Though I was excited to watch the Incredibles 2 movie this past weekend, I was even more excited to see the Bao short ahead of it.
There had been a lot of commotion on Twitter about it and couldn’t wait to watch it for myself. And at the core of it, I was so excited because I anticipated that Bao was going to be about me.
If you’re unaware, it’s a story about a dumpling and a mother. I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t seen it (go see it!), but I was blown away.
It was incredibly moving and made me look back on my upbringing as an ABC (American born Chinese). Both of my parents immigrated to the United States and when I was growing up, I often felt like I was being pulled in two different directions by two different cultures.
There was a part of me (at home) that was taught to be traditional Chinese, and then there was another part of me (at school and outside) that tried painfully hard to fit in as American.
I know it must have been hard on my mother as well. I’m sure she wanted me to fit in with all the other kids, but also felt strongly about passing on the Chinese way of life. So I was caught in the middle.
As I was watching Bao, I saw myself and my mom on the movie screen. It brought me back to my childhood and the push and pull of everything – the arguments, fights, understanding, and ultimate love that come with growing up between cultures. Not too long ago, I was Bao.
Costa Rica Pura Vida: Manuel Antonio and San Jose
After three days in Arenal, we spent the second half of our Costa Rica week in Manuel Antonio!
The little hotel we stayed out was right next to the Manuel Antonio National Park gates, and we spent a day on a guided tour there. Our guide was great and helped point out all the animals in the trees as well as let us see them up close on his monoscope that he lugged around with us. Though it was kind of funny that I spotted the first animal on the hike, a basilisk lizard that was crawling all over a tree eating a breakfast of termites.
I’ve always been fascinated by animals and plants. I just think it’s really cool to observe them in nature and learn how the living world all interacts within ecosystems. In an alternate reality, I would trekking through jungles as an animal researcher.
For me, this hike was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. We were lucky enough to see three sloths (both two-toed and three-toed species), including a mother holding a baby, and one super up close. We also saw squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, blue morpho butterflies, agoutis, birds, iguanas, bats, spiders, snakes, and a ton of small bright red-clawed crabs.
At the end of the hike, we relaxed on the beach Playa Espadilla Sur, which was where scenes from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. The beach was absolutely stunning and it was great to cool off in the waves, though we had to chase off a few gangs of raccoons and monkeys that tried to steal food from our bags.
To finish off that day, we grabbed some beers at El Avion, a pub built out of an old US cargo plane that was abandoned there during the 1980s Iran-Contra Affair. It’s not every day, you get to have a drink in a cockpit.
Cafe Milagro was another nice cafe/bar with some great local beers and live music to wind down the night to.
Another morning, we took a boat tour of the mangroves, which was really cool as well. We weaved our way through the mangrove canals and saw more wildlife on our way to an opening to the ocean.
There was a group of bats perched camouflaging under a large tree trunk, and a sleeping boa constrictor curled up in other branches. Some monkeys even crawled through some mangroves right up to our boat. We ended the boat trip with a nice local lunch and tamarind lemonade, which was delicious and refreshing for a hot day.
On that note, I really enjoyed the food in Costa Rica! Though a lot of it was corn-based and there was always rice and beans for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner, we had a lot of good fish by the beaches and quite a few casadas too. A casada is the typical Costa Rican dish that includes salad, rice and beans, a protein (grilled steak, chicken, pork, or fish), and plantains. We ate it at a bunch of sodas (small restaurants) and every place did it a little differently.
After a fun few days in Manuel Antonio, we finished off our trip with a day in San Jose. Though a lot of places were closed because it was a Sunday, we still got a chance explore a couple of cool, hip neighborhoods in the up and coming city.
Barrio Amon had some really colorful graffiti art and Barrio Escalante was lined with trendy bars and restaurants. Because it was set in a pretty suburb-y area, it reminded me a lot of Rainey Street in Austin, Texas.
All in all, Costa Rica was a blast. It was a great mix of everything: hiking, animals, hot springs, adventure sports, and beaches. Will definitely be back again! Pura Vida!
I recently returned from a weeklong vacation in Costa Rica.
It was sort of a last-minute decision to go, but I was really excited for it because I had never been to a rainforest area before. That landscape has been on my list for a while and it finally happened!
