Woke up at 7:00 am, Scott E. has a doctor’s appointment as he can’t seem to shake this cold/flu thing that he brought with him. Man I feel for the guy but he’s still slugging it out like a real trooper! After a quick breakfast we were off to the Encana visit in beautiful Barra, a suburb of Rio where all of the soccer stars live. The beach was absolutely gorgeous, an un-crowded 18km of paradise and a great looking place for a family vacation.
The Encana presentation was very interesting, a Canadian guy was the speaker and they kindly took us out for Churrascaria at Barra Bistra,…man it was a real carnivore hoedown!
That afternoon was our visit to Petrobras Transperto (the pipeline arm of Petrobras). We were able to visit a training control room and then got to see the real thing at the flick of a switch. The other great thing about the visit was that we were really in the business centre of Rio, and man it was active!
We had a second Churrascaria of the day for dinner , whew, along with many Caipiriha’s. We were then off to "Platforma 1" which was a mixture of Canivale and Las Vegas. It wasn’t bad, a little on the cheesy side but there was a great Capoeira demonstration and many tall Brazilian women to oogle, I have never seen Yonglie more excited. We were then back on the bus and returned to the hotel for a few beers before hitting the hay.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Rio de Janeiro – Day 4 (May 5)
Went to “Top Beer” last night right on the main strip facing Copacabana Beach. Had a really good pizza and more draught beer. The street vendors who I assume were on the beach earlier in the day moved up to the restaurants and would float around the fringes of the restaurant hawking their wares. They were pretty persistent but moved on when you said “Nao Obrigado”. There are lots or prostitutes in Rio and kids begging for change,…poverty really is running “head-on” into wealth on Copacabana Beach. This part of Rio is vibrant and alive, however there is an underlying seediness about it.
Went to bed at midnight and woke early as we are right over the kitchen. The staff was getting ready for breakfast, but I swore they had filled a giant pot with water and coffee cups and they were just stirring them around,.. what a racket! Ah well… We had a visit with Brascan at Rio Sul shopping mall, a property owned and managed by Brascan. The presentation was excellent and very informative, the presenter was quite terse and short with his comments, but I can tell that’s his style. We spent two hours in the shopping mall, and it really reminded me of shopping in the suburbs of Verona. The stores were pretty uninspiring and the prices were not that much cheaper that back at home.
A quick drive to Impanema for a great lunch in a small Italian restaurant. Sat with Barry, Scotty and Sheri (seafood pasta and chicken/fish). Bought a bottle of cachaca for making Caipiriha’s when I get home! We then had a business visit to CEG-Rio which is the gas distribution company for the city of Rio de Janeiro and RJ state. The presentation was excellent and the presenters were all very engaged and excited about us being there. I am impressed by the level of English in both Rio and Sao Paulo, all of our meetings so far have been held in English and the business people are very well-spoken.
Back to the hotel for a quick shower, changed into my suit and waited for Roberto Dizin to pick me up. (For those of you who don’t know, Roberto is a business associate of mine who has been selling GEO-SLOPE software in Brazil since 1991). Roberto arrived in his VW Jetta and drop me back to his wonderful apartment. From what I could tell it was the top floor (8th storey) of a 1950’s building that was very quaint and large. We had a fantastic meal cooked by Roberto’s housekeeper Maria, and Roberto had invited Hobson (ABACUS) Carlina (FURNAS) Carmello (Carlina’s husband) and Mama Diniz (Roberto’s mother). The dinner was a beautiful whitefish in tomato sauce with prawns, followed by a marvelous beef tenderloin marinated in a rich sauce, rice, manioc, salad and that tasty Brazilian coffee. The desert was a coconut pudding drizzled with a fruit syrup and then covered with figs or plums,…simply scrumptious. Roberto drove me back to the hotel at about 12:30 and I crashed heavily into bed.
