Gooooooooo Flamengo!!!

In Rio now. Huuuuuuuuge city, obviously.

From the airport, I contemplated taxi vs. bus. I just forked over 60BRL to get to the airport in Salvador, so I didn't want to spend another 60+ here. Since I had directions to get to the hostel with public transport and minimal walking, and since I arrived mid-day, I decided to give that a try.
No problemo~~~. I got off the bus in Ipanema, where I'd be staying, and a 2-block walk took me to the Mango Tree Hostel. Only 7BRL.
Phew.
(On a side note, a couple who took the same route during my stay, albeit at night, got robbed at knifepoint right in front of the hostel. Scary.)

I usually don't like metro-hostels. Big rooms filled with young, young people, where I sort of feel out of place. The Mango Tree wasn't much different, but I really liked it because….it was unexpectedly spotlessly clean, had good breakfast, and there weren't many of the "party-types" in my room. Another phew.
Plus, the location couldn't be beat!!! Walking distance to shops, restaurants, and the beach. Not that the beach thing mattered to me much.
And Ipanema is one of the very few safe neighborhoods in Rio (well, as safe as Rio can get I suppose), so I had no real qualms about walking around (without my important stuff and baggage, of course).
Location, location, location!!!

Today, I went to see a soccer game.
Yes, I know…an interesting outing choice for Waru.
But the hostel was offering a package (transport + stadium ticket), and I wanted to experience the soccer/football craziness of Brazilians.
Didn't disappoint:Very, very loud. Lots of singing. Lots of banners/flags. Everyone was soooooo into it! Fun, fun, fun!!!
As you can see, I was on the Flamengo team side. I think (?!) the best team in Rio. Due to my lack of significant interest in soccer, I sadly admit to not knowing which team they played against. Ooops. Sigh. (I could take a look at the ticket, but I don't know where it went…)

Although I'd be back in Japan soon, I opted for sushi tonight. And it was a SHOCKING experience.
- My salmon sushi came on plain white rice (WHAT?!)
- My "agedashi-tofu" was fried tofu soup, more than anything else. Small, diced, fried tofu floating in a big bowl of soup (HUH?!)
I honestly thought that Japanese food in Brazil would be good, considering that the country has the second highest population of Japs outside of Japan. Maybe they're all in the Sao Paolo area, where they have a Japan Town. Or maybe I just chose a horrible restaurant. I don't know what went wrong… Waru is confused.
On the other hand, my frozen yoghurt topped with a bunch of fruits (probably my 1st frozen yoghurt in over a year!) @ Yogurberry was delicious. So American!

Anyways, I'm signed up for a full day tour of the city tomorrow with some of the people I met at the soccer game today.
Can't wait to see Jesus.