Time Out São Paulo is here!

Good news for travelers from around the World who are interested in exploring my São Paulo.... Time Out São Paulo - English language edition - has just been launched.

For those who are familiar with Time Out London or New York, will certainly be happy that we now have a fun essential guide for locals and visitors who want to find out where to eat, the best gigs, cool places to shop, the city's exciting cultural scene or where to find the best caipirinha. I guess we all need some time out to explore this fascinating (but often intimidating) city.

This is what Publisher Silvio Gianni said in the editorial "....Time Out São Paulo will provide an increasingly valuable service, presenting everything that's interesting and attractive on the city's cultural scene. We have challenges ahead, as the World Cup 2014 and the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro draw closer, bringing with them more tourists, more business and more entertainment, in a virtuous circle in which the media has a key role. This launch is our small contribution to the final internationalisation of our city. São Paulo is amazing and it deserves to be in the spotlight."

A week working out on the Kinesis Wall

I spent this week in Mexico City. Early morning, everyday before an exciting business agenda, I hit the hotel gym and worked out on this fabulous equipment called the Kinesis Wall. I loved it.

The corporate website says that the equipment incorporates stretching and workout routines that imitate natural movements such as lifting, bending down and reaching out. After a week using the Kinesis, which looks like it was designed by some cool Scandinavian design boutique, I felt absolutely great.... toned, energized and without the sensation of tense muscules I often feel at traditional gyms.

Monocle on Sao Paulo

Walking back to my London hotel to pick up my things, I pass by the Monocle Shop (24 George St. a few steps off Marylebone High Street). I've always been a fan of the magazine but had no idea they had a store. I bought the Nov.'10 edition which comes with a 24-page city survey on Sao Paulo - a guide covering business, design, architecture, culture, media, retail and why Sao Paulo has become one of the great cities of the world.

I'll have some fun reading for the flight back home.

Books for Cooks

This morning, before heading off to Heathrow, I went to Books for Cooks (4 Blenheim Crescent in Notting Hill) to pick up a few books my wife asked me to buy. This has always been one of my favorite retail concepts (London is such a great place to see new ideas in retail).

The people behind Books for Cooks describe themselves as "A Cookbook shop crammed with thousands of tasty titles and equipped with a squashy sofa for cookbook junkies in need of a long read. In this shop we really do cook the books - cookbooks are put to the test in our cafe at the back of the shop, while cookery classes take place in the demonstration kitchen upstairs."

If you're into cooking, this is a place you have to visit.

Click here to read the Books for Cooks story.

Listening to Contagious in London

Spending an amazingly stimulating week in London. As part of the programming, we had a great opportunity to meet with Jessica Greenwood from Contagious - a fusion between magazine, think tank and consultancy - speak about a few of the trends that are shaping the fascinating and ever-changing marketing/advertising/digital landscape and how some brands are breaking through the clutter and connecting in different ways. An hour that blew me away. She was brilliant.