2005 Sao Paulo Reports

[Almotu]

Moondog & Off2Golf,

Your information is appreciated. I already have most of 'it' down but have these additional questions. I have an unlocked Cingular Motorola Quad-band phone which I brought to Rio and it was easy installing Brazil Specialist's SIM card (Claro brand). Everything worked fine instantly, I got a local number to call girls from and many times did not have to give them the number because the number showed up on their caller ID.

When I left Rio, I had to give Brazil Specialist his SIM card back and alas that local Rio number. My question is about your detailed information about the TIM branded SIM card. When I purchase the SIM card from the store or kiosk do they give you a local number right away which you can start making cards immediately after you charge up with the pre-paid card? You can keep that number from the first time you activated it for 3 months? You will lose your number after that? Is any other company worth looking into besides TIM? taking into account cost & coverage - Vivo, Claro, etc. If I want to be in local contact in both Sao Paulo and Rio (other cities in the future), should I get a SIM card in each city? or can I use one number? which is more economical, a Rio number or a Sao Paulo number . . . (ie. is a more expensive for me to call a girl in Rio from my phone which has a Sao Paulo number or for me to call a girl in Sao Paulo and I have a Rio number? then switch it around for if the girl is calling me from the city other than where my mobile number resides)

Sorry for being longwinded, thanks

Almotu

[J Wadd]

Well, it's been pretty routine. Got in from La Paz Sunday night and trolled the Kilt-area clubs. I still want to underscore how killer that little club My Love is (oppositie Kilt). 15R drinks, 40R for a "private bus seat/booth" (maybe less), and 80-100R for the girls. Many cuties (though no Photo-level stunners). All good.

Went to Photo last night -- upstairs is now closed a majority of the week. I predict Photo will be closed within 2-3 years. Dunno. Their pricing level (160R entrance fee; 600R+/- for the girls) is not realistic or sustainable.

I remember the first time I went to Photo 3-or-so years ago -- there were about 100 8-9s in there -- my jaw hit the floor. Alas, not any more. Still, there are many beauties in there (and 400R is now the more-or-less best bargained price; though 300R is a rare possible price). I got a 6-hour ride for 400R. Kinky byatch!!

With the weak dollar acting like a loadstone around my neck, I'm alot less tolerant of the drink monopolies, exorbitant pricing, cabbie rip-offs, etc. This is for the best, I guess, in the end. Belt-tightening shit and all that all around.

Still, there's no place in the world like Brasil -- and Rio and SP are the epicenters of paradise.

Happy Hunting,
JWadd

[Nyc Expat]

If you are traveling to S.P. read my post #764 on the general info thread.

[J Wadd]

Another shout out, fellas. Sorry to waste the site's space with another reach-out, but if anyone's in town I'm not taking a cold shower, capice? Gimme a pm and we can go hunting together.

JW

[Member #4732]

Forest,

I would have left for Rio except that one of the girls I had met at Bomboa wanted to see me this weekend. So she spent Saturday afternoon with me and it was fantastic. That was the reason I was still in SP Saturday night and not in Rio.

Let me also say that I was aware of the bad reviews for Romanza, particularly the bill padding. I did not even have them in my deck of index cards for cabbies that have served me so well. However, it truly was not the fault of the club and I think the talent in house that night was excellent. I just made a bad choice, the fault was mine not the house. It could have easily turned out to be a great night if I had just taken my time and listened to my instincts. I knew this girl was "cooler" than others I had met, and normally I would have backed off. But I had read so much here about the better GFE from the semi-pros that I intellectually overrode my intuition. Bad move in retrospect, but understandalbe. Anyway, I have had so many other great times that I will not dwell on it further. Though admittedly, I wish I still had the $$ left to use in Rio. I'll be posting on that board next.

[Member #4643]

I do not know if this works for any other carrier, but T mobile is SIM chip friendly.

I called T mobile before my last trip to Brazil. They emailed me instructions for unlocking my T mobile phone. I purchased a chip from a TIM store on Av Paulista, and entered in the code. Task finished!

For the cost of the chip, I had a 10 reals credit (the chip was 25 reals). I purchased two TIM phone cards for 25 reals apiece from a nearby pharmacy (the store that sold me the chips was out of phone cards). I called *222. After all of the pre recorded conversation in Portuguese, I punched in the number "1", and then the code on the back of the card. At the end, you are asked to enter in the number "4". I repeated this operation, and then had 60 reals of prepaid time. The cost of a phone call in Sao Paulo is approximately 1.4 reals per minute. Not cheap, but 1/7th the cost of using T mobile roaming.

Once you pay for time, and enter your code into the TIM system, it is good for 90 days.

[Member #4643]

I have stayed at the Mercure Jardins many times now, and can tell you that the desk clerks are supposed to ask the girls to register and to charge you. However, it was 35 reals for the girl only a few months ago.

