Brazil!

Marvin and I went to Brazil in April this year, our first time in South America (!).  It was also my first time to speak in front of a big (400pax) audience.  Both turned out to be a wonderful experience. 

Our first stop in Brazil was Brasilia for an official business (mine). We arrived at nighttime, and we were able to get a good view of the city lights from the runway. Yup, the runway. The airport is super close to the city and sits on higher ground. There are no tall buildings around to block the view. (We later learned that there used to be a regulation prohibiting construction of a building higher than the National Congress.)


In the morning, the first thing we noticed was how brilliant the sky looked.  It's not only because it was a clear and sunny day. It was more because the sky looked so near I could almost touch it.  I live in a tropical country and I'm no stranger to sunny skies. But Brasilia's sky was distinctly beautiful.

Brasilia is a planned and a fairly new city (just 50 plus year old). With its brutalist and modernist architecture and, perhaps, being the seat of the federal government, the city reminds me of Hunger Games's the Capitol.  The famed structures (mostly designed by Oscar Niemeyer) look striking from afar but up close, old and rugged. Well, that's probably how it is with brutalist architecture. Pretty is not the point.

I think Quezon City and Brasilia were developed around the same time (I don't care googling anymore) and with more or less the same idea behind.  Fifty years later, Brasilia feels like it hasn't changed much (still sleepy, orderly) while QC has become a mega, highly urbanized city (for good or bad).  I hope QC stood a bit more still. 

Then there's Rio de Janeiro.

Who wouldn't fall in love with a city like this? The ocean, a lagoon, and a forest all within kicking distance

That city is just so charming without even trying. How did those Cariocas get so lucky living in a city with mile-long beaches, coastal mountains, rainforest and lagoon?

I love the vibe of that city, particularly in the Zona Sul where Copacabana lies which was where we were staying.  People don't seem to care and don't seem so caught up in made-up looks and brands. You can strut your stuff in the grocery without a shirt on and people won't take a second at look you. You do your thing: stick to your '80s fashion sense, french kiss with tongues out, dance like you're in the privacy of your own room - they're cool with that and you won't feel like an outcast.  It would take extreme weirdness and crappiness to be an outcast or uncool in that city.

The city is so liberating in that way.  You get the feeling that people just know that life is too short to be fussing over the small things and to not be spending that much time in the beach. The cariocas are truly a different breed.

Also, I only saw one McDonald's and one Starbucks in Rio (they only have 2). I didn't see any American or European high street clothing brand shops, even in the most touristy districts of Copacobana and Ipanema.

They are fiercely Brazilian to the core, and they speak no English.

Which is the sad part. Commuting is a challenge because it's hard to ask for directions. An English-speaking Brazilian is rarer than a Filipino who doesn't sing. We were kinda lost on our way back from the Maracana Stadium (which is on the other far side of Rio), and we were taking the subway. There were no English directions anywhere, the PA system announced everything in Portuguese (with no translations).

I was asking for directions from our seatmates in the train but they all spoke no English.  When we got to a certain station, it seemed like everyone was getting off so we alighted the train as well.  We didn't know which platform to go to after and we found ourselves again helplessly asking for directions. Luckily,  a girl in goth attire came up and volunteered to go with us since she was also going to Copacobana to meet her boyfriend. And coincidence of coincidences, she happened to stay with a Filipino family for 6 months in London where she learned to speak English.  Filipinos are everywhere and it's a good thing!

One of my favorite things about our stay in Rio was our quaint little apartment in Copacabana. It was on the roofdeck of a '70s era 8-storey building, with mostly doctor's clinics on all floors. From the kitchen with a cool retractable roof, we had a good view of the Cristo Redentor.  I loved having our breakfast there. There was a park in front of it, and instead of a children's playground, it had a senior citizens' outdoor exercise equipment area.  The park was filled with old people playing chess and reading the newspapers. Rio, and even Brasilia, have these ubiquitous magazine stands (selling as in glossy magazines and not just tabloids) almost every corner. And bakeries and fresh juice stands every other block or so.

There was also a church in front of the park, which we didn't immediately notice because it was a typical building and did not resemble a cathedral.  Unlike in the European cities I've been to, Rio's Catholic churches are still filled with churchgoers. It was a Palm Sunday when we were there, and you'd see all these people (young and old alike) holding palm leaves.  There was also a farmers' market in the park - Hallelujah - which is exactly one of the things I like going to in my travels.  The apartment was just spot on!

Of course we also visited the Corcovado (where Cristo Redentor stands) and the Sugarloaf mountains. Anyone would love them, I think. Rio looks even more beautiful from those sites.  And when we  were there atop those mountains, I kept thinking: How come my Manila isn't like this. How come the sky is not this blue in my city. How come our streets and bays don't look as good as theirs when it should have been easy.

I really was filled with envy.  I didn't feel that in the European cities I've been to because I expect them to be beautiful because they're first world countries. I didn't feel that in Singapore because everything there feels contrived. But when I see a city in a country that is still not exactly rich in economic terms, and that doesn't even look like it's trying hard, I feel envy. Because in Rio I saw what we could have been but aren't for some strange reason (like our city's penchant for hideous temporary road barriers and unkempt sidewalks).

My hometown, Maasin, to me looks like a tiny and a lot less pretty version of Rio. It is in a coastal mountain, too. But its eyes are on Manila, so I don't know how it's going to end up looking in a few years.  I think our newer cities should be looking beyond Manila and Cebu for inspiration and model.  I think our cities could all take inspiration from these Latin American cities. 

I think we should all go to Rio.

my first glimpse of Brasilia in daylight

A tribute to the guy who envisioned Brasilia (no, I don't mean Marvin)

 

Cathedral of Brasilia

Inside the Cathedral

The congress

Rows of government offices

Touch down Rio

Love at first sight/sigh

The park and The Cristo // The apartment couldn't be more perfect

Caught the sunrise in Copacobana. Intense

Ecstatic!

This is how you do restrooms along beaches. No hideous portalets in sight

Tram ride to Cristo

Getting there

I'll ask someone to photoshop this. Love the photo still

Panoramic view

Must be love

There's the senior citizen park! Let's have one over here

View from Sugarloan (Pan de Acucar) Mountain

Still atop Pao de Acucar

I'm in love with the retractable roof

What we stepped out into from our apartment early Sunday morning...

And then there's the Ipanema

As citizens of an archipelago, all Filipinos should be entitled to a clean public city beach like this.

Palm leaves looking freshly plucked from the tree

Around our street

Saw a live bossa nova show in Vinicius Bar.  This lady is Maria Creuza and she's a fairly popular singer in Brazil. I hope she didn't catch me fighting off sleep and failing during her show.

That's the building where the apartment is. See that roofdeck?

Uhm. Apparently, I got into business class. (secretly screaming in glee)