Goodie moodie

The time has come for you to know that I am a very...wishful person :D When I see someone eating I cannot stop myself from having a "small bite", just for the taste. Therefore you can imagine my favorite food is and most probably always will be Indian food. Tasty, spicy, meaty and veggie in the same time, saucy and everything else that you might want, it's the BEST.

And of course one of the things I miss most since I am home is the delicious Asian/Oriental/Indian foods from all the places I've been to. Besides that the worst thing is that in Romania you cannot find these famous tasty restaurants, bakeries or sweet shops that you find in the world.

Here are just a few of the places I've been to in the last 1 year and half and I badly miss:

*Baskin Robbins. Probably the BEST ICE CREAM in the world :))  In case you haven't tasted this ice cream ever in your life, well you should not pass life on Earth and not try it. It is one of the best things I ever tasted...and I DON't really like sweets. Once a week Baskin ice cream was on the to do list, and pfff they had so many and good flavors. My personal recommendations: Jamoca Almond Fudge and Praline's n Cream, for sure the best ice creams in the world :))))

* TGI Friday's is simply delicious. I don't know how it is in other countries but in Dubai the staff is so cheerful and happy happy joy joy that you would go there everyday. Smiling faces, good service, not to mention a variety of foods and deserts and good atmosphere that make you want to go back. It happened to us one winter evening, after coming back from a one day cruise in Oman, we stopped for a late dinner at TGI Friday's and guess what, somehow the staff came to know that it was my friend's birthday. In the next moments all silence and a small ice cream & pastry with a candle came in the picture, with the staff singing and dancing happy birthday or something. It was so nice and cute that I was clapping and laughing like an IDIOT...for real... Here's a proof.

* Cinnabon is something unique. I know you can find it in Romania as well, if not something very similar, but not in my city unfortunately. Now this is the real cinnamon shit I tell you. Everything tastes so real and good that even salty people like me would want to eat it at least once in 2 days. Cinnabon rolls and many secondary similar products are just making you drool in front of the store, and man they smell sooooo gooood!!!!!

* I don't know who this Tim Hortons is but damn he has a food restaurant! Apparently this chain is only found in Canada, Central America and Oman and UAE, but it should definitely expand some more. It was the first place I tasted a broccoli soup and I started cooking it since then, it was that good, and many other bakery products that made my mouth  drool.

* North Carolina apparently invented Krispy Kreme, and oh God bless them cause they made an amazing discovery. Best donuts in the world I tell you, the best ones. In my first days in Dubai I met Ahmed and Roxana, and in our first day out I well remember that Ahmed had a pack with 6 nice looking donuts with some black and white chocky on top, inviting me to try one cause it's the best one and their favorite. I was to shy to take one, so I think I just took a bite and it tasted damn good. That was just the beginning. My relation with Krispy Kreme became stronger every time I was passing next to the store in the Mall and stopping to have 2 donuts instead of lunch, or as a desert. Since then we became close, and thought nobody knew, I was eating those donuts quite often, more often than my sweetie roommate :D

So in the end, if you pass by one of these stores in some big city in the world, don't hesitate to stop and have a bite. 

And most important of them all: God bless America!

Good old friend..

Annd I am back ladies and gentleman, nice to still see you here after so long. I just had some rough times and now I am back, in a new year, with new ideas and new plans ahead. Short term ones, not to spoil life surprises of course.
Nowadays, still winter, my favorite season of them all, cold weather and white pictures everywhere, just the way I like it. And since I missed to write the Christmas and New Year stories, still I'm gonna tell a kind of Christmas story, about an old friend that's by my side since I was a kid. In winter or summer, whether I am gone or back home, he is still here, waiting for me and brightening my mornings since many many years. Presenting... my very own Christmas tree :)


Just to let you know, he lives in front of my house, in fact, he was planted here by my grandparents or parents, I don't even remember. He is around 20 years old, a little smaller than me at age, but more than 7 times taller :)) Yeah, you are right, that's me in the picture with the tree. It's clear that we grew little bit more than I was imagining when I was that small. He had a lot of space when he was young and little, in fact he's still young, just that he grew so much that the space is not enough for him now. But he is taking it very well and apparently loves us and got used to us that much...that he keeps growing. My dogs love him to, they can hide under his branches and chill in the hot summer days. He makes winter and season holidays more beautiful and all my mornings happy, cause I wake up with him in front of my window.
And as friend was telling me these holidays, in fact we don't decorate Christmas trees, they decorate us.

