All about Costa

Yesssss.............

I am back from the somewhat-like-Pinas-only-cleaner-Costa-Rica.

Ooooh, everything was a lot of fun. From start to finish. I didn't even mind the almost 24-hr plane time (yes, flying time lang, di pa kasama dyan ang layover, airport time, at kung anu-ano pa) hehehe.

Okay, okay. so many things happened, I'm going to just enumerate them, in lieu of this post becoming a full-blown journal. Besides, I'm sure if any of you really want the juicy details, you'll ask me, right? ;-) haha. Wish!

Anyway, here goes:
- From Manila to Japan, I was in first class, and seated beside me was an american in his thirties. We started to talk. And we chatted about the Philippines and the economics of offshore work to us (Filipinos), and our reasons for flying, etc. This is the first time, in all the flying I've done, that I actually met someone on the plane. Very cool. And then, as an afterthought, we exchanged numbers so when he came back to Manila with his wife, and my bf was in town, then maybe we'd all go out. You know how it is, foreigners love other foreigners when they're in foreign countries. Hekhekhek.
- I had an overnight layover (is this a redundant phrase??) in Houston, Texas. ALONE. I watched TV (oooh, I missed new CSI episodes so much, I was psychologically salivating haha). I caught their season finale. Woohooo! Beat that.
- I checked in at the airportat 430 am for my 545 connecting flight to Atlanta. Apparently, the flight was cancelled. The Delta folks were soooooooo good though. They escorted me to a cab that took me to Hobby Airport (30 mins away). I didn't pay for anything. And yes, i got to take that alternate flight instead. I felt like I was part of Amazing Race for a second there.
- Finally saw the boyfriend in Atlanta and thought I heard angels sing (o, taray hahaha)
- Landed in Costa Rica and immediately felt like I was back in Manila ---- huwaaaaaaaaatttttt!!!! The weather was the same there as we have here, the people have more or less the same skin color (mas madami nga lang kulot hahahah), and everyone was out for a buck.
- HOWEVER, one thing I noticed through my entire stay was the bathrooms. Voila! All the bathrooms were clean and functional. It didn't matter if it was in a house-turned-hostel (zero stars), or a makshift one right beside the starting trail of the rainforest or the waterfalls, or a bus terminal! They all had working flushes, toilet paper, sinks with running water, and SOAP. Oh, joy, joy, joy! Hahaha, fine. I know. I'm weird.
- Before I went to Costa Rica, I searched the net for some info on it. Apparently, monkeys are big over there. So I went. And monkeys, we did see! They were hanging out beside the road, in the rainforests, in trees on the beach beside restaurants, and of course, in the mountainous areas. Of course there were sloths, eagles, herons, hawks, horses, and cows too ( some guides told us the names of the other birds, bugs, crabs, blah blah blah, but I forget).
- We stayed at Cala Luna and it was awesome! The service was great. Of course, it was one of the pricier places at Tamarindo wehehehe.
- It was the first beach wedding I attended, and it was breath-takingly wonderful. I was told that it had been raining for 3 days, when, all of a sudden, on the afternoon of the wedding, the sun came out and winked on the couple. Oh, heaven!
- We did some activities in Tamarindo (the Surfer's Beach Town), namely:
--> horsebackriding through the back-hills. It was the bf's first time, and he was hooked!
--> going on a sunset cruise.
--> going on a rainforest canopy tour (aka zipline tour)...and yes, it did rain in there hahaha
--> boating on the hidden marshlands beside the beach
--> food-tripping, and bar-hopping (of course)
--> swimming
--> another group went deep-sea-fishing and they caught 6 12-pounder tuna fish(es? someone tell me how to say this right...a basta, anim na isda hahaha) and we had the chef at Cala Luna prepare it for all of us. It fed around 40 people, I think. Yummeh!
- Me and the boyfriend also went to see the Arenal volcano (4 hrs away from Tamarindo), and stayed the night there. Got ourselves a package tour that included going to the hot springs, doing a trek in the forest towards the viewpoint of the volcano, and horseback-riding (yes, again...I told you the bf got hooked hahaha) to the waterfalls.
- My eyes were opened to the 'spoiled' nature of some (again, I say SOME) sheltered Americans. They can't seem to enjoy nature, or understand it. They also can't appreciate other cultures different from their own. Nor can they employ tact when tact is due. Not very flexible. Sigh. that's why I still love being a Filipino. Proud memeber here. Hahaha.
- Ooh, before I forget. Our guide during the trek pointed out 2 plants, was trying to be impressive, and was asking us if we knew what they were. They were --- the 'makahiya', and the guava tree. Hahaha. I think I kinda spoiled the moment for him both times. After that, he didn't ask us if we knew the plants' names or not anymore. He just went straight into his speech hahaha. Sorry, I wasn't trying to be a smartass. ;D (Maybe I just am, sometimes).

