let it snow, let it snow...
What a big contrast from where we were a week ago, when we were baking in the sun and complaining about the heat and humidity in Central America. Just a look out the window this morning quickly brings us back to reality and reminds us that our vacation is truly over. It's time to bring out those down coats and snow boots. We've had a pretty mild winter so far, so I guess it's only fair for the snow to kick in at some point. I scoff at the believers of global-warming.
The commute into work this morning wasn't too bad, although no one bothered to shovel. It took me an extra 20 minutes, plus the fact that I was a bit out of it, so I missed one of my turns and ended up taking a longer route to work. I'm hoping the roads will be clearer this afternoon. My goal is to get home before M does and start shoveling... or maybe our neighbor will be nice enough to come through our driveway with his snow blower again =). M has a bad back and is often in a lot of pain, so to the extent possible, I try not to let him irritate it too much. I'm making an effort to look on the bright side and consider this a good workout opportunity. Hmm... we'll see how much our muscles ache after today... maybe this will prompt us to finally suck it up and invest in a snow blower.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Costa Rica Trip
Day 1 (2/10/2008): The day started off early. We woke up at 2:30am, got ready, finished packing, and the car service came promptly to pick us up. Upon arrival at Newark, we checked in and waited patiently at the gate. All appeared to be going well until it was close to boarding time. It was then that they announced that our flight was going to be delayed two hours b/c of a missing flight attendant. We went to the front desk and told them we had a connecting flight to Costa Rica through Miami. They reassured us that we would be protected on the next flight 2 hours later if we missed ours, so we weren't too concerned. Eventually, a disheveled-looking flight attendant showed up, and we were finally able to depart. When we got to Miami, we were told that our flight to Costa Rica was still boarding, and that we'd have to make a run for it... literally! They assured us that our luggage would be brought on the plane faster than we would, so we ran and ran and ran to the next terminal to catch our flight. We made it... only to find out once we got to Costa Rica that our luggage didn't. We filed a claim and was told that it would be brought on the next flight out and that we'd get the luggage delivered to our hotel that night. And it did... only they mixed up one of the bags and M's luggage ended up being delivered to another hotel. We had to take a taxi to that hotel and make a swap to get the correct luggage. What a mess!
Day 2 (2/11/2008): Another early morning... we went on a "highlights tour" around Costa Rica that started at 6:00am. This included breakfast at a coffee plantation, a visit to the Poaz volcano, La Paz waterfall, lunch, a visit to see hummingbirds, and a "jungle" boat ride. The tour guide was pretty good, but we were a bit disappointed b/c by the time we got to the volcano, it was rainy and covered up by the clouds, so we couldn't see anything. To compensate for our disappointment, the tour guide made an extra stop by the Rio Sucio (translated as "Dirty River," as one can see from the color of the photo below) on our way back to San Jose, where we ran into the middle of a bridge with oncoming traffic to see two rivers of different colors flow into one:
Day 3 (2/12/2008): We went white-water rafting at the Pascua River. This was probably my best experience out of the entire trip... well worth the muscle aches and pains for the days that followed. Three hours on the river with Class 3 rapids, and I am happy to say that neither M nor I fell out of the raft.
Day 4 (2/13/2008): Another day excursion leaving from San Jose, this time to go to the Baldi hot springs, where we should've been able to see the Arenal volcano. But again, mother nature wasn't cooperating with us, so all we saw were clouds over what should've been the volcano top. It took us 4 hours to get there (yes, that meant another 4 hours getting back), and was totally not worth it. The hot springs was overrated... not really my cup of tea.
Day 5 (2/14/2008): A LONG 5-hour bus ride to Manuel Antonio, where we would be staying for the next 3 days. It actually would've taken less time to get there if the bus didn't have to pick so many people up and drop them off (we were the first to get on and the last to be dropped off).
Day 6 (2/15/2008): We spent the morning at the Manuel Antonio National Park with a tour guide. He had a telescope and was able to spot animals from afar. It was pretty cool. M was content b/c he got to see his sloth. After the tour ended, we hiked through the park ourselves. Monkeys ran right past us... I think I was more scared of them than they were of us. It was too hot to do anything else (not that there was anything else to do anyhow), so we spent the rest of the day lounging at the pool. If nothing else, the hotel we were staying at had a nice pool.
