“Oh em gee” is right!   I’ll be following the evoTrip crew around in March on a sweet trip to the the Orient…Asian, i mean Asia!  The task at hand; be asian and capture lots of incredible video footage!  Hmmmmmm, let’s see here…i think i remember the site saying “Hakuba, Japan -Take one step outside the rope line and feed on all you can eat pow“… gosh sounds terrible?! and oh yes, “Bali, Indonesia – Surf, relax, experience rich ocean culture and have such a good time you’ll pee your pants.“  I think i peed my pants when i found out i’m going!

I don’t mean to brag and certainly not trying to boast (Beastie Boys anyone?!) BUT im pretty excited.  MOST excited to possibly stop in Seoul, South Korea my hometown.  This isn’t K-town we’re talking about here…this is the real deal.  There is a layover from Bali on the way back home to the states and i need to figure out a way to get my baggage off that transfer flight, and to get my ass onto a 1 way ticket home after i find my mom.  This could be it?!!!

I will be stoked to have seen sumo wrestlers, snowboarded Hakuba and surfed Bali but the icing on the cake would be Korea… we’re talking about checking off a “To Do Before i Die” list item….probably the top and possibly close to the last required one on the list.

So you might be wondering what a KAD is? A Korean adoptee or KAD is a person who was adopted from Korea through the international adoption of South Korean children as a child and raised in another country, often by adoptive parents of another race, ethnic background, and culture. Now we both know!

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High tide isn’t till 2:45 today so there’s a lot of time to be productive before we head out to the water today… in an effort to save a couple bucks I headed out to do some grocery shopping, mail some postcards and maybe do some souvenir shopping.  I hopped on andrew’s bike and dropped into a few spots to see if they could mail my postcards and ran into a ton of dead ends, meh, ill do it later.  The street vendors and local shops weren’t quite open, the streets were just barely waking up at a lazy 10:00am.  Some street vendors were opening their shutters, but most were still closed.  I peddled on and ended up at Mas X Menos, the local grocery store.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon I chilled out, made some great Costa Rican coffee, had some breakfast and read for a bit until it was time to go surfing!

Sooooooo, not sure if I have yet to mention it but my friend Andrew Hansen is a Saint.  Those of you who know Andrew, aka Hammer, you already know this.  For those of you who have yet to be graced by his presence, ill have you know that I could spend the rest of my life in an aggressive pursuit for someone kinder and more considerate than this man, and I would be hard pressed to find someone who rivals his spirit.  Anyhow, why am I kissing this guys ass you might be wondering?  Please don’t mistake my praise for ass kissing.  Every day that my foot stepped in the water (with a 1 day exception), Andrew had biked with both of our boards down to Playa Hidalgo where the beaches were a bit sandier and waves a bit more forgiving than the beach right out front of his house.  I tried to carry my own board today and I would’ve lost my ass in damage fees on the board if I were to try.  The problem was that my arms were just way to short and the board was way to long for me to carry it on the bike…and the beach was just a little too far for a walk.  Thank you Hammer, I love you!

So today was my 2nd best day of surfing, ever!  Right about when we got to the beach it started its usual afternoon monsoon!  It was an incredible downpour and it was so much fun being out in the water when it was pouring.  It was like being in the shower, but with a swimsuit, a rashgaurd, a surfboard under your arm and about a dozen other people sharing it with you.   I spent the couple hours paddling out farther than I had before, I’m getting better at reading the sets sand paddling which makes things a lot more enjoyable.  I stood up and rode some larger’ish waves (large for me!) and felt myself being swept up and was able to really get comfortable with the water underneath me, I even attempted to turn the board a bit… I really wish I had some warm waters and decent waves to go home to, I’m going to miss this but I am looking forward to home.

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So about three hours later we arrive in Manuel Antonio and for starters, this place is beautiful.  The beaches are clandestine, just like in the brochures! Ha!  So yeah, we park as directed as we enter the National Park area and find ourselves paying for what I decided was actually free parking.  I only say this because I saw other people (obviously not locals) cruise by these guys and park down the street without paying.  From there we are approached by “guides” who are offering up their services.  Good idea eh?  We came here to see sloths, toucans, turtles, iguanas damnit, so if it means sourcing some local knowledge I’m down.  We have the option of going it alone, maybe we could save a few bucks and get adventurous?  anyhow, we talk homie down a couple dollars and decide that we want the most out of the experience…we are off.

