MADNESS AT THE MALL AND THE LOVE OF PANAMA

But wait there's still more excitement and adventure in Panama!  Last Friday came in quietly.  The four of us had a wonderful breakfast in the hotel, we tried some new kind of fruit (bland as usual for Panama) that we thought was lychee but perhaps it was Pulasan and filled up on hot chocolate, juice, soda and coffee!

Buah or Pulisan fruit--ours seemed spikier but had the same white soft ball of blandness on the inside (http://www.malaysiabest.net/2006/07/21/buah-fruit-pulasan-photo/)

The next stop was the pool for a few hours.  It was bright, sunny and warm outside.  The only other thing on the agenda was shopping at the "outlet" mall and with the vendors on the overpass as well as lunch at MetroMall.  Little did we know what was in store for us.

The pool at Marriott Courtyard MetroMall

We decided to walk over to "The Sound of Music" store first (thinking it would have music like CD's, records) just in case it decided to start raining.  When on the overpass, Eric stopped to by a $2 wooden necklace.  I continued on to see what else was there and what I wanted to buy.  Out of the blue, the woman started yelling in Spanish to the other vendors and before I knew it, she had swiped the table clear of all merchandise into a 3x3 Hello Kitty bag.  I went back to the other table now realizing I wasn't going to be able to buy anything if I didn't act fast, and I found a trinket for $2 (I made sure I picked out just the right color).  Was this a police raid?  They don't have their peddlers license?  We didn't think so since the police were standing at the bottoms of the steps when we had arrived there.  We continued on to the stores realizing that the stores were closed, and around the corner there was more Spanish yelling.  A twenty-some year old Panamanian was speaking broken English to Eric while he spoke broken Spanish.  A man in his forties picked us out of the crowd and said to us in English "get in a taxi, go back to your room.  NOW."  The rioting from Colon last week had spread to Panama City and was trickling out to neighboring cities.  According to Don Winner who writes Panama-Guide, the protests were against a quickly passed Law 72 (which President Martinelli has since "taken back", and this is what took place on Friday while we were sitting at the pool:

On Friday, looters ransacked shops and stoned vehicles in Panama City following protests outside the Congress against the law. Police used tear gas against protesters.

The violence resulted in more than 200 arrests in Panama City and Colon, the northern city where the duty-free zone is located. Eleven people — a mix of protesters and police — were hurt, authorities said.

Protests first started last week when Martinelli signed the law.

Martinelli proposed having some of the proceeds go to state coffers and some to local development in one of Panama's poorest areas, but demonstrators in Colon opposed any sale.

We never felt in danger.  We just knew to do what we were told.  We stuck out like a sore thumb there.  We headed back over to the mall, and we noticed many people leaving.  We also noticed the shops were open and many people were still walking into the mall.  But then we thought about getting to the airport.  The taxi situation.  Possible road closures.  We had read about all of this in the past.  We thought it best to just get on the road.  The staff at the hotel told us what was going on and stated that if the mall management felt it necessary, they would close the shops. (Albrook Mall closer to the city had closed, buses weren't running,  and taxi fares were being hiked up.)  We loaded our luggage into the taxi, paid $5 more than the day before, and made it to the airport easily enough. 

Were they scared for their lives?  Or being melodramatic?

Everyone finding taxis and exiting the stores

Overpass cleared out (few vendors still packing up) and traffic picking up

Policemen on their way

There we paid a whole lot of money for drinks and appetizers.  We longed to return to the “interior” where Balboa beer was .40 (or even $2.50 for a bottle) and frozen drinks were $4.  And we didn’t like departing from Tocumen.  It was not an easy last two hours.  We waited patiently at Gate 7 only to find out (on our own) that we would now be leaving from Gate 29 (on the complete opposite side of the airport).  We were told to stand on line and wait to have our carry on luggage scanned only at this gate, there weren’t any scanners.  Just one slow person that turned into three that eventually decided they’d better move it or we would all miss the flight!  They had us empty our just bought and unopened liquids (soda and water) even though if you were at the back of the line that rule became relaxes.  They didn’t have children load first or the passengers that were medically compromised.  Apparently (according to a passenger in line with us) since 9-11, any flight going into the States is required to have their carry on luggage, shoes and body searched.  Unfortunately, the scanners were at Gate 7. This is when Ray and I made our decision to upgrade our Copa  airline status if possible, so we can jump to the shorter line. This was the only time I decided that Panama might be a bit ludicrous.  Or hopefully, it wasn’t just that I had taken those rose-colored glasses off!  Patience.  And yes, I still want more of Panama.

