Time for Reviewing 2010 – 20 questions December 10, 2010

The end of yet another year has come, and i have to confess i like looking back and reviewing what has happened during this year. This time i’ll choose another approach. Try answering the following set of 20 questions:

1. Who do you know better than you did at the beginning of the year?
2. Who have you listened to carefully?
3. Who have you cheered for?
4. What do you understand better than you did in January?
5. What are you explaining to other people that you weren’t able to explain then?
6. Where have you been that you didn’t expect to be this year?
7. Where have you stopped going because you needed to stop going there?
8. When were you most comforted during this last year?
9. When did you say, “I’m not sure I can do this” and then discovered that you could?
10. What is your favorite sentence, blog post, paragraph, or tweet that you wrote since January?
11. What was the most encouraging thing you did for someone this year, as measured by their smile?
12. What question have you actually spent time trying to answer this year?
13. Where, geographically, did you find the most delight this year?
14. What item did you cross of your list this year that had been on it the longest?
15. What book did you intentionally quit reading because you knew, halfway through, that you didn’t need to finish to get the author’s content?
16. What book did you read that was written before 1846?
17. What picture you took did you look at more than once because liked it?
18. What was the best conversation you had this year?
19. What was the most satisfying $5 you spent this year? (and you get to define satisfying).
20. What piece of mail that you received this year made you smile the most.

Thanks levite.wordpress.com for the inspiration!

A Matter of Seconds August 21, 2010

Today is not Tuesday or Friday. It’s not even the 13th. It’s the 21st and Saturday, but everything seems to stumble to a stop. There’s no easy flowing, there’s no pleasure of things falling into place. Today Bucharest public transportation worked against me.

Missed the metro by seconds, waited for 10 minutes for the next one. Missed the train by seconds, waited for 1 hour for the next one. Some might argue it’s just bad planning…and i have to agree: If I hadn’t pooped this morning, i would have caught the train!

Up, With The Clouds June 17, 2010

I used to think of clouds as high above the ground, untouchables, epiphany provocateurs. Dramatic and overwhelming at times, clouds were part of the mighty universe surrounding our dear planet.

My view has changed. I feel much closer now, as if i stood on my tippy toes I could touch them. Am i taller than i used to be? Maybe „taller” in knowledge, in aspirations, in experience. It all comes down to our own model of the world. Is it one that presents a richness of opportunities or one that shows just two? Is it one that makes you feel like the world is your oyster or one that imprisons you?

It’s all about perspective, personal perspective that stems from your first hand experience of the world. So, go out there and do it all! And yet, doing it is not enough to enrich your model of the world..you need to take tha best out of each experience, to generalize it a way that doesn’t limit your future options!

Observations on Fashion in Malaysia May 7, 2010

After living for 9 months in Malaysia, I have come to notice certain general fashion trends, as well as particular trends for each ethnic group. As most of us know, Malaysia is home to many ethnic groups, the three major ones being: Malay, Indian and Chinese. In the text to come I will generalize and please take it as a generalization and accepting that exceptions prove the rule

So let’s proceed. Starting with men! While the Malay guys seem to like oversized caps that they keep on the top of their heads, Indians like to lift up the collar of their polo t-shirt or plain shirt resembling Elvis. The Chinese have a thing for funky crazy haircuts…and long fingernails. Large sunglasses are mostly found on Malay guys, mustaches on Indians and hats on Chinese.

Hmmm..women…obviously, the Malay girls have to/chose to wear the typical baju kurung (long dress and a  long blouse) with or without a scarf. Chinese girls have a thing for shorts, no matter the fabric, ending just under the buttocks. They also love short dresses and feathered accessories. Indian girls love ankle bracelets, knee long skirts and long hair. When talking about brands, Levi’s is a Malay favourite, girls and boys having at least one pair.

And all Malaysians LOVE Crocs!!! I have to admit that the first time i laid my eyes on these type of shoes I couldn’t help thinking they were the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. The shoes are made of foam and the brand offers a great range of flip flops, sandals and flats for the entire family. Expensive, too! Well, after 9 months in Malaysia, i still think Crocs shoes are ugly

When i returned home (Romania) i noticed everybody was wearing almost the same thing…It was the first time i realized the influence of fashion trends!! With disregard to what you might find beautiful, you end up adopting a certain piece of clothing just because it’s trendy. Some people are dying to be part of the trends, others die to be different. I prefer the ones who are themselves.

Thunderstorms and Time Machines April 21, 2010

Loud bang noise. It startles me. I run to the window of our office. It’s all dark outside with clouds so close that i can feel their consistency. Just another thunderstorm in Malaysia, but the loudest thunders in my life. Thunders have this ability of transporting me back to my childhood summer holidays spent at my grandparents’ house in the countryside. In seconds, i’m transported from the hot exotic land in Asia to a small village in the Romanian plains.

