Fun Stuff!

I experienced being "Pigpen" last week when we did our ATV tour. Remember the "Peanuts" comic strip character perpetually surrounded by a dust cloud? That is the "Wild Vallarta" ATV experience through the dry, dusty trails inland from Bucerias!

They do give you goggles and a bandana, or you would not be able to see or breathe most of the time! We rode double on one ATV with John at the helm. It was a piece of junk that pulled really heavily to the right and had a sticky front brake. John wrestled with it for the first part of the trip, but swapped ATVs with one of the guides when we stopped in Valle de Banderas. Of course, the guide's ATV ran like a top, and from there the trip became much safer and more enjoyable - at least for John.

Our main destination was the lovely "Jaguar Ranch" and idyllic spot in the countryside where you can rest, order food and enjoy tequila tastings. We got off the ATV, removed helmets, goggles and bandanas...John gaped at me, burst out laughing, and said "I have NEVER seen you SO DIRTY!"

By this time we had our spare camera which friends had brought down to Puerto Vallarta with them. But I would not let John take a picture of me that filthy. It's true, I loathe being dirty and I didn't want to commemorate it! I'm glad we did the ATV trip - I had won it, so it was free; but it's not something I would ever do again.

Since we had also won that Valentine's dinner at the Cafe del Mar at the Hotel des Artistes in Punta de Mita, we are now on their e-mailing list; we got invited to their 3rd anniversary wine and cheese party with live jazz last evening. Wow - was it ever nice! I took lovely photos with my camera that I can't yet post as our main laptop is acting up so I can't download the photos to it, and my little netbook has no capacity. So, I snapped one with my BlackBerry and e-mailed it to myself so I could post it.



These are happy faces - shiny clean (not caked in dust!) enjoying a wonderful evening out sipping amazing wines and eating delicious nibblies at a luxury beachfront restaurant. Yeah, I would choose this over an ATV tour any time!

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

A Carefree Day

We had a fun day yesterday touring around with pals from home who are vacationing in Puerto Vallarta for a couple of weeks. We picked "S & M" up from their hotel and toured them all around Bucerias, Punta de Mita and Sayulita, on the Riviera Nayarit - stopping in all our favourite spots for the best views, food, and beverages along the way.

It was a pleasure to show them around - they loved it, and have such an appreciation for the beauty of the place and the people. It's fun to see everything afresh through their eyes, and to re-appreciate where we are...as the days dwindle down to our departure.

It was a "carefree" day as I was away from my laptop and not following the blow-by-blow of responses to my post "The Great Push Back is Coming" (which was re-published on another American site called Vibrant Nation). Since it's last update, my BlackBerry no longer can open the Vibrant Nation site, citing it's "too large." So, although I saw responses were coming in, I could not open and read them - which was just as well. Nothing spoiled my day with our companions.

I opened and read the Vibrant Nation posting thread this morning, and responded on the few things I felt were worthwhile to comment on. Most of the comments posted just made me shrug.

I am still feeling the pleasant experience and congenial vibes from yesterday, and am feeling free-to-not-care.

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

The Great Push Back is Coming

I haven't been following the American news that closely this winter; it's always the same and depressing how the middle and lower classes are just getting stomped. Why do they take it? Are they just so scared, and kept so busy trying to keep a roof over their heads and food in their kids' mouths, that they roll over and take it?

This latest nonsense going on about breaking government unions and not paying pensions is beyond the pale. You cannot do this to YOUR people; at least you can't do it and not expect some revolutionary reactions!

Don't those rich 400 Americans, whose annual income equals the combined annual income of 100 million of their fellow Americans, realize that this income inequality won't be tolerated forever? If they don't start sharing the wealth and paying a truly fair share of taxes, the masses will push back? In the famous call-to-action phrase from movie "Network", people are "mad as hell and not going to take it any more!"

Investment banks, insurance companies and all their fraudulent ilk, who played fast and loose on Wall Street get bailed out and saved harmless (and are still collecting massive bonuses). Compare this to the plight of 35 and 40 year public sector employees who all paid into their pension plans as required, only to be now told their plans are broke (the employer never paid its share) and they will get zilch. Who is standing up for them?

