Restaurants

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Delayed Flight Adventure

My cousin and her son were arriving from Monterrey (MX) today, due to arrive at 11:50. I left at 10:40 and didn’t think to check the flight status. I’m not kicking myself over that now that I know that the THREE HOUR DELAY was not announced until the flight had boarded at 11:00!

So there I was a the airport with absolutely nothing to do for three hours and no desire to pay for parking for all that time, especially since it’s a crappy airport for waiting because there is very little seating and no WiFi (I only have a little bandwidth left on my phone). The thought of making the 1.5 hour round trip journey to home on The Road to have an hour and a half there made no sense to me. The Road was actually in decent shape and I drove large chunks of it at 30KPH, but I really didn’t want to do it four times in one day!

I wanted to pick up toilet paper and paper towels, bulky items to carry on the panga since I like to buy them in bulk, and I knew that there is a Soriana about 20KM from the airport right off of Mx-15. So I headed there for my first time to actually shop in this Mexican equivalent of Walmart.

I knew that Soriana has food to eat on site, so I figured I could grab lunch there when I arrived. There was actually a little food court out front with Chinese, Mexican, Japanese, and Italian options! The sushi was too pricey for my current tight budget and pizza was really appealing. 30 pesos for a slice with a drink was expensive, but affordable.

The pizza wound up being surprisingly good! It had a very light spreading of a mild sauce very similar to what you find on New York style pizza and the cheese was also close to that. The crust was doughy, but okay. This was my first pizza since I left the US and it surpassed my expectations! The price included a drink and you couldn’t get a lower price for just a slice, so I had the gal run through the options and accepted strawberry, which I thought would be a juice. It wound up being carbonated and surprisingly refreshing and not too sweet. I still didn’t drink the whole thing, but it was very nice!

I then spent almost an hour going through the aisles at Soriana. It really is very similar to a Walmart. There were more options than at Ley, but the prices were higher. Not much, but enough for me to notice (eg. 17 pesos versus 15 for a bag of totopos (tortilla chips) and 28 pesos versus 25 for 200g of Oaxaca cheese). There was LOTS of NOB (north of the border) food, too, like Ocean Spray cranberry jelly! I’m getting a little bored of what I’ve been making, so a trip to a Soriana at some point to get some variety would be nice, but I’ve been correct in my assumption that heading to a store like that would stretch my food budget.

It was about 1:30 when I left Soriana. I thought that since the plane would land at 3:15 and my family would be off by 3:30, I could get to the airport for about 2:30 and only pay for an hour of parking there (I’d already had to pay a full hour for the 10 minutes I’d been there earlier). I was half an hour from the airport, so I decided to head back there, pull over in the shade, and do some reading on my phone.

By the time I got back to the airport, it was 2:40. A man in the parking lot saw my SK license plate and waved me down, asking if I knew how to pay for parking. I took him into the terminal and showed him how to use the parking ticket machine. He thought it’s a weird system, but I’m used to it, where you get a ticket at entry that you pay in the terminal and then insert into the exit machine. Soon as we were done, the power went out in the airport for a whole minute!

When the lights came back on, the plane was still marked as being on time for 3:15 (I’d also been monitoring the flight status on my phone). There is a coffee bar at the airport, so I decided to spring for my first cup of not-made-by-me coffee since I got to Isla. I had lots of time to peruse the menu thoroughly and settled on an espresso helado, just a shot of espresso over ice.

I was asked if I wanted ‘sencillo o doble’. I knew what she meant because you get the same question when you order ice cream, but that gave me something to do to kill time as I sipped my incredibly delicious and oh-so-worth-the-25-pesos iced espresso, Google sencillo. The translations into English made absolutely no sense, with the main equivalent popping up as ‘easy’ and then ‘simple.’ Once again, I was reminded to translate into French because, in French, ‘simple’ means one/single, at least in the context of ice cream scoops or espresso shots.

It was coming on 3:15 when a gaggle of women came by where I was sitting, muttering to themselves about the absurd lack of seating in the terminal. I stood up and offered them my seat, giving them a bench where three can squeeze in, in addition to another such free bench.

3:15 came and went and the flight status went from delayed with an ETA to delayed with no ETA. I started to get worried. It gets dark at 5:30 here and there is no way I would do The Road at night, not just because of its condition, but also because of the risk of banditos on this very isolated stretch of road. In ideal conditions, it would be about 1 to 1.5 hours from the airport back to The Road, so I would literally have to drop my family off without stopping to breathe and say hi! I decided that we would go to Isla and take a panga and pulmonía to hotel. It would only add about 20 minutes to the travel time and I could leave my truck at the embarcardero on the right side of the water.

