To avoid parking at the expensive San Francisco (or De Anza) parking lot, we ordered Uber from our home to San Francisco Airport (SFO). The UberX car ride was fast and efficient, and we arrived with plenty of time to spare (since I already checked in online using United's iPhone application). The final cost was $55 - high - but cheaper and more convenient than parking at the airport.
The United #1678 flight from San Francisco to Cancun was uneventful, except for the intense pain that Alex experienced before landing. Alex suffered from a cold, and the change in air pressure caused him significant discomfort.
On the flight, I read and finished "Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters" by Captain Chesley Sullenberger. I did not expect to enjoy the book, but I was drawn into it, perhaps by my fascination with flying, and ended up really enjoying it. I did not know that Captain Sully learned to fly at 16, was an Air Force Academy graduate, and flew F4 Phantom fighter jets before becoming an airline pilot. Of course, his landing on the Hudson showed the extraordinary presence of mind and flight mastery, leading to the first successful (without loss of a single life) ditching of a jet on a river.
After landing in Cancun, we went through the usual Mexican customs and tried to find our B.D. Travel hotel transfers. We pre-booked these airport-to-hotel transfers earlier to have a simple way of getting to our hotel and back. Once we found the B.D. Travel agents (it took some time), we were quickly placed in a van and taken to our hotel.
The Azul Beach Hotel was much closer to the Cancun airport than our previous resorts (Riu Palace, Barcelo Maya). We should have taken a taxi to the hotel (and it would have been far cheaper, as we overpaid for the hotel transfers).
Upon arrival, we were offered hand towels, champagne, and lemonade. The concierge explained about the many restaurants and the spa. She highly recommended the Latina restaurant (mainly the beef entrees) and the Roma Italian restaurant. She did not have much to say about the Tainan Asian restaurant. It was already dark, but we walked around the property.
There was a Russian wedding going on at the Blue restaurant. We were surprised to hear Russian pop music blasting away. Surprisingly for us, the wedding all but died out by 10:00 p.m. (which would have surprised my parents, who expected these events to go well past midnight).
After dropping all our luggage in room #817, we decided to get dinner at the hotel's Italian Restaurant - Roma. Since we started our dinner very late, around 9:30 p.m., we were the last in the restaurant, but we were still served quickly and efficiently.
Alex ordered the "Quatro Formaggio" - a four-cheese pizza. It was small and unusual-looking. As we quickly learned, dinner portions at Azul are more sensible, as the focus is more on quality than quantity. Alex enjoyed his pizza.
I ordered an Insalata Caprese, Grilled Salmon, and ice cream (with all the flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry). My salmon was deliciously grilled, and the gelato was quite refreshing.
Inna had the risotto, followed by the desert. House red and white wines were included - so both Inna and I ordered the house Merlot (from Chile), which was not too dry.
After dinner, since we were all so tired, we went back to our room. It was too dark to explore the beach, but Inna told me about her concern with seaweed. She read that there was an influx of seaweed (unfortunately, this was true).
The United #1678 flight from San Francisco to Cancun was uneventful, except for the intense pain that Alex experienced before landing. Alex suffered from a cold, and the change in air pressure caused him significant discomfort.
On the flight, I read and finished "Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters" by Captain Chesley Sullenberger. I did not expect to enjoy the book, but I was drawn into it, perhaps by my fascination with flying, and ended up really enjoying it. I did not know that Captain Sully learned to fly at 16, was an Air Force Academy graduate, and flew F4 Phantom fighter jets before becoming an airline pilot. Of course, his landing on the Hudson showed the extraordinary presence of mind and flight mastery, leading to the first successful (without loss of a single life) ditching of a jet on a river.
After landing in Cancun, we went through the usual Mexican customs and tried to find our B.D. Travel hotel transfers. We pre-booked these airport-to-hotel transfers earlier to have a simple way of getting to our hotel and back. Once we found the B.D. Travel agents (it took some time), we were quickly placed in a van and taken to our hotel.
The Azul Beach Hotel was much closer to the Cancun airport than our previous resorts (Riu Palace, Barcelo Maya). We should have taken a taxi to the hotel (and it would have been far cheaper, as we overpaid for the hotel transfers).
