New Batizado Venue

Our batizado will take place at South Agora entrance of The Republic Polytechnic. 2pm -5pm. rpagora south entrance

Nearest MRT station is Woodlands followed by a short walk (about 10mins - depending on your pace) which should be mildly invigorating for most of us (unless you’ve been skipping training).

When you get to RP (see Pix 1), just walk up along the corridor of the building where the trees are lined up, passing Subway on your right as you come to the glass entrance of Agora South (see Pix 2).

trcc carpark (Medium)trcc from taxi stand (Medium)rp taxi stand (Medium)Those driving can park their cars at the The Republic Cultural Centre carpark (the carpark fees are very reasonable). (Pix 3) You will have to drive up past the bus stop, passing The Republic Cultural Centre (TRCC) on your left and the taxi drop-off (see Pix 4). Make a left just before the next traffic junction.

If you are going by cab, your cab will drop you off at the taxi stand (Pix 5) which is a couple of steps from where we’ll be having the batizado. After you alight, just walk towards the pond and towards your left where you will see a building entrance with glass doors. That’s the spot. If it rains, we’ll just move the action indoors.

Here’s a location map of Woodlands MRT to RP:location map rp

Change of Batizado Venue

Due to the APEC meeting at the Istana next week, Istana Park will not be accessible. We are looking at an alternative venue where it’ll be too far away for Obama or Clinton to stumble into our Batizado roda by mistake. So stay tuned, folks!

BATIZADO 2009

batizado 2009 logo

Our 4th batizado cum troca de corda is just 2 weeks away! Here are the details:

Workshops: Wed 11- Fri 13 Nov 09

Time: 8 - 10pm

Venue: The Republic Cultural Centre (Studio 1 & 2) @ Republic Polytechnic (MRT station: Woodlands)

Admission: Only For Bantus students who have paid their batizado fees. Sorry, no observers.

Kids’ Workshop: Sat 14 Nov 09 

Time: 10-11am (in lieu of a class so we won’t be accepting new students that day)

Venue: Dance On Us studio (8 Claymore Hill)

Admission: Only for Bantus junior students who have paid their batizado fees.

Batizado Sat 14 Nov 09

Venue: Istana Park (across from the Istana & Plaza Singapura) It’s now at Agora South entrance of The Republic Polytechnic - please read latest post

Time: 2pm - 5pm

Family, friends and the curious are more than welcome to stay on and watch.

Bantus Singapore brings JOY to BMW event

Some highlights of our performance at the BMW Joy event outside Wisma Atria on 25 September 2009.

bmw_jedi solo 0722-7bmw_ninho n flo 0722bmw_ninho n tempeiro 0726-2bmw_claud mortal 0723-5the best group shot (Medium)

No class on Mon 21st Sept 09

There won’t be any training on Mon 21st September as it is a public holiday. Enjoy your long weekend and see you on Thursday 24th September 09.

It’s Prof Claudinho!

prof.claudinhoPARABENS to Claudinho who has just troco de corda. Not once but TWICE! Making it a double promotion! Whoa! When we asked him over the phone last Saturday, the ever modest Claudinho who sounded overwhelmed and slightly hoarse (because he had lost his voice), said it was so unexpected. But he was very happy. When we shared the news with Rafael from Bantus KL, who was in town over the same weekend, he was overjoyed for Claudinho, saying, “If anyone deserves that honor, it is Claudinho, man! That guy is a saint.”

Welcome back to Singapore, Professor Claudinho!

(keep an eye on this post ‘coz we’ll see if we can get hold of a vid and some pix of the grand event for u…)

Festa Julina Pixfest

IMG_0286 (Medium)We kicked off our 1st Festa Julina with a roda. Oscar wowed the crowds and left us speechless (to Claudinho’s credit). Really, it was the kids who stole the show. Kudos to our young ones! See for yourself (vid below)

IMG_0294 (Medium)The Bantus hillbillies. Unfortunately, not everyone was in the picture. The rest were busy fishing and eating and being responsible for the fun happening around us.

quadrilha 05627 We had as much fun as a bunch of mad hatters!

quadriha 05632 The quadrilha led by Claudinho who in his padre get-up kinda reminded me of… er, Kung Lao from Mortal Kombat (the movie version)?

