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Pho in Los Angeles

A very belated post but Adam and I ate at a great Vietnamese restaurant in L.A. We were sick during our time in Los Angeles and we had plans to go here so I did some research on restaurants in the area and when I saw claims that Pho 79 had the best pho in Los Angeles, I knew that it was a place we should go to and it did not disappoint. I loved their spring rolls and their pho, the broth for which was scented with star anise. I mean, look at this pho:

Wish I could find a good Vietnamese restaurant by our apartment. I also wish going to Trader Joe's here wasn't such an ordeal compared to just about everywhere else in the country.

Final Days in Panama

We returned to Panama City Friday morning and I prayed that none of the tiny ants that dotted our hotel room would make it back home to our apartment. We walked around Amador Causeway which wasn't really what I had imagined (I also stubbed my toe here). Made it to a wine bar just as a rain storm hit, waited out the rain storm, had difficulty finding the restaurant we wanted to go to for dinner but eventually made it there (a frustrating thing about Panama City is the lack of addresses). Encountered heavy rain for the first half of Sunday but, fortunately, shopping was on my agenda and we took refuge in two local malls but the shopping was disappointing so we killed time at a restaurant and a few casinos. Oh yeah, and we went to the city's main modern art museum which was free but small and also disappointing.

I think if I could have done things differently, I would have skipped El Valle and shortened our time in Panama City and gone to the Azuero Peninsula instead. Overall, however, we enjoyed our time in Panama and the trip piqued my interest in snorkeling (I keep threatening Adam with the prospect of retiring in Belize ;)

Day 7: El Valle

Friday morning and another early riser for us since we had another bird-watching tour planned. Our guide wanted to start nearby first in hopes that we'd be able to see some hummingbirds and other lower-elevation birds so we parked on a residential street and actually saw a lot of birds. We then went to a nearby rainforest preserve (unfortunately, the name eludes me) and saw another bird that I had really wanted to see, the Keel-Billed Toucan.

We walked through the preserve for a bit but didn't see as many birds and then went to an area by a farm that was super-muddy when it began to rain (the only rain we saw during our outdoor excursions, fortunately) and thus concluded our bird tour. It ended up raining for most of the afternoon (which I guess it does with almost daily frequency), dampening my plans to go to the local hot springs but we had dinner at a fairly nice if somewhat overrated restaurant.

Rufous Motmot- Adam actually spotted this one!

Day 6: El Valle de Anton

Thursday morning we had a flight to catch back to Panama City and then we had to go to the main bus terminal for transportation to our next destination, El Valle de Anton. We bought tickets and then boarded the next van leaving for El Valle. Shortly after we left the station, one of the van employees popped in a copy of one of the Rush Hour sequels and for much of the trip, Rush Hour blared from the speakers to my chagrin. The van made many stops, picking up and dropping off passengers along the way but we eventually made it to El Valle and our hotel. It was raining when we arrived and we took the opportunity to grab lunch at a nearby restaurant. Eventually, the rain cleared and taking one of our hotel proprieter's suggestions, we visited the local zoo. The zoo was a little farther than we thought but the temperatures are a lot cooler in El Valle and it was nice to see the cloud-filled mountains that formed much of the town's backdrop (including a mountain known as Cerro La India Dormida, or the Sleeping Indian Woman aptly named because of its shape). The zoo grounds are filled with plants and nicely landscaped and there were a lot of birds (they had a huge collection of different varieties of chicken for some reason) so I was happy. When we went out for dinner the air was filled with the sounds of frogs and we wished we had a flashlight to see the sources of these sounds.

