November 21, 2005

• Jober’s 30th Birthday Party-Cruise to Ensenada

  
  

   

  
  

  I still have my sea legs from last weekend’s trip to Ensenada for Jober’s birthday.  In attendance were Mixy, Toro, Juddy, Turtle, Jober, and I.  On the left is the guys at the Queen Mary Harbor where our Carnival boat, called Paradise was docked at. 

  
  

   

  
  

  Let’s just say that festivites got to a quick start.  Early in the afternoon turtle made an appearance and apparently thought he could fit into Jober’s suitcase.  On the right is Jober finding his suit that got lost (the suit was for the formal dinner night which as you will see later on, did not end up being necessary)

  
  

   

  
  

  As you can see, our Carnival fun passes were in full effect before even leaving the dock!!!

  
  

   

  
  

  First onboard activity was ruled by Turtle.  He won the contest for being able to name the most TV shows after listening to short snippets of theme songs AKA “Couch Potato Contest”.  First prize included a lovely medal and assistant cruise director Julia.

  
  

   

  
  

  No luck at Bingo or the Casino that day for the other people.  On the right is a shot of the cruise ship atrium.

  
  

   

  
  

  The next morning we were greeted by a huge Mexican flag in the harbor at Ensenada.

  
  

   

  
  

  In Ensenada we were greeted by mexican wrestling mask vendors and signs to buy Mexican Viagra. 

  
  

   

  
  

  We started out by eating a small lunch at the sports bar part of Papas and Beer, where turtle had the worst chicken tender in the history of man.  Note that there is only a thin sheet of chicken, and mostly empty space within this chicken tender. 

  
  

   

  
  

  After the meal we kicked it for a round of tequila shots at Hussong’s Cantina.  It’s the oldest bar in Ensenada (since 1852).  I liked it a lot and it had a real old school feel to it, but we just had one round, because it was off to partying at Papas and Beer. 

  
  

   

  
  

  I’ve never been to one of those Spring Break Style party places, so I was really excited to check out the legendary Papas and Beer in Ensenada.  It wasn’t Spring Break, so the crowd was older than college age, but the party was already in full effect in the early afternoon.  Tons of cruise ship passengers make the trek in there, and just go crazy for the afternoon before having to return to their respective cruise ships in the evening.

  
  

   

  
  

  One of the favored activites at Papas and Beer is the slammer.  A designated employee who wears a whistle goes around the club basically in charge of hyping up the party atmosphere.  If you get a slammer, he makes you down a drink, then starts shaking you around til you swallow it, and then turns you upside down and starts jumping up and down.

  
  

   

  
  

  We were impressed by Toro’s beer chugging capabilities.

  
  

   

  
  

  Turtle attempted to chug a bottle, but aborted after two gulps!!!

  
  

   

  
  

   

  
  

  Toro had the idea to order Jober a slammer for his birthday, I think the pictures speak for themselves !!!

  
  

   

  
  

  Things got pretty crazy after a while.

  
  

   

  
  

  Jober decided to get a two dollar shoe shine after the Papas experience (apparently this event lodged itself in Juddy’s sub-conscious, because it comes up again in a near-violent event the next day).

  
  

   

  
  

  We had dinner at a cool restaurant called el Muelle Viejo, just up the street from Papas and Beer.  One of the waiters tried to sell me drugs when I went to the bathroom.  Like a good boyscout, I refused. 

  
  

   

  
  

  For an appetizer, I had aguachile shrimps which were quite tasty.  We all had Mexican style pacific lobster for dinner which kicked ass (DHS).

  
  

   

  
  

  As the sunset developed at Ensenada Harbor, we retired to our rooms after a day of pretty impressive partying for mostly 30+ year olds.

  
  

   

  
  

  Well apparently everyboy was so passed out, that I was the only one who made it to the formal dinner night. It was quite embarassing to be there alone, but our waiters thought it was really funny.  Well at least I got to have more pacific lobster!!!

  
  

   

  
  

  The last day at sea was really fun.  In the morning we woke up and had bloody marys.  I watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and the Fantastic Four on TV.  We saw a huge pod of (I’m not exagerrating) 100-200 dolphins pass by the boat.  Mixy, Toro, Jober, and I had massages in the afternoon.  By the time we got back from the massage Juddy and Turtle had gotten pretty liquored up.  I met up with them at the Casino later on.  Juddy made a comment to a girl at the black jack table (apparently in a drunken haze).  He said “I like your braids, I’ll let you shine my shoes for two dollars”.  If you recall, Juddy was off-handedly referencing (although unclear why), the shoe shine experience in Ensenada.  Well, unfortunatley this humongously buff dude at the table thought that Juddy was trying to insult her, and wanted to beat Juddy up if he didn’t leave the table.  Juddy in his indignation didn’t budge, and the guy left (he was waiting outside the casino to beat him up afterwards, but we left out a different exit).  Jober and I were distressed at the fact that out of all the people to get in an argument with, it had to be with someone five times the muscle mass of an average human!!!  Well, no big deal cause nothing happened in the end. 

  
  

   

  
  

  Later that night turtle made another appearance, or disappearance should I say, behind the “window” curtain.  At dinner we had a final goodbye to our philipino waiter Benny.  The next day was pretty uneventful despite a lengthy disembarkation.  As I recover from my “Mal De Debarquement”, I will again wish Jober a happy birthday, and say that we had an awesome time in Ensenada!!!

  • 9:43 pm
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