What's up Tangerineys! I'm Jordan, I'm Maddie,
And we're Tangerine Travels! That was not supposed to be [Random Tangeriney: "I've seen you all before!"]
Okay, well just roll with it. Today we're going
to be sharing with you guys the real deal about Ajijic. What is it really
like to be here? What stores are here? What type of entertainment there is. What
the normal or weird things you might come across. What services you can find.
And maybe some shenanigans along the way!
So we're grabbing a quick breakfast here. This place came super highly recommended.
And I believe it's in what's considered San Antonio?
Unfortunately, with your allergies, you could only have one thing on the menu
here. And you had to get it customized. Yeah, so hopefully that goes ok. But this place is
poppin! I mean, we got a table all the way in the back. Sat right by the bathrooms.
But breathe through the mouth and I think it'll be fine! [Laughter]
Wo in our last video, we lost half of our subscribers from Guadalajara. [Laughter] Which was
totally expected, because some people only want to hear the positive sides of
things. And that's not our channel. A little background on this. Before coming
to Mexico, there were just a number of times, for me specifically, where people
were super dishonest, or just generally not straight up with me. Like a dentist,
my previous job, and friends, or "friends."
So when we started making videos, it was
like "You know what, I don't want to get half-truths. I don't want to give
half-truths either." We don't want to just focus on the positive, or just focus on the
negative. It should be a balance. A healthy balance. Yeah, and I felt like when I was researching
Mexico, that a lot of the negative sides of things were missing. And there's a lot
of news sources that focus only on positive sides of things. By news sources
you mean like NBC or Fox News or what?
No, like Facebook groups, YouTube, blogs,
and so on. I hope you guys understand that we're trying to put out information and
content that sees both sides of the coin. Because we feel like that's the most
useful and the most truthful. I think it's the most valuable.
Why don't you just do all the talking? Jordan has all this stuff in his mouth,
So I'm just gonna do all the talking! [Laughter]
We're at this local strip mall type, mall
area, outdoor mall, I don't know exactly what you would want to call it. But
there's a ton of stores here. This is right across the street from a Walmart in town,
Which is probably the biggest store I think that exists. So we've never been
here before. We're just gonna explore around and see sort of what stores there
are. Already, we've seen a bank, Telcel store, there's a casino, some clothing.
Orthodontist or something. Shoes. So let's see! So here's an example of something that
wouldn't exist in the US because the business would get sued.
And you actually have to pay attention.
Ah! And then right behind us
here, we have a car wash. It's strange because they spelled "w-a-s-h" instead of
"w-a-h-s." [Flashback to Maddie singing] Workin' at the car wahs! Whoa whoa yeah yeah
Yeah! The car wahs? Workin' at the car wahs! Yeah, yeah yeah!
On the side of the mall we have a bank, sushi, orthodontist, dentist. We went to
the dentist's office just now, asked for a price list. Like what it cost for
cleaning. She said 300 pesos, and they right now they have a promotion
that includes a cleaning, and a whitening, and free consult. Yeah. For between
1700 and 2300 pesos I believe it was. Uh-huh. So this
certainly isn't the most extensive mall that exists, but it seems to be pretty
nice, well-kept. We just ran across the highway and almost died.
Not really. [Laughter] But right across the street is a Walmart, an Auto Zone, and a Domino's
Pizza. This is a behemoth of a store for Ajijic. I think it's got to be the biggest store
around. In my humble opinion, we would prefer to look at smaller stores,
family-owned stores first, and then if we can't find something that we need, we
would come here because it's pretty well stocked. We'll go ahead and show you the
inside of here. But that's sort of my stance on it.
Support local. Sage words of wisdom from Jordan! [Laughter]
So this is kind of like the
dollar section here. Everything in here is 18 pesos.
So we're walking around the store here, and to be honest, this doesn't look too different than a
Walmart that you might see in the States. Or at least any of them I ever saw. Yeah,
I think most sections are pretty the same - or pretty much the same as in
the u.s. We noticed a pretty big difference in the electronics section
though. It seemed like quite a - A lot fewer options for a lot of things. But then you
have this huge section of speakers because lots of people just bring a single
speaker around. Yeah, it's very common for parties, or going by the lake, or things
like that. So clearly they've catered the store a little bit to the local audience.
But for the most part, I'm not noticing that there's any gaping holes in the
inventory. Don't tell Laska, we got a surprise for
her! She's gonna love this thing!
Thank you to Paul and Robin for telling us that we could find that here!
Yes. So if we were staying here longer term, I would totally consider getting one of
these guys (a scooter). Tangerine color, of course!
Yeah, and how much are they? They're about $1,000 US dollars.
Pretty reasonable, and I think a better way to get around town than a car. It's
kind of big and clunky. Some of the streets are pretty narrow. So this is sort of the
way to go. And plus, trying to find parking for a car. Yeah, this would be
much easier! So one thing we wanted to interject on this whole scooter topic,
because we didn't really go into why we would sell our car and get a scooter if
we were staying here long term. In each city there's certain preferred ways of
transportation for us. For example, when we were in Mazatlan, that's the cheapest
Ubers we've had in all of Mexico. They were like 20 pesos. Yeah, no matter where we
wanted to go in the city, it was super cool!
