Costa Rica Anniversary Travel Diary: Our Stay in La Villa Segundo Rio B&B in Alajuela!

By: Mhe-anne O. Isidro

Costa Rica which literally means "Rich Coast" is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. Administratively, Costa Rica is divided into seven (7) provinces namely: Alajuela, Cartago, Guanacaste, Heredia, Limon, Puntarenas and San Jose.

Christmas Bear at Juan Santa Maria International Airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica

Departure & Arrival: Wearing our matching couple shirts from Palawan and our navy - blue high cut Chuck Taylor shoes, we took Delta Airlines direct flight from Los Angeles, California at 1 o'clock in the morning of December 10, 2016 and arrived at 6 o'clock in the morning at the Juan Santa Maria International Airport. Although called the San Jose (Costa Rica) International Airport (SJO), this airport is actually located in Alajuela, the second  largest province next to the capital San Jose. 

There is no visa requirement to get to Costa Rica so our arrival was fast and smooth. The arrival card is filled up and collected by Delta Airlines, so we just get our entry stamp at the Immigration section upon arrival  and present the custom's form upon leaving the airport.  

There is free wifi service at the airport. After changing $300 into colones (with exchange guarantee for the remaining amount), we booked Uber to our accommodation at the La Villa Rio Segundo Bed and Breakfast. 

Our Room Exit to the Swimming Pool!

Accommodation: La Villa Rio Segundo Rio B&B  is located 8 km from Alajuela City Centre and just 10 minutes drive from Juan Santamaría International Airport which is La Villa Río Segundo B&B's greatest advantage (but the greatest disadvantage to guests!) since you can hear the noise from airplanes taking off and landing in at the airport. The property has an outdoor pool, a beautiful garden, hammocks, a terrace, a shared kitchen and barbecue facilities for guests. There is a free WiFi available in public areas, a tour desk and luggage storage. 

Our double bed comes with a swan styled towels

Our room is by the pool with a view of the garden. At $44, the room has a shared bathroom with hot & cold shower and complimentary breakfast offered from 7:00 to 10:00 am. of the next day. 

Breakfast consist of scrambled egg, ham, bread, juice and cereals 

Activities while in La Villa Rio Segundo B&B:  Although we read that an array of activities can be enjoyed in the surrounding areas such as Poas Volcano National Park, Zoo Ave, La Paz Waterfall, and Laguna de Fraijanes, we decided to take it slow, sleep in (to recharge!), enjoyed swimming at our accommodation, and visited the City Mall which is located only 7 km from the property. 

Alajuela City Mall's Food Court

Since check - in time at La Villa Rio Segundo B&B is at 12 noon, we left our stuff at the counter and took Uber to the Alajuela City Mall . The mall has only been operating for a year and is hailed as the biggest mall in Central America (but really it is much smaller than our Mall of Asia). The mall hours works well for us as it opens from 9am until 10pm. We had our brunch at the Cajun Grill ($8) and a yogurt fix at the Yougurt Mania ($5). We were also able to visit Movistar for our phone essentials for our week-long stay in the country.

We enjoyed a dip at the La Villa Rio Segundo B&B Swimming Pool

TRAVEL TIPS (that works for us today!):  (1) Upload an Uber application in your phone. Uber is the safest (and cheapest!) to go around from SJO airport to / around Alajuela since Costa Rica has no address system and asking for directions might be a problem if you do not speak Spanish like us!; (2) Buy a sim card good for one week at Movistar for only $5 and data for $2.5 for 1 GB; (3) Exchange rate at the airport was only $1 = CRC 477 (while it is $1=CRC 560 outside). But it would be good to have colones right away, for transportation and other stuff. So when exchanging dollars at the airport, choose a money exchange that offers an exchange guarantee for the remaining colones at the end of the trip. Global Exchange offered such guarantee if exchanging $300. 

Paper Anniversary Gift: Some Cool Way To Give Cash Money!

