Miami the city that keeps the roof blazin!

Welcome to Miami, benvenidos a Miami! 

It’s always great when you can start with a Will Smith lyric! 

Forget your English and I hope you know some Spanish as its the first language  in Miami, no wonder with such a massive Cuban population. Unfortunately I think Celiya and I were a few months too early as the transport authority hasn’t opend up direct routes to Cuba yet. Oh well next time I’ll check out this amazingly notorious island which is probably like stepping back in time 50 years or so!

We stayed right in South beach and loved the Art Deco architecture. It reminded me a lot of my aunt and uncles house in London which is Art Deco… You should check it out! The weather was awesome and quite similar to Fiji only a lil less humid. We ditched our cold clothes and got to sport some of our new buys from NYC 🙂 also went a lil crazy with the flash tatoos haha but hey, it’s fun!  

  

The second day we ventured out to lil Havana which is the Latin/Cuban quarter as well as the wealthy area. The wealthy area houses are made out of coral, since Miami is a massive coral reef but over centuries has eroded. One house is actually built on top of an extinct reef, it looks interesting but not my style and would def not buy it for over 1 mill. Little Havana is a complete contrast, much more humble homes which range from 60k to 400k, quite colourful 1 level (bungalow). I don’t think we saw any of the 60k houses, probably more like a shed! 

house built on a reef

 The Main Street had a Cuban vibe and since it was around 3pm I think a lot of places were closed due to siesta? We managed to get a pinacolada with fresh pineapple juice served in a pineapple yay.  Then onto the Biscayne bay cruise 🙂  

     The mansions were amazing, esp Will Smiths house, Jennifer Lopez, who lives on same street as ex Mark Anthony  but in a much bigger house, and same island as ex P.diddy lol (awkward). Alicia Keys house was stunning and you couldn’t miss her yacht docked out the front. Famous deceased mobster Al Capone house is there as well as Frank Sinatra’s. There were heaps but I believe it’s their holiday house as most looked rather quiet and empty.  

 Unlike New York we realised there wasn’t really that much to see in Miami and if you weren’t into beach days you could possibly come for 3-4 days and be happy. However, I can never turn down a beach day so we spread out sightseeing inbetween beach days yay! Water is warm and there were a few waves to make it fun. That is one thing most beaches in Fiji lack, not that I’m a surfer lol. 

It was Memorial Day long weekend so lots of holiday makers and good vibes. People watching at its best, so many cool and confusing fashion trends, girls with their hair done, nails done, everything did (sorry I love a song quote *Drake-fancy*), to go to the beach where it will get ruined! Lol  

 I was doin my thang floating on the waves  and nearly floated into this black guy who said and I quote “ya’ll gettin ya float on” in a happy tone and big smile! It was an exciting and funny moment haha.

I’m in love with this cocktail fusion, pinacolada and strawberry daiquiri! Best daytime summer drank, so refreshing! Really enjoyed the range of Cuban food here in Miami and the 2 for 1 cocktails in giant glasses! Another drink I’m having withdrawals from is Starbucks bottled frappicinos in coffee, mocha and mocha coconut (my fav) flavours! I would enjoy 1 or 2 of these a day in th morning or on the beach. 

 
  More sightseeing took us to Vizcaya museum mansion. It is probably most famous as the house used in Bad Boys 2, where Mike and Marcus go in as “pest control”. It was stunning early 1900’s owned and built buy English aristocrat. The grounds go for ages and so well kept. There were ppl having their wedding shots done, fashion shots and I think the house was setting up for a function, maybe an evening wedding? Amazing but extremely costly location. 

   Although we had to get 3 forms of transport  it was actually very easy and cheap, just buy a day pass. The city monorail is free! It was also a cool way to see Downtown Miami. 
Now not like NY wasn’t enough, the shopping spree continued into Collins ave, South Beach. Got excited in Victorias Secret, more Zara purchases (each store has something diff), club Monaco amoung others. By the time we got to Lincoln rd Mall, I’d reached my shopping spree limit. Too bad apart from 1 jumper everything is summer clothes so as of June 18th it won’t be worn.

  Saturday we went to the Everglades to see the alligators. That was pretty cool but with a delayed rain season the water level was very low. I hope they get rain soon so no more fish etc die. They are still having to repair a lot of damage that has been done to the ecosystem from previous years, including draining water, dumping toxic waste and endangered species. Sad face 😦 Celiya was recovering from a migraine so we postponed our night out dancing to Sunday, which would prob be the better of the nights as it was the long weekend yay.

