the most "GP" entry!

Torrance, CA -- I was having second thoughts of posting this 'cause it is SOOOO wholesome compared to Ditas' "meaty" entry. Oh well, just try to look at my shoes!;-)

i know i owe blog entries, but this picture is just too funny.....

Salvador, BRASIL ---
THE NIGHT THE VEGETARIANS GAVE IN......TO HAMON.
Let's slice the ham.
Let's bring home the ham.

mais que nada

Machu Picchu, PERU -- i'll leave the post about bahia and other happenings with "jeetas," "jani," and "jushtine" (love the portuguese way of saying things).

so manay jan and i arrived ahead of the terrible tandem by a couple of hours. the lima airport had an unusual concentration of metalheads in black sneaks. when we asked our cabbie why there was a commotion at the arrival area he simply said: "megadeth." yes, they're still around and we flew in on the same flight. they are apparently on the latin america leg of their "tour of duty 2008."

after lima we went to cusco, ollantaytambo and finally aguas calientes, the last stop before macchu picchu. if you want more historical info just borrow cely's print-outs on peru (that's jushtine's cousin). just know that machu picchu means "old mountain" and it was discovered in 1911 by our man hiram bingham.

we were such penny-pinchers when it came to sightseeing that we refused to hire anyone and tried to eavesdrop on the machu picchu guides holding their nth lecture for their big tour groups. and when we couldn't hear everything we would just dismiss it with "it's all just speculation, anyway."

i can't post it right now but i have photos of my footwear problems right before the bus ride for machu picchu. great timing. so i can proudly say: i conquered machu picchu in tsinelas! and we have a dance video to prove it.

watch out for our mais que nada in machu picchu samba number. teehee.

highlights:

ditas' ollanta, cusco and lima admirers
sacred valley ruins
best meal at indio feliz, aguas calientes
450-year old monument-turned hostel (loki backpackers' hostel in cusco)
wayna picchu jungle hike - congrats manay (almost there) and deets (made it)!

futebol e vida!

the flamengo seal

pre-match with the couchsurfers

pati with the new flamengo fans

Maracana, BRASIL -- football is life! in brasil, anyway. and we had a thrilling first-hand encounter with brazilians´love affair with the sport. we watched a match between flamengo and fluminense, 2 of the top 4 clubs in the country. the electric vibe at the stadium was infectious. the drum beats, the huge car-sized bandeiras, and the passionate fans all made the match more memorable. we were on the flamenguista side and by rooting for that team we learned a slew of new portuguese cuss words (my sources were right: it's the flamenguistas who know how to have fun. you can liken their fan fever to our own ginebra pba fans).

the match also earned me a souvenir on my left thigh, a big purple bruise caused by an overly-excited english fan. when flamengo scored a goal on a penalty kick our side of the maracana stadium went crazy and his wildly waving arms caused me to land hard on my seat. the screen proclaimed: goool!

patricia offers this simple summary for soccer love: you can change your wife, you can change your sex, you can even change your country. but you can never change your soccer team. to do that would make you a traitor to all that brazilians hold dear. 'til the next crazy futebol game!

* flamengo won, 1-0. we went home a happy bunch.

Corcovado

Rio de Janeiro, BRASIL--On our second day in Brasil, we paid a visit to Cristo Redentor in Corcovado. Since we had in our previous travels caught the sunrise in Angkor Wat, we thought it would be perfect to catch the sunrise overlooking this marvelous city. Tip: the first tram up the mountain only starts at 8.30am. Whilst killing time we went on a hunt for some food. One of the locals pointed us to Princesa Supermercado where wonders of all wonders, it was also still closed. Sleep deprived and cold we were in no mood to wait until an elderly Carioca came up to us just to tell us we were such garotas lindas (pretty girls). Suddenly, the morning didn´t look so bad. After some pao de queijo (post about this to follow) and cafe with leite (but separa por favor), we trooped back to the tram station to make our way up to Cristo. The first time I looked up at Cristo, I felt a rush to my head and realised...oh my god, this statue is big. Second thought: I promise to be good, really. Once we were done gazing up (way way up) at the Cristo, we busied ourselves admiring the view of the city. Perched on top of a mountain, we could make out the marina, the race track, the famous Pao de Azucar and Maracana (post on this to follow).

