Pops' China Travel Guide, Shanghai April 2014

Today I booked my trip and and sent my VISA application off to CBIT Inc for processing. Since my trip starts April 9th I had to expedite processing of the VISA. It should take 4 business days so I should get my Passport and VISA back with a week to spare.

The good news was on the price of the ticket to Shanghai. By shopping around and trying different airports in the area I was able to get a flight to Shanghai on Delta out of SFO with one stop in Seattle for $737 round trip. The flight leaves at 10:30am and arrives in Shanghai at 6pm, very doable. I have a hotel in Pudong for the 10 day trip and now I can relax and wait for the trip to begin.

Since I only found out I was going 2 weeks before departure the price, schedule and VISA are going great.

Pops' China Travel Guide, Obtaining a VISA

I just found out that I am going to China in April so I thought I would write about my experiences. The first thing I need to do after booking the trip is to obtain a VISA.

Obtaining a VISA is not as intimidating as you would think. What I do is let a service handle the footwork for me. After you supply the required information the VISA service will work with the Chinese embassy to get your VISA approved. I like to use CBIT Inc as the VISA service. They also have other services such as Passport services.

There is some information and documents you will have to provide. First you need to already have a valid Passport that is valid for 6 months beyond the request length of the VISA. If you are requesting a VISA for a length of one year your Passport should be valid for at least 18 months. Make sure your Passport has enough free pages to add the VISA. If your Passport is getting full you can request additional pages. You will also need a Passport photo and a copy of the computer generated itinerary or a copy of your plane tickets and hotel reservations. If you have children under 18 years of age you will have to have a copy of their birth certificate. If they are traveling without you you will also have to provide a notarized authorization letter stating the child has permission to travel without you.

If you are traveling on vacation you can select a tourist VISA. If for part of your trip you will be entering Hong Kong or Macau it is considered leaving China. If that is the case you will need a multiple entry VISA. If not you can get by with a single entry VISA.

Now that you have gathered the required information you are ready to completed the VISA application and order form from CIBT.

Typical time to complete processing is 8 business days however it may take longer if there are questions. Give yourself plenty of time. They do have expedited processing if you need it. That is typically 4 business days.

If you are traveling for business you will need additional information like a letter of introduction from the company you are visiting.

The link for CIBT is www.cbitvisas.com . Review the specific requirements on their site.

Pops' Costa Rica Travel Guide, Jaco

Jaco is located on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and is a popular destination for tourists and surfers from all over the world. Jaco isn't that big, the beach itself is about 2.5 miles long. The city spans the length of the beach and only goes about 3 blocks off the beach. This is a beautiful place to relax and/or have an adventure. I have spent many a day at the beach or pool relaxing and I have also many a day zip lining, ATV riding, and jumping off waterfalls. If you want a vacation outside the country but also close then I would highly recommend Jaco.

Getting there: Fly into San Jose and take a taxi to Jaco. The ride will be about 1.5 hours. Don't pay more than $100 for the taxi.

Places to stay: There are many hotels in Jaco, most with beach access. You will also find many condos in town. I found that prices for the hotels range from about $100 to $200 a night. On this trip I also looked into what the condos had to offer. What I found was that if you are traveling alone or as a couple a hotel is the way to go. However, if you are traveling with other couples and can share the cost a condo is a better option. I found 2 bedroom condos for as little a $225 a night and 3 bedrooms for $300 a night. These condos are modern with granite counter tops and modern appliances. There is usually one more bathroom than there are bedrooms. For a little over $100 a night you can have something really nice. Just outside of Jaco you will find some really nice resorts. My favorites are the Marriott Los Suenos Resort and the Villa Caletas. Both are pricey but I've stayed at both and they are worth it. Los Suenos is more for families and Villa Caletas is more for couples. Check out the pictures of both on their websites.

Los Suenos

Villa Caletas

Los Suenos Condos

Places to eat: My favorite place to eat is at the yacht marina in Los Suenos. Try the Italian restaurant in the village. The food is incredible and you have the option of sitting outside by the yachts, sitting inside or sitting upstairs in the bar area. If the weather is nice I would see if you can sit upstairs on one of the balconies.My next choice is at the Villa Caletas. People come from all over to the Villa Caletas to watch the sun set. It is one of the best you will ever see. You can sit outside and have a drink while watching the sunset. I would recommend having dinner at the same time. You can have a great meal while watching an incredible sunset. In Jaco you will find many places to eat. As I have mentioned before one of my favorites is the Taco Bar. Otherwise walk the main drag and pick one of the many other restaurants.

