Last month, traveling and working at 9 destinations, spanning over three countries and three time zones.
This month, I am working locally. However, there are many deadlines (both personal and work) that I have to meet within the next few weeks.
Next month, I am traveling to Brazil, Argentina, and Chile for 2.5 weeks. I have not done researching and planning for this trip.
And the month after (December), a friend is visiting at the end of year and there is also the one week break that I have no plans for yet.
I am feeling overwhelmed!!!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Blogging
This is my last night in Portland; also the last night of my one month on the road (thanks to JetBlue's All You Can Jet pass).
As you can see, I have not blog much since Colombia. This due to lack of time. You see, I am working full time while traveling on the AYCJ pass. Working (especially after a week off) take up a lot of time, sight seeing take up a lot of time, which mean no time for blogging.
However, even with the three hours difference, I did not have a lot of time to do sight seeing (for example, in NYC, the only sight-seeing thing I did is I went to High Line Park). Regardless, I still have to eat, and eating I did!
This month turns out to be a tour for my stomach, not my eyes. I had the best in every cities that I visited. All I did is eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat! I eat good, so good that I am feeling my waistline bulging and my artery clogging.
When I return home tomorrow, I'm going to eat healthy and exercise at least 4 times a week.
In the mean time, waiting for my cousin to pick me up for dinner at Bamboo Sushi.
As you can see, I have not blog much since Colombia. This due to lack of time. You see, I am working full time while traveling on the AYCJ pass. Working (especially after a week off) take up a lot of time, sight seeing take up a lot of time, which mean no time for blogging.
However, even with the three hours difference, I did not have a lot of time to do sight seeing (for example, in NYC, the only sight-seeing thing I did is I went to High Line Park). Regardless, I still have to eat, and eating I did!
This month turns out to be a tour for my stomach, not my eyes. I had the best in every cities that I visited. All I did is eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat! I eat good, so good that I am feeling my waistline bulging and my artery clogging.
When I return home tomorrow, I'm going to eat healthy and exercise at least 4 times a week.
In the mean time, waiting for my cousin to pick me up for dinner at Bamboo Sushi.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Currency Conversion
Whenever I travel abroad, I prefer to use my Capital One card for big expense and withdraw cash using ATM because I get the best currency exchange rate via credit card and ATM.
However, this turn out not to be true in Colombia. Our hotel's exchange rate is 1 USD = 2,000 COP. Most Colombian banks charge 1% fee and at an exchange rate of 1 USD = 1,900 COP. I thought I would get better deal with my credit card and ATM (and the Locals we met told us so as well)so I paid for my expense using those cards. When I look at my credit card and bank statements today, I was sadly disappointed. Charges on credit card are at approximately 1 USD = 1,900 COP and the ATM exchange rate (including the fees)is at 1 USD = 1,822 COP. Furthermore, our hotel charged us additional 10% surcharge for using credit card.
I brought extra USD to Colombia too, I should have just exchange it at the hotel.
However, this turn out not to be true in Colombia. Our hotel's exchange rate is 1 USD = 2,000 COP. Most Colombian banks charge 1% fee and at an exchange rate of 1 USD = 1,900 COP. I thought I would get better deal with my credit card and ATM (and the Locals we met told us so as well)so I paid for my expense using those cards. When I look at my credit card and bank statements today, I was sadly disappointed. Charges on credit card are at approximately 1 USD = 1,900 COP and the ATM exchange rate (including the fees)is at 1 USD = 1,822 COP. Furthermore, our hotel charged us additional 10% surcharge for using credit card.
I brought extra USD to Colombia too, I should have just exchange it at the hotel.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Surprising Things I learned About Colombia
-Colombia is NOT a place to visit for CHEAP vacation. Everything here cost about the same as in USA (hotels, food, clothing, books, etc).
-Living standard in Bogota is about the same as in USA. Food cost about the same ($4-$10 for fast food, fine dining entree are at $20-$30/plate, food in grocery store is about the same as in US).
