goats in Jamaica May 15 & 16th, 2013

Although it was Eric’s birthday, he drove me to the airport for my flight. We left at 7:30am and I got there after 8:30am since traffic was heavy, possibly due to an accident. There was a fire truck on route. We went on Lakeshore and then onto the Gardiner.

Which only left me 15 minutes in the Maple Leaf lounge. I grabbed a hardboiled egg, croissant, pastry of some sort, toast for breakfast.

executive travel

Look.my feet barely touch that wall. And that composition book is my travel journal.

Since it was cheaper to book executive class, I was in the front row. I had an empty side beside me so I had lots of room, legwise and sidewise. I had so much leg room that my feet couldn’t reach the front and there is a nice big arm rest too. Negative, I couldn’t read the screen well. And there is so much service being in executive class, hot towels, dish of fresh nuts, breakfast menu options, real cloth napkins, china, glass and silverware. This is not my first time in executive. JAL, returning from Mexico to Vancouver, our connecting flight was late but since I looked like I was going to cry, we were thrown onto the plane into first class, circa 1978. So this my second time and its going to spoil me now.

I watched Django Unchained and it was really good, a lot like a spaghetti western with gore and humor, typical of Quentin Tarantino. He has a cameo in it. The flight attendant came by with Miss Vickie chips and Lindt chocolate bars and more offers of drinks.

Once off the plane, the air smelt different, not just ocean air but tropical ocean air. This is divine since I could see the smog over Toronto when we left.

The Jamaican immigration form has a separate purpose of visit category for honeymooners and asks if you are bringing in narcotics and other illicit drugs biological substances. WTF, although anyone would tick the yes box. You have to complete all sections and return the bottom portion for departure.

David picked me and the heat was on. He has a light blue Toyota Corolla rental. I couldn’t wait to get to the rental apartment to change. I was dressed for Toronto which was 8C when I left and now it was over 30C here.

The driving is scary here aside from the lefthand side driving, the roads are curvy, narrow and everyone drives to avoid the potholes. I kept thinking we were in the wrong lane, people don’t seem to use their signals. Street vendors and squeegy men and boys, beggars approaching stopped vehicles all add to stress of driving here.

The apartment address is Straithain Ave, Kingston 10, Jamaica. It is a new building with gated parking. The landlord, Mike was there and left us some fresh fruit: guavas, oranges 2 types, grapefruit and sugarcane. He said that he noticed that David like a lot of fresh fruit so that it was really nice of him. But it is David’s second stay there now. It is a one bedroom and that it only there were the air-conditioner is. From the balcony, you can see the coast.  And lots of solar panels.  We are near a girls school with tennis courts and track field.

Since we had to go to the lawyers, we parked at a nearby supermarket. Then we walked to the lawyers.

Back to the supermarket for shopping. You can get quail eggs, fresh thyme. I got New Zealand cheddar and mango yogurt. and lots of local fruit drinks like June Plum, Cherry, Mango Carrot. There were a lot of older boys in uniforms (all schools have uniforms) which I didn’t realized was staff until one unloaded my cart, bagged the groceries and loaded them into the truck. service at Losushan.

at our most frequented restaurant, which is actually a seafood store.

Fish Pot store

We went to a local take out spot for dinner: The Fish Spot. I ordered fish in brown sauce, bammy (circular deep fried cassava), seafood soup with red beans(I found squid in it), David had steamed fish with fish tea (soup). Other new items were festival:cornmeal patty and fritters, sweet potato fries. There is a lot of rice, pumpkin rice (with pumpkins, peas) and its all good quality and cheap $14. David has eaten there 8 times. There is seems to be security guards everywhere.

Our take out dinner.

fish pot

taken outside my car window:

goats, Kingston,Jamaica

On the way pack to the apartment, there was a herd of 6 goats standing at an intersection! I couldn’t see a goatherd with them.

At the apartment, we had dinner. We had purchased shredded callaloo which is a long leafy vegetable. I picked the shredded version which we stirfried with onions. I think it taste like asparagus and celery. David said that most restaurant meals are very low on vegetables.  We cooked this and added to our meal.  I like it as a cold salad too.

Since I was up late packing: 1 hour for clothes (last minute changes since David warned about the freezing office air conditioning), 1 hour for toiletries & accessories, and 1 hour for art supplies, I was tired. Since I was too busy watching the movie and being interrupted by first class service, I didn’t get to nap on the plane. We will be on an early schedule here leaving by 7:20am since the office starts at 8:00. But a lot of people start earlier than that.

highlights recap: change in air quality stepping off the plane, seeing goats


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