(My Marianas) Today’s parade to highlight 68th Liberation Day celebration

Published in the July 7, 2013 issue of Marianas Variety

IT’S here again, that one day in a year where all roads lead to the festivities grounds as the CNMI celebrates another Liberation Day. Follow the beating of the drums and it will lead you to the Civic Center grounds in Susupe today.

Join the thrill (and agony) of trying to find a parking lot and find your space along the road sides as the Liberation Day parade passes by.

Each year for the past decades, the much-anticipated July 4 parade has always been the highlight of the celebration, a crowd-drawer for thousands of locals and visitors to the islands. Government groups and agencies, private organizations showcase their talents and skills in a once-a-year show where you get a taste of everything with an island twist in one setting.

This morning, make your way to the Civic Center in Susupe early as to grab a prime spot to watch over 30 groups and floats join the Liberation Day parade at 10 a.m. from Gualo Rai and all the way to Susupe. Be there and watch the Liberation Day queen with her royal court and their escorts.

Bring your cameras and video cameras to capture and preserve the colorful moments and action as the CNMI pays tribute for the 68th year to those who have risked their lives to protect the country’s freedom.

2013 Liberation Committee chairman Vicente Camacho said during the opening of the 2013 Liberation Day festivities on Saturday evening that ‘freedom does not come free’ and today’s celebration is to instill this sentiment to the community for those who died for the country’s freedom.  

For those of you who didn’t install tents, you can bring beach chairs and umbrellas to watch the parade from any vantage point in the roadsides, or follow the parade as they make their way to the festival grounds for a final showdown in front of the stage set for dignitaries.

Follow the flow and make today a must-not-miss event. Explore the Liberation day festival grounds and get your fill of local food and drinks, or buy trinkets to bring home from the vendor’s stalls that have participated in the event.

See you at the Liberation Day festival parade and grounds today!

(My Marianas) A ‘hotter’ hot pepper eating contest expected this year

Published in the February 7, 2013 issue of Marianas Variety

 

IT’S a contest like no other. Tears will fall and blows and whistles calling for relief will once again be seen as contestants try to relieve the stinging heat produced by chewing on hundreds of the famous Tinian hot peppers on February 16-17.

Vida Borja of the Marianas Visitors Authority Tinian said this time the contestants for the hot pepper festival will enjoy a different venue at a safer distance from the crowd, unlike the past years where the audience handed the contestants water, ice cream and anything else to help combat the stinging heat from the peppers.

Borja said the 9^th Tinian Pika Festival will be at Kramer Beach. This year, the audience will be spared from crying due to the sting of hot peppers in air as the hot pepper eating contest will be held on a stage where everyone can have a good view without pushing and crowding on the contestants.

The hot pepper eating contest for male contestants will be on Saturday afternoon at about 5 p.m. while the female contenders will compete on Sunday afternoon at the same time.

Borja said that like last year, the contestants will be given a certain time limit to chew on as many red hot peppers as they can, one pepper at a time, and spit them out on a platter. A judge is assigned to each contestant to monitor the number of hot peppers a contestant chews on.

Last year’s grand prize winners for both male and female divisions chewed on over a hundred pieces of hot peppers during a three-minute period.

Corey San Nicolas grabbed the grand prize in the men’s division after chewing 110 red hot peppers while Celina King won in the women’s category by chewing 100 red hot peppers within the 3-minute time frame.

“We are still finalizing the program but we are looking at holding the same procedures for the contest,” Borja said.

In the previous year, the hot peppers were pressed and poured into a cup of noodle soup and the winners are those who finish their noodle soup the fastest.

Tinian’s annual Pika Festival or Hot Pepper Festival is being held in honor of the donni sali, the popular small but hot potent pepper that is ingenious to the island. Entrepreneurs have been successfully preserving and bottling these peppers for marketing here and off island.

Hot burgers, new features

Borja added that as a new feature, JC Café will be hosting a hot burger eating competition.

“This is a new event where the contestants will vie for the fastest time in finishing off special burgers made with special ingredients including Tinian hot peppers,” Borja said.

She added the burgers will be “hot but delicious.”

Another new feature for this year’s Pika Festival is the five-man tug of war where teams will vie for prizes.

Don’t miss out on the fun and activities as Tinian gears up to embrace another colorful and hot Pika Festival. 

For more information, please call Borja at the Tinian MVA Office at 433-9365 or email vborja@mymarianas.com, Tinian Mayor’s Office at 433-1802, Frank at the MVA Saipan headquarters at 664-3200/01, or email ftudela@mymarianas.com.

For information on how to get to Tinian, please call Freedom Air at 234-8328 or Star Marianas at 433-9998.

(My Marianas) Off to the Street Market

Published in the January 24. 2013 issue of Marianas Variety

IT’S Thursday once again and all roads lead to the Fishing Base where nonstop live entertainment, the widest selections of international cuisine and where crafts and trinkets are available at reasonable prices – the Garapan Street Market.

As early as 5 p.m. you can already buy some food and drinks from the booth owners who start early.

Wander from booth to booth and get your fill of various specialties from Chinese, Thai, Chamorro, Filipino, Korean, and Japanese at prices much lower than they normally offer at their respective restaurants. You can get a full meal like a bento with five or six choices for only $5.

Where else can you find really affordable food with selections so vast and varied it will make your head spin trying to decide what to eat, free entertainment and shopping options all in one place?

Name it and the street market most probably have it—from barbeque, noodles, vegetables, fresh fruit and local produce, fruit shakes, healthy drinks, grilled temptations like fish, beef, chicken or pork, sweet delights like local desserts, 

Tables set at the center of the market begin to fill up at past 5 pm and from then onward, it is like one huge potluck where you get to share tables with friends and strangers, locals and tourists from all parts of the world.

