Release the Beast

Tomorrow the epic month long journey shall begin where I will be making my way from central Mexico which has been my home for the past 6 months while I engaged in some quality schooling, Mexican style. To the north of Mexico, through the mountains and sierras passing through such exciting places as Queretaro, Xilita, Zacatecas, Durango, Chihuahua and training it through the Copper Canyon.

I like to cook

This is more just a random post to show that this thing does get updated. In the coming weeks I will be leaving my student town of Cholula, Puebla to travel the north of Mexico and into the United States for some USA based tripping. Thus in the coming weeks I have nothing else to do but plan, pack and cook.
A friend of mine send me this link in exchange that I,

"you're an engineer... design me a robot that will cook gourmet meals for me without demanding sex. :P"

Considering that I am a chemical engineer, it is unlikely that is going to happen any time soon but the site she hooked me up with was pretty interesting and is definitely going to come into use with all the free time I have, that or I'll be batting off alot.

COOKING FOR ENGINEERS

Unfortunately after a quick google, the chinese have already invented the cooking robot, but knowing them it will probably need some form of robotical sexual satisfaction but will lack enough girth to satisfy and leaving you feeling full in the tummy, and nowhere else.

and this song has something to do with robots...

Vegemite

The food source which powers the great nation of Australia. With its sensual dark nature and sultry disposition this shady character resides in all pantries of Australian citizens. While the French have their béret, the Argentinians their steak and the Polish WWII, Australians have always done things a little differently. Some choose to blame the isolation, others the inbreeding and some even lay culpability squarely at the paws of the drop bears. But the little Aussie battler that is Vegemite resides not just in the cupboards of the average Australian but in the hearts and minds of all its citizens.
This is especially true of the Australian Nomad (AN) a sub-species seldom seen inside the borders of its breeding grounds. This creature roams at will choosing its territory as it pleases, although does have a tendency of flocking together to seek safety in numbers. These tribes can be found in such heady locations of the ski slopes of Whistler, Canada, the beaches of Kuta, Bali and even to the far off shores of Europe in Earls Court, England. Some of the defining features of this fine animal is its distinctive mating call of, “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi” and its small tube of travel Vegemite hidden somewhere in its gigantic backpack.
The AN requires regular supplements of its native foodstuff to continue its movements, supping and ingestion. But while they enjoy the great breakfast paste that is Vegemite, they also relish in sharing their love of their homeland not only through tales of sporting prowess in sports few other nations play or have even heard of, but with the spreading of the word of Vegemite to all the places that they roam. The typically method of interaction between alien cultures and Vegemite is dependent on the AN ambassador. Some common methods are the application to toasted bread as a surprise for the morning dining experience of the foreigner or perhaps a late night snack combined with strips of cheese and grilled to become the signature ‘Tiger Toast’ (as all Australians mistakenly believe that tigers still exist in Australia there by symbolically consuming the tiger to make themselves more fiercely Australian). Once the non-AN consumes the Vegemite two distinct reactions will occur, conditional on the nature of the beast. The First is one of disgust and fear that they are being poisoned so that their land and belongings be stolen from them, an act Australians are well known for performing. The Second is one of enlightenment and spiritual awakening to the elation of Vegemite, they remain in a state of awe as to why they have not discovered this joyous gift of life before. The saline taste moves them in such a way that they must prostrate themselves before its infinite glory and wisdom and then seek out to convert the infidels so they too shall know its power in all its might and glory.

And low it was proclaimed as it was spoke, we shall all be Happy Little Vegemites.

Beach Holiday

I like cheap seafood.

In my intervening time of travel I went to the beach. I ventured to the slightly less touristed town of Tecolutla in the east coast state of Veracruz. While a Chilango paradise of the weekend, during the week it was a relatively quiet beach town whom key attractions are the near by mangroves and the ability to buy oysters all from the comfort of your deck chair under your $40 umbrella, which after consuming along with 5 caguamas you will take a dip in the ocean fully dressed.

