Penny

Some friends and I had dinner tonight at this new restaurant in town. It was wonderful. The interior is charmingly rustic, the service is excellent, the food was good, and the prices were reasonable. Like many restaurants owned by Panamanians, they need to learn how to market to gringos. Most foreigners don't even know that this restaurant exists. It's on the main street however you enter their large parking lot off the side street. The side street is the one going to Stone Cabins and across the street from the Mexican Restaurant. It's a beautifully renovated house (hence the name). It's blue. The place mats have photos of early Boquete.

Hola By and Mariah

This is Penny Barrett; You met me at yesterday's newcomer meeting (I introduced the speakers and kept the meeting moving).

Those of us from the Wolverine state aren't much in favor of Buckeyes, but I'll make an exception. If I can help you with anything you can email me at pjbarrett@aol.com

So, when is the Zapadora going to stop paying Ning for their display ad?

It's been reported that a couple of days ago the Pancho Villa Restaurant people snuck off in the middle of the night leaving 7 months unpaid rent to the owners of the Villa San Miguel Hotel.

This restaurant started out badly and barely moved the needle towards serving decent food in the 7 months it was open. Too bad because we all were looking forward to some good Tex Mex food in Boquete.

The latest on the Tex-Mex front is that the restaurant at La Jungla will open again with Chef Robinson as the cook. Several years ago Betty Gray taught Robinson how to cook some good Tex Mex dishes and apparently he's going to incorporate them into his menu.

2 minutes ago, Keith Woolford said:

Let me know if you ever spot crumpets.

I don't even know what a crumpet is. Guess I'll have to re-read Little Miss Muffett.

The local bochinche is that Riba Smith is going to open a mini store in the strip mall that will be built on the corner of the Volcancito Road (across from CEFATI). However, at the snail's pace that Michelle Brewer is tearing down the existing buildings, we all might be dead before that happens.

Bud

Believe it or not the last time I bought English muffins I got them at the Felipe Motta wine store in Plaza Terronal. As somebody said, cornstarch is everywhere is you know what it's called.

If you had neutered him he probably wouldn't be roaming

I have a complaint about my MS Panama health insurance that I want to send to Sr. Manuel Granados, the head administrator. The email address I have for him (mgranados@mschiriqui.com) bounced. Does anybody know the new address?

I don't know about the stock but I would bet that Copa has one of the best customer satisfaction ratings.

Price Peterson is a hard act to follow.

My house guests sampled the new Tex-Mex menu on Monday and proclaimed it "delicious" !!!

Banco General is the best. Lots of locations and all of their service reps speak English.

Not too many hidden fees.

Fran says Dra Diaz's office is next door to La Reina in downtown Boquete. When did she move. For a long time her office was across the street from Mike's Global Grill.

Dr. Gomez told me a month or so ago that Dr. Chen no longer owned the practice and the doctors are now employees of the practice owner who is trying to change the practice into something more modern (i.e., higher prices, shorter consultations).

Rainelda is one of the foremost attorneys in Panama. She speaks very good English and keeps schedules and appointments like a Gringo.

She has a common sense approach to many legal problems and has solves some very tough immigration problems for folks I know.

12 hours ago, JudyS said:

 

Why do people keep pushing this lie?  You cannot survive in Boquete (or Panama for that matter) for very long if you speak ONLY English. 

I'd be willing to bet that there are hundreds and hundreds of people surviving in Boquete with extremely limited Spanish ("Yo quiero Taco Bell").

Of course, your life is enhanced by knowing some Spanish but it's not a survival thing.

The shuttles (I think there are 3 of them) are great and about the cost for one person going. For two people you have to balance the costs. With the $30 shuttle ticket you get the $5 boat ticket (cheaper for pensionados) and no need to pay $5/day for parking. It also is much more relaxing and allows you to enjoy the scenery with a good professional driver at the wheel. The shuttle I'm most familiar with is the one leaving from Mamallena near the park. I've used it myself and at least 10 of my guests have taken it. In fact, I'm driving a current guest there in a few minutes to catch the 8:00 AM departure.

Also, if you're going to be in Bocas for a short while, I strongly recommend taking one of the many boat tours. They last about 4-5 hours and you get a whole overview of the island chain and you might even see some dolphins frolicking in the bay.

I read David Burnett's post shortly after he made it. I would have been willing to help him out and make the call but it was totally unclear to me who David was trying to reach. I don't think anywhere in his post he said he was trying to reach Rodny. He was obviously very distraught. Apparently someone saw it and figured out that it was Rodny he was trying to reach and made the call. In his apparent state of panic, it seems logical he wasn't calling the correct number.

All I'm saying is they would be far more effective in protecting Boquete if they located themselves on the north side of the Caldera intersection.

Do you know their last name?

The ad isn't for a personal rental., It's for a business and they are allowed one ad per calendar month.

No personal real estate ads are allowed.

An apolstile just verifies that fact that the notary is a legitimate notary. If you get notarized by a Panamanian notary (either a cheap one at the Municipio or an expensive one in David), the country of Panama still has to verifiy that the notary is legitimate.

It's just really easier to go to the U.S. embassy in Panama City.

Once again this morning I was waved through the police stop at the Caldera road and once again it occurred to me how ineffective this effort is. I believe all the money being spent on having 2-3 policemen there most of the time is to protect Boquete from maleantes coming up from David to do home invasions and assaults against the Boquete residents (who are rich, don't cha know). The problem is the police chose to be on the side of the intersection where there is shade and not on the side of the intersection where they will do any good. Any maleante wanting to come into Boquete without being stopped needs only come in via the Caldera road. The same is true for any maleante wanting to leave Boquete with their loot and return to David. All they have to do is turn left onto the Caldera road before they get to the police stop.

What is it that I'm not understanding here???

Doesn't Phil McGuigan's charity, Amigos de Boquete, provide a hot lunch every day to the students at this school????