Tag Archives: living the dream

The Apple Mission

Leave a reply

On every corner in the states there is a Starbucks and an Apple iSomething store or at least a store that gives you the ability to peruse apple products.   Before we left, I upgraded my 2009 MacBook Pro to the latest and greatest 2016 MacBookPro with all the bells and whistles.  That of course means a bazillion adapters to accomodate for the new USB-C connectors.   All has been working swimmingly with the new MacBook Pro…until it wasn’t.

Less than 6 months old, and the charging brick gives out, now I can’t charge my laptop at all, its down to 30% and when that is over, no dice.  I have the 2009 as a backup, and it works, just a bit slower.  This computer has 12volt and 110volt chargers.  Of course the new computer has completely different connectors and I haven’t located a 12volt charger for it yet.  Ugh.

Today’s mission find one of these.

Google said there is a iCurraco on the island and its close to the places we have already walked and wandered by.  So that was the destination.  Take the bus to downtown and go to Digicel first to figure out what happened to our data (for some reason they stopped giving us data at 5gb instead of the 18gb we purchased).  That in itself was fun, standing in line for a while only to be told, she sent an email to the support team and would call us back when it was fixed.  Uhhh..  I walked all the way to your store for this?  No expectations, so we wandered around and turned on the phone never believing they would call, but within 15mins the call came in stating it was all fixed, and sure enough the missing 14gb were credited back to our account.

Google Maps, its an android device after all, was now in business and we were off, 3km walk through town, over to Otrobanda, to the supposed location of iCuracao.   Nothing but a home there, a secondary search returned another location another 4km away which was also incorrect.  Switch to the Maps.me app on the iPhone.  This map gave us a new location, in another direction of course.  So what else do we have to do, keep walking stopping at every convenience store for a cold “small beer” to keep the legs moving, and hydration in balance.    We get close, and it looks like we are to walk down the “Ring” highway, so we jump the guardrail between cars, following some local kids and make it across.   Turns out to be a shopping mecca with hardware stores, house wares, and supermarkets and low and behold an iWorld store.

Not expecting to actually find the charger, can’t have your hopes up too high when dealing with bleeding edge technology.  But low and behold they had three for the 13 inch and 2 for the 15 inch MacBookPros.  Oh my, I’ll take that one and it was only 10% more than what they cost in the states, score!    

Success: MacBookPro gets a second chance at life with a new charger.

On the way back to the bus stop, we came across a Kooyman and had to stop in to look around.  One, it was air conditioned, and two it is a really awesome store.

Megastore Kooyman

Megastore Kooyman

Well now to get back, at least to our bus route that is, quick check of the Maps.Me showed we had another 3 kilometers to get to a bus stop on our route.  We pushed on and went straight to the bar “ItsLit” where we had stopped the other day, and thought there was a happy hour at 5pm, course it didn’t start till 7pm – Doh, we had drinks anyway after a well deserved successful mission.

Oh and we found me some new tennis shoes for hiking if need be as the Sperry shoes I used to own, disintegrated during the Antigua Race week.

Quinton had showed us the Bus Schedule app where you can see where the buses are so at the last minute we paid our tab, and made the last few mins of Happy Hour at Pirates (again).

After I had made Christine walk all over the place, she wanted pork chops and smashers for dinner, so that’s what we had.   Concluded a good long day…

Back to the Daily Lime

2 Replies

A week in a blog…

Wayne had to catch an early flight so we were up a zero dark thirty (440a) to load up the car and find the airport.  Luckily our handy dandy map made navigating so much easier than a few days ago.  Wayne left weighing  a lot less than when he came as he was kind enough to lug several necessities from the states for us (thanx again, Wayne).  After we dropped him off a little before 6a, Matt and I headed back to the boat to get a few hours of sleep.  Unfortunately, sleep evaded me so I cleaned until Matt go up just before 8a.  We decided we wanted to run some errands before we had to return the car at 10a.  So, we headed back to the dinghy dock, hopped in our Kia and went to find the Cost You Less and Best Buy Supermarket.  We loaded up on all the heavy stuff (5 gal. water jugs, diet coke, diet ice drinks, and bulk items.  We tried to swing by the Kooyman but time was running out and we had to get the car back.  As luck would have it, we rolled in just after 10a, but we did not have time to fill her up.  We were only about 1/8 of a tank less than what we received it at so we hoped she did not notice or care.  As it turned out, she noticed, but didn’t care.  We walked over to Van der Tweel supermarket which is the small one on the island but only 2 kilometers away from the dinghy dock.  Then headed back to the boat for a day of blogging and relaxation.

