Enchanted by Brazil: The Food Report

“Ten days or less, we should be through Brazil”, so we thought before even entering into the country, and we couldn’t be more wrong. Three weeks later, we are still here in this amazing country.

Let’s start with food – of course, what else! Our eyes popped so wide open like you wouldn’t believe when we saw so many different veggies, spices, fish and meat choices, yes, so many that we wish we grew more eyes and stomachs!

Just like how the Brazilian official language (Portuguese) being different from the rest of South America’s (Spanish), the Brazilian cuisine has uniqueness written all of it too: deep-fried balls made with dried fish, delicious pizzas with four different toppings on one, ONE DOZEN juicy and fresh oysters for THREE DOLLARS, and don’t even get me started with those exotic fruit juices! It was the ultimate approval for our trip extension.

Midnight Snack: Fresh oysters!

So many choices, we are in fruit and juices heaven!

As much as beans and rice being the staple food in Brazil,  you will find plenty of different cuisines. We had juicy steaks at a churrascaria (meat grill) that made us go wow in Porto Alegre, too much homemade seafood in Florianapolis (Thanks to Claudia!), sinful-tasty home-brewed beer in Curitiba (Thanks to Luis!), Shu-100%-approved Chinese food in Sao Paolo (Thanks to Marisa!), tasty local fish in Corumba, and dined in plenty great per-kilo (N.B. pay-by-food-weight) restaurants.

Menu from Churrastaria – the actuals look better!

Q loving the artisanal beer!

Honestly I am not doing Brazil justice by only mentioning the food and drinks without going into the details of their flavors and textures, which made us salivate non-stop for the past few weeks – Very lame but true!

For food alone, Brazil is a country well-worth returning to over and over. Not to mention the drop-dead-gorgeous sceneries and tropically-warm people. (More on them later.)

Brazil, Brazil, Brazil. We will dream of you.

And The Answer Is… (Warning: You Probably Will Not Like It!)

Before giving the answer to the quiz question posted earlier, I need to explain a traditional Brazilian kids’ favorite sports – "cerol”. It is a form of kite fighting, involving coating the kite lines with tiny broken glasses stuck on with glue, so they can cutting other kite lines. It was rather harmless to the kite-flyers when they wear gloves to fly the kites.

(photo for illustration only)

But you probably guessed it, cerol kites are extremely dangerous for motorcycles on the roads, with broken kite strings end up dangled in trees along the roads. After causing some serious accidents to motorcycle riders, cerol has been banned by the Brazilian government. But it is still quite popular in country side, so accidents are still reported every year. Luckily we were warned by our Couchsurfing hosts in Sao Paolo, and were told to get our very own anti-cerol device: it is mounted in the front of the motorcycle, and the hook on the top can cut off any dangerous cerol lines. So there you go, it is a string-cutting safety device.

Now not only we feel safer travelling with our new accessory, but it will serve as a souvenir from Brazil!

Sons of Maria

Our couchsurfing host Maria rushed out of her apartment building and greeted us with warm hugs. Already her smile made us feel a lot more at ease after a long day of travelling.  It is Rio de Janeiro after all, a city with high-crime reputation that made us quite a bit nervous. After all we have received enough warnings from fellow Brazilians.

Maria introduced us to her mother first, then later on her younger son David who was in his early-twenties and was surprisingly shy around strangers. During a later conversation, Maria mentioned that both her sons were professional ballet dancers. “Oh yeah, I read in your Couchsurfing profile that you dance samba very well!”I said to Maria,”So it runs in the family!” Maria heard me and just smiled.

The second day morning while having breakfast, we heard Maria’s mother singing to songs played in the radio. Such a beautiful voice to a body weakening by cancer. I commented to Maria and was told that Mother had been singing in a choir up until last year even through several years’ cancer treatment. Once again I commented,”Looks like plenty artistic genes in your family!” Again Maria just smiled.

Later that day the topic of Maria’s sons’ performances came up again while we were in the kitchen. While showing me photos of various performances, Maria casually mentioned me that both her sons were actually adopted. David at birth, and the older son Javier much later. “How?” My curiosity never ends.

Maria carried on flipping the photo album and pointing here and there while answering:“Well, David and Javier became friends when they studied in the same dance school since they were boys. Many years later, Javier’s family found out that he was gay and kicked him out on the street, so he had been staying with different friends. For a while he was staying at my home and we got along great. The little while turned to a longer time period. Then one day Javier asked me if he can invite some friends over. Of course.”

“Then he asked,’When I invite my friends, instead of saying that it is at my friend’s mom’s house, can I just say it is at my mom’s house?’”

“That was a few years’ back, and we have been a family since then. Now Javier wears a tattoo that says Son of Maria.”

When Maria finished telling the story, I saw through my teary eyes that her hands were still caressing through the photos. It was with such tenderness and pride.

Rio de Janeiro is indeed what people call “Cidade Maravilhosa”, Marvelous City. It gives you what you are looking for if you look hard enough. Some times hope, sometimes fear, and sometimes even a mother.

Fine Print: The names in the story are changed to respect family’s privacy, but this is a real story.

Quiz Question

Some say the following accessory is for back-scratching. Some say it is for fishing. What do you think it is for? I will give you a clue. It is commonly used by motorcycles in Brazil!

Live from Uruguay

The photo album of Uruguay part of the journey is here. The highlight was undoubtedly the amazing drum performance by Nico Arnicho. We thank our Couchsurfing host Javi for this wonderful tip! Check out this video that Q took. (If you cannot see the video link, click here.)