Upon arrival, we were offered hand towels, champagne, and lemonade. The concierge explained about the many restaurants and the spa. She highly recommended the Latina restaurant (mainly the beef entrees) and the Roma Italian restaurant. She did not have much to say about the Tainan Asian restaurant. It was already dark, but we walked around the property.
There was a Russian wedding going on at the Blue restaurant. We were surprised to hear Russian pop music blasting away. Surprisingly for us, the wedding all but died out by 10:00 p.m. (which would have surprised my parents, who expected these events to go well past midnight).
After dropping all our luggage in room #817, we decided to get dinner at the hotel's Italian Restaurant - Roma. Since we started our dinner very late, around 9:30 p.m., we were the last in the restaurant, but we were still served quickly and efficiently.
Alex ordered the "Quatro Formaggio" - a four-cheese pizza. It was small and unusual-looking. As we quickly learned, dinner portions at Azul are more sensible, as the focus is more on quality than quantity. Alex enjoyed his pizza.
I ordered an Insalata Caprese, Grilled Salmon, and ice cream (with all the flavors: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry). My salmon was deliciously grilled, and the gelato was quite refreshing.
Inna had the risotto, followed by the desert. House red and white wines were included - so both Inna and I ordered the house Merlot (from Chile), which was not too dry.
After dinner, since we were all so tired, we went back to our room. It was too dark to explore the beach, but Inna told me about her concern with seaweed. She read that there was an influx of seaweed (unfortunately, this was true).
Sunday, November 20, 2016
After getting up around 7:30 a.m. and refreshingly showered, we headed for breakfast at Blue Restaurant. The weather was cloudy and a bit chilly, with unusually blustery winds.
After getting a lovely table at Blue, we went to the buffet for our breakfast entrees. I decided to get a mushroom omelet and a few fruits. The omelet was well-cooked, and I liked it. I also got a few pastries - but these were not at the level of St. Regis in Bora Bora. Alex was happily emptying a plate of Nutella.
Since we received a message to stop by the concierge by 10:00 a.m., we hurried to the Main Lobby after breakfast. However, we saw an unoccupied ping pong table on the way there and decided to play a few games. Alex played Inna for a while but quickly gave up after losing a few games. Then, Inna and I played one complete game, where I beat her 21 to 15. Afterward, Inna and Alex played some more.
After finishing ping-pong, we headed to the lobby, where we picked up a small gift of miniature tequila, soap, and bug spray. We were told we could get a $100 certificate if we listened to a timeshare presentation during lunch. Later that day, we agreed to meet at 12:30 p.m. in the hotel's main lobby.
We spent a few hours on the beach but did not swim at all, as there was lots of seaweed in the water, and the wind made the ocean quite choppy. At 12:30 p.m., we met with Laura and had lunch at Blue restaurant. She asked us many questions about our previous vacations and where we would like to go.
Laura also told us a little about herself. Although she was born in the Dominican Republic, she has lived most of her life in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, splitting the time depending on her mother's relationships with her boyfriends. She has a younger brother and sister living with her mother in Costa Rica.
As a 19-year-old, she aspires to be a singer but has moved to Mexico for career opportunities. Because of her focus on her voice, she cannot eat cheese or dairy products. She did not eat anything during lunch, but I assumed it was because she does these lunch presentations with other potential clients. She loves to eat Mexican food and said that the best tacos were in Mexico City (I need to remember to try them there). She also loves to travel and has visited New York, but has aspirations to visit Germany and Thailand.
While chatting, I ordered a simple salad and Gnocchi while Inna ordered some Fajitas (which looked great). I liked the food at Blue, but it was not anything extraordinary.
After lunch, we headed to Laura's office to go over the timeshare details. She had an elaborate slide show on her computer to explain the benefits of timeshare ownership, but we were not interested. There were too many restrictions, and it was something we needed to prepare to act on. Besides, I am unfamiliar with Mexican property law and was not about to commit to something I knew nothing about. However, Laura brought in her older assistant, who increased the sales pressure. Eventually, I told them I was not interested in continuing the conversation, and we walked away. I did not want their $100 gift by this time and wanted to re-focus my thoughts on my current vacation. If I had to repeat it, I would have skipped the timeshare presentation altogether. It was not worth the hassle.
