I'll believe it when I see it.
Adventures in Mexico, Day 3
Day three, in which there are more network issues, Chinese chicken, Coke Light in an actual Coke bottle, and -- at last -- some real food.
Much as I expected when this trip began, the biggest problems we've faced thus far have been those of network infrastructure. There are multiple firewalls, a vpn, several different networks. All of which adds up to chaos. Today, finally, I got my laptop moved outside the firewall so I could connect to all the things I needed to connect to. (Notably my CVS server and Chat.)
IM has been indispensible on this trip. It's saved more money in international long distance than I can imagine. I don't know if Jon -- being the target of the bulk of my IM's -- feels the same way or not. I can't see how he has room to complain: he's answered lots of questions but he's done it from the comfort of his own home. That's gotta be worth something.
This place was like -- and unlike -- any Chinese buffet place you've ever been.
Today, lunch was Chinese buffet. Again, don't know if they are trying to be good hosts or if this is one of their normal lunch stops. In this case I strongly suspect the latter. This place was like -- and unlike -- any Chinese buffet place you've ever been. One of the main differences was that the food was a bit spicier than what we're used to in the US. The Hot & Sour soup, for example was actually hot. As in picante. Overall it was pretty good. Cheap, as well. On Monday and Wednesday it's 2 for 100.00 (pesos) which is about US$9.00.
Then he reached for the shot glass and poured it into the mortar/bowl.
Today we worked until well after 9:00pm. I was bored out of my mind with nothing to do. Really wish I had brought a book or something. Once again we were left on our own for dinner as our host had family obligations to attend to. This was to be no Bennigan's night, I decided. We went to the nearest Mexican restaurant which, as it turns out, was a very good and well known one.
We knew going in that it was a good place and likely to be expensive. We knew for certain that it was going to be different when the maitre d' opened the door for us. The outside doors were heavy and wooden. Just inside them were large sliding glass and wood doors. The maitre d' made sure that the outside doors (which were kept locked!) were closed securely before opening the inner ones -- sort of like an airlock. To increase the oddness, after they seated us the Maitre D' came back and asked for our names. Very odd.
We ordered a couple of cervezas and they brought us the menus which, thankfully, were mostly English. We each ordered an appetizer and an entree. John also ordered a salad. A caesar salad. Made fresh at the table by the waiter. Fresh limes, egg, etc. The whole works. And Salsa Ingles, of course.
My appetizer was chicken-based. Imagine the contents of a chicken enchilada. Now serve it on little 1" chalupas with little slices of red onions on top. Salsa verde on the side. Also, a smoky red chipotle salsa. Outstanding.
Then, after John's ceasar salad they made my entree at the table.
I wasn' sure exactly what it was going to be -- sounded vaguely like fajitas but I couldn't tell from the menu. I distinctly ordered chicken -- I do remember saying "pollo" at least 3 or 4 times. At one point the waiter came back and asked how I wanted it cooked. I kept saying "pollo, pollo" which was pretty clearly chicken. When he left, though, I was pretty sure I was getting beef. So be it.
Okay. The waiter comes out with this huge mortar and pestle. Like, 6" across, 4" deep? Javier tells me that's called a mocajete which I believe is what the dish was called. He also has 2 plates, a coffee cup of water, and a shot glass. This array causes me to sit up and pay attention.
He put some oil and garlic in the mortar, crushed it up. Then he started in on plate #1, which consisted mostly of chiles which he cut up and added to the mix. Our other waiter tried to tell him to not put so many peppers in but I assured him that picante was good. At least 3 kinds of chiles went in, ground up, etc.
Then he reached for the shot glass and poured it into the mortar/bowl. Knowing what the answer was going to be I asked "Que es esto?" They both grinned and said "Tequila." And then they lit it on fire. And not a little bit of fire, either. A LOT of fire. Probably 45 seconds worth, with dude continuing to stir and grind. Back to plate #1. Two little tomatoes which he skinned and added to the mix. Grind, grind, grind. Then he added some water from the cup and stirred until he got it how he wanted it.
Next, on to plate #2. I forget exactly what all was there: some little onions, a real mild (goat?) cheese, a grilled cactus leaf. All of these were artfully arranged in the mortar/bowl. Then, the other waiter arrived with a cow, grilled and sliced up. This was then added to the bowl which was then transferred to the table. Add some tiny little corn tortillas and there you are.
It was outstanding. The salsa was sweet and very spicy. The beef was tender, juicy, full of flavor. Way better than any Mexican or Tex-Mex I've ever had.
For dessert I had the flan, of course. It wasn't quite what I expected, being about the consistency of cheesecake. Excellent flavor, though. And it was drizzled in a sauce made from fresh oranges.
