Sao Paulo, I miss you!

I think my visit to SP during August was so incredible, that when I was flying to Dubai, I had a sudden crisis and started to cry rivers in the airplane. I was thinking that I am crazy to leave all I had back again: my family, my friends and my city, to start yet another adventure in some weird place of the world.

This is the video I saw in the Emirates airplane, that made me start the tears flood...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr7-GEmFj5c&feature=PlayList&p=5BAA1E55CDCD4D7F&playnext=1&index=1

Sao Paulo is crazy!

Sao Paulo is a crazy city, it happens day and night, it's chaotic. And we love it!

Sao Paulo is real!

And especially after 5 months in fake Dubai, I realize how precious it is to live in a real city :)

Also my family is very important to me, and everyday it becomes more important. I feel guilty I left them to live still another time my dream to know the world, but we cannot have everything. But I will be back! I miss my nieces a lot too :)

Sao Paulo, I love you!

Sao Paulo is a city of contrasts with more than 20 million people from every race and type. Old to new, ugly to beautiful, rich to poor, kitsh to good taste. And because it is the place I spent most of my life, I also found there very special and dear friends, who will be always with me somehow, wherever I might be.

Pics: www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

Sao Paulo, I am yours!

I stopped writing for a long time (since I moved to Dubai 5 months ago), and I just realized that one of the main reasons was: I had such a great time in Sao Paulo in August (I spent 3 weeks there before moving from Singapore to Dubai), that it was and it is difficult to describe all I felt being around my great friends and my family, and being in my country and city (which is wonderful, despite all problems it might have). For this reason I will not describe in details my visit to SP, but I can say it was one of the best moments of my life, and I miss you all deeply!

Pics: www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

¡Viva Madrid!

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I ended up going to Madrid (totally unexpected) for 2 days, and I don't regret it at all! Even if my objective was to be back in Brazil as soon as possible, I ran the risk of being stuck in NYC anyway, and even if I was frustrated I could not see some of my friends in Madrid (because I had no time to contact them beforehand), I could still manage to see Xavi, Miguel and Isa, and I also spent a great time with Marcus, for the only day he was there.

I was supposed to go back to NYC next day with Marcus but of course I could not resist staying one more day, especially because the wonderful hosts Xavi and Miguel insisted that I'd stay. I was flattered. And the we spent an amazing day walking in the streets of Madrid, visiting some new cafes and the CaixaForum. Xavi also had this great party at his place in the evening for the celebration of his American friend's birthday. And maybe I'm starting to feel more and more at home in Madrid, as I feel in NYC or Paris... :)

Check out my pics of Madrid at:

www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

New York New York...

...literally twice! I could board from London to NYC and gracefully on business first, and I could enjoy a little more of this city that I have never lived at, but that I really feel at home there after so many times that I visited it (maybe 35-50 times? I don't know...). Together with Paris, they are cities where I never lived, but it is almost as if I did.

I could see Charles for lunch the first visit, and I also saw Paul the evening before, who recommended me to do this boat trip to see the light waterfalls they had put under several bridges and around the Pier area downtown, it was beautiful! Then I could not board the day after to Sao Paulo (again flight was full) and last minute in the airport I decided to fly with Marcus to Madrid as he was going there for work and was in the airport the same time I was. It was a crazy idea, especially considering my objective was to arrive in Brazil! And to go back to Europe did not make too much sense, but it was a delicious deviation (I'll tell you in another post). Then on my way back from Madrid, I passed through NYC again for one day, and finally could see Jose and Hector (Jose was not there when I first passed). So twice NYC, and twice I love it.

See my pics of NYC at www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

London in a couple of hours

As I could not board for 3 consecutive days from Hong Kong to NYC (I was on a stand by ticket and flights were full or they had weight restrictions), I decided to buy a ticket from HK to London, hoping to be able to board then from London to NYC more easily.

