So I enjoyed the San Jose area on this trip. Next trip I plan to spend a little more time in the city area to check it out more. It seems many people who relocate move to the middle of the country; while that seems anti-intuitive to me, the coast seems more obvious, there are a lot of conveniences there that I need to consider.

When I was in San Jose, I chose my first restaurant based on a few things: It wasn’t an American chain, it wasn’t Chinese and it had hightop tables (had I known they had WiFi I might have gotten my laptop and factored that in too). It was a local little sports bar with food so I thought I could get a feel for some local “stuff”. But the people who ran this place spoke English so well I have to assume they weren’t locals. Even some of the people who appeared to be regulars conversed in excellent English with each other so it wasn’t really the experience I was looking for.

But since the food was delicious and they wrapped the napkins around the bottles all cute and fancy it was worth it.

Most of these photos are from the park but that’s because I was busy during most of the daylight hours while I was there. I’ll get some more next time. So here are the photos from San Jose at the La Sabina Park.

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So when I got trapped in Costa Rica for the few extra days I ended up staying at the El Punto B & B. It turned out to be an excellent place, it only has five or six units with a theme of colors, it might be the cutest place I’ve ever stayed. My unit had A/C, a ceiling fan, a very hot shower (but I never could get that much heat from the two sinks), two beds, two tables, three chairs and something I’d call a kitchenette but there wasn’t a way to cook anything but coffee (had a sink and medium refrigerator). I had found huge very comfy towels and a washcloth, made me feel very civilized. Outside I had another chair and table with a hammock. There was free internet but only up by the office and they also had what appeared to be a community area with couches, chairs and a television. There was also a nice double-sided page with info about the area (such as suggested restaurants), how to access the WiFi and useful info that all hotels should mimic.

Breakfast was amazing! A mini loaf of bread with jellies and jams and watermelon and pineapple and eggs with coffee and juice. My only real complaint is there just isn’t enough space to unpack (but I have that complaint quite often).

Here are some photos of the room at El Punto and of breakfast (breakfast included coffee and OJ which didn’t get shown in the photos).

It’s right around the corner from a nice outside mall, across from that is a Burger King/Papa John’s/Church’s Fried Chicken and down the street a bit (easy walk) is the downtown area. I’ll stay there again sometime (on purpose). I think they’re pretty close to the Zoo (that’s supposed to be excellent) and a nearby Volcano that was also recommended to me. Plus if I’m flying out of the Liberia airport it’s pretty convenient (I think during the busier season they might provide airport transportation?) and a cab was about $15.

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I love the Domus Kahuna unfortunately they were full when I came to Tamarindo a few days ago. It’s this small cute place a block from the main strip (it’s behind the Voodoo Lounge?) and we only found it by accident last trip (we pulled into the “driveway” to turn around and thought we’d check). Last time we had this tiny two bedroom with living room/kitchenette, I’ve just got a plain room this time but it’s perfect and it’s more than 1/2 off what I’ve paid the last few days. No view of the ocean but it’s only 150 meters to town and the beach and that’s better. I think it comes with a minimal breakfast (at least it did last time) and the free WiFi leaks into the room.

If you’ve been to / heading to Tamirindo, it’s the last turn before you get to the circle at the end of “the strip”; go up one block and hang a left and it’s shortly on your right (careful, the road is awful as soon as you turn off the strip).I couldn’t find this place in my GPS so here’s the info N 10°17.917 W 085°50.401. I would hope that would get you to a few meters of the spot.

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Sorry, I’ve been off-line lately, I haven’t had ‘net access or felt well enough to do it (I’ve been really really sick the last few days), but I’m feeling much much better today. I’ll give you the scoop on my experiences with the CR medical system later.

I’m in Tamarindo the next few days, I couldn’t get the little hotel that I liked from last trip, Domus Kahuna, but I grabbed a room at the Best Western Vista Villas since I didn’t feel well enough to go looking for a room (wanted a safe bet); I’d normally avoid the US chains when in Costa Rica. Turns out my room has a view of the ocean and so does the pool/returant area (which also has WiFi), it’s a little bit of a hike down to the water but it’s a great view

This is looking like one of the top weather days this trip so far! I think I just need to take it easy for a little bit still. So I’ll drive into town and pick up a few things and then head down and check out the beach.

