Mexico City Trip Report 3/23/17-3/26/17

     I went to Mexico City this past weekend, but chose to leave my camera behind. I was worried I would lose it in the hustle and bustle of the trip, but that turned out to be a big mistake. So, I'm writing this for posterity's sake. Here are the highlights from the trip. Beware: there are a ton of highlights because the trip was 110% amazeballs.

Thursday

• Got in at 1AM, walked around, found street tacos. Got 4, which would've cost 40 pesos ($2), if we had any. We didn't, so we paid with a $5. It STILL felt like a steal.
• When we got back to our hostel, the bar below us was still bumping music pretty hard, so I threw in a pair of ear plugs and fell asleep on the top level of my (twin?) bunk bed, haha.

Friday

• In the morning, I went around looking for a lock to secure our stuff. But... I don't know much Spanish and so all I had found was a tube of Sensodyne because I didn't pack any toothpaste.
• Went to a stand and got 2 tacos for breakfast, went across the street to a different one and got the best tacos of the whole trip - the meat was delicious (that was the case for all of them tbh) and the tacos were topped with freshly fried fries (not like McDonald's fries but there's nothing else I could call them)
• Headed down to Centro Historico, where there are a bunch of ancient churches (it wasn't surprising to see that some were in bad shape, but that they were still standing was very impressive)
• Visited the National Palace, which is a pretty huge governmental building that's been around since ~1400-1500. They had some awesome murals depicting Mexico's history, showing colonization and periods of Mexico as far back as ~1300-1500. The garden was rather tranquil. Stuff on the murals: 
• Karl Marx is at the top of one
• Harsh enslavement and conversion (slaves being put to work while being blessed or converted)
• Fighting against various outsider groups 
• Walked around a street market for quite some time, just window shopping. Throughout the area they were selling ice cream bars, juices, and other snacks. We picked up 2 huge cups of Horchata and a Strawberry juice for a buck.
• Grabbed a beer at a restaurant bar on a balcony overlooking the neighborhood.
• Headed back to the hostel for a short nap before heading to Estadio Azteca. It took us a good ~2 hours riding public transit, but a cool experience nonetheless.
• Mexico vs. Costa Rica! The home squad won 2-0, but what really caught my eye was the various vendors making their rounds around the stadium. They were selling: 
• Ice cream/snow cones 
• Pizza 
• Tortas
• Hamburgers
• Chips
• Popcorn
• aaaaand my personal favorite - Cup Noodles (Maruchan brand, if you were wondering). I got a shrimp flavored one, with added hot sauce and lime. That was a cool $1.50.
• Some highlights from the experience: 
• The crowd doing the wave, going around the stadium a good 6+ times without stopping
• The crowd winding up and going: aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY PUTO!!!! It was seriously ridiculous. On the ticker going around the stadium, it read "Chanting 'Puto' does not make you more Mexican, help us avoid punishment by FIFA!" (As it was explained to me, it would be similar to a crowd winding up and shouting faggot, so, y'know, there's that)
• Afterwards, grabbed tacos and fried plantains from street vendors. So heavy, so sweet, so delicious.
• Afterwards, went to a gay bar. Which no one knew was a gay bar. But the art on one wall (that was like 20 ft tall) was a naked Mexican guy riding a horse. Sooo... there was that. Some highlights about the experience:
• One of the people we were with asking of me & Eli "Are you guys straight?"
       -"Yes"
       -"Did you guys know this was a gay bar?"
       -"No"
       -"LOL me neither! Wth!"
       -Me: ???? (Aren't you from here bro??)
• Double shots of tequila for $2.50 a piece (!!!! one of MANY points throughout the trip when I KNEW I was going to have a great time)
• Listening to this 2x in one Uber ride and 4x in a later ride (it goes so hard, 10x so because the vibes were so strong when it was playing): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDCcLQto5BM
• Went to another spot that we couldn't get in to because we didn't have enough girls :( (the group was something along the lines of 6 guys and 5 girls). When I remarked that I didn't realize Mexico City was Vegas, I was told that, indeed, most of the clubs around wouldn't let you in without a proper number of females (did they have to be attractive as well? Probably)
• So then that was the conclusion of our night - we went to get tacos for drunchies, and then turned in to the hostel about 4