$18 nachos better be good (at the airport) with $10 drinks

Should have drank more to withstand this line--waiting to be searched again before boarding the plane

This is the one woman they had to start the search (notice the other tables sitting there empty --they were waiting for chairs for the passengers!)

SUPERSTORM, MODERN MIRACLE AND MALLS

Here in Virginia, we made it through another weather event.  This one was called Sandy (the same Sandy who's tailwind got in my way almost one week ago in El Valle), the "superstorm".  She created a mess mostly for New Jersey and New York with boardwalks washed up, subway tunnels overcome with water, facades of buildings torn off, fire on Long Island, bridges and transport systems shut down along with Wall Street shutting down for the second day (this hasn't happened since the Great Blizzard of 1888) and even here the Federal Government shut down for two days.  Flights have been canceled; I have a friend stuck here waiting to get back to California, and I have another friend stuck in Hawaii waiting to get back here.  Ray and I made it out of Panama just in the nick of time.  The riots didn't delay us.  The very slow person (okay, they eventually found two more to help) checking our carry on luggage and making us dump our unopened liquids didn't delay us.  And the plane itself took a turn to the left to avoid Sandy in the south and that didn't even delay us. Can't believe all that has happened in the last three days.

Time to daydream about Panama again and go back to where I left off of our vacation.  Onward to the Panama Canal--a modern wonder of the world!  But wait, we have to load up on breakfast and what better place to do this than at ... no, not McDonalds, but at El Machetazo again.  This time, not so great.  The fruit tasted off a bit.  My nephew had hot dogs in a bowl in some sort of sauce.  I tried the sauce.  No thanks.  He tried to tell me that they weren't hot dogs as we know it, but they still reminded me of hot dogs in some sauce.  And this time, there weren't any eggs.  Every day in Panama is different.  My sister had cake for breakfast, so that was tasty.  Ray took us upstairs (he had been there a few days earlier to get the cooler) to show us the beds, appliances, ATV's, clothing and patio furniture.  The two upper floors remind me of Home Depot or Lowes and perhaps a Bed Bath and Beyond or Wal-Mart combined.  And I took note this time that Philadelphia Cream Cheese is $6.  My belly wasn't as full from this breakfast, but we bought some hard candy and chips for the road.

Hot dogs and some kind of sauce

Sister was smart to get some cake

$1.49 for Panamanian brand vs $6.29 for Philly Cream Cheese

The smaller bikes for children sold for $50-$100

Appliances (one stove was $1200)

Eric finds his bed and soccer ball

The Village where the store was

No longer accepts AmEx

We had directions to the canal that Clyde had drawn out for Ray.  And we also had the GPS.  Clyde and Terry also told us not to leave until later in the morning.  We wanted to avoid rush hour.  We left Coronado at 9:30, filled the car up with the gas,  and walked next door to the bakery (while Ray was getting the gas) and saw lots of dry cookies (very dry looking cookies), some bread and many, many bags of small chips and Cheetos.  We pressed on.  One hour later, we pulled up to the Miraflores Locks.  We were fortunate that we caught the last ship to pass through that morning.  It had been unloaded, so it was a light load.  It was through the third lock almost, but what an amazing sight.  We watched the 3-D movie and shopped at the gift center as well.

A little too close there

Then they raced, just like at home

Figuring out the lanes

Looks like my highway (I-95) in Northern VA

Good to know we were on a "road"

Miraflores Locks Visitors Center ($8/person)

Going through the final lock

And there she goes

This brown water looked blue in all the pictures online that I had seen

How many men does it take to fill a cylinder up with cement?  Man on the right pushed the wheelbarrow over

Man in orange scoops cement out and there was a third man spraying water out of a hose to wet the cement down=THREE!

