Our recent trip to Costa Rica included a visit to the pacific coast and Manuel Antonio, just south of Quepos. You can view pictures from our trip on The Costa Rica Star Facebook page. The nation’s most popular National Park is the smallest, yet has abundant wildlife and some of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. We met a local who was marketing the day tours and led us to the entranc...

After a full day of house hunting, our friend Francisco recommended Shawarma El Badawi for our dinner. Approximately 0.7 miles west from Wal-Mart on Road no. 3, at San Francisco, Heredia, sits the very small and comfortable restaurant. With only 5 tables and 10 counter stools in an open setting the atmosphere is very warm and inviting. One entire wall is a photo of Beirut. The owner Nata...

A team of 23 cooks in Costa Rica prepared what they described as the "biggest chop suey in the Americas," aiming to feed some 10,000 people, organizers said. The event was organized last Sunday by a brand of noodles at La Sabana Metropolitan Park in San Jose, where hundreds of locals of all ages came to savor the dish originally from China. In preparing the chop suey the cooks used 1.2 t...

DVDNow Kiosks, the world's largest network of independently owned and operated DVD rental kiosks, is launching Costa Rica's first-ever DVD rental kiosks beginning this month. With Costa Rica, the company now has operations in 15 countries. Scott McInnes, DVDNow Kiosks Founder and CEO, said, "Costa Rica is an untapped opportunity for our self-serve rental kiosks. Instead of going to a video stor...

Debenhams has launched its first foreign language website in Europe's biggest economy, Germany, to capitalise on the "Britishness" of its brand ahead of the Olympics. The department store chain went live selling more than 140,000 products from women's dresses to homewares this weekend. Simon Forster, online director at Debenhams, said: "As Britain takes the lead role on the world stage with its...

Before we moved to Costa Rica, we watched the crap out of HHI, despite the fact that most every episode showed a couple with too much money and too little imagination bobbleheading their way around three houses making inane comments ("Yammer, yammer, yammer, vaulted ceilings!" Or "Drivel, drivel, flush, flush... granite countertops!") -- and always choosing the house with the American-style fridge...

Tonight, people around the world will plug into their portable listening devices, simultaneously press play to a pre-set, universal playlist and dance together throughout various cities. The New Orleans edition of the Global Floating Dance Party will start in Lafayette Square at 10:00pm, make its way to Harrah’s Casino at 10:30pm, and end at the steps of the state Supreme Court on Royal Street in ...

Annette Hallett, director of the next LTG production describes My Life as a Crazy Quilt as a collection of short plays that explore extraordinary interactions that occur between ordinary people. It promises to be a very entertaining evening that will both amuse and touch the hearts of the audience. About her cast Annette says, “I wanted to use some actors that were not quite so well known a...

Costa Rica-based melodic metal band SIGHT OF EMPTINESS will support AT THE GATES on July 21st at Pepper's Club in San Jose, Costa Rica. Commented SIGHT OF EMPTINESS singer Eduardo Chacón: "Chills, goosebumps and lots of great memories...supporting At the Gates in my country? What an honor! They are one of the main reasons why Sight of Emptiness actually exist. The progenitors of the Gothenb...

Note: This article is written by someone who has worked as a bartender in Jaco Beach for many years, sharing his thoughts and experiences. It contains opinion and is meant to offer you a different perspective on your trip to Jaco. Behind the shadows of the nearly ever present sun and underneath the grains of beach sand, in the eyes of the smiling faces that try to sell you a fishing trip or a 4...

MIAMI, July 4, 2012 - After months of competition, eight of the most talented bartenders from Latin America & the Caribbean will be travelling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to represent their countries in the DIAGEO RESERVE WORLD CLASS Global Final from July 8-13. An international competition run across 50 countries, WORLD CLASS aims to educate and inspire bartenders to create exceptional cocktails an...

This article may have caught you way off guard, but you would not believe how much of an underground Harley Davidson and Motorcycle culture their is in Costa Rica until you head over to the Motor Psychos Bar and Grill in Santa Ana. When you pull into the parking lot, you notice that everyone is kind of doing their own thing. There is a calm chaos in the air, the servers don't respond to cat cal...

The Rock al Parque (Rock in the Park) festival in Bogota, the biggest free music fest in Latin America, turns 18 on Saturday in the Colombian capital and for three days will feature 17 international bands and dozens of local ones. Santiago Trujillo, director of the Idartes art institute, told Efe that the first day "will be dedicated to classics of rock, heavy metal and hardcore, the second day...

