hammer bash

The Hammer Bash is when the Hammer Museum opens at night and showcases a closing exhibit during the summer season.  They offer cocktails, a decent dj, and some art.  I went to one a long time ago with Erika and had a great time.  I decided to take the boyfriend so he can enjoy some art.  I had to convince him since he is not a big fan of art, just a fan of me (hee hee).

I thought we were going to see one exhibit, but the musuem had multiples of  exhibits which made the whole thing worth it.  The entrance was free, so who would pass it up.   To set the mood, Christine Nguyen's piece covered the lobby wall.  It was a fantastic piece because you feel like your in a aquarium.  We headed off to the Societe Anonyme exhibit to see Cubist paintings to abstract sculptures.

The Societe Anonyme was a group of artists in the 1920's who wanted to expose America to Modern Art.   They would have exhibits and even publications of  upcoming art by the artists.  Saw pieces by Duchamp, Calder, Kadinsky, Klee, Mondrian, and countless of others.   An artists which piece I adored the most was Suzanne Phocas.  I just love how the skirt of the little girl moved and the curves of the fur from the dog.  The other exhibits had this crazy sculpture of tiny cut out pictures and metal pins, and some of Van Gogh's stuff was in the Armand Hammer Collection.  Ended the night with some Diddy Reese ice cream sandwiches; the highlight for the boyfriend.  The rest of the weekend was work, work, and more work.

summer holiday: playa de carmen, mexico

Playa del Carmen is 50 km south of Cancun, Mexico.  I highly recommend for people to travel there because the place is more central than Cancun.  We were able to venture to neigboring cities in affordable rates.  We trekked out to Tulum via Collectivo for only 25 pesos. (2 something dollars).  Considering it is 50 or some km from Playa del Carmen, you cannot beat that price.  The price for getting in the ruins was also very cheap.  It was affordable to go everywhere without wasting your money on lame planned excursions.  The beautiful part of going it on your own is you make your own time and the adventure to speak to the locals with bad spanish and feelin the vibe of Mexico.

  We stayed in Viva Wyndam Maya Hotel.  It was in hotel row called Playacar.  It must have been a rich area because it was a gated community with hotels and beautiful houses; secure and minutes via taxi to the city.  The decor was modern in the lounge area and spanish style in the rooms.  One of our favorite things to do was sit outside in the lounge area and people watch with our cocktails or cafe con leches.

Our first excursion was Tulum.  It was a trade center for the Mayans.  Most of the structures were intact and the place sits on a bluff over looking the ocean.  You can swim after sightseeing and we fully took advantage of it since it was hot and humid most of our stay.  There was an overcast, but still, you can feel the humidity.  It was a nice treat to dip into the water for some cooling off.

An island Cozumel sits next to Playa de Carmen.  We didn't know what to do there, but we definetly wanted to go.  Cozumel is the home of the second largest reef in the world.  It would have been nice to snorkel, but I couldn't have my back burned into a crisp.  We took a joyride in the island with a vintage bug instead.  Saw the smallest Hard Rock Cafe and more  Mayan ruins.  Also dipped in the water to cool off the summer heat.

Our third sightseeing trip was the Mayan ruins in Coba.  Coba was more difficult to venture on your own and it took much creativity.  Many of the locals we spoke to discourage us to go there because it was far from Playa del Carmen.  We manage to go back to Tulum via Collectivo and take a taxi to Coba and have the taxi driver wait for us until we were finished sightseeing around Coba.  All this creativity didn't cost much since we were in a time crunch.  If we had gotten up earlier, we could have taken the bus to Coba, and saved 300 pesos.  The taxi to Coba, which was an hour away from Tulum was 400 pesos (40 dollars) for both.  Not bad since the driver drove fast to get us in the Coba ruins in time.  It was well worth it because I climbed my first Mayan pyramid.  The view was spectacular and the area was filled with lush trees and many Mayan artifacts.

The holiday did consist of other relaxing activities such as reading books on the beach and enjoying our cocktails.  It was just nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of life and relax; so relaxed that we never kept track of time.