blog – Tijuana Adventure

North of the Border – Back to Tacos and Beer – Tuétano Taquería and Latchkey Brewing

Posted on September 22, 2018 by Matingas in Beer, How to TJ, Tijuana Adventure Blog

It is rare to cross north of the border for tacos. Much more to cross just to San Ysidro for tacos…

But south of San Diego has been having a slow revival. Breweries and restaurants opening up where there was nothing but chain crap and abandoned businesses.

I crossed the border for work. No pictures of burgers this time. It was pictures of other stories. My job is not always as great as just take pictures of burgers and get to eat them.

Nah.

I had to drive far.

It was still fun. Had to take pictures at a concert. But that’s another story and another job.

Before I did the drive, I stopped by Tuétano Taquería, the new taco place in San Ysidro.

It’s a far walk from the border, but I was craving this place since I first heard of it at the beginning of the year…

I met Priscilla, the owner, earlier in the year in a private dinner at Toshi Toshi with a group of foodies. I’ve been following her on Instagram before but I have no idea how it started. Oh wow. She has 21k followers. Follow her HERE @VainillaMXNA

Priscilla is an accomplished chef with the dream of opening a taquería in San Ysidro. After years and years of planning and working to make it happen, she finally opened the doors to Tuétano Taquería a couple weeks ago.

TUETANO is BONE MARROW for those who that didn’t know.

And some of you don’t even know what bone marrow is…

If you never had it… think of it as steak flavored butter. It’s the goopy inside part of the bone which is all fat and nutritious. It’s not for everyone, but I enjoy it.

The first taco I ordered was the one I saw trending online… birria taco with bone marrow on top.

You grab the bone marrow.

And poke the delicious goop meat.

Through the hole.

BAM!

Delicious.

But the taste of the birria overpowered it that I felt like I rather have just marrow…

Great greasy taco. Small. Better than some birria in Tijuana. Great tortilla. Wish it was double.

$2.50 for the taco $2.50 goes for the extra bone marrow.

The menu is a mix and match whatever you want.

There’s birria, arrachera, quesadillas, cochinita, rajas, and several others. You can top it all with a bone marrow.

The place is a small location in San Ysidro and as of now, it feels sort of empty. It needs to be lived in a bit more. The kitchen is tuck away in the corner and you see all Mexican señoras working the comal and making tortillas and the rest.

Next thing I got.

And… that’s a no for me.

Much better.

If you don’t get it. You don’t know me.

Delicious arrachera. Delicious spicy salsa. Ok cheese.

One more.

Dirty cochinita!

Let’s add some limon to that.

Again, small and delicious.

I thought I was ready to eat 7 more. But I oddly fell satisfied. Both the cochinita and the birria are greasy disasters. Add to that more fat with the bone marrow. And you have deceiving tiny tacos.

Cochinita could use more of that acidic cochinita kick. My neighbor’s mom used to make cochinita and memories might betray me, but that was some really great cochinita. And the flavor lingers in your mouth forever.

This one did. But softly. I tasted the taco later while I was working at the concert.

All in all, some of the best simple tacos you’ll find north of the border at a more than decent price. It hurts when you are used to Tijuana prices, but for San Diego it should be considered cheap.

My suggestion for myself for next time. Get two tortillas ($1) and two bone marrows (for $5) and ask for a cup of frijoles puercos that SHOULD BE IN THE MENU.

Priscilla told me how she makes the beans with marrow and they sound so fatty and delicious…

So that’s my idea.

Make two beans and marrow tacos. Sprinkle some salt. Go to town.

Arrachera, pibil, or birria also great choices.

And I’m sure the vegetarian choices are great as well.

I’M SO HUNGRY NOW!

Another not so exciting photography gig took me to Mission Hills a few days later. I took the trolley.

Near the Washington Trolley Station is the old Mission Brewery, San Diego’s oldest brewery.

Except it is not.

After doing the gig, I walked back to the trolley and decided to check it out.

The old brewery changed to other brands a few times and since April (I think) of this year, it has become Latchkey Brewery.

The main brewer is old Ballast Point brewer, which is fucking PROMISING AS FUCK!

Oh.

And Latchkey delivers.

