Los Cabos – Day 1

Posted on February 4, 2023 by jmatie22

Flew into SJD, where we got out of the plane on the tarmac. We then hopped on a bus to get to the main terminal. Thing is, the distance from the plane to terminal was only 20 meters, so feel like we should have just walked.

Immigration was fairly easy (they just stamped our passports, and then after baggage claim we submitted a form that was filled out on the plane (although that form was in Spanish since they’re an out of English forms, so had to use Google translate in the air). They also had an interesting random sampling screening system where you press a button, and green meant you didn’t have to do anything further).

After leaving customs, there were a bunch of agents lined up trying to sell excursions and collect information. Apparently you’re not supposed to really entertain them, and just head for the airport exit.

After exiting the airport, totally felt the vacation / beach club vibes. After meeting our transportation person (from Transcabo), we had to wait (which I think is a thing so we can buy drinks nearby), so I got a whisky sprite that was right beside the transportation hub. One thing to always remember (especially outside the restore) is NOT to include ice with your drink (water might not be good for your stomach).

The resort was about 20 minutes from the airport (we stayed at Marquis). For this resort, all you needed to do is say your name and room number to enter (there are no bracelets).

The room itself is pretty nice. Definitely good for two people. Room service is also great (which I’ll talk about through various portions of my posts). One thing to note for next time is that for being here for 4 days, I should have brought at least 40 $1 bills. (Tipping is 1 to 2 American dollars).

For Thursday, we ended up chilling only in the resort. For the afternoon and evening, we chilled at the main center bar (Suspiros), and got a bunch of appetizers like quesadillas and nachos, plus lots of drinks. I also taught the group to play Play 9.

For dinner we watched a fire show (2 out of the 5 people were really good, and they were playing some good psychedelic music in the background). During the fire show there is a buffet. The ribeye and the pork ribs were probably the best, plus the fettuccine pasta.

We ended the night by touring each others room (they all look the same, except someone had a king size bed instead of two double beds).

Some extra things to note that in Mexico a double and full bed are actually different sizes. Also, in a resort you should say it’s your anniversary so you get free things like champagne and chocolates. Lastly, looks like booking though Amex you get special this things like a separate WiFi (regular WiFi is a bit slow. Ended up mainly using my data plan).

One thing I did to end this night was order room service. Got the shrimp penne and a banana split (but didn’t have ice cream, it’s was a brownie thing). Shrimp penne was good, but not the banana “split”).

fyi, here is the website with all their amenities:

https://marquisloscabos.icemain.com/ICEWEB/#/home

Japan Day 5 and 6 – Tokyo

Posted on November 27, 2022 by jmatie22

Had a late start to day 5 (which was technically my last full day in Japan), but we still did a lot, and lots of walking!

We started by getting food at this ramen place called Izobachi (note that the one we went to was only found in Apple Maps, not Google. Also, this place was at a food court in a mall where one of the Google offices is at):

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/27/izobachi-misoramen/

We then went to a Starbucks in the same food court (one thing we did notice is that not only are there a lot of 7 elevens, but Starbucks is super plentiful).

Another interesting thing compared to the previous time I was in Japan is that they are cracking down on smoking (in the sense that there are now designated smoking sections. This used to not be the case).

Afterwards, we headed to Yoyogi park. We stopped by what seemed to be a Spanish food festival, and got an interesting sweet Belgian beer (pictured below).

From Yoyogi park we walked to Harajuku. We stopped by Uni Qlo, and IKEA, but didn’t by anything. We also walked through the street called Takeshita Atreet, where apparently they are famous for having people (usually girls) dress into cos play (honestly, the street was really packed, and there was a lot of shops, but only went in McDonald’s to use the waste basket and restroom).

As an aside, another thing to note about Japan is that they really don’t have a lot of garbage bins except for in restrooms, and occasionally near a vending machine outside).

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel by walking. Along the way we did stop by a mall and Park that seems slightly similar to the Saleforce park, which was called Miyashita Park.

We then took a 3 hour rest back in the hotel (around 6:30pm) to prepare for a long night out.

So we made moves at 10:30pm. We met Ben G. near a dog statue at Shibuya station (see below). The history behind it is that the dog apparently always waited for his owner at the station every day he would come back from work. Also, we were trying to find food for dinner. Unfortunately most sit down places at 11pm were closing (and sit down speak easys) were closed by then, so I had to make due with eating things from a Lawsons while walking to the nightclub Womb. What I ate: chickatsu (basically a fried chicken patty), these chicken balls (one was with cheese, and another was with lemon), and a salmon onigiri).

The DJ we saw at Womb, we Hernan Cattaneo. He’s mainly progressive house without vocals. He was really good. Womb has 3 floors. Main and top floors were the best (top floor was playa house music). The last song was at 4am. After we got food at this Ramen place called Ichiran:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/27/ichiran/

The next day (basically 5 hours after the Ramen place) I was flying out to SF at 5pm. I checked out of the hotel at 1pm (it’s only 1000 yen per extra hour after 11am). Then we went to a conveyor belt sushi place 2 minute walk away from our hotel:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/27/kaisen-misakikou-shibuya-higashiguchi-shop/

Then took an Uber black (yea, it wasn’t a taxi… probably Uber cars only exist if going to and from the airport) to the airport at HND. It took about 30 minutes.

At the airport, used priority pass to get into the ANA lounge. Gotta say, one of the best lounges in terms of types of food, and they have a shower (see last picture below)! I also shopped at the duty free for Japanese Whisky. Unfortunately couldn’t find the one I wanted (wanted the Hibiki blended). Got a Suntory whisky.

Japan 2022 Day 4 – Kyoto / Tokyo

Posted on November 26, 2022 by jmatie22

We started off the day by checking out the Starbucks at the Gino District, where you can drink / eat Japanese style (ie sitting down on the floor). Here are the details :

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/starbucks-gion-district/

We the taxied it back to Kyoto Station, where again I did get some McDonalds, and then caught the Shinkansen train to Tokyo (Shinagawa station). The train was 2.5 hours. I felt a bit nauseous at first, but got used to the high speed.

After getting to Shinagawa station, took one of the JR trains to Shibuya station. Our hotel is actually connected to the station (as the name, JR East Mets Shibuya, would suggest).

After getting settled in, we went to a close by conveyor belt sushi place in Shibuya (which was very close to the Shibuya scramble, which was super busy, as pictured below).

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/26/katsumidori-seibu-shibuya/

After, we headed towards Shinjuku for some nightlife fun. First stopped by Golden Gai (so I could compare it to the burning man experience). Lol, the bars there are super tiny, but really fun. We went to one where the owner made a really good music video about Shinjuku.

Then we checked out Shinjuku Nichome. Basically you go to the local convenient stores (7 eleven, Lawson, etc), drink some seltzer or hard liquor, and then bar hop. We went Arty Farty, Dragon Men, and King.

Ended the night taxiing it back to the hotel.

Japan 2022 Day 3 – Kyoto

Posted on November 25, 2022 by jmatie22

We checked out of our hotel in Osaka (Hotel Intergate) around 11am and headed to Osaka station to catch our 12:30pm JR-west train to Kyoto station (picked up an onigiri for the train ride!).

After getting to Kyoto station, we dropped our bags in our hotel, Henn Na Hotel (they were pretty strict with only allowing check in after 3pm).

After dropping our bags, we tried this McDonald’s out at JR Kyoto station:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/mcdonalds-jr-kyoto-station/

From there, we took the JR-west train to the Fushimi-Inari-Takisha shrine (which I’ve been to before). On our way back to the hotel, we also stopped by the Tofukoan Temple (I spelt it this way last time I was here, but it’s actually Tofukuji Temple). Although this time around we could find the Zen Garden.

Afterwards, we went back to the hotel to rest for 2 hours so that we could get ready for a night at the Gion District.

We took the JR-west and subway to Gion (see the end of this post about the train systems here).

