Chicago Marathon

This weekend P and I went to Chicago to run the Chicago Marathon (with an awesome cheer team that we sadly missed!). It was 34 degrees and I didn't pack a single piece of warm weather gear. Thank goodness for expos. My goal was to finish under 4 hours. I finished in 4:16, no thanks to a pre-race meal of ramen at the Slurping Turtle. I should have known better. In fact, I did know better but the huge bowls of delicious miso ramen and red bean macaroons were so freakin tempting. P (who decided last minute to run), paced me for about 17 miles and then we split. So aside from not meeting my goal time (there's always the next race), it was a great course and amazing crowd. I'll definitely be running Chicago again.

What else did we do beside run? We ate a shit ton of food. We had Italian at Volare (HUGE portions of pasta and so reasonably priced. I got the spinach fettuccine with bolognese), hot dogs at Portillo (get the Italian beef dog or Italian beef sandwich), pizza at the original Uno's, red velvet pancakes at The Bongo Room, and of course the miso ramen at the Slurping Turtle that gave me problems on marathon day. 

                

Aside from eating we wandered around Wicker Park and made it to the Signature Room at the Hancock Building. The views are amazing if you are willing to wait in line to go up. It goes pretty fast though so if you're not in a rush, I would recommend it. Drinks, of course, are expensive, including seltzer. 

We also did the architecture tour on the Chicago River, which, despite the touristy-ness of it, was pretty f-ing cool. I heard about it from my friends who are from Chicago and recommended it. It's a cool way to see the city and learn about the history of the buildings. I always have a blast when I'm in Chicago. It's just too bad it's so damn cold there. 

Hoi An and Back

Hoi An was amazing. I'm glad I went and cried at the airport so that they would let me come back to Ho Chi Minh. I had two full suits and a suit dress custom-made at Lana on Le Loi Street. The women were friendly and my tailor did a great job. You can and should definitely bargain with them. I paid $335 for my pieces, which I'm pretty happy about.

We had dinner at Morning Glory the first night and tried a few local dishes, including the white rose, spring rolls, cau lau, crispy tofu, and curry. Everything was delicious. The cook is stationed in the middle of the restaurant so you can watch her cook your meal (or you can just order a bottle of wine and drink instead). Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage site so the town looks like it was frozen in time. There is a big market on Bach Dong Street where the locals sell anything from lettuce to key chains.

We stayed at the Hoi An Beach Resort, which is just about ten minutes out of the center of town. I would 100% recommend it and would definitely go back again. The ambience is excellent, the entire place clean, and the breakfast is soo good. There are about three pools (maybe more) on the resort and a private beach across the street. Breakfast and a free shuttle into town are included in your stay. I just loved it. Everyone was so helpful and nice.

Now I'm back in HCMC. I finally got to the Embassy and was able to obtain a temporary passport but now I have to worry about getting another visa. I just came back from Immigration and have to return on Friday (the day before I leave!) to go pick up my visa. I am hoping I don't have to pay again. This trip has gotten so expensive and I am getting so home sick. I miss my family and my boyfriend :( And of course my friends back home. I hope the rest of this stay will be less stressful. I just hope those thieves remember that karma is a bitch.

Ho Chi Minh City

I arrived in Vietnam on Friday. G and I explored the town a bit, buying some souvenirs and stopping in for some amazing pho and banh mi. It was a spot in the financial center but a lot of these places don't have names. There are a lot of open eating areas where you stop in and there are food stalls scattered throughout the space. Most of the food at these places are going to be delicious because that is where all the locals eat.

Yesterday I got my purse stolen from me, with my passport, credit cards, id, and about 5 million Vietnamese Dong inside. Two guys drove by in a scooter and the one on the back snatched my purse off my shoulder, literally breaking the chain. He then looked back and smiled. F-ing a-hole. I started hysterically crying but none of the locals knew what I was saying and no one chased him. We saw the guys drive into a parking lot of a cinema so we went inside. The lot was huge and there were a ton of people. I started speaking to whoever I could find and one lady who spoke English finally came to help me. She took me to the police station, where I filed a report but the police did nothing else. She then took me to the U.S. Embassy but they close on the weekends. Our flight to Da Nang airport (to Hoi An) was at 8 p.m. so I had to risk it and go to the aiport hoping they would let me on the flight.

Fortunately, I got on the flight and am now in Hoi An. My next obstacle is getting back to Ho Chi Minh, hoping they will let me on the flight from Da Nang. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that corruption does not get in the way.

Going out in Taipei

Last night was our first real night out in Taipei. We decided to go to Taipei 101 and check out Spark. That didn't happen. We went to Taipei 101 and bought six small bottles of Absolut and two club sodas. We then sat in the food court and drank our vodka while security stared at us. Feeling uncomfortable, we went outside and continued our drinking. After we were done, we decided to head to Spark. The club was closed until 1 a.m. because they were hosting some event and we didn't feel like paying hundreds of dollars for a table for just the two of us. We decided to go to Roxy 99 instead because I had read some review about it being free on Wednesdays. Also not true.

