I went through the process of getting a visa to visit China as a tourist over the past week. I chose to use a travel agency out of Chinatown in Boston named Feti Travel. They are on Harrison Ave. I had to make my way into Boston on one Friday and with rush service by the Chinese embassy in NYC I was able to pick up my passport with the visa inserted by the following Friday. The visa itself costs something like $140-$160, I am not exactly sure. With Feti Travel's basic service it would be $185 and with the rush service there is an extra $50 surcharge making the entire rush service option cost $235 plus the cost of the trips into Boston. Unfortunately they do not issue the visas in Boston and the passport has to get to NYC where it is issued and then get back. I am sure that it was less expensive to get this service through Feti Travel than it was to go to NYC myself and do it. There are services like Travisa but they really don't double-check things as well and make sure everything is OK on the forms as the travel agency might have I think.
The visits to their office were quick. I emailed them first and they didn't respond to the email. Then I filled out their online form and was contacted same day so that appears to be the best method to start communication. Since I am actually flying to and from Hong Kong and not mainland China and I am not certain I definitely will get into China on this trip they helped me with sorting that out. I did have to book reservations in a hotel in China but I can cancel them later. I chose reservations without prepayment to facilitate cancellation as needed. They were quick in responses to emails after this starting point and had everything corrected and ready for me to print and sign in short order. I traveled into Boston with the signed paperwork and passport and they sent it off. I did not have to pay until the process was completed when I picked it up on the following Friday. She notified me it was ready on the Thursday before I went. If I had time on Thursday I might even have been able to get it on Thursday. I filled out the check on site and was in and out in no time at all. They were quick, honest and easy to deal with.
Why get the visa at all? I went with a 1 year multi-entry visa because if I can get into China for a weekend during this trip (based on cost and other factors) Daniela and I will try to do so. I figure with the 1 year multi-entry we can attempt to go later in the year or early next year based on expenses instead. I would obviously like to see China and maybe we can get in to Beijing and see a couple of the major items or do a tour that hits several of them such as the Forbidden City or the Great Wall or the Summer Palace or whatnot but I do feel that a 2.5 day visit is not going to provide enough of China to say I have seen what I want to see. I am interested in other locations in China besides Beijing. So, if we can make it in for this trip then great for a couple days but maybe we can go back later in the year to see more. I guess some of that would depend on what our initial experience is like too. For the type of visa for tourism I chose to get there is the same basic cost no matter how long I get it for and whether it is single or multi-entry so I decided I would just do the most I could for the same basic cost. This would hopefully make it easier to change plans as needed. It is important to pay attention to what you are asking for. It is best to get multi-entry if you are expecting to visit Hong Kong or Macau or anywhere else in the vicinity as part of your trip. I think even if you are just going into China and want to stay the whole duration for the trip in China that it still makes sense based on pricing to get a multi-entry visa. The main scrutiny seems to be whether you will pay for it and whether you belong to any activist groups or the like. It is not difficult for them to approve you for it but there is a bit of formality that goes along with it. I am hoping that we can make it in. I am also hoping that we can do more later before the visa expires. We will see though.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
Peru Spring 2014 Day 11
As with many of my last days on a trip this was not much of
a day at all. It started at 3:30am when the alarm went off and I got showered
and completed packing. Daniela packed up a lot of her stuff but didn’t finish
leaving the apartment because there was still the matter of checking out which
needed to be done later in the day. We
were outside for the taxi we ordered the night before by 4am. He was actually
early which was interesting. He drove us
first to Daniela’s house where she dropped off her stuff but I didn’t end up
getting some of the stuff I had left at her house by accident. All good I will be seeing her again
soon. From there we were taken to the
airport. The only traffic we saw was actually at the airport.
Check-in was easy as there was little line (still I always
wonder why every other person in the world takes 20 minutes to do what I get
done in 5 minutes????!!!!). After dropping off the bag and getting the boarding
passes Daniela and I hung around the airport for the next hour and a half. We
had breakfast at a place called Pikeos. I had a ham and cheese sandwich with
fries (it was done with garlic bread style toast and was tasty but a lot) and a
coffee. Daniela had a fruit salad and
cappuccino. Then we looked at shopping for a bit then sat in the food court for
a few minutes before it was time for me to leave, sadly.
There was no line at security or at immigration and I was
through quickly. I spent another couple minutes shopping then was on to the
gate where boarding was already near done (the flight wasn’t supposed to depart
for another 35 minutes but it was not full).
So I got on (I was given an extra room seat in front of the wing by a
couple rows which was quite nice, especially because the seat next to me was
empty. It made me feel ok that I was on a window seat). We took off early as the plane was finished
boarding early. I fell asleep for a little while then woke up and saw that they
were showing Frozen so I watched what was left of that so maybe I missed the
first 10 or 15 minutes of it before I woke up).
They served breakfast which I just ate the fruit and fake croissant. I
had tea and water otherwise. After the
movie I fell asleep again and woke up a few minutes before we passed over Cuba.
I know this because I opened the window and saw Cuba. It was probably another half an hour till
landing time which had a couple small bumps but the flight was really
uneventful.
At the airport I used Global Entry and got through
immigration quickly then on to wait for the bag. I was basically bag number 10
or so off the conveyor. From there a quick run through the global entry version
of customs and on to recheck the bag. After rechecking the bag it was a run
through a special security area for people taking connecting flights. There was
only one line but it moved reasonably ok, probably because everyone had to have
checked security somewhere else before.
After security I found my flight gate was at D49 and had to take the skytrain
to that section of the D concourse. I then found the gate right in front of the
Island Grill which I had eaten at before. I had a burger with cheddar and bacon
and a West Coast IPA from San Diego.
Then it was on to the gate to wait for the boarding process. There was
significantly more than an hour and a half to go before departure.
