[Carnival in São Paulo 2023]

Any savvy traveler here knows how the carnival in Sao Paulo works? I’ll be there from 9th to 22nd of February. Thx

[Cell phone Sim cards for use in Brazil and the CPF etc:]

I used Airalo esim card 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

Please. Just calm down. Don’t you guys feel silly cat fighting like this?

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

On 8/21/2022 at 12:41 AM, davet said:

You mean he's a daddy now? yum!

He said he has several brothers, all of them just as hung. One was briefly in the business.

Yeah. 3. I forgot the age. I think the eldest is around 8. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

18 minutes ago, Slvkguy said:

you don’t - unless he told you ok to post on a public website.  And he certainly did not. 

We said the same thing in different ways. Lol

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

20 hours ago, speedoo1 said:

Would anyone be able to share pics of this famous Reinaldo? I met a GP at 117 in Rio in April by the name Rey (at least that is what he named himself) which fits the description above, including his impatience to finish the session (in favor of a regular client he apparently waited for); however, the age (mid 30s by now) is much older than I assumed to the age of Rey to be. 

I do have a lot of pics and videos of him but I don’t know if I have the right to share here. I did meet him again out of sauna and indeed he was much more relaxed. He was not checking the watch and we had nice long talks too. I learned about his work and family, especially his three boys. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

12 minutes ago, davet said:

LOL. Once one gets to a sufficiently large sample set, one can start making informed calls about the biggEST/fattEST. I have a very scientific mindset. I can use my wrapped hand to get pretty accurate measurements of a specimen. There might have been 1 or 2 who were longer than Reynaldo, but in combination of long and thick, I think he's no. 1.

Not that anyone minds at all continuing a search for bigger/longer/fatter/harder.

I agree, among those I fucked at least

[efficient way to learn Portuguese?]

Personally I’d say the most efficient way would be: step 1. Get a basic gramma and word book, go through it without chewing. Step 2. Get a local companion to practice, reenforcing all the half digested contents you’ve read.
 

Then I guess it really depends on your goals. If it’s for traveling and you just want to do the basics, an app or YouTube would suffice. On the contrary, if you need to deal with the administration, or want to really understand the culture in depth, getting meanings between the lines, with some of the grammatical particularities such as future subjunctive and personal infinitive, then sign up a class in the local university. 

[Summer trip set, Colombia + Brazil]

8 hours ago, endlessdream said:

Kkk. How do we make perfectly enjoyable companionship out of less than 1 star? You must be too severe with the stars…

Lol. I misread. Star quality. lol. You are right then. I do want to be in a buyers’ market when I’m buying though. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

1 hour ago, davet said:

If you have his number maybe you can pre-arrange something with him. I never could understand why he only came into SP on Thursdays. Given Reinaldo's size, I have told him that I had to start with a more reasonable dick first and work my way up to him later in the night, but he'd be gone by then.

He does live very far as he sent me live location moving out of my map. lol. He has a wife, he mentioned, and a whole life out of this gay scene. How old do you think he is?

[Summer trip set, Colombia + Brazil]

42 minutes ago, davet said:

That must have been the one I went to but I had fun! I think it's called Olimpo. I considered it a smaller version of Lagoa or 117, with just as beautiful and well-built guys, just fewer of them than in the big cities. Whereas 117, 202, and Lagoa might have 5 to 10 star-quality guys (I'm talking pre-covid comparison), Olimpo would have 2-5, Mezzaninu in Pto Alegre would have 1-3, and Curitiba or Recife would struggle for 1 though they might still have perfectly enjoyable companionship.

Kkk. How do we make perfectly enjoyable companionship out of less than 1 star? You must be too severe with the stars…

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

18 hours ago, davet said:

What was it like? Chinese food takes on unique characteristics of their foreign locale and there's always that moment of adjustment for those of us familiar with American Chinese food or "real" Chinese food from Asia. Given the quirks of Brazilian Japanese food (fruit sushi) and Brazilian pizzas, I'm curious about Brazilian Chinese.

