Sofia Somewhere

I've been back home for a few days, but busy getting my documents ready for my Spanish visa application (more on that later!). Just a few more pictures of the last stretch of my trip. Monday was our shopping day! We started out with lunch (Japanese for my forever craving)... Then drove to two shopping centers. Since it was Labor Day (September 1) a lot of stores still had their Labor Day weekend sale going on. We ended the night at The Cheesecake Factory where we shared the huge servings of food and a delicious Oreo chocolate cheesecake.

From L.A. it was off to San Francisco! We had an early 8am flight, though we had to leave at around 5:30 since we were coming from Anaheim. Our flight ended up being delayed, but we made it okay to San Francisco (and took a nap the rest of the morning). We had a late lunch at In-N-Out Burgers ! And then spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at Target. :) The next day we drove to Tracy which was quite far (a little over an hour without traffic) to surprise Tisha for her birthday.

The morning before I left for Los Angeles, Tita Susan took me out to breakfast for some really good eggs benedict . Then she dropped me off at the airport and I was off to L.A. In L.A., Ange and our friend Tasha picked me up at the airport. From the airport we drove to Downtown and chilled there for a while. For dinner, I met up with Tita Louele who was my adult leader when I went to CISV in 2001! It was so nice to see her, catch up, and make kwento. We ate at a really good hand roll sushi bar, KazuNori .

Spent the next two days touring Downtown Chicago. On Monday afternoon Tita Isa dropped me off at the Art Institute of Chicago  (General admission $23, Students $17) since she had to go see patients. Art Institute of Chicago One of the two famous lions that guard the entrance

On Friday morning, I left New York for Chicago! I was actually flying out of Newark Airport in New Jersey so I took the train from Penn Station to the airport. The train was quick, about 25 minutes (and then another 12 minute air train from the train station to my terminal at the airport). I had a pretty uneventful flight with a stopover in Boston, and even landed early in Chicago. But we were made to wait in the plane, and ended up waiting for almost an hour. My Tita Isa picked me up in the airport and then we drove their home in the suburbs, in the north of Chicago.

I started off my last full day in New York with an early lunch at Eataly , an Italian market and food place in Madison Square Park. The place was incredible. They sell all kinds of Italian products - from pasta to chocolate to sauces to coffee, and many more. The set up is also really interesting. Aside from the open market, they also have restaurants. So they sell the meat beside the meat restaurant, the pasta beside the pasta restaurant, so and so forth. Fruits Fresh pasta Focacia

The next day, I put on my rubbershoes and prepared myself for a day of walking all over Lower Manhattan. First, I went back to the High Line , since I wanted to walk it again, but this time more slowly. (In a bobo moment I realized that I brought my camera but left my memory card at home. Buti na lang it was still the start of the day, so I was able to take pictures on my iPhone. So not so great quality photos for this post). It was my second time around at the High Line but I was still so amazed and impressed by it. Walking along the High Line

Spent the whole day today visiting museums in Manhattan. First up was the Museum of Modern Art (also my favorite among the three). The 5th and 4th floor were the paintings gallery. They had a lot of classics, including one of my favorite paintings: Van Gogh's Starry Night . Van Gogh's Starry Night Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans

Before Dan left, we woke up at 6am to try and get on The Today Show ! The Today Show is filmed live every morning at their studio in Rockefeller Plaza, and at the Plaza there is always a crowd of people with signs hoping to get 'interviewed.' The crowd outside the studio The guy in pink selects several random people who are interviewed/talk about their signs

Dan just had a weekend in New York, so we squeezed in as much as we could in the next two days. First up: the Statue of Liberty . We set out early in the morning and took the subway all the way to the tip of lower Manhattan. From there we went to the ferry dock and lined up for the ferry. The ferry to Liberty Island Manhattan from the ferry

On Friday, I waited for Dan to arrive from Ecuador. He came in at around noon, and then we set out to explore. First up, Chelsea. We visited the Chelsea Market and bought some pasta for lunch. It was a make-your-own-pasta sort of take-out; you could choose your noodles, sauce, and add any toppings you wished. They had some pretty interesting flavored pasta Four cheese & bacon fusilli for me and pomodorro & mushroom meat ravioli for Dan

On my last full day of Virginia, Fonso actually left for Europe, so Tita Olyn took the afternoon off to drive him to the airport, then we went around after. First up, we drove to Maryland to visit the National Harbor . It's a fairly new waterfront; with lots of shops and even a ferris wheel. It was a nice and windy day when we visited.

On Monday, Moni and I were supposed to go shopping in Virginia and then sightsee on Tuesday, but weather forecasts said it would rain on Tuesday, so we switched our plans around. We took the metro and headed to the city after lunch. First up, the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden , a modern art museum which initially opened with Joseph Hirshorn's private art collection. The sculpture garden was really nice, but some of the galleries in the museum were under renovation so the exhibits were small. Still a good visit. Hirshorn Museum Hirshorn Sculpture Garden In the garden they also had an installation of Yoko Ono's Wish Tree . Visitor's can write down wishes on the papers provided and then tie it to the tree. When the tree is full, the wishes will be collected and sent to Yoko Ono and then to the Peace Tower that she created in Iceland. Yoko Ono's Wish Tree We walked along the National Mall and checked out the Air and Space Museum ... ...and ...

From Costa Rica it was off to the U.S. I had a connecting flight in Orlando, and since that was my port of entry, I had to go through immigration, pick up my bag and drop it off for my next flight. The flight from San Jose was slightly delayed and the immigration line was so long, I was worried I would miss my flight. I was able to get my bag at 6:40 which was the time of my flight, but luckily for me it was delayed so I was able to drop off my bag and make it to my gate. Washington Monument and D.C. city lights as seen from the plane. Back in the U.S. after 10 years!

On my last day in Costa Rica we booked a tour with Pozo Azul to go ziplining and white water rafting.  We were picked up somewhere in the city, and the drive to Sarapiquí was about 2 hours long. Our package costs US$110 and includes round trip transfer from the city, breakfast, ziplining, white water rafting and a buffet lunch. It was a pretty good deal, and we were really happy with the day's adventure. :) We left San Jose a little before 7:30am and arrived in Sarapiquí by 9:30. We had breakfast first at the lodge which was right beside the river.  Then for our first activity of the day -  ziplining (they call it canopy here). Gearing up