Of course not having much else to do I just found a seat at
the gate area and waited it out. I watched a bit of what they had on TV though
none of it was anything exciting. The plane had to be late on arrival. It was
coming in from an international location then on to Boston but arrived at least
15 minutes late and took them a long time to check and clean so we left
probably about 45 minutes late after all.
I ended up in another extra space seat (the guy at the AA desk in Lima
must have liked me for the instant upgrades) and had no one to my side so even
though it was again a window seat I didn’t mind. I spent the vast majority of the flight
sleeping. They didn’t play movies, only TV shows and I did not feel like
digging out my headphones anyway (internal to US flights charge for
headphones). The flight was uneventful
with only a couple bumps. We landed
late of course but they did make up some of the delay time so it was less than
half an hour late. I disembarked and had
to wait a bit for my luggage (they dropped out another flight from LAX at the
same time on the same conveyor) but it was not too long. I called to find the
Flightline van was waiting for me already. I got in. We picked up another
couple. We drove them to Dascomb Road then I got the ride the rest of the way
home. I got home at about 10:30pm.
The trip was a lot of fun though of course it is sad to have
to leave Daniela behind. I cannot wait for the day I will be bringing her home
with me instead. The only good news is
she will be in Asia with me for about a month when I am sent there to teach
classes.
The final set of pictures for this trip are located here.
Peru Spring 2014 Day 10
While we did get to bed earlier the night before we really
didn’t get going until later in the day. We started out by going to lunch.
Daniela wanted to try something else barbecue so we ended up trying Tony Roma’s
at Larcomar. We ordered potato skins and
boneless buffalo tenders for appetizers. The buffalo sauce was far too sweet
for actual buffalo sauce. We both tried
ribs. She tried the St. Louis sampler and I tried the baby back with what was
supposed to be Tony’s Red Hot sauce on it but was probably just the basic
barbeque sauce. I had a Cuscena red and
she had a limonada helado. There was far
too much food and neither of us finished.
She took her extra ribs with us.
After lunch we had coffee at the Juan Valdez for a few
minutes then we walked downtown to get some money changed for taxis and
such. We stopped by the office and
Daniela had some work to do. By this point my stomach was acting up and I had
to run back to the hotel. She came back a bit later and we had a nice romantic
evening together to finish out the trip. We had to get to bed somewhat early
with my 7:30am departure from the airport in Lima the next day.
The pictures from today are here.
Monday, April 07, 2014
Peru Spring 2014 Day 9
With the very late to bed for both of us, especially Daniela we didn't really get going until much later in the day. Basically we got cleaned up and headed over to her house to have a late lunch or early dinner with the family. Donna and Edwin were not there so it was only her mom, brother and us. Her mom cooked and made rice, garbanzo beans in a sauce and roasted lamb ribs treated with soy sauce. They were very cooked but tasted good. Before that there was a "salad" of potatoes, banana in yellow chili sauce with a half a hard boiled egg and a decorative flower style olive on top. She finished out the meal with a strawberry jello with a cherry on top and a grain based tea of some sort. We had a bottle of Peruvian wine with the meal. It seems most Peruvian wines are sweet by the way.
We honestly were only at the house for eating and then just a few minutes more before we were on our way. We took a taxi back to Miraflores and because Daniela wanted to see a movie didn't get out at the apartment but on Pardo and checked the first theater there near the park with the cats. They had the new Captain America but only dubbed in Spanish so we walked down to Larcomar and checked their theater. They had Captain America: The Winter Soldier in English with subtitles in Spanish not in 3D at 10pm so we found a place called the Bonboniere and had a coffee and I had a little ice cream too. The service was slow and not too attentive and the coffee was a bit bitter. I would not recommend the place based on the experience. We walked around the mall a little bit and I blocked her view from all the shoe stores.
We got into the theater a few minutes early and got reasonably good seats. Not all seats filled up but it was by no means an empty theater. The movie was ok but of course very predictable as most of these are. I liked a lot of the action scenes but I think it did have a tiny bit too much exposition but not as bad as many other Marvel movies. Not getting into plot points I will say that everyone waited for the first in credits end blurb but I was the only one that saw the post credit teaser as Daniela had gone to use the facilities and everyone else left.
After the movie it was back to the apartment to turn in for the night.
Today's pictures are found here.
We honestly were only at the house for eating and then just a few minutes more before we were on our way. We took a taxi back to Miraflores and because Daniela wanted to see a movie didn't get out at the apartment but on Pardo and checked the first theater there near the park with the cats. They had the new Captain America but only dubbed in Spanish so we walked down to Larcomar and checked their theater. They had Captain America: The Winter Soldier in English with subtitles in Spanish not in 3D at 10pm so we found a place called the Bonboniere and had a coffee and I had a little ice cream too. The service was slow and not too attentive and the coffee was a bit bitter. I would not recommend the place based on the experience. We walked around the mall a little bit and I blocked her view from all the shoe stores.
We got into the theater a few minutes early and got reasonably good seats. Not all seats filled up but it was by no means an empty theater. The movie was ok but of course very predictable as most of these are. I liked a lot of the action scenes but I think it did have a tiny bit too much exposition but not as bad as many other Marvel movies. Not getting into plot points I will say that everyone waited for the first in credits end blurb but I was the only one that saw the post credit teaser as Daniela had gone to use the facilities and everyone else left.
After the movie it was back to the apartment to turn in for the night.
Today's pictures are found here.
Sunday, April 06, 2014
Peru Spring 2104 Day 8
We had the very late to bed the night before so we also had a very late to start day. After we got up we reheated some of the chicken and rice for Daniela for breakfast then she started working on the hundreds of facebook posts she received for her birthday and eventually while that was happening I was able to put the Bruins game radio broadcast on the computer and hear them beat the Flyers to clinch the number 1 seed in the east. When the game was over I reheated the rest of the chicken and rice for lunch and Daniela went to bed to take a nap as she was still tired. I tried to but ended up sweeping the apartment floor, finishing the dishes and gathering up the trash and stuff like that to kill the time.
