Hearing Doctor Appointment

A couple of weeks ago we drove to Escazú for an appointment with my hearing doctor, Dr. Natalie Goldgewicht Davidovich. Because of Covid-19, we had not been able to see her for a couple of years. I suspected my hearing aids needed to be recalibrated due to further loss of hearing. Or, as Lance said to Dr. Davidovich at this appointment: “she can’t hear!”.

I remember my grandmother and grandfather on my mother’s side both wore old fashioned hearing aids … the battery pack was the size the size of a deck of cards that they wore in a pocket on their clothes. So I suppose this is where I inherited the hearing loss from because it doesn’t relate to anything else in my life. Hearing aids today are totally different, very sophisticated.

The drive there was uneventful until we reached the Centro Commercial mall on Avenida Escazú. We mistakenly drove down into a dark, private underground parking lot and eventually reached a gate which wouldn’t open without a pass card. I think that was my fault …. I said “oh yeah, turn left here”. Lance had to back up in the dark along the curved and upwardly sloped driveway. It was tricky and he did a good job. We then drove into the public lot and went to my appointment.

Sure enough, the audiogram showed further loss. The hearing aids I have are Signia Pure Charge&Go. They were not inexpensive but well worth it. I have an app on my iPad and my phone that lets me control the sound levels and I can choose where sounds are coming from. For instance, in a noisy environment such as a restaurant I can adjust them so I can better hear the person sitting in front of me and not all the other diners. And mine are also hooked up to Bluetooth so I can listen to videos on my iPad or movies on our TV directly into my ears.

So that was done for another year and we headed for Auto Mercado in Santa Ana for some high end grocery shopping. 

Driving home, we saw a downed power pole on Hwy. 1 at the turnoff to Grecia. The turnoff itself was blocked by another downed pole so we had to detour back to Hwy. 1 north and get to our house via Sarchi.

We made a dashcam movie of the drive, except for the portion of driving from Sarchi to our house, because we previously did that and you can see in on my YouTube channel.

Naans & Curries, An Ethnic Indian Restaurant

Yesterday we drove to the Lindora area of Santa Ana, an affluent suburb of San José, to try the breakfast buffet at Naans & Curries. This restaurant features gourmet ethnic Indian cuisine and the breakfast buffet is a recent addition to their menu.

The restaurant is located in the Momentum plaza, which itself is a really interesting place. There appear to be twelve restaurants to choose from - Aji Limon (Peruvian), Arden Beer Garden, Artisano Deli, Bambai (Mongolian), Door 74 (a club I think), Kotoy (Japanese), La Fabbrica (pizza), La Ostra (seafood and grill), La Paleteria (ice cream), Los Pitaz (Mediterranean), Lucha Libra (Mexican) and Naans & Curries. I can see us coming back here to try some other cuisines. Around the plaza are some large metal horse statues.

Naans & Curries has a large covered outdoor eating area and this is where the buffet foods were set up. They start service at 7:00 am but on this day they were a bit delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, so I would suggest arriving around 8:00 am. Excellent service and wait staff. They explained all the foods to us, what they were made of and so on. The owner introduced himself to us and apologized for the delay. We didn’t mind waiting a bit and ordered coffee for Lance and a mora lassi for me. Lassi is a drink made with yogurt, water, spices and the mora is a type of berry grown here. It was icy cold and delicious.

The food - all I can say is it was wonderful. There were so many choices available, starting with a fruit, cereal, salad and cheese (including paneer) table. They also had an omelette station and a parantha station - I think these were paranthas - very thin, rolled with a filling of cauliflower (or maybe potatoes). Wonderful, flavourful soups. A table of large tureens filled with different curries. We ended up so full that we couldn’t try a lot of the items that were available. Still, we were brought a dessert that we were told we had to try, “just have a bite”. A kind of pancake with chocolate poured on top and cream. Needless to say, we didn’t eat the rest of the day.

