Tag Archives: activities

NBA Players in Mazatlán’s LoboDome

The boys are excited! For 350 pesos (the equivalent of about US$30) we have court-side seats to see 20 NBA players up close and personal (intimate venue) this evening in the LoboDome. 


Our state governor, Mario López Valdez, arranged for them to come down to Mazatlán to play an exhibition game while they are off the court in the US due to labor negotiations. The NBA stars signed autographs and were available for photos this morning on the malecón, and are planning to do so again this evening prior to the game. They also were kind enough to provide free clinics for children here yesterday and today.

Players we should get to see tonight are:
  • Eduardo Nájara (Charlotte)
  • Steve Nash (Phoenix)
  • Jason Kidd (Dallas)
  • Paul Pierce (Boston)
  • Shawn Marion (Dallas)
  • Kevin Love (Minnesota)
  • Tyson Chandler (Dallas)
  • Marcus Camby (Portland)
  • Corey Maggette (Milwaukee)
  • Jarrett Jack (New Orleans)
  • Jordan Hamilton (Denver)
  • Jerryd Bayless (Toronto)
  • Earl Watson (Indiana)
  • Dahntay Jones (Indiana)
  • Anthony Randolph (Minnesota)
  • Hyland Jordan (Clippers)
  • Ryan Hollins (Cleveland)
  • Anthony Tolliver (Minnesota)
  • Dominic McGuire (Charlotte)

I’ll give you all an update on how it goes!



Link to Noroeste story “All Star Show“
Link to the story about how fast the tickets sold out 

This is the first part of a two-part story. For the second part click here.




 

Thai Cooking in Mazatlán with New (and Old) Friends

 

For three days recently Mazatlán was blessed with a lot of laughter (normal here) and a whole lot of wonderful Thai cooking (a blessing), with fresh ingredients and a trained chef in a GORGEOUS old ocean-view home with honest-to-God incredibly wonderful women.

We have terrific food here, but, having lived for a decade in both Tokyo and San Francisco, we don’t have the international variety I would like. I CRAVE good Moroccan, Ethiopian, Indian, lamb shish-kabob, a good borscht …. Ironically, we do have a terrific local Thai restaurant, Zab Thai, where we eat every once in a while and for which we are very grateful.

Anyway, when six months ago my friend Indra told me she’d taken some Thai cooking classes in a friend’s home, I made sure she gave me all the info! I cook a lot of Asian food at home, but I was sure I’d learn something new, and I was eager to check out the classes.

The classes are taught by Lis Maiz Rochin, a Mexican woman who lived in Southeast Asia for years and runs the Mibong restaurant in the Condesa neighborhood of the DF. Her husband is Mazatleco, so fortunately for us Lis comes here regularly. Though I doubt she will visit us again in the heat of September! That’s her on the right in the photo with me.

I wasn’t able to attend all three classes, since I am a working woman, but I made two of them. Each time we prepared four dishes, and walked out of class stuffed!

What I Loved Most
 

So, what did I love most about these classes? FISH BALLS! They rocked! I was really shocked to realize that I love these little things, order them all the time when traveling, but I’ve never made them at home. And they are so easy! And the dipping sauce we made was exquisite.

I was so so so so very psyched to see fresh (it may have been packaged, I’m not sure, but whole, real not canned) BAMBOO SHOOTS. Oh how I loved these in Japan, eating them as if they were candy! I soooooo miss them. And Lis brought some, and used them with abandon in the foods we prepared. Gotta love it!

Bamboo grows in Mazatlán, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed this until we used it, but if you know where in town I can buy fresh bamboo shoots, please let me know.

Giant fresh GINGER ROOT! Now ginger root I can buy here, and I often do. But these were soooo much fresher than what I normally find here in town, and they were gigantic! I brought some of the class leftovers home, sliced it up, and put it in the freezer so I’d always have some on hand.

I also was sooooo excited to see a bag of sticky rice for the first time in forever! I was lucky to be able to bring home the remainder of this bag, at left, and I plan to do my best to get some shipped from Coyoacán to us here in Mazatlán.

And what did we make with this mochi-gome? Mango sticky rice, of course! Mmmmmhhh!!! Calorie-, sugar-, and fat-free of course (lol).

So, okay Dianne, you loved your nostalgic trip through some of the foods you miss from Japan, finally available in Mazatlán. Anything else?

Yes, Lis had the most beautiful, and practical, Thai wooden mortar and pestle, which she used for making salad dressing. Take a look; that’s the wooden bowl and pestle there at the rear of the photo.

The thing I most loved about this class, though, was that the women attending it were truly awesome. I crave girlfriends who have international interests and passions, who are creative and fun, and boy did I find it with this crew!

Left to right we are Magda, me, Chika (I am sooooo excited to meet a Japanese woman who lives here in Mazatlán!!! FINALLY!!!! Hooray!!!), Erika, Lis our teacher, Manina our hostess, and my friends Nancy and Conchita.

