Awesomeness, at last! (photo by J.)

Finally! At last! It was time! What took you so long, JM?

This is, officially, the first post about my little trip to Japan, from Japan! So expect more updates in the following days, as well as some stuff that has been sitting in the pipeline for the past days.

I still have to get the internet in my dorm, so I’m still depending on (very rare) idle days to rush here to PCs at my campus and try to update this blog properly. Right now, for instance, I have to get going, but in the next 24h expect some new posts around!

See you soon!

Pancake magic in the making!

Hummmm, pancakes.

There were once a time when I would write about what a wonderful evening that was, about how the scent of freshly baked pancakes in the air would make me always remember the fun I had with my friends that and many other nights, about how even S.’s lil’ sis’ joined the fun this last time, but right now I believe I won’t do any justice to what pancake at S.’s was all about. Rather, I’ll let you have a glimpse of those lovely and delicious little pieces of batter and I promise to post my all time favorite recipe as soon as I find it amidst all the files in my DVDs.

Oh, and the videos? They deserve another special post. It’s a promise.

The cachaça shoppe.

It was my last Saturday in Brazil before the trip, and I went to the market place to buy the remaining gifts I would bring to Japan.

Whenever I asked someone what would be the ideal gifts to bring, they would always mention cachaça, coffee and chocolate. With that in mind, I started my walk around looking for not necessarily the best tasting goods, but for those which were good enough and had a nice looking package (marketing people, I value you, guys).

Coffee shopping was pretty straightforward, since I’m no barista/enthusiast, so I basically took the clerk’s word for granted and bought a few different brands of gourmet Brazilian coffee. Chocolate, as well, didn’t take much time or effort. Cachaça, on the other hand, was a little bit more troublesome.

I had a few guidelines to follow: nothing too strong, both in taste and scent, nothing to expensive (since it would be very unlikely that those receiving the gifts would really notice the difference), and most importantly, nothing that would make the person experience that massive headache we get from cheap brands (which meant neither 51 nor Velho Barreiro, that’s for sure).

After shop hopping, I settled for four or five bottles, in smaller sizes and in gift cases. I won’t bother linking up the brands, suffice to say they were good quality ones within the predetermined specs.

I haven’t given out all of the gifts yet, but I did already drink the designated bottle I brought with my new roommates. Bonding through alcohol, it seems, works no matter where you are.

Curitiba skyline, as seen from Barigui Park

As I said about item #3, taking pictures was a very entertaining task to do.

This time, though, I want to talk a little bit more about one of the many times I went around photographing. In my last visit to Barigui Park before the trip, I went with my good friend U. and had a great time there. He was kind enough to help me out with my lackluster photographing skills, and tried as best as he could, given the circunstances, to teach me something to help me improve the quality of the pictures. The only downpoint was that he wasn’t feeling too well that morning, so he had to call it a day sooner than I hoped.

Now that it’s been a little over two weeks since I started living in Japan, I can take a lok back and see how much it truly meant to me all those special moments I could share with all those I treasure (more on that coming soon). No matter how far away I may be, I know for sure that there’s no way I’ll ever feel lonely, not after been allowed into your lives, my friends, the same way you’re part of mine.

By the way, I still want the pics, my good friend U.  Picasa is just fine.

Some of my favorite places in Curitiba are bars and pubs. What a shocker! Batel Avenue, by day.

This has been, along with item #4, one of the most entertaining to-do tasks in the list. Over two weekends, I drove around Curitiba to snap some pictures to take with me, and everytime I did it I had a good time. In some occasions, I was accompanied by my friend D., in others I was by myself.

But as much as I like taking photos, I still haven’t developed the ease to snap pictures as I see things; I’m still a bit self-conscious when having a camera in my hands.

Anyway, in the foreseeing future, you guys will have a look at the results, as I plan to write something about the places pictured to go along with the photos.

Right now, I miss everything and everyone. And I miss you, too. I know I promised not to, and I know I’ll always have you by my side, in my heart, in my mind, and I know that even though time will fade away the details, the impression of our time together is forever branded in my soul. I am, for better and for worse, the sum of all I’ve experienced up to this point, and that surely includes all we’ve been through.

The thing that strikes me the most is not that we’re parting ways. After all, it’s all part of Life’s way, and ever since we started making choices, we started walking down a road that has many forks, and that is constantly intersected with the paths of others. Deciding our path is, after all, a personal choice, and one that often times leads to drifting away from those we once thought would always be there. But now, I’ve never been more conscious, more aware that I am risking to lose you.

I’ve always dreaded my friend-keeping skills. I’ve had truly wonderful people pass by in my life, people I would like (at least that’s how I feel now) to be part of my life today. But as I said, our path is about choice, and the ones I made led to our coming apart. This time, I want things to turn out different.

This time, I refuse to let you go.

This blog is my feeble attempt to reach out. This is me telling you “hey, I’ll try harder than I ever tried, and this time I pray to God  it works out in the end”. My commitment to you is that, just like you’ve been part of my life so far, I want you to feel you’re still with me while I’m gone.

You, my friend… Thank you for all those memories, thank you for letting me blip on your radar.