Went to bed at midnight and woke early as we are right over the kitchen. The staff was getting ready for breakfast, but I swore they had filled a giant pot with water and coffee cups and they were just stirring them around,.. what a racket! Ah well… We had a visit with Brascan at Rio Sul shopping mall, a property owned and managed by Brascan. The presentation was excellent and very informative, the presenter was quite terse and short with his comments, but I can tell that’s his style. We spent two hours in the shopping mall, and it really reminded me of shopping in the suburbs of Verona. The stores were pretty uninspiring and the prices were not that much cheaper that back at home.
A quick drive to Impanema for a great lunch in a small Italian restaurant. Sat with Barry, Scotty and Sheri (seafood pasta and chicken/fish). Bought a bottle of cachaca for making Caipiriha’s when I get home! We then had a business visit to CEG-Rio which is the gas distribution company for the city of Rio de Janeiro and RJ state. The presentation was excellent and the presenters were all very engaged and excited about us being there. I am impressed by the level of English in both Rio and Sao Paulo, all of our meetings so far have been held in English and the business people are very well-spoken.
Back to the hotel for a quick shower, changed into my suit and waited for Roberto Dizin to pick me up. (For those of you who don’t know, Roberto is a business associate of mine who has been selling GEO-SLOPE software in Brazil since 1991). Roberto arrived in his VW Jetta and drop me back to his wonderful apartment. From what I could tell it was the top floor (8th storey) of a 1950’s building that was very quaint and large. We had a fantastic meal cooked by Roberto’s housekeeper Maria, and Roberto had invited Hobson (ABACUS) Carlina (FURNAS) Carmello (Carlina’s husband) and Mama Diniz (Roberto’s mother). The dinner was a beautiful whitefish in tomato sauce with prawns, followed by a marvelous beef tenderloin marinated in a rich sauce, rice, manioc, salad and that tasty Brazilian coffee. The desert was a coconut pudding drizzled with a fruit syrup and then covered with figs or plums,…simply scrumptious. Roberto drove me back to the hotel at about 12:30 and I crashed heavily into bed.
Sao Paulo – Day 3 (May 4)
Early checkout of the hotel (7:00 am) and a quick breakfast before boarding the bus for our first business visit of the day. We drove North for about 90 minutes and started to get into a more rural setting that seemed to support a large number of small industrial plants and warehouses. On the drive up I was amazed at the different types of trees, including a eucalyptus plantation and some massive pine trees that were just large spiky balls on the ends of branches, almost like a poodle with a bad haircut. The presentation at Husky Injection Molding was interesting, as the company has a Canadian connection and seems to be doing well in Brazil. We had a plant tour from one of the engineers, a German gentleman named Thomas who has been “in-country” for six years and has managed to marry a Brazilian girl.
On the drive back we stopped in a magical little town named Embu for a sightseeing and shopping excursion. The town was originally founded by Jesuits in the 1900’s like Sao Paulo. However unlike its larger sister city it has been left mostly untouched since then. The streets are quaint and lined with cobblestones, old churches and museums stand shoulder to shoulder and the town square still plays an integral role of a gathering place for the towns artisan residents. Embu is geared towards one thing, selling crafts. Wood carvings, handmade furniture, jewelry, weavings, you name it,…they’ve got it. We had lunch at an authentic German Biergarten where there were many other blond patrons,…bratwurst and sauerkraut were very good with a few cold beers to wash it down (20 Reals).
We drove back to Sao Paulo Airport, had a smooth check in and picked up a Brazil t-shirt for the kid. Must try to call home tonight if I can figure out the damn phone cards…Off to Rio de Janeiro
=====================================
Thoughts:
Got some great pictures today of dogs and kids in Embu
The main river/canal in Sao Paulo is being dredged and the banks are being covered with concrete and vegitation,..quite a big geotechnical project
The soil is very red in Sao Paulo
I saw real favelas (slums) today. They are very much like what I saw in Jamaica, however they are usually perched precariously on top of a hill or spilling down into the valley like running water.
The forests are very dense, green and tall. Eucalyptus and strange bally-pines dominate.
