Austin, Texas: Star of India

Just got back from a great dinner at Star of India. It's one of the best places to eat in Austin, Texas. I'd recommend hitting this buffet if you're on the north end of Austin, Texas. The buffet costs $11.00 plus tax and tip. For those of you who know me better, you'd say that I'm only interested in the price and the quantity of food.

This is not the case... at least here. I've been eating here consistently for years now. The quality of the food is ALWAYS great.  The Austin Chronicle agrees with me. They award the best restaurants every year. Star of India has gotten their awards before.

If you get on MOPAC going north of downtown Austin, go about 10 miles and turn right on Anderson Lane. Look for the restaurant on the north (lefte side) of the street abouth 1/2 mile from your turn. It's a buffet every day for lunch and dinner. The food is phenomenal. You won't be dissapointed.

Regards,

Ben

www.esotericvision.com

One thing good about the USA...

MEAT.  Good old fashioned red meat.  Well marbled red meat. What I was really doing was testing out my new CF cards that I got on the cheap at Fry's Electronics. Damn. The 8 Gb CF Kingston cards were about $18.00 each. Another good thing about the USA is cheap electronics. They are definitely not the fastest cards around but damn they are cheap and they do work..... consistently.

I'll probably always have to migrate up to Texas once a year if not just to shop. I'm not sure that I have a choice in the matter. All the stuff I need is really just a lot less expensive here. I will, however, make sure that I gain at least a few pounds while visiting. Americans really don't know the bounty  and incredible quality enjoyed here. 

Anyway, back to MEAT. I found some steaks on sale yesterday. I bought three 1 1/2 pound rib steaks for about $12.00. Wonderful isn't it? I've eaten two in less than 24 hours with a BLT, a hamburger, and a 12 oz. pack of bacon. I'm going to die of gout and I'm quite pleased with myself.

It's a bit fast here but gas is cheap!

I've been back in Cedar Park, Texas just north of Austin, Texas for about 10 days. It's a bit fast for me here since I've been spending most of my time south of the border.  All I've done since being back is repair and tweak stuff like my truck, electronics, camera gear, or just my body.  I'm finally getting caught up! NOW I can start getting back to photography.

With Christmas approaching, I expected to see more Christmas cheer in the general public. That's not going to happen. Everyone scurrying around like ants with tunnel vision to get their little world in order. Rush, Rush, Rush. It might as well be Labor Day or the Fourth of July. Why am I one of the few smiling?

As I drove on Mopac and I-35 today, it reminded me of a race track more than anything else. I was ripping down the highway at 85 mph and keeping up with traffic on I-35.  Perhaps it was motivated by the gas prices or just that Christmas rush rush rush. One good point though,  I saw two signs posting prices of $1.38 a gallon! Tomorrow I'm going to get out and take some pictures and drive really really fast fast fast.

Regards,

Ben

www.esotericvision.com

Back in Texas...

I've been back in Austin, Texas for a bit over a week now. I don't like cold weather. Everyone I've known to go south always said horrible things about the hot season in Central America but I find it much more bearable than freezing conditions.

Yesterday I met one of my friends Bret Franson at Reimer's Ranch for some climbing. I met a whole new crew and it was refreshing. I didn't climb because I didn't have an interest but did take a few shots. I was waiting for some good old fashioned drama like someone cratering. Never happened. The shot above is really the hippie climbing next to us. Oh well.

The weather was actually warm yesterday. I broke out in a sweat a couple of times. This morning it's back to normal though. Cold. It was nice to hangout with this crew too. I was invited to head to Mexico with them over New Year's Eve. I think I'll do it. I've given up on meeting friends south of the border for Christmas. I'm waiting for my new camera to come in. I'll probably be here for awhile.

Regards,

Ben

www.esotericvision.com

Obstacle Course

Driving in Mexico is an interesting event. I just finished driving from Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico to Aquismon, San Luis Potosi, Mexico.  The whole thing took me 12 hours yesterday and 15 hours today. It should be slightly less next time since I wasn't familiar with this new route from Poza Rica to Aquismon by going through the mountains. The tolls add up to about $600.00 pesos or about $50.00 USD with the current exchange rate and the gas was about $1400.00 pesos or about $125.00 USD.   