Personally I thought Uruguay was a small country with strong beats that should not be missed.

Now onto Brasil!

A is for Asado in Argentina

Now that we are heading north, we have left the gaucho (cowboy) country behind. However I feel compelled to blog about one of the most essential cultural signatures in Argentina: Asado.

Asado is essentially barbeque, but done in a very patient and artful way. A typical asado consists of many different types of meats, besides the common steaks, there are often interesting parts like intestines, sweet bread, blood sausages - all the same delicious in different ways. A good asado is served over the course of several hours, with the meat selection getting increasingly better and more delicious.

Just about every Argentinian man takes extreme pride in his techniques in making the perfect BBQ - it may cause a heated debate as to who is the best asador. But there is no doubt in my mind that the best BBQ is in Argentina.

We have had the honour of joining a few and it never failed to impress. Here are some great asado moments. (Sorry to make you drool, dad!)

(Courtesy of Juan Pablo in Puerto Madryn)

(Courtesy of Claudia y German in Tucuman)

(Courtesy of Bas y Sas in Buenos Aires)

There, A is for Asado. Now you know the most single important cultural fact about Argentina. If only if you can taste the meat yourself. So tender, so delicious…

“Where Are You From?”

It is one of the most frequent questions we get from the curious strangers, and it is the one we dread answering most. Some days I feel like getting the following laminated and stick it to our foreheads.

Driver: Half-Filipino Dutch.

Passenger: Chinese Canadian.

Motorcycle: UAE-registered German.

Bet you can’t imagine all the questions that answer would invite, and very quickly instead of a 10-second speed chat, we are telling the whole dozen-page story. Sometimes hearing myself makes me feel like a broken record player, telling bits and pieces about ourselves and trying not to be too confusing at the same time.

Often we just reduce our answers to single words, out of sheer laziness. Mine is “Chinese” and Q’s is “Holland”.  But with a slightly more educated or observant crowd, Q gets himself into trouble with the simplified answer. “You don’t look very Dutch.”

Crap. Here goes the broken record again. I guess at the end of it, we are eager to see those satisfied nods because we too can be curious sometimes.

So where are you from?

The Switch

I knew it would happen. I just didn’t know when.

As you may have noticed in my recent postings, I missed home a little too much, in fact I couldn’t stop dreaming about it. I really really missed home. All the strange environments I wake up to every day morning, always different and strange, sometimes clean, sometimes dirty or smelly, even worse buggy. The thought of home grew stronger and stronger, and I am nowhere near it. It was getting too much, and I knew I had to stop, but I didn’t know how.

I was so homesick that I couldn’t even make up my mind as to what to do for the next few months. Should we stay in South America, or perhaps go to another part of world, or settle down somewhere for a while? I couldn’t decide because what I wanted was a home. I began to feel like a baby who can’t take its mind off the unreachable cookie jar.

Then I sat myself down, and asked myself what does it take to stop obsessing about home. I don’t know about your conscious, but mine isn’t always available when I call. Eventually it came to me. Somewhere along the way, I forgot to look at what we have and simply appreciate them. We are having a once-in-a-life time and doing the things that we have been dreamt to do for ages.

So I switched myself back on, re-appreciating my two sets of clothes and Casa. And you know what, my home sickness is gone. Just like that. Now more than ever, I am looking forward to explore more of South America in the coming few months with Q, Casa, and everything else we have with us.

Speaking of which, you may wonder where Q was in this whole picture. Well, he was the silent supporter. Don´t we all love one. I love mine.

Happy New Year, Everyone! Enjoy your home for us. :)(:

(Photos from our Christmas celebration with friends in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Muchas gracias, Gaby, Ber y la familia!)

Roadside Stops

There is a reason why at some of the road-side stops, I only walk around and stretch my legs, but refuse to drink or eat, even if I could certainly use a bit of both. Because it is a 10-step process to get anything in my mouth.

1. Release right-hand glove velcro straps (2).

2. Release left-hand glove velcro straps (2).

3. Pull out sunglasses.

4. Release motorcycle helmet buckle.

5. Pull off helmet.

6. Stuff the sunglass in one of the gloves, and stuff gloves in helmet so they don’t get blown away or misplaced.

7. Find a flat surface (ground usually) and put helmet on it so it doesn’t get blown off.

8. Pull off balaclava off face. (Before you panick, the face below is not mine, but of a fellow overland motorcyclist.)

9. Feed self with water and snacks.

10. Reverse steps 1-8 to get ready for the ride again.

I won’t bother you with the steps involved in dealing with nature calls.

That is why sometimes I try feed myself chocolate this way. Enjoy your ginger-bread cookies, everyone!!

End of The World at Last

Six months into our travelling, we have reached a significant milestone of our travelling – Ushuaia, Argentina, known as “El Fin Del Mundo” (The End of the World). For situating at ~54 degree south, it is the most southern city in the world, and we are standing at it!!

To be honest, Ushuaia didn’t quite feel like the end of the world with some more islands scattered to its south. But it is such a stunningly beautiful place, I am more than happy to live with this end-of-the-world memory.

So we should be jumping up and down at this highlight. Except there is something missing, or rather we are missing something. Home. Not just a Casa with two wheels and two sets of clothes. Our purple sofa. Our worn-out coffee-table. Our sharp knives. Half a year of bed-hopping (ha!) later, we have a serious case of home-sickness. So now you can guess what my new year’s resolution is.

Happy preparation for the holiday season, everyone! :)