Brazil Biz Trip (July 2019) - Ibirapuera Park

Ibirapuera Park was 15 minutes walk from our hotel. So on the first free Saturday we were there, my boss finally decided we could do with some exercise. So we took a short walk there to enjoy the weekend atmosphere. Above is the view of Ave Paulista from the park. I love the building skyline. You can see most of the famous building in that one picture. I also use it for my slides presentation, just to make it more personal. 

Ibirapuera Park is huge, and it is divided into so many areas. The gate nearest to our hotel have this row of bamboos lining the path which is so beautiful! This was before my Kyoto trip, so I took a photo of it, just in case I never manage to visit the famous bamboo forest of Kyoto at Arashiyama. The fact that all the Brazilian guys are so good looking is also a plus point to go visit the park in the morning!

This time round, with a travelling companion, I wasn't so paranoid about my safety. We took quite a leisure walk around the park. Everyone was just chilling or exercising, and it felt totally safe. I finally took a nice photo of the Niemeyer building, the one that looks like a spaceship. This time round, I even managed to walk all around it.

Here's a picture of me looking happy with the famous building as the back drop. 

We also cross the road to visit the Monumento to the Banderas. It looked pretty impressive, and probably the cheesiest thing you can do here is to take a photo with it. 

And so I did! 

Continue on with the walk, there were beautiful trees and flowers and ponds there. Everything was huge as compare to the Singapore botanic garden. I think we were there for almost 2 hours before finding our way back to the hotel. 

I really like the atmosphere here as it is just so relaxing. They put out lazy chairs for you to laze around in. You can purchase drinks and snacks and just sit and enjoy the life going on all around you. There were clowns entertaining kids, people dancing, people doing yoga, people doing martial arts, and lots and lots of people cycling and jogging. Lots of furry pets too. A very family and friends wholesome place to be. So I'll end this post with some lazy chairs for you to reflect on why we are always in a hurry in life, when there is so much more joy in it if we only slowed down......

Next post - Brazil's famous graffiti! 

Brazil Biz Trip (July 2019) - Relaxing Weekend in Sao Paulo

We survived the first week of User Acceptance Testing, and when weekend finally arrived, I was so relief. Although we usually have breakfast at 630am daily, on weekends, we decided to sleep in a little. But for me, it was a buffet breakfast, so on the first weekend, I decided to go down early on my own just to indulge and have a slow relaxing quiet breakfast. The above is the first gourmet sandwich that I made on that day. Look so beautiful, and taste so heavenly. I went down early also to get a table next to the road, so that I could have my morning coffee and look outside enjoying the view. 

The above is what I usually have for breakfast on a weekday. I would load up on eggs as my main protein as I only get a serving of meat during lunch in the company canteen. I would also have some cheese and hot oatmeal which I really love. And the little buns you see there are the delightful Pao de Queijo. I love these little savoury bites. I read that they make you fat, but who cares! On a whole, I usually loose weight while I am here as there isn't a lot of carbs I can load up on, and dinner are usually light too. 

But on weekend, voila! Sandwich construction day! So I would just take all the ingredient that I need for my sandwich: tomatoes, cucumber, bread with butter, cheese, and some sinful bacon. I would order my two sunny side egg as usual, and when it finally arrive, I would assemble everything to what you get in the below picture. And then I would enjoy it bite by bite. And that itself is heaven right there! Goodness, a whole post just on weekend breakfast!

Brazil Biz Trip (July 2019) - Daily Activities after Work

I start work at 7:45am daily, so we usually left the hotel at around 7am after having a quick breakfast at the restaurant. Work ends usually around 3pm or 4pm, and we would either head back to the hotel, and head to a hypermarket to do some shopping. My boss loves shopping, so I managed to visit a lot of hypermarket while I was in Sao Paulo, some I didn't even know existing in South America. Like Walmart, I always though Walmart can only be found in America. I was wrong. Anyway, we are usually back in our hotel by 7pm. And the above position is my usual position for the rest of the evening. 

Tea is extremely relaxing for me, and extremely nice in cool weather. I was so glad I took those tea bags with me cause I really enjoyed drinking them every evening. 

Here are some of the flavoured tea I managed to get. My favourite was surprisingly the Vanilla Bourbon because of the scent of Vanilla that is so comforting. The Emperor Sencha was quite a disappointment as I was expecting a strong green tea, but it was anything but that. 