By: Mhe-anne Ojeda - Isidro

Money is made of paper, the traditional material for a first wedding anniversary. But simply giving money to your spouse or to a happy couple celebrating their first year of marital bliss maybe seen as un-romantic, un-cool, effortless or sometimes even unethical. However, our recent first wedding anniversary (September 21) proved that there is definitely a way around this and you can use your ingenuity so that giving "cash money" would truly be appreciated as romantic and thoughtful, just like giving any other paper or clock gifts. Besides, Paper Money are not only valuable, but are also colorful, informative and attractive. Here are some ways to give "money" as first anniversary gift that worked for us, without feeling "awkward" or being tag as "unimaginative": 

1. Slipped some foreign currencies inside the anniversary card just like what our God parents, Doug and Janice Mc Allister did! They are based in the US and have traveled to Canada and were generous enough to think of us on our first anniversary by sending us an anniversary card with some US and Canadian Dollars (made of paper, right?) slipped inside. The card with a lovely note is in itself a thoughtful paper gift, but the US bucks are truly appreciated as we could put them to good use (bucks for Phuket, Thailand!), while the Canadian dollars are perfect addition to our paper money collection (check idea #5)! 

2. Travel to Vietnam and make your spouse feel like a millionaire. My hubby was all smiles when I gave him Vietnamese Dong (VND) while we were in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from September 17, 21-23, 2014. The word dong means Chinese bronze coins which were used as Vietnam's currency since 1978.  As 1000 Dong is equivalent to P 2.11 Philippine Peso, Red definitely was a millionaire with millions of Dongs at his disposal. And since prices in Vietnam are so cheap, Red can afford to buy me anything I want, whether a fancy dinner or a starred accommodations on the evening of our anniversary! 

3. Give Your Spouse Currency of Your Anniversary Destination and Give Him The Money Talks. Cambodian Riel (KHR) is the official currency of Cambodia and comes in 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 50,000 and 100,000 denominations. The exchange rate is 4,000 Riels to a US $1. The US Dollars are widely accepted in Cambodia so the use of Cambodian Riels is limited to fractional US Dollar amount or small purchases less than a dollar, since US coins are not in circulation in this Khmer country. The Cambodian Riels are my fave paper money because they are not only colorful and vibrant but also very informative of Cambodian heritage since most denominations feature wat (or temples) or Cambodian monument - 100 Riel - Independence Commemoration Tower (Phnom Penh); 500 Riel - Angkor Wat Temple Complex; 1,000 Riel - Angkor Tom Temple;
20,000 Riels - Bayon Temple and 50,000 Riel - portrait of Cambodian King, Norodom Sihanouk Varman with Preah Vihear Temple, etc. Since I kept some Riels as souvenirs from my last travel to Phnom Penh, I gave hubby those Cambodian Riels and his first Cambodian lessons as my anniversary gift! The effort was much appreciated and it makes our visit to the Angkor Wat complex and Phnom Penh last September 18-21, 2014 more meaningful to him because of his advance lessons!

4. Wallet Surprise. When we arrived in Taipei, Taiwan, I noticed that my hubby's wallet was really old and worn out, (enough to be shy about it whenever he pulls it out. lol). So while going around Danshui Night Market, I was able to sneak out from him and bought him a new one. While hubby sleeps, I threw his old wallet to the garbage bin and put in his new wallet his IDs, driver's license, ATM cards and of course some New Taiwanese Dollars, the official currency of Taiwan since 1949. The exchange rate to Philippine Peso is 1 NT: PHP 1.48 so it is very easy to calculate our spending. Red was pleasantly surprised when he woke up and can't stopped saying that "his wallet has NTs, not empty"! (get the joke?)

5. Make A Couple Paper Money Collection Scrapbook. Since Red and I started a travel tradition to celebrate our wedding anniversary, I made our Couple World Money Collection where I saved small bills or notes we used or will be using from all the countries we visited and will be visiting for our anniversaries. The collection will be a great reminder of the good times when 'money' literally buy us happiness!

Peanut Butter: Finding Similarities in Differences!