Things to do: I have been to Jaco many times now and have tried most of the attractions.

• You went to the beach and you need to enjoy it. The beach is about 2.5 miles long. Take a walk in the morning or in the evening as the sun sets.
• There are a number of surf schools and places to rent boards. If you ever wanted to try surfing now is the time. 
• There are plenty of zip lines in the area. My recommendation would be the Tranopy. It is a nice tram ride with 12 zip lines to get you back down. Price is about $100.
• ATV excursions. I would try the office across from the Taco Bar and on the corner by the Cocal Hotel. Ask for Kine. Prices vary but don't pay more than $90 for 3 or 4 hours.
• The Calypso Cruise is an all day trip to Tortunga Island. I have done this twice and had a blast each time. Once you are at the island you can snorkle or rent a jet ski. The price is about $120 with meals included.  
• Jose's crocodile tour is really fun. The price is $35.
• Sports fishing for Marlin and Sailfish. This is one of the bigger attractions for people coming to Jaco. 

One word of advice is to shop around, prices vary widely. I would stay away from booking at your hotel the markup is too high. I priced Jose's river tour at the hotel at $60 and paid $35 by going directly to the source. 

Pops' Costa Rica Travel Guide, March 7, 2014

I drove from Jaco to Quepos today which is about 40 miles. Quepos is at the entrance to a nation park, Manuel Antonio. Today's trip was just for lunch at the Hotel Mariposa and the incredible views. If you are in the area I would highly recommend it. However, it is hard to find. It is on the way to Manuel Antonio and in the hills of Quepos. I have been there twice and still missed the turn and I think I have a human GPS. My advice would be to go with someone that knows the area or drive to Quepos, park the car and take a taxi. Believe me, the views are worth it. You sit in the hills with views of the beach below. Today I saw para sails and many yachts. Go to the restaurant by the pool and have the cevechi. The cevechi in Costa Rica can't be beat. Either the sea bass or the shrimp. Check out these views.

Pops' Costa Rica Travel Guide, March 2014

Today I went on an awesome ATV tour in the back country. My tour guide was Kine Reyes who is an expat from Texas. He really loves what he is doing and he loves Costa Rica and it shows. Go to the tour office across the main street from the Taco Bar and ask for the tour from Kine. The tour can last anywhere from 2 to 4 hours, you pick how long. Kine will take you well into the back country, across rivers and through towns you would never see otherwise. The tour takes you up to a waterfall with a great swimming hole. If you want it has a great spot to jump off the waterfall.

                                                                                             Bull Fighting Ring

Pops' Costa Rica Travel Guide, March 12

This is where I like to tease my daughter who likes Disneyland. She likes the Jungle Cruise ride. Today I went on a real jungle cruise. My guide for my day on atv's told me about the crocodile river cruise. He hooked me up with Jose from Jose's Crocodile River Tour. I am glad he did. The price is only $35 per person for a 1.5 hour cruise on the Tarcoles River just north of Jaco. There are other operators but from what I could see Jose has the best experience. The boat is smaller and both Jose and the other guide where both knowledgeable and entertaining.  They actually get out of the boat and feed the crocodiles. The others just seemed to get up close. If you are in the area this is something else I would recommend.  His website is www.crocodilerivertour.com .

Pops' Costa Rica Travel Guide, March 11

Went to the Villa Caletas Hotel just north of Jaco for dinner and to see the sunset. One of the best sunsets you will ever see. This is also a great place to stay. It is on a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean and has its own private beach that takes a four wheel drive to get to. Check it out online.

Pops' Costa Rica Travel Guide, Costa Rica March 6, 2014

Pops is slacking as I am having too good of a time in Costa Rica. The flight was perfect. From SFO taking the Avianca flight at 12:30am  is the way to go. The flight to San Salvador had a touch screen entertainment system at each seat. They had first run movies like Gravity and 12 Years a Slave. The only problem was I slept all the way there. My return flight leaves at 3pm so I plan on watching a few movies on the way back.

I made it to one of my favorite places to eat. The Taco Bar is here in Jaco. As you can see it is not a fancy sit down restaurant. It serves tacos, burritos, etc. It is open air and you sit in swings. While you are sitting there you will meet surfers from all over the world. Today I met some from New Zealand. Surfing is famous in Jaco. This is a must thing to do in Costa Rica, trust me.