Oh boy! Do they deliver!

First.

All pints are $6

Just that. $6.

And a flight of four?

I got me a pint of their “It’s My Jam” Berliner Weisse with raspberries and black currants. Fucking fresh red pinkish sour with a 6%

Refreshing and deceiving.

They had around 8 IPA or IPA similar tasting beers (NEIPA APA ETCIPA). I had a flight of four.

I didn’t take notes because I’m lazy. So I’ll tell you what I remember.

They all had a unique taste. I think it was the hops used that I never had before. Cashmere and Ella. Especially Cashmere. It has a funky unique taste to it. They were all tasty but not like other IPAs. Couldn’t quite figure out why.

I got a crowler of the Berliner Weisse and went to catch the trolley.

Except I missed it so I decided to kill 10 more minutes at the brewery.

Ordered two more samples of I forgot which ones and same uniqueness to it. Chugged them and went back to the trolley happy with my crowler.

I opened the crowler three days later. I might have been a day too late. It wasn’t as fresh and lively as poured directly from the tap.

Still delicious. But it gave it a more soda-like quality.

And now I head out to a Tijuana Saturday.

The city is changing A FUCKING LOT that it is TOO MUCH TO FUCKING KEEP UP!

Norte is celebrating their third anniversary. They are opening a kitchen and two new beers.

I’m going to go try that right now before the city gets all wild.

Also.

Because I’m hungry right now.

Burgers Part 4: Best San Diego (IMHO) Burger Revealed – Cali O Burgers, Craft House, Tom Ham’s Lighthouse – Enjoying? Let Me Know!

Posted on September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 by Matingas in Beer, Tijuana Adventure Blog

I waited another week to continue my burger mission. I was feeling much better, but the idea of burgers was still not the most appetizing.

I ended up in Cali O Burgers, famous for their bison burger. Buy some burgers. Or bison burger? Buy some burgers!

Buy some bison burgers!

The first bison burger I remember was in Taylors Falls in Minnesota. OH YEAH! WTF?! Minnesota in a Tijuana/San Diego food blog!?

Well fuck. I was over there with some friends. This was around a decade ago. Time goes fast.

And I just googled the place. My memory doesn’t lie. It looks exactly the same. Check it out.

That place had bison burgers. And we bought some burgers. And we kept repeating bison burgers, buy some burgers, buy some bison burgers!

And that’s my stupid story about bison burgers!

I didn’t get a bison burger. So my story was pointless.

I got the beef burger.

A simple delicious beef burger.

Downed with Elysian’s Space Dust IPA.

I really like that beer. I know Elysian sold out. But that Space Dust is delicious.

The burger was good. I wish I got the bison, might have been more special. If I go back, it would be for that.

My appetite was back. I was glad for that. Not that much appetite for two burgers, but at least to eat a whole one and feel normal after that. I finished the burger and went to the next place.

Next place was Craft House inside Rip Current. It was a bit weird because there was a bit of miscommunication with the owner. I thought he was expecting me, but he wasn’t expecting me, but at the end, it all worked out.

I didn’t eat the burger, but I did have a couple of great beers.

And of course, the photoshoot.

MLEM!

Even more MLEM!

The chef insisted I take it home. So I did.

I was going to have it for breakfast or give it to someone (Hola Marifer!) but I’m glad I didn’t. But while editing the pictures I got really hungry and there wasn’t much to eat at home.

Two burgers in one day after being sick with burgers. Yeah. I wasn’t craving it. I didn’t want a burger.

But I decided to have a couple of bites to calm my hunger and to continue editing. I ate 1/5 of it and it was tasty as fuck.

Went back to editing pics… and suddenly I craved it again.

Gave it a few more bites and left half of it. For the morning or just for later.

After I finished editing, I put Netflix on to go to bed. That’s how I sleep. With Netflix as background noise.

But while watching The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes… I craved the burger again.

Something about the bacon… and the sauce. And the meat patty. So well balanced. Such a perfect creation.

I gobbled it all down like a madman. Fulfilling all my taste buds.

