Mega Chicken Laurel Maryland

I drive and ride on Maryland-198 a lot. As a result, I've passed by a restaurant called Mega Chicken (address 3485 Ft. Meade Rd i.e. Maryland-198) a number of times. The restaurant claims to sell charcoal cooked chicken Peruvian style. As I have fond memories of my Globus tour of Peru, I've been wanting to try out their chicken for a while. Today, I decided to treat myself to some. I bought their half chicken meal for $7.25 which comes with a small standard salad (iceberg lettuce and shredded carrot pieces) and a choice of either rice, standard french fries or yucca (sweet potato) fries. Also, they include 1 small cup each of an unidentified yellow sauce and an unidentified green sauce.

The salad was nothing to get excited about and came with a small cup of a salad dressing I couldn't identify. As I wanted to try something different, I went with the yucca fries and was glad I did. I didn't find them very sweet but, they were pretty good. I enjoyed them more than having the standard french fries. I dipped the yucca fries in the 2 different sauces. I found the yellow sauce all right and very mild. The green sauce reminded me of a dining mishap I had in Peru. During my tour there, on our way back from Paracas, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch. They served a salad with the meal I ordered. There was a slice of what looked standard green pepper. I promptly stuck the whole thing in my mouth and munched it. I found out very quickly that was a big mistake. It wasn't your standard green pepper. It had plenty of zing and, I had tears coming down from the fire in my mouth. I'm pretty certain the unidentified green sauce is made with the same green pepper I had in Peru. In regards to the chicken, I found it tasty and tender. It readily came off the bone and, it was easy to eat.

Overall, I was pretty pleased with Mega Chicken. Parking was good, service was prompt and, the food was pretty good (better than good). I thought it was reasonably priced too. I particularly liked the yucca fries which is something you can't find routinely here in the U.S. I saw on the menu they offer fried plantains which I've tried once in St. Lucia and, I'd like to try again. Also, they sell the national soft drink of Peru i.e. Inca Kola. They offer it in 16 ounce plastic bottles for $1.25. This isn't the best deal as down the street at Shoppers Food Warehouse, you can get a 2 liter bottle for $1.59 I believe. I like Inca Kola but, I will warn soft drink drinkers, it tastes VERY different from your standard cola drinks (more like bubble gum). If you would like to try some Peruvian charcoal cooked chicken, this place is worth checking out.

Royal Caribbean Cruises Excursions

On Royal Caribbean Cruises webpage, you can create a log-in for their My Cruises page. This page enables you to see what cruises you've purchased or held, what ones you've saved and what cruises you've completed. Also, it allows you to access the webpage where you can reserve excursions for your upcoming cruise in advance. What's the advantage of doing that? The biggest one I can think of is avoiding having to pay for all those excursions at the end of the cruise or getting a big charge card bill afterwards. You're already going to have a few bills from souvenirs, meals you may have had at their pay restaurants or at one of the ports you made, charges for using their WiFi network on board the ship as well as any alcoholic drinks you had on board. Another plus is it guarantees you'll get on the list for the excursion instead of trying to sign up when you get on board the ship and possibly finding out the excursion is fully booked. Also, it helps you avoid the LONG lines that happen at the beginning of the cruise when EVERY ONE else wants to sign up for their excursions.

I've heard from others that you may be able to get the same excursions cheaper when you make port but, that costs you time in port having to find a place that sells the excursions though often excursions vendors will be close to where the cruise ships pull in. Also, you have to see what excursions the different companies offer vice being able to see a complete list offered by Royal Caribbean. Lastly, if you reserve your excursions in advance with them, you'll find your excursions tickets waiting for you in your cabin at the beginning of the cruise. Should your excursion for whatever reason cancel, Royal Caribbean will automatically refund you your money by giving you a credit on your SeaPass account.

Another plus if you book your excursion through Royal Caribbean is that they are obligated to wait for you if your excursion is late returning to the ship. After all, they chose the company for the excursion and, they would've told the company when you HAD to be back. If you book on your own with some other company, you're taking a chance though the company should know when you need to be back. Still, I wouldn't like the thought of the ship leaving without me. It would be a HUGE hassle to try to catch up with the cruise ship at your next port of call.

