After our interviews today, Juliana took Akiko and I to a small café across the street from the Hotel Emiliano, where we ordered a round of caiparihnas in keeping with the spirit of trying all things Brazilian today. Akiko and I each ordered the original, and Juliana tried the raspberry mixed berry one. I have to say Juliana's caiparihna was delicious — mine tasted like alcohol on steroids. I could feel myself getting drunk just looking at the glass. Thankfully, we ordered some arancini and some minced beef croquettes, to sop up the alcohol with some cholesterol.
The atmosphere of the café was quite convivial, and the three of us had a really nice hour or so chatting and in general hanging out, before we had to go to our next interview.
Juliana took us down this alley in Vila Madalena that was entirely covered in graffiti:
This working-class enclave of narrow streets has become the canvas of a group of street artists who work in airbrush, spray paint, paintbrush, marker, chalk, and collaged magazine pages. Their names are Ana, Artur, Eliana, Juliana, Marciano, Mazilla. Layer upon layer, they’ve created a mixed-media streetscape of rich orange and blue and metallic gold letterforms, images and words that delighted the graphic designers from around the world who attended the ICOGRADA (International Council of Graphic Design Organizations) Design Week in May 2004 — Ellen Shapiro
And below is a video of walking through the alley that I found on You Tube. However, turn off your sound — the music was sort of electronic and there is a weird voice over of a computer voice eery so often. It was not the soundtrack I would have paired with the experience of walking through the alley, and I unfortunately did not videotape it. Which means I am left trolling the web for other peoples' videos with bad music.
Since I did not finish my lunch of feijoada, about two hours later I was completely starving. We stopped at a small café in Villa Madalena, and had something that is called brigadeiro. As you can tell from the goofy expression on my face, brigadeiro was quite tasty, in a "I-love-raw-cake-batter-and-my-teeth-are-rotting-from-the-sugar" kind of way. In case you are wondering what on earth brigadeiro actually is, like we were, here is Wikipedia's definition:
Brigadeiro is a simple Brazilian chocolate fudge candy created in the 1920's, and named after Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes, and its shape is reminiscent of that of some varieties of chocolate truffles.
Eduardo Gomes was a Brazilian Air Force brigadier (thus the title "Brigadeiro", in Portuguese), who first gained notoriety for playing a part in quashing a communist coup in Rio de Janeiro. Later he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 1946 and 1950, during a brief breeze of democracy that blew in Brazil after the Second World War. This was a time of shortage of traditional imports such as nuts and fruits because of the war.
But, at the same time, Nestlé was introducing its chocolate powder in the country. Although Brazil is a major producer of cocoa beans, it is believed that the creation and success of the candy was a combination of opportunities: the multinational corporation Nestlé, which introduced chocolate powder; the creators who named it after a famous politician, the need to find a replacement to imported sweets; and its ease of manufacture.
It is made by mixing condensed milk and chocolate powder, and heating the mixture on a microwave or hob to obtain a smooth, sticky texture. There are two ways to serve brigadeiro. The traditional method is to roll the candy into balls which are then covered in chocolate or coffee-flavored sprinkles. The second method is to leave the candy slightly more fluid and to eat it with a spoon. A dash of rum or brandy can also be added to the recipe to give it a rich taste similar to a tartufo tiramisu.
Check it out, the bean is holding a knife and fork!
Juliana's plate of feijoada.
Akiko's plate of feijoada.
My plate of feijoada.
This afternoon, we had lunch at Feijoada de Lana (Rua Aspicuelta, 421 - Vila Madalena - Phone: (11) 3814-9191), which is a restaurant that serves...feijoada made by Lana. The feijoada came in a big terra cotta urn and then there were about five or six other terra cotta urns full of different types of sausages and meat parts. On the side, there were dishes of collard greens (couve mineira), cassava flour (farofa), and orange slices, in addition to white rice. And even though I rarely eat white rice anymore, there is something really satisfying about white rice with black beans. Plus, I would have felt dumb asking if they had any brown rice in the back.
