Singapore part1 ~ fashionable ~

To Singapore or not to Singapore, we kept wondering for 4 days and then we decided...NO. As you might heard or not, when working for an airline you get crazy discounts on airfares, but you get in the flight if it's not fully booked of course, as in they won't take a company staff and leave out a valued customer, right? So with several options in sight, me and my girl friend here decided to choose another destination to have our small vacation but guess what, everything was full. So in the last morning before the days off we decided... we are going to Singapore.
Tickets check, bagpack and camera check, list with attractions check, money and passport check (no need of visa for europeans in case you are wondering), enthusiasm fully check--> online check-in and pam pam, after 7 hours of flight...welcome to Singapore :D
Now this place is something. Starting with the public transportation that is so smartly positioned to cover the whole city, the cool metro that links you to almost everything (which we learned by heart in 2 days ;)) ) tall modern glassy buildings, large boulevards with several lanes and guess what... green everywhere, flowers, trees, palm trees, probably the greenest city in the world.
First stop...Chinatown.
Metro drops you right there, the only thing is to start getting lost on the small colorfull streets crowded with chinese objects that will steel your eyes. Small fashioned houses, food shops everywhere, delicious smells, souveniiirss, how could you not love it. In the same area we found one place that we wanted to see and was on the "to do list", Sri Mariamman temple, a typical hindu temple with all Indian Gods painted and sculped on it, a place that brought back so many Indian memories...ufff.
After about 2-3 hours of mixed cultures and delicious chinese foods, destination... the famous Orchard road, the heart of Singapore, the fashion boulevard itself. You could barely see the shops and hotels because of the amount of vegetation spreading all over the place, which we did not complaint of course, but gosh, so much green in that city! Fency malls, hotels, what to say, la creme de la creme on Orchard, but more a delight to walk than to shop because of the seights, at least for us :)) Short stopover at Hard Rock Caffe for a beer and a coffe to wake up and continue our way and off we were to Marina Bay, one of Singapore's atractions because of the lovely view from around and their very own dancing fountain, which besides the dance and light show, singapore people decided to project images on the water....unique....
Last stop of the day, Little India, a central area in Singapore where of course everything looks smells and sounds like in India. Man again so many memories, with fresh veggies on the side of the road, cheap prices, Indian music, flowers, small streets and the place where we stopped over night, at Prince of Wales hostel, on Dunlop str, a friendly and cousy place to spend the night and plan the second day of the trip :)
Now getting into Singaporese culture...majority of the people are descending from malay, chinese and indian culture, speaking some weird languages called malay or chinese or tamil which have a very cute and curly alphabet :D, eating a hell lot of noodles, with chopsticks of course (an instrument that I could not figure out yet), looking extremly pretty and very fashionable. I could not stop myself from staring at the lovely chinese or malay girls, all dressed up in trend, with the latest wear in fashion, fun or fancy combinations, decent make up and quite short skirts or pants. Ok forget the ladies, what about the wemen, all walking female were looking hot and trendy, can you imagine that (with some small exceptions of course), no matter the age or shape or size :D And not only looking trendy, but updated with the latest technology, everyone was having at least 1 piece of iPhone in hand, buttoning, chating, playing, drawing, working, wathing movies or videos, in the metro, in the station, on the street, while walking, all the freakin' time. You could not even see their cute faces very well because they were all stuck in a small screen, doing something on the phone. What can I say, passionate people :)

