Before meeting Adriana for dinner, I took a walk in Sao Paulo's seedy red light district. The guidebooks and my mom told me not to, but this is just the type of person that I am - brave and stupid. Rua Augusta is like Abanao Road at night multiplied 100 times. Bouncers and pimps stood in front of the 'clubs' enticing you to have a 'good time'. I was offered every imaginable drug on the face of the planet, Trannies tried to drag me inside their den of lurve, hookers of all shapes and sizes told me fantasy stories. I told them I was just passing through.
When doing 'social immersion' exercises like this, it is important not to be smug or patronising. Don't offend the gang leaders by saying "Do you want a peace of my fist, bitch?" Also, if you don't want to be mugged, don't bring too much bling, leave your Rolex at home. Fake or not, it's hard to to discriminate under red neon lighting.
HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit. Smug.
Let us not forget that Brazil is a big ass coffee producer. That glass enclosure is packed with coffee beans from floor to ceiling. Adriana, her sister, and her friend Carla took me to the party neighborhood of Jardins before drinks till the wee hours at a local hole in the wall.
I only had 4 hours sleep but still managed to catch my flight to Belo Horizonte. I could have slept for another two hours as the plane was very late. The air traffic controllers were not officially on strike, they just wanted to take it slow. At Belo Horizonte, it was another 2.5 hour ride up to Ouro Preto.
Ouro Preto, a mining city founded on gold, hence the name, duh , is fucking awesome. It's one of those photogenic cities and thank god for digital cameras with 2gb memory sticks. I was famished when I arrived and went in to the closest restaurant next to my apartment. I opened Vogue magazine while waiting for my miner's soup. On page 143 (or something) is a picture of the very table where I was having lunch. O ha, hende na ako nakain sa mga pepetsugeng carenderia na pang Yes magazine lamang. Yung pwet ko naka-upo na sa very seat na genamet ni Gisele Bundchen. So in a way, parang naging kami kahit sandali lang.
I'm tempted to do what I'm not supposed to do. It's just the type of person I am.
HRO Karl Willem, finally airborne after a two hour delay.
HRO Karl Willem and PA/PR Gromit at the pousada. Home for 6 days.
PA/PR Gromit always makes sure that we are stocked with Guarana which we have been addicted to bigtime.
The view from our room. I feel at home here in the mountains.
Late lunch.
Vogue says this is where all the pretty people go. Done there, been that.