Tag Archives: Merida

Tecoh is a Charmer!

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , , , , ,

When traveling with friends and relatives around the Yucatan, I am often struck by the difference in ‘feel’ from town to Yucatecan town; Mani, while famous for its’ convent and history and of course the Tutul Xiu restaurant always gives me a neutral impression. Some people are very friendly, like the lady who embroiders dresses in front of the unfortunately closed-during-a-large-part-of-the-day convent; others are outright sullen and hostile. In Uayalceh, there are many suspicious looks and a kind of hardness in faces that is difficult to describe but perceptible.

Yesterdays excursion through the so-called ‘Convent Route’ had a similar result. The inhabitants of the tiny villages of Telchaquillo and Mama were indifferent and the towns themselves lackluster bordering on decrepit in spite of their attractions.

Tecoh was a different story altogether. Maybe it was because it was Sunday, everyone was dressed up, in church and feeling celebratory or maybe it was the impression you get from the moment you leave the highway and approach the town, noticing that there are trees and flowers planted along the way to welcome you. As what seemed to be the entire population of the town exited the church upon the conclusion of Sunday mass, Yours Truly and company got plenty of stares and a giggle or three from the kids but also many a Buenos Dias and a smile. Friendliness seemed to ooze from the pores of everyone we came into contact with.

The thought came to my neurotic foreigners mind that this might be one of those places that Yucatans reputation for friendly people, peaceful provincial life, comes from. It even crossed my mind that this might be a good place to retire.

Is the neurotic foreigner getting soft in his old age?

Real, Delicious, Scones in Merida – El Postrecito

Casual Restaurant Critic, ,

The Casual Restaurant Critic is not a huge fan of scones. Usually, they are these dough-y mounds of white flour biscuit that require several glasses of liquid to swallow; however, the Critic had some scones made by Alejandra at the El Postrecito café, just off Montejo on Calle 21 (the one that goes to Plaza Fiesta).

These are light and fluffy inside, full of buttery flavor and the outside has a sprinkling of sugar which makes them lightly crunchy. The Critic doesn’t even know if they are on the menu but if they are, you should try them in their regular (with what seems like a touch of lemon or lime) or chocolate chip versions. If they are not, order a dozen for your next breakfast meeting or social event.

Eat them hot and you will not be able to stop.

Roadblocks in Merida

Life in the Yucatan, , ,

I don’t know why I don’t pick up the local paper more often; there’s so much to catch the eye of the neurotic foreigner!

Besides the happy ending article, there’s another on page 9 of the Local section (where all the good stuff is) which proclaims that police roadblocks in Merida, particularly the ones where motorists are stopped and checked for alcoholic breath, are being modernized.

There’ll be more lights, no roadblocks after overpasses or curves, that sort of thing. All because an officer was run over by a truck because the driver ‘didn’t see’ the roadblock.

Which is fine.

The thing they didn’t get around to ‘modernizing’ is their method by which they obtain their breath sample, as shown in the photo accompanying the article. The officer, and I know this from personal experience as well, is holding a piece of cardboard by the drivers face and is sniffing the drivers breath as it is blown towards his highly trained nostrils.

Surely this is modernization! And what a thrill it must be for any aspiring police officer to have to perform this degrading duty. What if urine samples had to be taken? It’s a disturbing thought…

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

More on the “happy finish” story

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , ,

It seems the Diario de Yucatan is determined to get the word out about those massages on Progreso’s beach.

In an article on page 14 of todays’ Local section, the headline reads: “Critica la Iglesia un ‘final feliz’ (Church criticizes a ‘happy ending’). Apparently Progresos’ head church person heard about the story and called it a ‘vulgarity’ and stated that the citizens of Progreso have much more to offer than these types of ‘sexual attentions’.

Personally, I don’t know what he means; there’s precious little in Progreso to offer the cruise ship tourists besides beer, fried fish and tired handicrafts mass-produced elsewhere.

His closing remarks exhort people to ‘avoid’ these services (not abstain, avoid) to preserve their health and good morals.

I think it might actually be good for the Progreso economy and may result in some more money in the municipal coffers that could be used for say picking up the trash the good citizens of the port happily leave strewn about without a care.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

La(s) Mestiza(s) Restaurant, Piste (Chichen Itzá) Yucatan, Mexico

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , ,

The other day the Casual Restaurant Critic found himself in the charming hamlet of Pisté, adjacent to the majestic Mayan ruins of Chichen Itzá, where Sarah Brightman will sing at the end of this month.

Having heard of this restaurant, the Critic stopped for a quick breakfast of huevos con longaniza which seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to arrive. This was, as the Critic later discovered, because the kitchen was taking the trouble to accompany the plate with fresh, thick, hand-made tortillas! A real treat in this age where Maseca cardboard tortillas are the accepted (by some) norm.

