Just like a dream… In the morning the sea sound makes you jump from bed pretty early every morning. The breakfast is ready and it’s full of fruits, cheese, coconut, coffee and lots of different tropical juices.
Morro do Sao Paulo is the after carnival place, which is quite interesting, because, it’s a beautiful island without cars, the streets are made of sand; so you can walk from the beach to the city without shoes. The ambience here is between chilled out and not because there are still many parties during the week on the island.
At night time I didn’t want out to go anywhere, I spent the time just chillin’, and working a bit for the next video. While you take the sun, there are these guys that sell Açai (which is a fruit that comes from the Amazonas) frozen, with bananas, strawberries and honey… Also you can refresh yourself with some delicious coconut water… so good!
In the daytime, this place is a paradise, you can eat a great variety of seafood on the beach - mainly this cream that many restaurants have made of shrimps…mhhhhhh!! Lobsters, fish, tuna…
Near our place, we had four different beaches around, so you were able to choose the beach of your preference, we were in front of the beach number 1 which was just right beside beach number 2.
Beach number 2 was the tourist one, packed with açai sellers, stands selling coconut water, caipirinha stands, lots of restaurants, and people playing beach volleyball or a game similar to ping pong but without the table, and the beach was completely packed!
You only have to walk around 50 meters, to get onto the beach number 3, this beach was less packed and you were able to enjoy a nice show of kite boarding with very nice guys. I loved this beach!!! Just a couple of restaurants and kites: pretty nice.
But also there’s the beach number 4, this beach is like heavenly heaven because the beach was so lonely and peaceful, you can just go there and sit down in the small pools that are formed by big stones and sea water, which is the best since you can enjoy of the heat of the sun, but also refresh yourself at the same time. Lonely beach, no restaurants, no people, no sellers; just you and the beach, so quiet and calm.
At night time, this island is full of options, you can go and have a romantic dinner on the beach, surrounded by candles and hearing some live romantic Brazilian music and have a nice lobster.
You can find since Argentinean or Italian restaurant, as well local restaurants or you can eat something in ·“the beach street” like sweet and salty crepes, hot sticks of cheese or caipifrutas. This Island is packed of Israelis, Spanish and Argentineans so most of the people here understand Spanish and obviously was easier for me.
For me it was completely what I was looking for, the beach, the silence, the wonderful hammocks (I’m going to miss them), I can tell that I’m refreshed, and ready to keep on going into this wonderful trip.
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Monday, 18 February 2008
Carnival...
The carnival in Salvador was nothing like I expected…
Usually when you hear about carnival in Brazil, you think of the one in Rio.
Little did I know that there was more than just one carnival in Brazil.
I was expecting a large scale parade with girls in sparkling costumes on grand floats, dancing the samba and covered in bright coloured feathers, putting on a performance that had been rehearsed for months, perfectly choreographed to Brazilian music and lots of people on street watching the procession.
The carnival I did get to experience was a lot different. I would be the centre of the attraction, me and many other partygoers on the streets, in camarotes and everywhere. All of us dancing and singing to more traditional Brazilian songs, behind the trucks that had singers, dancers, instrument players giving us a show never to be forgotten.
Carnival in Salvador, is one of the largest street parties in the world, with up to 1.3 million people out there on any of the four days in happens.
There were these big rooms called “Camarotes” made of three of four stages with different kinds of food (sushi, Brazilian food, fruits covered with chocolate…), each floor had a view to the street so you were able to see what was going on in the streets. Inside, you could listen to more Brazilian music, dance, eat, drink exotic cocktails, and get your feet massaged when tired from all the dancing.
The camarotes are like the VIP of VIP areas, and for almost every minute you are well taken care of, all the while partying without getting into the crowds on the streets. The vibe is always amazing too.
We went to two different “camarotes” one called Espresso 2222 and Nana Banana, I liked Nana Banana more, because the Smirnoff lounge was in front of the beach. You were able to hear Brazilian music in front of the beach or dance on the sand and chill out there with your friends and the beautiful sky full of shining stars.