„Nu sta langa gard maica, ca acush te trasneste! Ia mai bine dute si adu galeata aia ca sa punem sub stresina sa se stranga apa in ea” my Grandma would say. I was scared of lightning at that time, and my mind would imagine crazy scenarios: me struck by lightning while taking water to the cow, the TV antenna being struck, setting the whole house on fire and us escaping with only our clothes on.

The rain I dreaded most and at the same time wished for was the „ploaia mocaneasca”…raining for days and days non-stop. After all the chores around the house and garden would be done, the women (aunts, cousins, sisters) gathered in the living, sitting on the floor mending torn socks, making new clothes, knitting and most importantly telling stories…about the family members long gone, love stories and horror stories, Communism and new discoveries. It was the time for sweets as well…candies stocked in a plastic bag and hanging from the ceiling. I never cared how old they were..i would still chew on the one “mamaie” chose for me, unless my grandma would present me with a dried up grape that had been stored in the attic for a few months.

Time travel does exist…but only when it’s raining.

Learning To Like March 19, 2010

I hate change…changing buses, changing houses, changing food. Why change it, if I love it? These were exactly Bazz’s words when I, a 20 year old, was infuriated at his reluctance to change. Does resistance to change come with age? Absolutely. You need time to discover what you like in order to decide to stick with it. So, I did try everything I could in these 26 years I’ve been Alina Alexa, and discovered what I liked.

I like biscuit ice-cream (the sandwich type, Oreo McFlurry, cornetto…)

I like taking baths…hot baths.

I like clean places. Sparkling clean.

I like dancing…a lot…and on elevated “platforms” (can be a chair, table, threshold, stage, etc) and space to move around. Which reminds me of a school desk that broke right in two under my weight in secondary school (I was thirteen).

I like positive, optimistic people. I’m an extrovert: I take energy from people around me. The whining, complaining negative type just suck me dry of my energy.

I like simple things…simple clothes, simple gestures, simple people, and simple love.

I like bread. I could eat a loaf of bread for lunch and be completely satisfied.

I like sarcasm as a sense of humour. And stupid childish humour as well … I do enjoy making a fool of myself.

….and many more…

What do you people like?

Your Digital Identity Under Scrutiny March 19, 2010

First Timers February 17, 2010

List of things I did for the first time during my 7 months in Malaysia & Singapore:

1. Went snorkeling and fed the fish
2. Went jungle trekking
3. Held a baby croc
4. Held a python
5. Had a full body massage
6. Went inside a mosque
7. Attended a Malay wedding
8. Touched a hibiscus and a  frangipani flower
9. Entered a Buddhist temple
10. Entered a Hindu temple
11. Had my feet nibbled on by fish (Fish spa)
12. Fed an ostrich and ate ostrich meat
13. Went to a techno club and hated it
14. Used a mosquito repellent
15. Met an Iranian, New Zealander, Vietnamese, Korean, Indonesian, Taiwanese and Japanese
16. Felt white and tall
17. Saw and ran through paddy fields
18. Wore a traditional Malay dress
19. Drove a speed boat
20. Watched the sun set into the sea
21. Celebrated Chinese New Year and received many Ang Pow-s (red envelope with money in it)

This is an open list as I feel there are more things to be added…later on!

THREE months left! January 27, 2010

Arrived in Malaysia on 21^st of July 2009… six months ago. Feels like yesterday I was saying goodbye to my friends back in Galati feeling really sad I had to part with them again. I always seem to do that…part with people. First it was Italy for 4 months, then Czech Republic for 9 months, now Malaysia for 9 months. I’m tired of traveling, I’m tired of starting things from scratch…making friends, making a home for myself, getting used to new surroundings. I know I will correct myself later, but I feel like saying it: I want to settle down! I want a permanent job, I want a place of my own…and all this i want in Romania. I honestly hope i won’t change my mind a week after I get back home.

A list of things done and things to be done seems to be in order. Shall do that later as I admit to being lazy rememorating the past 6 months and scared to think about the loooong list of stuff i badly want to do while in SE Asia. And yet, coming soon…

The Sultan has died! Long live the Sultan! January 27, 2010

At the age of 77, the Sultan of Johor State, Malaysia died last Friday… Why did he have to die on Friday? The night out in the disco was ruined. Put make up on, pretty clothes, a quick spritz of my sweet perfume and went out with hopes of dancing, drinking and forgetting about the world. Slap slap! On both cheeks!

I wish the Sultan was not dead. I could go to the disco, my friend could wear a colorful scarf, the Chinese tourists could sing karaoke, my other friend could leave his hat at home…it makes him look older!