Me in the world's deepest subway station

Three-year travel plan

When I moved back to Brazil in 2006, after a year full of traveling, I knew that any opportunities for non-business long-haul trips would become scarce. So I should really focus my traveling efforts to go to places that would be worth it, trying not to repeat places or go somewhere too similar to where I'd been already.

With that in mind, I set out to devise my first 3-year travel plan: 5 places that I should try to visit over a 3-year period. My list in early 2006 consisted of:

New York City
Moscow
Macchu Picchu
Madrid and Barcelona
South China (Yunnan)

Three years have just gone. I ended up visiting NYC on new year's day 06-07 and Macchu Picchu in new year's day 07-08. Moscow was covered in a business trip in 07, but I could do a fair amount of sightseeing as well. The latter two choices just did not materialize (I chose to ramble around countryside Argentina for new year's 08-09).

So now it's high time I devise the second version of my 3-year travel plan. I have to put a bit of thought into it.

What I do not want is:
- cities where the only leisure is the urban life (restaurant-museum-disco-shopping). Got plenty of that in São Paulo already.
- too touristic beaches
- too much underdevelopment (Mumbai slum? hm... maybe in another 3-year plan)

What I probably want is:
- cultures I have never had contact with - e.g. the Muslim world
- extreme faraway places where you just sit and gaze at nature
- cozy, midsized cities - in the mould of, say, Hamburg (by the way, the more I go to Germany the more I enjoy it)
- places where I know locals who could show me around

After a bit of Google-Earthing I came to the following places:

1) A glacier - either Patagonia, Norway or Iceland
2) A paradise island - either Noronha (Brazil), somewhere in the Caribbean, the Phillipines, or Polynesia (Cook Islands perhaps)
3) A hiking expedition - either Chapada Diamantina (Brazil), the Santiago de Compostela trek in Spain, or the Alps
4) A wine tour - either Chile, California, Italy or France
5) Ancient cities, especially if in a Muslim country - perhaps Turkey, Syria or Iran

So many places to visit.
So little time.

It's my city and I just love it

This great São Paulo tourism ad is showing every now and then at CNN int'l.

It's great and reflects how amazing my city is.

Pop music

One memorable quote from John Cusack's character in "High Fidelity" is:

"Do I listen to pop music because I'm miserable
Or am I miserable because I listen to pop music?"

I am in the Uk right now, with a rental car, without CDs, having to drive some 10-20 minutes to work, in a region with not a lot of radio stations. Which means I have been indulging in pop radios, even though in my homeland I avoid them like a vampire avoids sunlight. I mostly go from BBC1 to Capital FM and back.

Surprise surprise, some things are actually pretty good in there. Especially Duffy, a young welsh singer that sounds like an old New Orleans mama in her hit "Mercy". Adele is quite good as well (though a bit reminiscent of American Idol winners Carrie and Kelly Clarkson). And of course they play a lot of Amy Winehouse, which had been a great addition to my CD collection earlier in the year.

But then I cannot dodge from Kylie Minogue. She's everywhere. And "Wow" (her latest single) is one of those addictive songs that are no good but can't leave one's head. It is very British, I have to say - a song that I totally imagine being played in a pub, with a bunch of drunken girls dancing to it in a hen's party. Just like Jamelia's "Superstar" 3 years ago (God, time flies).

What do I make of this whole thing the end? Not sure yet. But maybe the moral of the story is that pop music is unescapable, and if you can't defeat it, join it. Well, it's certainly not edifying, but at least I found out that it's harmless.

In my place

I finally found my very own street!

Warioware on Wii

Andrea and Daniel got hooked to the Wii at Michelle's place last weekend.


Michelle watched and tipped them as I took charge of the pics.

CN tower. As I see it.

During the day.


At night.

Bayerischer Sommertag

Things to do in Munich on a summer day:

Go to Englischer Garten and drink loads of beer under the sun,


Chat the afternoon away to catch up with a German friend


And of course ride back on the local pride, Bayerische Motoren Werke!!!

