Bus rides, hospitality, and yes, Univision's headquarters are in LA...
4:20 AM. Sunday, 03/07/2010
It's way too early to be awake. Ugh.
08 March 2010
07 March 2010
Adrenaline Rush! Zip-Lines and Bullfighting
11:15 PM. Saturday, March 6.
What an amazing day! Zip-lining was simply awesome. Absolutely wicked fun! Christina and I were picked up at 10:10am from the hostel and were soon on our way! But first, paying and signing the paperwork at the La Cevita office. The zip-lining course is a 45-minute drive into the jungle, largely on unpaved gravel roade (we drove through a couple rivers!). Along the way, we met our fellow zip-liners: Matt and Sarah from England, and a family from Germany (near Hamburg!)... their son, who's around 15 years old, is on a Spanish-language exchange program. We got to the canopy, were soon strapped into our harnesses (which feel heavy at first - and the gloves reeked of other people's sweat - yuck!), and after a brief safety demo, we were zip-lining through the rainforest canopy!
What an amazing day! Zip-lining was simply awesome. Absolutely wicked fun! Christina and I were picked up at 10:10am from the hostel and were soon on our way! But first, paying and signing the paperwork at the La Cevita office. The zip-lining course is a 45-minute drive into the jungle, largely on unpaved gravel roade (we drove through a couple rivers!). Along the way, we met our fellow zip-liners: Matt and Sarah from England, and a family from Germany (near Hamburg!)... their son, who's around 15 years old, is on a Spanish-language exchange program. We got to the canopy, were soon strapped into our harnesses (which feel heavy at first - and the gloves reeked of other people's sweat - yuck!), and after a brief safety demo, we were zip-lining through the rainforest canopy!
06 March 2010
Margaritas and Hammocks
8:00 AM. Saturday, March 6, 2010
Another warm morning, another early sunrise. It's extremely easy to wake up here (with the sun and the heat already coming in by 6am), but it feels simply glorious.
Yesterday we finished the park mid-afternoon, exiting through the beach exit - there's a small river that you have to cross to get out of the park. A couple locals operate a "bridge" - essentially two boats tied together that you walk over. Just like trolls charging a toll. Well, not really a toll - they were just collecting tips. But still... Christina and I each had a beer at the bus stop by the beach and we returned to the hostel. There's a restaurant along the road that is made from an old US air force bomber aircraft - it looks really cool (I think the restaurant's called "El Aviar" or something).
Another warm morning, another early sunrise. It's extremely easy to wake up here (with the sun and the heat already coming in by 6am), but it feels simply glorious.
Yesterday we finished the park mid-afternoon, exiting through the beach exit - there's a small river that you have to cross to get out of the park. A couple locals operate a "bridge" - essentially two boats tied together that you walk over. Just like trolls charging a toll. Well, not really a toll - they were just collecting tips. But still... Christina and I each had a beer at the bus stop by the beach and we returned to the hostel. There's a restaurant along the road that is made from an old US air force bomber aircraft - it looks really cool (I think the restaurant's called "El Aviar" or something).
05 March 2010
Monkey Beach
9:25-ish AM. Friday, March 5, 2010.
I am sitting on a log at one of the most serene and paradisical beaches imaginable. It's still mid-morning but the sun is already searing hot and beating down on everything. Christina's taking a dip in the water. We're at Playa Dos at Manuel Antonio National Park. We just finished hiking a jungle loop trail around a small but hilly peninsula. The views were gorgeous.
It was so hot and the hike was strenuous, so we were both totally drenched in sweat. There was an older couple hiking the same trail (but at a more leisurely pace) - they're from New Brunswick, which I know as the only bi-lingual province in Canada :)
Yes, it's incredibly hot and humid but so beautiful too. There's now a breeze coming off the ocean... how refreshing.
I am sitting on a log at one of the most serene and paradisical beaches imaginable. It's still mid-morning but the sun is already searing hot and beating down on everything. Christina's taking a dip in the water. We're at Playa Dos at Manuel Antonio National Park. We just finished hiking a jungle loop trail around a small but hilly peninsula. The views were gorgeous.
It was so hot and the hike was strenuous, so we were both totally drenched in sweat. There was an older couple hiking the same trail (but at a more leisurely pace) - they're from New Brunswick, which I know as the only bi-lingual province in Canada :)
Yes, it's incredibly hot and humid but so beautiful too. There's now a breeze coming off the ocean... how refreshing.
The Nauseating Bus Ride and the Beach
9:10 AM. Thursday, March 4, 2010.
Last night we ended up walking to a nearby sports bar nearby in Escazu (called Big Dog's or something). I tried Costa Rica's signature beer - Imperial. We had an amazing buffalo chicken pizza and nachos shared among the four of us. Fernando insisted that we take a taxi back because apparently there's a high crime risk (I felt completely safe, I couldn't see what he meant). I've felt much less safe in LA or even SF.
Sleeping at Fernando's was great - he provided us with blankets/pillows and was incredibly hospitable. It's amazing how people surprise you when you couchsurf.
Last night we ended up walking to a nearby sports bar nearby in Escazu (called Big Dog's or something). I tried Costa Rica's signature beer - Imperial. We had an amazing buffalo chicken pizza and nachos shared among the four of us. Fernando insisted that we take a taxi back because apparently there's a high crime risk (I felt completely safe, I couldn't see what he meant). I've felt much less safe in LA or even SF.
Sleeping at Fernando's was great - he provided us with blankets/pillows and was incredibly hospitable. It's amazing how people surprise you when you couchsurf.
04 March 2010
Exhaust Fumes and My Arrival in Costa Rica
5:31 PM. Panamá Tocumen Airport.
Often, a smell can take you back to a memory faster and more intensely than any sound or sight. And it is often the smells that we associate with places. Well, Panamá smells like car exhaust. Heaps and heaps of exhaust fumes. And horrible exhaust - the stuff that comes out of our cars in California smells like a wedding cake compared to this.
I spent another 2 hours on the bus - there was so much traffic. I was on the verge of getting off at a random stop and shelling out the money for a taxi, because I was afraid of missing my flight. Luckily I made it, with a little bit to spare!
Often, a smell can take you back to a memory faster and more intensely than any sound or sight. And it is often the smells that we associate with places. Well, Panamá smells like car exhaust. Heaps and heaps of exhaust fumes. And horrible exhaust - the stuff that comes out of our cars in California smells like a wedding cake compared to this.
I spent another 2 hours on the bus - there was so much traffic. I was on the verge of getting off at a random stop and shelling out the money for a taxi, because I was afraid of missing my flight. Luckily I made it, with a little bit to spare!
03 March 2010
The Girl Who Works at the Airport
12:25 PM. Albrook Mall, Panamá.
I made it to Panamá! The flight arrived a little early, which gave me time to go through immigration (almost as tedious as entering the US - luckily, no line!), filling out customs forms. Yes, it's warm and humid - not totally oppressive but it's close - somewhere between summer in Virginia and in the Philippines.
At the airport I talked to the tourist information lady, who directed me to take the Corredor bus to Albrook station, where I can get a taxi to the canal.
Armed with that information, I walked outside the airport confidently. There I found - a line of taxis, a parking lot, and no bus stops in sight. I wandered through the parking lot (the information lady told me the bus stops were beyond the parking lot), only to find that the lot was gated in and there was no exit there - and still, no bus stops in sight. I wandered back to the terminal, where I asked a couple airport employees for the bus stop. They then tried to haggle me onto a taxi - "11 dollars", "special deal" - but I would have none of it, especially now that I knew that a bus ride costs only 25 cents. (The currency of Panamá is officially the Balboa, but everywhere uses US dollars; the only time I saw balboas were as the quarters i got as change for bus fare.) The airport employees directed me to walk all the way down the roadway out of the airport, telling me the bus stops were outside the airport. So I wandered.
It was then, as I was walking along the median of what looked almost like a highway, that I met Melanie.
It's too hot here to lose your cool!
I made it to Panamá! The flight arrived a little early, which gave me time to go through immigration (almost as tedious as entering the US - luckily, no line!), filling out customs forms. Yes, it's warm and humid - not totally oppressive but it's close - somewhere between summer in Virginia and in the Philippines.
