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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Acapulco Day Four

We awoke refreshed and feeling fine and dandy like sour candy.

Feb 10th was a very important day for me. It was the full moon. I have always felt a strong affinity w/ the moon. Perhaps because I was born during a full moon, my email addie is luna_1021@hotmail.com and luna is derived from the Latin from lunatic. Yup that pretty much me all over.

This particular day, SexyBeast and I checked out the pool because there was waaaaaaaaay too much garbage floating in the ocean. I was not disappointed by the chlorinated pool. I am much happier in water than on land.

As I have noted previously, SexyBeast's parents have been going to Acapulco for the past decade. As such, they have acquired many Mexican friends. For dinner that evening, we went out to an Italian place called Maretto's w/ the 'rents good friend Nacho. Italian is HUGE in Mexico. SexyBeast was joking around w/ me. "We flew 6 hours to go out for Italian?" Maretto's is owned by another friend of the 'rents Carlos. He was beautiful and he can cook. *sigh* So dreamy and bald : ) Anyways, the restaurant overlooked the bay of Acapulco, the night air was sweet and I had the full moon looking over my shoulder.

The downside was I almost didn't get my food. It's a fairly new place and Carlos has never owned a restaurant before so there's still alot of kinks to be worked out. Like the fact that he booked a large birthday party who brought a horrible mariachi band.

Bed at 12:45 and I was questioning whether I wanted to get up at 5:30 am to go fishing...

Monday, February 23, 2009

Instant Replay

I'm taking a break from my vacation adventures to bring you my Monday meme. Brought to you by http://curiousasacat.blogspot.com. Comment, question, etc.



1) If you could eliminate (or lessen the effect of) one emotion from your life, which would you choose? This is a repeat from last week. As I said, it would be jealousy. It reinforces my feelings of inadequacy.

2) What is the nicest imperfection in your Significant Other? His steadfast refusal to give into my arguments. He never caves on anything.

3) If one thing you own were to become a religious relic, what would you pick? I'm not touching this one. I'd be Madonna's bra. So there

4) Show and Tell. What comes to mind first when you see this picture? Or, tell a story if it reminds you of one. Come out of yr ivory tower!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Acapulco Day Three

I hate to disappoint my readers but day three was more of the same of day two. More lounging, reading, taking in the beauty of my surroundings.

With one critical exception, the tide turned and the ocean was FILTHY. I swear a dirty condom brushed up against my leg. Which prompted SexyBeast to sing the "Dirty Condom" song. The only line I can remember is "Dirty condom/Floatin' in the water...."

For supper that evening, we went to Jovito's. I find that name very strange. In the Spanish language, there is no apostrophe s. More acclimation to American and Canadian tourists I guess. SexyBeast's parents know the owner. He's a playboy gambler w/ a much younger Japanese girlfriend. Little known fact, there is a fast growing Japanese population in Mexico. SexyBeast, myself and (step)Dad had the Bricklayer, a yummy carne asada dish w/ peppers, onions, beans and rice.

SexyBeast's mom wanted to go shopping after dinner. I wanted to walk around the neighborhood. Mexican street merchants usually keep long hours. Perfect for the those late night bargains. SexyBeast and I decided we didn't feel like standing around in the street waiting on the 'rents, so we went to Barbaroja's (Red Beard's) for the 2 for 1 nightly drink specials. I didn't mention this before, but I started off this vacation w/ a head cold. For whatever reason, the thought of drinking any alcoholic beverage at was going to make me boot. So I stuck w/ soda and tried to ignore the horrible throbbing sensation on the left side of my head. Here's a tip, loud and annoying 1970's disco music does not help a pounding headache. At some point, SexyBeast's parents joined us and we sat for one more set of drinks before I crawled back to the hotel.

Sleeping w/ SexyBeast made me feel infinitely better.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Acapulco Day Two

SexyBeast and I woke up in total bliss at 8:30. Nearly 11 hours of sleep!

I started off the day by reading under the umbrella. I borrowed The Watchmen from my oldest brother Christofoe in preparation for the movie. I'll post more on that after I've seen the film. Then SexyBeast and I walked along the beach. Here's a tip, folks, beach walking time is best when the sun is not approaching it's zenith. It was hot and my too big flip flops were not conducive to leisure walking.

Vacation makes you lose all sense of time. Sometime after swimming in the ocean, I decided to drink a few pina coladas. It could have been at 11 am for all I knew.

We took a break from relaxing to go to Walmart to get money and drinks and cheap liquor. As many of you know, I AM NOT a proponent of Walmart in any way, shape or form. I did not go there by choice..... and neither do the Mexicans. Whilst I was living in Guadalajara in 1997, the big department store was Gigante. Gigante has since folded and has been taken over by Mall-Wart. That being said, it was clean, the food was fresh and delicious and the people working there knew what they were doing.