When she woke up we got cleaned up and walked to the Metro to buy some stuff for a small gathering of friends birthday party. Metro is a bit less expensive than the Vivanda which is closer so we decided for the extra walk. We bought sausages and small potatoes, some prepared sauces, cheese, chips and beer among other things. The place was insanely crowded and all the register lines were long so we tried the preference to elderly and handicapped line. A lady who had run over Daniela's foot with her mother's wheelchair was in front of us. A rude woman who was not the right age to be considered elderly cut us saying she was old and we shouldn't be there. The lady with the wheelchair told her Daniela was pregnant (no she is not). In any event it was an ugly scene for a few minutes (the girl at the register was slow for a preferential treatment line). We paid up and took a taxi back to the apartment with how many bags we had even though it wasn't really that far of a walk. We asked the guy at the desk where the garbage should be brought and he said to basement 1 floor.
After dropping off the food I brought the garbage down and got lost in the parking garage (which also connects to the next building). The doors were not marked basura or anything. I eventually guessed at what one door might be and found the garbage buckets and put away the stuff I brought down. I then chose the wrong elevator and ended up on the 11th floor of the wrong tower. I rode back down to the basement and switched over to the correct one then back up. The front desk security guy called to make sure I was ok because he could see on the surveillance cameras that I was lost. Fortunately I was not.
I started preparing the sausages and Daniela cleaned and started the potatoes. The pizza arrived and I ate what I was going to while cooking. It took a few batches to get everything done. Daniela had bought a precooked lomo saltado and ate that while we were prepping too. I had my first Cuscena Rojo while preparing the food.
She had sent out her invite earlier in the day but really I guess it was too late for many people to come, so that meant that only her sister and Edwin plus Donna's friend Kucha and her boyfriend Choclo came. They started arriving past 11. I was already ready for sleep. Choclo brought tequila. No, I did not have any. We put on Latin music for most of the night. Kucha arrived last. The did play a few rock songs and let me choose a couple of them too. We ate the snack food and talked and had beers while a couple of them drank most of the tequila (mainly Choclo (no not sure what his real name is) and Donna). After a while, hitting on past 3:30 I think I was told to go to bed because I was passing out in my chair. I did so and they stayed till past 6am anyway. I managed some sleep before Daniela went to bed then we switched to the darker room away from the sun and I did manage to get a bit more (meaning an even later waking time the next day than the day before).
Today's pictures are here.
When she woke up we got cleaned up and walked to the Metro to buy some stuff for a small gathering of friends birthday party. Metro is a bit less expensive than the Vivanda which is closer so we decided for the extra walk. We bought sausages and small potatoes, some prepared sauces, cheese, chips and beer among other things. The place was insanely crowded and all the register lines were long so we tried the preference to elderly and handicapped line. A lady who had run over Daniela's foot with her mother's wheelchair was in front of us. A rude woman who was not the right age to be considered elderly cut us saying she was old and we shouldn't be there. The lady with the wheelchair told her Daniela was pregnant (no she is not). In any event it was an ugly scene for a few minutes (the girl at the register was slow for a preferential treatment line). We paid up and took a taxi back to the apartment with how many bags we had even though it wasn't really that far of a walk. We asked the guy at the desk where the garbage should be brought and he said to basement 1 floor.
After dropping off the food I brought the garbage down and got lost in the parking garage (which also connects to the next building). The doors were not marked basura or anything. I eventually guessed at what one door might be and found the garbage buckets and put away the stuff I brought down. I then chose the wrong elevator and ended up on the 11th floor of the wrong tower. I rode back down to the basement and switched over to the correct one then back up. The front desk security guy called to make sure I was ok because he could see on the surveillance cameras that I was lost. Fortunately I was not.
I started preparing the sausages and Daniela cleaned and started the potatoes. The pizza arrived and I ate what I was going to while cooking. It took a few batches to get everything done. Daniela had bought a precooked lomo saltado and ate that while we were prepping too. I had my first Cuscena Rojo while preparing the food.
She had sent out her invite earlier in the day but really I guess it was too late for many people to come, so that meant that only her sister and Edwin plus Donna's friend Kucha and her boyfriend Choclo came. They started arriving past 11. I was already ready for sleep. Choclo brought tequila. No, I did not have any. We put on Latin music for most of the night. Kucha arrived last. The did play a few rock songs and let me choose a couple of them too. We ate the snack food and talked and had beers while a couple of them drank most of the tequila (mainly Choclo (no not sure what his real name is) and Donna). After a while, hitting on past 3:30 I think I was told to go to bed because I was passing out in my chair. I did so and they stayed till past 6am anyway. I managed some sleep before Daniela went to bed then we switched to the darker room away from the sun and I did manage to get a bit more (meaning an even later waking time the next day than the day before).
Today's pictures are here.
Peru Spring 2014 Day 7
We got going a bit later again because we really didn't have any major plans for Friday morning. After getting cleaned up we left so that we would be able to get to La Punta in time for lunch basically. We took the Metropolitano to 2 de Mayo then swapped to a combi to La Punta. This probably took an hour or so and most of it was the 100s of stops the combi makes. They pretty much will pull over anywhere to pick people up and will also honk at people walking by in hopes they will be looking to get on (even if they appear to be walking in the other direction.
After we got off we walked straight to La Rana Verde (The Green Frog) which is a seafood restaurant right over the water in La Punta. The name comes from True Grit, the book by Charles Portis it appears. Rooster Cogburn apparently had once owned a restaurant named as such. The owner liked the name and used it. It appears to be an odd choice for a seafood restaurant though. The restaurant has been in business for over 35 years the waiter told us.
We both had fish of course. I had grilled catch of the day and Daniela had a garlic, peppers and peas presentation called la vasca. She also had a scallop cocktail before the main course. We each had a bottle of Pilsen Callao as well. The food was very good. I had mine with rice and she with steamed potatoes. We did not eat dessert there however. After we finished we walked around La Punta to La Mirador Cafe. Yes that is where we got married. We had coffees. She a cappuccino and me a cafe Americano. I had a bowl of ice cream that was a scoop of coconut ice cream over chocolate ice cream. She had a chocolate cake. We took our time and relaxed for a little while.
