Our New Office

Similarities between Aruba and Phuket

1.  Both are islands.

2.  Aruba and Phuket are tourist traps.

3. There are lizards in both places. This little guy made it into our bathroom somehow.

4. The food is excellent.

5. It’s hot enough that you break a sweat just walking down the road.

6. So many stray dogs; it’s sad. This guy tried to interrupt our happy hour picnic on the beach. When we weren’t any help to him, he went down aways and dug up a crab.

Differences between Aruba and Phuket

1. Aruba is a desert and Phuket has jungles.

2. Some of the cockroaches in Phuket have wings.

3. In Aruba the water is clear and blue. Phuket’s waters are a bit murky.

4. While shopping in Aruba the salespeople ignore you and in Phuket they won’t leave you alone. They like to call Jason “boss” and engage him in conversation. They say things like, “Where are you from?”  They also try to shake his hand. We think this is so they won’t let go and lead him into their shops.

5. Phuket has several Starbucks locations, while Arubans are mostly Dunkin’ Donuts drinkers. We made sure to leave our mark at the Starbucks. It’s called marketing folks.

Again, I must talk about Aruba even though we’ve been away for more than a month now. I guess it made more of an impact than I thought.

The reason for this post is because of my handy, dandy new lens on Squidoo.com. If you’ve never been to Squidoo, I suggest you go right now and read my new lens on Aruba travel so you can see what it’s all about. If you have been to Squidoo before, then I suggest you go over there right now and read my Aruba lens, because frankly, I doubt you’ve seen anything like it before.

I spent DAYS on my lens and I’m just so proud I could cry.

Please read me.
I need you to read me.
Please.
Sniff.

Remember when all we could talk about was snorkeling in Aruba? Well, Jason finally got our snorkeling pictures developed so I thought I would talk about it again. I figured no one wanted to sift through the 230-some pictures of us to find them so here are the highlights:

Here we are underwater looking sexy.

Here are the parrot fish that I thought were going to eat me.

Here’s Jason trying to get away from me. He’s always trying to get away from me.

Here’s a starfish. I like the star fish the best because I know they won’t get me.

These little guys (seargent majors) were a common sight.

We learned that Lake Tahoe (just the lake not the surrounding towns) is bigger than the island of Aruba. Crazy, huh.

August 25, 2008. We’ve left Aruba today. It’s been fun, but it’s time to go. Not to sound like a complainer, but 2 weeks would have been plenty.

Before I drop my top ten list on you, here’s a little anecdote.

Cuban coffee that almost got me busted.

When we got to Aruba, we bought a lot of groceries. The plan was to eat in as often as possible (we wanted to save money and keep from getting fat), so in that thread we decided to buy some coffee. I chose to buy some Cuban coffee (for the thrill of ingesting contraband) yet we never used it – we were always out and about in the mornings. After a while, I decided I’d break the law and sneak our pound of Cuban coffee into the US.

Imagine my excitement when I was randomlly selected for search by U.S. Customs. I wasn’t terribly concerned – one bag of Cuban coffee shouldn’t be a big deal – but it is technically illegal. The customs inspector asked “Did you buy any Cuban products sir?” and I said “Ya – some Cuban coffee.” The agent searched my bag, grabbed the coffee, then walked over to his boss. I was expecting to watch my coffee be thrown away, but the guy was nice and let me keep it. No trouble, no lecture, no big deal.

Who says there’s a Cuban embargo?

Here it is – the Top Ten Reasons To Visit Aruba:

10. It’s A Desert Island – You know that old question, “What would you do if you were stuck on a desert island?” Visiting Aruba gives you some real perspective with which to answer that question, especially when you’re stuck in the desert on the north coast.

9. Interesting History and Attractions – Aruba has an interesting history and some decent attractions. A lot of times when you go to a tourist location, the attractions and history are embellished. Here, not so much.

8. Top-notch Resorts – They’re as nice here as they are anywhere. The best is the Hyatt Regency Aruba.

7. The Clash of Cultures – Between Latin, Dutch, and US culture, modern Aruba is an interesting mix. While the current island culture is dominated by the US, the past is interesting to learn and think about.

6. It’s Easy and Safe – Aruba is easy to get to – it’s about a 4 hour flight from Atlanta. It’s also easy to navigate around Aruba as nearly everyone speaks English. It seems safe too – we didn’t see or hear anything that concerned or worried us.