Food was good, the tortillas excellent, service fine and the coffee awful.


What’s the Name of this Fondue Restaurant?

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , ,
Fondue in Merida? Yes!
Here is a little gem of a restaurant that the Critic had recommended to him by his better half, who had been there already twice before.
XX is a tiny little restaurant located on Circuito Colonias next to TIGSA (a propane gas installation company) and across from a flashy new gas station. It is really a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, so tiny that only three or four tables fit inside, while another two await you outside unless, of course, it is raining, like it was last night.
Unassuming though it is in that there is no huge neon sign, the furniture is plastic red Coca Cola modern, one gets a warm vibe once inside. The welcome is friendly and your attention is seized by the sight of at least a hundred (or so it would appear) empty wine bottles hanging directly over your head on the ceiling. They are suspended by nylon and nails which have been approved by NASA, according to the funny blurb on the back of the menu which is worth reading to get a sense of who is running the place. Hey, if it makes the grumpy Critic smile, it must be funny. Also check out the mirror and poster, hung crookedly on purpose.
There are about 30 or so combinations of fondue options (including a mole fondue!); the Critic opted for the Italian, which features pomodoro, salami, sausage and pineapple – with the pineapple substituted for grilled mushrooms.
Along with a glass or two of red wine, the fondue was spectacular! The Critic could not get enough of the tangy cheese infused with tomato and salami! And at 150 pesos, the fondue is enough for two people so it is not expensive to escape cochinita-land for a couple of delightful hours, while you converse cozily with someone you enjoy being with.
On a scale of1-5, a solid 4.

La “Something” Norteña

Casual Restaurant Critic, , ,

Not much of a review, but if anyone is in the Francisco de Montejo fraccionamiento, especially along Calle 50, you will see quite a few options for tacos and food in general; everything from Burger King etc. to El Panucho de Kanasin.

Last night the Critic and his Better Half were in the area, making time before the Harry Potter preview in the Siglo XXI (do NOT see this movie in Spanish, ugh) and it was decided that having a taco would be a good way to spend 45 minutes.

Past Los Taquitos de PM, where the Critic should have stopped, was this place; its’ name escapes the pre-Alzheimer Critic. There was the word Norteña or Norteño prominently displayed on the large sign that probably had the entire menu on it as well, in that typical taqueria advertising strategy used in Mexican signage. In the interest of diversity, since the Taquitos PM has already been reviewed, the Critic decided to have that taco here.

Semi-outdoor white plastic tables in one area, along with other higher tables with stools in what looks like their original location, the Critic and BH sat under the head of a stuffed deer.

Really.

The waiter was so clueless that it was adorable and the food was fine. Chewy taco al pastor meat, melted cheese w/pastor meat that was not very melty in a dish they call the Fonduta.

Whatever that means.

The bill for 1 gringa and 2 tacos al pastor (2×1 promotion; you get two and four, respectively) as well as that Fonduta plus 1 jamaica, came to an astounding 102 pesos. Definitely a bargain!

Added bonus (or not, depending on your tastes) ; two girls played some acoustic music with a guitar and a djembe drum and then came around for donations, just like something you would see in Mexico City.

At a table nearby, the two couples at a table for four were asking the waiter for a menu so they could check their bill. One assumes that they thought their 211 pesos bill (the Critic looked as he was leaving) a little high. Gotta love stingy people.

Elections in Yucatan!

Life in the Yucatan, Politics, , , , , ,

Hooray for democracy!

Yucatecos and Yucatecas have, once again, the wonderful opportunity to exercise their hallowed democratic rights and obligations, and elect a diputado!

What the heck is a diputado, you might ask? It is said that the diputado is some kind of legislative political creature, that is supposed to represent the interests of the people in the district that voted for him or her. However, voting always along party lines, the diputado is about as representative of the people as a panucho would be representative of Swiss culture.

This time around, we have a few candidates to choose from according to the distrito to be ‘represented’. Today we will look at two: the PRI offers up Angelica and the PAN suggests former police chief Javier Medina.

A quick look at their websites (linked above) shows this casual observer that while the PAN continues its use of the traditional blue colors, the PRI has abandoned its green white and red colors to distance itself from its rather unpopular track record, while at the same time banking on that record and emphasizing it’s experience. OK. If you say so.

The PAN Javier website home page features a serious Javier making a speech, with carefully furrowed brows and much animated finger pointing and waving, indicating his experience and seriousness, while the PRI/PV home page loads up a video of a crowd of happy singing red-tshirt clad jovenes singing, clapping and dancing around Angelica in a kind of rapturous, can’t wait for the tortas and refrescos/I’m on TV!!/Michael Jackson We Are the World kind of way.