I got realy excited and loaded my plate full of feijoada and then was only able to eat about half of it all. I should be banned from buffet-style restaurants — really. I have zero gauge with regards to how much food I have piled on my plate versus how hungry I actually am. And Brazil thus far seems like a clean plate club kind of country, where I look like a frivolous food waster for never finishing my plate.
This afternoon, Akiko and were walking down Rua Oscar Freire, and I spotted a popcorn vendor and got very excited. (We had just bought her an ice cream cone at Haagen Daaz, but I was disappointed with their lack of Brazilian-specific flavors. I wanted to see caju + cream, or maybe even a passion fruit sorbet. Nope. We left after Akiko bought a sugar cone full of some flavor that you can buy at the Haagen Daaz in Chinatown. As we walked down the street, I mentally was trying to get over the fact that I had psyched myself up for some local ice cream, and now had no cone of anything.) I decided to buy what I have since determined MUST have been be acai berry flavored popcorn. It was super sweet flavored, but definitely berry sweet, not just plain sugar sweet. And it was certainly one of the best flavored popcorns I have ever tasted. You might remember my caramel corn obsession last summer and fall? Well, I have not had caramelly popcorn since last year. Honestly, I was overdue. I ate the popcorn all the way through an hour's worth of an awful traffic jam on our way to our afternoon appointment, and ended up with a very bright red tongue.
Our first day in Sao Paulo and I am functioning on three hours of sleep — after staying up all night to finish some work that was due first thing this morning. Our first interview of the day was at an adult sex shop in what I would call the middle of the suburbs (it looked like Bay Ridge, Brooklyn) and the woman we were supposed to interview was not available. So, we took a consensus that we all were starving, and headed across the street from the sex shop to Mr. Chicken — a family style restaurant very similar to Rôtisserie St. Hubert in Montreal. It must be that homestyle fried chicken restaurants are popular in every country.
We ordered yucca fries and polenta fries with parmiggiano cheese on top. I ate so many polenta cheese fries that by the time the chicken came out, I really didn't care. I had one piece, and it was the richest tasting fried chicken that I have ever tasted. It was like eating chicken skin that had been fried in pure lard. Which I am sure it was, and of course, it was so delicious that my teeth actually hurt.
Since our flight to São Paulo was canceled last night, I woke up early this morning to check online to make sure our Delta 767 plane had regular AC outlets in the business class seats. I had an entire plane-ride-to-Brazil worth of work to do, and my MacBook Pro's battery life is quite short these days. I almost panicked and drove to the 24 hour Apple store in mid-town to buy one of the EmPower®MagSafe Airline adapters from Apple. Thankfully, my flight was only on a 767 plane, which still had AC outlets...Yay! I can work the whole ride and not watch ANY movies and in general not partake in any of the business class fun.
I found this out on Seat Guru — which is an extraordinarily handy website if you want to find out the best seat to sit in for a 12 hour flight, or whether your seat has a plug or not. It was sad, but I was literally overjoyed to find out that my seat — good old 4F — was wired for working all night. I cannot express my relief, and still sort of did not believe it until I actually plugged in my laptop and saw the little battery icon get its lightening bolt; indicating that it was charging.
Today I decided to shake things up a bit and get a Vitamin Water. I usually just drink plain old water, or I have to admit, I have become a Diet Coke junkie, or else I sometimes buy an Ito En Jasmine Green Tea. But I want to wean off from the liquid crack that Diet Coke has turned out to be, and I found this flavor of Vitamin water to perhaps be just the meal ticket. The flavor is called XXX (for triple antioxidants, so get any porn related ideas out of your head.) And its made from Acai berries, Pomagranates and Blueberries. And I am totally addicted now.
I was looking for any information I could find on Proctor + Gamble's Naturella tampons and stumbled across some German site with goats, and there was this super cute logo for The German Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. How adorable is this logo?!