Saturday

• Woke up about 11, then headed to the Museo Nacional de Antropologia (National Museum of Anthropology). The museum was located in the Chapultepec Park, which is a pretty expansive area of Mexico City that holds a lot of landmarks - the office and residence of the Mexican President, a zoo, the Castillo Chapultepec (Chapultepec Castle)
• Highlights:
• A video exhibit showing the creation story of the Mexican people
• A concrete, circular fighting ring maybe 20 feet across where people fought to the death in sacrificial rites.
• Some re-creations of ancient sites and blocks from the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the Moon 
• A disturbing number of skeletons with cranial deformations. Apparently, there had been a tradition where they used some tool to shape and mold skulls of children. It resulted in some scary cracks.
• After the museum, we headed over to the Castillo. It was about a 15-minute walk from the museum, so we had some ground to cover. On our way, we came across an open rock concert they were having in the park, so we took a seat and soaked it in for a few minutes.
• This is the biggest regret of the trip for me: I wanted to make it to the castle, but we also wanted to squeeze in seeing the Frida Kahlo museum, so we were on a time crunch. Result being I could really only venture around the castle for 15 minutes. But I knew I really didn't want to miss it, so I just bit the bullet.
• In one word, this place was: extravagant
• Rooms full of artifacts and gifts from various sovereigns
• It was just so impressive - 2 stories, stunningly beautiful gardens that were perfectly manicured, murals, paintings on some ceilings, and a piano performance so serene that I invested 2-3 of my precious minutes. I just had to stop to close my eyes and appreciate the gravity of the moment - to appreciate the history and to give myself a moment to soak in awe that I was, for some reason, in Mexico City in a gorgeously appointed castle I had only looked up 3 nights previous. 
• Considering the sundry artifacts collected in and around the castle, I could only imagine the wealth amassed in its vicinity. 
• I hadn't mentioned the view! It was a brisk uphill walk for ~10 minutes from the park to reach the castle, and you could really appreciate the height of the castle from any side you were on. From every angle, you were overlooking the sprawl of the city - buildings, parks, roadways, even the roller coasters from an amusement park. 
• After I got my time in (I seriously wish I had prioritized it over anything else, it was that amazing), we headed to the Frida Kahlo museum. By the time we got there, though it was about an hour from closing, the line was long. So long that we knew we weren't going to make it in, so we headed to the Coyoacan market for some eats. 
• Did you say EAT?? From the moment we stepped inside, we were offered samples of chicharron and meat from vendors luring prospective customers in. Somehow, the (delicious) bait didn't fool us, because we just grabbed the samples and continued our circuit of the market. Eventually, we ate from a couple different stands. We had:
• Quesadillas (chicken mole, carnitas, and some type of squash?)
• Tostadas (shrimp & ceviche)
• The shrimps on the tostada were YUGE. We're talking 7-8 shrimp that were probably 1.5in long, stretched out? And the tostadas were $2 each it was SO amazing!
• Elote (corn on a stick) 
• Tamarind candy (I shoulda bought a lot more... :'(   )
• A cup of watermelon juice and a cup of horchata
• We headed back to the hostel for a power nap, woke up, grabbed a beer, hung out for a bit, then met up with Eli's friend Maria for dinner. Since everything had been so cheap, we were tryna ball out and get a fat steak dinner. Something got lost in translation, though, 'cause she took us to a seafood market lol ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It was delicious, but it definitely wasn't what we had in mind. Highlights from the dinner experience:
• We ordered oysters - that was a mistake, considering we live in Louisiana, but w/e lol. Oysters are still oysters.
• Octopus w ink over rice
• Their mixed drinks - pours were generous, to say the least. I'll never look at a rum & coke the same
• We also had some iced espresso mixed drink. It was so delicious I gulped it down, hardly tasting the liquor. This was a mistake.
• By the time we finished dinner, it was 11 and I was fading fast. I said I probably had it in me to stay out 'til 1 before I headed home.
• We get to the club where Maria's friends have bottle service. I remember slamming shots (of tequila, of course), some real animated conversation about where the 2 of us were from, and marveling at the experience I had over the weekend and how lucky I was to be going out in Mexico City at a locale I never would have been without Eli (the MVP) & Maria (co-MVP, she was such a great hostess). A couple bits of conversation that stood out to me:
• When I said something about sticking out like a sore thumb bc I was the only Asian basically anywhere, her friend [Carime? The spelling is probably off] said she felt the exact same way when she was at school in London (as the only Mexican).
• When I was gushing about how amazing the trip had been and how cool it was for us to be chillin' wherever we were, the same friend said something along the lines of "Yeah, this is as Mexican as it gets!" and I just remember this distinct feeling of being impressed. Like... wow, I'm in another country, going out with locals. Cool would be a major understatement.
• The next thing I remember is pulling my head up from the table to a table empty of everybody except Eli. Time to go home, lol.

