Sea-foodie Heaven Part II

Ken's favorite dinner was at Mama Rosa's in Manta (Playa Murcielago area) - he had the swordfish, grilled. Yes, that was one delicious piece of fish. He let me have a bite or two:

Very buttery, garlic seasoning, it was YUMMY. Whole swordfish meal, about $8.

I had the 'sweaty' (steamed) swordfish with grapefruit. It was very good, but Ken is right, his was better.

We walked to Mama Rosa's from our hotel just a few blocks down the same street (Flavio Reyes), and even though it was dark (the horrors!) we were just fine. There was a security guy outside one of the buildings on the street, and even our hotel had a security guy at the door. Saturday night in Manta, whoo!

Anyhow, we arrived at the restaurant, and were greeted very warmly by our server, who said we could sit wherever we wanted. We picked a table with a birds-eye view of the entry, and also to take advantage of the breeze. Nice atmosphere, a tad dark for my old eyes but we managed just fine....hey, I got the sweaty swordfish, right?

The server took our drink orders, and almost immediately brought us a champagne glass with a sparkling cocktail - how sweet! It was gratis, and that set the mood for some fun:

Me after a glass or three of wine.....

Fantastic fresh meal, highly recommend Mama Rosa's, not for the Italian food, but for the fish. Service was spot-on, nice bar area, pretty decor, has a note of elegance, enjoyable music. Would be a great place for a big celebration or a quiet romantic dinner.


MY favorite dinner: Rocka's in Salinas. I know, I know, it isn't seafood, but wow, the meats have this wonderful smoky flavor, and it was a nice change from ceviche and fish, which of course I could eat (and did eat) every day. They are located on a side street, ask a local and they can point the way, or better yet, follow your nose. I'm serious!

Really really (really) good grilling skills these guys have:

Grill master on the right, he was so nice and explained each item

Pappas y Carne pictured above, smothered in queso, below is the mixed grill of chorizo, beef and chicken with two dipping sauces.

 The potato is so freaking good!!!!

 Ken's chuleta - thin piece of pork grilled to perfection, he liked the chimichurri type sauceThe corn - ahhh, sweet and I could eat several!

 Above left - chuleta on the grill, right, the grill master's assistant

Plaintains with queso - the one thing we didn't try!

Food was kept under wraps - nice touch!

Rocka is only open for dinner, the restaurant is open for lunch but not the grill. Go for the grill!! When we arrived, it was a Friday night, and the evening was young. Maybe around 7. Disco and 80s music playing, I was 'chair' dancing and the gals by us started giggling. Hmmm. Well then they started moving a bit, the music was fun, and you HAD to dance to it! And....it was in English. The place started filling up and filling up quickly, with locals. Plenty of families, young couples, and the atmosphere was fun and friendly.

Rocka is a bit different from most places. It is outside, and the grill and caja (cashier) are on opposite sides, with the tables all in between. Snag a table, then go to the cashier and place your order and pay. Take your receipt to your table, and the server will go to the grill and get your food. Service is super quick, and we placed several orders, wanting to try many things. Their homemade aji sauce had a nice kick to it, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but their chimichurri sauce was super yummy! 

They have a reputation of running out of food (because they are so popular), so I am glad we were able to try most items - I think we tried too much because we were SO FULL!! And, our dinner was around $11 for two of us, including our drinks (beer, soda). Very affordable. We slowly made our way back to the hotel, hoping the long walk would help digest the enormous amount of food we consumed! We WILL go back.

Hasta luego, chao chao, and all the good stuff,

Tami

Sea-Foodie Heaven-Part I

Seafood galore on the coast. Fresh, too. Out of all the meals we had, not one dish had 'old' seafood. Nothing 'fishy' going on here except the freshness of it.

We had fabulous and/or just plain yummy meals in Manta, in Bahia, Puerto Lopez, Jama, Salinas and Guayaquil. For this post, I am selecting just a few of my all time favorites, meals I would eat over and over again.

MY favorite meal was ceviche camerone at El Muelle Uno in Bahia. Top dog, could PIG OUT all day on this stuff:

They serve the delicious plantains with these awesome(!) sauces:

The green one was a pesto mayo type sauce, great for dipping the perfectly crispy plantains. The aji had tomato, onion and some peppers - very spicy/picante, and my favorite. The other sauce was a slightly sweet sauce, a cross between a BBQ and a sweet & sour sauce. It would be good on meats. Or for those that are not into spicy.

Our (Ken and I are in total agreement on this one) favorite almeurzo/lunch, hands-down was in Puerto Lopez at a little place called Dona Elsie. It is run by a Colombian family, and we ended up eating there twice, it was that good!

