Sep
19
No Surfboard
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Hi guys, I’m here in Iloilo City, Philippines for about four days now and having a great time. The trip over here from SFO took forever. It took us approximately 13.5 hours by plane from SFO to Manila and another one hour to Iloilo. This does not include the time we spent at the airport between flights.
Traveling by Philippine Airlines turned out ok. The service was somewhat disappointing. I asked for coffee twice and never got it. The biggest disappointment was of course, leaving my surfboard back in San Francisco.
I wanted to surf in the Philippines. Before the trip, I made inquiries of how much the fee was for bringing a surfboard. Philippine Airlines told me it was $75 per leg of the trip. I decided to bring the board the last minute and pay for the fee twice for both legs of the trip. During check-in, PAL told me it was $150 for one way.
This was way too much, so I left the board home. I will see if I can rent a board here in the Philippines. Paying $300 is way too much just to lug a board around. It’s too bad. I’m not at all surprised that it happened. No wonder very few people surf here. Doesn’t seem to be a surfing friendly place, at least as far as the airline is concerned. Other than that, Kerwin and I are having a great time.
Ciao for now.
Sep
14
Off to the Philippines
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Well, after two weeks in the Bay Area, I am off again traveling to the far reaches of the Pacific. My brother and I are on our way to Manila leaving San Francisco on Monday, Sep. 15. We will proceed down to the island of Panay where we plan to be there for several weeks visiting relatives, friends and a couple of really nice resorts.
I plan to take several pictures of our adventure and I plan to post them here in this website. So, please come back and check for our latest updates. Ciao for now.
Sep
11
Pictures Online
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After months on the road, I’m settled home once again, but not for long. I’m actually leaving for the Philippines on Monday. Before I jet off to another country, I have downloaded all the pictures that I have taken on my recent trip South and Central America to my gallery.
Well, not all pictures, but pretty much all the ones that turned out. There are hundreds of pictures on this gallery. Here’s a tip, please use the slideshow feature located on the upper right hand corner. Just sit back and enjoy the show. Oh, if you don’t where the gallery is, just click on the “Gallery” module on the left hand side of this page. Like they always say in Costa Rica, “Pura Vida”!
Sep
5
I’m Back Home
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It’s been such a long time since I posted last, over three months ago. Well, after Argentina, I ended up going to Rio de Janiero, Brazil for four days. Went to see Pao de Azucar and Corcovado and also saw a soccer game at Maracana stadium with a capacity of 120,000 people. After Brazil, I had a stopover in Bogota, Colombia for about five hours where I ended staying at the airport the whole time.
I was scared to go out especially with an American passport. I headed back to Ecuador where the trip started. After Ecuador, I went back to Costa Rica where I stayed for majority of the time, almost two months. I surfed pretty much everyday. I also traveled and sometimes surfed the rest of Costa Rica, Jaco, Playa Hermosa, Quepos and Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Puerto Viejo, Cahuita, La Fortuna and Monteverde.
On the way back, on my last leg of my trip, I got a ride from someone I met in Cahuita back to San Jose, Costa Rica. We were stuck behind a huge landslide. The whole highway was closed. We ended taking another route for an additional three hours. The guy barely made his flight. I ended taking a bus from the airport to San Jose. I also went to Nicaragua in San Juan del Sur with a couple of friends. We stayed in Playa Majagual which is a walking distance from Playa Madera, and excellent surf spot with only three people out. Excellent waves.
Pssst. Don’t tell anyone. Well, I’m back to the US. I will post all the pics I took in the next couple of days. Ciao for now.
Jun
3
Buenos Aires
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Hola chicos. I just wanted to drop everyone a note from South America. I’m currently in Buenos Aires. I have been here for five days now and enjoying every minute of it. I think Buenos Aires is the best kept secret in all of South America. Everything here is cheap.
The hotels are affordable, the restaurants are great and cheap, and there is so much to do. We went to a Tango Show the other night and tomorrow will be getting a Tango lesson. Hehe.