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The proper name of the hotel is Occidental Torremolinos (Occidental owns a bunch of hotels, but I’m not certain if it’s a “chain” or what) it’s a two floor hotel built in a square (hollow in the center) with an outside pool/hot tub and some tables outside in the middle. It is a nice standard “American” hotel and it’s located just off the edge of a busy area but it’s not too busy by the hotel. The room is standard “Holiday Inn” but with nicer finishing touches it was about $80 for the night.

I walked around last night and my only real complaint is there were too many American chain restaurants (there were a lot of Chinese restaurants but not in one particular area, they were scattered all over) the neighborhood seemed fine. Lots of Internet cafe’s all over the place.

This is a boring review but I always have a hard time deciding where to stay when in big cities and San Jose is pretty big so I thought I’d offer the basics.

Breakfast is free, in a nice dining room, it had juices, fruits, some Kellogg’s cereals, scrambled eggs and some kind of sausages but a bit below a full blown buffet but as included breakfasts go, it was great. Air conditioner, ceiling fan, TV, hair dryer and coffee pot in the room. There was a phone in the room which definitely not standard in the costa areas but I guess I’ve had them downtown and near the airport. The have a few old Windows machines with free Internet off the lobby, but WiFi is $8 a day (I think it’s accessible from the rooms too). Free semi-guarded parking too.

It’s very near the big Parque Metropolitano La Sabana, if you’ve ever seen a map of San Jose it’s the huge park in the middle of town. I haven’t had a chance to go in it yet this trip, I did go in about nine years ago so we’ll see how it changed. I mistakenly stayed in San Jose my first trip, I only say mistakenly in that I just needed to spend the night until friends showed up the next day, but the San Jose airport is not in San Jose (just like the Detroit airport is not in Detroit) I should have stayed neared the airport in that case.

If I had to stay in town I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again (and I decided to stay Friday and leisurely leave on Saturday).

Hotel Occidental Torremolinos
Calle 40 y Avenida 5 bis
San Jose, Costa Rica

Phone: 011 (506) 2 222-5266
Fax: 011 (506) 2 255-3167
San Jose West, San Jose, Costa Rica

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This was the easiest layover I think I’ve ever had. I needed to go to gate E29 and when I got off the plane I was at E31, right next door! Usually I have to traipse all over the place but I still figured I’d have a long ways to go to get food and convienently there was a great food court around E25-ish. So there was no rushing no running it’s was great. I managed to get McBreakfast, pick up a cold sandwich for the flight and there was free WiFi to do a quick check of my mail.

And the flight? I have a whole row to myself. Actually, if everyone spread out I think every one could have their own row (out of the back 9 rows there are only 5 of us). The pilot thought it was a little bumpy for a while because of the tropical storm so it was a while before they passed out snacks but I thought it was fine.

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So I’m in some restaurant having the best Philly Steak and Cheese sandwich ever! It”s more of a real steak sandwich than a sliced one. The French Onion Soup was great too, but it was way too hot!

But I have no idea where I am! Some Bistro on Washtenaw Road near Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti. The name doesn”t appear to be written anywhere inside the restaurant…

Nice place. With lots of TVs for the sports crowd, but not really a sports bar. A few pool tables here too. Free WiFi too…

I’ll have to check the sign on the way out for the location and update this later!
Later:
Ahh, it”s just called the “Bistro Bar and Grill”, it does say “Bistro” all over the place in there…

It’s at 4735 Washtenaw and I’m still not sure if it’s Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti but it’s in the area of St Joseph’s hospital.

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So in Cabano at the Cafe Azucar having an air conditioned American breakfast. And to top it off, I’ve got access to some WiFi, very civilized.

If you’re in the lower Nicoya Peninsula you’ll probably be in Cabano at some time so you should stop by at the Cafe Azucar. It’s in the blue building behind the Banco Nacional. We had lunch there the other day and it was delicious then too. As an extra bonus, they make their ice out of bottled water so it’s okay to drink.

Note: I don’t think the WiFi is theirs so no promises on the WiFi…

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So my back and shoulder has been killing me all this week (stayed home two days). I really haven’t even been on-line much since sitting at a keyboard has been uncomfortable. You know if I haven’t been on-line it’s gotta be bugging me…

I went to the OMT (kind of the opposite of a chiropractor, they do the muscles not the bones, Osteopathic Musculature/Manipulative Therapy?) twice this week but that’s not really fixing it. The drugs that really work knock me out, so that’s not a great option; I bet I’ve averaged 18 hours a day the last few days. So today I went to my “regular” Doctor’s office, but she wasn’t in (they rotate on Saturdays) but they guy who checked out took care of me, a few shots into the muscle seem to be helping.