It’s actually quite authentic. Apart from certain minor adjustments they had to do due to limits of ingredients, it’s real Chinese food. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

18 hours ago, davet said:

Reinaldo. Wow. *sigh*

That one needs to be in a museum of natural history. I first saw him 13 years ago and had several repeats. He disappeared for a long time - word was he was taken in by a "cliente particular" - but the bloom must have come off that rose because he's back. (And I did see him last May.) I would not necessarily disbelieve his reason for rushing out. He always comes only on a Thursday and ALWAYS rushes out to catch a bus, no matter how much business you promise him. 

Did you pull the tape measure out on him? I too have a clinical mind and would like scientific confirmation of his size.

Fun fact: He told me he was 1/4 Japanese.

 

Oh. That’s bad news. Cos I kinda thinking about hiring him for some extended programas when I’m back to SP. He’s very persistent, even while I was out of Brazil. But I don’t like rushing through things. 

[Summer trip set, Colombia + Brazil]

On 7/4/2022 at 11:07 AM, scott456 said:

@endlessdream, so you got 2-2 seat instead of the standard 3-3 economy seat with an economy ticket. Do you have any status with AV or Star Alliance? 

Yeah. I have but it's not for that. I bought this ticket with av miles and only av number is in the system. I could already choose 2-2 seat at that point. btw, I also managed to use the business class check in, as it shows 2K in on the boarding pass. 

[Summer trip set, Colombia + Brazil]

Just to report back the weird C seat for Y ticket issue. I’m finally on one of these weird flights. I didn’t fly the revenue ticket from jfk to bog. I’m now on a av miles economy ticket from bog to gig. A320 neo. I could select the front rows 2-2 instead of the back rows 3-3. It’s actually a kinda hybrid of Y and C seats. It’s definitely wider, with a table in between and charger under. I’m thrilled to have it as I paid for Y. But I’d be so pissed if I had paid for C. So conclusion, don’t buy C on AV narrow bodies.

 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

15 minutes ago, Slvkguy said:

almost everyone has that as first impression about LA- both Americans & foreign visitors.  It’s a tough city for visitors. 

I spend a day walking around in Bogota and it was what I needed to realize what’s missing for me in São Paulo: the history. Just like LA, things are two dimensional, lacking depth. It might not be a problem for people from younger civilizations though. Again, it’s just me. Some people might hate places with too much residue. Lol. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

36 minutes ago, floridarob said:

Great report....lots of truths in there.

Thx. For some reason, I just can’t live fairytales. lol 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

3 minutes ago, Slvkguy said:

great reporting.  vacation is all about what makes YOU happy.  
I love urbanism and big complicated cities, so I wanted to see everything in SP and not the typical tourist stuff.  The guide was surprised because he said nobody asks to see the things I wanted to see.  
But, yes SP is very similar to LA in that many visitors leave disappointed that they either missed something, were underwhelmed or just didn’t care for it. 

Yeah. I admire your courage. I used to be more open minded about stuff but now I stick to what I like. When I go to LA, I’d only stay around Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey …

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

7 minutes ago, Slvkguy said:

I had the complete opposite impression of SP and it was my first time visit recently too.  
Perhaps because I hired a professional guide and explored the entire city for several days - not just typical tourist areas of Jardins, Paulista & Republica.  If you go to Moema, Itaim Bibi  Lapa, Brooklin, Ibirapuera, Pinheiros as examples, it would be a different perspective.  Lapa looked like a lush tropical residential street in Beverly Hills.  Pinheiros reminded me of the coolest parts of LA near Silverlake.  I found São Paulo to be very sophisticated with Avenida Paulista one of the worlds grand iconic boulevards.

Similarly, I wouldn’t compare SP to a third tier European citiy as its South America’s financial & business capital with all the wealth & sophistication that entails.  It reminds a bit of Los Angeles in the sense that most visitors there fail to grasp what makes LA so great & interesting because none of its charms are obvious. You either have to know someone to show you, or live there for years to figure it out.  SP is the same - with its vast geography and  few obvious tourists sites it takes some effort to uncover, but the treasures are there.  30 million people live in the SP metropolitan area - of course they have the best of everything if you look for it.  Btw - I lived in Manhattan for 10 years, so I have a point of comparison.  The SP subway is so much better than NYC too - it’s not even a discussion. GRU made JFK look like a dump.

Pro tip - if staying at a 5 star hotel, have them send a car & driver to pick you up. It took 30 minutes max from GRU to Jardins.   It was about $65. in a new Mercedes’ and the driver met me after customs. Same thing on the return. 