How horrific to be in your 70's or older and not get the pension you worked for for decades. There are no words to describe my distress and sympathy for them, and my rage-filled disgust for the people in power (over many years, not just those currently in power) who created this mess, and are allowing it to continue/worsen.

The little guy will soon be pushing back in ways the American governments (municipal, state and federal) simply cannot imagine. What other choice will the people have? When there is no longer any honour (i.e., social "contracts" being broken or tossed aside) how should the populace behave? Tahrir Square will be replicated all over America, is my prediction.

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

A Different Kind of Road Rage

The driving in Mexico enrages me. Everyone, Mexicans and gringos alike, treats the driving laws as if they are simply guidelines that you are free to follow or not. Mostly not.

I also find it terrifying that pretty much everyone (but especially the women, I must say) drives while talking on their cell phone or, worse, while texting!

Every day, on our less than 4 kilometre round trip to and from our gym, we see at least 4-5 outrageous examples of extremely reckless driving that endangers everyone around (and often us). These include dangerous moves such as: running red lights (like a full 2-3 seconds after the light has gone red, and even making left turns against oncoming highway traffic when the turning lane light is red!), illegal turns, improper/illegal merging, illegal U-turns, illegal passing, and speeding galore.

In every other situation where I have seen Mexicans required to line up and peacefully wait their turn, they will do it, patiently and with good humour. Whereas I almost lose my mind in the 2 hour lines at the TelCel store, they seem content to wait. But, put them behind the wheel of a car and they immediately need to be FIRST, and NOW! They can't seem to stand to have anyone in front of them and seem prepared to play bumper cars or risk their lives (and yours) to get to the front of the traffic. It just makes no sense to me.

Yesterday morning we were on our way to the gym and witnessed something that had us feeling ill for hours. We were on the side ("lateral") road just pulling up to wait to turn left across and off the highway. Right next to us was the 4 lane divided highway to Puerto Vallarta; the two southbound lanes were beside us. Ahead of us in the near right lane of the highway (on our left) was a car stopped at the red light. A Jeep Wrangler (a gringo driver, we believe) suddenly appeared from behind at high speed in the right lane (on our left), probably realizing much too late the light ahead was red and the car in front of him was stopped. He wrenched the wheel left to go around the stopped car at about 60 miles an hour - in the process totally cutting off the car in the left lane of the highway that was pulling up to the red light. The Jeep Wrangler driver inserted his careening vehicle at deadly speed between these two other cars like it was an Indie 500 race track with maybe 2 inches to spare and sailed through a red light! It was breathtakingly awful to see how close complete disaster came - grievous injury and death - in the wink of an eye.

There were some guardian angels at work in that intersection. It doesn't take any imagination to realize the carnage that would have resulted if he hadn't been insanely lucky to thread that needle between the two other cars. At his speed and trajectory, he and the two other cars would have been rocketed into the intersection into other vehicles as well as pedestrians. It would have been a bloodbath. We were very shaken by what almost occurred, and I pray others were as well - especially that Jeep driver!

I blame a few things for this kind of driving:

1) Hollywood Movies - for making people think it's acceptable to drive on city streets and highways like it's a Nascar track.

2) Video Games - for making people think after getting injured or killed, you can simply hit a "Reset" button and carry on.

3) The Education System - for failing to make people understand the laws of physics.

End of rant.

Todo bien. (It's all good...except for the driving).

Mezzogiorno

One of our favourite restaurants of all time is here in Bucerias - Mezzogiorno. It's in an older home, right on the beach, that was converted into a sophisticated Italian bistro.

Their website and photos do the place far more visual justice than I can, especially since my camera got broken and I am operating off my BlackBerry camera (sorry Research In Motion, but your camera function isn't great on your device). Check them out at www.mezzogiorno.com.mx - it will feel like you've had an exotic break away just looking at the pictures on their site.

We stopped by for an impromptu lunch on Valentine's Day and were immediately greeted by name ("Hi Lisa and John") as soon as we walked in. We're kind of semi-regulars, but there is no way I would expect pretty much all the waiters to remember us by name! It makes you feel pretty special, I must say.

