Romania: fifth fastest country, broadband connectivity

fragment, akamai state of the internet report 2008, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

And that is why I miss Romania, at times. Read the full report from Akamai Technologies.

street finds: colourful nothings

found on the street, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

The badge, found in front of my parents' block-of-flats' entrance around Orthodox Easter, comes from 1975, a year before I was born. It states leader in the competition, and with both Romanian and Russian flags on it, one can safely guess that it's communist. What kind of competition? Why, everything was a competition in those times, from the size of your crop to the number of medals one got, from how many innocent people one turned into the hands of Securitatea (intelligence service) to how many chestnuts a kid was able to collect in the autumn.

The other nothings seem to carry less history about them, and are rather obvious, so enjoy.

pity the horrific 'housing developments' in Corbeanca

housing development Corbeanca, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Corbeanca is former village, present menage a trois close to Bucharest: locals trying to make a buck, so they cut down the grapevine, orchard, or grains to sell the land; real estate schmucks eager to trick more losers into buying their ugly, small, and unsafe creations; more, and more, losers. Admittedly, I know people who live well off in Corbeanca, where early developments some ten years ago included river stone houses with spacious horse stables, maze rose gardens, and generous pools. Losers are all those following them, however, hunting but a myth.

What they get—you, if lucky, only get to see in the photo. Our lengthy walk has been terribly revealing: project after project more crooked, fences so high and dark that they're repellent, non-existent green lawns and trees, a forest project with the forest enclosed away, more dusty old roads than new, joining the previous infrastructure or not, one too many Chelsea tractors, one too many stray dogs, gates and guards, wrong furnishings, irregular works, lazy builders and windows that make not only neighbour's knickers pop up in your face, but their very fine and faded pattern.

Before we escaped to the lake, these porches less than a metre away were the last hideous drop.

it might just work: cafepedia 3

cafepedia 3, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

La Mama opened the third Cafepedia in Bucharest last Thursday, in a lovely old house across its third La Mama restaurant, on the Arthur Verona street (behind Eva shopping center or the Hilton Hotel). While some decent interior design has been employed and the concept of cafe downstairs (and on outside terrace) and club/ lounge upstairs is cute, I can't say many good things about it otherwise. Yeah, there are at least four interesting sounding types of coffee in the menu, from worldwide locations, but I can't get excited at seeing a Johnnie Walker ad printed on the bottom of the pages so that it spells itself out when I flick through the menu really fast (why would I do that, anyway? why more than once?).

The bars weren't finished and the bartenders were headless chickens. Some guests got their orders in minutes (sexy girls showing some goodies over the counter to the manager/ supervisor), some in half an hour (if lucky), and some—never. The walls displayed cables where speakers and/ or ads should've been placed. Every member of staff seemed bloody crazy, which is a good indication of the tension they lived in. There was a photographer with much too strong a flash light, that shot photos every other second, at random (someone posh must've turned up at some point, not?). The music was old and bad taste. Also, the language employed by staff was as unpleasantly informal as in the worst of neighbourhoods. But, hey, given the bad products, rude services, and overall arrogance of most other similar places in town and, specifically, the area around Cafepedia 3, this might just work.

I've seen a lot of my favourite places in Bucharest, old and new, depreciate in the past year and I'm certain that the experience will get significantly better one day, even much better than in most countries I've seen. Before that, however, it will get much worse.

today's breakfast: first apricots this year

first apricots, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

Long live mom and her inspired purchases when we're in town! Long live (farmers') market!

easyJet sees Moldavia and Romania united

That or history, my memory, and the updated EU map are entirely wrong.

In other news, traveling with easyJet has been even worse than the Wizz Air experience. From useless and rude staff—and I thought only the Romanian cabin crews are unmannered—to costing more, from having to stay up all night so that we make it to Gatwick for a 6:35 a.m. flight to having our paid Speedy Boarding ignored twice, I wouldn't know where to start. Yes, there's the benefit of flying to civilised Henri Coanda/ Otopeni airport in Bucharest instead of the messy Baneasa, but on a normal, high traffic day that stings one back—Otopeni is a few kilometers farther than Baneasa on the main North exit from/ entrance into the city.

We booked our next flight to Romania on BA: the offer made it only GBP 100 (for two) more expensive in exchange for good service and decent flying times, plus no charges for hold luggage.

Christ has risen, in truth he has

Easter morning joy, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

We went to bed late, having met them, and woke up late to see them again. Happy Easter!

enjoying Bucharest, quiet before Easter

three men in a boat, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

This time of the year is one of the best for roaming Herastrau, the large park in the North of Bucharest: nature overflows with beauty and most citizens are busy roasting their lamb somewhere else. My sister treated the whole family to a boat ride last evening once we had had enough crazy tulips and singing birds, and then we strolled some more towards the good pizza and chilled limoncello of the otherwise overpriced and arrogant Quattro Stagioni.

they never made it: direct marketing letters

direct marketing, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

I have agreed at some point in the past to receive promotional material from several cigarette producers, mainly because they send samples. Free cigarettes are great cigarettes, especially when they're not your favourite brand and they can wait somewhere in the house for the time when you're out of your favourite brand and ready to smoke... any tobacco.