Lastly, Royal Caribbean does offer a good choice of excursions that should have something for everyone. I've gotten to go salmon fishing in Alaska through them as well as see a Tlingit Indian song and dance show. I got to see the Mayan city of Tulum while in port at Cozumel, Mexico and a sea turtle farm in Grand Cayman.  They offer scuba diving excursions at every Caribbean port I believe. In Europe, they have excursions where you can wine taste some of the local wine (I'll be doing 1 in Italy and 1 in Greece). If nothing else, checking out the excursions on the Royal Caribbean website gives you an idea of what will be available during your cruise as well as the cost. Knowing the potential costs makes it easier for you to budget for the excursions. I think this service is really handy and, I've used it myself 4 out of the 5 cruises I've done with Royal Caribbean (I wasn't aware of the service on my 1st cruise with them). Yesterday, I used it to book all the excursions I'll take for my 6th and 7th cruises in November.

FYI, the website is also useful for pre-paying for any spa services, pay restaurants or drink packages You'd like. I particularly like pre-paying for the unlimited soda package. The unlimited soda package is useful in regards to avoiding a charge on your SeaPass account for EVERY soda you drink. However, I think you have to drink 3 sodas a day to get your money's worth out of it. So, there is a trade off.

That's all for this post. Happy cruises all!

Disclaimer: I'm not in any way connected with Royal Caribbean Cruises or their parent company. Concerning my claim that Royal Caribbean will wait for you if you book your excursion through them, you might want to double check that though as far as I know, it's true. I've personally seen them do it.

John Howe Autographed Books

Yesterday, I received my latest order from WETA, the folks that create the sets for the Hobbit movies as well as the costumes, swords, armor and special effects. WETA does some incredible stuff. My order consisted of 3 books of maps that John Howe illustrated - The Road Goes Ever On and On which contains the map of Tolkien's Middle Earth, West of The Mountains East of the Sea which contains a map of Tolkien's Beleriand (a land that existed in Middle Earth's 1st Age) and There and Back Again which contains the map for Tolkien's The Hobbit. All 3 books were autographed by John Howe. Howe and Alan Lee are the 2 artists that have really defined how people envision Tolkien's Middle Earth. When Peter Jackson decided to do the Lord of the Rings movies, he hired these 2 artists to help him show what Middle Earth looked like. I think you can say that Jackson's vision of Middle Earth really is what Howe and Lee imagined it as. Howe is the artist who created the image of Bilbo Baggin's home at Bag End. The rooms that viewers saw of it in the Lord of the Rings movies and will see in The Hobbit movies were created by Howe. His vision of Middle Earth is beautiful and stunning. I wish I could afford to buy a work of his of Middle Earth. I remember seeing one at the Lord of the Rings film exhibition in Indianapolis, Indiana many years ago. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, it had an $800 plus price tag with it which terrified my wallet. For now, I'll content myself with these 3 neat books. FYI, WETA sells the 3 book set for approximately $84 U.S. Shipping from their New Zealand warehouse was an additional $17.88 U.S. You'll earn 8 WETA dollars with your purchase. The WETA dollars are a nice bonus from shopping at WETA. They can save you real money. I used 32 of mine which knocked the price down to approximately $51 U.S. Remember too, if you spend $500 in 1 year at WETA, they upgrade you to Gold level which gets you an extra 10% more WETA dollars getting you an even better deal. Happy reading all!

Venice Italy

This is a photo I took of the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy in 1996. I was in the Air Force at the time. I got tagged to do a temporary duty assignment to Italy. On my free time, I decided to take a train to Venice. I was glad I did. I found the place incredible. It's only town I know of that you would need a motorboat to get around. Also, it gives a whole new meaning to the word alleyway. I tried walking from the train station to the Piazza San Marco and took numerous wrong turns ending in canals cutting me off. The Venetians did this intentionally for defensive purposes. As Venice doesn't have any walls to protect it, it would've been easy enough to invade. But, would be invaders would've quickly ran into the same canals cutting them off like I did. Only a native Venetian would've known where the bridges were that linked all the various islands.

Venice was the capital of the Republic of Venice. This republic was a rich and power state for many centuries. It was the link between Europe and the Far East. It got very rich off the spice trade. The glory of that was the most serene republics as it was called can still be seen in the stunning buildings like the Ducal Palazzo and Basilica of Saint Mark in Venice.

Why did I bring up this old photo? Because to my great delight, I'll finally get to see Venice the beginning of November of this year. I'll fly in, have a free day to explore and remember my visits back in 1996 and then, I'll get to sail out of Venice for the first time on my first ever European cruise. During the cruise and its sister cruise, I'll get to explore the Greek Islands as well as visit Athens for the 1st time. I've heard Athens is dirty but, I still want to see the birthplace of democracy. Plus, it'll be something to see the stunning Acropolis. I'll make sure I post pictures on my blog so, you my readers have some interesting posts to look forward to. Happy travels all!