La Chata, The Zoo, and El Mirador

Since I been here in Guadalajara, I have been trying to eat at two restaurants: La Gorda and La Chata. I have been trying to because every time I pass by there the line is ridiculously long. One afternoon around 2pm, I decided to go to La Chata so that way I was there for lunch assuming there was not a lot of people. I was wrong, it was packed as much as dinner so today I went at 11:45am to get there before lunch time and I still had to wait 15 minutes but I finally sat down. I have to say, the food is good and the prices are reasonable: Avg 60 ($4.50 USD) pesos and the most expensive item is 110 pesos ($8.40 USD). As for the Guacamole, sorry grandmother, but theirs is better. The Carne Tampiqueña was really good. However, I have had better Cafe de Olla in the state of Guerrero. The service was good, really fast, and en joyful.

Later that day I visiteted the Guadalajara Zoo and Aquarium. It was nice, but I got to see lots of animals urinate and do dirty things to each other such as stick one's trunk all the way inside the rectum of another elephant. I guess that made my trip more interesting. After the zoo, I went to the end of the {en:Guadalajara Macrobus} line 1 to sit down, have dinner, and relax overlooking the Mirador.

At the end of the day, I met up with my cousins Paola and Jorge Luis and a friend of Jorge Luis named Ricardo. We went out for a few drinks and called it a night.

Tequila Express

Today I took the Tequila Express train tour. The Tequila Express is a tourist train service that operates from Guadalajara, Jalisco, México to the Tequila Herradura distillery at the San José del Refugio Hacienda in the municipality of Amatitán. During my trip I befriend the passenger next to me, his sister, and his sister's fiance. It was with them whom I toured with, tasted with, and dined with. It was good company.

A little about San José del Refugio hacienda, it is the only tequila distillery where the entire production process, right down the bottling, is completed in one location. The Herradura tequila produced in this hacienda is one of the highest quality tequilas produced in México.

Here are the pics:

[st picasa=http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/tristann9/albumid/5420859996847671889?alt=rss&kind=photo&hl=en_US]

Solo trip to Guadalajara, Mexico

My solo trip to Guadalajara, Mexico. Guadalajara is Mexico's second largest city (1,579,174). The name originated from the Arabic word: wād al-ḥaŷara (واد الحجارة o وادي الحجارة), meaning "rio que corre entre piedras" or "stony river" in literal Iberian or in English "Valley of Stones". Also where the Mexican Mariachi was born.

[st picasa=http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/tristann9/albumid/5420444204905311857?alt=rss&kind=photo&hl=en_US]

Christmas in Texas

Last year I did not come home for Christmas because I spent it with the family of a friend (Pere) in Granolles, Spain (outside of Barcelona). Last Christmas trip was exciting because we visited Drogheda, Ireland; London; Barcelona; Granolles (of course); went skiing in Pyrenean Mountains (La Molina); and the blurry unforgettable New Years drink-till-you-drop- experience in Madrid.

A little note about London and Madrid, I also got to enjoy the time there with my cousin Jorge Luis, which I will be spending New Years eve with this year in Guadalajara, Mexico. The last time both of us spent New Year's in Guadalajara was back in Dec. 31, 1999 so we are celebrating a decade since that, which also falls with Mexico's 100th anniversary of its Revolution and also the 200th anniversary of its Independence.

This year I did come home to the family 9th (+- 1) annual Brownsville, Texas Shopping-Christmas-Drinking-Movie event. Here are the pictures:

[st picasa=http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/base/user/tristann9/albumid/5420434294449532929?alt=rss&kind=photo&hl=en_US]

Old friends meet after 11 years

Today I met up with an old friend (Andi), actually whom would qualify as my first girlfriend. We met in South Padre Island, Texas back in the summer of 1996 when I was 15. We exchanged home address (I had email back then, but she didn't :| ) because we lived far hence we wrote letters to each other for a few years then communication ended. Thanks to Facebook we found each other again after 11 years and during my Christmas trip to Texas we decided to meet up and catch up on what has happen to each other's life after 11 years. We both where in shock, disbelief, and amazed on seeing each other. It did feel weird at times, but in a good way. Funny how much can happen in 11 years. Funny how one can remember details from 11 years ago. Even though we already talked about memories previously, we talked about them again.

Friday night we went out to a local bar and got wasted and had a good time. We where drinking the bartender's "special" drink which who knows what was in it. However, it tasted good, and after 4 within a few hours we where wasted. Saturday night was a little more chilled since we didn't want to get too wasted. I would mention the names of the places, but I already forgot the names. I was hoping that we could hang out longer, but I was on a time constraint and had to get back home to be with my family. This short visit was one of the most positive things to occur to me in 2009. Here are the pics: