TWA: Formerly Liars' Cub International

After our usual 6:00 wake-up and walk this morning, we held a brief TWA (Tight Wads' Anonymous) meeting. The treatment must be working, as Bob agrees to buy Phil and me breakfast at La Cordeliere. The service is wonderful. Two waiters, Luis and Claudio are on top of it. Both are entertaining. Claudio switches from Mexican Spanish, to French, to Italian, to English, to Russian; all with ease. I order Banana French Toast. Phil orders Huevos Benedictine. Bob has the Huevos Mexicanos. The food is served after only a brief wait. I take photos. My French Toast is enough for two, and only 55 pesos. The egg dishes are a bit more, but reasonable, for the quality and presentation. We are all impressed and satisfied. I mentally upgrade my previous ratings of the restaurant and the service, but remind myself that we’ve always had the “best luck” here at breakfast and lunch. At La Cordeliere, timing is everything. Luis fills our coffee cups at least six times. When we are all finished, I request “la cuenta”. The bill arrives. I put it on the room tab, so we can get our 10% discount. I add my usual 20 percent tip. The other TWA members react in disgust when I do this. They think a 5 to 10 percent tip is adequate, and constantly remind me that through my generosity I am somehow upsetting the economic “balance” in Mexico. This is why we have meetings.

Bob is reluctant to leave. After breakfast we go to the lobby. Bob and Phil send an email and photo to Jackie (Phil’s esposa) at the free turista email kiosk, opposite the hotel registration desk. We walk back to the room, losing Bob at the halfway point, as he detours down to the pool to pick up more pottery that has been touched up and glazed overnight. Now, we are back at the room. Phil and I are on the patio. Bob is packing.

Last evening, after Bob returned from Mazatlan with his puppets, we caught a taxi to Playa Bruja. There we ran into Lorne, Kena, and their daughter, Shannon; folks we had become acquainted with at EB. The family invited us to sit at their table. They had just been served their food. Lorne had coconut camaron; Kena had pescado; and Shannon had Mochahete camarone, res, o pollo. This is a trio of shrimp, beef, and chicken, in a huge sizzling stone bowl. Phil and Bob decided that Shannon’s dish would work for them. I went a bit lighter with the coconut shrimp. Lorne said his was delicious. We added the mandatory bucket of beer, and then enjoyed conversing with our friends, while they were eating. About the time they were finished, our food arrived. The coconut shrimp was absolutely the best I have ever eaten! Six large shrimp, in a light coconut laced batter, with a sweet dipping sauce on the side. Rice and lightly cooked veggies included on the plate. Bob and Phil dug into their Mochahete, and were equally satisfied.

The music was provided by the same musician we had heard previously at Playa Bruja, and in the downtown plaza at Machados Restaurant. This guy gets around. About 9:00, Lorne and the ladies excused themselves and caught their cab “home”. We bade them goodnight, and hung out for another fifteen minutes, or so, before hailing our driver Carlos, who had been faithfully waiting for us for about two hours. We gave him 70 pesos for the trip, each way, for time and effort. This must be a tough way to make a living.

Return to the here and now … Bob comes out to the patio with his green Sierra Club bag. Phil makes comment regarding Bob’s left of center tendencies. I laugh, but respect Bob’s kind nature and “childlike” view of the world. I secretly wish for some of his magic. Bob reaches in the bag, and suddenly, it’s Christmas. He pulls out a black and white ceramic piggy bank for Phillipe and a nice Cohiba Cuban cigar for me. What a guy! I'll miss his company.

Nothing more to say …