Friday, February 29, 2008

Hope he has Mastercard

Bottle of JD- $25.00




Bar tab after a long night of drinking with Friends- $187.25


Parking your car into a pine tree on the wrong side of the pathway - Priceless!



*poor guy ran off the road last night just across the VFW. He wasn't hurt just a little shook up!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Friday Food Fest VII

Today I'm not actually sharing a food recipe with you.
I'm sharing a drink recipe. I got this from my fiance's
boss and I tried it out last weekend and it was really good!

HOMEMADE KAHLUA

Recipe Ingredients

4 cups sugar
1 cup instant coffee
3 cups of water
3 tablespoons of Vanilla Extract
2 cups of Vodka (or more if you like :)

Recipe Method

Bring the water, sugar and coffee to a boil.
Simmer 5 minutes.
Cool.
Add 3 tablespoon vanilla extract and 2 cups vodka.

Enjoy!

This is sooo much better than the expensive store bought Kahlua.
I'm going to try making it with instant Kona coffee and see how it comes out
this weekend. You can also add a couple of teaspoons of chocolate syrup and
make Chocolate Kahlua..yum!

It's so easy to make, and much more fun to drink!

Bon Appetit or should I say, CHEERS!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Thursday Thoughts VII

It's Thursday again...play along won't you!

What's the one tv show you can't go without watching each week???


Do Tell!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Is it true????


I just heard that Dan Hughes (?spelling) the former owner of Coffee Care and long time resident of Saipan was killed in a motor vehicle accident in Thailand????? Now, I know the Saipan grapevine sometimes mixes facts with fiction, so I figured I'd check if anyone in blogger land knew the truth...

If so, this is so tragic and my prayers are with his family!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Nectar of the GODS..

If you have not tried the Iced Chai Latte at Java Joe's, GO THERE NOW!!!!

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Sights from Sunday's Corporate Challenge


Our Team- Romell, Teddy, Armi, Rina & Efren - Mabuhay Moylan's!


Teddy prooves he was hungry and ate all his food
What did he eat???? EWWWW!

Armi rushes to peel her Balut!


But she wasn't about to eat it...2 points off for Team Moylan's..ha ha (I don't blame you girl!)
Rina shows her skateboarding skills
Armi repeats her technique of sneaking out the window in highschool..he he


Do you guys have all your coconuts???


Represent!





Refaluaschshshscch...something like that..tee hee


My little girl is a Paparazi in training. She caught this photo of Blogger Brad R.


Fiesta Resort Represents Palau and takes the grand prize coconut!


Good Day Mate!


USA! USA! USA!
We represented the Phillipines!



It was a longgggggggg but fun day!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Friday Food Fest VI


Today's recipe is for Oka. Oka is the Samoan version of Sashimi or Poki. It's absolutely YUMMY!

Recipe Ingredients

4 nice size filet's of Mahi Mahi or Yellow Fin Tuna
* You can use other types of fish, but I find a white meat fish works best. Bonita Tuna (Not sure what other name it goes by) tends to be too bloody and does not taste as good when made into Oka.

1 Can of Coconut Milk (or about 2-3 cups of fresh squeezed coconut milk)
2 Med. sized cucumbers
10-15 Cherry Tomatoes
4 Lemons
2 tsps. of Salt

Recipe Method

Chop the fish filet's into small bite size cubes
Cut cumbers in half length wise and clean out the seeds.
Then cut them length wise again (you should have four long pieces). Which you then chop into bite size pieces.
Cut Cherry tomatoes in half
In a bowl mix the fish, cucumbers, tomatoes and coconut milk.
Squeeze in the juice of all 4 lemons, being careful not to get any seeds in.
Add your salt and mix everything together.

You can eat this right away, but I like mine better after is been refrigerated for about an hour and the lemon and coconut milk has had a chance to really soak into the raw fish.


It may sound like a strange recipe, but I guarantee you this is a light, refreshing and delicious way to eat fish!!!!

Bon Appetit!

HOLY COW!

I sure hope no one out there in blogger land gets sick without health insurance, the temporary rate increase at CHC is now permanent. And it's a HUGE increase...ICU used to be $500 a day, its now $954. OR services used to be $50 every 15 minutes, it's now $1,467 every 15 minutes. YIKES! My last surgery took 2 hours, that means it would cost, at the new rate, $11,736.00 and that rate is excluding doctor's fee and anesthesia. A semi-private room- used to be $250 a day now it's $475 (adult) $672 (child). Oh, and all drugs were increased to 201.56%.

