Spinning

Finally made my first visit to the gym after 2 inactive months.

I can barely keep up with the instructor.

I want to be gym bunny again.

I want to shed 5kg in 6 months

but I had a 4 course dinner, and wine

right after 45 min of spinning

30 min of bodyjam

and 10 min of steam

argh.

I hate numbers.

I am still awake

good grief.

concussed when I got home at 730,

only to wake up at 11pm

and i'm up til now.

I need to sleep.

popped a pill

sweet dreams

world

Never liked farewells

It's hard to imagine the bonds I made with people I only know for a week

the last weekend in Sao Paulo was the best time I spent in the city

Dinner and drinks at a local pub

with Norberto and wife, Alex and Elina

Lotsa beer and laughter

New portugese vocabulary learnt

I love these people

and it disgusts me to know our locals don't treat one another this way

I probably drank the most beer in my entire drinking history

the beer man just keep shoving glasses to you once you've finished your glass

and we still managed to go for desserts afterwards

at Ofner - 24 hours Brasil cafe

where Elina and Alex shared stories of their lives in Sao Paulo

how they met and fell in love (7 years!)

they're such a lovely couple

I'd really want to be at their wedding when the day comes

By the time i got back to the hotel

it was 5.30am

I took a shower and the sun had risen

Didn't sleep the whole night - packed my luggage - which is ready to burst

Lunch was at a Churrasco restaurant with Alex and Elina

lotsa meat - mr goh would have loved it

tried chicken heart and i didn't like it - haha

I didn't have time to visit downtown Sao Paulo

so Alex drove around downtown and explained the various history and buildings

and showed me the ugliest building in Sao Paulo

and introduced me to the exotic fruits of Brasil

I really like the high caloric Acai =)

I was going to take a taxi to the airport myself

but they offered to send me there

Alex: 'okay, i'm now going to turn my taxi meter on'

he's such a funny guy

he shared his experiences of missing flights

and i laughed until my stomach hurt

'a boy stuck in grown man's body' - is what mr goh calls him.

Took me 1 hour to queue and have my luggage checked in,

and i slept while standing in the line (alex: you're not allowed to sleep while queueing in brasil)

When it finally came to my turn,

the airline staff told me the gate is next to mackerdollagie

I: Huh? Do you speak english?

Airline staff: Yes. gate next to mackerdollagie.

I: what mackerdollagie?

Airline: yes, mackerdollagie.

I: Errrr... okay. mackerdollagie.

Turns out mackerdollagie is macdonalds in portugese.

then the worst part came

farewell

the hugs, the 'take care', 'i'll miss you', 'i'll write', 'i'll send you the pictures', 'thanks for taking care of me'

and i know it's going to be years before we ever meet again on the same land.

and tears just rolled down uncontrollably.

Last night in Sao Paulo

Once again

before I know it

it's time to leave another city

Sao Paulo and its Paulistas have been too kind to me

The people I interacted with, held meetings with

they're such friendly and outgoing people

Met a Japanese Brazilian today

who truly inspired me

with his entreprenuer story

-how many of us have dreams which really did become reality?-

You need to have a sharp eye for market opportunities

and seize them before they slip away

perservere

and give something back to society

he's only 32.

For a quick second,

I thought about working on this side of the world,

but just for a fleeting second.

Should I really spend more time thinking about it?

Anyway, Helder is extremely helpful

together with his gf,

we went Havaianas shopping

and I bought 13 pairs of slippers!

There's more to get

but I paisay to let them wait for me to choose.

They also took me music shopping

Axe (pronounced as A-cher) music

Forro music

Samba

Such happy tunes

but some apparently tell of sad stories

I love this one by Kid Abhelha very much

'Quero te Encontrar'

'I want to meet/find you'

If music be the food of love,

play on.

Music, food, love, culture, language

this international experience

cannot be bought;

the ties I made

I'd cherish so much.

when will i be back in this part of the world again?

LDR

I told Mr Goh this LDR is not working

when I'm awake, he's preparing to leave the office and sleep



when I'm sleepy, he's just woken up

=.=

Thankfully, it's only for 2 weeks.

I'm really impressed with those who made it.

Reporting LIVE from Washington DC

yes.

I've survived two legs of my flight to Sao Paulo.

12 hours non stop to San Frans - sat beside LaVelle, who loves Singaporeans more than Hong Kong people. Met Steven Loh and wife (both lovely Singaporeans) who are visiting their daughter (LaVelle thought he was visiting his 'doctor'- heeheee) - San frans, LA, then San Diego for 16 days. I did feel a bit home sick and thought of where to take my mum for holiday.

Planned to do some work on this flight but ended up sleeping most of the time - which is good, cos now I'm quite accustomed to the time difference.

And my new jetset neck cushion, head cushion, eye mask were put to good use. =)

Security at the US airport is tight. You remove shoes, belts, jackets - I'm surprised i passed the detector test, my braces are on me so long they've become a part of me. I've learnt to declare if I'm bringing foodstuff. The customs people were gonna chuck my 'chicken feet' away because they were made in china. (Chicken feet bought from some jap store okay - made in china... tmd.)

Officer: I'm sorry, you can't bring these in.. they're chicken and they're made in china. We're still very wary of the avian flu outbreak.

I: Hm... ok... (heart pain cos they're two big packets, and not cheap)

Officer: Oh wait... you're going to Brazil?

I: yea. I'm only transitting in San Frans and then DC.

Officer: oh, that's alright then. Take it to Brazil!

haha. I don't know what to make out of this.

Watched Enchanted on my way to DC all the while trying hard not to sleep. I think my nights of partying have trained me somewhat.

Another 2 hours of waiting, and 10 hours flight and I'll be in the land of the Paulistas.

Alex offered to take me around S.P. =)

I can't wait.

and I do miss you dear, and I'll try not to fall in love with the Brazilians.

Now, time for a cup of Starbucks.

Fly high

It's been such a crazy week

their secret is now in my hands

their words can't and won't bring me down.

I'm leaving for Sao Paulo, stopping by San frans and washington dc.

thanks all my dearies for your kind words and support.

I will have a great time in latin america.

=) it's really much better to be in my position than theirs.