After finishing this timeshare discussion, we headed to the concierge. We booked three significant activities: Mystic River with Tulum (on Monday, November 21), Xplor (on Wednesday, November 23), and Xel-Ha (on Friday, November 25). Surprisingly, the timeshare office gave us the $100 gift certificate anyway, so we saved some money on the tickets to these activities (which were quite expensive).
Afterward, we stopped by for a drink and snack at Chil while Alex got himself a large bowl of ice cream at Scoop. We enjoyed some "Ceviche de Pescado" (Fish, green tomato, cucumber, cilantro, and dill) and nachos. In addition, I ordered a surprise Mexican cocktail recommended by the waiter.
After this snack, we returned to the beach and enjoyed resting and reading books. I tried reading Coffee: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know by Jack Frisks. It was a short, exciting read. I did not know that 83% of Americans drink coffee and that the highest consumption of coffee is in the Netherlands, at 2.5 cups per person per day.
I also started on Bill Bryson's latest, The Road to a Little Dribbling. I liked Bill Bryson's humor in his book and his English adventures (a sequel to Notes from a Small Island). I was hoping to resume "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, but my edition was corrupted on my Kindle, so I will continue my reading when I return to San Jose.
Eventually, I settled on Such Good Girls by R. D. Rosen, which relates the stories of 3 young Jewish girls who survived the Holocaust (unlike Anne Frank) by hiding and changing their names and sometimes religions (from Jewish to Catholic). I am drawn to these stories because they reveal the best and worst of human nature. It was still remarkable that they all survived their ordeal and ended up quite successful in New York City.
When it turned darker and the flies started to emerge, we returned to our room and bathed. Our room had a built-in jacuzzi, which we enjoyed (although we could never get hot water). Our hotel's hot water was always only lukewarm.
At around 8:00 p.m., we headed to the Latina restaurant to try some authentic Mexican and Latin American dishes. I ordered Mexican tortilla soup and a "Mahi-Mahi." Similarly, Inna ordered the Mexican tortilla soup but a spicier version of "Mahi-Mahi." Both of the dishes were really well prepared. Alex ordered the rib-eye steak.
His rib-eye steak was fantastic - delicious, soft, perfectly cooked. He enjoyed it a lot! For dessert, I ordered the famous Mexican "Churros with Chocolate." They were outstanding! As the famous saying goes:
Monday, November 21, 2016
With the alarm going off at 7:00 a.m., we got up, showered, and ate breakfast at the Blue restaurant nearby. We ate quickly since we had to catch the 9:00 a.m. shuttle to Mystic River and Tulum.
This time, I ordered a bagel with salmon and cream cheese from the restaurant's breakfast menu. It turned out alright, though I did not expect a pumpernickel bagel.
The Mystic River shuttle picked us up and many other passengers, taking us first to Tulum, then to lunch, and finally to ATV/Zipline adventures, about which I write in a separate entry here.
We returned somewhat later, at around 6:20 p.m., quite tired from our ATV/Zipline adventures.
After some rest, we ate dinner at the nearby Tianan Asian restaurant. We did not realize it initially, but in addition to serving Chinese dishes, Tianan also serves sushi.
We ordered Miso soup, appetizer rolls, sushi rolls, and beef. All the food came out fine, but we could tell it was not on the same level as the other two restaurants, namely Roma and Latina.
I only ate a little bit of the "Rice Bowl." It was just not that appetizing. This would be the last and only time that we dined at Tianan.
After getting up around 7:30 a.m. and refreshingly showered, we headed for breakfast at Blue Restaurant. The weather was cloudy and a bit chilly, with unusually blustery winds.
After getting a lovely table at Blue, we went to the buffet for our breakfast entrees. I decided to get a mushroom omelet and a few fruits. The omelet was well-cooked, and I liked it. I also got a few pastries - but these were not at the level of St. Regis in Bora Bora. Alex was happily emptying a plate of Nutella.
Since we received a message to stop by the concierge by 10:00 a.m., we hurried to the Main Lobby after breakfast. However, we saw an unoccupied ping pong table on the way there and decided to play a few games. Alex played Inna for a while but quickly gave up after losing a few games. Then, Inna and I played one complete game, where I beat her 21 to 15. Afterward, Inna and Alex played some more.
