Amor Verdadero

I was happy to realize that I had already seen 5 of the 8 Best Picture nominees for this year's Academy Awards, because I won't be able to do the AMC Best Picture Showcase this time.  One of the remaining three is "Roma", which I watched today.  I figured that while I'm still understanding a bit of Spanish after my trip, let's continue the language lesson.

• This is one of the movies wherein I'm happily just watching people live their lives, and all of a sudden I'm crying a lot because I've invested over an hour into the characters and I'm feeling their pain.
• "I like being dead."
• Does Borras really poop that much, or do they not clean up after him every day?
• What I got from this film is that most guys are a-holes.
• "We are alone. No matter what they tell you, we women are always alone."
• Also, don't ever trust a guy that does his martial arts training in the nude.
• Oh, they're fighting over Twinkies!
• So Cleo is as centered as that Martial Arts guru.  Makes sense to me.
• I really liked Yalitza Aparicio's portrayal as Cleo, because she just seemed so real, almost like we were watching a documentary instead of a fictional movie.  The black and white also helped.
• OK, I loved it when Sofia squeezed the car between the two trucks and totally messed it up.
• That film clip from "Marooned" made me think of Cuaron's "Gravity".

I enjoyed this film, although it is not my favorite for Best Picture.  Now that I know that the film is based on Cuaron's own maid/nanny when he was growing up, I'd like to see it from that view.  It's no wonder that they loved her so much: she so fiercely loved those kids, and it is truly "amor".

One Last Time

Puerto Rico Trip

Day 5 

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

We slept off our cocktails from yesterday, and packed our luggage in the morning.  Boo, we have to go home.

We walked to the market again to get pastries and V got a smoothie, then checked out of the hotel.  We had a couple of hours before going to the airport, so we sat at the pool to enjoy our last breakfast in Puerto Rico.  The hotel lobby has plenty of outlets for patrons to charge their electronic devices, so Bro and I sat in there for a while before we left.  I said goodbye to the Doubletree and their crazy bathrooms.

Sad inside because we have to leave.

Bro got an Uber, and the map showed that he was driving through buildings to get to us, going diagonally across blocks.  "DEBRIS!", I fake-shouted.  Our Uber driver didn't speak much English, but he did point out someone trying to get back to the freeway from the offramp, and said, "Mal!"  Acknowledgement of bad driving is universal.

Airport Entrance
Hey, he's a LMM, too!

We shopped around at the airport, and I bought some adult drinks at the Duty Free Shop.  I also bought Lin-Manuel Miranda's book, "Buen Dias, Buenas Noches".  I wanted to get the English version at the show, but they only had the Spanish one left.  They didn't have an English one at the airport either, but I really wanted to buy the book while I was in Puerto Rico, so I bought it there.  V pointed out that the phrases are mostly short (thanks, twitter!), so I could probably figure them out, what with my mad skillz via the Duolingo app.

We sat at the gate for a while, which seemed even longer without wifi or outlets to charge our devices.  V got a hot dog, and also bought a six-pack of biscuits from Church's Chicken for Bro and me.  Mmmmm...honey biscuits!  Our airplane seats also didn't have individual screens or outlets.  It's good I was sleepy!  I did have the window seat, so I got some nice shots as we left.

SJU Control Tower

Up, up....

...and away.
Adios, Puerto Rico.

Our stop on the way home was in Charlotte, NC.  I have never been at this airport before, and had we time and unlimited money, I would have tried out some of the Carolina BBQ at the food court.  Instead, we finished off our Church's biscuits and ate stuff at the Admiral's Club before boarding the next non-screen, non-outlet flight.  Still sleepy, I finished the book on my Kindle anyway.

Pretty view at sunset on the way to CLT

Carolina Coast

Bro and V were kind enough to let me get something at In-N-Out on the way back to their house, because I was reeeeealllly hungry.  We said our good nights, and I left the next morning.

This was an amazing trip, and I'm grateful to Bro and V for their company, for arranging everything, and for the credit on our ever-changing bank account with each other.  :)  Seeing Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton was a dream come true.  Relaxing on a Puerto Rican beach was all kinds of wonderful.  Doing both on the weekend of my birthday was an awesome perk!  We had great food, met very nice people, and even got to see a dog that we called "The Puerto Rican Cadence".  PR, I love you.

  

I only wish Bananaman had been there, too.

Take A Break

Puerto Rico Trip

Day 4

Monday, January 21, 2019

I did my Puerto Rico Trip get-coffee-downstairs-and-sit-by-the-pool thing this morning, and tried to figure out the type of bird that was making sounds like a mockingjay from "Hunger Games".  I had heard their song every morning, and finally got a picture of one so that I could look it up on Google Lens.  The bird is a type of grackle, and the description of their song is "metallic tone".  