From what I understand delivery of a baby use to run $3-4K now runs $7-8K and in the case of a c-section you’re talking $10K and up. WOW!

and the good news..*drum roll please*

If you do have health insurance, you can rest assured upon renewal your rates are going to go up...wayyyyy up!

Thursday Thoughts VI

I was so busy today I almost forgot my Thursday Thoughts.

Questions of the day :

If you could see one business open up on island what would it be and why?

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Glen makes a freind...

Ok, ok..so it doesn't really rhyme but I had to come up with something since Glen already used "Tamara's Camera"..Thanks Glen, now I have a digital camera of my own again...







The Falls...





































Talafofo Guam








Monday, February 18, 2008

I'm on a roll

Today I finally met Glen558 in person. Very cool! Thats two bloggers in less than a week...Now If I could just run into Lil_Hammerhead somewhere, boy would I have a story to tell!

Expressions


Ok, I'm doing some free advertising here. Have you ever been to Expressions?? The first I ever heard of the store was on Valentine's Day when my sister in law was telling me where I could get delicious chocolate covered coffee beans. I loveeeeeee chocolate covered coffee beans and ever since the little chocolate shop next to Unity Trade (the name escapes me) closed, its been impossible to find them on Saipan and I have to stock up at the Chocolate Factory in Guam. However, on my last trip to Guam I was in tears when I realized the Chocolate Factory at GPO was no longer there. Anyway, where was I?? Oh yes, Expressions. So any how, my sister in law told me about this place next door to Coffee Care where I could get some, so this weekend I went to check it out. They have a good selection of candies there such as Chocolate covered raspberries, rum raisins, jelly beans, peanut brittle, etc. etc. You can buy in what ever quantity you wish..One pound, half a pound, quarter pound. A pound runs about $10.00 for most of the selections. The chocolate covered Coffee beans were $13.00 a pound, but worth every penny! They are DELICIOUS!

They also have an amazing selection of stamping and scrap booking supplies if your into that. I have also wanted to learn, so I signed up for the next course (the owner gives lessons too). I'm excited and can't wait for her to email me to let me know when it will be.

The lady at the counter (I think she was the owner, but I didn't get her name) told me the store had been there for two years now. Two years???? I pass that road every day on my way to work and had never noticed it before. They don't have a very good sign. They don't have any actually..just a few decals on the door.

Anyway, if you love candy and/or stamping, scrapbooking or crafting, you need to check it out!!!

Can you please connect me to extension....

It's amazing how hair can change your entire appearance..I took both of these photo's the same day...One with my natural hair and one with extensions...even the color looks completely diffrent...






Ok..can you tell I'm completely bored...Nothing exciting going on this President's Day...Hope you enjoyed yours!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Blogger meetup at Blockbuster...were you invited?

I was rushing to get some dvd's from Blockbuster and sneak out before anyone realized I looked like I had just rolled out of bed and hadn't even brushed my hair. She walked in and I thought to myself "hmmm that looks like Bubbles in Paradise". She looked at me, and Im sure she thought, "hmmm, could that be Seaweed, Sand & Sunsets?"..I was too shy to speak up, so thank goodness she did..he he..So, yeah, I finally met Bev in person. I didn't say too much, I was mortified that my first blogger meetup was one where I looked like survived a tornado..ha ha ..But, I'm a regular reader of Bev's blog and I find her blog to be very inspirational. She has such a beautiful outlook on life...She is just as beautiful in person!

Thursday, February 14, 2008


I Could sure use one of these right now!!!!



Lonestar's Pink Cadillac Margarita....


A premuim margarita made with Cuervo Gold and a splash of Cranberry juice.
YUM!
Have a great weekend everyone!

Friday Food Fest V


Time for Salad! A nice delicious pasta salad that the kids and adults are sure to love!

Recipe Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package tri-color rotini pasta
1/4 pound sliced pepperoni sausage
1 cup feta cheese (or more if you LOVE feta cheese like I do)
1 (6 ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced
1 (8 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 (16 ounce) bottle Italian-style salad dressing

Recipe Method

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente
Drain and rinse twice in cold water.

In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, pepperoni, olives, Feta Cheese, mozzarella cheese and dressing.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

* note : you can add a can of whole kernel corn (drained) if you like.

Bon Appetit!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Update on the puppy situation...

Cause I know everyone's dying to know..ha ha ha...What happened with the puppy dog Savali brought home??? Well, it was at his Dad's the entire week (mostly because we were in Guam). Savali brought her home yesterday and hid her in his room...So I decided to strike a deal with him. The deal is, if he gets inducted into the Junior National Honor Society he can keep the dog at our house, build her a dog house out front and she gets to stay.