The other day, my friend and I went to a soccer game. What a game! It was supposed to be the Super Bowl of Argentine soccer between the two of the best rival teams in Buenos Aires (Boca Juniors vs. River Plate). I was awestruck! I have never seen anything like it. I was completely overwhelmed with the fanatical support of the fans.
Writing down what happened does not do justice to actually happened in the stadium. Incredible! It was intense! Flyers and streamers everywhere, team flags the size of half the football field, the deafening noise of fans cheering, drum beating all game long, chanting and singing all game long, fans shouting profanity at each other, throwing objects, throwing eggs with paint at each other (I got hit by an egg with paint and completely ruined a good pair of pants = my battle scars).
Oh, there was also a fire on the stands which was put out by a huge firehose on top of the stadium. Needless to say, a couple of times, I feared for my life mainly because we got tickets on the visiting side. What an experience! Not sure if I want to do it again.
Prior to Argentina, we started our trip from Ecuador, then headed out to Peru where we visited the ruins of Macchu Pichu. We then went to Lima followed by Santiago, Chile. We have one more country to go, Brazil. We are heading out this Thursday for four days total there. We then head back to Ecuador and then out to Costa Rica for a couple of months.
I have been (public) speaking here, but not in English. My Spanish is definately much better, but still needs work.
Ciao for now.
May
24
Machu Picchu
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Hey guys. I’m here in Cuzco, Peru. Yesterday, we went to Machu Picchu. What an incredible place!. Me encantado mucho! There is something magical about this place. By the way, I took tons of pictures, so watch for it on my gallery. We will be here probably until tomorrow since we are trying to sort out our itinerary for the next two days.
We just got a call from the travel agency that we couldn’t confirm our flight for Monday. So we have an option to fly out either Sunday or Tuesday. Prior to Cuzco, we started our travel by flying into Guayaquil, Ecuador. I’m traveling with my friend, Doug. He has relatives in Guayaquil. We spent most of our time visiting his relatives, but we were able to get out do some traveling on our own.
I brought with me my surfboard to take down to Costa Rica. As it turned out, Doug’s cousin is also a surfer. He took us the next day to Montanita, the premier spot in Ecuador. After an hour of driving, we hit a snag on the road. There was a worker strike and they closed the highway.
We waited for an hour on the road while his cousin tried to get us through. We ended up going to another place called Pelado. We drove on this dusty empty road for about 30 minutes or so. We finally got there and saw an SUV parked on the beach. There were four surfers on this spot and Roberto, Doug’s cousin knows them all. We surfed this spot for about 3 hours before deciding to eat at the local cevecheria.
It was an easily 5-6 feet with occasionally 7-8 foot set. We also spent time in Salinas, a beach resort town. I had a cheese empanada. Que rica!
I wish I could chronicle everything about my trip here on this website. I would love to, but I will have to do it at a later time when I do have time and I’m not under the duress of the clock in the internet cafe. I will keep everyone posted with what’s going on. Keep in touch!
Apr
21
Costa Rica Pictures Online
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Hola! Como estas? I finally got a chance to upload the pictures that we took in Costa Rica on the website. We took over 200 pics, although we could have taken more, but I’m not much of a photographer and I seldom carry the camera with me when walking around town.
We are still waiting for a couple of waterproof disposables cameras to be developed of the pictures we took at the beach and while surfing. I can’t wait to get those uploaded as well.
Well, I’m back here in California for a couple of weeks. I’m headed out to Ecuador and the rest of South America on April 30th. After South America, we are heading back to Costa Rica for a month or two. That’s the plan right now. We are still trying to work out our visas to Brazil.
Hopefully, that will materialize and we get to see Brazil. Other than that, I’m just chilling out and enjoying the comforts of home. I was watching folks surf in Santa Cruz yesterday. I don’t know. It looks really cold out there. I got a little spoiled with the warm water in Costa Rica.
Other than that, just chilling and relaxing at home. To view the pictures we took in Costa Rica, just click on the gallery link to your left. Ciao for now!
