6 Weeks into Mexico

Cuatrocienegas, 29-30 Jan

My friends and I rented a Chevrolet Suburban and drove to Cuatro Cienegas a few weekends ago. It's a little town 4 hours away and is know for its oasis in the dessert and sand dunes. The picture above is of Poza Azul, an oasis that we found. Despite the numerous benches and tables available there, we were the only ones there. We had a slow 5-10 min bumpy car ride in from the gate and we were blown away by the beauty of the place. It was extremely quiet. Amanda and I swam a little. The depth of the water was just about my height. We took some beautiful shots, go to my FB to check the album out.

In the night, we rented a cabin for 7 people and had a BBQ. Because it was a rushed affair to buy food for the bbq, we didn't prepare really well. For example, the huge chicken leg that JW and Ben were cooking kept burning up because of the oil from the chicken. Anyway, i discovered that Budweiser beer and BBQ meat go very well hand in hand together. Probably most guys know that by now, but hey, I don't really drink beer. The guys had to squeeze into the three beds up in the tiny loft. It's so small that if you just sit up from your bed, you would hit your head.

I really liked the sand dunes, except for sand flying into your eyes. We took some really nice photos there. The AA show episode 5 featured this trip. Watch it if you haven't already! [The magical sentence was "I like Singaporean guys because they can be domesticated"]

Mexico City, 4 Jan - 1 Feb

The weekend after Cuatrocienegas, the 6 of us headed to Mexico City, which is the capital of Mexico. Without including the small cities linked to the main one, there are about 9 million people in Mexico City. (Wikipedia) Mexico City is THE place to learn about the birth and history of Mexico. The Mayans, Aztecs, Independence, Revolution etc. If you're going to Mexico City and want a real education and tour of the place, I suggest you hire a private tour guide from Journeys beyond the Surface. We had 2 private guides over 2 half days; they brought us to art markets, fruits and veg markets, korean restaurant (big highlight for a starving Asian although I'm Chinese), museums, and other landmarks. It was like extended history lessons out of class.

In the photo above, you see me at Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan is an archaeological site featuring 2 major pyramidal structures (one for the Sun and the other for the Moon) and other complexes. It was first found ABANDONED by the Aztecs, thousands of years ago. Knowing some of the cruel methods of human sacrifice, I kept imagining the butchering at the top of the pyramids. Pyramids found in Mexico are different from those in Egypt. In Egypt, pyramids are tombs. In Mexico, they are used as temples and the top of the pyramid is a platform, not a point. Within the pyramid, there are no chambers. It's about the exterior flight of stairs leading to the top. Crowds would gather at the bottom of the pyramids to watch animal and human sacrifices. The stairs up the pyramids were really steep, and me being really unconditioned, had to stop once in a while to catch my breath while the rest "gazelle-ed" up.

Interesting as Mexico City is, I wouldn't go there again this semester. We had initially planned to visit Mex City again in Holy Week (something like Spring break) but, we feel that we've seen and heard enough. Next stop: Guanajuato, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarte!

Friends in Mexico

If you've seen my FB pictures, you would realize there's this usual 6 of us. Four look Chinese and 2 white people. Well, Amanda, Jie Wei, Xue Kun and myself are from SMU. And yes, all 4 of us are Chinese, though we have heard a comment from someone questioning whether the guys are Malay or Indians. (Wait, need time to laugh about this!) The two (very) white people are my favorite Germans in the world; Ben and Kati. Well actually their real names are spelled weirdly, Benedikt (there's actually a "k"!) and Katje (don't try pronouncing it). It's usually the 6 of us and we have so much fun hanging out. We play monopoly deal, watch movies, make up a cheer about Kati's sexy bf, tease Ben's name (we call him "ben wow"), and Amanda ("Sexy Amanda") and for me, I'm the Domesticator. If you don't get it, it's ok. This blog post is for me to read in the future and laugh about. :)