Saipan Day 4 Diving at Grotto

S.A.I.P.A.N DAY FOUR

Grotto's water is amazingly blue (cobalt blue to be exact). To compare, have a look at the normal seawater below where we had our first dive as practice.

So yea, to dive at Grotto without a diving license, we first had to do a practice dive at a less challenging spot so that we can learn the basics and so that Rie can assess our skills and decide how much freedom she can afford us at Grotto. I love her efficiency. The lesson/briefing began once we settled into her car and by the time we reached the spot, we just put on our wet suits and gear and we're ready to dive.

A little bitty dissatisfaction would be her complete authority over the photo-taking experience. She already has a predetermined set of photo spots. When she ask you to pose, you can't really say no (her tone is pretty serious XD). Like this photo above. I think that's a shrine/tombstone which was a tad creepy for me and I would otherwise definitely avoid taking photo with before I dive into the unknown world for the first time. And you can't really ask her to take your photo at where you want. But she's doing this part for free whereas some other dive shops require an additional fee to help you take your photographs. So, no qualms.

Wet suits are so kakkoii (suai in chinese? can't find the right word in english).

The entry was beach entry type where you just waddle from the shore until your feet cannot reach the bottom. The depth wasn't that much (5m?) and the surface was constantly nearby. The only discomfort I had throughout the dive was my scorching dry throat which felt like the Sahara desert. I did not know I was supposed to swallow from time to time.

Cute fishies in a row

We aced our first dive with flying colors and Rie said we can do a more complicated course at Grotto. Yippie~

Here we are at Grotto!

 Can you see the people snorkeling in the cave?

Here's the infamous arduous steps one has to go through to climb down to Grotto. It's not as bad if you don't have to carry all the heavy diving equipment.

The entry requires courage as well. You have to jump down into the water from a rock while pressing your mask tight to your face or it might slip off from the impact. But you're instantly rewarded once you're in the water. It looked like a scene from FF7 (where Aeris gets stabbed by Sephiroth and Cloud puts her to rest at this really beautiful cobalt-blue lake and Aeris inevitably sinks to the bottom)

Grotto is connected to the outside sea through a few tunnels but it's prohibited to resurface outside for reasons I forgot. And they say the danger is that some divers without a guide would get lost after going out into the sea, unable to find their way back into Grotto.  

Prawns

 

In total, we went through 3 tunnels, which I didn't really noticed but XW did. Underwater, I lost what little sense direction I had to be begin with. Plus the tunnels weren't the narrow dark ones I imagined. From reviews, some people had advised against diving here for those who are afraid of narrow dark places but the tunnels were actually so huge that I didn't even realized I was going through them.

Would recommend Rie if any beginners without license are looking to dive at Grotto. Not sure how good she is in communicating in English though. But her no-nonsense attitude and confidence made me felt safe and I feel that if I do run into any trouble underwater, she would be capable of saving my life XD. Her choice of life is so fascinating and refreshing for me. Going out of Japan and coming to an island to open a diving shop. She mentioned it's hard to be a diver in Japan unless you come from a fishery family. I think I heard something similar before about how the Japan fishermen don't let strangers into their turf.

Grotto was breathlessly dazzling and silent. It's much deeper than our first dive and I remember thinking that 'wow, if I panic I could really die here'.  I hope I get to see visit more sacred places like these :)

Doing the safety stop where we pause a few minutes before ascending completely. I still did not know I was supposed to swallow from time to time so by the end of the dive, my throat was so uncomfortable it was hard to concentrate on anything else. The trip back up the stairs were even more strenuous than when we descended and the only thing that kept me going was the thought of finally getting rid of the freaking heavy oxygen tank off my back XD. Lol, in the end I'm not really sure if I enjoy diving or not. I've come to the conclusion that I won't probably be diving just for the sake of diving but if it's to experience awesome views like Grotto or to see ray fish/whales/fascinating sea creatures, I'd gladly lug those heavy equipment any day.

--
Two Dives with Mei Dive : 100USD
First dive: Entry time about 2pm for 30~40 mins
Second dive: Entry time about 4pm for 30~40 mins

Saipan Day 1-3 Grandvrio, Garapan, Marine Sports

S.A.I.P.A.N 

DAY ONE

Can’t believe it has been two years since I last updated the blog O.O

And can't believe I have more free time now that I am working compared to when I was studying Masters. At least now I have complete 'me' time after work (not bringing any back!) whereas during Masters I have to slave day and night.

So I went to Saipan with XW for 6 days in November.

At first I wasn’t too keen to go Saipan. Mainly because I’ve never ever heard of it outside of Japan which made me assume that it’s not really that beautiful and probably hyped by the travel companies in Japan to generate $$$. You know, like how the big companies somehow managed to convince the whole Japanese nation to believe that chocolate is a must during Valentine’s Day and KFC chicken is a tradition during Xmas. It wasn't until XW showed me some photos of Grotto, a cavern with cobalt-blue seawater, that I became fascinated.

It takes about four hours from Tokyo and we arrived at around 3pm. You would think the process would be quick since it's a pretty small airport and we didn't even check in any luggage. But we only managed to clear the immigration and got out around 4:30pm. There's no public transportation so we grabbed a taxi to Garapan, the main lively(?) area in Saipan where our hotel is. The taxi drivers are not as aggressive as some other countries' which I am really grateful for. Nothing can damp your holiday mood more that being shouted at the moment you step out in a foreign land.

First impression of Saipan? It reminds me of Malaysia particularly the rural area of Miri -rainy and greenish 😂😂😂. No beach in sight for some time. It' s an hour quicker here in Saipan btw! First time in a timezone faster than Japan's.

*photo from google 

XW searched and found Grandvrio Resort Saipan which is just by the beach. The reviews about this hotel (and all other hotels in Saipan) were horrible. Like old, dirty etc. So just to be on the safe side, we booked Crystal Tower which is in the medium price range of the three towers available in Grandvrio (cheapest&oldest being Main Tower, there's also Taga Tower, the most pricey one).

I have no qualms. The room is spacious and the bathroom is squeaky clean as well. Maybe the people had too high expectations for resorts.

Our mini balcony.

The beach by our hotel.  

 Wind was very strong. We would find out that this is due to the typhoon the next day XD.

So-so dinner at nearby Korean restaurant we came across.

After resting we went to Sunshine Live Casino, the biggest casino in Saipan, which is conveniently located just across the road from our hotel. Not a coincidence. The reason why XW decided on Saipan (out of all the other islands like Hawaii, Guam, Bali) in the first place was because it's the only one with casinos. Makes sense to just book a hotel near by it no? The casino is quite good. The biggest merit is that they don't have dress code so you can just wear beach sandals and short pants. There's free drinks - no free food like the big casino in Seoul (lucky seven or something).

--

COST:

Delta Air flight round trip: 61000yen/person
Grandvrio Resort Hotel: 120 USD/room/per night
Taxi from airport to Garapan: 30 USD

DAY TWO

There's a shop/stall offering marine sports and rides to Managaha Island (must-go island ten mins by speed boat ride) at the beach by Grandvrio. We found out that we wouldn't be able to go Managaha Island for a few days because there was a typhoon. 

Lunch at Dolphin Restaurant which is inside our hotel. The paranoma ocean view is awesomeee and the price is around 10USD like most meals in Saipan. We also had an awesome entrance because we were the first customers of the day and the staff & cooks were in standing in a row waiting to greet. What slightly irked me was that they would only let us sit in this seat although there are better seats available just because they wanted to reserve for people in larger group. I would understand if it was a busy time but there was no one else but us in the restaurant. 

My udon lunch

In the afternoon, we did banana boat and jet ski with Ichiban Marine Sports which we found on the brochures. It's pretty easy to book stuff here. Just call and decide the time together and they'll come pick you up from your hotel. I regretted not bringing along the brochure though cos when I tried to confirm the price, the staff was like 'ya..but actually that is really super cheap price and......'. I'm like ?? Are they trying to say that price is just for show on the brochure but the actual price is different? Anyway, at least we got the price without any complications.

Banana boat was exhilarating. Especially at first when I was preparing myself to be flung into the sea unexpectedly like they do in Sabah. Turns out they don't do that here. Secretly relieved haha though I'm sure XW would prefer to have the banana boat be overturned from time to time. After that, we each rode a jet ski on our own but were only allowed to go in large circles. The instructor would use his whistle to warn us if we stray too far. I was surprised their concept here is more similar to Japan than to Malaysia - where everything is safety first (less fun) and not as cincai. Jet ski was pretty hard to control for me. I couldn't grasp how I fast I can go or how sharp the turn I can make before it overturns. The fastest I went was only 20mph while XW went till 50mph. 

