Musings Archives - Page 14 of 45

Pipas

09/12/2013/4 Comments/in Musings

Last Sunday was a funny kind of day – it started off rather dull and hazy, then later on the cloud cleared and it turned into a gorgeous sunny day. This suited me perfectly as I had to work during the morning and the only thing worse than having to work on a Sunday is having to work on a sunny Sunday!

With the work (and clouds) out of the way, I went up onto the roof to enjoy the sunshine. When I got up there I found that I was not the only one enjoying the afternoon sun.

This is the archetypal kite design in Rio – paper stretched over a simple frame, a long tail and a single line.

These kites, known in Brazil as pipas, are really popular, especially in the favelas.

A lone pipa flying over the Santo Amaro favela, with the Pão de Açúcar in the background.

Photo Post: Rio Rainbow

27/11/2013/7 Comments/in Musings

So there I was, up on the roof watering the plants, when I looked up and noticed that the clouds that had been gathering for the last couple of hours had started to clear. It was getting late in the day and I had been wondering if it would rain, but then the sun kind of peeped through below the clouds and lit up the Sugarloaf. I ran to get my camera. I know I bombard you guys with a lot of photos of my local monolith, but it is rather photogenic I’m sure you’ll agree.

When conditions are right, the sun lights up the face of sugarloaf and makes it look extra magnificent.

So, I was just about to put my camera down and get back to the plants when I looked over towards the bay and noticed a weird patch of rainbow in the sky. It clearly wasn’t raining anywhere, yet here was a small patch of rainbow!

“That’s weird” I thought. I kept watching it…

Photo Post: Lagoa looking moody

26/11/2013/0 Comments/in Musings

Hey guys – just a quick postinho today, but lots more on the way! I thought you might like to see this panorama of the Lagoa. Rio has been so wet and dark and moody lately – hopefully this will give you an idea of what I mean.

There you go – a nice big panorama of the Lago…

What’s that you say? You can hardly see anything? OK, see if this crazy panorama-scroll gadget I found works for you…

Xampu sem sal

15/11/2013/13 Comments/in Musings

“Shampoo” is a funny old word isn’t it? Apparently it originates from the Hindustani word ‘chāmpo‘ meaning “to press or knead the muscles”. The Portuguese word sounds pretty much the same as its English counterpart, but the spelling is quite different: Xampu (the letter ‘X’ is a bit of a tricky one in Portuguese, having 4 different sounds depending on its context).

Now normally I don’t give shampoo a lot of thought – I wash my hair in the morning and then move on with my life. But this changed recently when a friend told me something interesting. She said that since she moved to Rio, her hair had been really misbehaving, getting wispy and unmanageable. She went on to say that a carioca friend had told her that the secret was to use Xampu sem sal (shampoo without salt).

My first reaction was “They put salt in shampoo?!”. One would have to assume that they do.

Coincidentally, just a few days later Mrs Eat Rio went shopping and returned with a bottle of something called Phytoervas:

It might not have salt, but this shampoo does have omega-3, omega-6 and quinoa – delicious!

In one of those weird twists of fate, I discovered during my very next shower that my own bottle of shampoo had run out and so I was forced to give this xampu sem sal a try. Readers – my life has been transformed!

Rio strikes back

14/10/2013/13 Comments/in Musings

I feel like I’ve been mildly unfaithful recently. I’ve been off having flings with other cities and neglecting my beloved Rio. First I was seduced by Lima with its exciting food and reasonable prices. Then Melbourne caught my eye with its fancy restaurants and excellent transport system.

My first week back in Rio wasn’t easy. The people who told me that jet-lag is worse when you travel from west to east were so right. More than a week after arriving back, I am still waking up at 5:30am each morning and falling asleep at 9pm. On top of that there has been the usual trauma of returning to full-time work after 2 weeks of lounging, snoozing and other forms of general relaxation.

So, have my dalliances with other cities made me think twice about whether Rio is the one for me?

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