Get Those Two Cents Stamps Out

I missed it when it came out, but postage rates are incresing Jan 8 from 37 cents to 39 cents. I remember when they were a dime, but I bet a lot of people out there can remember when it was even lower than that.

What to Do in Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa

I'll do a similar ratings as Forbes does for restaurants for what to do if you care considering a trip down to Zihuat:

Go

• Margaritas on the Beach, Pina Coladas by the pool, Beer on the Patio - That's why you go, after all. Plus, it's not like you are driving anywhere. All transportation is by foot or taxi.
  
  

• Jet Ski - Independent operators are by all the resorts, renting by the half hour or hour. Be sure to negotiate down from the opening offer.

• Villa de la Selva - This restaurant is the converted villa of a former Mexican president. I can't find out which one, but a taxi driver said it was a corrupt Mexican politician (imagine that!) from 1970 or so, making it Ordaz or Alvarez (Editor: Read the site you link to, Mitch. It was Alvarez). Whoever it was had a good sense of where to put a place for a view, and the food is spectacular. Watch out for the pricing, though: this place charges American prices rather than Mexican prices.
  
  
  

• Red Snapper - Tasty and generally cheap (see exception below), this is typically broiled and served as an entire fish. I could eat one of these every day.

• Shop - This is mandatory as an American tourist in Mexico. We picked up silver, ceramics, painted wooden bowls, t-shirts, and other clothing. If you do shop, make sure you go to "Centro" (central Zihuatanejo) rather than the bazaars near the resorts. Downtown has better selections and pricing.
  

Consider

• Ixtapa Island - This is where you go for snorkeling, as the island has a large coral reef. There is nothing wrong with the snorkeling - the only problem is that the island is a tourist trap: pricing for all food and drink is 2-3 times what you will find elsewhere in the area. I suppose there should be some premium for ferrying items to an island, but this seemed excessive. I paid about twice what I should have for a red snapper, although it was pretty good. The locals know better: they all brought picnic lunches instead of buying items locally.

• Parasailing - Like the jet-ski operators, they are by all the resorts. My only issue with them is Mexico is the Land that OSHA Forgot: there are no safety inspections or standards, and if something goes wrong, the guy will just go back to his village. So it's not like the operators are afraid of lawsuits. I opted not to do it, but they ran a steady business, so there were plenty of tourists who didn't worry about it.

• Playa Larga - The "Long Beach" of Zihautanejo, this is away from the resorts and more of a local hangout, so it is empty (the picture was taken at peak beach hour - there was hardly anyone there). We stopped by here on a local tour a taxi driver was giving us, so it was only a short stop for us. This is more my sort of area to hang out in, but Mrs. Director said she prefers the more crowded beaches with all the services. So whether this is a place to go or not just depends on your individual taste.
  

• Coco Loco - This is a local drink where they take a coconut, carve out the middle, and put in a combination of white liquors, mostly rum. It hardly has any taste, so you could drink it like water, which is probably the point. I personally didn't care for them, and stuck to pina coloadas, margaritas, a few daiquiris - and after the sweet stuff got old - Mexican beer.
  
  
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Stop

• Solodad - The one place we went wrong was an "archeological site" that Mrs. Director read about on a tourist site. This sounded like an interesting way to spend a day that was overcast and cloudy away from the beach. HUGE mistake. The place is some 45 minutes away on a dirt road, the actual dig site is on a hill and impossible to get to, so what there is to see are some pieces that are in an old house that was converted into something of a museum. The pieces were interesting, but not worth the trip. The only thing positive I can say about the excursion is that we got to see what a poor Mexican town out in the middle of nowhere is really like, so the "archeological" experience means I can now relate to my gardener a little better.

So all said and done, you go for the eating, drinking, beaches and shopping. The next post I'll talk specifically about our resort, which is a good choice if you plan to take kids on the trip.

Mexico Vacation Tips

Over the next few posts I will go over my Mexico vacation, starting broadly and narrowing down to the specifics of my actual resort. So for this first posting I will explain vacationing in Mexico in general:

Menana Time - This is the most maddening of cultural differences for a Type A personality like myself - especially since I inherited a gene from my paternal grandmother that makes me 30 minutes early for anything that I am scheduled to do.

Menana Time in Mexico refers to the fact that the time scheduled for an appointment is not really the time the appointment starts. It might be 30 minutes, an hour, or even two hours later. This is an accepted business practice, and books on doing business in Mexico will tell you to come an hour later than your scheduled appointment time. I knew about this, but didn't think it held to scheduled transportation. I was wrong.

We took Mexicana Airlines for our trip, transiting through Mexico City, and on all four legs of our trip we found out that "departure time" was just an approximation for whether the flight would leave in the AM or PM. I kept running into this again and again during our trip and it was difficult for me to adjust to.


Don't Worry, Be Happy - Not only did Mexicana run all their planes late, they lost our baggage on the way there. Mrs. Director and I waited and waited as everyone around us picked up their bags and left. We were one of two sets of people still standing there after the baggage carousel stopped. We went to one of the Mexicana luggage attendants who told me "Don't worry, Senor, we lose baggage every day!" I think this was supposed to make me feel better - he was trying to convey that it was no big deal to lose baggage and that it would finally catch up to me. My answer was that if this was a recurring problem then they should solve it, but he just shrugged his shoulders and gave me a form to fill out. The baggage did catch up to us 24 hours later - it apparently went to Acapulco and partied there for a day before heading to relaxing Zihuatanejo.

Always Negotiate - Mrs. Director and I spent a lot more money shopping than we expected, but we picked up some pretty cool items. One thing to keep in mind when shopping for anything down in Mexico is to negotiate. For buying some of the local coconut candy - which I really liked - I had to negotiate down from a dollar to get the 50 cents or less it should be every time. By comparison, in Asia they expect to negotiate on big-ticket items, but don't bother negotiating on small, insignificant items.

Negotiating with the Jet-Ski Operator on the Beach

Looks like I won this round.

Dinner Time is 9pm - Another thing I already knew, but couldn't really practice down there, is that dinner in Mexico starts after 8pm, with the better restaurants not really getting going until 9pm or later. This is a carryover from Spanish tradition, which has late dinners because of the afternoon siesta. With a young daughter with me I really couldn't do this, so when we ate offsite from the resort - which was most evenings - we usually found ourselves eating between 6pm and 7pm in empty establishments. This would usually not be a big deal, except that the staffing for the restaurants isn't very good at that time, so service usually suffered.


Don't take these observations as criticisms - they're not - just things to keep in mind when vacationing down in Mexico. I had an incredibly good time and will go over what to do in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo and our resort in the next couple of posts.

Back from Vacation

ANDY: Tell you where I'd go. Zihuatanejo.
RED: Zihuatanejo?
ANDY: Mexico. Little place right on the Pacific. You know what the Mexicans say about the Pacific? They say it has no memory. That's where I'd like to finish out my life, Red. A warm place with no memory. Open a little hotel right on the beach.

- The Shawshank Redemption

Mrs. Director, Little Miss Director and I spent a week in "Zihuat" - as we Californians call it - for a week of R&R. While I get out of the country plenty, the Mrs. doesn't get out enough, so this seemed like a good idea. Besides, the beaches in SoCal are a little chilly for swimming this time of year (or all year, really).

So we found this little hotel right on the beach. Guy running it was this quiet, introspective American. He did something before he ran a little hotel, but I couldn't get much out of him since he wouldn't talk about his past. He had this old black guy working with him, takes guests fishing out on some fixed-up, worthless old boat...

Okay, I made that up. I couldn't find Andy and Red's place. Instead we stayed at a multi-million dollar, all-inclusive beach resort that was 10 stories tall, had three pools and was right on the beach. I ate and drank tons, but actually kept up an exercise regimen to make sure I didn't get too far behind the calorie count as I gulped down dozens of pina coladas (that's what's in the smiling pineapple).

Over the next few days I'll blog various thoughts and observations of my experiences there along with some pics, but I promise it won't be as boring as your Uncle Marty's slide show of his RV trip to Duluth last summer.