As our flight was preparing to land, the flight attendant announced: “Welcome to Costa Rica, Pura Vida!” If you don’t know, Pura Vida simply translates to “pure life” and is the Costa Rican way of life. From reading up on the country ahead of time, I was looking forward to the no worries, no stress, relaxing and easygoing lifestyle. Seemed like my kind of place.
During our week there, we decided to mostly split our time between Arenal and Manuel Antonio.
The first destination was Arenal, home to a giant volcano and lush forests all around it. Here, we did a bit of everything.
We soaked in some natural hot springs heated by the volcanic geothermal activity. I don’t know exactly what minerals were in that water, but my skin felt great afterwards.
Another day, we went on a tour to learn about coffee and chocolate, two of Costa Rica’s most famous food exports.
Later on, we hiked around Arenal Observatory, where we saw a bunch of cool birds, plants, and a few monkeys. During the hike, we climbed up a 100-foot tower and peered over the vast canopy. It was a little windy and shaky getting up those steps, but it was worth it for the stunning view.
As part of the hike, we also walked across a couple hanging bridges. Walking past all the ferns and exotic plants, I felt like I was in Jurassic Park. Minus the mosquitoes, I could hike through that jungle for days. Bug spray was our friend.
Last but not least, we ziplined through the rainforest! Some of the lines took us in between trees and some of them took us above canopies. It was quite the thrill and the views, man, THE VIEWS. At the end, we capped it off with a giant 250-foot Tarzan swing. This goes right up there below skydiving as the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done.
After three days, we headed off to our next destination in Manuel Antonio. This was actually the first time I’ve ever rented a car internationally and I must admit it was a little nerve wracking.
From having to negotiate the car rental contract to not knowing local driving behavior, there was a lot to figure out. Fortunately, I did research ahead of time and was also able to use trusty Google Maps to navigate.
Except for one detour route through a short stretch of super rocky, hilly, and poorly-maintained roads, driving was pretty pleasant actually. It was really convenient to have a car and the roads we ended up taking winded through some incredibly interesting and beautiful scenery.
On the way from Arenal to Manuel Antonio, we stopped for a bite to eat in Jaco, a sleepy-during-the-day and party-during-the-night beach town, and walked across a bridge over the crocodile-filled Rio Tarcoles.
A five-hour drive later, we were in Manuel Antonio! Part 2 of the Costa Rica trip to come.
I just saw the movie Black Panther a few days ago and was blown away.
I’m not going to spoil anything, but it was an awesome superhero movie that also so beautifully blended African culture and history. Beyond that, it shows us a world of what might have been if a part of Africa had never been colonized.
It’s sad to think of what has actually happened and visualize this alternate history, but we march on.
Watching the movie also made me think about my visit to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta earlier this month.
It was humbling to walk around the neighborhood where MLK grew up and see pictures and read more about the Civil Rights Movement. That fight for equality rights and equal opportunity remains today. We aren’t there yet, and some would say we aren’t even close.
But something that Dr. King preached was to continuously fight for progress. “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
We stand on the shoulders of giants who came before us and must keep that dream and that progress moving forward.
Wakanda forever.
If my 2016 was mostly a work roller coaster, my 2017 was a societal roller coaster.
America as I knew it was turned upside down.
The election of Trump and the racist rallies that followed were such a defining statement by American society, and it wasn’t a nice one. These, along with the scores of sexual harassment revelations and the #metoo campaign, made 2017 a fight between good and evil.
The events of this year showed that racism, sexism, xenophobia, and bigotry were alive and strong. They were just hidden, until emboldened. This is the true America, and sadly it took this shitstorm for me to see it clearly.
I had been optimistic and hopeful. This made me angry and disgusted.
It caused me to question my choice of friends, the people I worked with, everyone around me.
But sit down I did not.
This was a fight that I wasn’t going to sit out. This was a fight for the present and future, a fight for what’s right.
I argued. I marched. I crocheted pink pussy hats. I donated to my first political campaign. I supported others who kneeled for change.
We, as a nation, can be so much better.
Outside of this fight, I also spent a lot of the year in the air – 121 flights to be exact.
I was “traveling” 228 days this year.
My consulting job took me down to LA every week, and I also got to visit Kansas City, Nashville, Madison (3x), England, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, New York City, Burt Lake, Door County, and Seattle.
Looking toward the new year, believe it or not, I want to travel more. I want to go on more adventures and explore new lands.
There’s just something about seeing new places and experiencing new things. It’s inspiring and exciting and invigorating. Let’s go!