NEXT DAY…

We had heard that there was a free shuttle that picks up at Fisherman’s Harbor (the dinghy dock) and takes you to a grocery store and then brings you back 90 minutes later.  So, we decided to check it out.  We diligently arrived on time and found 8 other boaters waiting for the shuttle bus.  Interesting.  A big white bus came, loaded us all up and took us to a new grocery store called Vrugdenhil!  I could not help it, I gasped when I walked inside.  It was so big, clean and orderly.  They had tons of people working, restocking and helping.  Wowza!  And the prices were pretty reasonable (better than Van der Tweel).  So, we walked around a bit, then decided to visit a few other nearby stores since we were in the area.  We swung in to Budget Marine, then hit Island Water World, and then checked out the Het Washok laundry services before heading back to the market to catch our shuttle home.  Back on the boat by 11am.

We ate a quick lunch and decided to do a hike that would explore a little flamingo area.  Our favorite bartender at Pirate’s Nest told us about this amazing app called “maps.me” which offers world OFFLINE maps for travelers.  Yep, you read that right!  Offline!  So, armed with a really cool map guide we headed off to find the salt flat with flamingos.  Matt thought it looked like a short hike and there are tons of trails to explore.  We grabbed some water, phone charger and headed on our way.  We easily found the trail, but what we did not know was which trail to take.  At the start, there were orange and blue markers so we decided to follow those.  After about 20 minutes, we came to the Flamingo area but there were no flamingos.  Just a large salt flat and a few squawking birds trying to warn us away.  We kept going and came across a red trail – hmmm, wonder what happened to the orange and blue trail.  Oh well, this keeps going around the lake.  As we headed up the other side of the lake we did spot 6 flamingos on the far other side.  Sweet!  Too far away for an iPhone picture, but we enjoyed them for you.

Panorama of flamingo area we hiked

Panorama of flamingo area we hiked

Pretty yellow bellied bird who sang to us

Pretty yellow bellied bird who sang to us

It was really hot, we were low on water, and realized we could not walk around the entire area and get back before dark. So, we decided to find the nearest bus station to head back.  Our maps.me app said it was about 1.8 miles away – ok, here we go.  It led us up, down and around the back bushes, past a poor rotting dog (that just broke our heart as it still had its collar on-jessh!), past the correctional facility and up into town.  Great.  We landed exactly where the free bus shuttle drops us off.

Intended to walk @ Flamingo area but ended up walking into town

Intended to walk @ Flamingo area but ended up walking into town

Overall, the walk was about 6 miles and we were spent!  First, we needed some water and a drink so wandered over to It’s Lit.  Since it was only 4 in the afternoon, we were the only people in the bar except the bartender, Quin.  When we arrived, we were dripping with sweat and I mean dripping.  Not the sweet ladylike sparkle, but puddles and coming from everywhere.  My hands were sweating!  Gross!  But, we saddled right up to the bar, placed our order, and chatted up with Quin who was exceptionally nice!  He told us about the free buss website (autobusbedrijf.org)  that tells you when and where the buses are so we don’t have to wait outside in the heat.

One of many positive signs at Its Lit

One of many positive signs at Its Lit

Super cool bar, positive signs and décor, and really nice bartender – we will come back here again for sure!  We caught our bus and headed back to the boat.

WEDNESDAY

Many of you know, I am a certified project manager (PMP).  I’m super proud of this license and designation as it was tough to obtain.  In order for me to maintain my license, I have to take 60 hours of PDU’s (continuing education) over 3 years.  In the states, that is pretty easy to do as I can just attend a few all-day seminars a year and a couple of PMP monthly meetings to easily get the 60-hours.  However, out at sea, in another country, on someone else’s internet is another thing.  I found an all-day virtual seminar that I signed up to take today.  It was on how the Internet of Things (IoT) converges with project management.  A very interesting topic that merges two of my favorite subjects.  They had a pretty decent cast of presenters and it was scheduled from 830a-5p EST (which is the same time as my time ATL).  This was a huge draw on bandwidth with the running chat session (with all of the hundreds of participants from around the world), the video presentation with animated slides and of course audio.  For the most part, it was ok. I had downloaded all of the presentations so when the video got stuck I could still follow along.  It was just dealing with the broken audio that was a bit frustrating.  But all in all, I managed to sit through 6 solid hours of lecture and happily claimed the last PDU’s to get me to 60 before my August 2017 deadline.

As I was working away, Matt decided to spend the day cooking.  He wanted to try a new recipe that he obtained from our friends on Contrary Mary, chicken roti!  First, he seasoned the chicken and let it marinate.  Then he made the flatbread from scratch!  Then the rest…

Chicken Roti in the making.