El Valle

Day 5: Bocas del Toro

Wednesday, we had another boat excursion planned, this one to Dolphin Bay, Isla Bastimentos, and two popular snorkeling destinations. Our first stop was Dolphin Bay and we spent about a half an hour eagerly scanning the water for dolphins before we finally saw a few dorsal fins popping out of the water which were spotted by other boats. We were happy to see dolphins but I was hoping for something akin to my experience in Trinidad where we had seen dolphins jumping in the air. Then we went to our first snorkeling spot, Cayo Coral. I had forgotten to bring my snorkel and neither Adam nor I are good swimmers so we both opted to wear life jackets and swim around the surface to look at fish and coral. I really enjoyed it though I managed to break our boat guide's ladder in attempt to climb back onto the boat. Our next stop was Salt Creek Village, a small indigenous village on Isla Bastimentos. The entrance to the village is a narrow creek surrounded by mangroves and after we disembarked the boat our guide brought us to a small building where we were taken on a tour of the village by one of the village residents, a young guy who seemed rather sullen about the prospect of showing two tourists his village (the only time he smiled was when Adam yelped as his flip flops were submerged in mud). The sun was quite strong and I was already a little tired from snorkeling and by the time we reached the local rainforest, I was pretty sweaty and I'm sure, not looking my best. We trudged through the forest as our guide pointed out small red frogs and then made our way back to the building. The experience of walking through this small village was pretty surreal though and, perhaps because I was quite wiped out by the time we climbed back to our boat, the image of schoolchildren and mangrove trees made all the more darker by the bright sun made for an even more surreal sight.

"I think I need to jump back in the ocean," I told my guide when he asked us how we were and we made our way to Red Frog Beach, located on the other end of the island. The entrance to the beach is actually a fifteen minute walk from the beach and the walk takes you past a forest with palm trees and other vegetation which also felt surreal. Red Frog Beach is one of those beaches with a few palm trees but, otherwise, no shade, and while I enjoyed walking through the warm ocean waters, I didn't have a significant desire to stay long and Adam informed me he wasn't feeling too well so we didn't stay long. I convinced Adam to let me snorkel and our last stop was Hospital Point, another popular snorkeling spot which is quite close to Bocas Town. I really enjoyed snorkeling here--there were lots of cool fish and coral and I really could have snorkeled here all afternoon but poor Adam was in pain so I kept it short and we headed back into town.

Poor Adam was hit with a double whammy--heat stroke and some kind of gastro-intestinal bug so I headed out for dinner this time on my own. Unfortunately, around this time Bocas Town was hit with heavy rain (fortunately, however, we managed to elude rain during the rest of our time in Bocas) but I braved the rain and headed back to El Ultimo and had some yummy pork tenderloin braised in balsamic vinegar dish and a caiphirina. The strength of the rain storm was impressive and I was reluctant to walk back since the streets aren't paved so I managed to squeeze into a taxi with other occupants and get a ride back to the hotel for a mere 75 cents.

Salt Creek

Salt Creek Village

Red frog in Salt Creek Village rain forest

En route to Red Frog Beach

Red Frog Beach

Day 4: Changuinola River

Tuesday was another early morning as we had to get up to catch a water taxi from Bocas to Changuinola where we had another excursion planned. The boat ride was nice--it passes through Canal Soropta and San San Pond Sak Wetlands, albeit very quickly so the only birds you catch are ones flying away. I was also disappointed we didn't see any manatees.

After arriving in Changuinola, we took a taxi through the town, which is near Costa Rica and has many banana plantations. I noticed the blue bags covering some of the trees and asked what they were and was told they were filled with pesticides (I can only imagine what this means for the banana plantation workers). The driver stopped off an internet cafe to pick up our guide, Jeison, and then we pulled into an area alongside a river where were met by a boat captain. Now this is the part that threw me off--I had wanted to explore Palo Seco Reserve and Amistad International Park and found a tour group that organizes cultural tours of the area and arranged a more nature-focused tour so when we pulled up to a river and were told to roll up our pants and walk in the river to board a motorized canoe, I was pretty puzzled. I had completely expected another full-day trek through a rainforest but as our guide explained that we would be spending several hours on the boat, I realized I was mistaken. As we settled into the boat and enjoyed the cool breezes as we rode down Changuinola River, my disappointment lessened. When we disembarked to walk through a section of forest where Jeison was able to find a few tiny frogs I realized why perhaps walking through the forest might not have been the best experience. On our way back to the boat, Jeison and the boat captain found a huge snake hidden in the undergrowth, one that was about the size of a boa constrictor. Still, I have to admit I was disappointed that we weren't able to explore the rainforest or see much wildlife along the river (according to our guide, iguanas like to hang out on the trees along the river bank but we didn't manage to spot any).

