Tsukiji 築地

*UPDATE: Sad, due to some raucous foreigners, Tsukiji will be closed to tourists from 12/15-1/17 (Japanese article)

I have written a ton about Tokyo and the fish market as well as the Tsukiji restaurants. Had another amazing meal at Sushi-bun, yum :) Adding a video of the auction from 6am this morning!

Rio de Janeiro

September 2008

I took a five day trip to Rio de Janeiro with my parents, brother and his best friend Jesse.

Cliff note version:
- Facebook album [60 pics]
- Ofoto album [414 pics]
- Food blog: Brazil [12 entries]

I arrived at GIG at 7am off of a 10 hour connection from Atlanta. After fairly smooth customs and baggage claim, I was met by a car service from the Sheraton Rio where my family and I were staying near Leblon. The driver, Celso was very nice and attentive, which is good since we had an hour drive through rush hour traffic. I was too early to check in, and too cheap to pay to do so, so I left my bags and head out to Leblon until my parents, brother and Jesse got in.

The walk to Leblon from the Sheraton along the sidewalk is about 15 minutes for a normal paced person (20 min for me). It was a bit overcast so not a wonderful view but I imagine Leblon and Ipanema beach would be gorgeous along the walkway. I walked along the beach a bit, saw some surfers, a beach volleyball school and huts with coconuts.

Crossed two blocks into Av Ataulfo de Paiva, which the concierge said was a main drag with stores and restaurants. It was a bit hit or miss with the stores (got one pair of cute sandals at a mall like place, and went back later for more with the ‘rents where I was a bit more successful at the shopping plaza). Stopped at Bibi Sucos for some açai, then picked up a coconut for some juice on my walk back.

With the parents, brother and his friend Jesse in tow, we walked back into town for lunch at Fellini, a buffet style ‘per kilo’ lunch place. We did some shopping, walking off our late lunch, before stopping at SaLitre, a super cute wine bar for a bottle of Catena chardonnay. After a little siesta (I know wrong country), we were off to a wonderful dinner at Zaza, where we had our introduction to cachaça, a sugar cane based liquor. Wow is pretty tough in shot form, and more commonly used in the Brazilian national cocktail, the caipirinha. We had an hour before we were getting picked up and wandered across Garota de Ipanema, where we had chope (draft beer) and garlic chicken hearts, yum!

My dad arranged a full day tour for our second day. We got picked up at the hotel at 8:45am by Yoshida-san, our Japanese tour guide (my brother and I translated for Jesse) and Paolo, our driver. While it seemed excessive at first, it was the best bang for buck for getting a complete tour of Rio.

We started with the famous, and New Seven Wonder, Cristo Redentor on top of Corcovado. It is about a 30R fee I think, to take the cog train to the top. Sit on the right side on the way up for a spectacular 10 second view. At the last stop, we walked up a few flights of steps to the back of the enormous Christ (there is also an elevator which my parents opted for). This place is amazing – we didn’t get to test but it is said that you can see Christ from anywhere in Rio. Check out the 360 view on youtube. It was not too packed at top, and we spent time taking many many pictures of the Cristo, ourselves and the views before heading to the next site. The train down had samba entertainment, and both me and my mom got pulled up to dance (youtube).

We were on an early train, which was the way to do Corcovado – train was totally packed on the way down and there were people at the bottom waiting for over an hour to go up. Also, Yoshida-san said the sun is positioned for better photos in the morning and there is more likely to be haze in the afternoon which obscures the phenomenal views.

Maracanã Football Stadium was our next stop. It is the largest soccer stadium in the world – I think Rio has four teams that play in the city, Pan American games were here last year and the World Cup finals will come back here in 2014. The entrance way has a Hollywood stars-like patio with legendary soccer players names and molds of their footprints. 20R admission to go up to the seats, the locker room and the field. Along the tour are life size photographs where we had some fun pretending to be part of the action.

Then we saw the locker rooms, which are quite bare, though it was cool to see the Astroturf warm up room with a full size goal and lounge chairs that pull down during halftime. We also got to be the only people on the field, or the little cordoned off part that you can visit. Next time, I want to go to a game!

We drove through Lapa and few other neighborhoods and stopped at Sambódromo, the open stadium where Carnival parade of dancers and singers happens each year in February. Another ‘next time in Rio’ activity – I would love to be here for Carnival and experience the festivities at Sambódromo, watching teams of thousands of dancers and singers in competition through the night.

We passed the aqueducts and stopped at the crazy new church downtown before lunch at a Choperia Brazooka, a beer house (and samba club at night) where we tried the traditional Saturday meal of feijeoda, a black-bean dish cooked with salted pork and other meats. Quite yummy, along with some chope, or draft beer.