A Different Thought on Christmas

Most blogs have a Christmas greeting, a Season's Greeting, a quote from the Bible, or maybe some thoughts on Christmases past. I thought I would take a different approach and look at Christmas from an intellectual perspective.

So put aside the scripture and spirituality, and consider what Christmas represents from a religious studies perspective: God entering His own creation as one of His creations (for the sake of simplicity I am unifying the Trinity).

In various other religions God comes down as some sort of super being or other supernatural manifestation, or if He wants to simply communicate sends a messenger of some sort like an angel or prophet. In Christmas we have God entering the world as a baby. He then grows up and lives decades in the world He created not as God, but as a man, experiencing the human condition.

So if the Christian God does this, the next question is why. I leave that as a mental exercise to the reader.

On Hiatus

I'll be taking a little blogging break for the next week, posting again on Christmas.

Christmas Card Musings

As a kid I remember my parents doing Christmas cards. I think they traded off each year since I remember one parent or the other sitting down to the big pile of cards and a long list of people, but never together. I would wander over to whatever parent was doing them and look over their shoulder and ask "Who's that?" on a name I didn't recognize. I would get "That's someone I used to work with." "When was the last time you spoke to them?" "About 20 years ago" would come the response.

I thought that was sort of strange, sending a Christmas card to someone you hadn't spoken to in years, but now as I reach the end of my 30s, I find that I have people on my list that I haven't spoken to in nearly a decade - and they're all relatives. Cousins mostly.

My wife and I have a system: she does "her" friends and family, I do "mine". My list is a lot shorter than hers, so this is okay by me. And every year I try to cut mine a little shorter ("Do I really need to send one to my cousin in San Antonio? Nah."), but of course I end up getting a card from her, so I have to rush a card out to her before Christmas day hits, and remember not to try to cut her again next year.

The other thing that is changing is the personal note. I used to put something personal on each card I sent out, letting the receiver know that I actually thought of them when I sent the card. But as each year passes the time available for doing cards gets shorter, as do the notes. Sadly, I sent out a few cards this year that had just my signature, something I tried long to avoid.

One thing I have never done - and don't plan to do - is the yearly message/family newsletter. Long time friend Jim does this, and as he points out, it is somewhat analogous to blogging. I hadn't thought of if that way.

The last thought is that I try to send out Christmas cards, not "holiday" cards. If the card we pick out has a holiday greeting, I usually write Merry Christmas on it, even to my Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist friends. No one seems to mind - I certainly don't when I get a Hanukkah card, which I do every so often.

Where's This Flight Going?!?

Maybe this is where you join the Mile High Club?

More One Minute DVD Reviews

I'm back already? That was a quick trip. But hey, if my company wants to send me to Taiwan for a single meeting, that's their business. I just have the pay the price with jet lag at both ends.

At any rate, lots of time on planes over the last couple of days means more movies, and none of them were any good:

War of the Worlds - Spielberg must have phoned in his directing since this movie hardly seems worthy of him. It just didn't come together very well. The only thing I will say is that Cruise acts in this movie and was actually convincing as a concerned father. Two out of five stars.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - If it weren't for the creepy, weird and annoying Johnny Depp doing some sort of female impressionist thing for Wonka, it actually might have been an okay remake of a children's classic. It took a while to get used to the new Oompa-Loompas, but they grew on me, as did the musical numbers. I can't say the same for Depp who got more and more creepy as the movie went on. 1.5 out of five stars.

Must Love Dogs - I like John Cusack but hated this movie, maybe because I am not the target audience: bitter divorcees over 40. One out of five stars. It's even bad in the category of a chick flick.


So a disappointing movie experience all around this trip, which goes with the sucky airline I was on: EVA. Not only does Continental suck, their code share partners also suck.

The Other Side of Asia

I'm BACK in Asia? Wasn't" I here just a few days ago? Except on this side there are no yamulkas, but plenty of Christmas trees.

On my way here it occurred to me that I do business in three potential war zones:

1. Taiwan-China - China considers this place a break-away province and doesn't mince words about taking it back by force if necessary. I'll probably do more business on the Mainland this year, although any war would be waged all on the island.

2. South Korea - The two sides never signed a peace treaty and are technically still at war. I have actually been to the DMZ, which is the longest fortified border in the world.

