YOU should visit Banzai Cliff at night to see a totally different aspect of one of the most frequented places on island. Recently, I was there with five other photographers. We wanted to learn time-lapse photography and we were told that Banzai Cliff was the best spot to do it. We arrived just before 8...
It was a place I never knew existed here and we reached it by taking the first left turn off the highway on the way up to Mt. Sabana one hot afternoon. We were on the rough, bumpy road w hen our tour guide, Jack, instructed my buddy photographer, Pat. to take the grassy path...
I THOUGHT I had been everywhere on Saipan until I discovered roads I didn’t even know existed. Recently, my buddy Pat and I decided to pay a visit to the radar tower in San Roque, a site I had visited and photographed several times before so we decided to make this trip different. Bordering the...
THE first time I saw this Japanese cannon at Naftan Point, Saipan’s southernmost tip, was in 2009 when I went for an early morning hike with my co-workers, and I vowed never to return to that place. For someone whose only form of exercise was going up and down the stairs at the office, another...
At the island’s highest elevation stands a stone structure that few people visit: a World War II peace memorial. I made attempts to see Sabana Peace Memorial Park on my first visits but failed. On my first try, I and a companion drove the rocky and dusty road and stopped when we reached a rusty...
IT started with a red arrow on a rusty sign beside the path that proclaimed: “The Bell of Peace and Love…anyone who rings this bell will return to this special place someday again.” It was the red arrow pointing to a wooded area some 80 meters ahead that kept me going despite the knot of...
Right in the heart of Songsong Village on Rota is a huge cave which I tried to visit the first two times I was here but just didn’t get around to it. First, I ran out of time, and second, I was all alone and kind of scared to go in. – My chance to...
I still haven’t figured out how I missed seeing the remains of the old sugar mill on this island during my first two trips, but the dilapidated structure did not escape my lens during my most recent trip last month. Buddy Pat and I had been driving around the commercial seaport looking for just anything...
ROTA—Driving along the paved road from Songsong going to Sinapalo Village on Rota will give you a chance to enjoy many scenic spots that may hinder your trip if you are in a hurry, and this includes pristine beaches, lush jungles, historical sites, and more attractions packed into this small paradise of an island. One...
ROTA — Delightfully situated on a prime spot along the coastal road just before you enter Songsong is one paradise that you should not miss when you’re here — Pinatang Park. It is a huge boulevard with an entrance made of cement but designed to look like natural logs and intricate woodwork. The gate leads...
I'm Raks. My joys are simple– writing and sharing adventures, shooting sunsets, landscapes and anything and everything that moves or does not, traveling, watching clouds, listening to the crashing of the waves on the rocks, coffee, dreaming, capturing and freezing moments forever. Come with me and let’s explore places. It’s a big wide world out there.
