Post: #76

(01-27-2013 05:36 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  Regarding the speaking of English, would it be safe to say that the further inland you go in Brazil, the less English is spoken? Since Rio and Sao Paulo are tourist/business centers, you'll find more English speakers, but what about other major coastal cities to the North and South?

Yes, for the most part this is true. I spent about a month and half in a few different parts of Brazil this past year and would say this is pretty accurate.

Post: #77

Where can i buy in rio a local sim card (TIM) ??

Post: #78

(01-28-2013 08:01 AM)Scarecr0w Wrote:  Where can i buy in rio a local sim card (TIM) ??

Any of those newspaper stands in Rio. It's about 10 Reais for a sim card and it comes with some credit on it. Then when you want to add more credit just go to a newspaper and ask for credito. You can pay with cash or a card and they have different amounts of credit available for purchase.

TIM also has an actual store in Leblon.

Post: #79

(01-27-2013 05:36 PM)Timoteo Wrote:  Regarding the speaking of English, would it be safe to say that the further inland you go in Brazil, the less English is spoken? Since Rio and Sao Paulo are tourist/business centers, you'll find more English speakers, but what about other major coastal cities to the North and South?

Yes, I would agree. Rio and Sao Paulo has the most English speakers since they have the most tourists and business travelers, but English speakers are still not common. In the south of Brazil you'll find more English speakers than in the north. Southern Brazilians have higher incomes and are better educated and well-traveled compared to their northern counterparts. This is all relatively speaking though. For such a large country with a huge economy and global presence, Brazil has surprisingly few good English speakers.

Post: #80

If you go to clubs and especially more upscale clubs in Rio and SP you will find a good amount of people that speak okay English and a few that speak good English. Also very few people speak English at stores or in restaurants so it is good to know the basics such as numbers and how to shop and order food.

Getting to the conversational level opens a lot of doors. If you can keep a conversation, get a phone number and meet up with the girl the next day at a certain location all in portuguese then that is pretty solid. Also it's good to open in portuguese and when the girl knows English and she is somewhat interested in you she will respond in English "Where are you from?"

Post: #81

Baha music tonight. Get to see that real funk. Tomorrow check into the hostel and see if I can pull something.

Post: #82

@Hencredible

I forgot to ask before, how did you find out about the favela party? I hear that favelas should be avoided unless you know someone that lives there.

Post: #83

(01-28-2013 09:40 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  @Hencredible

I forgot to ask before, how did you find out about the favela party? I hear that favelas should be avoided unless you know someone that lives there.

Alto Vidigal is a relatively safe favela. The parties there are well-known and attract gringos. I had heard about it from people I talked to while out in Lapa. These are some pics. The view at night was amazing.

Post: #84

wow amazing pics, how awesome does that look

Post: #85

After all the negativity that has surrounded Rio lately this thread has restored my faith and made me desperate to return. Its a magical place!

Post: #86

That second pic is amazing, sums up exactly what we all dream Rio to be.

Post: #87

(01-29-2013 06:05 AM)kazz Wrote:  That second pic is amazing, sums up exactly what we all dream Rio to be.

I second this

Post: #88

New post I wrote about unconventional places to find women in Rio.

http://www.returnofkings.com/4004/top-5-...o#comments

Post: #89

LOL... #5 Pitt told me about last week.

Post: #90

(01-26-2013 12:12 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  Even Arnold made sure to check out Rio back in his bachelor playboy era!

HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHA

Arnold took the mulata's ass!

Post: #91

I miss the hell out of Rio.
I'm just glad I went when I was able to afford it.
I even remember the very little things, like going downstairs from my apt to talk to the guys running the coffee shop....and damn the coffee is good.

I'm going to Colombia next though anyway. Hopefully within a year.

Post: #92

(01-24-2013 11:32 AM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  

(01-24-2013 10:58 AM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

Quote:quote='Hencredible Casanova' pid='354236'
First, to G's question, Rio OWNS the talent in the "tropics" category. I can't think of another city in that type of atmosphere that can touch it. It's warm year-round and girls are always showing a lot of skin. It's not like up north where girls can deceptively conceal bodily imperfections with cleverly placed clothing. It's hard to compare places directly when you see top-tier talent in both. I can say Rio has an "annual spot" on the international playboy's docket. At least one week per year visit would be ideal.

Hen,

How would you compare a straight up head to head, toe to toe "Battle for The Tropics", Rio de Janeiro VS South Beach?

Who wins? Draw? KO? TKO? Fight stopped by corner? Decision? How does the scorecard read?

