Peso Pinching

Mexico City is one of my favourite destinations, both for business and pleasure. It's a city that knows how to have fun, or at least, if this guy doesn't know how to have fun, one of his 20 million Chilango friends will take up his slack.

USA Today has a good article on saving money in Mexico City, but I've never found the place to be particularly expensive as a visitor. I mean, I often stay at the Crowne Plaza for about $130/night and each room has a computer in it. Not just those weird TV/keyboard things, but an actual desktop computer.

One of my favourite things to do in Ciudad de Mexico is walk through a couple of the neighbourhoods. Granted, you want to choose carefully, but Polanco (one of the upper crust areas close to downtown) and La Condesa (a Brooklyn-y neighbourhood that's quickly gentrifying) are both pretty safe for a wander.

In Polanco, Parque Lincon is a lovely quiet spot with a bird aviary, lots of sculpture and fantastic people watching. Right opposite is the more independent retail area with lots of little restaurants, shops and my favourite - the Sumesa supermarket where I will invariably stock up on those lime-flavoured Japanese peanuts and Tajin seasoning. Beyond this area is Avenida Presidente Mazaryk, which is cool to see, but expensive. The main clue is the security guards with machine guns standing outside all of the stores.

In La Condesa, I always take a walk down Tamaulipas from right by Parque Espana down to the big bookstore in the lovely Bella Epoca building. This is somewhere that you want to discover at night, as many of the restaurants are pretty empty during the day. There's some decent small boutiques selling casual gear (I saw some Frida Kahlo Converses that I still regret not buying...), but the real attraction is the cool young Chilangos hanging out and having fun. If you have time, stop by Neveria Roxy for a little cup of delicious ice-cream.

Of course, the best thing about a place the size of Mexico City is that there is always something new (and cheap) to try next time.

A 2008 Eating Retrospective

OK - now that we have Christmas out of the way, thoughts turn to the new year. And in turn, we then start looking back at "the year that was". One of my favourite blogs, World Hum has done a bang-up job of taking a look at the food trends of 2008, so I thought that I would just look at my own eating highlights over the past year, many of which involve travel.











1. Barbecue - 2008 was the year that I pretty much ate my way through Texas and the porky delights that the state offers. I learned about the different types of barbecue and the history behind it. My favourite is still the rib, but those juicy Germany-style sausages are a close second.











2. Chinese Food - More specifically, Chinese food menus translated into English and the hilarity that ensues. Before the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, there was much made of the fact that the Chinese government had standardized menu translations of about 2,000 dishes so that they made sense to foreigners. The Beijing restaurant that I stumbled into apparently didn't get the memo. I was given a large, album-like menu and ordered from an array of dishes such as "Smooth Ball of Coke", "Saliva Chicken", "River Taste Sausage" and "Water Cooks Flesh".











3. Microbrewed Beer - This is something I've been enjoying both at home and away. When I was in Perth this September, I sampled the product of Little Creatures, a small brewery with beers that are now available across Australia, as well as a cool restaurant/pub in an old crocodile farm; MadMonk, a restaurant-style brewpub on South Terrace; and the old standard, the Sail and Anchor, an old-fashioned pub with great beer. In Texas, I visited the Frederickburg Brewing Company, and here in Vancouver, I enjoyed a weekly cask ale at The Whip.










4. Anything Spanish - Sherry enthusiasts end up turning evangelical. They want you to understand (as they now understand) that there is more to sherry than that sickly sweet stuff that your great aunt drinks. And so it goes that after being won over on to the sherry bandwagon by my husband, I then had to convert my mother. Strangely enough, this occured in a tapas bar in Hong Kong. But it didn't stop at sherry - my love for the espanol also stretched to food, simple little dishes that go fantastically with wine, such as at the amazing Bar Lourinha in Melbourne.

Souvenirs in aisle five

A lot of the travel blogs that I read have recently have talked about souvenirs - more specifically, how to avoid the gong-show that is souvenir buying.

First, they recommend not buying any. Fair point. Do you expect everyone who leaves the metropolitan area to buy you a gift? If yes, then you're on the hook for the souvenirs whether you like it or not.

They recommend avoiding touristy areas and gift stores, and instead heading to local markets. If you're buying for a lot of people, get something cheap, local and with a novelty factor. When we came back from Vietnam, we bought every one those little coffee filters that balance on top of your cup - about $2 each and we were totally ripped off too.

These days, I am most likely to buy souvenirs at the one place virtually every town has - a supermarket. Roam the aisles and you will find cheap, awesome souvenirs at every turn. And don't just limit your gifts to food either - the toiletries aisle is filled with weird and wonderful stuff that you can't find at the drugstore at home. Some of the souvenirs that I've bought at the supermarket:
- A case of Cristal beer from Cuba
- Blocks of Mexican hot chocolate
- Berocca from Australia (a hangover cure)
- Super-slutty socks from Mexico, made by a company called "Dorian Gray" of all things...
- Printed tissues from Sweden
- Whatchamacallit chocolate bars from the US

Beats the pants of an ashtray...

