Blogs from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 223

Carnaval Friday: After living out of a bag for ten weeks we were as much looking forward to hanging up our clothes for 5 whole days as we were Carnaval. We were over the moon with our hotel with roof-top pool and bar one block from Ipanema beach. This was to be expected however as we had booked the hotel when we were both working and money had less value. What we spent on the hotel for 5 days accommodation alone is our current budget for 2 whole weeks total spend - but it turned out to be worth it. We hung up our clothes, showered and dried with big soft towels, shaved/dryed hair then put our rucksacks in the back of the wardrobe and cooled in our air-conditioned room while watching ´Malcom in the Middle´. ... read more

OMG! They did it again!!!! Why us why us?!?! We were ready to board a bus (yes bus again) when 3 locals directed us to take the bus behind instead to get to the subway station. Thinking they were good samaritans, we took their advice and boarded the bus behind. OSM and I boarded first and CJ was sandwiched between those 3 fellows. We didn´t know why one of them took so long to buy the tix. It was actually one of them blocking the way, while the other one tried to use a pen to pry open the zip and the last person put his hand in. CJ screamed after she realised her bag was opened, though she had locked her bag. She shouted at the man whose hand was found coming out from the ... read more

Sob sob... My sunglasses was snatched! We were getting ready to board the bus when a teenage boy just snatched my sunglasses and ran off! I was stunned for a moment. Sob sob... my reliable Oakley! What am I going to do without it for the rest of the trip? The only consolation was that we were not hurt in the process. It´s only the 2nd day to my SA trip and something was stolen oredi. By the end of 4mths, will my 20kg bag be reduced to 10kg when I come back? Hmph.... ... read more

The Carnaval. The reason for us being here in Brazil. What impress me most is not the parade itself, but the passion and spontaneity of the people. The audience just danced and sashay to the music, fully immersing into the atmosphere. And the best part is the performers simply go home by subway with their costumes on. Can you imagine performers in Chingay going home on MRT with their make-up and costume on? Was really an interesting sight. And the parade itself? We were excited when the first group came. After that, we waited for 20 mins for the second group to appear. We were really sleepy during the long wait (we are accustommed to the 11hr time diff yet). When the third group finally arrived, we decided that we´ll go back hotel to sleep after ... read more

After 31 hours, we have finally arrived at Rio de Janeiro with much anxiety! Slept throughout the journey but still feeling very tired... Read so much abt the possible danger of getting robbed that upon arrival at the airport, we anxiously guided our bags with caution. So kua zhang to the extent tt OSM refused to let go of the trolley when the airport attendant attempted to help us to load our bags up the cab. It was quite a comical sight. Dunno what we doing tmr. Can´t think straight now. Hope we´ll be more alert after a good nite sleep! ... read more