Back From Cancun

Cancun is not for everyone. And not all who goes there are spring breakers boozing around the beach making a fool of themselves.

In my few trips to Cancun, I have just once seen a crazy nightlife and that was when we stayed in the heart of Hotel Zone, where the hotel/resort we stayed in was a stone’s throw away from Hard Rock Café bar. But the hotel zone is just a small part of Cancun. Sad though that many who visit Cancun only get to see that part.

In truth, Cancun has many resorts and beaches and other establishments that cater to families and nonparty goers who just like to lazy about in the sand sipping some fruity drink with a kick.

In this just concluded vacation, I was lucky to stay in the Hotel Zone, but far from the maddening crowd where I joined others in beachcombing. We visited the famous ecological theme park XCARET, which is about 1 to 1.5 hours drive. If you go to Cancun this is a must visit. For no particular reason did we not visit this park in previous visits, but since on this visit we had nothing on the calendar but relaxation by the beach, we thought it was time to see it. We were floored by the beauty of the park, the variety of activities to suit everyone’s tastes and physical capacities and fed the hunger in this culture vulture.

I must say, we are already thinking about our next visit which is in 2 years. Yah, we don’t want to do Cancun in a yearly basis, because after all there are so many beautiful places to explore and only so little time to do it. But, we’ll be back Cancun, just save the lounge chair on the beach for us.

So blessed, don't be stressed.

Oh lordy, I need a vacation so badly that all I ever think of is a get-away. I’m so obsessed with some time off it’s pathetic. All my free time I spend surfing the net, looking at every deal they have on GroupOn, Travelzoo, and whathaveyou. Seriously. I’m even so excited about the upcoming R&R in Cancun. I normally don’t get excited about Cancun. I know I’m so spoiled. I got a wake-up call about how blessed I am when I was talking with friends of ours, another married couple, and we were planning something to do because her birthday and our anniversary are on consecutive days in late May. When she suggested something to do, we both told her that the date is no good since we already have plans (Cancun) and when she asked, we both shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal (well it wasn’t). That Cancun wasn’t a big deal, but of course to some IT IS a big deal because they haven’t been there. She jokingly said you both acted like your plan is to go to the grocery store and not Cancun. And she was right. Thinking about it that night, we might have been jaded by the fact that we could “easily” go there, whereas others may consider that a trip of a lifetime.

Have I been too spoilt with God’s blessings that I don’t appreciate every single blessing that I receive? Please let it not be. Please don’t let me be ungrateful.

In other news, how is Mother’s Day people? Did you spoil your moms or did you get spoiled. My mother is at an age where she no longer cares about what she says especially if she gets a gift that she doesn’t like she will tell you in your face when everyone else in the family is present. At her age, she is done pretending she adores (but doesn’t wear) all the sweaters we buy her. So I told all my brothers that Mom likes three things: take her to a buffet lunch, bring her flowers or flowering plants and give her gift card. The memo was also sent to all her grandchildren! I salute her for being frank. If you can’t be honest with your kids and family who could you be honest with? She wears her “grumpy old lady” role to the hilt.

We took her to the buffet, let her eat all the oysters and crabs and fish she can handle. Let her have some ice cream for dessert too. Let her live, we say. And this is another big blessing that I have, my mother lives a very full life and in her advanced age is able to fend for herself. My family and I may not see each other eye to eye (literally and figuratively) but the fact that we live within a 5-mile radius of each other is such a blessing.

One Quarter Down, Three To Go

In a little over a month I will be visiting the beach paradise Cancun for the third time. For someone who wants to visit as many new places before going back to the old ones, I surprised myself with this decision to go back to Cancun again.

How can I make this visit memorable? How can I see Cancun in a different light? I will be staying in the Hotel Zone, just like we did on the first visit. On the second visit we had a rental in a resort in the Puerto Morelos area, far from the chaos of the tourists in Hotel Zone and closer to the local culture of downtown Cancun.

On both visits, we spent significant time in the city. The first time we were there for 6 days and did the touristy things like visiting Chichen Itza (Mayan pyramid) and a boat ride to the mangrove forest. The second time we were there for a medical procedure, hence we stayed longer (12 days) and were more sedentary and lounged more on the beach than being a tourist. In addition, we were able to see and mingle a lot with the locals on the second visit because of our distance to the Hotel Zone.

Now that we are going back to the Hotel Zone, which on the second visit we saw so many changes that I hardly recognized it, I want to do some touristy thing in addition to finding more things to do than what is on Trip Advisor's list. I want to see what the locals see and eat where the locals eat again. Maybe there's a festival that is not on the Trip Advisor's list that will coincide with our visit to the city.

The husband is looking into visiting one of or both of the theme parks nearby - Xcaret and Xplor which are both water activity parks. I had checked their websites and so far from what I gather these are not something I am interested in partaking. Besides, the price for entrance is a bit over my budget.

Also the fact that we are staying in all-inclusive resort means that I would be eating all my meals in the resort, which makes the chance of hunting for local food becoming slim to none. It seems so wasteful to spend for food outside when you have already paid for your food inside the resort.

I don't have too much expectations for this upcoming vacation. Although I must say that I have fallen in love with the beach in Cancun. The color of the water is soothing, the white sand that turns pink when hit by the sunset is a sight to behold and the beach combing is unparalleled. This being the anniversary trip for 2016 I hope I can find something to spring as a surprise to the husband. I have not been going beyond the call of duty of the wife so I need to step up to the plate and do something he is not expecting but something that will blow him away.

