cidade maravilhosa

Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, BRASIL--"saúde!" says the cute brazilian shop clerk as i sneeze while walking past him. we´re in shopping tijuca, a mall near our host´s apartment. patricia, our couchsurfing host, says the expression means "bless you!" in portugues. so it´s not just a way to toast to good health, i´m finding out.

a few hours earlier i woke up with a jolt as the plane´s tires screeched on the pavement. i turned to jan and the first thing she said was "we´re here!" with a huge smile on her face. i was so out of it after an 18-hour flight. we were jetlagged coming from los angeles and we had a stopover in santiago, chile plus undisclosed stops at lima, peru and sao paolo, brazil. we only found out about the other stops when the pilot announced the whole route on the plane!

hasten was asking about first impressions when i texted her earlier today. we haven´t been around yet but i love how we´re in a city surrounded by mountains, a forest, and beaches.

also, the locals we´ve met thus far are just great. marcelo, the driver who picked us up at the airport, was also an excellent tour guide. he pointed out some landmarks like the maracana soccer stadium and told us not to worry about dengue fever as it hadn´t been raining for 18 days. quite a character, that guy. he´s not sure if he´s really brazilian as he dislikes soccer and the samba.

i´m writing this from marcos´ laptop. that´s marcos, patricia´s sister. not jan´s namorado ;)
it´s almost 2am and i have to sleep soon. we´re off to parque national da tijuca in the morning.
later!

* photo of cristo redentor taken from here. will post our own photos soon!

How it started

Los Angeles,CA -- I wanted to cry when I saw Janice get off from the shuttle, more so when we met Risa 2 days before they left for Rio. I was so happy that the South Am plan pushed through (even though I'm not joining the girls..) We reminisced about how we actually came up with South America. I was personally asked a couple of times why we decided on South Am. I'd always tell them that it's because of a Swiss couple we met in Sagada--Jean-Philippe & Caroline.

Later on, while talking about learning the salsa and waiting for Justine at her surprise despedida, Risa looked at me and asked, "alam mo ba yung blog?" We were thinking of the same thing but didn't know how to start. Then we met Sparklemind, and "mypseudobackpack" was born.

While the girls are enjoying their adventure, I'm hooked on the Travel Channel, taking down notes on food, people & places, and planning on where we can take Lucas. I think I'll let Lucas explore South America by himself when he grows up =)

Any suggestions for baby- friendly places? Please spare Disneyland!

first stop: L.A.

Lawndale, CA - after a 13 hour flight out of manila with a 20 kilo suitcase and a 40 liter backpack i arrived in LAX on may 25...exhausted. along with the USA men's volleyball team and a pack of japs headed for vegas, immigration inspector asked me the purpose of my visit (stopping over before rio de janeiro, sir) and customs officer asked me if i brought longganisa and balut (no, but i could bring you some next time). once out of the airport, i hurriedly took my supershuttle ride which joy so kindly booked. 20 minutes on the road and i was at joy's doorstep!

i had missed joy so much it felt surreal to be seeing her, this time with 6-week old lucas and hubby rico. twas great catching up on a year's worth of life stories.

risa and i spent our last day in L.A. with joy and her boys over breakfast at denny´s and animatedly planned our next big adventure: turkey/morroco/greece in april ´09.

first things first, though - vamos a sul america!

Pseudobackpackers Packing List (subtitle: I should be working but I choose to maintain my sanity by blogging about the essentials)

Suntec City, Singapore--On a recent trip home, Reese and I got last minute tips from my fabulous cousin Cely who backpacked around South America for almost 3 months after taking the bar exams. Here's her list of what to pack:

1. two pairs of pants - 1 pair of jeans and 1 pair of cargo pants or gauchos

2. 1 mini skirt

3. 4-5 tank tops (two of which must be black and white)

4. 3 tops for going out (ehem ehem)

5. all weather jacket with hoodie

6. 1 long sleeved top

7. 1 pair of sneakers/trainers

8. 1 pair of going out sandals

9. 1 pair of flip flops

10. gloves, scarf,extra socks (folks, Peru will be in the lows of 35 F when we get there)

11. photocopies of all travel documents


I have done some pre-packing of my own and would like to add the following essentials:

12. lock for backpack (be sure to get the TSA approved ones, i.e. the ones with a digital combination lock and the keyhole that can be opened with a standard international key)

13. money belt (to be worn inside jeans..not very fashionable but oh so essential)

14. universal plug

15. anti-mozzy repellant

16. bikini

17. camera and film of choice

Words of wisdom from Cely, if you have extra space, bring more tops for going out! Wise woman, that cousin of mine.

Any other suggestions? Less than two weeks to go!!

me, prepare for brazil?

Manila, PH -- joy, i am an obedient girl so i'm posting my list.

1. got immunization shots (hepa a, typhoid, flu). bawal magkasakit! tomorrow i'm getting yellow fever shots with manay jan. apparently you can only get these in manila at the bureau of quarantine. right, hasten? (we were teasing her that because of her tiny tidy island's requirements, she'll be the only one getting the shots & falling in line with livestock & such. look who has to go now.)

2. been somewhat faithful to my brazilian diet. brazilian diet: because i need money for brazil i can't go shopping or have lunch out! hopefully next year i'll be on a turkish diet. wink, wink.

3. looking for a good 55-liter up backpack. my sister the mountaineer is using hers daw. sigh. i don't want to blow $300 on something i can't wear/take pictures with.

4. brushing up on my portuguese/spanish. i'm not doing great, though. today i learned how to ask for food in a restaurant: "�tiene comida vegetariana?" jan, if i can't remember how to conjugate i'll leave all the talking to you...unless i decide to bring my 'wicked spanish' phrasebook (and we all know how useful that will be).

5. couchsurfing! i've hosted several people here but crashing a relative stranger's house will be quite a plunge for me and the girls. the people who are hosting us are mostly from the north zone of rio de janeiro. i've got their contact details on my notebook & i'm excited to be a part of their homes for a few days. will post on how this goes.

lomo above of mutch & me: in the justine tradition of posting photos that bear no relevance to the text. by eazy of lomomanila.

About Her Recovery

Harbor City, CA -- I was searching for a tunic dress online and looking for what's new in one of my favorite boutiques back home, I Love You Store, when I came across this site: www.aboutmyrecovery.com. Although the site was intended to be therapy for a mom's loss, i think it turned out to be a labor of love. It is inspiring (and you don't have to be a mom to be inspired by some of her entries), and informative as well.

Ladies, can you write something about how you are preparing for your South Am adventure?