The Johnson + Johnson campus in New Jersey is about 58.5 miles away from my house in Brooklyn. However, it is like light years away in the sense that walking from the south building to the north building involves walking along a wooded path with picnic tables!? And many times as I cross the footpath over the little creek, I hear frogs croaking. Today I saw a real butterfly. I mean, honestly, I did not think that butterflies even existed anymore. Didn't we kill them all with acid rain? It somehow makes the the 2+ hour commute on Thursdays worth it, when I get the opportunity to walk through the pathway on my way to meetings. The next meeting I organize is going to be held on the picnic benches in the pathway — and everyone will have to bring a potluck dish. We can talk about Carefree pantiliners over potato salad and hot dogs, just as well as we can in some over-air-conditioned conference room named after a foreign country.
We had a very summery salad for dinner — tomatoes, cucumbers and salad greens from our "farm" (I love saying that!, like we actually have our own farm or something.), and fresh corn from the green market. The only that might have made the salad even more delicious would have been some very fresh buffalo mozzarella.
Of course, I could not just eat a salad for dinner, since I am not a big mixed lettuce fan (give me watercress or mâche or even romaine hearts any day, but I personally find red leaf lettuce so... dull), so after I ate the stuff off the top of the lettuce, I raided the fridge for something else. I found some kenkey (click here for even more info) and shito which my co-worker brought into work for me. I have not been to Ghana since 1994, and I have been dreaming about things like kenkey and banku and other Ghanaian delicacies. So I was eagerly looking forward to unwrapping my giant ball of fermented corn dough as an accompaniment to my salad. However, I sort of forgot what it tasted like, being that I have not had it for 13 years. That being said, sometimes the anticipation is way tastier than the actual item being eaten.
Tonight, we had dinner together with Kate and Doug, at the Farm on Adderley, on Cortelyou Road, which is somewhere in Brooklyn — about a 15 minute drive from our house. Dinner was delicious as expected (I had the pasta with peas, again!), as was the company delightful. I have not laughed so hard in a very long time, as we did with Kate and Doug. In fact, by the time we left the restaurant, my face hurt from laughing so hard. I think all of the endorphins I set loose in my body from laughing all night, added another year to my life. Or at least like 30 minutes.
my half eaten organic chicken + apple sausage in an organic, whole wheat roll
Whenever we go to my inlaws for a barbecue, they always cook a plenitude of carnivorous items, but rarely are there hamburgers. (And there are never side dishes like potato or pasta salad) Which strikes me a bit odd, since hamburgers and potato salad are what I naturally think of when I think of the word barbecue. Most times, I sit on the sidelines, mope-ily eating a charred sweet potato. Sometimes I might eat a chicken wing or two. But the steaks, the salmon, and the pork chops are all too incongruous with the word barbecue for me to even think about eating them.
However, this barbecue was different. First of all, because this time, I brought my own meat — a six pack of organic chicken apple sausages, which none of my relatives wanted to even touch. And second of all, my in-laws made ribs, which in addition to their sautéed celery, is one of their culinary masterpieces. There was also corn on the cob. And (I think perhaps, just for me) there was also a side dish of sautéed giant string beans.
This evening I had dinner with my in-laws, and after dinner, the girls and I had a blowing bubbles session. Allison did not know how to blow a bubble and I felt like it was my responsibility as an aunt to teach her this vital skill in preparation for her passage adulthood (someday). However, the lesson proved to be a bit tricky as we were blowing bubbles with the non-sugar free Doublemint. Which frankly, might as well be retro chewing gum. I mean, who chews gum that isn't sugarless these days? Anyway, we tried our hardest with the Doublemint, but our bubbles were pretty scrawny. So I promised Allison that I would bring some Bubble Yum the next time I saw her.
