Friday, December 29, 2006

New York City winter




Prior to arriving here in NYC, I thought, "Come on - there is no way this city is better than Tokyo, Paris or London. Maybe it's just hyped".

Dumb me.

It is so much better than any of the previous.

Times Square can't really be compared to anything - It even dwarfs Shibuya, Champs Elysees and Piccadilly Circus (the closest matches).

The assortment of bars and restaurants is unbelievable.

Shopping is just another piece of entertainment, even for the most crowd-averse of beings.

The vibe, ... oh the vibe. It feels as though the whole city has a beating heart, a living soul, an edge. An overwhelming edge.

But the people live up to billing of being a little bit rude.

Friday, December 22, 2006

2006 - music, for me

Time for the famous "The Best of"

Albums I got ahold of this year, heard from beginning to end and have entered my all-time greatest:

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televied, Gil Scott-Heron

2. At War With The Mystics, The Flaming Lips
3. Carioca, Chico Buarque
4. Under the Iron Sea, Keane
5. His Band and The Street Choir, Van Morrison
6. What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
7. Cartola (2o LP), Cartola
8. The Best of Fela Kuti
9. Perfil, Adriana Calcanhoto
10. Astral Weeks, Van Morrison


Top Songs - 2006 discoveries
- "Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung" - The Flaming Lips
- "Lady Day and John Coltrane" - Gil Scott-Heron
- "What's Happening, Brother?" - Marvin Gaye
- "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" - Gil Scott-Heron
- "Atlantic" - Keane
- "Dura na Queda" - Chico Buarque
- "Preciso me encontrar" - Cartola
- "Street Choir" - Van Morrison
- "Inverno" - Adriana Calcanhoto
- "Bole Chudiyan" - Kavita


Still heard a lot of:
- "Woman of the Ghetto" - Marlena Shaw
- "Somewhere only we know" - Keane
- "The Hardest Part" - Coldplay
- "Venus in Furs" - Velvet Underground
- "Inner City Blues" - Marvin Gaye
- "Roads" - Portishead

Sunday, December 17, 2006

The UK travel journals - part IV

West Ham United 1 x 0 Sheffield United

Upton Park, East London.

The game from which Tevez ran away.

I was there.



The UK travel journals - part III

One of the greatest moments of my trip was a quick yet interesting visit to the headquarters of my favorite paper, The Guardian, so often quoted in here.

That was all thanks to the lovely Liane Katz, now Liane Dabbous after marrying my good mate from Insead, Alex. While in a lunch with them I found out that Liane is the editor of Guardian Unlimited Travel! I could not refuse an offer to visit, which I did on my way back to Heathrow from Luton.

Follows some pics taken to prove!


Me (yes I'm chubby these days)


Liane, thank you!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

The UK travel journals - part II

So the first Englishman I talked to on this trip was the driver that went to pick me up at Heathrow. His name is Ken and he drives a Volvo sedan with cream leather interior. Nice.

The 30-minute chit-chat on the way to Harpenden is, as expected anywhere in the world, revolving around weather, football and beer. So the weather is dreadful (it really is, I have to say) in spite of the pilot of my plane affirming it was a 'mildly warm' (sic) morning in London at amazing 12 degrees - yay.

The conversation got going when he noticed I really followed the Premiership. While I got into details of Liverpool's weekend match against Boro, he remarked that he doesn't really follow the first division which, in his words, is getting 'wretched by money'. His football passion was actually League Two (fourth division), in which his hometown team played: Wycombe Wanderers.

Ken also convinced me that Magners cider was the best British drink at the time. I had no argument at first, but later conceded. It is great. Much better than Blackthorne which was till this trip my favorite cider, but which now I rate as too 'gazzy'.

The UK travel journals - part I

Having been to Heathrow twice before, I certainly did not rate it among the best airports I had been to, but until I arrived there once again I wasn't quite sure why that was. Now I remember.

Upon arriving in there, I feel like I'm going to prison. Its tight, cornered walkways are crowded, and the low ceiling makes it hard for the body odor coming from the passengers to escape. And judging from what I smelled, the deodorant in Ghana and India is not of the highest quality - flights from Accra and Mumbai picked up their luggage in the same belt I did.

Architecturally, one can't even say that Heathrow has its moments. There is no grandeur, no spacious lounges, nothing to alleviate the fact that you have just been double-digit hours in a long-haul flight. Colors are dull, with the shades of cement gray, rubber black and unpolished metal only being disturbed by the yellow signs that indicate Flight Connections - in agressive serif font, so uncommon in large banners of that type.

Is it so unpleasant for British people to head back to their country, and be reminded of their dreadful weather, food, and women (not all of them though...), that they had to build an unwelcoming airport too?

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Why I've been out

I've been in the UK for work since Nov 20. Scarce internet access. But soon will be back and intend to post my travel diaries.