We started at the area where you may see Gesiha’s. We went to the following speak easy, and then the following restaurant for dinner (we were trying to find a spot for Kobe beef, but they all basically stop serving at 9pm. Good to know for next time!):

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/bees-knees/

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/25/abusan/

Afterwards, we tried to clubs, both in the Gion district (they are supposed to be the best ones in Kyoto). One was World Kyoto (would not recommend. They kept playing Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars with bad transitions). The other one was called Kitsune Kyoto. I would go back here since they played 2012 top 40 edm (ie Zedd, Hardwell, etc). One thing to note about the entrance fees of the clubs is that they give you a drink ticket, which is basically the price of what a normal drink would be).

We then taxied back to the hotel.

A couple notes about the transportation system in Kyoto (ie getting around):

Taxis: calling them through Uber is hit or miss (ie wait times are sometimes long, or they cancel). You can usually try and flag one down faster than getting one through Uber.

For Kyoto, there are three types of trains in the station: Shinkansen, JR-west, and subway (aka the local metro). To get around Kyoto (ie to Gion or the Fushimi-Inari-Takisha shrine), you would use a mix of the latter two types of train (Google maps is your friend to find out which ones to use). And for the latter two, Suica is fine for payment (love Apple for iterating it with the iPhone).

For the Shinkansen, that is supposed to be for really long journeys (and it is fast). Typically you need to buy two types of tickets (one is the basic ticket, and the other is the limited stops ticket). When purchasing the ticket, you will have the option to add the limited stops ticket as well (I guess some people may not need it since they have a monthly pass limited stops ticket) You can buy the tickets at either the stations using terminals, or buy online (however if you buy online you still need to pick up the ticket at a terminal using the credit card you purchased it with. Also. each Shinkansen train has a name, ie Nazomi, and a specific number. Use that name and number to find which platform you should go to at the station by looking at the monitors. You can also find the platform via Google Maps by searching for the train routes (and specifying the date/ time your train leaves (although platforms are subject to change).

Japan 2022 Day 1 and 2 – Osaka

Posted on November 23, 2022 by jmatie22

Flew into Japan from New York (EWR) into NRT, which was a 14 hours flight. Wasn’t bad since I was sitting in an exit row with economy plus on United (and also watching episodes of Below Deck Sailing Yacht). One interesting thing is our flight path was through Canada over the North Pole.

After reaching NRT, immigration was fast since I completed the immigration and quarantine info on the Japanese government website beforehand (just showed several QR codes). Will say the amount of English known by people in the airport is very limited. Then from immigration exited the secure area and went to security to go to the domestic part of the same terminal (they allowed me to bring my full water bottle in, I just had to separate it from everything else. One other note is that I flew ANA, which is definitely better than the alternative Peach (a peach employee wanted me to weigh my carry on back, and it could only be 7kg, which mine was 11.7 kg… fortunately we both realized I was not flying ANA).

When I got to Osaka airport (ITM), I basically followed the directions to the taxis (as Uber uses local taxis). I ended up not using Uber though and asked one of the taxis drivers to take me to the hotel (they accessed AMEX as payment).

The hotel I was staying at in Osaka is called Hotel Intergate (in the Umeda area of Osaka). Will say this area is pretty different from the Dotombori area (more city like, and I think less tourists).

After settling in, headed to Kitashinchi area (in Umeda), and there were a lot of restaurants, clubs, and drinking spots in the (narrow) streets. We checked out a speak easy called The Auriental. More information can be found here:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/23/the-auriental/

Then ate a a really good ramen place called Tsurutontan. More info here:

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/23/tsurutontan-kitashinchi/

That concluded the first day in Osaka.

The second day in Osaka was mostly about Universal Studios Japan. We ordered an Uber (but really a taxi) to go there, which was only a 25 minute ride away.

For Universal studios, we got a basic ticket plus an express ticket for certain rides (totally recommend doing this as it saves time in the lines. For the rides unfortunately it comes in a set and you cannot choose individual ones). Should get this ticket like 3 weeks in advance if the trip.

