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Riowakening
Brazil through an Australian's eyes
Saudade is Brazil's way to say I miss you heaps in a single word
My eyes had been popping out of my head all week. Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain, Dois Irmaos, Ipanema Beach - Rio de Janeiro...
Why do Brazilians give hugs to complete strangers?
I was getting out of the lift in my Rio de Janeiro apartment building when the random Brazilian guy riding alongside me gave me a hug...
If Madonna can do a Rio de Janeiro favela tour so can you
Normal one day, crazy the next. This would be the honest slogan for Rio favela tours, ripping off Queensland's era-defining "beautiful...
A gringo's guide to Rio’s Carnival, the world’s biggest party
I had my insider's guide to Rio Carnival published on news.com.au. There is nothing better than writing about things you love, and this...
Technobloco strikes back on the streets of Rio Carnival
Technobloco? More like Cryptobloco. The legend of Technobloco spread so far and wide over the past year that it grew with as much hyped...
Ipanema Beach acai woman Vanessa Esplendorosa can teach us all about happiness
There's a great woman who works on Ipanema Beach that is impossible to forget. Vanessa Cabral dos Santos, or Vanessa Esplendorosa as...
A love letter to Rio, a gangster’s paradise
I’M living in a city where the gangs are so out of control the army has been called in to keep the peace. Like many predicted before...
The battle for school children learning in Rio’s favelas
Back earlier in the year I had the pleasure to do a story on the work of the Mais Caminhos charity in Rio's Ipanema just around the...
Getting robbed at Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue
DOES Brazil’s Christ shed a tear looking down over the sadness below him? It’s a question Rio de Janeiro’s residents ask as they gaze up...
The terror of getting a haircut in a foreign language
You haven’t lived life on the edge until you’ve ordered a haircut in a foreign language. There it is, my quote from my highest ever...
22 common Brazilian Portuguese words and phrases for travel
After over a year and much blood, sweat and tears, or more realistically, sun, sand and samba, enough Brazilian Portuguese has seeped...
The C word: Changing Company, Career, City, Country, Culture
Company, Career, City, Country, Culture. Changing just one of these C words in your life can lead to untold discovery. Them all? Well...
20 Brazil and Rio tips for travellers visiting for a holiday
If you’re thinking of coming on a holiday to Brazil and Rio it's a great life choice to make, believe me. There can be a lot to get...
Why Brazil needs Uber and Uber needs Brazil
Hardly a country has needed Uber so much as Brazil. Between its huge traffic jams, chasm of social inequality, tumbling economy and...
"A good criminal is a dead criminal": Rio's civil war
"A good criminal is a dead criminal." That’s the meaning of the Portuguese words “um bandido bom é um bandido morto” on the lips of...
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