My love for burgers came back, albeit, it has to be high-quality burgers. Yep. I became more of a princess. But seriously, Craft House delivers a mean fucking delicious burger. So good, that even after some hours of sitting on the delivery bag, and for a dude who got food poisoning on burgers and never really wanted burgers again… Craft House made me believe.

Craft House is definitely a place I will go back for burgers and beer. North Park is an area that I actually do wander in sometimes. And I was sick of the same places. This is a nifty corner tucked away a few blocks from the main corners where the hipster tourist mania has been occurring.

After that, I still had at least one more place to go to fulfill my mission. And my appetite was back. I took a break for a day and went back for the last burger.

I made it across very early so I had more than an hour to kill before heading to Tom Ham’s Lighthouse.

The trolley dropped me off at Santa Fe Depot. I decided to be a tourist and walked around Seaport Village. Caught me some Magikarp that I was missing and made my walk to Tom Ham’s.

It’s a very long walk.

A very very long walk…

I decided that halfway there I’ll just grab a scooter since I have the Bird app and I saw dozens before.

Nope.

Once I hit the halfway point, I didn’t see any more scooters of that brand.

I was a mile away and I was about to be late. And I was FUCKING tired. I seriously thought I walked more than that my iPhone told me. So I gave up and called a Lyft for the final stretch.

What an old man.

They were expecting me at Tom Ham’s. Lunch was half full so I had one section of the restaurant to do the photoshoot. They offered me a beer. I obliged and got a Batch 6 strawberry apricot sour by Belching Beaver.

It was murky and great. While waiting for the burger, I had an idea for the photo.

Great view huh?

Well… this is what happened when the burger arrived.

This is what happened when the burger arrived.

It was one of my favorite photoshoots.

I sort of want to print it out and frame it…

Even without the view, the burger pics look amazing.

All angles. Just super photogenic burger and place.

And one of my favorites because I like catching myself in the reflection.

So how was the burger?!

I ate half of it at the restaurant. It was great. A bit of a difficult to bite since it is a tower. But give it a big squeeze, put one tomato on a side, and that tower turned a bit smaller. Still a huge fulfilling burger. And a great burger that is. It’s no Craft House, but the views make up for it.

And a place with such views you would expect the prices to be outrageous. Nah. they were reasonable.

Also, they served me the first beer, but they also brought me different beers to go with the burger.

The story requested a brown ale and an IPA. So I got three beers…

At least I wasn’t driving. But I had to deliver the pics to the office.

Got a box to go for half my burger, then headed to the office, then to meet a friend because I was spent the night in San Diego so I wouldn’t be late to the burger fest the following morning.

At that friend’s house, I got hungry at midnight. I wolfed down the other half of the burger over the sink.

It might be that some burgers taste better if they’ve been sitting for a while. It might be that might appetite is weird. It might be that I get more enjoyment eating like a god damn pig that civilized in a restaurant. But that burger tasted better like that (I also remove some of the caramelized onions as I found they were too many).

The following day was the burger fest!

And I already wrote about that.

Because I blog in reverse.

Go read it here.

Craft House gets my award (the official Tijuana Adventure award!) of San Diego’s best burger. And since San Diego is Tijuana and Tijuana is San Diego, Craft House is the best burger of the region.

My other love, The Friendly burger. I just had it this weekend and it wasn’t as good as I remembered it. But it was still the delicious cheap greaseball that I love. And I loved it again.

Until September of next year… if I still have the same gig. Or if I have a gig similar to this gig. Or if people actually start paying me for writing shit.

It’s Monday. Time to work.

Enjoying this stupid blog and the pictures?

Let me know in the comments!

Seriously. Let me know.

Burgers Part 3: The Not So Really Burgers – Ramen Burger and the Loco Moco – Common Theory and Trade Winds Tavern

Posted on September 15, 2018September 15, 2018 by Matingas in Beer, Tijuana Adventure Blog

A week passed and I was still pretty disgusted with burgers…

I kept it easy and slow. Avoided burgers at all costs. Then crossed the border to get two in a row.

And because I am a dumbass without a car, I had to take public transit. Hit two places that were near to each other. All the way to Kearny Mesa.

First stop, Common Theory.

The burger here… A ramen burger.

Not only a ramen burger.