After finishing ping-pong, we headed to the lobby, where we picked up a small gift of miniature tequila, soap, and bug spray. We were told we could get a $100 certificate if we listened to a timeshare presentation during lunch. Later that day, we agreed to meet at 12:30 p.m. in the hotel's main lobby.
We spent a few hours on the beach but did not swim at all, as there was lots of seaweed in the water, and the wind made the ocean quite choppy. At 12:30 p.m., we met with Laura and had lunch at Blue restaurant. She asked us many questions about our previous vacations and where we would like to go.
Laura also told us a little about herself. Although she was born in the Dominican Republic, she has lived most of her life in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, splitting the time depending on her mother's relationships with her boyfriends. She has a younger brother and sister living with her mother in Costa Rica.
As a 19-year-old, she aspires to be a singer but has moved to Mexico for career opportunities. Because of her focus on her voice, she cannot eat cheese or dairy products. She did not eat anything during lunch, but I assumed it was because she does these lunch presentations with other potential clients. She loves to eat Mexican food and said that the best tacos were in Mexico City (I need to remember to try them there). She also loves to travel and has visited New York, but has aspirations to visit Germany and Thailand.
While chatting, I ordered a simple salad and Gnocchi while Inna ordered some Fajitas (which looked great). I liked the food at Blue, but it was not anything extraordinary.
After lunch, we headed to Laura's office to go over the timeshare details. She had an elaborate slide show on her computer to explain the benefits of timeshare ownership, but we were not interested. There were too many restrictions, and it was something we needed to prepare to act on. Besides, I am unfamiliar with Mexican property law and was not about to commit to something I knew nothing about. However, Laura brought in her older assistant, who increased the sales pressure. Eventually, I told them I was not interested in continuing the conversation, and we walked away. I did not want their $100 gift by this time and wanted to re-focus my thoughts on my current vacation. If I had to repeat it, I would have skipped the timeshare presentation altogether. It was not worth the hassle.
After finishing this timeshare discussion, we headed to the concierge. We booked three significant activities: Mystic River with Tulum (on Monday, November 21), Xplor (on Wednesday, November 23), and Xel-Ha (on Friday, November 25). Surprisingly, the timeshare office gave us the $100 gift certificate anyway, so we saved some money on the tickets to these activities (which were quite expensive).
Afterward, we stopped by for a drink and snack at Chil while Alex got himself a large bowl of ice cream at Scoop. We enjoyed some "Ceviche de Pescado" (Fish, green tomato, cucumber, cilantro, and dill) and nachos. In addition, I ordered a surprise Mexican cocktail recommended by the waiter.
After this snack, we returned to the beach and enjoyed resting and reading books. I tried reading Coffee: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know by Jack Frisks. It was a short, exciting read. I did not know that 83% of Americans drink coffee and that the highest consumption of coffee is in the Netherlands, at 2.5 cups per person per day.
I also started on Bill Bryson's latest, The Road to a Little Dribbling. I liked Bill Bryson's humor in his book and his English adventures (a sequel to Notes from a Small Island). I was hoping to resume "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, but my edition was corrupted on my Kindle, so I will continue my reading when I return to San Jose.
Eventually, I settled on Such Good Girls by R. D. Rosen, which relates the stories of 3 young Jewish girls who survived the Holocaust (unlike Anne Frank) by hiding and changing their names and sometimes religions (from Jewish to Catholic). I am drawn to these stories because they reveal the best and worst of human nature. It was still remarkable that they all survived their ordeal and ended up quite successful in New York City.
When it turned darker and the flies started to emerge, we returned to our room and bathed. Our room had a built-in jacuzzi, which we enjoyed (although we could never get hot water). Our hotel's hot water was always only lukewarm.
At around 8:00 p.m., we headed to the Latina restaurant to try some authentic Mexican and Latin American dishes. I ordered Mexican tortilla soup and a "Mahi-Mahi." Similarly, Inna ordered the Mexican tortilla soup but a spicier version of "Mahi-Mahi." Both of the dishes were really well prepared. Alex ordered the rib-eye steak.
His rib-eye steak was fantastic - delicious, soft, perfectly cooked. He enjoyed it a lot! For dessert, I ordered the famous Mexican "Churros with Chocolate." They were outstanding! As the famous saying goes:
When in Rome, do as the Romans.In Mexico, this translates to:
When in Mexico, eat Churros!
