'Important Dates'

Valentine's Day

Hey guys, sorry for not posting anything for a week but it has been such a busy week for both of us. We have had too much homework, projects and tests so we had to study hard in order to get, at least, a B-. There are no C's allowed in this relationship. Well, only if the subject is Biology. Oh btw, I just got an A+ in my first math test and I'm so happy that I could finally understand trigonometry. Sine, cosine, tangent, cosecant, secant.. For what do we need all of this? Whatever, as long as I get a good grade, I'm okay with that.

Let's change this conversation to its real topic that is "Valentine's Day". It's so funny that in Brazil this special date is celebrate in June 12th while in the USA and Europe it is in February 14th. This last week was full of special dates; on Tuesday it was Alvaro's birthday and we had dinner with some friends but unfortunately we forgot to take pictures.  We only have this one of Alvaro with his 2 Japanese friends...

On Wednesday (It was supposed to be on Tuesday but we adapted it), we celebrated one year together... our 1st Anniversary!, and on Saturday, it was Valentine's Day and we decided to go to Silvio's BBQ, a Brazilian restaurant in Hermosa Beach. We had already been there so we already knew how good the food was. This time we ordered a big dish to share since we had a great breakfast. He wrote me a cute note and prepared some strawberries with Nutella in the shape of a heart.

Doesn't it look delicious? It was.. And that's the reason we were not that hungry for lunch. Well, for lunch we had my favorite meat: picanha. It's the most famous meat in Brazil and it couldn't taste better. As a side dish we had rice and French fries. We also ordered a small dish of black beans that I, particularly, love but Alvaro (as always) didn't like it... hahahaha just kidding!

The breakfast was great, the lunch was awesome and to end the day even better we spent the rest of the day in the pier watching the surfers just like Alvaro loves. - It was our first Valentine's Day here in the United States and we spent the day in a great way. Thank you for the breakfast. Thank you for the lunch. Thank you for the amazing day, babe. But most of all, thank you for being my valentine.

We hope you like it guys!

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"The Late Late Show - Jonh Mayer"

Going to TV Shows

Welcome to our new post! Yesterday February 6th we had the incredible chance to be in CBS's studio for "The Late Late Show"  on the last day of John Mayer as Host, and Ed Sheeran, Stephen Merchant and Jillian Bell as guests. I'm just gonna say that it was unsurpassable.

John Mayer, one of my idols who is in 6 of my TOP 10 favorite songs, was just a few meters far making jokes and singing with one of the greatest singers of the moment... We were so lucky.

Let me tell you the truth. We had no clue that John Mayer was going to be the host when I applied for our tickets. I expected that he would be on the show as the principal guest... What an incredible surprise when we arrived and found out the truth hahahahaha. Not only John Mayer but also Ed Sheran? For FREE?

And yes, my friends, I said for FREE. We didn't pay not even a cent for our tickets thanks to "1iota Tickets". On its website, you can find a lot of TV shows to go and the only thing you have to do is to have an email address, to apply for the tickets you want (max of 3 per petition) and wait!

And that's why we also wanted to recommend you, as a new LA Tip to go on 1iota and find some shows that you would like to go to on the dates that you will be on Los Angeles. It is worth, I swear.

It was that easy... I still dont believe the incredible day we had yesterday! For those of you who wanna watch the show, it was on air yesterday night at 8PM on national television (you can watch the complete episode in HD on CBS's website), but I found that some fans already posted it on youtube, so let me show you, at least, the part when they sang "Don't", by Ed Sheeran.

We hope you liked it!

Read this post also in Spanish and Portuguese.
See you soon.

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'Driving Through Paradise'

California Driver License

Hello my friends! Today we bring you here an interesting post about driving in the states .. Did you know that international students can obtain the official Driver License as any other american? In fact, it isn't a "can". If you are gonna be here for a while and you are planning to be driving from time to time, it is a "have to". Better you get the license before you get in troubles!

