A terrible concert, an excellent restaurant and the truth about electric bulbs

Lolo Bobo wastes my time

Loco Lobo is the name of the production company of last weekend’s concerts, the Aruba Summer Music Festival. It promised a great line up on Saturday night, Tito Nieves, Gente de Zona and Enrique Iglesias. The cashier at Sandra’s Garden from whom I bought the tickets said: Doors open at 7:3pm, concert starts at 8pm, sharp! Sharp, he said. And stupid me, I believed him. Consequently Lolo Bobo wasted my time on Saturday night with the WORST DJ ever, for a two hour pre concert cacophony, from 8pm to 10pm, complemented by a screaming nitwit emcee, then at 10pm after I was already irritated and aggravated Gente de Zona did their best to entertain. Once they took a bow, again a lull, nothing for ONE long HOUR, from 11pm to 12midnight. Enrique finally got on stage past midnight, I hear he was charming, only I wouldn’t know, I left, four hours into this nightmare of a “concert.” Tito Nieves? I never saw him either. It was the pits. When you say 8pm, you have to start at 8pm. You should take a page out of the Soul Beach Music Festival book, they start on time, they finish on time, respecting their clients.

Sound: Very poor, unbearable

DJ: Very, very pathetic

Emcee: Very, very, very, annoying

Venue: Meh

Parking: Good

Security: Excellent, they even found my pistachio nuts and confiscated them

F&B: Good, tasty French fries with pinda sauce, to sooth my nerves.

Beer: Good, nicely chilled, no lines at the bars.

 

El Chalan Peruvian restaurant

We had lunch at El Chalan the other day. Their Sopa + Plato Fuerte + Postre for Awg 15.The restaurant recently celebrated its 20th anniversary on the main street, just past Jossy Motors, and Hotel Victoria. I can only say good things about them! Admittedly, I am a big fan of the gastronomy of Peru, and El Chalan always does a good job with ceviche, causa, and tiradito, anything with purple potatoes, quinoa, sweet water shrimp, sweet potato, Aji Amarillo, magically come together in their kitchen to create Lomo Saltado, Seco de Cabrito, or Aji de Gallina. From specialty Peruvian drinks to desert, it’s all good.

 

Harvey the Electrician teaches me new tricks

Harvey from Rotech really knows something about electricity. This week he visited the house because one of my outlets was smoking. So while trouble-shooting assorted issues I complained to him that bulbs never last in my household. I buy the packaged spiral ones at Price Smart, but they have a short life span here.  In reality they should last longer, I said. Harvey took his volt meter and inserted the prongs into the outlet, measuring 127 volts. The bulbs you are buying, he explained, are made for 120volt 60Hz circuits. But Elmar provides us with 127 +/- 4%, depending how far we live from the substations. Bottom line I overwork the bulbs and they die prematurely. More expensive bulbs from the General Store, are manufactured to withstand up to 130volt and are at the end more economic, he revealed. Propaganda no paga. Also, the bulbs you buy from Lucky Store, Harvey says, are manufactured in India where 110volt is the norm. Once those bulbs meet the Elmar juice, they go bust even earlier! During his last visit, Harvey taugh me about ground, this time about voltage. He also reiterated, don’t let the microwave, 900watt run with the hot water kettle, 1,500watt, at the same time, you have an old house, you are overloading  your system, also do not add appliances indiscriminately, think before you buy a new gadget!

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June 28, 2016
Rona Coster