Costa Rica: A Culinary Impression

This is the first in what I hope will be a series of entries about our trip to Costa Rica. This one goes out to the Wangsters since they love to write and read about food.

As far as I could tell, staples of Costa Rican cuisine were similar to what I perceived as typical Central American food. For example, I saw a lot of rice and beans, ceviche, fried plantains etc... There was plenty of local in-season fruit specifically papaya, watermelon, and pineapple. Midway through our week, I noticed that my urine smelled a lot stronger and I came realize that all the pineapple I ate affected its acidity. I imagined if i visited during other seasons, I would have been eating more mangos and bananas since I saw plenty of those trees too.

Tamarindo, where we stayed, had more international cuisine. This was due to the it's appeal as a surfing and resort destination. It seemed that many of those who came originally as tourists loved the region enough to stay and open a business. In fact, I saw no restaurant operated by an indigenous Costa Rican. As a result, most restaurants fused local ingredients with the cooking techniques of the owners' native regions: which were mostly California, Mexico and Europe. Many exciting dishes resulted. One of my personal favorites was tacos of Carne al Pastor (pork marinated with pineapple, orange, cinnamon, and a secret ingredient) at a Mexican restaurant. Another was shrimp in a sauce made from pineapples, raisins and ginger.

How about this for a food story:

Carrying A Five Pound Freshly Caught Yellowfin Tuna Was An Easy Way to Make Friends
Megan and I loved being in Costa Rica during the low season. We took a snorkeling and sunset cruise combo trip. The yacht, with a flat screen television and a large open bar, normally took over 60 people, but there were only about 15 on this one. We had more that enough space to lie out on the deck and every time I stood up, it seemed, there was a crew member standing there with another drink for me. We felt like high-rollers.

While sailing, the crew members fished and one of them got a bite. They let one of the tourists reel it in, and boy, he fought it for quite some time. The fish was a yellowfin tuna. The crew offered it to him, but he turned it down. They were about to throw it back in until Megan, not wanting to waste an opportunity, spoke up. The crew then graciously cleaned it for us and put it on ice.

Did I mention, our reason for going to Costa Rica, was to attend Christine Ju's marriage to Justin later that week? Coincidentally, a British couple on the same cruise was also attending the wedding. We chatted them up and since we had found ourselves with more than enough fish, invited them to dinner.

The four us spent the evening wandering the muddy unpaved streets of Tamarindo from restaurant to restaurant. We finally settled down at El Pescador the first establishment that agreed to cook up our fish for us (all others preferred using their own supply.) The four of us agreed... absolutely delicious.

So we met some cool people from the experience. Raj and Caroline (the couple), as a coincidence, booked the exact same trip as us for the following day. That excursion was the one where we all did the zip-lining, horseback riding, mud baths, hot spring and water slide. Being low season, that tour ended up being a private one for just the four of us and we all had a blast together.

We Came Home to a Babysitting Job

Our neighbors (Mike and Wendy) had been very helpful when it came to Paige, especially when we needed last minute babysitting. Naturally, Megan agreed to watch their son Brandon when they needed to make an important appointment this morning. The only downside was that we had just gotten home from our Costa Rica trip at 3 AM this morning. Not to worry though, being the experienced father, I knew exactly how to handle this job.

All kidding aside, the four of us (Megan, Paige, Bandit and I) had a blast with Brandon.

Early Report From Costa Rica

We haven't gotten back to the states yet. Mommy and Daddy sure miss Paige and we hope she's enjoying her time with Pepe. I believe she's played with Aunt Mary and the cousins this week, too. As for Megan and I, we've been busy here in Costa Rica. Here is a pictorial summary of our first three days here.

We check into our hotel.



We swam in the pool.



We walked along the beach.



We strolled through town.



We took a sunset cruise.


We enjoyed some local cuisine (wild tuna caught earlier that day on the above cruise!)


We took a canopy tour (zip-lining).


We went horseback riding.


We saw wlldlife. (For example, tucans...


and monkeys.)


We took a mudbath and sat in some volcanic hot springs.


We rode a water slide.


We saw a rainbow.