The flight status finally got changed to landed around 3:45 and they came through the gate around 4:10. Whew! What a long day for everyone involved! My cousin is well traveled so she’s very flexible and easy going. She was glad to see me, having told herself many times that I would figure things out and, worst case, she could surely get a taxi.

We paid for parking (60 pesos by that point) and got the luggage to the truck. It was a tight fit, but we got everything into the back and then she took the jump seat while her son took the front seat (she’s tiny, he’s tall like a grown man). The Road seems easier with company, but still took 40 minutes. Parking at my place is a pain and we were all tired and famished, so I went straight to the panga, my first time driving to ‘downtown’ Isla!

As I expected, we soon had help at the panga to load the suitcases onto the boat. I made sure to tip the pilot on the other side.

Then, it was time to negotiate a pulmonía. I was quoted 100 and offered 80. He accepted a bit too quickly, but we had heavy luggage and were going quite far into the Golden Zone, so I was okay with the price even though I have a sneaking suspicion that we could have had the ride for 70. Anyway, I negotiated a better rate than quoted! My cousin decided to pay 90 when we got there since her luggage was so huge and heavy (she got loaded down with gifts in Monterrey and needs cold weather gear for the New York City part of her holiday).

This was my first time going so deep into the Golden Zone and let me tell you, once was enough. It looks like Gringo Land in there, not my type of place at all!

We got to the hotel around 5:30. Check in and all that took ages (all inclusive resort, so she got blasted with information). By the time they were settled in, we were all famished and we went to the first restaurant we passed in the hotel.

Their meal was included in their resort package, but the cost for me was THREE-HUNDRED FIFTY for a frankly terrible all you can eat buffet. My cousin told me she had this one because it was her choice and I can buy us all supper from a cart here on Isla tomorrow (thank you!). I’m still reeling from shock at the cost. I can eat for two weeks for that kind of money here, seriously! Most of the food was terribly over salted, but there were a few good things, like the squid and this interesting marlin turnover thingamabob that was savoury/sweet. But we were all famished and exhausted (I’ve been up since 5:00) so it was what it was.

It was time for me to head home after as it was getting on 8:00 and we were all just done in. My cousin made sure I was okay with going home alone in the dark and I truly had no issue with it. I walked down to the street and flagged down a pulmonía. The driver was not interested in taking me to the embarcadero. Same thing with the second one. The third guy said he would take me, but for 100, absolutely not negotiable, so I got in.

With my previous two rides down the malecón to the embarcadero, we took the exact same route. This time, we turned off the malecón very early and found ourselves in very quiet, almost traffic-less streets. I figured that he was trying to avoid traffic and cut some transit time, but the trip started to take quite a lot longer than I thought it should and I had no idea where I was.

I started to look for a landmark, anything to situate me on my mental map to get an idea of whether I was being taken for a ride or whether he was, in fact, just avoiding traffic. Shortly thereafter, I saw the Mega store. I’ve never been, but I knew, very roughly, where it is located, and decided to give him a couple more minutes to get to a road called Ejército Mexicano that, in part, parallels the malecón. If we wound up there, I knew exactly where we were going to end up.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what he did. At this point, I told him that this is a very different route than what I’m used to and he literally turned to gape at me, then said, “You’ve done this before?” I knew exactly what he was thinking, that I thought he had taken me for a ride. I reassured him that I knew where I was, understood the route he took, and that there was no problem. We then chatted the last couple of minutes to the embarcadero about where I’m from, the weather back home, what I do, etc.

I was glad to reach the panga because it was chilly and I was quite tired. I didn’t have to wait for a boat, so I was back on Isla in record time. It was very strange to drive home from there and a ridiculous amount of effort, truly, what with having to dodge chickens and dogs and kids and having two people with no headlights on flash their lights at me, which, I think, meant that they wanted me to turn mine off. No can do. Canadian vehicles have running lights!

Back home, I had to wrestled with the gate and the garden hose blocking the gate and I was just glad to finally get in!

My cousin and her son are coming to meet me here tomorrow around 6:30 (I’ll meet them at the panga). I’ll take them for an after dark tour of Isla, buy them a papa loca (crazy potato) or taco from a cart, and then we’ll come back here for a beer or two.

My cousin is here for vacation and wants to enjoy the resort amenities, so we won’t be spending that much time together. I am going over to the resort for New Year’s Eve to attend a gala with her and will spend the night. It’s so good to have the two of them here and we will cherish whatever time we have together!

