Visa issues in Brazil

I’ve been in Florianopolis, Brazil, for just over three months now and to make this milestone I had a little visa issue to deal with. Here in South America it seems a much simpler process of renewing a tourist visa, well if it is just another three months your after that is. There are two ways of doing this, the first is to cross the boarder into another country and re-enter, the other is to speak with the federal police and ask for an extension of your three months, this comes with a fee of under 80 Reals (under £30).

Groupon Brazil sells fake iPhone 4 in Daily Deal

Today I signed up for Groupon in Brazil, where I am traveling at the moment, and was surprised to see what looks very much like an iPhone 4/4S for sale on todays deal via a online store ColorTech. Not least the price, which comes in at just over £100!! (289.00 BRL = 106.401 GBP)

How to get online in Brazil

When you are traveling for pleasure, internet cafes and the odd wifi hotspot are enough to get you your internet fix, but if, like me, you are settling for a while and get a house…you’ll need another option. I have settled in a little flat and have been looking at what the options are for getting me online at home.

The obvious option for me was a a fixed line modem, where I can get wifi live for all my devices, but unfortunately my flat does not have a land line to connect to and so that option is a little out of the window. But for those that do, it will set you back around £70 for the modem, £15-20 for connexion and £10 per month.

I don’t do new years resolutions, but if there’s tech involved…

Prompted by a trip to the beach yesterday I have decided to get fit, not fit like I want to be able to run a marathon…I mean fit like looking slimmer and more toned! Keeping it real yo. These Brazilian ladies are pretty hot and they have inspired me.

I downloaded an app a few months ago with the good intentions of using it, but never letting it see the light of day, to which I have re-installed on my iPhone 3G. It is called Nike Training Club and is aimed at women (from what I can see) and better yet it is free.

Training your dog with Tech!

I never thought that I would own a dog with the word “Poo” in its name, but things get thrown out of cars and into your life. Plus the urge to breed it with a Shitzu and make a ShitPoo is just too overwhelming to give up. The final result; I am now the proud owner of a Poodle, a toy one at that…

My love of animals is well known by all my friends/family and when a dreadlocked puppy was thrown out by its owners a week ago, I was the first to put my hand up as an eager surrogate owner. Plus it would give me the chance to have a little project while traveling – a very cute one at that.

My war with mosquitos

the Culicidae

Traveling is aces and delivers many an amazing experience along the many routes you take, however it often comes with a slight pain – mosquitos. Those little delights that leave an itchy, red and sometimes bulbous lump on your body, which become the centre of your universe while they co-exist your skin.

Mobiles in Argentina – it is all about the music yo!

I’ve been here in Argentina for exactly one month now and my keen mobile eye has been on the look-out for what phones everyone is packing…and of course, what they are doing with them. I knew that the market would be very different to the UK, but it has been very interesting looking at how the operators and phone manufacturers have been marketing to the masses here…and how people react to it.

My new phone abroad

One of my favourite things is shopping for a new phone and so you can imagine my excitement at picking a device for me to use while traveling in South America. Unlike in the UK where I have been an iPhone girl since the 2G, I needed a phone with just the basics – calls, texts and maybe a cool game wouldn’t go a miss.

One-way ticket…think again!

I recently left the UK to start a new life abroad and as many have done in the past, booked myself a one-way ticket to this new life. I was fully aware that the conditions of the visa included a ticket out of the country within the 3 months that the tourist visa permits…but as so many backpackers do, I thought I could get away with it.

Well, it turns out most of the people on my flight had the same feeling and as we turned up at check-in 2 hours before the flight we were surprised to be asked to present our return ticket. More so that we could not board the flight without one, so we were told to go to an internet cafe and book a ticket, all within the confines of the 2 hours!!

If Apple made printers…

Photo by Doug Evans: http://www.evansphoto.com/

I saw the below video shared on twitter yesterday and went on to watch in amazement, this printer works so intuitively…it is as if the makers, Artefact Group, read my mind as to how I would want it to work. The beautiful design and ingenious technology made me instantly think of Apple.