We shared some pictures with you.

On Average I See These About Once a Year

However this time, I remembered to take a picture.


This condition no longer shocks me as much as it did before. It still does amuse me though. I always want to say to the patient "if you're going to do this, please remember to not let go. Rule of thumb: always keep one hand on the device."

I consulted the surgeon on this one and when I told her the "It's Still On" story, she informed me she had already heard that one. I guess that tale made its way through the doctor's lounge.

Of Montreal In New York

I made a quick trip to the New York City area to see the band Of Montreal in concert. I went with Carl. Despite the continued pain in my foot, I didn't mind standing for hours in the Roseland watching this band. Their recent album Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer? ranked among my recent favorites and their stage show was reputedly legendary. They certainly didn't disappoint. The set was made of these lighted blocks that would light up "Billy Jean" style as performers walked over them. Screens in the back mixed animation with video of the band playing. Non-musician performers (a guy in a tiger mask and a guy in a top hat) added a theatrical element, sometimes interacting with the band like when one mimed a sword-fight with the lead singer.

Of course, what made the show great was what generally makes shows great. The band played well and the audience was enthusiastic, singing and dancing along with their favorite tunes. It was the shared experience, enjoying the Of Montreal's music with a bunch of other fans.

Besides taking you there, the best way to illustrate their stage show is through pictures, so here they are.


The top hat guy:
The tiger mask guy:

The band, the stage and the screens:


The sword fight:

A rock star pose on top of the catwalk:

One of the opening bands was really good. After the show Carl gave me their album. They're called MGMT and their sound mixes traditional rock with dance elements. Listen for yourself:

mp3: "Electric Feet" by MGMT

October 19, 2007 Addendum

This show received some decent internet coverage. Check out fluxblog and prefixmag. This show was also bootlegged (with the band's permission) by nyctaper.

Someone, Please Cut Off My Left Foot

I never went into detail about my stress fracture. The actual bone involved was the 5th metatarsal (the one by the smallest toe.) That actually started to heal fairly quickly. By day four, it was feeling better. However around that time, I noticed that the base of my first toe (the 1st metatarsal-phalangeal joint) was starting to hurt. My original assumption was maybe the pain was from walking funny (you know, compensating for the pain of the fracture.) Within 12 hours it became red, swollen and extremely painful, and before I knew it, I had podagra.

Yup, I developed gout. At least, that was my clinical diagnosis. I was in complete disbelief. I thought it was unlikely that I had two unrelated, painful conditions in my foot. But look at it! What else could it be? (Warning: very unpleasant picture to follow.)






Notice the partially grown toenail on the big toe. That was from an injury over the summer when I stubbed the toe and lost the nail. Seriously, this foot has become more of a problem than its worth. Somebody, please take a saw to it!

The Stress Is Getting to Me

It broke my left foot.

Let me clarify. I got foot pain now and then. I jogged on average two to three times per week. Since I probably didn't get new shoes as often as I should, I occasionally got foot pain that would improve with just some rest. I never bothered to change my habits.

Last night, I developed pain in a slightly different location on my left foot. It was very painful to bear weight on it. Despite that, I just blew it off and went to bed. When I awoke this morning, it was a lot worse. The slightest movement made me scream in pain and bearing weight on it was tortuous. I swore it was broken. It hurt in a way and in a location that, to me, couldn't have been anything else but a fracture. However, I could not remember any incident of actually injuring it.

Megan and I agreed to go to the E.R. to get an x-ray, just to be sure. Of course the x-ray was normal. Like I said, there was no discrete injury to it. I was starting to feel like a fool for coming. Luckily, one of the orthopedic doctors was already there seeing other patients and he popped in to see me. After a short, efficient and painful (to me) exam, he immediately said "stress fracture," which immediately explained both the symptoms and the normal x-ray.

So now, I'm sitting here typing while wearing an orthopedic cast show. Dr Mattern, the orthopedist, predicted a recovery of six to eight weeks, which is a bummer, because I'm going to Costa Rica in two weeks. But I must take good care of it. I can't let this injury ruin snowboarding this winter.