Monday, November 21, 2016
With the alarm going off at 7:00 a.m., we got up, showered, and ate breakfast at the Blue restaurant nearby. We ate quickly since we had to catch the 9:00 a.m. shuttle to Mystic River and Tulum.
This time, I ordered a bagel with salmon and cream cheese from the restaurant's breakfast menu. It turned out alright, though I did not expect a pumpernickel bagel.
The Mystic River shuttle picked us up and many other passengers, taking us first to Tulum, then to lunch, and finally to ATV/Zipline adventures, about which I write in a separate entry here.
We returned somewhat later, at around 6:20 p.m., quite tired from our ATV/Zipline adventures.
After some rest, we ate dinner at the nearby Tianan Asian restaurant. We did not realize it initially, but in addition to serving Chinese dishes, Tianan also serves sushi.
We ordered Miso soup, appetizer rolls, sushi rolls, and beef. All the food came out fine, but we could tell it was not on the same level as the other two restaurants, namely Roma and Latina.
I only ate a little bit of the "Rice Bowl." It was just not that appetizing. This would be the last and only time that we dined at Tianan.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Since we were tired from yesterday's trip to Tulum and Mystic River, we slept in rather late, until 8:30 a.m.
We had our usual daily breakfast at the Blue restaurant, where I selected scrambled eggs, pineapple slices, watermelon, and carrot bread. Inna ordered an omelet, which she enjoyed.
After breakfast, we headed to the beach, where Inna selected a suspended bed at the Aquamarine bar. While I was answering work emails, a technician repaired our unit's air-conditioning for the second day. Let's hope that this repair lasts longer than the last one.
Once the air conditioner was fixed, I rejoined Inna at the Aquamarine bar. After some time, we decided to go kayaking in the ocean. The Azul Beach resort had some strange requirements - each participant must pay USD 4.00 cash to purchase a bracelet (suitable for the entire stay). Once I finally got hold of the person selling the bracelet, Alex and I took out a two-seater kayak for a leisurely paddle around the resort.
We were initially told to avoid all the incoming boats - though there is very little boat traffic near the hotel. We paddled toward a reef in the distance with breaking waves. We might see some colorful fish there. However, when we got close to the reef, someone from our hotel yelled at us to turn back. We returned and were told to stay away from that area. It makes it very hard to kayak when there is literally no area available for kayaking! We thought about stand-up paddleboarding, too, but these restrictions make the sport much less appealing. Unlike the other Cancun resorts, there was no Hobie catamaran to rent out, which was disappointing.
While kayaking, we saw a lot of seaweed and garbage in the ocean. The ocean is quite heavily polluted, and water visibility is relatively low. When we neared the reef, we did see some coral on the ocean bottom but no fish or marine life.
Overall, I am very disappointed with the beach at Azul. It's full of seaweed and garbage (though the resort employs many laborers to continually clean it). In addition, the water is murky and sometimes full of garbage. It's a far cry from pristine beaches on Maui, e.g., Ka'anapali or Wailea, not to mention Bora-Bora. The last time we visited Cancun, staying first in Riu Palace and Barcelo Maya, the water was far more precise (and there was no seaweed or floating plastic garbage).
After finishing kayaking, Alex decided to enjoy himself in the pool. Here is a video of that episode.
He lounged on a floating pizza and jumped on toys like the shark pictured below.
Feeling a bit peckish, we got a small snack; we tried the savory crepes at the Scoop Shack. The dough was too sweet for savory crepes, but the crepes themselves (including the filling) were delicate. Alex delighted himself with 3 rounds of ice cream: two in a cone and one in a bowl! He certainly satisfied his sugar cravings!
I started reading Shakespeare's Richard II history and enjoyed it (while falling asleep a few times in the process). The rocking motion of the suspended bends makes it quite cozy and easy to rock asleep.
At one point, Alex and I played two games of ping pong. I beat him in the first game, 21 to 10, and the same in the second. I also played ping pong against Inna later, but she defeated me handily with scores of 21 to 15 and then 21 to 10.
