The LA Life

When to Throw Away Cosmetic Products and More

2010-07-22T13:31:00.001-07:00

I was cleaning up my apt last night and was not sure if I can still use my expensive but barely used make up, so I google expiration date of make-up. I put the result in the chart below for future reference.

Cosmetics/Skin Care/Tools (Expiration date from the time you open it)

General tip: 6 months for liquids; 2 years for powders

Foundation (expired when the ingredients begin to settle or separate).	3-18 months
Concealer (always wipe the brush after use if the concealer comes in a wand and brush package)	6-12 months
Powders, Pressed powder , blush, bronzer	2 year
Mascara, liquid eyeliners (Never "pump" your mascara as that introduce bacteria)	3 months
Lip gloss & Lipstick	2 year
Eye/Lip Pencils, eye-shadows (May last >1 yr but sharpen pencils at least once a week to prevent bacteria. Product expired if it dries or crumbles.)	2 year
Facial Cleansers & Moisturizers (expired when oils and fats begin to separate)	6 months
Facial Toners	1 year
Natural Cosmetics ("all-natural body washes", etc.)	6 months
Natural-bristled brushes (use mild soap)	Wash once a month
synthetic brushes (use mild soap)	three to four times a month
Cosmetic makeup sponges (expired when the sponge begins to tear)	Wash after every use, Toss within 1 month
Nail polish (expire when consistency turns gooey or stringy)	2 years
Sunscreen	6 months
Hair products	1 year
Fragrance (prolong life by keep in the fridge)	2 years (maybe longer)

House/Domestic Stuff:

Pillows	Every year (every 2 year if using pillow cases
Mattress	5 - 10 years
Smoke alarms	10 years
AC	Until it die
Vitamins (pills)	2 years
Fire extinguishers	Every 10 years
Water filter	20% past its expiration indicator
Cutting boards	sanitized after each use: Wash the board with detergent and hot water; then rinse and flood with a solution of 1 part full-strength white vinegar to 4 parts water and let it sit for five minutes. Rinse with clean water, pat with a clean towel, and air dry.
Contact Lens	3 months
Toothbrush	3 - 4 months (exception for some electric toothbrush heads, may be up to 6 months, see manufacturer for instruction)

Anti-bacterial cream	1 year
Rubbing alcohol	Till it's gone

CrossFit - Day 7

2010-06-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

Warm up:
0.5 miles on Elliptical
1 rounds of
* Samson Stretch (hold 20 seconds for each side)
* Squat (10 reps)
* Sit-up (10 reps)
* Push up(10 reps)

WOD:
I completed 4 rounds in 10 minutes:
*13 pounds Front squat, 5 reps
*Lat Pull down with a functional Dual Pulley System(80#) [I did this instead of pull up], 10 reps
*tuck jump (instead of Double-unders), 15 reps
Tuck Jump is much harder than I thought. I have to take break between 15 reps

CrossFit - Day 4, 5, 6

2010-06-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Day 4 is rest day. I did just that.

Day 5 WOD is to do as many round as I can of front squat, pull up, and double under. Unfortunately, I was too tired from work so I didn't do this.

Day 6 - I am going bike 16 miles with friends. I think that'll make up for not doing WOD.

I'll do Day 5 activities on Day 7.

CrossFit - Day 3

2010-06-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

Today I was not very motivated to go exercise because I was tired from a demanding day at work and was still sore from yesterday. At the end, I was able to talk myself into sticking with my original plan and did the exercise.

Warm up: 3 rounds of 10-15 reps of
* Samson Stretch (once each round, hold 20 seconds for each side)
* Squat (15 reps)
* Iron Cross (20 reps, 10 each side)
* Sit-up (15 reps)
* Scorpion (20 reps, 10 each side)
* Back-extension (10 reps)
I forgot to do the push up.

