February 25, 2008 - Sao Paulo, Brasil
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I woke up late and realized that I had a sprained neck. While I was getting ready, I received a call from the Hotel reception. It was Andre Zara. I met him, apologized for confusing our time of meeting (I had assumed 9:30 when it was supposed to be at 9 AM) and had a quick breakfast before we headed out by 9:45. As Andre had to be back at work by 11:30 AM, he had planned a short walking tour of Sao Paulo for me.
We walked past the Teatro Municipal and Viaduto Cha. As the teatro was having a performance tomorrow evening, I may plan to see it. Viaduto Cha was the place where Sao Paulo was founded. We headed to Viaduto Piquenia and looked around in the electronic shops for IPOD Chargers. There were 2 Chinese makes with one selling for R$80 (US$45) and the other for R$40 (US$23). One was supposedly "Original" while the "other" was not! Neither of them had an Apple logo or even a prominent manufacturer logo (say like Belkin). The Hilarity was in the salesperson saying that one was an ORIGINAL while the other was not. All products made in China are clones! I decided to pass on this purchase and go without my IPOD music for the remainder of my journey (5 more weeks).
Andre turned out to be quite engaging. He provided lots of information and history on Brasil and the Tupi-Guarani language / people. Many of the metro station in Sao Paulo have Tupi-Guarani names. I visited the housing complex designed by Oscar Niemeyer. It was a 1000+ people apartment complex right in the heart of Sao Paulo! I was sufficiently impressed. We headed to Andre's office (that was close by) and he introduced me to his colleagues as "Indian. No Fala Portuguese". I was offered an English edition of the 2008 Brasil Turis at his office. Andre told me to either call him or visit him at his office in case I needed any assistance. As a travel writer, he gets to choose his hours of work. (Which is why he was able to spend 2 hours with me on a Monday morning). Nice.
I thanked Andre and headed out to Edificio Italia. As it would not open until noon, I headed back to the Hotel, checked my mail (free Internet at the hotel) and headed out to Nutrisom - an ovo, lacto vegetarian restaurant - for Lunch. They had an all-you-can-eat buffet that had a decent spread. The cost was R$14.50 (US$ 8). I chatted a bit with the manager of the place (who spoke decent English). The place has been in Operation for 16 years and it appeared quite popular as it was packed.
Post lunch, I headed to the Teatro Municipal and purchased a ticket for tomorrow evening's Ballet performance for R$10. I may explore the option of taking a tour of the Teatro itself tomorrow Morning. As they do not have organized tours, I have to call to the day manager and speak to him, get their permission before I can be shown around the teatro.
I wandered around the Teatro area and took pictures near Valle del Anhanganas. I headed next to Edificio Italia which is open to the Public (free of cost) between 3 and 4 PM. I took the elevator to the 41st floor and soaked in the bird's eye view of Sao Paulo. As there is no other tall building close by, one gets a pretty good view of Sao Paulo from here. I went to the roof top restaurant here and had a coffee for R$8!
I took a bus from Edificio Italia to Paulista and visited the tourist office there. An enthusiastic English speaking kid provided me with lots of Information and even gave me a small lapel pin as a souvenir in lieu of my completing a survey. I headed next to a Bookstore - a large one with a very good selection - but they did not have the books I was looking for. I made note of a few more Brazilian Authors while at the bookstore. I need to get some of their books (English Editions, of course) when I get back to the US and start reading them.
I decided to head back to the Hotel. While waiting for a bus I chatted with a Brazilian Kid who spoke English. A 20 year old, who works from 9-5 every day and attends college from 7-11 PM each night. 5 Days a week. Wakes up at 5 AM and sleeps at 1 AM. I should not complain about my life being tough at all. Not that it is - these days!
We exchanged e-mails. People here (after the initial 2-minutes of conversation) directly ask you where you stay and for how long etc. I provide it. They are being friendly and there is no point in being overtly suspicious and refusing to provide this Information. Of course, one needs to get a pulse of the stranger's intent before coughing up all the information. My being from INDIA certainly helps as a lot of Brazilians Identify easily with another large country with a large population and people struggling to make ends meet. I certainly look poor and I cannot imagine that anyone could think of raiding my place of stay. Not sure if it will be worth their while :)
I gave up on the bus after 45 minutes and went in search of a Hare Krishna place for dinner. It was closed. What a Surprise! I headed to STARBUCKS (there were very little options otherwise) and had a muffin and coffee for R$14.50 - the same price I paid for a far more sumptuous lunch! Looks quite popular with a lot of single attractive women. It feel quite dumb to open a conversation with "Fala Ingles"! (Do you speak English?).
There were movie theatres upstairs. The movie JUNO with English Dialogues and Portuguese Subtitles was scheduled to start in 10 minutes. I purchased a ticket and watched the movie. It turned out to be a pretty decent movie although it had too many songs for my taste. If I wanted too many songs, I can see a bollywood flick. Hollywood ought to know fully well that it cannot match Bollywood in THIS Category :)
I took a train back to the hotel, wrote my diary and went to bed. I have a meeting with a Wine Writer and her Friend (A Chef in a French restaurant) tomorrow morning. I attend the ballet performance tomorrow evening.