One of the notable things about driving in Mexico is the obvious lack of standardization. This seems to wreak havoc with drivers from industrialized nations. You should beware if you are the latter.  Between yesterday and today I dodged a cow, several piles of unknown debris, numerous construction sites and workers, parked vehicles, oncoming vehicles, carts, people, small boulders, missing road, and  very large pot holes.

Let’s take the example of the “pot holes”. I really mean holes over six feet deep,  twice as wide, and three times as long. It was big enough to swallow your vehicle whole. Think about looking over to the shoulder of the road and seeing this dark mass creeping onto the highway marked by two small orange cones. I probably couldn’t count the number of smashed cones I’ve seen on freeways in the United States. We’d have a line of cones about ¼ mile long for this hazard.

Yes, I do understand that this stuff happens in industrialized nations but very with this frequency. It can be nearly constant at times but it’s usually not that bad. You will get very used to seeing this all. It can catch you off guard if you’re not familiar with it. Taking your eyes off the road of a few seconds can easily land you in the hospital around here.

Regards,

Ben Kim

Never a dull moment

This place is nuts. Last night one of my friends here was "evicted" by his ex-wife (aka: "the bitch").  Actually he's part owner in a really nice beach house here in Tulum. This seems to be an ongoing saga of seven years. Everyone here seems to think the process was pretty much illegal and he'll get the property back. However, it does show some really crazy shit here in Tulum when it comes to property. 

It doesn't seem difficult for a person with any flimsy reason to come in with a court order and evict someone. So far I've heard of the following:

1.  The army called in to evict hotel guests in several hotels because the national park system has claim to land.

2.  The infamous ex-wife invaded the beach house property twice. She was unsuccessful the first time and successful the second time (so far).

3.  The family of a dead drug lord claiming property and going in and taking it back from a local hotelier and keeping it.

4.  A neighboring land owner invading a hotel (under construction) twice and finally getting kicked out.

It's like a perverse game of "King of the Hill".  It's a grand game where each opposing side gathers together an "invasion team", gets a flimsy document of some sort, and moves in. I don't think it's like this everywhere but here the property is worth millions for a tiny parcel of land by saltwater.

Regards,

Ben

Flying over Tulum...

view Panoramic photography of Mexico



Nothing will clarify a geographic area in your mind better than a flight over an area. I recommend it if it's in your budget. It's not in mine but I was lucky enough to be included in this little trip with RJ of REMAX Paradise Properties. 

Some people don't like small planes but I love the feeling of flopping around in the air like a bug hanging on to the tail of a kite! You recognize that you're not in a developed country when they offer to take off the door of the plane so you can take better pictures. No safety instructions are given. It's up to you to have enough sense to use a seat belt. I've included an arial shot of the Tulum Ruins below. Life is good without a door on your plane.

We cruised from Playa del Carmen along the coast to Tulum and circled the area a bit inspecting a client's property. The city of Tulum definitely has plans to expand the area. It will be another Playa del Carmen in a few years. The one thing I'll probably remember is the different shades of blue in the ocean extending hundreds of miles. You can see the city of Tulum in the background here with the Tulum ruins in the middle right along the coastline.

Regards,

Benedict Kim

www.esotericvision.com

Tulum, Quintana Roo, Mexico: Mezzanine's Restaurant

I've been eating at Mezzanine for a bit now. On this returning trip and the last one going through here a few months ago. They've got a Thai restaurant there. It may seem out of place but it's not. As you sip on an ice cold drink and take in the breeze right off the ocean it tends to all make sense.

I tend to eat the Red Curry with Chicken and Bamboo. It comes with jasmine rice. I never get tired of it and I've made the rounds trying the other items.. I'm told that a few things distinguish a quality restaurant from the rest. I've found the food quality and service are always good. The one item I can remember not enjoying was the veggie spring rolls with the mango sauce. It's not that it was bad tasting just bland. Oh yes, be careful about ordering anything spiced "hot" over there.

Regards,

Benedict Kim

www.esotericvision.com