It’s been a long day and I have three hours of work due for 9AM, so the day isn’t over yet. But what fun and, yay, they made it!

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Saturday Night in Mazatlán

Dale and I went back to Macaws tonight to hear Rob do his annual holiday singalong before leaving for a short vacation. It was my first time going to Mazatlán on a Saturday night and the atmosphere was completely different, even on Isla, with lots of traffic and noise. Because every street crossing took time, it felt like it took forever to get to Macaws.

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I saw this car and immediately thought “this guy learned to park in Montreal”. Well guess, what? That’s a Quebec plate on the back of the car. LOL!!!

We arrived around 6:45. We weren’t planning to eat, so we hadn’t made a reservation.  The place was packed, the dinner crowd not having thinned out, and we were told to sit in the overflow dining room area away from the action.

The owner of the place came to check on us and I said we wanted beers. He replied that he was down a waiter, but someone would be with us eventually. Dale suggested that we go down to the bar to get our drinks and he said that it was preferable for us to stay at the table and wait for the server.

Well, an hour later, after watching the servers help everyone around us but not even acknowledge our presence,  I asked Dale if she would be willing to go. I had absolutely no desire to spend any money there by that point. If I have to flag down a server to get business, then I’m not interested. And this wasn’t a ‘you’re in Mexico’ kind of service issue; the owners are Gringos who serve Gringos and should know better. Dale and I are not going back to Macaws on a weekend.

I’d arrived in Maz in a bit of a grumpy mood from yet another interrupted work day and I was very grumpy when we left, but tried to be tolerable so as to not ruin Dale’s night. Frankly, I just wanted to go home, but I bit my tongue since Dale wasn’t ready to go yet. We walked around the Plazuela Machado for a bit and, feeling peckish, I casually checked out the various restaurant menus until I spotted one that had nachos, Dale’s Kryptonite.

She was quick to agree to split an order and then the question was which restaurant did the sign refer to?! There are a whole bunch of restaurants lining each side of the Plazuela with little distinction between them. We didn’t have to wait long, a cheerful waiter running up to us, pointing to the menu and then a table. And what a lovely table it was, right in the heart of all the action in the middle of a closed off street in front of wonderful live music! My grumpy mood vanished quickly!

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View from our table (my back is to the restaurant and I am facing the Plazuela Machado). The music was lovely and not too loud so we could still gab.

We asked for Pacificos, but they didn’t have any on the menu (!) so we went with Tecate. We ordered the plain nachos and the server suggested we get guacamole, too. Oh, why not?! The restaurant was Beach Burger and I am keeping it in mind for a lunch spot in Centro because it has better prices than the places I’ve been to on Olas Altas.

The guacamole was tasty, but not nearly as good as mine, interestingly enough, since I’ve never had a formal lesson in making the sauce. This one relied on avocados and tomatoes for flavour, while I like red onion, lime juice, and salt in mine. It was still pretty dang tasty with the tortilla chips!

There was also tolerably spicy pico de gallo and this other sauce that made Dale and me gasp. Dale was so impressed she flagged down the waiter to ask what the heck it was, which turned out to be essentially a reduction of tomato, onion, and garlic with, I think, cilantro. It was fantastic with the nachos.

I thought the nachos would be just cheese and chips, but nope. There was also a layer of yummy refried beans, which elevated them from a snack to a meal in my book.

We cleaned up every dish, finishing up the sauces with our spoons! I’ve been pretty good about not over doing the tortilla chips since I got here, but this was definitely a very occasional indulgence type of meal! We were stuffed by the time we were done!

Our server was absolutely perfect, so cheerful and flirty, offering exactly the kind of service I needed tonight. Service at Macaws last time wasn’t great either. I prefer to go to places where I feel my business is appreciated.

The bill came to 140 pesos and Dale had me work out the money. We left a 30 peso tip, so that wound up being 85 pesos each, and that included beer! Really, a splurge in Mexico isn’t much.

We were both tuckered out and ready to go home after, so we went to the corner and actually had to wait a few minutes for a pulmonía. I asked for the price and was told 80 pesos! I said that we were used to paying at most 50. He said it was Saturday, but he was willing to go down to 70. Dale hemmed and hawed, so he said fine, 60. I have to keep reminding myself that 10 pesos is just 85 cents (ish), not worth making a huge fuss over, and agreed.

It had been a cool night and it was pretty dang cold sitting in that pulmonía. I was glad to have worn a light sweater over my dress and Dale was grateful for her coat. The panga trip was more pleasant than expected, though. And we saw a comet just before the boat arrived on the Maz side!