Cultural barriers are laid aside as you all concentrate in enjoying the food and experience the tastes, smells and sounds of Saipan.

At the other side of the market, you can browse through stalls displaying fashion jewelry, shirts and bags, trinkets, crafts and arts and other local produce that you can bring home as souvenirs.

The street market is also where you can find some agencies and organizations holding campaigns or handing out informational brochures about upcoming events, products and services.

Hogging the spotlight at the street market each Thursday is the stage where local bands, singers and dancers perform to entertain the audience.

Here is where you can watch a variety of performers—from groups dancing to the beat of modern tunes, to dancers performing Polynesian, Micronesian or local dances in their colorful island attire to fire dancers juggling lighted torches the delight of the tourists.

The street market is where you can find more cameras clicking and flashing than anywhere else in the island on a Thursday, where you come in hungry and leave full, a place where you can get loads of fun and food.

For more information about what to do and where to go when on Saipan, visit www.mymarianas.com or call 664-3200.

(My Marianas) Water sports for your pleasure

(Published in the January24, 2013 issue of Marianas Variety)

ASIDE from popular diving in the CNMI, the numerous water sports are among the most popular attractions that lure tourists to come here from all parts of the world.

For a tropical destination surrounded by water, there is so much to do here, even if you don’t want to do anything. Saipan’s beaches are the places where you can sit in the sand or a beach chair and spend the day just staring into the blue waters watching the clouds chasing each other across the vast skies and breathe in the salty sea breeze.

If you get off your comfortable perch, step on the warm waters and start to explore, the possibilities are endless. Numerous sports activities await you—activities that would make you craving for more.

Saipan’s tour agencies offer various water sports like windsurfing, jet skiing, paddle boarding, boat sailing, canoeing, surfing,— name it and you have it here. On a windy day and you will see people from all parts of the world riding the waves windsurfing between the Micro Beach and Managaha, the best place to catch the northwest winds.

If you don’t want to get wet, you still have the option of going underwater and watching the bountiful marine life aboard the submarine and experience the whole thrill.

Five minutes away, Managaha Island waits for anyone who wants to experience the bliss of what it feels to go parasailing and see the Saipan lagoon from over a hundred feet up, plunged into the water up to your neck and tossed back into the skies as the boat pulls you around the lagoon.

Get the thrill of a lifetime on board one of those banana boats you see at the Saipan lagoon which is good for the whole family in the Saipan lagoon anytime on a sunny day. The fun and fear of the banana boat making a sharp twist and you all have to jump into the water adds to the thrill; or the joy of walking underwater for the Aquawalk. Beginning divers can also try the scuba diving at Managaha, get crash courses in diving and go straight into the water for an underwater experience.

For those who wants to go fishing, Saipan has a lot to offer in sports fishing, trolling and deep sea fishing. Get in touch with some of the tour operators who offer these adventures and get into the excitement of reeling in fresh catch from the sea—mahi mahi, tuna, marlin, barracuda, wahoo and other kinds of fish.

All these water sports and more are just additional attraction to the rich historical sites that the CNMI has to offer to visitors.

 The next time you are in Saipan, Tinian or Rota, or if you are here already and haven’t booked any plans, don’t forget to include the CNMI’s beautiful beaches as your playground.

For more information about Saipan, Tinian and Rota attractions, please visit www.mymarianas.com or call the Marianas Visitors Authority at 664-3200.

(My Marianas) 9th Pika Festival heats up on Tinian

Published in the January 17, 2013 issue of Marianas Variety

 

THE heat is on as Tinian gears up for the 9th Annual Hot Pepper Festival which will be held at the Kammer Beach on Tinian on February 16 and 17.

As early as this time, the Marianas Visitors Authority is inviting the community to get ready for another hot celebration in honor of the donni sali, Tinian’s popular small but hot potent pepper that is ingenious to the island. Tinian’s hot pepper has become popular and has been making its way to different parts of the world for the past years as more tourists come in and bring them to their various countries.

Be at the Kammer Beach grounds for two days of festive activities that includes cooking competitions featuring the creativity of local chefs who will be using the donni Sali in various recipes; craft sales and live performances that includes cultural dances and the entertainment by Hapi the Clown.

Guests will have a chance to watch the dragon boat competition where the boating skills and endurance of the participants will be tested; and teams battle it out at the beach volleyball tournament.

Prizes are also at stake for winners in the sack race competition, karaoke singing competition where you get surprised and delighted with the hidden talents of your friends and neighbors; booth decorating competition and chacha dancing competition for the different categories. 

The must-not-miss highlight of the Pika Festival each year is the hot pepper eating competition where the public get to watch participants in a hot combat of eating the famous Tinian hot pepper— for the male and female categories; and the umang or hermit crab races which everybody looks forward to—whether you are a participant or a part of the audience.

Last year’s Pika Festival drew a large number of spectators from Saipan, Rota and Guam and other islands that got a chance to sample a wide variety of local dishes and colorful displays of creative decorations made from local and recycled materials for the booths.

Kids also had a grand time with the new entertainment last year which included pig and chicken chasing inside a fenced area and the winners got to bring the pigs and chickens home.

The 9th Annual Tinian Pika Festival promises to be more colorful and festive. Guests get not only the chance to enjoy the sun, sand and sea and the fresh salty tang of the sea breeze but they also get to interact with the local community. 

For more information about the Pika Festival, please call Vida Borja at the Tinian MVA Office at 433-9365 or email vborja@mymarianas.com, Tinian Mayor’s Office at 433-1802 or Frank at the MVA Saipan headquarters at 664-3200/01, or email ftudela@mymarianas.com for inquiries.

For information on how to get to Tinian, please call Freedom Air at 234-8328 or Star Marianas at 433-9998.