5. Great Beaches – They’re clean, clear, and wide. The water is warm and calm, and the sand is very soft.

4. Lots of Wildlife – Feral donkeys and goats, lots of little lizards (and a few big ones), birds, and an amazing array of fish make for a welcoming mix of wildlife.

3. Great Food – Our guide book says that all food in Aruba is good, and we agree. We really didn’t have a bad meal. Well, we had one, but it really wasn’t that bad.

2. Snorkeling – There is some great snorkeling close to the shore along Malmok beach. The water is clear, warm, and very calm, making it especially easy for beginners. There are schools of fish close to shore, and the observant snorkeler will find eels, lobsters, and a wide variety of corals.

1. Perfect Weather – Here’s the forecast for Aruba for any day of the year. 85-89 degrees (F), calm winds from the northwest, and a 10% chance of cloud cover in the morning. Humidity is high enough to make A/C necessary for inside, but if you stay out of the sun you’ll be comfortable at the beach all day long.

That’s it for Aruba. Next up, we visit Atlanta, Denver, and then drive to Lake Tahoe.

August 24, 2008. The last full day in Aruba was a bit of a let-down for us. Perhaps we built it up in our mind too much. We might have been expecting some sort of cap stone experience, but what we had instead was a decent work day and a dissapointing dinner.

There were a few highlights, however. For one, we were treated really nicely by an Aruban. She worked at Dunkin’ Donuts and she let us plug our laptops in behind the counter. It was a small thing, but we were genuinely greatful. Arubans aren’t as friendly as they’re made out to be, so finding someone truly nice and helpful was exciting.

Secondly, we were witness to an AWFUL live “band.” A dutch couple played covers of American rock classics – they even had a Kazoo!! It reminded me an awful lot of that Will Farrell sketch where he plays the goofy music teacher:

Will Farrel is a goofy music teacher, very similar to the Dutch couple covering American rock classics we were unlucky enough to hear.

They were bad. Really bad. So bad they were good.

Anyways, tomorrow it’s back to the US. We’re really excited about going back home, if even for a short time.

August 23, 2008. The snorkeling today was very solid. We visited DePalm Island, a small bar of sand with a nice reef that’s been converted into a mini-resort. They have a few different restaurants, a good beach, a small water park for the kids, and a few other little attractions.

While the reviews on TripAdvisor are a mixed bag, I would say this is a solid attraction for anyone visiting Aruba. Sara and I learned from our jet skiing experience and opted for only a 1/2 day on the Island, and I think we hit it perfectly. We got to enjoy everything the island had to offer without spending so much time there to get sick of it.

The laminated card of Aruba reef creatures that we took snorkeling.

The highlight for me was the snorkeling. I snuck out past the official “snorkeling area” and I’m quite happy that I did so. While the official area was good – the parrot fish were amazing – the area beyond the buoys was better. Coral as far as you can see, lots of wildlife, crystal clear water, and a very noticeable “thermal” layer at about 10 feet down. On top, the water feels nice and warm. Go down a few feet and the water gets noticeably cooler. Very refreshing and a good incentive to dive as deep as you can stand.

I bought a handy laminated card that shows the wildlife you’re likely to see while snorkeling in Aruba (I know, I’m a geek). I didn’t see everything, but I’d say I saw about half of the fish on the card. The parrot fish were amazing – beautiful bright blue, rainbow colored, and even black and white, these fish had beaks that they used to scrape food off of coral. I had an underwater camera with me, so hopefully I’ll be able to post some photos later.

Sara did not enjoy the parrot fish as much as I did. While I thought it was exciting to swim within a few inches of hungry beaked parrot fish the size of a small child, Sara was a little freaked out.

A Blue Parrot Fish with a nice sharp beak.

The fish swim right by your face, your hands, etc., and it was clear that they were looking for a handout. Evidently, someone has been feeding these fish – supposedly a big no-no. Admittedly, parrot fish beaks can look a little intimidating when they swim by your face, but I was really excited about the close quarters. Twice I tried to reach out and touch one, but they were always able to move just out of my reach.

