Mike got a cell sock for his birthday, haha. Who gave it to him???
The original plan was meeting Rowan a nice young Scottish
boy for lunch. Rowan and I were in touch since he joined the site (last April).
He has been traveling around South America for
almost 4 months, and the trip was getting over. I was happy he chose Lima for his last stop, and
even happier to be able to meet him at the end of the adventure. But the night
before I met Mike, who told me he had birthday on Sunday, I was so excited
about having a TB here for his Birthday!!! Yeah!!! So, I thought: why not
having an Intercontinental Mini Meet Up? And to make things even better I
called Romain – a local TB and good friend of mine. The plan was picking up Mike
and then go for Romain (who lives just 3 blocks away from the hotel). What
about Rowan? I was trying to contact him, but I guess the party was really good
the night before, haha.
so sweet!!! Rowan & Yadi :)
I told Rowan and Mike – separately – they should try the
Fish & Seafood in Lima,
besides drinking Inca Kola, haha. So we would do it together and in one of my
favorite places. It might not be the most elegant one, but they have an amazing
food. Furthermore, Romain who is always claiming to be a Peruvian (so far I
accepted to call him Miraflorino) hasn’t been there. Well, Yadi came to fix the
situation, haha. Follow the leader. Mike, Romain and I were together. We
arrived to the restaurant and what a surprise! It was packed! I took a number
and we’d have to wait 20-30min to get a table. This place doesn’t take
reservations. You just have to show up. We were just doing the line and
chatting when I thought I heard my phone. OMG a missed call and the number was
from a pay phone, so no way to call it back.
the Intercontinental Buddies: Rowan, Romain, Yadi & Mike
I said: “Rowan!” Romain – Rowan, pretty similar, haha. I decided
to hold my cell just in case it’d ring again and it did! It was Rowan! I gave
him the name of the restaurant and the directions. He was just 6 blocks away,
hehe.
Rowan arrived just on time! They were calling our number
#25, when I saw a tall young boy with blue eyes approaching. I didn’t need
anything to recognize him. I just gave him a hug and started to talk in
English, while the rest of the people were looking at us as if we were crazy,
haha, who cares!
Ok, now it was time to order the food, the 4 of us were
starving. I was the only one who has already been there, so the 3 boys would
either thank or kill Yadi after lunch, haha.
Rowan was enjoying his choritos!
Right now they are really
thankful, haha. So, the Intercontinental Meet Up officially started: we were 2
European, 1 Asian & 1 South American ;) I ordered an appetizer. Mike and
Rowan were asking what was that, but Romain just said: “Trust Yadi!”
It was early for starting drinking, Rowan got Inca Kola – of
course, Mike a Coca Cola, I an Inca Kola, just Romain got a beer, a malta (It
made me remember Francois!) The boys really liked the “Choritos a la Chalaca”,
so fresh and tasty.
The appetizer was delicious, but we were ready for the real
food, haha. Rowan got the famous Cebiche. At the beginning he was concerned
about eating raw fish… we explained him, the fish wasn’t raw.
wow, this is a big soup! yes, it's parihuela!
It was cooked
with the lime juice. Just it case I asked the waitress, to bring the hot sauce separately.
But it wasn’t hot and he ended having it, haha. Mike asked me if there were any
soup I could recommend him. Sure, there is! Mike had the parihuela. It was a
huge soup with fish and seafood. It looks and tastes like the New Orleans’ Gumbo ;) Back in France, Romain didn’t use to eat much rice, but
since he moved to Peru
he became a Rice lover and he got “Arroz con Mariscos” (Rice with seafood). I
got my classic one, the bicolor Tiradito. It has a yellow pepper and a red hot
pepper cream. The 4 dishes were just yummy!!!!!
When Rowan tasted the Inca Kola for 1st time, he
didn’t look very happy and I was a bit afraid if he liked it or not.
the 3 boys trying to solve the problems of the world, haha
But when
he finished the 1st bottle and asked for a 2nd one I
realized I made the perfect choice at first time, haha. We had a great lunch
not only because of the food, but also because of the company. We were just
talking about our different travel’s experiences and it was so good to see how
different people ended up together having fun. I felt so happy about being able
to reunite people from different continents, who are nice, cool, fun and share
one passion: travel! Mike was just starting his trip, Rowan was finishing his
and Romain and I were the local friends, just perfect!!!!
It was around 4pm when we left the restaurant. The eating didn’t
take so long, but the chatting was endless, haha. Of course there were picture
times. As good TB, we had our cameras with us, haha. The lunch was delicious
and it wasn’t pricy, yay for us!
Romain had to go back home.
OMG, it's so cheap!!!!
