Hello guys! I'm back again here in my blog and I've got a lot of things to tell you. Recently, I travelled to Mexico City despite the pandemic. Only Mexico accepts tourists at this time so I did not hesitate to buy a ticket and flew to the country to unwind.
Work was been tough. It had stressed me out and cause some burnouts. Plus the Covid19 issue was been giving a toll to my psyche and mental health, so it's apt for me to take a break and enjoy some space in my schedule.
I went to Mexico City on November 12 to November 18 and I had a lot of adventures. It was a week of wanton frenzy, hilarious experiences, and outright fun.
11/12 - Coming To Mexico - I was at the airport at 9PM because my direct flight to Mexico City leaves at 12AM. The flight was short and I arrived at Mexico City at 4:15AM. I was lining at the immigration when I realized that I left my passport at the seat pocket in the plane. I was nervous that time thinking that I cannot go back to the plane to get my passport. I almost panicked but I have to be strong and I kept my cool instead. I told the immigration officer about my dilemma. He then radioed the plane representative and the representative came and interviewed me.
I told the guy that I left my passport at the seat pocket in the plane. He then radioed the plane and asked if they found a passenger's passport. The crew said that they did not found any. The guy went back to me and told me that the crew did not found any passengers passport in the plane.
I told the guy that I left it in the seat pocket in front of Seat 19F. Then he went back to radio the crew again and told him of the situation. After 3/4 hour the guy went back and said that they found the passport and there I sighed real hard with relief. He then told me that it will take a while for the crew to bring the passport so he directed me to the waiting area.
After 3 grueling hours of waiting at the immigration waiting room they brought the passport and then the officer stamped it and handed it to me and I was ready to go. Welcome to Mexico City!! Yay! I left the airport at almost 8AM called a taxi and had me dropped off at the hotel. I will stay at the hotel for one night because my Airbnb apartment is not available that day.
At the hotel I met a cute guy and we had a long talk. We were so comfortable at each other. He then invited me to go up in the room and we had a long chat there until he started caressing me on the bed. Then I gave in. It was passionate and intimate. And he said that he like what happened. I was also surprised of my actions and I think that was fast. I was all over the moon that time. It was dreamy...
11/13 - Taco Crawl - I had an appointment for the Taco Crawl at Roma Norte. I woke up early and changed for I have to call the Uber to drop me off at the meeting. There I met the host, his name is Avidian. He is cute and handsome with nice cool blue eyes. I was the only client that day because the other client had to cancel at the last minute.
We started our walk going to the vegan taco shop and he showed me how it is being made. I have experienced how to mix the corn with lime powder and he showed me the mill that actually sort out the tacos. We also had a chance to taste the taco quesadilla with the corn fungi and a drink from the soaked corn. It was delicious!
Then we headed to a mercado and found a small stall inside that sell tacos. The taco that I tasted there was different and came from the Yucatan peninsula. It is made of slow cooked pork topped with pickled onions and chopped cilantro. The green salsa was also good. What was worth remembering on this experience was the Jamaica (dried hibiscus) drink that I drank. It was silky thick, deliciously rich, and tastes really heaven. It still lingers on my tongue.
After the Mercado we went to a restaurant to taste an authentic fish taco. The serving was hefty and it was messy to eat. The fish was soaked with a special sauce the whole night, then they fried it and shred it into flakes and then put it in a taco and topped it with a lot of pickled onions and fried jalapeno peppers. It was also very delicious.
After the fish taco we went to the pulqueria and tasted the mezcal. It was smooth and has a great kick afterwards. It is good to chase the mezcal with salt and lime. My throat got warmed up and then followed by my body. Just one shot and I'm a totally different person.
After the mezcal we went to another taco place. This was the last taco place and I have to sample the famous al pastor. It was really good especially when topped with roasted pineapple. I finished two and still the taste had stayed in my mouth for a while. The meat was just cooked well.
