This is your brain on jet lag.

WARNING: Contains disturbing footage of incoherent traveler. Not suitable for all audiences.

I arranged a 24-hour layover in Narita, Japan, following a trip to San Francisco. Unfortunately, the extent of my arrangements was booking a bed at the airport capsule hotel. I did not plan anything else in advance, so I had no idea how to get anywhere. Also, it was a Sunday night and pretty much everything was closed. If you enjoy watching complete travel fails, this should give you a couple laughs.

After leaving my stuff in a locker at the capsule hotel, I faced my first obstacle: buying a train ticket from the airport to the town:

Eventually, I made it to Narita (although I only knew it was Narita because someone told me to get off at the first train stop). I exited the train station and just started wandering around the town looking for a temple my parents had told me to check out. I did not have a map. I guess I was relying on instinct?

An hour or so later...

(Apparently, I thought I spoke Japanese when I was talking to this woman. Apparently, she did too.)

Eventually, I did locate the entrance to the temple. By that point, it was around 10pm and the temple complex was dark and deserted. I did not climb the stairs to check it out. I just looked up at the darkness and shrugged before heading back to the train station.

Moral of the story? If you only have one night in a country where you don't speak the language, plan ahead.

By Air and By Sea

By Air...

The flight from Saipan to Tinian takes less than ten minutes from takeoff to landing, so I recorded the whole thing.

...And By Sea

My friend Ike took me on an exhilarating ride on a small boat across the open sea from Tinian to Saipan.

Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

Beach Videos

My Favorite Beach on Tinian (on the Planet, actually)

Enjoying a Really Low Tide with the Dogs at Obyan Beach, Saipan

Lovely Obyan Beach, Saipan

Exploring Obyan Beach with the Dogs

The Ultimate Guide to Online Shopping in the Mariana Islands

This is an ongoing project and I will try to update it as often as possible. Please let me know if you have any stores to add to the list!

The following stores ship to the CNMI, according to their shipping policies - I have verified those marked with an asterisk (or someone I know ordered from the company):

• 6pm.com* - Free shipping with minimum purchase.
• Amazon.com* - Shipping cost from the Amazon warehouse is usually $10 or more per item, so look for a link on the item page listing "Other Sellers" and buy from Marketplace sellers instead because they often offer free shipping or charge only domestic mail prices.
• Amazon Subscribe & Save* - Free shipping to the CNMI and a 15% discount if you order 5 eligible items.
• Amazon Prime - No consensus on whether there is a shipping benefit to having a Prime membership. Some folks say they get free shipping, but the Amazon website says no. My guess is that Amazon is trying it out so we might see the policy change in the near future.
• ASOS
• Aveda*
• DoTerra Essential Oils*
• eBay* - Shipping policies depend on individual sellers, but in my experience most of them ship to the CNMI, and many offer free shipping.
• Fabric.com
• Gap Factory 
• H&M
• J. Crew* - Free shipping with minimum purchase.
• JC Penney* - Free shipping with minimum purchase.
• Land's End* - Free shipping with $50 minimum purchase (click here for 40% off coupon for new online customers).
• LeisurePro (scuba gear)
• MAC
• Macy's* - Free shipping with minimum purchase.
• Patagonia* (verified that shipping prices are same as to mainland)
• Petco
• Petsmart* - Free shipping with minimum purchase. I have my dog food - Hill's Science Diet - on a subscription, so I get a small discount; crappy dog food is so expensive on island, and ordering the good stuff comes out to around the same price. 
• QVC
• REI
• SwimsuitsForAll
• TokyoPenShop
• Vasseur Skincare
• Victoria's Secret
• Walmart (stopped offering free shipping on most items in 2016)
• Zappos

The following stores do not ship to the CNMI:

• Best Buy
• Home Depot (there is a store in Guam)
• Ikea (US)
• Lululemon
• Nike
• Office Depot
• Overstock.co (international site)
• Overstock.com (US/APO site)
• Rodan & Fields
• Staples (AU)
• Staples (US)
• Uncommon Goods
• World Market

And these are stores that I am not sure about, either because I haven't checked yet or their shipping information is unclear on their website:

• Lowes - Website says they ship to U.S. protectorates, but CNMI not listed as an option.
• Poshmark may ship to the CNMI, but it seems like it depends on the individual seller. I was able to order an item and have it shipped here.
• Sephora 
• Target 
• Zara

Please comment below if you have any updates or stores to add to these lists!

Toads in a Hole

The most amazing thing happened tonight. It may not seem amazing to everyone; I'm not sure it would have seemed amazing to me before I moved to this island. But one of the pleasures of living in a tropical haven is enjoying all the natural surroundings: exotic plants, bright blue water, soft, pink coral sand, and, of course, the wildlife. 

Earlier this evening, the dogs and I saw our little toad who lives in the backyard with his mama. He was squatting right next to a baseball-sized hole in the yard (perhaps an old well or something?) and looked right at us before hopping directly into the hole. It seemed strange that an animal would instinctively do something so counterintuitive, but I guessed that he must know a way out that I couldn't see from above ground.

A few hours later, I was making a little fire out back and decided to look in the hole with my headlamp. In the bottom of the hole, maybe four feet down, was little toad. When he looked up at the light, however, I noticed another set of black eyes underneath him: his mama! She was stuck down there and he'd gone in after her!

I tried using sticks to help them out, but they seemed lethargic, resigned to their fate. I knew I could not let them die like that, but how do you get two big toads out of a little hole in the ground without hurting them?

Finally, I remembered that toads are amphibious (thank you, fourth grade science teacher), so I filled a bucket with water and returned to the hole. I was really scared as I poured the water on top of our little toad family - are they too dehydrated to swim? Is there enough room in the hole for mama to stretch her limbs? Would they drown before they had a chance to surface?

For a few seconds, I held my breath, waiting for a toad to pop out of the now-flooded hole, but nothing happened. An air bubble floated to the surface and I realized I had to do something fast; I grabbed the stick I'd been trying to fish them out with earlier and gently slid it down the murky well until I felt resistance. I jiggled it slightly, not really sure whether it was helping or hurting the situation, when suddenly two air bubbles floated to the surface, followed by little toad!

I was so happy when he jumped out of the water - I half expected him to gasp a big breath of air like a mammal would- but he just hopped away. Mama was still down below. I wasn't sure about her. She's an awfully fat toad, and I figured I'd have to somehow turn her sideways to get her swimming. Anyway, I had to try.

After jiggling the stick around for a few seconds, I actually felt her move a bit, and a couple air bubbles rose to the surface. I slid the stick down further and somehow managed to pull her up enough that she could extend her legs. Almost immediately, her big ole toad nose broke the surface of the water. Mama was free!

She hopped away into the night, toward the coconut tree stump where I'm sure little toad was waiting, and hoping.

No Green Option

I went to the court clerk's office today to obtain a copy of my driving history for my car insurance (no, I don't have the car yet, but anyway). 

The clerk quickly began typing away, inputting the information from my driver's license into the system so she could generate the report. Suddenly, she started giggling and turned to one of her colleagues, "There's no green option! What do I do?!" 

My CNMI driving record now reads as follows:

EYE COLOR: BROWN

*As a side note, I do actually have a speck of brown in one eye, so that kind of works...

Let It Go

Tears

I haven't posted anything in awhile because I still don't have wifi at my house. I've written a few short posts on my laptop, so they'll get posted on the blog eventually. Today, however, I am writing this on my phone so I can post it. Because something significant happened today: for the first time since I moved to the island, I cried.

I can't go in to all the background information, which, trust me, is more than reasonable grounds for a few tears, but the gist of it is this: I have been looking for a car since I arrived on the island in mid-November. I finally found one at dealership in Guam and negotiated a good price that included shipping the car to Saipan (about 150 miles). At the time that we settled the deal, the salesman told me that he could get the car to me on Dec. 24, which was about a week later. Obviously, that didn't happen. Then he gave me another date: December 31. Again, the car never left Guam. This happened four times. Each time, he assured me it would be here, and each time, I relied on that in arranging rides to work, holding off on grocery shopping and taking my laundry in, etc. After the fourth time, I was ready to cancel the whole deal (which sucked because it was a damn good deal). 

I sent an email basically saying that either they rent a car for me until my car arrives or cancel the sale. Fortunately, this got the attention of the owner of the dealership, who immediately called me to apologize and started working her butt off to get the car here. (Turns out, the salesman was new and never asked for help.) The owner was very professional and I immediately felt better after talking to her. She assured me that she would do everything in her (well-connected) power to make sure I get this car on the next shipment, Jan. 14.

Then today, Jan. 13, arrives, and I don't hear from her all day. I tried calling the dealership and her cell phone. I tried emailing and texting. Nothing. 

Finally, around 4:00 this afternoon, she called. I asked if the car would be here tomorrow. She wouldn't give me a straight answer. Or couldn't. I didn't know, but whatever her reason, I just couldn't take it anymore. She said she'd call back when she had the bill of lading. 

An hour or so later, and after I'd sent text messages telling her that I was basically losing faith in humanity because of this experience (btw, it SUCKS not having a car here, but that's another post altogether), she finally called back. Yes, the car would ship tomorrow. No, the car will not arrive tomorrow. (This was around the time I started crying). But it will arrive on Friday, the 15th. For sure, barring an act of God. And she had proof: the bill of lading. (This is when I stopped crying).

I realize this story is not particularly interesting, but it will make more sense when I provide more context. And I will, in a highly anticipated (by my single digit followers) post on the difficulties of moving to a tropical island. Yes, there are some. Consider this a preview.

And, in case you're wondering, I bought a 2011 sage green Suburu Forrester with AWD, zero problems, mechanical or otherwise, and 24,000 miles on it. It's not the Mercedes I sold before I moved here, but it's exactly what I need. Here is a photo:

More posts to come, whenever I get wifi (in and of itself a harrowing story).