Our final stop on the tour was Pão de Açúcar, or Sugarloaf, which you get to by taking two cable cars, strung between the top and a nearby peak. It is the other famous tourist spot for magnificent 360-degree views of Rio de Janeiro. We could see Corcovado, though the afternoon brought some haze and all of the views were a bit misty looking. We saw little ‘pocket monkeys’ who were cute, though I suspect less friendly than we think. There were crazy winds up at the top, and also people settling into the benches and tables with beers as they waited for the sunset, which is supposed to be gorgeous from the summit.

We had our first churrascaria meal that night at Espaço Brasa Leblon. Meat was good, though I actually think I liked the salad bar best. After several drinks and bottles of wine, my parents head home, and my brother, Jesse and I hit Saturday night in Lapa, where all of the samba clubs and bars are. We went to Rio Scenarium, which I think may be somewhat touristy, but we had a ton of fun, drinking and dancing into the wee hours. We got some fun footage from the club!




September 7th is Brazilian Independence Day, which is celebrated each year with a military parade on Av Presidente Vargas. It starts at the church Candelária at one end of the street. The cab let my parents and I out at the church, where we walked by the staging area with rows of tanks and military personnel, before settling on the sidewalk with some locals. It was kind of surreal to see that much firepower in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Every soldier was carrying some rifle or bayonet or machine gun or rocket launcher (if they were not in the band) and were fully dressed in camouflage gear, face paint down to boots, not to mention the tanks – I don’t have the vocabulary to describe the enormous contraptions that thundered down the street. Every 20 minutes or so, helicopters, fighter jets, transport planes or something of the sort would scream overhead. The parade lasted a few hours and included different branches of the military (army, navy, air force), MP, national, prefecture, and local police, SWAT teams, riot cops, canine forces, firefighting units, and finally the cavalry. Now that was amazing… we were wondering why the horses were lined up but waiting for so long after the firemen. All of a sudden, they start galloping – hundred of riders, not all in control, or maybe the horses were freaking out. You have to see the video to understand how crazy it was. (Also makes sense that the horses were last, they left a lot of crap in their wake)

After the official parade, the civilian protesters and political parties started marching, but pretty fast, because they were then followed by an extremely efficient, official clean up crew of huge sweeping trucks, hosing vehicles and garbage pick up crews. Overall, if you are ever in Rio for Sept 7, the parade is very cool and I think quite a local experience. We were definitely the only tourists there.

We happened on the Centro Cultural Banco Do Brasil, CCBB when we went in searching for bathrooms and found this cool cultural center, free to public with some exhibits. We walked through a photography one that were great prints that had to do with land and water, beautiful shots from around the world, though it was also cool because a lot were from places we knew like NYC, Quechee VT, and several European cities.

We finally found a cap and were dropped off at Praça General Osório in Ipanema where the Hippie Fair (or Feira de Arte de Ipanema) happens every Sunday fro 9am-5pm. It takes up the whole park and has jewelry, leatherwork, furniture, clothes, art, and any other chochkies you could want. I got a very nice leather laptop case backpack (paid a bit for it but it is really nice), several wristlet clutches for 15R (~$10), and a few purses for the same, a 5R necklace, and several paintings for 25R.

My brother and Jesse spent the day beaching at Copacabana. I definitely missed out on the beach vacation because we went home after the market, and it rained for the remainder of the trip. But they had fun.

We dined at Osteria Dell’Angelo in Ipanema that night (great squid ink risotto) and called it an early night.

On the rainy Monday morning, my parents and I head to Museu H Stern, on Rua Visconde de Pirajá. They offer free admission and transport from your hotel for a 15 minute tour of gem mining and the process of turning them into jewelry plus a showcase of the jewels (and consultation in case you are in the market for some nice jewelry – btw Brazil and the US have a nice deal where Brazilian gems, of which there is a specified list, are duty-free and you don’t pay Brazilian taxes). Then Take and Jesse joined us for our first light meal at Via Sete around the corner.

After a relaxing afternoon, we set off for our last meal at Porçao Ipanema, one of a few Porçao churrascaria restaurants. The salad bar was a little less robust than Espaco Brasa, but the meat was phenomenal. We were quite happy and full after a few hours. The waiters are super friendly (as they are generally in Rio), and we learned to ask for meat malpasado, which got us rare, bloody pieces of animal.

We then head to Academia de Cachaça in Leblon for our last taste of the toxic Brazilian liquor. The spot was a little shady (we definitely saw some drug deals across the street), but they have an amazing collection of cachaça and we ordered a number of shots of different cachaças as well as mixed drinks (I liked the shot with honey and brown sugar). We ended the night quite contented :)

San Diego

*Here is great advice for things to do in San Diego from my wonderful roommate Eric*

Downtown has a lot of typical city stuff - it is the financial center of the area with a lot of tall buildings, restaurants, bars, and clubs. In general people go to downtown for fun when they want to go clubbing (there are some cool ones!) or go to a baseball game.

