Los Cabos - 墨西哥游记：第一天 (Day 1)
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准备 (Preparation, pre-Christmas)
Every year, Boathill and Divertida would plan at least one vacation. It was special in 2007 when my parents came to live with us. We had Hawaii cruise in April, Banff and Jasper trip in August, an east coast tour in Octobor, and the New Year celebration in Los Cabos, Mexico, after the Christmas. Each was 7-8 days and we had a lot of fun. Here I would like to share with you our experience in Cabos.
I actually booked the resort in Los Cabos three years ago. But before I remembered of purchasing the air tickets, it was Octobor. The airfare went up to $700+ (from Seattle) and I'd rather fly back to China at that price. Similar thing happened for our Fiji vacation plan (but anyway there was some trouble with Fiji government that year). For this year's trip, I learned lesson and bought four tickets at $2,200 in April.
Certainly any such planning, including hotel/resort, schedule, car rental and luggage, in this family was my job responsibility. Boathill would only care his camera and laptop. This time I booked a resort suite that can have 6~7 people. I had invited a friend but her daughter had to be in LA for a concert. So we eventually had all the luxury.
话说没头脑和不高兴每年至少要出门渡一次假（平时周末开车出去玩不算），每年年初就要订下一年的计划。2007年比较特殊，我们全家一共出了四次门，每次都是7，8天。4月去夏威夷邮轮，8月去加拿大的班芙和加斯博，10月我带父母去了东岸加拿大，2007年12月28日到2008年1月4日我们在墨西哥的洛斯卡伯斯为2007划了一个完美的记号。
3年前我们就订了去LOS CABOS的渡假村，但忘记订机票，等我想起来，已经是10月了，机票飞涨，从西雅图到墨西哥要700多美金，气的我。要花这么多钱，我还不如回国呢。于是取消了渡假村。去年我学了乖，4月就把机票订了，是ALASKA的，加上所有的费用，我们全家4口还不到2200美金，还好。
在没头脑家里，凡是涉及到玩这类“小事”，都是由没头脑来准备的。从找下一个旅游的地方，到订渡假村/酒店，机票，租车，行程安排，行李准备，都是没头脑的事。不高兴是管大事的，比如说带他的相机和笔记本。至于说他的类似带刮胡刀这样的事，也都是没头脑的职责范围。
没头脑在2006年12月就把LC的渡假村订好了，是2个房间，2个卫生间，带厨房的，可以住6个人，因为客厅里还可以拉出来一个大的QUEEN SIZE的床。我们本来邀请另外一家朋友一起去，可以充分利用这套房子，但朋友的女儿想去LA参加周杰伦的演唱会，他们就没能和我们一起去。
Since Octobor, I started research and learned these:
1. Seems driving is dangerous while locals across the highway and no speed limit;
2. Corrupt police man can stop you and issue fine by no reason;
3. Negotiation may be needed for bus or taxi: e.g. $5 from our restort to Costco;
4. Exposure under blazing sunshine need higher SPF screen.
I decided to buy a set of new sunscreen, one for my parents and one for myself. We shopped in Bellevue Square and bought one at Clarins. The sales woman said she was 68 and she had used sunscreen all the time. She looked like 50 and no spot on her face. Sure the bottle cost $60. Fortunately I found it had protected me very well -- you can see from the pictures, I was not tanned -- as all Asian girls want to be white.
Read from other people's blogs and reviews on the internet, I did not plan for car rental. But after asked his colleague, Boathill strongly suggested to drive a car instead of taking the bus. And his suggestion always meant an order to me. So I immediately alter the plan and added $350 to the budget.