Around lunchtime we pulled up to this spot by these river rapids and Jeison directed us to walk across a section of the river for a nice view of the rapids. Neither Adam nor I had expected this and it was a bit daunting to walk across slippery rocks along a river but, fortunately, we made it across and back without any incident. We then had lunch, fish and potatoes wrapped in bright green leaves. Lunch was really good and the experience was probably all the more enhanced by the fact that we were eating out of leaves (a first and definitely a novelty for us). We chatted with Jeison and he mentioned he had spent a year abroad in upstate New York during high school and mentioned he had never encountered such cold temperatures before and had asked his brother (who he was staying with) why the outside was air-conditioned, which I thought was funny. He pulled out a bottle and shared some cocoa water (ground cocoa mixed with sugar and water) with us which I completely loved.

On our way back, we stopped off at a small village where we were treated to a tour of the local medicinal garden and a short but charming dance by the local children. Overall, a completely unexpected experience but one we still enjoyed.

After the tour, we were dropped off at the water taxi station which adjoins a local park. Some of the play equipment was in sad shape but there were lots of kids racing sand filled plastic bottles which was kinda cute. Many of the communities along the Changuinola River are endangered by the way by a dam project intended to generate hydroelectric power currently under construction by the Panamanian government.

For dinner, we went to El Ultimo Refugio, a restaurant owned by an American woman who is also the restaurant chef. Adam ordered a lentil soup that was cooked in coconut milk and ginger which was really good and I ordered tuna croquettes and shrimp cooked in a passion fruit sauce that was also quite good. We also had one of their signature mixed drinks--a passion fruit concoction I believe that was a perfect alcoholic refreshment for a warm Panamanian evening.

Canal Soropta

Bananas trees and bananas

Changuinola River

Our neatly packed lunch

Cocoa water- yum!

A fruit which Jeison mentioned looks and tastes like boiled eggs- no thank you!

The village we visited

And tour we recieved of their medicinal garden

These are the kids that performed the dance for us

Kids performing the 'tiger dance,' a dance intended to celebrate the killing of a tiger (which used to attack villagers)

At the end of our boat tour, we saw this tractor driving through the river with several cattle!

Day 3: Bocas del Toro

Monday morning, Adam and I had to wake up early again to catch an early flight to Bocas del Toro. Panama is a pretty small country so even though Bocas is on the western end of the country, it only took an hour to fly there from Panama City. We arrived at the hotel before check-in time but, luckily, there was virtually no one in the hotel restaurant which overlooks the water so we decided to eat breakfast on the veranda. Looking out at the water, Adam indicated he was pretty psyched about being in Bocas.

Not one to waste time, I asked the woman at the desk if she could arrange some private boat tours for us which she did. We still had some time to kill so we decided to check out Bocas town. Bocas town is a pretty small town, consisting primarily of a main commercial street and a bunch of residential streets. Even though it was only about 10 a.m. the sun was quite strong and it was already pretty hot. The main street had one of the old western town feels under the bright glare of the morning sun. We headed back to the hotel after check-in time, grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant, and got ready for our first boat tour, a tour of Isla Pajaro, a small island occupied primarily by Brown-Footed Boobies and Red-Billed Tropic Birds with Frigatebirds soaring overhead, a local beach called Bocas del Drago, and Starfish Beach.

The distances between the islands was greater than I thought--it's always hard to gauge scale when you look at a map and I had initially thought the islands of Bocas were really close to one another but they weren't but riding along the water definitely brings welcome relief from the heat. Isla Pajaro was great--we circled twice around the island and gawked at the birds perched and flying around the island. Bocas del Drago was lovely--my ideal Caribbean Beach with the perfect mix of palm trees, shade, beautiful water, and sandy beach. We walked around a bit and then headed over to Starfish Beach, an aptly named beach notable for its starfish that line its waters. By the end of our boat trip I was enamored with Bocas. Many of the restaurants along the main street overlook the water and the restaurant we had dinner at was no different. We had tasty seafood and tropical drinks--a perfect way to end our first day in Bocas.