Anyway, a few pics from Cancun.


Cancun 2013


On the beach of Xpuha, an hour's drive from Cancun, 2013


Cancun 2010


Cancun 2010

This is how the cookie crumbled in 2013

So it's that time of the year again. As the door closes it's door on the old year; another door opens to welcome the new year. Thus, it's time to take note of how the cookie crumbled this year for me.

First sake tasting ever (will probably not repeat since I'm not fond of sake.)

Read The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan, the first 3 books of the Twilight Series

Seen with my own eyes the TERRACOTTA WARRIORS and THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARRING.

Spent anniversary weekend in Mendocino.

Camped with friends in Cabin 4 1/2 in the Sierras.

Visited Sequioa National Park.

Visited Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden.

Went for invitro fertilization (IVF) procedure in Mexico - was unsuccessful. Broke my heart and spirit.

Suffered from vertigo the first half of the year that almost disappeared in the second half - thank heavens!

Celebrated my birthday in Isla Mujeres, Mexico by touring the island and visiting the turtle sanctuary.

The Bay Bridge has a new eastern span.

First time to eat at an Indonesian restaurant.

Movies I've seen this year include: Oblivion, Taken 2, Solitary Man, Catching Fire, Before Midnight, White House Down, Gravity, Breaking Dawn 2, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Epic, Abduction, Argo, Silver Linings Playbook, Life of Pi, Magic Mike, The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey.

I'll try to reflect on the highlights and low lights of this year and create a post later on.

Happy New Year!!!!

Don't You Just Hate It When Plans Go Pffft?

I do. This is why I seldom make plans and always play things by ear. My latest disappointment and plan that went kaput? I planned on blogging daily while in Mexico this past vacation I took.

What happened? I didn't foresee the following: that internet connection would not be available for free. While I made a great deal with the accommodation, the lack of internet was something I thought could be remedied easily. Sure there was internet connection, but for a fee. A large fee. Like $25/day. Huge, considering I was paying $40/day to stay in a beautiful studio suite by the beach, inside a family-oriented resort.

Still on the first day I thought that I could easily go to any cafe with wifi, like Starbucks for instance, since we rented a car for the duration of our vacation. But there were some days, most days actually, that we preferred to laze about in beach chairs looking at clear turquoise waters of the Caribbean and/or walking the fine white sandy beach.

Anyway, that's that. It's done. Can't cry over that no more.

Let me report that the vacation was wonderful. We flew out of SFO on July 27th at night and arrived midnight in Denver. We had a 10-hour layover, but that was shortened because of the delay in taking off at SFO. We had the presence of mind to reserve a hotel room so we can rest fitfully that night. Early morning of July 28th, we flew out of Denver to Cancun.

This would be my second time in Cancun. The first was in 2010. On that vacation we stayed for 6 days and stayed mostly in Hotel Zone, which is where all the tourists are - the center of tourism so to speak.

We did many things for the first time on this vacation. This time around we stayed in Puerto Juarez area of Cancun, and we drove everywhere. We drove to the cathedral, to the pharmacy, to the grocery store, to Costco, to Walmart, and to eat at roadside eateries, where all the diners were locals and not one of the servers spoke any English.

We spent my birthday with daytrip to a small island immediately across the sea from Puerto Juarez, an island called Isla Mujeres. What a charming little island it is. The shopping and dining is fabulous. We also got to visit the turtle rehabilitation center.

A tip from a local gave way to our discovery of a public beach called Xpuha. We initially planned on a road trip to Playa Del Carmen when the local suggested we check this public beach out. She said it's her favorite beach and only locals know it.

Since we were in Playa Del Carmen in November or was it December, we decided to see something new. And boy oh boy, what a beautiful beach it is. In addition to the beach being a local haunt, it is also popular with the backpacker community.

All in all, I felt like I have gotten to know more about Cancun and my appreciation level is getting up there after this vacation.

Oh, I'm also burned. The skin in arms are now starting to peel. I hate that feeling.

Day 8 (30 days of June)

I wanna be here right now!!!!

Nothing Interesting, But Thought I'd Write Just The Same

We finally get some summer heat going. It's been in the 80s here for the past couple of days and we're told the heating continues until this weekend, then we'll resume to have our natural air conditioner in place. That is the fog around the bay for those who don't know.

Last year on our first summer on this house, we ate dinner outside, in the backyard because daylight was longer and it's refreshing to eat outside. This year, must be due to the cooler summer weather so far, we haven't had a single dinner outside. Hubs noticed that and blamed my tv viewing habit as the culprit. But I don't think so. Our outdoor furnitures are the hand-me-downs and they came with the house. They need scrubbing and maybe a fresh coat of paint. I've been thinking of getting a new set . Home Depot and OSH have been having good sets out for display, but they are still above my price range.

Anyway, our Cancun get-away was two weeks ago, can you believe that? It seemed much longer than the two weeks.

Cancun was fun in a way. It was the choice destination for us because all we needed was lounging on the beach or by the pool. And we did that and then some.

What I like about Cancun:

• the beach and lagoon are so pretty
• beachcombing is fantastic
• the shopping is good
• the people are very nice
• no bum on the streets
• the relaxed lifestyle

What I dislike about Cancun:

• the suffocating combo of heat and humidity
• shopping is expensive
• didn't get a good "authentic Mexican" food
• didn't rent a car - should next time around

Needless to say, we had fun in that short stay of 6 days 5 nights. I would love to go back someday too.