四月份，订了机票。
十月份，没头脑开始到网上查询各类信息。得到结果如下：
1、墨西哥开车很危险，路况不好，行人乱穿马路，墨西哥人开车飞快。 ——— 这是真的
2、墨西哥有很多坏警察，籍着一点小事讹钱。——— 也是真的
3、我们住的地方离一个超市很近，走路15分钟。打车5美元。——— 要讲好价钱，否则可能会出现争执
4、墨西哥的太阳剧毒，一定要带高倍数的防晒霜。——— 千真万确
针对我的调查，我决定，马上买新的防晒霜。老美喜欢把自己晒的黑黑的，我们亚洲人晒黑的好看的可不多。我可不希望变成一个不黄不黑的人回来。去了Bellevue Square,因为是冬天，好多品牌还没有防晒霜。最后到了Clarins，碰到一个号称68岁的老太太sales，可她看起来也就是50多。她很得意地告诉我，她是有皱纹，可脸上一个点都没有，就是因为她一年到头12个月都用防晒霜。我大大地夸奖了她一番，结果就是得到好几个小样。:) 最后买了一个专门擦脸的和专门擦身体的，她说擦身体的也都可以擦脸，但我想还是分开比较好。两小瓶花了60多。俺娘很心痛。过了2天，和我说，能不能买到便宜点的防晒霜，给她和俺爹，不高兴用，贵的只给我一个人。我说没必要，但他们坚持，就跑到Walgreens买了防晒指数50的。正好打折，花了6块多。事实证明，贵的是要好一点。我特别容易被晒黑，可8天下来，我的颜色变得不特别大，俺爹俺娘可是见黑了。
再说车，看了很多负面的东西，我就不太想租车，订了机场接飞机的车。没想到快出发了，不高兴来劲，问去过那里的同事，然后对我说，还是要租车。于是我这个小喽罗就赶紧取消了机场接车，再租车。花了350多。
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第一天 WorldMark Coral Baja (2007.12.28 Day 1)
Finally it was the day to take off. We had our good neighbor to take care of the mailbox, and we had everything ready including a rental car to the airport. Left for airport around 0630, we arrived at checkin before 0730. The security filtered out two canned food and gave us the choices to throw away or eat at the gate. I said they were sweet conjee with peanut, beans, dates and logans. He found it was interesting but insisted not to touch the forfeits.
On the plane, it was $5 for a salad or a hamburger. My mom's home-made pancake with eggs and green onions feeded us a great lunch and attracted a lot of attention from many other passengers. It looked so good and smelled so delicious. We also had fruits and other things from the bag before I realized the plane was about to land. My mom was sitting by the window and she took couple pictures of an island. Boathill matched the shape on the map but found no name of it.
盼啊盼啊，终于等到了出发这一天。是上午10点的航班，我们很激动，早上6点半就离开家了，还不到7点半就到了机场。过安检出了点小故障，我带了2罐八宝粥，想等飞机的时候吃，结果被告知罐子太大，被没收。我对检查的人说，你留着吃吧，很好吃的。他努力地咽了口吐沫，说，我们不能动被没收的东西。
上了飞机，只有饮料供应，5块钱可以买个沙拉或是汉堡。我们早有准备，俺娘做的鸡蛋灌饼拿出来，就着白水，就是一个字，香！馋旁边的老美。:)
我一直胡里胡涂，以为要坐5个多小时的飞机，所以3个小时过去后，听到广播说准备下降，我还不明白。原来，西雅图和LC有一个小时时差，其实我们之间只有3个半小时。俺娘喜欢靠窗户坐，让她从飞机上照了一张下面的照片。
墨西哥，我们来了！--- Mexico, we are coming!
海关遭遇坏人
到了海关，碰到了一个坏人。因为我和不高兴拿的是美国护照，所以海关官员没什么可说的。看了我父母的中国护照，立马对我说，你们几个跟我来一下，于是我们就来到了后面的小黑屋。坏人说，因为你父母是第一次来墨西哥，所以每个人需要交20美金，这是一次性的，以后就不用交了。我知道他在说谎，但因为事先看了很多人说在墨西哥就是这样的，何况钱也不多，就乖乖地交了。心里还有点好笑，觉得这就是墨西哥国情。我这次出门特意带了很多20的纸币，就是为了万一的。交了钱，官员还装模作样的复印了父母的护照，让他们签了字，但我知道我们一出门，他就把钱塞兜里了。
出了海关，拿行李。一看，把包摔的七荤八素的。排队过安检，发现包里还有没吃完的广柑，赶紧送给租车行的小伙子。安检顺利通过。
At the custom, the officer tried to convince me that my parents need to pay extra $20 for each person because of the Chinese passports and it happened the first time when they came to Mexico. I was prepared for such thing and I gave him the two $20 bills. He xeroxed the passports and put seals on a paper (with nothing about the fees). I asked him for the receipts and he said that was it. I did not want any trouble and took it as an experience, even though I suspected the money would slip into his pocket after we turned at the corner.
Not a big deal, I told my parents. We walked out of the luggage claim. There were a bunch of locals waiting for the tourists. I had a folder in hand with our car rental and resort informaiton. One sheet leaked out a logo of Westin, although it was not where we stayed. One guy came up with a quick glimpse on my folder and smiled at us: "Hey to Westin, come with me this way!" Had been told there would be timeshare sales trying to stop us at the door, I was still suprised of this smart guy.