Food from India has to be one of the world’s great cuisines - the subtle flavours are incredible. There is such a wide variety of local and traditional ways of preparing food. What we had today was mostly from south India, which we had never been able to try before. Coming from Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, we were used to Punjabi recipes. This area is one of the world’s largest South Asian enclaves and most are Punjabi Sikhs (Wikipedia).

The price per person for the buffet and unlimited smoothies is 7,500 CRC, not including the mandatory taxes and service charge. Including both of these, the final total for two people was 18,500 CRC (about 32.00 USD). We added a tip.

We’ll definitely be returning. 

A part of the Momentum plaza:

My lassi drink and the table centerpiece:


Two kinds of rolls to eat with the soup, three kinds of sauces, a chickpea filled pepper:


What I think is a parantha, with two sauces:


Three horses running:


Look at the saddle - all fashioned with metal, even the reins:

Genny

When we moved to Costa Rica from Canada, we brought our then 12 year old cat, Genny, with us. There was no question of not bringing her. When we take on the responsibility of a pet, it's for the life of the animal. We had her shipped professionally, using World Pet Travel. She travelled from Cloverdale, B.C., to Vancouver, B.C., where she overnighted. The next day, she took her first plane trip, travelling to Houston, Texas, where she overnighted again. The following day saw her arrive in Costa Rica, where she was met and delivered to her vet, Hospital Veterinarios Asociados in Santa Ana, for a week of boarding. World Pet Travel professional handlers dealt with Genny at every stop.

We picked her up a week later and we all spent a month at Finca Huetares in Atenas while looking for a more permanent place to live. When we found our current house, she settled in right away and even acquired some animal friends ... Barney the cat and Scruffy the dog.

We knew before coming to Costa Rica that Genny had renal disease, so she was on special renal diet food and we tried to keep her weight down. She had regular exams here, including blood work, x-rays and ultrasound on her kidneys.

On September 5, 2013, the disease finally took its toll. Genny's two years in Costa Rica were great for her. Because of the year 'round good weather, she was able to spend a lot of time outside and developed great lizard catching skills. She was more active then when we lived in British Columbia.

She loved walking up the hill to our mango and banana trees. She became adept at slipping through the front gate to explore forbidden territory. She took long, luxurious naps outside in the deep grass under the pergola covered with passion fruit vines.

We miss her a lot but we know she lived a long, happy life with us. Consider what her probable fate would have been if my husband, Lance, had not heard her mewing in our backyard 14 years ago. It appeared that she was tossed there and she was a very tiny kitten.

Genny - 2013

So, if you are considering moving to Costa Rica, please make every effort to bring your pets with you. We know one couple who arrived with their seven cats! If they can do it, so can you!

Barney and Scruffy - "Can Genny come out and play?"

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

A Shopping Day

Diane and John picked me up today and we went to Yamuni, a very good department store in Santa Ana. Besides clothing, they also carry linens, towels, rugs, fabrics, kitchenware and so on.

Was able to replenish my falling apart wardrobe with a sundress and a cotton top. They carry bathing suits too. Also bought three large plastic containers to hold cereal, rice, flour, etc.

Had lunch at Cow Town, a Tex-Mex restaurant, also in Santa Ana. I had the fish tacos and they were tasty. The portions are large and include sides like fries.

Across the street from Cow Town are several shops that sell pottery, wind chimes, woven baskets and so on. The shop we went into had three floors of painted and unpainted clay items. The owners' little girl graciously took us up all three floors. Ah ha! I spied a large collection of orchid pots so will tuck that information away for future use. I bought a couple of decorative items while there.

The highlight of the day was when John drove through a toll booth barrier bar because his toll booth automatic payment gizmo had run out of colones. He thought it still had enough on it to get through the toll. The sound of the vehicle hitting the barrier bar was impressive. They don't snap in half though but are designed to take hits so an attendant casually strolled out and realigned the bar, then collected the toll in cash. Vehicle unharmed.