It seems to be that althought you are in possesion of an international license emited by your home country, it's on the police that stops you to give you a juicy fine... If you wanna try to pretend that you are stupid, maybe it's your lucky day hahahha. But nothing more than that.  And if there is an advice I can give you, it is: Don't argue with any police here... DO NOT do it! 

I have to say that both of the times I rented a car I had not problem with them. In fact, last time we where SO lost on the freeway with no battery in our phones (what means no google maps) and the police stopped us and they not only didn't give us a fine, but helped us to get home hahahaha.

I've been reading about the tests, people experiences and comments and this is the summary: it's a game for kids. Some of the comments were about how easy it is to pass the test due to the "hard" level of the questions such as: "A pedestrian is crossing the street. What do you do?: a)I crash my car againts a tree, b)I reduce speed and let him cross, or c)I increase speed and hit the pedestrian." (WTF???I wish we had that questions in Spain hahaha).

Do you think your English skills are not enough to make it? Don't worry, you have the chance to choose between up to 25 different languages... Come on, you have to speak at least one of them, don't you?.

And what is the funniest thing? You might be thinking that the fee to get the license has to be so expensive and that it isn't worth. Well, you are almost right. The total amount for tests and taxes is $35. I'm not kiding!

So, I will tell you more about the tests and my personal experience during this month, as soon as I have taken them. I just hope that my friend KARMA doesn't punish me with bad luck due to this post hahaha.

For more information, here you have the link of the official website DMV (Departament of Motor Vehicles).

We hope you like it! Don't forget to comment below if you have any question! 

See you soon!

Alvaro.

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California VLOG - Hollywood Blvd

New video on Youtube!

We though you may like to see the places with your own eyes...  We hope you like it!

Click on the picture to watch the video on our Youtube Channel.
                                                                                                                                                              

                                              

Pleasae comment below if you have any suggestion for our future videos.

Thank you for watching!

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California VLOG - Redondo Beach Pier

New video on Youtube!

We though you may like to see the places with your own eyes...  We hope you like it!

Click on the picture to watch the video on our Youtube Channel.

Pleasae comment below if you have any suggestion for our future videos.

Thank you for watching!

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'College vs University'

A Cheaper Way to Study in the USA

Heey guys!!! Today the topic is university and here it goes a great option for those who want to study in the USA. We know that many people are curious about studying abroad, so we thought it might be a good idea to write about it.

I'm gonna try to explain it a little bit better.. Here in the USA you can choose between two different options, that would be study 4 years in the same university or study 2 years in a college and then get transferred to a university in order to study 2 more years.

Ok, but what is college ? Well, college is just a small university (I would say) where the students take the same classes as in the university but with a better price per unit .

Surely that it depends on the institution but some colleges are easier to get in than some universities. Many of them require the TOEFL and/or SAT, tests that are designated to test the student's capacity, especially on the English language. Oh, and I must remember you that the schools here are usually paid per semester, not month.

There's one thing that international students usually complain about and it is the difference of prices between them and american students. Every university/college here charge a fee besides the regular price per unit. Not fair, I know.. Especially if you are an international student that goes to class with american students and you see that only 40% of them pay attention or stay untill the class is over. Anyway.. despite the price, the experience pays off.

Those who are used to small universities, don't even imagine how big the universities here are. The small ones occupy one block, at least, and major universities such as UCLA, look like a small town. I've been lost, at least, 15 times inside de campus and I study in a small college that is half of a university. Here everything is separated by subject and each subject has its own building. And when you have one class in "Humanities", one in "Mathematics" and one in "Music" in the same day, is almost impossible to don't get lost in the beggining..

Well, that's it by now...

We hope you like it!

See you soon.. 

Read it also in Spanish or Portuguese.

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The Infinite Manhattan Beach

There are plenty of beautifull places to go to as a routine in Los Angeles. Locations that will make you feel alive and home, cuz even dream cities like LA can be stressing from time to time.

Sometimes, you don't know why a place is that attractive to you, that much that you don't even feel tired if you were there every single day. That's kind of what happened to us 3 moths ago with The Strand and Manhattan Beach Pier, when we were lucky enough to see one of the best sunsets in our lives. 

