Don't you wish you were here with me?

Ed: So Charissa, how ya doing with the snowstorm huh?
Me: I'm in Miami, what ya talking about?

When people heard that we were going to miss out on a blizzard in philly because we were going to be in Miami, the responses were hilarious:

Ed: I am going to save a snowball for you and shove it in your face.
An: You fucker.

Most of the coversations went along the lines of:
Person: Why are you in Miami?
Me: For fun.
Person: But why?
Me: Because i can.

The perks of being an exchange student.

Miami is like disney-land but for grown ups that like to tan, drink and party up. It was gorgeous. Clear deep blue skies, delicious looking seawater, white sand, swaying palm trees and girls in bikinis. And when you get phone calls from friends back in philly telling you that the sky is raining snowballs and cursing you for being an exchange student, it feels even better.

Friday was spent doing nothing but roasting on the beach. I thought: Asians can't burn. Screw the sunblock. Not only did i burn, I had patches of burns from inexperienced tanning practises. And now I have a pale spot on my back between two burnt shoulders because i forgot to tie up my hair. But at least the view made it worth it. We saw breast woman tanning naked. We only called her that because we couldn't see her face. Implant is an understatement. An interesting phenomenon on South beach is how as you walk further, the people get older. On the beach right in front of the Ritz-Carlton, everyone was 60 and over. Or young spoiled brats under 10. I'm only so bitter because they get to lie on a cushioned chair while I get a soggy beach towel. Mike thought it would be funny to toss bread at me and watch the seagulls attack me. We are not talking cute small seagulls. I'm talking big ugly genetically mutated birds that screech and ALL 20 of them decided to flock down on me at the same time. I must have looked like such a scene screaming and running through south beach while a flock of seagulls chased after me.

Saturday was Key West day. We drove for 4.5 hours through what must have been a thousand islands to get to the southern most tip of continental USA. By the time we got there, we were closer to Cuba than to Miami. The drive was crazy. For 2 hours you just see the same scenary, road going through island, road going above water, road going through island, road going above water. But Key West was beautiful. It reminded me of Bali and Sentosa merged together. Rows of little shophouses along Duval Street, open door residences, tourist shops and chickens running around. It was laid back and friendly. And not to mention, the place where key lime pie was born. Best key lime pie I ever had. Yum. We saw a shop that sold things that change colour when exposed to UV light and we basically stood around and placed EVERYTHING in the shop up to the UV panel just to check if it really changed colour. Such tourists.

Sunday was cold. Temperatures dropped to 10 degree celcius. We went to Little Havana for some Cuban food. It was like being in another country. Everyone spoke Spanish, most of the menus were indecipherable and there were little cigar shops everywhere. I had plantain for the first time, which tasted kind of like goreng pisang but without the flour. After lunch we went to DogBar, a shop in miracle mile which sells everything you thought a dog would not need. Dog aromatheraphy, LV and gucci clothes for dogs, dog coffee, juicy couture dog bags, dog cookies etc. Headed down to Bayside shopping centre because it was so cold, but damm, it was an outdoor shopping complex. Night was spent clubbing at SLEAZE (that's really the name of the bar where guys outnumber girls two to one and hostresses wear victoria secret lingerie) and MANSION. We also visited hotel Delano, the most expensive hotel in South beach. The lobby was pretty luxi-experimental, which white linen floating around, big avant-garde looking chairs and beautiful people sitting around looking bored. Their pool was like being in fantasy land. In a tree lined garden with fluffy beach beds around it and couches in the garden, it was surreal.

Monday was almost as cold but with some sun. Walked around South beach area, saw some art deco buildings and finally ended our vacation at Joe Allen restaurant, a little restaurant tucked away in a residential area. The roast duck on saffron risotto was in orange brandy sauce was excellent.

So all in all to summarize our trip, we ate, we saw, we partied. And now its back to the cold, the snow and 5 days worth of undone homework.