Attention, Americans! If people in the countries you visit hate you, it’s not because you’re American. It’s probably because you’re obnoxious. Get it through your heads – the Ugly American stereotype is outdated, so quit playing the victim.
traveling
Something Tasty I Found in Central America
Here in the states, I’ve become hooked on a mighty sauce. It’s available just about everywhere despite its Asian heritage. That would be Sriracha, AKA Rooster Sauce. It goes on everything short of ice cream and oatmeal, and I’ve even seen a yogurt shop offer it as a topping. Crazy, right?
But there’s one sauce I’ve encountered in my travels that needs to catch Americans’ tastebuds.
And that would Salsa Lizano, a Costa Rican staple. It’s an essential in gallo pinto, the national dish, and a splash or two improves just about everything else it touches.
This isn’t a spicy sauce, nor is it what Americans typically define as salsa (tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, etc.). This is more like a tangy Central American version of A-1 steak sauce, but way, way better.
Here in Arizona, I’ve only found one store that has it. That’s absolutely criminal. We must do better!
Puerto Rico – Go or no?
I never really would’ve thought about going to Puerto Rico on my own. It just never occurred to me, especially since it’s harder to get to then a place like Costa Rica (which has all the jungle, more critters and, well, more on that later).
However, some of the wife’s family seems to love Puerto Rico. So much so that they decided to tie the knot there. They’re from New York, so I was and am amply glad they decided to enter the ranks of the blissfully wedded there rather than in Nueva York. That’s what led the wife and I through Houston on our way to San Juan.
Now, Puerto Rico is a US territory. That means a number of things. It’s not gonna be wild, woolly and/or adventurous. They’ll take dollars. You don’t need a passport. And your dollar isn’t gonna go that far. That was obvious from the word go when we tried to book hotel rooms. Heck, we got way better prices dollar-for-dollar nearly everywhere in Australia, with the possible exception of Darwin.
That’s not to say El Canario by the Sea isn’t cute and comfortable, because it certainly is. It’s even in the very fun and lively Condado district, which is surrounded by restaurants and even one of the ubiquitous Condom World stores.
But it’s not $150 a night nice, that’s for certain. Most of the immediate in-laws stayed there the first night, but decided to make the jump to a Hampton Inn in the Isla Verde neighborhood. That’s [...]
Australia 2007 Post #8 – Darwin to Gove to Cairns
A note from Wandering Justin: I had a little lapse in posting this week … lots of freelance work to finish! Also, the next entry or two won’t have many photos. I tend to take fewer photos in the cities.
Saturday, Aug. 25
The previous night, our foursome had decided to meet at the Parap Village Market. That’s about a mile-long walk from the center of Darwin. This market goes on every Saturday, and it’s a good way to dig into the Asian flavor of Darwin. There are booths with cooked food, pre-packaged stuff, fresh fruit, vegetables and ingredients you can make yourself. There’s a lot of the usual schlocky weekend market stuff, too…hemp clothing, jams, bad art and the like.
But I ate a bunch of stuff I’d never seen before, and it was all tasty. Couldn’t tell you the names now, that’s for sure. Except I do remember pawpaw salad. It’s pretty much raw, unripe shredded bits of papaya covered in a chili sauce and peanuts. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s an explosion of flavor.
We were pretty lazy, so we spent most of our time at the market, walking back to town and just hanging about. Orla left for Sydney, but that evening we met Karen again for dinner. She brought some Italian guy, Michael, with her. He was a bit different from us, being about a decade older. And he was clearly looking for some female attention (What? An Italian chasing tail? Never!)!
But still, he was a pretty fun [...]
