Jet Set Lara: travel, decadence and the pursuit of pleasure

Daslu: no men allowed

While in São Paulo, I had the chance to visit Daslu, one of the most decadent department stores on the planet. And that's without taking into account the helipad on the roof...  Don't own a helicopter yet? Don't worry! "Regular" folks simply have their driver drop them off at the 5-star hotel-like entrance where welcoming staff open the car door before accompanying you into the store.

There is no storefront of course. That would be pointless since pedestrians are not allowed to pass through the gate (!!!)

At Daslu the ground floor is filled with the usual boring boutiques you'll find anywhere in the world these days (Gucci, LV and the like.) Big deal. It's the upstairs that makes it unique. You will find hip Brazilian designers and highly personalized service (I had a friendly and knowledgeable woman exclusively focused on me, patiently following me around with a cart for hours.)

Daslu is not for the shy ones: there are no fitting rooms once you walk up the stairs :-) I admit I was immediately attracted to that concept, probably because I am a closeted exhibitionist... Besides, no men are allowed upstairs and I found myself getting undressed in the middle of the store among several gorgeous Brazilian women who were also stripping down to their thongs. No way capturing that on film for the blog without getting thrown in a Brazilian jail. Sorry! :-)

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Daslu

Avenida Chedid Jafet 131, São Paulo, Brazil

Tel: +55 (11) 3841-4000

The $1000 sandwich

Ok, it wasn't really a thousand dollar sandwich but it was one of the most expensive lunches I ever had. And it was not because of my choice of food. Turns out the method of transportation had a lot to do with it. Let me explain...

A British friend surprised me with a visit to San Francisco earlier this month for a romantic getaway. Since he is an experienced pilot, I agreed to fly with him on a spectacular tour of the northern California coast, followed by an afternoon snack at Pebble Beach. On what promised to be an exceptionally clear morning, we boarded a Columbia 400, a sleek, light and fast small aircraft waiting for us at the Gnoss Field airport in Novato, about 45 minutes north of San Francisco. I sat on the co-pilot's seat, placed Bose's noise-canceling aviation headset over my ears and buckled-up as we performed a last minute aircraft check. Believe it or not, for once, I was actually doing what I was told :)

The cockpit looked an awful lot like Microsoft's Flight Simulator game. In fact, most of the instruments were entirely digital and the readings, including gyroscope, map and GPS data, appeared on liquid crystal displays. Weather data were also automatically downloaded through a satellite link.

We took off and headed west, towards Point Reyes where we were treated to a panoramic view of the Pacific coast line. We flew over the St Andreas fault, responsible for the devastating 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, before heading south towards the Golden Gate Bridge (photo). After receiving permission from the SFO air traffic control, we decreased our altitude, circled over Alcatraz (photo), and flew over the Bay Bridge. It was fascinating to see the construction progress on the new span of the bridge connecting Oakland to Yerba Buena. The critics were right btw, it looks quite ugly, especially from the sky...

We continued south over the city and crossed over the hills towards California’s scenic Highway 1 on our way to the Monterey peninsula. We flew past Carmel along the magnificent Big Sur coastline where we observed several elephant seals lounging on rocks. I hope we didn’t disturb them :) They looked fairly young and small in size. This made sense since they are usually the first to come to shore around this time of year. After encountering some fog, we turned back, flew over Post Ranch Inn ("America's most romantic resort" that I've yet to visit!) and landed safely at the Monterey airport. The runway was quite large since Monterey is also serviced by commercial flights.

We refueled at Monterey's Million Air FBO, a beautiful and well-run facility servicing private jets and aircraft. The facility, part of a network of 28 franchises, looked much like an upscale hotel lobby and was even equipped with Wi-Fi for free internet access. A friendly receptionist, who recognized my friend from a previous flight on a much larger Citation jet, arranged for a complimentary "crew" car, a Jaguar sitting on the parking lot.

After some sightseeing along the famous 17 mile drive, we headed to the Lodge at Pebble Beach. We had a nice lunch at Stillwater Bar & Grill while enjoying the beautiful view of the golf course and the ocean (photo). Fortunately, I remembered to snap a couple of pictures for the blog!
A few hours later we took off again and enjoyed an unforgettable sunset over the Pacific with some scattered clouds on the horizon. Unfortunately I did not observe a green flash :(

Making one last tour of the San Francisco skyline, this time by night, we flew over the 997 ft Sutro Tower, and the pyramid-shaped Transamerica building, before landing at San Carlos airport, a short distance to the south. Finally, a limo took us to the Ritz in Half Moon Bay for a slightly different kind of relaxation and pleasure ;)

Jet Set Lara, exploring the Science of Pleasure ;)

Watch the 10 second video I took with my Treo over Big Sur:

Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance 2005

Some of you might already be familiar with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance that brings together some of the world's finest cars of historic value. They are showcased and raced around California's Monterey peninsula every August.

Blowing cash on the slopes

Keeping up with the blog's recent mountain theme, I decided to summarize a recent WSJ article that caught my eye about top-of-the-line skis. Some of the high-end features described on the article are so geeky, they are actually funny.