Of course - we all have different tastes. I find many European capitals to be overly gentrified and rather homogeneous, borderline boring.  São Paulo is the only city I’ve visited that compares with the dynamic melting pot of immigrants and cultures that makes NYC so electric and interesting.  SP felt like parts of a NYC before gentrification.  As I was leaving my hotel in SP for the airport, in came a motorcade with police, flashing lights & dozens of security - a parade of Brazilian celebrities followed and then the Vice President of Brazil w entourage.  Anything but boring.

I’d go back tomorrow - it’s my favorite city in the world by far.
 

Thank you for the tips. I’ll definitely try harder when I’m back. But taste-wise, we can’t be more different. I go to NYC about 4 times a year, sometimes for over two weeks and I never cared too much for it. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

4 hours ago, Uqtyang said:

Thanks for this! 
did not know there is a Korean / Chinese town in SP, in addition to the Japanese themed Liberdade. 
do you still remember the name of the restaurant in Chinatown?

Ming Du

[Summer trip set, Colombia + Brazil]

So it’s pretty random. I got mine in a centro de salud in Cartagena. It’s free for all in colombia. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

 

I only made it once to Lagoa, shame on me! Shame! Most of the time I was occupied by a 20 yo fashion student and a 28 yo dancer / model, plus some Grindr freebies. 

 

The 20 yo is cute like a button. Picture the young Caio Veyon, but glistening white and million times more boyish. His ass is tight like hell (he claims that he only had sex with two other guys) and his cock is surprisingly big (Caio size and shape) which is hard ALL THE TIME. He was very clingy, not afraid to show affections. He would cling to my arm when we walk, (with his 188 cm built and my 173 cm, it must look pretty funny), kiss me in public, hold my hands in cafes / restaurants and make compliments which make me blush. He comes to see me every day after his intern and leaves before bed time. His parents don’t allow him to sleep outside. He tries to make me cum at least twice a day, satisfying all my sexual demands, and cum himself 3 to 4 times every day, expect the last day when we had a quick bite and goodbye sex during his lunch break. I trained him to deep-throat me the way I like, and I sucked him to cum in my mouth, something I almost never do. I enjoy pounding him till he shoots his load over his head, and he endures continuing fucking me to my satisfaction after his climax. He admitted that over-sexing me was his strategy so I wouldn’t meet too many guys. He also admitted that he’d definitely try to be my boyfriend if we lived in the same country. I’m very fond of him and very grateful. I tried my best to give him the boyfriend experience he wanted. I’d go pick him up at the end of his shift, and had all my accompanied dinners with him. I know we are not supposed to talk too much about sex with non-GPs here, but when I think about sex in SP, it was mostly with him. I call him my little husby. 

 

The 28 yo dancer / model was very present the first days, especially over the weekend. He slept with me, fucking multiple time all night long. His Indio-Afro origine gave him great complexion and an impressive cock girth. He has endless stamina and a body to die for. It was very complicated to schedule him since I started seeing the little husby. Things got easier when he started shooting a music video for some local artist. We were supposed to meet at the weekend, but he wrote me almost last minute, saying that the guy he’s involved with surprised him with a visit and he'd only be able to see me when I’m back. It actually saved me the trouble of lying or explaining to little husby. I hate lying, and explaining.

 

I also met a couple of local guys on Grindr, notably twice with a 23 yo colleague student who works as a part-time masseur, a dancer / choreographer who used to work in Europe, an expat from Argentina, a mulato from Rio, and a 3some with a Indio+afro couple. Only the Rio guy was a disappointment, with small dick and was a bit out of shape, so we just talked. The 3some was quite memorable. I cum 3 times. Once in the Indio’s ass while the afro fucking me, once deep in the Indio’s throat while his bf kept on fucking me, and one last time when the afro was finally cumming, engorging his 21 cm cock in my ass. 

 

 

None of the above mentioned guys ever asked for money or gifts, not even Uber. Of course I did pay for all the expenses. The little husby tried to pay a couple of times, but I’d never let him pay for anything over 20 réais. On Grindr quite a few offered their talent, most of whom asking for 300 but négociable. One porn actor / masseur was very persisting, offering full service for 200 but I just didn’t have any time at all. He sent me tons of videos of he from different studios, such as EricVideo. I’ll try to give him a try when I’m back. I really love massages. 