For late lunch, we stopped by the Chil casual restaurant. I ordered a "Chil salad" (Mixed lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocado, palm hearts, cheese, and ranch dressing), "Nachos" (corn tortilla chips with cheddar cheese, guacamole, and Pico de Gallo), and "Ceviche de Pescado" (Fish, green tomato, cucumber, cilantro, and dill).
Alex ordered a "New York Burger" (Angus beef, caramelized onion, fried egg, blue cheese, lettuce, tomato) for himself with french fries. Inna ordered a "Beef Burrito" (skirt steak, guacamole, caramelized onion, bacon, Oaxaca cheese, and sour cream). She really enjoyed her beef burrito. Overall, we were delighted with our lunch at Chil.
Once it got dark, we returned to our room to enjoy the private Jacuzzi (the hotel does not have any public Jacuzzis). Unfortunately, the hot water in the shower and the usually hot water in the Jacuzzi was only lukewarm, so we called the front desk to repair it. The maintenance person came in, verified that our room did not have hot water, and promised to have it fixed tomorrow or Mañana (a usual Mexican answer to any complex problem). It could have been worse - at least we had water!
For dinner, we decided to dine at the Roma Italian restaurant. Since it was pretty busy, we got a pager and got a few cocktails while waiting. I ordered a "Mango Margarita," which was not bad, and Inna got another cocktail. We stayed at Aquamarine Bar for about 25 minutes and then returned to Roma when our pager rang.
We were quickly seated and got some water and small appetizers. I ordered the "Insalata Caprese" (Fresh Mozzarella and black olives pesto), "Crema di Funghi prataioli arrostiti" (roasted portobello cream and truffle foam) soup, and Grilled Salmon.
Inna ordered the "Tartara di Tonno" (yellowfin tuna tartar, capers, and lemon cream), "Crema di Funghi prataioli arrostiti" (roasted portobello cream and truffle foam) soup, and "Ossobuco" (Veal with citrus sauce and saffron risotto). The "Ossobuco" was simply delicious!
Alex ordered the "Pepperoni Pizza," which he liked but looked different from the stateside pizza (Pizza My Heart).
For dessert, Inna ordered a "Tiramisu," while I chose the "Cannoli." Both desserts were terrific!
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
With the alarm going off at 7:00 a.m., we got up, showered, and ate breakfast at the Blue restaurant nearby.
We ate quickly since we had to catch the 8:50 a.m. shuttle to Xplor.
The Xplor shuttle arrived 10 minutes early; at 8:40 a.m., we were quickly seated in the shuttle for our ride to Xplor. The details of our Xplor adventure can be read here.
When we returned from Xplor, we ate dinner at the Latina Mexican/South American restaurant. I ordered a bowl of Mexican tortilla soup and skirt steak.
Similarly, Inna ordered the Chilean Lentil soup and a Lime Shrimp entree.
Both of the dishes were really well prepared. Alex ordered the rib-eye steak. His steak was fantastic - delicious, soft, perfectly cooked. He enjoyed it a lot! For dessert, I ordered the famous Mexican "Churros with Chocolate."
Inna ordered the Apple strudel. Although both desserts were outstanding, the Churros with Chocolate took the top prize.
Thursday, November 24, 2016
Since we were tired from yesterday's trip to Xplor, we slept in rather late, until 8:30 a.m. The weather was warm but blustery, with a few white caps on the ocean.
We had our usual breakfast at the Blue restaurant, where I selected an omelet with spinach, goat cheese, pineapple slices, watermelon, and sweet bread. Inna also ordered an omelet with goat cheese, mushrooms, and onions, which she enjoyed.
After breakfast, we headed to the beach, where Inna selected a suspended bed at the Aquamarine bar. We spent most of our time there, getting various alcoholic drinks. I ordered a "White Russian," but the bartender poured me some rose wine. When I asked him about it, he apologized and prepared me the correct drink: Kahlua, Vodka, and Milk in a glass on the rocks.
In the afternoon, we played a few ping-pong games, first with Inna against me, then Alex against me, and then Alex against Inna.
We also played a chess game using the mega-sized chess pieces on the ground. Inna beat me both times and also defeated Alex in all games. She was the undefeated ping pong champ all day!