Mar
28
Spanish Class Over
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It has been more than three weeks since I signed on in the internet. A lot has happened here in Tamarindo. I have met many, many people and forged great friendships and many acquaintances as well. I can’t believe I have been here for a month now. My spanish class was finally over last week.
After three weeks in school, I can now carry some basic conversation, but I still don’t feel I have the command of the language. I’m waiting for a time when I can begin thinking in Spanish. I’m still learning and memorizing the Spanish conjugations when I have time. There are so many of them.
Kerwin and my friend, Doug were able to find a permanent place a week after I got here. They were able to secure a cabina with a kitchen, bath, and big common patio for about $400 a month for the three of us. What a bargain! The guy who owns the place is Italian, a cool guy with a great family. His son Ariel is a crackup. I was able to join Kerwin and Doug in the cabina after my Spanish classes were over.
Unfortunately, I was sick with a cold and a bad cough for about a week. Thanks to the local pharmacy, the drugs worked! Now, I’m back to my usual self, lots of energy for surfing! Speaking of surfing, I have been surfing practically every day. The local breaks here in Tamarindo gets good during high tide.
I figured we’ll be here for another week. We are thinking about traveling in and around Costa Rica or possibly Nicaragua. For now, I’m just taking advantage of the surf that’s available here. We have been cooking food at our place lately to save money and eat healthier. I have a few pictures I want to upload to the internet, but the internet cafes here are really bad and they have old machines and slow connections. Maybe 33kb. The other place has 56kb. Whoa! This computer I’m using right now has a jumpy monitor. Thankfully, it has an english keyboard.
Other than that, we are doing fine and were looking forward to seeing the rest of Costa Rica in the next couple of weeks. I will upload the pictures when I get a chance. Ciao for now.
Mar
3
First Day In Spanish School
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Today was first day at the Wayra Instituto taking Spanish classes. I’ll be in school for a total of three weeks. Today we practiced introducing ourselves to each other. We reviewed ’ser’ and ‘estar’ which translates to ‘to be’ in English. The classes are about 4 hours daily. My class starts at 8:00am to 12:00noon.
I have the rest of the afternoon off to do whatever I want. I surfed twice today after class, early afternoon and just before sunset. I have been using my 6′6” board most of the time here, but the waves in Playa Tamarindo are too small for my taste. I did take out my longboard today to teach other students from school to surf.
Guess what? I have to do my homework tonight. Yikes. It’s not that bad. Only takes about 20 minutes or so. Ciao for now.
Mar
2
Now In Costa Rica
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Hey guys, I finally made it here to Costa Rica. Actually, I have been here for 4 days already. I am now in Playa Tamarindo. I surfed this morning for about an hour, but the waves really suck, so I didn’t stay in the water for long. There are several internet cafes here in town.
This one seems to be better. At least, the machines are newer, although the internet connection is still very, very slow. I have met many, many people the last four days.
I arrived in San Jose Wednesday night at around 8:00pm. I took a taxi to Hotel Mango Verde in Alajuela, only about 5 minutes from the airport. Nice place. It’s cheap, only $15 dollars a night. I stayed there for two nights. I met Roly the owner who invited me to his house the last time I was in here in Costa Rica during the World Cup back in June 2002. I met a Dutch girl staying in the hotel. Mama mia! The most beautiful girl I have seen. I almost didn’t make it here to Tamarindo.
I spent some time checking out at the capital, San Jose last Thursday. I met a couple girls in the city center and I chatted with them with my limited Spanish. I didn’t know how I managed, but I got their email addresses. I left for Tamarindo Friday. I didn’t have a place to stay, but I wasn’t worried. I got off the bus after 7 hour trip, took 4 steps and 10 seconds later, I got a place to stay for just $20 a night. I just moved out and checked in at the school, which is Wayra Instituto de Espanol where I am going to be living for the next three weeks.
My days here are very relaxing. Today, I took a three hour lunch and I still had plenty of time on my hands. Keep checking this site to vicariously live my vacation experience by way of the internet. By the way, the Spanish keyboards suck! It took a three minutes to find the hypen sign and a few more to find the ‘arroba’ or the @ sign! Ciao for now! Hehe..