Chicken Roti in the making.

Let’s just say that it was a spectacular way to celebrate the completion of my PDU’s and the renewal of my PMP certification! Yum Yum

THURSDAY

We grabbed the free shuttle back to the store as we needed a few items and wanted to explore Curacao Marine, Budget, and IWW (Island Water World).  We picked up a few items at Curacao Marine (new drink holder for the port helm station and some on/off to clean the bottom of the dinghy) then headed over to Budget and IWW.  We “needed” 1/4” line for the tramp when we replace it and would like a new piece of stainless chain for our dinghy – so this was a pricing exploration.  We did not find what we needed so we headed back to the shuttle and caught a ride back to the dinghy dock.  Since we had no plans, we decided to explore the other areas of Spanish Waters.  Several days ago, we checked out Asiento Marina, Curacao Yacht Club, and Kima Kalki Marina.  We still wanted to explore Seru Boca Marina, Santa Barbara Marina, and a few other alcoves.  So, we took Sweet N Low on an adventure.  We met a new friend, Steve who is in a slip at Santa Barbara Marina but he did not look like he was on board when we swung by so we decided to check out Boca 19 as it was close to lunch time.  We climbed up to the 2nd floor, saddled up to the edge of the bar that overlooked the beautiful, private swim area and ordered a pineapple, ham, and cheese pannini – oh so delicious!  We then continued our tour and came across our friends on “Chapter Two” who were preparing to stow their boat for season.  Down the dock from them was this fixed sail trimaran.

Pretty house with LOVE artwork

Pretty house with LOVE artwork

As we entered one of the private bays, we noticed a small private island called Isla Kimiw (see brochure) which you and your loved one can rent out for the week!

Isla Kimiw in Spanish Waters, private resort

Isla Kimiw in Spanish Waters, private resort.

We headed back to the boat to clean up a bit as we had invited our friend Steve to come over for Roti.  It was great fun to hear about all of his adventures over good food and drinks.

Yum Yum!!!!

Yum Yum!!!!

Sunset off Spanish Waters

Sunset off Spanish Waters

Provision Run in Colon.

Exploring The Big City of Colon, Panama

Leave a reply

Matt and I hired a taxi to take us to the big city of Colon. We could have taken a 2+ hour bus ride for $3 each but we wanted to do a large provisioning run and make multiple stops.  A friend of ours gave us the name of a wonderful, English speaking taxi driver, Jack who took care of us!  Our goal was to hit the fresh market, the Zona Libre de Colon (free zone), and Quartro Alto all in one day.

Jack picked us up at 0730 and we were on our way.  It was such a nice ride being in a car rather than the noisy, bumpy, rickety bus.  We were able to enjoy the beautiful rolling hillside.  Panama is very lush, green, and beautiful this time of year.  We passed through several coastal towns, tons of farms with grazing cows and horses, and a large national park.  After about an hour and a half, we arrived in Colon.

We had heard that Colon was not safe and that we should not walk around, but Jack assured us that he would guide us in the right direction and keep us in safe areas.  And he did.

The fresh market is similar to the one in Colombia with fresh fish, meats, veggies and fruits.  The free zone is a massive (thousands of stores) area where you can buy just about anything duty free and tax free, and Quatro Alto is a large outdoor mall that has a huge grocery store, technology stores, and a marine store that we wanted to check out.

The first stop was a marine store.  We were in need of a few basic items such as boat polish, friction rings, silicone grease, 4000 UV adhesive, etc.. and the marine store in Quatro Alto is small.

The first marine store was well organized, two story building mostly dedicated to fisherman.  The entire bottom floor housed fishing gear, lures, poles, dry suits, spears guns and more.  The smaller upstairs had boat stuff, but it was pretty darn small.  At this store, we found boat polish and our U.V. sealant which was good.

The fresh market was next as you want to get here earlier than later to get the freshest foods.  We were instructed to stay inside the open air building as it was located in a “not so good area.”  Jack would have come in with us but he could not find a parking spot.  He dropped us off and picked us up at the entrance.  It was similar to Colombia, but much more organized and professional looking with official stands for each vendor.  We did a quick walk through first before we decided which vendor to buy from – there were a lot, but we wanted to get as much as we could from one place.

