Christmas is here!

So it’s Christmas time, well to some, for others it’s the “Holiday Season”.

Here’s one of my biggest pet peeves, people looking me straight in the eye and saying “Happy Holidays” and while I do enjoy the holiday the only one that I’m getting happy about it Christmas.

So when you see me, wish me a MERRY CHRISTMAS, because that’s the only holiday that I celebrate this time of the year!!!!!!

Now, speaking of Christmas, my buddy Jimmy and I have this annual tradition where we leave our families on the 24th and try to hit every casino in Ontario. We start at Blue Heron, go north to Casino Rama, and hopefully before we run out of money we take on the twin casino’s in Niagara Falls. Sometimes we aim for Casino Windsor, but usually by the 26th we’re either beat tired, up money and afraid to lose it or broke beyond reasonable measure and decide against playing.

If you are reading this and feel the itch to gamble, you can try Pacific Poker that’s where I play poker when I’m bored. Several of my buddies have built some serious wealth there by playing smart. I on the other hand lose frequently, but I’m not a big money poker player either.

Enjoy your Christmas, and I’ll report back just after the casino run to let you know how we did!

The Mighty Jungle

I’m an astute observer and when I travel I like to see how the locals deal with everyday life. I’m not talking about those in the upper tax bracket either, I’m referring more about the common folk, the average everyday worker, school kids, whomever. This is why I try to take a bus whenever I am in a country that has one. In LA I took the bus against all recommendations, it was fine, a lot of crazies but a lot of nice people too and it ran on time. On the other end of the scale I rode the bus in Cairo, a jam packed event, in the heat with diesel blowing into the cabin. It wasn’t pleasant at all.

Today I decided to take the bus from Belmopan Belize, where I had a meeting, to San Ignacio a small jungle town near the Guatemalan border. My friend Ramon offered to drive me to the town about 45 minutes away but I didn’t want to put him through that expense, also, I wanted ride the bus!

When I arrived at the station there was a bus there, packed full of people, there were vendors screaming their offers to the passengers some of which bought drinks and snacks for the ride. A gentleman asked where I was going and I let him know, he pointed to the packed bus and said “you’ll get a seat about halfway” before I had a chance to decline a young boy took my bags and put it on the bus and the bus started to move, so I jumped on. No options here!

The interesting thing about the Belizean bus system is that the bus driver will stop anywhere you tell him to and will pick you up if you flag him down. Several times people were dropped off at one spot and others were picked up less than 100 feet away. The best part however was the payment, $1.50 for the two hour ride. Sure enough half way there I got my seat. With my bags upfront and myself halfway from the back I was comfortable. Most Belizeans are honest people so they won’t steal bags.

The next step was arriving in this little town, which is more like a bustling metropolis in the jungle, eco tourism thrives here along with low cost hotels and food. Now that I’ve arrived I had no idea where to stay, although I’ve been through this district, I’d never been to the town before. Easily enough I ran into a guy I knew from when I lived in San Pedro, he pointed me towards the Casa Blanca hotel, $24 a night can’t beat that! Especially when all I needed was a room!

There’s been a lot of anxiety here lately by the business owners because of Ex-Guatemalan military crossing the borders and robbing people and businesses, security guards carry pistols and at the casino armed guards are patrolling just incase someone decides to get stupid. However, just like every other part of Belize, I felt quite safe walking around at night, people waving hello to me even though I’m a stranger.

I’ve pictures posted here of my friend Ramon talking on the phone, the bus driver and the dudes I was riding the bus with, we kept switching spots to make the ride interesting. There’s also a shot I took of the town and the Saturday market. As you can see it’s raining in the jungle today.

I’d recommend this sort of trip for anyone who’s ever enjoyed an Indiana Jones movie, it’s like living the experience.

The Placencia Hotel

Shoes are strictly optional here, however it’s not a place where formality goes unnoticed. I just ate a fantastic steak, barefoot. I smoked my cigar and enjoyed the stars without my shoes. Nobody blinked an eye. I could’ve taken off my shirt, but I prefer to keep that on, others dine here shirtless, it’s not a huge issue, we are after all 300 ft from shore. These formalities should be put away back home. There is a sign in San Pedro that says "No Shoes, No Shirt, No problem" but it echos throughout the country of Belize and right down to the south, in Placencia where I am now.

In the past 6 days I smoked my prized Fuente Opus X BBMF cigar under a moonlit night, ate fantastic gourmet meals, fished on the Caribbean sea, drank COKE from a bottle and made plenty of friends in the process.

I've been at the perfect place, The Placencia Hotel and Residences in Placencia, Belize. And all I can say is that I don’t want to leave, but I must…reality beckons… here are some pictures

The Placencia Hotel website

VERY SEXY is out!

Back in my teenage years I was sitting with my two high school buddies, Ian and Aaron, in a sandwich shop and I commented on how it smelled like airplane food. I went on to talk about how I loved the smell and how I loved airplane food and the different type of food on the airlines. The worst the best etc. Ian looked at me with that crazy grin of his and said “You know, you need one of those jobs that lets you travel all over the place, you’d be perfect for that”. Well here I am, traveling again, this time to Placencia Belize. Ian was right, I’m loving every bit of it.

I’m also happy to say that Ian Sattler is doing what he loves, as an accomplished musician his music has been heard around the world. He’s written music for himself, for others and several movie soundtracks. His style is unique unto itself.

He just released his new CD, VERY SEXY, an incredibly catchy album. You can buy an autographed copy from the button below with free shipping. It's cheaper than what you will find in any store and will make a great Christmas present. I suggest you give it a shot, heck buy 10 of them!

That’s one of our RICH GUY GAL’S – Liana Perruzza on his CD Cover too. There's more pictures of her inside... ;)