I'm a traveler not a tourist

So many month since I have not moved my figure to another country, since I did not spent hours breathing another culture's air. 4 month since I am home and I'm happy about it...but sad also. Sad because I feel the world is not mine anymore, it belongs to those who's turn came to make the bold step and discover it.
In the meanwhile, going back to the places I've been, the people I met, I realized that I am one of the lucky ones, cause I went there and enjoyed  the journey as a traveler, not a tourist.
Just to define the meanings, absolutely from my point of view, the traveler gets involved in the journey, while the tourist sees it somehow from outside. The traveler takes a bus and doesn't hire a car, goes by train or bike not by plane. The traveler eats the traditional food from the food stall on the sidewalk not from the restaurant, he learns a few words and impresses the locals, dresses like them and sings their songs, while the tourist prefers pasta and jeans wherever he goes. The traveler, by default, travels a lot inside the journey to discover more and more places, does not lay on the beach and plays golf all day. He looks at the inhabitants as if they are his brothers and sisters, not locals. He walks in nature and gets impressed by every living piece, even though he saw it before. The travelers feels the journey and makes friends with it, the tourist does it for a change. The traveler is there to learn, learn about himself, life, people; to get inspired, to relax and discover himself among the million others. The tourist is looking for a vacation to get out of his routine, to have fun, drink a lot and smoke a joint (not that it's bad and the traveler would not do that but in different circumstances and different implications :)
Me? I'm a traveler for sure, even though I ate french fries in Rio and McDonalds in Singapore, that was a lack of money :P But from all these places, from all their magic, their culture, I became what I am. They are guilty for me having these thoughts, they are responsible for my daily activities, for my reactions to the life around me, they are responsible for me dressing so colorful or wearing such a long hair. They make me smile and cry sometimes, them, the cultures, their traditions and religions. They make me want to walk a lot and spend time with old people. They make me have strong feelings and love my friends so much but not show them.
You? I suggest to you beautiful reader, be a traveler not a tourist, and your life will pay up.

Impressed by Budapest

Just to let you know, I am home, for good, moved 2 months ago (I know I am a huge bastard for not writing since sooo long), relaxed and very much happy with my choice. Dubai? We divorced, things were not going well between us, so to stop ruining our lives, especially Dubai mine, therefore I decided to split up and he didn't had anything to say about it. Emirates? We're still good friends, but not working together anymore, at least for now :P
Current location: Timisoara, Romania (a.k.a. HOME); weather: autumn, 25 degrees; feeling: damn good; in a relationship with my true love: theatre, adaptation status: complete, current job at NESsT Romania.
And because at very beginning of a job you get a training, just to have a rough idea what the hell is going on in that new place, my very short 3 days training happened in Budapest, Hungary, the place where my foundation started activating a few years ago. You can imagine that after 1 year and some months of Emirates, and quite some travelling and so much of heat I am tired like hell, and sick of travelling, but since there was no choice, hop in the train, route: Timisoara - Budapest. After 4,5 hours of train ride I finally made it to my destination to get out of the big train station to find...a huge construction area. Did I end up in the right place? Is there another station where I was supposed to get off? Apparently not, just this is how the historical Hungarian capital welcomes you since a few months, with a pile of wholes and metal junk in front of the station, extending the metro line... First impression...obviously not so pleasant, until I got in the metro and reached my boulevard. That is where the view changed completely, I discovered a beautiful city, with old well preserved buildings all around, with bicycle tracks all the ways, with trees and noisy cars moving around, with fancy girls and boys walking relaxed on the large streets, with tones of places to visit and such a short time. 2 evenings I had in my pocket, and after 2 long days of learning and listening to different kinds of stories about what I'm supposed to do, I felt a big joy when the sun started to go down, knowing that my short journey will start.

