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On our way to Isla Mujeres, Mexico!!

August 22, 2015 Andi Leave a comment

I will start off by saying it has been a long time since we have been on a proper vacation! Our last one was in Puerto Rico over a year ago, so it felt really good to get back into it again. So today it was nice because our flight from Chicago to Cancun did not leave until 12:30, so we were able to sleep in a bit. It was a direct flight on American Airlines. We arrived in Cancun around 4 pm and the process of getting through customs was pretty fast compared to most places we have been. Then it was the moment of truth–how would the transfer to the port be that I purchased? We are staying on Isla Mujeres so I had been researching ways to get from Cancun airport to GranPuerto, I found a company called CARM Tours and Transfers. A guy was there waiting for us at the airport and the van was nice, clean, and air conditioned. The transfer to the port was so smooth and I think we only paid about $30 USD (round trip) for the both of us. Totally worth it for the price and the piece of mind. The drive to the port was great we got to see some of the Cancun resorts and pretty much decided we never need to stay there.

Once we got to the port we got round trip tickets for the ferry to Isla Mujeres. I think these were about $11 USD per person. I was worried about getting sick on the boat because I am always getting seasick, so I went to the convenient store to get some chips and soda. I really wanted pretzels because those have been really good at keeping seasickness away but there were none so we got Cheetos and some weird pizza flavored chips. I also found Dr Pepper here so of course I had to get one and take my picture with it because that’s the tradition in every country we travel. Of course at the port I saw my first of many cats.

The ferry ride was great, very smooth. We sat on the top and a man was playing music.

Once we got to Isla we walked to our hotel, Ixchel Beach Hotel. Ixchel was about a 10 minute walk from the port and it is situated on the best beach of the island, Playa Norte. The walk was so hot, I was sweating like crazy! The check in process was easy and fast so we got settled in quickly.

Then we were hungry so we decided to get some food at Mamacita because we got a 10% discount there with our hotel stay. It was not that great. I got a beef burrito but it was mostly filled with a weird variety of vegetables. Don accidentally ordered a cheeseburger because he thought the waiter said it was a steak or something haha. But his cheeseburger looked pretty good. We each had our first of many drinks on the island, a Sol. We also had a few furry visitors while we ate.

Next we went to a bar called Kokonuts. We had giant margaritas there and some tequila shots. We talked to the bartender about American football and Fireball. They actually have Fireball here on Isla. After Kokonuts we walked and got some ice cream. And this was our first night in Mexico.

Bloggings, Rantings, Reviews

Living without Cable.

April 15, 2014 Andi Leave a comment

So we have been living without cable since the beginning of August. We held onto it the first week of August for Shark Week. Unfortunately, RCN reminded us why we were getting rid of cable…the cable was out pretty much the entire week. But not only was the cable out, the internet was also. The problem was somehow our cable line had been cut so our neighbors were also without cable and internet. It took so many phone calls and visits for RCN to get their act together. I think it took about 3 phone calls before they realized this was not only a problem for us but also for our neighbors.

Now we are happily living without cable, though we do still have internet with RCN. It has been a pretty easy adjustment, mostly due to our sweet set up. Our HD antenna was working great, but after a lot of thought and research I really wanted DVR. It’s so nice to be able to come home in the middle of one your shows and to be able to start from the beginning because it was being recorded.

In July I started doing a lot of reading about how to have DVR without cable. Tivo was the first and most popular DVR product that I saw, but with Tivo we would have a monthly bill. After more research I found out you could make your computer into a DVR. Basically you install a TV tuner into your computer and watch live TV through it with the help of an antenna.

We looked into 2 TV tuners with the best reviews: the SiliconDust HD HomeRun Dual HD Digital TV Tuner HDHR3-US and the Hauppauge 1229 HVR 2250 TV tuner. Both were very similar but we decided to go with the Hauppauge. It was about $100.

