Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Green floor, yes.
I dig the old postcard situation, too.
THIS is the kind of place to which you hope to get invited and then stuffed with puff-pastry-type appetizers and hot buttered rum. Cozy, you know?
Trip Review - Somerville, Massachusetts, USA - Len Granowetter - October 2009
We loved just about everything about the Belize Jungle Dome, and so did
our three-year-old son Jack: The location, the layout, the pool, the
food, the spacious room, the immaculate grounds, and of course, manager
Karen and her great staff.
We chose the Jungle Dome for our first two nights in Belize largely
because of its location (and great reviews on Trip Advisor).
We were looking for someplace nice that was "on the way" to the activities and
sights of the Cayo district, but that wasn't *too* long of a drive from
the airport after flying all day (we had a rental car). The Jungle Dome
location was perfect - I'm not sure anyplace else is quite as centrally
located! It's about an hour to the West to the Xunantunich ruins, 1/2
hour East to the zoo, maybe an hour or so South to Barton Creek Cave,
less than an hour to the inland Blue Hole National Park, and 10 minutes
to Guanacaste National Park.
And although the Jungle Dome is 5 miles off the highway, it's one of the
easiest "5 miles off the highway" locations in Belize. Although it's
not a paved road, it's one of best unpaved roads we saw in all of Belize
- recently greatly improved and in great condition.
The place only has about 4 rooms, and during our low-season stay, we
were the only guests! So Karen upgraded us to a poolside suite. It was
huge! A large bedroom, separate living room/kitchenette, big bathroom,
walk-in closet/dressing area. Oh yeah, and a private outdoor patio with
comfy chairs to just sit and listen to the sounds of the jungle.
The place is absolutely perfect if you have a young child, as we do,
because everything is right outside your door. We had our meals on a
patio 5 feet outside our room door, the pool was 10 feet away, etc.
Everything was "in view", so Jack was able to roam the grounds, play,
and explore, while we could be relaxing in a hammock, or finishing a
leisurely breakfast. The pool has a terrific shallow area where Jack
could wade and play. He must have spent 2 hours a day in there!
The cool thing is that although it was great for young kids, it also
would have been great as a romantic hideaway if we were traveling alone,
or as a fun hangout if we were there with a group of friends. The nice
thing about a small place like this, is that its character is largely
what you make it. And Karen seems just as comfortable hosting various
types of guests, from those who want to hang out in the evening at the
treetop cafe overlooking the pool tossing back Belikin beers and
Caribbean drinks, to those who prefer playing hide-and-seek and
ring-around-the-rosie.
The food was excellent - we ate breakfast and dinner there each day. It
was interesting being asked via email before we left home what we wanted
for dinner when we arrived in Belize! My wife replied: "I'm mostly
vegetarian, my husband's not picky, and Jack would love just plain
noodles." No problem! We had a great meal waiting for us when we
arrived, and everyone got exactly what they wanted. I would call the
food "homestyle" - not "fancy", but excellent, and plentiful. The kind
of food the cook Juani would serve you if you were a guest in her own
home, and always served with a friendly smile.
After leaving the Jungle Dome, we stayed at two other excellent places
in different areas of Belize (HIdden Valley Inn and Hamanasi). And
although we all had a great time at both, our son Jack kept saying "I
really liked Karen's hotel. Can we go back to Karen's hotel?" We
hadn't booked the last two nights of our trip - leaving it open
depending on where we wanted to spend more time. We thought about
staying someplace else, like Jaguar Paw, for variety. But Jack loved
"Karen's hotel" so much (and so did we), that there was no reason to go
anyplace else! So we came back for our last two nights.
Coming back to the Jungle Dome felt like coming home after 5 days away.
It was fun coming back to people we now knew - Karen, Juani, guide
David, the house dogs Max and Phoebe, and the familiar pool and grounds.
It was fun telling everyone about our week's adventures, and Karen was
visibly touched by our "I liked Karen's hotel" story.
A couple of other anecdotes:
1) On the last night of our stay, I had the opportunity to do a "night
jungle walk" with guide David. I highly recommend it. David drove me
and a couple of Karen's friends down a ridiculous overgrown dirt and
grass track, then onto a barely visible "path" through cornfields and
brush, to a great little trail through the jungle along the Belize
river. There, we hiked with headlamps, and got to see glowing eyes of
kinkajoos and opossums hiding in the trees, a crocodile swimming in the
river, giant frogs, and lots of large spiders quietly spinning their
webs. The jungle is alive at night! At one point, we stopped, turned
off our flashlights, and sat silently in the dark on the jungle floor
for 5-10 minutes listening to the sounds of the jungle. A surreal
experience.