When we got there, we put some stuff in the lockers before the entrance (since it was raining), and also got ponchos.

From the entrance, we headed straight to Super Nintendo World. I thought it was really well designed and done, especially bowsers castle (it reminded me of the N64 Mario cart Bowser castle). The ride itself inside (Mario Kart: Koopa’s adventure), was a great way to combine VR (yea, you had a headset), and a physical ride. You basically were able to shoot shells to other karts and enemies to get points, all through the CR headset and physical steering wheel).

After, we ate these Mario “shells ” that has ketchup, cheese, and spaghetti filling. So good.

We then went to Yoshi’s adventure (not gonna lie, it was a short wait for a reason… it wasn’t super great).

The above two rides are really the mai. Attractions in Super Nintendo World (btw, I also got a bracelet that allows you to hit these bricks for coins. Don’t think it was worth it. However, apparently you are suppose to be able to play a game where you find 3 keys through Nintendo world, and then you enter a secret level. I didn’t know that until we were about to leave the park).

Afterwards, we headed to the Harry Potter section of the Theme Park. There were two rides (only did the 4D adventure one, Forbidden Journey). The ride and Harry Potter section itself was very similar to LA. Only noticeable major difference is that all the characters usually are speaking Japanese, not english.

One thing I will say is that it was hard to get hard throughout the park was hard liquor. Beer was easy. Also, sitting down in any indoor cafeteria usually required you to get a set meal, which was a bit annoying. We ate at an indoor cafeteria place called Louis Pizza. They served a kaku highball and pizza. I thought they were both great.

The other ride I did was the Spider-Man 4D ax tire ride. It was also similar to LA. The ride I didn’t do from the express pass (since didn’t want to go on roller coasters) was the backdrop, and Hollywood dream.

Other places in the park we walked around were the Jurassic area, Waterwold, Minions, New York City, and San Francisco.

When we exited the park (took 6.5 hours in total), we went through the City Wall just outside the entrance. Slightly similar to LA, but definitely more Asian places (and not really and bars). There was a Gap store though.

After universal Studios we cabbed back to the hotel for a 2 hour nap.

Then head to Dotonbori via subway. There, we ate at a yakitori place. Details here (note there are two of almost the same onesZ you want to go to the one that does not say nakaza (even though below has it in the name).

https://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/24/torikizoku-dotombori-nakaza/

We then explored around. The area. Will say it was a bit more dead than when I first was here several years ago. The club Giraffe I went to before seemed also dead. We walked a bit north from the main bridge of Dotonbori, and there were more clubs. Some may have been popping, but we ended up going back and calling it a night (there was an expats place called Queens that we walked by and I would have been interested to go to).

New York City Thanksgiving 2022

Posted on November 22, 2022 by jmatie22

Spent 3 days in New York for the Thanksgiving break. It was mostly a chill trip, so I’m gonna just have 1 blog post for the whole trip (as opposed to splitting it by day).

So I arrived Friday afternoon (4pm), but ended up getting to the hotel (Hyatt Grand Central) at 6pm (I think EWR has the worst traffic getting into the city out of all the airports).

After getting to the hotel, we hit up a pretty classy restaurant in Noho called Vic’s. More info on it can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/22/vics/

From there, made some last minute decisions. We decided to go and check out the comedy place, The Stand. Several pretty funny comedians. Like the last New York trip, thought it was pretty good time.

Afterwards we decided to go to Brooklyn to day 1 of TimeWarp. Honestly, from what I remembered, I really enjoyed it. The others have biases against Artbat, so they may have not enjoyed it as much.

For the second day, we decided to have a boozy brunch. Went to this place near midtown called Tara Rose:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/22/tara-rose/

Definitely would go back to the above place for brunch. Food and vibe was great for a booze brunch.

Afterwards, we tried another bar acrosss the street, but then ended up going to a pregame at Sam’s place.

Don’t fully remember leaving Sam’s place, but we made it to Time Warp for day 2.