 
What I Learned
 

What did I learn in this class? Well, embarrassingly enough, I learned that when we cut lemongrass, we should only cut the center, white, heart of the stalk. I always wondered why the stalks were so hard to cut! Oops! I know that lemon grass (té de limón) also grows here in town, so if you know a source, would you please let me know? I’d love to grow some on my balcony beside my beloved basil plant.

While I’ve eaten a lot of Southeast Asian desserts in my day, I never realized the terrific combo of pairing light/sweet/slimy lychee or rambutan with crispy/strong/bitter fried shallot. Definitely an inspired pairing!

There were of course many things I learned, such as to always remove the green “sprout” in the center of a clove of garlic, if you find one, as it’s bitter. One last learning that really stands out for me, though, is the cool cutter Lis had. I WANT ONE! Mis primas-hermanas or beloved sister-cousins: when I visit Indiana to see you in October please let’s find and buy a few of these. I promised the ladies here I’d try. Why is it so cool? Well…..

Look what it does! You can julienne mango or carrots or whatever, in the same quick and easy way you peel them! Gotta get me one of these gizmos.

Thanks for reading my post! I welcome your comments and especially your local ingredient and supply sources. You all, of course, know about Toyo Foods, up the right-side-fork of the street above Club Navy, next to the pescadería. They are a godsend.

 

Sunsets in Mazatlán/Atardeceres en Mazatlán

 

Many of you know how much we LOVE sitting on our terrace and watching the incredible light shows that God blesses us with each and every day. I often share the “sunset of the day” on my Facebook page, and they are some of the most-liked posts. So, I thought you might like to watch a slideshow of some of my favorite Mazatlán sunset shots. Enjoy! You can watch it in full screen and high definition if you’d like.

 

El Faro/The Lighthouse

At 160 meters above sea level, the El Faro de Mazatlán is said to be the highest naturally located lighthouse in the world. I don’t know for sure that this is true, but neither can I find evidence to contradict it (see my notes on Gibraltar at the end of this post). What I do know is that a hike up our beloved El Faro hill is WELL worth it. In every season of the year it is gorgeous!

The view from the top of the hill is of course SPECTACULAR. You can look west to the Sierras, out over the city and waterways of Mazatlán, or east to the vast expanse of the Pacific. It’s a great place to sit and have a picnic, and take some panoramic photos of the pristine beaches of Isla de la Piedra while they remain undeveloped.

Your hike up the hill will only take 15-20 minutes. There are plenty of people who run the route. It starts out as a dirt path, and higher up turns into about 300 concrete steps which wind their way around a few switchbacks. Each turn and each elevation provides you a different vantage, and all are delightful. It’s as pretty on a clear day as on the rare cloudy or rainy one.

You’ll see ferries, cargo ships, shrimping boats, fishing boats, party boats, sailboats, and pangas.

You start your hike on the east side of the port. This is where many of the fishing excursions and party boats load their passengers, and there are a few dry docks and boat repair facilities to catch your interest.

At the entrance to the lighthouse walk, at the base in front of the port, is a coconut seller. You might want to join him for some refreshment on the way up or down.

The flora and fauna on your hike will delight your senses. In the early spring the cacti bloom. The green contrasting with the brilliant blue of the ocean will make you so glad you came! In just about any season of the year you’ll see something flowering.



We climb the lighthouse hill at least once a week, we enjoy it that much. Two weeks ago I told everyone we were “Wasting Away Again in I-gu-a-na-ville,” because we saw at least eight different iguanas sunning themselves during our climb to the top. We saw lime green, deep green, yellow, orange, brown and black iguanas.

This week I had to change that to “Arañaville,” as the spiders were out spinning their webs in whatever direction you cared to look. It was incredibly gorgeous!

Along the route people have graffitied the stairs. Near the top of the stairs is one of my favorites: a Spanish lesson. It teaches the difference between “top” and “abyss,” which sound similar in Spanish (or at least the Mexican version of the language).

Once you reach the top, and after you take in the view to your heart’s desire, there is also a trail that takes you down behind the lighthouse, on the other side. There are several resting places, and a steep climb involving rope at one point that leads down to the water.

Here you can see our much-worshipped cervecería, the Modelo beer brewery, from lighthouse hill.

NOTE: The highest lighthouse in the world, some have told me, is the Europa Point lighthouse on Gibraltar. However, though the Rock of Gibraltar is 426 meters high, the lighthouse is located on the waterfront, not the top. There is only an aviation beacon at the top of the Rock of Gibraltar. Thus, I’m not sure how our local El Faro ranks globally. It may indeed be the highest.

Perfume de Gardenia

Who doesn’t love live theater, and last week it was even better because we were able to witness a bit of Mexican history and nostalgia, too. The traveling show “Perfume de Gardenia” was in town at the LoboDome. We (thankfully) went to the early show on Friday night. More about that later!

The show included fantastic costumes, great music, dancing, singing, fireworks, and a who’s who of 1950s-70s movie and telenovela stars. I didn’t know many of the stars, and enjoyed watching the audience almost as much as the show itself. So this blog post has been a good chance to learn a bit.

The musical is based on the song of the same name from the Mexican Tropical big band group, La Sonora Santanera. I recommend you hit the song link above, turn on the music, and listen as you read this post.

