mvan1

http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/cpf-for-dummies

The below article discusses an incident that happened with American Airlines and a gate agent in Sao Paulo. Reading through the article, I wonder if the article is accurate or if either the pilot or gate agent is wacko. I am glad this never happened on any of my many trips to Brazil. The passengers had to wait until the next day to catch their flight back to the U.S. Here is the story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5479145/American-Airlines-pilot-arrested-Brazil-assaulting-worker.html

“There once was a man from Nantucket...” Who put all his money in a bucket - His daughter, named Nan, ran away with a man, And, as for the bucket - Nantucket

You are far from being an "idiot" or any other form of unintelligent person. To the contrary, you are one of the most inspiring, brightest and thought provoking posters here.

Fares

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/16/brazilian-army-rio-de-janeiro-michel-temer AND - DISAPPOINTING, THIS: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/12/brazil-queer-art-show-cancelled-protest

You have a good point about not revealing where you are staying. If you do not want to include your local Brazilian address on the note, visitors to Brazil can buy a local cell phone SIM card. That way, the "finder" of your passport can call you on that local number to collect the reward from you. SIM cards also accept collect calls. On the note that can be put in your passport, your local cell number can be written. Using a foreign telephone number means it is less likely you will get your passport returned.

Great idea and what a charge of good luck you had in getting your passport returned.

Be careful when using a computer program to translate something precise as offering a reward for a missing passport. "Google is your friend" has become a proverb . Google is excellent with respect to finding locations and information. Google translate is good but it often translates sentences in a way that the translation becomes ambiguous or incorrect. Using Google translate for simple conversations is great. If you want to include a note similar to what OZ discussed, it is better to have a trusted native speaker prepare a handwritten note for you to insert in your passport.

Your report reconfirms my decision to not go to Rio during Carnival. I went during Carnival only once - in 2004. I have visited Brazil more than one hundred times since that one visit during Carnival,. During my one carnival visit, other than my hearing loud music and noise, my view was totally blocked by enormous crowds. All I could see when I went out in the crowds was the backs of thousands of people in lines in front of me. If I looked straight up in the air, I could see occasional fireworks. I waited for the excitement of Carnival to begin while I could hear the crowds screaming and yelling in happiness. After I while, I thought to myself, is that all there is to Carnival? I get no enjoyment from being in Rio at Carnival time when prices are doubled (or more) and crowds are unmanageable. I am glad you are having a good time. Carnival is a good thing to experience - once.

I think no one from this forum reported about this place because Chilli Pepper is just another gay hotel with a sauna. It does not have rent boys. There are lots of gay saunas in Brazil. Other than for Fragata and Lagoa, gay saunas in Sao Paulo do not have rent boys. The facility being mainly a hotel means that identification is required to check into the hotel. According to one of the reviews found at Tripadvisor, the hotel does not accept a photo copy of a passport as identification. This could be a problem because most tourists in Brazil do not carry their passport while being out at night cruising around. Needless to say, if a persons' passport were lost or stolen, there would be lots of time and aggravation getting it replaced. Looking at Tripadvisor shows only bad reviews of the place. The website of the place contains some nice photos - However, most gay saunas have nice photos. Here is a link to the facility's website: http://www.hotelchillipepper.com.br/ Now we know why Chilli Pepper has not been discussed here.

No, the lack of quality garatos at Fragata was not because of any effects related to Carnaval. Over the past two years, or so, Fragata has taken a steep dive for the worse with respect to quality garotos. As you already noticed during your visit to Fragata, the ratio of garoto to client was roughly four to one. You also commented about some of the garotos being old and unattractive. Fragata used to be great competition to Lagoa. In prior years, many garotos switched back and forth working between Lagoa and Fragata. About two years ago, new and handsome garotos stopped working at Fragata. I don't know why the change happened; it just did. Because I had previously enjoyed Fragata for such a long time, I remained loyal to the place until last year (hoping the place would resume being a fun sauna). My last four trips to Fragata ,during 2017 ,were absolutely depressing, but, as I already wrote, the downward tend began before 2017. For example, some of the handsome garotos of ten or more years ago were still working at Fragata. The ravages of time took its toll on those formerly good looking garotos. How depressing it was to be approached by over weight unattractive garotos. All the while I realized that Lagoa was only a short trip away where there would be handsome available garotos. Last year, after a countless number of unproductive visits to Fragata, I decided to stop visiting Fragata. I have no plans to return to Fragata even though I will be returning to Brazil next month. Fragata used to be my favorite Sauna. Their busiest nights were Wednesday and Sunday. I have met some wonderful garotos over the years. Nothing lasts forever. As the proverb goes - "When the horse is dead, it is time to get off." Thus, that is what has become of Fragata - a dead horse.

Correct - no elevated platform there. But the rest of his description is fairly accurate. I think he was guessing about the specifics in the prior posting he read and got some of the details and description of the Bar wrong, including the elevated platform. The only recent posting that used the word "sleazy" (like he used in his question) discussed Bar Fama.

