Latin Jazz

I went to Yoshi's in SF last night to watch local Musicians Pete Escovedo, Sheila E, and company. They had just got back from Washington playing for the President.

Commute

With the Bay Bridge closed off, my normal 2 hour commute home from work tuned to 1 hour. Because the bridge is closed off both in both directions, the extra traffic that I drive through in the Emeryville area was non existent - less cars heading in the same direction as I.
The drive was great with the exception of 4 cars that seemed to be lost. They must have been the only 4 people in the entire bay area who didn’t know the Bay Bridge was closed. As we all drove towards the closed turnoff to the bridge, the 4 vehicles slowed down. A minimum 1000 yards of open road was ahead of them as I tailed them at a speed of 40 mph for a few miles. Jerks.

Dinner and Kings

Posted for September 15, 2009
We got back to the hostel at about 7. After refreshing ourselves, we met up at the lounge area for dinner at 8. One of the guys suggested an all you can eat Parilla Restaurant. With 7 of us attending dinner we split up in two groups and hopped in 2 cabs. Written on a torn piece of paper, we handed the address to the cab driver that was given to us by one of the guys. When we got to the restaurant, we asked for a table to seat 7 while we waited for the other group to arrive. 10 min had passed and the other group had not yet arrived. The host went ahead and seated us. We sat down at our table and contemplated if we were in the right place. Both cabs had left at the same time but split up during the driver over. We then checked the address written on the torn piece of paper and notice two different addresses written on it - one on each side. We concluded the other group must have gone to the other restaurant so we decided to stay and eat. After dinner we walked around the marina a bit then headed back to the hostel.

We got back to the hostel and saw the other group. After a brief exchange in stories, we all joined a group that had started a game of Kings. 2 Decks and an epic game that made everyone stumble off their seats.

With everyone including my self already wasted, 3 of us decided to hit a bar. I called it a night at 5 am.

Air Show

Posted for September 15, 2009

I got out of bed at 11 and got ready to meet up with the gang. We made plans to eat lunch, head to the Zoo, then to Uru Recoleta to pick up my jacket. Leaving he hostel at about 1:30, we headed towards the subway and ate at a pizzeria. While waiting for our pizza, I noticed an Air Show was being televised. In doing so I notice something more in detail – the Obelisco which is one block away. I then started to wonder if it was live. It was. I mentioned it to one of the guys and we both walked outside to observe if it really was taking place. We walked half a block, noticed the large amount of people in the street, looked up, and sure enough, the Air Show was taking place right above our heads. It wasn’t very spectacular, an assortment of jets that fly by but nothing special.

After we finished our pizza we headed to the subway to the Recoleta area. We trekked it through the borough and made our way to way to Uru Recoleta. After I Picked up my jacket we decided to skip out on the Zoo and took a cab to Palermo. We didn’t walk around Palermo due to time and daylight constraints, but we did manage to make our way to a little area that had a few bars and a pool hall situated next to each other. We grabbed a couple tables and had a couple beers.

Dead People, a Jacket, and an Incredible Band with a Hole in the Wall

Posted for September 14, 2009
With my passport locked up at the hostel, a feeling of relief had dawned on me. I met up with a few folks from the hostel and headed out to the Recoleta Cemetery to see Evita’s Tomb. Like the Manila Cemetery, the tombs are above ground - Mausoleums. The major difference between the Manila Cemetery and the Recoleta Cemetary is the cleanliness of the area. The Manila Cemetery is dirty with the squatters living in the area. The Recoleta Cemetery is well kept – clean streets and no one living in the cemetery.

While looking for Evita’s tomb I made a comment in which everyone laughed. I said, “I’ve been in Argentina for 3 days and what have I done; I’ve been hustled, robbed, dunk, and saw dead people. What a fantastic holiday!”

After spotting Evita’s Mausoleum, we ogled at a few other tombs as we moseyed are way out of the Cemetery. Exiting the Cemetary, we were all parched and decided to grab a beer and a snack. With daylight dwindling, I split up from the group after the beer and burger and headed to Uru Recoleta – a leather store that Samantha Brown had featured in her Television Show. They were located just around the corner from where we were resting. I spent about an hour on designing my leather jacket then headed back to the hostel.


I met up with the group back at the hostel. We decided to skip out on dinner plans we had arranged the previous night to attend a Bomba Band Event. The event tuned out to be the best concert experience I’ve ever witnessed – and I was sober. To describe the event doesn’t serve justice and is one of those “got to be there.”
Basically it’s a percussion band with a conductor. The conductor instructs the band to play certain beats and rhythms, and like a DJ he’ll cut portions of the song and instruct specific groups to play segmented loops. The build up in tone, beat, harmony, and syncopation energizes the crowd to a point where a mash pit is created. Part of the build up included separate introductions to the Bass Guitar and Electric Guitar during the middle of the sets. Similar to a Rave, the event is held in a warehouse.


After the event we stopped by a hole in the wall and grabbed a yummy Churipan. When we got back to the Hostel, I shared a bottle of Vodka that I had picked on the way home from Uru Recoleta.

Officially Day 1 in Argentina

Posted for September 12, 2009
I got up at 3pm hung over and hungry. I walked around downtown to get a better feel of the area and looked for a bite to eat. I had a Churipan (chorizo sandwich with chimichurri) – which was awesome – on one of the main streets then enjoyed an espresso in an outdoor seating café. When I got back to the hostel I met up with the folks I hung out with last night. We walked by the marina and had dinner. We ordered appetizers, 4 different meats, 3 sides, 2 bottles of wine, and desert. The total cost between the 3 of us: $35 US dollars….each.
Following dinner, the guys wanted to try to catch a college football game, but that was pretty much impossible. The only sports televised are Boxing, Tennis, and Futbol (soccer).

Walking around with no luck of catching a college game, we headed back to the hostel. We got back at about 1:30am in which I then began to contemplate whether to attend a house party I was invited to. During the pub crawl the other night, I held a conversation with one of the hosts in which he invited me to attend his birthday house party. With the other 2 guys calling it a night, I decided to hang out at the hostel instead. I thought that going to a house party alone in a city which I have no knowledge of, would be risky.

While hanging out at the bar in the hostel, I met some people: a couple South African folks attending a Mining Exploration Conference for their Geological Engineering program, a couple Australian folks, and a Brit. After a few drinks we all headed to the sister hostel located a few blocks away - Hostel Florida. The Hostel had a basement area which had a pool hall feel. 3 pool tables, a long larger bar, and a dance floor with a DJ spinning Reggaeton. We hung out for bit then headed back to our hostel. After another round of drinks and a couple games of pool at our Hostel, we ended the evening/morning at about 4am.

Temporary Passport Obtained

With the BS that happened yesterday, I stayed in the Hostel last night and drank with a few folks. The Hostel had a live band playing in the lounge area with free empenadas.

I got up at this morning at 8 am, had breakfast, and headed for the Embassy. It was a fairly an easy process: 2 forms to fill out and 2 passport photos. I didn´t have passport photos with me, but I was directed to go outside the embassy and to find a guy under a tree who would be able to take my photo. As soon as I got outside and crossed the street, I spotted an old man with a picnic chair sitting under a tree. He had an Old Skool camera and white butcher paper pinned on a tree. He told me to stand in from the paper, smile, then took my picture and processed the photos in a thick dark bag. He handed me my passport photos at a cost of 20 Pesos. After turning in my forms and photo, I waited half an hour and obtained my Temporary Passport valid for 3 months.