From there we walked back to the square in La Punta and caught another combi to Colonial. This is not far from Daniela's house. The driver was a bit nuts, even washing his hair with a bottle of water halfway through the ride. This one seemed to be making more stops than the first one. Also they were racing their rival van that worked for the same company. In any event we got to the house safely. Daniela's mom and her aunt were finishing decorating the cake. I made some suggestions then went for a walk with her mom and Forest while Daniela was on the phone with Donna about work. Her mom bought some celery and some tuna for making some mini tuna salad sandwiches. When we got back I helped decorate the cake a little then Daniela finished and we had to go out to buy food to prepare for the party (I had been designated cook).
We first tried to go to the Makro across the street which is a lot like a BJs or Sam's Club. There was nothing there too thrilling so we instead caught a taxi to Minka which is a huge shopping center area that includes all sorts of stores including a series of butchers (yes, full chickens and ducks, heads, feet and all hanging at the booths). We decided I would make barbecue chicken legs so we bought a baker's dozen of legs and then found a shop that sold ketchup and tabasco. I also bought a bottle of Coca Cola. This did take quite a while but we got back before anyone else had shown up. I started cooking right away. I started the chicken in the oven to make sure it was properly cooked. I put it at a lower temperature and only seasoned it with salt and pepper (pepper is not a common spice here). While they were roasting I started the sauce which as you may have guessed was ketchup based. I used the cola along with some sugar to add sweetness and color. I also added some salt and pepper and a clove of garlic and a little cumin. I added the Coke in 4 installments so that it wouldn't flood the ketchup. I let it reduce down to the right consistency while we were waiting for Edwin to show up with the charcoal for the grill. When he got in we started the fire and when it was hot enough I used a celery brush to apply the sauce to the legs which were cooked through from the oven and finished them off on the grill with the barbecue sauce. I had to do them in two batches for the size of the cooking area of the grill.
Daniela's mom had cooked some rice and when the chicken was done we plated the dishes. By this point everyone had arrived: Daniela's cousin Diana (Kemoly), Edwin, Donna, Daniela's mom, aunt, brother (Lucho), Yanina, Ale and her husband Manuel and their son Sebastian (not sure the Spanish spelling sorry). Along with Daniela and myself it was 11 of us to eat (the kid was a bit of a terror and kept hitting everyone, especially Forest (the dog) who barked at him and almost bit him once so a lot of the rest of the night was spent keeping the two apart. They had two types of pisco cocktails, one with passion fruit and one with strawberries. They had 3 bottles of wine and eventually a few bottles of Pilsen Callao as well. The food was apparently a hit and everyone ate it and said they liked it. Donna took a second piece and someone took the last extra piece that Daniela had wanted somewhere along the way. We had some dancing including the Alcatraz dance where the couple are supposed to light handkerchiefs tide to the other's backside on fire while the dancer tries to avoid being lit on fire. We had many toasts along the way. After the food was finished we had the cake. We only ate the top layer. It was very good cake. Orange flavored with nuts and fruits in it aside from the decoration. Slowly everyone started to leave. Ale and Manuel had to leave first because of Sebastian. Then Daniela's aunt. Then we walked Kemoly and Yanina to find a taxi. We probably left the house at about 2:30am (I had passed out on Daniela's shoulder while she was talking to Donna and Edwin) and got back to the apartment around 3. I passed out almost immediately.
Today's pictures are located here.
After we got off we walked straight to La Rana Verde (The Green Frog) which is a seafood restaurant right over the water in La Punta. The name comes from True Grit, the book by Charles Portis it appears. Rooster Cogburn apparently had once owned a restaurant named as such. The owner liked the name and used it. It appears to be an odd choice for a seafood restaurant though. The restaurant has been in business for over 35 years the waiter told us.
We both had fish of course. I had grilled catch of the day and Daniela had a garlic, peppers and peas presentation called la vasca. She also had a scallop cocktail before the main course. We each had a bottle of Pilsen Callao as well. The food was very good. I had mine with rice and she with steamed potatoes. We did not eat dessert there however. After we finished we walked around La Punta to La Mirador Cafe. Yes that is where we got married. We had coffees. She a cappuccino and me a cafe Americano. I had a bowl of ice cream that was a scoop of coconut ice cream over chocolate ice cream. She had a chocolate cake. We took our time and relaxed for a little while.
From there we walked back to the square in La Punta and caught another combi to Colonial. This is not far from Daniela's house. The driver was a bit nuts, even washing his hair with a bottle of water halfway through the ride. This one seemed to be making more stops than the first one. Also they were racing their rival van that worked for the same company. In any event we got to the house safely. Daniela's mom and her aunt were finishing decorating the cake. I made some suggestions then went for a walk with her mom and Forest while Daniela was on the phone with Donna about work. Her mom bought some celery and some tuna for making some mini tuna salad sandwiches. When we got back I helped decorate the cake a little then Daniela finished and we had to go out to buy food to prepare for the party (I had been designated cook).
We first tried to go to the Makro across the street which is a lot like a BJs or Sam's Club. There was nothing there too thrilling so we instead caught a taxi to Minka which is a huge shopping center area that includes all sorts of stores including a series of butchers (yes, full chickens and ducks, heads, feet and all hanging at the booths). We decided I would make barbecue chicken legs so we bought a baker's dozen of legs and then found a shop that sold ketchup and tabasco. I also bought a bottle of Coca Cola. This did take quite a while but we got back before anyone else had shown up. I started cooking right away. I started the chicken in the oven to make sure it was properly cooked. I put it at a lower temperature and only seasoned it with salt and pepper (pepper is not a common spice here). While they were roasting I started the sauce which as you may have guessed was ketchup based. I used the cola along with some sugar to add sweetness and color. I also added some salt and pepper and a clove of garlic and a little cumin. I added the Coke in 4 installments so that it wouldn't flood the ketchup. I let it reduce down to the right consistency while we were waiting for Edwin to show up with the charcoal for the grill. When he got in we started the fire and when it was hot enough I used a celery brush to apply the sauce to the legs which were cooked through from the oven and finished them off on the grill with the barbecue sauce. I had to do them in two batches for the size of the cooking area of the grill.
