Made in Japan, Outsourced Globally

"[... travel] can become a compulsion, though it keeps us away from friends and loved ones - sometimes even when we’re back. When I am away, I often yearn for home. When I’m home, I’m listless. I seem no longer to fit. History and literature are filled with characters who see Asia, or Venice, and can never go back to the way they were."
- Anthony Bourdain on travel writing as a profession, Best American Travel Writing 2008

I was bitten by the travel bug so long ago and so deeply - I fear I will never be cured. So it took a single e-mail correspondence with a fellow nomad to decide on a 2 week backpacking trip to Brasil for Christmas and New Year’s. We spat on our hands and sealed the deal.

Jenny (or Fang Hu, in Chinese) is one of the most seasoned, fearless travelers I know, whose travel resume includes most of Europe, various parts of China, Egypt, Kenya and the hinterlands of Cameroon. We share a common sense of adventure and mutual friends across the globe. It was also through Jenny that I was introduced to a beautiful, red-headed Brasilian girl named Alice and her wonderful family. It’s all so magical how things worked out. Jenny and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to experience Brasil.


Jenny, Saki, and Alice - eating a tapioca snack and drinking guarana at the Ipanema Hippie Fair

My motivation for going to Brasil was two-fold. First, as a student of development economics, emerging markets will forever hold my interest. I traveled to India when I was 21, which forced my eyes wide open. Two years later, I was pursuing my burning interest in the Chinese regional economy by moving to Hong Kong. Occasional business and leisure trips to Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen enhanced my deep appreciation for the chaos this country is going through (and I mean this in both an optimistic and cautious way). In the meanwhile, the world coined a new term to describe newly emerging giants - BRIC (Brasil, Russia, India, China). I wasn’t about to miss out on seeing the phenomenon with my own two eyes before economists came up with new terms. (Russia will have to wait).

But aside from my intellectual ego trip, I had an even more pressing reason to visit Brasil. Everyone I know who has either lived or visited Brasil has feverishly extolled about the country. The beautiful people... The nature... The beaches! The music!! The colors!!! If Brasil was a confectionary, it would be equivalent to chocolate. If Brasil had a human characteristic, it would be an irresistible exotic lover. Everyone who has been touched by the country has a love affair with it.

Rio Fantastica

After a very productive and enjoyable work week in Campinas (in the state of Sao Paulo), my steps were light and cheerful as I headed up to Rio de Janeiro. It was steamy, humid, and summer - a delightful contrast to the winter season in North America. Jenny, Alice, and I enjoyed the various entertainment the city had to offer.



We enjoyed a relaxing first day on Ipanema Beach with some caparinhas and coconut juice - the works!


Ipanema Hippie Fair - you can buy various handicrafts, clothes, and musical instruments here.


A view of Rio de Janeiro from Corcovado (hunchback hill) is splendid, made even more glorious by the presence of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer statue) - an undeniable icon of Rio.

I was quickly enchanted by the colorful and vivacious atmosphere of Rio. We would often start the day with fresh fruit juice - many of which were "firsts" for me, such as caju (cashew fruit), açai (fruit from a certain kind of palm tree), and maracujá (fresh squeezed passion fruit). We would then make our way to a small eatery for a sandwich or a buffet (which often included variations of meat).


Here, we are having a typical, non-stop meat fest at a churrascaria (Porcao in Rio). And the caparinha de maracuja was amazing - Saude!!!

The food in Brasil is something to be discussed at great lengths. First and foremost, meat is the main diet, and churrascarias (Brasilian BBQ) are not to be missed. Mouth-watering sirloin steaks, rump steaks, ribs, humps, and some oddities like chicken heart are certainly worth the nice ritzy restaurants. Some other typical Brasilian dishes include stroganoffs, feijoada, and grilled or fried bacalhau (dried cod) - all of which should be accompanied with some rice and beans. And if you want to get away from the heavy stuff for a bit, you can enjoy some sushi. My personal favorite, however, is the palm heart and I could not get enough of it (it tastes like something between a white asparagus and an artichoke heart).

It’s Time to Hit the Beaches

In Rio de Janeiro, there is an overwhelming magnetic force, and it all points to the beaches. As you work your way from the North, you hit Leme, Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leblon - each with a slightly different characteristic. I couldn’t help noticing all the beautiful people - tall, dark handsome men with green and blue eyes; hourglass-shaped women with shockingly colorful bikinis; dimpled mulatto children with curly golden locks; fashionably-aged carioca couples walking hand-in-hand.


A typical day at Praia Copacabana. A Havaiana (or two, or three) is a must when in Brasil.

With that said, the beach is an interesting ecosystem altogether. There is unabashed modeling of banana hammocks and triangle bikinis that cover just enough to be modest. For every fit and sculpted body shape, there is an equivalent (if not more) display of wobbly bits. Many people lay on the sand for a roast and an occasional dip in the sea to cool off. There are also lots of activities going on - kite flying, Frisbee, squash, body building, and a beach foot-volleyball game. Even the pastiest foreigners blend in after a couple days under the Brasilian sun. I was bronze after two days, turned "rotisserie chicken gold" in a few more, and eventually became "extra crispy" by the end of the trip.

A Walk Through the Favelas



The real "Cidade de Deus (City of God)" is based in the western part of Rio, far from Ipanema and Copacabana - but most of the outside world hastily associates the favelas with the violent and dangerous setting depicted in the Academy Award nominated film from 2002. I was just as naïve.

There are a handful of "favela tours" today, allowing tourists to look at the lives of favela residents from a safe distance. Rocinha is one of the most famous which has these tours, and most of the tour proceeds go toward funding a daycare or educational facilities.