For the first few days, I was still suffering from jet leg. Most morning I am up by 3am or 4am, and breakfast isn't served until 630am. So I make do with some comforting coffee which I brought along, and some local peanut snacks that my ex colleagues recommended me. I would usually work and prepare for the day's material from 4am - 6am, and then get ready for breakfast and work. 

As a true blue Asian, I also packed some instant noodle with me. You have no idea how comforting it is when you are just craving simple MSG-filled noodles. We have to settle dinner by ourselves, and since my boss is an Indian vegetarian, he have some pre-packed food he brought along too. So for dinner, we usually eat by ourselves in our room. I accompanied the above meal with a Corona Extra from the nearby hypermarket. 

I also tried some local alcohol. These are made of fermented sugar cane water. I have tried it before in Singapore, but when I try to make it on my own by adding just lime, goodness, it was so bitter and strong that I couldn't finish it! The version I had in Singapore was a lot sweeter and diluted. And I guess it goes better if you add in more herbs. 

As I spend a lot of time in the super market accompanying my boss, I got really bored since I don't really shop much. I started wondering into the frozen food section and one day, it just hit me, I have a microwave in my apartment! So I started buying microwave meals to try. I wanted something more local, but all I could find was lagsana and pasta. And although the packaging says For One, I could never really finish a whole pack because the serving was just to huge! And they don't look very appetising either. But I remember one of them actually tasted not too bad and full of cheese and pasta. 

I did started to enjoy the lighter beer there and bought different variety to try daily. They were very cheap, maybe just 1 SGD each can or bottle. I also found some Nissan noodles there, but they came in Brazilian flavours. So I got two to try. MSG approved!

Brazil Biz Trip (July 2019) - Ave Paulista

We went to our third spot on our first Sunday to Ave Paulista. This was highlight recommend by the hotel receptionist, and I'm glad I finally came to visit this famous road! On Sunday the roads are close, and anything can happen on the road! It was a full carnival!

The above shot was taken from the art gallery along the road. Brazil is famous for it's crazy graffiti. I will have a few post of the madness of graffiti there one day. But for now, please enjoy some tamer version here first. 

Ave Paulista was crowded on a Sunday. People just came and chill everywhere. You can almost do anything there, including sleep on the road if you want to. People were selling things, illegal stalls peddling food, and lots and lots of free acts to watch. From singing to dancing, to drums. I love the energy and vibe of the place, especially the music and dancing. I could have stay there whole day and dance along with them. 

It's a place or art and culture I guess. I even found Bukowski in Portuguese here!

After walking the road and back, we decided to have lunch/dinner, we weren't sure anymore. My boss had pizza hut, and I went for beef and salsa. I have salsa every meal whenever I could have it. I love the sour and tangy taste of it. It is one of the reason I love South America!

On our way back, we saw more people gathering just to celebrate life! How beautiful. And so that was how we ended our first weekend in Brazil. We also say a drag queen in roller skate wheezing along the road. Unforgettable experience!

Brazil Biz Trip (July 2019) - Mercado Municipal

The next place we visited on our Sunday was the central market call Mercado Municipal. Initially we wanted to walk there, but we didn't know how to, or whether it was safe to. So we called a cab instead. I was glad we did, cause it was quite far from the church, and went through some rough neighbourhood along the way. 

The central market was a big hall that sells everything a market would, as well as food. My boss wanted to come here to check out the fruits as he is a vegetarian. So we walked around the area.

Above is what is recommend for tourist to try when they come here, a super meaty sandwich. If I came alone or with someone else who wasn't a vegetarian, I would probably have tried it. But for this round, I didn't. It looked like something I could make at home anyway. 

There were so many aisle. And I guess we were there early as it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. 

There were many fruits stall there, and my boss was fascinated by all the new fruits he see selling there. The vendors were very generous in asking you to taste their produce. They will cut any fruits you would like to try. It was the first time I tried dates and strawberries as a combination and couldn't believe how good they tasted! It's kinda like Strawberry daifuku without the mochi, but sweeter and thicker due to the dates. 

There was also a second floor area where you could sit down and eat or drink. We went up and took a look around. Here are some of the views from up stairs. 

It kinda reminded me of Italy somehow. Or those european market. Here's a photo of me upstairs as a souvenir shot. After visiting the market, we went out on the streets and just wonder around. The area was a bit rough, so we didn't take any photos, but the prices were low and we really enjoyed exploring around. It was kinda like chinatown atmosphere. 

