But one I will cherish for as long as I live.
I never prepped for it. Wanted to let the place reveal itself to me. So I didn't know the baggage that Mexico carried in the eyes of some Americans.
Donald Trump's recent rants about Mexicans is very telling. There is a perception about Mexico generally being a crime infested backward country. Much later I got a lot of "whyyyyy" and "wasn't it dangerous???"
Why? Duty. Wasn't it dangerous? No.
At least not in the city itself. All I knew was Mexico City was not on a Singaporean's travel radar. So I was quite happy to be an ambassador.
The city constantly surprised me.
From the back alleys that had little gems. To the realization that the world's richest man, Carlos Sim is himself a Mexican and his influence was everywhere. I also learned that Mexico City was bursting with museums. All world class. And that art was everywhere. And so were the weekend markets. And free wifi.
Mexico City had so much to offer that the problem you would have was deciding what to do in a day. Like New York City where it would not be likely to exhaust all dining options in a lifetime, it would be impossible to not have something to do at any single moment in this city.
Mexico City had activities that not only was seasonal, they were also geographical. Each suburb had its own character and pull. Each had its own flavor and type of people (read: one suburb was known to be full of self entitled uber rich White Jews whose kids literally ran the malls). You could spend a day just doing one thing in one suburb, just because the city was that big.
In one suburb, dog walking was another thing to do. Mexicans love their pets. And that was even represented on street markings! Some of the best clubs, surprise surprise, were apparently in the gay neighborhood. It was like walking down Chelsea. It was that open.
Mexico City is incredibly LGBT friendly. And if memory does not fail me, it is legal there as well. I saw so many gay and lesbian couples walking hand in hand, some kissing in public, and NO ONE batted an eyelid. It was liberating to feel that sense of freedom and equality that does not exist in other places like the GCC countries, parts of the US and even Singapore.
Bike riding was a big deal. Like NYC and other European cities, they had eco bikes for rent. And in the weekend, Sundays I believe, the entire stretch of Avenue Juarez all the way to the Zocalo was closed for cyclists and rollerbladers. The weekend was an opportunity to check out young and uber fit Mexicans do their thing and show off their beauty. And there were lots. It was like going to Central Park in summer. Hot bods galore!
For history buffs, parts of Mexico City was built on top of an actual ancient Mayan city. You literally could either go into a museum to experience it, or just look down beneath the glass sidewalks in the Zocalo to see pyramid blocks. Amazing.
For anyone who fanned fear into my face, there was no need. Security forces were everywhere at all times. You could not miss them. There was something comforting about it. Mexico City seemed kinda welcoming to foreigners, although it would help a lot to speak Spanish. I even found a street with Korean restaurants. Koreans were setting up shop and home there in a big way.
There will be more to talk about, and I will as accompanying text to other videos. But I will say this.
I always travel to experience a different lifestyle from ground up. I thought since Mexico was SO far from Asia, I could avoid meeting another Singaporean, and hearing Singlish and seeing them expect the level of efficiency that we have taken for granted at home, in the countries they visit.
Can you imagine how I felt when I bumped into 30 of them in the city, complaining about theater tickets?
OMG.
That's another story for later.
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