One with kimchi, scallion cream cheese, gravy, and a sunny side up egg.

This is what that monstrosity looks like.

Close up.

And cutting into the egg!

That is the owner poking the egg with the fork.

He hovered near me for some of the shoot, which many times I actually dislike, but Cris turned out to be an awesome dude. That is his name. Cris Liang.

Yes. He is Chinese. And we got talking about Tijuana… and wait a minute. This dude spoke perfect Spanish. He was actually born in Rosarito!

So I guess he is Chinese/Mexican/American serving a burger influenced by South Korea and South USA?

Anyway.

The burger.

The burger is not really a burger. And it is one monstrous thing. Despite that a week went by… burgers were still a bit eek to me.

This one you obviously can’t pick up. It’s a knife and fork endeavor. The meat patty was delicious, the kimchi could have been more kimchish (stronger), gravy combo with scallions was great, and an egg is always welcome. Ramen as hamburger buns… meh. Not really. I wasn’t loving it.

Clever idea, but I don’t think I can call this thing a burger (even though I just did 20 times). The same thing could have been accomplished if it didn’t have a burger form. It’s very creative and awesome to look at. Doubt that hamburger buns would work, so I guess no option but ramen. It’s pretty out there. It’s pretty damn good.

The place had a GIANT menu and I saw other food going by. Some chubby dude next to me was going at some fried chicken that smelled delicious. The beer/bar menu is also gigantic. A couple on a date were drinking wine to the left of me (though this place didn’t seem like a wine place). If I ever go back, I don’t think I would get the burger since there were many other options.

If… I ever go back. It’s really out of the way for me.

The bar is ALSO great. The place, in general, had a great vibe. Though it’s in a strip mall, it doesn’t feel like it. Definitely some of the best in the area. Because… well… that area doesn’t have much.

Oh.

And that ramen burger would be a hit in Tijuana. This city loves its gimmicks. The whole place would be very welcome here.

I didn’t finish the burger. I ate most of it. That’s very unlike me. But again, my appetite was still low. Which totally sucked, because I had another burger to photograph.

I walked to my next destination. Trying to walk off the burger and get hungry again.

I didn’t.

The other place was Trade Winds Tavern. Again, in a strip mall. Kearny Mesa is an odd place.

The writer got the Loco Moco. It looked like this.

I’ve never heard of a Loco Moco. Apparently, it’s a Hawaiian thing. I’m not very fond of Hawaiian food. This looks delicious… but at the time, with absolutely no appetite, it wasn’t looking great.

Also, it isn’t a burger.

Yes. There is a burger patty in there… but come on!

Then spam, gravy, bacon, and an egg (on a bed of fried rice). Sounds like a delicious hefty breakfast to me. Not late dinner with a beer.

Also.

IT ISN’T A BURGER!

I was confused, especially because my assignment was to take pictures of burgers.

I took a bunch of pictures of the Loco Moco.

Then went back to the bar and asked if they had it in burger form. They didn’t. I asked if they could make it and the chef said yes. He came up with an awesome burger. Looked even better than the real Loco Moco plate. I suggest they add it to their menu.

BUT AGAIN!

I wasn’t hungry…

Chad came to the rescue and though he said he wasn’t hungry, as soon as I was done taking pictures, he wolfed it all down as if he was starving.

And honestly, I would have too… If it was normal me. Look at how good this burger looks. I made it look good, but I trust that it was also very good.

That looks like a damn proper burger.

Fries with parmesan also looked great.

I tried to add some scenery. The editors like scenery.

The burger glistening under the sun.

I asked for some help from the bartender to do the holding the burger shot. The egg dripped immediately.

Drip.

That was one of my favorite pictures.

I also developed a mini-crush on the bartender. She was adorable.

Then Chad crushed the burger.

Sorry if a bit gross of a picture.

After that, we probably went to Bitter Brothers. That’s a great brewery. But writing about it will be for another time.

It’s Saturday and I just had two mini Tijuana Adventures in a row. Chad came down on Thursday and I was out until 2 a.m.

Then my friend Joey came down late last night.

I was up until 2 a.m.

