Rio de Janeiro

With joy I will write about this marvelous city that is Rio de Janeiro! Actually I think that I will need more than one post to describe this city and my recent experiences there.

A few weeks ago I spent six good days in Rio, at Botafogo neighborhood, it isn't the best place in Rio but it is very well located. It's near of the subway station, near of the famous beaches as Ipanema and Copacabana and the mountain called Sugar Loaf (Pao de Acucar in Portuguese).

Lots of people say bad things about Rio as infrastructure problems, traffic jams, violence, poverty, and other bad things. Ok! There are those kinds of things, but it still is a small part of Rio. There are much more good things to say about Rio than bad things, so I would like to focus this post at good things.

For those who like sports Rio is a perfect city; Rio has mountain, forest, city, beach, everything at the same place. It is a perfect city for summer sports, you can swim, run, surf, play soccer, play volley, cycling, fly by hang glider, climb, and do other many things in the same city. And more, you can do everything with a fantastic scenic view. It is no coincidence that Rio will host the Olympic Games in 2016.

The other good thing about Rio is the weather; there is summer almost every year. I was there in July, the middle of winter season, but I could enjoy the city and the beach normally.

The people in Rio are also very kind, usually they receive very well the foreigners, I think they are funny and happy. They speak loud and usually are smiling. Maybe the city has a summer or party feeling. But of course, it's necessary to be careful; Rio is a big city and has all kinds of people.

I have visited many places around the world, but for sure, Rio de Janeiro is a must to see place before you die. I hope I will go back there to enjoy more and visit other places.

Botafogo Beach and Sugar Loaf

Cable Car at Sugar Loaf

Barra da Tijuca Beach

P.S: I took all these pictures.

Emirates Airlines Review

I have traveled from South America to Asia through Emirates Airlines, it was a 24 hours flight with one stop in Dubai, and I will summarize here my experience.

Emirates is an air company from United Arab Emirates, It is the largest airline company in the Middle East and one of the biggest ten in the world. The company is based at Dubai International Airport.

My first impression about the company wasn´t good, my flight delayed more than 3 hours in Rio de Janeiro, but it wasn´t Emirates fault, the flight was delayed because the weather conditions, but the assistance for the passengers in the airport wasn´t good. I didn´t received any assistance, meal, or anything.

However, after I boarded on plane, the things became to change. I flew in economy class, but I have nothing to complain about the service on board. The food and beverages was good, the entertainment on board was very complete.

The flight attendants were polite and qualified; they were able to speak many languages. I must to emphasize the beauty of their uniform and hat, maybe it is one of the most beautiful flight attendants uniform that I have seen.

The airplane was a modern and comfortable Boeing 777-300ER with a good internal finish.

My stop in Dubai was very fast, I stayed there for about one hour, but I could see that the airport was overcrowded, that was hard to find a seat to rest.

When I had to change my flight tickets for other day, I went to Emirates Office in Singapore and I was well attended, they solved my situation quickly.

I enjoyed flying with Emirates, I would travel with them again; maybe it is one of the best companies for international flights taking into account comfort, service, safety and price.

Emirates Boeing 777-300ER

Emirates Flight Attendants

Bangkok

During my trip around Asia I could visit Bangkok, the Thailand Capital. I spent five days in this interesting city.

I choose a Hotel near of a skytrain station because I´ve heard that the traffic in Bangkok were bad, I think I did a good choice, because these skytrains are cheap and a fast way to travel around the city. Another good way of transportation is through boats in the rivers and canals that cross the city, besides a good transportation is also a good travel experience.

The buildings in Bangkok have a peculiar architecture, and a special place to see is the Grand Palace, where is the official residence of the royal family of Thailand and some beautiful temples. This was the place that I liked most in Bangkok, where is nice to see the details in the architecture.

In Bangkok you can see two different worlds, a rich one with marvelous buildings and luxurious shopping’s centers, and another world with social problems and poor people selling all kind of stuffs on the streets.

I had a bad experience with a tuk-tuk (little taxi cars), the driver promised to take me to touristic places for a cheap price, but he only took me to clothes stores. I discussed with him and he let me on a neighborhood far away from everything and I had to walk a lot and grab a taxi to go back to the hotel. It made me so angry, but later I was laughing about that. If you go to Thailand, you need to pay attention with these tuk-tuks, sometimes they try to trick you.

Another thing that I didn´t like in Thailand is that anything has price. If you want to buy something you need to negotiate. It´s hard to buy something fast, it takes time, and makes me tired.

Despite everything, I liked to visit this Bangkok, it´s interesting to see their culture and contrasts, they are very different from other countries in Asia, they have their own culture. For the next time I would like to see a Muay Thay boxing fight.