Our hotel veranda

Isla Pajaro

Bocas del Drago

Starfish Beach

Day 2: Panama City

Apologies for the gap between postings--the week we returned from Panama we left for L.A. so between catching on stuff at home and being in L.A. I haven't had time to post about the rest of our vacation until now.

Anyhow, our second day in Panama we got up bright and early for our first birdwatching excursion. I began to wonder if our guide remembered though when he didn't show but after several phone calls and he was able to talk to someone at our hotel desk to get directions, we were finally on our way. Our first stop was Soberania National Park, home of the famous Pipeline Road, which is a major birdwataching destination within Panama. Afterwards, we went to Metropolitan Park, a rain forest right in the heart of Panama City.

I was really apprehensive about our rainforest excursions because my only rainforest experience was in Trinidad & Tobago and I was worried about the heat, getting caught in heavy rain, and, of course, mosquitoes! Both rainforests were quite hot and humid and I did get bitten by mosquitoes, particularly when we went off the path to check out some Antbirds, but we lucked out in terms of not encountering any rain and it wasn't as bad I had feared (thank god we didn't encounter any bullet ants).

I kept a bird list but, unfortunately, I didn't keep track of which location we saw each bird in so I'll just mention some of our favorite finds--I enjoyed watching the Antbirds for their behavior, we saw one of my favorite type of bird--the manakin (blue-crowned and red-capped), our first toucan of the trip, the Collared Aracari, and a bird that I really wanted to see, the trogon. On our way to our hotel, we also caught a bird with one of my favorite tails, the Fork-tailed Flycatcher. I was able to take a few shots of several Trogons through our guide's telescope.

Our trek through Metropolitan Park was also rewarded at the end with nice views of Panama City:

We checked into our second hotel, and took the proprieter's advice to walk up Ancon Hill to catch allegedly good views of the city but after walking half an hour and not finding these purported views, we walked back down. I used one of the hotel computers to go online but after getting bitten several times in five minutes, I quickly took refuge back in our hotel room. We returned to Casco Viejo for dinner at a highly regarded restaurant in Panama City, Manolo Caracol. The food was very good and, unfortunately, we could not squeeze in any ice cream from Granclement, which was only a few doors down.

Loved the collection of ice cream scoopers at Granclement though!

Day 1: Panama City

Our hotel didn't have a room available when we arrived, so we took the opportunity to grab lunch and I asked for directions to a local popular Panamanian restaurant. The hotel employee gave us a look when we indicated we would walk there and once we started walking I could see why--many street segments lacked sidewalks so there was very little, if any buffer, between cars and pedestrians (what few pedestrians there were). It is quite hot and humid in Panama which probably makes vehicular diesel fumes more noticeable when you first arrive. I thought Salta had been pedestrian unfriendly but Panama City makes Salta seem like a pedestrian paradise. The only public transportation that appears to serve the city are the brightly painted school buses that traverse the city's streets but many of these looked to be old and crowded. I had been disappointed by the condition of some of the sidewalks in Buenos Aires but at least the city had sidewalks and the sidewalks are probably significantly better maintained than those in P.C.

After lunch, we took a cab to Miraflores Locks, the closest set of canal locks to Panama City. It was pretty neat to see the ships pass through the locks although they do move through quite slowly. Frigatebirds also seem to like the area around Miraflores and there were a number of them gliding around the locks. After Miraflores, we jumped in a cab and headed to Casco Viejo. Just about all the guidebooks on Panama warn that parts of Casco Viejo are dangerous but I was skeptical until I saw the northern portion of the neighborhood--our taxi driver mentioned this is where Noriega's compound had been bombed. It was a bit early for dinner so we strolled the neighborhood (past the area that didn't look so safe) which we actually found really charming--there are many colonial buildings and while I haven't been to Havana the area struck me as being reminiscent of Havana. We walked to the southern tip where Paseo de las Bovedas is located and enjoyed the views of the water and Panama City. We had dinner at Ego and I had one of many caiphirinas that I'd enjoy over the course of the trip and we shared an excellent mixed cerviche.