The place is unpredictable - sometimes great and sometimes not so good. http://vamosgay.com/latin-america/brazil/sao-paulo/bar-fama/ Maybe you will go there on a great night -

Your fluency in Spanish will be helpful but not "adequate" as your friends told you. Spanish and Portuguese share approximately 40% similarity. Saying it another way, 60% of the time, when you try to communicate with a Portuguese speaker (using Spanish), you will not be understood in entirety if you rely only on spoken communication. However, with the aid of a translator, your Spanish knowledge will help you navigate better than if you did not know Spanish. In an earlier post you said that you will be traveling to Sao Paulo. Most readers in this forum who go to Brazil for the first time visit Rio de Janeiro. I personally like Sao Paulo better than any other Brazilian city. There is much to do there, culture wise. Of course, the saunas are fun but that is not all there is to see in Sao Paulo. If you are interested in "tourist things" then let me know. Sao Paulo is unique. If you meet the "right" garoto, you and the garoto can have a great time visiting various landmarks of the city. Most garotos do not know much about the city and most do not have the money to see the sights. You would do yourself and the garoto a favor if you could make such an arrangement. Here is but one suggestion of one place of interest: https://www.viator.com/Sao-Paulo-attractions/Altino-Arantes-Building-Banespa-Tower/d5112-a8415

Remember him - (Hooboy) http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/03/04/news/story9.html

"I am heading down to Sao Paulo for the first time and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for guys down there?" Have you visited other cities in Brazil? Sao Paulo is quite different from the rest of Brazil. I know Brazil well. Let me know if you speak the language and/or if your upcoming trip is your first to Brazil.

http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/e-visas-hope-to-increase-by-200000-tourists-to-brazil/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRioTimes+(The+Rio+Times)

Here is quite an eye opener for those who accumulate hotel points and air miles. There is an actual market for stolen points and miles - http://abc30.com/travel/travel-scam-alert-/2932072/

It is not much money but it is a gift for doing nothing except entering a few letters in your Uber app - It takes less than one minute to enter the code - See this link - http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2018/01/09/10-uber-credit-existing-users-hurry-wont-last/

You might know that several of the major chain hotels are putting in very strict cancellation policies. Some policies are changing by the month or two. You should determine the number of days you will need to cancel the protective reservations you made so that you will not be charged for one day or a penalty fee of $250.00 (or more). As you know, IHG is the umbrella company for several different hotel names. Each hotel has a different policy for reservation cancellations. Also, late last year, Hyatt (not part of IHG) put in a one week cancellation policy then changed it a few times, depending on the "status" of the hotel guest. Marriott now has a 24 hour policy as does SPG. Hotels are going the way of the airlines in charging for cancellations and changes. Another unfriendly thing IHG does with its Intercontinental hotels is if you check in and later change the number of days originally requested and leave early. For example, last November I stayed at Intercontinental with an original reservation for for five nights. After four nights, I decided to go to a hotel closer to the airport for my return flight home. Incredibly, I was charged $250.00 for leaving earlier than my original reservation. This penalty was despite my having "status" with IHG and Intercontinental. Bottom line - I think you have a good idea considering that your points keep being stolen, provided you remember to cancel each reservation within the time frame set my each IHG hotel. Wouldn't it be nice if IHG would be like banks, airlines, other hotels and most companies that require a decent password to access customer accounts? A four digit password to access our accounts is not very smart of IHG management.

Tassojunior is correct, IHG will restore the stolen points to your account after they satisfy themselves that your account was hacked by someone not known to you. On a related matter, there is a well know site for travelers. The site is called flyertalk.com. It just so happens that you and tassojunior are merely two of many others who have had your IHG account hacked. Here is a link to a thread on flyertalk that discusses the breach and the lack of meaningful security for the 4 digit PIN that IHG uses and the fact that the points get put back in after the "investigation" is concluded. Some of the other advice found at the below link is good advice - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/intercontinental-hotels-ihg-rewards-club-intercontinental-ambassador/1823523-warning-3rd-party-source-possible-ihg-data-breach-member-information-leaked.html

"I am a real sucker for good escorts who go overboard to please me. Today I bought a plane ticket for my Bruno to go to Rio (from PA) where he wants to try and find work. It is not very expensive (many of us would give that amount as a tip to a very good NY escort) but I still have to admit he got me hooked: I want to make him happy, even though I will never see him again." _________________________________________________________________________________ Do you know for sure you "will never see him" again? I go to Brazil often. There are some special garotos I met and continue to see more than a dozen years after we first met. I continue to meet new garotos on each return visit to Brazil. Admittedly, most garotos I met were one-time encounters. Every now and again I meet a special one that makes a long-time friendship worthwhile. Based on your writings, you seem to have made a special bond with the garoto you met, called Bruno. Do you not plan to return to Brazil at sometime in the near future? If you do, is it not possible you might see Bruno again? With whatsapp, as you know, it is so easy to keep in contact with garotos in Brazil (or any where else, for that matter). Anyway, thanks for the interesting reports you made during your South American trip.

"While I would prefer the convenience of a direct flight, the connections are fine with both options and I'm happy to put the savings toward a nice airbnb - - " Pragmatic and a good idea.