Both times, though I retire from tour guiding, I still do it. But it’s with friends. It’s different. I enjoy it like that. I actually enjoyed it with strangers as well. I’m just lazy and needed a break.

My favorite burger that rescued my appetite and gave me the confidence that I will eat burgers again comes tomorrow.

I really loved that burger…

Burgers part 4 and maybe final part tomorrow!

Burgers Part 1: Blogging in Reverse – Burgers & Beer Festival – 52 East is My Winner

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Matingas in Beer, Tijuana Adventure Blog

September is burger month.

That’s because September is burger fest and I get to be the stage manager at a burger festival. I don’t really do much, my old roommate booked the bands. I just make sure they are there on time and that they get paid.

That’s about it.

So I have time to walk around and grab burgers and beers.

Here are a couple of the best shots of that festival:

This was the first burger I had… and it was my favorite.

It was from 52 East Neighborhood Eatery and it was solid perfection. I ate a lot of burgers this month and I was wowed by the quality of this one. AND IT WAS THE VERY FIRST ONE.

The second burger was by Hundred Proof and it was alright.

Third burger was from Pure Burger and it was better than Hundred Proof, but FUCK that first burger was so fucking great that it just made the rest of burgers not seem as good.

DO YOU SEE THE STAR IN THE PICTURE?!

Hah. That’s great huh? It’s not shopped. The burger was glistening under the sun and that happens at a very close f stop. STARS! Crazy cool.

And that was about it for me with the burgers…

The rest of the fest looked like this to me. Beers. Work. Photos. Beers. Work. Photos. Beer.

This was the stage I “managed.” That was the first band. The Fuzzy Ustins. They were fantastic folky music. Also, great guys. Hope they had fun.

Panca was there doing some live art.

More beer.

This other artist killed it. I met her as Michelle but forgot her artist name. Seriously fantastic art.

This bassist of New Me was fucking rocking it.

And more beer!

That was the best beer I had at the fest the Berliner by Wild Barrel. I went back for it but they were out, I tried their Double IPA and it was also very good.

The rest of the beers were also of great quality… But that Berliner is the only one I remember that it wowed me.

I’m doing everything in reverse.

The festival is Burgers & Beer. This is the second year in a row that I end up “managing” the bands because the dude that is supposed to do it can’t so I come in as a sub.

I ran around this year more than the previous year. So I didn’t get to write notes about beers or burgers.

I also got a lot of sun which gave me a headache and was getting me tired. I didn’t sleep much the previous night either.

It happens when I have something “important” the following day. I can’t sleep. I stay up all night worried that I’m not going to wake up on time.

And that’s what happened.

Burgers & Beer is a lot of fun. It’s all the burgers you can eat and all the beers you can drink for free (well, for an entrance fee). VIP tickets are recommended to try all burgers before lines get crazy. Then friends are recommended so you can collect several burgers. Then lines get crazy so just drink beer and enjoy the music.

That’s how I would do it.

But that’s not how it went down.

I ran around a lot.

And said hi to a lot of people.

And tried to be of general help.

It went alright.

Didn’t eat as many burgers as I hope. Just the ones mentioned. Then tried a vegan one and didn’t like it.

That vegan one ended up being the winner.

Vegan burger the winner of a burger fest. Only in California.

I would have voted tenfold for that first fucking burger. It was seriously burger perfection (at least for me). The bacon was super nice, it had chunky shrooms with cheese, topped with arugula (which I adore in burgers for some reason), and tiny pieces of red onion. And the meat pattie was juicy and TASTY!

Burger perfection if you ask me.

The Friendly is also the other burger perfection.

Oh.

And I had a lot more burgers before the festival.

And found another burger perfection. Probably my favorite burger in San Diego.

And again. I ate a lot of burgers.

That will be a post for some other day. Perhaps tomorrow. But I have a very busy day tomorrow.

What I did before burger fest… soon with Burgers Part 2.

And then you’ll know why I only had three burgers at burger fest…

It was a nightmare. What occurred was a total nightmare… Especially for a foodie like me.

“I think I want to move to Tijuana,” says Redditor on his first visit

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Matingas in Tijuana Adventure Blog

So… announcing my tours on Reddit has generated me some clients and much interest on the website. This past Friday I announced a tour that included all the shows going on in Tijuana, but there were too many at the same time that it was pretty much impossible to go to all of them. An impromptu tour was booked basically at the last minute.