Late but fun

I should have posted this link to a flickr album of last New Year's Day party in New York City earlier. Some pics are really great. Thanks Arun!

A cinq heures cinquant-cinq

I came to Paris to spend the long weekend, and rented a car to wander around. I had learned from my previous stint in France that driving around Paris (instead of taking the subway) is a priceless pleasure - you get stuck in traffic, that's a fact, but you're surrounded by so many mesmerizing pieces of sculpture and architecture that it feels like a stroll in an art gallery. As I say, in Paris, I don't care about getting lost (which I often do), cause there's always a pleasant new scenery to look at from the car window.

Yet another thing I recall from when I lived in France is that the joys of Parisian wanderings are enhanced by a fitting soundtrack. I used to drive from Fontainebleau to Paris, stuck for ages in A6 and the Périférique, but to the tune of chansons françaises like "L'Eté Indien", "L'Envie d'Aimer" and "En Se Retrouvera" it felt like touring, not commuting. This weekend, though, I found myself with a rental car, but no soundtrack.

There are harder problems in life than that, I know, and that one was easily solved as I stepped into my long-time favourite Fnac store at the Forum Les Halles mall and headed for the "Noveau" shelves. I spotted Charlotte Gainsbourg' debut album, "5:55", which I had read about somewhere, and decided to give it a try. After listening to it some 3 or 4 times in one day, I got completely addicted and can't let it go.



I wouldn't be able to label it, honestly - something like mood music with virtuoso pianos mixed to electronic drum beats - but it is marked, above all, by Charlotte's delicate voice, whispered in a way that lend the songs an intimate and sexy edge. It sounds like she in a room, looking through a window in a rainy afternoon, while her lover takes a nap in the bed.

Lyrics that talk about love and worship to the lover accentuate the sensuality, like in "Everything I cannot see", the "poppiest" track. But the lyrics of the title song (and arguably best track) dwells on a different level - "5:55" talks about subconscience, about being half-awake and half-asleep at the same time. It is a song I would like to wake up to every day.

Given my enjoyment on the first 24 hours of ownership of this album, expect plenty more about it in the days to come in this page.

Allez le rouge et blanche

Yesterday night I stood on the Kop, holding my red scarf, and sung "You'll Never Walk Alone", as the home players ran around the field thanking the supporters for their intensive cheering during the electrifying Cup semi-final that had just ended.

No, I wasn't at Anfield. No, I'm not fantasizing on it either.

I was invited by my friend Jan to watch his team, Standard de Liege, play Anderlecht on the second leg of the demi-finale of Coupe de Belgique. Standard had won the first leg away 0-1, a surprise result given that Anderlecht is the current league leader and constant Champions League participant.

Besides eating French fries with mayonnaise in the rain while drinking a couple of pints of Jupiler, I watched a very entertaining match with a fantastic atmosphere. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera, so I will illustrate with some pics from Standard's website.



First half

Standard played on a 4-4-2 with a midfield a la anglaise - relying heavily on the industry of their central midfielders, Belgian teenagers Defour and Fellaini. Their strategy consisted of exchaging side passes in the opposition midfield till it reached one the team's two most skilled players - right midfield Sergio Conceição and centre forward Jovanovic.

Backed not only by the relentless chant of the self-called Kop, but also by noteworthy performances of their almost flawless centre-backs (Brazilian Dante, former Juventude player, and Senegalese Sarr), Standard pushed forward, and should have scored on the first half. But actually only Jovanovic showed some willingness to shoot, the others being a bit too reluctant when near the area.

Anderlecht was keeping it tight with a line of three in the midfield, right in front of the back line. And though the three up front were always ready to launch counter-attacks, their most dangerous player was Argentine right-midfield Biglia - who a couple of times cauught Standard's left back lost in marking and appeared to shoot.

Second half

Anderlecht endured till the break but were surprised by a goal at minute 46. I was surprised as well - I heard the crowd yell but I was actually still at the toilet at the time. When I sat, I saw an Anderlecht onslaught - they had nothing to lose anyway - which ended up in a goal by minute 60.

