:: Find Saipan ::

Sorry folks.. the flu got me this week. I have laughed at the people who lined up for the free flu shots in Saipan but now I am kicking myself for not getting one. I guess if it doesn’t kill me it makes me stronger .. or some shit like that.

Anyways I am back and today.. a in depth investigation report that took me all of … 10 to 15 min to put together regards the 300 million dollars hotel, villa complex slated to open in Saipan May of 08. Now how the hell did I miss this news till now? You figure, something of this magnetite we would have heard it threw the local grape vine. I mean it is the 1st new hotel in .. what 5 to 10 years in Saipan….

In today’s Saipan Tribune is an article done by Agnes E. Donato about the so-called “Island Paradise Hotel” that just broke ground. A Korea company called KSA group will undertake this new investment in a 5-hectare public land located north of Pacific Island Club (PIC).

Now, I am no news reporter but I figure my 10-grade class report lesson should still apply. The basics, who, what, where and when of putting a story together, but I guess Mr. Donate didn’t attend that day.

So lets break this report down:

Who: a Korean-Owned investor group called KSA group… (Korean-Saipan-Association.. what the hell is KSA stand for)

Always smelling something fishy when regards to Korean and investment, I spend about 5 min googling anything about this Korean investment group KSA. And found nothing, I tried to find something on chairman Llhawn Kim found nothing. Understanding that on spelling errors Korean names are confusing, tried Ll Hawn Kim and Lee Hwan Kim, Ll Hang Kim, Lee Hang Kimm and LlHang Kim and still got nothing. Heck I even called the local Korean association regarding this article and they had no clue who this company or chairman was. Now I though that was interesting, the local Korean association was as clueless as I was.

What: Building of a 300 room and 55 villas hotel

Now I am not going to name names, I don’t want people to get in trouble but I called the following departments to find some information regards this project. I mean if the report is true and the company is expecting to start within two months. These department should have been notified and paper works filled right …. makes sense doesn’t it? One doesn’t just walk.. fly into a random island and say “You know what I like to meet to your governor about investing 300 million dollars on Saipan”…

Department of Public Works …. The person on the line states she saw it on Fridays locals TV’s news, but that’s about it.

Department of Public Lands…. No permits regards any public land in that size for that areas.

Commonwealth Development Authority…. Never heard of a company called KSA nor have they had any contact with such company.

Marianas Visitors Authority … mmm I don’t know anyone their to call on a Saturday and office is close. (On a site note.. shouldn’t this office be open all the time, especially on the weekend when the most tourist travels to Saipan)

Joeten Kiyu Public Library… I have books due from my days in elementary school.

Where: The project will be built on nearly five hectares of public property north of Pacific Islands club.

Okay … I know Mr. Donato job is tough, but Jesus can you be any more ambiguous then this. Come on north of PIC means almost anywhere in Saipan. Take a look at the picture below from Google Map (God you gotta love this little software, its like a terrorist wet dream) the yellow pin is where PIC is located. Lets try to imagine north of PIC from that location. It’s reporting at is finest.

At least he did give us some details on the report, five hectares and public property. So lets play a detective and locate some public land around that size near PIC north side.

For those who are scratching their head figuring out what the area of one hectors is, let alone what five is. Here is a little cheat sheet for the geometry.

One hectare is equivalent to: 10,000 square meters = 100 meters x 100 meters
One hectare is equivalent to: 100 acres
One hectare is equivalent to: 107,639 square feet or .00386 square miles
One hectare is equivalent to: 15 mu (Chinese), 10 dunam (Middle East), 10 stremmata (Greece), 6.25 rai (Thai) or ~1.008cho (Japanese)

Okay possible location one: right next to Pacific Island Club (PIC), granted I am sure that property belongs to PIC itself but lets just move on.

The square location marked off is 1 hectare, as you can see it’s not big enough unless you take account of the school property right above it. Then you might get five hectors of beachfront property out of it. And school property is public land after all.

Location two, its just about half a ¾ mile up from PIC, and its also not a public land. The square location marked off as A is 40,000 square meters so about four hectares, close still not close to five mention in the news article. Unless once again you take fact of the school located right above it, which is also public property.

Both location, the primary land was not public land, and both had a school property next to it witch is public land. I am sure their is a connection their but… just can’t make it .. mmmm

When: Construction is expected to begin in two months.

Last time I checked, it took me months to get my immigration card, or any other government document certified and filled. KSA is going to get all the paper works, environmental impact studies, the government paper works, the bribes and the kiss assing all done within two months so construction will start in two months…. Look I know Koreans are efficient but no way are they that good.

Actually I really can’t fathom, how this going to turn out and in all sense it maybe actually be true, if all the above statement is true. Slated to open May of 2008, I do truly do hope that KSA group will open a new hotel on this island. And we’ll see within a month or so if this story has a grain of truth to it.