Coming up next Singapore part2 ~ wildlife ~

Woman's day...an ordinary day

The first time in my life when I did not celebrate Woman's day, and people around did not even notice this celebration. Does this mean it's not a celebration anymore or I'm just in a wrong part of the globe to celebrate such a thing...a person...the woman...
Maybe because it is a place where MEN rule, or just do not have such consideration for the opposite sex, or maybe don't know, or don't care, or God knows what, but the weird thing was that not even colleagues from work, of different nationalities, or customers on the phone, from different places of the world did not react anyhow when talking to them. Not the wemen, not the men, they were just to busy booking their flights, or changing their tickets, or asking why were they charged that much, or others as such.
Well known (or at least that is what I thought) as the international day of woman, the 8th day of the month of March is celebrated around the world with consideration and respect for women, from a political, social and economic point of view. Of course perceptions have changed during time, and no more need for political or economical consideration, since so many women in the world are more independent or powerful than men, but it became instead mother's day, women's in general day to be more loved and apreciated than in any other day of the year.
And still, nothing special happened, no e-mails, no messages, no flowers, no whishes, no smiles, no nothing. It's like the whole world stopped carying in the same time, and decided not give a damn on these kind of things anymore. Is that true, is that possible? World, where have you gone?
Where are the days when we used to create beautiful messages for the entire feminine phone agenda and send them 5 by 5, to be sure they will be sent to all. Where are the times when street campaigns happen and cute young guys use to go to girls in the city center and give flowers, bringing a sunlight in their busy thoughts and a smile. I guess some of these things have been replaced with facebook messages and virtual flowers posted on "walls", which is not bad, but still...
And to finish the story, I would actually be a big fat cow to lie, but I did receive a rose today, me and other girls, from one of our colleagues who remembered to wish us early in the morning on our way to work, and who by the end of the day gifted us a rose on the way back home. So thoughtfull, and made such a big difference, and filled our faces with smiles and our little hearts with cheers. And as my colleague said: "I don't feel that bad anymore"...

Lost & replaced

In case you remember the story with my lost & found iPhone, well the history is repreated unfortunately, so here I am without my Iphone once again, this time stupid way lost, looked for, called and closed, and since then not found, even replaced :))
The feeling that time? Sadness and nakedness, after an iPhone to turn to a tinny Samsung GT-E 1087T, whatever model this might be (maybe from 1087 as it sais :)) ), with a small screen where I can barely see the numbers and a funny old age sound, for more than 5 days... I even found myself in the metro ready to open google and search an address, but surprise, when I look in my hand, the tiny black phone was sitting there quiet, almost skared to see me in the eyes and say...I cannot do this :( After such events, the senses were satisfied properly with a new HTC Rhyme, of which I am a proud owner nowadays. All the features, all applications, but free, with Android, instead of creating profile and adding my bank account no so that Apple can charge me if I decide I wanna play full angry birds :)))
The feeling at this time? Well I must say I am not that happy as when I initially discovered the iPhone, but not dissapointed either. I am just bored I think, nothing new discovered in the new phone, nothing old missed that much, maybe just traumatised how can you lose an iPhone twice...duh...
Dear reader keep your smart phone in a lesh, it might go running away one day...and you'll be left dumb O.o

Move it, it's 2012!

Can anyone please tell me where did the last 3 years go? Cause not long ago I was somewhere in Romania with my studies, then I left to India to change the views, then I came back home and then....where did the days go? Is it just me or this planet and sun and whatever else in this Universe is spinning a little bit faster than the old days? I mean I remembers everyday when I was little and the day was so long and the year was long also, and now, everything ends like in a few hours...And what do you know, it's 2012!
OOOOHHH MYYY GOOOODDDD, this is the end!!!!!! Let's do something, let's do everything, let's do it all now, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
Does anyone believe this shit, except me? Do you really think the end is now? I will admit that I do, I really do believe. And I am not talking about the end of the world as in the huge mushroom will wipe us away or planet earth will become a lonely sad place full of water or dust or ashes. I believe that this year something will happen that will end the world as we know it, like a start for a new kind or era...and wow that sounded so deep :))) So what do you know, ACTA is on and the economical situation is wipping the countries away from the european list, and snow is covering our houses in nowadays winter. Kind of weird, don't you think? Should we really expect cips in our brains and robots to come and do our stuff in the next future? You know I don't exclude that either :)))
(play song)
Long ago, in the land where everything was possible, while walking on the streets to my home, I met a small girl with big blue eyes. She was dancing her way home, saying hy to all the trees and flowers around, singing a song that sounded to optimistic and happy even for me. I stopped and asked: Why are you so happy little girl? She looked up at me, smiled and gave me the drawing. Then I understood...

Old style happiness

Speaking about happiness, no person is happy all the time, the feeling comes and goes, and blessed are those who have it everyday, at least a little bit.

