Sunday, November 23, 2008

PUERTO RICO DIARIES

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Follow your Bliss. The bottle and the card was the first thing I saw when I entered my room at Hotel El San Juan and that is what I did on all my days in Puerto Rico. In this post I want to highlight a few "To Do"s when there. PR has beautiful beaches, the people are very friendly and helpful & the weather is perfect. I wish I had more days.

  

 

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After sipping Mimosas on the beach all day long we finally got off our butts to the first "To Do" which is a visit to the Bio Luminescent Bay; It takes about an hour to get to Fajardo Biobay from San Juan. You will kayak through the sea and a mangrove forest in pitch dark to get to a beautiful lagoon that glows - absolutely breathtaking and unique. You can also visit Vieques, Puerto Rico for the Biobay experience.         

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We took in some culture food and drink on Day 2. Old San Juan is a must visit. Going down the winding cobblestone streets takes you back to the days gone by. Take a Taxi to Old San Juan – get dropped off at one of the main squares and then just explore. One of the streets that you should definitely wander through is Del Cristo – rather steep but full of fun shops, bars & restaurants. Some other spots in OSJ are: Plaza de San Jose, La Fortaleza, San Juan Cemetery, Castillo de San Felipe.

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Food & Drink in Old San Juan: Definitely stop by at Nono’s which is at the top of Del Cristo street; they make great margaritas on the way up to Nono’s you will find El Batey which is a fun grungy bar. Right next to Nono’s is El Patio de Sam, go there for some fantastic Puerto Rican Food – we ordered the Mofongo Relleno and the Beef Steak Encobollado – Yummm ! Cafe Princesa is worth a stop, they usually have live music playing.    

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The Nightlife: We did not do much nightlife stuff on this trip. The Water Club Hotel has a very cool roof-top lounge from where you have a view of the the beach on one side and the city on the other; it has a cool (blue) vibe. The hotel we were staying at had VERY happening bars and clubs. So if you want to party it up I suggest a visit to El San Juan Hotel.

Puerto Rico is lovely – beautiful beaches – three days was too little time. I am definitely going back.    

Saturday, November 8, 2008

ONIONS

Onions
I love to cook and I love to eat ! I cook Indian food for the most part and Onions always go into almost any Indian dish. This picture was taken in Mexico City; we were cooking with a chef at his restaurant Pujol - which you must visit if your there. Here is a link to more pictures of cooking in Mexico City.