Also there in Mazatlan. Oh yeah, oftentimes people would take what they call
pulmonias, which are little golf cart taxi type deals. With lots of music, it's
a good old time! In Guadalajara, we also used Uber a lot, although it was
typically a little more expensive there. But we also biked pretty much everywhere
Using the bike rental Mi BICI thing. So here, the reason we said that we would
prefer a scooter is because on the narrow roads, with the potholes
and everything, and the lack of parking. Cars can be kind of a nuisance. And you
don't really need a car. I mean our preferred method of transportation is
just walking everywhere. And then if it's between cities, taking a bus. But having a
scooter might be nice for those trips to Centro where you're feeling a little lazy, or
going between towns or something. And we see so many cars that are scraped up on the
side of the road. It's pretty bad. From parking on a skinny road and cars just driving by
scraping them up. And then, if you had a scooter, you could go out to the carratera when
there's traffic backed-up. Just go scoot on right by them!
Not between cars though. Please
don't do that, for goodness sakes!
[Laughter] Save a life! Do this at
your own risk! This is not advice. This is just what I might do if I were in a
Hurry. I would not do that. I would not let him do that. I would hop the heck off
that scooter and walk my ass to wherever we're going!
Okay! One thing we noticed here is they don't do as good of a job
pricing stuff (as compared to Walmarts in the US).
Like a lot of the things are missing prices, and then like last
time we were here, we bought something and it rang up at a higher price than it
was listed. So check the prices, use your scanners. Something to keep in mind, yeah. One
difference, one strange difference that I noticed right away is that everything in
this store is in Spanish and pesos. So that's gonna be a pretty big difference
that you'll notice. [Laughter] Sorry, I can't even keep a straight face. Of course it's in
Pesos! Of course it's in Spanish, we're in Mexico!
Fortunately, you are gonna notice
on all the big signs, that it'll say what it is. The title cheese, queso - it'll
say it in Spanish but then English underneath it. So like "Ropa Caballero" / "Men's wear"
Mm-hmm. It's not too hard to figure out. Also, pictures everywhere.
Plus the men's clothes below it. And the actual items standing out. [Laughter]
Prices! Prices! As far as prices go, you're gonna generally look at cheaper
prices for items that are made in Mexico. Mexico brands. Anything that's imported
is obviously going to have that import tax on it (maybe not so obvious). So you're probably gonna be
paying slightly more than in the US, or significantly more, depending on what it
is. I need to breathe more when I talk! [Laughter]
So we always talk about how people will do what they can to work for their money
This guy behind me, he's working for it! And this is someone
Who we would tip, not the person that's just begging for money at your table. Yeah. We also
forgot to mention at this mall, at the Central Laguna, I believe it's called,
That there is a movie theater here. We've been told that
there's another one in town but it's less nice. This one has a little bit
higher price tag, probably to go along with the niceness. And it's not like this
one is out of town, but in Ajijic. Yeah more centrally located in Ajijic. We haven't been
to either of these movie theaters, but I hear that this one here is about fifty
pesos and nicer. And the one in Ajijic is about thirty five pesos. And both have
days where there's specials like two-for-one or something like that.
It's Rawr!
Guess who's back, back again.
Dino's back, tell a friend.
RAWR!
[Laughter]
So each city we visit, we notice that there is a personality in the vendors. So
there's different types of products that they're selling in each city.
Thinking back to Mazatlan, you could hardly walk a few feet without bumping
into a swimsuit vendor, which makes a lot of sense: Mazatlan. Beach.
Duh. And here there's
Vendors along the highway. A lot of times you don't see that, but they're selling
hammocks, and what else? Handmade, hand-woven rugs, berries,
Furniture. I think it's kind of cool, especially if you're stuck in traffic,
You've got some stuff to look at! Just hop out of the car, buy some berries or
something. In Mexico, in general, there's a way different business mindset. For
example, like when we were in Guadalajara, there were people selling empanadas and
there were a like hundred empanada vendors lined up. No, that was in Tlaquepaque. Oh, oh
is that right? Yeah. Yeah, just lined up one after another. I mean there were
thousands of empanadas! I've never seen so many of one item concentrated in one
area, ever in my life! But yes, so you were going on to like the competition mindset
is much different here. Yeah, so like if one person selling berries and someone else
wants to sell berries, they go set up next to the other person selling berries. Which is kind of cool.
I mean, at the end of the day, you don't need to compete (as in competition is bad). Everyone can win.
[Maddie in a high-pitched voice] Look at these little stools! Oh my gosh!
So depending on the day of the week, one thing that you're really
gonna have to keep in mind about Ajijic is that parking is very limited.