So it was about a 2.2km hike in to the park and we would end up back on one of the finest beaches costa rica apparently has to offer, back by where we entered.  We saw lots of exotic little bugs that make funny noises, in particular the Secada, what an alien looking little fucker.  We saw an incredible amount of sloths, oooooh the sloths!  What content little creatures… can anything or anyone be more graceful and more deliberate about their movements?  Oy, these guys are sweet.  So yeah, we saw quite a few creatures, some bats, iguanas, deer, monkies, and more… it was scorching hot and I didn’t even hop into the water but I’d say it was worth the $20 plus the $10 entry fee to the park.

On the way home I’m passed out, the 5:00am wake up call was taking its toll.  We also were graced with another afternoon downpour which resulted in flooded streets and an interesting ride home.  It was incredible to see how unaffected locals seemed to be by the rain… we passed many bicycles and motorcycles and people hanging out at bustops…life just commences despite the pounding rain.

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Dia de nada is what I will call this day.  I spent most of the day vegging out.  My vegetable state consisted of sleeping in, reading more “Seat of the Soul”, swimming in our backyard pool, a ciesta, more reading and lots of tv.  Now that sounds absolutely retarded given the landscape that I find myself in right?  Well, I dont have tv back home so back off…350 days in the year are tv-less.  In light of some lessons in my latest book I am learning how to “lose myself” and indulge a bit.  Im on vacation right?

Also on the lesson’s menu acquired in “Seat of the Soul” is this idea of embracing your intuition. Here are some digestible tips from the book.

Techniques to cultivate one’s intuition:

• The first of these is to honor emotional cleansing at all times.  By keeping your emotions clear, emotional negativity does not reside in you, and you become lighter and lighter.  This will open your intuitional track when you aren’t focused on negativity.  (Feel and let yourself go through the motions whether happy, sad, good, bad or painful… do it and do it now or else it will nag at you till you do. sooner is better than later).
• The 2nd is a cleansing nutritional program.  Being physically toxic interferes with intuition. (um, yes?!)
• The third is to honor the guidance that you receive.  Emotional and physical cleansing leads to intuition and this leads to learning (Listen to your friends and family, at minimum expect that they can shed some light, a different perspective on your situation).

I did run around to take some pictures and went for a stroll on the beach actually… I took the pink peddler (my bike I bought) and sweat my ass off… was very therapeutic, ha and a boost to the ego! I get lots of whistles and horn honks every time I leave the house.

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Anyhow, I am in Costa Rica on my birthday, sharing it with a whole bunch of Ticos, American tourists and ex-patriots…aside from Andrew I’m sharing this supposed, super significant, special day with a whole bunch of strangers…and I couldn’t be more excited.  This is day is mine and only mine. I could do nothing, absolutely nothing if I want to.  No one gets to nag me to go grab drinks, shove cake down my throat or make me drive half way across the city to take my day away from me.  Im not jaded or anything but I just think about maybe the last 10+ years of birthdays and seems like the pomp and circumstance is more for everyone else?!  Anyhow I digress… I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be. I can’t think of anything that I want to do other than…”shock” and “awe”..nothing.  It’s beautiful.

So Andrew was super hungover and slept till about noon.  I jumped up around 7a and took a dip in the pool, read for a while, and took myself out to breakfast to Jaco Taco.  I nerded out for a bit to check in on work (I know I know, bad) and sent my return flight info to my brother so he knew when and where to be if I so decided to return home.

After that there was more poolside lounging, reading, a little ciesta, and next thing ya know Hammer was alive…ready for some food.  We dined at a Taco Bar and had some incredibly fresh Mahi and I treated myself to a birthday ice cream cone.  Pretty simple eh? It was perfect.

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Oh hey, it’s the day before my birthday.  …so high tide wasn’t until 9:45 and we were going to a closer beach this morning so I got to sleep into 6:30am…. For some reason since arriving here I’ve been able to pop right up even before my alarm goes off,  its kind of nice. Ooooh the things I could achieve if only I could get up at the butt crack back home!!

