Discover São Paulo: The Ultimate Food & Culture Capital of Brazil!

Whenever I told people I was coming to Sao Paulo, I got the same reaction. Why Sao Paulo? Isn't Rio the better city to visit? A lot of people think Sao Paulo is just a big, boring city. Bom dia from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sao Paulo is definitely different from Rio de Janeiro. When I visited Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago, it was for the beaches and for carnival. And believe me, that was one wild party. And in this episode, we're going to be going around Sao Paulo today, and we're going to try to pack in a lot of things in one day to show you how Sao Paulo can be your next vacation destination. Sao Paulo is a lot different from Rio de Janeiro. It is more of a cultural and financial hub. Instead of beaches, we got miles of skyscrapers. If you want a relaxing beach vacation, then go to Rio de Janeiro. However, if you want more of a cultural metropolitan experience, come to Sao Paulo. Speaking of culture, we're standing in front of the Teatro Municipal, one of the major theaters here in Sao Paulo. It was built in 1903, opened in 1911. Here's a better look without all that sun glare. Let's go in and take a look. Oh, wow. This is really something. It's so beautiful, the staircase. Too fancy to be a theater. Looks more like an opera house to me. They even have some stained glass windows. I would love to come here for a show, and then grab a drink at the bar before the show starts, or maybe after the show. Wow, this staircase is just too grand. Reminds me of that scene from Emily in Paris, when she's going to go see Swan Lake. Even if you're not catching a show, just stepping into the lobby gives you a taste of that European-inspired elegance mixed with Brazilian grandeur. You don't need a tour. Just popping into the lobby for 10 minutes is enough to appreciate it. Up ahead is the Municipal Market. So we did visit this yesterday, if you remember that vlog, but when we came yesterday evening, things were closing down, so we didn't get quite the full experience. It's a market, so you can get all sorts of goods here. So lots of exotic fruits, you can get meats, cheeses. But most importantly, they have a lot of dining options there, and that's why we're here. Definitely a more lively atmosphere right now, because it's noontime, lunchtime. Lots of exotic fruits on display here. Oh, wow, they got some sweet-looking strawberries. And there's dried fruits and nuts. Oh, we got cheeses and cod. I know cod is really popular in the Basque Country. When we visited Basque Country years ago, cod was king. Now, this isn't even the peak of the market hour yet, but you can see it's starting to get crowded. Now, this is what we're looking for specifically, the mortadella sandwich and the pastel de bacalhau, which is basically a codfish pastry. Who wants ribs? Spare ribs, all sorts of ribs, short ribs. And they got lots of other meats, but we're in a hotel. We don't have a stove to cook the meat on. We're going to go back up to the second floor. You get a really good view. Here we go. This is why we came up to the second floor, for the views. This is amazing to me how big this market is. I've been to all sorts of markets all over the world, but I got to rank this as one of the bigger ones. I also like being up here on the second floor, because it's much more peaceful and quiet. It's a little too hectic down there, but totally get it. Everybody's just trying to go about with their business. We're not here for fruits or meats or cheeses. Remember, we're looking for the mortadella sandwich and then the pastel de bacalhau. Well, that didn't take too long, and we made the decision pretty quickly. I got to admit, we were cheating a bit. I mean, this place is called Mortadella Brazil, and that would have been bad form if they didn't have a mortadella sandwich. And bonus, they also have that pastry with the codfish, the pastel de bacalhau. Oh my goodness. I don't know what's shocking, the size of these plates or my husband looking shocked. Yeah, this is why we came here. We wanted to get the mortadella sandwich. So it's basically parmesan bread with 300 grams of Italian bologna, and then they have all sorts of cheeses and then tomato and arugula. And this is the pastel de bacalhau or the codfish pastry. So inside is the codfish. Good thing there's the two of us because there's no way that I would be able to eat this all by myself. I'm going to go ahead and perform a little surgery here on this pastel de bacalhau because this is way too big. So we go ahead and cut it in half and it is crispy. And that's what it looks like on the inside. You can see pieces of cod. Plan for at least an hour here. Go early or late to avoid the lunch rush and definitely share food. The portions are massive. As much as we want to go for a nap, we got some other things we got to see today. So we're going to go hail a rideshare and head over to another part of town. We used the rideshare app 99 to get around for the rest of the day, which we found to be fast and more affordable than Uber in Los Angeles. 