So we said him goodbye and I
started driving with Mike and Rowan. I asked them what they’d like to do. It
was so fun. I was with 2 guys who wanted to go shopping!!! My dream came true,
haha!!! Mike wanted pants for the trekking and Rowan a suit. Perfect time! The biggest
department stores were on sale, haha. So it was simple we drove to a department
store and they both could find what they were looking for easily and everything
was on sale yeah!!!! Mike was even saying I should add: Fashion Consultant to
my CV, haha.
It was time to say good bye to Rowan, he had plans for
later, mmm. It was so great meeting him after being in touch for so long. He
was happy with his new suit and his intercontinental Mini Meet Up. I think it
was his first one, and I was part of it, yeah!!!! Before leaving he said, he’d
be waiting for me in Scotland,
haha.
I'm so excited...
He knew I always wanted to go to the UK. I feel so lucky about being
able to meet such cool people!
It was almost 5pm and Mike asked me if I had plans. No, I
didn’t have any plans + I didn’t want him to spend his birthday alone in a
hotel’s room. We were talking about paragliding, so we drove there. I found the
perfect spot to park and there was no line to do it, yeah!!! It was Mike’s
first time doing it. He gave me his cell and some recommendations about what to
do in case of an emergency. Silly, Mike, nothing will happen. Just enjoy the
flight. We arrived just in time. After Mike, they canceled the flights, since
the wind wasn’t enough strong. Mike took his camera and I was in charge of the
departure and landing pics. I took some pics before he left.
for you Sal!!!!
I was waiting for
him, the flight lasts 15min approx, when I heard his voice just behind me. What?
Mike was there! What happened? Well, they should land on the beach, since the
wind wasn’t helpful. Then they took a cab back to the park. Thank God nothing
bad happened, haha. Well, definitely it was quite and adventure.
Anything else we were missing? Yes! The drinks for Sal and Las Vegas gang!!! Time to
solve it, but before it we went to the supermarket to buy some snacks Mike
might need during the trekking, haha. Then we went to a small bar/café in front
of the Central Park in Miraflores. We got our
drinks for our friends. The waiter who took the pics might have thought we were
crazy, haha. Mike loves the sweet and couldn’t help getting a piece of
chocolate cake, haha.
This is for Las Vegas gang: Melanie, RJ and Sal!
Mike ordered a Pisco Sour and I got a Chicha Sour which
is a drink with Pisco but mixes it with a traditional Peruvian soft drink:
Chicha Morada! Definitely it was something interesting, haha. We were just
hanging out and talking about our common friends in Philippines. The similarities
between our both countries are so much, wow! I hope I can go there sooner than
later. Well, as we both said: world is so big, but time and money aren’t
enough. Well, someday, someday. We both agreed we should include traveling
together in our plans too, haha.
It was getting late and Mike had to wake up early the next
morning. Before going we made a quick stop in the church and then I drove him
back to the hotel. He’d be back in Lima for a
long layover after the trekking in Cusco.
our last piscos. Mike had a Pisco Sour and Yadi had a Chicha Sour :)
He
was just thinking about staying in the airport. No way! I’d arrange everything
so we would be able to hang out during his last hours in the country. I’ll be
waiting for Mike in Lima,
who will succeed in the Salkantay trekking, no doubts about it ;)
Punto Azul BBB - Tasty & fresh Fish and Seafood
I guess the best way to describe this restaurant is with these 3 statements: Great seafood, large portions, good value!
As we called it here BBB
Bueno (good), Bonito (nice) & Barato (cheap) - a good combination, isn't it?
Is this the best restaurant in the city? Actually is extremely difficult to choose the best restaurant when there are so many great ones. I just can say that you MUST visit it. You can try here delicious food, new and tasty dishes, without spending much money. There are so many good dishes. Try the cebiche Punto Azul (the special of the house), the new trio of causas (mashed potatoes). If you are cold, ask for a parihuela soup. As appetizer the choritos a la chalaca are a great choice!
This restaurant has 4 locations. I usually go to 2 of them. The atmosphere is nice and laid back. The decoration is simple and they use bright colors. The ones in Miraflores and Surco are just big houses turned into restaurants. The staff is helpful, but they could be really busy.
The only bad thing is the fact it is always full of people, which means you have to do a long line... but you know, if it's full, the food might be really something. Tip: arrive either early - 12:30pm or late after 2:30pm :)
Something to know: they don't take credit cards & they don't take reservations. They just serve lunch, but don't work on Mondays ;)
choritos a la chalaca (mussels w
…
Tiradito Bicolor (Fish with sauc
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Cebiche Punto Azul
Parihuela: a soup like tastes li
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arroz con mariscos
having lunch!
causa! mashed potatoes stuffed w
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the new causa trio! green - mash
…