After the taco al pastor we went to the chocolateria nearby and ordered a chocolate drink and a caneloni. Then Avidian invited me to walk in the park while having good and intimate conversation. Then we parted ways after we ate our treats. Thank you Avidian for showing me a lot of taquerias in town. For sure when I come back to Mexico City I will come back again to the places that we have been. It was a worthwhile experience and I cannot forget it.
11/14 - Downtown Photoshoot - I had a photoshoot scheduled at the Zocalo. I have to meet my host Carlos and his girlfriend Ana at the Cabalito Statue. I woke up early and prepared myself for the photoshoot. Made sure that I washed my hair so that it will become shiny on the photos.
I waited for this event and I was excited. I walked towards our meeting place because it was 10 minutes away from the apartment that I stayed. I was early so I waited for my hosts. Then at 9AM I spotted both of them then we introduced each other and started the session. Carlos looks young and handsome with his nice curly hair (I have a weak spot for curly hair) and Ana was beautiful on her knitted sweater and scarf.
We started at the El Cabalito statue then we took pictures on the alleys, vintage doors, famous edifices like the Opera, the house of tiles, the Cathedral, cactus garden, some of the bronze benches scattered around the city, and lastly the arches at the Zocalo. It was fun and interesting. I did poses that were intriguing and provocative. Hehehe.
We finished after 2 hours and Carlos told me that he will email me all the pictures that were taken and will allow me to chose 50 pictures for him to retouch and send it to me from a picture album site under his name. The experience was nice and I like it!
11/15 - Tolantongo Adventure- I woke up early at 5AM for this long trip to Tolantongo and I called an Uber to drop me off at the meeting place. Then I realized that the Uber driver dropped me off at a wrong place which is a residential area (which I realized not Roma Norte) and it was already 6:30AM and I am afraid I will miss the meeting time at 7:30AM.
So I took a taxi then and explained to the driver that I need to go to Roma Norte and I showed him the address of the meeting place. The old man was just cool and he told me we will arrive on time. The taxi was really old and the seat was already worn out. I can feel that it will derail already but it the driver was very confident in driving that dilapidated taxi.
I prayed hard that I will arrive on time and I phoned Aaron, the host of this trip, that I am on my way and he told me that we will be meeting at the Café at exactly 7:30AM. Luckily, the old man drove well and we arrived on time. A 10 minute early actually. Hehehe. I can feel my heart racing and my head spinning. I thought I cannot make it to Tolantongo.
The host came exactly at 7:30AM and introduced himself. He was very handsome and appears young. There was another client on this trip named Robert and he was wearing a plunging running shorts which was really funny to look at. He appears flamboyant to me. He said he hails from Miami and we said our formalities. Then we took off to the State of Hidalgo where Tolantongo is located.
The drive was 3 hours long and it was boring. Robert was seated in the front and was very hyperactive. I can see that he likes Aaron and he was seducing him and talked to him flamboyantly. It was very cheesy. And he asked Aaron to play a Lady Gaga album and the whole trip we listened to Lady Gaga. Lol.
When we arrived at the site, we stopped at the entrance to passed by the disinfecting tent and then we went to the vista to see the canyon below where we can see the valleys and mountains of Hidalgo State. Then Aaron drove us to the ticket both and parked the car at the parking lot while we changed for our swimming outfit.
After changing, Aaron took us down to the trail leading to the river and the stunning waterfalls where the waters dropped on the foliage that grew on the wall of limestones. It was beautiful to look at from afar.
Then inside the waterfalls were caves with a small water basin inside. I dipped myself in the water and walked towards the basin inside the cave where there is another waterfall inside with warm water falling from the ceiling. There were a lot of people inside but I still manage to go in to see what's inside.
After feeling the water inside the cave we climb up to the tunnels and see what's in there. The walk inside was dark and the rocks were steep plus there were natural drops with deep basins. I did not really went deep inside because it was very dark inside and there were a lot of people going in. The traffic was really crowded.
