Trip Report VLog: Mexico City - Culture

There is a richness in Mexican culture that is palpable. You can almost taste it. It is diverse, varied, colorful, and at times alarming to the uninitiated. The appreciation for creativity and aesthetics can be seen in elaborate works of art, as well as the most humble of handicrafts.

Visitors who go beyond their Mayan past will benefit from the understanding that culture in the country isn't made up of a single influence.

There is no one take on anything. Not their national dress, not their pottery and handicraft, not their music. I liken it to a really good curry. It takes a whole lot of ingredients that can be conflicting and unusual, but they all form one great dish.

I was visiting a weekend market with my host. I told her I watched The Book of Life on the plane into Mexico. We had an interesting conversation about the icon of the Day of the Dead, La Calavera Catrina. She said that Mexicans find her beautiful and elegant. I told her all I saw was a skeleton in a gorgeous dress and a big floppy hat. It took me a while to see her from another point of view.

Like in most cultures, death isn't the end. In Mexican pagan belief, the departed carry on in a different world. But they can disappear if those left behind don't keep their memories alive. It is a beautiful thought, personified by a skeleton of a beautiful lady. She is as vital in the nether world as she must have been in this one.

Metaphysical concepts here belie the nature of the people. I learned that prior to Christianity's entry into the country, there was no concept of the devil or evil incarnations. The devil depicted in scenes from the Tree of Life was usually just a playful demon, a character that if anything is like a naughty kid who played pranks. Does it not tell you something about the indigenous population?

Unlike some societies today that rape their own land, Mexicans use and replenish their resources. I was amazed to see how the cactus could be a source of water, drink, food, shelter, handicraft and even clothes. I was given a needle that was made from its root. And believe me is IS sharp.

Each territory within Mexico is famous for a certain product. Whether silver production or intricate embroideries, they are all of very high standards. A shop keeper in a market commented how sharp my eye was in noticing which of her embroidered blouses were the best of the lot. I had no clue that the ones I was appreciating costed hundreds of dollars and took months to make. It was very hard to leave her store with nothing in my hand. It is worth noting that purchasing a locally made product (I did end up buying a hand crafted leather bag), means giving a sustainable livelihood to very talented artisans living in some of the poorest regions in the country.

I was surprised to hear that the richest man in the world is Mexican. Even more surprised that, perhaps either as an act of love and/or ego, he gifted a magnificent museum to his wife. She is a well known lover of art, and she just needed a place to store them. So they figured, why not share it with the people. And while they were at it, they decided to design the museum like something out of a sci-fi movie. Gorgeous modern architecture.

Like many museums, the Museo Soumaya is free for Mexicans. And fortunately for everyone else too. I noticed that unlike many prestigious museums around the world, there weren't so many security guards or glass cases to protect the work. And just from my observations, they didn't need them. Mexican visitors were so respectful of the work that there was no fooling around or brash behavior.

I started to understand how art and culture was in their blood.

It is easy to get inspired in this city. There is so much originality and depth, founded on centuries of evolution, that it carries its own voice. Yet, if the Kpop craze in Mexico is anything to go by, the people are still evolving and accepting of global influences.

I think that is my takeaway about Mexican culture.

It has a vibrant energy that at once is deeply rooted in its past, yet open enough to welcome the future.

Trip Report VLog: Mexico City 2015

It was an unexpected trip.

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.

Trip Report VLog: Lufthansa 747-8i Business Class Upper Deck Frankfurt to Mexico + Lounge!

So I am getting the hang of making video reports. It is soooo much easier and more fun to put pictures into a video format!

Still, you can't put in all the info unless you do voice overs or something. So I will still have to depend on writing, just a bit.

Imagine arriving around 6 am and having your next flight at past 1 pm. In FRA. OMG. I knew I had to come up with some plan to avoid boredom.  The lounge is nice, but it isn't the most interesting lounge on the planet.

So I decided upon arrival to go through the hassle of immigration and get out to land side. For reasons I still can't understand, I thought it was a good idea to go into the city and maybe do some shopping. Of course I would forget that shops would not open until say 10 am, and that it would be brrr cold outside and  of course I would forget to bring the right clothes. Plan B it was. To get into the arrivals lounge (since I was not air side anymore). Thought I could shower, and have breakfast.

Well.

LH Arrivals lounge, I was soon to learn, was only for people coming off LH flights. Star Alliance Gold status would not get you in. Even if your flight was LH coded but operated by another carrier.

So what else was there to do?

Shop at the Worldshop for LH Rimowa luggage. Always wanted a matching carry on. Met a Singaporean lady there who was raving about how she compared prices in Singapore and how cheap it was in Germany. My shopping experience took a few hours after I learned that my luggage was a little damaged and I had to go back and exchange it.

I did think of doing the airport tour but they had limited slots and I couldn't make it work. So it was back through immigration and security. FRA is just bad with security. They always find something to gripe about. This time it was my Bose mini sound link. They literally hauled me away, put the damn thing in a box before deciding it wasn't a terrorist tool. The only upside to this experience was the officer, who was a stunner, made a pass at me. Er hm.

The rest of the time was spent in the lounge, where I chatted with the friendly bartender from the Philippines and ate average food. Tried to nap, just couldn't do it.

Boarding was easy. If I wanted to I could even use the pass noted in my iPhone. LH is good for such things. Very integrated and seamless, unlike some other airlines.

On board, the service was professional. Of course it would never be like Asian hospitality. But the ladies were pleasant enough, and they fed us all enough to not warrant any call bell.

Note: I had the first row, upper deck. The beauty of the Dash 8 is of course the extended upper deck. So it should be your first choice. And because it is single aisle up there with limited seats, it does tend to be quieter. I know because I have sat in the main deck business class too. Not pleasant.

First row however meant that your IFE monitors would be cramped together. But lucky me, I was alone in that row. Guess most HON members prefer the full seat set up with all the cubby holes etc.

Catering was of course better than pre-new business class days. And because this was the Dash 8 the service was upgraded. I must say the food wasn't bad at all. And in some respects even better than SQ. Except for the welcome nuts. In a packet, not in a bowl, and not warm. Terrible.

There were two meals on this flight. Lunch and pre-landing dinner, which was an abbreviated version. Single tray service whereas the lunch was course by course.

Amenity kit was from Samsonite. Well the bag at least. Nice, considering what LH used to give out.  Anything missing from the kit you can get from the restrooms.

The flight was uneventful, except that someone from two rows back kept eyeing me, and even shamelessly made several trips to the lavs in the front. It wouldn't take a genius to know that I was er hmm being desired.

The immigration process was simple and quick. And everyone was friendly and used whatever English they knew to welcome me into their country. It was a good start to what would be a hectic trip.

Enjoy the video!

Trip Report: Singapore Airlines Business Class SIN-FRA

Flight:  SQ26
Route:  SIN - FRA
Equipment:  A388
Class:  Business

So it was time to go on an exciting trip, one that would be be 23 hours of flight time, more when you consider the layover in FRA.  Even more exciting was the fact that my itinerary would be flown on SQ and LH, with the latter on the 747-8i.  I had flown that aircraft before and in my opinion is sexier than the A388, so I welcomed the opportunity to fly her again.

Anyway:

Got out of the SKL and took the short walk to gate A4 right below it. That's the thing I love about flying SQ to Europe. You can stay in the lounge to just about the last minute before making your way to the plane.  Priority boarding has less value because of it.

Anyway, it was a pretty standard SQ C flight. It wasn't all that full in business class, which was nice. The dude in 11A looked like someone I worked with in television before (read: AG), and he was pretty friendly. Especially since he didn't mind me taking pictures of his 11A for archive purposes. I was interested to know for sure if that seat would be a hassle since  it was so close to the galley.  In the end, I didn't think it was so bad, although it was true that the crew was efficient in making their rounds, and therefore had to exit from the galley through here.  If you are a light sleeper, avoid.

That was why I chose 15A. Not too close to the galley, not too far from the lavs. Although the cubbie hole for the feet was nothing compared to 11A's full ottoman. Ah well, first world problems.

Meals were ok too. Didn't want to be adventurous so stuck to the tried and true: Lobster Thermidor. My BTC from LHR was underwhelming. So even though SQ sized down the lobster, YES WE NOTICED SQ, it was still delicious enough to have again and again.  Still, the BTC menu hasn't changed much for years. And one would think with the competition from the Gulf carriers, SQ would try to up its game. Hmm.

Nasi Lemak was a safe bet for breakfast. Again BTC. But SQ's is nothing compared to MH's. Of course.

Crew was ok. Which means excellent for other airlines. But for us, it means nothing to write home about. I did get some more toys from them. And of course all my regular magazines. Vogue, Business Traveler, Men's Health...so I was happy.

Anyway enjoy the video of the flight. It is my first attempt. Didn't realize that after years of Final Cut Pro how easy iMovie was LOL....