We decided to give the celebrity clubs a miss with their long lines, expensive cover charge crap and only to see the likes of Young Jeezy lol. We checked out tropical mango which was mainly a Latin club which also played R&B, perfect! I found my salsa skills are a bit rusty but was also thrown when a girl dragged me to dance salsa lol. After that brief weirdness celi and I found our groove and celi was also celebrating Cavs win or mainly her BronBrons win haha. It was a great night and now I can’t wait to get back into salsa and Zumba 🙂 

Our last day was a late start for obvious reasons, but we enjoyed our final day in Miami on the beach. We ended the evening with cocktails and Cuban food at De Rodrigues, in the Hilton which was delicious and well worth the splurge! 

   

  

 Another note, do not visit samba sushi in Lincoln Rd Mall, food is expensive, tiny and tasteless and the staff were rude. That was our only crappy food experience. 

Thanks Miami for turning up the Heat lol *pun intended

Xx

New York, concret jungle where dreams are made of!!

New York was the first stop for myself and Celiya, very tired after the overnight flight from LA not to mention the overnight flight from Fiji as well. We made our way to the apartment in the Hells Kitchen district. After settling into the apartment we ventured uptown 86th street to cross Central Park over to the East side for the MET. Central Park was lovely and lots of school excursions, basketball and baseball games being played, along with people taking rides in the horse and carriage. The MET was really cool but take note that $25 per adult to get in is optional, it’s a donation only so we paid much less as was everyone else. 
We saw the Chinese Through the looking glass exhibition which was amazing, beautiful dresses. you may remember they big yellow dress Rihanna wore to the MET gala this year, it was by designer Guo Pei and Celiya and I agree she should have worn this one instead.

  
There was also lots of other things to see like Egyptian artefacts, African, even Fijian yay! Along with a lot more. It’s worth the trip it’s cheap and take a walk through Central Park as well.

   
 We had an early night since we were extremely tired and also after nearly falling asleep towards the end of the MET trip and Celiya having power naps on the subway haha

Wednesday we were feeling much more fresh and ready to go! We caught up with my friend alexia and had lunch in the stylish West Village and shopping in Soho. Great to catch up since it had been 2 yrs since we last saw one another. Also this marked the beginning of my US shopping spree haha. 

We spent Thursday checking out the city via Hudson River cruise, then onto 9/11 memorial which was sad but very nice park and tastefully done. We wanted to climb the Statue of Liberty but unfortunately it was booking out until August! So some advise, book online at least 3 months in advance esp for the spring/summer months. Wall Street was pretty cool a lot of Mike Ross and Harvey Spector types but not as sawve in real life haha. We did make use of the street food and got a delicious hot dog (really!!) we searched for ages for the famous Bull, I know it from Hitch movie where Will tells the douche bag he won’t help him then th douche gets kneed in th balls by Eva Mendez lol. Really there were too many ppl taking pics with it and not getting the pic and getting out but standing in front for ages adding diff family members, multiple poses argh annoying! 

   
  

  

 The first time I went to New York I didn’t get to see a Broadway show so this was a top priority and we loved Aladdin. The Genie was awesome, you couldnt get a better one and he’s rightfully won a tony award for his performance, as has the entire show. I’m so glad I saw this as its a childhood fav.

  
We thought for a Friday afternoon, what more appropriate than to do a sex and the city tour. It was a lot of fun and I didn’t realise it was mainly filmed in west village and not upper east side. We stopped where the girls take Charlotte to buy her “rabbit” haha. We were supprised how small Steve and Aidens bar is in real life but enjoyed a cosmopolitan of course! Also it’s not called Scout. We checked out the restaurant where Big and Carrie had their rehearsal dins, so nice and we were surprised it is affordable, so I’ll be making a reservation next time! 

   
     We went up the Empire State building which had hardly any queues yay. The view is great and you can see how huge Central Park is. Afterwards we did some 5th ave shopping and research. I now know what shoe size I am in Valentino, dolce & gabbana and Louboutins yay, now I just need to get paid again so I can buy online haha. 

   
   

 Sat night we met up with alexia again at Catch in the Meatpacking district. Celiya and I are still dreaming of the delicious chips we had there as well as our meals. I suggest the mussels, amazing!! We made a reservation however I don’t think it meant anything since we had to wait about an hr anyway. I can imagine this is standard in this popular nighttime district. Afterwards we went up to the rooftop bar which was playing good music with a dance floor. I would suggest eating at the club/bar you want to spend the night at, as we didn’t have to pay a cover charge or line up again. Or this could have been since we were three girls? 