The truly surprising part was how expensive it was -- or wasn't. We had 4 beers, 2 appetizers, 1 salad, 2 entrees, and 2 desserts. The total (before tip) was 704.00 -- about US$61.00. At home, I would have expected to pay in the neighborhood of US$100.00 or more for a meal for 2 like that.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, however, was what I got when I asked for a Diet Coke. It's called "Coke Light" around these parts (Diet Pepsi is "Pepsi Light" as well) but it seems more or less the same. Same packaging colors, anyway. (I can't tell if it's a little sweeter or if it's just my imagination.) Anyway... the waiter brought me one... in a full-sized (12oz?) bottle. A "Coke Bottle" bottle. I haven't seen one of those -- with the exception of the occasional mini 8oz ones) in many, many years. Here, they're everywhere.
Adventures in Mexico, Day 2
In which we learn important facts about our hotel room, encounter odd pizza condiments, experience bizarre Bennigan's behaviour, and learn how refried beans can be an important part of any nutritional breakfast.
Given how unimpressed I was with my hotel room I was prepared to be equally unimpressed with its breakfast offering. I was quite skeptical even upon seeing the offerings: eggs, bacon, some sort of sausage, tortillas w/ cheese melted inside, little cubes of ham in a green chile sauce, and refried beans. Refried beans? Yup. Never really thought of them as a breakfast food before, but there you are. I figured that they couldn't be all bad so I added some to my plate. Surprisingly, everything was quite good. Especially the refried beans. I don't know what they do differently here than in the US (fry them in lard, most likely) but man are they outstanding. And the green chile sauce was pretty darn good, too.
The building we're working in is undergoing some serious remodeling. Round-the-clock remodeling. People carrying large buckets of debris down the stairs remodeling. Drilling and pouding so loud you can't think remodeling. Tomorrow, I'm taking ear protection.
Started out with some network issues, right off the bat. Being a fair sized business they've got some sort of firewall and that means firewall rules. Which means that my email didn't work, nor did my SSH connection. More importantly, no IM'ing w/ Jon to troubleshoot whatever else might go wrong. I eventually got most of that fixed -- still no SSH connection which means I can't get to my CVS repository, either -- but the rest has been solved.
Don't remember what I was looking for but when I went to Google, it was in Spanish. Doh! Now, I know my way around Google, but... Eventually I was able to convince it to not redirect me to the Mexican site. Made it a little easier for me to find what I was looking for, whatever that was.
I'm no expert, but I'm pretty certain it was Worcestershire Sauce.
Lunch was ordered in from Pizza Hut. I don't know if that's one of their normal lunch stops or if they were just trying to make us Yankees feel at home. No big deal either way. In addition to the pizza we got some things they called "Que Papas" which were what we would call Jalapeno poppers. Except they're made from potatoes. Papas y queso. Que Papas. Get it?
The pizza came with little pouches filled w/ napkins, plasticware and condiments. The condiments included crushed red pepper (good), Pica Hut (a smoky hot sauce), and something called "Salsa Ingles." Hmm. English sauce? Curious, I opened a packet and tasted it -- but luckily I didn't put it on my pizza! I'm no expert, but I'm pretty certain it was Worcestershire Sauce. That's just about the oddest pizza condiment I've ever almost tried.
Yes, after having a Pizza Hut lunch we decided to top it off with a Bennigan's dinner. Actually, we didn't have too many choices. Right as we were ready to head out to dinner Javier got a phone call and had to go back to work. This left John and I on our own for dinner. Seeing as neither of us really knows the area -- or speaks the language -- we decided we'd try the hotel restaurant. Tragically, it was closed. That only makes sense, I guess, since it was 8:30 and the restaurant closes at 10:30. Our next goal was something easy to get to. And that meant Bennigan's. Close by, predictable, and easy to communicate to a taxi driver.
Our waiter apparently didn't realize that we didn't speak any more Spanish than he did English. We worked it out and manged to order, but I rejected several menu items simply because I would have been unable to communicate to him how I wanted it.
He did a pretty good job, though. He kept my "Coke Light" filled up which is way high on the list. None of this is what I would call bizarre, though.
They apparently do some sort of team waiting there. In addition to your waiter there are others who will visit your table, check your drinks, etc. Still pretty normal. After our main dishes had been cleared we were sitting there, finishing drinks, looking at the dessert menu. One of the waiters took two "appetizer" plates from another table and put them on our table, along with the silverware. At our places. A minute or two after that our primary waiter came back and took the plates away. 30 seconds later he came back and took the silverware. Next, he came and wiped our table -- with us still sitting at it. When he was done with that I saw him take the plates he had taken from our table and put them back on the table they came from. Thoroughly odd.
One cool thing about it. Where an American Bennigan's would put a pickle (which should never, ever happen) this one put a grilled jalapeno. Way better than a pickle for so many reasons. Well, two: a) it's actually edible and b) doesn't contaminate everything around it.
While talking at breakfast we determined that the reason my AC and lights didn't work was because I hadn't scanned my keycard in the inside reader. Turned out that we were correct but there was more to the story. On returning to my room I scanned my card: the AC came on and the lights all worked. For about 5 minutes, that is, and then they went off. Scan again. Five more minutes of AC and lights. It finally dawned on me that I needed to leave my card in the reader. Once I did that I was able to read -- and then sleep -- in peace and comfort. Why the hotel didn't have a sign next to the reader I'll never know. They certainly spared no expense in telling me the towel protocol in Spanish, English and French.