Are you, are you going to the tree?

I went inside when it started to rain, which subsided by the time we left the hotel.  We walked a couple of blocks to get breakfast, but the place we wanted to go to was under renovation.  Bummer.  APPARENTLY, most of the restaurants are closed on Mondays.  So we decided to go to the market located across the street from the hotel.

Very cool mural of the Puerto Rican flag on Loiza Street

Bro and I decided to get pastries for breakfast, and V ordered a smoothie without chunks of fruit in it.  I also got a cool-looking bottle of water from Spain, and bought drinks for our beach time, scheduled for later in the day.  We brought our goodies back to the hotel, and ate breakfast near the pool.  The pastries were all yummy!

PIctured from top: Quesito de Nutella; Guayaba pastelillo;
 panadilla con pollo; Guayaba con queso pastelillo
Not pictured:  panadilla con carne

Agua de Solan de Cabras

We were seated under a tree, and V asked about the fruit hanging from it.  A plaque next to the tree showed that it was a Calabash tree, and the gourd is used as cups or bowls, but is more well-known as being used to make maracas! 

Shake those maracas!

We went to our room to change into our swimsuits, then V asked the hotel valet for a ride in the golf cart shuttle to the beach.  My seatbelt didn't work, so I just hung on for dear life.  The shuttle dropped us off near the Doubletree area, where we asked for an umbrella and beach chairs.  While we waited, we pet a bulldog that I will now call Stinky because, well, he was stinky from dampness and beachiness.  But he was friendly, and he's a dog, so that's OK!

I have just met you and I love you!

I don't understand why one couple was seated with their backs to the shore, while another couple was seated with their left sides to the shore.  It was weird.  I sat on the beach chair to watch our stuff and the local fauna (dogs and birds) while Bro and V played at the shore.  They're so cute.

V has Mermaid Hair

When they came back to the chairs, we had our beverages: rum punch in pouches that we bought at the market.  Mmmm.....rum!

It's Adult Capri Sun!  

After some sunning time, I needed to try out the water, so I waded in up to my waist, and let the waves splash me until I'd had enough.  The water temperature was a little warm, at least compared to the water in the Pacific.  Bro told me to go out to the blue area, but with the theory I had the other day, I didn't want to suddenly drop into the depths of the ocean.

We needed to use the facilities, so we packed up and walked back to the hotel.  But wait!  There was a gelato place across the street from the hotel, and I had mentioned earlier that I wanted ice cream!  We gave our orders and brought our gelato to the hotel pool area to enjoy it.

Decisions, decisions

Thank you, PalettAmerica!

Since I was still damp from the beach, I decided to just continue the water time and got in the pool while V put her feet in the whirlpool.  Bro joined me there, and V did so eventually also.  Then I needed to warm up and got in the whirpool.  I even stayed in there when it started to shower from the sky.  It was nice to feel the cool rain hit my face as I sat in the warm water.  I got out when the rain stopped and dried off a little, only for the rain to start again and get me wet.  We all went upstairs to the hotel room, which hadn't been serviced yet.  We were all going to leave our stuff there and wait downstairs for the room to be serviced, but then I realized that we could change into dry clothes first.  OH!  So we sat downstairs, and relaxed when our room was ready for us to return.

We went to dinner across the street at Piola Pizzeria Artesanal Calle Loiza.  It was still Happy Hour, and I ordered a white wine sangria because the Yelp reviews said that the cocktails were very good.  Bro and V ordered locally made beer.  

Sangriiia!

Mermaid Hair girl got beer with a mermaid on the can.
Totally not on purpose.

Not sure that Crash Boat is a good thing.
I'm just glad there's some green and red on the can.

Bro and V shared a pizza (I think it was La Boca), and I ordered a Crispy Chicken sandwich.  Actually, I ordered a "Fried Chicken Sandwich", which totally confused the server, whom didn't speak much English.  It did not help when I continued to talk.  People should not give me alcohol and then ask me questions if they want a simple answer.  Bro had ketchup issues and managed to get a big blob of it onto the table and spread it around.  I told the server it wasn't my fault.  He probably went back to the kitchen to tell everyone else to stop conversing with the crazy lady at our table.  Poor V.  Or me, whatevs.

CRISPY Chicken Burger

Our food was good, our drinks were good (the sangria was especially yummilicious), and dessert looked good, but too rich for us at the moment.  We went back to the hotel to finish off the 6-pack of Rum Punch in a pouch, and watched TV for the rest of the night.