So here’s how we set up…we moved my PC into the living room so it could be next to the TV. My PC has Windows 7 on it so it has Windows Media Center. This is pretty much a free program that you run with a TV tuner. It allows you to watch live TV on your PC, you can watch whatever channels your HD antenna can pick up. It comes with a guide and even the option to record live TV. To use Windows Media Center though you need a TV tuner and that’s where Hauppauge comes in.
After a lot of trial and error we have a set up that really works for us. We ended up moving the HD antenna into our bedroom window that faces south. It gets the best reception here. We taped it with clear tape onto the window. It’s not really noticeable with the blinds. Then we ran a TV cable from the antenna to the PC. We had to purchase this cable because we didn’t have one long enough; I think it was about $30. From the PC to the TV we have a DVI to HDMI cable adapter. This was $18.99 at Microcenter. We bought a wireless keyboard to use as our remote. It’s the k400 Logitech. I like it because it’s small and light and works great.

Once everything is hooked up correctly and you install the Hauppauge driver you’re ready to scan for channels using Windows Media Center. We opted not to download the Hauppauge TV guide & program software because we read Windows Media Center was good enough. So the PC receives the TV signal from the HD antenna and over the air channels are projected on the TV from the computer in HD. It was really easy to set up.

After we had all the channels coming in crystal clear I started setting up our recording options. It’s just like a regular DVR you get through your cable box, except this one is already paid off. You can put in series recordings so you don’t even have to think about it your Hauppauge TV tuner and recorder will just record whatever shows you tell it to. Like most DVR offered by cable companies the Hauppauge is a dual tuner so you can record 2 shows at once. It is freaking awesome. The only thing you have to remember is your shows will not be recorded if your PC isn’t on.

So after about 6 months of no cable, do we miss it? Not really. Rather than spending hours watching really bad horrible reality shows or lifetime movies, I find myself doing other things, like watching Netflix. But really it does feel kind of refreshing to not have access to cable. We are still able to watch all of the shows we were watching when we had cable. We record Big Brother, Survivor, Amazing Race and Grimm right now. We have found ways to get access to The Walking Dead, and we are up to date. We have been watching every Bears game live on free TV, as well as a few Hawks games that have been on WGN. We still haven’t tried any of the websites for streaming sports live because it really hasn’t been necessary…but watch out for that blog later.

Actually I think getting rid of cable has made me watch more TV, but better shows. For example if we still had cable I wouldn’t have time to finish series like Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black and Parks and Recreation. It’s pretty cool and it’s been going very well.

Set-Up Costs:
$70-HD antenna
$120 Hauppauge TV Tuner
$50 extra cables
$40 Wireless keyboard
—Total: $280

Old RCN cable and internet monthly bill $130
New RCN internet bill $28
Netflix $8/month
Amazon Prime-$8/month
Approx.-$45/month for internet and TV services
About $1000 saved a year!

Our new remote the Logitech wireless keyboard.

Bloggings, Food Blog, Reviews, Reviews - Travel, Travel

Old San Juan to Coqui’s Hideaway.

December 16, 2013 Andi Leave a comment

We woke up today to pick up our cars that we rented. We each got a Toyota Yaris.It was kind of cool to drive this car because it is similar to our Ford Fiesta and we had considered trying out the Yaris. So far I am happy we went with the fiesta.

Since we couldn’t check into Coqui’s Hideaway near the rain forest until 3 pm we decided to hang out in Old San Juan. We left our hotel to head for Old San Juan around 10 am. We found parking spaces in a garage in Old San Juan…it is very hard to find parking! Never rent a car if you are just staying in Old San Juan.

We stopped for breakfast sandwiches and lattes before we started walking around. We started walking to one of the forts, Castillo San Felipe del Morro, ‘El Morro’. The walk there was very hot, but the views were great and we saw lots of cats! The cats of Old San Juan!

Once we got closer to the fort it was cooler with a breeze. El Morro was $3. We walked around there for about an hour and took lots of pictures. It rained a bit on the way back but it felt good. We found a place to eat, Manolin. It was pretty good, but it was so cold in the restaurant! The power went out for a bit and it was nice because then the AC couldn’t blast. The food was okay, nothing spectacular. I had fried steak with rice and beans and plantains. After we were done eating we checked out a few gift shops. Then we went back to the car to make our drive to Coqui’s Hideaway.

