Those who regularly read my posts will know that I relish the experience whose various elements have been reduced down to their essences. Increasingly, I'm moved simply by beautiful songs, melodic and executed with precision; satisfied by delicious food, simple and simply prepared; grounded and calmed by a walk along the sidewalks of a vibrant city, or through an area such as the 798 art zone in Beijing (report to follow soon!). Those encounters heighten my senses, and tap into the place inside where I feel the most alive. I have spent the last month in Brazil, and most of that time in São Paulo, a city that offers up endless opportunities for this kind of experience.

Last night, my girlfriend and I drove—actually, I did the driving: totally nuts!—through São Paulo streets packed with Saturday night traffic and people, to the corner of João Moura and Cardeal (Pinheiros neighborhood). Here, the lively Bar Biu serves truly outstanding home cooking. Ask Dona Edi, the proprietress, what she recommends, and she might say to you, as she did to me, "I can't recommend anything to you right now because I'm not hungry!" OK, Dona Edi! Makes sense to me. Left to make our own choices, we feasted on perfectly cooked rice and beans, a simple salad, and the addictive specialty of the house, "Vaquejada," a mouthwatering concoction of carne do sol (a not-fancy cut of beef, salted and dried over a period of time) cooked together on the skillet with onions and queijo de coalho (a cow's milk cheese, typical of the northeast of Brazil) served alongside pumpkin and farinha de mandioca (mandioca flour). All was washed down with ice cold beer; and a small dose of house cachaça sent us on our merry way to a famous and funky bar in nearby Vila Madalena, Ó do Borogodó, where we danced together and listened to Cochichando, a band of young musicians, playing beautiful modern Choro songs. Our dancing was a bit more elementary than that of some of the other couples in the house, but how truly satisfying it was to move together to the strong groove of that upbeat music with it's sinuous melodies.

Tomorrow, I will blog about our excursion to Bar do Mané, located in SP's Mercado Municipal, and famous for its killer mortadella sandwiches.