For lunch, we stopped by at Chil restaurant. I ordered a "Chil salad" (Mixed lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocado, palm hearts, cheese, and ranch dressing), "Nachos" (corn tortilla chips with cheddar cheese, guacamole, and Pico de Gallo), and "Ceviche de Pescado" (Fish, green tomato, cucumber, cilantro, and dill). I also ordered the soft-shell Fajita Tacos. They were delicious.
Alex ordered a "New York Burger" (Angus beef, caramelized onion, fried egg, blue cheese, lettuce, tomato) for himself with french fries.
Inna ordered a "Beef Burrito" (skirt steak, guacamole, caramelized onion, bacon, Oaxaca cheese, and sour cream). She really enjoyed her burrito.
A Mexican wedding was being prepared on the beach, and we saw a bride and groom walking around with a photographer, taking photos.
Friday, November 25, 2016
With the alarm going off at 6:20 a.m., we got up, showered, and ate breakfast at the Blue restaurant nearby. We ate quickly since we had to catch the 7:20 a.m. shuttle to Xel-Ha.
The Xel-Ha shuttle arrived 10 minutes early, at 7:20 a.m., and we were quickly loaded for our ride to Xel-Ha. The details of our Xel-Ha adventure can be read in my blog post here.
When we returned from Xel-Ha, we ate dinner at the Latina Mexican/South American restaurant. I ordered a Mexican tortilla soup and the delicious Ossobuco (Veal shanks with vegetables). The Ossobuco was fantastic!
Similarly, Inna ordered the Mexican Tortilla soup and Ossobuco. Both of the dishes were really well prepared. Alex skipped dinner because he had too much spaghetti and ice cream at Xel-Ha.
For dessert, we ordered the famous Mexican "Churros with Chocolate," "Apple Strudel," and "Flan." This time, the apple strudel was not heated (served cold) and was not as good as the last. However, the Churros were great! The flan was so, so and could have been skipped. These desserts were relatively small, so even three desserts were not a lot of food.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Since we were tired from yesterday's trip to Xel-Ha, we slept in rather late, until 8:10 a.m. The weather was much warmer and a bit windy in the morning. This was one of the first days I recall that I felt hot in Cancun!
We had our usual breakfast at the Blue restaurant, where I selected an omelet with spinach, cheese, pineapple slices, watermelon, and sweet bread. Inna also ordered an omelet with cheese, mushrooms, and onions, which she enjoyed.
After breakfast, we headed to the beach, where Inna selected a suspended bed at the Aquamarine bar. We spent most of our time there, getting various alcoholic drinks. I ordered a "Whiskey Sour," which the bartender prepared using the Johnny Walker Black whiskey! I enjoyed it, as it was made with quality ingredients, not some watered-down preparation usually used at Mexican hotels.
Inna tried the Banana Colada cocktail made with a fresh banana. She liked the cocktail, but it was too sweet for my taste.
We ended up playing multiple games of ping-pong. Again, Inna was the champ, beating Alex and me in many repeated games! She also won her first chess game against me!
I ended up reading a lot of new books on my Kindle. I started reading Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. I expected it to be challenging to read and boring, and I found it quite interesting. It's too bad most politicians have not read it.
I also continued reading R. D. Rosen's "Such Good Girls," William Shakespeare's Henry IV Part I, and Anne Applebaum's Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe. Anne's book was quite a depressing read but very illuminating.
I re-read Carlo Rovelli's "Seven Brief Lessons on Physics." It was a wonderful re-read by Richard Muller after Now: The Physics of Time.
For lunch, we went to our usual Chil. This time, we ordered more appetizers, including "Hot-Buffalo" wings. They had a nice kick!
Inna tried the Mexican Burger (Pork, avocado, pineapple, chipotle mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato). She really liked the Mexican burger. The French fries were also delicious!
Alex ordered the cheese "Quesadilla". We first tried the cheesecake for dessert, but it wasn't very good.
However, the ice cream was quite delicious.
After lunch, we played more ping-pong and chess.
We returned to Roma - our Italian restaurant, for our last dinner in Cancun.
I decided to try some new dishes this time, so I selected a "Lasagna with Lobster Bisque." It was pretty good, though not as good as my Mom's.
For dessert, we shared a "Tiramisu." It was a nice ending to a delicious dinner.
