Tag Archives: Dr. Pepper

Bloggings, Reviews, Reviews - Travel, Travel

On our way to Isla Mujeres, Mexico!!

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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, Food Blog, Reviews - Techie

Does coffee always smell better than it tastes?

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So I’ve never been a coffee drinker.  Neither me nor Don has really ever been a coffee drinker.  The rest of my family-coffee drinkers. So every time my parents came up here my mom would always be like “you guys need a coffee maker”.  To me a coffee maker just seemed like a useless appliance for us that would just take up space.  For the pleasure of my mom we put “coffee maker” on our wedding registry.  Luckily, Don’s work got it for us.

Before I talk about this coffee maker, let me just explain a few things. First, I’ve never used one.  Second, not too long ago I was the type of person who went to starbucks and got nervous because I had no idea what to order.  But probably within the last year or two I’ve found a few favorites there: Caramel Macchiato, Cafe Mocha, or my favorite Peppermint Mocha.  So when I think of having coffee I want a good flavored coffee, so really not coffee at all. In fact I’d rather just have a Dr. Pepper but since we’ve been eating better this has not been in my diet every day.  And neither has starbucks…it’s just a treat every once in awhile.

So back to this coffee maker. I was very unsure about just buying regular flavored coffee so I bought a bag of some french caramel flavored coffee.  I can’t remember the brand.  The first time I made the coffee, it was a bit confusing for me. I had some issues with the instructions pertaining to the coffee filter.  Since the coffee maker has it’s own filter but it’s still recommended to use paper ones, it was confusing to me where to put the actual coffee grounds.  I know this probably sounds stupid, but if you’ve never used a coffee maker and you read these instructions you would see what I mean.  Believe me, I even showed my parents the instructions when I explained to them my difficulties.  They also said “okay maybe if you’ve never in your life made coffee this sounds confusing”.  Maybe they were just trying to make me feel better.

So the first couple pots of coffee had a few coffee grains in it.  Big deal okay, I’m new to this.  Every time I was using the coffee pot though I just felt uneasy about it.  I don’t know why.  Up until recently, probably since I stopped relying on Dr Pepper, I decided to give this coffee thing a real shot.  Especially since I read that black coffee is not bad for you, calorie wise.  One morning before work I made 4 cups of coffee and accidentally ended up drinking pretty much all of it.  It just went down so easy in the morning.  And I was getting used to the taste (not to mention it makes the apartment smell super good).  After having so much coffee I felt so energized.  It was crazy!  It made me want to experiment more with this coffee maker.

Now I’m not having 4 cups of coffee every day before work, don’t worry.  In fact, I try not to have it all.  I just don’t want to have to rely on something to make me feel good.  So I only have it if I feel I really need it.  But that’s besides the point, today we went to the grocery store and I told Don we need to buy more coffee.  I wanted to try different kinds.  We ended up buying 4 different kinds.  Mainly because the starbucks brand had a sale of buying 3 and get them for $6. We bought: Cafe Bustelo (because Don’s mom always used to make it), Starbucks Vanilla, Starbucks Caramel, and Starbucks Espresso Roast.

When we got home I decided to have a coffee tasting night.  So far we have tried the Vanilla and the Caramel.  Both are good.  I don’t really know if I notice a difference between the two.  I don’t think we will try the other 2 tonight.  So the coffee maker has went from a useless appliance to somewhat more of a friend.  Right now I’m kind of enjoying this new outlook on coffee.  I still think though, it smells better than it tastes.