The bubble lesson made me think about how and when I learned to blow bubbles, and who taught me. I can't remember anyone teaching me to do this, offhand. Maybe my mom taught me? I am vaguely envisioning myself practicing while I sat in the backseat of our '76 green Toyota Corolla as we drove someplace nebulous (Tonawanda for a hockey game? The middle of Ohio to visit my mom's college roommate?) on a family car trip.
This afternoon, I stumbled upon these super pink Nike Air Force Ones, and literally heard them calling my name. I am not a big pink fan, but there was something incredibly appealing about this particular pair of pink hued sneakers, despite the fact that I already own a pair of pink Nikes already. However, this pair are the Cloverdale Park (the largest streetball game game played in Baltimore) Air Force Ones (or actually, AF XXV), which are part of the Nike City Series. Apparently, "No city is as important to the Air Force 1 as Baltimore. The city rebirthed the shoe and set in motion a series of events that would change the way sneakers were perceived in the marketplace," according to the Nike promo booklet for the Air Force One's 25th anniversary.
The weirdest part is that I reading all of these other sites, trying to find out more about the City Series, which is next to impossible to find any sort of Nike sanctioned press release about them and instead I am finding all of the sneaker sites where people, I am assuming that they are guys, are posting comments like:
Paul aka Mayne holup!!! Says: March 27th, 2007 at 7:42 pm I would even wear dem 2 sleep
Dray Says: March 27th, 2007 at 8:17 pm Those are my style,baby I love those shoes…
Pierre Deshazer Says: March 29th, 2007 at 6:24 am Dez shoes iz off da meter gotta cop em istantaneously big words for sum fire shoes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chicken Says: April 1st, 2007 at 9:14 am they cute i would wear them cuz they fresh and im fresh!!!!!!!! u kno
jjcrunkmaster Says: April 1st, 2007 at 5:12 pm where can i get them and price ther nice
Mike Roch Says: April 5th, 2007 at 5:46 pm This kickz arh for rizzel. I grewz ups in Philly boi, ya feal me. I want me sum kickz lyke dem
Trenton Says: April 12th, 2007 at 1:37 pm where can i get a pair of these from
Lexxis Says: April 14th, 2007 at 3:11 pm i want deze shoes..they 2 fresh!!
Which sort of kills me. There is like a whole different lexicon for posting comments on sneaker sites. My favorite was in reference to my new pink sneakers, where some guy called them "hot kicks for chicks" and another person likened them to a NERDS® candy colorway.
After Helen and I had brunch, we were walking down Mercer Street and saw the Treats Truck! Oh. My. Goodness. It's like a dream come true — an entire ice cream-style truck filled to the brim with baked goods!
Kim Ima is the owner, baker and treats truck driver. The snacks are baked in Red Hook, Brooklyn — because we all know that Brooklyn is where all good things come from — and include yummy treats, such as: peanut butter sandwich cookies, caramel creme sandwich cookies, four kinds of chocolate brownies daily, frosted sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies and the Cran Almond Crispy.
As we walked by, Kim was handing out samples from the window of the truck. I sampled a Rice Krispie treat, of course. And then had to buy one, which I am currently eating as I post this post. I am urging you all to check out Kim's site to see where her truck will be parked next. Kim is super nice, and her treats are really tasty. At least the Rice Krispie treat is...I want to try the Cran Almond Crispy next.
For the past three days, I have had breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien. Which means, I have eaten six soft boiled eggs in less than 72 hours. Wow. But there is really good news! LPQ has replaced the beloved Morello Cherry Iced Tea with Pomegranate Iced Tea! And oh boy, is it delicious. A little tart and a lot tasty, with a huge sprig of mint to remind you that this is real iced fruit juice tea, not some lame juice drink from one of those scary juice drink bubblers.
On Friday, I drank two iced teas in a row, although I had to restrain myself yesterday and today. Because they are like $3 a glass, which is a crime for a glass of iced tea. Normally, iced tea is like $2 and has unlimited refills. Which is not the case at LPQ, but then again, this is also not the normal glass of iced tea.