Returning to our room, it was time to pack a few items. It felt a bit sad to be leaving Cancun.
Sunday, November 27, 2016
We did not have much time since we had reserved a 10:30 a.m. shuttle to the airport. We were flying Volare Airlines #719 to Mexico City, where we would switch planes to flight #910 for our next leg to San Francisco. Since I had my MacBook Pro, I could check-in online and save my check-in to a .pdf file (which the hotel pre-printed for me). Thus, our boarding passes were prepared before we arrived at the airport.
The travel shuttle picked us up from our Azul Beach hotel at 10:25 a.m. (right on time), and we arrived at the Cancun airport in 15 minutes. We could quickly drop off our bags and go to the boarding area (much faster than the U.S. airport). It's sad when Mexican airports are more efficient than U.S. ones.
While at the Cancun airport, we stopped by the Dos Equis Cafe and ordered pizza, nachos, and hot tea while waiting for our Volaris flight #719. The nachos were quite good and relatively inexpensive.
At 12:30 p.m., we started boarding our Volaris' Airbus A321 and took off right on time, landing in Mexico City at 2:15 p.m. (ahead of schedule). The Mexican City airport is quite large and has much better quality (and cheaper) food options than in the U.S. From the air, Mexico City looks enormous, and we wondered why we never stopped there. There must be lots of things to do there. Inna suggested that we come back to explore Mexico City in the future (one more item on our bucket list).
Alex ordered two Sbarro Pepperoni strombolis at the Mexican City airport, which he enjoyed later on the next flight. In contrast, Inna and I ordered Mexican tacos in the 100% Natural shop next door. The tacos were fantastic - much better than any U.S. airport food. We also found some delicious pastries nearby (some of which we did not recognize).
Alex chose a chocolate chip cookie and some chocolate pastry that looked like a porcupine (but was made with Churros). Inna and I ordered some apple-filled pastries, which were also quite delicious. We brought all our food on board our next flight - since everything on Volaris Airlines - even water - requires purchase (nothing is complimentary). We even drank the whole 2L bottle of water (which we thought was too big). Volaris is not a subpar airline, but the seats were very cramped.
We boarded our connecting Volaris Flight #910 (Airbus A320) to San Francisco at 3:30 p.m. and took off at 4:00 p.m. We landed at San Francisco International Airport right on time, at 7:00 p.m. PST, and quickly went through customs (it usually takes us an hour, but this time the lines were short).
Once we picked up our bags, we ordered Uber and were home by 8:45 p.m. (as expected). Unlike other airports, Uber picks up at SFO on the 3rd level (in the arrivals area - not the departures area as in San Jose).
Azul Beach Hotel Report Card
Positives- Excellent Mexican entrees in Latina restaurant (but small menu)
- Excellent Italian Roma restaurant
- Short waiting times at most restaurants (no more than 20 minutes)
- No dinner reservations are required
- Most bars have high-quality liquor, not water down like at Riu Palace
- The staff is amiable
- Clear blue pools everywhere
- Never feels crowded or too big (like Barcelo Maya)
- Near the Cancun Airport (only about a 15-minute taxi ride)
Neutral
- WiFi worked in most places on the property (in the hotel room, lobby, and the beach) but had frequent daily outages.
- Tianan Asian restaurant is mostly average. The chefs don't know how to make Japanese sushi or cook Chinese delicacies.
- Seaweed on the beach, trash in the water, murky water (swimming feels disgusting )
- Not a good place to snorkel
- Limited sea area space for kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding
- No Hobie cat (or other sailboats) rentals on the property
- Far from major theme parks like Xel-Ha, Xplor, and Xcaret
- Smelly seaweed near our room
- Constant problems with air-conditioning (two repairs required) before it was fixed
- Hot water was only lukewarm most of the time (useless for the hot tub). Hot water is only available in the morning.
- Hotel Safe stopped working, locking out my belongings
- ATM machine at the hotel dispenses dollars but with huge fees: $6.95 + 15% on the total. Don't use it unless you really have to. When withdrawing $80.00, I was charged $96!
- Nearby hotel construction is quite loud (near the Chil Restaurant)
- There is very little room for a beach walk, as the hotel is very narrow, and other nearby land is undeveloped and full of seaweed
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