We shared a Caprese salad, done with lightly roasted and peeled tomatoes, the most delectable boconcini cheese, and a tart-sweet balsamic reduction...in a word, divine.



After that, we shared one of their ciabatta sandwiches made with roasted Mediterranean veggies, cured ham, mortadella and provolone cheeses, served with a side salad. You can see why we shared it - the portions are generous. Their ciabatta bread melts in your mouth, versus the styrofoam that most ciabatta resembles.



I'm sure we'll fit in a couple of more visits to Mezzogiorno before we depart - either for lunch or dinner, or an afternoon spent at "M On The Beach" which is their beach lounge area with chaises, beach towels and umbrellas provided for your comfort as you contemplate the surf and sip your drink. There's no better place to take in the sunset.



Todo bien. (It's all good.)

The Hair God and Tapas del Mundo

I spent yesterday afternoon at "Fer's Salon" located on Calle Agustin Melgar, getting a full head of highlights and a cut by Fernando (I think of him as the "Hair God"). I can't believe this salon is just around the corner and down the street from our condo - this fellow is amazingly talented. Everyone walks out of there looking absolutely great, which convinced me to give him a try last year. All I had last year was a haircut, but it was the best cut I've ever had. And even with a 20% tip it still only cost me $15.00! Unbelievable.

Two different hairdressers back in Canada could not replicate the cut throughout 2010. I was so frustrated - I had pictures and described what Fernando had done and what I wanted, but they could not reproduce it for me (even at $80.00 a pop including tip). So, I suffered until I could get back to Bucerias and get an appointment with Fernando. But, in the interim, I had serious fantasies of spotting a cheap flight to Mexico and coming down just for the weekend to get a haircut. Yes, he's that good.

So, I made my appointment and finally saw Fernando yesterday, for two tones of blonde highlights to cover my dishwater brown/grey roots, and a cut ("layered bob"). He speaks enough English to discuss your colour/cut preferences, and then you just have to sit back and let him work his magic. It takes a little bit of faith, as he does interpret what you want and adds his own ideas.

The two tones of blonde he chose for me were "caramel and gold" (mmmm, two of my favourite things!!) and he gave me quite a bit shorter cut than I had been imagining, but I think it works.




I had John takes 360 degree photos when I got home so I can show them to future hairdressers in Canada in the vain hope that someone will be able to style my hair the same way. Now for the best part, with a 25% tip, the colour highlights and cut cost me all of $80.00! At home, I pay three times that much - and still don't get the cut I want. It almost makes economic sense to fly down for the service!

Anway, as I saved so much money at the salon, we went out to "Tapas del Mundo" for dinner.




The chef/owner interacts a lot with the diners - his signature thing is basically to hurl abuse at his patrons (the restaurant's tag line is "No Crybabies"!). We like it, but you really have to be in the mood for it (and we were).

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

Good Luck and Bad Luck

I'm still concerned about the bad "ju ju" from 2010 carrying forward into 2011. Overall, things have been much better this year than last - no deaths or floods so far (no exaggeration, that's how 2010 got started). But, luck is a tricky thing and ours continues to be a mixed bag.

Take our lovely day at the Puerto Vallarta Beach Club. We enjoyed a very luxurious and exclusive experience at the finest locale - everything was simply wonderful. Until I handed my camera to a stranger and asked him to please take a photo, and the next thing I knew he dropped it smack onto a tile floor. Turns out it's unrepairable, so I will be camera-challenged for the rest of this trip. I will have to rely on my BlackBerry camera, which is pretty limited.

But, within minutes of my camera being busted, I got an e-mail on my BlackBerry letting us know we were one of the 12 winners of the Valentine's weekend dream getaway packages being offered by the famed "Cafe des Artistes" restaurant and hotel group! We won dinner for 2 at the Cafe des Artistes del Mar in Punta de Mita, drinks at Mandala nightclub in PV, an ATV jungle tour, and movie tickets - not bad!

As I don't have a camera, I couldn't take decent photos when we went for our prize dinner on Saturday night, except for this one I snapped of dessert on my BBerry. But the whole experience was amazing, we were treated like royalty (our photo entry for the contest had been blown up and was on display in the restaurant, and the PR person took photos for their newsletter), and the meal and service were incomparable.



We are probably going to go on the ATV jungle tour in the next few days, and that should be a lot of fun. We've never done anything like that. I think the guiding outfit takes the photos (that you are expected to buy from them) so we'll rely on that for some visual souvenirs.

The ups and downs of our luck continues as, yesterday, our less-than-one-year old Toshiba laptop warned of a problem with the hard disk, and a computer crash seems imminent. At least we got everything backed up to an external hard drive, and have a 3 year full coverage warranty on that thing.

And I woke up at 4:00 a.m. with a persistant cough, so seem to have managed to pick up a bug of some sort. Hopefully it can be baked out of me at the beach.

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

The Puerto Vallarta Beach Club Experience

I’m down here for the winter on the Mexican Riviera enjoying the good life but, sometimes you want to live an even better life! I always keep my eyes and ears open for new sights and experiences, and Puerto Vallarta never fails to deliver.

This past week, we got to experience the beauty, luxury and superlative service of the Puerto Vallarta Beach Club (PVBC). For full information and lots of visuals, check out their extensive website at www.puertovallartabeachclub.com.

I had read an article on the PVBC in the glossy “Vallarta Lifestyles” magazine – my go-to source for the best info on restaurants, hotels, shopping, cultural events and real estate. I noticed that PVBC day passes are occasionally available for folks like us, and I was able to make reservations to come to the property for a day.

The PVBC is deep in the charming heart of Old Vallarta, as the very south end of Los Muertos Beach – a quiet and secluded location on what is a very busy stretch of beach everywhere else. We arrived at the gated street entrance and were buzzed in and greeted by General Manager Eddie Figueroa.



He brought us in to discover the resort, which is a breathtakingly gorgeous architectural wonder nestled into the cliffs of a “beach front jungle.”







We toured some of the property before settling into the secluded sunbathing area to enjoy attentive but discreet service from the bar staff. The PVBC is the only property of its kind in Vallarta offering 6, free-standing, 3 bedroom villas with private pools. More on those in another post – today I am focusing on the exterior views, which are all amazing.






We settled ourselves into the cliff side sunbathing area, on loungers draped with thick beach towels, set on silky white sand, and gaped at the vista before us.






Time started to dissolve, especially with margaritas in hand (for John) and a chilled pinot noir for me. Wonderful music was piped in, from light jazz, to “chill” music, to the Gypsy Kings – all of which enhanced the mood and our enjoyment of the PVBC.

The beach club’s restaurant wasn’t open the day of our visit, so we went down the private stairs to Los Muertos beach for lunch, and enjoyed the view of the PVBC from below.




We had a lovely lunch at “Ritmo’s on the Beach”, but could hardly wait to get back to the exclusive lure of the PVBC. You set foot in the place and you don’t want to leave!

After lunch, we enjoyed an afternoon swim in one of the infinity pools. Drinks were served, a fresh stack of towels provided, as well as a cordless phone and the number to dial if we needed anything! They think of everything.




This place is a world apart from all the other hotels and resorts we’ve seen so far, from Mismaloya Beach in the south, to Punta de Mita and San Pancho in the northern part of the Riviera Nayarit. Yet the prices are in the same ballpark. The PVBC would be ideal for a destination wedding, family reunion or corporate event (if you wanted to rent the entire place), or for just a getaway for two in one of the villas.

Part 2 of our visit to the PVBC to come...

Todo bien. (It’s all good.)

Road Trip (Part Dos)

Blogspot would not let me post all the photos I wanted to in one go, so here is part 2 (dos) of our road trip to the Cabo Corrientes region of the Costa Allegre.

After checking in to the Hotel Mayto, we headed off to the next town just 10 minutes away - Tehua. It has a lovely harbour with lots of fishing boats, and what we believe were oyster farms. There were four to five beachfront restaurants, all with the freshest seafood imaginable, so we are told. We stopped and had the best shrimp ceviche tostadas we've ever had the pleasure to taste, and it was dirt cheap. The crispy corn tostadas were HEAPED with nicely spiced giant shrimp ("prawns", in Canadian West Coast parlance).




Tehua is further blessed(?) with a statue of a large, fake Great White Shark - it was a gift from the city of Puerto Vallarta - goodness knows why. I took this photo because I thought it looked (somewhat) like it was strapped to the roof of our blue Jeep Liberty -the "catch of the day" so to speak!


And, finally, a shot of my black polished toenails from poolside at the Hotel Mayto - 3 weeks-post-pedicure...all is holding up well!


Todo bien. (It's all good.)

Road Trip!

Earlier this week we did an overnight road trip to the "Cabo Corrientes" region of the "Costa Allegre" south of Puerto Vallarta. We planned the trip to coincide with the "cheat day" allowed on our diet regime, so the day of departure started off with gorging on cinnamon buns from "Sweet Things" bakery in Bucerias!



Then it was into the Jeep for the drive through Puerto Vallarta, to Boca de Tomatlan, and inland to El Tuito. We finally came to the first of the three towns of Cabo Corrientes - Mayto. The entrance to the town has the most amazing fence adorned with steer skulls.



The roads are a mix of paved and rough, pot-holed, washboard dirt roads, but the driving wasn't too hair-raising. You are rewarded with this view of the Costa Allegre on your arrival at the coast - an absolutely enormous stretch of beach with nothing on it (yet - there are major development plans for the region).



We stayed at the beachfront Hotel Mayto and got a room on the top floor for 480 pesos per person.



Our room was spacious and comfortable with a great view of the pool.



They serve three meals a day at their beachfront restaurant which has unimpeded views of the beautiful and desolate beach.



After checking in, we went on to explore the other two nearby towns, Villa del Mar and Tehua. Villa del Mar had huge agave fields.



We enjoyed the sunset and dinner at the Hotel Mayto.



We walked the beach the next morning and discovered it is plagued with "no-see-ums"! We were swarmed and it made for a short and unpleasant, if scenic, walk.



In another blog I will include some other trip photos and commentary, but I seem to be limited in the amount per blog. Anyway, we completed our trip with a stop at "El Eden", a waterfall inland from Mismaloya Beach (famous for where the movie "Predator" was filmed.



It was a really fun junket, but we were glad to get back home to Bucerias.

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

The Forecast

It's been cloudy and a lot cooler the last couple of days here on the Riviera Nayarit (west coast of Mexico). We don't mind too much as we've had two straight months of sunny hot weather to this point.

I do feel sorry for the "fly-and-flop" folks who are only here vacationing for a week - this weather will be disappointing for them. It's great for local businesses though - when it's cloudy, all the tourists leave the beach and shop. There is literally a "silver" lining in the clouds, as a lot of Mexican silver jewelry gets bought when the weather is overcast!

We giggled yesterday morning when we saw the fellow, who checks us in at the gate of the country club, was wearing woolen gloves! Temperatures in the low 70s Fahrenheit are freezing to the locals.

Apart from the weather, not much else has changed. The driving is still beyond crazy (Mexican and gringos alike) every time we go out. The goal is not just to get to and from your destination - it is to get there in one piece!

The huge grocery store ("Mega") still doesn't have any coffee cream or lemons, and they don't carry any brand of chili powder, period. They have chili salt, and chili flavoured with artificial lime, but no plain old chili powder. Same with Walmart and CostCo - no chili powder. I will have to bring some down with me next winter. Of course, if I do, it will have since appeared on store shelves here.

We revisited a favourite restaurant from last year - Prime 159 - a steakhouse in Paradise Village, Nuevo Vallarta. It was as great as we remembered...until I realized, when synptoms later hit, that their food is totally laced with MSG. I learned I am MSG and glutamate-sensitive from Vibrant Nation blogger Debi Drecksler, who recognized and e-diagnosed my symptoms, as her husband has the same ailment. I've been much better able to manage my condition and completely avoid these painful attacks since Debi alerted me to the likely problem. Thanks Debi! And, adios to Prime 159 - sadly, we won't be going back to that restaurant.

We have a month left on this winter's sojourn, and plan to make the most of it. We'll be exploring the Costa Allegre area south of Puerto Vallarta, we'll head north to explore San Blas on another junket, we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day at a mucho exclusivo PV beach club (once featured on "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" - remember that show?), we'll take in a polo match and have dinner at the La Patrona Polo Club in San Pancho, and, of course, we'll fit in a few more trips to our favourite restaurant, Mezzogiorno.

And the forecast says the sun will be back with us full time by Tuesday - vive el sol!

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

Thank you Timothy Ferriss

I recently read "The 4-Hour Body" by Timothy Ferriss. I was inspired to follow his "Slow Carb Diet" (a lot like Atkins, The Zone or South Beach diets, except he really emphasizes beans and legumes, and allows one "cheat day" per week), as well as incorporated a few of his recommended exercises into my workout regime (which is cardio, weights and stretching).

Eliminating refined carbs (a.k.a. "anything white") from my diet does not work nearly as well for me in menopause as it did in the past. My metabolism is just different (slower) and doesn't respond as quickly as it once did. Still, that's no reason not to try, and I know reducing/eliminating highly refined foods is the smart thing to do for many reasons.

Tim is efficiency-crazy - he only wants to do something to the level it ideally works and no more - this is called the "MED", or Minimal Effective Dose. He has identified a handful of exercises that make the biggest difference, and I have been trying a few. I can report they are working. My abodmen, especially, is greatly improved in tone since adding just some of Tim's recommendations, specifically:

- hip flexor extensions
- the pelvic "bridge"
- air squats

(His book has photos to demonstrate these moves, and his website also covers much of this apparently. I did a quick search to see if I could provide a link, but he has a huge web footprint and I could not quickly see which site covered the detailed exercises; so, if you are interested, get the book or spend more time on the web than I am prepared to do for the sake of including a link to click!).

Anyway, these are definitely MED exercises for flatter abs - not much time or effort for quick and noticeable results. I'm happy and motivated.

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

Elliptical View

I have at least one "pinch me" moment a day in Mexico. As humans do, I am starting to take my surroundings and experiences for granted; it simply isn't possible to savour every single second of every single day over the course of months. But I regularly remember to stop, mentally pinch myself, and marvel at where I am and what I'm doing.

Here is a photo of one of those moments - this is my daily view from the elliptical trainer as I start my workout regimen.

Pretty darn nice!

Other pinch-me-moments are seeing grey whales blowing and breeching in the bay, taking in the sunset, hearing the surf break on the beach from our balcony and the birds chirping at sunrise and dusk, enjoying all our meals al fresco, and wearing flip-flop sandals all the time (freedom from shoes!); and, everywhere I look I am surrounded by swaying palms and the majestic, emerald Sierra Madre Occidental mountains.

So, although I don't live in a constant state of slack-jawed amazement, I am still very cognizant of where I am living and what I am being privileged to enjoy.

Beyond that, we only need to turn on the TV this week and watch the weather reporting on the mother-of-all-winter-storms hitting most of the continent north of us, to be reminded that "this must be just like livin' in Paradise"...hmmmmm, wonder if we have any Van Halen on our iTunes...

Todo bien. (It's all good.)

"White Rabbits"!

It's the first day of a new month, and our habit on waking is to ensure the first words we speak on such days are "White rabbits!". It's something my mother taught me and I all I know is it's supposed to bring you luck in the coming month.

I never asked her where the tradition came from, or maybe she told me and I forgot. Anyway, she's gone now and I can't ask her, but I do carry on with the habit. It's nice to wake up, remember the date, and utter something simple supposed to bring good fortune.

I hope we're lucky in February; I entered a great local contest for a dream getaway at an amazing boutique hotel on the Riviera Nayarit. The contest closes on Feb. 10th and there are 12 packages being given away, so pretty good odds.

It's funny to be in the middle of what is already a "dream vacation getaway" and enter a contest for a mini-dream-getaway...but what the hell. We're here, I saw the teeny tiny little ad for the contest in a local rag, and took the time to send them the required photo and "romantic story". They acknowledged my entry right away, so that was encouraging! Fingers crossed. Toes too.

Todo bien. (It's all good.)