 For $3 each we got: a pitcher of fresh juice - I watched the son make it in the blender, and each day it was different. Soup with dorado and yuca, and our secundo was a tun (tuna) in coconut, mildly spiced, yet very flavorful. The sides were typical of an almeurzo - rice and a salad.

Fresh hot soup, I put homemade aji sauce in it, yum yum yum:

Fresh squeezed juice:

And, our secundo:

Who says Ecuadorian food is bland? Some of it, yes, just like in the US (mushy veggies, yuck). We found the food to be very flavorful, and if you like heat, like me (love spicy anything and everything), most places have plenty of hot sauce, all the places we went to except one had homemade aji and it was fun trying out different versions.

If you are a seafood lover, you will be in heaven on the coast. Everything is very fresh, caught that morning fresh, and the families are proud of what they serve. When we complimented a dish, usually the cook/chef heard it, looked up and smiled. We were treated very well with gracious service, the bills were accurate, and many places did not charge us the tax (service charge yes, but not tax) - we were paying with cash, small bills please, and they appreciated that.

Go to Ecuador with an open mind and empty stomach. The foods, just like the people, are beautiful.


Tune in next time for......Part II
Our favorite dinner was at Rocko's in Salinas - hands down the best grilled meats, pappas stuffed with carne, and the corn........


Hasta luego, chao chao, and all the good stuff,
Tami

Found our Future Home

This post will be short, due to the extensive travel over the past week or so. We got in last night, er, um, this morning around midnight, we both went to 'work' today, and bottom line, we are exhausted. Long drives, long flights, and an amazing trip to Ecuador....well worth the hassle of travel.

Last year we took a trip to Salinas and visited surrounding areas. Loved it. Had a blast. This trip, we wanted to explore some other areas of the coast before deciding exactly 'where' to plant our feet. And, we decided to try using public transportation, to see if 'we could do it.' Crazy, yes. But, even though it is a pain to take the chicken bus, and dangerous according to some, it was a great adventure, and we are even more confident next time we are left at the side of the road in a strange city...that we are SUPPOSED to get off here and find another bus to get on, that will eventually take us to our desired destination." Yes, that sounds about right.

So, after traveling to: Guayaquil, Manta, being dropped off in Rocafuerte (didn't know where we were until we asked, lol....story coming later, it's a riot)....Jipijapa (pronounced hippy-hoppa-SERIOUSLY), Bahia, San Vicente, Puerto Lopez, Las Tunas, Canoa, Jama, all places in between, and Salinas....then back to Guayaquil.....we have found our future home.  

Drumroll please ------- Bahia. Yep, that little city between the Pacific Ocean and Chone River. New bridge that connects Bahia to the northern coast..... little sleepy Bahia aka Mayberry. Yep, both of us actually agreed on a city!! Lights, camera, action, we need to get this documented - we BOTH agree where we want to move.....and of course we are not in agreement as to when. Me, I want to move NOW. Ken, he is more patient. Of course. He is the model adult, I am the pain in the ass 'want to do it now' kind of gal. We are perfect together :)

Future posts, complete with pictures, will follow. Soon. Right now I need more (really good) wine, and relish in the fact I can #1 = brush my teeth with tap water instead of 'clean water' from a bottle, and #2 = flush my TP down the toilet. Oh, the little things we enjoy in life, heeeheeeheee.

Hasta luego, Chao chao, and all the good stuff,
Tami

Reservations, smeshervations...

As soon as we stepped foot back on US soil, Ken and I were already planning our next trip to Ecaudor. Flights were booked and confirmed, AND paid for before the end of 2011. Did I say PAID for? Yep. So imagine my surprise....

I had this nagging thought late one night - did I have seat assignments done on both flights? Hmmmm. I'm pretty sure I did that way back in December. I checked the printed out itinerary, and yes, I had. Nice. Now go back to sleep, Tami.

The next day went on as usual, but when I got home that evening, I still had this weird feeling I had better check our flights. Went online and typed in our reservation code. What???? Arriving in Quito? What???? Oh, there's Guayaquil, but what the heck - arriving late at night? What happened to arriving in the late morning? I was having a come-apart as they say in the South. Ken!!!!!!! He got on the phone with LAN, and of course there was 'nothing we can do, sorry."

For those of you reading this that have not yet traveled to Ecuador, or Latin American country, let me explain why this arrival time was so bothersome.

Reason #1 Traveling at night is a dangerous sport. I would rather go rock climbing and I am terrified of heights. Not only do busses get robbed at night, those drivers have a tendency, uh, to have a drink or three before their shift. They also have to dodge cows, pigs, rockslides, and all this on unlighted streets. So no thank you. I will travel during the day, and take pictures of the livestock roaming the streets.

