Something Fishy

There is certainly something fishy about the weather, that is for sure. Another torrential downpour in what is supposed to be the dry season.

Just Walking In The Rain


It hasn't been consistently rainy, though. Thank goodness. Just the other day a bunch of us headed out to Boca for a fun-filled day on the beach.

A nice sunny day and just perfect for watching the waves and having a few cervezas and chips with salsa. All for just seven pesos on one of those buses that, at least according to a columnist in the PVMirror, only carries one or two people at a time. Now, granted, about half the people on the bus were tourists heading to either Mismaloya or Boca. But the other half were Mexicans heading off to work in the various resorts and restaurants that line the route.

A Crowded Bus Ride


That Got Even More Crowded


There are several little restaurants that line the beach adjacent to the Boca river and they all kind of blend together. Each restaurant have different colored tablecloths and the one I like has yellow checkered ones. They are all pretty good except the one closest to the river. That is the one where they shuttle in the cruise ship passengers and should be avoided at all costs unless you want to have mediocre food in the company of twenty or thirty tourists who have to eat and run before they shuttle them out and shuttle the next bunch in.

Enjoying Our Cerveza And Chips








The waiter said one of their specials was a whole snapper, which isn't too unusual. What was unusual was that they had a four pounder and a five and a half pounder. We took one look at the four pounder and decided that was for us. It looked like it had just been pulled out of the water it was so fresh.

A Really Fresh Fish


They split the fish open and then grilled it with a very flavorful barbecue sauce and it was simply fantastic.

Ready For Eating


Needless to say, not a bit went to waste.

Finished Fish



We also ordered something they called Mummy Shrimp. It was shrimp wrapped in bacon with cheese. Simply fantastic. Even Bill liked them. In fact he said they were the best shrimp he had ever eaten.

After our meal we were offered a shot of racillia that the waiter said his grandfather made on his ranch. He gave it to us for free, so I have no reason to believe he wasn't telling the truth. Most of the good racillia is kind of a semi-moonshine. The stuff that they try to sell you in the tourist traps is a low-proof knock-off and not worth the price. The good stuff, like this, is a bit on the harsh side and packs a wallop.

Here's Looking At You, Sweetheart


After our lunch we took a little walk up the river, kind of a tradition.

River Scenery




To get to the other side of the river intially you cross a fairly sturdy cement bridge. The adventure is after you go up the river a ways and have to cross a considerably less sturdy wooden suspension bridge.

Crossing The Bridge







It wasn't until we got to the other side that we noticed the sign.

It Doesn't Say "WELCOME"


It translates roughly to:

DANGER
NO USE!!
CROSS LOWLANDS
IT'S VERY RISKY

When we asked the kids on the other side of the bridge if it was safe they said "Of course." And, to be fair, the Mexican kids didn't seem to have any hesitation about scampering across. But, now that I think about it, they only crossed one at a time and were all considerably lighter than even the Mysterious Chinese Woman, except when she floats upon her orange cloud.

And, you may have noticed, I was sent over first as a test.

We all made it across safe and sound, though and then headed on back to catch another crowded bus home. All and all it was a most fun-filled day.

Valentine's Day And Chinese New Year

Another lovely day here in Puerto Vallarta, and nothing says perfection like the sun, the sea, and a bag of chips.

Ah, Paradise


One of my favorite restaurants, although one I haven't gotten to yet this year, El Dorado went all out decorating for Valentine's Day.

Red, Red, And More Red


A bunch of us decided to combine the Valentine's Day and Chinese New Years celebrations by having dinner at one of the few Chinese restaurants here in Puerto Vallarta.

Peking Restaurant And Bar


Interestingly, although the place is still named Peking Restaurant and Bar, they have changed the name of their Peking Duck to Bejing Duck.

Studying The Menu


We had ordered the Bejing Duck earlier in the day and then ordered a bunch of other dishes off the menu. Everything was very good. As good as you get in most of the restaurants in Manhattan's Chinatown.