At the airport I talked to the tourist information lady, who directed me to take the Corredor bus to Albrook station, where I can get a taxi to the canal.
Armed with that information, I walked outside the airport confidently. There I found - a line of taxis, a parking lot, and no bus stops in sight. I wandered through the parking lot (the information lady told me the bus stops were beyond the parking lot), only to find that the lot was gated in and there was no exit there - and still, no bus stops in sight. I wandered back to the terminal, where I asked a couple airport employees for the bus stop. They then tried to haggle me onto a taxi - "11 dollars", "special deal" - but I would have none of it, especially now that I knew that a bus ride costs only 25 cents. (The currency of Panamá is officially the Balboa, but everywhere uses US dollars; the only time I saw balboas were as the quarters i got as change for bus fare.) The airport employees directed me to walk all the way down the roadway out of the airport, telling me the bus stops were outside the airport. So I wandered.
It was then, as I was walking along the median of what looked almost like a highway, that I met Melanie.
The Beginning of the Trip
Midnight. LAX. Terminal 6.
My flight should be leaving in an hour - and should start boarding at any moment.
I have an inkling that I'm at the wrong gate - everyone around me is Asian and I can't see any signs declaring that it's my flight at the gate. There aren't even that many people around here; the flights from the other gates (red-eyes to Boston and Atlanta) have departed.
Why is everyone speaking Chinese?
My flight should be leaving in an hour - and should start boarding at any moment.
I have an inkling that I'm at the wrong gate - everyone around me is Asian and I can't see any signs declaring that it's my flight at the gate. There aren't even that many people around here; the flights from the other gates (red-eyes to Boston and Atlanta) have departed.
22 January 2009
7 Months Gone...
...and I still want to travel!
I know I haven't been able to chronicle every single detail of my trips, but what's important is being able to convey a sense of wonderment at having a new experience--you know, the whole "do one thing everyday that scares you" thing. Well, while living and traveling on my own, everyday was a new challenge for me; everyday was something new, something that scared me, from catching my first 6am flight, to taking care of myself while sick with the flu, to eating some random Slovakian street food that I had never had before (and which has a name I still don't know to this day).
Then there are the people that I've met. The fellow participants in my study abroad program were interesting, outgoing, eager, adventurous, and well-grounded. And just like me, they hadn't really had many opportunities to travel before we arrived in London on that warm September day. There aren't many other people who can understand the transitions I had to make from California to the U.K. and back. Secondly come the locals I met while living in London. My flatmates were always there, living their lives alongside me. And we'd share jokes and drinks and fun times, and every so often we'd learn something from each other. I feel lucky to have been able to learn such lessons. There were also the locals from elsewhere: My German exchange partners, with whom I always hope to maintain a friendship; the couchsurf.ers who were generous enough to open their homes to me (or who were trusting enough to sleep on my floor); and the countless unnamed individuals who passed by me everyday. The strangers who would dress in that distinctively Italian style or stroll Munich's Englischer Garten on a February day or unconsciously flaunt their cigarettes like only the French could--the painting of my year abroad was made much richer by their brushstrokes, which were not the largest but were often the most colorful Finally, there are the fellow travelers with whom I shared some memorable (or too-memorable-to-be-remembered) times. My friends whom I was able to visit--how exciting that was! The friends I made while traveling in Switzerland, Prague, Venice, Rome, and Munich--I may have only known them for a day or two, but I truly had some of the most amazing experiences of my life with them. And I hope that they at least had a fraction of the fun that I had. There lay life.
I know I haven't been able to chronicle every single detail of my trips, but what's important is being able to convey a sense of wonderment at having a new experience--you know, the whole "do one thing everyday that scares you" thing. Well, while living and traveling on my own, everyday was a new challenge for me; everyday was something new, something that scared me, from catching my first 6am flight, to taking care of myself while sick with the flu, to eating some random Slovakian street food that I had never had before (and which has a name I still don't know to this day).