The drive to Coqui’s was about 30-40 minutes. It was a nice drive until we started heading into the mountains. It got scary, the road was so curvy. Once we got to Coqui’s we met with Ray. Coqui’s Hideaway is basically a house rental and Ray is our host. He lives next door with his wife. Coqui’s is very nice and the property is beautiful. There was a little welcome basket with fruits grown on the property, rum, Puerto Rican snacks, and supplies to make pina coladas.

Once Ray showed us around we decided to check out the pool. The pool area was awesome. It overlooked the rain forest, El Yunque. The pool water was very cold though so I did not get in. I just enjoyed laying in the sun; it felt awesome. The views were amazing.

We found a few coqui frogs, which is how coqui’s got its name. Coqui frogs live only in Puerto Rio and they are loved by everyone. They make a mating call that sounds like “co-key”. They are also small and super cute.

We found a huge spider up in the rafters above the grill. He looked like he had been in a fight because he was missing 2 legs. We named him Senor Seis. He was very scary looking but still he was very interesting. I wonder what kind of spider he was. He was above us and too hard to kill so we decided to just keep our eyes on him.

Once we got out of the pool we decided to go to Ralph’s Grocery Store. We picked up a few things then on the way home we stopped at El Verde BBQ. It wasn’t really a place to sit down so we got our food to go. It was a little interesting place on the corner. It seemed to be the place to go and they even had a couple of gambling arcade games. We got a ton of food: a rotisserie chicken, pork, rice and beans, plantains, sausage, and sweet fried potatoes. The food was delicious. After dinner we were stuffed but we still had room for some rum and coke and beers.

We went out to the pool again and saw Senor Seis. He had moved a little and was between the boards now in the roof. Then we came back inside and watched some movies. There is a huge movie collection at Coqui’s. We watched 2 movies, I can’t remember the first one but the second one was Whip It. Then we went to bed. Tomorrow we are going hiking into El Yunque.

Bloggings, Reviews, Travel

Oh, Canada!

December 2, 2013 Andi Leave a comment

We recently traveled to Canada for a wedding. After checking prices for airline tickets from Chicago to Toronto we decided to make it into a road trip because they were pretty expensive…and the drive is only about 8 hours. The wedding happened to fall on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so we left on Thanksgiving to head up to Canada.

It was weird to be driving on Thanksgiving rather than eating with family, but we were excited to drive into Canada. We hadn’t crossed a country border by car before! We left around 9 am so by the time we got out of Chicago traffic and into Indiana we decided we should eat something. We wanted to get something fast so Don suggested Arby’s because he likes their breakfast. Well not only was Arby’s closed because it was Thanksgiving but it was also 11 am instead of 10 am since we were well into Indiana, so breakfast was over. So we settled for a Burger King. I am not a fan of Burger King. I decided to try their chicken nuggets. They were okay, but their fries sucked.

We kept driving and driving. Once we were far up into Michigan it started snowing. We were heading for the border town of Sarnia. We were going to stay here over night to break up the trip. Crossing the border was kind of crazy. I felt like the officer asking questions was kind of scary. Once we crossed the border though we could see our hotel; it was right on the border. From our hotel window we could see the border. The line going into Canada moved fast, but the line going into the US was so long. I dreaded the return trip.

The Holiday Inn in Sarnia was very nice. We noticed that the hotel encouraged recycling, just look at this trash can in the room…

After we got to Sarnia we were pretty hungry so we decided to venture out and see what we could find. Driving through the town was kind of scary because it was very dark and it was snowing and unfamiliar. One of the parks was all done up in Christmas lights and it was cool. We found a restaurant called Jack Doyle’s Irish Grille. They had a really good cheeseburger menu so that’s what we got. Once we got back to the hotel we checked out the pool.

