My life as a drug lord

I've been back from Mexico for about two and a half weeks now, and am finally ready to write about it. I think it's because I've finally compiled some pictures from the 1000+ (and counting) that were gathered from various people on the trip. Hard to choose from them all. I organized about four hundred into a slideshow, and uploaded fifty seven to my Facebook and PicasaWeb accounts. Could probably have done more, but the Facebook plug-in for iPhoto only allows sixty uploads at a time. And since Google kept giving me an error when uploading to Picasa, I just decided to keep the photos down to fifty seven. Plus, do people really want to look at more than four hundred photos at one time?

So, as I keep telling people, Tulum was amazing and horrible at the same time. OK, not horrible, but it could have been better. Amazing group of family and friends. The setting was beautiful: fine sand, turquoise water, almost private beach. Casa Magna was beautifully yet simply decorated. Simple luxury. Yet, beyond the amenities (freshly prepared breakfast, lunch , and dinner; sea kayaks; snorkeling gear) something wasn't quite complete. Perhaps my expectations were too high. After all, my sister had booked the place and she is known for some amazing finds on her vacations. And, Casa Magna was once part of Pablo Escobar's drug empire. OK, this can't be confirmed, but it is definitely something that the Casa Magna website promotes. One of the owners, Melissa Perlman, admits herself that it is unclear who the original owner was. [Note, I got this information directly from the Casa Magna website: http://www.casamagnatulum.com/]. Anyway, I digress. All this hype about Pablo, and the descriptions on the website definitely made me think this was going to be a luxurious vacation. I also knew from the website that all food, excluding alcohol, was included; there would be limited electricity and no air-conditioning.

When we arrived, we learned we'd be staying in Casa Magna 2, the bigger and most recently renovated of the two villas. Great. Bigger place, same price. Place was beautiful, and all to ourselves. Showers weren't fresh water, no problem. My first shower, I wasn't patient enough and thought there was no hot water. So I took a cold shower, which considering how horribly hot and humid it was the first day, felt refreshing. Slowly, over the next few days, I learned that other people were not so lucky. They actually did not have hot water. And, nobody was really complaining, so it was just in random conversations that things came out. I think some people may have just assumed that the "eco", as in ecological not economical, part of the resort description meant not having hot water, I don't know. I think some people might not have even had running water (I certainly did not for the first few hours of our last day there).

Bugs. Oh boy, were there bugs. It being hurricane season, the mosquitoes were out in force. I started out just using OFF or whatever weak stuff they sell in those spray bottles, but I had to bust out the Jungle Juice from REI soon enough. A couple of mornings I awoke to find mosquitoes inside my netting. One of those mornings, I killed five! Inside my mosquito net! After that, I made sure to inspect the netting before I climbed in for bed. Believe it or not, I wasn't the worst off. Some people had holes in their net. Others were just getting bit more than I (a rare situation). One evening, I tried climbing a coconut tree and found myself covered (a very slight exaggeration) with fleas. I immediately ran to the shower to rinse them off. Speaking of fleas, almost all of us brought some home, so the misery of insect bites continued at least a week after we returned. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving. And anyone who is reading this from the trip, I swear it isn't me who gave you all the fleas by climbing that damn tree. I think the fleas were all over the sand and on the dogs.

Speaking of dogs, there were like 8 dogs running around the property. They were friendly, of course, though one new dog arrived sometime around Thursday night and growled at me on my way to the kitchen. Aside from that, they were nice. A couple were mangy and I didn't want to pet them too much. Anyway, I think they were introducing the fleas. Some of the dogs kept wanting to get into people's rooms, Rob and Emily's in particular. They would scratch at their door around/before sunrise and wake them up. Other's apparently tried to climb into bed with some folks. Another, or two, actually shit on the floor inside the room. Not something you want to happen to you while you are on vacation, without pets. A lot of us are or were pet owners, so it's not like we have anything against dogs.

I think bringing home fleas was the icing on the cake, or maybe the straw that broke the camel's back. Though I think the breaking point was reached far in advance of leaving. Two couples actually left Casa Magna for nearby digs two nights before we left.