Day 7 (2/16/2008): We took the bus back to San Jose and checked into the Courtyard Marriott. Quite a nice hotel (catered towards business folks)... much different from the ghetto places we stayed at earlier in the trip. But the best part was not having to pay for it (still using those Marriott points I have left). Unfortunately, it was far from downtown San Jose, but it felt good to take a hot shower and sleep in a comfortable bed (oh, did I not mention that we didn't have hot water at the place we stayed at in Manuel Antonio?).
Day 8 (2/17/2008): We visited the Central Bank Museums where they had a special Rembrandt etchings exhibit. The exhibit room was quite small, so they had a limit of 50 people in there at one time. We waited on line after we got our tickets to go see the exhibit, only to find out that once we got past that line, we had to wait on another line to actually go into the room. After the museum, we walked around downtown San Jose, which took a total of about 10 minutes. We happened to see a bus going to the San Pedro Mall, so we hopped on it since we didn't have anything better to do... only we didn't know where the mall was. We ended up missing the stop and taking the bus all the way to the end of its route. Good thing the route wasn't very long, and the bus was heading back downtown, so we were able to get off at the mall on the return trip.
Day 9 (2/18/2008): We took the local bus to the Poaz volcano in hopes of actually being able to see something this time. We got there, only to be disappointed once again. The clouds were too thick and like the week before, covered up the volcano in its entirety. We waited there for about a half hour, M in the meantime praying for a huge gust of wind to move the clouds away. And guess what? God answers prayers! All of a sudden, the clouds started thinning out and we were able to see the crater of the volcano. M told me to just start snapping away with the camera. I did, and it was over in about 5 seconds. The clouds came back just as quickly as it had dissipated, and the crater was not to be seen again for the rest of the day. At least we had those 5 seconds.. that was all we needed to make the 2-hour trip worth it. The pictures didn't come out too clear, but here's one of the better ones:
Day 10 (2/19/2008): And this brings us to the end of our trip. Our flight out of Costa Rica was delayed due to "maintenance" (don't you love how they never actually tell you what's wrong with the plane?), so we missed our connecting flight back to Newark. American Airlines put us up at the Comfort Inn near the airport in Miami. Things were so old and decrepit that it looked like no one's stayed there since the 1970s. Airlines messing up passengers with connecting flights is probably the only thing keeping them in business. At any rate, we woke up at 3:30am (Day 11, 2/20/2008) to catch a 6:30am flight back to Newark. Once we got home, I showered, changed, and drove right to work. I am currently running on 3 hours of sleep, and surprisingly, am not totally exhausted. I'm just happy to be home.
Day 2 (2/11/2008): Another early morning... we went on a "highlights tour" around Costa Rica that started at 6:00am. This included breakfast at a coffee plantation, a visit to the Poaz volcano, La Paz waterfall, lunch, a visit to see hummingbirds, and a "jungle" boat ride. The tour guide was pretty good, but we were a bit disappointed b/c by the time we got to the volcano, it was rainy and covered up by the clouds, so we couldn't see anything. To compensate for our disappointment, the tour guide made an extra stop by the Rio Sucio (translated as "Dirty River," as one can see from the color of the photo below) on our way back to San Jose, where we ran into the middle of a bridge with oncoming traffic to see two rivers of different colors flow into one:
Day 3 (2/12/2008): We went white-water rafting at the Pascua River. This was probably my best experience out of the entire trip... well worth the muscle aches and pains for the days that followed. Three hours on the river with Class 3 rapids, and I am happy to say that neither M nor I fell out of the raft.
Day 4 (2/13/2008): Another day excursion leaving from San Jose, this time to go to the Baldi hot springs, where we should've been able to see the Arenal volcano. But again, mother nature wasn't cooperating with us, so all we saw were clouds over what should've been the volcano top. It took us 4 hours to get there (yes, that meant another 4 hours getting back), and was totally not worth it. The hot springs was overrated... not really my cup of tea.
Day 5 (2/14/2008): A LONG 5-hour bus ride to Manuel Antonio, where we would be staying for the next 3 days. It actually would've taken less time to get there if the bus didn't have to pick so many people up and drop them off (we were the first to get on and the last to be dropped off).
Day 6 (2/15/2008): We spent the morning at the Manuel Antonio National Park with a tour guide. He had a telescope and was able to spot animals from afar. It was pretty cool. M was content b/c he got to see his sloth. After the tour ended, we hiked through the park ourselves. Monkeys ran right past us... I think I was more scared of them than they were of us. It was too hot to do anything else (not that there was anything else to do anyhow), so we spent the rest of the day lounging at the pool. If nothing else, the hotel we were staying at had a nice pool.