 

I made only once to Lagoa, Monday night, when little husby had a photo-shooting session. Monday is still promo night, with entrance for 30 réais. I walked there at half past 7. The place was pretty full without being overly packed. I’d say about 30 GPs and 25 customers. There’s a female customer, too. I don’t know what her deal was. I certainly felt a bit too much attention, somehow almost every GP found a way to talk to me, some being unbearably pushy. I thought Lagoa was the less pushy sauna… Maybe it’s me being Asian, maybe it’s my completely hairless body, maybe it’s my golden swim-trunk (sweat… I was convinced there’s be a functioning whirlpool…), maybe it’s just what happens to every customer there. Most of them wanted to touch my legs… Commenting on how smooth they are... Didn’t they ever meet anyone hairless? I’m sure it’s just their trick. Finding a feature of each customer and make compliments on it. 

 

I’d put the GPs into 4 categories. 

 

1. Cute twinks. Maybe 4 there, two of which extremely good looking. They’d mostly sit around the main bar, where they’d be seen the best. They’d just stay there being pretty. Understandably they were the least interested in me. Twinks hate twinks. How shameless that I call myself a twink, at my age! But somehow that’s still how most people see me. 

 

2. Body guys. About half of the GPs there. Some in towel, some in underwear, some in jeans. They’d have good body, not necessarily body builders, but at least quite fit. They are the most pushy, especially the towel ones. They’d come straight to me, talk, grab my ass, kiss, guide my hand to their goods. They underwear ones would touch themselves when they notice me approaching, making themself hard, smile and call me over or come to me gently, and show me their goods. The jeans guys would keep a short distance, touching themselves, while keeping an eye on me. 

 

3. Cock guys. One third of them. They might not have the best look, nor the best body, but they have firm will to make a sell. They’d have their cock out most of the time, hard most of the time. They must be on something. They are not necessarily the most pushy, maybe because all what they have is already out there. 

 

Most of the guys above opened with 150, two with 200 but lowered instantly to 150. I didn’t higgle because I was not interested. At first I was not ready. It all happened too fast and I was not that horny. Most of them said they were top only. Only one said he would ‘fazer tudo’. One Germanic looking boy was quite my type, very willing, cock hard as rock, thick but not very long. What held me off was that he was obviously on something, red eyes, maybe just viagra? He sit and talked to me for quite a while. Another mulato boy showed great persistence, too. He’s typically who I’d be dating on Grindr. But we are there to find what we don’t normally have, right?

 

Something I must point out, where I stand corrected, is that boys there are not that well hung! Posts here talk about 8-9 or even over 10 inches as it were a norm. But what I have witnessed confirmed only slight over average sizes. I don’t know how you guys measure cocks. I follow the wikipedia guidelines (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_penis_size). I actually carry a tape measure in my sex pouch and I measured lots of guys. From those exercises, I’m confident about my estimations. Most of the above mentioned guys have 17 to 19 cm, some are down to 15 to 16 cm. Very few reach the 20.3 cm / 8” milestone. 

 

4. XXL guys. I only identified two. One Afro, sitting shortly in front of the straight porn, dick out but not hard. The soft meat seems 20 cm already, spindle shapped. He signed me to go over, and I asked the musts. He wants 200, but he doesn’t kiss, doesn’t suck, only …, I think I zapped him from there. The other xxl guy was in the hammam. I found him when I was about to give up and call it a night. He’s older, maybe mid 30s, very tall, very broad built, and he goes with the name Reinaldo. I think many of you guys know him, as he looked like a veteran there. I don’t mind the age, it’s my favorite age anyway, when one’s well kept, and he’s the case. As to his cock, it’s a solid 25 cm, and thick! Very very meaty! He jerked off for me, let me feel its grow. I did worry about him not being able to get it all up completely, and keep it iron hard, as it was 9 pm already and he might already cum more than once. He promised he would, or he’d not charge me. I laughed, said that he knew I’d pay anyway, and conter-offered viagra if he couldn’t. He accepted. He asked for 150. 

