You stole my heart,...Aruba!

Last year, after my internship in Aruba, everybody was asking me for advice on what to do in Aruba and I believed I promised several people a blog would follow. But days...months...passed, until I even come back after a 2nd visit and I believe I should really stop procrastinating about it and just do what I promised.

Aruba is a country that has a special place in my heart, not only the beach and the sea, but the friendly people and especially my friends. I couldn't visit most of them this year, but I'm sure our paths will cross somewhere in the future.

Aruba is known for most as the 'Happy Island' and I did indeed experienced that, every day of my internship and vacation. It is not the big things, but the small details or things that makes so much difference like greeting. Every where you go, you will be greeted. It's so natural for them to be friendly that it makes me wonder why people are so hard on greeting and smiling. Even if I walked by someone, who was just so happen in their yard, they'll wave and say 'Bon dia', which means 'Good Morning'.

Last year, I arranged my internship and took a daring step to travel to a Country I've never been and stayed there for 6 months. The best thing that happened to me is that I get introduced to Joenne Nicastia through a very good friend. Joenne is a lady, who takes measures into her own hands and was always willing to give advice. I wanted to rent an apartment before I would actually arrive in Aruba, but she advised me not to do so, since a picture can be deceiving and other worries need to be taken into account. However Aruba is small, but not everywhere is convenient to get hold of a bus and renting a car was not within my reach yet.

I arrived on a national holiday, so since the moment I arrived she took me everywhere to see apartments. Some were really ridiculously priced- a small studio with everything packed in it could easily cost 1000 florin (nearly $600,-) per month. Finally, I found a nice apartment( a real apartment, where you have a small living room, open kitchen, full bathroom and a bedroom), where every area is divided nicely and gave me a feeling that after a hard day of work, I can really relax.

Not only did she assist me in the apartment search, but she was so thoughtful to think of the bus card and also to bring me to work on my first few days. I can't imagine anything more I can ask from her.

At work, I was welcomed warmheartedly and got the opportunity to work and learn the great standards of the brand hotel. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention its name) One of the brand requirements is that all staff need to smile whenever a guest approaches, but it was so nice working there that the smile came naturally. 

However in the beginning, I did take the bus after work, but after getting acquainted with the associates, most of them were willing to give me a ride after work.

The friendliness is so contagious that I got infected with the friendly-virus. Greeting, saying 'masha danki' and I even gave a ride to a total stranger, who couldn't find the shop she needed to be.
For everyone, who made my internship and stay so memorable, I'd like to say "Thank you!! Masha Danki!! You are one of the reasons Aruba will always have a place in my heart.

What I miss most of this beautiful island:
1. my friends - they introduced me to happy hour, fun in dressing up (for all kinds of events) and the warmth and love of Aruba

2. the free sunsets - The best place to watch the sun go under is at Malmok. You can just park your car there and make yourself comfortable while you watch the sun set.
3. the food options ->  there is a variety of food available. You can grab an affordable big portioned meal at Fermin, a cheap Chinese lunch/dinner at Wing Hung or even a great fine dining experience at Ruth's Chris.  If you're the sport watching type, there are several options ranging from the local bars to Champions. After  hours, there are also some carts at certain areas, where you can get great food for an affordable price. One of them is Mexican. All options depending on the experience you'd like. For more about the food options in Aruba, check my other blog: http://atastybit.blogspot.com/
4. the accessibility - with a car, you can go everywhere yourself. It takes about half an hour to go from high rise area to San Nicolas. That is without traffic. There are a set of roads to go to all areas of Aruba and if you have GPS or Google Maps, you can get everywhere by car.
5. the safety - However Suriname is considered quite safe, Aruba is safer. Of course you should not provoke it, but all in all, I felt like I don't have to be scared to walk around. Just an example of how safe people felt they were: I saw people jogging at the boulevard at 2am.

There are lots more that I miss, but it will make the list too long for a blog.  Have you already been there? What do you miss the most?