Me and Ray hanging out at the canal

Eric and Carolyn getting seriously ready for the animated 3D movie

Our day wasn't over yet though.  We did take the long route (per the GPS lady that wanted us to avoid tolls even though we didn't tell her this) through some city roads (outside of Panama City).  It was longer but more amusing and entertaining.

Selling tomatoes and lettuce at a very long light

We have been told that yearly inspections are required.  Really?

Onward to the airport to drop off the rental (it cost $50 per day with the GPS), a taxi to the Courtyard Marriott MetroMall Panama ($20 for four), unload the luggage and shopping at MetroMall.  I loved that there was a covered walkway from the hotel to the mall (it was sunny and not raining though).  This mall reminds me of Tyson's Corner (in northern VA).  Upscale shops like The Gap, Coach, Nautica, a food court, restaurants, movie theater, fancy shoe stores along with Crocs, a carousel and more!  The prices were just like at home.  

We tried to use the numbers, but we still ended up with a slight difference  in what was on our tray compared to the picture

Kids bouncing up and down

Kids circling around

Three stories of shops

To further the Panamanian mall experience, we decided to see a movie.  And what classier movie to see in Panama then "Ted".  $4 for the ticket with our seats selected ahead of time, $3 for Large bucket of Caramel popcorn (remember first that my lunch order was messed up a bit AND in the States I am never offered Caramel popcorn) and $2 for a Large soda.  ($13 for two in a clean, new theater with English speaking movie accompanied by Spanish subtitles--I really know how to curse in Spanish now).

Eric and Ted

A bit burnt but caramel, nevertheless

After the movie, there was still so much more to do.  We ventured over to the other side of the road to the outlet stores.  This time we used the overpass, since my sister had been nicely scolded by a Spanish speaking Panamanian policeman in Coronado for running across the road.  We decided to shop on the overpass the next morning once it was light outside.  The outlets run the gamut of just everything.  I found bras for .99, Charlotte Russe capri pants for $6.99 and everything in between.  $6.99 is my limit :)  And this time I was nicely scolded by a Spanish speaking Panamanian security guard.  I had just taken a picture of (wink, wink) my sister.  She happened to be standing right below a largely bosomed mannequin.  Meanwhile, a family was shoplifting (I don't know how since our bag was stapled three times) which I am pretty sure took precedence over my picture taking.  Maybe.

We found the casino (penny slots but $2.50 bottle Balboa beers compared to the cans in the grocery store for .40), where my sister won big bucks of $25.  And then we made it back across the overpass to Bennigans for appetizers, salads and what else, frozen drinks :)  $4 for those.  No wonder I had two.  

Back to the hotel where a van in the parking lot almost made my sister postal with the LOUD BLARING music.  Fortunately for the driver, he shut the music off within minutes of starting it up and left the lot.  She wouldn't do well with Panamanians as neighbors.  Good thing I have a bit of hearing loss.  Ray will need some ear plugs.

THAT ONE GOLDEN FROG

Some mornings when we woke, the sky was clear for the most part (in the distance there would be clouds over the mountains), and Wednesday wasn't too different.  Maybe a few more clouds, but it had dried out from the night before.  But after our trip to McDonald's, it started to rain.  First let me give ourselves a hand for figuring out that menu!  We saved $5 by not accidentally the combo and getting the right Egg McMuffin.  Except for Eric.  His order was screwed up, but he's is 22 years old and takes it all in stride.  Sausage instead of ham.  And we said the right words...the girl behind the register just got confused (I am sticking to that story).  I don't eat at McDonald's at home, so I don't really know what things cost except that they have the $1 menu.  At this McDonald's, I checked out the prices of lunch meals.
Big Mac is $6
Hamburger is $3.60
Cheeseburger is $3.90
That's about how much I cared to check out the cost of things at McDonald's.