Grand Palace

Tuk Tuk

Jetstar Aisia Airways Review

Jetstar Aisia Airways is a branch of Qantas Airways from Australia that has the main hub in Singapore Changi Airport. Some weeks ago I flew through Jetstar Airways from Singapore to Bangkok on an Airbus A320 and I would like to share my impressions about this low cost air company.

My first contact with Jetstar was through their website where I had a first good impression about the company; they have an efficient and easy internet service, it´s easy to find the flights, choose the schedule and buy the ticket. You have the option to add baggage when you buy the tickets for a small extra fare, or you can choose to travel only with your hand baggage.

The company has a good staff at Singapore airport, the check-inn was quick, I didn´t have to wait longer in the queue to be attended. The flight departed and landed on time.

The service on flight has the same standard of other low cost companies; you need to pay for drinks or food. The flight attendants were polite; their uniform are simple but has a good look. The airplane looked clean and new.

I really liked the aircraft painting, it has a silver appearance, it’s simple, but very beautiful. Below you can see some pictures that I took from the airplane. You can see the painting and the seats.

I liked to fly with Jetstar Airways and comparing to other lowcost Asian airlines that I've tried, this one was that I  liked the most.

Singapore Changi International Airport

I need to be fair about Singapore and the Changi Airport, at my last post I described a little about the Budget Terminal, but it is only a small part of this amazing airport.

The Changi International Airport is one of the best airports in the world, and it’s not me that is saying that, it has received many awards every year, as TOP WORLDWIDE AIRPORT 2011 by World Travel Awards, BEST AIRPORT IN ASIA PACIFIC 2012 by DestinAsian, WORLD’S LEADING AIRPORT 2012 by Wanderlust, and many other awards.

The airport has three comfortable terminals, each one has a special decoration and good facilities to have fun, rest, make shopping, eat or even work.

These facilities include a pool, gardens, playground for kids, free internet access, movie theatre, television, video games, napping areas, and others stuffs to make you have a good time there.

For sure is one of the best airports in the world. There are a lot of things to do; if you have to make a stop in this airport, it will not be a problem. You will see the time going very fast.

To show you better, here is a video of CNN about this airport:

Singapore Changi International Airport

Garden at Changi Airport 

Pool at Changi Airport

Tiger Airways and Singapore Budget Terminal

Tiger Airways is low cost airline based in Singapore that flies to many Asian destinations. The company uses the Singapore budget terminal as operational hub.

I flied three times with this company and I would like to share my impressions.

They have very good prices, it is one of the cheapest way to fly to other countries in Asia from Singapore, the service on flight is satisfactory. The interior of the airplane is simple but quite comfortable and clean, the flights were punctual, and as other low cost companies, they sell drinks and food on board. I didn’t like the flight attendant uniform, but it’s not relevant.

However, I need to comment about the budget terminal in Singapore where Tiger and other companies operates.

It’s not possible to compare the comfortable and sophisticated main terminals in Singapore with the budget terminal; it looks two totally different worlds. For some passengers it creates a bad impression about Singapore and about the airline companies that operates in that terminal.

Fortunately, the budget terminal is only a temporary solution in response to the emerging trend of low cost carriers in Asia. In September of 2012, they will close this terminal to build a new one.

I hope it will be in the same level of the other terminals, which makes the Changi International Airport in Singapore one of the bests in the world.

Tiger Airways

Singapore Budget Terminal

My favourite place in Singapore

All the city of Singapore is very nice! There are a lot of good places to go, see and enjoy. I could mention the Botanic Garden, East Coast Park, China Town, Little India, Clarke Quay, Sentosa Island, among others. But my favourite place in Singapore is the Marina Bay.

Marina Bay is located in the south of the island, and this region include the financial center of Singapore, the Merlion, the ArtScience Museum, the Singapore Flyer, the Esplanade, and a amazing building called Marina Bay Sands, that is a hotel, mall and casino.

The Marina Bay Sands is an icon of architecture. It’s famous because has a kind of boat on the roof of the three buildings and a pool with an infinite view, that is awesome.

The Esplanade is a theatre and a concert hall. The buildings have the shape of two durians, which is a famous fruit from the south Asia. It has a tasteful decoration.

Every night in front of Marina Bays Sands has a show of lights, water and music. It’s a good place to go out with friends and family. Everybody will enjoy it.

It’s not easy to describe this place; maybe through the picture you can have a better idea about this place and their buildings. It’s amazing to go. It is one of the best places that I have ever been, made ​​by the man.

Marina Bay Sands

ArtScience Museum

Financial Center

Esplanade