The tour we joined advertised with an ironic catch phrase, "Don’t be a gringo, be a local!" No local Rio resident would ever dream of touring a favela. There is a moral awkwardness when "touring" the lives of the poor (dubbed "poorism" by some modern travelers) as if going to the zoo, and then returning to the regular vacation program of drinking caparinhas on the beach after a 3-hour tour.



The houses are more well-established than what I had imagined. In Rocinha, there were two medical facilities, a post office, and a main street that sells sundries (I even saw a pharmacy lined with boxes of L’Oreal hair colorant boxes). The children either show great interest (or amusement) in the tourists or ignore us completely.

Favela, by definition, is a squatter community. Rapid modernization made it impossible for workers to rent or own property in the city, and they began building houses illegally on the hills. Favelas are overcrowded with very little room for expansion (some creative souls build vertically) - the best way to describe it may be "organized chaos". Despite the negative reputation, favelas are an integral part of Rio - approximately one in four residents are said to be from the favelas, many of whom work as maids, busboys, and street sweepers in the city.



In an effort to keep kids off the streets, graffiti art is encouraged - some of the artists even sell them to tourists. There were also other handicrafts, such as a chair made from PET bottles and bracelets weaved out of old telephone copper wires.

There is no use in romanticizing life in the favelas, but most of the residents just want to live in peace and to get out of poverty. According to our guide, 10% of the favela residents are involved in the drug trade. In Rocinha, the leading gang sells approximately US$4 million per month worth of drugs and is headed by a 23-year old boss. This surprised us at first, but then again, an average life expectancy of gang members is 18 years-old. Favelas will never go away, because the there are practices and politics that sustain them. But we can hope that positive progress will be made, most likely driven by the young generation’s desire to get out of the current situation.

Family Away From Home

As travelers, we are sometimes privileged to get a glimpse of the local culture. By great fortune we were invited into not only the homes of some wonderful people in Rio, but also into some of the most intimate celebrations during the holiday season. I am forever grateful to them for their warmth and hospitality.


Jenny and I were invited to a family lunch at Uncle Marcelo’s house in Santa Teresa.


We also joined Alice’s family for Christmas Eve dinner and New Year’s Eve celebrations. There must have been close to 30 family members at every party we went to.

Alice’s family on her mother’s side is extremely talented in music and the arts. Some of the family members are professional musicians and artists. Most charming of all is Grandpa Celso, who plays the piano for everyone after dinner (he also composed music for each of his 8 children). We also enjoyed many chats with Grandma Celina, who told us of her many worldly travels (their house is full of cultural artifacts from all the places they have traveled, including a collection of 202 owl sculptures). At each festive gathering, we could feel the incredible strength of family bond and love.

We were also lucky enough to be hosted by Alice’s grandparents on her father’s side, who are retired farmers from Minas Gerais (today, his sons manage the farms. They grow coffee and cacao, as well as cattle for dairy). Grandpa is a die-hard Carioca who patrols the beach every day (hey, someone needs to keep an eye on the sea, the beach, and the lovely women!), and Grandma enjoys watching telenovelas and American movies. We had a lot of great laughs, despite the language barrier.

These homes were filled with laughter and warmth - Brasil holds an extra special place in my heart because of the two families.

Out and About

Rio has a lot to offer, but you can’t ask two rambunctious travel fiends to stay put in one place when there are so many wonders in Brasil. Jenny concocted an ambitious schedule, and we headed North, South, and Southwest - Buzios, Ilha Grande, and Foz de Iguaçu - each with a unique beauty.



We endured some long bus rides, but it was all worth it. The Brasilian countryside of rolling verdant hills whizzed by, spotted with red clay-tiled roofs and children’s kites that twirled like inverted confetti. At night, we could see a star-dusted sky or the orange-yellow lights from the favelas against the pitch black.



Lovely Buzios - a posh beach town with architecture that remind me of Japanese houses.


The sunset we saw on the way back to Rio was out of this world...



Cataratas de Igauçu (Iguaçu Falls) - a breathtaking natural wonder! Its magnificence is shared by three countries - Brasil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Eleanor Roosevelt allegedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!" when she first saw it.


Garganta de Diablo – aptly named, as it means "Devil’s Throat"


I look nice and dry here, but we actually went on a boat ride called Macuco Safari, which took us directly under some of the waterfalls and drenched us completely. We were begging "no more!" after a couple times. The experience is something between "refreshing" and "being beaten down by force of mother nature."


Just chillin' by the waterfall. The park was full of these strange creatures with long snouts, called coatis, which are a part of the racoon family.


Jenny went a little crazy with the jackfruit (she grabbed one off the tree, but it was not ripe yet. Hence the sad face). Immediately after this photo, tragedy strikes again, as the jackfruit left a sticky goo on Jenny's shirt.


Praia Lopes Mendes on Ilha Grande - a vision of paradise. This island is a little gem - you can hike in the jungle, relax on the pristine beach, or go scuba diving/snorkeling to play with the sea creatures.


nomadlife - from Ilha Grande with love!


In the evening, we danced to live samba in the town square.

Feliz Ano Novo! Adeus, 2008. Olá, 2009!!!

Although it would have been nice to stay on Ilha Grande, we couldn’t miss New Year’s Eve in Rio. We quickly changed into our New Year’s attire (everyone wears something white), and joined Alice’s family for a delicious New Year’s Eve dinner.






Copacabana was in full festivity, with fortunate people partying in sea-view hotels and apartments. The rest of us took our spots on the beach, anticipating the countdown and the fireworks.




The beach looked like a sea of white, already an incredible site. We later heard that 2 million people gathered on Copacabana to celebrate. Here’s to a great new year - Feliz Ano Novo!!!

I left Brasil with joy in my heart, rhythm in my veins, and a sun kissed skin. Like my friends, I fell in love with Brasil. And just like that, I was converted.