Anyway, the pics below are just some of the ones I took. I think I took a total of 250 pics or so. Of course, these are some raw images I just thought would be a good representation of the trip.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this (if you got to this part). I have coffee at home, if anyone wants to taste the rumored Costa Rican coffee. Just come-a-knockin'.

The Newlyweds 

The Surfer's Beach 

The Hot Springs 

The Active Volcano 

The Sunset 

The Natural Marshes 

The Crystal Clear Waterfalls 

Intellectual Seduction

I watched Before Sunrise when I was in high school. It wasn't what I'd call the most influential film for that age. But I recall that it was astonishingly refreshing and honest.

A week ago, I saw a morning show that did a review on the sequel I didn't know was in existence. "Before Sunset" , it was called.

Last night, I borrowed a DVD copy and was glued to the TV with my ears hearing nothing else but their conversation a.k.a. their Intellectual Dance of Seduction for the next hour and a half.

And, oh, it was heaven.

I felt (in the words of Rachelle, Friends' character) closure.

Aah, the ending was totally seductive, like the milliseconds leading up to the savoring of a candy in a store after handing the clerk your hard-earned peso, like feeling the skin of an adored lover, right after his morning shave, like smelling the sweet dew bright and early on a summer beach.

Okay, okay, that last one was a tad bit too dramatic. I got carried away, I apologize. But the feeling was just so exhilerating, I couldn't help it.

I know, I know, stop judging me. I am an intellectual whore, I admit. Haha. I looooove good conversations about anything and everything, granted the person does not go and spelunk his way into the diverse facts of the most minute technicalities of the subject at hand.

I love philosophizing in my own singkong-duling way, with thoughts coming to me as the conversation drifts along, from mamang kariton-eros, to the rich and hypocritical, to music, to hate, to life, to death, to heaven, and back. With new 'Eureka' moments bidding me 'Bonjour, mon cherie' in the middle of reveries.

Sipping coffee, walking along the beach, or right in the middle of traffic, I sometimes get inspired. And I feel the kiss of life run through my veins like I was really in that moment for a purpose.

Sometimes.

"Babe, you're gonna miss your plane..."

Scrumptiously breath-taking.

Oppressive

The heat has been oppressive and has taken out any sense of creativity that was left for me to use wisely over the weekend.

So there we were, Saturday night, 7pm, with the heatstroke draining my body dry, when --KABOOM -- a blackout covers the village in darkness.

Holy mackerel in the wide open sea!!!!

And because I had played badminton almost the entire day, not to mention Thursday and Friday nights as well, my body ached for rest, and my eyes ached for sleep.

My dad, I guess, pitied me, or was also immensely impatient with the heat, so we ended up in some motel, paying Php545 for 9pm t 9am use of the "facilities".

My dad, my youngest siter, and I squished ourselves in a twin bed, and slept soundly (or at least they tried).

I couldn't stop thinking of all the dead skin cells (and other, more oppressive germs) that could have been left in the room by previous occupants.

Yikes.

Still, I was down for the count at 10pm. And woke up at 830 am. Hahaha.

Damn blackouts!

Sunday was mostly lounging in the comfort of my dad's room, with the airconditioning at full-blast, the electric fan at it's fastest whirl, and the DVD player put to good use. Sidebar --- after two years, I finally watched 'My Sassy Girl'. It's a good film, especially if you try and take the storyline to heart. Haha.

I also watched the Indiian film 'Bride and Prejudice', and it was, at least, funny. At most, it was colorful. Now, I'm left wondering. If I go to India, will people be dancing in the streets mostly everyday? And will they be wearing no shoes to parties? And will they wear nothing but traditional garbs, even to clubs? (ahem, do they even have clubs where I might go???).

If someone who knows anything about Indida is reading this, please enlighten me. I know the preceding questions must sound a tad bit arrogant, but the intention is pure, I swear to you.

Oh, and for those not in the know...

Costa Rica is on May 19-28. A week and a half left to get ready.

Woohoo!

Hello, Literally

Costa Rica, Here I Come

After months of endless preparation, including much-stress over calling the gawdawful-one-eight hundred-number for the visa interview appointment, I am now a proud holder of a transit visa to the US to get to Costa Rica and back.

Whoopeee! Whoooppppeeeeee!!!! Yippeeeee-ya-yaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!

I am one happy camper at the moment.

And yes, the boyfriend and I are still doing good. All things considered, I must say I like the road we're taking. And I'm seeing him in Atlanta, and we'll be on the same flight to Costa Rica.

Nyahahahahahaha! Wahahahahaha!

I'm ecstatic. (uhmmm, can you tell? hehe)

After all those hours spent collecting the requirements that they might possibly ask for in the interview, I finally have my visa!

I can't wait to see my woofers! (ahem, I mean my boyfriend...)

A well-deserved vacation, I must say. Plus, I get to see Roger and Angela get married (which is actually the main reason I'm going to Costa Rica hihihi).

Love it, love it, love it!

Don't worry, I'll let you guys know how their world-famous coffee tastes like ;)