As for places to surf, Mission Beach would probably be your best bet. I haven't rented equipment there before, but I'm sure you won't have any problems if you go there. In Mission Beach there's a popular bar where bands play almost nightly - it's called Canes. There is also an informal restaurant upstairs where you can get food/drinks overlooking the beach. Anyway, almost next door and in the same parking lot, there is a surf shop - I'm sure you can rent equipment there.

• Sea World
  Cool to see if you've never been there - maybe budget a half day…
  
• Mission Beach area has nice beaches
  See above… it also has a nice area to walk by the beach
  
• Just north of that is Pacific Beach, which is basically the party neighborhood. About 15 min drive from Sheraton
  Yes, PB is where all of the 20 somethings party. It is well known in the SD area as the party town. You can have a good time pretty much any night of the week. If you go on a weekend night, expect some lines… PB Bar and Grill is probably the most popular place, so it would be good to get a feel for what the area is like. Moondoggies is more mellow and good for early drinks…
  
• North of that is La Jolla, which is a really really nice area that is super pretty, if you have a car might be worth driving around. Good shopping too apparently.
  La Jolla is a ritzy town, where all of the rich people who want to live near the beach live. Parts of it are really pretty, so it might be worth a drive. The very north end (La Jolla Village Drive) is where UCSD is - it's pretty and Scripps, which is right there, has the nicest beach. Just south of there, around Prospect St is where most of the shopping is. It is also a pretty area…
  
• I think he said Sunset Cliffs is nice for beaches
  Sunset Cliffs doesn't have great "beaches", but it does have beautiful landscapes. Basically it's where small cliffs meet the ocean. If the swell is big, there will be a lot of surfers near the cliffs. Definitely worth the drive to check the area out.
  
• The harbor is pretty to walk around as well, downtown, actually near the Westin. Marina Park and stuff.
  Yup, that's about right - near the civic center/ball park is also nice. See above for more about downtown.
  
• Old Town San Diego is right on the other side of the airport from the Sheraton, and he hasn’t been there much, but is supposed to have amazing Mexican food.
  That's right too. Old Town is just south of where the 5 and 8 freeways intersect.
  
• Drive 15 miles south and you are in Tijuana
  Be sure to bring your passport if you decide to go! And be really safe if you decide to go! Tijuana is pretty dirty. I never hung out in Tijuana. Ensenada or even Rosarito are nicer than Tijuana.

One more thing - if you want to drive north of La Jolla, the beach towns north of there, including Solana Beach, Cardiff, and Encinitas are really cool and quaint.

Munich

January 2008

I love Munich. I would move here if I spoke German. It was named the world's Most Livable City by the International Herald Tribune with highlights on infrastructure, ambiance, and work-life balance.

I arrived at Franz Josef Strauss International Airport in Munich on a Monday morning. It is about a 60 euro cab ride into Munich proper, at the Hilton Munich City by Rosenheimerplatz. There is an S-bahn station right next to it, and was an easy two stops to Marienplatz, the downtown and old town area.

I walked around the old town, stopping in at Frauenkirche, the basilica with the two famous onion domes. Very pretty. At 11am, noon and 5pm, the famous glockenspiel in Marienplatz does its little song and dance. It's kind of funny to see all of the tourists in the plaza staring up to the tower.After my first glockenspiel show, I wandered over to Viktualienmarkt, a permanent food market off of Marienplatz. I loooved it, I would be here every week if I lived here. Meat shops, cheese, vegetables, and I found this one like pickles and antipasti place. I was kind of hungry so I got a bratwurst, some olives and artichoke, and a mug of beer and had a wonderful little lunch at the tables.

After lunch, I climed the many many steps of Peterskirsche, or St. Peters, where I think I had my favorite view of the city. Really nice up there, spent a bit of time just walking around the tower and people watching in the market and plaza (though they kind of look like ants). I walked up north to Residenz and Hofgarten, then back down to meet my co-workers. Dinner was at an old fashioned Bavarian place, as many of my meals would be. See http://aki-eats.blogspot.com/ for a bunch of them.

Spent most of the week in meetings, with beer and food and clubs at night. Quite a fun town.

On Friday afternoon, a few of us took a train from Munich out to Kirchberg, which is a town by Kitzbuhel in the Alps. A cute little place with wonderful skiing (when it was snowing).

We returned Saturday night, and in the morning a friend and I went to Cafe am Beethovenplatz, which was my favorite place in Munich. It is in the University district and is in an old hall (looks like New England colleges), with high ceilings and cramped tables and a live classical piano and cellist. Just wonderful.