Adventures in Mexico, Day 1
In which there are airline flights full of screaming children, longer than expected layovers, hotel changes (for the worse), thunder, lightning, and more.
First, let me start by saying that I don't like to travel. I like to less and less the older I get. This was my first flight in nearly 2 years and only my second since 9/11. If I were younger -- and less prone to anxiety -- neither of those might matter. But, being old enough to recognize my own mortality... well, I don't like to travel.
The day started off well enough. Lori and I left very early in order to combat any unexpected traffic issues, etc. We had lunch at Cheesecake Factory. I'm not normally a big fan, but it turns out that they have Macallan's 18-year old Scotch on the bar. That can turn any dining experience into a good one.
My first flight, from DCA to DFW, went surprisingly well. I was quite nervous, having not flown in quite a while. I had managed to book an aisle seat so that was good. I flew American and they apparently have somewhat larger seats and legroom in coach. I was still pretty cramped, so if other airlines are *smaller* I don't want to fly them.
The woman in the seat next to me asked if she could put the armrest up and I was happy to oblige. More breathing room for all. Still not sure exactly what I'm supposed to do with my shoulders -- they're significantly wider than any coach seat anywhere.
Apart from the bratty child in the seat across the aisle the flight was okay. His parents seemed to think that he was cute; to me he seemed loud and obnoxious. I understand that kids are, well, kids. They've got energy to burn and have difficulty being cooped up. That's fine -- but the parents need to do a better job of containing those problems. Your kid, your problem. Not mine.
One other oddity on the flight: one of our stewardesses had an interesting tatoo on the back of her neck. Apparently she's a bit of a prince fan. Odd.
The second flight had a few more issues. For starters it was overbooked. Then it was late. And for whatever reason the people boarding the plane (predominantly Mexicans) decided that this whole "boarding group" thing was optional. Since my seat was 2 rows from the back of the plane it made my boarding a bit more interesting. To be fair, most of them were kids. (A whole group of them returning from some sort of school trip, or something. Probably 50 or more of them.) There were some adults, though, who should have known better.
I got to sit right next to the engine, too. Very, very loud. Lucky for me, I thought to bring hearing protection.
Better still, I was stuck in a middle seat this time. The folks on either side of me were relatively small persons so that made it somewhat better. Still, there's that whole shoulder thing again. I'm just not built for coach.
We landed in Monterrey about 10:30, almost a full hour late. Being at the back of the plane really helped speed me along. Not. Then there was the whole customs and immigration thing. Amazingly, my bags weren't searched at DCA or at MTY. That almost never happens. The guy they sent to pick us up at the airport had a car that was just barely big enough for us and our luggage. Really glad I chose to not bring a guitar -- no clue where I would have put it.
The weather was interesting, too. The rain started right as I was getting into the immigration line. By the time I had my bags and made it outside it was a full-on thunder storm. We get quite a few storms in the DC/Baltimore area but this was LOUD. I suppose it's because of the elevation and the mountains close by -- but it was freaking LOUD. Seriously.
No air conditioning. No lights in my bathroom. No lights by my bed. Hoody Hoo.
We got to the hotel around midnight. Unfortunately, it wasn't the hotel we'd been told we were staying at. The project is overbudget (imagine that) so we got moved to a less better hotel. It isn't awful, just very spartan. I've stayed in way worse any number of times in any number of countries. Based on the hotel I thought we were staying in I was just expecting things (room service, internet access, an iron, air conditioning) that weren't there. That's correct. No air conditioning. No lights in my bathroom. No lights by my bed. Hoody Hoo.
As it turns out, the problem with the AC and the lights was just my lack of understanding -- and a lack of information. In addition to the keycard reader on the door -- just like in any other hotel in the world -- there's one inside the room that enables the AC, lights, etc. Only I didn't figure it out until after breakfast this morning, so my first night was extremely miserable. At one point I opened the window to see if that would help -- I couldn't tell the difference between inside and outside; they were equally hot and humid.
Being after midnight by the time we checked in to the hotel, our choices of food were extremely limited. As in "there is none." We briefly debated going out to get something but our escort needed to get his girlfriend home so we opted to pass. Luckily the bar was open and the bartended managed to find us some peanuts, so I got by. Our bar bill was quite low as well; John had a beer and I had 2 Diet Cokes. Our total was 55.00 -- which works out to about $5 US. Not bad.
All told, the first day could have been much better. It also could have been much worse. We'll see how things progress the next couple of days. I think we're only staying here in Monterrey until Wed. when we head off to Mazatlan. Any way you look at it this is going to be an interesting trip.
The Elder Sign
I've begun the process of moving all my gaming web content to a single site, The Elder Sign. If you're looking for any of the game-related entries from here that would be a good place to start.
I also expect to eventually collect a bunch more stuff there -- old campaigns, characters, plot seeds, etc. If anyone has anything they'd like to see there -- or like to submit -- please let me know.