Tag Archives: Yucatan

Jennifer Lopez Visits Chichen Itza

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

J-Lo at Chichen Itza

So, if you have read the local papers, you know that J-Lo was in Chichen Itza filming a video. It’s unclear whether the video is to help promote the site, as Chichen Itza needs promoting – no one has heard of it I’m sure – or is a music video for J-Lo herself.

In any case, and according to the Diario de Yucatan article, she did her thing there which included staying overnight in the Pavarotti suite at the Mayaland hotel, which runs $1100 plus tax (dollars, per night) which I am sure she didn’t really have to pay for seeing as we love to host celebrities here in the Yucatan. The article also points out that 30 people from nearby Piste were hired to carry stuff and were paid the daily minimum wage which is currently set at a generous 5 dollars a day.

Now you are up to speed on the latest celebrity sightings in the Yucatan. Didn’t this make your day more complete?

I thought so.

El Rincon Oaxaqueño

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , , , , ,

Last night the Casual Restaurant Critic and his ever-accomodating BetterHalf had a most amazingly delicious meal at El Rincon Oaxaqueño, which means a little corner of Oaxaca. If you are not familiar with Oaxaca, a state with great handcrafts, fantastic scenery and some Mexicos’ best cuisine, you need to get out more.

The speciality of Oaxaca, like Puebla, is its mole. Pronounced MOHL-ay, this is a rich, complicated and ingredient-packed sauce made from everything and anything, from toasted chiles and spices to rich dark Mexican chocolate. It is usually served cooked with chicken or pork and accompanied by white rice.

The Critic and his BetterHalf were the only people in the restaurant near about 5 PM when they normally close on Sundays, but the people were gracious enough to not only serve some great food, but provide plenty of information about the restaurant and Oaxacan food in general. The initial impression did not, as the word implies, impress, as a rather unkempt young man was at the door and essentially indicated that any table was fine and left some menus, but then a real waiter (from Mexico City as it turned out) came along and all was well. Great service from this young man who was friendly, gracious and seemed quite proud of the menu and the kitchen.

A platter for two was ordered, which featured grilled cecina (pork), beef, chorizo, melted quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese) and of course chapulines aka grasshoppers. Yes, grasshoppers, along with ant eggs (not sampled on this occasion) are considered delicacies and are the cutest little crunchy things that you toss into your mouth like popcorn or stuff into one of their fantastic hand made corn tortillas which in turn are much larger than the Yucatecan version and even taste a little different. The platter comes with 3 tlacoyas (?) which are like Mexico City style sopes, with beans and more quesillo on top.

Also sampled was their black mole, which in this case came with chicken and was exquisite. Before all that, two samples of mole arrived at the table; the almendrado which to the Critic seemed a little on the bland side, and the colorado (reddish brown in color) which was the Critics favorite: spicy, thick and full of all kinds of delicious flavors. These little samples are accompanied by corn tostaditas for dipping into the tiny pots.

All in all, a great dinner in a restaurant reminiscent of someones home (which evidently this is, given that there were some family members watching TV in a room, off the restaurants dining areas.

Enjoy the photos.

Bank Credit Card Interest Rates

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

For those of you not familiar with the exorbitant rates charged by Mexican banks for use of their credit card, and think you have it bad there in the US or Canada, here’s an interesting tidbit of information, sent to me recently in my HSBC credit card statement by the Banco de Mexico and the Condusef. The former is the central bank in Mexico and the latter is the place to go when you have a complaint or grievance against a bank or credit institution.

The rates, comparatively, for “Gold” credit cards, by bank:

Bank / Product / Annual % Rate

  • Banco Inbursa – Oro Inbursa – 25.5%
  • BBVA Bancomer – Oro Bancomer – 32.9%
  • Santander – UNISantander-K – 33.2%
  • Ixe Tarjetas – Ixe Oro – 35.3%
  • Banamex – Oro – 41.7%
  • HSBC – Oro HSBC – 42.3%
  • Banorte – Oro – 43.8%
  • Scotiabank – Scotia Travel Oro – 53.4%
  • American Express – The Gold Credit Card – 54%

Pretty shocking huh?