Most of us ordered manly drinks while we waited for our food -

And Then There Was Bill


Soon enough the duck arrived and was carved at tableside.

Duck, Duck, Bejing Duck


I can't remember everything we had, but I know we had a chicken dish, a beef dish, a pork dish, fried rice, noodles, and probably more.

A Small Sample


Marcie Digging In


The Mysterious Chinese Woman seemed pleased with everything.

Happy Happy Joy Joy


There were seven of us enjoying our feast.

Chris, Tony, Chris (the female one) and Bill


And a couple of Valentine's Day couples.

Bill And Marcie


The Mysterious Chinese Woman And Bar Man


It was a very nice dinner and when we finished it we headed to Bill and Marcie's place where Marcie had made a chocolate cake for dessert. Bill made sure that we knew that he made the frosting and frosted the cake. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture.

Marcie loves to bake, chocolate cakes and brownies are her specialty so I am sure I will get another chance to get pictures of her (and let's not forget Bill's) handiwork. We are having a deck party on Thursday so I should get some pictures then. And pictures of my specialty, deviled eggs.

Bourne Dumb

Okay, my last kvetch about The Bourne Legacy.

After seeing Jason Bourne's picture on television the clerk at the motel where he has checked in notifies the CIA or DIA or whatever agency. They, of course raid the motel. As they are pulling into the parking lot a large refrigerator truck is pulling out. The raid team leader runs up to the driver and tells him to "haul ass out of here." Why would they even think of checking the truck?

Then they discover that Jason Bourne has left his room and taken all of the blankets with him. Hmm, refrigerator truck just left, blankets keep you warm..., could there be a connection? Apparently not. No attempt to chase down the truck and no call to the roadblock to tell them to search it. So, of course, no thorough check of the truck is done at the roadblock and Jason escapes.

Okay, no more. My next post will be about Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year.

And no more Jason Bourne - this book is just too dumb.

Early Valentine's Day And Carnaval

Arrgh, I am reading one of the most stupid spy novels ever, "The Bourne Legacy." It is a spy fiction thriller written by Eric Van Lustbader and based on the character of Jason Bourne who was created by author Robert Ludlum.

How dumb is it? Well consider the part where a gun is discovered at the scene of a double homicide, wiped clean of fingerprints, but registered to David Webb, aka Jason Bourne. Upen observing that the gun has been wiped clean of fingerprints the CIA decides the murders are obviously the work of a highly trained professional. Huh, you wipe the gun clean but then leave it so they can trace the ownership, and nobody suspects something strange is going on?

Then, of course, Jason Bourne has to run because he is being hunted. It never occurs to him to send a letter to his superiors explaining the circumstances that brought him to the crime scene and telling him of where they can find evidence (the bullet holes in the tree on the campus where he was shot at and intentionally missed).

Then, when he is running he sees a roadblock and, to avoid detection, checks into a nearby motel. The CIA is setting up roadblocks but don't think about checking out motels within the perimeter?

This book reminds me of all of the hundreds of movies you see where someone with a machine gun is shooting behind the running target and can never hit them. First thing you learn in the military is shoot in front of the target and sweep back at it.

But enough, I will finish the book gnashing my teeth all the way.

A bunch of us went to Cafe Bohemia for a pre-Valentine's Day dinner accompanied by live music and cocktails.

The Hard To See Sign


The Dinner Crowd


Being very careful to make sure that Peter is given his due:

I Give You Peter


And, of course, without whom none of this would be possible:

Bar Man And The Mysterious Chinese Woman


After dinner we hung around to watch the Carnaval Parade, soon to rival New Orlean's Mardi Gras and Rio's Carnaval. Of course it first has to get big enough to where they block the parade route to regular traffic. It got to be quite a mess at times.

There isn't really much to say about the parade other than it was fun and it did draw quite a crowd on the streets. It kind of reminded me of both the Halloween parade in Manhattan's Greenwich Village and the Mermaid Parade at Coney Island before they got really big.

Without further adieu, I give you Puerto Vallarta's Carnaval Parade.





