Well maybe some of you know the story, but I'm going to tell you my old small daily happiness, in my house, with my dad and a big old fancy record player, with an 80' Radio Europa Fm.
Sitind in the corner of the livingroom, in a comfty armchair, with large headsets covering half of the head, enjoying every song played on the radio and recording the "good ones" on tapes. One of the best "toys" in the house for small Oana.
Whenever I used to walk in the room, I could see my dad with his eyes closed, in a fluffy bathrobe, with his white hair and kind face, keeping the rhythm from the huge headset in his snapping fingers, enjoying the songs. I would sneak next to him, draw his attention, smyle and take over. That was my daily happiness back then.
And as a return in 2012, yesterday night flashbacks came around when in one of the usual bars to hang out, I found the old songs filling the place. God remembered the singers or the name of the songs, but thanks to modern technology and magnificent Google, it's enough nowadays to just write some lyrics and Google finds the song for you. Exactly what I did, ending up with below playlist.
And while sitting in the tall chair, in the late night, with a glass a beer in front and friends giggling around, I found myself .... extremly HAPPY ....

Cele 3 tipuri de barbati

Indraznetul vine beat acasa la 3 dimineata. Sotia lui sta in pat, treaza. Indraznetul apuca un scaun si il aseaza langa pat.
- Ce faci cu asta? intreaba nevasta, infuriata la culme.
- Vreau sa stau in primul rand cand incepe circul

Curajosul ajunge beat acasa la 3 dimineata. Nevasta il asteapta la usa cu o matura in mana. Curajosul o intreaba:
- Vrei sa maturi sau sa zbori undeva?

Neinfricatul vine beat acasa la 3 dimineata. Duhneste a parfum si are camasa mazgalita cu ruj. Isi apuca sotia de fund si zice:
- Acum e randul tau!

Pls use google translate if anyone else curious about the post :)) Just to have an idea, it's about the 3 types of men....

Back home

"I'm taking the long way home", was the song from ATB. Well guess what, it was worth it, even on the long way. Imagine I am writing theese lines from the cousiness of my home, in my room, with my decorations and a cold cold winter outside the window. Not snowy, not in my town, but still winter.
Now what can you do in the cold hometown after 8 months of summer and sand , spicy food, skyscrapers, camels, salty sea and lots of work? Well surelly a lot, starting with seeing all the friends, and neighbours and family and long lost family and friends again, and old colleagues and the list could go on, visiting the city's old places, bars and clubs where you used to hang out some time ago, (re)culturize yourself with a little bit of drama (theatre), a little bit of music, a little bit of art, walk a lot or go with the trolleybus and tram :D, go in the middle of the city centre square, picture the beautiful old buildings around and carry those images with you wherever you go, visit friends new houses and play with the cats and the dogs, have a cheap and healthy haircut :)), read some books and listen to old national music, explore the city if anything new appeared while you were gone, go pray a little bit and visit old county monasteries just in case you don't have any nearby churches in the place where you now live :P, talk to the people from work to be sure you'r not missing something important :)), eat all the traditional delicious home made foods, spend lots of time with the parents, prepare all the projects for the semestrial exams when still a student :-S, protest along with the country citizens in the city centre to get rid of the president and put country on the right track, go in another city to visit you old friends, write home impressions on the blog to share your happiness with the world and of course enjoy all the small things cause you won't see them again soon.
You guessed right, this was my home vacation, ready now to go back in the desert and continue what I started last year in May, Dubai baby adventures :D

It's time. It's Christmas time.

Who said you cannot enjoy Christmas if you're far away from home? Of course it's not the same feeling as when you are there, but the ones who are really making the spirit are the people with whom you spend it. And what do you know, I did it! I'm in the spirit. It took me some time, usually at home I'm in the spirit since 1 December, while in Dubai it came a little bit later, that beeing yesterday :D
The plan went wrong in the last 4 days, after buying tickets and having ready a small surprise for my family and friends to appear home on Christmas Eve, one working day on 24 Dec and the imposibility to change that ruined everything. So here I am stuck in Dubai, with 3 tickets that will not be used soon and just the dream of Christmas carolling :|
Instead of that a very nice family brightened my holidays by comming in Dubai and spending Christmas with them, my folks from home calling me and decorating the Christmas tree along with me on Skype (tree e-decorating was quite nice I must say) and my dear friends packing santa's gifts for friends and family again with me on Skype (God bless whoever invented this program) It might sound too much electronic, but when you'r away from home and from the dear ones on these special days of the year, internet is one of the most welcomed inventions :D
In the end it seems Christmas will still be about spending time with the dear ones, having lovely times and foods together and celebrating God's birth, because even doe Santas croud the places and Christmas trees are everywhere, the celebration is not about them.
Merry Christmas to all and may these holly days brighten your thoughts and hearts.