 

We went to the cabine, 25 réais, and he started to jerk off furiously. I sucked him and he got hard, not as hard as I wished, but enough to initiate. I put one of the xl condoms I brought with me and suited him up. It was way too small for him. I poured the silicone lub I had on that monster, and tried to squeeze it into my hole. It was hard, and he was not hard enough! He tried to jerk off more but I knew it was not happening, and he knew it too. He asked for the viagra, and chewed it dry. I tried to talk to him while waiting, but he’s very impatient to get the business done. After about 5 minutes, he got hard. Viagra can’t work that fast, right? Maybe it’s placebo. Whatever reason, we were both thankful. The next 5 to 8 minutes were very enjoyable, feeling that baby arm massaging my inside in every possible way. I’d definitely love to have it for longer, but for some reason he was very much in a hurry. At certain point, he even got a bit angry, accusing me not wanting to cum. But we were only there for like 15 minutes! I kind lost my appetite and cum as fast I could. I gave him his 150, manifested my disappointment on his attitude. He apologised, explaining that he needed to catch a bus back to his city at 10 pm. When I exited Lagoa, I happened to see him getting into a black sedan with an older gentleman. At that point, I was sure he was lying. But the next hours he kept on messaging me on WhatsApp, sticking to his explanation. He even sent me his real-time location on the bus and later at home. I don’t know. And honestly I don’t care. 

 

The next days, Reinaldo messaged me everyday, asking if we could meet at my hotel. He offered one full hour for 300. I didn’t counter offer, because money was not the issue there. He promised again and again that he’d never hurry me through it again. He even proposed twice that we have lunch together, just to talk about it. I suppose it’s the usual drill from GPs. Maybe I’ll give him a second chance when I’m back. After all, his cock was divine. 

[8 Days in Sao Paulo]

Sitting at GRU now and I’ll try to sum up a bit my 8-day trip in Sao Paulo. This post is about non-sexual stuff, and the sexual part will be the next one. If you are a repeated visiter in Brazil, you might want to skip it as you’d know most of the things already. 

 

Seen that I’ll be back to Brazil next month after Colombia, I didn’t force myself to do anything that I didn’t feel like this past week. There will be more time… I’m fluent in Portuguese, but the European one. For those who are not familiar with the two versions of this lovely language, let’s say the difference is about 10 times the one between British and American English or European and Latin American Spanish, and 5 times the one between French and Quebecois. We in Europe have certain exposure to Brazilian Portuguese as many movies and tv-shows are dabbed into it. I was shocked to see how little Brazilians are exposed to European Portuguese. Most people I talked to, whichever social class they may be from, and I talked to a lot of them, don’t even recognize basic words such as Fixe (Legal), sesta (soneca) and Patavina (Nada). Of course there are also lots of slangs that I didn’t understand at first, but communication was not an issue. 

 

The arrival at GRU was very smooth, I was the first to pass immigration, and my luggage did follow from Paris and came out one of the firsts. I was somehow stressed about it as the stopover at MEX was CHAOTIC! The interline agreement from Air France and Aeromexco was a joke. Everyone had to go cross the immigration, retrieve the luggage, cross the customer with it, then right behind, on the left, there was a zone for connecting flights’ luggage. It was very badly explained or guided. Most passengers brought the luggages with them and took the monorail to T2 to recheck them in there, which was VERY far and very time consuming. The luggage service at MEX was a bigger joke! I was on biz and it took them more than one hour to deliver the luggage. Don’t even try if your connection is shorter than 3 hours. One of the Aeromexico lounge at T2 has a ‘Spa’ with ONE shower. They only schedule ONE passenger every half an hour, even most of us just need 5 minutes to fresh up. It was a big downgrade from Air France lounge at CDG, where you can even enjoy unlimited Finnish sauna… The Aeromexico flight to GRU was actually not half bad. Newish 787 and food has taste. 

 

 

It was my first time in SP and I was not impressed by the urbanism. Everything looks dated and tired. The historical centre is small and dirty. The Sé, the San Bento monastery and whatever touristic stuff they tried to fabricate has very limited interest compared to even 3rd tier European cities. The area of Republica and Bela Vista seemed safe but the infrastructure was dated. Patched roads, running-down houses and visible poverty. In Republica there are some small cute shops catering to lower mid-market, very possibly gay clientele. 

