General Reports

[QUOTE=Dokomoy;1696865]Been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I went back and read a bunch of pages in this (and some of the other threads) and read some of the reports of distinction but if these questions were answered recently and I glossed over them than I apologize in advance.

1: It sounds like you get the most girls working on the weekends but the weekends sound too crowded so I'm thinking of heading down during the week is there likely to be any difference in the quality of girls early in the week vs later in the week or am I over thinking this?

2: All this talk about police and drugs has me kind of nervous. I'm not interested in bringing / buying anything illegal during my trip but I'm planing to spend several days in the Zona and that means I need to bring some prescription medicine with me. I figure I can mostly avoid the cops (or at least avoid seeing them when I have my medicine) by taking a taxi straight to the hotel and putting my medicine in my room, but if I do get stopped by the cops how likely is it that they try to extract a bribe from me for medicine I have a prescription for and more importantly will they let me keep it?

3: While doing some Google searches I read that the water in Tijuana isn't safe to drink and I should buy bottled water and use that for drinking and brushing my teeth and stuff like that, is this true or just some urban legend?

Thanks[/QUOTE]If you are interested only in stunning lookers, and want to see a large selection of them, then you do need to come to LZ on Friday and Saturday nights (since many of the "A" chicas work weekends only. That's not my preference, as I am more 'service' oriented, so the weekdays work better for me.

If you travel around with your prescription medicine in.

1). Travel quantities in its.

2). Original container with your USA Prescription information label firmly attached.

You will be fine with both walking around with it and crossing the borders with it.

This will work with just about any kind of medicine, except medical marijuana.

I drink bottled water. But I also use simple tap water when brushing my teeth in Tijuana several times a day.

No problems so far, but I seem to have a strong constitution.

Everybody will have their own thoughts, here are mine.

1. Late weekend nights are too crowded for me, haven't even been there at those times for about 2 years. On Fridays and Saturdays I leave by about 8:00 PM. I don't like crowds. Based on 2+ year old experience, I wouldn't say the girls are any better one time or another. But, there are more to chose from and they are more aggressive at night rather than the day.

2. I've never had a problem with police. I do bring prescription drugs into Mexico but I keep them in the original packaging with my name and my doctor's name. I only bring enough for the days that I'm in Mexico.

3. I brush my teeth with sink water from Ticuan. I only drink bottled water.

If you are going to spend several days there, I recommend that you get a hotel away from zona norte. I like Ticuan. Zona Norte is too intense to stay a long time. Often I get a room at both Ticuan and Cascadas for the same days.

Brush your teeth with *bottled water. Why wouldn't bacteria get into bleeding gums caused by brushing? Stay away from raw veggies and fruits with no rind IE. Strawberries.

I also stay away from meat for the most part. Crap quality and images of fly infested meats at the Mercado will make you a vegetarian in a heartbeat.

[QUOTE=Artisttyp;1697018]Brush your teeth with *bottled water. Why wouldn't bacteria get into bleeding gums caused by brushing? Stay away from raw veggies and fruits with no rind IE. Strawberries.

I also stay away from meat for the most part. Crap quality and images of fly infested meats at the Mercado will make you a vegetarian in a heartbeat.[/QUOTE]I think that the water issue is blown out of proportions. I've never drank directly from the faucets but I've not gotten sick from the ice, fresh vegetables and meat served at cleaner restaurants.

Also at night on weekends, i tend to start migrating to the smaller clubs. Daytime is pretty sparse, even on weekends.

[QUOTE=Forever40;1696465]I don't carry much cash. Get an ATM card, such as those offered by Schwab, with no fee and third party fee reimbursement. That way you can use any ATM wo fees. You have to open a brokerage account though.[/QUOTE]Carrying a ATM card is a terrible idea.

This is when police or bad guys take you to a ATM and force you to withdraw the max allowed and take it from you.

[QUOTE=FlapJacK;1697116]Carrying a ATM card is a terrible idea.

This is when police or bad guys take you to a ATM and force you to withdraw the max allowed and take it from you.[/QUOTE]With Schwab, you can actually create two checking accounts for free, each with its own debit card. You leave one debit card at home (account #1, all of your honey money is here). You take the other debit card with you to Mexico (account #2, absolutely no money in this account).