To get into the Camarote you needed a special T-shirt. Each day was a different colour, and this was how the bouncers would recognise that you were part of a certain camarote. On the day that we were going to be on the street as part of the parade, we also got a certain coloured T-shirt. We were also warned to take care of these, because in a way this was your ticket to the fun, if it got lost or misplaced it was like losing a ticket to a concert. The same rules applied.
For me the most original and exciting thing was that you could customize your T-shirts and make it your own style. Some were sexy, some were plain, some were outrageous, basically a way to reflect your personality. The Smirnoff organisers had hired seamstresses to customize your T-shirts in whatever way you wished -either a template design or something you came up with yourself. I preferred to customize them by myself as I have always enjoyed experimenting with my own clothing items.
After a long transit from chilly Shanghai to sunny Salvador, I was always the first to wake up and greet the morning sun with happiness. The heat was never uncomfortable and I loved the vitamin D!
The hotel we were staying at was also the home for several groups of people from all over, the biggest group being the South African team with 25 people.
We had this beautiful rooftop swimming pool with view of some of the city and most importantly an uninterrupted view of the deep blue calm ocean. My daytime was spent taking in some sun and drinking coconut water and just enjoying the warmth with the Smirnoff Ten team…
Mornings were also a nice surprise for me, the breakfasts were amazing, with a lot of fresh fruits and juices and a wide selection of breads and teas. I love all food that’s good for the body. Especially when you are in Brazil where almost everyone seems like a model, you have to try and at least feel good about your own body if you don’t want be depressed when seeing these gorgeous Brazilians in action.
During the meals, we would get entertainment, which was truly Brazilian, boys and girls dancing the samba for us. I definitely concentrated during these little shows so that I could show my skills later at the parties.
The Smirnoff organisers had a lot of things for us to do, day trips to see the city, shopping excursions and my very favourite was the traditional Brazilian barbeque lunch, which was at a “Churrascaria”
In this restaurant waiters come by every few minutes with different kinds of meat and serve you a healthy portion. With the juicy meat we had a wide selection of salad bar and more surprising was the sushi den. Yummy.
It was delicious and the company was even better, because the Smirnoff Ten were joined by the huge South African group; crew from MTV Africa, Smirnoff Spin competition winners and the coordinators. We were a big group of Smirnoff people and MTV Africa having a fabulous lunch with lots of laughs and great conversation…these guys were awesome and extremely funny. Would love to hang out with them more.
Carnival was an amazing experience and I will never forget it.
The time has ended though and the Smirnoff Ten need rest. Now the island of Morro de Sao Paolo is waiting for me…
Next stop, sun, sea and relaxation. PARADISE!!!!!
Usually when you hear about carnival in Brazil, you think of the one in Rio.
Little did I know that there was more than just one carnival in Brazil.
I was expecting a large scale parade with girls in sparkling costumes on grand floats, dancing the samba and covered in bright coloured feathers, putting on a performance that had been rehearsed for months, perfectly choreographed to Brazilian music and lots of people on street watching the procession.
The carnival I did get to experience was a lot different. I would be the centre of the attraction, me and many other partygoers on the streets, in camarotes and everywhere. All of us dancing and singing to more traditional Brazilian songs, behind the trucks that had singers, dancers, instrument players giving us a show never to be forgotten.
Carnival in Salvador, is one of the largest street parties in the world, with up to 1.3 million people out there on any of the four days in happens.
There were these big rooms called “Camarotes” made of three of four stages with different kinds of food (sushi, Brazilian food, fruits covered with chocolate…), each floor had a view to the street so you were able to see what was going on in the streets. Inside, you could listen to more Brazilian music, dance, eat, drink exotic cocktails, and get your feet massaged when tired from all the dancing.
The camarotes are like the VIP of VIP areas, and for almost every minute you are well taken care of, all the while partying without getting into the crowds on the streets. The vibe is always amazing too.
We went to two different “camarotes” one called Espresso 2222 and Nana Banana, I liked Nana Banana more, because the Smirnoff lounge was in front of the beach. You were able to hear Brazilian music in front of the beach or dance on the sand and chill out there with your friends and the beautiful sky full of shining stars.
