General Info

[QUOTE=Prosal]Strange that no one here ever mentionned the excellent brasilian TV serie Mandrake.

Mandrake is a brilliant Criminal lawyer (and also a wine and cigars amateur, a womanizer and a one-night-stand maestro). His main line of work is dealing with the characters from Rio's underworld on behalf of his clients: wealthy people, or high middle class people, who find themselves entangled with this parallel reality, mainly for sex affairs.

Definitely one of the most brilliant TV serie ever done in Brasil. Interesting perspectives about the upper-classes in Rio and their dirty little secrets, lots of (soft) sex and tons of moças bonitas.

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68RWbBkPJ1w&feature=related[/url]

Some episodes synopsis :

- A Playboy falls for a prostitute and hires Mandrake to negotiate her "release" from the brothel where she works.

- When the nymphomaniac girlfriend of an Argentine pop star vanishes in the city, Mandrake is hired to find the girl.

- A famous stylist is blackmailed by an anonymous who threatens to expose his eccentric sex life.

- A colleague calls Mandrake to handle an emergency in an orgy at a millionaire's mansion involving prominent people.

- In search of a friend's niece turned call girl that went missing, Mandrake goes to Brasilia and investigates a bizarre sect headed by an influential politician.

- When an old friend gets blackmailed and indicted for corrupting minors, Mandrake investigates and uncovers unsuspected secrets.

Ect, ect ..

Here is the official site : [url]http://www.hbo-br.tv/mandrake/[/url]

The whole serie is downloadable on Vuze.[/QUOTE]

It was shown several months ago as a special showing on HBO. It was at the same time that they showed the Sexo Urbano series.

Hey Guys,

Just inquiring if 3K USD would be sufficient for a 10 day stay in Rio? I plan on visiting Termas as well as having escorts from agencies come to my apartment. I'm guessing 15 sessions overall in 10 days, maybe less. Not sure if I'll be pulling anything out of Help but we'll see.

Any info or pointers would be appreciated.

RS

[QUOTE=Prosal]Strange that no one here ever mentionned the excellent brasilian TV serie Mandrake. .... The whole serie is downloadable on Vuze.[/QUOTE]

And there's that HBO series Alice that takes place in São Paulo: lots of nudity. I would like to get DVDs, but it's not out yet (though available on the Internet, if you know where to look.) HBO Latino is showing it here, but inexplicably dubbed in Spanish!

I'll have to look into this Vuze thing...

[QUOTE=Redsox911]Hey Guys,

Just inquiring if 3K USD would be sufficient for a 10 day stay in Rio? I plan on visiting Termas as well as having escorts from agencies come to my apartment. I'm guessing 15 sessions overall in 10 days, maybe less. Not sure if I'll be pulling anything out of Help but we'll see.

Any info or pointers would be appreciated.

RS[/QUOTE]3K = approx R$5400. Agency escorts = R$120 or more for 2 hours (plus taxi). Termas = approx R$300 per session (or more depending on drinks, time, # of ladies). You can do the math from there to start.

Much info can be obtained by reading the Bubba Report thread and by going through these other threads as pricing and options are discussed at length. Can save you alot of money to do some research here on your own. And can give you some great pointers on what to prioritize and what to avoid.

[QUOTE=Redsox911]Hey Guys,

Just inquiring if 3K USD would be sufficient for a 10 day stay in Rio? I plan on visiting Termas as well as having escorts from agencies come to my apartment. I'm guessing 15 sessions overall in 10 days, maybe less. Not sure if I'll be pulling anything out of Help but we'll see.

Any info or pointers would be appreciated.

RS[/QUOTE]

Ten day trips are usually what I take to Rio, and normally $3 grand has been MORE than enough for the 10 days. And I'll often do around 20 sessions over that period of time. Plus food, drinks, taxis, entrance fees, etc. You can do it on $3,000. That excludes airfare and lodging, which you should already have covered before your plane takes to the air. That way, all you have to do is enjoy when you get there. I will add, though, that with the exchange rate being what it is, you may want to take a little more . . . like maybe $3,200. You want to be able to spend R600 a day minimum. Not that you will actually spend that much each and every day . . . some days you will spend less and some days more . . . average it out . . . but just make sure you build in a sufficient minimum daily amount of money to have on hand. That way, you won't have any worries about running out of funds during your trip. Of course, everybody plays it differently. But since you said 10 days, and since that's how long I usually stay, I thought I would share something about how I budget for that same period of time. Enjoy your trip!

[QUOTE=Redsox911]Hey Guys,

Just inquiring if 3K USD would be sufficient for a 10 day stay in Rio? I plan on visiting Termas as well as having escorts from agencies come to my apartment. I'm guessing 15 sessions overall in 10 days, maybe less. Not sure if I'll be pulling anything out of Help but we'll see.

Any info or pointers would be appreciated.

RS[/QUOTE]As a rule in Rio I go on (at present rate) around550 us (1000r per day) a day spending money. After accomodation and airfares. But out off that in a month trip I will probably go to vips 5 or 6 times and get the amaze, millenium, hightech suite etc. I also do not touch the trash at mp.

I agree with ThickCane, I try to average about 300 bucks a day for my vacations. With the rate down to 1.80R, I might even add another 50 bucks a day to that amount.

