ninja school

I love Liberdade. (pronounced 'lee-bay-DODGE.' Sort of.)

Liberdade is the Japanese neighborhood in São Paulo. It has become Chinesey and Koreany too, but mostly it's Japanese, and its main street is all arches with red Kyoto-style lamps.

Also, the Walk/ Don't Walk signs have light-up red arch lamps for stop and green arch lamps for go.  Which is pretty f-ing Japanese.

it doesn't get any more japanese than this

Until last night I'd only ever been there on weekend mornings. This is when there are outdoor markets in the praça and the streets of Liberdade are 'cheio de gente' (<--'really fucking crowded').

food

It's good times. There's a kind of food-corridor - a walk of the market with tons of stalls selling heaping plates of noodle dishes, fried rices, dumplings, sweets, and fresh juices. It smells so good. Even with all the millions of sweaty people and smog-burping cars. And then there's just the 'coisas' part of the market, stalls selling all kinds of clothes, cookware, and toys. We've bought a bunch of souvenirs and gifts there and they all seem real special and Japanesey and Brazilian. Um, and really cheap. (In a good way.)

coisas

So just go there. Buy some coisas and have some Asiany food. And if you're not into eating-while-standing-up-in-a-crowd you can duck into one of the millions of Asian restaurants nearby. And likely wait on a line for a while. But then eat great noodles.

So yes. This market-and-restaurant combo is all i had to report about Liberdade until last night. When we went there with our Japanese friend. Who is a chef. And also a genius.

First thing I learned from Toshi: Liberdade-on-the-Weekend is a different place from just plain Liberdade. Toshi doesn't care for LOTW, but he loves Liberdade.

I guess here is where I should - for full disclosure - admit that when we parked and got out of Toshi's car I looked around and said, 'Wow, I've 'never been to this part of Liberdade! The neighborhood must be bigger than I thought! And what a fun surprise, because this street is so much prettier and lovelier than the Liberdade streets I have seen!' Which would have been an okay aha moment, except that I was standing exactly where Mark and I had bought sun hats and dumplings THREE DAYS AGO.

So this is probably both. Both a testimonial to how different the place looks during the weekend. And also to how dumb I am. Probably both.

But it really does look different. Not just cause it's quiet and more peaceful and less 'cheio de gente,' but …yeah, maybe it's just that stuff. And when it's still and calm it somehow feels even more Japanesey. Maybe just because you can see how more signs are written in Japanese?

Anyway, Toshi pointed out a few landmarks: a large building where he went to school, a famous Liberdade hotel, and the best traditional Japanese restaurants in the city. His two favorites happen to be right next door to one another. He told me to pick one. I picked the one on the left, because it was closer. It is called Yuzu, and you should go there.

We walked in, up a flight of stairs, and through a door that was for serious a portal to Japan. (I haven't been to Japan, but i have seen Kill Bill. So i know.) Wooden tables and benches, those foot-high tables surrounded by mats for sitting, peoples' shoes lined up outside private dining areas. Japan, son.

The food was delicious. Liberdade on the Weekend food is delicious too, but in a different way. The food at the fair tends to be uber fatty - oily, deep-fried, rolled in sugar. Fast food. But the traditional Japanese food we had with Toshi was uber delicate and fresh. And prepared with a precision that almost scared me. Most of my veggie fare was almost plain-looking, things like whole roasted garlic cloves on skewers and small roasted potatoes dusted with salt, but they were all perfect. Like when something's so perfectly cooked that you feel stoned eating it, or like you're discovering potatoes and garlic for the first time. I know this makes no sense. Shut up. My favorite was the ume rice ball.

My second favorite moment of the evening was when a well-dressed young Japanese man approached our table and said hello to Toshi and they spoke rapidly in Japanese for a moment and the man turned to us and chatted politely in Portuguese a little and then left, and Toshi explained, 'We used to breakdance together.'

My first favorite was the ninja school.

Yeah, I said it. Right there on the main drag in Liberdade is an Escola dos Ninjas, and as you can see in the photo it is incredibly badass, elite and full of killers.

(Oh, can you not see the photo? You must not be a ninja. Sorry. (Burn.))