EL TOUR GRANDE

Oaxaca has a diff light than MXC. It really affects the way you see and perceive colours, evident in it’s multi-coloured hues…

Desayunos Mexicanos. In Mexico, we were lucky to wake every morning to the feast of breakfast prepared by the B&Bs. In Oaxaca, Nora’s mother prepared us something different and delicious each day, introducing us to new culinary delights. The place settings also varied every other day or so. These colourful ceramic dishes are from San Vicente? something or another? (The new American expat town from what we gather)

Check out that manual “batirol” action, hand whipped chocolate with lots of cinammon. Fresh breads and today’s main is taquitos. The next day tamales. All accompanied with a fresh tropical fruit starter!!!

Out of all the meals we had in Mexico including the ones at celebrated and fancy restaurants, we will miss these homemade breakfasts the most.

The one in MXC was closed but the museum in Oaxaca that houses his pre-hispanic artifact collection was open and surprisingly good.

Each room was painted in a different color which was a nice change from the sterile white museum walls. Eric had a field day “documenting” each of the ancient figurines and jugs. Each in 5 different takes no less.

La Cuarto Rosa (The Pink Room)…

La Cuarto Azul (The Blue Room)…

La Cuarto Verde (The Green Room)…

It was pretty apparent that there is not enough study done on these cultures. The estimate dates ran something like, BC 200 – AD 800. Go figure. But we saw some really amazing expressions on them. 1000 or 2000 years ago people were not so different and just as artistically able if not better.

Some of Tamayos drawings…

Mexico was surprising in many ways. We did not really have so much knowledge and expectations with exception to it being the country below California. So close and yet so misunderstood. Its such a rich and passionate country that has a firm hold on its identity.

I’ve resisted going to Mexico due to my own misconceptions… brut and gritty like Amores Perros, a fun-in-the-sun beach destintaion from the fact that most people I know go to Mexico to bake in the sun. Gladly there was so much more to it that we discovered!

They are people of the corn – warm, earthy, real. Its history runs deep. Pre-colonial Mexico is simply enchanting and awe-inspring. Inundating. Stunning!!! Its sad to see how and why all this vanished for such a rich civilisation. I shudder to think what could have become of Mexico had thier ancestors not mysteriously disappeared.

Post-colonial Mexico suffered the same fate as the Filipinos, dominated, subjugated and mutated. (That much we share in common.) Yet through all this a lot of things remain intact in who they are.

The food is as rich and amazing as its history. Yes my friends, beyond the Cali-border fast food tacos and enchiladas! Heck, I never even saw a burrito in either Distrito Federal or Oaxaca. Oaxaquena cusine alone is just beautifully good, the tastes akin to bewildering alchemy. Better than anything I have ever encountered even at downtown LA’s famed La Serenata de Garibaldi.

Mexico is a complex mixture of ancient myth and colonial memory combined with folk belief that manifest itself into a proud being with a strong sense of self, its foot firm on the ground.

Hard to believe it is the new drug capital of the world!!!

Thank You for surprising us. Mucho gusto. We vow to come back soon.

Adios el Jaguar…

A series of El Virgins del Guadalupe…

from La Mercado de los Antiguidades at Lagunilla

from The Catedral Centro Historico

from the embarcadero at Xochimilco

from the Oaxaca painted animalitos farm

All this travellin and soul-searching has gotten Eric sinking, sinking and sinking… +cruz has often pondered about what his second career would be and me thinks he’s finally found his true calling…

Lets see, well El Santo is taken…

OK. How about El Kurry Kapitan Chicken Verde!!!

Will need to do some on the job training for this one and come up with my secret G-Love and Special Salsa move.

If this don’t work out, there’s always the possibilty of frontin’ a Flip cover band.

Never the ones to resist grand historical ruins, we made a quick shuttle bus trip to see the ruins of Monte Alban. Built at the top of a mountain by the Zapotec people, the views from there were 360 and stunning.

Nora the guesthouse owner organized an excursion to the Ocotlan market and we tagged along with the other guests. La Mercado Morelos was pretty fun.

What great luck we had, running into Frida at the market.

MJ trying on the local ajuma wear.

The Catedral de Santo Domingo built by none other than the Dominican order. Seems like there’s one in every town in Mexico. They were busy converting peeps.

An old convent renovated into a museum by Ocotlan-born artist Rodolfo Morales – A Mexican Chagall with the political agenda of Rivera.

Not sure how we feel about his works. The more provocative ones with women sporting handguns challenges us a bit more than the others…

Holy Mary mother of Quan Yin?

We also stopped by Morales’ house around the hood. His relatives still live there.

The celebrated Aguilar Sisters – famous clay figurine artisans who manage to be both quaint and brutally real at the same time.

And of course no tour would be complete without a detour to the local craft shop. This time Mexican creatures carved from Cebola wood colored with natural dye. Who knew lime can be used to create an alchemy of colors. Now we know where the Gremlins came from!!!

It’s such a shame that the whole “artisinal” craft is so overused and abused. But there’s one type of hustle in every town worldwide. The racket is the same… Show you how it’s made and then sell you in on it.

Why make such crafts that are not in demand to begin with? Its one thing to celebrate ones heritage, but it’s another thing to pump stuff out. Sure, it creates jobs, but it seems no different than a factory except built with human hands.

People need to making stuff. There’s got to be a better way of utilizing real craft.

A quick Mexicana Click flight south of the Distrito Federal, and we were in Oh Waxa Ka – as MJ affectionately calls it (ok it’s me who actually calls it that).

The first impression was a little worrying- with Staples and Costco greeting us on the way from the airport. But the city itself is quite quaint, old and charming and very colorful in a way that satisfies all the cliched expectations of Mexico.

Touted as the cultural capital of Mexico, its a quaint little big town with a lot of charm and well… Dust! You see they are redoing all the cobble stone streets, manually mind you! Consequently, there’s a lot of dust flyin about. And for a town built on tourism, there sure ain’t a lot of tourists in these neck o the cactus woods. All to do with the schweine flu scare that is hopefully long gone.

Throughout our stay we witnessed the town go from rubble to spiffy cobblestoned streets! For future visits I suppose.

We checked in at Casa de Mis Recuerdos – The House of my Memories – a family owned B&B run by Nora and her family. This was her parents house and her mother cooked us breakfast every morning. The ambiance reminded Eric of Crame – the house I grew up in Las Islas Filipinas. Lots of bungambillas and a nice homey jardin.

+cruz y los bungambillas

In Mexico, we were lucky to wake every morning to the feast of breakfast prepared by the B&Bs. As in Casa Roma, in Oaxaca, Nora’s mother prepared us something different and delicious each day.

So far do good. Oaxacan cuisine is fantastic!!!

Casa Roma has been our home of 5 days. We loved the modern contempo decor and warm hospitality which made us feel more like locals at home in a friends house than tourists. Bruno, Carlos, Delia y Celia were so nice. 

Our Cuarto Rojo

Celia and Delia preparing us a different breakfast dish everyday to expose our pallettes to the wide range of Mexicana specialties. A meal that always started with fresh fruits. Weve never enjoyed breakfast so much! What a treat.

Discovering Delia’s chilaquiles con salsa Poblano was one definite highlight of our trip do far.  

Carlos, who is finishing his degree in Graphic Design, was so kind to give us the insider tips. 

Bruno, the owner and AirFrance flight attendant, guided us through the best calles of La Condesa.

El Parque de Los perros at Parque Espana, where dogs in Mexico go to school to get graduate degress in behaviour training and to simply have fun!!!