-Living standard in Cartagena is much lower (75% live in the ghetto) BUT it is more expensive to vacation in Cartagena than in Bogota. Since it is a touristy town, all tourists are charged a much higher price (i.e. restaurants in safe area are at $20-$30/plate for crappy food. Local restaurants charged about $2-$5 for fast food but they are all in crappy area with no AC. Same souvenirs in Cartagena cost twice as much as in Bogota).
-I felt very safe in Bogota.
-Bogota and Cartagena felt like two countries. One (Bogota) that I really like and would highly recommend it, the other (Cartagena) I really don't like and would advise others not to visit (especially Asians).
-Despite all the beauties that Cartagena has to offer, the residents ruined what could have been a great vacation.
-Cartagena vendors are very blatant at ripping you off. Their aggressive pushes appalled me and led me to not buy anything in Cartagena.
-Coffee is call "Tinto" while red wine is call "Vino Rosa"
-Colombian food reminds me of Costa Rican food.
-Living standard in Bogota is about the same as in USA. Food cost about the same ($4-$10 for fast food, fine dining entree are at $20-$30/plate, food in grocery store is about the same as in US).
-Living standard in Cartagena is much lower (75% live in the ghetto) BUT it is more expensive to vacation in Cartagena than in Bogota. Since it is a touristy town, all tourists are charged a much higher price (i.e. restaurants in safe area are at $20-$30/plate for crappy food. Local restaurants charged about $2-$5 for fast food but they are all in crappy area with no AC. Same souvenirs in Cartagena cost twice as much as in Bogota).
-I felt very safe in Bogota.
-Bogota and Cartagena felt like two countries. One (Bogota) that I really like and would highly recommend it, the other (Cartagena) I really don't like and would advise others not to visit (especially Asians).
-Despite all the beauties that Cartagena has to offer, the residents ruined what could have been a great vacation.
-Cartagena vendors are very blatant at ripping you off. Their aggressive pushes appalled me and led me to not buy anything in Cartagena.
-Coffee is call "Tinto" while red wine is call "Vino Rosa"
-Colombian food reminds me of Costa Rican food.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena is a beautiful city! Old town Cartagena (inside the fort wall)is very walkable and full of colorful colonial buildings from two hundreds years ago, I can imagine this being an architectural geek´s dream vacation spot. Playa Blanca is a white-sand beach, with crystal blue water, and coral reefs for snorkelings.
Walkable town, colorful buildings with lots of history, goregous beach, crystal blue water for swimming and snorkeling, what more can a vacationer ask for? And these are also the reasons that lead to us planned majority of our Colombia vacation in Cartagena.
In many ways, Cartagena would have been my ideal vacation spot. Alas, that was not the case. What could have been a perfect vacation spot was ruined by the constantly harassment from locals. Since there are no Asians here, the locals know we are tourists. The street vendors are annoyingly agressive. They would not go away even after we repeatly told them no. And when we did buy something, they jacked up the price. For example, we know a bun cost 25 US cents (because we bought it for that price before at another bakery) but most places want to charge us $1-$2 USD. We felt we are being constantly rip off. Furthermore, many local men whisper perverted phrases (in Spanish) as we walked by.
Originally, we were going to go diving here and diving requires us to not fly till 48 hours later; which is another reason why we choose to spend 4 days here. However, we decided not to go diving because from our snorkeling shows there are not that many interesting things here to see (squids were the only cool thing we saw) and it was more expensive than we thought (they are asking for $100 USD). At the end, we ended up spent majority of time walking around town and being slightly bored. I even did research online again on what to do, which leads me regretting not doing thorough research ahead of time. Most people recommended only stay here for couple days and I thoroughly agreed with them. Also, there seem to be quite a bit of prostitution in this town. At Hardrock Cafe, we saw several old men with very young women. Sad!
Anyway, with the constant harassment, the heat, and the mosquitoes, I can´t wait to get back to Bogota (the Colombians there are respectful and no one harass us).
Walkable town, colorful buildings with lots of history, goregous beach, crystal blue water for swimming and snorkeling, what more can a vacationer ask for? And these are also the reasons that lead to us planned majority of our Colombia vacation in Cartagena.