Reason #2
We now have to spend the night in Guayaquil. More $$$ down the drain. This is really the pet peeve of mine. We do have reservations at Hotel Murali just a few blocks from the airport. So taking a taxi from the cooperative (taxi line at the airport) to the hotel will be fine, as we know where this hotel is, and if it were daytime we could walk, but alas....

Not everything is sour news though. Crap happens, it was just bothersome that the airline didn't notify us!! Glad we had time to make adjustments in our schedule. I cannot wait to embark on this journey, every step we take is one step closer to realizing our dream.

Our Route:
Our trip is extended by 1 day because of the flight mess. We are traveling up the coast from Guayaquil to Manta to Bahia, and back down to Puerto Lopez, possibly Montanita to visit friends, and then to Salinas for one night, and then back to Guayaquil. All of our travels will be by bus or taxi. We need to know if we can get by without a car, and this will also help our Spanish. Which sucks rocks, btw!

We have reservations at Hotel Murali, and from what I hear it will be a good experience. An expat friend recommended it, so glad she did, because I didn't want to take a taxi across town late at night. They will feed us breakfast the next morning, and we can then take our bags and walk to the bus terminal if the weather is nice outside. Off to the coast we go....

We are taking the executive bus (who knows which one, we will figure that out once at the Terminal Terrestre). We don't yet have reservations, but there are plenty of hotels in Manta, we will figure something out....living on the edge, love it (LOL)

I am very excited about the Bahia part of our trip, we will be staying in a nice B&B called Casa Grande. One of the expats made the reservations for us, which was such a help. I can't wait to dine at Puerto Amistad, the owner and chef is also from Alabama, and I look forward to hearing about his experiences living in Bahia. That, and enjoying fresh seafood and good wine.

We also have reservations at Hostel Mandala in Puerto Lopez., which is south of Manta. We will be there for two nights enjoying the beach. This will be the relaxing part of our adventure. In their pictures I noticed the mosquito netting over the bed. So no air conditioning, which is just fine by us, it will remind me of the Banana Azul in Costa Rica.

On our last night in Ecuador, we will be hanging out at Will's - Hostal Aqui, and enjoying the great food and friendship at Score Sports Bar. Wendy and I have a bottle of wine we need to consume! Oh, and their margaritas.....

The other nights we haven't planned out, we will fill in those blanks when the time comes.

Only a few more weeks.....getting super excited!!

Cheers, Tami

SOLD!

An interesting thing about changing ones life, at least for me, is not bringing my old life "stuff" with me. I am reading on various forums about how people MUST have their ALL things, they just can't depart without their whole house of furniture, pictures, knick-knacks (I call them crip-crap), and yes, I have a few of those crip-crap items too. I am NOT knocking their decisions. I am NOT thinking they are silly. But reading their posts and comments over the past year has got me thinking about what I am going to do with all my 'stuff.'

Last year we had researched getting a small container. Then maybe just a pallet or to share a truck or something with another couple. And now we are down to carrying a few footlockers along with our suitcases. Keep a few things in storage in Florida and we can (if we still want) pick up items on return trips to the US. Or make the kids bring them to us when they visit. It's interesting how perspectives change after making an exploratory trip, and then actually planning the move.

I do plan on bringing some items from my kitchen. I love to cook. Things many of you out there on the forums and who are already living in Ecuador have recommended to bring. Small appliances like my Vitamix, food processor, small food chopper, and some of my nicer cookware. I plan on selling pretty much my entire kitchen except for the small appliances. Hopefully they have plenty of wine glasses there in Ecaudor!

A select few photos are in the keep pile. Pictures of our travels to Costa Rica, my favorite is the collage of feet, yes our feet, that my husband gave to me a few years ago for my birthday. Pics of our feet all over Costa Rica, perched up overlooking the Pacific ocean sunset, buried in the black sand on the Caribbean, etc. Love that collage! Here are just a few:

Now, isn't that more interesting and memorable (at least for us, haha) than looking at a picture of a piece of furniture? Furniture can be replaced. Memories, priceless.

And of course a collage of our wedding in Barbados!

And pics of the kiddos, right now at 4 kids, 2 spouses and 3 grandchildren. 2 babies born last year alone. But I may sell the frames and buy those in Ecuador. I have seen some pretty frames there, and of course the prices are so much lower than in the US. Thank goodness for digital photos, my next big project is converting all our old prints to digital.

But what am I NOT keeping? My entire room filled with stamping supplies. Which brings me to the title of this post. SOLD! I sold ALL of my stamps. I had hundreds. Yes, every one of them! How freeing. Now I can post more items on Craigslist and my kitchen reno fund gets closer to the magic amount needed.

Christmas items. Sold a TON last year. Sold some more this year. I now have them all separated into what I am keeping (a small Rubbermaid box), versus what I am giving away to my kids or selling (several Rubbermaid containers!)