Oscar Jaenada, co-star of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" and "The Losers," will star opposite Marcia Gay Harden in indie drama "The Librarian." Jaenada will play the wounded lothario who leads Harden's equally wounded librarian on an eco tour of Costa Rica. Variety first reported Harden's attachment last week. The film will be directed by Juan Feldman from a script by Joel Sil...

I’d never traveled with a celebrity before. When we arrived at the airport in Costa Rica, it was a madhouse. People kept coming up to take pictures with my companion. Customs officials rushed us through the line after a cursory check of our documents. Baggage handlers competed to grab our luggage. It got to be a bit much when a police officer stalked over determinedly as we waited outside fo...

Quattro, among others, will play Credomatic’s 22nd music festival from August 4th -19th. The music will be ringing this year from various different venues throughout Costa Rica. In addition to the concerts, there will also be workshops held for aspiring musicians. Though the final program has yet to be decided, the group everyone is talking about is Quattro. The U.S. Latin, Jazz, pop fusion ban...

In a recent off-air telephone call with Piers Morgan, the host of a popular news show on cable TV network CNN, Casey Anthony denied that she was relocating to Costa Rica. Ms. Anthony was acquitted of criminal charges related to the death of her daughter Caylee Marie Anthony in 2011, but she has been serving a probation sentence for check fraud in Florida. The rumors surrounding her move to Costa R...

Video Juegos Costa Rica (VJCR) may possibly be the largest video gamer’s community in the country. Their slogan shouts it out loud and clear, "We Are Gamers." The richly designed website lets you know what it is right off the bat. Directly under the VJCR logo, 8-bit versions of Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Sue are peeking out from the background and Mario, Yoshi and the Halo bio-suit roll down the r...

Are you a member of the Atari generation in Costa Rica? Do you remember feeding pesetas or "coras" (anglicism for quarters) into video game machines at Mundo Tico in Cuesta de Moras, Galactica, or the other arcades at the Omni shopping center in downtown San Jose and Centro Colon? Did you catch the premiere of Star Wars at Cine Rex? If your hair is turning gray, or you need reading glasses to sca...

Teatro Jacó in Jacó Beach, Costa Rica will be holding a festival of insanely funny comedy productions from Texas, New York, and San José from July 5th through July 28th. There will also be comedy workshops available in English and Spanish, so take the hour drive from the central valley and make an appearance to support the art of laughter. Production showcases: July 5th- 9th at 8pm: Faye...

As every year, Father’s Day is celebrated in Costa Rica on the third Sunday of June. This year, local companies and brands have taken advantage of this opportunity to offer promotions, contests, and discounts aimed towards those looking for the perfect gift for Dad. Telephone and Communications giant, ICE expects to provide Costa Rican fathers with phones and an unprecedented cashback offer wit...

Grecia's Second Annual Independence Day Fiesta is planned for Sunday, July 8, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Organized by a group of expats and their Costa Rican neighbors, this is a day to celebrate US independence with American foods, live music and dance, and to give back to the community. Once again this event will be at the Quinta Real recreation center in San Francisco de San Isidro de Grec...

The French Alliance in Costa Rica presents "Bon ArtPetit: A Dining Table", a unique cultural and artistic project that is currently in its fifth iteration. "Intervention at the dining table" would be the most appropriate phrase to describe the concept of Bon ArtPetit. The dining table is an important place in our lives, for therein it is where we converge on to sit down, share, meet, and communic...

The town of Santa Cruz de Turrialba is preparing for the 2012 Cheese and Fair Expo to be held on June 30th, July 1st, July 7th, and July 8th. This is a community activity set up to promote their number one economic resource. The cheese production industry employs 96 percent of adults in Santa Cruz, and the Cheese Fair and Expo is an opportunity for neighbors to celebrate their traditions while pro...

According to an article in digital newspaper Costa Rica Hoy, American pop queen Lady Gaga's concert in Costa Rica has been officially confirmed. Juan Carlos Bonilla, a spokesperson for the the Sports Institute of Costa Rica (ICODER in Spanish) confirmed the rumor, which in Costa Rica began as speculation and hearsay, only to progress to the status of a news leak on Facebook earlier this week. The...

It has been a good year for the Fantazztico Circus of Perez Zeledon in Costa Rica. This unique traveling circus is a project from the Vida Nueva (New Life) association, a non-profit that seeks to empower social enrichment projects for the benefit of young people, adolescent single mothers and victims of domestic abuse. The Fantazztico Circus began the year with new buildings in Baidambu de Daniel...