In many ways, Cartagena would have been my ideal vacation spot. Alas, that was not the case. What could have been a perfect vacation spot was ruined by the constantly harassment from locals. Since there are no Asians here, the locals know we are tourists. The street vendors are annoyingly agressive. They would not go away even after we repeatly told them no. And when we did buy something, they jacked up the price. For example, we know a bun cost 25 US cents (because we bought it for that price before at another bakery) but most places want to charge us $1-$2 USD. We felt we are being constantly rip off. Furthermore, many local men whisper perverted phrases (in Spanish) as we walked by.
Originally, we were going to go diving here and diving requires us to not fly till 48 hours later; which is another reason why we choose to spend 4 days here. However, we decided not to go diving because from our snorkeling shows there are not that many interesting things here to see (squids were the only cool thing we saw) and it was more expensive than we thought (they are asking for $100 USD). At the end, we ended up spent majority of time walking around town and being slightly bored. I even did research online again on what to do, which leads me regretting not doing thorough research ahead of time. Most people recommended only stay here for couple days and I thoroughly agreed with them. Also, there seem to be quite a bit of prostitution in this town. At Hardrock Cafe, we saw several old men with very young women. Sad!
Anyway, with the constant harassment, the heat, and the mosquitoes, I can´t wait to get back to Bogota (the Colombians there are respectful and no one harass us).
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Random Thoughs on Colombia
Bogota and Cartagena are totally different. I felt like I am visiting two different countries on this trip.
-Bogota residents are mostly whites. Cartagena residents are mostly blacks.
-Bogota feels like a major metropolitan city, Cartagena feels like a carribean town.
-Bogota is very clean and quite safe (I saw many females walking on the street at night, by themselves).
-Cartagena is not safe to walk alone. Doors to all the hotels are locked with giant lock. We have to ring and wait for someone to open doors for us.
-Drivers are crazy at both places. Seat belts are available for backseat passengers in both cities but there are no buckles for seat belt to lock into in Bogota. Taxi are cleaner in Cartagena.
-There are no mosquitos in Bogota.
-There are many mosquitos in Cartagena.
-Bogota weather (in Sept.) is cool (50-65F) in the morning, warm (60-75F)during the day, and cold (40-50F) during the night. Remind me of SF during summer.
-Cartagena is hot and humid. Water around Cartagena is dirty (looks like L.A. water but warm). Water surrounding the islands near Cartagena are crystal blue, just like those in Bahamas and all those tropical magazines.
-Fishes in Cartagena (near Playa Blanca) are not very colorful. :(
-Colombia don´t have many Asians. Thus, it was very obvious that we are tourist.
--In Bogota, people are more well off, we felt like a celebrity (most stares, the brave one talk to us and want pictures taken with us). I enjoy being Asian in Bogota.
--In Cartagena, a very touristy town and probably poorer citizens, we are constantly harassed to buy stuff. Furthermore, I felt we are constantly being rip-off. For example, my friend speaks Spanish and we agreed to pay $1,000 peso (50 cents) for one coconut. We got two coconuts and paid him $2,000 pesos, but the guy refused to leave and wanted us to pay him $4,000 pesos. We argued with him a bit, so he finally left us alone.
--People remember us. Several people we chatted sometime later told us they remember us from seeing us on the plane or other places (because we are the ONLY Asians).
-Cartagena beach is gorgeous (though many told us Playa Blanca is the best beach here so other beaches may be not as nice) but I hate the constantly harassments. I am looking forward to go back to Bogota but I am not sure if I want to visit Cartagena again. We still have 2 more days here, hopefully Friday and Saturday will change my impression.
-Cartagena is full of tourists from Latin America.
-In Cartagena, meals are very expensive in the safe part of the town (entree are around $12-$25) but very cheap in the shady part (entree are around $2).
-EVERYONE has a facebook account!
-Bogota residents are mostly whites. Cartagena residents are mostly blacks.
-Bogota feels like a major metropolitan city, Cartagena feels like a carribean town.
-Bogota is very clean and quite safe (I saw many females walking on the street at night, by themselves).
-Cartagena is not safe to walk alone. Doors to all the hotels are locked with giant lock. We have to ring and wait for someone to open doors for us.
