Rio sunset: caught
Rio sunrise: also
Next up: Christ the Redeemer!…

With the sun up, we headed on over to the one and only Christ the Redeemer statue! But of course we did! This imposing masterpiece of both engineering and art is simply mandatory for any visitor to Rio de Janeiro!…

…So, of course, “any visitor to Rio de Janeiro” means, alas, crowds of tourists – and right from dawn ->

Read on: The temptation of the Redeemer.

The month May this year was pretty busy with business trips around the world. But, as ever, I still managed to squeeze in some tourisms and meditative appreciation of beauty. Back in Abu Dhabi – one such beauty was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque ->

You can see why they call it “grand”:

Read on…

After all the presentations, meetings, and interviews at our Latin American partner conference, we had some important business visits lined up in a couple of places around Rio the next day. But all work and no play makes Eugene a dull boy – especially in Rio…

I’d long secretly dreamed not just of being back in Rio, but of catching the sunrise somewhere at the foot of the Christ the Redeemer statue. So that was the plan post-business, and to make the logistics easier we decided to switch from our hotel in the suburbs to another one closer to downtown and the statue.

And just as we were checking out of our first hotel in the afternoon, our Brazilian colleagues, upon finding out we were heading into Rio and had a free evening, suggested we go watch the sunset from Sugarloaf Mountain – all about which I told you and showed you in a previous post.

So we hop into a car to take us to Rio. Meanwhile, one of our events crew (the awesome team that handles our exhibitions, conferences, etc. – huge thanks to them!) is frantically trying to get us fast-track tickets for Sugarloaf – for there isn’t much time left before sunset, and we really wanted to make it. But that’s enough detail; main thing: we (practically) made it!…

And here’s the sunset – from Sugarloaf Mountain:

Read on…

If you’re not in the know, the words Louvre and Abu Dhabi might seem incongruent. But it turns out there’s an art museum in the latter that’s renting just the name Louvre off the famous Paris museum for 40 years (2007–2047) for US$500,000! What?! Just goes to show: never underestimate the value of a brand name!

Sure, I was curious – and in town. So of course – we just had to get ourselves over to the Louvre Abu Dhabi!…

Read on…

Hey everyone!

As I write this I’m recovering after a 32-hour multi-stopover flight back from Latin America; however, despite the exhaustion, I’m already back into reminiscing about Rio de Janeiro while the memories are still fresh…

The first time I visited this splendid city (and Brazil, for that matter) was way back in 2006. We were having our second Latin American partner conference in a place called Salvador (here), and we figured it’d be a shame not to spend a few days on some banal tourism. I mean, why fly halfway around the world just to work and then immediately head back home? No – you need to stay a while longer and take a good look around.

But since I wasn’t blogging in 2006, there aren’t any photos on the internet from back then. Still, I do have a few pics in my archives – for example the following. Yes, it was windy! ->

Read on…

Ok, let’s have a show of hands…

Who has experienced, or at least knows about something about, teamLab?

Ah, just as I thought: not many. Too bad! For this is a uniquely entertaining art project at the intersection of light effects and music, computer animation, and a completely wild atmosphere. Drop everything and get there!…

Last year I visited the teamLab Planets mega-digital-lightshow in Tokyo, and now had come the time to check out their latest exposition in the UAE.

You really need to see this phenomenon “live”, as photos and videos only capture some of the impressions and emotions. Accordingly, this post needs to be considered merely as an introduction to teamLab Abu Dhabi: a modest and not too professional promo-account about this highly intriguing art event. Which goes something like this:

Here‘s where it’s situated:

Read on…

I’ll tell you about Rio a bit later, as well as other notable events of my trip. But first I want to tell you about Brasília, the capital of Brazil – for it’s rather an intriguing place…

The city was built from scratch in the early 1960s (meaning it’s less than 70 years old!) specially to become the capital – Brazil’s state-administrative center. The main buildings were designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer – known for his leading role in designing the UN headquarters in New York…

With a population of about 2.5 million, the city’s shaped like a bird (or airplane) – a long, narrow central part with two “wings” on each side. Here it is on Google Maps:

Read on…

Hi folks!

Herewith – another rewind/catch-up post now I’ve had some time get it done!…

And so it’s back to the United Arab Emirates – this time the Emirate of Abu Dhabi – for… this! ->

But first – rewind. (“Again?!”)

Read on…

How many times have I been to Dubai? Based on both memory and my photo archives, I think it must be no less than 20 times. Some were long trips, others were lightning-fast one-day hops; all the same – you’d think I’d have seen all there is to see and snap there by now. But you’d be wrong. For they build new stuff here faster than I can keep up with; example: the Ain Dubai Ferris wheel ->

In keeping with Dubai’s shiny maximalism, it turns out it’s the tallest Ferris wheel in the world – a full 250 meters in height.

The closer we get – the more impressively grandiose the views get…

Read on…

Ask any tourist what’s the most famous hotel in Singapore, and most will confidently answer Marina Bay Sands. And they’d be right! This iconic hotel, with its distinctive unique design, which towers over a small man-made patch of land by the Bay (here), is so dominant you literally can’t miss it – not that anyone would want too!…

And ask the same tourists what stands out the most for them regarding the Marina Bay Sands, and the answers will be unanimous: the rooftop! Of course! And it totally deserves the hype. So let’s head up there right now. Up we go to the top (57^th) floor – from where the views are absolutely mind-blowing:

Read on…