Brazil Biz Trip (July 2019) - Cathedral Sao Paulo

Ok, I've blogged like 8 entries so far without ever showing a photo of what Sao Paulo looks like! So I thought I'll start today and show you a bit around Sao Paolo. My boss was more excited than me about sight seeing. And since he was gonna go visiting, I get the free transport while accompanying him. For some reason, he wanted very much to go to the Cathedral in the central of town. It wasn't the most safe place to go, but I guess Sunday morning was the best a time that can be to visit it. 

We used Uber while traveling around Sao Paulo, so he called a cab and off we went. When we arrived, I would never forget the scene and smell that greeted us. The driver, almost as per routine, told us to be careful and don't take out our phones. Just outside the church, probably hundred or so homeless people were gathered. You could actually smell the human waste around the area. We got off the taxi and quickly made our way into the church. 

What a contrast the inside and outside of the church was. Inside, everything was clean, and mass was on going. The ceiling was high, and stained glass all around. Singing could be heard, such lovely music. And people praying. But outside, poverty, filth, human suffering. Why did God exist again?

It was a beautiful church inside. But I just couldn't quite get the image outside of the church out of my mind, nor my conscious. My boss wasn't too trouble by it. Maybe its because he was from India and it was kinda same there, except there I didn't see so many homeless people gathered at a same place. 

We walked around individually, exploring the church. It was 75% filled with people. Some I suspect, came in to get some peace from the madness outside. I wondered what would happen if the homeless people all stormed inside to have place to stay, or took away some of the richness of the church....

I have been to many churches before, so this was perhaps just another one to me, except that it was in Sao Paulo. I guess my boss enjoyed this one more than me. While I leave you to enjoy some of the view of the church inside, let me also share what was outside. After exploring the church, we actually went out for a walk among the homeless people. They didn't approach us or make any trouble for us. So we walked around the homeless park of the city. You can literally smell urine and human waste here....

One of the shocking thing I saw was seeing the homeless people washing their clothes at the city fountain. The water inside wasn't exactly clean, but they proceed to wash their clothes there in the public place anyway. It was kinda hard to stomach. On one hand, there were rich people in Sao Paulo as I work for a luxury car brand there, but on the other hand, I see all these before my eyes. It was really hard to stomach. 

Anyway, such is life. Look at the beautiful churches! Perhaps that will give you hope. You can always pray to god. Perhaps God will help....

Well the priest was giving blessing at the end of the mass, and my boss decided to lined up to receive some blessing and to talk to the priest. I help him took some photo but I didn't line up. I was after all, an atheist and felt it wasn't appropriate to do so as I thought they were receiving communion at first. Anyway, that was the first sight we went the first Sunday we were there. 

Brazil Biz Trip (July 2019) - My Service Apartment

This was my first time staying in a service apartment during a business trip, and I was very excited about it. I was imagining a studio apartment all to myself. Above is what my room looks like. It was a lot small than what I imagined it to be. In fact, it was kinda claustrophobic for me. 

The bedroom came with an attached bathroom, which was the only bathroom in the unit anyway. There was a long bath there, but I don't recall using it. 

Toiletries were provided for, but there were just the normal type, nothing special about. Since I already got a whole drawer full of these miniature travel toiletries, I didn't take any of these home with me. I only used what I needed. 

There was a big living room which I spend most of my free time in because it was so spacious as compare to the bedroom. I'm usually chilling at the sofa. I also have any of my own cooked meals here at the coffee table. I live this room the best because there is actually a balcony to the right of it. I love balconies!

There are two high chairs connecting the living room and the kitchen. Sometimes I have snacks and supper there too. Good for drinking. the room is meant for two person, but I have all these all to myself. 

Next is the kitchen area on the left. It has a microwave which I don't really know how to use to cook hot water which I need for my instant noodles. After a few days, I went down to the receptionist and ask if they have a water kettle instead. I was so happy they gave me once so that I can finally enjoy all the TWG tea I got from the airport lounge!

There is also a fridge which I used to store all my alcohol. And what I thought was a washing machine next to the fridge turns out to be a dish washer. I was deeply disappointed as I think a washing machine would have been so much more useful to me. I later found out that they do provide free washing machine at the basement or something which you can use for free. But I was used to washing my own clothes by then. 

Lastly here is the best part of the room, the balcony.  My favourite thing to do is to open up the sliding door and just let the cool air come in. I get to listen to the sound of the neighbourhood too. Sometime it is so comfortable that I might have doze off on the sofa with the door open. I wasn't wondering how safe was it to do so. I was on the 14 floor I think. But I could see graffiti at the other buildings which may or may not higher floor than mine. It was just so relaxing to enjoy the cool breeze, something I don't get the moment I get back to Singapore....