The band was terrific: a wonderful blast from the past and at the same time music we all still love to move to (danzón, mambo, bolero, cumbia, rumba, chachacha). They are definitely getting added to my playlists. La Sonora Santanera was of course founded in the 1950s by Tabascan trumpeteer Carlos Colorado Vera, who was killed in a traumatic accident in his band’s bus in 1986, while departing the Feria de San Marcos. These days it seems there are at least four groups similarly named, one including original survivors, one created by Carlos’ widow and daughter, etc.

The predictable Cinderella-like story is primarily a vehicle for the audience to relive the heyday of some of their favorite stars. It takes place in a nightclub called the Mamboo, and involves a poor and humble yet beautiful and good-hearted girl who works in the club selling cigarettes. Her name is Gardenia, and she is played by telenovela favorite Aracely Arámbura. She seems to be most famous for having dated Luis Miguel; at least that’s what most of my Mexican friends mention first.

The real stars of the show were not the younger actors/singers/dancers in their prime, but rather those who remain in the audience’s heart from decades past.

One huge favorite was María Victoria, who played Gardenia’s mother. At 78 years old she still has an incredible voice as well as quite a trim figure! From Guadalajara, she is most famous for having played the maid “Inocencia” in a 1970s television show. When she appeared on stage the audience erupted in joy and applause. It was honestly delightful. María Victoria wore her trademark “mermaid” dresses (my term for her tight-tight-tight dresses with a flared “tail” at the hem).

One of the big older male draws was Michoacan-born movie and telenovela star Julio Aleman, who played Gardenia’s godfather, Don Ferrucho. Don Ferrucho’s best friend, Don Pedrito, was played by Alejandro Suarez.

60s and 70s Dominican-born sex symbol Andrés García was one of my faves. He played Abundio Sandoval, a famous politician and Mamboo Club regular who even in his old age successfully romances the Club’s star dancer, Miranda. It was classic machísmo at its charming best!

Which brings me to my personal favorite of the evening: Niurka Marcos. She played Miranda Mour, the sexy singing-dancing cabaret star of the Mamboo who gives Gardenia her big break. While I don’t usually go for bombshells, she was just so very comfortable dancing her heart out in only pasties and a thong. The Cubana seemed perfectly suited to her role.

Most of the Mazatlecos I spoke with, however, couldn’t stop talking about “la rubia,” Argentine Roxana Martinez.

Safety and Logistics
Okay, enough of my learning curve about the stars of the show. I also want to comment on some of the logistics. We have some terrific events here in Mazatlán. But, it is my sincere hope that organizers will start to place a higher priority on audience safety.

  1. The most frightening thing for me was the exit: there was one door. It was a double door, but one side of it was blocked shut by cables. So, 1500 people attempted to exit through one very normal sized door. It was not pretty. What would have happened in an emergency? I guess we could have exited through the entrance as well, but there were 1500 more people out that way, waiting to get in.
  2. As we exited, we were walking over light and sound cables taped all over the gym floor. It was so crowded we could not see the floor. There were a lot of older people in the crowd. Most everyone tripped at least once. It was truly a safety hazard.
  3. We guess there were about 1500 people in the LoboDome Friday night. There was ONE restroom for women, and another for men. The women’s restroom had, at best, five stalls. The entrance to the women’s restroom was very narrow — maybe two people could pass in its corridor. But, someone had left a floor polishing machine in the middle of the entrance, so all the women going to the restroom had to climb over it to get in and out! The line was unbelievable. To remedy this, the organizers had placed port-a-potties in the lobby! And, mind you, tickets for this show ranged in price from about US$30 to nearly $100.
  4. The fireworks displays during the show were gorgeous: really, really exciting and beautiful. However, we were in an enclosed space and there was a whooooooole lot of smoke with very little ventilation. My eyes and throat burned for two days afterwards.

I know my community can do better than this! We owe it to the citizens of Mazatlán to raise our safety standards!

And, by the way, why did I say earlier that I was glad we had gone to the early show? The late show was supposed to start at 9:30. We didn’t even leave the first show until maybe 10:15 — 45 minutes past the programmed start of the second show. The venue staff still had to clean up all the trash (vendors walked through the stands as at a sporting event, selling drinks, popcorn and snacks), rearrange the chairs on the floor, and reset the stage. I imagine the earliest that the 9:30 show started was 11:30. I know locals are much more flexible with time than is my German-American mind, but I am so glad I wasn’t standing in line waiting all that time. This is a touring show. Organizers, please include instructions to local venues about how long the show really lasts, and how long it will take to reset the theater for a second show!

Entertainment in Mazatlán
Greg and I were very happy we attended “Perfume de Gardenia.” It was a very enjoyable evening. It also showed us, yet again however, how very fortunate (and spoiled) we are here in Mazatlán. Both of us felt that the quality of the dancing we have here locally, be it Delfosmodern dance or the ballet, is of a higher quality than what we saw in this touring national show. The band was terrific, but no better than the Mambo Café band we danced with live (and free) in the streets of Olas Altas last June. I thank goodness for special events like this, and I also thank my lucky stars that we have outstanding local talent to enjoy all year long.