20 minutes later with our rideshare sitting in traffic. We are here at Jardim Oriental or Libertage. What's so special about this place? Well, it's known as the Japanese neighborhood. Besides having a large population of Italians living in Sao Paulo, there's also a huge Japanese community. So I like to think of this as a little Tokyo in LA. I'm still a little drowsy from our big lunch of the mortadella sandwich and the pastel de bacal. I feel like one of these Care Bears. I love the entrance to Libertage. You see the red lanterns. First, let's go through the gardens. First thing you see, of course, it's a koi pond full of koi fish. There wasn't much to the Japanese garden, but the koi pond was definitely the highlight. Now walking on Hua Galvão Bueno. It's a major street through Libertage. Thank goodness there's a pedestrian area because it gets pretty crowded here. It's a one lane. You can see all sorts of shops here, but it's all decorated in Japanese architecture. Walking here feels like stepping into Tokyo with red lanterns, manga shops, Asian supermarkets, and endless Japanese restaurants. Let's go into this shopping center. Got Le Boo Boo's. More Le Boo Boo's. And, oh my gosh, Honey. Honey. We have other cute little plushies. The CCN Rio characters. You know, Got My Girl, Hell Kitty. It's a Studio Ghibli with a Totoro. I have this thing where I don't buy things right away. I give it, you know, some moments of contemplation and I gave it plenty of thought. So I think I'm gonna go ahead and do it. I can't help it. Yes, I ended up getting it. I ended up getting a Le Boo Boo. It's not just any Le Boo Boo. Personally, I think it's a Le Foo Foo, but I don't care. It's a Le Foo Foo or Le Boo Boo in a messy uniform. I was trying hard to fight off, like giving into this trend, but you know what? I couldn't help it. I mean, it's messy, right? Number 10 in an Argentinian uniform. Libertage is more than just Hua Galvão Bueno. Make sure to look down at the side streets for more shops and restaurants or maybe for more Le Foo Foo's. Back on Hua Galvão Bueno, the major cutter. I wonder if that's the same Mercai Market in LA. They sell Japanese groceries. You can also get sushi and these rice cakes. Libertage really feels like a city within a city. Everywhere you look, there's Japanese supermarkets, ramen shops, manga stores. You almost forget you're in Brazil for a second. But as much as I'd love to stay here all day, Sao Paulo has much more to offer. So we're hopping back in a 99 rideshare and heading to Avenida Paulista, one of the city's busiest and most iconic streets. Avenida Paulista is Sao Paulo's version of Fifth Avenue. It's not just banks and offices though. This Avenue is lined with museums, cultural centers, and shops. We may have left Liberdade, but we're gonna continue with the Japan theme at the Japan House. There are three Japan houses in the world, including Sao Paulo, London, and Los Angeles. Los Angeles? I had no idea. I'm gonna look that up when I get home. But the point is it's part of the cultural global embassy program. And here, this building has two floors and they exhibit Japanese culture, architecture, art, gastronomy. And best of all, entrance was free. It's a floor plan of a Japanese house. As you can see, it's pretty flexible. So there's sleeping area over here. And then during the daytime, you can just roll up the tautonomy mats and then it becomes like a living room. Living room here. They even have an outdoor area that's kind of like a bamboo forest. It's quite serene walking outside, knowing that just past the bamboo trees there, there's a lot of traffic. Feels so nice to be out here. It's nice and cool. It's like natural air conditioning. There's even a full service restaurant inside the Japan house on the second floor. I heard they have really good sushi up here, but we already had our big lunch for the day. Earth foods. I guess these are the ingredients that come from the earth, all natural. Examples of Japanese gastronomy. We got shoyu and miso. I recognize that. Canton or agar agar. I know it as agar agar. It basically makes what I like to call vegan gelatin. Wasabi. Oh yes, that's right. Mochi comes from the earth because it's made out of glutinous rice flour. Love a good shiitake mushroom. Oh, that's some high quality matcha there. I can go for a matcha latte, speaking of which. You wanted to try it with Zoey, but you were too full? Well, guess what? You can come down to the ground floor and try out their cafe. They have all sorts of coffee drinks here. Tea, matcha, and that's what I'm in the mood for. And don't forget to get a pastry. It's tea time at the Japan House. We got an ice matcha latte, and then I got the hot matcha latte. And then we got the yukan yuzu or yukande yuzu, which looks more like an agar agar jelly to me. I guess a power suggestion will work after going through that earth foods exhibit. I mean, they did feature matcha