BWC2014 - 18th May (Day 4 - Volunteer Orientation FUN Day)

A, B, C or me?!

I woke up at 5:30am but dragged on for 45minutes before I prepare myself. When I was ready to leave the house around 7:10am, I started to panic because the key was not around! I searched high and low around the house but to no avail. I wouldn’t want to wake up Fernanda on a Sunday morning at 7am!  But I have no other choices!  Unfortunately, her phone was off!!  This round, I wasn’t lucky to meet Andre like yesterday.  By 7:30am, I thought I was going to miss the orientation program today!  I almost wanted to walk upstairs to Fernanda's room!!  I’m kidding! =]

media area...

Just when all hopes were lost, I found Andre’s car key and searched the car for any house keys and thanks god I found the gate remote!  The next issue was how to return the remote once I am outside.  Fortunately, one of the gates didn't close well until you give it a push. So I pressed the button to close it, ran to keep the remote exactly where it was in the car, locked it and placed the car key back in the house and rushed out with my bag. It was a very close call indeed!

The president room!!!

Quickly walked to the main road and after just asking for the 3rd bus, I got the right one and hopped on in relief. It was 8am and 20min later, I reached the main station again and walked another 20min to the stadium. Unlike yesterday, there were many staffs guiding and greeting you all the way to the right place. We were all directed to the check-in point. The queue was divided by name. I queued at Y but it was actually sorted by the first name. At the queue, I met Dilson. He saw me wearing the Singapore jersey and we started a chat. He speaks good English. After we got our coupons for drink and meal, we proceeded to get our wristband and moved into the stadium to get a seat. I saw Dilson waving at me to join him. He introduced his friend Dinalva (or Didi as she preferred). Didi was probably the most beautiful grandmother I had ever met. We chatted while waiting for the program to start.  Dilson also had three kids and he works in the Catering operation too.  Then, I met Aldo who was sitting behind me. We chatted more and he moved over to sit next to me. Aldo worked in the States for two years before. His spoken English was definitely better than mine!  

As close as you can get to the pitch!

The Volunteer Team members welcoming us...

The session started with the manager of the Volunteer Team, Almare, greeting everyone and introducing his team to the group.  After which, he showed us a few slides on the formalities and the dos and donts.  Next was the presenter from McDonald and then followed by another from Johnson and Johnson, both major partners of the FIFA World Cup event.  Throughout the event, it was all presented in Portuguese!  I was so grateful to have Aldo next to me, helping to translate almost the whole session!

At least 7 teams will walk through this passage to the field!

Lone Singapore representative at the bench!

Around 12pm, all of us were expecting lunch to be served.  Instead, we were all divided into groups following a leader to tour around the stadium.  Before that, we get to collect our drink using one of the coupons given out in the morning.  However, when it was our turn, we were amazed to find out that all the water bottles had been distributed out and they were sorry that such “exceptional” case had happened.  Many, beside the four of us, were not able to get their drinks too.

the amazing light system for the grass!

view from the VIP seats!

During the tour, we first stopped at the basement where the team buses will arrive and park their vehicle.  We also went to up close to the field, passed by the team dressing room, went through the passage where the players will be coming out to the field, sat on the teams benches, dropped by the press conference room, and visited the VIP and VVIP areas, which include a small room where the Presidents of Brazil and other world leaders will be seated.  This room will also be shielded so that the inside is not visible to the outside.  And the most interesting thing was this special lighting system which provides sunlight to the grass on the field at night to make sure they have it 24 hours a day!!  Oh… how I wish I were the grass here!

lunch lunch lunch!!!

the local drink that taste like Fanta Grapes =]

When the leader of our group made the final announcement, everyone cheered and I guessed it must be the time for lunch!  It was already 1:30pm and I was starving.  We walked to the Volunteer Centre.  All the while, Aldo was besides me introducing the stadium and explaining the process and procedures to me.  He was one of the volunteer for the 2013 FIFA Confederation Cup, and hence very familiar with the place and many of the LOC members too.  I was grateful to have him with me indeed.  We picked our own side dishes and I chose the chicken as main dish.  It was a very filling and nice meal.  Another dish that I noticed often on the Brazilian menu was the baked beans cooked in some black or purplish gravy.

the press conference...did i see Neymar there?!

basement car park!

After lunch, we were told that the event has ended and were free to go.  Just as Didi and Aldo like to put it, the “FUN day” event wasn’t really fun at all.  I liked their sense of humour.  It was still ok for me because of the first experience.  We left the stadium around 2:30pm.  Didi was really nice and offered her number to me before I even asked so that I could contact her anytime if I needed any help.  We exchanged contacts and bid farewell to one another. 

VIP lounge area!

Aldo volunteered to walk me to the shopping mall.  We talked a lot.  He told me lunch is the most important meal to Brazilian, and it was common to have lunch for 2 hours even during working days.  I also found out from Aldo, it is in the law that every employee should enjoy 30 days of annual leave at the minimum!  Interestingly, even Aldo asked me if I had hit the lottery in order to be jobless for such a long time!  And every time my friends asked me the same question (sometimes, some friends asked more than 2 to “n” times), I wished it was really true.  Perhaps, I should start buying lottery now!

Aldo’s wife was having lunch with her friends and so he still had time to accompany me.  We continued over a cup of coffee inside the mall.  I always love to share with others about my country and our culture and learned from the others too. Aldo left around 4pm and he insisted to buy me the coffee.  I thanked him very much for the help.  He also gave me his number and told me to get in touch with him anytime.  Before he leaves, Aldo introduced a nearby restaurant at the Brasilia Shopping mall.

Brasilia Shopping Mall!

A great serving for an entree!

I walked over to the shopping mall which was less than 10min away and spent the rest of the evening in the restaurant Coco Bambu which were famous for seafood.  I finally tasted my first draft beer in Brazil!  In fact, I had 3 mugs and ordered a side dish, mussels as dinner.  Beer in a restaurant was relatively cheap here compared to Singapore and Malaysia.  Not to mention the supermarket, where I could get one for only $R1.30!!

Around 7pm, I walked back to the bus station to head home.  Taking the bus here makes me feel like taking the bus at Pudu Raya during those golden old days.  I was getting better and knew how to ask for the right question now.  Spotted a bus taking the EPTG highway, I quickly verified with the driver and hopped on.

When I reached home, Fernanda introduced her mom to me who doesn’t speak any English at all.  She had a very gentle look just like Fernanda.  They really looked alike very much.  After my shower, I could not function anymore and dropped dead at 10pm!!