These last few days have been very busy, so please excuse my lack of attention here lately. Once again, I’ll have to promise real updates only tomorrow, so far there are eight drafts in the pipeline.

See you soon, then!

Yes, I was quite busy in my last weekend before the travel, and it was quite nice to see some friendly faces once again. Of all the stuff I did, some will definitely be worthy of a more detailed post (which I promise should be up by tomorrow at most, along with some past due postings as well); as for the rest, here’s a brief rundown:

• We decided to change our cell phone service provider: not that it would make much difference for me, since I won’t take my number to Japan, but maybe I’ll be unavailable in the following days, just FYI;
• Today is my last day at work: tomorrow we’ll see how’s tricks;
• Thinly sliced sautée almond sauce is hands down the best sauce for pumpkin stuffed conchiglione;
• I finally caught up with House, M.D. fifth season;
• I dreamed people were speaking in Japanese with me.

So far, so good. Stay tuned for the next episode.

Today was cancellation day. I had most of my credit cards cancelled, as well as my health insurance. Despite my initial thought that I would have a hard time getting everything done, things went surprisingly smoothly.

It was a bit of a rush, though, because I had to go to my health insurance headquarters office to cancel my contract during my lunch break. And since we live in Brazil, of course they had to do all the work twice, because of the bureaucracy. If the clerks weren’t so attentive, I would not have made it in time.

Later in the afternoon, I also received my passport with the Canadian visa. Now I’m all set, paperwork-wise. All the documents and instructions I received so far are put together in a folder, safely stored in the Proverbial Backpack.

Today I had the orientation meeting at the consulate, where we talked with the staff and the professors who selected the approved candidates. It was basically an oportunity to clarify any doubts we might have had left and to get the last instructions. Afterwards, we all went to the Consul’s residence, where he offered a reception to gather past and present scholarship recipients.

As usual, there was an opening cerimony, and we heard speeches by the Consul and by the other authorities present. They all talked about how important and significant this experience would be in our lives, and urged us to dedicate ourselves studying, in order to achieve our goals. Also, another common theme was the necessity of going to Japan open-hearted and willing to embrace a very different lifestyle and culture, in order to get the most out of the travel. Pride, joy, opportunities and dedication were certainly the buzzwords this afternoon.

There was then a toast (kanpai!) and dinner was served. We ate with gusto, and talked amongst ourselves, sharing our views of Japan, experiences and expectations. It was great to share some time with some of those who were. Who knows, maybe in a few years we will be in their places.

Ten things I’ll miss the most about here:

1. I’ll miss the sun shining right in front of me, when driving to downtown in the morning;
2. I’ll miss the turn on the street before entering Candido de Abreu Av.;
3. I’ll miss discovering myself interested in the most unexpected little details on the petit-pavé sidewalk;
4. I’ll miss deciding between five or twelve cheesebreads;
5. I’ll miss being welcomed home with a fuss by Sofie;
6. I’ll miss calling on my friends just because I feel like it;
7. I’ll miss the late night talking in the car afterwards;
8. I’ll miss the Sunday morning messages inviting for lunch;
9. I’ll miss walking around the house barefoot and in my underwear;
10. I’ll miss the running into all the souvenirs from great moments everytime I opened a drawer in my bedroom.

As for you my friends, I promised I won’t miss you, because I’ll do my best to always feel like you’re all there, with me. At least that’s the plan, ok?

Today was my last Monday at work, and certainly it felt like one. The weekend was still very alive in my memory, and the first thirty minutes at the PC were lazily drowsy, as usual. The day was warmingly bright with the morning sun, and the pending tasks kept us busy throughout the day, barely leaving time to grab a bite midday.

It was nice to think that even though I’m soon parting ways with my co-workers, I still feel very engaged and eager to help out. There’s so much I learned while working there, and definitely I’ll miss this experience. Obviously not everything was roses, but even that, now that I look back, had its value.

Only four days left at UFPR, a few projects to wrap up and a great memory to hold on.

JM, seen toasting with the Sun during an unforgettable sunrise.

One of the most memorable nights in my life so far started like many others before: just going out with my friends and their pals.

It was D.’s (the lovely girlfriend of M.’s) graduation day, so afterwards we all gathered at Velho Madalosso to celebrate. The young folks, namely J., his girlfriend L., J., P. and myself, were bound to go somewhere else after the dinner to continue partying; P. told me that the guys had decided to go to the beach, to watch the sunrise by the sea, as requested by D.

After we changed out of our formalwear and into a more lax attire, we all met at D.’s and headed to the beach. It was a calm and nice drive, during which P. explained me J.’s five-place-theory, which in a nutshell states that one must go to at least five different places during a night out for it to be worth talking about.

Once we arrived, there was a quick ball play with P.’s football and then we headed to the sand. We were all by ourselves for most of the time, and we talked and drank and laughed and waited for the sunrise. As time went by,  the good times we were having just seemed better. When the first light broke the night sky, it was already a legendary night.

We enjoyed as much as we could that night, running around, swimming in the (warm enough) sea, joking and laughing. And we watched the sunrise.

Words could barely state how we were all feeling, the joy that that night had brought us all. It was visible in each of our faces. That night was simply a mesmerizing experience.