Raymond and I are at the opposite ends of the pendulum in many ways esp. with food. He loves fish and beef while I'm allergic to them and get dizzy just by the fishy / beefy smell when being cooked. He craves for tocino, morcon and embutido when I can't really stand viands that have a bit of a sweet taste. Then I eat kimchi and sushi nori with every meal which he finds weird. Then he eats pandesal and I eat celery. Oh wait. I'm erasing that part about pandesal and celery. I guess we just found a meeting point one night when we were looking for a snack! He grabbed some pandesal and I got some celery. Then  we both reached for - Peanut Butter!

Pandesal is a Filipino bread rolls which everyone in the Philippines eat for breakfast or snack, well, maybe except for me. I find it bland and has no distinct taste other than the taste of its filling - peanut butter, liver spread, chicken spread, jam or what have you. I haven't eaten a pandesal ever since I was a kid. Celery, on the other hand, is a snack I learned to love during my first trip to the US. My mission friend Dana Cummings brought lots of celery with peanut butter during our drive from Las Vegas to Page, Arizona. I got hooked since then with this healthy snack rich in fiber and protein! But back in the Philippines, it is weirdo to be eating raw veggie as a snack! 

So now, back to the Peanut Butter. Guess I'm gonna see lots of peanut butter in the pantry. More couple date nights. Less oppositions on food. But more meeting points! 

2014 Vision Board: Goals As A Couple!

I wrote my new year's resolutions for 2014 which relate to hubby and our marriage. But aside from this blog post, there's nothing concrete to remind me of our goals. So for the sake of the forgetful me, I created our vision board.

Topping our vision board are "words and pictures" that relate to our financial goals - WEALTH! This 2014, both hubby and I are self - employed! It is a good thing because we can do business while taking our dream vacations. Then, as we gain more moneys from our businesses, we want to become better money managers by 1. having a budget 2. saving first 3. avoiding debts (we don't have any credit cards!)4. picking the best bank for our 4 separate bank accounts - one ATM account for our monthly budget / expenses, current account for monthly investments and mortgages, foreign account for our "escape fund" and another ATM account for our emergency fund; and 5. continue our Pag-Ibig savings even as self-employed!

Then for our other goals, I asked hubby five (5) questions which I found on the stack of papers while sorting my files in our mini library. I do not know the source of these questions so I don't know who to acknowledge. What I know is that I printed them years ago to ask during dates lol. Anyway, our common answers to these questions become "our goals"!

If You Could Travel To Another Country, Where Would You Want To Go? Definitely DUBAI! I have long wanted to go to Dubai when I was still single, but there was always a hindrance. I guess we can conquer Dubai double this time!

What Would Your Ideal Vacation Be? We want a picture - perfect holiday in Dubai checking in their treasured traditions or immersing each other in a totally unknown place. Or heart-pumping escapes in AUSTRALIA and JAPAN, both destinations I have been to before but I don't mind checking it out again with my hubby!

Since Wealth and Vacation goals are in for a long haul or a continuing goal year after year, we ask this question What Is Something You Would Like To Do As A Couple This Year? to have something more time - bound goals to work on! Our top 4 goals - 1. a BABY, a bundle of joy while we are still somewhat young; 2. a new TRUCK, possibly as a replacement of our 2010 Sportivo since we want to take our business to the destination of our dreams and D-Max fit us more than an SUV. Am I selling our Sportivo? Why not! We only need one car. 3. a new passport for hubby so we can go to Dubai, Australia or Japan. 4. more daring dates (hmm.I guess this still relate to the "baby". So the next question -

When You Think of Date Night, Which Date Stands Out The Most To You?. We love those dates where we share, talk, find time, eat to reconnect and nurture, learn, serve, give our best and celebrate each moment and interaction. Dates that do not cost much, but matters!

And last but not the least - What Is Something You Want To Accomplish Within Five Years? A Journey to Forever! getting sealed as a family for all time and eternity and a life full of happiness and prosperity!

Welcome 2014! We Are Ready For You!