Food. Food was great. Kitchen staff was wonderful. They catered to our various needs: special meals for the children, no onions for Cyndi. Maybe someone else didn't like onions either. Meal times according to our schedule. Alcohol price was exorbitant, but I understand that's how places make their money. And, maybe it was a deterrent to drinking. Casa Magna is, after all, a place to cleanse the body and mind. It definitely deterred me from drinking too much, after racking up a $60 bar tab the first night, maybe two (US$6 margies, US$3 bottled beer). Getting sick helped limit my alcohol consumption too (I got no sleep the first night as the air was so thick I couldn't breathe, no sleep the second night either, as I was getting mild stomach cramps; third day I was a zombie, but recovered after sleeping 12 hours that night; I think it must have been heat exhaustion). One problem with the kitchen in Casa Magna 2 is that the refrigerator didn't work. They left us a cooler (more a bin) with beer and ice the first night or two, but all the ice melted within a couple hours. They finally brought us a proper cooler, but still not as good as the one I have at home. This was just a minor inconvenience. It wasn't as if we were cooking our own meals. Though, I know some of the parents were annoyed b/c they couldn't store milk for the kids.

The staff was wonderful, especially Javier and Josh. Though we did wish they would have closed our windows for us one day. We were out on an all day excursion with Josh, when some scattered t-storms rolled through (though not on us). My room, 2nd floor, did not have an awning, so the rains just blew straight in. There must have been an inch to an inch and a half of water. Same with Pele and Pilar's room, though their's was from a leaky roof, in addition to an open window. Cyndi had a partially leaky roof and open window, but luckily was confined to her bath area. Surprisingly, the rooms downstairs were unflooded, due to awnings protecting them. I think Jim and Erin's room partially flooded as well. We ended up helping the limited staff (it was probably 8pm or 9pm, so understandably limited) sweep out the water. Javier was so helpful with that effort. I felt a little bad calling him in to take over for me but I felt for a moment that I wasn't paying good money to labor. After a moment of guilt, I resumed sweeping while asking Javier to look for more squeegies.

Finally, our last night there was on my sister's birthday, so the staff threw a party, piñata and all. The kitchen prepared a special surf and turf meal (did I mention that the staff, like Javier, went out fishing or divng every day for fish, lobster, etc.?). I think that was the best meal of the week (though I did miss another lobster night when sleeping for 12 hours). Josh, Jen(?), and Sascha (sp?) helped blow up balloons manually. Free margaritas and beer. Sort of. That was probably the downer of the night (and not that much of a downer really), but there was confusion over the alcohol. Originally, the staff had said the drinks were on the house, but then Melissa said no. Then she reversed herself and they were indeed free, I think to help make up for the inconveniences of the week. But later, when we went back to our villa, I heard the drinks were only free during the dinner party, not when we got back to CM2. Then, some staff brought over margarita mix and a bottle of tequila, saying it was on the house. Turns out, there was barely enough tequila for a pitcher of margies. All that waffling really made the apology seem disingenuous.

So, the trip was great overall, but could have been fantastic/fabulous. Maybe Casa Magna just has some kinks to iron out. After all, they have just recently (within the year?) opened villa #2, but based on the reviews on Trip Advisor, this may be an ongoing concern. My sister posted a review there, to which Melissa responded. After objectively reviewing what she wrote, my sis pulled her review. However, one thing Bonnie told me that Melissa had said is that Casa Magna was supposed to be more of a villa rental, where we are independent, than a 5-star hotel. I think if that had been the case, it would have been perfect. I would have loved to get into the kitchen and whip up some Coco y Cacao. However, we couldn't really use the kitchen. No refrigerator, no utensils, cookware, not that I searched very hard, but the kitchen was definitely not inviting. Also, I think there is a discrepancy between the web site and it's implied sense of luxury, and what Melissa is saying we were supposed to get - a villa rental. I don't normally think of daily maid service when I rent a cabin in Tahoe, only when I stay in a hotel. In general, I guess I would have preferred something a bit more defined. Either roughing it or luxury. This "rustic luxury" was almost like a tease. Here's a beautiful locale and villa, but yet it isn't as comfortable as it suggests. Or maybe it would be better in the high season, when the weather is better.

Finally (again), just to put things into perspective, most of this group is a bunch of seasoned travelers, myself excluded. OK, I've done my fair share of traveling over my lifetime, but much less compared to the rest of this bunch. Not only have they traveled personally and professionally, but they have worked in/with many hospitality/food service professionals (i.e. Joie de Vivre, Peninsula). They are heavyweights in branding, so basically, what I'm saying is they know what they are talking about.

"Wild" turkeys trying to get into my building at work. My question is, are wild turkeys normally this tame? If so, I now know why we eat them for Thanksgiving dinner.

And the winner is...

???


My little t-shirt modification in anticipation of the upcoming announcement.

Zig climbs the steps at Point Reyes Lighthouse

So proud of my nephew, Zig. He made this climb all by himself: 308 steps (see picture below) and about 30 stories. Geez, that sounds so high. It makes me wonder if I'm remembering correctly. Maybe 10 stories? But, I figure with 300 steps, at roughly one foot per stop, that'd be roughly 30 stories.

