San Diego Take 2

This weekend, S and I headed to San Diego for a gaming event. Between the weird South Beach party that was going on at our hotel the first night and learning how to drive fast, watching guys drift race, and checking out the cool stunts the motocross racers were pulling off the next day, it was a lot of fun. Then, on Sunday, we took the trolley down to Tijuana. I had never been to Mexico, so I wanted to go especially since we were so close and had the time.

But first, here's me speeding through a racing course in a tiny little Mazda!





We then went down and checked out the drift racers.


One of them had a problem with his car.


Maybe it's because he's holding it together with Sunny D.


I liked the drift racing ok, but the guys on bikes were awesome.




Afterwards, we checked out some of the tuned-up import cars that their owners were showing off around the event. I thought this one was funny.


For the rest of the night, we played the game, checked out the event, and watched a model contest - sorry, forgot to take pics of that. The next day, we headed out to Tijuana.

See those large gates? That means we're about to go into Mexico!

A view of Tijuana from afar


As we walked along Avenue Revolucion, the main tourist street, we saw many donkeys painted like zebras. At first, we thought they were dead and had been taxidermized. But, we realized later, when we saw one moving, that they must have just been sleeping. I felt bad for them, as it must have been an uncomfortable day not being able to move and getting sat on.

Everyone in the shops tried to get us to come in, but I turned on my New York ability to ignore everything except what I was trying to pay attention to and that worked pretty well. I don't like doing it, but when everyone is trying to get you to come into your store - not unlike the restaurants in Little Italy - it's a necessity. However, I did manage to find exactly what I was looking for: interesting tequila for my friends and a carved wooden jaguar head (Oaxaca folk art style) for me. I had been considering buying one in New York in the East Village, but it was $65 or $70 and I wasn't sure. However, I found the same one in a shop on the avenue for only $12. There wasn't any point in haggling, considering I was getting a crazy discount compared to what I would have bought it for.


And, just as we were getting hungry...what did we find? A paella and wine festival! Woo! For $18, we managed to score some delicious paella (rice with seafood), a small bottle of wine and a beer.




Here are some general photos of the city:










Street vendor


After shopping, eating, and drinking, we headed back to the border around four pm.