Daniela's mom had cooked some rice and when the chicken was done we plated the dishes. By this point everyone had arrived: Daniela's cousin Diana (Kemoly), Edwin, Donna, Daniela's mom, aunt, brother (Lucho), Yanina, Ale and her husband Manuel and their son Sebastian (not sure the Spanish spelling sorry). Along with Daniela and myself it was 11 of us to eat (the kid was a bit of a terror and kept hitting everyone, especially Forest (the dog) who barked at him and almost bit him once so a lot of the rest of the night was spent keeping the two apart. They had two types of pisco cocktails, one with passion fruit and one with strawberries. They had 3 bottles of wine and eventually a few bottles of Pilsen Callao as well. The food was apparently a hit and everyone ate it and said they liked it. Donna took a second piece and someone took the last extra piece that Daniela had wanted somewhere along the way. We had some dancing including the Alcatraz dance where the couple are supposed to light handkerchiefs tide to the other's backside on fire while the dancer tries to avoid being lit on fire. We had many toasts along the way. After the food was finished we had the cake. We only ate the top layer. It was very good cake. Orange flavored with nuts and fruits in it aside from the decoration. Slowly everyone started to leave. Ale and Manuel had to leave first because of Sebastian. Then Daniela's aunt. Then we walked Kemoly and Yanina to find a taxi. We probably left the house at about 2:30am (I had passed out on Daniela's shoulder while she was talking to Donna and Edwin) and got back to the apartment around 3. I passed out almost immediately.
Today's pictures are located here.
Friday, April 04, 2014
Peru Spring 2014 Day 6
We didn't have plans for the day so with a later start and just hanging around the apartment for a while we really didn't go out until it was time to buy something to make for lunch. Donna was going to come over from the office to eat with us. We went shopping at the Vivanda and bought chicken breasts, rice and asparagus mainly. After shopping we went back to the room and I started preparing the chicken and asparagus and Daniela made the rice in the rice cooker. I made the chicken in a lemon, pepper, garlic and oregano presentation in the oven and the asparagus was steamed then finished with a quick saute on the stove in olive oil.
Donna brought her lunch and we heated that up and she had some of our food too. I think the food came out reasonably good. We talked for a little while then did the dishes and Donna went back to the office. We watched a movie Daniela had brought along called What to Expect When You Are Expecting. It had Cameron Diaz as the most notable actress in it. It was cute I guess. Oh yeah, Chris Rock had a bit part in it as did Dennis Quaid. I guess Jennifer Lopez is recognizable too.
After the movie we got ready and took a taxi to Daniela's house where her mother was preparing the birthday cake for Daniela's birthday and Daniela was hoping to get the secret recipe. We managed little traffic fortunately. When we got there Daniela's mom and aunt were already started but just barely. They were creaming the butter and sifting the self rising flour. So the process added 5 cups of sugar to what was called 1 kilo of butter with continual stirring. 9 egg yolks were added. The whites were whipped. 2 caps of vanilla extract and a couple tablespoons of grated orange peel. That was all whipped to a specific consistency with an electric beater. Then the 7 cups of flour were added. She added strained orange juice. It appeared to be a couple of cups though I did not get the measurements. That may have been before the flour. I had to step away for a bit to talk to Daniela's friend Maritza who lives in Vancouver. Some scalded milk was added and the egg whites too. Oh, yes, there was nuts of varying types: almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans. Also white and black raisins. Those were added with the flour. It was whipped to a consistency then poured into a greased and floured cake pan and baked for quite some time (the cake is huge). It had just finished the first tier by the time we were leaving. The second and smaller one was just going in.
While it was baking we had dinner. Daniela's mom made aji de pollo which is chicken cooked and shredded and served in a pureed chili pepper sauce. Not too spicy. It is a special pepper that is orange but cooks up to yellow apparently. That was served over sliced potatoes. It was good. We had some tea and a bit of some cookie type thing we brought back from Chancay as dessert. After we were done eating we helped clean up then brought her aunt to the bus stop then headed back to the room by taxi ourselves not too much later.
At the apartment we stayed up to past midnight and toasted the arrival of Daniela's birthday with a beer toast. It wasn't much longer after that the both of us passed out for the night.
For some reason I didn't take any pictures at all today.
Donna brought her lunch and we heated that up and she had some of our food too. I think the food came out reasonably good. We talked for a little while then did the dishes and Donna went back to the office. We watched a movie Daniela had brought along called What to Expect When You Are Expecting. It had Cameron Diaz as the most notable actress in it. It was cute I guess. Oh yeah, Chris Rock had a bit part in it as did Dennis Quaid. I guess Jennifer Lopez is recognizable too.
After the movie we got ready and took a taxi to Daniela's house where her mother was preparing the birthday cake for Daniela's birthday and Daniela was hoping to get the secret recipe. We managed little traffic fortunately. When we got there Daniela's mom and aunt were already started but just barely. They were creaming the butter and sifting the self rising flour. So the process added 5 cups of sugar to what was called 1 kilo of butter with continual stirring. 9 egg yolks were added. The whites were whipped. 2 caps of vanilla extract and a couple tablespoons of grated orange peel. That was all whipped to a specific consistency with an electric beater. Then the 7 cups of flour were added. She added strained orange juice. It appeared to be a couple of cups though I did not get the measurements. That may have been before the flour. I had to step away for a bit to talk to Daniela's friend Maritza who lives in Vancouver. Some scalded milk was added and the egg whites too. Oh, yes, there was nuts of varying types: almonds, brazil nuts, walnuts, pecans. Also white and black raisins. Those were added with the flour. It was whipped to a consistency then poured into a greased and floured cake pan and baked for quite some time (the cake is huge). It had just finished the first tier by the time we were leaving. The second and smaller one was just going in.
While it was baking we had dinner. Daniela's mom made aji de pollo which is chicken cooked and shredded and served in a pureed chili pepper sauce. Not too spicy. It is a special pepper that is orange but cooks up to yellow apparently. That was served over sliced potatoes. It was good. We had some tea and a bit of some cookie type thing we brought back from Chancay as dessert. After we were done eating we helped clean up then brought her aunt to the bus stop then headed back to the room by taxi ourselves not too much later.
At the apartment we stayed up to past midnight and toasted the arrival of Daniela's birthday with a beer toast. It wasn't much longer after that the both of us passed out for the night.
For some reason I didn't take any pictures at all today.
Thursday, April 03, 2014
Peru Spring 2014 Day 5
We had to wake up sort of early and get ready for Daniela to go to the Japanese embassy to apply for her visa for the trip in May. We had to get to Ave San Filipe by 9:30 when her appointment was set. She was told not to be late. We had to do a couple small tasks before we left but most of the stuff was completed the night before. We took a taxi and with the traffic made it almost exactly at 9:30. We were expecting they would let me in but instead they did not. I had to wait outside. The waiting took approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes until she came outside to ask me a couple questions, wrote down the answers and went back in. She said he woman was very stoic and hard to read. She thought the woman didn't like her. Either way, they took the paperwork and passport and told her she would know by next Wednesday, which is of course after I leave. The nice thing was the morning was sunny but I found a reasonably shady spot to stand and wait. I was not the only person waiting for someone. It appears their standard procedure is to take the passport and not tell the individual if they are getting the visa or not. At least it is not necessary to pay if they reject you (which is different from the US process).
After the visa interview we took a taxi back to the hotel and dropped off some stuff and changed clothes then headed down to the bank and then to her office where we met with her sister and she completed a couple tasks. After that we all went to lunch at the restaurant Danica in Miraflores (there is one in San Isidro we went to for our first date so to speak back in June of 2012) that had opened recently. It was down past Larcomar and we ended up taking a taxi to get there. Donna had linguine with mushroom sauce. Daniela had linguine with clams and I had cannelloni "seco" which is a preparation of shredded pot roasted beef that was served in homemade cannelloni shells with a creamy cheese sauce over it. The seco is actually a Peruvian thing but Danica claims to be Italian/Peruvian fusion so it was not surprising. The food was very good. We each had a glass of Chianti to go along with the food.
After lunch we took a taxi back to the office then Donna went back to work and we headed to the Vivanda to buy food to make dinner for the evening where we invited Donna and Edwin to come over. When we finished shopping and brought the food back to the apartment I decided to do some laundry since we had the machine and dryer and bought some laundry detergent. Unfortunately I didn't notice the drain hose was not aimed into the sink and while I started chopping vegetables and Daniela was heading back down to the office she found the large pool of water that had filled the laundry room and part of the main landing. We had to spend probably half an hour cleaning up all the water. It was fairly embarrassing and annoying. It did clean up though and it didn't appear we had any leaks to the lower floors or anything like that after all. With the windows open the remainder dried out over the earlier course of the night.
When the disaster was recovered I went back to food prep and Daniela headed to the office. I turned on the Bruins game somewhere in the second period though by the time they all were in the apartment the game was not over and I did not hear the end. Unfortunately the lost to the Red Wings though they were leading or tied when we turned it off. I made a variation of shepherd's pie which used corn (canned, they don't really have the same corn, their choclo is much bigger), chopped green beans and chopped carrots layered under mashed potatoes and over ground beef that had been cooked with onions, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. That all got put into the oven and I let it set until very close to when Donna and Edwin arrived after Daniela had returned. I even had all the pots and pans for preparation washed before they arrived. They came with a bottle of Argentinian Malbec. We had also bought an apple strudel for dessert. They all said the really liked the dish but I think it turned out a bit too dry. I think it was in the oven at a higher heat than I wanted for a bit too long (cursed Celsius based oven). The flavors were good though and if it had just been a bit juicier it would have been better to me. After the shepherd's pie we had the strudel and I made some coffee and we had that too. We talked about a lot of different things. Donna and Edwin are practicing their English and I am trying to pick up more and more of my Spanish (though having a harder time than them). It was a very nice night and I enjoyed having them over and cooking for them. They helped wash the dishes and then a little bit later they left for the night.
It wasn't long till I was in bed exhausted. I think Daniela watched TV for some amount of time (we have Direct TV cable here (no NHL package though).
The pictures from today are located here.
After the visa interview we took a taxi back to the hotel and dropped off some stuff and changed clothes then headed down to the bank and then to her office where we met with her sister and she completed a couple tasks. After that we all went to lunch at the restaurant Danica in Miraflores (there is one in San Isidro we went to for our first date so to speak back in June of 2012) that had opened recently. It was down past Larcomar and we ended up taking a taxi to get there. Donna had linguine with mushroom sauce. Daniela had linguine with clams and I had cannelloni "seco" which is a preparation of shredded pot roasted beef that was served in homemade cannelloni shells with a creamy cheese sauce over it. The seco is actually a Peruvian thing but Danica claims to be Italian/Peruvian fusion so it was not surprising. The food was very good. We each had a glass of Chianti to go along with the food.
After lunch we took a taxi back to the office then Donna went back to work and we headed to the Vivanda to buy food to make dinner for the evening where we invited Donna and Edwin to come over. When we finished shopping and brought the food back to the apartment I decided to do some laundry since we had the machine and dryer and bought some laundry detergent. Unfortunately I didn't notice the drain hose was not aimed into the sink and while I started chopping vegetables and Daniela was heading back down to the office she found the large pool of water that had filled the laundry room and part of the main landing. We had to spend probably half an hour cleaning up all the water. It was fairly embarrassing and annoying. It did clean up though and it didn't appear we had any leaks to the lower floors or anything like that after all. With the windows open the remainder dried out over the earlier course of the night.