I’ve noticed something interesting about riding the panga. If I am in a skirt or dress, I get offered a hand 100% of the time exiting and entering the boat. If I’m in pants, I get offered a hand about 50% of the time…

It wound up being a fun night in Mazatlán, even though it didn’t start that way. I’m glad that I forced myself to shift my mood and allowed myself to have a good time in the end. Dale and I discovered a new place that’s more our style (we’re both ready to swear off any place oriented at Gringos…), we got to listen to some really good live music (not that Rob isn’t good!), and we came home with a belly full of yummy food without having spent much money. Life in Mexico continues to be pretty dang good!

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Patient People

I just returned from my getting some hot dogs for dinner, two this week. And I was right last week to feel awful, they are TRECE not tres pesos (13, not 3). OMG, I’m so embarrassed. The lady didn’t say anything about last week though, bless her.

We gabbed while another lady got my order together. One of the things she asked me if I’m staying here, on Isla, for the whole of my stay in Mexico. I didn’t understand her question the first time, so she rephrased it. I didn’t get it a second time, so she rephrased it again. And then I got it!

What threw me is she kept saying ‘siempre’ (forever), so my first answer was that I’m only here for the winter and then that I arrived in November and am leaving in April. How she finally phrased the question was something along the lines of “Are you stay here for that whole period of time?”

I am so grateful when people are so patient because how else am I going to learn?! Too many people would have just accepted my incorrect answers, but took the time to teach me. And all within the couple of minutes it took to get my hot dogs together!

BTW, a carry out order translates literally to “para llevar” (to carry). I said “para ir” (to go) to the first lady, who did not relay that to the second lady, who then asked me if I wanted my dogs “¿para aquí or para llevar?”, another sneaky way of teaching me vocabulary, albeit probably unintentionally.

Mayonnaise seems to be popular here and the lady putting together my order started reaching for it. I said no, eggs make me ill. The lady I was speaking with interjected and proudly recited my order from last week (cebollas, tomates, mostaza)! She really did remember me and let me save face about the whole 13/3 peso thing. She’s a darling! So 26 pesos (just over 2CAD) for these, pricier than for a couple of steamés in Quebec, but maybe even more delicious. As it turns out, the dogs are cooked in bacon. No wonder they are so yummy!

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Goat Island (Isla de Chivas), Mazatlán

Goat Island (Isla de Chivas) is now attached to Stone Island (Isla de la Piedra), but used to be separate. Dale and I decided to hike out there today to accomplish four goals: 1) explore, 2) find Benji’s restaurant, 3) see the wild goats, 4) climb Goat Mountain to see if we’re in good enough shape to hike up to the Mazatlán lighthouse (hell yeah!).

We met on the beach and walked all the way out the absolute southernmost part you can walk on Isla, which involved a little clambering. We got a good view of the harbour and marveled that giant cruise ships can get through the narrow channel!

I kept teasing Dale that she had promised me goats and I wasn’t seeing any goats, so she took me a bit around the base of Goat Mountain until she spotted one. They’re big! Once we saw one, we saw a lot!

We then started up the path to the top of the mountain, avoiding as much goat poop as we could. There’s a pretty good path partway up, but then you have to scramble up rocks. It wasn’t particularly challenging and we weren’t even winded by the time we got to the top.

We headed home around 9:45 (yes, we climbed a mountain by 9:30 today!) and I asked a lady cleaning her yard if she knew the location of Benji’s restaurant. She explained to me how to find it. Benji’s is known for its pizza, so I’m curious about going there one day to see if the pizza is any good.

As we headed back to the beach, I asked Dale if she was interested in going for brunch at Carmelita’s, the only restaurant I know has other stuff besides eggs for breakfast. Oh, yeah!

When we got there, I really splurged and ordered a giant glass of fresh squeezed OJ (35 pesos, eep!), but I was really craving some good sugar after all that exercise. Dale had a veggie omelette that really made me wish I could do eggs. It came with refried beans and toast or tortillas. We both do tortillas at home, so toast is a treat!

I actually ordered pancakes! I added a side of ham (65 pesos, not bad!). The pancakes were just the right amount for me, two medium sized ones, and they came with a little plate that had butter, jam, and syrup on it. I like a schmear of strawberry jam on pancakes, so this was perfect for me and I really enjoyed them! The ham was pretty good, too, slice thin but seared to really bring out the flavour. I also finished Dale’s toast, loading it up with pico de gallo!

Dale lets me handle the money when we eat out. The bill was 180 pesos, with my portion being 100 pesos. I had her pay with a 200 peso note and added an additional 20 pesos of my own, then gave her a 100 peso note back.