We went out of the tunnel and walked towards the river. The breezy air was cold making us shiver. Robert and I dipped in the river were the water was also warm just like the ones inside the cave. I think the cave flows out to the river that's why the water was blue and warm.
We enjoyed the warm waters and enjoyed sightseeing the views around us, critiquing about the people around us and also talked about our experiences. Robert was already tipsy because he was drinking a lot of alcohol. Aaron was at the riverbank watching us enjoying the water.
When we were tired of the waters we went up and took the towel to cover our bodies and keep us warm from the cold breeze. In order to get more warmer we bought the pulque and tried it. Then we ate lunch at the restaurant (the only one there). And I noticed Robert chugged 3 tequilas to keep him warm while I enjoyed my mug of michelada.
After the lunch, Aaron brought us to the hot springs with the famous eternity pools by the side of the mountains. The water were inviting and it was warm as well. There were a lot of people there too so I look for a vacant eternity pool and enjoyed swimming there. Robert went back to the restaurant to get some more drinks.
I enjoyed swimming at the eternity pool and watching the canyon down below. I also walked around the area and surveyed the whole extent of it. I walked and took pictures of all the corners of the pool springs.
There was a short bridge where I walked into it and took pictures of myself on it and also watched people ziplining at the canyon down below despite of the cold air breeze in the area. After surveying the pools I went to look for another eternity pool and swam a little bit more.
Then when the time was up Aaron called us to change and we got ready to leave. The drive home was fast and we arrived at CDMX at around 9AM. I had a chat with Aaron for a while exchanging numbers and emails and then we parted ways.
The day in Tolantongo was fun and I cannot forget my experiences there. Thank you Aaron for showing us around at that magical place. Thank you!!!
11/16 - Playing With The Monarch Butterflies - Today, I will see the butterfly. I woke up early and was very excited because my long time dream of seeing the monarch butterfly sanctuary will be soon realized. Ever since I was a child in the Philippines, I am always curious about how the monarch butterflies migrate from North America to the parts of California and Mexico. That prompted me to read myriad of books and watched videos from YouTube. Now, this dream is at the tip of my finger.
I texted my host Mirasol and told her that I am ready. She had told me the previous night that I am the only one who signed up for this gig so the transportation is all for me. I went down the apartment building all to know that they had closed the street because of the construction.
So I went back to the apartment to use the WiFi because I don't have any mobile WiFi available in Mexico not unless I have to pay a lot of dollars and I don't want to do that.
I messaged Mirasol that I will be waiting for her at the corner of Avenida de Chile and Avenida de Brazil where they started to close the street. I don't feel good that day because my tummy was gassy and gurgling. I felt that I leaked some watery stool on my brief and I don't know if it went through my pants. And it's too late to go back to the apartment and change. So I decided to just go and have it get dry on my brief. Yikes!
Then Mirasol came to pick me up. She was late because she got stuck in the traffic. Traffic in downtown Mexico at that time was crazy. I thought she will cancel this trip and I am glad she did not. Yay!
After I settled myself in the car we're off to go to the State of Mexico where the sanctuary was located. It was located near Morelos and Valle de Bravo. We drove for 3 hours, passed by Toluca and drove more until the mountain where we passed by an area where the street was barricaded with foliage trees. It looks stunning.
The air was cool and the forest was kinda misty and foggy that early morning. The paved road was treacherous and dangerous. There were fallen trees from the windy nights before and needed to be cleaned up by the environmental agents of the state.
We passed by miles and miles of a long and winding road, small pueblos, thick forests, a lake, etc. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get to the sanctuary but when we arrived at the sanctuary my excitement was really at its height.
The sanctuary was really organized. The folks living there were the tour guides. Mirasol told me that it's to protect the sanctuary because some visitors will destroy the trees and sometimes will disturb the sleeping butterflies.