So since I was out (and not on the dizzy drugs) it seemed like a good time to run over to work to make sure some stuff that needs to run overnight was a-okay (you can’t upload if anyone is actually using it and it won’t run if you don’t upload it) but it looked like everything was uploaded just fine. Now I’m grabbing a Wendy’s Spicy Chicken, with free WiFi (Joy & Telegraph in Redford, MI), and then a quick stop at the grocery store…

It’s not really such a busy day in general, but it’s pretty busy for lately…

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These Chicken Nachos are delicious! I’m at the Restaurante Tabacon in Jaco, it’s right across the street from Planet Food (closed for years but still a landmark for giving directions). They come with everything, including sour creme, beans and guacamole (I did not get the latter two). It’s a huge bowl for 3,000 colons ($6), it’s not a appetizer, it’s a meal.

I think I really enjoyed my food lat time here too. They used to be a pizza parlor and I think that was really good too, if I recall back 3-4 years correctly…

Other details:

Actually it’s more that my shirt detects WiFi. I hope for the next blogger meetup we go somewhere with WiFi so I can wear my WiFi shirt! Watch the animation to the right…

Yes, I know I’ll look like a total dork geek, but isn’t that the point of a shirt like this?

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So Apple redid the iPod line-up yesterday:

So I’m on my way to Chicago to see a variety of bloggers (to see who, follow the updates over the next few days) and I stop in Kalamazoo (Michigan) for some gas. After I get off the highway, I’m driving along and the truck in front of me swerves and I see a tire hurtling towards my car. I swerved but it managed to clip my bicycle (which is on the back of the car) and and rip it off the rack and drag the bike for a little bit before I’m able to pull over.

It does turn out there is a Jeep minus a tire that I didn’t notice during my swerving, turns out it was out on a test drive from an auto repair shop. They said to bring them the bill for fixing the bicycle and the rack. They sent me to a local bike repair shop and the end result is they’ve done $90 in repairs and then decided that I should get the bike replaced and it’s 3 hours later and I’m still in K’zoo. Everyone is closed now, and the repair shop is closed for the weekend and I didn’t think to get a home number.

Arrgh!!!! Why do accidents happen on the way to places and not on the way home? Of course it could have been way worse but the point was I’m bringing the bike to Chicago for the purpose of biking. I would have taken the train otherwise, I love the train, the station is a mile from my house and I don’t have to worry about traffic or paying for parking, etc.

On a side note I’m in Bennigan’s right now, who has free WiFi (always a bonus) which I’ll keep in mind for the future, eating their delicious Guinness Glazed Chicken Stir Fry. Yummy food and the ability to access the ‘net always helps!

This was supposed to be a nice relaxing weekend and now I’m pretty cranky and stressed now. And did I mention that that I’m three hours behind schedule now? I’ll be better tomorrow, I’m just venting for now and telling you about the exciting part of my day. Now to decide how much further I should drive tonight…

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So I spent some time on Drummond Island (in Michigan just off the east side of the upper peninsula) a few weeks ago. You can see a better perspective of where this is by checking out this map. Note the solid line that zig-zags around it, that’s the Canadian international border. You have to take a ferry (from DeTour on the Michigan Upper Peninsula side) to get over to the island, it was great both times, didn’t have to wait for the next ferry (only once and hour) although we just made the ferry and I had to part at a 45 degree angle to fit! But at least I didn’t have to wait an extra hour. Since there is only one ferry you only have to pay to go there, there ride back is free.

I’ve been there before but only when it was very cold. It was beautiful weather the whole time, it was great to bicycle around. The stars were so clear and I had an excellent view of the Perseids Meteor shower.

The internet access was lacking though. They offer hi-speed free wireless at the chamber of commerce but the DSL was down for the whole weekend, , I was starting to get the shakes!!! FYI, the Chamber of Commerce is kind of the Visitor’s Center and is located at “The Four Corners”, everyone knows that’s the intersection with both the blinking red-light and a stop sign Plus, while I was there I got to hang out at the Northwood which is where everyone hangs out in all the Jill Traynor Mystery books. I had actually started re-reading New America (Book 4) while I was on the island.

So it’s a very relaxed atmosphere there, which is good as long as you want to relax. That’s all that I wanted to do so it was perfect, well, except for the internet being broken that was a problem for me (they did fix it sometime the morning I left) but not so much for most people….

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