Well that was short-lived. I have to change Mr. Round Eyes back to boring old L. L wasn’t happy with his name change, though he got that name because he jokingly reminds me all that time that his eyes are round. I thought it would be fine to call him Mr. Round Eyes because he called himself that. L said it was racist and when I asked my boss Tread Lightly at work what he thought, he backed L up.
L and I started off our day having breakfast at Starbucks. My spinach and ricotta cheese breakfast sandwich was 69 pesos ($4 CAN) and L’s favourite breakfast – a toasted bagel with cream cheese and jam was 40 pesos ($2.66 CAN). A tall regular coffee cost 39 pesos ($2.60 CAN).
Do you know why I loved eating breakfast here? You can flush tissue paper down the toilet. At our Airbnb, the plumbing won’t permit anything but organic material. Only a few places in Cabos had modern plumbing, such as the Puerto Parasio Mall, touristy high volume restaurants, and Wal-Mart.
After breakfast, L and I walked to The Office and Mango Deck. Both restaurants are located on the beach and are well advertised to tourists. I overheard several tourists ask the water taxi driver to take them to The Office or the Mango Deck because they thought that was the only way to get there. L figured out there are two ways – walk around Puerto Parasio Mall or stroll along the beach. Walking around the mall was a little faster (10 minutes), but I preferred to walk on the soft sand. The water is clean and refreshing as it laps up around your calves.
I didn’t bother to take L to Mango Deck, as the restaurant hosts rowdy contests for tourists and he doesn’t have any tolerance for that sort of stuff. We went to The Office instead asked for a table on the beach. A server looked around and couldn’t find an empty spot. He told us to go up the stairs. We went up to the bar and saw a table. We asked a server if we could sit there and he informed we would get a table soon. About 10 minutes when by and L started to poke around. He found out we were suppose to put our name on the list at the back of the restaurant. He went to speak to the host who was really rude and yelled at L because his name was difficult to spell. L got pissed off and told me we were leaving. That was fine with me. The food and drinks didn’t look appealing.
Instead, we hopped on a bus to Wal-Mart so I could buy more tequila to bring home. At the bus stop, we met a loud, know-it-all woman and her husband. She told me her husband booked a tour for every single day of their trip and each excursion was expensive and awful. She told us she was from Edmonton. I told L that I think she’s from somewhere far worse.
The bus drivers don’t always give you back your change. It’s suppose to be 27 pesos for tourists. A local overhead me say to L that the driver wouldn’t give me my change. He said to me, “You want your change?” I nodded and he shouted at the driver to give me my money. What a nice guy.
At the strip mall, there’s a few random stores like Radio Shack, a BBQ store, an open air food court, a Japanese restaurant, Wal-Mart and my favourite store, La Europa. I couldn’t find Naomi’s tequila, but I did get Don Julio 70 for only 530 pesos. So cheap. An employee recommended an even better bottle for 1000 pesos, but I declined. Don Julio is good enough for my level of appreciation of tequila and budget.
I read good things about Koi Sushi and I wanted to eat there for lunch. The restaurant has two floors and comfortable seats. When I came in, all the servers, managers and chefs would look over and giggle at me. I was the only Asian there and I think they thought it was funny or novel. I didn’t see too many Asian tourists in Cabo. Each time I did see one, I wanted to high-five them or nod my head in recognition. I didn’t of course, because that would be weird.
L and I shared the tuna bowl and sushi combo set. The tuna tasted clean, cut into paper-thin slices. The rice was good, sticky with a nice balance of vinegar and sugar. The small bowl of rice and tuna was about $7 CAN.
The sushi combo was more substantial. The knife skills weren’t the best but the raw fish was good. The combo was only about $12 CAN. I noticed everyone else at the restaurant was ordering fantastic looking rolls. The cost for this lunch was about $20 CAN. I would have been happy to come to Koi again but L said he didn’t come to Cabo to eat sushi.
For dinner, L wanted street tacos. I took him to El Gran Pastor, a taco stand open late at night. He ordered two al pastor tacos for 50 pesos. He had a couple of beers before and when he was eating them, he told me the tacos were awesome. When I asked him the next day, he said the tacos were good but not the best he’s ever had.
I saw a crowd of tourists and locals eating at El Gran Pastor. There’s only one guy cooking and two other individuals taking money (cash only). There’s freshly grilled onions and a whole whack of condiments.
If locals get tired of tourists, I can see why. When we were standing around eating, it seem every drunk tourist had to come over and command another customer (a local) to help them order. Some tipsy guy from the next door bar started shouting, “These are the best tacos of my life”. I thought that was funny.
On the way home, I noticed there is a chain of strip clubs called Show Girls. An employee hollered at L to come inside. L pointed to me, made a face, and shook his head. The guy laughed and each subsequent night we would walk past to get to our studio room, the employee would recognize L and heckle him.
Highlights of Day Four: Walking on the beach, finding cheap Don Julio 70, and watching Back to the Future II at the end of the night.
Hitting the Sauce 