Weather here is perfect with temps around 90 degrees every day and no rain. I plan on catching up but for now the bar on the beach is calling and the music sounds too good to pass up.

My experience at the Disney Yacht and Beach Club

When planning my Honeymoon, I spent weeks (maybe months) researching the different Disney Hotels. My husband and I wanted a deluxe hotel that was centrally located. We chose deluxe because we wanted easy access to restaurant options, a great view from our room, a fun pool, and something romantic. We also didn’t want to pay a ton for our hotel and luckily we found a great discount with the purchase of an annual pass (if you want more information on the discounts I’ve found, refer to my previous posts).

One hotel that fit all of our criteria was the Yacht and Beach Club.

The Yacht and Beach Club is actually two hotels that are connected and share a GREAT pool (the best hotel pool at Disney World!). We found families with children tended to stay at the Beach Club side and adults without children tended to stay at the Yacht Club. I really don’t know why that’s the case since both share amenities and the pool, but that’s what we found in my research and also our experience. Something to think about if you want to stay at this hotel, but want either a more family vibe or adult vibe. Although I really wanted to stay on a monorail resort, I kept going back to the Yacht Club, so in the end, that’s where we decided to stay.

The Yacht and Beach Club are themed after New England beach resorts.

The Beach Club side is decorated in lighter colors and pastels, whereas the Yacht Club has more gray and white colors. It’s located on the back-side of Epcot and is situated on a huge lake.

Next to the Yacht Club (going counter clockwise around the lake) are the Swan and Dolphin hotels and the Boardwalk hotel. Part of the Boardwalk hotel is an actual boardwalk, featuring restaurants, shops, and a piano bar.

The Boardwalk activity really picks up at night and it’s a great place to walk around and relax. We were never in a rush on our vacation, so we usually walked the long way back to our hotel and went through the Boardwalk. It was a nice, relaxing stroll and also a great way to get in a little extra exercise.

In my opinion, the Epcot area hotels (including the Yacht and Beach club) have the best location at Disneyworld. This area is centrally located in the middle of Disneyworld and very close to Epcot and MGM Studios. In addition to taking a bus to the various theme parks, you can also walk or a take a boat to both Epcot and MGM Studios.
 

Note – this hotel is so close to Epcot that when I went, a bus was not offered to Epcot. On our trip, we walked whenever it was possible, including to both MGM and Epcot. The scenery and weather was so perfect and it was a great way to start or end our day. If you don’t want to do a lot of walking (since you’ll already be walking a ton in the parks), you can always take the boat.

Although we had booked a standard room, when we checked into the hotel, I asked if we could be upgraded to a Lake View. Note: At all Disney hotels, the price for the room will vary depending on your view. Standard (parking lot or garden) views are the cheapest and you will pay more for water (pool or lake) views. After a few moments, we were told we could be upgraded and it was no additional cost!! Reading through other people’s experiences, I’ve found that being upgraded is actually pretty common (based on what’s available). Remember, it doesn’t hurt to at least ask!
 

The room itself was very nice, with the vanity area separate from the shower / toilet. Housekeeping did a great job cleaning the room and decorating it with various towel animals.

 At the Resort itself, there are a bunch of food options; however we weren’t really impressed with any of them. We actually ate at each of the hotel restaurants on that trip, but there was only one that we would eat at again: the all you can eat buffet at Cape May Cafe. This is a clam bake buffet with crab, clams, mussels, steak, etc..., which we both thought was really good.

 Although we really didn’t enjoy the majority of the restaurants at the hotel, it didn’t matter to us at all because there are a TON of food choices within walking distance. From the Yacht Club, we were only a short walk away from eating at the Boardwalk, at the other hotels around the lake, or (our favorite!) eating within Epcot. Within Epcot’s World Showcase, each country offers great "local" food for pretty much anything you’re craving (Mexican, Italian, Steak, Moroccan, Sushi, etc...). There’s a separate entrance in the back of Epcot (right by the hotels) that takes you right into World Showcase, so it’s very close.

One thing that we loved about the hotel was its awesome pool, which is located between the hotel and lake. In addition to the pool itself, there’s a lazy river and a pirate ship with a slide!
 

Besides swimming, another fun activity within walking distance is miniature golf.

Overall, we found this hotel to be very relaxing and with the BEST location. This is one of our favorite hotels and we would definitely choose it again. Up next, I’ll discuss our stay at Wilderness Lodge.