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So another day of surfing…another day of getting my ass kicked.  The waves at the beach right out front of andrew’s place weren’t any better…well they were larger and andrew was loving them, however I think I got even more beat up here…. I just can’t get past the damn break.  I did make it through a couple times today but when I’d fall I’d be back at the shore and would be faced with another battle to make it back out.  Damn.

I spent quite a bit of time losing myself in my senses out there… forgetting about how bad I suck at surfing and enjoying the moment.  Forgetting about all of my stresses  back home and taking it all in… trying to let myself lose control for once… I was really relaxed and by the time I was ready to go home for the day and couldn’t find my flip flops and was sandy from head to toe, I had not a care in the world.  I walked the 1⁄2 mile or mile, whatever it was back to andrew’s, barefoot with not a care in the world.. yeah it was kind of hot and yeah the surfboard is too big for me to carry under my arm but I really didn’t care.

Again, hopped in the pool for my Costa Rican shower and started my new book, “Seat of the Soul” and worked on my 2nd layer of burn to add some more red to my pink.  From there we really just enjoyed an afternoon of doing nothing… right now I am watching Top Gun accompanied by my 2nd glass of wine and looking forward to watching The Office tonight.  We did make it to the local surf shop and I purchased a rashgaurd… hopefully no more surprise visits from my boobies while I’m surfing.

After hours of sitting in front of the tv we decided that this would be our night to “go out”.  Andrew’s friend Alejandro was working at one of the bar/restaurants on the main strip, the only strip in Jaco so we started our night there.  It was ladies night so hopefully we could make this a cheap night.  Ladies drink free starting around 9pm at most bars.  So to sum up the night… tequila shots, meeting a cool newlywed couple from Colorado, swingsets at another bar and an aspiring musician from LA who is currently working at UPS and Hammer getting really drunk…lucky for me he was just barely sober enough to walk himself home…wasn’t lookin’ forward to potato sackin’ my friend who is probably pushing a deuce.  It was nice to get out but I really wasn’t feelin’ it… I really was looking forward to a hippy, spiritual escape from the toxins of home….the bustling city, schedules, expectations, drinking and spending money were supposed to all stay back in seattle for this trip.  The night was fine, and the conversation with Ryan from LA was insightful.  He was probably pushing, oh, id say 35 and it was refreshing to see him still dreaming.

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My first official day of vacation started at 6:00am!!!!!!! Well actually, since I still haven’t figured out the 1hr time difference I actually had set my alarm for 5:00am Costa Rica time…boo. Well, It wasn’t hard falling back asleep, so I did. 6:00am hit and I was in my little bikini and crawled into my board shorts and found a tank top to suffice as a rashgaurd and we were out the door.

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Siiiiince my little arms didn’t quite wrap around my long board, andrew being the gentleman that he is was kind enough to bike with both of our boards underarm… he lashed the two boards together with the leashes and we were off. God I feel like such a bitch. So we biked maybe 2 miles from Jaco Sol (andrew’s neighborhood) to Playa Hildago which is a bit more forgiving than the beach right in front of Andrew’s place. Yup, just as I expected…esta bonita, muy bonita! We lock the bikes and kick off our flip flops and we’re in the water. Let’s just get this out there…I suck at surfing… surfing is one of the most difficult sports that I have ever encountered I think. Aside from losing my top, and hardly making it past the break in the 2hrs we spent out there, I had a great time. I spent a good amount of the time watching and poaching technique off the locals who would drop into the waves with such grace, making me long to get my ass out in the water, to only get beat down again and again by the crashing waves.

The ride home sucked balls, the boards didn’t quite travel the same way north as they had south. I began to feel some major guilt and started to feel like that girl as Andrew struggled to hold onto the two 7+ foot boards on our peddle home.

Aaaaah, a dip in the pool and time for a Costa Rican siesta! After a nap we hit the local spot, Jaco Taco for some wi-fi and some Boca’s (beer and tacos), I highly recommend the place. Owner by American’s and run like a fine establishment, great food and killer happy hour (4-6pm). I caught up on some emails and buttoned some stuff up, cued up 18 outbound emails and we were headed back for more….yup, doing nothing! I think we watch 2 of the 3 Matrix episodes, we both read a bit and it was bedtime yet again… I still want to get up so I can hit the surf… and maybe actually surf and not just get my ass kicked.