Oh and if you are wondering what this PV is about, it’s the Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexico (Green Party) who have allied themselves with the PRI. This is the most hypocritical of all political parties; if they have done one thing to protect the ecology or a blade of grass, I would be enormously surprised. I suspect the ‘green’ part refers to their political acumen, as in lack thereof.

As for their novel ideas, of which practically all sound very populistas, Javier’s sound a little more coherent, while Angelica stresses her ‘sensitivity to the needs of the family’ which begs the question “Whose family?” Yours? Mine? Hers, maybe? Neither of these candidates is saying “Yucatecos and Yucatecas, get off your butts and work” Probably not a real popular message.

Which brings me to the subject of how much the diputado makes in a year! According to El Semanario, in an article from 2008 (it’s probably increased by now) a diputado earned 77,888 pesos a month, along with another 45,786 to attend legislative sessions and 28,772 pesos to cover other activities. This makes a tidy little sum of $152446 pesos. A month. There is, on top of that, a savings program equal to 12% of their regular salary, medical coverage (you can bet they are not standing in line at the local IMSS (Importa Madres Su Salud) and an aguinaldo or Christmas bonus, equivalent to 40 days of salary.

No wonder they are so excited to ‘serve’ selflessly the needs of the population. And no wonder we have to pay more taxes!
Have a look at the candidates, their proposals and make up your mind. Imagine who you would vote for if you could vote. If you can, but don’t want to, you could try the Voto Blanco option, proposed by former elected officials now out of the running, who are now saying that the voting system is flawed and people should abstain from participating (in the system that elected them in the past) Sour grapes? Gee, ya think?

Have a great election season, enjoy the visual and audio pollution!

Viva la democracia!

And if you thought that last post was fun…

Life in the Yucatan, Politics, , , , , , , , ,

Here’s another one!

When filing your business’s annual tax declaration, you make out the onerous paperwork – well, your accountant does because the Mexican tax system is so complicated that it is virtually impossible for anyone to understand what the hell it is you are supposed to actually put in the scores of little boxes and what to deduct or declare – and you file it, paying at the bank via internet since Mexico is such a modern country. Once you have paid and received/printed your receipt, and have verified that your money has been removed from your bank account in order to help promote a comfortable lifestyle for Mexican politicians once they have retired and live in France, you think you are done right? Wrong.

It turns out that there is a little-known and never-used (up till now) in the marvelous taxation laws of this advanced democracy that states that besides filing your declaration and paying, you have to (or your accountant has to) LET HACIENDA KNOW THAT YOU HAVE PAID by means of an official letter or notification. Failure to do this will result in a $50,000.00 peso fine! Can you believe this? You pay and they already have your money, but since you didn’t tell them you paid, you automatically get slapped with a fat fine which will presumably cover the cost of Mr. Carstens weekly lunch bill.

This is nothing less than outright highway robbery and a wonderful incentive for investors to come to Mexico to subject themselves to this abuse. Perhaps the Mexican government should consider promoting the country to the International Masochist Businessmens Association, whose members might enjoy this kind of pain.

I am not making this up. I have first-hand knowledge of such a case right now. The accountant alleges that while it is technically his fault because he is supposed to be watching his clients’ back, he prefers to fight the fine legally (with the clients money of course).

Meanwhile, for your enjoyment, look for a photo of Mr. Carstens, Mexico’s Minister of All Things Taxable and believe me as you will see, he needs the money.

Trotters Revisited

Casual Restaurant Critic, , ,

The Casual Restaurant Critic has reviewed Trotter before (in 2005 and 2006) and so it’s about time for an update.

Last night the CRC and his BH (you should know what the initials stand for by now) had a late, after work dinner at Trotters.

Turns out that Mondays are pretty quiet and you can get a table quickly and the waiters aren’t rushed and… there is a wine special on. You get a discount of $200 pesos on any bottle of wine on their ‘regular’ list, which has some good ones, and $500 off per bottle on their short ‘Gran Cava’ wine list, which contains names like Chateau Jenesaisrien and others that are completely unfamiliar to the uneducated palate of the Critic.

In a nutshell, dinner was very good. A bottle of shiraz; cooked-to-perfection Steak au Poivre with hot, seasoned pommes frites; a refreshing watercress salad; steak medallions with an espresso crust (interesting but not as good as the steak au poivre) with creamy broccoli and roasted asparagus.

Desserts were of the oversized, cakey, heavy variety and after a steak dinner, it would have been just too much, so no desserts this time. Besides, on the one occasion when the desserts were sampled, they were not at all up to par with the rest of the menu.

A great night out in a spectacular room for $90.00 Not cheap, but a very agradable way to spend a couple of hours with someone you enjoy being with.