First stop: Margarit Island, a small but good looking island in the middle of Danube river, connected on Margarit Bridge. The place is perfect for a warm evening walk but the thing that I enjoyed most was the "dancing" fountain (not as big as in Dubai of course), a small round fountain that was dancing on classical music. I laid there on the warm grass, looking at the water dancing and inviting me to dance too. But I just stood there and dreamed away. Mirifique! The boulevards you cross till you reach Margarit Island are absolutely beautiful and the view from the bridge is incomparable, sitting there between Bupa and Pesta and thinking of all the history and stories that happened maybe in that exact spot where you are sitting...

Second stop: Budapest city hall. The reason why I went to see this place is because of it's beautiful architecture. I'm not really the kind of a person to go in a city and visit the buildings (except if it's Gaudi or Hundertwasser of course), and even here, in Budapest, well I was not that much impressed by this city hall, no matter how many centuries old it is, or how many times it was renovated and still standing. But you might see it different, so it's worth of a visit :)

Third stop: Buda Hill. Now that I liked. Starting with the fact that I had to cross Chain bridge to get there, which is by the way a great construction, so big and imposing, continuing with the way up to the hill, which you can choose to make in a cable or walking (the second options was more relaxing) and ending with the view on top of the hill and the greatness of Buda Castle, all worth a visit. Imagine the castle was first completed in 1265 and it hosted a great number of Hungarian kings. Pure history, pure beauty!



I must admit though that I started missing travelling, as I got to the conclusion that it't quite tiring to travel, but when you stop...it's quite boring...
And I'm damn curious where will my next vacation will be :)

Ready for Rio - part 2

It took some time, but what the hell, the important thing is that I'm back and ready to continue the story about Rio :)
Now a little bit of history and facts to point some interesting things out, the translation of the name, Rio de Janeiro, means River of January, simply because the first discovery of the place made by the Europeans was on 1st January 1502, being under Portuguese domination  for more than 50 years, with the current nickname of Cidade Maravilhosa = the marvelous city. Besides that the spectacular city is the home of a world heritage site named "Rio de Janeiro. Carioca landscapes between the mountain and the sea" given by UNESCO on 1st Jul this year and owns the world's largest football stadium Maracana Stadium. And of course let us not forget the most representative place to visit and the most popular picture online when typing Rio, Christ the Redeemer statue on top of Corcovado hill. But before talking about Jesus, I'm just gonna tell you that there aren't so many things to visit in Rio like maybe in other capitals or crazy touristic cities in the world, and if you've been to the top of one hill, you've been to all. What we saw in Rio was first of all Copacabana, which I imagined to be a damn expensive place where we would only be having a night walk or a tan, but guess what, it's not like that. It's a normal seaside neighborhood with lots of hotels and restaurants and small shops and big shops and street food and Mc Donalds and local residences and palm trees and a long highway and 2 hills at each end and naked people (meaning in bathing suits :P ) jogging and biking and walking their dogs looking extremely HOT :))) So we easily and on the spot booked 2 beds at El Misti hostel and spend our vacation in the most fancy area in Rio ;)

At one side of the long beach we discovered Leme hill, as I said seen one seen them all, so we went on the top where an old but well kept Brazilian fortress used to protect the city from invaders and shoot the hell our of them with huge tanks :D The view was amazing, the fortress not that much of a fuss :P

Another spot on the list was (as in every tropical city) the Botanical Garden, located somewhere at the bottom of a high hill, with long walk ways in the humid jungle, with foggy views, with the entire cactus family laying around showing off in front of the visitors, with cute monkeys in the trees eating the wild fruits and staring at the people passing by. The place is perfect for an afternoon walk and it had a small entry fee, as in you don't need to be rich to see the botanical yard of the city :))