Day 7 (2/16/2008): We took the bus back to San Jose and checked into the Courtyard Marriott. Quite a nice hotel (catered towards business folks)... much different from the ghetto places we stayed at earlier in the trip. But the best part was not having to pay for it (still using those Marriott points I have left). Unfortunately, it was far from downtown San Jose, but it felt good to take a hot shower and sleep in a comfortable bed (oh, did I not mention that we didn't have hot water at the place we stayed at in Manuel Antonio?).
Day 8 (2/17/2008): We visited the Central Bank Museums where they had a special Rembrandt etchings exhibit. The exhibit room was quite small, so they had a limit of 50 people in there at one time. We waited on line after we got our tickets to go see the exhibit, only to find out that once we got past that line, we had to wait on another line to actually go into the room. After the museum, we walked around downtown San Jose, which took a total of about 10 minutes. We happened to see a bus going to the San Pedro Mall, so we hopped on it since we didn't have anything better to do... only we didn't know where the mall was. We ended up missing the stop and taking the bus all the way to the end of its route. Good thing the route wasn't very long, and the bus was heading back downtown, so we were able to get off at the mall on the return trip.
Day 9 (2/18/2008): We took the local bus to the Poaz volcano in hopes of actually being able to see something this time. We got there, only to be disappointed once again. The clouds were too thick and like the week before, covered up the volcano in its entirety. We waited there for about a half hour, M in the meantime praying for a huge gust of wind to move the clouds away. And guess what? God answers prayers! All of a sudden, the clouds started thinning out and we were able to see the crater of the volcano. M told me to just start snapping away with the camera. I did, and it was over in about 5 seconds. The clouds came back just as quickly as it had dissipated, and the crater was not to be seen again for the rest of the day. At least we had those 5 seconds.. that was all we needed to make the 2-hour trip worth it. The pictures didn't come out too clear, but here's one of the better ones:
Day 10 (2/19/2008): And this brings us to the end of our trip. Our flight out of Costa Rica was delayed due to "maintenance" (don't you love how they never actually tell you what's wrong with the plane?), so we missed our connecting flight back to Newark. American Airlines put us up at the Comfort Inn near the airport in Miami. Things were so old and decrepit that it looked like no one's stayed there since the 1970s. Airlines messing up passengers with connecting flights is probably the only thing keeping them in business. At any rate, we woke up at 3:30am (Day 11, 2/20/2008) to catch a 6:30am flight back to Newark. Once we got home, I showered, changed, and drove right to work. I am currently running on 3 hours of sleep, and surprisingly, am not totally exhausted. I'm just happy to be home.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
From San Jose, Costa Rica
I am blogging while on vacation in Costa Rica... if that's any indication of how our trip is going. Well, in all seriousness, the trip hasn't been all that bad... just a lot of time spent on the bus, some sunburn, muscle aches and pains from white-water rafting to remind us of how out of shape we're in, a couple of mosquito bites on my end, and now that we're back in San Jose, there really isn't much to do or see here. We still have another day here, and are struggling to find something to occupy ourselves with tomorrow.
Ironically, our best meal so far has been at a "soda," a term they use to refer to small local eateries in Costa Rica. Our dinner that night cost less than $7.00 for the two of us. And oddly enough, our most expensive meal here gave me food poisoning, which resulted in multiple trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night... I shall refrain from going into further details than that.
We're going for Cuban food tonight. Since we can't find good Cuban food in NY or NJ (or if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know), maybe we'll have better luck in Costa Rica. This may be our most expensive meal yet, so let's hope for no more food poisoning.
Update:
No Cuban food tonight. We weren't up for a full meal, so decided to grab something quick instead. Maybe Cuban food tomorrow night... we'll see. Still have to figure out what to do. We're contemplating on paying another trip to the volcano, since we weren't able to see anything the first time (too cloudy). Just don't want it to be a waste again, since it takes two hours to get there. But I guess since we don't have anything better to do, we may resort to that. I'm just dreading another long bus ride that will make me nauseous.
Ironically, our best meal so far has been at a "soda," a term they use to refer to small local eateries in Costa Rica. Our dinner that night cost less than $7.00 for the two of us. And oddly enough, our most expensive meal here gave me food poisoning, which resulted in multiple trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night... I shall refrain from going into further details than that.
We're going for Cuban food tonight. Since we can't find good Cuban food in NY or NJ (or if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know), maybe we'll have better luck in Costa Rica. This may be our most expensive meal yet, so let's hope for no more food poisoning.