Gold card...

One great thing that I like about this job is that sometimes, but only sometimes, I have quite interesting discussions on the phone with our customers. The last one, a few days back, was with a "gold member", as in a frequent flyer with Emirates, who reached the gold stage with the numbers of miles earned.
I always say that the "gold card is a cold heart", because of the amount of expectations and rudness that some of these kind of customers have, but of course every forest has its exceptions.
After giving me his booking in economy to be upgraded to business with cash (because now I reached the next stage where I am able to change tickets and know how to read aviation fare rules, which suck by the way) he told me he needs to fly to Singapore for 3 days and, what do you know, in first class. Cause according to him, Dubai is that kind of place where if you don't have fancy cars and travel in business or first class, you'r not "good enought". Of course beeing intrigued by the idea, I rejected it saying that it is each persons choice to spend money in such a way, nobody forces you to do so... The guy paused a few seconds and agreed, but still he bought the first class ticket, which was for my good sake of course :))) Besides that his assistant was travelling also, however the guy was "punished" to stay in economy, in a normal chair with a normal screen in front of the eyes, with chicken biryani and fruit, not a flat bed in an own compartment, with lcd wide screen and champagne and caviar as dinner :))
Apparently the customer was not at all boderred by my sincereness and after releasing his card of a few thousand euros, he wanted to know some more about the agent who disagreed him, within the company confidentiality policy of course, do not imagine otherwise :P And here we were after 50 minutes of chit chats, exchange of ideas and book impressions (because what do you know, I started to read here :))) ) happy with the service and with the long talk, the "gold guy" went to have a beer and I went pleased home, happy that I made someone happy that evening.
Gold card...sometimes warm heart :D

Happy nation(s)

Stuck (in a good way) between 2 countries, and what a coincidence, both with the national day in consecutive days, 1st and 2nd of this month. We celebrated 2 times of course, first on 30 Nov, with Arabic goodies and traditional tea and last but not least on 1st Dec, with traditional Romanian food and Romanian colors. If you are wondering, no fireworks, no parades, no music, quite a chill celebration, not as sophisticated as I would have wanted it. And now ... a little bit of history.

1. Romania, a small country on the left hand side of the Black sea, independent from the turkish domination since 1877, completely united in 1918. Official language our own, Romanian, flag colors red, yellow and blue, cleared out from the comunism rules in 1989, when Nicolae Ceausescu was erased from the image. What you can do here, well almost everything cause you find mountains as well as sea. Winter -5 degrees even less, summer 30 degrees even more. Snow and sun, forests and sea (by the way it's not black even doe it's called Black sea, just to be clear :)) ), traditional clothes and delicious foods, welcoming people, kind of corupted ruled but which country isn't :P This is my home country which I miss so much.


2. UAE, in translation United Arab Emirates. Now here there are some interesting things to say, first may it not be confused with Arabia, as in Saudi Arabia, which is a totally different story. UAE became independent in 1971, so 40 years of life were celebrated this year. The "country" is formed out of 7 emirates: Ras al-Khaimah, Dubai, Sharjah, Fujairah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain and Abu Dhabi which is the capital, each with its own ruler-emir and a national president. Official language, Arabic, flag colors red, green, white and black. Well known for the strong Arabic coffee, which I do not like at all, palm tree fruit-the dates, Arabic tea which is good and the long clothes that cover the entire body both the men and women. The culture and people hospitality I cannot write about, cause I did not really meet it, probably because of the interesting fact that there are lexx than 20% of local arab people living in this area, the rest are other world nationalities. Desert and camels all the way, falcons, mosques, tall glass buildings, very less vegetation (a thing that I hate), a beautiful, extremely salty and healthy sea, dry stony mountains. This is my host country.

...in search of ...