2) On most of the mornings, I went for an early run along the dirt roads
around the lodge. Past the Banana Bank Lodge and its horses, past
groves of fruit trees, and through large clearings and pastureland
surrounding by trees. So peaceful and invigorating. And each time,
house dogs Max and Phoebe accompanied me the entire way - usually joined
by a couple of other neighborhood dogs from the Banana Bank Lodge or
local homes. At one point, I was running down the road surrounded by 5
dogs and a white horse(!) which ran a few yards with us as one of the
dogs was nipping at his heels. What a sight! (And normally I don't
even *like* dogs!)
3) On two mornings, we woke up to the sounds of howler monkeys roaring
in the trees just across the river, tropical birds chasing each other
around the huge Guanacaste tree just past the pool, various other
tweets, and what sounded like a woodpecker right outside our door. Jack
sat up and asked "Daddy, why are all the animals talking at the same time?!"
Anyway, if you like the idea of a small modern lodge, with beautiful
grounds, a great location, and friendly people, then I'd highly
recommend the Belize Jungle Dome!
Len Granowetter and Amy Roscehelle - Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
October 2009
our three-year-old son Jack: The location, the layout, the pool, the
food, the spacious room, the immaculate grounds, and of course, manager
Karen and her great staff.
We chose the Jungle Dome for our first two nights in Belize largely
because of its location (and great reviews on Trip Advisor).
We were looking for someplace nice that was "on the way" to the activities and
sights of the Cayo district, but that wasn't *too* long of a drive from
the airport after flying all day (we had a rental car). The Jungle Dome
location was perfect - I'm not sure anyplace else is quite as centrally
located! It's about an hour to the West to the Xunantunich ruins, 1/2
hour East to the zoo, maybe an hour or so South to Barton Creek Cave,
less than an hour to the inland Blue Hole National Park, and 10 minutes
to Guanacaste National Park.
And although the Jungle Dome is 5 miles off the highway, it's one of the
easiest "5 miles off the highway" locations in Belize. Although it's
not a paved road, it's one of best unpaved roads we saw in all of Belize
- recently greatly improved and in great condition.
The place only has about 4 rooms, and during our low-season stay, we
were the only guests! So Karen upgraded us to a poolside suite. It was
huge! A large bedroom, separate living room/kitchenette, big bathroom,
walk-in closet/dressing area. Oh yeah, and a private outdoor patio with
comfy chairs to just sit and listen to the sounds of the jungle.
The place is absolutely perfect if you have a young child, as we do,
because everything is right outside your door. We had our meals on a
patio 5 feet outside our room door, the pool was 10 feet away, etc.
Everything was "in view", so Jack was able to roam the grounds, play,
and explore, while we could be relaxing in a hammock, or finishing a
leisurely breakfast. The pool has a terrific shallow area where Jack
could wade and play. He must have spent 2 hours a day in there!
The cool thing is that although it was great for young kids, it also
would have been great as a romantic hideaway if we were traveling alone,
or as a fun hangout if we were there with a group of friends. The nice
thing about a small place like this, is that its character is largely
what you make it. And Karen seems just as comfortable hosting various
types of guests, from those who want to hang out in the evening at the
treetop cafe overlooking the pool tossing back Belikin beers and
Caribbean drinks, to those who prefer playing hide-and-seek and
ring-around-the-rosie.
The food was excellent - we ate breakfast and dinner there each day. It
was interesting being asked via email before we left home what we wanted
for dinner when we arrived in Belize! My wife replied: "I'm mostly
vegetarian, my husband's not picky, and Jack would love just plain
noodles." No problem! We had a great meal waiting for us when we
arrived, and everyone got exactly what they wanted. I would call the
food "homestyle" - not "fancy", but excellent, and plentiful. The kind
of food the cook Juani would serve you if you were a guest in her own
home, and always served with a friendly smile.
After leaving the Jungle Dome, we stayed at two other excellent places
in different areas of Belize (HIdden Valley Inn and Hamanasi). And
although we all had a great time at both, our son Jack kept saying "I
really liked Karen's hotel. Can we go back to Karen's hotel?" We
hadn't booked the last two nights of our trip - leaving it open
depending on where we wanted to spend more time. We thought about
staying someplace else, like Jaguar Paw, for variety. But Jack loved
"Karen's hotel" so much (and so did we), that there was no reason to go
anyplace else! So we came back for our last two nights.
Coming back to the Jungle Dome felt like coming home after 5 days away.
It was fun coming back to people we now knew - Karen, Juani, guide
David, the house dogs Max and Phoebe, and the familiar pool and grounds.
It was fun telling everyone about our week's adventures, and Karen was
visibly touched by our "I liked Karen's hotel" story.