On the drive back we stopped in a magical little town named Embu for a sightseeing and shopping excursion. The town was originally founded by Jesuits in the 1900’s like Sao Paulo. However unlike its larger sister city it has been left mostly untouched since then. The streets are quaint and lined with cobblestones, old churches and museums stand shoulder to shoulder and the town square still plays an integral role of a gathering place for the towns artisan residents. Embu is geared towards one thing, selling crafts. Wood carvings, handmade furniture, jewelry, weavings, you name it,…they’ve got it. We had lunch at an authentic German Biergarten where there were many other blond patrons,…bratwurst and sauerkraut were very good with a few cold beers to wash it down (20 Reals).
We drove back to Sao Paulo Airport, had a smooth check in and picked up a Brazil t-shirt for the kid. Must try to call home tonight if I can figure out the damn phone cards…Off to Rio de Janeiro
=====================================
Thoughts:
Got some great pictures today of dogs and kids in Embu
The main river/canal in Sao Paulo is being dredged and the banks are being covered with concrete and vegitation,..quite a big geotechnical project
The soil is very red in Sao Paulo
I saw real favelas (slums) today. They are very much like what I saw in Jamaica, however they are usually perched precariously on top of a hill or spilling down into the valley like running water.
The forests are very dense, green and tall. Eucalyptus and strange bally-pines dominate.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Sao Paulo – Day 2 (May 3)
Up early for breakfast and out to the Sao Paulo Business School for a presentation on “Doing Business in Brazil”. Prof. Gregorio Stukart was very candid and animated about the situation in Brazil; in his estimation the two biggest issues that Brazil faces are the disparity between the rich and the poor, and the level of government bureaucracy.
Lunch was at the weigh-what-you-eat buffet, a great idea that might work well in Calgary. Basically you load up your plate, pop it on a scale, a receipt prints out and you settle up after you’re finished. Both the lunch and the B-School visit were in the newer business district of the city, although I am not sure which of the 7 or 8 downtowns it was,…this city is simply massive! We visited DowAgro Brazil after lunch and had a great presentation by Dave from Texas,...of all places. At 4:30 we took the bus back to the hotel and experienced my first real traffic jam in Sao Paulo, rush hour in any other city pales in comparison.
Barry, Luc, Eric and I walked a few blocks down the local Extra Foods, this is what they call a “hyper-mart” (think of a regular sized North American Wal-Mart and then add two more). On the way to and back from the hyper-mart we saw many cool little shops that seemed to cater to the middle to upper middle class. The stores were mostly small boutiques with Brazilian clothes, shoes, toys etc,… but none of the International name brand things.
Dinner was at a really fantastic restaurant named Figueira Rubaiyat. Frommer’s describes it as “surely the most beautiful restaurant in the city“. The centerpiece of the restaurant is a 150 year old fig tree that the entire restaurant is built around. The ceiling is all glass and the major branches of the tree stick right our of the roof. Now a fig tree that is 150 yrs. old might not be that big in Canada where we have a five month growing season, but remember that Brazil has a twelve month growing season so this would be like a 300 year old tree in Canada. It was truly a neat experience and might be worth the trip to Sao Paulo alone, not to mention the unbelievable dessert bar at the place! Back to the hotel for a 2 beer night cap and then off to bed.
=======================================
Thoughts:
Sao Paulo is a massive city 17 to 18 million inhabitants
People dress very business-like and a very friendly
It is not hard at all to find someone who speaks very good English.
Lunch was at the weigh-what-you-eat buffet, a great idea that might work well in Calgary. Basically you load up your plate, pop it on a scale, a receipt prints out and you settle up after you’re finished. Both the lunch and the B-School visit were in the newer business district of the city, although I am not sure which of the 7 or 8 downtowns it was,…this city is simply massive! We visited DowAgro Brazil after lunch and had a great presentation by Dave from Texas,...of all places. At 4:30 we took the bus back to the hotel and experienced my first real traffic jam in Sao Paulo, rush hour in any other city pales in comparison.