A Redditor (who prefers to remain anonymous), sent me a message – “Hey me and a friend are crossing over to TJ tonight. I’ve been a couple of times, but it is going to be his first time. What do you recommend we do? I was planning on tacos, beers, and stoping by hk just to see lol.”

I replied about all the shows going on, my personal recommendations and I told him I was willing to meet him if they paid for my beers and what not. He answered “Hey im down to meet up and get a brief tour im drinking at restaurante el torito on revolucion. I have data reception here.” I fucking hate el torito on revolución. Please if you read this and you visit Tijuana, never go to that place. It even inspired my first published article in the San Diego Reader. Also, apparently telling people I’m a writer for the Reader can help validate my credentials as a tour guide, since this particular redditor was a fan of the magazine.

The Redditor that contacted me and his friend decided to remain anonymous for a a good reason. I forgot the basic rule that XXX tour sales very well, so let’s called them “Pepe” and “Esteban.” I met them before 7 pm outside that shithole of a place named el torito and headed for some craft beers at Mamut. Then we walked around downtown but the people in Tijuana do not come out to party until around midnight. Since there was not much to do, we decided to go check out the famous Hong Kong, aka adult Disneyland.

There I had a conversation that I thought I would never have with Esteban, who is a recent college grad thinking about moving to San Diego. “I think I might move down here to Tijuana, do you think you can find me a place with parking?” Esteban asked me as a girl danced completely naked in front of us and were surrounded by hundreds of other beautiful women. They were both keen on a cute girl with glasses, but both were very shy when it came to talking to the girls, though they claimed to be fluent in Spanish (Pepe has a girlfriend, so we can pardon him).

We spent a few dollars on titties and beer but we left before things got to heavy. We found our way back to 6xth street were a number of events were going on. Mezcal shots went down in La Mezcalera which got Pepe and Esteban a bit drunk, but it was still too early for Tijuanenses to be out in bars. So we went back to the XXX area, where is always packed with people, and into Adelita bar. There we sat next to four Americans (3 guys and 1 girl) who claimed to be regular patrons of the area. Esteban chatted up the girl, even though she seemed to be with her boyfriend. The girl gave us dollars so we could spend them on the strippers, Pepe refused to partake. In fact, Pepe was getting tired and by 11:00 pm he decided he had his last beer and the party was over. Esteban insisted in walking a few more times through the XXX area while drunkenly try to talk to the hookers, but a few minutes later I accompanied them to get a taxi that would take them to the border.

Again, there were no pictures of the adventure, but it looked something like this other previous adventure.

After they left, the party was just starting in Tijuana so I headed down to Mous-Tache and La Mezcalera for an Adventure of my own. Both places were packed to the brim, Phantoms (two DJs from LA) played and an awesome show at Mous-Tache. I made it back to my place a bit past 3 am and downtown Tijuana had no signs of slowing down. I heard my roommate come back at around 6 am.

The party in Tijuana goes on for much much longer than what people imagine (it’s virtually 24/7). But this is not that practical for tours, especially for those who do not want to stay in a hotel and plan to make it back home. I’m sure that most people want to cross back to the USA before 10 pm, which defies the purpose of a true Tijuana Adventure, but nonetheless they are a blast. I hope next adventurers stay for long to have the true experience, but TJ is a blast no matter what.

Saving Private French Guy

Posted on January 3, 2014January 5, 2014 by Matingas in Uncategorized

I was playing guitar in my favorite café which is hidden in the depths of some apartment building in Tijuana, when a random guy that looked like Luigi (from the videogames) walked in asking for work. His name was Alex and he was clearly not from the area. After a brief chat I learned that he was from Paris, he was traveling around the world and that his credit card, camera, laptop and more things were stolen in a hostel in San Francisco. He arrived in Tijuana because his visa in the USA had expired and he had to leave the country. I told him about Tijuana Adventure gave him my business card and offered my help.

A day later he called me asking for a place to stay. He reminded me of the first person I hosted, another French world traveler. Just like the rest of people that have joined me in many of my Tijuana adventures, he fell in love the city and hopes to visit it soon again.

