TravelStream™ news feed for member twiddly2 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/twiddly2 en-us Copyright ©2010 TravelPod.com Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:40:25 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152220200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152220200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152220200/tpod.html Tue, 18 Jul 2006 16:40:25 -0400 Trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

We spent time on the beach again, swimming in the sea for a change. We took a kayak out again earlier, but it was super windy and the water was too choppy so we gave up. The water's clear enough to see fishes swimming in it, by the way! After that, we went back for our usual pool session. This time, a darts competition was underway right beside the towel stand, so we went over to have a look. Top two dogs would each win a bottle of BRUGAL "Anejo Ron Superior," a Dominican rum. Denver participated, made it to the last round, and came in 2nd. Bravo!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152291000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152291000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152291000/tpod.html Wed, 12 Jul 2006 19:39:22 -0400 Trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Departure day. We didn't want to leave such a nice and tranquil place, but we had to, and besides which Ginny was waiting for us. We polished up our Spanish, though, if nothing else. Back to the dreaded airport. The departure hall has two temrinals, one of which is new, and is fully air-conditioned! So even if your flight leaves from Terminal 1, go and shop and wait in Terminal 2, it's way cooler. Aikwan heard two women speaking in Cantonese in one of the gift shops! Wonders will never cease. That is our evidence that we weren't the only Asians in the whole of Punta Cana that week. Our plane arrived in Fort Lauderdale on time, but we ended up waiting on the tarmac for 40 mins while the gate was occupied by another plane. This caused us to nearly miss our connecting flight to Washington because it took us forever to clear U.S. immigration and customs. It turned out that the other flight was a little late as well, so we were ok. Poor Aikwan actually had to run to catch her plane, and the last time she actually ran was to catch her leaving train in Florence back in 2001. Phew! Nothing like stress starting up the moment our holiday ends! (It would have been way worse if Aikwan had been left behind in Florence, seeing as
1) the suitcases were on the train bound for Rome and then Naples
2) Denver was already on the train
3) the plane home was in Rome
But that's another story altogether!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152731400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152731400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152731400/tpod.html Wed, 12 Jul 2006 18:08:06 -0400 Trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Our third day was kind of a lazy day. We watched some Wimbledon on TV and enjoyed staying in the air-conditioned room. Then we went out and looked for more foliage to snap pics of, and found some birds. We also found the beautiful flock of flamingoes in the Barcelo Bavarro Casino resort, right outside the Buffet Mirador restaurant. Now is also a good time probably to inform everyone that the food at the resort is cafeteria grade at best, unless the man cooks it there and then for you at the pasta bar, omelette bar, seafood fry bar, etc. Can't speak for the chain's Bavarro Palace, which is the highest-end of the five resorts, since the restaurants there were not included in the privileges our bracelet gave. It's a shame, but being our first time in an all-inclusive, we don't have a frame of reference. Perhaps the rest are similar, perhaps not. But the made-to-order pizza from take-away counter was good!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1151952300/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1151952300/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1151952300/tpod.html Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:52:46 -0400 Trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The arrival hall is completely open-air with thatch roofs, very quaint, but killer in the humidity. We disembarked from the plane into blinding sunlight and walked quickly towards the buildings looking for the first spot of shade. Music (bongo, accordion and maracas) greeted us with island rhythms as we entered. Which was when we discovered the LONG queues for immigration. Hot, hot and sticky. After clearing immigration, we passed by the actual three musicians. Not much to crow about, I'm afraid. Then we fell upon the task of finding our transport, or at least someone holding up a sign with the name of our travel agency on it. No such luck. A man came (yep, two lost Asians really do STAND OUT GREATLY in Punta Cana and there's no need to stamp "tourists" on our foreheads) and pointed us to the right desk. Our driver came and led us out to his van, which was parked alongside at least fifty other such vans in the parking lot out back.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152041400/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152041400/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/twiddly2/dominican_rep./1152041400/tpod.html Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:52:20 -0400 Trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The gardens at Barcelo Bavarro Caribe are beautiful, lots of green and dashes of vibrant colour here and there. Pink hibiscus and red flame trees. Coconut and oil palms. Lovely. Don't mind the security guards who call out Hola! as you pass. (Can get creepy after dark). After lunch on Independence Day, we headed out to the beach first, to take in the scenery, snap some pics and borrow a kayak. After that, we went to catch the second half of the Germany-Italy semifinal on the big screen in the small ampitheatre next to the Bar Flamboyan. Roaring shouts of Italia! Italia! broke out each time the Italians did something good versus groans (each time Germany got a free kick) and claps or sighs of relief (each time Germany shot at goal and missed). What an incredibly pro-Italian crowd. Well, the bar was dispensing the local Presidente beer like no tomorrow, and since food and drinks are free with your all-inclusive bracelet (put on the moment you check in), life was good for the moment. We liked Germany in that match, along with the (one) other lady we saw who wore a t-shirt that had a (small) Deutsch flag on it over her swimsuit, but of course nobody heard a peep from us, in case we stood out more than we already did, being the only Asians in the whole resort complex as it was. After the match, it was straight back to the very inviting pool at Caribe. In fact, we spent some time at that pool and poolside bar every single day, beginning with arrival day!
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