IMG_4710 (Medium)KISS ME lah! (scene from our casamento da roça)

bosompal_4663 (Medium) The “Wedding guests” included a pair of bosom pals…

IMG_0327 (Medium) the bride’s long-time rival (who occasionally gets mistaken for Tina Turner or Nong Toom, the Muay Thai fighter)

IMG_0321 (Medium) er, snooty folks from out of town who like to wrinkle their noses at us hillbillies…

IMG_0332 (Medium) True blue Brasileiros. By the way, Priscila is responsible for giving us soooooo much help in making the event a success! Three cheers to Priscila! And a big thank you!

tocha1trueluv_4753 er, in the end, the groom was seen fleeing the paparazzi with his one true love…

IMG_0298 (Medium)leaving the menfolk a little confused and…

IMG_0315-1giving the town gossips plenty to talk about for a loooooong time

Meanwhile, back in the boonies, activities were still at a full swing…

eggnspoon race_4640 (Medium) Egg n spoon race

fishing game_4659 (Medium) The fishing game was especially popular. Not just with the children…there were several grown-ups who couldn’t resist a challenge!

IMG_0325 (Medium) (2)The usual domestic squabble over some old boot…

IMG_0366 (Medium)The town drunks getting inebriated…

IMG_0368 (Medium)The banditos getting ready for the next chocolate raid…

food_4675 (Medium) Lots of typical Brazilian fair snacks to try!

IMG_4613 (Medium) We ate for a good cause as all the proceeds went to a charity.

We want to thank the following folks for their generosity of time, effort and ingenuity to make our first Fest Julina such a great success: Giraia, Careca n Claudinho for staying up late the nite before to clamber up n down like monkeys just to get those buntings right, Andre for being the DJ for the quadrilha n Priscila n her hubby for helping us get the feel right and for cooking the food. Also to all the wonderful cooks - Sonia, Jean, Barracuda, Playmobil, Festa Brasilia and the Brasileiras who contributed their culinary skills to the table. And the folks who manned the games n food stalls and everyone who were sporting enough to show up in their best rags. BIG Obrigada!!!!!!!

IMG_0279 (Medium) (2)IMG_0281 (Medium)IMG_0356 (Medium) (2)IMG_0282 (Medium) (2)IMG_0278 (Medium)

4th Anniversary Bash Pix

Just some of the highlights in photos…

master chef claudgrub

We had plenty of grub on the table (BIG Thank U’s to all the closet cooks!) and we were glad that everyone was hungry so that was good.

bantus bday 2009 004-2 (Small)sucker dude botak

Due to a lack of electrical socket outlets, we couldn’t have a boom box playing reggae all nite. Instead, we had Mike Jackson songs courtesy of some kind soul’s MP3 player. In the meantime, while waiting for the meats to go from raw to well done, a bunch of us jumped into the pool, had too much fun on the slides at the kids’ pool and chilled out in the jacuzzi. Later, there was plenty of entertainment provided by Claudinho and his unsuspecting victims…it was our version of Saturday Night LIVE.

bantus bday 2009 001-2 (Small)bantus bday 2009 005-3 (Small)

As usual, we left the cake design to our ever creative baker, Playmobil (a.k.a Debbie), (http://roomfordessert.com.sg) who once again amazed us with another brilliant idea.Then there were the usual speeches starting with our 4-year-oldie, Giraia (who had no problem giving impromptu speeches with his debating background) and our youngest capoeirista (future überbabe) present, Rapoxinha, got to blow out the candles after MUCH persuasion.

bantus bday 2009 016-1 (Small)bantus bday 2009 034 (Small)

We had our cake and we ate with great relish, remembering that it’s been FOUR years since Claudinho hopped onto our shores and we’ve been humbled, awed and thankful to God that our boundaries have fallen on pleasant pastures.

bantus bday 2009 022-2 (Small)bantus bday 2009 036-1

Bantus Singapore 4th Anniversary Bash

Yup, we’re turning 4 on 1st July 2009. So even though the year started off badly, we want to celebrate with all the good folks who stuck with us, stood on our side and just plain gave us the moral support when we were made target practice. THANKS EVERYONE (you know who you are!) for walking through the fire with us.

reggae party

So we’re chilling out by the pools (yes, there are more than 1 pool), muking around on the carpet grass slopes from 3pm. BBQ pit will fire up from 5pm (courtesy of Chef Claudinho and assistants). We will supply the meat (for the carnivores among us) and drinks but would appreciate some help with the carbos (eg. pasta, rice, noodle dishes or veggies) and desserts (if it’s gonna melt then you’ll have to bring it in a cooler box). Let us know in class or by email if you can make it or bring a dish. Bring your own liquid poison (if you’re into alcohol) and instruments (eg. guitar, shakers, etc) so we can jam, skank and reggae on!

Location Map: click here

See you at our Festa Julina!

conviteFJR