When buffalo attack

I'm going to post a video. There are two significant points about this act:
(a) I kinda feel like it's the blog equivalent of an email forward, but I'm doing it anyway; and
(b) It was shot during a safari in Kruger National Park in South Africa, a travel experience that is down my list somewhere.
It was shot over a year ago and has over 39 million hits on YouTube, so I'm not really on the cutting edge here.

A pride of lions attack a baby buffalo and the whole herd of buffalo step in to save it. Also, a nice cameo by a crocodile. FYI - not gory at all, in case you were concerned.

Vermont's Cheese Trail

The next big trip we're considering is a road trip through New England next April/early May. I'll likely be in New York for work right before, so it's geographically handy (and cheap since my airfare will probably be taken care of) and plus, we've always talked about seeing that part of the world.

We'll likely spend our time in Massachusetts and Vermont. I've never been to Boston and it has always appealled. Might be the history, but just as likely, it's the beans. We're also hoping to stop in on a relative, who has the perfect Vermonty life (or so we've been lead to believe by her fabulous blog, Mackville Road).

But a big motivater is the food, and specifically, the cheese. I've recently read about the Vermont Cheese Trail. I think this is something that we should investigate. Unlike wine touring, you can ingest a lot of cheese and still get behind the wheel. Unless you're lactose-intolerant, I suppose. And then there's this great article from Gourmet on Harwick, Vermont - a once-forgotten hard-scrabble town that has turned into the poster child for local, sustainable food. We should go there!

But we're just at the idea stage right now. All contributions are welcome.

Photo by revolver77 via Flickr

Fine craftsmanship and ingenuity

I love this stuff: a seat-back holder for your iPhone so you can watch movies on the plane, hands-free. Made from a vomit bag. Ingenious.

Not sure what happens when you really get sick, though.

Hodenmumps.to via Gadling

(BTW, I believe that "hodenmumps" is "testicle mumps" in German. Classy)

Airport Eats

I spend a fair amount of time in airports, usually eating for the disfunctional reason of "killing time". So it bothers me that no matter where I go (at least in North America), I end up shelling out for a dismal, industrially-produced megameal from a strip mall chain. Yes, Chili's and TGI Friday's... I'M LOOKING AT YOU.

After I book my next trip, I will be consulting Food + Wine's Ultimate Airport Dining Survival Guide. In the past year I have spent a culmulative total of 24 hours in Texan airports and I really wish I had read this before those trips...

(One thing: I see that they've highlighted Encounter at LAX. I had a very disappointing dining experience there, so I'm not sure how that bodes for the rest of the list. Or maybe I should deal with the fact that the meal was over eight years ago, and just let it go.)

Nifty Thrifty Travel Gifty #3: Dental Floss

Nifty Thrifty Travel Gifty #3 is dental floss. You may laugh (and once again, do not give this as a stand-alone gift. Compile it with the other NTTGs and an explanatory note), but dental floss has seen me through some tough travel times, my friends.

Aside from dislodging some fine Texan barbecue from my incisors, I've also used floss for the following:
- as freakishly strong thread and sewed up a hole in my pack
- as a shoelace
- to MacGyver a way of keeping a bus bathroom door closed on a long trip
- as gift ribbon or packing string around a box of stuff that I've mailed home
- as a way to tie things onto my pack to keep my hands free
- as a makeshift necklace to put my room key on while I swim

And you thought the laundry line was unsexy...

(see all the Nifty Thrifty Travel Gifty ideas here)

Photo by lynguistic via Flickr

Whistler for less

I was in Whistler this week for work, being hosted by the lovely Four Seasons. To be honest, the only nifty thrifty thing I did there was liberate the L'Occitane amenities in the bathroom.

But, I have been up to Whistler and indulged in my tight-ass ways. I know it's "consistently ranked the number one ski resort in North America" but that doesn't mean that it can't be a really good deal. Especially if you're one of those people who likes to balance on two planks and push yourself down a snowy hill.

They have a deal on at the moment which boils down to 3 night's accommodation and a two day lift pass for $210 CAD per person. You can even go over Christmas for $357 per person.

Another way to save in Whistler is to stay in the village so you don't have to worry about taxis or shuttles when you're getting to the lift or bar. And many of the hotel rooms have their own mini kitchens so making some of your own meals is easy too. Oh, and steal all of the bathroom amenities. That's my tip.

Photo by derek purdy via Flickr

Nifty Thrifty Travel Gifty #2: Travel Washing Line

There's nothing less sexy than getting laundry paraphernalia as a gift. Except maybe dirty underwear. Gross.

This is why the travel washing line comes in at number two of my travel must-haves list. You can pick up one of these things for about $5 at most camping stores and it will save you loads. I especially like this kind:

The suction cups mean you don't have to find a chair to tie it to, and the twisty elastic negates the need for pegs.

Some alternate uses:

1. Hang your sarong over it to create a curtain on the train or bus.
2. Use it as a bungee cord
3. A belt. Alright, an ugly belt with weird suction-cup tassels.