Then more swimming, relaxing and falling asleep beach side.

SexyBeast decided he wanted fish for dinner, so we all went to Paradise, another wonderful seaside restaurant. Great thing about this trip, SexyBeast's parents have been going to Acapulco for over a decade. They are in the know. SexyBeast had his red tail snapper (which incidentally is not in fact red) and I tucked into beef skewers.

That night we actually stayed up until 10:30. Woot!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Acapulco Day One

Let's begin the beguine, people.

SexyBeast had a loooooooooong way to go to get to Acapulco. We started off taking the train from Rennselaer to Penn Station. We had a bit of wait at Penn and holy cow did I enjoy people watching. I saw a scary middle aged man hit on every woman sitting by herself. He told this one poor girl that she looked like Rachel Ray. "She's gorgeous and so are you!" Then he started in on his shoe fetish. The woman promptly got out her cell phone and scary guy left in pursuits of love from another. SexyBeast & I noticed that scary guy had no luggage or other gear w/ him. We concluded that he prowls the train stations looking for the ladies. Then there was the obligatory crazy guy yelling at no one. I didn't want to be so and I looked to see if he was plugged into a bluetooth. He wasn't. Sadly. And best of all, angry guy dissolving his marriage over the phone. Apparently, his wife has left him for another woman w/ 5 kids in Virginia. And, GODDAMMIT, never answers her phone!

Another great thing about Penn was the cheap and tasty pizza which I promptly dumped on my white shirt. Why do I even bother to wear white?

We boarded the train that brought us to Newark International airport. Being in Jersey, made me realize how much I don't like being Jersey. We were to take the air tram to P1 for all Continental flights. So it stops at the 1st stop and we get screamed at. "Get out! Get out!" Ummm... this isn't our stop. "It's being cleaned and the other tram is broken!" OK? So, how long do we have to wait for the next tram? "I don't know!"

So we finally get to Continental and it's about 12:30 am. No counters open, no airport people able to tell us when we could get our tickets. Nothing. We slept on and off until about 3:30. It's quite an experience to sleep in an airport chair.

Then all of sudden the airport comes alive! We find someone who sorta knows what their talkin' about. And we're walking along, when this woman screeches at me, "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Please bear in mind, I'm tired, delirious, unshowered and more than a little cranky. So I didn't answer right away. "WELL?" SexyBeast tells her Mexico. "YOU HAVE TO GET IN LINE HERE!!!!" Then sarcastic bitchy me kicks in. "Thanks. Have a nice day, ma'am." Smirky smirkyton. "I'M BEING NICE AND TRYING TO HELP YOU!!!!! AND YR STARING ME AT LIKE I HAVE 2 HEADS!" "Yup, I'll be sure to have a nice flight." Then not 2 seconds later she started screeching at a middle aged couple who dared to move the velvet rope so they could better maneuver their large suitcases. "SIR!!! YOU CANNOT TOUCH THAT! YOU HAVE TO WALK AROUND LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!"

tee hee : ) So we finally get to our gate and decide to have some eats at Au Bon Pain. I had an egg sandwich on ciabatta. 6.50! No drink either, peeps. SexyBeast had a sesame bagel w/ cream cheese. When he asked for it to be toasted, he was refused as all of Au Bon's toasters were broken. Lame.

Relatively quiet flight from Newark to Houston. And what a world of difference, the people in Houston were soooooooo polite and friendly. Because of the time change and weird hours we had been keeping, SexyBeast & I went for lunch at 9 am at this little diner place. I had a BLT salad and mojito. SexyBeast had a burger and whiskey.

Unfortunately, we were not sitting together for the ride to Acapulco. Bummer.

We landed in Acapulco, got through customs no problem. And were met w/ by SexyBeast's (step)father and his sign "Gringo Estupido". FYI, estupido is a really huge insult in Mexico. If you need to, use the word tonto/a.

Then it hit me, I was back in Mexico. I spent a semester abroad in Guadalajara almost 12 years ago. And I've been itching to get back. I was beyond happy. And also, really fucking hot. Holy cow, I forgot how humid it can get there!

We get to our hotel, El Presidente, right on the main strip of "old" Acapulco. It's kinda like the difference between "new" Vegas and "old" Vegas. Point of fact, snobby people want to vacation in Mexico but they don't want to be near any actual Mexicans. Our room had 2 double beds, big shower and an A/C that worked really well. Best of all, THE VIEW. We were literally feet from the ocean.