To get into the Camarote you needed a special T-shirt. Each day was a different colour, and this was how the bouncers would recognise that you were part of a certain camarote. On the day that we were going to be on the street as part of the parade, we also got a certain coloured T-shirt. We were also warned to take care of these, because in a way this was your ticket to the fun, if it got lost or misplaced it was like losing a ticket to a concert. The same rules applied.
For me the most original and exciting thing was that you could customize your T-shirts and make it your own style. Some were sexy, some were plain, some were outrageous, basically a way to reflect your personality. The Smirnoff organisers had hired seamstresses to customize your T-shirts in whatever way you wished -either a template design or something you came up with yourself. I preferred to customize them by myself as I have always enjoyed experimenting with my own clothing items.
After a long transit from chilly Shanghai to sunny Salvador, I was always the first to wake up and greet the morning sun with happiness. The heat was never uncomfortable and I loved the vitamin D!
The hotel we were staying at was also the home for several groups of people from all over, the biggest group being the South African team with 25 people.
We had this beautiful rooftop swimming pool with view of some of the city and most importantly an uninterrupted view of the deep blue calm ocean. My daytime was spent taking in some sun and drinking coconut water and just enjoying the warmth with the Smirnoff Ten team…
Mornings were also a nice surprise for me, the breakfasts were amazing, with a lot of fresh fruits and juices and a wide selection of breads and teas. I love all food that’s good for the body. Especially when you are in Brazil where almost everyone seems like a model, you have to try and at least feel good about your own body if you don’t want be depressed when seeing these gorgeous Brazilians in action.
During the meals, we would get entertainment, which was truly Brazilian, boys and girls dancing the samba for us. I definitely concentrated during these little shows so that I could show my skills later at the parties.
The Smirnoff organisers had a lot of things for us to do, day trips to see the city, shopping excursions and my very favourite was the traditional Brazilian barbeque lunch, which was at a “Churrascaria”
In this restaurant waiters come by every few minutes with different kinds of meat and serve you a healthy portion. With the juicy meat we had a wide selection of salad bar and more surprising was the sushi den. Yummy.
It was delicious and the company was even better, because the Smirnoff Ten were joined by the huge South African group; crew from MTV Africa, Smirnoff Spin competition winners and the coordinators. We were a big group of Smirnoff people and MTV Africa having a fabulous lunch with lots of laughs and great conversation…these guys were awesome and extremely funny. Would love to hang out with them more.
Carnival was an amazing experience and I will never forget it.
The time has ended though and the Smirnoff Ten need rest. Now the island of Morro de Sao Paolo is waiting for me…
Next stop, sun, sea and relaxation. PARADISE!!!!!
Shanghai
My time in Shanghai has so far been one of the best! We were pretty busy doing some challenges that MTV Japan gave us, we had to make a film all about Shanghai, so we were split into two teams. I was with Akona, Thai Ben, John and Kareem, so we decided to make a cheesy kung fu dancing video, and we really had lots and lots of fun!!!! I was a kung fu dancing panda, and we went to lots of different tourist places to make our footage.
I celebrated my 27th B-Day in China and was unforgettable; we went to our favourite club in China called The Shelter (which was a bomb shelter a long time ago, and the place is full of tunnels and is pretty underground). They played minimal techno & IDM (my favourite style of music) so I really enjoyed my birthday!!!
Also in Shanghai was my first official Smirnoff party, and it was one of my happiest days of my life. Before the party we went to a Smirnoff cocktail dinner, which was delicious. It was set in a beautiful old style house-restaurant called Yong Foo Elite. There I found my new favourite drink: Lychee Martini with ginger… so good! And the best part is that we got a DISCO SMIRNOFF BUS that I felt in love with at first sight (ha-ha).
Then we had the Smirnoff Experience Shanghai event. It was awesome!!!
They had a bar with over 1300 different cocktails, made with teas, fruits and juices…
There was a special room, dedicated to find your favourite vodka martini, which like the cocktails, were also mainly made with teas and fruits.