Sara’s DePalm Island highlight was the beach. While not terribly big, it was clean and semi-private. The kids were all playing in the waterpark, so we were able to enjoy the stereotypical “quiet tropical beach” experience. The only negatives to going to DePalm – it’s a little pricey. You need to eat and drink quite a bit to get your money’s worth, and the food isn’t that great. Not bad, but not really good either. We enjoyed the food from the little beach hut next to the waterpark (the one for the kids that serves hotdogs and chicken nuggets) more than we enjoyed the restaurants.

If you’re looking for a magical, wonderful, “paradise” experience, you should look elsewhere. However, if you want to swim with some aggressive panhandling parrot fish, drink as many Balashi beers as you can, play in a little waterpark, and eat some kid food, you’ll have a good time. It was a really nice way to top off our Aruba trip.

Dinner was a highlight too – we ate at Tango (an Argentine style steakhouse) and it was quite good. We got a ton of food, the sweet corn was really sweet, and the desert was awesome. The dulce de leche crepe was decadent – we split the desert and fought over the last bites.

As our trip in Aruba is coming to a close, it’s time to plan for our next destinations. We’ve arranged our itinerary and flights for Asia, which we’ll refine in the coming weeks. At this point, I can say that we’ve managed to balance work and play quite well. Living and working in a new place is fun, especially when you know it’s only for a short time. Sara and I can’t afford to put any activities or attractions off until “next weekend,” so we tend to be a lot more active (me especially). All in all, today was one of the better days in Aruba. Top 3 for sure, maybe even top 2. The only day that can top it would be the day we visited Cuba’s Cookin’.

August 21-22nd, 2008. In no particular order, here are some observations of Aruba.

When you listen to local ads and local television, as an English speaker you can’t understand much. Aruba has a unique language known as “Papiamento,” a combination of Dutch, Spanish, English, and Portuguese. If that didn’t make it hard enough to understand, the pronunciation from one language is often applied to another. However, if you know a little Spanish you can often get the jist of what’s being said.

For example – when we rode in the “tow truck” after we got stuck in the sand, the guys in the car were commenting on the attractiveness of this woman we were driving by. I didn’t understand every word, but I understood enough (Sara did too and she wasn’t that impressed). The same goes for a lot of signs in Papiamento. The coffee shop we found in the local’s mall (the shop was known as HuChada) had quite a few want ads and posters on the wall facing the wi-fi area. I looked at quite a few ads on the wall (like people selling puppies, cars, job opportunities, etc.) and the words made a little sense.

Still, reading signs and listening to advertisements is nothing like listening to people speak (especially without a context). I’m not going to lie – I often had no idea what was being said.

For example, listening to the local radio talk shows was odd and hard to comprehend. Not only was everyone speaking Papiamento, but the people talked over a song being played in the background. It wasn’t like they shouted over the music – the music volume would be normal, then drop to background noise as the people spoke, the raise again to normal.

Imagine someone turning the car radio knob up and down between each word of a conversation, and you get the drift.

People on the radio in Aruba say “AAAAAroooooooba!!” – it’s much more fun to say than “Aruba.” Try it – I’ll wait.

Fun, right?

This week has been a work week for the most part. We went to the Radisson Hotel pool again and waited for our friends “Jill and Brad” today, and Sara’s done a nice job of going out and running at sunset. Tomorrow, we head to DePalm Island which is supposed to have great snorkeling.

Two things I feel the need to write about.

First, Jason said in a previous post that we toured a cave extensively. I did no such thing. I don’t like caves because I don’t like bats and after being in the first ten feet of the cave for 1 and 1/2 minutes I saw a bat and refused to go any further.

Here we are about nine feet into the cave. The bat I spotted was just behind us to the left.

The second thing I need to address is this picture we took of something that could be art or could be crap–it’s hard to say. When we saw this structure in the middle of the Aruban desert I wasn’t sure what it was, but upon closer inspection I decided that it was a work of art that was later littered with a bunch of crap.

That’s all I got for now. Just lots of working these last few days, but this weekend promises to be fun.

August 19th and 20th, 2008. After our longggg weekend, Sara and I have been quite content to focus on work. We’ve rented another car (it’s just too convenient), but this time we went with American Rental Car. The vehicle is nicer than either of the cars we rented from Budget (the Suzuki Alto and Grand Vitara) and the lady I worked at American with was also much nicer than anyone at Budget.