Technically I don't think Miami is in the tropics, it's sub-tropical, but I know what you mean.

I actually knew a guy from DC who lived in South Beach (back when I was a teenager) and who told me how crazy Rio was and how it destroys South Beach. This was before I had been to either spots.

For all of Miami's latin influence, it's still an American city (segregated, etc). I'm a grateful American but Brazilian social culture destroys ours. I don't think most people who have been to both would ever give Miami props over Rio. Compared to cities in the US, it's great, but once you're talking about actual places in Latin America, that's where the discussion ends.

But to really answer your question, we should do a rundown of different factors where each city has the advantage. Here are a few. Add any that you think I've missed.

Food: Miami

Nightlife: Miami

Safety: Miami

Activities: Rio

Women: Rio

Beach culture: Rio

Logistics: Miami

Prices: Rio

Scenery: Rio

Car culture: Miami

Fitness: Rio

The Main Strip: Rio (Avenida Atlantica is more epic to me than Ocean Drive, unless you like cars, nothing like the Dos Irmaois backdrop on a sunny day).

Cultural Diversity: Miami (communities from every Latin American country)

Events: Rio. Miami may have WMC, but that has nothing on Carnaval.

Ease of swooping: Both aren't necessarily easy, but I gotta give it to Miami because of Spring Break and lack of a language barrier.

Ease of making friends/social circle/contacts: Rio. Brazilians are extremely sociable.

Best tail: Rio (greatest bundas in the world).

High stakes action: Rio (Fountainbleau gets its props, but there's much more going down in Copacabana Palace).

Strip clubs: Rio hands down. You get to fuck the strippers.

Soul: Rio. The favelas beset by the tourist areas is a real reminder of how much of the world's problems is a battle between the haves and have nots. Rio is real. The US hides its problems. Brazil puts them in your face.

Let me know of anything else you want to consider.

Yo, awesome pics from the favela party btw man. Wish I would have caught one of those. Thanks for the info. I'll have to check it out next time.

Having spent a lot of time in both places, Miami beach couldn't touch Rio IMO at where I'm at in life. I might change my view on Miami if I had a lot of money.

I wanna give my breakdown:

Food: I say Rio... This one is real tough though. Miami has some really good restaurants, but I love Brazilian food, and for your value I think Rio takes it. Yeah, the average restaurant in Miami beats the average in Rio, but when you start paying $15+ (At least 3 years ago) for a meal in Rio, it's damn good and you're getting the same quality as you would pay for a $40 or 50 plate in Miami.

Nightlife: Miami. Rio is somewhat of a bust when it comes to nightlife for how great of a city it is. Everything is too spread out.

Safety: Miami: This one is only obvious. Especially if you are staying on the beach, there isn't too much violence there.

Activities: Rio

Women: Rio: But only slightly better as far as looks. As far as attitude, it's like night and day. Rio women aren't the friendliest in Brazil, but Miami girls are the bitchiest in America from what I've experienced. There are some real stunners in Miami though. It's a close call.

Beach culture: Rio for sure. The Miami beach culture is pretty lame most of the year. No waves. It never encouraged me to go to the beach having no waves.

Logistics: Miami no doubt. Rio is way too spread out as far as night life. In Miami, within 3 miles you have countless things to do. I lived in that area for 2 years and I still never discovered everything. All you need is right there (Though you gotta drive a couple extra miles for fountainbleau, and yeah there is definitely some great stuff across the bridge, but you could hang in South Beach for a year and still discover new spots).

Prices: Rio, yet still pretty expensive, but definitely not Miami prices. I would say Rio would be more comparable to a place like Las Vegas (off the strip).

Scenery: Rio without a doubt. Not that Miami isn't a nice looking city, it's just Rio is the nicest looking city I've ever seen. I've heard it be called "Gods gift to the post card industry." Think Roosh may have said that.

Car culture: Miami, no doubt. I only saw one Ferrari the whole time I was in Brazil, and my friends were freaking out, talking about how the dude was gonna kid kidnapped and how crazy he was. On the other hand, on an average day I would probably see 10 to 20 in Miami (BTW, not saying Ferraris are the dopest cars out there, just giving you an idea). Not to mention cars are almost twice as expensive in Brazil. My boy was telling me his dad bought his accord for somewhere around $45 or 50k. That is basically considered a luxury car there.

Fitness: Tie: This one's just too damn close to call. Both cities have a lot of meet heads and a lot of the people keep in shape. If you walked around south beach and had never been to the states, you would be surprised that people say americans are fat (Minus the black girls walking around, and not saying that to be racist, it's just true). You also see a decent amount of fatties in Rio as well though.