Barry, Luc, Eric and I walked a few blocks down the local Extra Foods, this is what they call a “hyper-mart” (think of a regular sized North American Wal-Mart and then add two more). On the way to and back from the hyper-mart we saw many cool little shops that seemed to cater to the middle to upper middle class. The stores were mostly small boutiques with Brazilian clothes, shoes, toys etc,… but none of the International name brand things.
Dinner was at a really fantastic restaurant named Figueira Rubaiyat. Frommer’s describes it as “surely the most beautiful restaurant in the city“. The centerpiece of the restaurant is a 150 year old fig tree that the entire restaurant is built around. The ceiling is all glass and the major branches of the tree stick right our of the roof. Now a fig tree that is 150 yrs. old might not be that big in Canada where we have a five month growing season, but remember that Brazil has a twelve month growing season so this would be like a 300 year old tree in Canada. It was truly a neat experience and might be worth the trip to Sao Paulo alone, not to mention the unbelievable dessert bar at the place! Back to the hotel for a 2 beer night cap and then off to bed.
=======================================
Thoughts:
Sao Paulo is a massive city 17 to 18 million inhabitants
People dress very business-like and a very friendly
It is not hard at all to find someone who speaks very good English.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Sao Paulo – Day 1 (May 2)
It was a very long flight from Canada, arriving at about 8 AM local time in Sao Paulo. We hopped onto a nicely air conditioned bus and headed out for the hotel. The day was bright and about 15C. We arrived at the hotel and most of us had quick showers after the 15 plus hours of travel time from Calgary or Edmonton.
The Hotel restaurant was the lunch stop and the pasta bar was fantastic. Here in Brazil there seems to be two waiters for every person in the restaurant, I can tell you that I am going to miss this fabulous level of service! Our waiter was Fernandez, a fantastically enthusiastic guy who recommended my first Brazilian beer, CERPA .
That afternoon we had a bus tour of Sao Paulo, looking at the extraordinary array of different architecture and walking a bit of the downtown pedestrian mall. Our stops included Japantown, the Stock Exchange, the Cathedral of St. Paul and the Black Madonna, and the Opera House.
Back to the hotel for a one hour nap before heading out for dinner with a group of about twelve people. We were quickly lost in the streets of Sao Paulo, but happened upon Rufino, a very nice looking restaurant with scads of eager waiters inside. As soon as we sat down there were plates of antipasto, smoked sardines, oysters, and huge baskets of fresh bread. I had the Spaghetti Arabiata and the mango mouse for desert with about five glasses of a nice Argentinean red. A great meal for about 45 Reals.
Then it was back to the hotel to try to talk to Lisa on Bently’s VIOP phone,… sorta frustrating but it was nice to hear her voice. Had a quick nightcap in the lobby and I was off for a much needed rest.
The Hotel restaurant was the lunch stop and the pasta bar was fantastic. Here in Brazil there seems to be two waiters for every person in the restaurant, I can tell you that I am going to miss this fabulous level of service! Our waiter was Fernandez, a fantastically enthusiastic guy who recommended my first Brazilian beer, CERPA .
That afternoon we had a bus tour of Sao Paulo, looking at the extraordinary array of different architecture and walking a bit of the downtown pedestrian mall. Our stops included Japantown, the Stock Exchange, the Cathedral of St. Paul and the Black Madonna, and the Opera House.
Back to the hotel for a one hour nap before heading out for dinner with a group of about twelve people. We were quickly lost in the streets of Sao Paulo, but happened upon Rufino, a very nice looking restaurant with scads of eager waiters inside. As soon as we sat down there were plates of antipasto, smoked sardines, oysters, and huge baskets of fresh bread. I had the Spaghetti Arabiata and the mango mouse for desert with about five glasses of a nice Argentinean red. A great meal for about 45 Reals.
Then it was back to the hotel to try to talk to Lisa on Bently’s VIOP phone,… sorta frustrating but it was nice to hear her voice. Had a quick nightcap in the lobby and I was off for a much needed rest.
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