If you book a double room, there is no extra charge. This is convenient for business men, whose companies back home will never question the bill (after all, it does not say "double room" on the bill. Furthermore, $65 a night is still pretty cheap).

Romanza has gotten uniformly bad reviews from everyone I know who has been there. You are lucky the bill wasn't padded. I personally think that Saturday night can be very frustrating in Sao Paulo, and intend to fly to Rio on Gol airlines the next time I am stuck in Sao Paulo over the weekend. Gol is cheap, and the girls are a lot cheaper in Rio, so there is practically no money lost.

I would be very grateful to the real veterans on the board if they had some better weekend suggestions for Sao Paulo.

[Davis150]

Here's what I've decided: it's all a fantasy. Maybe I'm a great lay and maybe I'm a great guy, but when the girl who's telling me this is expecting payment, I don't believe it, except when I'm embracing the fantasy during our programa. That said, when I'm looking for great GFE, the semi-pros give the best. The pro's fuck great, but give poor GFE, or GFE that just seems too false to buy into, even for a fantasy. I mean, we're talking about girls here who have at least 60 dicks in 'em a year (if they're part-timers, a thousand if they're pros). Every trip I try to mix it up with a little of both. The girls who are screaming for me to ram their cu, I won't have spend the night because I'd have to sleep with one eye open. The semi-pros are better for overnights. The guys who can't accept this reality, who can't accept that a fantasy is a fantasy, wind up in love and wiring money to Brasil. I'm still trying to talk sense to a friend who fell in love with a HELP garota! Poor bastard. And I know a guy who married one and she wasn't such a sweetheart after she had the ring on her finger and access to his bank account.

[Member #4732]

FWIW,

Maybe it depends on who is working the desk, and what time of day or night, but I brought a GP back last night at 1:30 am and I was prepared to just walk into elevator with her, but she hesitated and the clerk said she had to sign in and all. Then he makes me sign some sort of waiver and bill for 50R more. Ugh.

BTW, Mercure is pronounced "Mercury" in Brasil. I thought that perhaps the last "e" was silent but it is not. If you say "Mercur" no one knows what you are talking about.

Also, I had my first real negative (for the price) session. I overpayed for a college student at Romanza on Saturday night. I don't think the problem was the place. They did not pad my tab or anything. There was a very good selection for a Saturday night. I just made the wrong selection. Instead of my usual full room survey, I hastilly engaged a sexily clad blonde near the bar. She was obviously very non-pro which I thought might be a good thing. Wrong!!! I would have preferred a pro in retrospect. We talked for quute a while and everything seemed good, though she was noticeably reticent with her affection, which I inccorrectly attributed to her being a semi-pro. She only does this 2 days a week while at university. Anyway, long story short, she was a total dud in bed. Poor kisser, ok BJ, slow to warm up during FS, complaining about size (and I am by no means large), poor endurance, insufficiently expressive. Given that I have hit it off smashingly with all the others in Brasil, even those I rated just "average", I don't think it was me. She was just too inexperienced and not enough libido for this work. I even took more care to be considerate of her than normal and tried to build things gently but too no real avail.

So much for the "part timers" are better theory. I think they are a bigger YMMV case than the real pros. They are just as much in this for the $$ as the others, though less and may not be as constitutionally fit to do this work.
Maybe you can hit a real home run once in a while but you can also get an overpriced dud. Anyway, live and learn. I have buyers remorse today but will soon get over it.

PS - how did I wind up in Romanz? I had had afternoon visit from Bomboa girl and should have just called it an early night. Butl it was Saturday night 11:00 pm, Bomboa was closed, Photo was farther away and I was actually just planning on casually browsing the Kilt / My Love scene for comparison. But I let the taxi driver talk me into Romanza where I thought they had rooms on site. Oh well, one thing led to another and there you have it . Strike one.

[Kinesics]

My TIM access code of 041 must've been different than that of Sao Paulo as my mobile number is based on Campinas. Sorry for confusion. Cheers... O2G

[Member #4732]

Thanks that is a good summary. I had worked through the card process before reading it but that would have made it easier.

The piece of information that I did not know before, and I thank you for, is the 015-citycode-local number part.

Since I have been using the phone in SP to call local SP numbers I have not needed to do that. I have just dialed the 8 digit local numbers and I have been fine.

But when I get to Rio, since I purchased my SIM in SP, I suppose I will be "roaming" and I will have to dial the Rio numbers as you have described. And this is good to know beforehand.

[MoonDog]

As Off2golf stated, this has to be done with an unlocked GSM phone.

To get a TIM SIM chip, stand on the corner of Paulista and Rua Aguusta, on the right hand side of the street with the Bank of Brasil to your left. Looking across Paulista and slightly to the the right, you will see an entrance to a shopping mall. Walk straight in(not downstairs), and you will see a TIM booth. They can set you up with a GSM Chip, and you will need your passport.