租车
过了安检，出门找租车行的人，外面一堆人马上围上来，问去哪儿去哪儿？我没理他们，直接奔向拿着Dollar牌子的人，坐车来到租车行。车行离机场不远，但走路还是有点累。租车的时候，小姑娘猛让我买保险，我说我的AE卡已经保了毁坏和丢失，她说那个卡不保对方，我问如果加保险要多少钱，她说要增加200多。我很犹豫，毕竟第一次来墨西哥，对这里的情况不了解，如果真出什么事，有保险很重要。可我的吝啬心理又很不甘心，最后还是决定不买。事实证明，在墨西哥开车其实没有问题。我们住的渡假村都有停车场，有人看守。去外面玩我也尽量停在有看守的对方。有几次停在马路边上，也都没事。
在美国租车，最多的就是美国车。这回在LC，拿到的是尼桑的车，很省油，非常好。
渡假村 (The resort)
About twenty minutes driving, we checked in Coral Baja WorldMark. Boathill and I had been the members for five years. Very familiar style and layout, there were two bedrooms at left, kitchen close to the front door, and a hot tub out of another door to the backyard.
开车20分钟，来到了度假村：Coral Baja。我是这里的会员，加入5年了。一进门，屋子是这样的：
2个房间都在左边，里面是主卧，照片的右边是厨房。房间的外面是Hot Tub。
外观是这样的 (a sunrise view on the beach)：
我们把东西收好，就去附近的Mega 和 Costco买吃的了。
商店碰到推销员：Meet Caros (At Mega)
We did not find a lot vegetables and fruits in Mega as we expected. There were many different kinds of yogurt, soymilk, and juice. Boathill always liked to try anything new and he picked some. Then he had no idea in front of the groceries. To be polite, he greeted to a mexican who seemed like a store service man. I found that guy started a conversation with Boathill and I asked what it was about. He explained that there was a celebration event here. Every night? A show in this store? He must try to sell us something ...
The man waited at the check-out and handed us an invitation. We looked at it and told him: "No we do not need any timeshare." He smiled: "This is not a timeshare. There is no presentation. No pushing ... I just want to bring you to this tour and show at Royal Solaris. Very close to you. I see you are a nice family. I want to give you $250 in cash and 4 tickets... Here is my name: Caros. I am a good man..." -- Can anyone believe such a good thing? Boathill and I doubted. Too good to be true, right? But we took the invitation. Why, it wouldn't hurt going there if later we found nothing to do.
来之前，就看到网上说这里满大街都是推销Time Share的人，这次真是见识了。
我们来到Mega，觉得很失望。商店里的蔬菜水果看起来都蔫头耷脑的，一点都不新鲜，而且价格比美国还贵。不高兴喜欢喝果汁，乱七八糟拿了各种口味的果汁，豆浆，我们随便买了些蔬菜，准备到Costco再看看。这时，有一个穿着桔色T恤的人来和我们搭讪，问我们从哪里来，住哪里，说他就在这个商店工作，可以给我们这里的地图。付了款，果然看到这个人在一个桌子后面，看到我们，很高兴地叫我们过去。给了我们几张地图后，说：一看就知道你们是一个很好的家庭(不知怎么看出来的:))，我想请你们全家吃晚饭，看庆祝25周年的演出，顺便参观我们的度假村。你们明天有什么计划吗？你们可以9点，10点，11点来。我们的渡假村离这里很近，只要90分钟，不用听讲座，不耽误你们玩儿。我说，对不起，没兴趣。他说，如果你们去的话，我给你们250美金，外加4张晚餐券，是自助餐，带表演的。我还是拒绝，但他坚决地写了个单子，把承诺的东西都写上去了，还一再地说，我叫卡洛斯(Carlos)，我是个好人，请相信我。
我想，先拿着也无所谓，到时不去就是了。在美国，我们也去过几个Time Share的讲座，那些人拼命地想让你买，施加很多压力，如果没有江姐那样的钢铁般的毅力，一般都是很难收场。没头脑有自己的底线，不管你说破大天，我就一句话：Sorry! It looks great, but doesn't work for us。 在美国的讲座，常常就是给一些代用卷，或是一个2，3天的旅游，没什么吸引力。这个250的现金，我还是有点心动。所以第二天一早，我宣布，去见识一下墨西哥的销售人员。
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