WOD (puppies/buttercup level): Northwest Regional Event 4
Burpees (10 reps. I did this instead of Row because our gym don't have rower and I read 1 burpees = 1 calories. I couldn't do 30 calories yet)
13 pound Thruster (10 reps. Couldn't do 20)
(I skip the 3 beginner rope climb because I couldn't do it)
20 dumbbell swings (10#)

10 Burpees
13 pound Thruster, 10 reps
10 dumbbell swings, 10 pounds
10 dumbbell swings, 20 pounds

10 Burpees
13 pound Thruster, 10 reps
20 dumbbell swings, 20 pounds

I did quite a few substitutions today due to lack of equipments and my physical ability.

I am looking forward to tomorrow's rest day :)

CrossFit

2010-06-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

A friend told me about CrossFit and how it wants you to have more time for life by device exercise that maximize result with minimum amount of time.

I really like the shortness of daily workout(~15 minutes, not counting warm up) and the variety that prevents me from getting bored (by following workout of the day [WOD] on this site).

My goal is to exercise 3 days, follow up 1 day of rest.

For yesterday's workout, I did:

Warm up: 3 rounds of 10-15 reps of
* Samson Stretch (once each round, hold 20 seconds for each side)
* Squat (15 reps)
* Iron Cross (20 reps, 10 each side)
* Sit-up (15 reps)
* Scorpion (20 reps, 10 each side)
* Back-extension (10 reps)
* Push up (bend knees, 10 reps)

WOD: 3 rounds, 15, 12 and 9 reps of
* Overhead Squat with an empty EZ Curl Bar (~13#)
* Lat Pull down with a functional Dual Pulley System(80#) [I did this instead of pull up]

Lunch at the Beach

2010-03-30T00:26:00.000-07:00

L.A. had another gorgeous, sunny day today.

Since I am only a few minutes from the beach, I bought tacos and tamales at a local supermarket and had my lunch at the beach.

It was so nice!

Note to self: Have lunch at the beach more often.

May I Take a Vacation?

2010-03-26T15:10:00.001-07:00

Although I been working for a long time now, I am still not used to the idea of asking permission to take time off. I thought one characteristic of adulthood is the freedom to spend time however one choose to. However, for anyone holding a job, this is not the case.

I love my job, but every time I have to submit a vacation request, I feel a little twinge in my heart and wish I have the financial freedom to takeoff whenever I want.

All About L.A. - Things I Want to Try and Things I Love

2010-02-02T18:36:00.001-08:00

After seeing list of things to do in L.A. by Caroline On Crack, I was inspired to make a personal list of "things I want to try in Los Angeles". Since I plan to stay in Los Angeles for a very long time, I am going to keep this as a "living list" (i.e. as I find more interesting things, I'll add to this list).

And since making list is one of my hobbies, I had a lot of fun writing down "things I love about L.A." Many on this list are things that I re-visit whenever I get a chance. Beware! If you do things in this list, you may fall in love with L.A. too.

Items are listed in no particular order.

Things I Want to Try in L.A. (Want to do any of these with me?)

Try the restaurants listed in my ever-growing Yelp bookmarks
Downtown Art Walk
Go watch an Angel City Derby Girls or a L.A. Derby Dolls Tournament
Bike on the Strand, from Playa Del Rey to Redondo Beach
Watch a movie in the Grauman's Chinese theater @ Hollywood & Highland
Go to a concert at The Disney Concert Hall
Go visit the Bradbury Building
Go sit on that bench in the "500 Days of Summer" (in Bunker Hills, on the corner of 4th and Olive.)
Do more pretty, easy hikes (Sandstone Peak sounds pretty)
Mulholland Drive from 405 to 101
Go to a Lakers game in the Staples Center
Santa Fe Dam and Recreation Area (because I drive by it so many times but still haven't visit this place)
Wayfare's Chapel in Palos Verdes
Go see wild buffalos in Catalina

Things I Love About L.A.