He stayed in and out of my apartment for 2 weeks and also bounced back and forth between some of my friends, hotel rooms, other couchsurfing hosts and more. His adventures were more enthralling than those of Bilbo Baggins.

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Unfortunately, not that many pictures were saved from all the time he spent in Tj. The only pictures that were saved came from friends or other world travelers that we met, like Joaquin (Argentina) and Zoe (San Francisco) who were hitch-hiking to their way south in Mexico and beyond. Alex is also on his way south. He intends to spend two more weeks in Mexico before making his way to Costa Rica, from there he will fly to Sao Paulo (Brazil) and finally back home to France.

Edit: Forgot about uploading this video! More pics might come soon!

The Adventures of Jesse, Max and Banana

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Matingas in Tijuana Adventure Blog

I expected these guys to show up to Tijuana during the weekend, but they ended up backing out and partying in San Diego for their Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. Hmm… another no show for my tours, they were probably too afraid for Tijuana. But I heard from them early on Monday, they have decided to check out TJ and were on their way down here. Little did they expect that Tijuana’s Monday nights are way wilder than any night SD has to offer.

The tour started at lunch time, they drove their car across and I met them in “La Corriente” a fancy place with amazing fish tacos. As we chatted and got to know a bit about each other, I find out that these guys have had adventures around the world and they take a stuffed banana with them (water guns and more fun stuff also available in the trunk of their car). After eating, we walked around the city on the quiet Monday afternoon as I showed them everything. With not much activity until the sun is down, the best option was to go to the beach.

Jesse, Max and Banana enjoying fish tacos on the beach

Honestly, these guys reminded me of all my white friends in the USA, so everything flowed in a natural course and after a few beers it was just like hanging out with my friends from college again. From there we went to Zona Norte, where most my tours tend to end up at…

… We were there in Zona Norte and they were basically out of cash. Sorry that I had to leave the details out of how that cash was spend, but trust me, it was fun. With the few bucks they had left, I took them to Dragon Rojo Bar that coincidentally was the last night of the 36 year old legendary bar. We had tequila and beers there… and then they wanted to go back to Zona Norte

(Goodbye Dragon Rojo, you will be missed!)

After hitting up the ATM, where both got plenty of pesos to have an even funner night, we went to a different Zona Norte bar that wasn’t a gringo favorite one. All their pesos were very well spent in what was one hella fun Tijuana Adventure… I expect Jesse, Max and Banana to come down again some day soon.

“Jesse | October 2, 2013 at 9:05 pm: Mateo is the pinnacle of tour guides in Tijuana! He showed us delectable restaurants, the city, beaches, and all sorts of nightlife. Thank goodness he was there to assist with the language barriers. Take no visit to Tijuana without Mateo on your side!”

Crazy First Week with a French World Traveler

Posted on September 17, 2013September 17, 2013 by Matingas in Tijuana Adventure Blog

The co-creator of Youmakemytrip.com, Vincent Romain, contacted me via couchsurfing.org asking for a place to stay in Tijuana. After visiting a great deal of the world he was visiting Tijuana to complete a challenge that his viewers voted on. Interested in his travels, experiences and the challenge, I decided to dedicate my whole week to have a Tijuana Adventure with Vincent. The voting for the challenge was close between the nightlife of Tijuana and investigating the border. Interviewing deportees, migrants, people who wanted to cross illegally and the whole migration issue ended up winning, but we ended up doing both anyway.

We went to places that no many people dare to go, not even Tijuana locals. El Bordo is where a lot of deported people end up in a catch 22 type trap. They can’t leave the river area because the cops will arrest them and throw them in jail, but they have no where else to go. Living in the worse conditions imaginable after the comforts of living as an American, many end up doing heroin or more drugs. They have to deal with the pain of not being able to cross back to the United States to see their families, they live in a nightmare world where they have no friends or any help. It was Vincent’s challenge for YMMT, so I helped him shoot with his cameras and for his work. But I managed to take some video and pictures with my smartphone and I decided to do some editing to make this video:

The making of YMMT with Matingas of Tijuana Adventure: