Isports ATBP.

(This story was published in the Pacific Island Times, where I currently do freelance work. I used a pen name back then to prevent any conflict with the Saipan Tribune. The Pacific Island Times is a Guam-based magazine with  veteran journalist Mar-Vic Cagurangan as publisher. https://www.pacificislandtimes.com/single-post/2017/12/05/It%E2%80%99s-not-new-but-%E2%80%98birth-tourism%E2%80%99-is-a-growing-CNMI-industry Birth tourism is an issue in the CNMI and it was again thrown into the spotlight a few years ago after the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered an alleged large-scale operation on the island of Saipan following a tip made by a local physician. Birth tourism has become an underground industry in the CNMI with pregnant Chinese women flocking to Saipan to give birth on U.S. soil, which  automatically provides American citizenship to their newborn child. Most of these women leave the CNMI after childbirth and receive their babies’ U.S. passports. ...

Filipino triathlete Joe Miller used to hear stories from fellow pro Ben Allen of Australia and two others on how beautiful and challenging the XTERRA Saipan Championship course was. On Saturday, the first-year pro and former two-time XTERRA Philippines Filipino Elite champion will finally try his luck in conquering the first stop of the XTERRA Asia-Pacific Championship Off-Road Triathlon series. “A lot of the pros that I used to compete with like Ben, Jacqui Slack, and Daz Parker used to tell me stories about XTERRA Saipan. How beautiful and challenging the course is, and that I should try competing in it,” said the Zamboanga City native. “I trained for 13 weeks for XTERRA Saipan and I’m targeting a third or fourth-place finish. I really wanted to see the result of my training that’s why I’m pushing myself hard. I wasn’t satisfied with my performance in XTERRA Philippines and I’m craving more. I want to challenge myself,” Miller said. XTERRA Saipan starts wit...

So sorry for this Halloween-related story. October 31, Saipan time, was my second straight Friday of walking from my friend's place on Quartermaster Road to the Saipan Tribune office at JP Center in Garapan. The distance is around three kilometers more or less and some 20 minutes of brisk walking.  It was a cloudy afternoon, and except for a handful of  tourists wandering and taking pictures of the lagoon, the Beach  Road pathway had less foot traffic that day. As I get near Triple J Motors, and the  building where Mega Byte and Hardt Eye Clinic was located, I saw an old Asian-looking man slowly walking beside his bicycle, which has a basket in front of the handlebars. He was wearing an orange-hued undershirt and an unbuttoned checkered polo, and black pants. I knew that in a few minutes I would come across the man since we were on the pathway. But in just one snap, as he passed by some trees, he vanished.  I was amazed, stunned, and surprised by what had ...

We’re like air. Soothing as the summer breeze or a deadly swipe of a charging storm. We’re like water. Calm, similar to a gentle flow of a stream or the wild rush of a raging wave. We’re like earth. Like a patch of barren land or a speck of dust carried by the wind. We’re like fire. Giver of life and warmth or a destroyer of things. We need balance in the universe. One can’t live without the other.

Alone in a two-bedroom house, behind a thick row of assorted trees, I collected my thoughts and decided to access my blog. It's a little bit cloudy outside, nature's sign of impending rain. Maybe. They're not vultures. It has been more than four months since I posted something on my blog. Either I'm too tired after work or I have no inspiration to write. In other words, I'm just too lazy. Hahaha. All know the Way, but few actually walk it. --  Bodhidharma I'm currently in "exile" in the US island territory of the Northern Mariana Islands. Hahaha! Chose to come back and work here again after leaving the island paradise of Saipan six years ago. We're all travelers. I will try to be active again and post updates of my misadventures here on Saipan. JAI HO! Bollywood, here I come! (Photos were taken using my old and yet still functioning BlackBerry Curve 9320.)