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.

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 ~

3. Congresul Anatolia - mix cultural

Peste 250 de delegati, peste 30 de tari prezente in una din cele mai mari conferinte internationale din reteaua AIESEC. Ca sa intelegeti despre ce e vb, printre tarile prezente se numara: Pakistan, Algeria, Palestina, Senegal, Olanda, Mexic, Mineapolis-USA, Korea, China, Filipine, Malaezia, Egipt, Tunisia, UK, Romania, Bulgaria, Republica Ceha, Iran si multe altele.
Un sentiment unic m-a cuprins cand am realizat ca sunt intre atatea culturi diferite. E deosebit sa te trezesti dimineata si sa te pregatesti sa iei masa cu colegii din Korea si China, care asteptau cu nerabdare sa vina pranzul sa manance orez, sau sa te asezi in sesiuni langa colegii din Africa, unii mai prietenosi ca altii, sa dansezi ca nebuna pe roll call-ul celor din Mexic impreuna cu alte 10 tari si sa dansezi seara la petrecere impreuna cu cine stie ce alta cultura ca esti prea beat sa mai tii minte :))
Evenimentul numit Global Village a fost cel care ne-a adus pe toti fata in fata cu obiceiurile, mancarurile, portul fiecarei culturi. Unul intern doar pt noi (care s-a lasat cu baute urate si bai in psicina la 1 noaptea) si unul extern pentru turcii curiosi de multiculturalitate.


@ Pakistan


@ China

@ Mexic
@ Qatar

@ Palestina

@ Croatia

@ Tunisia

@ Senegal