Unfortunately I could not stay in London, because I really had to arrive in NYC for an interview. But as I had a few hours between flights, I did leave the airport and took the train to Paddington and walked around for one hour or so. I had to see again a little bit of the city that represents a lot to me, since it was the first place I have ever been and lived outside Brazil and actually outside my own city. Directly from Sao Caetano do Sul to London! And I was only 21, young and innocent...all those experiences in London were fascinating and it definitely put me in contact with the world (and perverted me)! Every time I see the city, it brings me back all those memories and experiences I will never forget. Even if now that I know so many other parts of the globe, London seems so depressive...lol...but still I love that city and I think I have a lot of identification with it.

See my few pics I could take in one hour around Paddington Station at www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

My last days in Asia - Hong Kong

On my long way from Singapore back to Brazil, my first stop was Hong Kong. And what would be 1 day turned into 3 and a half days, because I was stuck there waiting for a position available with a stand by ticket to NYC.

The good thing was that I could see two of my best friends in Asia, and that only for them my stay in Asia was already worth it: Albert and Maher. Albert had to travel next day but at least I could spend some more time than predicted with Maher. I also met his friend Robert, who's very cool.

Funny that Hong Kong was the first place I visited in Asia (beginning of last year when I first went to Asia on vacation) and then last place, before I left Asia this time. I guess I can say HK is my favorite place in Asia, it's a dynamic city and very interesting, so I didn't mind spending a few extra days there.

See more pics at the album Hong Kong Aug 08 http://www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets/

Music Festival in Borneo

In July I went with some good friends from Singapore to the Borneo World Music Festival. I'm not really into world music, even if sometimes I think it could be anything, and even some interesting stuff, but mostly for me the objective was to get to know a little of Borneo and to spend a good time with my friends. There were the Frenchies Cedric and Jean Baptiste, Indian Amit and Venezuelan Robinson. Apart from them, many other friends of their friends came and we had a good time all together. I already miss my friends in Singapore!!!

Robinson and I also took one day to explore the jungle, we saw monkeys and snakes and nice landscape as you'll be able to see in my photo album at Flickr, and we most of all had a big laugh.

See more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets/

Back in Kuala Lumpur

Last weekend I felt like going somewhere in Malaysia, just to get out of Singapore for a couple of days (as if I did not do that all the time), and I first thought of going to Tioman, an island on the east part of Malaysia. But when I arrived at the bus station, they told me all buses going there were full, and after going to another bus station I realized my only option would be to go back to Kuala Lumpur. And I am just so glad I did!

My first visit there was last year with Jose and Hector (you can see a post about it here on my old posts), and it was really cool, especially being with my very dear friend Jose. But this time I was by myself and maybe I also knew Asia already a lot better, so I could explore the city in a different perspective, and I think I saw many things I did not see last time.

It was mainly great to go through the popular markets of food and clothes, and to see that mix of colored covered Muslim women and Indians in some other parts of the city, and especially to walk through the Arab district. This time I realized there are many Arabs in KL, and I have always been very attracted to their culture. To make my experience more complete, I met Mostafa, and Iraqi who has been living in KL for less than one year. He came with his family, escaping from the war. As most of Arabs, he is fascinated by Brazil and he was super nice and took me around the city and made my weekend really worth it.

Other things that caught my attention this time was the mix of old/modern, traditional/trendy things (you can see it on the pics), there are very trendy shops and coffee places, with the most exclusive brands, at the same time you can find very typical street markets where people are selling fruits and clothes. Also I visited more of the park area this time, and it is really impressive: it is huge area with a lot of nature and lots of parks and museums (Islamic Arts Museum, Botanic Gardens, Bird Park, Butterfly Park, Deer Park etc).

See my pics of Kuala Lumpur (and others) at:

www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

Formosa (Taiwan)

In the beggining of this month (June) I went to Formosa (as the Portuguese called Taiwan when they arrived there centuries ago, and still today Taiwan is also known by this name) for a few days, to join my friend-brother Alberto, who was there or work (as I did before in Thailand, Jakarta etc). And once again it was more than worth it. Especially because of our wonderful hosts: Greg and Rex.