Then, just before you go to the ATM machine across the street, you instantaneously transfer money online from account #1 to account #2, just a little more than you intend to withdraw (accounting for foreign exchange rate fluctuations).

For this strategy to work, you must delink the overdraft protection from account #2 and its corresponding brokerage account. By default, overdraws of account #2 will cause automatic sales from your brokerage account to satisfy your ATM withdrawal requests to the extent account #2 is empty. But, you can get Schwab to turn this feature off to achieve the outcome sought here.

Boom! Problem solved!

So now, if a bad guy has me locked up in his basement and is beating me and such, I can give him my PIN number no problem. When he gets to the ATM, he will find nothing there. Or, maybe you always leave $50 in that account so the bad guy will at least get a little something and not cut your fingers off just because he's pissed now. If he asks where all your money is, the answer is simple -- you already spent it all on chicas and you only have $50 left!

At any given time, the bad guy can steal no more than what you funded account #2 with just before your withdrawal. Of course, the bad guy could steal this amount from you after you withdraw it as well. In either case, you've limited the max amount available to the bad guy to the amount you intended to withdraw at one time, presumably no more than a day's worth of fun.

[QUOTE=HorseTrader;1697006]
If you are going to spend several days there, I recommend that you get a hotel away from zona norte. I like Ticuan. Zona Norte is too intense to stay a long time. Often I get a room at both Ticuan and Cascadas for the same days.[/QUOTE]Just as a reminder, if you do stay at the Ticuan, you must request a room on the "quiet" side of the hotel. The rooms on the other side, over the nightclub next door are useless due to the impossibly loud music blaring the entire night.

[QUOTE=UltraHappy;1697132]Just as a reminder, if you do stay at the Ticuan, you must request a room on the "quiet" side of the hotel. The rooms on the other side, over the nightclub next door are useless due to the impossibly loud music blaring the entire night.[/QUOTE]Anyone planning on coming soon. You can forget about the Ticuan. The restaruant and the bar are open. But the Hotel is still closed due to the fire. I stopped by there Sunday and you always get a different answer about when they will reopen.

[QUOTE=UltraHappy;1697129]With Schwab, you can actually create two checking accounts for free, each with its own debit card. You leave one debit card at home (account #1, all of your honey money is here). You take the other debit card with you to Mexico (account #2, absolutely no money in this account).

Then, just before you go to the ATM machine across the street, you instantaneously transfer money online from account #1 to account #2, just a little more than you intend to withdraw (accounting for foreign exchange rate fluctuations).

For this strategy to work, you must delink the overdraft protection from account #2 and its corresponding brokerage account. By default, overdraws of account #2 will cause automatic sales from your brokerage account to satisfy your ATM withdrawal requests to the extent account #2 is empty. But, you can get Schwab to turn this feature off to achieve the outcome sought here.

Boom! Problem solved!

So now, if a bad guy has me locked up in his basement and is beating me and such, I can give him my PIN number no problem. When he gets to the ATM, he will find nothing there. Or, maybe you always leave $50 in that account so the bad guy will at least get a little something and not cut your fingers off just because he's pissed now. If he asks where all your money is, the answer is simple -- you already spent it all on chicas and you only have $50 left!

At any given time, the bad guy can steal no more than what you funded account #2 with just before your withdrawal. Of course, the bad guy could steal this amount from you after you withdraw it as well. In either case, you've limited the max amount available to the bad guy to the amount you intended to withdraw at one time, presumably no more than a day's worth of fun.[/QUOTE]Just bring cash. Take with you on the street what you need. The rateros are not that smart. Some of you guys are watching too much "csi. Tijuana!" Jajaja.

[QUOTE=UltraHappy;1697129]With Schwab, you can actually create two checking accounts for free, each with its own debit card. You leave one debit card at home (account #1, all of your honey money is here). You take the other debit card with you to Mexico (account #2, absolutely no money in this account).

Then, just before you go to the ATM machine across the street, you instantaneously transfer money online from account #1 to account #2, just a little more than you intend to withdraw (accounting for foreign exchange rate fluctuations).

