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idling in iguazu

spent most of the morning in a bus or waiting for a bus. guess it was too much to ask for the coach to get to Foz do Iguazu on time, instead of 2 hours late. well, at least i slept most of the time. also experienced the strange highway stops that they have. like a diner cum convenience store.

anyway, being late put paid to my plan of visiting the Brazil side of the Iguazu falls first. which actually ended up being a blessing in disguise since i didn´t realise it would take me 2 hours to cross the border. waiting for the bus, to being left at the brazil border to get my passport stamped, and then being ignored by 2 buses. sigh. the town of Puerto Iguazu is a small one built up over the years to cater for the tourists coming to see the falls. every other building is a hotel / hostel / guest house / souvenir shop. all the roads are red with the basalt volcanic soil and everyone´s shoes are soiled red. it´s relatively low season since it´s winter so the streets are pretty empty. 

after a lunch of pizza (as beloved here as in Brazil) topped with mozarella, ham, palm heart and olives (yum!) i headed out to the Argentinian falls. managed to cover one of the circuits and also go on a jungle safary to see the rainforest and animals. when the 4wd truck driver and guide, Alejandro, handed me a guide with pumas and jaguars, i started to get excited (and worried). but alas, over the 2 hour bumpy journey , we only saw a few toucans and goutis (small rat) and a deer. at least i know the pumas and jaguars are smart enough to keep away from a truck full of noisy tourists (including an Indonesian family, whose geophysicist father is working in Patagonia). didn´t even get to see a good old tapir. since it was dark by 6pm, i plan to come by again tomorrow morning to cover more of the circuits.

Dinner was local river fish - surubi,  at a restaurant recommended by Alejandro. Quite delicious and simple. Service was great too, plus you can pay in 4 currencies - argentinian pesos, brazilian reais, USD and Euros. talk about touristy. hehe. could hear from the tables around me that there were visitors from Australia, Japan, UK and of course the US of A. outside you could see the locals sitting on the streets or selling trinkets. i guess we`re there to provide them with revenue, so i shouldn´t feel bad. hmmmm. Buenos Aires tomorrow, i can´t wait! Aside from tango, the guide book says they have great buildings, museums, cafes and parks. yay!

Gay in Sao Paulo

Can´t believe how fast the congress has gone. already more than a week here in the concrete jungle of Sao Paulo. it~s been an amazing time. we~ve been spoilt having our meetings and performances at amazing places like museums, parks, community spaces and theatres. that~s not counting the mini carnavale they put together for us. i feel that i~ve seen so much in such a short time.

we stayed in the swankiest part of the city - Jardims. where designer shops abut fantastic restaurants. the most interesting is the A Figuera Rubaiyat which is under a huge 100 year old fig tree. it made things even more surreal when we went for the closing dinner at the magnificent Sala Sao Paulo ' their concert hall convereted from the old train station, and were told that it was a bad neighbourhood outside, so be careful getting back. i guess everyone naturally accepts that the ultra poor will live next to the ultra rich. i noticed that even the main cathedral locked up their doors at dusk and had a menacing fence around the church. what happened to it being a sanctuary for all?

the parada gay de sao paulo was indeed a sight to see. 3 million out in force to show their support against homophobia. there were special floats sponsored by different clubs / communities, with ppl in costume /not on top of each. amongst those on the streets, some were in costume (lotsa superheroes and cop costumes), others just sported feather boas, spangly bits and rainbow flags for fun. i only caught the back-end (ahem) of the parade for half an hour, but it was great to see the strong support given by the paulistas (that´s what sao paulo citizens are called) and their city. of course there was no shortage of making out by the rainbow pp - some just for show, but some were a matter of course.

i suppose Sao Paulo really sums up the diversity of Brazil. there´s certainly lots more to be discovered.

25 random things u don't wanna know

i'm sure you've all been tagged by the '25 things' meme on facebook. at first, i wanted to be tagged. Then when i was, i thought "ok, i'll do it in a few days". but then it multiplied exponentially and suddenly there were 25 things coming out of ppl's ears. it was just too much. while i do like the idea of learning something new about my friends (i did fall prey to the similar questionnaire email meme going around a few years ago), to me, this is a superb example of a fad. at the beginning, you envy the early adopters; then you start to participate; then when it's past the peak, no one wants to touch it. With facebook, it got positively viral. in fact slate did a comparison between it and a virus. they tried to survey and discover who was the 'patient zero' who sent out the first note. they couldn't quite determine that one person, but discovered that it started out around November last year as "16 Random Things About Me". Then the number changed around until the magic '25' which no one seems to know why it works. Plus most ppl who do answer it, will do so within the first 3 days of receiving it. i find it interesting to see how throughly 'random' the success of this type of virus is.

music and me

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Originally uploaded by naesul

music has always been a big part of my life - mostly recorded. from watching top of the pops on friday afternoons with my sis and bro (the enterprising chaps at kiddie's store had it shipped over from the UK!), making mix tapes from the top40 at Victoria; having my beloved aiwa walkman through uni days, and now with my ipod in the car and lrt on a daily basis; and my infamous yearly compilations i force on friends and family.

so it shouldn't be a surprise that my career has veered into a musical path. with the economic crisis, many are worried that 'luxuries' like watching concerts will be the first spending to be cut. while this is somewhat true, i am heartened by a few things: people will need entertainment (just like booze and the lottery) to give them hope during these tough times; you can't counterfeit the experience of attending a concert; and everyone else will be cutting down, which means there may be less competition for resources. always look on the bright side, eh.

pix is of Mogwai at kl convex. i attended cos i wanted to see how the alt indie young crowd were (plus someone else paid for my ticket). The healthy crowd showed that there is an audience for niche bands and that the young-ish have spending power.

heading down south

view from the padang
Originally uploaded by naesul

to catch up bff and gal pals. hope it'll be a relaxing weekend before the madness of CNY. if only my cough could be miraculously cured when i cross over the border.