Roxy 99 is a bar with really bad American music and drunk Taiwanese guys who will send lemon drops over to you. Then these same guys will come up to you and call you names for drinking beer instead of the manly lemon drops they sent over. We took the (several) lemon drops and I pretended I didn't speak any Chinese. It's definitely entertaining but I would probably not go back. However, although entrance was no longer free, it was only $100 NTD, which included a free beer. 

Hungover, we woke up for our last day in Taiwan and went to Beitou Springs. We went to the only outdoor springs. Entrance is about $20 NTD and you can buy a towel for $50 NTD. There are three hot springs and two cold water pools. The place is filled with older people who soak in the springs for hours. I couldn't stay in one spring for more than 5 minutes so I kept going in and out. I also felt weird for wearing a bikini in front of old Taiwanese men. It was a cool experience though (the springs, not the bikini part), and you feel like you are far outside of the city, even though you're really only a few train stops away. 

If you walk up the main road you will also hit a small row of restaurants. We stopped in one of them for noodle soup. There are only a few to choose from so it's the one right next to the coffee shop. I'm going to miss Taiwan! Will be back soon. Off to Vietnam tomorrow!

National Palace Museum and Shilin Market

The National Palace Museum is a must-see. The museum houses the emperors' treasures that were saved from the war. The entrance fee is about $160 NTD and $80 NTD for students. The museum is pretty big but there is a free English tour every hour, which I would highly recommend. We actually only stayed for the tour but it's very informative and you learn a lot about Chinese and Taiwanese history and culture. The tour guide takes you to all the "must-see" exhibits and tells you things you wouldn't normally learn from the placards. You walk around with these headphones so that you can hear the guide speak over all the screaming children. It's definitely worth it.

After a day of learning, we headed over to the Shilin market. This market is one of the busiest but I think it is also one of the better markets in Taipei, after going to a few already. The food court, which is underground, will overwhelm you but there is something of everything to try there. We had stinky tofu, minced pork with rice, shaved ice, fried buns, and a scallion pancake roll (pork floss wrapped in scallion pancake). If I had more time in Taipei, I would go back again. I also bought about 5 boxes of this amazing pineapple cake. It's one of the shops near the entrance - I can't remember the name but the brand of the pineapple cake is Hsu's Bakery. Yum. 

Chiang Kai-Shek and Soup Dumplings

We got back to Taipei early this morning. It was raining the entire day but we were troopers and trekked to Din Tai Fung, a popular soup dumpling place in Taiwan. They now have branches all over Asia and in the US but we went to the original one. We got there and there wasn't much of a wait. Hearing great things about these dumplings, we ordered three different kinds- traditional pork, truffle oil with pork, and shrimp and squash. I liked the traditional pork dumplings but I really couldn't tell the difference between these and other soup dumplings I'd had. They were good but nothing special. I would go back but never wait in a long line for them.

It was still raining when we finished but we decided to head to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial anyway. I never knew why my family hated him but now I understand, although the memorial doesn't really portray him in the light my parents see him. After all, this entire museum was built to honor him. It was definitely worth a visit though. Entrance is free so why not peek in and get a cool stamp.

Family Reunion

This weekend we took the high speed rail from Taipei to Kaohsiung to meet my family. We stayed at the Ambassador hotel, which is right next to the Love River. My youngest uncle picked us up and then took us out to dinner in the city. The next morning we woke up early to go running by the river. The air is definitely better here but it's a little hotter than Taipei since we were in the South. After our run, we went to Pingtung, a town right outside of Kaohsiung and also where my dad grew up. I met about 20 members of my dad's family. It was awesome and made my entire trip worth it. They were so nice and welcoming. I only wish I had gotten to know them sooner.

My parents gave me ginseng and chocolate to give them as gifts. Asians are so random. We all had lunch in Pingtung, where my cousin opened a Korean restaurant. G said it wasn't traditional Korean food so I think it was a Taiwanese Korean fusion. It was good and as usual we filled up on more than enough food. During lunch my fourth uncle told me that one of my aunts is also my godmother. Thanks Dad for letting me know. It was nice being there and hearing stories about my family and just seeing everyone together for the first time (that I can remember). This weekend has made me realize how much more important family is and how important it is to learn about where you came from.

Aside from family stuff, G and I went into the city on our own after lunch and explored the street market. I can't remember what it's called but it's the main one in Kaohsiung. Things are a little cheaper and you definitely hear a lot more Taiwanese being spoken. We bought scallion pancakes rolled with minced pork for dinner and called it a day. I'll definitely be coming back to Kaohsiung soon.