Endless food variety and numerous great restaurants to try (though I often make repeat visits to places that I rated 4+ stars). L.A. has some of the best Chinese food, Fusion food, Japanese food….
L.A. offers so much diversity that one can never get bored. Regardless of who you are and what you are into, you will find things you are interested in L.A. The list of "things to try at least once in L.A." is never-ending.
Yummy variety of food available at wee hours (1am - 6am). Delicious Chinese/Korean food at 3am taste so much better (to me) than Denny's
Watching firework synchronized to great music at the Hollywood Bowl. Always bring a picnic basket.
The Getty Center garden, its special exhibits, and its events
Unbelievable amount of free summer activities; here's a 100 examples.
Point Dume, hiking along the beach and look for sea creatures in the tide pool
View of the entire Los Angeles county from Mount Wilson Observatory parking lot. On a clear day, you can even see the ocean.
Old Town Pasadena
Kayaking in Alamitos Bay and the Naples channels. If you go at the right time, in addition to the mansions, you will also find star fishes and jellyfishes.
Awesome Salsa scene, every night of the week
Walking around Larchmont Village, especially on Sunday (Farmers Market)
Walking around Main St. @ Santa Monica, especially on Sunday (Farmers Market)
Walking around Venice canals
First Friday at Abbot Kinney
L.A. beaches. I love watching waves crashing onto the beach; while sipping a cup of hot coffee/tea.
Pacific Theaters Vineland Drive-In
Driving on PCH from Santa Monica up to Malibu
The Huntington Library
$15 (full body) massage in San Gabriel Valley
Walking in a sea of brilliant yellow mustard flowers at the Palos Verdes View hiking trail in April
Outdoor movies during the summer (available in almost every cities; or you can befriended Vero & Whitney so they'd invite you to their next private screening)
Visit The Griffith Observatory just before sunset (I think I'd love watching sunrise at Griffith too but I don't wake up that early).

Lucky

2010-01-20T11:19:00.000-08:00

L.A. has been hit with rare storms, hence, the waves at the beaches are huge.

I wanted to see some big waves, so this morning, I drove to the beach for a bit wave watching.

Not many beaches have parking right in front of the beach, not many people live within minutes drive from a beach, and not many people have the luxury to wake up at normal hour and go to a beach before work.

I am bless.

Tour Package Vs Self-Guided (Money POV)

2009-12-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

After tallied up all the expenses associated with the South America (SA) trip, I compared this cost to those of my previous trips. The result is shocking!

The SA is 2 weeks + 3 days long trip (and the only tour package trip I ever took), but by far, it is the most expensive trip.
-The SA trip cost 15% more than the one month (4 weeks) Asia trip and also 15% more than the recent one month ACYJ trip.
-The SA trip cost 25% more than the 3 weeks Western Europe trip.
-Also, on all previous trips, I bought souvenirs but on this trip, I did mostly window shopping.
-Furthermore, I ate good (VERY GOOD!) on all previous trips but not as much on the SA trip.

With minimal spending on food and souvenirs (even though these are more expensive in US and Europe) during the SA trip, plus the shorter vacation duration, I am surprised the SA trip costed so much.

Another argument for "from now on, I should always do self-guided trip."

Who Says Money Can't Buy Happiness?

2009-12-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

I can't help but to smile whenever I look at the two things I bought today (a bamboo dish rack and a laundry basket).

Chilean Travel Agent

2009-11-30T07:45:00.000-08:00

My South American trip is the first tour-packaged trip I ever done. The first 11 nights of the trip was booked by a Florida agency while the last 4 nights was booked by a Chilean agency.

Booking via the Florida agent was a breeze. I told her which package I wanted and provided my credit card, and that is it.

