism markets. Markets where the domestic economies are strong and have disposable income. Look for countries close enough to Saipan for a weekend trip, and where the people would be interested in what Saipan has to offer, such as great golfing and diving at reasonable prices. That all points towards Korea’s strong economy and closes presence. Its time to stop your Japanese lessons, and start learning Korean, as soon as there is a Korean language school set up… Korean, Russian, Chinese, Japanese. Anyone should be welcomed, and if investors have the money and the will to promote the CNMI, then we should be assisting them. End the stalking now, and lets be proactive in supporting our next benefactors. Instead of sending delegation after useless delegation to Japan, why don’t we focus or money, time and effort in supporting World Resort and Kumho Asiana in making Saipan the number one destination for Koreans?

Its Monday morning, as I sit at my favorite coffee shop reading the newspaper like every other day. It seems now days its all about the negative stories. Granted that’s like saying dogs like to lick their balls. It’s because negative stories sells newspapers.

Tinian doesn’t want Saipan to have a casino initiative and now Rota wants to get in the casino bandwagon. Its seems every island wants a piece of the non existing casino action. Solution: why not start an inter-island civil war, maybe Rota and Tinian then can get financial aid from US to defend themselves from the oppressive Saipanese dictatorship.

The Legislature doesn’t want to disclosed their financial recorder of all the spending they have done in Kings or Moonlight clubs.. of course it was all official business. Solution: I think Tina should move a notch and start a full fledge revolution on the island. Think about it, our poorly educated jobless youth all uniting to fight for a cause. To topple the old bloated, corrupt government regime. Man, I am sure CNN would be drooling over this story development. CNMI would an instant worldwide news sensation. Imagine all the news crews, government official, military, peacekeepers, Red Cross, and other random organizations that like to feed off these events all coming to Saipan. It would be an economical over turn… over night. Hotels would be at 110% occupancy. We’ll make the Kobervill and Chalan Kona past the Mobil station area the “red zone”, I mean it’s already the “ghetto” side of Saipan anyways. This people, has a lot of potential. Imagine all the aids that will be pouring in to help the unfortunate victims. And we are all so good at portraying that.

There was another robbery at a poker arcade last week. How many more until the poker arcade owners themselves notice they just don’t have adequate security in their premise. Wonder how long till one of the customers get hurts and sues the poker establishment for negligent of customer safety in their premises. Or even worse we get a 187 (police code for murder) when a robbery goes bad. Maybe a little kid will get hurt because her gambling addicted mother left the infant in the car while she was gambling away her food stamps. After the poker robber went on a blood soaked massacre of the poker arcade he jumped into the young mothers car with the infant. In a 35mph high speed chase with the cops, the robber crashes into Mount Carmel Church which kills the infant. This finally is the last straw for the people of the CNMI. They rally for a new change led by the Bishop of Saipan at the capital building. The police are called in to quell the situation, but events turn ugly when a firearm goes off accidentally. People are hurt, and events turn for the worst. In mere days the government has crashed. Its chaos and anarchy at its finest .. people fleeing to the mountains to run from the roving bands of zombies that has sprung up when the 13 seals of the tatamona was broken in car crash at Mount Carmel Church..

Okay I think I had way too much coffee …

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A taste of … Italy, America, Asian, I am not quite sure what they were going for here. Like many restaurants in Saipan, most are at a lost what type of restaurant they are. They try to cater to all types of people and tastes, in the end they fall short of becoming a good place to eat. Pierre’s sadly is no exception to that rule. Located in lobby section of Saipan Ocean View Hotel in Garapan, next to Bank of Guam. They advertise themselves as a burger, steak, and seafood restaurant of sort with a salad bar thrown in the side. The menu is typical of all local joints, they have a mix of Asian, American and somewhat Italian cuisine. A blend of taste that would even the most hard-core Iron chef fan unsettled.

Still lets go to the positive side of this establishments, the food is served in decent proportions, the price ranges from $7.95 to $9.95 USD in the average and comes with a salad bar. All dishes are meat dish or in some combinations of meats, ie beef/fish. I haven’t seen a vegetarian menu so I guess you folks are limited to the salad bar. The salad bar consists of a mix collection of normal vegetables you would find in any typical salad bar so no imagination there, but there is always two choices of watery soup. Normal complementary drinks is also available in the bar, ice tea, coffee and water. But do careful some menu items don’t include the bar, which also doesn’t include the complementary drinks. One day I had a craving for some waffles, you wouldn’t imagine waffles of something that should be hard to come by. (That’s another article on its own) So I ordered some waffles and got some coffee. Which tasted like it was frozen and just got reheated in a microwave. Since I got both ice tea and a coffee from the bar to wash out the taste I got charge for both drinks. Which ended up a $12.00USD tab for one plan, stale waffles, one cup of coffee, and one cup unsweetened ice tea. Or I could have gotten a hamburger steak lunch for $9.95USD and had all the drinks and the salad bar I wanted. Dam you waffles!!!

Now, how I really rate a restaurant is not from food portions, food quality, food price, or even the service quality. I believe that there is a direct coalition between how well the restaurant is run and manage and how well the restaurant’s bathroom is kept. Meaning if they don’t really care about the same bathroom the staff and management uses, they are not going to really care that much about the food they serve to a complete strangers. I know its harsh but there is a grain of truth into that. This also assumes that there isn’t a private staff only bathrooms located on the premises, which most places do that have.

So lets look at the restroom facilities in Pierre’s, of course men’s side. Typical two stall and two urinals is what you are faced with in this compact room. Not so typical is that one urinal and one bathroom stall has been out of order for the better part of last year and all this year. Still, unlike other restaurant restrooms, there is a large helping of paper towels sitting on the counter and there is soap in the soap dispenser. Sink is marble and the mirror is clean and over all the room is pleasant in feel and smell.

2/5 Stall (broken stall and the only available one was the handicap stall)
2/5 Urinals (broken stall and the fixtures were old and worn)
5/5 Wash center (clean neat and ample paper towels and soap)
4/5 Décor (old but there is a over all color theme)
4/5 Smell (neutral in smell)
3/5 Lighting (little to dark for my taste)

Over all score 6.67 out 10

PIERRE’S
Burgers Steak Seafood
Breakfast Lunch Dinner
Open 6:30AM ~ 9:30PM Tel: 233-3838

So I was looking at media player today notice that I had version 9, looking that today was Friday and had really nothing to do. I decided to update it to … dam its at ver.11 already. But nooo… Mr. Bill Gates will not allow me since I might have a non-genuine Window XP installed on my computer! So determined now that I had a worthy endeavor for my Friday’s work time. I wasted.. I mean I researched the great and wise net to find a way to install media player ver.11 without this pesky windows validation. And behold I have succeeded! Now I can watch my downloaded Shriek 3 in perfect harmony on my new Windows Media Player Version 11.

And to help you, that might have problem with this. Here are steps you just have to follow the following steps one by one.

1.Download Windows Media Player 11.0, the latest version forms the Mr.Bill Gates site. Note you need windows XP with service pack 2.0 installed in order to install the new version.

2.Extract the downloaded windows media player setip file. Yes I didn’t know you can extrat a .exe file, learn something new everyday. You would need winrar for this little bit.

3.Download this little file LegitLibm.dll and then copy paste it to the “wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu” folder and click yes when asked to overwrite it.

4.Now run “setup_wm.exe” file in the “wmp11-windowsxp-x86.enu” folder.

5.and tada you have installed Windows Media Player 11.0 … go pat yourself in the back.