Today we went to Prospect Park for Ravi's birthday party. He and his girlfriend Kristi had staked out a prime location under what could only be called a green bean tree, at like 9am. They had brought so many tables, and bags, and boxes, and containers of food, that it was like a small apartment had been transplanted to the park — it took them nine trips to get all of the stuff to the park! But the food was great, and Ravi's friends all were really cool, I met lots of great people. And the sky was incredibly blue and frankly, it was just the most perfect summer Saturday. To help make a dent in all of the food that they had brought, I ate a plateload of pasta salad, something like nine hundred cherries, two chocolate chip cookies, two handfuls of natural white cheddar Cheetos® and a piece of peach tart.
I was walking through SoHo this morning, and noticed the new campaign for Toto's Washlet, called Clean is Happy. Apartment Therapy was not really into the idea of a toilet that had to plug in (see here), and while I too, am not a big fan of more electrical gadgets for the house, the Toto Washlet is something I sincerely want for Christmas.
Especially upon coming back from Japan, where my hotel toilet was a Toto Washlet, and it was such a awesome way to start the morning. A warm toilet seat? Built in bidet with adjustable (warm) water strength? Big flush and little flush options? Fake water noise to hide the sound of going to the bathroom for those with shy bladders? Hot air dryers to eliminate the need for toilet paper? I mean, what NOT to love? Once you get past the idea that the Washlet is a toilet, and how it might be embarrassing to love your toilet...once you get past that — and since we all go to the bathroom — wanting a toilet that also makes you feel clean at the same time, should not be so embarrassing. Personally, I feel that Americans need to embrace toilet hygiene more wholeheartedly.
I also really love those little sinks that are built into the top of the toilet, which turns on when you flush the toilet. Before the clean water goes into the toilet basin, it recycles up for you to wash your hands first.
While I don't own any sort of Hello Kitty apparel other than a few mobile phone charms, I have this secret adoration for all things Hello Kitty. Which is why I am not ashamed to admit that I really would like to fly from Taiwan to Japan on EVA Air's Hello Kitty Jet. Tell me this does not sound super fantastically Hello Kitty:
On the right side of the aircraft, identified with "Hello Kitty EVA Air," Kitty and her friends greet passengers with welcoming smiles. Daniel Star, his aviator glasses perched on his forehead, stands nearest the cockpit with Kitty by his side. Tim and Tammy, the mischievous monkeys, sit over the wing. Joy, the blue mouse, is poised on the engine. And Mimmy White, Kitty's sister, joins parents Mary and George White, near the back of the aircraft. On the left of the aircraft under "EVA Air Hello Kitty," Kitty stands nearest the cockpit beside her friend Kathy, the white rabbit. Rory, the yellow squirrel, frolics on the engine. Tim and Tammy and Kitty's family are featured in the same positions as on the other side of the aircraft.
EVA repeated the livery theme inside the cabin by creating a Hello Kitty fantasy with sweet Hello Kitty paintings on the walls, and by outfitting flight attendants with Hello Kitty ribbons for their hair and Hello Kitty aprons. Passengers booked on EVA’s Hello Kitty Jet will get pink Hello Kitty boarding passes and luggage tags. Onboard, they will enjoy a series of inflight Hello Kitty service accessories, Hello Kitty meals, and have access to exclusive EVA Air Hello Kitty duty-free shopping.
Um, sign me up. Hello Kitty Duty Free Shopping?! Mom, you know how you never know what to get me for Christmas? A ticket from Taipei to Fukuoka on the Hello Kitty Jet would be perfect.
The place where I get my nails cut and my toes polished silver has suddenly gotten a bit cooler. This summer, they started selling Havaianas (as pictured above) flip flops for people who are getting pedicures and do not feel like waiting for their polish to dry. They stick the flip flops on your feet instead of those Tyvek® slippers, and then you can take off as soon as your pedicure is done. No more waiting around!