When the disaster was recovered I went back to food prep and Daniela headed to the office. I turned on the Bruins game somewhere in the second period though by the time they all were in the apartment the game was not over and I did not hear the end. Unfortunately the lost to the Red Wings though they were leading or tied when we turned it off. I made a variation of shepherd's pie which used corn (canned, they don't really have the same corn, their choclo is much bigger), chopped green beans and chopped carrots layered under mashed potatoes and over ground beef that had been cooked with onions, garlic, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper. That all got put into the oven and I let it set until very close to when Donna and Edwin arrived after Daniela had returned. I even had all the pots and pans for preparation washed before they arrived. They came with a bottle of Argentinian Malbec. We had also bought an apple strudel for dessert. They all said the really liked the dish but I think it turned out a bit too dry. I think it was in the oven at a higher heat than I wanted for a bit too long (cursed Celsius based oven). The flavors were good though and if it had just been a bit juicier it would have been better to me. After the shepherd's pie we had the strudel and I made some coffee and we had that too. We talked about a lot of different things. Donna and Edwin are practicing their English and I am trying to pick up more and more of my Spanish (though having a harder time than them). It was a very nice night and I enjoyed having them over and cooking for them. They helped wash the dishes and then a little bit later they left for the night.
It wasn't long till I was in bed exhausted. I think Daniela watched TV for some amount of time (we have Direct TV cable here (no NHL package though).
The pictures from today are located here.
Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Peru Spring 2014 Day 4
We ended up starting out the day a bit later than expected and spent a short while around the castle. After having lunch we did a few of the stand up picture things and then pretty much it was check out and be on our way. For lunch we ate at the other restaurant. I had chicken that had been roasted very crisply and Daniela had a roasted and smoked chicken leg. Both were very good but hers was a little bit under cooked.
After we checked out we took a moto taxi to the combined services and bus area and bought a shared car ride to Lima's Plaza Norte. The ride was very foggy at the start and that stayed for a while even though we went over into the inland zones of the desert. I was surprised at that. It took maybe an hour but then we reached Plaza Norte. From there we picked up a cab to Daniela's house. Picked up all the stuff we left behind that we would need for the apartment for the rest of the trip and then took another taxi to the apartment.
We really just dropped off some stuff then went to her office (only a couple blocks away in a straight line) to print up some stuff for the Japanese consulate for her visa application on Wednesday and then to make some copies as well. Donna was at the office and Edwin stopped by just a bit before we left. Donna is trying to learn English and is doing very well. We talked for a little while then when we were all done we headed to make the copies and they headed off for their night.
After the copies we stopped in the Vivanda and shopped for some breakfast things. Then we headed to the apartment and ordered pizza and ate that when it came. After that Daniela worked on the paperwork and I ended up falling asleep.
Today's pictures are located here.
After we checked out we took a moto taxi to the combined services and bus area and bought a shared car ride to Lima's Plaza Norte. The ride was very foggy at the start and that stayed for a while even though we went over into the inland zones of the desert. I was surprised at that. It took maybe an hour but then we reached Plaza Norte. From there we picked up a cab to Daniela's house. Picked up all the stuff we left behind that we would need for the apartment for the rest of the trip and then took another taxi to the apartment.
We really just dropped off some stuff then went to her office (only a couple blocks away in a straight line) to print up some stuff for the Japanese consulate for her visa application on Wednesday and then to make some copies as well. Donna was at the office and Edwin stopped by just a bit before we left. Donna is trying to learn English and is doing very well. We talked for a little while then when we were all done we headed to make the copies and they headed off for their night.
After the copies we stopped in the Vivanda and shopped for some breakfast things. Then we headed to the apartment and ordered pizza and ate that when it came. After that Daniela worked on the paperwork and I ended up falling asleep.
Today's pictures are located here.
Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Peru Spring 2014 Day 3
Spending the night in the castle we of course did not encounter any ghosts but did have the sound of the ocean crashing into the rocks below to help lull us to sleep. When we woke up we got cleaned up and headed over for breakfast which was at about 10 or so (maybe a bit later, I think they open at 9 or 9:30). The stay included breakfast and lunches for our time in the castle. Daniela ordered us a vegetable omelette and sausage filled scrambled eggs (well the sausages were more hot dogs but that's ok). We had coffee and papaya juice and also some bread along with it.
After lunch we walked around for a short while then one of the castle tours started. The tour of course was done in Spanish but the guide who was a young girl (seemed teenage) spoke very clearly and I understood a lot of what she said. The castle was built in 1924 where the rich owner lived until she was 93 when she died. She and her husband had 6 children but they all left Peru back to Italy where the husband was from. That meant the castle was abandoned for around 30 years and of course it was broken into and looted during that time so a lot of damage happened and a lot was stolen. A great grandchild came back to Peru to reclaim the property and was able to and then began to plan what to do with it. It appears the significant restoration happened from the end of the 1980s through the last few years. They decided to make the location into a tourist site and it appears to be moderately successful. I do believe it looked a bit more like a classical castle based on the old photographs of the site from the 1940s or even the 80s. The tourist angle did sort of change the feel along with adding the two pools below and a couple other things that are not standard.
The tour had a hall of mirrors which was cute. Also a section on the local history of Chancay the area the castle is in. The culture chose to mummify the deceased and they had discovered several mummies in the region and some of them were brought into a small museum room in the castle. There were at least 6 that I can recall. The majority of the deceased had only lived to their 20s at the oldest. The first 2 you see are a year and a half or so. The mummies range from 1200 to 1100 years old or so. Unfortunately they guide said to wait to take pictures then rushed through her story and rushed us out so I really didn't get any during this part. We asked to sneak back in but ended up couldn't at that moment. I would like to try again today.