-Drivers are crazy at both places. Seat belts are available for backseat passengers in both cities but there are no buckles for seat belt to lock into in Bogota. Taxi are cleaner in Cartagena.
-There are no mosquitos in Bogota.
-There are many mosquitos in Cartagena.
-Bogota weather (in Sept.) is cool (50-65F) in the morning, warm (60-75F)during the day, and cold (40-50F) during the night. Remind me of SF during summer.
-Cartagena is hot and humid. Water around Cartagena is dirty (looks like L.A. water but warm). Water surrounding the islands near Cartagena are crystal blue, just like those in Bahamas and all those tropical magazines.
-Fishes in Cartagena (near Playa Blanca) are not very colorful. :(
-Colombia don´t have many Asians. Thus, it was very obvious that we are tourist.
--In Bogota, people are more well off, we felt like a celebrity (most stares, the brave one talk to us and want pictures taken with us). I enjoy being Asian in Bogota.
--In Cartagena, a very touristy town and probably poorer citizens, we are constantly harassed to buy stuff. Furthermore, I felt we are constantly being rip-off. For example, my friend speaks Spanish and we agreed to pay $1,000 peso (50 cents) for one coconut. We got two coconuts and paid him $2,000 pesos, but the guy refused to leave and wanted us to pay him $4,000 pesos. We argued with him a bit, so he finally left us alone.
--People remember us. Several people we chatted sometime later told us they remember us from seeing us on the plane or other places (because we are the ONLY Asians).
-Cartagena beach is gorgeous (though many told us Playa Blanca is the best beach here so other beaches may be not as nice) but I hate the constantly harassments. I am looking forward to go back to Bogota but I am not sure if I want to visit Cartagena again. We still have 2 more days here, hopefully Friday and Saturday will change my impression.
-Cartagena is full of tourists from Latin America.
-In Cartagena, meals are very expensive in the safe part of the town (entree are around $12-$25) but very cheap in the shady part (entree are around $2).
-EVERYONE has a facebook account!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Bogota, Colombia
Bogota is nothing like I have imagined.
Bogota turns out to be just like any major metropolitan city. There are tall skyscrappers, men and women dressed in nice suits, the city is pretty clean, the residential areas are nice, there are many luxurious aparment complexes and western malls (selling stuff like D&G), and there are many street vendors like in NYC. If someone drop me off here and tell me this is a US city, I´d believe them (aside from the fact that everyone speaks Spanish and there are no Asian).
Colombian are tall and look European. Since there are very few Asian here, we became an attraction for the Colombians. Everyone stare at us as we walked by, little kids come up to us and want to take pictures with us, teenager boys try to flirt with us and want our numbers(no, we didn´t gave it to them).... It was an interesting experience; I´d imagine this is probably pretty similar to what my tall white friends felt when they visited remote areas in Asia.
Majority of tourists here are from nearby Latin America countries. If you don´t speak Spanish here, you are screw. I don´t speak Spanish, luckily I´m traveling with a native Spanish speaker. Everyone here are very friendly and very helpful to us, even though we stuck out like a sore thumbs.
So far, Colombia is great.
Bogota turns out to be just like any major metropolitan city. There are tall skyscrappers, men and women dressed in nice suits, the city is pretty clean, the residential areas are nice, there are many luxurious aparment complexes and western malls (selling stuff like D&G), and there are many street vendors like in NYC. If someone drop me off here and tell me this is a US city, I´d believe them (aside from the fact that everyone speaks Spanish and there are no Asian).
Colombian are tall and look European. Since there are very few Asian here, we became an attraction for the Colombians. Everyone stare at us as we walked by, little kids come up to us and want to take pictures with us, teenager boys try to flirt with us and want our numbers(no, we didn´t gave it to them).... It was an interesting experience; I´d imagine this is probably pretty similar to what my tall white friends felt when they visited remote areas in Asia.
Majority of tourists here are from nearby Latin America countries. If you don´t speak Spanish here, you are screw. I don´t speak Spanish, luckily I´m traveling with a native Spanish speaker. Everyone here are very friendly and very helpful to us, even though we stuck out like a sore thumbs.
So far, Colombia is great.
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