And since we talked about the bottom of the hill, the top was the most beautiful place in Rio de Janeiro. And of course we are talking now about Corcovado Hill, it's mind-blowing views and the huge statue that watches over the city since more than 60 years :) To reach up there, we had to take a small cute red train from the bottom of the hill, where the line was 1,5 hours long, the ride costing 20 euros. Totally worth it! A few facts about Christ the Redeemer statue, it is considered the 7th wonder of the world (woooww), being 39,6 meters tall with a 9,5 meters pedestal, weight of about 635 tones, considered Rio's icon monument and a symbol of Brazilian Christianity. Personal impressions regardless of the facts? Considering that is was my biggest dream since little, the fact that I stood under that monument was an inspiration that dreams indeed do come true and should not be overlooked because of different situations that make life sometimes damn hard to live. I stared at the statue for about half an hour, and another 20 minutes at the views over the city, and after that I was ready to go home and nothing else mattered :X

After the soul healing half day trip, the perfect place to relax and put your thoughts back together was an evening walk on Flamengo beach, a combination of parks with lots of sporty people, and a long beautiful beach, where the chilly ocean and breeze ended up a perfect day.
And telling you the story as me and my beloved friend lived, I wish you dear reader and wild traveler a lovely vacation, lots of inspiration and don't forget...dreams always come true :)

Ready for Rio - part 1

For those who maybe don't know, the craziest part when you work for an airline are the air prices, which end up with a discount of even 90% for staff, with the condition that you have to pay full airport taxes. Well, this was not our case, cause our ticket was free, so we only payed about 50 euro Brazilian airport taxes. Now the even craziest part in this is that you are on a standby, and the oldest you are in the company the highest priority you have, so if there are any seats available in the flight you get in, if the flight is fully booked, you wait in line for the next one :) This was our case cause the flight to our destination was booked and we were waiting at the staff check-in counter along with other few employees, with our names listed on a big board and a yellow light showing that we were on standby. We stared at that board for about 10 minutes continuously, the normal check-in for the flight was already closed and we were still yellow. Again when the board refreshed, my friend was green, confirmed for the flight. That is when my breath stopped and I only heard "Oh my God, I hope you get confirmed as well". The next page of the board had my name on it, with a green light next to it. I got my seat confirmed...destination...Rio de Janeiro.
Did I tell you that I wanted to see this place since I was little, as in it was my biggest dream to see the statue of Christ on the top of the hill? I didn't? Well, now you know :)
We had a long flight, about 14 hours, no stops, with the longest day in my life, cause the time difference between UAE and Brazil is about 7 hours; therefore we started our journey at about 07.00 local time in Dubai and we reached Rio at about 14.00 local time Brazil.

Weather in Rio: aprox. 27 degrees, season: winter, atmosphere: perfect for us to visit :))
Yes, in Brazil it was winter, at least this part of the country, but the weather was just great, a little bit of sun, a little bit of clouds, thank god no rain in this vacation, the ocean really cold, and anyhow waves were to huge to take a bath, but you can surely do other stuff than just laying at the beach all day. We ended up in Copacabana homeless, we did not book any room, just went from a hostel to another until we found 2 beds available, and that happened quite fast I must say, cause by evening we were ready to explore the surroundings.
Copacabana is a long beautiful beach and neighborhood, one of the safe areas in Rio, full of tourists, luxury apartments, budget accommodation, cheap and expensive shops and restaurant, perfect for any traveler. So yeah, we booked 2 beds in El Misti hostel and started our vacation.

The first impression: happy people. So many young and old aged people walking, jogging, biking, playing volleyball on the beach and boulevard in Copacabana. Second impression: expensive. Comparing to other destinations and even with Dubai, the prices in Rio are damn high for the conditions offered. The city is not really developed, even though some areas are getting improved, many people are poor, favellas in every neighborhood. Overall impression: beautiful. An amazing combination of Atlantic ocean with high hills which I like to call mountains :))

A few facts about the city in general: almost all of the buildings everywhere in the city are protected by tall metal fences, even in the touristic areas, all the buildings were jailed :D; people are walking their cute little (sometimes huge) dogs everywhere, we saw more than 20 breeds of dogs in just 5 days; people actually use public phone, which I thought were completely replaced nowadays by mobiles phone, but not in Rio; there are quite a few poor people coming from favelas (click on the word to understand the meaning if needed :) in the touristic side of the city, whom are quite friendly and not at all dangerous as everyone warned before getting there; if you stick to day walks (even night walk but in large group) and populated areas in the city you might leave Rio alive :)), we did not face any dangerous people or places, we in fact had a great vacation with no incidents.

