Back Over the Reef

We love new things! A few weeks ago, while Josh was in KS with his family, I went to the a beach on the south end with some of our friends. The snorkeling was alright, but the water was really shallow and no one was having much fun. This is Rachel and Kara trying to find a deeper area to snorkel.

 So the guys decided to explore a little. They knew there was an outlet through the reef but we weren't sure exactly where it was. Well, they found it! There is a fissure about 5 feet wide with a rope running through to the other side.

The current can be a little rough, making it difficult to cross over or back but if you use the rope as a guide it makes the whole process much easier. No matter how hard the journey, the destination is more than worth it. The open looks completely different than what we see in the lagoon.

NEMO!!!

Flippers!! Thanks Amanda!!

Those black dots are fish, way down below. It was maybe 30 feet deep here.

On our way back over the reef we found the little cuttlefish that was just hanging out, bobbing back in forth in the waves.

We also found a flounder!! This was the first time we'd seen a flounder out here. I'm not gonna lie, it scared the crap out of me. I first noticed it swimming directly beneath me, it was about a foot away from my face at that point. Come on, admit it, it would freak you out too if the "ground" was suddenly moving closer to you...

 It looked a little like this when I first saw it: very camouflaged!

These cool stripe-y fish are quickly becoming a favorite of mine. They hang out in areas with decently strong current and eat up the little bits of junk that float by them. 

Amazing coral formations just before you cross over the reef. There's no telling what could be hiding out there. We're still waiting to see something big. There are a number of creatures still on the list to be captured by the underwater camera before we leave. We're constantly on the look out for eagle rays, sharks, which we've seen, just not photographed, and sea turtles! I want to ride a sea turtle, it can be done... 

 

Beyond the Reef

We went over the reef!! It's awesome out in the open ocean. You get a totally different view of ocean life compared to what we usually see in the lagoon. More to come later, but here's one picture to show some differences.

Living it Up

Living in Saipan is very different than we expected. Yes, ebb and flow of daily life within this community is different, but beyond that, the way we live out our personal lives has had to change. There are many modern amenities that we no longer have, some by choice others, not so much but we don't regret any of it.

This is our little car. It's a 2000 Toyota Echo. We get great gas mileage which is a necessity because our gas is $4.75 a gallon.

This is our apartment. We live on the top floor, that's our bedroom on the corner. Each of the 2-story buildings in our apartment complex has 4 homes. There are a grand total of maybe 40 units within our complex which makes it a quite little community. We know most of the people who live in the complex and we all watch out for each other. We never met any of our neighbors at our old apartment, everyone was so hushed and hurried.

The view from our front balcony

Looking toward the parking lot... Ah, pretty flame trees.

Most of the houses in Saipan are made of concrete for several different reasons. We live in typhoon country. A typhoon is the Pacific Ocean's version of a hurricane, with high winds and lots of rain. A large typhoon would devastate our little island. If you haven't read before, it is hot and humid here, year round, which means we have bugs, lots of them. In fact, the termites were swarming outside our apartment. It was pretty gross. They would destroy a wood-frame home in a matter of months. So, it looks a lot different than what we'd expect to see with our typical idea of "American" homes.

We have lots of fruit trees growing around our apartments. These are some of the bananas growing just in front of our apartment. Notice how they have more squared off edges? These are what are referred to as "cooking" bananas. They're not sweet and you don't want to eat them raw. The "eating" bananas are round and very short, they're about the size of the palm of your hand.

We also have lemons, oranges, calamansi and papaya growing just outside our windows, it's great. Another aspect of life in Saipan, that has come as a pleasant surprise are the constant flowers. Our climate is so temperate that we have beautiful flowers all year long. This winter, when everything is dead and brown, I am really going to miss these flowers and the wonderful sunshine.

Oh, and we get these almost daily. Wonderful, colorful sunsets.

We have developed a life out here on this little rock. It was quite an adjustment at first, but we've come to love most of it. There is officially less than one month until we come home. It's going to be a bittersweet goodbye.

Flame Trees

It's flame tree season! The jungles that were lush and green when we arrived are now ablaze with red blooms. I

I equate flame trees with blue bonnets in south Texas or the cherry blossoms in Japan. The trees are only in full bloom a few weeks out of the year. There'll be sporadic blossoms through the fall but nothing like the blooms we're seeing now.

The blossoms grow in clusters all over the trees. After the blooms falls, the tree is again filled with lush green leaves.

The Streets of Japan

The streets of Japan were filled with so much to see, especially compared to the streets of Saipan. It was so busy everywhere! Almost every sign was neon and/or flashing. It made for, what seemed to be, a drug-induced stupor as we walked through the city. It was so mesmerizing and yet over-stimulating at the same time.

Most of these speak for themselves, but I'll add little tidbits throughout the post.

All these buildings line the Dotombori River. You can see that every available inch is used for advertising and marketing.

This is Dotombori-Dori (Dotombori Street). It was once Osaka's old theater district which is obvious from some of the buildings. Now, the street is filled with neon signs and restaurants and shops.

This is also where we found the fried squid balls.

An evening view.

This is the Mido-Suji Expressway. It's lined with ginko trees and is home to the greatest concentration of department stores in Osaka, not that we could afford the even window shop...
Our hotel was a half-block west of this street.

Random busy street.

This was the road leading through the cherry blossom festival. It was packed but absolutely gorgeous.

Rainy streets

Walking through Japan was such an adventure. There were so many awesome things we found just by hoofin' it through the city.

This was a rock climbing wall, on the side of a building. Awesomeness!

More on our Japanese adventures soon!