and agar agar. Oh, that's good. It's not too sweet, and you can taste the matcha. This is why you gotta love Sao Paulo. Very diverse culture came out here to this coffee growing nation just to get some high quality matcha. Sayonara, Japan House. We have a few more things we gotta take care of this afternoon. Luckily, they're across the street, so this is pretty convenient. Gotta love Avenida Paulista. That's where things are happening. And we were here last night, too, if you wanna refer to that vlog. This is the Casa das Rosas. Built in 1935, this is a French-inspired home to a family up until the 1980s, and then it became more of a cultural center for the city where they host poetry readings and other literary events. Not to sound like a real estate agent, but they have 30 rooms on four stories, so I'm really excited to go inside. I don't know if we'll see all 30 rooms, but just the fact that they have 30 rooms or 30 rooms of anything inside a home, that's amazing. Nowadays, it's hard to find a home with even three bedrooms, and the best thing is entry is free. I love the tiling on the porch. How about a stained glass window in the middle of your home? I mean, I can barely get clear windows in my home. Oh, this is what it looked like back then. Salate, I wonder if that means little room. On this episode of House Hunters, we explore an expansive mansion. So we got the blue or the teal wall over here, and then we're gonna go into this room and take a look at the wallpaper. No, it definitely is painted. I can't believe the detail of it. It's a pretty modern bathroom, including the toilet over there. Or is that a bidet? Actually, on second thought, I think that is the bidet, and the toilet's over there. That's the toilet. Gosh, this is such a cute patio. I love the modern furniture. It acts as a third place. I mean, I love it. If you're a local, you just come to Casa das Rosas and just hang out on the patio. It's not just one patio. We got two patios. This one gives you a view of Avenida Paulista. It's so peaceful here, you almost forget you're right next to one of the busiest streets in Brazil. You don't need more than 20 minutes here unless there's an exhibit on. But it's a lovely stop to catch your breath. There's a rose garden, also free to the public to check out. Casa das Rosas, it's worth a visit, maybe a short one. I really wish that they kept some of the furniture in the rooms. Most of the rooms were empty. The only rooms that I found interesting were the bathrooms. I guess it's because they left all of the fixtures there, including the bidets. Next, we hopped in another 99 ride-share car for a 20-minute ride to Beco do Batman in Vila Madalena. We wanted to get there before it got dark. What does Batman have to do with Sao Paulo? I'm here at Beco do Batman, which is a street that's famous for graffiti art. Why is it named Batman? I don't know, it all started off when somebody did some graffiti art with Batman and then the rest is history. Batman's Alley is located in the neighborhood of Vila Madalena. And specifically, you walk along Rua Gonçalo Afonso. On the other street is Rua Madero's Albuquerque. So we're at the corner of those two streets. And as you're walking, just be careful of cars. Are we in Brooklyn? Are we in Coney Island? Because that's Nathan's Hot Dog. And that's pretty good artwork of the New York skyline. Oh my gosh, they actually do sell Nathan's Hot Dogs. I thought that was just graffiti art, but it's a restaurant. Oh, that's too funny. Batman as a Nathan's Hot Dog. It's Bat Hot Dog. Oh, I love this. It's like some sort of dollhouse. Here we go again with the Nathan's Hot Dog. I don't know, I just like it because it reminds me of home. I just love how all the homes are painted differently. They're all unique artwork. Some more colorful graffiti art here. But we got Batman holding a coconut. Come to think of it, it does make sense why Batman's holding a coconut. It's a Bar de Coco, so they probably serve fresh coconuts here. Over there we had Bat Hot Dog. Well, now we have Bat Dog. This area is not just about graffiti artwork, but you can get some drinks. There's a bar over here and then a bar over there. Oh, I see some paint cans, which means somebody's working on their mural. Just goes to show this whole area is evolving. So when we come back here in who knows when, Batman Alley's gonna look a lot different. Every wall here is a canvas. There's no blank space, just layer after layer of art. Look, it's bats on the ground. There's another Batman, and we have Harley Quinn. Here's some more of the Batman Alley. It's DC Comics after all, so since we have Batman, we have to have Superman. Oh, look, we have Clark Kent over there, but it's actually Superman. Woo! What's cool is that the murals are always changing, so even if you've been here before, you'll see something new. It's not just graffiti. It's social commentary. It's color. It's Sao Paulo speaking through the walls. You don't need a ticket. You don't need a museum pass. This is free