The Main Strip: Rio: Copa, Ipanema, and Leblon are just so much bigger than ocean and have breath taking views. Not to mentioned I loved looking at the skyline while I was running on the beach at night in Rio.

Cultural Diversity: Miami: It's just a huge melting pot, but mostly latin american melting pot. Though you do get many people from just about all over the world as well.

Events: Miami: It's hard for me to say for sure because I'm not so familiar with the events in Rio. But in Miami I knew what event was going on for what weeks since I worked in hotels, and there are pretty much big events going on every weekend during the season. Art Basel is probably my favorite of these events in MIA. Yeah, Rio has Carnaval (Which is pretty much the creme de la creme), but I don't know much else about events there.

Ease of swooping: Rio 100%. It's not the easiest place to swoop, but Miami is the hardest (At least it was for me).

Ease of making friends/social circle/contacts: Rio: Like Hen stated, Brazilians are extremely friendly. I remember I would tell people in Miami that it was harder meeting people in Miami than it was in Brazil without knowing Portuguese. I think for me it was also a matter of finding people I actually wanted to hang with in Miami.

Best tail: Rio: Usually when comparing Miami tale to any other city, Miami is gonna win, but unfortunately for Miami, we're talking about Rio here, and they ain't afraid to let it all hang out either. They view anything other than a thong as a diaper and couldn't imagine how American girls could be caught dead in the bathing suites they wear.

High stakes action: This one is real tough.... I guess it depends who you know, and in that case I'm gonna have to go with MIAMI. I probably have more close friends in Rio than Miami, but I know the right people in Miami.

Strip clubs: Wellll...... They really aren't the same thing. In Rio a strip club is a whore house, like Hen stated. But regardless, I'm not impressed with Miami strip clubs, so RIO

Soul: Rio hands down. Miami doesn't have much soul IMO. It's too plastic.

Post: #93

I think in terms if prices you have to take consideration of income.

If you are working in Brazil. Your salary is most likely to be low. A girl moved from france to rio abd worked as a Hostel receptionsit getting400 euros a month. General average wage working class and muddle class is much lower than in us or Europe.

However. If you are an international player with a trust fund and can choose any where to live in the world. Yah rio offers better value than the developed countries.

Post: #94

It seems like I will have some time to hit Rio up for 4-6 weeks this coming summer.

I take it that preparation before touching down in Brazil will go a long way, much more so than showing up in a city like Bangkok, for example.

Ideally when I land I'm going to:

Already have locked down a good looking apartment in Ipanema
Have a weak, but existent social circle(cousins of one of my friend's girlfriends, as well as any forum members who will also be there)
Have a poor command of conversational Portuguese(ability to ask a question and give a brief response)
Be in good, to very good shape(<13% BF, lifting 275 on the bench and squatting and deadlifting proportionally)
Have taken a samba class or two while still in the states
Have about $100-125USD/day to spend once on the ground
Pipeline BrazilCupid hard the month before I arrive
Have read anything Rio related I can get my hands on

Other recommendations from experienced travelers who have spent considerable time in Brazil and other locations abroad? Are some of these more important, or much more important than others? Which two or three things should I focus on strongly before heading out there? Is there something important that I've missed totally?

Everything I'm led to believe so far is that being well-prepared for Rio can completely change my experience and enjoyment there.

Also, it seems important to note when you were last in Rio as there seems to be plenty of conflicting evidence about if Rio has, or has not changed significantly over the past two or three years.

Post: #95

Try to learn as much Portuguese as you can. It will go a long way. Lots of ways you can go about doing that. A friend recommended Anki/Byki (flashcards) to me and says to learn as much vocab as you can. All language is just made up of words so that would be the way to get going. You can worry about grammar later. My friend who used this method learned Portuguese in less than one year. I have yet to follow his example but I need to get on that.

Also, try to connect with as many Brazilians as you can, male or female. Social circles are super clutch down in Rio.

Post: #96

Another vote for Ipanema as the best neighborhood to stay in? other options?

Damn I should have gotten in better shape. Not enough time to put on that much muscle but at least I can get lean before I go.

Post: #97

(05-13-2013 11:59 AM)bacan Wrote:  Another vote for Ipanema as the best neighborhood to stay in? other options?

Damn I should have gotten in better shape. Not enough time to put on that much muscle but at least I can get lean before I go.

I have now been to Rio 5 times in the last year as recently as one week ago and staying for as long as 5 weeks on one of the trips. Have been meaning to throw together a datasheet but just haven't had time.