On the third day, went to a couple of places in Chinatown. One place was a dive bar to meet a friends friend:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/22/forgtmenot/

Another place was a pizza joint called Scarr’s pizza:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/22/scarrs-pizza/

To end the night, we went to another pizza join near flat iron called Joe’s:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/11/22/joes-pizza/

Overall, super chill and great trip.

Europe 2022 – Mykonos Day 13

Posted on August 7, 2022 by jmatie22

Last full day in Mykonos!

Started the day by going to Dominos Pizza (to try it out because there was also one in Santorini, so wanted to compare. Tastes basically the same as the US). Also got a really interesting desert at a cafe that was basically like chocolate stuffed Baklava. Details are here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/07/cookie-smart-bakery/

Then we stopped by a local ATV shop to rent ATVs (for 5 people, it was $400, and rented it on the spot). The logic is that if we we’re going to take taxis everywhere, it is usually $50 per ride. (Originally we were trying to get a rental car, but they were all sold out).

The first stop with the ATVs was a beach club called Paradise beach club over at the southern part of the island at Platys Gialos. Really great concept. Basically there is no entrance fee, you can chill and dance / drink at the club part, or pay $35 for a day bed at the beach (or wait till 6pm where it becomes free). At the day club, got a bottle of Prosecco for only $40, and we were able to bring it in the beach (we stayed at the day bed part after 6pm).

Around 7:30pm we decided to Megali Ammos beach (near Mykonos proper) to watch the sunset since it is at the west part of the beach. Unfortunately we just missed the sunset since my ATV could not make it up one of the hills (we ended up putting it in neutral and pushing it up). We did stay at the beach for about 30 minutes to enjoy the post after-glow of the sunset.

Afterwards we rode the ATVs to Ornos to grab dinner at a restaurant that’s check has a Michelin Star, called Mykonos Social. This part of the island had resorts, and you could sort of tell it is the “richer” part of the island. Overall great food, and details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/07/mykonos-social/

Afterwards we pregamed at the AirBnb (played Shoot the dealer) for a night out in Mykonos Proper. Stayed out till 4am going to a place called Porta Bar (originally wanted to go to Lola’s, but they closed at 3am!).

Finally to end the night, got some late night food at this Souvlaki place:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/07/souvlaki-story/

And that concludes the trip! I flew out the next day (going from Mykonos to Athens, then taking a flight to JFK, then to SFO).

Europe 2022 – Santorini and Mykonos Day 12

Posted on August 5, 2022 by jmatie22

We started the day by leaving our AirBnb in Thira (Santorini), and heading to the docks slightly south of where we are staying over in Athinios (only cost $30 to bring all 5 of us).

I think the most interesting part about the the ride is that since the west side of Santorini is basically on a cliff, there is a road that descends I would say about 500 meters down. Pretty cool.

We then grabbed lunch at another Mediterranean place while we waited. Details found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/05/athinios-restaurant-cafe/

Fyi, for the ferry, booked it the day before using ferryhopper.com. It was only $89. I would recommend getting there really only 30 minutes before departure (and it was easy to get in front of the line). Line was a bit chaotic, but going inside the ferry itself was fine (and seeing cars go into the ferry was kind cool). Also, the interior of the ferry was more upper scale than I expected. Definitely a good experience.

Along the way we stopped by the islands Ios and Naxos. Ios didn’t seem too interesting, but it did have more “rectangular” looking buildings, but still white and blue (but obviously judging the “interest” tfrom the boat isn’t the best). Naxos looked pretty cool though (looked fairly modern and lively). Think that may be a good place to visit next time.

When we got to Mykonos, we ordered an “Uber” (it’s a van contracted by Uber) to the Airbnb. Interesting thing is that Mykonos itself is a walking city, so the Uber can only drop you off to a street that is “close-ish”.

As we got dropped off, I did notice that Mykonos I less hill-y than Santorini, and a bit more upscale, but has more space (same crowdedness).

After going to the AirBnb, we ended up going to a beach nearby (Paralia Choras Mikonou) for about an hour. The beach had a bit too much small rocks (not super sandy). Probably wouldn’t go back to it (although it did have a wheelchair accessible beach contraption).