art out in the open for everyone. Sao Paulo is famous for its street art, and this alley is like the epic center for all of it. Back with the Batman, worth visiting. Just make sure that you visit when there's plenty of sunlight. Otherwise, there's no point when it gets dark. From there, we hurried over to Praça do Porto Sol, which literally means Sunset Square. Our last stop at sunset is Praça do Porto Sol. I didn't think we were gonna make it because we had a pretty jam-packed day, but we made it just in time to get the sunset. Locals gather here every evening to watch the sun dip below the skyline. It's one of those simple, magical moments that make the city feel alive. The name doesn't lie. This is the spot to watch the sunset in Sao Paulo. Even though the sun's going down over there, you can still enjoy views of the city from up here. Check the sunset time before you go and plan to arrive 30 minutes early. We just barely got there in time for the sunset with minutes to spare. Now that the drama of trying to capture the sunset is over, we might as well go for a walk. Just in case you're missing home in L.A., well, this place is called Santa Monica Coffee. Yeah, Santa Monica, like in California, and they sell coconuts. You don't really see that in Santa Monica, California, though. What I love is that the locals and travelers all come together here just to appreciate the view. I love how even in a bustling metropolis such as Sao Paulo, I can find a place for peace and quiet. Okay, maybe not complete quiet because there is noise from the traffic, but still, you know, I'm away from cars for the most part here, and just being surrounded by green space. I mean, this isn't quite forest bathing, but it's close enough in an urban area. Hold up, so we have Santa Monica Cafe over there, and there's Oakberry, and guess what? There's an Oakberry in Manhattan Beach, and they sell acai bowls. Oh, a little bit of L.A. here in Sao Paulo. Rush over for a sunset view, but then linger around after the sun goes down for a relaxing walk around the park. The sun sets early in the wintertime, which was a cue for us to get dinner. As you may guess it by now, we took a rideshare to dinner because it was on the other side of Sao Paulo. After a long day of exploring, we wanted to end the night with something special, so we came to Tadashi for sushi. Sao Paulo has the largest Japanese community outside of Japan, so it only makes sense that the city also has some of the best Japanese food you'll find anywhere in the world. Last night, we had pizza, which was a nod to Sao Paulo's huge Italian immigrant influence. Tonight, it's sushi because Japanese flavors are just as important to the city's food scene. Don't be alarmed by the empty restaurant. It was only 7 p.m. Apparently, people in Sao Paulo don't eat dinner until much later in the evening. We didn't need to make reservations because we were early birds, but it's recommended if you go later in the evening or on the weekends. So for the sushi, we got the dynamite roll, and it comes with salmon on the outside with breaded shrimp on the inside. This is a Tadashi exclusive sushi. We got it with mango. Yeah, I've never seen mango in a sushi, and I guess that's salmon on the inside. That's not a whiskey bottle. That's soy sauce. I was wondering. So this is the maracuja juice, and then that's the maracuja caprina. Yeah, accidentally took a sip of that. I was like, whoa, okay, that was not juice. It definitely tasted alcohol. Now it makes more sense that, okay, so the juice serving is enough for two. This is the baked crab dish. As far as the main course goes, we got salmon with passion fruit sauce. That's something you don't see in the U.S., and then we got stuffed squid. So it's supposed to be, like, stuffed with mushroom and shrimp. The grand finale to this day, we got a trio of desserts. So we have flamed pear, and then we got pistachio ice cream and a creme brulee. What does this have to do with Japanese culture? I don't know, but you know what? This whole day was about culture and fusion because that's what Sao Paulo is all about, right? All of these diverse cultures coming together to create this fabulous city. After today, I can say that Sao Paulo is a legit foodies paradise. I also love how dining is really affordable in Sao Paulo, unlike in L.A. So you saw what we just ordered, and guess how much that costs in U.S. dollars. Came out to be $62.48. Can't believe that. I mean, in L.A., that easily would have been, like, $250. That's the thing about Sao Paulo. The city might not have beaches like Rio, but what it does have is an incredible multicultural food scene. Italian, Japanese, Brazilian. You can taste the entire world in this one city. So is Sao Paulo just a boring business city? Definitely not. With its food, culture, neighborhoods, and art, it's a city that rewards you if you're willing to look past the surface. Thanks for joining me on day two in Sao Paulo. In the next episode, we'll keep exploring what makes this city unforgettable.