We saw a grey seal from the top there. Too bad it was overcast that day, otherwise it'd be even more beautiful. If you haven't made it out to the Point Reyes National Seashore, I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, we couldn't spend more time there, as it was a spur of the moment trip.

Dreamleague history

My teammate, Keith Wang, sent us a link to a You Tube video of our basketball team the other day. Pretty damn cool. I knew Rich sometimes filmed games, but normally they are just little clips from his camera. But this time, he had someone (Johnny Harrington) put together a nicely edited video. Based on the footage, I'm guessing it must have been our November 5, 2006 game against Setai Cossa. I'm mean, how many times do I score even 2 buckets a game? Apparently, I scored 3 that day. The video shows me dishing out at least 2 assists, too, but they weren't recorded. Surprising, because I think Rich was scorekeeping that day, and he never misses a beat. So, maybe Johnny just clipped it up to make me look better. Thanks Johnny! haha.

Formula D @ Infineon

Mozza still great

Did some shopping on La Brea today. Figured I'd go eat at Mozza while I was in the area, hoping Nancy might be at the restaurant (she was not). The wait was quite reasonable this time (10 minutes). Of course, I was dining alone and it was 2pm on Friday, but hey not bad. A couple arrived just before I was to be seated, and they got a spot next to me right away. Also sat next to another solo diner, who is head of HR at City of Hope, where my boss once worked, and happens to have attended Stanfurd. Oh, did I mis-spell that? ;p She attended the infamous Big Game, where the "The Play" happened (link to video here). I think I have met one other person who was at that game, but her story was the best I've heard. She says she and her friends were down on/near the field when it happened, thinking they (Stanford) had won the game. They had no idea "The Play" was happening. A friend came down from the stands later and told them what had happened. They couldn't believe it and thought s/he was joking, until it finally set in. What a let down! And to make things worse (for her), she and a friend were staying with another friend who attended Cal, so they had to endure a whole night of defeat.

Anyway, back to Mozza. The pizzas are still excellent; in fact, I think it was better this time around. Maybe because it wasn't as busy, so the pizzaiolos aren't as rushed. And I got one of the best seats in the house, again. It's great sitting at the bar in front of the pizza oven. You get to see the pizzaiolos do their thing and watch all the great product coming out of the oven. Plus, both times I've been there, the people at the bar are so friendly. I guess that's the beauty of sitting at a bar area. I don't know why, though, but I haven't experienced this as much elsewhere. And I definitely did not think LA would be so friendly. Maybe I don't dine at the bar enough.

I did, however, forget how bad traffic is here in LA. I went to the South Bay (Torrance) today for a haircut. Funny, it turned out my friend Alice was in the same exact area. Too bad we weren't able to meet up -- she was on her way to meet another friend for lunch. Thought we might meet up later in Beverly Hills or after that for dessert, but I guess she got tied up. Anyway, it took me about an hour to get from Torrance to Mozza (what area is that? Melrose, Fairfax, Hancock Park, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills?). Geez, L.A. has so many area names. Maybe they are subnames of districts. SF is so much easier, even though I still get a lot of the neighborhoods confused up there. So, basically, between 11:30am and 5pm, I got a whole three things accomplished: haircut, lunch, American Rag. Can you imagine the productivity boost the LA economy would achieve if there was decent transportation and less congestion?

Giants vs. braves 7-23-2007

Bonds vs. Smoltz. 0-2,1bb, 6 inning

Lassen Volcanic National Park

My good friend, Iris, just visited from Hong Kong. It was so nice to see her. I think it has been 2 years since we last saw each other, at Jiller's wedding in Hawaii. I decided to take her camping, since I know she likes to hike and I figured it would be something she normally doesn't get to do much back in Hong Kong. Apparently, there is hiking and maybe some camping there, but she says it is not very safe to do so -- there are "bandits" waiting to jack you.

I've been talking about visiting Lassen Volcanic National Park for several years now, but never end up doing it. I also considered Hendy Woods in the Anderson Valley, and a couple of other places, but as it was such a last minute trip (didn't start looking for sites until Sunday, July 1), I figured a) we'd stand a better chance of getting a site at Lassen, as they have some first-come-first-served sites; b) I've been talking about seeing Lassen for so long; c) Lassen isn't much further than Hendy.