You may have noticed that my pictures down here aren't up to my usual quality, which isn't that high to start with. I forgot to load my Photoshop software so I have to rely on Hotshots, which only has limited editing capabilities. Consider this the equivalent of viewing a movie shot with a hand-held camera. It gives it more versimilitude.

Tamale Party

The other day a few of us headed out to my friends Tom and Elba's (but everyone calls her Baya) house to make tamales. Well, in my case it was to watch tamales being made.

They live out on the way to Pitillal. When I first started coming to Puerto Vallarta Pitillal was almost like a distant village and the first thing you saw on the way into town was a cockfight ring. The ring is long gone and Pitillal is now more of a suburb.

We took the bus to Walmart where Tom picked us up for the ride to his house. We could have taken the bus right to the entrance to his complex, only we wouldn't have known where to get off. That was where we caught the bus to go home, though.

I have kind of a running dialogue going with one of the columnists in the PVMirror, a weekly English language paper here. She is always complaining about the number of largely unoccupied buses here in Puerto Vallarta. Again, as usual, the bus that I took, both coming and going, was standing room only.

I have gained a whole new respect for the making of tamales. It is a long and labor intensive process. Baya said that Mexicans typically devote a whole day to making them and then make enough to last a long time.

The process started by cutting up chickens for the fillings.

Mysterious Chinese Woman And Marcie At Work


Then the real work begins, kneading and pounding the dough. I think it is just corn flour with freshly made stock from the chickens added along with melted lard.

Takes Some Muscle


That is Marisol, Baya's daughter doing most of the work, but she was soon joined by Baya who, like all mothers, offered advice.

The More The Merrier


And before you knew it there was a whole gaggle of onlookers. That is Tom, Baya's husband, and Marisol's daughter Belinda joining the crowd.

One Day, Belinda, You Will Be Doing This


I think Belinda was less than enthusiastic about that proposition and decided to retreat to her little hide-away for a snack.

I Want To Be Alone


Then more prep work cutting up and cooking the vegetables that would also be used in the filling.

Told You It Was A Long Process


After hours of pounding and kneading the dough to a creamy texture it was time to actually wrap the dough around the filling and then wrap that all in the corn husks.

Finally, Getting To The End


Once everything is wrapped up the tamales are steamed and then ready for eating.

The Finished Product


The stuff in the mug is a warm drink made out of cornmeal that has a taste and consistency of a warm vanilla malted milk. It was quite good, much better than I expected. Tom, who spends part of the year with Baya in Wisconsin (nothing will be said about Brett Favre) says it is particularly good on a cold winter morning along with tamales. Tamales seem to be a pretty standard Mexican breakfast.

And, of course, the Mysterious Chinese Woman had to display here handiwork.

So Much Better When You Make Them Yourself


A Naked Tamale, Unwrapped And Ready For Eating


And here are the spot the differences pictures. We really need to hire a full time photographer so we can all be in the same picture one day.

Picture Number One


Picture Number Two


Pay particular attention to the gentleman on the right. That is Peter, Tom's brother. He has been complaining that his friends want to know why he is never in any of my pictures so I am trying to make it up to him.

If you ever order tamales in a Mexican restaurant I hope this gives you some appreciation for the amount of work that goes into making them. It really does take a long time and a lot of muscle to pound that dough into the creamy texture required. But, in my opinion, the effort is well worth it. Particularly when none of the effort is mine.

Yesterday a bunch of us went out for an early Valentine's Day dinner and then afterwards took in the Carnaval Parade. I will post pictures tomorrow. Tonight we are going out for a real Valentine's Day dinner, but I don't know where yet. I don't get this, the Mysterious Chinese Woman gets both a pre and actual birthday dinner and Valentine's day dinner.

Oh, almost forgot, today is also Chinese New Year. It is the year of the Tiger. The year of the Tiger is a very likely to be a volatile year, everything is taken to its limit. It can also be a year of war, disasters and all kinds of disputes. It is a year for massive change, but this can also bring out the best. Hold on to your hats.