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So I woke up and felt invigorated despite the exhausting trip from the day before. I jumped up as it started warming up outside and getting light out. First thing I did was grab a glass a water, my swimsuit and I immediately hopped in the pool..aaaaaaaaaah, nothing like a morning dip. I had some time to kill before adventures ensued because Andrew had his Spanish class following surfing so I figured I’d read for a bit, finally finish off “Eat, Pray, Love” and bath in the sun out by the pool… read and bath I did. I finally finished the book which most likely inspired me in some way shape or form to take this trip to visit Andrew but I couldn’t have picked a more perfect time to finish the last couple pages. If you’ve read this book you know how wonderful it is, but if not ill tell you how wonderful it is. Its wonderful. The book is a total reflection of my life and the questions I’m faced with as of lately and I found so much comfort in hearing that I’m not the only one faced with these things. The beautiful thing about it is that I’m 25 (26 in 3 days) where as Liz the main character was 35 and figuring this life thing out… I’ve learned that every possible thing in this life that I will ever need is right here in my back pocket, and that just have to choose when to pull it from my pocket and put it to use. God? I am god. J not sure how really to explain this one but basically all those questions, the answers that often come in the form of nagging little voices in the back of your head, this is your god, this is a glimpse of you in the future, the person you aspire to be, the person who you will become giving you some words of wisdom. If you could take yourself back to when you were 9, maybe 15, fuck, even a year ago and you were at a crossroads or had a begging question, don’t tell me there wasn’t a voice?! Anyhow, I know I have done a pisspoor job at tying these thoughts together or really articulating their relevance to this trip but really it was just aperfect time for me because my mind and my heart are open right now to everything being thrown at me, including this book.

So 1.5hrs later, poolside still, Andrew returns home and is ready for adventures. Step number 1, time for molly to purchase a bike! Andrew’s Spanish teach has a friend who is selling a bike she hasn’t ridden in years, literally years. She will sell it to me for $15000 Colones ($30). I figure this is about the cost of one day’s rental, it needs a little TLC but ill take it. First things first, crash the new bike… done and done. Next is food ($3500 Colones/$6USD for both of us), sunglasses, the banco and surfboard… Carton Surfboards on the (South?) end of town is where Andrew purchased his hybrid fish board for a great deal so I figured these guys sound legit, I would like to rent my board from them. We peddle our way to the South end of town and after seeing these guys shaping boards in the back room I’m sold. $12USD/day for the next 8 days for my hybrid/femme 7’ish footer.

From there we cruise back to the house to drop off my new toy then jaunt back for groceries, Andrew was going to brew up some comida typico, a special concoction known as Gallo Pinto – rice and beans and usually chicken which is the staple meal here. We got some groceries and brought them back to the house and took a dip in the pool to clean off a day’s worth of sweat and already were ready to get back out into the heat for our last adventure of the day. Above the southern most point of Jaco’s sandy beachfront is a view point that apparently has incredible views. Hammer being the gentleman he is was going to make sure I got a proper vantage point for my first sunset in Costa Rica… we peddled back past the Surf shop and locked up the bikes at the base of the hillside where we then began to trek up into the jungle. It was a 30min hike up I’d say, not bad, but it felt like we were a world away from the place we had just peddled from. There is this abandoned structure which I think he said used to be a restaurant/resort above the hillside. The trail up was lined with a stone retaining wall with traditional carvings of indigenous animals and tribal art. At the end of the hike you come to a pathway lined by what almost seemed like roman columns and stone work. Along the pathway we encountered my first toucan! … he was absolutely breathtaking and fun to spy on, we were very close to this guy…looked just like toucan Sam. Anyhow, so we followed the trail for maybe 50 more meters and this outdoor patio, almost roman theater looking stage just rested on the hillside, facing Jaco. We timed it perfectly and caught sunset and got to roam the abandoned ruins…I felt like we had found this great archeological site and with the sunset, and my state of relief being away from cellphones, wi-fi, and civilization in general I was on this incredible cloud, a natural high for lack of a better explanation. I couldn’t think of another place I’d rather be right now.

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