Busan Trip, Panda Playoffs

This weekend was the playoffs for our frisbee league and our team Pandamonium. We played hard through the season and placed 8th out of 18 teams. Not bad for a semi-rookie team with lots of new players and very few people who had played together before. Unfortunately for us, we lost our first game against a competitive team. This meant we were in Busan for a whole weekend, with nothing to do! JM and I decided to head to our hotel early and tour around the Haeundae Beach area.

Our first stop was the Busan Aquarium. There were lots of different underwater species to look at. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

HUGE spider crab!

Shark!

Shark and Turtle

This shark always had a school of fish around him. 

I think they knew that if they were in front of him, they would be lunch.

Attempting to get a picture with the manta ray

This dolphin did a flip over JM's head right as I took the picture. I think he was happy!

 

Sporting some sic head gear. Dolphins rule!

After the aquarium, we met up with some frisbee peeps for dinner .. at a Brazilian churrasco!  Unlimited meat, coupled with salads, roasted pineapple, and free drinks from our new Brazilian friends = a delicious evening. After dinner we tossed around a frisbee and had some late night 3 on 3, girls against boys.

Photo credits go to the fabulous Kelly for the next few pics.

 

Boys vs. Girls

The next day we went back to the fields to watch the semi-finals and final games of the season. If you are curious to see what the game looked like, you can check out the video HERE. It was a hard fought game, and the team that used their girls the most pulled through! Well done Gwangju!

We also had a mini photo shoot in a beautiful wheat field right near the frisbee park.

Saipan Day 7 - Managaha Island and Parasailing

Day 7 - January 4
For our second last day, we booked a day trip to Managaha, a small island off the west coast of Saipan where the beaches are pristine. After taking a banana boat over, we walked around the island in about 20 minutes. We found some unique drift wood on the scarcely populated side of the island and took some pictures. We also did some more snorkelling here. The currents were quite strong so we didn't stray far from the shore. Part of our day tour included a boat snorkelling trip. It was so amazing to see the pyramids of coral built up from 30ft below the surface to the top. It gave us a different perspective from the offshore snorkelling we had become accustomed to. The rest of the afternoon we spent reading on the beach, sunning, and tossing a frisbee in the water.

Managaha Island



Sandstone

The beach had yellow umbrellas. I loved the contrast!

The highlight of the day was when we parasailed back to Saipan. JM was really scared, but I was pumped. They loaded us together in the harness and we jumped off the back of the boat and into the air. It was a beautiful view!

Team JMS

 Video from the air!

Map of Saipan showing Managaha Island

Saipan Day 6 - Obyan Bay and the Tank

Day 6 - January 3
Cafe at the Park is a restaurant recommended on TripAdvisor that we decided to try out for lunch today - and how happy we are that we did! It was phenomenal. The chicken kelaguen was especially delicious. This little spot quickly became a part of our Saipan routine. One of the servers was especially nice to us and helped us with directions to an old, sunken tank that got stuck in the sand during the American invasion of the island. With our directions, we headed south to the site of the tank. On our way to the sunken tank, we stopped at another tank memorial and old bunker. One of the great things about the historical World War II monuments on Saipan is that vegetation grows through the holes left from the fighting. Pretty flowers filling in the gaps of destruction.


Drink at Cafe at the Park - Jennika loved the blended ice coffee beverages

Tank vs. Moped

The drive along Beach Road

The swim to the tank was a nice little jaunt with minimal fauna and uniform flora. Seaweed. The tank itself was an oasis for the local fish and we saw various species of fish calling the tank home. Before we tired of the tank, we headed back to the scooters to try and find Obyan Bay, a top diving/snorkelling destination on Saipan.

View of the tank from shore

Tank pic from the interweb

Obyan Bay is south of the Saipan airport and not on what you would call the beaten path. We even got lost on a dirt road that led us past some industrial factory and onto a farming pasture. The locals at the farm redirected us to the bay. The dirt road to Obyan Bay was well washed by the rain. We decided to abandon the scooters to finish the trek to the beach on foot.

We arrived with two hours of daylight left. Grabbing our gear, we raced to the water to make the best of it. The bay offered wonderful corals and fish, the best snorkelling we'd had in Saipan. I even saw a shark! Not a large one, it was about a meter long. I might have calmly swam in the opposite direction to tell Jennika. The visibility was clear and the coral was just off shore. We wish we'd gotten there sooner to enjoy more of the daylight.

Cheers, JaM's


Exactly what Obyan Bay looked like below the surface, except with many more fish!

Obyan Beach

Map of Saipan for Day 6, including the sunken tank and Obyan Beach



Saipan Day 5 - Last Command Post, Suicide Cliff, and Grotto

Day 5 - January 2
This was by far the best day we've had on the island. We saw some absolutely amazing things today; including historic WWII sites and a local treasure, the Grotto.

After eating brunch in our room, we headed away from town on our scooters toward the north part of the island. We had heard about some great historic sites out this way and wanted to do some sightseeing before we snorkeled. Our first stops were Banzai Cliff and Suicide Cliff, the sites where many Japanese soldiers and local Saipan people jumped to their deaths after the invasion of the Americans. The Japanese were trying to evade capture and the locals were told that Americans were brutal and would take them as slaves. Hundreds of people committed suicide off these cliffs: soldiers, locals, and even families. Just being there was so moving. You could almost feel the souls of those who died. There are many peace memorials set up there for the Japanese and Koreans (Korea was occupied by Japan at the time and they were forced to fight along side the Japanese). We saw a Japanese family pour milk and throw other items on the memorials, crying over their lost ancestors.

Banzai Cliff

Suicide Cliff

View from Suicide Cliff

View of other bluffs from Suicide Cliff

At the base of the bluffs lies the Last Japanese Command Post, where they fought until the end. When the Americans invaded Saipan, they forced the Japanese to the north. This was their last post before being captured. (There was a group of Japanese soldiers who waged guerrilla warfare on the Americans for 18 months after the battle of Saipan was over, but that's another story.) This bunker was carved into the rock and, from the front, you would have never known it was there. It wasn't until JM climbed up and yelled my name that I knew something super cool was ahead. The Last Command Post was littered with old, dilapidated artillery, including tanks, cannons, and even a torpedo.


Walking up to the Last Command Post

Tank with tree growing in the middle

Torpedo

This is where JM started calling my name







From the front, it looks just like a rock. And then ...

BAM! Secret entry.

Huge bunker on the inside

The walls were blasted in!





Cool window well and bullet holes in the cement

View of the side

After leaving the historic sites, we drove over to the Grotto, a local watering hole where you have to hold onto a rail drilled into the rock to avoid getting swept away by the surge of water that rushes in, before jumping across to a rock island in the middle. From here, you can dive into the grotto and experience underwater caves, etc. We were only snorkelling, so we stuck to the surface and watched all the fish moving with the tide. But you could see the caves, even from the surface. It made me want to get my diving licence so bad! Apparently turtles and sharks are common here at 5am. Luckily for us, we were definitely not awake at 5am.

Video of the Grotto
(We didn't go get life jackets - some locals helped us across and then we braved it and jumped in!)

After this we made our last stop for the day. More snorkelling at Paupau Beach! Here we got to see clownfish (think Nemo), some unique coral, and GIANT star fish. I'm talking over 1 ft. wide. At first, I was like, 'what is that purple thing?' - then I my heart started racing and I got really excited/nervous. It was so huge. Then I found 2 more. All in all, it was a very pleasant day full of history and adventure!

With love from Saipan,

Team JMS

Cute fishies!

Giant starfish

Clownfish

Map of Saipan with our northern tour highlighted