It's Now or Never: Timeless in Brazil 2: Greatest architectures of all

Yesterday we visited several buildings in São Paulo, today I'll show you more interesting places that you 'must-go'.

São Paulo Se Metropolitan Cathedral
São Paulo Cathedral has a Neo-Gothic styled structure, built in 1913 and completed after four decades. Despite having a Renaissance-styled dome, the São Paulo Metropolitan Cathedral is the largest cathedral in São Paulo and it's considered by some to be the 4th largest neo-gothic cathedral in the world. Located in
Praça da Sé (Se Square), there is a Marco Zero monument (ground zero) in front of the cathedral. Marco Zero is considered to be the center of the town. The hexagonal prism coated marble represents the geographic center of the city, where all distance measurements situated on signposts stuck to it are established. During the evening I visited this site, there were religious group of people performed mass in front of the cathedral (It was closed on Sundays). However, while admiring the building, beware of the pickpockets and street people who would come and ask you to buy toys or for money.

The Great São Paulo Cathedral

The São Paulo metro or rapid-transit system is the largest in the city and in Brazil. It was built in 1970s with length of 74.3km. Due to high population of this city, its traffic is terribly congested too. So, it's best to visit the city with metro.

Avenue Paulista
A famous and an important avenue in Sao Paulo metropolitan, Avenue Paulista is home to headquarters of a large number of finance and art institutions. There are banks, stock exchange, branded shops, TV and radios antennas, the landmark MASP, and of course, people. Since it's an important center of business and finance, the expenses in this area is rather high! Note that the avenue is also famous for its Gay Parade which held in May/June. According to wiki information, the city has 2.1 millions of opposite sex couples and 5,700 same-sex couples. Though it has more than 70% of Catholic Christians, Brazil is a secular state, and the LGBT people enjoy most of the same legal protections available to non-LGBT people. According to the Guiness World Records, the Sao Paulo Gay Pride Parade is the world's largest LGBT Pride celebration, with 4 million people in 2009.

The busy and famous Avenue Paulista

Oi!! I'm calling from the space!

The municipal collaborate with Telephone company 'Vivo' to run a decorate public phone booth campaign. Their creativity are shown in each phone booth along the Avenue Paulista. In Brazil, people use colours to portrait art brilliantly. I especially enjoy seeing each piece of art that could be found everywhere in the avenue.

A collection bin to collect recyclable items. It tells you what is recyclable and what is not.

There's a nature urban forest right in the Sao Paulo city, it's located right next to the Avenue Paulista where a road is dividing the forest. Not bad, they have a green lung in the city!

Sunday market where people sell many cute and nice handicrafts. Brazil is famous with their minerals, stones and gems.

Ibirapuera Park
Open since 1954, Ibirapuera is the city's largest and most popular park. Its buildings are designed by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer (born in Rio de Janeiro, a Carioca, he designed Penang State Mosque in Malaysia too!) and landscaped by Roberto Burle Max (Yes, a Carioca, he's the one who designed the landscape for KLCC Park in Malaysia, and the famous Copacabana black and white promenade!!). In the midst of its eight pavilions, three lakes and many streets and lawns are the Museu de Arte Moderna (Modern Art Museum), the Pavilhao da Bienal and the Oca. Many people likes to do outdoor shows and sports mournaments (like marathon) there and the park is full of runners on weekday mornings. On Sundays, people will picnic with families, some foreign workers would also spend their off day at the park too. No wonder I have the feeling to relate it with our KLCC park when I was in the park!! I admire Brazilian artwork so much now.

Pedro Alvares Cabral, 'discoverer' of Brazil, began the age of Portugal occupation in Brazil.

Monumento às Bandeiras, commemorating the pioneers from São Paulo who opened up the interior - a magnificent work by Victor Brecheret with imposing and heroic figures

Mercadao Municipal

The Municipal Market, known affectionately as the Mercadao or 'Huge Market', opened in 1933. The towering roof is dotted with skylights and glass tiles that provide natural lighting. There are also 55 stain-glass windows imported from Germany. Originally, the market was supplied with fruit and vegetables that arrived by boat from local farms via the Tamanduatel river. Currently it employs about 1,600 people and some 300 stands. These sell 350 tons of produce to about 14,000 customers per day: fruits, vegetables, food and spices from all over the world, the tobacco stands, the huge variety of seafood, meat and fish, tea, drinks, and many more. The Bar do Mane, renowned for its Italian mortadella, prosciutto and roast pork sandwiches.