Once that is done, go past the TIM booth down the escalator and you will see a magazine stand. You can buy the pre-paid cards there, and get about R$100 worth if you plan to call the U.S. or other countries. After you scratch off the protective covering over the numbers, dial *222. It will go through a promotion, and then give you options. Select #1, and enter your card number. The system will repeat it back, and to confirm, press #4. Repeat the process if you want to add more credit from another card. It is all in Portuguese, but if you know the basic numbers in Spanish, you will be able to get through this. You can also buy the pre-paid cards at drug stores and other magazine stands.

Once your phone is working, just dial a local number in Sao Paulo. To call any other area, do the following:

To call another city in Brazil, dial 015 plus the city code. To call Rio, you would dial 015-21-xxxx-xxxx.

To call the U.S., dial 0015-1-area code-number.

From outside of Sao Paulo, you will have to dial 021-city code-number.

I hope this helps,

Moondog

[Member #4732]

Almotu,

What Off2Golf says is all correct. But, perhaps more emphasis is needed on the issue of "unloced" phone. If you do not understand what this means you need to understand it before proceding with any attempts at getting a local SIM chip.

Most GSM phones sold in the US are locked. This means they only work with SIM chips for the carrier who sold you the phone. That is, they only work that way unless you have the phone "unlocked" so that it will work with any SIM chip.

I have a Sony Ericsonn that I purchased from AT&T (my carrier) last year. I would never consider using the AT&T service while roaming internationally. So I payed someone $10 to use some software to unlock the phone before I left the US. Now I can purchase local SIM chips anywhere in the world. But if I had not had the phone unlocked I would have run into all sorts of confusion if I had tried to insert a new chip. So make sure you understand the status of your phone.

[Kinesics]

Rovnak,

Cafe Photo is VERY slow on Saturdays from the perspectives of number of talents while you still can find a good one. Saturday slowness would be consistent with other clubs in SP. It is slow enough so that only the frist floor is open. This is down side.

Upside is that entrance/cover charge is discounted to R$105 from R$155 (I am not good with remembering numbers). If you found one whom you like, you have a bit more leverage to negotiate due to slowness. Ratio of men to women is still good.

I had encountered with my girlfriend there on one Saturday about three years ago. She was a newbie to the club and doing part-time to earn money for her new car. She then had subsequently retired from the club and focused on her day job. She has been my sole girlfriend for three years until she decided to go back to home and family recently. Enjoy your stay in Brasil.

O2G

[Kinesics]

This is what I know about GSM phones.

GSM systems operate at four different bandwidth – 850Mhz, 900Mhz, 1800Mhz and 1900Mhz.

Most of GSM systems outside the USA have been operating at 900Mhz and 1800Mhz while the wireless carriers (i.e Cingular or T-mobile) in the USA adopted 850Mhz and 1900Mhz. Most of GSM based carriers in the world have roaming agreements with other GSM carriers in other countries.

If you have a GSM phone with proper bandwidth support (known as tri-band or quad-band), the phone would more than likely work in other countries through the carriers’ roaming agreements. However, while it is convenient for using a single phone number while traveling, cost per minute for international roaming could range from $1.29 to $3.99 depending on the destinations where the phone is being used.

Alternative to international roaming is to buy a local GSM SIM card and install it to one’s GSM phone. Then the phone becomes a local numbered phone to take advantage of local in-country rate at fraction of the international roaming rate. Another advantage of using a local number is that you would not get billed for incoming calls in most of countries, not all countries.

This is based on assumption that the phone is in ‘unlocked’ mode. This simply means that the phone can function as a wireless phone using different SIM cards. Some of phones are in ‘locked’ mode. This means that the phone only works as a functional wireless phone using the SIM card issued by the wireless carrier.

Case to this point, I have to phones. First is Motorola V3 Razr phone by Cingular which supports quad bands and unlocked. This phone works with all local SIM cards which I purchase in the country to where I travel. Second is Samsung World phone by Verizon which is locked. This phone can be switched from/to CDMA for use in the State and GSM for use in outside the State. If I popped in a SIM card other than the one issued by Verizon, the phone does not work.

So I use both phones while traveling abroad – V3 Razr for local number and World phone for US number roaming internationally.

Rules and regulations for buying and activating local SIM cards widely vary from country to country. I have not personally purchased local SIM cards and do know what sort of processes (or hassles) that one has to go through. Most of my local SIM cards have been arranged by local friends or local staff.

Pre-paid SIM card per-minute rates are a bit more expensive than post-paid SIM card (via monthly billing). If you are casual travelers, I would not think that it would be easy to open a wireless account with monthly billing as one would not have any support document to show being a local.

If you purchased a TIM SIM card, I believe that TIM wireless network access code is 041. You need to use the access code to make a call, especially for those calls to outside of your home area. If you are in SP and have SP number, no need to dial the access code of 041.


Hope this helps! O2G