Today is the Wednesday market, which means all of the streets surrounding
this market are pretty much packed with cars! We had to park pretty far away. We
didn't really want to step foot in that market today because there's going to be a
lot of people there!
So right now we're in front of Dental Express. We just walked in to ask about a
cleaning how much that costs. This place has come highly recommended to us! People
have told us if we need something, we should go here. Multiple people. So that has
gotta mean it's pretty good. We just went in there. They speak English and it's 190
pesos for a cleaning. They did say you need to make an appointment a week in advance.
Do you want the toy?
Oh my gosh, the bugs! Oh my gosh!
Do you want it?
Get the toy!
Can I have it?
Can I have the toy?
Rawr!
Drop it!
[Laughter]
Haha! I got it!
I got the toy!
Okay, sit.
Stay.
She caught it with her hands. [Laughter]
[Laughter]
I think she likes it!
So we wanted to give you guys a Laska update. Thank you so much
for everyone who emailed asking how she is and commented saying such lovely
things and looking out for her She is doing - As you can see, much better!
Oh no, don't! You already broke it? You already broke the toy?!
What's wrong with you?
5 minutes. I thought this was going to last for months.
Anyway. She is doing better!
Her ear is healing. And yes, she's
doing great! So no, we will not be bringing her back to that please. But it
doesn't seem to be bothering her that much, which is really good! Thanks to the
medical attention of our great vet! And we've continued to put a special spray
on it so that the injury will heal.
So in Ajijic, there are these bugs. You can see
them right here. Really just swarming!
They come out, often in clouds of them at
night. They look a whole lot like mosquitos, but they're not mosquitos. They
don't bite. They're just annoying. You can breathe them in, it's kind of insane. But
we actually don't know what these are called. If you know what these flying
mosquito-like bugs that come in swarms in the night are called, let us know in the
comments. But a lot of people we've talked to think these are mosquitoes. We
would have thought they were as well until someone told us they are not.
So this is when we turn the light on at night. Oh gosh! Oh gosh! Ah!! Alright so I
have a quick little Spanglish lesson for you guys today. You may remember a while
ago when I told you about what you needed to say, if for instance, someone is
about to step in dog poop or if your dog is gonna do something that you don't
want it to do. You say "Cuidoggo!" which is like cuidado - "be careful, watch out" and doggo.
So there's that. A little Spanglish there. The new one we just learned in our - in
a Rocket Languages lesson, the word entendido, which means "understood." So
when you get exactly what your dog is saying, you go "enten-doggo." You understood
your dog. And if you want to learn great Spanish lessons - the real kind. You can do
it like we do with Rocket Languages.
Link in the description. Shameless plug. Shameless! [Laughter]
Link in the description. Go click it now!
Thank you, thank you, and goodbye.
And right now we're actually walking
through, what I think is a huge soccer field, but according to Jordan, it's just
a regular-sized soccer field. One of the many hidden features of Ajijic. This is the
first time we've ever seen it empty. But people frequently bring their dogs
out here to run around. There are actually soccer games quite often and
it's right by the lake, so it's pretty cool!
That's a pothole! Oh, wow!
Sinkhole? Pothole, cinco, seis.
[Laughter] Pothole, sinkhole, seis. Oh my gosh!
Anyway. We just had breakfast at Pilar's
Again. You guys, I'm so satisfied! I'm so full, it was so good!
You guys might remember this place when
we did the ten dollar challenge. This is where we had breakfast. It's one of the
most special features of Ajijic, I think, that there are still these types of
restaurants that exist. That are family owned and operated. You might miss it if
you weren't looking for it, type of thing. But definitely like the most flavorful
Best food that you're ever gonna have! Yeah, we didn't know this last time
but if you come here you must ask for the agua fresca! It's so so good!
The heirbabuena agua fresca.
Do you cheers none-tequila drinks? Non-alcohol drinks?
When they're this good! This has
Mint, something called moringa, which is supposed to be super healthy!
And what else did it have? Love and deliciousness!
[Laughter] Best agua fresca I've ever had.
It's so good! By far! I think there's some lemon or lime juice in it as well, it's super good!
Oh my gosh! So I don't think they speak English here. But you can come
in here, point to the dishes you want. They're probably gonna be preparing
about ten different dishes, and she'll put it on a plate for you with fresh
tortillas. The Thickest handmade delicious tortillas! In addition to there being
restaurants like this in Ajijic, there are of course the more established
ones that you are probably familiar with. Like traditional tables, chairs, inside of
a restaurant type of thing. We like these though! Places like Pilar's are one of the big
reasons why we love Ajijic. And sure you can maybe find some of these in a big
city like Guadalajara, but they're certainly not as prevalent and they
might not be in the desirable parts of town, so we enjoy that it's sort of like
mixed and sprinkled throughout the city. Thanks for watching! If you liked this
video, please subscribe to our Channel, and give this video a thumbs up!
And [Laughter]
Oh my gosh! And!
GONG THAT BELL!
So you get notified the next time we put out a new video and
we'll see you there!