Then there are the people that I've met. The fellow participants in my study abroad program were interesting, outgoing, eager, adventurous, and well-grounded. And just like me, they hadn't really had many opportunities to travel before we arrived in London on that warm September day. There aren't many other people who can understand the transitions I had to make from California to the U.K. and back. Secondly come the locals I met while living in London. My flatmates were always there, living their lives alongside me. And we'd share jokes and drinks and fun times, and every so often we'd learn something from each other. I feel lucky to have been able to learn such lessons. There were also the locals from elsewhere: My German exchange partners, with whom I always hope to maintain a friendship; the couchsurf.ers who were generous enough to open their homes to me (or who were trusting enough to sleep on my floor); and the countless unnamed individuals who passed by me everyday. The strangers who would dress in that distinctively Italian style or stroll Munich's Englischer Garten on a February day or unconsciously flaunt their cigarettes like only the French could--the painting of my year abroad was made much richer by their brushstrokes, which were not the largest but were often the most colorful Finally, there are the fellow travelers with whom I shared some memorable (or too-memorable-to-be-remembered) times. My friends whom I was able to visit--how exciting that was! The friends I made while traveling in Switzerland, Prague, Venice, Rome, and Munich--I may have only known them for a day or two, but I truly had some of the most amazing experiences of my life with them. And I hope that they at least had a fraction of the fun that I had. There lay life.
08 August 2008
Summer Update
So it's already 08/08/08, which is supposed to be a day of good luck. That's largely why the Olympics begin today in Beijing!
The summer back in the States has been surreal but amazing. This past week, I traveled to Las Vegas with a few friends. It was my first real time visiting Vegas as a fully legal U.S. adult (staying only one night in Vegas with family this past June shouldn't count). My friends and I stayed at Imperial Palace, which had a great location right on the strip, just across from Caesar's Palace and The Mirage. I don't really enjoy gambling though; the thought of giving your money away just doesn't appeal to me in general. As we'd say in micro-economics, I'm "risk-averse".
I can't believe that I'm already counting down the days until I return to Berkeley, which will be next weekend! I'm excited to go back to school, but I feel like I need more time to catch up with friends this summer. Think about it: This is essentially my last summer as a student. Scary to think about, innit?
I had several groups of relatives visit my family this summer, in June and July. It was pretty hectic hosting them and showing them around, but they really appreciated it. As I alluded to, my relatives and I traveled through Las Vegas, on our way to the Grand Canyon (which was also amazing) and Phoenix in a heat wave (which you definitely do NOT want to experience!). 119°F heat is indescribable - suffice it to say that I had a croissant toast in my hand as I walked outside. We also made a small trip to San Diego. Seems like the travel never stops for me! I feel so grateful, yet in the end, seeing new and exciting places makes me feel more attached to home.
The summer back in the States has been surreal but amazing. This past week, I traveled to Las Vegas with a few friends. It was my first real time visiting Vegas as a fully legal U.S. adult (staying only one night in Vegas with family this past June shouldn't count). My friends and I stayed at Imperial Palace, which had a great location right on the strip, just across from Caesar's Palace and The Mirage. I don't really enjoy gambling though; the thought of giving your money away just doesn't appeal to me in general. As we'd say in micro-economics, I'm "risk-averse".
I can't believe that I'm already counting down the days until I return to Berkeley, which will be next weekend! I'm excited to go back to school, but I feel like I need more time to catch up with friends this summer. Think about it: This is essentially my last summer as a student. Scary to think about, innit?
I had several groups of relatives visit my family this summer, in June and July. It was pretty hectic hosting them and showing them around, but they really appreciated it. As I alluded to, my relatives and I traveled through Las Vegas, on our way to the Grand Canyon (which was also amazing) and Phoenix in a heat wave (which you definitely do NOT want to experience!). 119°F heat is indescribable - suffice it to say that I had a croissant toast in my hand as I walked outside. We also made a small trip to San Diego. Seems like the travel never stops for me! I feel so grateful, yet in the end, seeing new and exciting places makes me feel more attached to home.
06 June 2008
My Last Night in London
Tomorrow morning I leave to return home to LA for the summer. I'm nearly finished packing.
I don't think I can adequately summarize in one post my experiences since I've arrived last September. Suffice it to say that each one was worthwhile and memorable.
Farewell, London. 'Til we meet again.
I don't think I can adequately summarize in one post my experiences since I've arrived last September. Suffice it to say that each one was worthwhile and memorable.
Farewell, London. 'Til we meet again.
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