3. Israel - No explanation needed here.

Think I can ask my company for hazard pay?

Overseas Tipping

There are easy ways to spot Americans overseas: the overhanging gut, the baseball cap, and throwing tips around everywhere.

As OTB points out, there are some doubts on who and what to tip in the U.S., but in most overseas countries it is pretty easy: it generally isn't done. Hotels, restaurant and service establishments in Asia add a 20% service fee to the bill - in addition to taxes - to take care of what would be considered tipping here. And taxis, doormen and the like don't expect tips - except maybe when Americans show up. I have had Japanese bellhops hang out in my room wondering if the American knows whether or not to tip. I simply smile, bob my head and say arigato, letting them know that this gaijin knows what he is doing.

But I have been around Americans who don't know what they are doing - and not used to NOT tipping - in a non-tipping country. While in Israel, one of my colleagues was told by a local point blank: Do NOT tip the taxi drivers. It is not done here. I watched over the next three days as this guy kept digging into his pocket for extra shekels for taxi drivers. I kept reminding him and he kept doing it. When I asked him why, he mumbled something about feeling guilty about not doing it. He was trained that way.

I don't have that problem, which is one reason I also don't have a problem not tipping in places in the U.S. when it is inappropriate, like at Starbucks, when I get take-out, or when I get crappy service (but will give out over 20% for stellar service). I just don't have a guilt complex when it comes to giving out my hard earned dough and believe tips should reflect the service given, not something that is done automatically.

One Minute Movie Reviews: New DVD Releases

Overseas flights typically show movies just out or about to come out on DVD, so here are three short reviews from movies I watched last week while spending a lot of time on planes:

Kingdom of Heaven - Awful. This was a DVD rental I played on my computer and not something shown on the flight to Israel - which I don't think anyone in their right mind would do. I heard it was bad, but figured since I was going to Jerusalem, it might be interesting to see a Crusade-era battle over Jerusalem. I should have listened to the reviewers. It was terrible. Besides being predictable, it portrayed nearly all the Christians as hypocritical sadists and all the Muslims as noble warriors. The other problem is that Orlando Bloom just can't carry a movie.

The Island - Bad. Promising concept that didn't deliver. There were a lot of things wrong with the movie, but the item that was really over the top was the ridiculous and unbelievable chase scene. The only thing good about the movie is that Scarlett Johansson is absolutely fetching.

Cinderella Man - Pretty good. I had the computer out working while the movie was on, but spent most of the time engrossed in the movie. The movie really hammers home the hopelessness of the Depression, and did a good job of essentially remaking Rocky in another era. Definitely something to put in your Netflix queue.

What Are the Chances?

Connecting through Newark today, I waited in line at immigration, exited, went BACK through security for my domestic connection, waited in line at the x-ray, exited, and headed towards the lounge. As I picked up my bags from the conveyer belt I heard "Mitch!" Turning around I saw my company's HR Director. She was supposed to be in the air TO Israel today, but her flight was cancelled after being held on the ground for five hours. She was making her way over to the courtesy counter get a hotel voucher for her 8 hour wait until the next plane.

Now, here are the sequence of events that had to happen for the two of us to run into each other:

- We had to be traveling on the same day
- My flight had to be on time
- I had to exit the middle of the plane
- I had to get the guy at customs who was the slowest
- I had to be in the right sequence in the security line for getting back into the gate area
- Her midnight flight not only had to be cancelled, it had to happen at the right time
- She had to get off the plane in the right sequence and head towards the courtesy desk at the right time

A minute sooner or later for either of us and we would have missed each other. And we wouldn't have run into each other later since she was going to a hotel and I was going to a lounge.

So what were the chances? The thing is, this sort of weird longshot run-in with people I know happens all the time.

Touring Jerusalem

The business week in Israel over, my company thoughtfully provided me with a tour guide to take me around the area over the weekend. The first day would be a tour of the Old City. The second day would be a desert tour that would include Masada and a dip in the Dead Sea.

Day 1 - The Old City - I met my tour guide, Abi, in the hotel lobby. I was late since I was up partying the night before in the bars of Jerusalem, which I won't go into here. Like they say: what happens in Jerusalem STAYS in Jerusalem.