Stay in Ipanema, followed by Leblon and then Copacabana.

For the beach go to posto 12 in Leblon and thank me after. That is where all the hot young talent goes and is THE place to be. You'll be amazed! Posto 9 (Ipanema) is a has been now and still has some chicks, but also fatties. You wont really see ANY at posto 12. Nothing but hot, young, fit chicks (and fit dudes for that matter).

Thursday & Saturday nights go to Mirroir. It's the hottest club in Rio but also not the cheapest. Its 150-200 reais entrance but that includes consumption.

Friday night go to Black Bar in Leblon (50 reais and includes consumption). From there if you meet girls you can do a venue change with them to either Veloso (1 block away) or take a short cab to the club called Praia (60 reais with consumption). The nights I have been its usually Sertanejo music but lots of girls. A dancing atmosphere so if you don't dance I wouldn't go there. Stay at Black Bar or go to Veloso only.

The places I mentioned are the higher class scene for sure but where I think the hottest chicks are you'll get the most English speakers also.

Any questions, fire away.

Post: #98

(05-13-2013 01:15 PM)Qwest Wrote:  

(05-13-2013 11:59 AM)bacan Wrote:  Another vote for Ipanema as the best neighborhood to stay in? other options?

Damn I should have gotten in better shape. Not enough time to put on that much muscle but at least I can get lean before I go.

I have now been to Rio 5 times in the last year as recently as one week ago and staying for as long as 5 weeks on one of the trips. Have been meaning to throw together a datasheet but just haven't had time.

Stay in Ipanema, followed by Leblon and then Copacabana.

For the beach go to posto 12 in Leblon and thank me after. That is where all the hot young talent goes and is THE place to be. You'll be amazed! Posto 9 (Ipanema) is a has been now and still has some chicks, but also fatties. You wont really see ANY at posto 12. Nothing but hot, young, fit chicks (and fit dudes for that matter).

Thursday & Saturday nights go to Mirroir. It's the hottest club in Rio but also not the cheapest. Its 150-200 reais entrance but that includes consumption.

Friday night go to Black Bar in Leblon (50 reais and includes consumption). From there if you meet girls you can do a venue change with them to either Veloso (1 block away) or take a short cab to the club called Praia (60 reais with consumption). The nights I have been its usually Sertanejo music but lots of girls. A dancing atmosphere so if you don't dance I wouldn't go there. Stay at Black Bar or go to Veloso only.

The places I mentioned are the higher class scene for sure but where I think the hottest chicks are you'll get the most English speakers also.

Any questions, fire away.

   

Post: #99

A lot of the intel here was pushing me away from Lapa. So guess what, I blew up my existing apartment in Lapa, sucked it up, pulled some strings and picked up a sweet apartment 2 blocks from Posto 10 in Ipanema.

I'm a little more poor in the pocket, but I think it's worth it. I figure I will eat in a considerable amount more, and cut down the drinking once I'm out. I have a feeling it's also going to push me to find a 1 and 1A girlfriend while I'm there because of the exorbitant expense to go out at night to the Ipa and Leblon clubs. However, it's also going to push my day game through the roof with the amount of approaches I'll do daily on the beach and the surrounding neighborhood.

Post: #100

(05-14-2013 06:34 PM)MaleDefined Wrote:  A lot of the intel here was pushing me away from Lapa. So guess what, I blew up my existing apartment in Lapa, sucked it up, pulled some strings and picked up a sweet apartment 2 blocks from Posto 10 in Ipanema.

I'm a little more poor in the pocket, but I think it's worth it. I figure I will eat in a considerable amount more, and cut down the drinking once I'm out. I have a feeling it's also going to push me to find a 1 and 1A girlfriend while I'm there because of the exorbitant expense to go out at night to the Ipa and Leblon clubs. However, it's also going to push my day game through the roof with the amount of approaches I'll do daily on the beach and the surrounding neighborhood.

Good call! I'm not a huge fan of the everyday food in Rio anyways so I ate in a lot also. For a cheap and reasonably healthy lunch hit the Beach Sucos on the corner of Farme de Amoedo and Visconde De Piraja. You get chicken breast and two sides for I think like $8USD. Don't remember the exact price but it's one of the better values in the area.

You can meet some decent chicks in Lapa but less English, the place is far from everything else and its just a sketchy place.

Black Bar isn't that bad if you pay $50 reais to get in and you just have to drink up to that amount. Roll with a flask and hit that after. Call it a night in a high end bar with talent for $25USD. Doesn't get much cheaper than that!

Damn I need to bust out a proper data sheet as all the info on here is dated or non existent...