So it’s official, if you visit Aruba, check out American Rental Car.

We’ve decided that the Dunkin’ Donuts in downtown Oranjestad is our favorite WiFi/work hangout. However, we did learn that a couple of places in a nearby mall have free WiFi, and our plan is to check one of them out tomorrow.

See the Little Ceasars/Dunkin’ Donuts on the second story? That’s where we like to telecommute in Aruba.

Just like Monday, yesterday and today have mostly been work days. We’ve got less than 1 week left in Aruba and we’re both excited to see the USA again:

• I’m looking forward to having some shirts cleaned and pressed as well as buying a Jamba Juice.
• Sara is looking forward to staying in a place where we don’t have to deal with ants or cockroaches.
• We’re both excited about buying things that aren’t ridiculously over-priced.

We’re going to make this last week count, because it might be a long time before we ever come back to Aruba.

August 18th, 2008. First thing this morning I returned our Suzuki Grand Vitara rental car to Budget – the three day rental was over. I expected to find out about a discount or something similar when I returned the car (as I discussed with a Budget employee on Saturday), but instead I was told they weren’t going to do anything. I explained that the vehicle I rented didn’t work as advertised, but the person on the other end of the phone didn’t care. To make matters worse, I was given this information in a rude manner. I had made a point to be calm and polite – I worked in car dealerships for years and I know what it’s like to have people yell at you – yet the person I was dealing with at the “main office” was aggressive and rude.

Here’s a photo of our Budget Aruba rental car – the one with the broken 4wd, electric windows that didn’t work right, a tailgate lock that didn’t actually lock, mediocre A/C, and a host of squeeks and rattles.

My response was to refuse to sign the credit card slip and inform the person on the other end of the phone that I was going to dispute the charge. Then I walked out.

Fuming mad, Sara and I headed to one of our local WiFi haunts (the Renaissance hotel) to grab a cup of coffee, a snack, and make a phone call. Unfortunately, the internet connection in the lobby of the Renaissance hotel in Palm Beach Aruba was too slow for Skype.

I packed up and headed off to the local McDonalds, another nearby free WiFi location, where the connection was fast enough for me to make a phone call. I was informed that the WiFi was broken and was not working. It actually hadn’t been working for the last few days (things take a while to get fixed in Aruba, btw).

I was ready to lose it. The Budget office, the broken wifi, the inconvenience, and my expectation that I would be treated fairly were conspiring to ruin my day. Frustrated, my last option was to return to our condo and try to work with the less than reliable WiFi connection their.

Did I mention that the birds at the Renaissance hotel lobby make loud screaming noises at random intervals? It’s kind of funny (and the birds are actually pretty cool), but I was in no mood for it this morning.

Luckily, the day got better from that point forward. I was able to place a Skype phone call to Budget’s US help line. While they couldn’t actually help me, they did offer to send a report to the international desk. The report wouldn’t be responded to for as much as 21 days, but it was something. Perhaps more importantly than actually being able to help, this Budget employee was the first person that was truly nice to me. He understood my frustration and tried to help.

Next, I contacted the Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA) and dealt with another helpful person – Castro Perez. He said he would be glad to forward a complaint to the owner of Budget’s Aruba franchise, and he was very cheerful and easy to deal with.

Reluctantly, I contacted the local Budget office here in Aruba one last time. My intent was to get some names for my complaint letter to the ATA. Instead, I managed to speak with the manager of Budget’s Aruba franchise, Larry Nyak (spelling?).

Evidently, Larry decided that I was more trouble than I was worth because after some arguing on the phone he decided to give me the rental car for free. He said he would cancel the contract and that would be it. So long as he does what he says, I’m satisfied with the result.

Before I move on, let me just say one thing – Larry and his entire staff screwed up. At any point in the process someone could have listened, been sympathetic, and diffused my anger. They could have then offered me a small discount and – guess what – I would have been happy! I wasn’t looking for a free rental car – I was looking for an apology and a small monetary expression of regret.

Instead, Larry tried to make me feel like a small and petty person when he begrudgingly “gave” me the rental. The staff at Budget Aruba needs some help – they need to learn how to better handle dissatisfied customers.

Whew! I feel better.

The rest of the day was devoted to work. As expensive as our weekend was, we’ve decided to stay in for the next few days, buckle down, and make some money online.