Some people just take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani – at the helm of the city during the immediate aftermath of 9/11 – has assumed the difficult job of ridding the world’s most-populated city of crime, says “The Dallas Morning News Express.” Credited with reducing crime in New York by 65% during his tenure, he’ll work as a paid consultant in Mexico City for one year. “The similarities between what Mexico City faces today and what New York City faced in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s are striking,” he says. “We’re hopeful that we can be of assistance.” God bless.

With the exception of late April, when the snowbirds pack up and go back to where they came from – leaving us locals to deal with the rising heat on our own, those few brilliant days on either side of Canadian Thanksgiving are when I most miss Toronto, my hometown. With the rolling landscape a rich tapestry of siennas, golds and reds, leaves crunching beneath feet and the air invigorating, it’s always been my favorite time of year. As a child, it was because I got to jump and play in the leaves. Now, it’s because I’m in the autumn of my life and resonate with its bitter sweetness. Whether walking the beach or carving the turkey on October 14, I wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving.

Speaking of food and being grateful, Archie’s Wok reopens for the season that day and a Chinese restaurant that used to be in Marina Vallarta has moved in next door. Restaurant Peking, serving authentic Chinese food, has a much better chance of getting foot traffic here than it did when it was upstairs at Plaza Neptuno for a couple of years. So if you’re into Asian food, this short Francisca Rodriguez block is now the place to head to, Vallarta’s own “Barrio Chino.”

If you have any comments, questions or suggestions about what you’re reading, you’re encouraged to let me know at heather@mexmags.com.