The place had a silver birch forest, which is part of the Smirnoff filtration process, and you could hang wishes from the branches. The best part of the woods was the interactive headphones with birds singing!!!!
For me one of the highlights of the party was the water zone… it was a beautiful wall made of pearls with light reflected on it, so it looked like a real waterfall. You could be able to open the curtains and get water for free. And the other highlight of course, was the DJ, Sasha…I loved it! I grew up hearing his music, so I danced all night!!!!!
Mmmm… There was also lots of food!, Strawberries with chocolate were my favourite ones.
The cocktails were nice, full of fruits, toppings, teas, and sodas.
The line up of the night was an awesome drum battle, which Tom Middleton did with some local acts, a British rock band called Hard-Fi who were backed by some Chinese drummers, and then Sasha who played an exclusive rock remix set.
The drum battle was beautiful and very powerful and energetic - I really liked it. For me Sasha was the best, everyone was non-stop dancing, the event was a little bit cold, but nobody cared about it because of the venue and the music and the drinks and the food!
There were girls everywhere giving you gifts like cabaret feathers for the head and taking Polaroid pictures in a small spot simulating Moscow, with fake snow!!!!
After the event of Shanghai, we went to an after party in a super original place called The Wall, where Sasha came and played another special set.
China has been a beautiful experience, it’s a beautiful place full of history, and full of new life, it’s an ancient country but also it’s renewing all the time, the music scene is brand new, so they have lots of different kinds of music that are in “vogue”, like MC’s, Hip Hop, Jazz & Electronic music in all varieties.
Shanghai is now my favourite city!!!
I celebrated my 27th B-Day in China and was unforgettable; we went to our favourite club in China called The Shelter (which was a bomb shelter a long time ago, and the place is full of tunnels and is pretty underground). They played minimal techno & IDM (my favourite style of music) so I really enjoyed my birthday!!!
Also in Shanghai was my first official Smirnoff party, and it was one of my happiest days of my life. Before the party we went to a Smirnoff cocktail dinner, which was delicious. It was set in a beautiful old style house-restaurant called Yong Foo Elite. There I found my new favourite drink: Lychee Martini with ginger… so good! And the best part is that we got a DISCO SMIRNOFF BUS that I felt in love with at first sight (ha-ha).
Then we had the Smirnoff Experience Shanghai event. It was awesome!!!
They had a bar with over 1300 different cocktails, made with teas, fruits and juices…
There was a special room, dedicated to find your favourite vodka martini, which like the cocktails, were also mainly made with teas and fruits.
The place had a silver birch forest, which is part of the Smirnoff filtration process, and you could hang wishes from the branches. The best part of the woods was the interactive headphones with birds singing!!!!
For me one of the highlights of the party was the water zone… it was a beautiful wall made of pearls with light reflected on it, so it looked like a real waterfall. You could be able to open the curtains and get water for free. And the other highlight of course, was the DJ, Sasha…I loved it! I grew up hearing his music, so I danced all night!!!!!
Mmmm… There was also lots of food!, Strawberries with chocolate were my favourite ones.
The cocktails were nice, full of fruits, toppings, teas, and sodas.
The line up of the night was an awesome drum battle, which Tom Middleton did with some local acts, a British rock band called Hard-Fi who were backed by some Chinese drummers, and then Sasha who played an exclusive rock remix set.
The drum battle was beautiful and very powerful and energetic - I really liked it. For me Sasha was the best, everyone was non-stop dancing, the event was a little bit cold, but nobody cared about it because of the venue and the music and the drinks and the food!
There were girls everywhere giving you gifts like cabaret feathers for the head and taking Polaroid pictures in a small spot simulating Moscow, with fake snow!!!!
After the event of Shanghai, we went to an after party in a super original place called The Wall, where Sasha came and played another special set.
China has been a beautiful experience, it’s a beautiful place full of history, and full of new life, it’s an ancient country but also it’s renewing all the time, the music scene is brand new, so they have lots of different kinds of music that are in “vogue”, like MC’s, Hip Hop, Jazz & Electronic music in all varieties.
Shanghai is now my favourite city!!!
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