Update:
No Cuban food tonight. We weren't up for a full meal, so decided to grab something quick instead. Maybe Cuban food tomorrow night... we'll see. Still have to figure out what to do. We're contemplating on paying another trip to the volcano, since we weren't able to see anything the first time (too cloudy). Just don't want it to be a waste again, since it takes two hours to get there. But I guess since we don't have anything better to do, we may resort to that. I'm just dreading another long bus ride that will make me nauseous.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Happy Chinese New Year!
Happy Chinese New Year! It's the year of the rat, which represents intelligence, leadership, creativity, and control. The rat was also the first animal to start the 12-year cycle of the Chinese lunar calendar, according to legend. Supposedly, those with a rat child are considered lucky b/c when the parents get old, the child will take care of them.
Some friends asked if I took the day off work today; the answer is no. I never took off for Chinese New Year's before, even when I was in school (would've ruined the perfect attendance award at the end of the year =P), so why start now? For the past few years up until last year, I wasn't even home during Chinese New Year... always spent that time in one foreign country or another. Besides, now that I'm in the burbs, I feel like I'm unaware of all the festivities going on.
Growing up in Chinatown, I've seen how this holiday has evolved... the firecrackers that used to scare me as a child have long been banned, the lion dances moving to the beat of the drums are now managed by non-Asians (as well as their drummers), and each year, some new product comes out that sells like hotcakes just for this one day b/c consumers (especially tourists) are suckers. I just don't think that's what it's all about. I have fond memories of Chinese New Year being family time, where for that one day, my parents would be off from work, and we'd go home-hopping from one relative to another, visiting family members we don't see any other time of the year. That is how I remember Chinese New Year to be, not all the commercialization of the holiday that it's turned into. It's a shame I didn't appreciate it more when I was younger. Of course, collecting red envelopes as a child was part of the fun. Now as an adult (at least physically, if not mentally), I find that giving red envelopes can be just as fun. It's really not about the money, but about how fortunate we are to have the ability to give to others, and to have loved ones to give to. How often do we take the time out to count our many blessings and to thank God for them?
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
A Blast From the Past
This past weekend was TY and BT's wedding in northern NJ. It was nice. They had the shortest ceremony I've ever been to though... I think it lasted less than 10 minutes. I got to catch up with some friends from high school, as expected. What came unexpected was the re-acquaintance with someone from elementary school. During cocktail hour, M and I were walking around with our sushi in hand, trying to find an empty table. Since there were none left, we decided to look for two vacant chairs and share a table with other guests. We found one, plopped ourselves down, and introduced ourselves to a couple who I thought were complete strangers. After a minute or two, the guy says to me, "I think I went to elementary school with you. You graduated in 1989, right?" I concurred, and then it hit me... I did go to school with this guy! I vaguely remembered him (at least his name) from almost 20 years ago. We barely spoke to each other back in those days, when we all thought the opposite sex had cooties. I was shocked that he recognized me after all these years. Guess I really haven't changed much since I was 11. Turns out he went to college with BT. We reminisced a bit and tried to think of other people from elementary school we still kept in touch with. It was totally random... talk about six degrees of separation! Now it makes me want to look back at my old elementary school yearbooks (if they're still at my parent's place) to see if I've come across anyone else I may have known during my childhood.
Almuerzo
Today, I had a seafood soup and an unsalted pretzel for lunch. The soup was too spicy with not enough seafood and the pretzel was too bland... and I know I'm going to be hungry by the time 3pm rolls around. I've resorted to one of three options for lunch at the cafeteria these days: soup and pretzel, veggie wrap, or a small side of pasta with a small salad. Those are the only things I can afford anymore. Usually I'd get the veggie wrap, since that's the most filling, but the sandwich line was pretty long today and I didn't feel like waiting.
Once in a while, external vendors come in to our cafeteria with some "specialty" to provide a little more variety to the lunch menu. That's when additional choices such as sushi, fried rice, or lo mein are offered. Today were the Chinese guys cooking fried rice. With all the cost-cutting initiatives we've been having, it looks like the vendors now have to provide their own containers and are not allowed to use supplies provided by our company. The fried rice was put in those rectangular white plastic boxes with the clear lids that we often save and reuse b/c they're microwavable... except these containers were smaller (more narrow) than the ones we typically see (i.e., in Chinatown). For that, people pay over $7.00. What a rip. Too bad I haven't gotten into the habit of consistently bringing my own lunch in... that would save so much money. I tried to pack a peanut butter sandwich this morning, but was running late b/c I had to drive M to the bus station. Actually, I will have to drive him for the rest of the week, so guess I should just make it a point to wake up earlier.