A couple of other anecdotes:
1) On the last night of our stay, I had the opportunity to do a "night
jungle walk" with guide David. I highly recommend it. David drove me
and a couple of Karen's friends down a ridiculous overgrown dirt and
grass track, then onto a barely visible "path" through cornfields and
brush, to a great little trail through the jungle along the Belize
river. There, we hiked with headlamps, and got to see glowing eyes of
kinkajoos and opossums hiding in the trees, a crocodile swimming in the
river, giant frogs, and lots of large spiders quietly spinning their
webs. The jungle is alive at night! At one point, we stopped, turned
off our flashlights, and sat silently in the dark on the jungle floor
for 5-10 minutes listening to the sounds of the jungle. A surreal
experience.
2) On most of the mornings, I went for an early run along the dirt roads
around the lodge. Past the Banana Bank Lodge and its horses, past
groves of fruit trees, and through large clearings and pastureland
surrounding by trees. So peaceful and invigorating. And each time,
house dogs Max and Phoebe accompanied me the entire way - usually joined
by a couple of other neighborhood dogs from the Banana Bank Lodge or
local homes. At one point, I was running down the road surrounded by 5
dogs and a white horse(!) which ran a few yards with us as one of the
dogs was nipping at his heels. What a sight! (And normally I don't
even *like* dogs!)
3) On two mornings, we woke up to the sounds of howler monkeys roaring
in the trees just across the river, tropical birds chasing each other
around the huge Guanacaste tree just past the pool, various other
tweets, and what sounded like a woodpecker right outside our door. Jack
sat up and asked "Daddy, why are all the animals talking at the same time?!"
Anyway, if you like the idea of a small modern lodge, with beautiful
grounds, a great location, and friendly people, then I'd highly
recommend the Belize Jungle Dome!
Len Granowetter and Amy Roscehelle - Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
October 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Big gay sofas.
I get so many lame PR emails every day and I rarely pass any of that business on to you, my faithful, but I did get one from the people over at MG + BW, and I was excited because the sender actually proved to me she read this blog and didn't just send me one of those spammy "Dear Sir/Madam" emails telling me how excited I would be about these carpet tiles or other awful Dwell-ish wingdings. Plus, I am not going to lie, she straight-up admited that the office was giggling over the classy penis chandelier posted HERE.
So, for all those reasons, Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams get love from me, and I shall give love to their new book, which you can buy HERE
.And since I am on a big gay rights bandwagon (in fact, at this very moment, I am wearing pleather, a cockring, and speed-reading James Baldwin and Gore Vidal books as a silent vigil until Seattle votes YES ON 71...) I figure our friends Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams deserve a little shout out for this:
Mitchell and Bob are seen as a major force for gay rights by many, including The Human Rights Campaign, where Mitchell served on the board for seven years. Out magazine named him to 2007’s “Top 50 Most Powerful Gay People in America”, and The Advocate gave him a 2006 “People of the Year Award.” In 2005, Mitchell founded Faith In America, a non-profit working to end religion-based bigotry against LGBT Americans (www.faithinamerica.com). Last fall, Mitchell published CRISIS: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social, and Religious Pain & Trauma of Growing Up Gay in America and received the Stonewall Community Foundation’s distinguished Visionary Award for his work. Bob also makes design contributions, such as creating table settings for Elle Décor’s Dining by Design, a benefit for DIFFA, and styling rooms for The Hamptons Designer Showhouse by House & Garden, benefiting Southampton Hospital.
Thank you InStyle magazine for listing Decorno
...as a design-y magazine worth reading. I am even more delighted to be mentioned knowing that I post stuff like THIS, yet you don't hold that against me.
Misc.
"I view marriage as a contract between two people. Hopefully there is love."
-Bev Tonda
Don't forget, you lazy-ass Seattleites... mail in your ballots. Don't forget to vote. Don't forget to vote YES on 71, and don't forget to vote the shit out of Bev Tonda.
In other news, Dan Savage declares Halloween the straight-pride parade of heteosexuals. Quit flaunting your straightness with naughty-nurse and slutty-maid outfits you goddamn hets! Read it all HERE.
In other other news, I was reading a back issue of my favorite gay rights publication, HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, and for the first time I really "got" Peter Dunham, and I was all, "Damn you, Style Court, for being all over that shit. I am totally late to the party!!!" and angrily shook my envious fist in the air, in the general direction of the design gods. Then again, I was drinking, so my sudden love of african masks and glam-hippie fabrics could have just been the drugs kicking in. I could be over it tomorrow morning for all I know. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Budget Travel
These are cheap rooms for rent. Go HERE to read more about AirBnB.com, a website that is a cross between Craigslist and Couchsurfing.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Manila Restaurants: Aussie Cafe (Promo)
Aussie Cafe has a new promo this month. Read below:
We would like to invite you to partake in Aussie Cafe's October Events!