Overall, Ichiban Marine Sports was not too bad. At least they didn't insist on charging us the snorkeling they recommended us to do which we tried for like 5 minutes but gave up. The water was murky from the strong winds and we couldn't see anything at all. But it was a good thing that we didn't have to waste money snorkeling there cos the corals there could hardly compare to Redang's. 

--COST:
Banana boat: 15 USD per person
Jet ski: 30 USD per person for 20 mins

DAY THREE

Day three looked like this as well so we stayed put and planned out what to do for the remaining days. Not all places offer diving at Grotto for people without diving license. We settle for Mei Dive because the instructor, Rie, seemed confident in bringing people without experience to Grotto and her reviews were great. Plus she's Japanese so it made me feel more safe and XW can understand better too. We went to her shop which was just located less than ten minutes from Grandvrio to book our dive for the next day. She gave us a bunch of recommendations for food around here which made our food experience here sooooooo much better.

Photos of street views around Garapan.

Mama store. Recommended by Rie for the cheapest souvenirs. Which I found is true. They have the lowest price for dried mango (famous souvenir here) among the shops I saw so far.

 Dinner! Death Burger at Wild Bill's Bar & Grill recommended by Rie.  Not spicy. Tastes awesome!

Wild Bill's Bar & Grill

I noticed a lot of non-tourist caucasians coming here to dine with their family.

Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games

Dear bloggy,

Life have been awesome lately and I feel like I'm about to pop from happiness and shiawase-ness.

Or maybe I'm just feeling high from the new coffee.

Recently, I had the honor of being the secretary/guide for our kl table tennis team for the Asia Junior Sports Exchange Games held in Tokyo. So basically my job is to make sure the 3 girls, 3 boys and 3 officials are safe and that the program goes smoothly and the team understand what's going on. My first time mixing with 12-15 years old peeps after being one myself so you can imagine how..... stimulating it is for me.

                                              

On the first day, after brooding over what to call me for a long time, one of the 小瓜blurted out the word 'aunty' and I was like

First time in my entire life kena referred as aunty. Thank you, Anabelle. I will remember you forever haha. It reminded me of the episode my mum told me where after we moved to our new house in miri, she heard the neighbour's kid calling 'ah po! ah po!' and my mum was like turning round and round trying to search who the kid was calling - to realise the little boy was calling HER! XD

Anyway, after that, they quickly learn that I only respond to them when they call me 'jie' or 'leng lui'. Since my mei mei doesn't call me jie, it's also actually the first time in my whole life to be referred as jie :`)

One thing I realised about the kl badminton and table tennis teams is that the badminton team is reallyyy high in the morning whereas the table tennis team is docile and drowsy. Then in the evening  after the matches, the table tennis team becomes little monsters whereas the badminton team is worn out and becomes docile.

                       

the badminton team's girls... i missed out taking picture with one of them :( 


小瓜們　were all awed by my flip-phone which was provided by my company to keep in touch.  Sort of like "wow!! what is this magic?? " reaction. All had smartphones already and were constantly taking selfies and searching for wifi. I finally got to use the phrase  "Kids nowadays *tsk tsk*". I remember I only had my first hp when I was in form 4 like that haha.

Soaking in hot bubble bath and looking out to Tokyo Tower from my room's window were my 癒し (relaxation) every night. I think I did a pretty good job fluffing the bubbles XD. 

I went up Tokyo Tower with them and regretted that I have never been up with boyboy before. Since I have always had near zero interest in going up high buildings to look over city views, I was surprised that I enjoyed myself as much.

This one reminds me of a startfish.

 And I finally found out why there is a layer of blue color in the red Tokyo Tower when looked from outside. Haha I ish horrible guide.. Didn't know there were two floors of observation deck so we spent most of the time on the floor we arrived at. Then when we were trying to leave, we found out we have to take the stairs down one floor for the elevators to go down. And we arrived at this mesmerizing blue floor.


Every day I am reminded again and again how energetic, mischievous and emotional teenagers can be. And thank god I am over that period （＠＾＾＠）／

Thinking back there were really plenty of funny moments over the week.

小瓜們 sibeh cute and the kl officials were all so friendly that though I didn't go back home this summer, being with them for 24/7 did gave me the sensation of being back in Malaysia. Thanks ("⌒∇⌒")