DSan José International Airport, San José, CR @ 10:10AM, Jan 14

DAY 12
Yesterday was Friday the 13th. We ate our final breakfast at El Gato Negro,
the hotel’s restaurant, which translates to “The Black Cat.” Our bus also
passed under several ladders on the way out as it happened to be the day of
Manuel Antonio’s annual giant ladder parade. Gracias a Dios, nothing
terrible happened to us. We had our breakfast, where Jieling finally got
over her obsession with continental breakfasts and had an old fashioned
American meal of scrambled eggs and a hot dog. We departed for San José at
8:15AM. Goodbye sunny beaches of Manuel Antonio!

We made a pit stop at a souvenir shop which specializes in handcrafted
woodcarvings, which probably describes 99% of the souvenir shops in Costa
Rica. One of these carvings was two pigs humping. I did not buy this
souvenir. I got a few souvenirs for the family, though, so I it was worth
the stop. We got back on the bus and headed to San Josè.

We finally arrived to downtown San José around 12:30ish, and the first
thing on our mind was lunch. I asked a pharmacy security guard for a
recommendation on cheap, typical Costa Rican food. I had tired of eating at
restaurants catering to tourists, so I was hoping to get something less
refined and more authentic. He directed us toward El Mercado, a cramped
collection of shops and “un montón de restaurantes” as the guard described
it. It was exactly what Jieling and I were looking for: cheap, humble
looking restaurants with lots of Costa Ricans eating on their lunch breaks.
We ate at a seafood oriented place. We shared a fish ceviche, Jieling had a
seafood with fried rice platter, and I had a fried fish casado (typical
plate of rice and beans, squash, plaintains and a salad.) I sat next to two
Costa Ricans who doused mayonnaise on their French fries and seafood soup.
Apparently they love their mayo here. It was a really satisfying meal and
we left stuffed.

We then headed back to the main plaza, El Plaza de la Cultura, to visit
their Museum of Gold. It’s a small museum with exhibits describing the
history of currency in Costa Rica, Costa Rica’s indigenous people, and
their gold artifacts. It was a nice museum which had English translations,
which Jieling appreciated.

We went to the flea market a few blocks away so that Jieling could pick out
souvenirs for her family. We walked back and forth about 5 times because
Jieling couldn’t make a decision on what to buy. I enjoyed this. She wound
up choosing some cute wooden coasters and jewelry boxes with animals
painted on them. She tried to haggle down the prices with the vendors, but
they were insulted by her offer so they slapped her. Just kidding. She was
aggressive in trying to bargain to which the seller actually replied,
“Ouch…,” but she got a few dollars off. Success!

We went back to the Radisson hotel and rested for a bit because my tummy
hurt. We went to the hotel’s restaurant for dinner, which looked super
fancy. The table settings were all elaborate, the tables were adorned with
nice red table cloths, and each table had a nice orchid. We would’ve felt
underdressed if not for the other diners wearing jeans. The service was
super slow and awkward. I’m pretty sure the waiters were just bellboys who
didn’t know how to work in a restaurant. This actually made me feel more
comfortable, since the restaurant looked so stuffy to begin with. Jieling
had a fruit smoothie, because she loves fruits, and I had a negroni. We
shared a mushroom pasta appetizer, which was perfect for Jieling because
she likes mushrooms. I had an encrusted sea bass which was decent, and
Jieling had a grilled sea bass in a truffle sauce which she enjoyed. We
also had a side of mashed potatoes with a layer of cheese on top. The
mashed potatoes were OK, but anything with a layer of cheese gets elevated
into the delicious category (unless you are lactose intolerant.) All in
all, the food was OK and the service was pretty terrible, but it was
conveniently located.

We lounged around and channel surfed for a while, before passing out around
11PM. Our last night in Costa Rica. Memories!

DAY 13
We woke up at 7AM and got our baggage together. I hope I’m able to keep up
the whole waking up early thing when I get home, but I have my doubts. We
ate breakfast at the buffet downstairs, then said our goodbyes to the
people in our travel group. We met a lot of friendly people during our stay
here, which is nice. I think I socialize more comfortably with old people,
which is weird. We boarded our van and made the 30 minute trip to the
airport.

We’re at the San José International Airport right now, waiting for our
departure in a couple hours. This airport is actually a really nice place.
It has WiFi and Cinnabon! I don’t need to go home. Our flight gets in to
Newark, NJ around 7. We’ll miss Costa Rica, but we had a long, wonderful
trip here. Also, Jieling needs Asian food, so I think it’s about time to
head home.

All in all, I think this trip went splendidly. It rained a bit, which was
Jieling’s worst fear, but not enough to affect our activities. We got to
see all sorts of wildlife, eat a lot of rice and beans, and zipline 1km
across the canopy of a rainforest. Jieling has thousands of pictures of our
trip, which will be nice to look back at. This was our first trip outside
of the country, which lots of the older folks commended us on. They also
gave us lots of awkward advice about doing more traveling before we have
kids. Hopefully we will get to do this.

Jieling starts school this week and I am starting some things of my own,
but I think we’ll be sufficiently recharged to get back to work. We’ll miss
Costa Rica, but we’re sort of ready to get back to NYC!

Xoxo,

Gossip Girl (Steven)