Octoberfest
DRINK-ALL-YOU- CAN Beer for only P295! This promo is from 6pm to 10pm (San Miguel Beer Pale and Lite products only)
Plus, ladies get an special 10% Off on cocktail drinks for the month of October from 6pm to 10 pm
Halloween Treat or More Treats!
Invite your children to spend a morning of fun at Aussie Cafe! On October 31, 2009 10:00am to 2:00pm, Aussie will be having a Halloween Special for kids. For an entrance fee of P295.00, kids can partake of: face painting, balloon twisting, halloween games, loot bag, plus Aussie's Special Halloween Kiddie Meal!
For reservations, please call Celine Choa at +639176308800 or at 659-2558.
Aussie Cafe & Resto
BCGroup Center, Filinvest Ave.
659-2658
www.aussiecafe@ multiply. com
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Seattle, your ballots have arrived.
The Stranger offers up a voting cheatsheet HERE. It's kind of poetic, too. Worth a read.
This is a very important election for a few reasons, but let's just review one, with the case for ref 71 presented by our friends at The Stranger (edited by none other than Seattle's own Dan Savage):
Referendum 71
Approve
Earlier this year, the state legislature expanded the rights of a same-sex registered domestic partnership to include all the state-granted rights of marriage—except it's not called "marriage."
And if you thought Tim Eyman was fucked, the guys behind Referendum 71 are gaping assholes. They gathered signatures to put the state's domestic-partnership bill on the ballot—thereby allowing right-wing bigots to vote on the rights of committed same-sex partners. R-71 backers insist that they're protecting families and children. But that's a canard. This petition was the product of Gary Randall, a carpetbagging Oregonian who makes money running hate-mongering campaigns and, according to the Clackamas County recorder's office, owes $36,012 in unpaid federal back taxes. Also behind the measure is Larry Stickney, a thrice-married Christian extremist who allegedly beat his wife and refused to pay for his daughter's college education until a judge made him, according to records in Kitsap County Superior Court. The two lied every step of the way to get this on the ballot, claiming in television ads and on the petition that the measure was the same as gay marriage and that "public schools K–12 will be forced to teach that same-sex marriage and homosexuality are normal." None of that's true. Neither is their claim that this is about family: Stickney and Randall are deceptive bigotry-mongers.
But now it's on the ballot. A vote to approve R-71 is a vote to uphold the domestic-partnership bill. If passed, it gives the state's 6,000 registered couples the right to take leave from work to care for a critically ill partner, the right for public-sector employees to share pension benefits with their partners, and dozens of other rights that straight couples enjoy—and all committed partners deserve.
Vote to approve Referendum 71.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Michelle Nussbaumer
"More is more. Less is never more - less is obviously less. Who wants less??"
Ha! I love this. I love her math, you know? Like, "Look you idiot people with your less is more bullshit... this logic doesn't even work."
You can read this gem and others in this month's Elle Decor. The cover is disappointing. Wicker? Rattan? Red stripes? A fern? Doesn't really do it for me. But there's some good stuff inside this month.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
You totally have to read all of this and then report back.
Themes:
The pill. Your partner. That you may not like him once you are off of it. That you are messing with evolution. Awesome themes!
Read it HERE.
Thoughts?
The pill. Your partner. That you may not like him once you are off of it. That you are messing with evolution. Awesome themes!
Read it HERE.
Thoughts?
Style obit alert:
Watch out for fawning tributes on style and fashion blogs. Maybe just take tomorrow off from reading.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
I know that Louis CK wouldn't approve, but I now make a regular habit of calling ATT every night to ask for a "rush hour" credit to my account. ATT's weak network renders my iPhone useless from 4 - 7pm every day. I recommend you also make it hurt for ATT if you are experiencing the same problem.
Here's Louis CK scolding me about it, I am sure:
Here's Louis CK scolding me about it, I am sure:
Sunday, October 4, 2009
So glad the Grey Lady is calling bullshit on this.
Read THIS and THIS.
From the article:
The word “curate,” lofty and once rarely spoken outside exhibition corridors or British parishes, has become a fashionable code word among the aesthetically minded, who seem to paste it onto any activity that involves culling and selecting. In more print-centric times, the term of art was “edit” — as in a boutique edits its dress collections carefully. But now, among designers, disc jockeys, club promoters, bloggers and thrift-store owners, curate is code for “I have a discerning eye and great taste.”
Or more to the point, “I belong.”
For many who adopt the term, or bestow it on others, “it’s an innocent form of self-inflation,” said John H. McWhorter, a linguist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. “You’re implying that there is some similarity between what you do and what someone with an advanced degree who works at a museum does.”
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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