Not keeping: furniture. There's plenty in Ecuador. Closet filled with gorgeous designer (the good ones like Nicole Miller and Betsey Johnson) dresses. I'm going to take a few, just in case, but only a few. Taking over a dozen to the consignment shop next week! Crip-Crap. Many items are on Craigslist now. What the heck am I going to do with Swarovski crystal figurines. Really?

Just looking at the pictures above brings a smile to my face. I am so looking forward to the day I can not only snap a pic of us on the beach in Ecuador, but wake up to the sounds and sight of the beautiful ocean every single morning. Now, that's a memory I can't wait to make!

Tami

Here's to 2012

Had a great Christmas with my hubs and both boys, Alec (17) and...Christopher (23).  He lives in Richmond VA and flew down Thursday before Christmas and stayed until Monday late afternoon. I only get to see him a few times a year, so him coming 'home' for Christmas was a special treat. The fact he is in the hospitality industry (Chef) and he was able to get a few days off, wow. I know how hard it is being in the service/hospitality biz 'cause I rarely get a day off! And with Christmas falling on a Sunday, the next day it was back to work. Augh.

Usually on New Year's Eve I am helping out at one or two of my retailers, and helping out at night at one of my restaurants (I'm good at taking drink orders, haha). However, I decided that I needed some down time after busting butt for the last 5 weeks (I sell more wine and beer during December than in any other month). So NO deliveries until Friday this week...customers will just have to 'deal.' Wine Diva here needs FRIEND time!

For the first time in years, and I mean YEARS....I celebrated New Year's with friends. Normally I am so tired on New Year's Eve, I just crash. Not this year. We joined some close friends (we are known as the 'Blings') at a very nice country club (literally up the hill from where we live) and we rang in the New Year with fabulous food, great entertainment, and a classy environment to boot! No large crowds of drunks, just a few silly society women who had too many martinis, lol. I said there was good entertainment, right? :D My hubs was designated driver as always, and we all got home safe.

David (aka Zsa), me (aka Bella) and handsome hubs Ken (aka Armand)

Dave (professional Sinatra singer-very talented guy!), his wife Ginny, my best guy friend David and Fran (aka Kiddy)

Valerie (aka Coco), Ken, Becky (aka Bubbles), Joe (aka Dom) and Fran



Joe (aka Dom)

 Best Friend Wendy!

New Year's Day was fun, had a few friends over for traditional foods - gotta have those black-eyed peas and collard greens! I decided to get creative and made a few fun sauces: used home-made pear preserves blended with crisped bacon, sautéed onion and garlic, added a bit of dijon mustard, apple cider vinegar and bended it all then heated it. Served that with the herb crusted pork tenderloin. Made a second chutney/sauce with some home-made cranberry strawberry preserves and added balsamic vinegar - lovely with the smoked ham. A sweet-potato 'hash' with diced apple, onion, garlic and bacon was delish. We all had too much to eat, and spent the rest of the day and evening sitting by the fire drinking plenty of good wine and chatting. Such a lovely day!!

Today - catching up on chores, putting away rest of Christmas decorations, hanging out with my handsome hubs, playing with my new iPad2, and gearing up for the work week that starts tomorrow. Back to the grind!

Booked for May but Ready Today!

Ken and I usually give each other gifts for Christmas that are useful - like our flat screen TV we've had for 3-4 years, our backyard 'wall' project, and our trips overseas. We are fairly practical people, and it just makes sense to spend our money on things that we both enjoy, instead of a bunch of knickknacks, just for the sake of 'giving gifts.'


One of the first things we decided upon our return from Ecuador...we wanted to return TO Ecuador. As soon as possible. So this year our Christmas present to each other is a trip to Ecuador! And.....drumroll..... our flights are booked for May 2012. This will be our 'let's look at the details' and also get a feel for areas of the coast we didn't get a  chance to check out so diligently as we did Salinas. Ya never know, we might decide the humidity and large bugs are to our liking (don't think so). 


Speaking of large bugs, last night my dear husband and 17 year old son Alec decided to have some fun with me and his 'friend-that-isn't-a-girlfriend' - yet. Ken brought out the big boys - these stupid large plastic roaches that look like the real deal. Complete with antennae and legs, and....they look real. Take my word for it. They are freaky looking, large things that, well, freak me out. Yes, I screamed like a little girl. Alec's 'friend' was more woman than me, she held her own, until they put one on her shoulder that is....


Anyhow, I really don't care for the gigantic cockroaches, the kind they have in Florida and most tropical places. I can deal with regular bugs, but those things give me the heebee-geebees. They jump at you, not away from you. Ugh.  So, for me, I think the Salinas area, with its dry desert-like dry (some say ugly/barren) terrain, fits me just fine. It has the ocean. It has sand and a few palm trees. I can live with that.