What a nice, relaxing day!  Yay for birthday vacations!

It Must Be Nice

Next up:  Going back to Cali

The Story of Tonight

Puerto Rico Trip

Day 3

"Hamilton"

Centro de Bellas Artes - Luis A Ferre

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Some sharing prior to writing about today:  Back in LA, Miss O eagerly gave me a piece of paper with the Puerto Rican flag on it.  

Text:  Pinch (at bottom), Pull (at top)

Here is what happens, like a pop-up book!

Isn't that the coolest?!  V made that.  I left it at their house because I didn't want anything to happen to it during our travels.  

When I woke up this morning, I decided that I would make it a routine to go downstairs, get coffee, and sit at the pool while Bro and V got ready.  We decided to go to breakfast on the way to the theater box office to get our tickets for the show at will call.   We saw a few Church's Chicken signs that showed the company as one of the sponsors for "Hamilton".

Thank you, Church's!

Several places were not yet open, probably because it was Sunday morning.  We ended up at El Meson Sandwiches.  V ordered her food in Spanish, until the woman taking her order started to ask her questions in Spanish.  I was going to order my food in Spanish, but was afraid that I would receive questions, so I ordered in English.  The food was super inexpensive, and I thought of getting more stuff to go for later, but never did.

We continued to the Centro de Bellas Artes, and I needed to take a photo of one of the barricades.

AT&T was one of the sponsors, too, but their sign was not as cool as the one for Church's.

Thank you, AT&T!

There was a long line of people trying to buy tickets, and I wasn't sure if they were for the ticket lottery or a regular box office line.

Sign Over Theatre Entrance

I really liked the sculptures of the different women of art.  Maybe they were supposed to be muses.

I also liked the Hamilton decor, of course!

Meet Me Inside

There were a few people with "I love PR" photo-op signs, and decided to take some pics.  V calls this one a Hidden Mickey, but it seems more like a "Hidden Sherry".

You'll Be Back

We walked back to the hotel and got ready for the show.  We were glad that the venue was moved from the University because this one was closer to us (the venue was changed due to security issues for possible protests on campus).  I decided on the hilly morning walk that I didn't want to walk to the theatre in my heels, and V agreed, so we called an Uber.  We saw on the app that our driver, Diane, was driving very quickly to get to us, and were a little concerned, but traffic was a bit of a pain, and she dropped us off before the regular dropoff point, which didn't bother us because the line to enter was long and we just wanted to go inside and get souvenirs before the show.

I love these PR Flag shirts with the Hamilton logo as the star!

 I was able to get to two different kiosks and get to the restroom before getting to my seat before the show started.  Our seats were in the balcony, 3 rows up, about halfway to the left center of the row.  The levels of the seats were very well-situated, as the whole stage was visible from our vantage point.

When Lin-Manuel Miranda entered the stage and sang the words "Alexander Hamilton", the entire audience gave a standing ovation for at least a minute or two before Lin patted his heart as a "thank you" so that we would sit down and they could continue the show.

• I may have cried even more this time than I did when I saw the show in LA.   I tried to reach for my tissues at one point, and couldn't find them, so I just forgot about that and tried to wipe away the buckets of tears accumulating on my face so that I could see the show.
• I think I even lost some air in my lungs because I screamed so much for LMM when he took the stage.  There he is!  AAAHHHHHH!!!!!
• The cast was superb, especially the lead guy.  I loved Sabrina Sloan's voice (Anjelica), Julia K Harriman's raw emotion during "Burn" (Eliza), Simon Longnight's playfulness (Lafayette/Jefferson), and Rick Negron's humor (King George).
• This was the same George Washington as I saw in LA, Isiah Johnson, and he was great again.
• I love all of the clever turns of phrase. 
• Everyone was clearly having a great time performing the heck out of this show. 
• Funny to see the conductor raise his own copy of the Reynolds Pamphlet when the four guys walked toward him. 
• "Hurricane" was especially profound, because here was LMM, playing the role he originated, in his home country, singing about a storm that caused the kind of devastation that brought him here to raise funds to help the people recover.  
• I don't remember seeing the lighting of the target on the floor at the last beat.

At intermission, I had time to ask someone to take a picture of me with the big sign.

Not Throwing Away My Shot

There was no real curtain call with the performers receiving individual recognition.  They just had the whole cast at once.  I'm glad I had my camera ready for the moment when LMM pulled out the Puerto Rican flag.

Viva Puerto Rico!