Turns out cut-throat market competition has lead manufacturers like Rossignol, K2 and Volkl Sports Holdings AG (acquired by K2), to seek profit margin expansion through the introduction of numerous premium models.

What is it with men and their toys?

As you can imagine, I interact with a lot of men who love toys. All kinds of toys. You name it, they have it. Whether it is some $150,000 car, an antique plane, an helicopter, fancy motorcycles, sailing boats of historical value, sleek motor yachts, and the list goes on...

That works out well, because I love toys as well. Especially other people's toys, since I can satisfy my curiosity for a few hours (or days) and get a taste of adventure without investing large amounts of capital or time to acquire and maintain them. I would dare to say that most of the men I've met get bored with their toys pretty fast, but won't necessarily admit it to themselves. For example, I never quite understood the motor yacht craze since chartering one would seem to make much more financial sense. They tend to be used only a couple of times a year anyway and there are legal and practical limits as to the maximum number of guests onboard. Of course there is something to be said for a yacht that has been extensively customized to suit your individual preferences. Particularly when those preferences are somewhat eccentric...

I'll venture more into the subject of expensive toys next time. Stay tuned.

Lara

Those crazy Italians...

If it was April fool's day, I would have thought this was a joke. But truth is stranger than fiction and the following made it to the NY Times: Italian highway patrol driving a $165,000 Lamborghini Gallardo! Great PR idea, but I wonder if people might speed just to say they were pulled over by a cop driving a Lamborghini... In any case, I bet it makes a lot of highway patrol officers in the US very jealous!

Here's some clips from the article:

Paolo Mazzini, a highway police commander, said: "Italian people are not always friendly toward authorities. They are curious, so they accept the ticket more readily."

"It's not for fun," he added.

Still, Superintendent Vincenzo Bizzarro wore a satisfied look on his face when he gave a reporter, fingers dug into fine leather seats, a small taste of what the force's new Lamborghini Gallardo patrol car can do: nearly 100 miles an hour in just a few seconds, with a row of tollbooths approaching awfully fast. (He mercifully got nowhere near its maximum speed of 190 miles an hour.) With a slim aerodynamic siren and sleek blue paint job, it looks great too: a perfectly Italian tool to foil the famously fast and anarchic Italian drivers.

... Few make the case that the highway police need a Lamborghini. But in a nation crazed with car racing - where Ferrari, the legendary Italian car company, recently opened a clothing store in Rome, and where engine revving at normal stoplights can feel like the start of an urban rally - few would say they do not need one either. Certainly not the police.

"Some people from Lamborghini had spoken with the police administration about the idea," said Sergio Fontana, a Lamborghini spokesman. "They said, 'Why don't you have a Gallardo for the highway police?' And the police chiefs said, 'Why not?' It is very good for the image of the police and for the image of Lamborghini around the world."

... (The car) has patrolled around the country, based recently near here, on the highway north from Rome to Florence. On this stretch this summer, Superintendent Bizzarro had to push the car up to about 185 miles an hour to stop a Porsche going about 155 - or almost twice the speed limit of 80.

... Even when you write tickets, they say, 'What a nice car.' "

I bet they do! Come to think of it, it's a two seater and there are two officers patrolling. What happens when they have to arrest someone? Do they call for a Fiat? :)

Lara

The not so mysterious Black Card

A friend of the site emailed me about the Amex Centurion Card (also known as the "Black Card") and mentioned that in 2001 there were only 5,000 cardholders. I am willing to bet there are significantly more than 5,000 Centurion cardholders today.

The truth is it's an overhyped card Amex reserves for their best customers and charges the majority of them a $2,500 annual fee. Most of my clients have one, and it does entitle the cardholder to some perks (like access to airport lounges, room upgrades, and "concierge" services) but it's essentially a glorified Platinum card. Another practical benefit is that telephone access to Amex travel agents tends to be somewhat faster than the Platinum card's.

At restaurants, it's often considered by the staff to be a status symbol. Big deal.

Oh, and I almost forgot, if you book travel with me using your Centurion card, you get an extra day for free! Just kidding:)

Lara

Imported comments from my old livejournal blog:

From: (Anonymous) Date: October 2nd, 2004 - 04:30 am

Most of your customers have them? Now I feel sorry for you. It's like a membership in Mensa, if you've really got what it takes, you know it. They should call this thing the 'insecurity' card.

Michael

From: refinedbeauty (Jet Set Lara) Date: October 4th, 2004 - 04:36 am

Humor aside, some of the card's features are very useful, like access to the airport lounges (those can be fairly expensive). Also, don't forget that early adopters are paying $1,000/year as supposed to the current $2,500. Finally, membership fees in the UK are significantly lower if I remember well.

From: bookofjoe Date: October 28th, 2004 - 05:20 am

Dear Lara,
A Wall Street Journal article in the past month contained comments by an Amex official to the effect that there are currently "around 15,000" black card holders.

Best,
Joe