We then went around town to shop. I actually a couple of things. I got a Greek type shirt, and also some Ray Ban sunglasses (to replace the ones I lost).

Afterwards, we ended up going to a restaurant that is right below our AirBnb called Eva’s Garden. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/06/evas-garden/

After dinner, pregamed at the Airbnb (learned a game called shoot the dealer).

We then ended the night at Cavo Paradiso, where Afrojack played. Some key notes is that shirts and shorts are allowed in the club, DJ came on at 2:30am, and they don’t check ID. Also, grabbing a (didn’t use Uber) taxi costs $35 (although kinda got scammed since he said $25 initially). Overall, people were good to talk to, and had a great night.

Europe 2022 – Santorini Day 11

Posted on August 4, 2022 by jmatie22

We spent a good part of the day sailing on the south and west part of the island.

We booked the tour from the host of the AirBnb (which they booked from this website: https://www.santorinivipsailing.com). The port was from the Vlychada marina (south part of the island).

Along the way, the captain pointed out the Red Beach, which looks like there are two entrances. He said one of them is really dangerous because one of the rocks on the path could break off at any time.

After, we continued along the way westward before we started going up north towards the caldera (aka the mouth of the volcano). What I learned from this is that the caldera is under the water (boat was on top of it), and it spirts little bit of lava every year, and a part of a new land is formed on the caldera island (not sure of its actual name). The volcano is what made Santorini. Another fun fact is that like magnet, the rocks from the lava are made of iron, so that is why they are red (because they rust… apparently from the inside).

By the way, all the sand beaches in Santorini are in the southern part of the island, and also near the airport.

Note: always make sure you have enough cash with you to pay for the excursions (ended up paying with a mix of euro and American dollars).

After the boat ride, we checked into our new AirBnb (also in Thira) which is right by the water cliff. (Could also book it probably off AirBnb. The place we stayed at is called the Porto Fira Suites).

An EDIT from my previous post. Although the AirBnb closer to the water is pretty sick because of the water pool and view, it is a good flight of steps lower, so it’s a bit more of a walk up if you want to get anything.

After getting settled, stopped by McDonalds to get a bunch of chicken nuggets, then shopped around for a bit.

Found some sun glasses from a company called Blackfin that I plan on looking up later (see pic below).

For dinner, we wanted to try some Gyros, so we went to a recommended place called Luckys. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/04/luckys/

We ate dinner at the Airbnb. Afterwards, spent the rest of the night at the Airbnbto take golden hour pics, playing some games and hot tubbing.

Europe 2022 – Santorini Day 10

Posted on August 3, 2022 by jmatie22

For a good part of this day, we planned on hiking from Thira to Oia.

First stop along the way was passing by the next north town from Thira called Imerovigli. We grabbed lunch at that town. Details can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/03/pearl-on-the-cliff/

From the walk, I realized that basically the next time I go to Santorini, I would stay at a hotel near the west coast in Thira (or very close), with an infinity pool.

Also along the way we stopped by a bar along the west coast to grab a drink (Called CSky). Great view.

Also along the way we got our friend to take drone shots of us along the coast. We also saw donkey rides (past half way) for only $10 to take the rest of the way to Oia. Also along the way are a chapels (usually with a blue painted roof). The one I checked out was closed though.

When we got to Oia, we did a bit of shopping, and a bit of picture taking. For the picture taking, there was a line to take a pic where the three “blue” roof houses were, but we did it. In terms of the general feel of the city, it was a bit more crowded in the picture taking areas, but there did seem to be more space otherwise. If I came back to Santorini, might stay in Oia. (Also the houses seem whiter than Thira).

For dinner, we went to a very chill restaurant that has a pool with a pool bar! Next time I think I’d go in the pool. Details for dinner can be found here:

http://food.johnmatienzo.com/2022/08/03/pacman-sunset-restaurant/

Afterwards we ended up going back to our AirBnb in Thira using a taxi ordered by the restaurant (around $50).