We bought more souvenirs because Bro and V hadn't seen the kiosk for LMM's company Tee Rico, and I saw something else I wanted.  While taking pictures outside, we met Edin and Carmen, PR natives whom told us the different activities we could do around the island.  I asked where we should eat for dinner, and they told us that our hotel was in a great location because one of the cross streets was a street that had a lot of restaurants.  Edin had just eaten at CRU the night before, and highly recommended the farm-to-table restaurant.  We told them that we were trying to get used to the "PR Time" style of service, and Carmen said that they weren't really proud of that.  That's OK, Carmen, my tribe has "Filipino Time".  We took an Uber back to the hotel and told our driver, Gustavo, to try to get tickets to the show via lottery.  I hope he wins tickets!

I might have bought a bunch of stuff 

We walked to CRU, which was a few doors down from Bebo's Cafe.  Our dinner was delicious!  What a great way to end a once-in-a-lifetime day!  Thank you, Bro and V, for the awesomer than awesome birthday gift!

Raise a Glass to the Four of Us
(I'm counting LMM as the fourth)

Next up:  Take A Break

  

Satisfied

Puerto Rico Trip

Day 2

January 19, 2019

I woke up first this morning, got dressed, and went downstairs to explore a little bit.  I got some coffee from the hotel lobby and went outside to the pool area to take in the wonderful weather.  Ah, what a nice, balmy day!

Good Morning!

Bro joined me for a bit, then we asked the hotel clerk for a Do Not Disturb sign for our door, because we didn't have one.  She said she'd send someone over.  So they're going to knock on our door and disturb us so we could have a Do Not Disturb sign?  OK.

Meanwhile, V made me feel better by creating a makeshift Bananaman.

When V was up and ready to go, we went to breakfast at Bebo's Cafe.  The crosswalk leading to the restaurant had a really cool pattern.  See?

Food is this way!

We didn't know if they would seat us, but we seated ourselves anyway at a table by the window.  While we waited, we saw a dog walk by.  Maybe we saw the same dog twice.  We mused that perhaps this was the only dog in Puerto Rico, and he was their dog mascot.  We later saw more dogs, and we started counting them.  I asked V to count the dogs en espanol, just like Linda did when we went to San Francisco.  We ended up seeing 17 dogs.  I took no pictures of them.  V ordered what she thought was a smoothie, and was given orange juice.  When she told the server what she ordered, the server denied it, and said they didn't have any kind of orange juice-and-milk drink.  I didn't think the combination sounded very good, but I was never a creamsicle fan.  We never did see anyone getting a smoothie, but I know V was watching to see if the drink actually existed.  I ordered Tostadas Francesas con Tocineta (French Toast and a side of bacon), y Arandano (cranberry juice).  The French Toast came with some fruit and some kind of whipped cream, but it was much creamier than the whipped cream to which I'm accustomed, and it was quite yummy.  

Due to the slow pace of the service, I decided to walk up to the front area and ask for syrup instead of waiting for the server to ask how we were doing.  She insisted on bringing the syrup to the table.  We enjoyed our food, but it took forever for us to get the check, so Bro went to the register to pay.  She had the nerve to ask which table.  Um, the one you've been serving really slowly this entire time?

We then walked to the beach, which was only a couple of blocks away.  The grains of sand were fine, not coarse, and the water was a gorgeous blue with mild waves.  Oh, you want to see a picture?  Oh, all right.

Hey, Bro, you're in my shot!

We enjoyed the beach for a little while, and watched a dog really enjoy himself/herself by running to get in the waves, then running onto the shore and rolling around in the sand, rinse, repeat.  We also saw a kite surfer travel around really quickly.

The kite is the black arc in the upper left

We wondered why there were parts of the ocean that were darker blue than the others.  I remembered that when I was on the Rockapella cruise, the water was a darker blue when we were at sea.  So I deduced that the water was deeper in those areas.  Bro said, "But it's moving."  He said it was due to the cloud coverage.  I think I resolved the whole mystery of the Bermuda Triangle because of my new theory that the depth of the ocean is mobile, and that's how things disappear in the sea.  SCIENCE!  

When we got back to the hotel, Bro and V checked out the hammock while I sat in the sun to dry off a little bit.  V was really looking forward to the hammock thing.  See how happy they are? 

Don't fall off!  I would have.

