Community Spotlight Not Every Hero Wears A Cape
Tech
Working from home for beginners
Recipe
Smoothies with healthy fruit are a win-win proposition for a diverting snack
APRIL 2020
How to stay in the game during quarantine. See Sports on Page 8 ABOUT THE COVER A fresh, fruit smoothie can be a healthy way to snack during the day
4 Community Spotlight Not every hero wears a cape
6 Tech Working from home for beginners
8 Sports
How competitive athletes are staying sharp during quarantine
10 Recipe
Smoothies with healthy fruit are a win-win proposition for a diverting snack
12 Health & Beauty
Keeping up with your hair and nails at home
14 Fashion
Loungewear and workwear
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Glimpses Media include: Marianas Business Journal, MBJ Life, Guam Business Magazine, Real Estate Journal, Buenas, Beach Road Magazine, Drive Guam, Pocket Deals
PUBLISHER Maureen N. Maratita EDITORIAL COORDINATOR Morgan Legel REPORTERS Wayne Chargualaf Rianne Peredo CREATIVE CONTENT MANAGER Vikki Fong DESIGN & PRODUCTION Conrad Calma Jr. Luisa Joy Castro Sean Davis Vandrick Veloria MEDIA SALES Tina Palacios MEDIA SALES MANAGER Mike Mafnas DIRECTOR Ken Duenas MANAGING DIRECTOR Marcos W. Fong Beach Road Magazine, April 2020. Entire contents copyrighted 2020 by Glimpses of Saipan Inc. Beach Road Magazine is published monthly by Glimpses of Saipan Inc. P.O. Box 502080, Saipan, MP 96950 • 2/F Transpac Business Center Gualo Rai, Saipan • Tel: (670) 235-7645 • Fax: (670) 234-1801 • E-mail: saipan@ glimpsesofguam.com. All rights reserved. No material may be printed in part or in whole without written permission from the publisher.
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
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COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
NOT EVERY HERO WEARS A CAPE BY MORGAN LEGEL
As the COVID-19 virus continues on its course of infections, citizens of U.S. island territories are hunkering down to stay at home — whether that means being furloughed or laid-off, working from home or spending time as a new teacher to kids. While Saipan was one of the last islands for the Cornavirus to reach, its residents are following suit in having residents stay home if possible. Some people, like Ric Cruz, guest relations manager at Kanoa Resort Saipan: Kanoa Resort Saipan, cannot shrug off their duties or continue them from home. Kanoa is one of the hotels on the island that are being used for the 14-day quarantine of incoming people to the Northern Mariana Islands. Martin Jambor, general manager of Kanoa, says that Cruz is a hero, especially during this pandemic. “The reason why is not only how quickly he responded to COVID-19 situation at Kanoa Resort when we became the quarantine facility, but also for the reason that he has always been a front liner in any island crisis — whether it comes to storms, typhoons or any other local community support,” says Jambor Cruz began his career with Kanoa in 2015, and has moved up from there. In 2019, he was appointed to a management position. Jambor says he finds Cruz to always be “consistently pleasant, tackling all assignments with dedication and a smile,” and that his interpersonal skills are “exemplary and appreciated by everyone who works with him.” Cruz says since Kanoa was named a quarantine facility, his job has changed dramatically. “We’re so used to having contact with customers and being able to gauge what they expect as guests of the hotel,” Cruz says. “Now, it’s all over the phone and it’s a lot more challenging now. “We empathize with the
“I’m no hero; there are front-liners — doctors, nurses and other people out there — that are trying to help the community and people that are quarantined. Thank you to all the front-line workers for your sacrifice and dedication to help our community. I am asking everyone to please follow recommendations made by our medical professionals to help stop the spread of [this virus]. We are resilient people and we will get through this. Stay safe.” -Ric Cruz guests, they’re confused and afraid. We try to give them some comfort knowing that we are going to do the best that we can for them,” he says. Cruz says while he continues his work schedule, so do the rest of the employees. “The rest of the Kanoa team that’s still working — this was an option. It was not forced upon us, it wasn’t mandatory. Other people made the decision to stay and help too. I’m here helping out, I’m here doing my part. I wanted to give back to the community and help other people the best way that I could do it,” Cruz says. “I’m so fortunate to be a part of the team here,” he says. “We have had some challenges come our way, and we were always able to bounce back. Not only that, but we step up, and that’s how it is here. We help each other, and we can get through anything together. It makes me so proud to be a part of.”
APRIL 2020
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TECH
Working from home for beginners: tools and tips
BY WAYNE CHARGUALAF
Nowadays, more and more people are required to work from home. Some may imagine working from home as a paradise of comfy clothes and endless snacks; while some may be anxious at the thought of being away from the resources and coworkers they’ve come to depend on. Fortunately for you, there are many people out there who are old hands at working from home and can provide plenty of great advice on how to do so. One such person is Jackie Cahill, a project manager for Biddy Tarot, an Australian company with 20 employees who all work remotely and are spread across Australia, Asia, the U.S. and Europe. Below you’ll find tips on successfully transitioning to working at home as well as some of her favorite
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APRIL 2020
tech tools that you can use to maximize productivity from the comfort of your own home. Some of the biggest challenges making the transition from the office to working at home: “There are a lot more distractions when working from home (chores, Netflix, social media, your bed...), and it's a lot easier to fall victim to those distractions without your boss hovering over your shoulder. It is really important to establish a solid work routine and create clear boundaries between work life and home life. For me, having a set work space and schedule helps me stay focused. I keep the same hours every day, and as soon as I walk in my home office I mentally
TECH
"clock in". Honestly, it feels exactly like working in an office, I just get to wear comfier pants!” How she set up her home work space: “The desk in my home office is set up in much the same way as my desk when I worked in an office. I have two monitors (which makes life so much easier for anyone who keeps multiple screens open throughout the day), my color coordinated to-do lists and calendars, and a few knick-knacks to make me smile during the work
day. I also have a headset and high quality microphone which is key for video conferencing (poor sound quality on a video call can be a huge problem when working remotely). Some final thoughts: “Working from home is the best! Your commute time is minimal, you get to set the thermostat, and you have easy access to your own kitchen (yay snacks and homecooked lunches!).”
Jackie’s fave tech tools… Zoom: This is a great tool for video conferencing with your team. Having video chats helps to keep team engagement high. Slack: This is basically WhatsApp for businesses. You can create specific channels for different teams or projects, chat with team members one-on-one, or create group chats. Instead of walking over to a co-workers desk to ask them a question, you can just send them a message on Slack! Asana: Asana is an amazing project management software and the holy grail of remote work. We use it to assign and track daily work, map out larger projects, and monitor our team's success. G-Suite: G-Suite (Google Drive for Business) is where we house all of our company's files. With G-Suite, the whole team can easily access our files from anywhere (and you can set permissions for who can see what). And, with Google's suggesting capabilities, editing documents is super easy!
A few other key tips from Jackie: • Stay in touch with your co-workers throughout the day! Keeping in contact with your colleagues helps keep everyone focused and motivated (and keeps you sane - we need human interaction!). • Get outside at least once a day, even for a quick 15 minute walk around the block. • Set boundaries with your family. They should know not to interrupt you when you are in your dedicated work space (you may have to have a conversation - or two - with your family about this)
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SPORTS
Keeping the edge: how competitive athletes are staying sharp during quarantine BY WAYNE CHARGUALAF
Photo courtesy of Greg Sablan
Major gatherings and events around the world have been cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus, and sporting events — to include the summer Olympics — are no exception. After dedicating years of their lives to competing and honing skills in preparation for their next big event, such cancellations are no doubt demoralizing for the athletes who had planned to compete. But true to their focused nature, these competitors aren’t letting a global pandemic keep them down. Although they’re keen to abide by the social distancing, self-isolation and quarantine protocols put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus, these dedicated athletes are finding ways to stay in shape and keep their heads in the game — even while staying as far away from each other as they can. Greg Sablan is a multi-sport athlete who competes in American football, rugby and baseball. “I was trying to get back into basketball this 8
APRIL 2020
upcoming season but I’m pretty sure that’s cancelled for the meantime,” he says. Sablan had also been looking forward to an American football game in the Philippines, upcoming tournaments like True Grit 10’s and Heineken 7’s on Guam as well as rugby tournaments and baseball games on Saipan. “If I’m being honest when you play team sports it’s very difficult to train alone,” he says, “Yes, I am able to better myself, but on the field it isn’t just about me. For football, it’s impossible to work on team chemistry or play running since no one is around. For rugby, it’s tough to train my passing on the go, off the hit or out of the scrum when there isn’t anyone to catch or hit for me. For baseball I’ve been able to work on receiving pitches and throwing with my neighbor occasionally but I haven’t been able to work on my hitting at all. There are some things I’m not able to train being by myself and lacking equipment.”
SPORTS
But rather than fixating on the things he can’t do, Sablan chooses to focus on things he can. “While in self-isolation, I've been able to keep at least 25% of my normal training routine,” he says. “In terms of conditioning, I do a lot of multi-directional tire drags and agility sessions. I also make use of the limited weights I have. Other than that it’s good old calisthenics to keep me in shape.” Sablan also does solo drills to keep his technical skills sharp. “I do a lot of cone drills to keep my feet light and I like to imagine possible situations to keep my mind engaged,” he says. Along with physical skills, Sablan also works to develop his intellectual understanding of his sports. “I watch film for all the sports I compete in and I do follow specific coaches for these sports,” he says. “I enjoy listening to their training podcasts and all the knowledge they have to offer.” Even though he can’t train with his team, however, Sablan says they’re still a team and continue to support each other even though they have to remain separated. “I do keep in touch with all my teammates to stay motivated and determined,” he says. While dedicated athletes will often demonstrate endless creativity in finding ways to workout at home, some organizations have decided to take the guesswork out of it for their competitors. Jersh Angeles, an assistant coach for the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association — “football” as in “soccer” — says the NMI national football team coaches have essentially created a distance conditioning program for their athletes to follow, “The national team coaches regularly remind the players to do their exercises at home since they cannot come to the field for their regular training,” Angeles says. “The coaches created videos of different exercises that the players can watch and follow in their homes. We asked them to take videos of their exercises for the day and share it on the group chat.” Regular exercises include bodyweight exercises, coordination exercises, technical skill drills like ball touches and ball juggling and jogging for 30 to 45 minutes. The teams have also taken the initiative to develop their own programs and challenges amongst themselves. The women’s national team started a “juggling and tricks” challenge to work on technical skills and the men’s
team started a strength training program. Coaches and players also share videos and articles related to football. Angeles also created a Facebook group called the “I Am Fit Global Challenge” where people of all walks of life can share their home workout videos. Membership is open to anyone and national team members frequently post their own workouts. It’s often said that sports and athletic training hold many valuable lessons for life. As these athletes have shown, one of those lessons is, in uncertain times like these, to focus less on the things you can’t control and more on the things you can control. And to maintain a positive, can-do attitude through it all.
Photo courtesy of Jersh Angeles
APRIL 2020
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RECIPE
RECIPE
Smoothies with healthy fruit are a win-win proposition for a diverting snack Saipan is a perfect place to find local tropical fruit – which are a great source of immune-system boosting ingredients. Fruit is always great for everybody in the family to munch on, but for an easy prepare-ahead way to have fruit, try a smoothie. Local fruit can be adapted to be part of any recipe. If the fruit is tart or not sweet enough for children or your family’s preferences, try adding honey instead of sugar. As an afternoon activity, smoothie making can keep children in the family occupied, particularly if they are not able to play with friends due to the current COVID-19 restrictions. Smoothies can also be made ahead, and you can mix and mingle the below recipe or change up ingredients for variety. Other ingredients can include vanilla ice cream, canned fruit such as mandarin oranges, and fresh mango. Here’s an easy recipe, with fruits available now.
