Old San Juan
March 18th, 2010
“your book not captivating you?”
and this is how it always begins. i took a split second to consider his choice of verb — why captivating and not something else? — but the truth is that i was immediately taken. i could repeat the umpteenth iteration of my affinity theory, but there was no need for such formalities when there was only one hour left in the streets of old san juan, and time was sliding away indifferently even as we exchanged quick opinions of our books. i had been waiting for the vintage store on the corner of calle de san francisco to open, but this stranger convinced me to get up and leave the vain endeavour. i’ll take you to the shore, i’ll show you the ghetto, you’ll be back before you know it. i went. i saw the shore, i saw the ghetto, and slummed it for an hour with the locals. everything moved very quickly and i wasn’t allowed to take any photos of people or houses. then he took me back to the vintage store and the hustle and bustle of the tourist avenues, and we parted ways, and i boarded the NYC-bound plane out of puerto rico. and that’s always how it ends!
but what a deliriously exciting hour.
spring break photos from old san juan:
#1 steph in her broad white hat, lending some modelesque quality to the streets of san juan
#2 narrow cobblestone walkways and dangerously asymmetrical homes
#3 nicholas and nicole outside the pablo casals museum
#4 plaster models of the doors of old san juan, found in an art shop
#5 a wedding was happening one of the days we were there. such gorgeous bridesmaid dresses!
#6 doesn’t this feel like a place to make a bond movie?
#7 these slot game machines are everywhere in puerto rico! usually found where fat old men are wiling the hot afternoons away
#8 a bar that was filled with pictures of marilyn monroe
#9 all curbside bars serve mofongo – a most scrumptious dish made out of mashed sweet plantains and meat. sounds gross but it’s not
#10 us on the sloping green hills surrounding the el morro fort. it’s the fort where amistad was filmed!!
#11 kites – popular pastime at el morro. remember when the skies at KL parks used to be full of kites?
#12 rolling down the hills in a race to the bottom – another popular pastime at el morro
#13 another picture for good measure
#14 view of old San Juan from el morro. check out the coastal cemetery! on this day i only saw the crashing waves from afar, and thought that they may just be the biggest waves i’d ever seen
#15 crow
#16 a strange sculpture outside the church that made me miss jovann!
#17 one of the many eccentric sets of windows
#18 the very retro ben & jerrys shop
#19 calle del sol at night; very quiet and domestic
#20 the bars with their gates thrown open to welcome the spring night crowds
#21 at one of the bars that had some very cool old beer and Coke ads on the walls. was tempted to ask if i could have one…
#22 party on the balcony!
#23 and finally- led by the hand to the slums and the unwelcoming coast
#24 the shore on rocks. i was so close! is it really that dangerous?
#25 graffiti at la perla, which was really all i could take pictures of
#26 couldn’t even take pictures of the ground cos of you know what :(
#27 sometimes a skateboarding haunt, sometimes a swimming pool, apparently!
#28 i still can never tell the difference between geese and really big ducks
#29 my oh my
more soon!
37 Comments Add your own
1. Lisa Cheah | March 18th, 2010 at 6:28 am
Looks like so much fun Su Ann! :D
2. lishun | March 18th, 2010 at 6:30 am
what a gorgeous place for photographs! i hope you have a tan to show for all that fun. =)
3. vincent | March 18th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Regarding the kites – I know a place in KL where the entire sky is filled with kites on a Sunday afternoon. It’s quite gorgeous, really.
4. kimberlycun | March 18th, 2010 at 7:06 am
breathtaking place!!! always love ur travel posts but on one hand always makes me feel so effin trapped in KL. hatechu
5. Shaeny | March 18th, 2010 at 7:28 am
I’d like to roll on that grass bed after IB! Yes, I have to agree with you on the bridesmaid’s dresses
6. nyrac | March 18th, 2010 at 7:47 am
#5 yes wonderful dresses. such a bright happy colour :)
#6 looks more like a romantic movie setting to me. like somewhere for the next before sunset.
#22 nice outfit
#26 what? what you know what? :(
7. Zeek | March 18th, 2010 at 8:08 am
pics are fab su-ann! puerto rico sounds like a fun place to be.
“you know what”. what what? idk what?
8. chm | March 18th, 2010 at 8:56 am
Everything looks so beautiful. Save the polluted shore. Still hot i see :P
9. Swee Ping | March 18th, 2010 at 9:28 am
su ann~ the picture of the crow is fab! it gives me the feeling of the crow looking far ahead into the horizon, with a bit of sorrow? that is only my interpretation though.
10. aud | March 18th, 2010 at 11:12 am
*gasp* the supremes! did you get it in the end??
11. carol | March 18th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
aiyah now i also want to go to puerto rico it’s all your fault!
12. ShaolinTiger | March 18th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Oh wow, South America now I’m jealous!
13. Michelle Chin | March 18th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Like your bustier!
14. yizhen | March 18th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Su Ann!! :)) i’m going too, on the memorial weekend! but only for 2 days… too short i know but can’t skip work and classes. :/ what are the must-must-must-see’s there?