Bottom line is that we enjoyed our time there a lot, and about the places we've visited in Rio, well, stay tuned, soon to be told, the story of Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado Hill...

Catre toti angajatii

In vigoare incepand cu 25 Iulie 2012,

 Codul vestimentar
 1. Se recomanda ca la serviciu angajatii sa fie imbracati in functie de salariu. Daca te vedem purtand pantofi Prada si geanta Gucci, consideram ca iti merge bine financiar, si de aceea nu ai nevoie de o marire de salariu. 2. Daca te imbraci saracacios, ai nevoie sa inveti sa iti chivernisesti mai bine banii, asa incat sa iti poti cumpara haine mai frumoase, si de aceea nu ai nevoie de o marire de salariu. 3. Daca te imbraci asa cum trebuie, esti exact unde ar trebui sa fii, asa ca nu ai nevoie de o marire de salariu.

Concediu medical
 De acum incolo nu se mai accepta certificate medicale ca dovada a bolii. Daca esti in stare sa mergi la doctor, esti in stare sa vii si la serviciu.

Concediu de odihna
 Fiecare angajat va primi 104 zile de concediu de odihna. Ele se numesc Sambata si Duminica.

Concediu de inmormantare
Nu este o scuza pentru a lipsi de la serviciu. Nu poti face nimic pentru prieteni, rude sau colegi morti. Trebuiesc facute toate eforturile pentru a convinge pe someri sa mearga la astfel de aranjamente. Cazurile rare cand prezenta angajatului este necesara, inmormantarea ar trebui programata dupa-amiaza tarziu. Cu placere iti vom da voie sa lucrezi in timpul pauzei de masa pentru a pleca mai devreme.

Utilizarea toaletei
1. In total prea mult timp este petrecut la toaleta. De acum exista limita stricta de 3 minute in cabina.
2. La sfarsitul celor 3 minute alarma va suna, rola de hartie igienica va fi retrasa, usa cabinei se va deshide si ti se va face o poza.
3. La a doua abatere poza va fi publicata la tabla de anunturi a companiei, la rubrica "Recidivisti".
4. Cine va fi prins zambind in poza va fi sanctionat in conformitate cu politica de sanatate mintala a companiei.

Pauza de masa
1. Slabanoagele primesc 30 de minute pauza de pranz pentru ca au nevoie sa manance mai mult pentru a arata sanatos.
2. Persoanele cu dimensiuni normale primesc 15 minute pauza pentru a manca o masa echilibrata, ca sa mentina aspectul normal.
3. Persoanele durdulii primesc 5 minute pentru pranz, nu este nevoie de mai mult timp pentru a bea un concentrat Slabeste-Rapid.

Iti multumim pentru loialitatea ta fata de companie. Tine minte ca noi suntem un angajator preferat si suntem aici pentru a oferi o experienta de munca pozitiva. De aceea toate intrebarile, comentariile, ingrijorarile, plangerile sau frustrarile, iritarile, necazurile, acuzatiile, insinuarile, presupunerile, spaimele sau opiniile ar trebuie adresate in alta parte.

Cu deosebita apreciere,
 Managementul

Magic and cinema

I am mesmerized. It's like I've really been there, all of it is true, the life, the cinemagician, the toy store in the station, and I just woke up from the dream by the prayers outside my window.
This is the best thing about movies I think, they take you away for a few hours, so far from the daily shit, happiness or sadness, to show you something else, something you might or might not encounter often (mostly NOT) And apparently I am not the only one who loves movies here, cause Hugo made the biggest discovery of them all by simply loving movies and adventures. Who is Hugo you might ask? Well he is the little boy who owns the movie called Hugo (duh) and who discovered or made others (re)discover the world of fantasy, of magic, of cinema. I am staring at this screen since 2 hours lost in his adventure, making me wish one for myself.
 His story, Hugo, is about discovering the french master of movies, Georges Melies, a magician in late 1800, early 1900 who put the magic on screen, in the cinemas, who made people smile and be happy with his special effects and new cinematographic ideas. Georges rediscovers himself thanks to little Hugo and comes out of his "shell" after the boy brings his old works back in the attention of the world.