After the mummies she showed us that there was a wreck of a Chilean ship that was sunk during one of the wars with Chile only a short distance off the coast. They had found the wreck and put a buoy marker over i. The plaza de armas of Chancay has the anchor and cannon from the ship. Then we moved on to see that they produce both wine and pisco in the castle. She explained both processes briefly. We were taken to sample some of the wine to finish out the tour. We tried a white and the red we had already tried the night before. They were good but also sweet wines.
After a short while of freshening up in the room we were told that lunch was being served and they needed the housekeeper to clean the room. So we went to lunch. I had a large plate of fried seafood which included octopus, shrimp, fish and calamari. Daniela had a large roasted slab of pork. Mine was called Jalea Mixto. The food was really good but there was a lot of it. It was accompanied by yuca, rice and onions. We also had some lemonade and a small glass of white wine was included too.
After lunch Daniela called and made an appointment to visit the Japanese consulate to get a tourist visa on Wednesday at 9:30am. Then we again visited the room quickly then headed out to walk along the beach from the port. So we took a moto taxi from the castle to the port. We walked around the port area for a few minutes and out onto one of the docks. Then we started to walk back in towards the castle. There were tons of birds around. We also had some small adventures getting around some water that had created channels on the beach but we made it back. We also had to guess that a road was a way up to the castle and fortunately it was. After we got back to the castle we immediately got on another moto taxi to the plaza de armas. There we walked around the park for a bit then bought some dessert. I had an ice cream cone with coffee and a mixed chocolate ice cream and Daniela had a flan type thing she has had before. After that we charged up her phone for more calling time then walked a bit further up to a small shop that was supposed to sell a special type of Chancay bread. Of course when we got there there was no one there at all. I rang their buzzer bell a few times but no one came out. We asked and the local said they must have all stepped out just that moment because there is always someone there. So after that failure we walked back to the castle all the way from the shop. It was a moderately long walk but easy so we really couldn't get lost. We walked to the road that paralleled the shoreline then followed that back into the castle.
When we returned to the castle we got cleaned up and then watched The Wizard of Oz which I had brought with Spanish subtitles. Daniela had never seen it and it had been many many many years since I had seen it too so I barely remembered it. From there we called it a night.
The pictures from today can be found here.
After lunch we walked around for a short while then one of the castle tours started. The tour of course was done in Spanish but the guide who was a young girl (seemed teenage) spoke very clearly and I understood a lot of what she said. The castle was built in 1924 where the rich owner lived until she was 93 when she died. She and her husband had 6 children but they all left Peru back to Italy where the husband was from. That meant the castle was abandoned for around 30 years and of course it was broken into and looted during that time so a lot of damage happened and a lot was stolen. A great grandchild came back to Peru to reclaim the property and was able to and then began to plan what to do with it. It appears the significant restoration happened from the end of the 1980s through the last few years. They decided to make the location into a tourist site and it appears to be moderately successful. I do believe it looked a bit more like a classical castle based on the old photographs of the site from the 1940s or even the 80s. The tourist angle did sort of change the feel along with adding the two pools below and a couple other things that are not standard.
The tour had a hall of mirrors which was cute. Also a section on the local history of Chancay the area the castle is in. The culture chose to mummify the deceased and they had discovered several mummies in the region and some of them were brought into a small museum room in the castle. There were at least 6 that I can recall. The majority of the deceased had only lived to their 20s at the oldest. The first 2 you see are a year and a half or so. The mummies range from 1200 to 1100 years old or so. Unfortunately they guide said to wait to take pictures then rushed through her story and rushed us out so I really didn't get any during this part. We asked to sneak back in but ended up couldn't at that moment. I would like to try again today.
After the mummies she showed us that there was a wreck of a Chilean ship that was sunk during one of the wars with Chile only a short distance off the coast. They had found the wreck and put a buoy marker over i. The plaza de armas of Chancay has the anchor and cannon from the ship. Then we moved on to see that they produce both wine and pisco in the castle. She explained both processes briefly. We were taken to sample some of the wine to finish out the tour. We tried a white and the red we had already tried the night before. They were good but also sweet wines.
After a short while of freshening up in the room we were told that lunch was being served and they needed the housekeeper to clean the room. So we went to lunch. I had a large plate of fried seafood which included octopus, shrimp, fish and calamari. Daniela had a large roasted slab of pork. Mine was called Jalea Mixto. The food was really good but there was a lot of it. It was accompanied by yuca, rice and onions. We also had some lemonade and a small glass of white wine was included too.
After lunch Daniela called and made an appointment to visit the Japanese consulate to get a tourist visa on Wednesday at 9:30am. Then we again visited the room quickly then headed out to walk along the beach from the port. So we took a moto taxi from the castle to the port. We walked around the port area for a few minutes and out onto one of the docks. Then we started to walk back in towards the castle. There were tons of birds around. We also had some small adventures getting around some water that had created channels on the beach but we made it back. We also had to guess that a road was a way up to the castle and fortunately it was. After we got back to the castle we immediately got on another moto taxi to the plaza de armas. There we walked around the park for a bit then bought some dessert. I had an ice cream cone with coffee and a mixed chocolate ice cream and Daniela had a flan type thing she has had before. After that we charged up her phone for more calling time then walked a bit further up to a small shop that was supposed to sell a special type of Chancay bread. Of course when we got there there was no one there at all. I rang their buzzer bell a few times but no one came out. We asked and the local said they must have all stepped out just that moment because there is always someone there. So after that failure we walked back to the castle all the way from the shop. It was a moderately long walk but easy so we really couldn't get lost. We walked to the road that paralleled the shoreline then followed that back into the castle.
When we returned to the castle we got cleaned up and then watched The Wizard of Oz which I had brought with Spanish subtitles. Daniela had never seen it and it had been many many many years since I had seen it too so I barely remembered it. From there we called it a night.
The pictures from today can be found here.
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