15. Voon | March 18th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
PICTURES!!!! <3
are the men there hot? compared to me? :)
16. SamuelGoh | March 18th, 2010 at 11:01 pm
blue skies, abundant space and nice surf… and such a beautiful town! what more can a person ask for?!
it looks like one of those place from discovery travel and living… sigh…
17. yv | March 19th, 2010 at 1:06 am
oo wad cam is this pinkpau?
18. xiao | March 19th, 2010 at 1:09 am
the colors the colors! they’re impossibly vibrant
19. msihua | March 20th, 2010 at 3:28 am
Very nice collection of pictures… I could almost feel that I was there… =)
20. KY | March 20th, 2010 at 12:28 pm
love the photos!
21. Khek | March 21st, 2010 at 12:06 am
Why not allowed to take photos of the dangerous venture with the strangest stranger? I can sense a certain amount of dark undertones there..
Enjoyed the lovely photos.. What a colourful place! :)
22. Mar | March 21st, 2010 at 1:21 am
In one way or another, their buildings are all so playfully colourful!
I like it that the record shop uses marker+paper as their labels for categories. Very old school~
23. Artificially Tamtim | March 21st, 2010 at 7:30 am
Me neither to #28 :((
24. yoong | March 22nd, 2010 at 11:22 am
looks like a great place to visit. love the green grass!
25. Nikki | March 22nd, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Wow! What marvelous photos.
Firstly, I adore those bridesmaid dresses, the ruffling on the back and the vivid blue are just super.
I love the eye-popping colours and crispness of some of the photos, it really takes me there!
Have a super sweet day
Nikki xx
26. Waifon | March 23rd, 2010 at 1:49 am
oooo the supremes! ooo baby love my baby love! you can’t hurry love!!! STOP IN THE NAME OF LOVE hahhahahaa.
so nostalgic! and it’s in laser disc format!? :DDD
i love the doors and windows. quaintly :)))
27. dav | March 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 am
puerto rico! Btw, the huge wave in North Shore in Oahu, Hawaii can reach till 2 -3 storey height! Far more awesome.
28. ArtieL | March 23rd, 2010 at 12:12 pm
Why does it look like the owner of the ben&jerry’s is Buddhist?
29. quaintly | March 23rd, 2010 at 4:32 pm
lisa cheah : oh it was!
lishun : i did get a tan, but i got twice as dark when i came back to NYC and sat in central park for the afternoon… haha
vincent : where!!!
kimberlycun : but kimberlycun there are so many wonderful places in msia to explore. actually i think u’ve been to almost all. caving, waterfall, rafting, kayaking in sungai pahang, fireflies at kuala selangor..!
shaeny : will it be over this year for u? all the best!!
nyrac and zeek : sisir-sisir dadah seperti jarum etc
chm : it’s not polluted!
swee ping : that’s my fav photo! :)
aud : i did not :( no money
carol : go kehrole go! i’ll go with u when i stop feeling broke
shaolintiger : more central america than south!
michelle : it’s a fake bustier haha. it’s actually very soft
yizhen : go to the ISLANDS!!! but then again you only have two days. hmm. go to old san juan for sure. and the bio bay if you have time for an excursion
voon : nobody is hotter than u <3
samuel : u forgot the cheap liquor!
yv : my old ixus 75i
xiao : u must be on safari :P firefox shows bland colours and i not know why
msihua : glad u like them!
ky : tq!
khek : kerana ada benda benda yang tak harus dilihat!
mar : the entire place is wonderfully antique
timtam : so how like that? we will just keep tagging each other in the wrong pix
nikki : i want my bridesmaids dresses to be that lovely! none of that “my bridesmaids must wear ugly pastel dresses” nonsense!
waifon : vinyl ! actually i meant to sew together a bunch of photos that i took of the various windows, but i got lazy… haha
dav : i really wanna go to hawaii…
artie l : haha yeah lots of buddhist art in there. rock and roll posters too
30. Artificially Tamtim | March 24th, 2010 at 11:05 am
eh so which are you?
i’m a fat duck ok!
31. Waifon | March 24th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
eh ya. vinyl wtf. for the gramophone! what was i thinking -_- ish kebab.
i still have one laser disc with me now! Babe: Pig in the City :DDDD
32. Alynna | March 25th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Super awesome new blog layout! :)
And very nice pictures. *tres jealous!*
33. thatssoron | March 26th, 2010 at 2:41 am
wwoowwww!!! great great shots!
34. chm | March 29th, 2010 at 11:18 am
pic no24?
35. Matthew | April 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 am
Reminds me of the Bourne Ultimatum!
36. Cheryn | April 4th, 2010 at 2:08 am
I just adore your photos! I wanna go there now, too!
Its so quaint and beautiful.
And I love the color of the bridesmaid dresses.. I have never seen bridesmaids in that color..
NICE idea!
Gonna keep that for future reference…
Cheryn
I Can’t Sew
37. Li-Ann | August 25th, 2010 at 5:26 am
I am gonna go to San Juan for a conference in April 2011 and this shall be longingly-look forward blog reads!
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