Taxi fare from Ipanema to Corcovado: 15-20 reais

Tram fare to the top of Corcovado: 36 reais

oi!

Ipanema, BRASIL -- the terrible tandem of justine & ditas finally made it to south america. they weren´t all bright & cheery when they got here, thanks to their missing luggage (courtesy of american airlines). plus we welcomed them to our terrasse hostel room, which deets proclaimed as our nice "walk-in closet" (had a shared bathroom for the first time and it wasn´t so bad). we brought them to corcovado to see cristo redentor and partied at house, this bar in leblon.

i´m a bit frustrated as the pc i´m using right now is ancient and i can´t find the usb port. so no photos for now.

i forgot to post about our first time in ipanema. jan and i were a few blocks from the beach when she gasped all of a sudden. in front of us were these two dudes walking, like regular pedestrians. except that dude number 1 was wearing a tee and... skimpy red speedos. imagine seeing that while you´re walking outside greenbelt. and then while we were outside the botanical gardens in tijuca we saw this guy walking in the opposite direction. shirtless and looking like a bronzed baywatch surfer extra. jan and i were in unison -- "temptation!" giselle, our new puerto rican friend, agreed. they´re everywhere.

will post soon about the football game we watched at maracana stadium. tchau for now!

sextas-feiras em rio (thursday in rio)

Copacabana, BRASIL-- our first night out in o brasil! it was funk/"hipy-hop" night at clandestino bar.

after watching indiana jones (with portuguese subtitles) we headed to copacabana with cariocas rosangela, bianca and daniel. it was a rainy night at 17 degrees but inside the club the dj residentes "dropped it like it´s hot!"

we had our strongest caipirinha (with fresh strawberries) and it took us three hours to finish half a glass. daniel was careful not to drink too much lest he lose his english proficiency. rosangela, with non-alcoholic sprite in hand, had the best moves of the night. and bianca showed us some mean forro steps which we miserably attempted to copy.

on the way home the cristo redentor greeted us again, this time bathed in fog and city lights.

day 3 in rio. super-legal!

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?

Me & Mr (Kelly) Jones

Fort Canning, Singapore--It felt almost ILLEGAL to walk out of the office in jeans and a shirt but as I raced to the City Hall MRT to meet my mate Nat with Dakota blasting on my ipod, I knew it was going to be an amazing night. The boys definitely know how to put on a good show--they played a mix of old songs (traffic, hurry up and wait, i'm just looking, local boy in the photograph, the bartender and the thief, and of course dakota as encore) and tracks off their new album (bank holiday monday, pass the buck, it means nothing). I didn't know all the words to the songs (unlike Nat who reckons she was 16 when she started listening to a thousand trees) but every inch of me was feeling it. And when Kelly came on stage solo to do maybe tomorrow (used in the movie Crash), it was pure bliss. Everyone needs to go wild once in a while, to let loose, jump and wave your fists in the air. Hell, everyone should take off their shirts and rock in their bras. And this is Singapore, mind you. God bless the Welsh!

Dengue fever alert

Online, World Wide Web -- Justine has an update on Brasil: there’s a huge dengue outbreak in Rio de Janeiro. It’s a worrying turn of events as we’ll be South Am-bound in 4 weeks. On YM conference, Dr. Deets explains to us non-doctors (Reese, Jan & Hasten/Justine) how to prepare for dengue before and when we’re there. Here’s the edited version of our little medical convo (suffice to say that we digress a lot, hence the need for some snipping):

Hasten: How long do these things last?

Deets: Uhmmm…years?

Hasten: 96 dead, 96 more suspected deaths. Crap.

Hasten: Bloody hell! Years?

Deets: Well, depends on their climate. The mosquitoes usually come out after the rainy season.

Jan: Now I’m really scared. Are there anti-dengue shots?

Hasten: I need to get yellow fever shots or else the Sing government won’t let me back in

Reese: That could turn out for the best.