The style of music that typifies the state of Veracruz is Marimba, an example of which can be seen below.

California Antics

Strange Colourful Californian Sushi, the only non fast food meal i ate all week.

It twas a week of madness and fun. Experiencing the hipster centro of Echo Park in LA, the death of a legend in LA, to the 10th burger I ate in San Diego and finally the hardcore sport of Frisbee Golf to be found in the parks of SD.
Next stop MEXICO.

Coffee in Creswick

 

Testing out the LX3 while out for coffee in the quiet Victorian country town of Creswick.

Laziness

In order for this to be a functional blog I need to be less lazy with the whole posting updates thing. So in the general spirit of increased frequency of updates, and less posts which go on for pages some changes will be made.

1. Seeing as this is a travel and music blog some more music will be incorporated into the actual blog itself, rather than just a youtube video at the end.
2. Pictures and photos of places I have been to.
3. A little bit more background and less diary style posts.
4. Maybe jazz up the formatting.

This like everything will be a work in progress.

Where the wild things are

The Update de travels

Where you were last left dear reader your heroic adventurer was located in Oaxaca, Oaxaca where cheese, chocolate and fried grasshoppers are the culinary delights of the fine colonial city. This town was where I underwent my first couch surfing experience with Cesar a great guy and fantastic time seeing the night life and the beautiful colonial cityscape. One of the most interesting thing I discovered in the town, apart from the copious amount of gringos learning Spanish was the ex-Convent of Santo Domingo which since becoming an ex-Convent it was converted into a museum housing the local history from the earliest recorded information and artifacts circa Mayan times, continuing through the Spanish conquest and onto the current day. Also went out of town to the closely located ruinas of Monte Albán, where I knocked out a good many photos surrounded by a good many tourists, happily getting in the background of as many of my photos as possible. Possibly the best part of the town of Oaxaca and this should be experience by all people visiting this town, is apart from the giant tortilla, the market. Where one can purchase a vast quantity of meat and cebolletas where they will be happily bbq’d for your dining pleasure.

After Oaxaca I relocated myself south to Tuxtla Gutiérrez, the state capital of Chiapas via another highly enjoyable 2nd class bus, while cheap at was at that point that I decided that 2nd class bus in Spanish translates to ‘haha stupid gringos stop being so pinche and buy ADO’. Extract myself from the bus with another imprint of the seat in front of my ingrained into my knees. While in Tuxtla I celebrated Navidad with my couch surfing host Luis and managed to be involved in the production of tamales for his nephews birthday which culminated in more Piñata breaking and sugar hyped kids. Christmas was definitely an interesting and educating experience to learn and be involved a Mexican family Christmas, a lot a singing, drinking, dancing and eating, very late into the evening.

Next town on the trip list was the backpacker haven of San Cristobal where I engaged in the slightly more unusual past times of fronton, illicit sales of pantyhose out of a car and pizza & pasta production mostly in part with my CS boy Miguel. San Cristobal is fairly well known town on the backpacker circuit to buy cool little keyrings of Zapatistas to hang from your backpack, so everyone else that sees your bag can know you were in San C and conversation of the struggling rights of the local indigenous can begin. In comparison with most other states of Mexico, Chiapas is one of the most highly populated with local indigenous groups and unfortunately one of the poorest. These main factors along with slew of others is what led to the town being held under siege by the EZLN in January of 2004, inline with the launching of the NAFTA which they believed would be of no help to Mexico and make the local population worse off than they already were. If you want more information on the EZLN and their ideals have a read through the links.

Next chapter, onto the beach for NYE


Not local music true, but one of my favourite bands featuring on the trailer for the upcoming film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are.
Spike Jonez interview

Where the Wild Things Are - Spike Jonez (Arcade Fire - Wake Up)

The long overdue next post

I am alive.

Back in Mexico after a whirlwind trip of a couple of months of travel through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. All of which will be written about in more detail in the up coming posts.

While not so new music, I fell in love with Molotov while traveling Mexico.


Molotov - Frijolero