Standard's coach then reacted by taking off Jovanovic's partner in attack (Lukunku, an ineffective tall centre-forward) and replacing him with Portuguese elder Sá Pinto. Guess what, it worked. He helped regain midfield in a time when Anderlecht was regaining confidence. And, most importantly, he earned a penalty "from heaven" when stealing the ball from a centre-back and stopped by the keeper.

The subsequent goal was cold water to Anderlecht but sparked the Kop. From then on, Standard fans were more worried about coordinating the Mexican wave and the Ole chant.

The fans

Liege is in a French-speaking part of Belgium, and hence the chants were another foray into my learning of français. Not that they were too elaborate:

"Hey! Hey! Tous ensemble, tous ensemble!"

"Allez les rouges... allez les rouges... allez le rouge et blanche..."

And also some other chants that I couldn't really understand. Best one was a sequence of sentences uttered by one side of the stadium, and repeated 3 seconds later by the other, that ended up with a massive "Ole ole" chant.



The stadium resembled La Bombonera - tall, steep stands, with ribbons, flags and banners flying, as you can see in the pic above. I was on a seat in the third floor, but the side of the field, not in the Kop. By the way that is one thing I was likened to Standard - they look up to Liverpool, with the stands, the nonstop cheering, and the playing of You`ll Never Walk Alone in the End. Unbelievable.

Saturday, last home match of the season against Club Brugge (who Standard will play in the Cup final, in 10 days) - I'm there!!! Tous ensemble, tous ensemble!!!

Indulging in mainstream tourism

When traveling on leisure, I try to avoid becoming a tourist stereotype. I consider myself past the stage of being a camera-toting vacationer, taking all sorts of pictures to post on fotolog to my mama. And I guess I've also grown a bit old and picky for the rough nights that generally accompany the "off-the-beaten-track" journeys - which, generally, are full of camera-toting vacationers anyway.

Still, it is hard not to indulge myself on a bit of mainstream sightseeing when I had one afternoon to walk around a city as nice as Brugge. Especially when in company of my friends Nicolas and Carolina, camera-toters to the core, but in a way that makes it seem quite a cool thing to do.

So here you have myself striking a pose over one of Brugge's many canals.

Musings about the French language

I'm sitting in a self-service restaurant inside the boarding area of Roissy airport in Paris, on a connection from Belgium.

In front of me a sign reads "A L'epoque de Clement Ader". My limited French allows me to understand it is about an engineer from the turn of the (last) century. And it shows some things that happened at his time, such as "1905 - Les frères Wright parcourrent 38km en 38mn sur le Flyer III".

I am considering learning French. It is close to Portuguese and therefore might be easy. You must be touched by the way it sounds. Merci, fermè, non, allez, all sung with mouthful and lippy hisses, like in Marie Antoinette's court.

Plus Paris is an inspiring place and knowing French is really handful there. And France Football and L'Équipe are great papers.

And old French songs are très cool.

All right. Will start learning.

My world

Places I've been to are indicated in red*


This is my world and I am
A world leader pretend
This is my life, and this is my time

I have been given the freedom to do as I see fit
It's high time I raise the walls that I constructed
(R.E.M.)



*places I've spent at least 8 hours in.

North Face jacket, again

So, for those who complained about the lack of pics in here.



This is me posing in front of Moscow State University (one of the seven sisters).

Again the North Face jacket saves me from the cold, just as it did in NY last December.

Menu in Dutch

Actually Flemish. From Belgium.

In the entreés, the gratin de coquille st jacques was sublime.

The second line in the mains block is grilled veal's brain. I went for the first one, veal medallion in red winee sauce.

The last dessert, Ice-cream of Leffe Brune beer, is out of this world.

From the Rockefeller Center

While in NYC, I spent a couple of hours at the top of the Rockefeller Center, gazing at the city's incredibe skyline.

Here are a couple of speculative-nonetheless-beautiful shots taken at different stages of sunset - where you can see the Chrysler building and the Metlife building to the left, and the Empire State Building to the right.

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.

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!