My flying experience this vacay

My loyal readers, I'm back!!! A vacation is not only food for my stomach, but also food for my soul. I feel so relaxed and energized now (not really right now, since I'm quite sleepy after a late night movie) and can't wait for the next vacation. Yeah,...love travelling. Can't someone just pay me to travel the world and try out all kinds of food and lodgings?

One thing that's not really likeable is flying. I know that there's not really a way around it, unless you have the same opinion as a guy I met in Aruba, who told me he had been sailing from Boston and was gonna make it a year long trip. For most travels, flying is a necessity and everyone who has to fly a bit further knows the hassle of flying out from Suriname. You have at least one layover, some (can be 9-10hrs) waiting time and then the ignorance of online check-in.

For this trip, I took the matter into my own hands and have booked online. Since I was going to 3 destinations, I glued several airlines to make my ticket price a bit cheaper. SO...for this one trip, I had experience with 5 airlines: SLM, Air Tran, Southwest, JetBlue and Caribbean Airlines.

First was of course SLM. I had earlier experiences with them and the advantage of flying with them to Aruba is:

- it's a direct flight, so shorter travel time
- you always get food ( I believe it's part of being Surinamese)

What I didn't like about them and this time:

- there was a delay of 6 hours and I had to hear it from Travelocity, where they not only mail me about the delay, but someone who couldn't even pronounce Suriname correctly called me to ensure I knew about the delay. I confirmed it by calling the airport and leaving a message at Facebook. And no memo whatsoever on their page about this delay. Real disappointment!
- I checked-in online, printed out my boarding pass and still had to stand in the long line. After some complaints from a colleague traveler, we were put in a different lane, which should've happened from the beginning

Overall, I still would fly with SLM out of convenience, but I just hope they would work on these points though.

It was my first time flying with Air Tran and Southwest, so I was not sure what to expect. I had to connect in Atlanta with Southwest for my final destination. Air Tran was ok. The only thing that was not pleasant and I am not sure which airlines fault it was or just human error, but my luggage didn't arrive with me on my destination.

Southwest on the other hand was an experience like no other and I don't mean in a good way. First of all, at time of departure our flight attendants haven't arrived at the gate yet. The announcer talked about it as if he's talking about the weather or something totally normal. Then during the flight, the flight attendants were constantly chitchatting with guests, which is so different to what I'm used to. I'm not really sure yet about how I feel about it. It's a bit mixed. Partly it's nice to see the flight attendants enjoy themselves, on the other hand, it appears so unprofessional.


JetBlue was really the best airline experience so far!! The price was reasonable, have one free checked luggage per person and there was a list with unlimited snacks and drinks you can choose from. And best of all, TV with nearly all channels and for a flight that's about 3hrs long. The flight attendants were friendly and really service with a smile from the counter to leaving the plane. I would recommend this airline to everyone I know, but unfortunately they only have domestic US flights.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/travel/sirens-skies-flight-attendants-years-gallery-1.46299?pmSlide=1.46355

And there's of course, Caribbean Airlines. The service got better since the last time I flew with them, the state of the interior in the planes got worse, but probably because I didn't expect a lot from them, the overall experience was ok. The only thing that I always hate is the long layover in Trinidad. This time it's 9/10 hours and thank god there's Rituals.

Before I left, I already did some research and read about a VIP lounge, but in which you only gain access through membership or at least introduction by a member. The annual fee for this membership is about $300+ and the introduced one will have to pay $27,- for that one time.

Since we don't know anyone who could be from that club, we were already worried about what to do in 9-10 hours. We lunched at KFC, which I do have to admit is the best KFC I've had so far. The line was so long, but totally worth it. We took our time with every step we had to follow and finally got up to the 1st floor. There was some shops, but only Rituals actually sold something to eat and drink. I saw the couches and I was in love. You know in cartoons, when an object suddenly lights up as if send from heaven. Well, this couch just lighted up in front of me. It looked so comfy (and it is too) and we spend most of our hours here. I felt to thankful that all the TT$ I had left, I put it in their tip box. However it's not mandatory, but I believe everyone who uses this 'facility' should do the same. The ladies are nice and should surely be rewarded for not kicking you out.

My food experiences at all 3 destinations are soon to be read on my other blog: https://atastybit.blogspot.com/