However, booking via the Chilean agent has been a nightmare. I emailed and called her daily during the trip and things still went wrong. She made flight reservation but did not purchased the flight tickets and did not notice this mistake until SIX hours before the flight departure. I ended up have to call the airline myself to book the tickets. She also changed the flight time without notifying me, so we ended up on flights that depart at 2am and 4am. Furthermore, during land excursion, I had to work individually with each local agents because she did not work out the transportation and tours logistics for us [even though she told us those were already taken care of].

Trip is completed but the nightmare continue. She overcharged $1,500 on my credit card; so now I am trying to work out this mistake with her over email. Argh!

Traveling: Tour Package or Self Guided

2009-11-23T19:02:00.001-08:00

I enjoy planning, so all my previous trips have been self-guided. However, because I did not have time to plan this year, we took the South America tour package.

Things I like about tour package (base on my experience from this Rio to Santiago trip):

-No thinking involved. From the beginning to the end, there is someone taking care of you from picking up at the airport to dropping off at the airport. No getting lost. No worry.

-Other tourists on this tour. Everyone is friendly.

Things I do not like about tour package

-I felt like I am being shuttle like a cattle.

-Waking up early for the tours

-Visiting jewelry shops

-No time to stroll around the town

-Not getting to know the city. I need to time to wander around.

-A lot of time are wasted on waiting for everyone to be ready. I like being efficient and this is counter-efficient.

If I have it my way, I will do all my future travels the way I used to do them: self-guided!

Unexpected Headaches

2009-11-23T18:43:00.001-08:00

Anyone with some travel experience knows that unforeseen issues are part of traveling experience; excellent planning cannot prevent all these surprises.

Since I did not have any time to plan for this South America trip, I booked two tour packages (this is my first tour package vacation). The first (American) tour agency took care of all the planning from Rio to Santiago. The second (Chilean) tour agency took care of the planning from Santiago to Patagonia. We are at Santiago right now and the first part of our tour ends tonight. We are taking the 2:45AM flight to Punta Arenas for our Patagonia trip.

The booking of the second package has been an unexpected nightmare. I thought all I needed to do is gave my credit card number; as I had done for the first tour package. Instead, I emailed the Chilean travel agent daily while I was traveling from Rio to Santiago and called her several times today for our flight information. Six hours before our flight departure time, she informed me that her assistant mistakenly charged other people´s flights on my credit card and the tickets for our flights were still unpaid. I ended up had to call the Lan Chile to pay for the three tickets. The travel agent promised to fix the error and refund the erroneous charge so I would be paying just tthe previously-agreed tour package price.

What a headache!

Hopefully the remainder of the trip will be great and the travel agent will fix the error in a timely manner.

Buenos Aires

2009-11-22T20:05:00.000-08:00

-Brazil and Chile is more expensive than Argentina. Meals in both former countries cost about the same as USA but about half in Argentina.
-Steak are cheap (Cost about USD $15) but I did not ate any amazing steak. All I got were mediocre to ok steaks. Many people in our tour shared my disappointments, though several people did found amazing steaks. We probably just had bad luck and stumble upon bad restaurants.
-Chimichurri sauces are amazing. The sauces made average-tasting steak tasted good.
-Chicken empanadas are very good here.
-Chinese food are suprisingly good here.
-Breakfast sucks here. I wanted more than just breads and fruits for breakfast.
-I love how everyone spend hours in cafe and cafe offers wine.
-Wines are super cheap here. We saw Malbec (yummy) for only 4 Pesos (USD$1)
-Where is the central nightlife in Buenos Aires? I felt as if it is L.A., where you need to know which bar has people because ther is no central downtown that is full of nightlife.
-I would like to come back to Buenos Aires again. However, when I do return, I would like to spend at least a week so I can take my time to explore this city. And I would do thorough research beforehand so I know which restaurants I should go eat.

A Lesson in Traveling Price

2009-11-22T19:56:00.001-08:00

Today is our free day in Santiago, Chile. Sixteen people in our tour group wanted to take a day trip to Vina Del Mar and Valparaiso. These towns are right next to each other and they are two-hours bus ride from Santiago.

