as promised, here it goes, a full account of my shopping trip in S. Paulo... I met Glá in the subway station near the hotel and we immediately headed off to the incredibly busy street called "25 de Março". I can't really describe how crowded and busy it was - I don't think I'd ever seen so many people shopping per sq meter, anywhere !
Our first stop was a fabric store called Fernando Maluhy, which sells brazilian and imported fabrics. Their variety is amazing, and they even sell these little packets of coordinated fabric pieces, of which of course I had to get one...Fernando Maluhy & Cia, Lda
Rua Cav. Basilio Jafet, 38, 8º andar, sala 804
Other fabric stores we visited were:
Aviamentos Metropole Lda
Rua Comendador Abdo Schahin, 62
Niazi Chohfi
Rua 25 de Março, 607
The first one has a nice selection of imported fabrics as well (more expensive, though) and quilting tools, and the second one is huge, full of cheaper and various types of fabrics, including brazilian chita.
We also took a peep into several bead stores (full of so many bead packets to the ceiling that made my head spin) and a really nice trim shop, where I got the ones pictured above.
After that we moved on to our second part of our shopping trip. I had asked Glá to show me where the japanese bookstores were located, so she took me to the oriental "Liberdade" neighborhood where we had that nice lunch I talked about yesterday and hit the bookstores. We browsed through "Livraria Sol" first (located right in front of the subway entrance) and then the more popular Fonomag. It was a really difficult choice but I ended up buying 3 books only - since they are quite expensive - which I'll post about tomorrow (one about sewing, another about embroidery, and the most amazing one about dolls)
Another store I loved was Tenman-Ya, a gift store full of beautiful japanese dishware and other cute things, like the kokeshi dolls above. I went back on Sunday as well, and ended buying japanese paper lamps, loads of chopsticks and of course these cute origami paper kits.Livraria Fonomag
Rua da Glória, 242
Liberdade
Tenman-Ya
Rua dos Estudantes, 19
Liberdade
And my last stop before heading off to the airport - the grocery store ! I just couldn't resist these colorful japanese sweets...