So anyway, every time I get a pedicure I seem to forget to wear my flip flops from home, which results in me buying a new pair of Havaianas every time I go. But since they are only $6, its sort of like you really can't have too many pairs of quality flip flops, you know? And Havaianas are the only flip flops I have ever worn that feel amazing the moment I put them on, no more blisters between my toes from the thong part, or on the top of my foot from where the rubber "pulls" at my skin. I hate when that happens.
Background info: The Zori (a Japanese style sandal) was the inspiration for the creation of the Havaianas sandal in 1962. The name Havaianas (pronounced ah-vai-YAH-nas), Portuguese for Hawaiians, was a tribute to America's glamorous holiday destination. The addictive nature of these flip flops is largely due to a 42-year old secret rubber formula, which makes them butter-soft, bouncy, flexible and durable.
Brooklyn has painted some bike lanes a nice bright green, as noted here on McBrooklyn. Or at least the bike lanes on Henry Street, thus far. I am loving this for many reasons. One, of course, because I love the color green. But aesthetics aside, I think a higher visibility color is great, since cars are always hanging out in the bike lanes. One place they could really use this would be on Sands Street, where even police cars take over the bike lane. Which really bothers me.
Many Brooklyn Heights residents yesterday were puzzled about why crews were painting the bicycle lane green on Henry Street, between Clark. Street and Montague Street. It turns out that the city Department of Transportation is testing color schemes that would make bike lanes more visible and keep cars away.
At the airport today, I bought two dorayaki, which are one of my most favorite Japanese snacks. (They are also Doraemon's favorite snack, too.) Dorayaki consist of two small pancake-like patties made from kasutera (a type of sponge cake) wrapped around a filling of sweet red bean paste.
I ate one while I was sitting in the Admiral's Club lounge, and the other when I arrived back home in Brooklyn, signaling the end of my trip to Japan. Sigh.
You can check out my pictures from the trip, here.
The interior of the bar. Imagine salsa playing on the stereo.
The daily menu of things to eat. We ordered stir-fried bean sprouts; scrambled eggs with crispy strips of pork and bitter green vegetable; tofu; small bits of liver; and something else which I forgot.
This evening, Yuki and I met met some of her friends at a bar in Shibuya, off of Aoyama-dori. The bar was in the basement, and looked like someone's parents' super cool rec room from the 1950s. I wish that I lived there, that's how nice it was. It was a wonderful evening in every way — perfect lighting, terrific furniture, great music, cute bathroom, yummy food (minus the liver bits), and most importantly, really amazing people.
I went to the Tsutaya (a giant-sized bookstore with a Starbucks in it) in Shibuya to buy some books for the airplane ride back to New York. There were zero! English books, but there was instead, this adorable stuffed bumble bee, celebrating the 30 year anniversary of a Japanese book publisher. I tried to buy it, but it was not for sale. I had a hard time trying to understand why such a super cute stuffed toy would not be for sale. Apparently, in Japan, not all cute stuff is for sale. Or maybe, everything is so cute, that everyone is like, "Yeah whatever, a stuffed bumble bee. Ho-hum." I took like a dozen photos of the stuffed bee, showed it to my colleague, and could not stop playing with it. I am not sure why I was so obsessed with this little character. Finally, I had to leave — I mean, I was stalking a stuffed animal.
After our interviews today, Juliana took Akiko and I to a small café across the street from the Hotel Emiliano, where we ordered a round of caiparihnas in keeping with the spirit of trying all things Brazilian today. Akiko and I each ordered the original, and Juliana tried the raspberry mixed berry one. I have to say Juliana's caiparihna was delicious — mine tasted like alcohol on steroids. I could feel myself getting drunk just looking at the glass. Thankfully, we ordered some arancini and some minced beef croquettes, to sop up the alcohol with some cholesterol.