Running and Taipei

I almost collapsed during today's run. I started out at an 8:15 - pretty normal, feel-good pace right? At mile two I started feeling dizzy and, as I described to P, started heaving like a 400 lb man. The air and humidity in this place is just ridic. I thought I'd beat it by running at 7 am but the sun was blazing hot. Zhonghe Memorial Park is about .85 miles around, with a massive amount of cars and scooters idling beside you during rush hour. Pollution on top of pollution on top of thick, humid air, is certainly not ideal for running. It's no wonder people here don't run/wear jean shorts as running pants (evidence they don't know how to run).  I ended up just running 4 miles and then lugged myself to the street market for breakfast.

I decided against taking another five-hour nap today and ventured into Taipei. The MRT (Taiwan rail) is super clean and easy to navigate. I'm also of the mindset that if you can get around NYC, you can get around anywhere. I got off at the Taiwan Main Station and attempted to do some shopping at Q Square Mall but all I bought was a taro mochi ball. So worth it. The mochi here is fresh, not like that hard shit back home. Yum.

Got back on the train and got off at Ximen. Ximen Ding is a district with a ton of shopping and food stalls. And high schoolers trying to sell you ugly pens and then give you dirty looks after you tell them no. I ended up buying this passion fruit coconut jelly tapioca black tea. Sounds really good right? It was okay. Whenever I see passion fruit I always get it then remember that I don't like passion fruit. Sigh. Anyway, so I end up at this shop where the lady kept saying "us Malaysians" and then "us Singaporeans(??)" until I finally told her I was Taiwanese...bitch. I still bought a shirt though. For $10 (350 NTD)...! Weird thing is none of the shops let you try on clothes bc they're afraid people are going to get them dirty. Well for ten bucks, you can't really go wrong. I hope it fits my Malaysian/Singapore bod.

So feeling like a bargain mama, I then went to Ay-Chung -  a pretty popular Taiwanese spot known for their oyster vermicelli noodles. That is the only thing they make and your only option is a small or large. I got the small and brought it home to eat. Definitely worth a stop, especially for 45 NTD ($1.50).

Now I'm on my way to pick up gmonz!! So excited!!

Asia Part I: Taiwan

I arrived in Zhonghe today, which is just outside of Taipei. Sort of how Brooklyn is to Manhattan. I landed at 6:30 am and am staying at a family friend's place, Uncle J. He's a retired New Yorker who now lives in Zhonghe and has graciously let me and G into his home.
After taking a five-hour nap, Uncle J bought turnip cake and scallion pancakes and then took me around the hood, where there is a shit ton of restaurants and food stands. My heaven. We went to a "nicer" restaurant for dinner and had some real General Tso's chicken, meaning not the greasy, fried kind you eat at home. We also had a whole white fish, sautéed squid, duck egg soup, and egg tarts. Mind you, it was just us two. We did a good job at eating everything but mainly because the Chinese do not like to waste food so when I said I was full, Uncle J looked at me like I was cray and placed more food on my plate.
After dinner we came back and watched a movie and now I'm typing away on my iPhone. Tomorrow G gets in and I'm going to go for a run in the morning in the park across the street - Zhonghe Memorial Park. As long as I can run and eat, I'm a happy camper. Love this hood already.

Arenal

Today we hiked the base of the Arenal Volcano. For $10, it was much more worth it than paying $50 to do the same thing with a tour group. We were able to go at our own pace, on our own time. The guy at the entrance told us it would take about 2 hours to hike 6.2k. I told P that we were going to do it in 1 hour and I started sprinting through the hike. P, of course, wanted to enjoy the scenery and all that nature stuff so he forced me to slow down :) We still made it in 1.5 hours.

Breathtaking.

Pura Vida

Today is our second day in Costa Rica. After arriving at the wrong airport, we landed yesterday morning and spent most of the time driving from Liberia airport to our hotel in Arenal. We are staying at the Tabacon Hotel and Spa. It's somewhat amazing here. They have hot springs scattered all through the resort. We woke up and tried to go to the gym but only one treadmill was open so we decided to go running alongside the sidewalk-less road. There were some intense hills but the scenery was completely worth it. We only ran about four miles but with the humidity and the inclines, it felt like more.

This afternoon we ventured into La Fortuna and walked around a bit. The town is small and there are tourists everywhere, as expected. If you are looking for a spot where locals hang out, La Fortuna is not it.

We had lunch at Las Brasitas and then stopped by a panaceria where we picked up some bread for breakfast. The food at Tabacon is pretty expensive. Last night we ate at the buffet in the resort and the food was only mediocre. Today is also P's bday. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do the things we had planned because 1) poor timing and 2) he has been sick. Because of reason #2, he has also been quite the grouch...but we'll save that story for another day :)