The Pier creates an incredible sunset-view with the Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab & Aquarium's shadow, and under the pier it's probably easy to find some surfers enjoying the last waves of the day.

The Strand is a small path for people to walk North and South. What makes this place different for us? Well, it's so relaxing to walk there, and the beach view with all the palm trees is, as always, incredible. But The Strand is also an exit door for the irregular 1st line houses, where you can find different styles and price range in just a couple of hundred meters. 

Here we found some of the best houses we have ever seen. It can be kind of sad to know that it's pretty hard to become one of the owners one day, but it feels so good to be part of this place, even just as tourists. 

I wish I can buy my future house there. Imagine to watch this sunset from the jacuzzy of your yard with a soda and some snacks in your hands... IN-CRE-DI-BLE!!

We hope you like it!
Read also in Spanish. 

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'San Francisco Bay Area'

One day in the City of  Fog, Landmarks, and Rolling Hills

Living in Los Angeles allows people to visit also incredible places out of the city, with just a few hours on the road. Today, we wanna talk about San Francisco Bay Area, a 7-to-8 hours' car trip that should be a MUST for those who are coming to visit the Golden Coast for the first time.

SF is well known for its fog, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Alcatraz Prision, and the hills due to the countless movies filmed there, but in my opinion the city talks by itself. 

Once we arrived to the city, we lead to Lombard Street. This particular place is in the Top10 most famous streets in the world. Its crazy structure with 8 sharp turns make it the crookedest street in the world too. 

The popularity of this attraction makes incredibly hard to take a good shoot without tourists, but waiting enough is possible to find the window of time for your perfect picture. 

After walking up and down more than once, we took a walk to Fisherman's Wharf. For me, this emblematic area is one of the best parts of SF! From there, it's easy to find Alcatraz Island lying on the water and the enormous Golden Gate (if the fog gives you a break). Jefferson Street is the perfect place to charge your energy with all-styles-food, and it's one of the best streets for shopping SF stuff... For those with a strong stomach, Jefferson Street is also the place for giving a chance to the famous Clam Chowder! 

After feeding our bodies, we went to Aquatic Park, where we were able to enjoy an Air Show for the "Colombus Day" event. Here you will find a cycleway that goes to Golden Gate Bridge, what I strongly recomend you to do if you have enough time (you can rent a bicycle there on Hyde Street for $15 to accept the challenge of going to Sausalito by bike). 

In the middle of the show, we decided to go to the other side of the bridge, to enjoy the show and SF from a different perspective. I love this huge bridge (besides it is painted with International Orange instead of gold!). After the bridge, take the first exit and park your car, there is an awesome view of the city from Vista Point.  

Of course, there are plenty of incredible places on Downtown SF, but we couldn't be longer there due to the 8-to-9hours-way home, because there is one thing you have to count with, and it's that you will always find the same anoying traffic on the I-105/405. 

      But San Francisco worths it, of course.
More pictures on our Flickr.

Hope you like it!

Wanna read it in Portuguese?

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'Bye Bye, 2014'

New Year's Eve in a New Home

This is the first time we both spend this important date out of home... But it has been better than we imagined! Of course we miss our families and we would like to celebrate it with them, but I have to say that spending this night with her was perfect. 

We prepared some traditional food for tonight, something that my grandmother used to cook for our big family on these dates. It's called #MeatballsSoup (or #SopadeBolas ) and it was damm good actually!. 

After the soup we could barely breath so we waited a little bit, enjoying the last  few moments of the year laughing and lying here and there...

   And finally... HAPPY 2015! 

I feel so lucky about spending the night with a girl like her, and although it was only our first NY'E, I know it'is just the first of hundreds ... (hahaha). And that's the reason I prepared this dessert for her...!

  

Well, I just wanna say thank you to every single person that made my year a little bit better, to my family for giving me the chance of this adventure that I'm living, and to my baby. I love you!

¡¡Happy New Year!!
Alvaro

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