Now my son has been pretty much a straight A student from Kindergarten on, but the boy can not keep still, he's constantly on the move, and always getting into something. How he's maintained his straight A's is beyond me..Especially since I have caught him several times going to school with an empty school bag (not even a pencil) and a basketball. We joke that he saves up his lunch money and bribes his teachers..ha ha.. So for him to be inducted into the Honor Society is no small feat.

I think it's a fair deal..right?

Will keep you posted! :)

Thursday Thoughts V

Welcome Back to Thursday Thoughts. The question of the day *drum roll please*


In 8th grade what did you want to be, and what do you actually do now?

Do Tell!
Myspace Graphics
From Tamara & Family

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The one where I rethink the purchase of boxing gloves for my 10 and 13 year old...






Hmmmm....

"Big John" got me thinking...Why don't we have more of that going on here. What I mean is, the local people sharing thier talents and interacting with the tourists. Little John and his Carabao on the hill in Inarajan made such an impression on my kids and me for that matter.

Why don't we have local weavers who hang out in the Paseo D’ Marianas or other places frequented by tourists and weave fish, flowers, birds or coconut hats for the tourists? It only takes two blades of palm frond to weave a little fish and it brings so much joy to the tourists faces to watch the weaving and to get the fish when it's done. I don't know how to weave, but I have seen first hand someone weaving and handing out fish and flowers to tourists and they were full of "ohhh's and ahhh's" and smiles.

Why don't we have people with the talent to sing or play the Uke stop by for an hour or so and just sit around and play. I know that would attract tourists and make them happy. You could make a few dollars in tips too, i'm sure.

We have so many talented people on this island..young and old...If everyone could take an hour or two of their time each week and donate toward promoting tourism or improving the tourists visits here wouldn't that be totally awesome???

In Hawaii, there was a lady at the International Market Place who would put some local flowers together on a toothpick and then stick a bobby pin it and sell them for a few dollars. They were so beautiful and I'm sure the tourists here walking around the Paseo would be happy to pay a buck or two to put some fresh, fragrant local flowers in their hair.

I know there are a lot of people out there who are doing their part to promote our island and improve our tourism. All the divers who take the military guys out for dives, the locals who give free tours to some of our visitors, etc. But there are so many more of us and so many more things we could be doing, myself included, to improve our island and our tourism.

I cant sing, play uke or weave, but I have been seriously brain storming for ideas as to how I can do my little part...


*****

On another totally different note, my stomach turned several times listening to a particular Tan Holding executive on the Harry Blalock show today speaking about stopping the next minimum wage increase set to take effect in May. I can't for the life of me begin to imagine how a person can survive on $3.55/hr or even $4.05/hr with the price of housing, electricity, food, etc. on this island. It's really sad..
And to hear someone who makes Bookoo bucks and lives in a million dollar mansion trying to stop a wage increase to $4.05/hr made me ill. I literally threw up a little in my mouth!!!

Monday, February 11, 2008

I can finger paint!

Oh I need to get to Joeten, looks like my oldest brother is in the new MP magazine...how cool is that????? *shameless plug* Go pick up a copy today!!!



http://marianaspride.blogspot.com/2008/02/mp-magazine-for-january-february-now-on.html

I'm Back!!!!!!!!!

Didja miss me???

Well, im back from Guam. It was a fun trip! Spent too much money though..ha ha.Kids had a blast! I'm glad to be home! That 2:30am flight is killer especially when your already exhausted from shopping. I took a ton of photo's.

Two observations first off, Guam has Fisheye and Big John, why can't we???



























Fish eye is awesome. Although I must admit, I wanted to eat half those fish and bbq was the first thing that came to mind when the skipjack swam by...ha ha, I keed! I Keed! But honestly, I wish we had something like this out here. It's great for us non-scuba divers and I think we have a lot more varieties of fish and sea life in general for our tourists and locals to look at..
What would it take?? I wish I had that Million Dollars :)

This is BIG JOHN. He's just a simple man with a Carabao.
Big John brings his Carabao up to inarajan hill and hangs out to greet the tourists. They absolutely love him!!! He let's them pet his Carabao, take pictures with him and even gives them rides on him. How cool is that? Everyone usually leaves a tip of a dollar to five on the Carabao's nose. I bet he makes pretty good tips. He's a really nice guy too. Will tell you a little story about Inarajan and its history. He wouldn't take our $5 tip when he found out we were from Saipan and Ulu knew his sister.
Made me wonder about the guy I saw in Papago the other day..why doesn't he do the same thing. Hang out over at Bonzai or Last Command post and Greet the tourits and at the same time make some $$$$



Leave it to Vali to find some way to make us all laugh over a pile of Carabao Crap..ha ha ha!