Day 16: Copacabana Beach, Brazil

got the day to myself and the beach really calmed me down. i as very zen like. then i made a castle with this toddler (the mother appreciated being given a break) and we jumped on it when we were finished (it was awwwwwwesome). way better than the city tours, even better than seeing monkeys (they were scrawney anyway)


went to a grocery store (initially to see if there were local chocolates, they are almost all of the dark variety which connoiseurs love but me being commercialised, not so much) and found russian vodka with their european seals still intact for $2.5 per litre bottle. i got two litres for FIVE DOLLARS. i have paid more for water at shitty parramatta cafes. reconsidering how much i despised brazil.

had churrasco buffet, ate lots of chicken heart, and their bbq chicken has skin that's crispy as suckling.

you know how they say chinese sounds angry? well even my mum's emails sound angry: WHERE ARE U; EMAIL EVERYDAY! WHAT IS ROOM NUMBER? EAT ALL VEGETABLES! MISS YOU! LOVE YOU REMEMBER TO CALL TOMORROW! MANTOU BAD, NOT EAT HER FOOD, ONLY EAT MINE!

my dog has trained my mother. she refuses to eat kibble and my mother is worried she'll emaciate and will give her human food which probably has salt in it and make her shed even more. i am going to come home to a fat hairless dog with gum disease.

excuse the following dig at the golden globes. what rubbish. i love aaron sorkin very dearly (thank you for years of the West Wing) but the Social Network is not the film of 2010. i understand the critics dislike big successes and won't be giving it to Inception just like they didn't give it to Avatar last year, but surely they understand that the Social Network isn't the kind of film you'd watch more than once. it is As Good As It Gets, nice story, a bit of a thinker, but not something that makes young children go, "that makes me want to be a director" (they might think, "that makes me want to be a programmer"). so long as the oscars give the actress to Natalie Portman (or i suppose, Anette Benning, hey Hilary Swank isn't nominated at last, Benning has a chance) and actor to Colin Firth i will be happy.

sorry. endeth rant