The exercise this morning was great! I have some work to do this afternoon and think I’ll be able to concentrate now that I got the ants out of my legs. 🙂

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Our destination was the top of that mountain!

Our destination was the top of that mountain!

This guy was just chilling in the sand. We thought he was injured, but he didn't seem to be in pain and was moving around.

This guy was just chilling in the sand. We thought he was injured, but he didn’t seem to be in pain and was moving around.

I like the path up to this hut.

I like the path up to this hut.

Maz in the distance.

Maz in the distance.

Maz lighthouse.

Maz lighthouse.

Big boat, with a little tug boat beside and behind it.

Big boat, with a little tug boat beside and behind it.

Looking up at Goat Mountain.

Looking up at Goat Mountain.

Heading out into the causeway.

Heading out into the causeway.

Dale compared these cement things to jacks (as in the game pieces).

Dale compared these cement things to jacks (as in the game pieces).

As far out on the causeway as we could go.

As far out on the causeway as we could go.

Looking at Goat Mountain from the causeway.

Looking at Goat Mountain from the causeway.

This lush rocky greenery with a stone croft made me think of hiking in Scotland!

This lush rocky greenery with a stone croft made me think of hiking in Scotland!

This igloo-type thing caught my eye.

This igloo-type thing caught my eye.

Goat!

Goat!

There were lots of these trees with exposed roots.

There were lots of these trees with exposed roots.

I'd come across tons of stone crofts like these when I was hiking in the Scottish Highlands.

I’d come across tons of stone crofts like these when I was hiking in the Scottish Highlands.

Lots of iron in the soil here.

Lots of iron in the soil here.

Looking towards Isla. You can clearly see Stone Island Gardens, the hotel attached to Carmelita's.

Looking towards Isla. You can clearly see Stone Island Gardens, the hotel attached to Carmelita’s.

The first part up had a path.

The first part up had a path.

Dale is a good role model for how I want to age.

Dale is a good role model for how I want to age.

Looking down at the causeway and the lighthouse.

Looking down at the causeway and the lighthouse.

This view reminded me so much of Point Bonita near San Francisco.

This view reminded me so much of Point Bonita near San Francisco.

Roots just clinging to rock faces.

Roots just clinging to rock faces.

Climbing higher!

Climbing higher!

I could see lots of familiar Isla landmarks.

I could see lots of familiar Isla landmarks.

This is where the hike turned into clambering.

This is where the hike turned into clambering.

Looking down again to the causeway and the lighthouse.

Looking down again to the causeway and the lighthouse.

Here we are at the top of Goat Mountain!

Here we are at the top of Goat Mountain!

What a view!

What a view!

If it wasn't for that tree, I could have mistaken that view for Scotland.

If it wasn’t for that tree, I could have mistaken that view for Scotland.

See the goats in the background?

See the goats in the background?

After all the sand on Isla, this red dirt was a welcome change.

After all the sand on Isla, this red dirt was a welcome change.

Love the colour of this house.

Love the colour of this house.

Sitting at Carmelita's, remembering that I earned my brunch!

Sitting at Carmelita’s, remembering that I earned my brunch!

That's a BIG glass of juice and I'd already had quite a bit!

That’s a BIG glass of juice and I’d already had quite a bit!

The pelicans were out in full force today.

The pelicans were out in full force today.

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Hot Dogs

Yes, I know hot dogs are terrible, bla bla bla. I don’t care. Lots of things are terrible. A hot dog every once in a while isn’t going to kill me.

When I lived in the City of Kawartha Lakes at the turn of the century, one of my biggest treats on my occasional visits to nearby Toronto was getting a hot dog from a street vendor. When I was in Quebec in 2012, I fell back in love with a steamé all dressed, just about the epitome of the perfect hot dog in my book — cheap, savoury, and with a lovely mushy bun.

Tonight, I decided to walk into the village past 6:30 to get supper from a cart. I didn’t have to go far. There was a hot dog vendor set up next to where the chicken lady has her barbecue.

I decided to try one and was offered condiments and agreed to tomato, onion, and mustard. A spot of relish instead of tomato would have made this  the best hot dog I have ever had!!! The problem with a Quebec steamé is that the whole thing is steamed. I like the steamed bun. I’m not so crazy about the steamed dog. I prefer hot dogs seared in a little fat to give them extra flavour. This hot dog had a steamed bun and a seared wiener!

The cost was 13 pesos for a hot dog! Holy smokes! That brings me back to my dad reminiscing about the days he could buy a hot dog for a quarter and get change!

I’m going to get two next week. 🙂