  
Sunday was a lazy day but we went to ripplies and time square. We actually go to Times Square everyday since we’re so clo but we had a better look around this time. Always amazes me how many ppl go to New York for new year to watch the ball drop! It isn’t even that big or long of a drop haha. 
We took a long day trip to Washington which was rushed but very good and informative. It actually reminded me a lot of Canberra, with a lot of greenary, roundabouts, wide avenues and well positioned monuments. I know i shouldn’t find something funny at a war memorial but the “freedom is not free” just reminded me on Team America! 

  

  

  
Food of New York, it’s amazing however, our first dinner in NY was maccas lol, but there after we made sure to make use of all the cuisens at our doorstep. Each night we tired something diff, Mexican, Ethiopian (a must try), Turkish, seafood just to name a few. We had a local bakery which made a delicious assortment of paninis which we would grab for lunch or dins sometimes to save a lil money. Of course a cocktail is required with every meal, try to go with the cuisen so if the food is spicy, make sure the cocktail is as well hehe.

   Next stop and post Miami!! 

Xx

Oh my Seoul, Street Food, Street Art, Street Entertainment & Cosmetic Surgery

Seoul, Korea!

Cosmetic Surgery, 1 eye lid or 2? Delicious Street food! Street Art… Good times

After Japan we flew to Seoul, Korea. Just want to shout out to Korean Air, they have a great selection of new and old movies.

I thought Japan was cold, turns out Korea is still in winter mode. It was quite rainy as well but we managed huddling under an umbrella. Our first stop was the Palace which was very cool. It was a shame it was quite foggy as we were surrounded with mountains which you could only vaguely make out. The colourful architecture was great and they had guards in traditional dress, which you could take pics with but you’ll be told off if you accidentally touch/bump them

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The furniture is similar to what we had seen in Japan, low lying tables and sitting cushions on the floor. I must say it does create a lot more space and looks very tidy. Giving me more ideas for future pad hehe

The grounds were stunning, even in the wintery weather. We had a lot of fun *trying* to take arty pics with the surroundings. There was only a tiny bit of Cherry Blossom but can imagine later in spring it would look amazing at this palace!

Afterwards, we found somewhere to have lunch. This was quite a trendy area, lots of cool shops and cafés. The place we went to was small but the food was very yummy and it was cute how you wrote your review on a post-it note or simply that you had been there and the date.

We searched for quite some time for the Traditional “village” which is actually just a street with a few houses in it in their traditional forms. It was quite cute but we thought it would be an actual village, google images made it look much better than what it was haha.

Korea Tower and 3D museum was really fun, I recommend to do both and to go in the afternoon so you can also stay up the tower to watch the sun go down and all the city lights come on. It is amazing the density of this city but it is quite usual for a lot of countries other than Australia! Makes Sydney look like a country town and Canberra a village! The 3D museum has karaoke booth with awesome selection of songs, like usual I did my rendition of Yeah by Usher haha

Louise and I found Korea is much better at making coffees than Japan and I really enjoyed the barley Tea, very earthy but nice flavor. I loved the street food, on the first night after a disappointing and expensive meal in Udong I wished we’d just walked around spending equivalent to $1-3 AUD on all diff kinds of food from street vendors. Also all the hustle and bustle adds to the fun and making sure we’re not separated… luckily I was wearing a very noticeable red jacket just in case.

The next day we went to the street art area, it was very cool and not too crowded as we were there early, well, before lunch on a Saturday morning anyway! There are a lot of stairs which reminded me how unfit I am, but I’m working on it now hehe.

Afterwards we went and had some delicious hot pot and being full didn’t stop me from getting more street food. There was also a lot of street clothing vendors. Hats and Socks were the most sold items, the slogans on the hats were quite funny and I’m not sure if they realise that most of them weren’t quite right ie) Pervert in big block letters on a flat cap!

The other thing I noticed was the highly advertised cosmetic surgery. It’s actually quite sad how acceptable and even encouraged to change the structure of your face! It’s so “normal” that people walk around right after having surgery, have lunch, go back to the office etc. I guess for the more simple surgeries like widening your eyes by removing part of the eyelid!

On a happier note, Seoul’s free wifi was awesome! Pretty much had wifi everywhere which was great for google map directions.

Back in Fiji now so…

Vinaka vakalevu

Loloma levu xx