Abi has a BA in history and comparative religion and is a walking encyclopedia of the region. He knows more about Christianity than I do, and he's Jewish. After introductions I followed him outside to what I thought would be a car, but he turned his head over his shoulder and told me in his heavily accented English, "Is short distance. We walk!"

For such a heavily built man he kept a brisk pace and I had to practically jog to keep up. As I caught up to him he asked me, "What religion are you? Tour is little different for each religion."

"Uh, Catholic, but I was raised..."

"Okay. I make sure we go to Church of Ascension."

"What if I were Jewish?"

"Then we skip church."

"I see. What religion are you, Abi?"

He glanced at the smart-ass American without answering. Instead he waved a thick, calloused hand at the old walls that were coming into view. "The foundation of these city walls are over three thousand years old." And that started seven hours of walking, talking, and answering questions as we wandered through the old city. He was incredibly patient in explaining the incredibly complex history of the place and the nervous peace that exists in a city that is holy to three of the world's major religions.

Two Holy Places: Muslim Dome of the Rock on top, Jewish Wailing Wall below

For me, I found the Christian holy places of the city disappointing. Part of the problem is the natural comparison to the other major place of Catholic pilgrimage - the Vatican - which is totally awe-inspiring. The second was the commercial feel of the place. The Church of the Ascension was filled with Japanese tourists snapping photos and large non-religious tour groups chatting away - not exactly things to make one feel especially reverent, and crap that isn't put up with at the Jewish or Muslim holy sites. The Christian places here are also overshadowed by the Jewish and Muslim holy areas and just plain living (the Seventh Station of the Cross is right in front of a falafel joint). So I personally found the place more interesting as an archeological and historical landmark than a place that holds importance in my own religion. There was a moment the next day, however, that changed that a bit.

Day 2 - The Desert - Before we got out of Jerusalem we stopped at the Hill of Olives, where, according to Abi, all three religions believe will be the place God will come to judge Mankind. The only question is who will be with Him: Christ, the unnamed Messiah, or Muhammad. I know where I am placing my bet.

This place has a great view of the Old City and surrounding walls, and from here Abi went into detail of Christ's last days, pointing out each place and tracing His movements from His entry into Jerusalem, to the Last Supper, to the Crucifixion. At that moment the place became more than just an archeological site.

From there we hopped in a van and headed towards the desert, driving through the West Bank. During this time we discussed the Israeli wars and the changing shape of Israeli territory. Abi was very optimistic about a peace settlement and thought the death of Arafat now made a compromise possible.

Our first stop in the desert was the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, which included the excavated monastic settlement that wrote them. From there we went on to Masada, and being pretty beat from the day before - and being a total American - I asked to take the cable car up instead of walking. Also being the total American, I was already familiar with the place from the mini-series that was released some years before, so it was pretty interesting to see the real place.

From there we went to a resort on the Dead Sea where I took a "swim". Of course you don't really swim in the Dead Sea - because of the salinity you can't sink or go under water. When you get to a point where you can't touch the bottom, you bob around like a cork without moving a muscle. It is a pretty interesting experience. The locals believe its good for your health to be bobbing around in what is basically a chemical bath, which is why there are various spas dotting the area.

The Dead Sea gets its name because nothing can live there, but it also was a good description of what I felt like afterwards. Two days of heavy touring and walking followed by a dip in the Dead Sea, a stop in the spa's steam bath, and then sauna, and I felt pretty dead myself. As I headed back to Jerusalem for my symbolic resurrection, I couldn't help thinking that the experience over the past few days was an extension of my work. This was a business trip.

There Goes the Neighborhood

Intel to Build $3.5B fab in Israel.

As noted before, pretty much every major U.S. tech company has at least an R&D center here, and many have production facilities. My own company notes that experienced engineers cost about half the cost of one in Silicon Valley on a fully loaded basis (i.e. including benefits, etc.), and was one of the reasons they bought a company here. Marketing and sales people are also cheaper, but apparently just not as good as the ones like me from the U.S. - at least that is what my company tells me today.