What the hell is going on … we can’t even trust toothpaste!! I mean for God sakes people its toothpaste! I mean come on if you are going to screw with us.. do it with something like lipstick, perfume, nail polish, some shit we don’t have to use. But toothpaste its like messing with beer.. its something you just don’t do. Its holy, something fundamental.. it’s … DAM YOU KAHAN !!

Next don’t tell us, something is not safe but not tell us where you found it. Its like hello we found some land mines on the island and we removed some and we believe their is more but sorry we’ll not going to tell you were we have removed them so far from.

I am going to go out and look for these so called South African Toothpaste and find out who sales them and where they got them from! Ummm once I am feeling better from this cold and I actually remember this promise… then again I have Hash this weekend.

Anyways look out for the following brand names…

- Colgate (made in south africa)
- Cooldent Fluoride
- Cooldent Spearmint
- Cooldent ICE
- Dr. Cool Everfresh Toothpaste
- Superdent Toothpaste
- Clean Rite Toothpaste
- Oralmax Extreme
- Oral Bright Fresh Spearmint Flavor
- Bright Max Peppermint Flavor
- ShiR Fresh Mint Fluoride Paste
- DentaPro
- DentaKleen
- DentaKleen Junior

Lou Pearlman, the asshat responsible for NSYNC and Backstreet Boys, arrested in Guam for bank fraud, noise pollutionLoL I love the fact sometimes titles write themself (Please note I didn’t write that title)

Lou Pearlman, the Orlando boy-band mogul, was arrested on a bank fraud charge after arriving on American soil in Guam, an official with the U.S. attorney’s office there said.

Pearlman was taken into custody by the FBI early this morning in Indonesia. Authorities expelled Pearlman and then turned him over to U.S. authorities. They escorted him to Guam, the nearest U.S. territory, and arrested him when they arrived this evening Orlando time, said Leonardo Rapidas, Guam’s U.S. Attorney.

“We are aware that he is in the custody of the FBI,” said Steve Cole, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s Office in Tampa. “I can’t comment beyond that.” Pearlman is the subject of several federal and state criminal investigations in Florida involving alleged securities and bank fraud. Pearlman is tentatively slated for an appearance before a federal judge at 1 p.m. in Guam, Rapidas said.

Indonesian authorities located Pearlman living in a resort hotel in the tourist district of Nusa Dua in Bali. Immigration officials in that country told him he was no longer welcome in their country and then expelled him. In the process, they turned him over to U.S. officials

See if he was smart, he should have been in Saipan, he wouldn’t had this problem ….

Cost of living …

In a recent newspaper article by Liberty Dones states that the cost of living in the CNMI (Saipan) has historically been 25 to 30 percent higher than the mainland. Seeing how the local newspapers here would never ever publish a story without some research to back up people’s claims. This got me thinking is this really true?

Lets look at some data.

Rental property

• One bed room apt in Saipan: $300 ~ $400 USD garapan apt houseing
• One bed room apt in College park, MD: $450 USD (Craig list)

Transportation
Car: Toyota Camry SE 07

Micro Toyota Saipan $24,199 / 3.7k Down payment / $489.00per month/60month
Castle Toyota MD $19,408 / 0 Down payment / $482.97per month/48month

Public transportations:
Bus:

Saipan: NA
Maryland: Maryland Transit administration (MTA) $1.60

Taxi:

Saipan: Average 3 ~5 USD anywhere on island
Maryland: $4USD initial and $.40 succeeding one-fourth mile

Utilities
Vehicle Gas:

Saipan: $3.49USD/gallon regular
Maryland: $3.12USD/gallon regular

Electricity/Water:

Saipan:23.7 ~34.8 cents/KWh
Maryland:10.78 cents/KWh

Entertainment
Latest feature film:

Maryland: Loews Cineplex Cinema $9USD
Saipan: Hollywood Theater $7USD

DVD rental:

Blockbuster Saipan $2.99USD
Blockbuster MD $4.99USD

Weekend trip to the beach:

Saipan: Nothing .. walk across the street
Maryland: Trip to Virginia Beach,avg 100~200

Food

BigMac Meal Saipan: $5.75 (USD)
BigMac Meal MD: $4.39 +tax USD

Saipan: Can of 12floz Coke (Joten) .65 cents
Maryland: Can of 12floz Coke (Walmart) .45cents +tax

Saipan: Spam 12 ounce can (Joten) $2.09
Maryland: Spam 12 ounce can (Giant) $3.09 +tax

Saipan: Half case of Budweiser (Joten) $11.49
Maryland: Half case of Budweiser (Giant) $11.95 +tax

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.

“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 …