For this strategy to work, you must delink the overdraft protection from account #2 and its corresponding brokerage account. By default, overdraws of account #2 will cause automatic sales from your brokerage account to satisfy your ATM withdrawal requests to the extent account #2 is empty. But, you can get Schwab to turn this feature off to achieve the outcome sought here.

Boom! Problem solved!
.[/QUOTE]Most people do not have Schwab accounts.

I never carry my ATM or drivers license on me.

I only carry my passport card and what ever cash I think I will need. Beer money in pants pocket and sex money buttoned up in shirt pocket.

[QUOTE=Dokomoy;1696865]Been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I went back and read a bunch of pages in this (and some of the other threads) and read some of the reports of distinction but if these questions were answered recently and I glossed over them than I apologize in advance.

1: It sounds like you get the most girls working on the weekends but the weekends sound too crowded so I'm thinking of heading down during the week is there likely to be any difference in the quality of girls early in the week vs later in the week or am I over thinking this?

2: All this talk about police and drugs has me kind of nervous. I'm not interested in bringing / buying anything illegal during my trip but I'm planing to spend several days in the Zona and that means I need to bring some prescription medicine with me. I figure I can mostly avoid the cops (or at least avoid seeing them when I have my medicine) by taking a taxi straight to the hotel and putting my medicine in my room, but if I do get stopped by the cops how likely is it that they try to extract a bribe from me for medicine I have a prescription for and more importantly will they let me keep it?

3: While doing some Google searches I read that the water in Tijuana isn't safe to drink and I should buy bottled water and use that for drinking and brushing my teeth and stuff like that, is this true or just some urban legend?

Thanks[/QUOTE]1. You're overthinking it. If you like sausage fests, by all means go to HK on a Saturday. Unless you're the pickiest guy on the planet you'll find somebody to your liking just about any day of the week.

2. Bring your prescriptions in the bottle, with the prescription. Take it to the hotel. The cops won't stop you.

3. You can brush your teeth if you want to. Or use bottled water. I've done both. Even the locals won't drink the tap water. But don't worry about the ice and the food. This is not your grandfather's (or even your father's) Tijuana. It's become something of a foodie mecca, and I think a lot of that has trickled down to even the most modest establishments. The restaurants in the zona are actually much better than they have a right to be. La Perla has some great seafood. So, the odds of getting contaminated food are much lower than they used to be. But don't drink the water.

[QUOTE=FlapJacK;1697116]Carrying a ATM card is a terrible idea.

This is when police or bad guys take you to a ATM and force you to withdraw the max allowed and take it from you.[/QUOTE]Does anybody have any direct experience with this? Or an immediate friend or relative? Not a friend of a friend's uncle who knew a guy sort of thing.

I've certainly heard of this, but I wonder if it has attained urban legend status.

[QUOTE=Phordphan;1697238]Does anybody have any direct experience with this? Or an immediate friend or relative? Not a friend of a friend's uncle who knew a guy sort of thing.

I've certainly heard of this, but I wonder if it has attained urban legend status.[/QUOTE]I carry my Schwab card with me every trip, like once a week. I pull pesos from the HK ATMs all the time. As far as the monkey police, if they find something on you, then it is time to worry. Personally, I hate being searched. Tonight, I took a BT girl to the HK hotel, and there were monkey police everywhere. So we ran across the street and afterwards, we ran back across!:)

It's been years since the last documented incident of this.

[QUOTE=Phordphan;1697238]Does anybody have any direct experience with this? Or an immediate friend or relative? Not a friend of a friend's uncle who knew a guy sort of thing.

I've certainly heard of this, but I wonder if it has attained urban legend status.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Phordphan;1697238]Does anybody have any direct experience with this? Or an immediate friend or relative? Not a friend of a friend's uncle who knew a guy sort of thing.

I've certainly heard of this, but I wonder if it has attained urban legend status.[/QUOTE]This scenario seems more like an urban myth perpetuated by a highly infrequent incident. I don't carry an ATM card when out in Mexico and don't recommend it, but it's so it doesn't get lost or pocketed.