SexyBeast & I both hopped in the shower (not like that! his parents were waiting) to rinse the stink off. Then we hit the beach. Or rather, the lounge chairs under the umbrella in front of the beach.

After 15 minutes of sweating, we hit the water. Ouch, hot sand! Whoa, strong tide! Eep, don't stick yr face in the ocean, very very salty. And then, hey I'm in paradise, in the blue water under the clear sky. Keep on swimming, little guppy.

We got out of the water to enjoy guacamole, real salsa and a few beers. Heaven! Just as the sun was dipping down, 'round 6ish, we reshowered and headed out to eat at Tacos N' Beer. Guess what they served? I liked it alot. Low key, quiet and overlooking the beach. I had chorizo (my fave!), steak and cheese tacos. So simple and so tasty. And of course, beer. I had one Coronita, an 8 oz Corona.

Then it hit me, holy fuck! I'm exhausted. Somehow I ambled back to our room and fell asleep in SexyBeast's arms.

The Last Supper

In an effort to get ahead on my recapping duties, I'm here to serve up another heaping helping of Top Chef.

For the Quickfire Challenge, the cheftestants had to prepare eggs for guest judge and molecular gastronomist Wylie Dufresne. He's a kookster avant garde chef but really likes him some breakfast. Bottom of pile were Fabio and his quail egg on mini buckwheat pancake and coconut panna cotta with mango puree made to look like a sunny side up egg. Plus lychee soup served in a hollowed out egg shell. BLECHY! And also he didn't use any, ya know, EGGS, since that what was the point of this challenge. And my girly Leah with her quail egg in potato with caviar and brioche w/ ricotta and bacon Hollandaise. I would eat around the caviar. However, the potato was too heavy and greasy. Awww : ( The winner was Carla her "green" eggs and ham, fried eggs with spinach in the whites to make them green and green tomato salsa w/ jalapeno. Meh. But Wylie liked the less is more approach. Carla was the only cheftesant to only make a one component dish. Carla wins a advantage for the Elimination Challenge.

And for the Elimination Challenge, the cheftesants picked knives from the knife block o' doom. MUHAHAHAHAHA!!! Each cheftestant choose a prominent name from the culinary world and had to cook them their "last" meal. My fave concept so far this competition! Immediately, I thought of what I would want to eat for the last time. After careful consideration, I would go w/ medium rare fillet mignon w/ bleu cheese and caramelized onions, garlic mashed potatoes, lima beans, a black and white cookie and a large chai. As Quickfire winner Carla had the ability to take someone's person. But she stuck w/ Jacques Pepin and his roast squab w/ peas. I love Jacques too! Great chef and fun to watch on PBS. PBS is good for you, children.

And finally winning was Signore Fabio and his roast chicken, roast potatoes and spinach salad for Lidia Bastianich, the Italian chef lady on another PBS program. I have to say, I was happy for the Fabio. He had to carve a chicken w/ a broken finger. Congrats. And going home was *SOB SOB* Leah for making Wylie Dufresne unhappy again with another bad egg dish. I'm sorry to see her go : (

Onto the finale, go Hosea!

Monkey See, Monkey Don't

A belated recap of Top Chef that should have been posted on Feb 11th.

For the Quickfire Challenge, the chefs had last man standing fish filleting competition. First came sardines. Sheesh, those itty bitty stinkers that come in cans? Glad I'm not a chef. And Jamie and Carla are out. Next was Artic Char, not sure what it is but it looks about the same size of a trout. And then my home girl Leah gives up half way through! What? Get yr head in the game, girl! Needless to say, she and Fabio were called out. And finally, eel. Which Stefan quickly and expertly fillets in about 2.2 nanoseconds, thereby making him the winner. And as you folks know by now, Stefan will not have immunity but will be compensated in a major way for the Elimination Challenge.

Speaking of which (nice segue way Sue), for the Elimination Challenge the cheftestants dined at Le Bernadin and to recreate one of chef Eric Ripert's fish dishes. And as an aside Eric Ripert seems like such a nice guy. Anyways, as Stefan won the Quickfire, he chose whatever fish dish he wanted while the rest of the cheftestants had to choose from the knife block o' doom.

At the Judges' Table, Stefan was chosen as the winner w/ his interpretation of baked lobster w/ asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. To be fair, it was one of the easier dishes to replicate. But I still like that arrogant prick Stefan. And packing their knives and going home is Jamie. Really? I'm surprized it wasn't Leah. But Jamie sucked and she over salted her celery. And she was really annoying anyways. She was bored and uninspired by the food at Le Bernadin. Asshole! And apparently she hates celery. Why? You burn calories as you eat it. Plus it tastes fucking awesome w/ cream cheese and walnuts. Come back when you can't stay so long, Jamie