One of the folks named Maria was our guide and she lead us up to the area of the jungle where we can find the butterflies brooding. We walked the organized man made trail. There were also tracks for the horses. Mirasol had told me that it can be reached by walking or riding a horse.
We opted to walk the trail so that we can enjoy the butterflies flying and playing under the sun. We even took slomo videos of the butterflies flying over us. The climb was long, steep, and tiring. We hiked the jungle for 2 hours until we reached the part of the forest with thick trees.
There we saw the butterflies brooding on the tree branches. You couldn't even recognized that there were butterflies on the branches because they look like the leaves of the branches which was colored dark and light gray.
It was also cold in the middle of the jungle and the sun started to set it. It was already 3PM that time. There were few butterflies flying up the air and I also found some dead butterflies that had fell on the ground. Mirasol showed me how to identify the male and the female monarch butterfly.
After seeing the brooding butterflies we walked down the mountain going back to the sanctuary then we left. We were so hungry after that so we decided to eat at Valle de Bravo. Mirasol drove towards the puebla for about one hour and when we arrived there I saw the beautiful town with uniform colored buildings and the lake was stunning.
We ate at the market and the food was great and tasty. After eating we roamed around the beautiful town, took some pictures, walked down the lake front and took more pictures. We left at around 7PM and drove back to Mexico City driving along those long and winding roads inside the forest in the dark. We cannot see anything on the road because it was pitch black so we have to use our beam light and just turn it off when we meet an oncoming vehicle.
We arrive at the city at 10PM and I was very very tired. The experience was worth it and I didn't regret doing it. I thanked Mirasol and vowed to her to call her again if I needed to go out of town the next time I come to the city.
11/17 - Mexican Lucha Libre - Apparently, this experience was cancelled due to the covid19 restrictions. Alfredo sadly emailed me a day before telling me that it was cancelled and he will send me the refund through AirBnb.
It broke my heart that I cannot witness the Mexican Lucha. I dreamed of it in my childhood and I am a fan of Mexican choreographed wrestling. Hopefully when I come back next time I can watch it.
11/18 - Coming Back To Los Angeles - My flight will be at 8PM today but I have to check out at the apartment at 12PM. I messaged Carlos and Clara (the owners) if I could stay at the rooftop deck while waiting for my flight time. I don't want to roam around the city and blend in the crowd on this covid19 era. It's much better for me to stay at the apartment at this time.
At 12PM I left the keys on the table then I went up to the rooftop to kill time. I texted Alejandro, my new friend if he can come to see me before I leave and he agreed provided I will send him Uber. I looked for an Uber to get him and it took him time to arrive because the traffic near my place was very bad.
He arrived at around 2PM and we talked a long time. We didn't realized we we're cuddling each other already and we kissed fervently. There I realized that he liked me, too. We talked and kissed simultaneously being silly at each other and getting comfortable with each other. I was happy that he also liked me.
We exchanged Google translate conversation for that's the only thing we can communicate to each other. He does not speak and understand English. I understand and talk a little Spanish so we resorted to using Google translate to help us in our communication dilemma. So far so good.
At 3PM I decided to leave because I feared about the traffic downtown. We called an Uber to drop me off at the airport. My God it took us one hour to leave downtown Mexico. The traffic was bad. I was so stressed at the car and Alejandro comforted me. I like the way how positive he is. I am comforted by him.
When we arrived at the airport we bade our good byes and we hugged tightly with each other. He does not want to let lose of me. He was very possessive kissing me on my forehead and caressing my hair. I felt how sad he is thinking that I am leaving him.
I assured him that we will be communicating through WhatsApp and I promised that I will always send him messages. I also assured him that I will come back in January on his birthday. He suddenly lighten up upon hearing that I will be coming back for him. Then he released me from his tight hug and kissed me fervently on my lips for quite a second. It was intimate and full of passion. I never encountered a kiss like that. It dawned on me that maybe he is the one.