INGREDIENTS • Two ripe kiwi fruit
• Half or two thirds cup of orange juice
• Large ripe banana, or two or three
• Tbsp of honey
small local bananas
INSTRUCTIONS: Pulverize all ingredients in a mixer. Decant into cups or glasses. Note: Makes one large or two small smoothies
Snack packing can turn into an afternoon activity Nuts and raisins are a relatively economical anytime snack that you can buy in big packets to suit your own preferences and mix at home. Mixing nuts and raisins — and the occasional pack of chocolate such as M&Ms — is another activity that children can prepare. Have children decorate paper that can be twisted, tied with ribbon and piled into a basket for easy snack-grabbing.
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HEALTH & BEAUTY
KEEPING UP WITH YOUR HAIR AND NAILS AT HOME BY RIANNE PEREDO Because beauty salons and barber shops are closed, now is the best time to learn how to cut hair. It’s easier than you’d think as long as you are careful and have the proper tools.
CUTTING YOUR OWN HAIR (OR YOUR KIDS’) You don’t have to be a professional to do proper hair maintenance, like this quick trim for adults and kids alike:
• Use a pair of styling shears, not scissors A pair of styling shears will ensure that your hair will look the best.
• Trim your hair according to hair texture If your hair is curly or wavy, trim it while it’s dry; if it’s straight, use a spray bottle of water to dampen it before trimming.
• Use your fingers as a guide of where to trim Hold strands of hair between your index and middle finger to section it off and determine where to trim.
• Check if both sides are even As you trim your hair, check that both sides match up in length.
• Apply a hair serum or mousse A finishing product can seal the hair cuticle and also prevent flyaways.
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HEALTH & BEAUTY
AT-HOME MANICURE Nail salons may be temporarily closed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have nice nails. Doing your nails at home is simple with a few key products to ensure they don’t chip within days.
• Start with a base coat Base coat is just as important as top coat in regard to making your manicure last.
• Apply nail polish It is much better to apply nail polish in thin layers rather than thick ones to cut down on drying time.
• Finish with top coat A good top coat will seal in the color underneath to prevent chipping from happening quickly.
TIP: Make sure you’re brushing in the same pattern on every nail — side, side, middle and then a swipe along the tip.
MARCH 2020
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FASHION
Working from home: BUSINESS CASUAL OR JUST CASUAL? BY RIANNE PEREDO
In 2017, the U.S. Census reported that 5.2% of Americans work from home, which is about eight million people. While the numbers of those working from home has surely risen due to the Coronavirus, the sentiment remains — a large chunk of U.S. citizens work from home, and territories like Guam and Saipan are following suit in the wake of COVID-19. Working from home, or remotely, has become more commonplace as technology has made productivity
easier and more efficient. The question is, “What do I wear?” Whether a work-from-home veteran or a newbie, choosing an outfit for the day is no easy task. Some people still choose to dress for the office while working at home, while others choose more casual outfits. Beach Road Magazine asked a couple people about their thoughts regarding attire and working from home.
“I feel like most men would prefer to wear loungewear [like] hoodies and joggers. As a student and going to school online, being in such clothing doesn’t affect my productivity whatsoever, but for online business meetings, I still believe men should still maintain their professionalism through wearing formal/ semi formal clothing.” – John Delos Reyes
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FASHION
“I think wearing loungewear to work from home is okay. Some hard-working women wear slacks, skirts, jeans or polos that feel uncomfortable throughout the day and when they get home, they feel relieved knowing that they will change into their most comfortable clothes and relax. Sometimes it depends on what women think best helps them work better in their home environment.” – Angela Barbo
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