Once we were filled up with that amazing breakfast of champions, we set out towards El Valle again.  This time we were going to El Nispero Zoo to see some Golden Frogs.  I read on Tripadvisor Forums not to anticipate too much here.  I kept my standards low.  I told my family to be ready for wet weather, small cages and perhaps some sad looking animals.  Or we would could look at it another way and see that the animals were being fed, and the life they were living was what they were used to--they didn't know the difference.  The road to El Valle is curvy but smooth.  The turnoff to the zoo is the complete opposite.  It is straight for the most part, but the bumps and potholes actually started making us a little nauseous (or we can blame it on breakfast).  It's a good mile plus on a horrible road.  Would it be worth it?  The entrance fee is $2 for locals and $3 for visitors.  We had good laughs traveling the road, but we are wondering if we would want to go in the dry season (the smells of the zoo were bad enough with it being so wet--how would it be in the warm and dry temps?).  By the way, it poured on and off the entire day due to the tailwinds of Hurricane Sandy hitting Jamaica on Wednesday, and the temperature made it to 21 degrees Celsius  (70 degrees Farenheit) that day.

The zoo:  first stop was the bathroom since the bumpy road had started something up in all of us.  The man at the gate was super nice.  We forgot to buy food for the animals, but the people ahead of us left theirs behind at times, so we had a chance to toss some peanuts.   We saw a lot of birds, Toucan Sam (!), monkeys, ostriches, jaguars, tigers, chickens, and frogs.  Some ugly frogs.  But right in the middle (who could miss it?  We did.) is a large, glass enclosed box that houses the preciously and perhaps extinct (depends on what you read) Golden Frog.  We saw one.  Only one.  Through the foggy glass.  The Golden Frog can be found in zoos, but they aren't seen too often in the wild due to some fungus.  Mission accomplished and despite the rain, I can honestly say that we had a pretty good time dodging the mud puddles and trying to avoid some of the smells.  We wore raincoats and pull-over ponchos.  We also had Croc-style shoes on and, of course, bug spray.  At the end of the trail, there is a spiket to wash your feet off (I think this is what it's for).  I used the sinks outside the bathroom area (there was soap there) which did a pretty good job, too.  Back on the bumpy road to find a restaurant for lunch.

Driving up to El Valle

Pretty much how the whole road was

Straight and bumpy

Here we are!

Ready to check out this fancy zoo!

The bird never stood a chance

A little family of ?  I forget.

Feeding another odd animal some peanuts left behind

YAY!  Want to see one not in a cage soon!

OOOHH.  AAAHH.  I Spy the Golden Frog

Beautiful.  There were two of them.

Peek a boo says the night eyed monkey

So sweet.

Saw this is lots of places in Panama.  

From the gorgeous skies on Sunday, to the low clouds and chilly temps on Wednesday.

Once we cleaned up from the zoo, we tried finding a restaurant.  We had the street name.  We drove through the neighborhoods.  We stopped and asked a group of Panamanians, but the girls laughed at my nephew.  They weren't really laughing at him, but sort of with him.  They were on a tour from Panama City and they didn't have anymore of a clue where things were then we did.  The tour guide came up to us and spoke English (he is a University student from PC and tour guide).  He told us the restaurant we were looking for had closed down, and we should try a Panamanian restaurant called Tierra y Mar.  And so we did.  We wiped the outdoor table down with my Avon Skin So Soft Bug Wipes (kept the flies away) and ordered hot chocolate, milk shakes (!), fried chicken, shrimp creole and Peruvian Chicken and rice.  It was all so good!  They had clean bathrooms around the back (where that sign showed up again about throwing the toilet paper somewhere other than in the toilet), and the restaurant is right next door to some shops.  So we went shopping :)  A wonderful, albeit mess of a rainy day, in Panama!

The Restaurante Tierra Y Mar is to the right of this shop

Peruvian Chicken and Rice with Pantacones and hot chocolate

Shrimp Creole

Papaya, Banana and Pineapple milkshakes

Can't really take a machete home to VA

We did find that Don Pepe Artisanias shops were less expensive that the David Shop.

To end the day (as if all of that wasn't enough, but hey, we had a lot to see and do in a short period of time and eating was a big part of our vacation!), we decided to try Rincon del Chef for dinner, since they were never open for breakfast (even though it was advertised as a breakfast place).  What a delight.  Such a pretty place.  Excellent food and service.  The frozen drinks were delicious but like everywhere else, things melt fast.  From the decor to the service to even the tables having pretty table cloths on them, this was a wonderful last meal in Coronado.  The next day is was driving to the Panama Canal and beyond!