The photos we took turned out great, but as M. put the following night at D.’s graduation ball, “even them did no justice to what that night had been” . Wise words, true words.

I just finished packing one of my suitcases, this one with all the clothing I planned to take with me and that I’ll not use before the travel. It also meant, too, choosing the clothing I deem not worth taking with me, either because they’re too worn out or because I can no longer see myself using them.

Either way, it was a bittersweet moment. My wardrobe is clearly, as one would expect, a reflection of my personality and personal choices, so having this moment to sort the “belongs-to-the-past” from the “promising-enough-for-the-upcoming-future”, in a way, made me think once again about all that I have lived that led to this moment. It is a common theme with me these days the idea of choice, and of alternatives. But as with the suitcase packing, there comes a time when we have to part ways with who we were in order to become who we we’ll be.

The Bittersweet Suitcase and its sidekick, the Proverbial Backpack

In a forthnight, I’ll be somewhere over Canada, halfway on my trip. I’ll probably be reminiscing to myself, going over once again all the do’s and don’t's that I learned throughout my life, thinking that this time I’ll get it all right. I should, right? But of course I won’t. Of course I’ll make mistakes, suffer, doubt myself, feel lonely, feel less.

Knowing that, how does one prepare oneself to endure all of it, and see the light in the other end? Does knowing ahead, somehow, makes it easier to deal with it all? And above all, when things do go wrong, where should one go to have a beer?

It is all our own laundry experience. Got tomato sauce spilled in the fabric of life? Lather, rinse, repeat. It may not remain as good as new, but certainly that’ll add to its uniqueness.

Everybody suited up, looking sharp, just waiting to get the party started. Mr. R. even came with his recently purchased fedora hat (notice that I call him Mr., just because he was wearing a hat). At first, things seemed to be a little too mellow, but soon enough we were having a blast. We partied like there was no tomorrow, and enjoyed the night as much as possible. When they turned on the lights in the room, in a classical “get the hell out of here” way, we went back to the tables to pack up and have a breakfast somewhere. A. and S. were staying though, because they were eating there.

Just before we left, it was time to have our nightcap and our cigar on. We smoked, drank, talked and rest a little, then we headed to have our breakfast. There was a line to get in the place we chose, but I was in too good a mood to spoiled it waiting for a table.

Of all the documents and stuff I had to get, having new pictures taken was definitely something that stood up. First of all, I already have taken lots of document portrait photos for visas and such. And by lots, I mean I have over 20 pictures sitting idly, either in my backpack, or in my wallet. Why would I need to take more photos then, would you ask? Because every time someone requests photos, they request a different size. No, seriously, I have 3cmx4cm’s, 3cmx5cm’s, 3,5cmx4,5cm, 5cmx5cm’s, you name it.

So there I was, walking down Flower St. (oh, such a fancy name!), looking for somewhere to have my photos taken. The first place I found was Jhol’s Photo Studio. Jhol is just priceless. He hopes to be elected congressman next year, so obviously he was already doing some “informal campaign”. One of his campaign promises is the construction of a public Imaging Diagnostics Center. As good client, of course I promised to vote for him in the upcoming election. He probably didn’t believe me.

CWB > GRU: 03/APR/09 – 16:35 > 03/APR/09 – 17:40

GRU > YYZ: 03/APR/09 – 21:10 > 04/APR/09 – 06:45

YYZ > YVR: 04/APR/09 – 09:00 > 04/APR/09 – 11:05

YVR > NRT:  04/APR/09 – 12:45 > 05/APR/09 – 14:35

NRT > KIX: 05/APR/09 – 16:25 > 05/APR/09 – 18:05

1. AMTLSEA;
2. Oyama;
3. Take lots of pictures of my favorite places here;
4. Take lots of pictures of sightseeing places in Curitiba;
5. Go to a ESL conversation club meeting;
6. Have as many send-off parties as possible;
7. Help a total stranger;
8. Go to Batel Grill;
9. Go to James Pub After remodeling;
10. Keep blog up to date;
11. Twitter away;
12. Ask about the spare SIM card;
13. Clean up my bedroom;
14. Burn dvds and cds with my favorite music, films and TV series;
15. Bank affairs;
16. Buy the gifts to take with me;
17. Finish some unfinished sketches;
18. “Organize personal info, part I”;
19. “Organize personal info, part II”;
20. Update my friends’ addresses list;
21. Give Sofie a nice bath on a sunny day;
22. Go relax;
23. Make and eat pancakes;
24. Have a full health check-up;
25. Have new eyeglasses made;
26. H2G2;
27. Send OHP forms;
28. Send Consulate forms;
29. Picnic!;
30. Write a poem;
31. Go walking;
32. Watch the sunrise after a memorable night;
33. Visit the cemetery;
34. Get my blue jacket tailored;
35. Take vaccines;
36. Finish graduation photo album;
37. Superman, the Apple and the Reason;
38. Dinner with C.&M.;
39. Get my leather jacket back;
40. “Everyone’s Irish on March 17th”;
41. Voynich up!;
42. Mario Party, Perfect Dark and…