Merida Doors and Facades (Photos)

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

This afternoon I found myself in Meridas centro, known in expat circles as “Centro” ie “I live in Centro, where do you live?” about which I could go on in a humorous fashion for quite some time, as no local ever calls it just ‘centro’ but anyway, once again I digress and of course I might alienate some of my readers, whom I dearly love to death.

Gosh it’s hard to type this when the cursor disappears!

In any case, there I was, the light was perfect and I have always wanted to take photos of those colorful facades and doorways so typical of the centro scene and lo and behold: I had my camera, the afternoon sun cast a warm glow all around and I had time to spare.

Here are some of those shots.

Hennessy’s for Lunch

Casual Restaurant Critic, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Casual Restaurant Critic has said all he is going to say about Hennessy’s so here are some pictures, as they are apparently worth a thousand words. There’s at least 6 or 7 thousand words here for you to drool over. The food today was great, service a little less so, but they try.

And Sean was nice enough to send over a dessert sampler for the Better Half and Critics birthday guest. Thank you!

Merida Slow Food – Some Photos from this Morning

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

I have already written about the Slow Food market, but I thought I would upload some photos of the food from this mornings visit to the GringoFest that is the Mercado Slow Food in Merida. Lots and lots of familiar faces, from my international artist buddy Katherine to local celebrity Mrs Campos to my new bud Reg. Also some new ones and even the occasional Yucateco (walking around saying “pero que es ESTO?”) among the palefaces. The word needs to get out to the local foodies that this market even exists so they can come and partake of the excellent selection of organic and gourmet items on sale.

Enjoy the photos.

Finally, some good news about Mexico – The Washington Post

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

For those of you who read my neurotic ramblings – and I know you are out there – and haven’t seen this, here is a link to an article from my pal Edith over at the Washington Post that summarized what a lot of us who live here feel about the place. A little sugary for me, but still, better than yet another report on a narco-beheading, a hotel exploding or a tourist losing an actual arm and a leg to a real shark (as opposed to those tourists who attend the “free” breakfast and lose a virtual arm and a leg to the time share cetaceans)

The link is here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/02/AR2011030205529.html

Enjoy.

Offended Mexicans vs BBC Comedy

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, Nada que Ver, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I received an interesting article on the BBC/Mexico scandal in my junk-infested inbox this morning from my dear Better Half, who in turn received it from a friend whose acerbic wit and online social commentary on life in Merida was often the target for xenophobic hate mail accusing her of being *gasp* a critical wach, of all things.

The Milenio article (available in Spanish here) commented on the recent scandal involving the BBC’s program Top Gear, in which the comedy troupe said stereotypical things about Mexicans which apparently, caused the Mexican ambassador to England to feel such distress that he fired off an official protest letter to the government denouncing the show and its “xenophobic” remarks.

The author at Milenio says, in a nutshell, that everyone that is ‘offended’ by the program should take a look at themselves and the discrimination, racism and lack of tolerance perpetrated every single day in this country, by Mexicans.

Also interesting is the debate below the article. I think the author makes a good point. What do you think?

Travel Warning – British Columbia, Canada

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, Nada que Ver, Politics, , ,

The Mexican Tourism Counter-Propaganda Council is advising travelers from this country to avoid travel to Canada and British Columbia in particular due to the increasing risk of physical harm and possible death from overly aggressive police forces in the province.

Arbitrary beatings, kicking and assault on defenseless victims by the so-called keepers of the peace have left a rather negative impression on tourists coming to this once-peaceful country. Among recent cases is that of British Columbia resident Jeremy Packer was ordered out of his truck and repeatedly punched as he tried to exit the vehicle, for no apparent reason.

And who can forget Robert Dziekanski, who, in a state of addled confusion at Vancouver airport was tasered to death by Vancouver police.

In light of this increasing incidence of violence reported (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/01/21/bc-excessive-force-police-gordon.html) along with abuse by “cowboy” police officers, the MTCPC is recommending potential travelers to this violence-torn region of Canada reevaluate all travel to that country, until the situation returns to normal and/or stability is restored.