 "I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine... I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason...Maybe that's why a broken machine always makes me a little sad, because it isn't able to do what it was meant to do... Maybe it's the same with people. If you lose your purpose... it's like you're broken." Hugo Cabret

 And if you've never been to the moon, this is a trip from 1902...
 

Waste land

I got a message today from my dear friend from home who scold me for not saying Happy Birthday in time. Of course I felt bad, stupid, tried to excuse myself, if it worked out or not I will find out when I actually get home, but till then, I've learned a new thing today after talking to her...that dreams can grow even from trash. Quite strange conclusion after a simple chat with a friend, isn't it? Well you should know that one of our points of discussion ended up with Waste land, a story about an artist who brought a change in people's lives, a story about trash, about intense feelings and happiness, about people and about their small dreams who no one believed would come true, and what do you know, they finally did, all because of the garbage around them....literally garbage.

The entire thing happened in Brazil, a few years ago, and happened for real, in my dream destination, Rio, in the world's largest dump area outside the city (and its not a joke with dream destination, OK ?). Can you imagine people living their lives in garbage, can you imagine people from garbage having dreams of normal clean lives, can you possibly imagine that people living around trash for so many years can become artists and famous all over the world? They didn't imagine it either, but eventually they did.

Not to spoil the taste and let each and everyone discover the beauty of the movie, I'm just gonna write some lines that I can still hear in my ears even though I finished the movie..."I'd rather want everything and have nothing, than have everything and want nothing. Because at least when you want something your life has a meaning: it's worthwhile. From the moment you think you have everything, you have to search for meaning in other things. I spent half my life wanting everything and having nothing; and now I have everything and I don't want anything" (Vik Muniz - the artist that created something from nothing) And to end the post artistically, I would like to thank my loving friend Sabina for sharing the story and to apologize for the late Happy birthday wish, my mom for raising me as a person who believes in herself and her dreams and last but not least I would like to thank myself for being such a great and appreciative girl. Cheers!

Home style 2

Did I tell you that I was in vacation not long ago? And man what a relaxing green vacation. Destination? "No place like home". Of course I will not compare my home with any other place that I've visited but I can tell you that after one year in the desert (cause by the way I've accomplished 1 year in Dubai :D ) spending 10 days in green Timisoara (my hometown) was like a blessing. Now try to imagine this: one big yard with a 20 meter Christmas tree in front of the house, with strawberries and cherries, one cream cute medium size dog running around, a long wooden terrace with flowers, a bicycle in the back, about 3 huge wall nut trees to keep shadow, another 2 black train dogs (tekels) jumping at your feet, a rocker under the trees just perfect for afternoon naps, a huge back yard with all sort of fruit trees and vegetables, lovely neighbors and a fluffy kitty miau-ing every time you come out of the house looking for a little bit of affection. And sometimes I sit and wonder...what the hell am I doing in this freaking sandy place??? :))) Anyhow the re-accommodation is usually taking a few 2-3 days, everything looks so weird at the beginning, and all the daily habits cannot find place in the old but somehow new landscape. And by the time I am back to normal, puf, time to get back to the desert :)) Cruel life. And the fill all the gaps, 10 days home meant this time: party with loving friends, lots of gifts, ridding the bike every day, shopping, seeing a play at my drama club, plenty of walks, eating raw fruits from the very own...tree, quality time with folks, finishing my exams and clearing my studies (YAY I'm a graduate!!!), visiting all neighbors and relatives (or at least most of them), going to birthday party, seeing old colleagues and friends, drinking Silva black :X, playing with my dogs every day, driving my car, keeping in touch with Dubai stuff so that I don't completely isolate myself from the desert :))