Welcome to Miami

Welcome to Miami
Miami was never a place that i wanted to go. I heard bad stories about that city. I remember when I first came to the States, one of my Malaysian friends told me that his car was broken into when he was visiting Miami. Since then I have always pictured Miami being a dangerous place to go. Well, it took me over 9 years to overlook that. So I saw that some hotels in Maimi was on sale and I decided to give it a try. My place got in at around 10am. My first impression was, this is a cool place. The hotel offers free shuttle bus from the airport. (Whitelaw Hotel). It a boutique hotel located only 2 blocks from the because and its only 65 per night, What a deal!!! I am going to Miami on Mon because the airfare is cheaper on a weekday. Besided weekday means less crowd. The only thing I hate about the hotek is that the sheets got stains. That's pretty gross. So the first that I did when I got to Miami was goin to the beach. before hitting the beach, i went o take pic at the Versace Mansion (the place where VERSACE got killed in front of his mansion). the mansion offers daily tours but it costs $65. i think i will skip it for this time).then i went to the beach (just right in front of the mansion on 12 st). My gosh, the water's so calm, clean, clear and WARM!! The weather was perfect. (81). After the beach i went to this restaurant (right by Versace Mansion) to have lunch. it said half price on lunch menu. So i ordered a mojito which i normally wouldnt do because i dont really drink. turn out that the drink alone costs $26. what the fuck!!! anyway, at night time i went shopping around my hotel. sisley and benetton are like a blocks from when i am staying. i went to have dinner at this authentic CUBAN restaurant recommended by FROMMER travel guide. man it was cheap and good. i had the cuban beef stew. Dddddddelicous

The next day, i woke up early because i signed up for the keywest day tour. at around 7am, i deceded to go to the beach to see the sunrise. it was beautiful. then i went back to the hotel waiting for my bus to come pick me up. 40 min has passed and i dont see my bus. I called them and they told me that the bus came when i was out seeing the sunrise and had gone!! i was so pissed!!! i had the whole day planned for keywest and now i do not know what to do!! luckily, this girl at grayline found a private van tour for me to join. the tour guide name was FABIO. the van has 4 people. 4 rich italians and french. it was a weird fit for me to be on the van but hey who cares. turned out that they are cool peple, trhey even offer to take pic for me when i was in Keywest. the drive to key west was pretty the water was so clear your could see the bottom ocean floor. i wish i was staying the for the night so that i coild do snorkeling. f i am not wronf, i belive there are more than 30 bridges goin to the keywest. and keywest is the end point for HIGHWAY 1. i saw the SOUTHERN MOST POINT of the US. (80 miles to Cuba). that was awesome. we spent like 2 hours at keywest, i wasnt really impressed with keywest. i think i have to stay ther overnight to be able to enjoy it. 2 hours is just not enought. was gonna go to this jamaican restaurant but i got lost looking for it. ended up goin to a cuban restaurant. and i wasnt disappointed. has the fish soup and cuban sandwich. yummy. on the way back, i walked passed by the cemetary (supposedly haunted). at around 4, we left keywest and headed back to miami. at night i went to that cuban restauant again. it 's just too good. after dinner, i went to the beach. it was around 11pm. it was completely empty and dark. but i can see the the clouds and waves hitting the shore. it was scary and yet peaceful. i spent almost 1.5 hour there. never had that feeling before. i felt lost and yet hopeful that something impprtant is coming up that is goin to change my life. And i knew that i will be a tough ride but at that moment i felt peace and calm. somehow i knew that things will work itself thru and it's goin to be ok. i will never forget that moment at the beach.

the next day (Wed) i checked out early and put my luggage to storage. then i went to the everglades tour. everyglades is only located like 35 min away from miami beach. i was pretty disappointed because the bus did not go to the visitor center (i need to get my stamp!!). we went on the fan boat. that was pretty cool. i almost dropped my shades into the swamp. after the boatride, we watched a brief show about alligators. and after that i had alligator for lunch .. haha. it was good. the trip was a short one, less than 4 hours. the bus drove me back to the hotel. i went to the beach one more time. then left miami at 7. on the plane, i was the beautiful sunset. This trip is probably one of the best trips i ever had. it was cheap, fun, relaxing, and full of suprises. i know i will be back in no time!!!