Day trip to France (updated)

it was a beautiful day. We set out for a day trip to the nearby french town Annecy. It's located near the swiss-france border, only 37 miles from Geneva.The drive to get there along Geneva Lake is beautiful and breathtaking. There are many charming little towns along the way. We made a short stop at Yvoire, to visit their medieval buildlings and beautiful summer flower decoration. Then we arrived at Annecy, spent a few hours strolling the cobbled street and along the canal. it's a lovely place. :)

for our pictures in Lyon, click here

Bye bye California

hello everyone! hello my blog!
i had a wonderful stay in California. five weeks passed like a finger flip. I got many things taken care of, but most importantly I get to hang out with many friends and coworkers who I missed. I was even invited to the team outing of my old group. We spent a fun day on the beach. Then Lilian and I went shopping at Gilroy outlet, same itinerary as last year. But after living off of a backpack for 6 months I've become a bad shopping companion. :) I didn't buy anything and even discouraged her (by giving ligitimate reasons!) not to buy things she doesn't need. haha. ain't I a changed woman? I think i am now on her list of "ten people NOT to shop with" :) dang. I also had many lunches and coffee breaks with people I used to work with - Umesh, Nital, Amanda, Andrey, Carol, Lilian, Laurence, Yin, Mark, Jay, Kei, Jenny, Vincent, etc. It was great to see everybody. I even went to Ricardo's housewarming party where I met people I used to work with and haven't seen for ages! Janet, who used to tutor me English, also took me out for lunch a few times. We had great times and great conversation. She even bought me a jar of Dulce de Leche after we talked about how good those caramel-like syrup from south america are! :) mmm..my mouth is watering when thinking of those pastries filled with dulce de leche in Argentina....

Needless to mention, I spent lots of quality time with my friends, mostly around food, good food. :) One day we even drove all the way up to the city to eat at Spices (the stinky tofu, spicy chicken, and basil intestine... yumm), then went to the Grove to chill and have a cup of coffee. just like old times. Two nights before I left, we went to Gochi's for my farewell, every dish there is divine, and the green tea creme brulee & strawberry mousse are to die for. I also liked that we got a private room with Japanese style Tatami seatings, we had more privacy, could talk louder, and it saves us embarrassement from fighting for food (we shared all the dishes). :) And thank-you to many of you who have been so kind to pick up the tabs when we eat out on many occasions (although not necessary), extra thank-yous to Ming & Emily with whom I had a very comfortable stay in California. With many loose ends tied up and things taken care of, I felt more prepared about the departure this time around. However when the day comes I was still packing and sorting things when Anne and Puk were at the door to pick me up to the airport. They ended up having to help me. Totally a deja vu from six months ago. I guess some things never change.. :)

I had a smooth flight to Switzerland, with only one connection in Paris. The only adventure was one of my "luggage" didn't arrive at the carousel. It's actually just a moving box full of summer clothes (and instant noodles), well-taped by packing master Anne. I thought it was quite impossible that the box fell apart or got lost in transit because my backpack arrived with no problem. I got a little worried thinking maybe instant noodles are not allowed to come in? I then went across the terminal, dragged all my luggages into the office (one 69-L backpack and two carry-ons. carts are not allowed inside the office and the weight of the backpack is not what my shoulders can handle anymore). i felt people in the whole office were looking at me, yet no one lended a hand. The long line moved super slow and just when it was about my turn i saw this familiar box sitting on the floor. isn't that MY box? yuppi! It turned out that a box is a special kind of luggage and it doesn't arrive in carousel. phew. what a relief! With a bit of kicking and dragging i finally got all my luggages out the office and onto a cart. I stopped to catch my breath, then slowly roll the cart out. Hello Geneva!

From San Jose to San Jose

home sweet home. After being on the road for nearly 5 months, I am back to California! Words can't describe how excited i was when the plane touched down in LAX last Friday. Stacy came to pick me up, we wasted no time (other than waiting for my luggage that didn't make it on the plane) going to the new Taiwanese heaven "Class 302" for some delicious (and long awaited) pork chop rice and milk tea! It's sooooo yummy. I almost pinched my nose and punched my face to make sure it's not a dream. I AM EATING some authentic taiwanese food. The next day Stacy was invited to a baby birthday thing at a REALLY nice dim sum restaurant so I tagged along. :P It's just sooo yummy! Then I went to get my hair fixed while Stacy is having her facial. We met up later and went back to Class 302 for more food, we had it to-go and went back home to watch some japanese drama while eating. It's a dream come true. I'd been wanting to veg out on a couch in front of TV while eating for a very long time. :) The next day we went to have our nails done (while sipping pearl milk tea and eating taiwanese salty crispy popcorn chicken), went to a mall nearby (and i am proud to say, the only thing i bought was a pair of very practical pants, very light weight and good for travelling (i really don't have to justify it, do I? :P). After that we had korean food for dinner. It's been a REALLY long time since I had korean food, almost forgot how good those small appetizers are. yummy!
On Monday I flew back to San Jose. When I stepped into the airport terminal I really couldn't believe i've been gone for that long! I felt like I was just back after a weekend getaway. Now I am at my cousin Ming & his wife Emily's new spacious 5-bedroom house. I even got the whole floor to myself! It's really nice to be back. I've been pretty efficient - taking things out of the storage, sorting the mails, catching up with people, and of course eating around! I also have visited my old work place and surprised some coworkers with my sudden appearance. I should have my camera ready to capture their looks! On Saturday I spent a day in San Francisco with Carol, Lilian, and Anne. On Sunday Anne, Karen, and Patrick took me to an excellent tango show. It really reminded me of Argentina and made me want to go back! Today we had dim sum for lunch and then went to Nell's place to play Wii. It's so much fun - and so sore after waving and turning the controller for a period of time. We said it's a good workout, to ease our guilt after eating so much at the dim sum restaurant and snacking nonstop at Nell's place. :P
it's the end of the long weekend. Starting tomorrow i have a long list of things to deal with. reality check!

In search of turtles in total darkness

We just came back from Parque de Tortuguero, one of the best place to observe turtle hatching in the world. This place is so remote, the only way to get there is by boat and flight. We opted for the easier way and took a plane (partially because of the promotional rate of $35 one way!). From the air it looks totally desolated, covered by endless jungle greens only separated by canals, where boat become the most common means of transportation. It's extremely humid, i felt like taking a shower all the time. they say "humid" is the driest word in Tortuguero. :) Most people come here to see turtles, we are no exception. But we missed the best season and now there are just a few here and there that could be spotted on the beach, if you are lucky. Luck wasn't on our side this time. After walking on the beach in total darkness for two hours, i was nearly exhausted and didn't even see a footprint of turtle! Turtles are very shy, so we were instructed to dress as dark as possible. As a result i wore my only black, long-sleeved blouse and long black pants, it wasn't the best choice of outfit in that kind of weather! I was sweating like a pig! all for nothing (except for a good workout, my legs are still sore now) but at least we tried. :)
Turtles are not the only thing abundant in Tortuguero. This place is so rich in wildlife that you can't ride a canoe down the canal without spotting any interesting creatures - monkeys, crocodiles, butterflies, birds, and many more that's unknown to me. it made up for the disappointment in turtle watching. We had a good (and humid) trip there and now we are happily back to San Jose where it's dry and cool. :)

A fun (and muddy) day on ATV!

it might be a bit of exaggeration to say this is the most fun thing i've done in a long time, but it's not far from truth! :) it was just such a fun day. I've ridden ATV before but this one blows everything else out of the water! The whole day adventure trip takes place at a private reserve of over 60,000 acres near the city of San Jose. the view is breathtaking, and the terrain is wonderfully diversified - rain forest, cloud forest, tropical dry forest, or simply just bumpy gravel roads, you name it, they've got it! The trip starts with some locally grown organic mermalade and coffee (you can never go wrong with serving a good cup of organic coffee to start the day! ) Then off we go! After a little bit of test run, we start letting the beast running wild, going up hill, down hill, through the rainforest, crossing the muddy creeks, taking in the breathtaking view of central valley. it was incredible! At one point we were winding through this misty forest on a trail so narrow that the tree leaves keep beating on my arms, then we'd go up on a bumpy gravel road, the ATV'd slide left and right. at the end of the day we were all covered in mud but it's such an unforgetable fun day and i think it'd be safe to say, our Costa Rican experience would not be complete without it! :)

Though it's coming from a biased source, but according to the owner, we've just done the best ATV tour in the world. the owner himself has quite an interesting life story. He's originally from Holland, he travelled all over the world and even worked in Asia as a fashion designer (for women's lingerie). How he went from designing women's underwear to a ATV pro, i have no idea. But this and many other people we met made me think, life does have many possibilities, as long as you dare you dream, and be determined to carry it out. :)

Efficient? really?

After picking up my US visa yesterday, I went to have a cup of coffee at the cafe across the street from the embassy. And I came across this magazine with this article in it - "U.S. consulate is now more efficient". I rubbed my eyes to see if i have mis-read anything. And i didn't! WOW! With the experience a week ago still fresh in my memory, I start to think maybe I should be thankful - it could have been much worse, according to the article! I can't imagine what kind of nightmare Ticos had to go through to get a visa in the past. Well, what's important now is i have the visa and can go in and out as I wish in the next 5 years ( I just can't work, but i have no problem with that, at least for now )!

Volcan Arenal and Hot Spring!