February 26, 2008 - Sao Paulo, Brasil
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The neck sprain kept me from having a good night's sleep. I woke up at 9 AM and made it to breakfast just before it closed at 10 AM! I called Silvia (Wine Writer) and suggested that we meet at a cafe in the Jardins area around Noon. I was able to locate the street (where the cafe was located) on my Sao Paulo Map and was quite comfortable getting there by Noon. As the Hotel's computer was occupied, I headed to an Internet cafe nearby. They wanted a passport or some other form of ID before they would let me use a computer! I told them I had nothing on me. I was allowed to use a computer anyway! I think some of these folks carry the security / identity thing a bit too far. I had never encountered such a request anywhere in South America or even within Brasil.
I checked my e-mail, bank and credit card accounts for an hour before heading to meet Sylvia at the cafe in Jardins. Since Daniel Day Lewis had won the Oscar for best actor for his role in "There will be Blood", I will need to see it! However, I was quite surprised to notice that "Sweeney Todd" did not get any awards.
I reached the Cafe in Jardins 10-minutes early and asked for a 3-person table. Sylvia called minutes later and told me that she would be here in 10 minutes. She arrived and we ordered coffee and chatted a bit. Her friend (the chef) could not make it as she had to be at work. Sylvia provided me a list of things to see and do while in Sao Paulo. She told me that the Centre area (of Sao Paulo - where I was staying) was not safe. I told her that I do not stay out late at night. Will watch my back anyway.
Being a wine writer, she gets to visit a lot of places and knows many folks in the wine and restaurant business. She gave me a brochure from a bodega in Uruguay. Since we met (and parted) in Calafate, Argentina, she has been to Tuscany for a month and is scheduled to visit Boston for the entire month of March. I don't believe Wine writers get paid a whole lot. She must have a trust fund! We finished our coffees and walked a few blocks together before parting ways. During this walk, she introduced me to a complete stranger (Stranger to me, anyway) who (she claimed) was the best chef in Brasil.
I headed to a vegetarian restaurant called SAFFRA. I had a Salad along with Pineapple and Mint Juice. The lunch was OK. NUTRISOM was far better. I took a train to Luz station.
I spent over an hour at the PINACOTECA (a museum). In addition to the Brazilian Candido Portinari, I saw works by Jose Ferraz de Almeida Junior, a few sculptures by RODIN and a few by the Brazilian JOSE PEDROSA. There was a special exhibit on TARSILA do AMARAL including her famous (or rather, expensive!) work ABAPORU - which was on loan from MALBA (Museo de Arte, Latin America, Buenos Aires). PORTINARI's FORESTAL (forest) was quite impressive.
Opposite the PINACOTECA was the Train Station. It is a beautiful old structure including a clock tower. After taking a few pictures, I headed to SE metro station. The Edificio BANESPA was not letting in any more visitors (to the top of the building) today. I was asked to try again tomorrow morning at 10 AM.
The weather has been holding well for the past 2 days. I am quite annoyed with the Brazilian habit of whistling to call attention. Whether it is to hail a cab or a bus or to attract the attention of a peanut vendor, whistling is quite common. You whistle to attract a dog's attention - not people's! Quite disgusting.
I got back to the hotel and rested a bit, showered and wrote by diary before I headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner. I had Ravioli and Sangria for dinner. I finished dinner in 35 minutes and headed to the Teatro Municipal for the evening's ballet performance. I was not taking my camera to the performance. I reached the Teatro by 8:45 PM. It was a nice Theatre. There were only 100 seats for this evening's performance of "Meta Sensoriais". We were given brochures about the ballet in Portuguese. As there were no English brochures available, here is what I am guessing about the Ballet performance.
We were ushered into the theatre around 9:20 PM. There were 6 acts to this performance.
ACT 1
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"A" shaped ladder is the prop. Lady in rag garb falling backwards and forwards on the connector (the connector between the two legs of the ladder). The audience was invited to touch her.
ACT 2
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A young man wraps himself in plastic bags. He hugs the bags, kicks the bags and finally throws the bags at the audience.
The above 2 acts were witnessed by the audience in a standing only position. The accompanying music with like a Hyena (with a Cold), howling along with bad amplification + feedback from the sound system. Yes, the bad amplification+feedback was part of the music.
Act 3
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2 ladies lying on the floor, twisting their bodies, and jumping from time to time. All of this takes place amidst a string of lights laid out on the floor. They skirmish briefly at the end of the act. The audience were provided a limited number of seats to witness this performance. Those not lucky enough to get a seat watch the performance standing. The music resembles a BAD version of Pink Floyd's TIME
Act 4
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A white screen serves at the main prop with images projected on it from time to time. A woman stands in front of the white screen. A man plays with Cell phone tunes for a bit, then used the cell phone's camera to take pictures of her Toes, Hands, Hair, Ear etc. They make an attempt at an actual Ballet performance (sort of)
Act 5
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A bald headed, shirtless man in standing in a PAN of water (yes, that's right - A PAN of water). A Second man bends down, washes each of the man's feet and dries them with a towel. Following this they dance (yes, I would call their movements that!). The music gets MARGINALLY TOLERABLE as a MINDLESS DRUMBEAT replaces the Hyena (with a Cold) howling
Act 6
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All of the audience is more or less seated for this act. 6 performers (3 men and 3 women) twist and dance to MINDLESS DRUMBEAT. This act had some words said in Portuguese - which I did not understand. After jumping up and down and playing musical chairs (yes, that's right) for a bit, they engage in some pushing and shoving. At the conclusion they all get together and carry and comfort the lady in Rag Garb (from Act 1).
The audience (me excluded) Clap. Performers take a Bow. The END.
I SHALL REMEMBER THIS. Give me my Swan lake or La Bayadere any day. Not Mindless stuff posing as art.
I walk back to the Hotel. The area appears like CHELSEA (NYC) at night!
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