     Our last morning was marked by disappointment - we attempted to go back to the Frida museum, but even though we showed up 15 min after opening, there was already a long-ass line. We waited for 45 min 'til we decided to make the best use of our time by heading back to Coyoacan market and eating our hearts out at 2-3 diff. vendors. So... that's exactly what we did. & it definitely made up for it, haha.

     Overall, I had a spectacular trip. I enjoyed everything - the food, the spirit of the city, the food, the history and architecture, the food, the hospitality we received, the national pride that filled the stadium, and everything else I mentioned throughout this post. Every single bit of the place was an absolute pleasure. 

     A couple people asked me how much the trip cost, in all. With flight (300), the total was ~500, give or take 50. Once we got there, the cost for all the food, experiences, drinking, 8-10 ubers averaging half an hour each, and our hostel stay amounted to about 150, 200 tops. I could say this was probably the first time in my life I spent without restraint. A part of me knew that no matter what I did, the damage wasn't going to be so bad - and it wasn't.
   
     I hate to say it, but I don't know the next time I'll be going back to Mexico City. What I will say, though, is I'm damn glad I went and will forever be grateful for the opportunity to partake in such an adventure.

The Time I Saved A Life

     This is a story I really enjoy because it's one of the things I remember most from the earliest days of my friendship with one David Ngo. Throughout the 14+ years since it happened, we have referred to this event plenty of times. However, it has always remained somewhat of an inside joke between the 2 of us because no one else was present (besides my mom). I'm sure we've told it plenty of times, but I wanted to get it down in writing for the sake of posterity. And to share with you all, of course.

     I don't remember particularly when or in what grade we met, but in 5th grade our friendship blossomed. We were in the same class, shared the same social circle at school, and then hung out some more afterwards (along with a cast of various other characters from Cherrywood). This was a very convenient friendship considering we lived (essentially) one intersection away from each other, on the opposite sides of Hostetter and Agua Vista. Fast forward to the end of the school year, and needless to say our bond has only strengthened throughout the months. Now that I think about it, for a couple of children, being great friends for a whole year without any type of squabble or anything like that is pretty remarkable (because children are generally fickle creatures). Anyways, we finished out 5th grade and moved on to 6th grade at Sierramont Middle (where, incidentally, I might be employed next year) close as ever.

     A brief information session on the geography of the story. While we lived pretty darn close to Cherrywood, Sierramont was a bit further afield (probably 2 or 3 times as far as Cherrywood was, which is a lot of land for a child to remember). This wasn't really an issue for me, considering my mom picked me up from school 99% of the time anyways. & as far as I was concerned, David must have been an excellent navigator of the neighborhood, considering he had walked to and from school for... well, as long as I'd known him (at least to my knowledge). To my young self, as far as the Berryessa area was concerned, David was a real professional - in line with Christopher Columbus, or Ferdinand Magellan. 

     Well, this wouldn't be much of a story if that were the case, would it? At the end of our very first school day, I hung around, waiting for my mom to pick me up, while David got to walking. Either my mom was late or that after-school traffic really was as bad as it is in my memory (y'know, hopping into your car then not really going anywhere because the area is all congested with pedestrians or parents waiting for their children REFUSING to move from their position in the middle of the parking lot smfh), but whatever was going on, it was taking a while.

     Traffic notwithstanding, we eventually make it out and onto Hostetter Road. We're cruising down the road before we hit the spot to turn into my neighborhood. However, before we get too close, I can see David standing on my side of the intersection (remember, we live on opposite sides). He's looking around with a worried expression on his face and scratching his head in the exact way you expect someone who is puzzled to scratch his or her head. Like so:

 Seeing him there was confusing to me too, because...well... he was on the wrong side of the road. Clearly something was up. I told my mom he was a friend, and to pull over because it looked like he needed help. 

     As we pull up next to him (in my minivan, btw), I hit him with the "Hey man, are you lost??" He responds in the affirmative, and that he doesn't know which way his house is (which is literally 2 blocks away from where I found him, lol). I tell him to hop in and we'll give him a ride home. I direct my mom to his house because for some reason I remember better than he does where he actually lives. He is dropped off safe and sound, and that's the end of the story.

     ~5-6 years ago, he's over at my house and my mom says it's nice to meet him. I remind her of this story, that this is that kid, and she starts to laugh and says she remembers. She adds that, without me, he'd still be lost. So there you have it, folks. He basically owes me his life, haha. Hope you enjoyed this story, and if you're lucky some day you'll read it from his perspective.