Sight of Emptiness is a melodic metal band from Costa Rica that recently wrapped up recording of their third album, which has yet to be titled. The album was recorded at SoloHits Recording Studios in San Jose, and Swedish Producer Thomas "Plec" Johansson traveled to Costa Rica to work with the band for about three weeks. Mr. Johansson has previously worked with other renowned metal acts like Scar...

The exhibition of the "Photographic Record of Artwork" by Juan Carlos Ferarios Chacon will see its debut tonight at the visual art gallery of the French Alliance in Costa Rica. The exhibit consists of ten different works of art created using a variety of techniques, including acrylic paints and charcoals. According to the artist, the theme of the exhibit deals with the deterioration of society ...

The Costa Rica Star has recently published information about receiving your permanent residency in Costa Rica to avoid border runs, wasting time, and money. Gossip and tabloid media outlets are once again churning up the sticky rumor bowl with regard to Florida resident Casey Anthony and her rumored plans to come to Costa Rica to leave her sordid plans behind once her term of probation conclude...

A letter from Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, went out to his followers and supporters earlier this week and summed up his current status: "I remain a prisoner in Germany in a case that has become highly unusual, controversial and international. On May 13th, 2012, I was arrested at Frankfurt airport in Germany because in October 2011, Costa Rica issued an order f...

SAN JOSE – Beginning in Barrio Amon and at the Cine Magaly in Barrio La California today, the French Alliance in Costa Rica will present the ninth edition of its traditional European Film Festival. This year the French Alliance will screen ten feature films and one documentary; all productions have been carefully selected by the different embassies of the European Union member nations in Costa Ric...

Last week, viewers of American cable television network Bravo experienced the ultimate in joyful dismay during an episode of the The Real Housewives of Orange County, which is now in its 7th season. The cast of "real-life" affluent Southern California housewives was invited to a vacation in Costa Rica, and one of the women wondered if that meant they were taking a trip to Mexico. To be fair...

CARTAGO – Costa Rica Craft Beer Brewing Company, a microbrewery dedicated to limited production of known craft beers like Libertas Tropical Golden Ale and Segua Red Ale is proud to announce that a new Belgian Ale will soon be ready for tasting and enjoyment. The difference between this new beer and the company's previous seasonal offerings is in the special brewer's yeast imported directly from Be...

A recent article by concert promoter Eddie Cota in the Huffington Post, entitled "Costa Rica Turns Up the Music", looked at the musical presentations during this year's International Festival of the Arts (FIA). Mr. Cota is interested in signing musical acts from Central America to play in Los Angeles, where one of the highest concentrations of Central American immigrants reside (but not many T...

Speculation about Casey Anthony moving to Costa Rica and the production of a new film based on her case are fueling social media discourse, particularly among residents of Orlando, Florida. It all started last week with a post on the American gossip blog Crazy Day and Nights, maintained by an Internet personality who goes by the handle Enty Lawyer (and who does not claim to be an attorney)....

The Independent Handbag Designer Awards is a competition organized by American fashion magazine InStyle. It gathers a carefully chosen collection of handbags from lesser-known, yet incredibly chic, designers. One of the most prestigious handbag designers in Costa Rica, Jennifer Lang, is in the running with two entries. The cute handbag you see in the picture accompanying this article is current...

A popular gossip blogger in the United States has created a fire in the social media sphere with the following statement: "When Casey Anthony's probation is finished in September she is planning on moving to Costa Rica. Apparently she has decided that no place in the US is safe for her and feels like she can lose herself in the Central American country. Apparently she has purchased a house o...

Members of the glitterati are leveraging their star power to help the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and star of Animal Planet's Whale Wars to avoid extradition to Costa Rica. Paul Watson is currently free on bail in Germany, awaiting court proceedings which could bring him back to respond to charges of reckless endangerment of a vessel at sea with intent to cause a shipwreck...

Ben Affleck, Justin Timberlake and Anthony Mackie are some of the actors thus far confirmed in the production of "Runner, Runner", a film about the online poker industry in Costa Rica. The movie is scheduled for release in 2013, but so far there is no indication that filming will take place in our country. A previous article in The Costa Rica Star, Haciendas of the Rich and Famous, mentioned th...

Anglophiles and English language learners in Costa Rica who are accustomed to getting their linguistic fix from the local cable operators have been noticing drastic changes in popular channels like Cinecanal and Cinemax. As reported on the popular consumer protection blog "Quien Paga, Manda" (an adage similar to "the customer is always right"), those two movie channels on Cabletica recently swi...