I'm really glad I decided on Lassen. It is a beautiful park, on par with Yosemite, but less crowded. OK, granted I've only been to Yosemite twice -- only once in my adult life -- so I can't really give a complete review on either park. Can you imagine Yosemite, during the Fourth of July week, having plenty of campsites available without reservations? And to hike a trail completely alone? We didn't see one person on our hike to Echo Lake. Well, I'm exaggerating a bit; we did see some people finishing their hikes as we started ours (we left a couple hours before sunset, hoping we'd get in some night hiking). Maybe I shouldn't be broadcasting this -- it'd be nice to keep Lassen a secret. But, I think that is unavoidable, as we learned they are building a lodge there in the next 2 years. They were also building a new entrance and presumably new visitor's center at the entrance.

If you are the stay up late, drinking and hollering type of camper, then Lassen may not be the place to go. It seemed like everyone had turned in by 10pm. There was only one other group that we could see was still awake after 10. I wonder if Lassen attracts a different type of crowd. There were definitely more sites reserved after the Fourth, so maybe we just got lucky and picked a good time to go.

We weren't able to hike Lassen Peak, from which I hear you get magnificent views of the Sacramento Valley and Mt. Shasta. We could see Shasta while driving up I-5. Next time, I'll have to stay for a week. There are many other places I want to check out, like the cinder cone and painted dunes. Things to look forward to.

CAn you say Poo Holes?

Bodega. The 'Snapple' store. "Underground" clothing & shoe store. Buy a Snapple.
Mass Ave & Clearway

@ Chicago O'Hare

Barret @ Jupiter

Eat at Bill's, continued

Watched "Eat at Bill's" on Saturday evening. It makes me want to go start a farm, even though I have absolutely no idea how a farm even operates, let alone how to grow anything. But with Bill's support, I can do it! ;-)

Here's an even better review, and overall great blog.

It's a good, low budget documentary and it's always interesting to find out a little bit of local history. Plus, Bill is a fellow Cal alum.

Go Bears!

Eat at Bill's

Was just going through my cell phone's notepad feature and came across the somewhat cryptic note "TangeRineman.com eab". Was this meant to be "tangerine" + "man"? Or some other funky combo? Why did I capitalize the R? By mistake? Well, going with the obvious, I went to tangerineman.com, but this came up with a web site for Pixie tangerines. This couldn't have been what I was looking for. What about the "eab"? I tried to append eab to tangerineman.com, but no luck. Good 'ol Google. Typed in "tangerineman eab" and voila. Now I remember - this is a documentary about Monterey Market in Berkeley. As I'm sitting at home on such a beautiful day, here's a perfect excuse to get outside, buy some groceries, and buy an interesting (hopefully) documentary. I'll let you know how it is.

Brief (for me) summary

Hey All,

Just, sort of, got back from China. Trip was fantastic. Forbidden
City was awesome, and loved the Great Wall, though I would have
enjoyed it more if we had more time there. Food was mostly
excellent, especially the prices. You can check out some pics at
http://picasaweb.google.com/oskibear95

The captions pretty much say it all. Although, the roast duck at Li
Qun was so-so, but they had the best "pi" (wrappers) - they were
paper thin, like the Vietnamese rice paper. I'll try to transfer the
pics of Li Qun later - they are on the cell phone and it won't work
without a SIM card. Hope the pics are stored in the phone memory and
not the card. The duck was better at the famous Quanjude Roast Duck,
but their wrappers were way thicker.

Didn't eat anything too "exotic". Had the opportunity to eat bumble
(or honey) bee and grubs, but opted out - I didn't want to order a
whole dish, and was too chicken to ask to try a single one of each
(or maybe it was a convenient excuse not to). Most exotic thing I
ate was duck intestines and duck kidney. Normally don't care for the
filter organs, but the kidneys were pretty good - better than the
intestine.

Didn't have enough time in Shanghai - only 2 full days - and one of
those days we went to Suzhou. But, had a great lunch in Suzhou at
Song Helou. Was disappointed with Xiao Nan Guo in Shanghai, but
maybe was expecting too much and/or didn't order the right things.
Nanxian Shao Long Bao was good, but I think Din Tai Fung beats it as
far as thinness of wrapper goes. All the locals supposedly go to
Nanxiang, though. I assume it is cheaper, but my aunt did the
ordering, so I can't say for sure. There is another place, Crystal
Jade, in Shanghai that is supposed to be slightly better than DTF
(even thinner wrapper), but didn't go there. Ate at Jean Georges on
the Bund as well - they have a pretty good deal on prix fixe lunch
(~US$25-30), and had a nice afternoon tea at Moon Sha across the
street. I think I ate 4 meals my last day. And I have to say, the
fast food there is pretty good - even the fast food shao long bao.