Once in a while, external vendors come in to our cafeteria with some "specialty" to provide a little more variety to the lunch menu. That's when additional choices such as sushi, fried rice, or lo mein are offered. Today were the Chinese guys cooking fried rice. With all the cost-cutting initiatives we've been having, it looks like the vendors now have to provide their own containers and are not allowed to use supplies provided by our company. The fried rice was put in those rectangular white plastic boxes with the clear lids that we often save and reuse b/c they're microwavable... except these containers were smaller (more narrow) than the ones we typically see (i.e., in Chinatown). For that, people pay over $7.00. What a rip. Too bad I haven't gotten into the habit of consistently bringing my own lunch in... that would save so much money. I tried to pack a peanut butter sandwich this morning, but was running late b/c I had to drive M to the bus station. Actually, I will have to drive him for the rest of the week, so guess I should just make it a point to wake up earlier.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Some Updates
Some updates to my previous blog entries:
- Pearl is fixed. =) We called up AAA on Friday night, and the guy came to jump the car. We had to leave Pearl running for an hour, so we decided to go for a drive. It was 10pm already, and living in the burbs now, that limits the number of places that remain open past 9pm. We decided to go to the supermarket (yes, I admit we are pretty lame). M went into A&P to shop while I waited in the car. It gave me a chance to call my dad and chat with him a bit, so that was good.
- GIANTS WON!!! I honestly didn't think they had it in them. 3 minutes left in the game, I was pushing M to go home since it was getting late and I didn't want to see the Patriots gloat. Good thing we stayed! What a great game! The ticker-tape parade should be going on right this minute in the lower east side. =)
- No new glasses for me... yet. Turns out the frames I wanted are on backorder, so I won't be getting them for another couple of weeks.
- M should be getting his new coat today =). I've been tracking its whereabouts on a daily basis... they probably could've delivered it earlier b/c it has been in Secaucus, NJ since Saturday, but the scheduled delivery date wasn't until today, so I guess UPS decided to take their time.
Also, it's Super Tuesday, so remember to go vote! M and I went at 7am this morning. Exercise your right! Every vote makes a difference.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Go Giants!
This is the first year I'm actually excited about the Super Bowl! I've never understood much about football and why any grown men in their right minds would willingly ram into someone else at full force. But I'm actually going to pay attention to what's going on with the game this year rather than wait for the commercials to run during halftime.
I don't remember M following football in the past as closely as he has these past few months (or maybe that was b/c the Giants never got that far). But during the regular season this year, he purposely turned on the TV to watch some of the games (or at least to get an update on the score if he happened to miss it). In my attempts to be a good wife, I quietly sat through them with him, refraining from nagging him about switching the channel to watch my reruns of Law and Order. M was pretty good about it though... knowing how bored I was, he took the time out to explain to me what was happening. I'm still not there yet, but at least I kind of get the four downs, interception, touchdown, and field goal... the bare minimum basics.
We will be spending this Sunday evening at M's brother's place. He's hosting a Super Bowl party for the family. It's asking for a lot given the Patriot's undefeated status, but I do hope the Giants win. The only unfortunate side to that is it would cause more headaches for NY commuters on Tuesday since that's when they'll have the parade in Manhattan if they win (which is also Fat Tuesday... so remember to go vote in the primaries!). But it would totally be worth it.
I don't remember M following football in the past as closely as he has these past few months (or maybe that was b/c the Giants never got that far). But during the regular season this year, he purposely turned on the TV to watch some of the games (or at least to get an update on the score if he happened to miss it). In my attempts to be a good wife, I quietly sat through them with him, refraining from nagging him about switching the channel to watch my reruns of Law and Order. M was pretty good about it though... knowing how bored I was, he took the time out to explain to me what was happening. I'm still not there yet, but at least I kind of get the four downs, interception, touchdown, and field goal... the bare minimum basics.
We will be spending this Sunday evening at M's brother's place. He's hosting a Super Bowl party for the family. It's asking for a lot given the Patriot's undefeated status, but I do hope the Giants win. The only unfortunate side to that is it would cause more headaches for NY commuters on Tuesday since that's when they'll have the parade in Manhattan if they win (which is also Fat Tuesday... so remember to go vote in the primaries!). But it would totally be worth it.
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