The next morning, Friday (11/29), we got up early to start our drive to Toronto. It would be about 3 hours. We wanted to try to find a place to exchange some US money for Canadian money though so we drove around Sarnia. The bank we tried was super busy; I’ve never seen a bank so busy. So then we drove around more. We saw a place called “Money Exchange” and we thought this is perfect! But as we started walking up to it we discovered it was just a pawn shop. Finally we found a Western Union and were able to exchange our money. Next to Western Union was a Taco Bell and were really hungry so we went there. The inside of the Taco Bell reminded me of a Taco Bell from the 90’s. All of their meals were different. I got my standard 3 soft tacos and they tasted the same.

Once we were done we headed onto to Toronto. Not too far from Sarnia we saw a sign for a Meadery. It was called Munro Honey and Meadery. Mead is a wine made from honey. We tasted a few different meads and bought some stuff then started on the road again.

We saw a sign for a Lion Safari and after seeing the sign a couple of times I decided we should stop and check it out. After we drove for about 40 minutes we found the place and it was closed for the season. Disappointment.
One thing that wasn’t disappointing though was the scenery on the highway to Toronto. The snow and frost made the trees so beautiful. Also, we really enjoyed how they put all the tourist attractions on signs on the highway. The US does this a little, but Canada really listed them all.

We arrived in Toronto around 4 pm. We stayed at the Hilton in Markham, which is a suburb of Toronto. We only stayed here because hotels.com had a really good deal. Our room was really nice. Once we checked in we called Don’s aunt and we went over there for dinner. At his aunt and uncle’s house were able to see his mom and his other aunt visiting from the Philippines. It was nice to see everyone and his aunt and uncle made a delicious dinner. After dinner we went out to check out the city of Toronto. Basically we just drove around the city to check it out. It was pretty cool. Once we got back to our hotel area we had some tea at a place across from our hotel.

The next day, Saturday 11/30, was the day of Don’s cousin’s,(Mariel), wedding. Around noon we picked up Don’s mom and his Tito Boni and Tita Lu. We went into the city of Toronto to the church and we had coffee at a place near the church. The wedding took place at a Catholic Church and it was very pretty. After the wedding we went to Mariel’s apartment building where they had a party room to gather with friends and family for a drink and snacks. There was a lot of time between the wedding and the reception. It took us a very long time to get to the reception though because of traffic and construction. We thought we had given ourselves enough time but we missed pretty much all of the cocktail hour. That was okay though because we made it in time for dinner. The reception was very nice.

The next morning we woke up very early and checked out because were going to do the whole drive in 1 day. We left around 645 am. We stopped at rest stop in Canada for coffee and a quick breakfast. It was a very nice rest stop compared to the ones we have been to in the states. It even had free wi-fi! For lunch we stopped at a Big Boy’s in Michigan. Don had always wanted to try one…neither one of us were impressed.

The drive was long but we made it back to Chicago around 3 pm. Our experience in Canada had been good. Can’t wait to visit again, but hopefully in the summer!

Bloggings, Reviews

Getting Rid of Cable-Part 3-Purchasing an HD antenna

September 23, 2013 Andi Leave a comment

Today (July 13th) we decided to get an HD antenna. I have done a little research on them but I have just been anxious to get one. So needless to say we probably could have gotten one for cheaper but we just went down the street to Best Buy to pick one up.

Best Buy had a few different types of HD antennas ranging from $15-$150. I knew that we should get an indoor antenna because we live in an apartment building and we didn’t have permission to put an outdoor antenna up. We decided to go with one in the medium priced range. We purchased the ClearStream™ Micron Indoor Long-Range DTV Antenna made by Antennas Direct. It has a 25 mile range. It was $70 at Best Buy. If we would have bought it online we could have saved some money, maybe $10.

Set up for this antenna was pretty easy. All we had to do was plug it into the cable in port on our TV and then run a channel scan. The TV found about 50 channels. Some don’t come in, but the important ones do. We get CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, WGN, and PBS along with about 30 other channels that we probably won’t watch much. The channel that gave us the most problems was CBS. It was the hardest one for us to tune. Eventually we were able to get it to come in well. Now we have basic local channels for free in HD.

The cable cord is very short for this antenna so positioning it was tricky. We eventually hooked an longer cable cord to it so we could get the antenna to reach the window. We get the most channels with the antenna facing West out the window.

GarbledSyntax