Miraflores Locks

Paseo de la Boveda

Leaving for Panama

Adam and I are heading out to Panama tomorrow--I hope we'll have a good time but I'm apprehensive--Panama was somewhat of an impulsive choice (the airfare was inexpensive) and I'm worried about getting bitten up by insects and heavy rain (we'll be there during the rainy season) not to mention the fact that we opted not to take malaria pills. Hopefully, we won't contract malaria, get bitten too much, and we'll be lucky with the weather!

The Cleansing of 46th Street

After reading about the Cleansing of 46th Street, I decided to go today's festivities instead of the main Brazilian Day event tomorrow. I've always wanted to go to Bahia and actually was really hoping we could have gone to Brazil this year but thought that a little glimpse into Bahian culture would be as good as any. After I walked out of the subway station, I noticed several women dressed in white dresses and headpieces walking down 46th Street and followed them--fortunately, my instincts (and timing) was perfect as they eventually stopped amidst a group of similarly dressed women and a number of drummers. Not long after, they began singing and dancing down 46th Street and I started snapping away. It was probably my favorite NYC festival to date--I love Brazilian culture and can't wait for the day we step foot in Brazil.

Minnewaska State Park

Took a day off from work yesterday to go hiking with my mom and siblings up in New Paltz. Unfortunately, by the time everone arrived and we had lunch (a really nice picnic spread), we didn't have much time left to hike. We ended up going to Minnewaska State Park, which I think was a good choice--we saw a beautiful lake and cute waterfall all within a mile. A few photos below:

Staycation continued

This was a week of boat rides, the best weather (temperature wise) we've had all summer combined with unexpected downpours, wineries, the Olympics, and admiration for Woody Allen. On Tuesday, we took a boat ride along the Hudson River, catching the waterfall sites along the way. The weather was perfect, save for the torrential rain that struck just as I left the subway station to walk over to the ferry pier.

Thursday, I tried catching this pool performance art piece with my sister--it was pouring that evening and we made our way all the way down to Battery Park only to discover that you had to RSVP to ensure entry or show up early to take the place of no-shows--we got there just as the show was scheduled to start so, needless to say, we didn't get in.

Yesterday, we went to Tanger outlet and a few North Fork wineries with Adam's sister--we used to do this annually before she had our nephew so it was nice to do this again after several years. We had dinner at our friend Kaiser's and watched the men's American swim team win the gold medal. Today, we decided to have a more laid back day and watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona which I really enjoyed--it's interesting to see Woody Allen expanding his geographical boundaries (even if the socioeconomic circles remain the same). Some photos from the week below:

Summerstage and P.S. 1

Adam and I loved the Kinky concert we went to late last year so we were happy to see that they were returning to NY again to play at yesterday's Summerstage. The weather this weekend was perfect and we invited a bunch of friends and had a picnic while the opening bands performed. The show was fun--for once, I got to watch the band near the stage without having to worry about mosh pits or a crush of people. A few photos from the concert below:

Today, I went to P.S. 1--I liked the Public Farm One installation and some of the pieces by Olafur Eliasson but my favorite was the Complaint Choir video installation--a series of songs sung by choirs whose lyrics were pieced together from complaint sessions conducted in various cities around the world--I liked it so much, I stayed for all the videos but my favorite ones were the ones from Chicago and Singapore. It was interesting to observe the universality of certain complaints and to hear complaints specific to certain locales and many of the songs were executed in both an entertaining and thoughtful way (I cannot wait to see the one from New York and am disappointed I missed the opportunity to participate!). I think I can now say having been to and enjoyed P.S. 1 nearly every time I've gone that it's probably my favorite local museum.

Tonight's dinner

Manestra with keftedes and kofta makaronia, basically Greek for meatballs with macaroni is a great comfort dish, an excellent substitute for the macaroni and cheese I recently decided to give up on eating (which I used to eat regularly) when I decided I would try to eat less white rice and white flour pasta. Before I first made this dish a few weeks ago, I searched high and low for banana peppers, even checking out the produce stalls in the Little Italy section of Philly when we were there about a month ago. I eventually gave in and decided to use a yellow pepper instead and the dish came out fine. I made this dish again tonight and it came out well--then again, who can resist saucy meatballs and macaroni? By the way, I only use whole wheat and gluten-free pastas now--in this case, an excellent elbow macaroni made with rice and soy.