Hasten: Reese is also setting up typhoid and hepatitis shots for me…Jan if you haven’t had these, let’s go together when I go home on the 17^th.

Reese: Jan if Dr. Kitts is away can we ask Manay to do it?

Jan: I hear the hepa shots should’ve been taken months ago

Hasten: Better late than never?

Jan: Ok I’ll schedule it with my sister.

Hasten: Jan ask Manay if we can do yellow fever, typhoid, and hepa all together and how much please.

Reese: Deets how about malaria shots?

Hasten: The thought is making me queasy.

Jan: Surely teets! There’s anti-flu as well in case you’re interested

Reese: My dad got anti-cholera. Syrup lang.

Deets: For malaria you just drink the anti-malarial drug. For hepa you get a vaccine if your titers are low. There’s no anti-dengue.

Hasten: Titers??

Jan: I’m really scared about dengue. Seriously! Mosquitoes tend to gravitate towards me.

Hasten: I don’t think I want to go to Brasil if the outbreak is serious pa in June. S***t but our tickets are non-refundable. And so are my NY tix! So dengue, please go away!

Deets: Just put a lot of mosquito repellent.

Hasten: Seriously? With an outbreak that has killed 200 people?

Deets: We had more deaths than that during the outbreak in the Philippines, but it didn’t affect you, right? They don’t give you the demographics of those who died. They’re probably those with no access to medical care.

Jan: Ah ok. That’s comforting! Thanks, Deets. What precautions should we take besides Off Lotion?

Deets: Wear protection – pants, long-sleeved blouses.

Jan: I guess we won’t be getting a tan at Ipanema too often!

Deets: Maybe we can get a travel advisory, like where exactly in Rio are the outbreaks so we can avoid those places.

Hasten: Plus the Sing government is really strict. They may restrict travel to Brasil. And I don’t want to be quarantined when I get back!

*** end of medical talk***

So Dr. Deets, what are titers?

My Baby is Here!

Harbor City, CA -- Here are the first few things that I did after Rico and I were told by my obstetrician that our baby is coming.
1) Shave my legs
2) Exfoliate
3) Plucked my eyebrows
4) Charged the camera
5) Pray
6) Try to stop giggling with excitement
38 weeks, few Tums, 40 -something pounds and tubes of anti-stretch marks later, my Lucas finally arrived.

I had to stay for a few days in the hospital so when the baby was asleep, there was pretty much time for "his pictorials"



If you'll ask me, "Was it all worth the time, pain, the drama and losing a South Am adventure with my fellow pseudobackpackers?" After seeing him all I can say is "Yes, it is." After all, training a little traveller sounds fun. =)

To the Man Who Has Everything...

And by everything, we mean good friends, great artistic pursuits, tons of good music, a mysterious-but-blossoming love life, all the toy cameras in the world and of course, Rock Band!

Happy Birthday, Sparklemind!

Year one of hanging out with you. Here's to more of those!

Live from New Jersey...

It's "Ditas Turns 28!"






With performances from all over, including Nada Surf, DMB, and Justine's favorite singer, Nyoy!

Happy Birthday, Deets! You've come a long way from your no- social security- days!

One round on us when we're all together in June. Have a crazy birthday weekend adventure ;)

* note: your song should be 'blankest year' - oh f**** it, i'm gonna have a party!

* all photos from sparklemind

Hello Baby!

an 11pm text message from Joy says:

"Hi! I gave birth last April 10 to a healthy, goodlooking, 7 lbs. 7 oz. baby boy. His name is Lucas Michael. ;) "


Welcome to Earth, Baby Lucas! Hope to see you and your beautiful mommy soon.

a lo-fi summer

summer days - phoenix

Manila, PH -- why, hello global warming! the long, hot summer on these islands has just begun. make that a long, hot, lo-fi summer. here's a preview of the next lofi issue from lomomanila, complete with soundtrack.

so nice (summer samba) - bebel gilberto

feel flows - beach boys

what i wouldn't give right now to watch bebel gilberto live, on the beach, with a cold one in my hand...

* thanks for the lomos + music, sparklemind