After more relaxation time, we got an Uber to take us to the San Sebastian Street Festival in Old San Juan, recommended by the nice flight attendant.  We were a bit disappointed that the hotel clerk didn't have a gift bag of stuff for us, which the other clerk had told us to ask about when we talked to her at check-in.  Our driver, Johnnie, was very friendly, and he told us to eat mofongo and drink pina coladas at the place where they made the first one, Barrachina.  (The origin is actually prior to that, but that's OK.)  I asked how his house fared after the hurricane, and he said that they were doing OK.  He also told us that no matter what happens, Puerto Ricans are OK.  He asked what we thought was the first thing Puerto Ricans get when they hear that a hurricane is coming.  V guessed "water?"  I guessed "beer?".  I was correct.  We like Johnnie.

Johnnie wasn't able to get us very far into Old San Juan, if at all, so we walked about a mile and a half to get to the festival.   On our way, we heard roosters crow. 

Not this one.

Then I saw this iguana and asked it to smile for me.  He/she responded by nodding his head up and down.  He did not do this for V when I asked him to smile for her, so I figured that he had been wishing me Feliz Cumpleanos.

Muchas Gracias!

 Since this is a huge festival that goes on for four days, it is known as the Puerto Rican equivalent of Mardi Gras.  Lots and lots of people were in attendance, filling many of the cobblestone, hilly streets of Old San Juan.  I easily reached my 10,000-step goal in flip flops, which is why I now have ouchy feet.  I didn't feel like walking in the sun all the way to the Castillo San Felipe del Morro, but we got kind of close.  

There is no shade on the way, nor was there a shuttle

We walked through one of the areas where vendors were selling their wares.  V and I bought candy: I got Pasta de Mango, Dulce de Leche, and 3 flavors of lollipops: pina colada, strawberry, and pistachio.  The Pasta de Mango tasted kind of like a fruit roll-up, but the shape was like a little brick instead of a flat circle.  The Dulce de Leche was in a smaller brick form, and I preferred that one.  I have not yet tried the lollipops.  

While we were walking around, we saw various groups with instruments, ready to lead people through the streets, chanting and singing.  I got my birthday wish and got to hear live Puerto Rican music, and saw a huge group of people dancing along with the same steps.  It was fun to watch! 

We were going to get food and drinks from one of the outdoor vendors, but saw a bar advertising yards of sangria for $7.00, Los Cuatro Vientos de Maria.  We sat down and saw that mofongo was on the menu, too!  I liked that the sangria is called "Sangriiia" in the ads.  I ordered my yard of Sangriiia, V had a pina colada, and Bro ordered a mojito.  We all enjoyed our drinks, even though the server wasn't sure if V wanted rum in hers.  I mean, why wouldn't she?  V also asked for a can of Coca-Cola because they had special cans just for the festival. 

Skinny 12-oz Coke with yard of Sangriiia

V and I ordered Mofonguitos de camarones (mashed plantains with shrimp) to share, and Bro ordered anchovies.  While we waited for our food, we were served bread with a delicious garlic herb butter spread. 

Bread with garlic herb butter

I ordered mashed plantains

Anchovies served on cilantro and parsley
marinated in a citrus-flavored sauce

All of our food was delicious!  Our server asked if we would like to order dessert, even though she didn't have any candles to put in it.  Our choice was cheese or homemade flan.  I opted for the flan, which was an excellent choice because it was very creamy.  Bro, V, and our server sang "Feliz Cumpleanos" to me.  Muchas gracias a todos!

Homemade Flan on Chocolate Sauce

 Bro decided to eat it until it was in the shape of Puerto Rico.  Actually, he ate more after he made it into this shape, because it was goooooood.

Phone pictured for accuracy

Bro had another mojito before he left (BTW, all of the drinks were very good), and I was allowed to take my yard of sangriiia with me.  We decided to get an Uber back to town because I was not able to walk another mile with my achy feet.  I ended up dumping out about a half cup of sangriiia because I didn't know how long it would be until we could get to another real bathroom.  I also didn't know if I was allowed to drink alcohol past the festival boundaries.  I almost lost my straw when I tripped and it flew out of my cup, but V rescued it for me.  Sorry, but I was distracted by the lady nearby that was saying "Sangria!" (because I needed more?!?) and didn't step around the big hole in the street.  Our driver, Edgar, passed us on his way to pick us up, and had to go through more traffic to get over to us and make a u-turn.  

Flag on Stilts

When we got back to the hotel, we changed and went to the whirlpool.  Bro went into the pool a couple of times to cool off, but V and I stayed in the whirlpool to stay warm.  I let the bubbly water from the jets massage my achy feet.  

We lounged for a little bit before going back up to our room and going to bed.

It was a wonderful birthday with wonderful weather and my wonderful brother and sister-in-law!

Thank you to everyone who made it special, including y'all on social media.  I feel truly blessed to be living this fortunate life.

Enjoying my 51st

What Comes Next? HAMILTON!!!!!!