 

I spent most of my nights at Intercontinental. Dated design but very well maintained, and extremely well managed. Being the top-tier member, I was given the Paulista suite with a jacuzzi. Even though I had to break my stay into 3 checkins, they kept that suite for me and personalized it according to my preference without me asking for it. Hot milk upon arrival, cervical pillows, camomile tea with honey in the evening, etc. This level of service is standard in Four Seasons or Ritz but definitely a sign of high professionalism in an Intercon. I did venture to Wyndham Paulista once and I ran back screaming. In Europe, Wyndham is a well respected chain. How could this one be so racked? Everything was cheap and most things were broken. Anyhow, stay in Intercon if you want to be near MASP in SP. The breakfast is standard but with an impressive selection of cut fruits and juices. The lunch and dinner are served both in the restaurant and the lobby bar, and I had most of my dinners at the latter. Two of the evenings, they had a great vocal band there. Great performance. I’m a big fun of Bossa Nova and vocal jazz.  

  

Ave. Paulista is a constant reminder of the lost glory of Brazil. Besides museums and public buildings, two shopping centres are considered good, City Sao Paulo and Patio Paulista. They are not very up-scale but have most things one might need. The exchange in Patio Paulista, near the food court, has the best rate (USD 4.8+ vers. 4.7). A much better shopping centre that I visited was the Iguatemi. It has Hermes, Louis Vuitton, etc. Most imported luxury goods are twice the price compared to Europe so I’m not buying ANYTHING foreign here. I do get the feeling that luxury goods are reserved to a very small portion of the population in Brazil. Most of mid-class Brazilians, based on my observation, would buy branded perfumes, which are btw extremely overpriced here, and refill them with local juice. I think it’s very smart and says a lot about Brazilian reality. I even had a GP who contacted me, asking me to bring him a bottle in exchange of 3 free sessions. Could it be a trick to score discounted sex? Lol. 

 

Maybe it’s the Japanese influence, massage seems to be an organic part of Paulista life. There is a very basic massage parlour on B1 of City Sao Paulo, right in front of the escalators. Two very cute masseurs were spotted there. With just a curtain which separates the bench from the reception, I didn’t feel like trying. But I was later told by a Grindr encounter that things do happen there. Many massage and beauty venues can be found on B1 of Patio Paulista yet I didn’t see any male therapists. I did get a good Shiazu massage from a nice Japenese lady from one of the places, which was good. I also had a massage from a stand-alone massage parlour on a side street of Ave. Paulista. I was lured in by the photo of the masseur posted outside. Quite curative Swedish-Thai mixture, no hanky-panky, not even suggestive. As the one previous one, I paid less than 200 reais. He did mentioned that he also do hotel outcall for 300 reais. Would it be more sensual? I also got a facial from one of the most famous local skin care brands, Adcos. Nothing to be compared to a French facial, but good enough to be called one. They have a very sophisticated cash-back, membership, and referral bonus system. The vendor was very surprised that I understood it right after he explained. LOL. I was like, Hey, I’m Chinese. We invented all this! I found the service in general very good. They are very driven yet not pushy. 

 

The Paulista Jardim area is much more affluent, and Rua Oscar Freire seem to be the ‘Faubourg Saint-Honoré’ of SP. Lots lots of nice local shops, cafés and restaurants. Besides major international mid-market brands, lots of local brands can be found there. What’s really exiting is the presence of many work-shop-stage local designer shops. Very often the shop is street level, and the atelier / office is upstairs or on the back. There are a couple galeries and one, Urban Art, is really good and extremely affordable. Big pieces are going around 500 USD and I was very attempted to get one for my new apartment in Lisbon. Maybe I’ll do that before I leave in August. Many trendy cafés on Rua Oscar Freire and the parallel Rua Lorena. One appears to be very popular, with a long queue outside all the time. I hate queueing. Many chic Paulistanos walk their cute little dogs in this area, which give it a ‘Avenue Montaigne’ vibe. If I were to rent an airbnb, I’d definitely consider here. 

