Bienvenido a Miami!

My husband and I have been wanting to have a short getaway for quite a while. We had always managed to look for tickets on the very last minutes, get extremely pricy fares and end up canceling the whole plan. That was then. Two weeks ago we finally went to Miami and had the most awesome time!

When Asa and Robert, another couple who are also good friends of ours, asked us if we wanted to go somewhere nice during the Labor Day long weekend (9/3 - 9/6), we immediately jumped in on the plan and looked for tickets a month in advance. We got a sweet deal for roundtrip American Airlines tickets from Houston to Miami from Travelocity; $222/person. 

We looked for hotels and got another sweet deal from The New Hotel and Spa, located on the North part of Miami Beach for $100/night. The hotel was not in the hustle and bustle area of South Beach, but it had a great beach within walking distance. With only 10 rooms available, we got ourselves a very chic room with a king bed, cable TV, pantry, and L'Occitane toiletries. I looooove the toiletries. 

Based on the 3 days 3 nights stay in Miami Beach, I can draw a conclusion that the city has an all around bad customer service. Be it in restaurants or shops, service was almost always bad; slow, cold, even rude. Well, to be fair we also got pretty good service in a number of restaurants, but mostly bad. 

The rudeness was also felt from the people itself. On the roads people changed lanes abruptly, cut people  off, honked like crazy, tailgated, speed, even completely stopped in the middle of a busy road to chat with another driver. 

The same thing happened while I was in line, waiting to pay for something I bought. People just innocently shoved in in front of me, as if I was not even there. This didn't just happen once, but many times. Pretty young girls did it, older folks were also the same. It was annoying and shocking, because in Texas (and I just realized this when I visited Miami) people are mostly courteous toward other people. People say hi and ask how a stranger's day has gone so far for no apparent reason. People don't cut lines and they even let others go first for the most polite reasons. And even though Houston has a lot of offensive drivers, they are nothing like Miami's. In Miami, I felt like I was back in Jakarta.

Anyway, it doesn't mean that I hate Miami. I love Miami. I respect America for the uniqueness of its states. It is true that a state in the United States of America is nothing like the next. Miami has a strong laid back, go-to-hell-i-don't-give-a-damn feel to it. The people are also beautiful and just all around love to have the best of time. They are passionate about their food, music and looks. There and then I saw people soaking up in the sun, happy with whatever kind of body they had. It was a great sight, resulting to a wonderful feeling in my gut. I got to fall in love with my own body too and had the greatest time enjoying the water, beach and sun.

I love Miami for being rudely beautiful!

Tan As a Human Being Can Be Tan,

Andini