Costa Rica at a glance

During our stay in Costa Rica, we visited Vocán Póas, Plaza este de Escasu, museums, and heritages. I was getting to know this country better and better. After all, I have to live here for another 5 months or so. I liked the air here, which was a pleasant and comfortable 19-23 degree. It was pretty much like the one in Taiwan in the autumn. Humming birds were very easy to see here, too. Some restaurants hung a bottle of honey or sugared water under the roof to attract humming birds and customers. I also found that the east skirt of San Jose is quite luxury compared to downtown. Prime shopping malls and communities were all located there, which looked 1st world to me if you recalled I mentioned 3rd world in the past blog. Haha!

Los Angeles-San Jose by Lacsa 601

It was a nighttime flight. I saw nothing but several lights although I had window seats. Taco-like sandwich was served on the airplane. A-go, my friend coming to Central America with me, won the prize, which is a return free-tickets in the region. Oh, how I wish I could be the winner. I just seated next to him!
We arrived San Jose International Airport at 8AM in the morning. On the taxi to my friend’s house, I had the first impression of this country. It looks really green everywhere. The mountains are different from Taiwan, either. No wonder this country is called the Switzerland in Central America.
My friend’s house was located at curridabat, 15mins drive from downtown San Jose. Referred to San Jose, the small capital looked really 3rd world to me. It takes time to pursued myself this is the capital of the wealthiest country in Central America.
Although I slept along the way from Taipei to San Jose, I still felt dizzy in the afternoon, which I think was midnight in Taipei. I took the first nap in this new world and ended up in the smell of dinner.

Taipei-Los Angeles by Malaysia Airline MX65

After teaching my mom how to use web cam and messengers to communicate with me, I had a farewell dinner with my mom. I could feel the anxiety between Mom and me. It was a silent and bitter dinner. Each one of us had our own concerns for the coming 7 months but didn’t want them to be the other’s burden. 7 months is not a short period of time, after all. So controversy was what I felt at this moment. On the one hand, I was very excited about the unknown journey ahead. On the other hand, my parents had to be alone by themselves for the past several months coz I’m the only son here. I knew it gonna be tough for them.
Anyhow, I left my house in a summer night with a sincere Good-bye. Thanks to Moorna, my aboriginal friend, I arrived C.K.S. airport for just 1.5 hour from Keelung. Checking-in my baggage at MX counter is like checking-in my coming adventure. I was getting excited. However, I didn’t remember much on the airplane. I suppose it should be peaceful and calm. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be wake up and had L.A. skyline right outside of my window.
It was about 7PM in L.A. At this summertime, it was still clear in the sky. The sky looked like 3PM in Taipei. This was my first time in U.S.A. I was quite upset by the view of L.A. The city looked really brow and located in the middle of desert. Only few skyscrapers caught my eyes. It was totally not what I expected!
U.S.A. immigration officer has long been notorious by its attitude toward East Asians because of the illegal immigrant problems. This happened to me this time as well. No matter how detailed I explained to him that I didn’t need a visa to entry Costa Rica, This immigration officer still questioned about my ability to enter into Costa Rica with on-site visa. Problem solved by asking for a Chinese-look officer’s help. He confirmed to the original officer that people with Taiwan Passport don’t need visa to visit Costa Rica. Well…which was exactly what I said to him!
Past through several baggage and security checking, which lasted for more than 1 hour, we were in front of TACA counter in the super busy LAX. I had no idea of how Latino looks like until I saw the TACA counter. He has a sparkling curl hair and mustache. Very friendly, too. Our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica was at 1:30AM, quite plenty of time for us to explore this airport. We went upstairs looking for dinner, or breakfast if we had been in Taiwan. I had a Woo-long noodle. I remembered it was astonishingly pricy and had nothing but noodles! Mm….L.A. has ugly skyline and pricy bad food.