Greg is the brother of Reiser, a common Taiwanese friend Alberto and I have in Hong Kong. They were just amazing, taking us everywhere, day and night, and I had heard about the Taiwanese hospitality, and it was not only confirmed, I was even surprised (it was even better than I thought) and it just made me feel like home, people were a little like in Brazil, very nice and smiling all the time. Besides, Taipei reminds me a little of Sao Paulo (it is pretty grey and ugly in a sense) but again like Sao Paulo you go and dig in and find amazing places and people. Another surprise was that the city looks more like Tokyo than like China. I had this impression since I first saw the city, and later they confirmed that they have a lot of Japanese influence (I did not know). So I define Taipei as a mix of Sao Paulo and Tokyo.

We visited the National Palace Museum, which has one of the main collections of Chinese art in the world, it is impressive, and also the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, where it was interesting to find out more on how Taiwan and China were divided during the Chinese revolution (things that we definitely do not learn at school in Latin America, lol). And of course I went to the top of 101, the tallest building on Earth.

Click here to see my Taiwan pictures, and others:
www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

A few more times in Hong Kong...

I went to Hong Kong 3 times after my long visit there in November. First on my way to Brazil in December, when I met another Brazilian (Andre) and his friend Ben (an American who lived in Brazil before) and even if I was stuck in Hong Kong because I was in a stand-by ticket, it was great to spend time with them, we went out to bars and also went to the 1,000 Bhudas temple in the New Territories.

Then last month (in May), also on my way to the States, I spent a few days in Hong Kong on my way back to Singapore. It was again great to see Maher (a Tunisian/French friend I made on my to the States) and Claude, who was in China for work and came to HK to spend the weekend with me. We went to Lamma island. We had a fantastic time together.

Somehow I always have a great time in Hong Kong and meet a lot of people there. I guess it has an energy that is missing in Singapore.

Click here to check the pictures of Hong Kong and more:

www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets

Big Big World

And some people say I travel a lot...well, maybe it is true, I love travelling. But so far, I have visited "only" 34% of the countries in the world!!!!! There is still so much to see :)

Here are the countries I have visited:

Back in Rhode Island

A few weeks ago I went back to the other side of the world, I attended one of my best friends (Marcus)'s graduation party in Rhode Island. My first part of the trip was in NYC, I spent a few days there, and besides seeing some good friends, I just felt like home again: not only I have been to NYC many times before and it does feel like home naturally but also compared to Asia, it is so much closer to my culture. Instead of seeing signs in Chinese, Malay or Tamil, I was glad to be able to understand all of them in either English or Spanish! I would also understand most of people on the street, as there are some many Latinos in the city, but also many tourists, being most of them French, Italians, Germans or Brazilians! (what a relief…European languages!!!!)

Then Rhode Island with Marcus was just fantastic. I had been there a few times, but I guess this time was the best. First because it was great to see some good friends again, and then I don't know, I guess because it was Marcus' party, it was something special. It was really great to spend days with people who were either close to me already (like Marcus and David) or wonderful people that I ended up knowing a little better this time, like Marc, Claudia and Marcus' mother and sister. Revising my pictures, I realized how lucky I was to be able to share these moments with Marcus and his friends/family, also included all the other times I had been there in Providence with him, it is a unique place, and I could live that a little bit every time. Thanks Marcus!!!! And congratulations again!

The weather was great most of the time, and we did biking, picnic, we went out to clubs and I took advantage to eat all the Western food I could possibly do: Italian, Brazilian, Cuban, Mexican, Greek, even some nice very American burgers in NYC (I'll post later). Spring was just there also, so flowers everywhere, as you can see at the bucolic pictures of Rhode Island that I took:

www.flickr.com/photos/gibin/sets