Our tour guide offered to take us on this tour for CHP$30,000 (USD$60). Unfortunately for our tour guide, the hotel receptionist already told us that it cost only CHP $3,000 (USD$6) for a one way bus ticket.

This morning, we took the metro (CHP$400) to the Santiago central bus station. At the bus station, a tour guide managed to convinced us to pay her CHP$17,500 (USD $35) per person for a 4-hours tour of Vina Del Mar and Valparaiso, including the round trip bus fares betwen Santiago and Vina Del Mar, all transporation in Vina Del Mar and Valparaiso, our private van and tour guide. This package is almost half the price of what we were offerd yesterday, we thought CHP $18,000 was a good deal. After a quick discussion, the group bought this package.

Unfortunately, we were wrong. At the Vina Del Mar bus station, we saw a poster for a similar 4-hours Vina Del Mar and Valparaiso tour for CHP $5,000. If we had took the bus to Vina Del Mar as we originally planned, we would have spend only CHP $11,000 (USD $22) per person instead. That would have been a 173% saving from our tour guide´s offer and 59% saving from the offer we took.

DOH!

Lesson of the day: For the best bargain, book tour for a city in that city!

Iguazu Falls, Brail/Argentina

2009-11-18T21:17:00.001-08:00

Iguazu Falls is the grand-daddy of water falls. There is no point in seeing any other waterfalls once you wee Iguazu Falls.
Iguazu Falls should be visited from both Brazilian and Argentinian side. But if you are short on time, just visit the Argentina side.
Brazil side has the awesome panoramic view. It also keep wow-ing as you walk along the trail and it seem there is no ending to Iguazu Falls.
Argentinian side provides great experience. Walking the cat-walk to the Devil´s throat, while surrounded by butterflies, is an amazing experience that no where else in the world can match. The power boat to the bottom of the waterfalls is also an experience once should not missed.
Pictures and films can´t do justice for the awesomeness of Iguazu Falls.
I do not like to visit any place twice, but I will be more than happy to visit Iguazu Falls again (and again and again)!

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

2009-11-18T21:08:00.001-08:00

Rio De Janeiro means River of January. It was named so because the people who settled here mistaken the bay for a river and they got here in January.
Everything in Rio cost about the same as in the U.S. ( 1 USD is about 1.7 Real)
All the meals in Rio cost the same (if not more) than in the U.S. (most sit down restaurant cost R$15 - 30 per entree, while slightly nicer one cost R$30 - $60 per entree). Churrascaris tasted the same as those in the U.S.
Fruit infused Sushi are very common (I am not a fan though)
But alcohol is cheaper here (caipirinha cost around R$6). Liquor and juice stands are all over the sidewalk that are next to the beach.
Flip-flop are very expensive here. Most are sold for R$20. Platform flip-flop can cost as much as R$90
Temperature in November is very nice. Although it is hot (33C was the highest during our stay), it was not unbearable.
Copacabana beach has white sand but the ocean is full of trash. The water is dark green (kind of like those in L.A. but with a lot more trash). We got freaked out and did not get into the Copacabana ocean water again when we saw an used condom flow-by. EW!
Ipanema beach (right next to Copacabana) has white sand and much cleaner ocean. The water is actually blue and there were tons of people jumping and swimming in the ocean.
Portuguese sounds like a mixed of French and Spanish to me.
Brazilians are friendly.
Clubs stop serving alcohol and closed at 2AM (I was shocked!).

Overwhelmed

2009-10-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

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!!!

Blogging

2009-10-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Currency Conversion

2009-09-30T22:11:00.000-07:00

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.

Surprising Things I learned About Colombia

2009-09-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

-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.

Cartagena, Colombia

2009-09-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

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).

Random Thoughs on Colombia

2009-09-24T17:53:00.000-07:00

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, Colombia

2009-09-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

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.