Fresh market in Colon, Panama

Fresh market in Colon, Panama

It’s overwhelming because you can’t hide from the damage we do to animals  Again, I do eat meat, but seeing the meat section makes me sick.  We ended up buying a 9 kilo pork shoulder for $20 and lot of veggies including: 3-papaya, 3-pineapple, 2-stocks of celery, 2-cucumbers, 2-squash, 10-oranges, 5-limes, 3-green peppers, 2-red peppers, cilantro, 2-avocados, 3-apples, 4-onions, and 2-heads of lettuce for about $36.  The price stunned us, but we were too busy grabbing stuff to ask  for prices and we just wanted to get out of there.  Either way, they were fresh and looked delightful!

Fresh fruits and veggies from Colon, Panama

Fresh fruits and veggies from Colon, Panama.

Next stop, the Zona Libre de Colon.  Jack did not know much about Zona Libre de Colon so we really did not know what to expect.   Liquor and perhaps an iPhone replacement were top priority for this excursion.  Friends told us that it might be difficult to get cases of liquor out of the zone and to ask before we buy:  good plan!   Jack dropped us off at a secondary gate and we went to the office to get a pass.  After showing our passports, we paid $1 each and were let lose in the jungle. This place is so big that they have tour guides on the corners to show you around.  There were well over 16 blocks in the clothing area alone.  We found a tour guide and asked where the technology section was and he pointed 4 blocks down and 10 blocks over.

Several stores had the apple logo, but many did not sell any apple products, WTF?  A few stores had the 7+ but they were more expensive than buying from the states so we soon gave up on this search.

Next we found the liquor area where we were hoping to buy a few cases of rum, vodka, and beer.  We had heard that you could buy a bottle of vodka for $4.  Once we found a good store, we inquired about the process.  We could certainly buy the cases, but they did not know how to get it out of the free zone.  Our taxi driver did not even have a permit to come into the free zone (he could not drive his car in so he dropped us off outside).  If we had a connection at the gate we might have been able to pull it off, but we didn’t  After discussing a few scenarios, we decided it was not worth the trouble and walked away.

An hour later, we were done with Zona Libre de Colon and a bit exhausted after walking around for a little over an hour.  Now we had to find our way back to the place where Jack dropped us off.  Most of the streets did not have names and did not go all the way through.  We knew we needed to get back to Calle 14 and Enrique Jimenez but the later street never appeared again.  After wondering around aimlessly for awhile we asked a vendor who pointed us to 3 exists.  We took our best guess and headed toward the one that looked closest to where we started and low and behold we found it!  Yeah.

Jack took us to Cuatro Alto to find a Mas Movil sim card, a marine store, and the market.  This was a lot more civil than the free zone.  We easily found a place to buy our sim card so that we now have multiple ways to try to get online while in San Blas.  We have the Digicel card, the Mas Movil, GoogleFi and of course Matt’s pirate ways.  Try to hide from us now, Mr. Internet!

The marine store in Quatro Alto was very, very small.  Even smaller than the first store we went into and we were not able to find much of anything there.  It looks like we will have to order the rest on Amazon so I can bring it back with me in January.

Supermercado Reys is the largest grocery chain in Panama and is owned by a single family.  It was a very clean, orderly, and well stocked market.  We loaded up two carts with almost everything on our list.  We found a 750 bottle of Smirnoff vodka for $8 (not the $4 bargain we hoped for, but not bad) so we grabbed 4.  I know, you are wondering if I lost my mind as it is not a potato vodka, but beggars can’t be choosers.  We also found a liter bottle of Abuelo rum for $10 so we grabbed 6 bottles.  We’ve heard that alcohol is very expensive on the Pacific side so we are stocking up.  We could not find cases of beer or diet coke so we swung by the Reys in Sabanitas to get the last items on our list.

Exhausted, we headed back to Linton Bay and hauled our goods to the precarious dinghy dock, managing not to dump anything in the water.

Loading up the dinghy with a huge provision run.

Loading up the dinghy with a huge provision run.

It took Matt and I a few hours to stow everything.  We removed all cardboard and labels from cans (prevents weevils), wrote expiration dates on all cans, bottles, jars.  Cut up, vacu sealed, and labeled all frozen meats. bleached and washed all fruits and veggies, and managed to find places to store it all inside the boat.

A few alcoholic beverages...

A few alcoholic beverages…

Success List:

  • Food
  • Beverages & Liquor
  • Sim card
  • Marine Store
  • Fresh Fruits and Veggies

We were so tired, but we decided we deserved a reward and headed to the bar to catch the last of happy hour.  The usual crew was there, “Sweet Chariot” “White Shadow” “Wandering Rose” and a few others.

Happy hour in Linton Bay, Panama

Happy hour in Linton Bay, Panama

It was a fun day, full of a few adventures.  Colon turned out to be lovely, but we did have rose colored glasses on with the help of our new friend Jack!