Thanks for the responses, I was just looking to get a "roundabout" figure and 3K or a bit more figures to work out ok. I'll still continue my deeper research into it.

Thanks again Gents!

[QUOTE=Bubba Boy]*The Office*

Av Aires Saldanha #92 A, Copacabana.
[url]http://www.theoffice-sportsbar-restaurant-brasil.com/[/url]

Run by a very friendly hat wearing rogue Australian who I like very much. Great place to watch American sport on the weekends. Always American football on Sat and Sun and sometimes other days. During the week many semi well off locals go to enjoy the live bands and to have a good time, great atmosphere and mix of gringos-locals. Need to book a table on Friday nights. Meals range from R15 for breakfast to R20-R40 for dinner. Beer is about R4, juice R4. In the small street behind directly behind Help. If you do take a girl there make sure she is not dressed like a "help" girl, respectful casual dress is the code. You can check email for free after a meal. Minimum consumption R10. This is my "Office" when in Rio.

NB: They have a WiFi internet hot spot throughout the restaurant with a number of power outlets close to each table/booth.[/QUOTE]I found this is Bubba's 2006 guide and am wondering if it's still open or if there's other places like it in Rio. I gotta see my Pats while I'm in town!

I know it hurts. I travel a lot, so I frequently have over 600 to 700 USD phone bills. Telecom companies are modern day bandits!

The solution is to lok off the data roaming function. Link to wifi spots (Copacabana beach, hotels), and use Skype or Truphone over the Wifi. The problem is that from Skype to landline or cellphones, the voice quality is not great. From Skype to Skype it is excellent.

[QUOTE=Redsox911]I found this is Bubba's 2006 guide and am wondering if it's still open or if there's other places like it in Rio. I gotta see my Pats while I'm in town![/QUOTE]John sold the office about a year ago. He now relaxes and spends most afternoons at balconey.

[QUOTE=Redsox911]Thanks for the responses, I was just looking to get a "roundabout" figure and 3K or a bit more figures to work out ok. I'll still continue my deeper research into it.

Thanks again Gents![/QUOTE]


you will tend to spend more at the begining of your trip and have more energy to screw like an Olympic Athlete...with that said your spending on GDPs toward the end of your days will decrease.

[QUOTE=Bimbo Boy]I know it hurts. I travel a lot, so I frequently have over 600 to 700 USD phone bills. Telecom companies are modern day bandits!

The solution is to lok off the data roaming function. Link to wifi spots (Copacabana beach, hotels), and use Skype or Truphone over the Wifi. The problem is that from Skype to landline or cellphones, the voice quality is not great. From Skype to Skype it is excellent.[/QUOTE]Thanks. I now use Skype from my laptop (voice and video calling using webcams) all the time for business and it is amazing - and FREE! I just switched over to the iphone for its' video demoing capabilities. I actually walk into a conference room with just the iphone and do presentations. I have not traveled abroad yet with the iphone and understand the limitations with AT&T and the iphone. But Skype now has a mobile application. I would assume I would still need to unlock my iphone to use Skype in Brazil correct? Even if I had no intention of using the AT&T iphone services abroad? I carry around a separate free Razr cellphone with a TIM card in Rio for the few calls I make/receive there. Otherwise I do all my business emailing and Internet access on my laptop. Any guidance is much appreciated as I was planning to investigate this soon for my upcoming trip. Best

I came across this new book whilst on UK amazon it states its a pre-order but might well be avaialble elsewhere. Books called.

"Favela: Four Decades of Living on the Edge in Rio De Janeiro"

Looks really good indepth real life view of favelas and living in a favela.

If anyone has any good books to recommend that would be great. I guess i prefer real life books, reality.

I just finished 'marching powder' highly recommended to those who havent read it, real life story of an english man locked up in an bolivian jail, who became a must see attraction in the south american lonley planet travellers guide, Great book! also read Pros & Cons advertised here, it was also good although not reality its got a gripping story bouts of mongering in DR and ISG mentions..Always on the look out of good books :)

"Admittedly of the beaten path of mongering but in the general section and the favela book looks good."

[quote]If anyone has any good books to recommend that would be great. I guess i prefer real life books, reality.[/quote]

A couple of books in English that are quite good:-

A Death in Brazil, by Peter Robb.

Samba by Alma Guillermoprieto.

Both quite easy to obtain. The first includes a wealth of detail about handling situations (the title possibly relates to getting out of being shot after the author discovers a thief in his apartment). It is also a manual of laidbackness for survival and communication that most of us foreigners can only aspire to. Goes from Copa to cities and locales less travelled - at which point it might flag a bit for you if you are only a Copa man.

The second is the story of a foreigner (a Latina though) who moves into a favela for an extended period of time to get to know (Rio) Carnaval from the inside, to be accepted by the ordinary faveladas as 'one of them.' Her journey is quite touching. (Details are slightly dated but human interaction and background on Carnaval is good.)

Both these books are non-fiction. They don't really touch on mongering. They do give you a deep inside feel for Brasil you won't get from tour guides. For the perceptive, they will definitely help you shed those gringo airs and graces and maybe find something a bit more 'authentic' in your approach. Which some people on here at least do seem to value.