 

I went to Bem Retiro, the Korean / Chinese town on Dia de Namorados (Brazilian Saint Valentine) with my little husband (I’ll explain it in the next post). We did Karaoke (about reais per hour) and had dinner in a very authentic (both the cooking and the decor) Chinese restaurant. It’s actually almost only cater to Chinese customers. My little hubby told me that he wanted to try it since long long time, but they actually request Brazilian customers to be accompanied by at least one Chinese. Not because they are racist, but because virtually no one there speaks Portuguese and the menu is completely in Chinese. It was my first Chinese meal there. I insisted to order Pax + 1 dishes, as we do normally in China. But when the three dishes showed up, we felt obliged to invite 5 more guys to join us. Lol. In Chinese / Korean restaurants here, portions are ridiculously huge. Days later, in another restaurant, we actually saw Brazilian families of 3 or 4 ordering only one dish to share, and it’s fairly common. Brazilians do bring over-ordered food home in plastic boxes, as in most Asian countries, and I love it. Wasting food nowadays is so shameful. Europeans need to learn that! 

 

I spent my last evening in Libertade, the Japanese / Asian town. Many asian shops, filled with cute little stuff. But I was told that most of those things can be found on Ali-express (a cheaper and foreign version of taobao, or a B2C version of Alibaba) for a fracture of the price. At least 3 guys talk about Ali-express and how much they are dependant on it. I’m not a big fun of Japanese food so we ate in a Filipino restaurant. On the table aside were an American couple and they told us that Filipino restaurants are very uncommon in SP. The food appeared authentic and we ate for less than 100 reais! Restaurants are somehow expensive in the city centre for the locals. I’d count 50 to 100 reais per person for fairly simple food. Food court in shopping centres may cost you 30 to 50 and really high-end places might have sky as limit. I did find a Michelin one star restaurant on Oscar Freire, and I tried to bring little husby there, but he insisted that we ate Asian food instead, as it’s more to our taste anyway. 

 

I was using uber most of the time. But I did try once the bus, out of curiosity. It’s extremely simple. There’s someone in the bus to sell the ticket, and it costs 4.4 reais. You can pay with cash, but maybe not too large note, because they won’t have enough changes for you. I didn’t manage to buy the famous ‘Bilhete Único’. They don’t sell it in the subway station, you need to go to main bus stations (am I mis-informed?) Once you have the card, you can charge it on the machines in the station. I was told that old people can ride for free and students pay only half. The bolistas (state scholarship owners) ride for free too. My little husby is doing an intern at an international fashion house and he’s paid pretty well for that in Brazilian standards, 1500 reais salary, plus 700 for food and 300 for transport, which he considers as very generous. He told me the entry level job in that company would be 500 reais more, and a entry level employee in a bank would be 1800 as salary but with probably less food and transport subsidies. 

 

The economy is very fragile here, largely due to bad management of the government. I saw in news that in 2021 Brazilian had the weakest income in the past ten years, with an average of merely 1535 reais per month (if I remember the number correctly), slightly above the minimal salary. 10.8% of the population had less than 210 reais as monthly income. There was the scandal of Petrobra, and another one about the 28 millions of Pfizer and Astrazenec vaccines, costing over 1 billion reais, are about to expire before reaching to the much in-need. Every time I turned on the news, some crazy shit is happening. I decided not to watch TV anymore. It’s a country with such potential, but so much was wasted. I remember, when I was a kid, before China became a thing, Brazil was often praised to be the next economy power house. Even as a foreigner, I feel great pity for it, especially for its people. That said, Brazilians need to learn to be more organized and more punctuate. The numbers of my appointments that were delayed and cancelled were scary. Actually, not once, not once, Brazilians I met were on time, if they decide to show up. I’m not talking about only private appointments here. 

 

The transport in SP city centre seems fine, but to / from GRU seems more challenging. My ride  was about one hour each time, which is unbearably long for 24 km. Price-wise, it’s about 15 for 3 km, 20-25 for 5-6 km, and 70 for 24 km, so you get the idea. 

 

I got a haircut in a little hair salon, with a post-industrial vibe. It was 40 reais. The Cabeleireira had little idea what to do with Asian hair, and I wonder where those Japanese descendants get their hair done. I didn’t see any asian hair dresser even in Bem Retiro or Libertade. Later I noticed some more chic places charging 100 reais for a cut. 

 

Oh gosh, sorry for this random jabber. I just wanted to record some facts that I found interesting, amusing or shocking. I promise that the next post would be more to you guys’ taste. 

[Summer trip set, Colombia + Brazil]

No one ever asked for YF vaccine. Covid vaccine yes.

[Summer trip set, Colombia + Brazil]

That said, I don’t know when they’d be checking it. I have my boarding pass already and it double the immigration would care about it.