Lately, however, I only get my Romanian mail once a month, perhaps, and no samples come these days, anyway. Only letters on fancy paper—cigarette money are big—with elaborate presentations. They all end up in the bin—since living in London, a paper recycling bin (yay!).

It is even more ironic, then, that these two letters reached Bucharest from the UK... Bin!

lovely day, lovely day, lovely day, lovely day

morning moon, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

budding willow, originally uploaded by gorgeoux.

To see a big moon in the sky right before sunrise and then sunny sparks on the feathers of ducks strolling happily on Dambovita river in areas no as central--or, previously, as clean--as Unirii Square? Quite fortunate. At an hour that doesn't exist in most people's Saturday--except when going home from some pub/ club--I'm flying away tomorrow, and it would've been terribly sad to see all but the city in this rush of a trip and amazing spring.

The willow is my witness that I would've jumped and danced with joy today had I not been carrying heavy stuff, i.e. my shiny laptop, the girl paraphernalia, and the groceries. I got to buy groceries!!! Exciting, can you tell? I'm ecstatic that I managed to take the photo with a camera that normally moves when I breathe; must be the heavy stuff that steadied us both, for it certainly wasn't the nicotine-caffeine-adrenaline blood of mine.

And then again, perhaps I am ecstatic because I'm sleep-deprived and sun-struck, methinks.

overheard in Bucharest

What the heck do you want me to do with that display?! My eyes are busy grabbing a tit!

strange encounter

Our ceiling bears the odd brownish marks of three different floods from unfortunate neighbours. Yesterday the landlord got round to sending two painters to look at said ceiling and assess the (re)covering job. One was English, the other Romanian. The latter, Paul, was keen on speaking our native language and there was no running from it since they'd been told I am Romanian, too. Why run from it? I'm too posh to chat with random painters, wherever I live.

"Married in London?" asked the Romanian, while the English was discussing the paint job.
"Yes." It would have been too much to get into the complexities of my present situation.
"Where are you from?" he followed, trying to grasp what makes a countryman so lucky.
"Bucharest."
"Ahhh!" That explained it all. All opportunities belong to people from the capital, don't they?

natural remedies for colds and flus, the Romanian way

Having the Nth cold of the year, or flu—God knows—, I'm reminded of mom's natural remedies. The time is, thus, best to list them all for further reference.

1. Garlic. If lucky, this is one thing that can prevent getting the cold or flu altogether. Works better than shots and other drugs. Ideally, should be eaten daily, fresh—i.e. not cooked. Yes, it's smelly, so brush your teeth carefully. Can't harm you, can it?

2. Lemon tea. Like a hot lemonade, lots of lemon (one per cup/ mug even) and lots of honey. The latter does wonders if your throat is under attack as well. And you can have as many cups as you wish in a day. Lime seems to do the job nicely, too. All that vitamin C cannot do wrong.

3. Muled wine. With sugar and black pepper if red, white pepper if white. Also helps, in taste, to add cinnamon, and fruits like apple and quince for red wine and orange for white wine.

4. Muled tuica. Also with sugar and optionally black pepper. Must be heated, not boiled in a special pot, like a teapot, or it will catch fire due to high alcohol level. The cold drink is part of the Romanian prevention measures if drank daily in moderate quantities, before meals. Breakfast included. Plus, there's also the Transylvanian version, generally stronger, palinca.

5. Chicken soup. With homemade noodles or airy Semolina dumplings, lots of chicken meat, carrots, celery root, parsley root, black pepper and fresh parsley.

6. Mint tea. Helps one breathe by reducing congestion and swelling. Also good for digestion. Sweetened, it works magically with toast and butter, especially that made crispy in the oven.

7. Thyme tea. Mom was more fond of this than I was, though I had no serious reasons—it was to me but a herb for cooking. Yet it's true that common thyme infusion is an antiseptic, very good for fighting cough and respiratory infections. And, to be honest, its flavoured is lovely, weaker than that of mint. It certainly qualifies as one of the few herbal teas neither bitter nor strange in taste.

8. Rose hip tea. A lot of vitamin C and help for headaches and dizziness. The jam made of this fruit is heavenly, if you have a chance to taste it.

For most of these, a kid found even more reason to stay at home when the cold or flu were nice enough to keep one from going to the school. No chemicals, just plenty of cool stuff and mother smothering, if lucky to have her at home. Painting found here.

9. Madi, the mother of Marie [RO], made us sodou when ill. This is egg yolk whisked with sugar, warm milk then poured on top. Very tasty, and probably very healthy. If you know of more such treats from your mothers and grandmothers, I'll gladly add them to the list, so drop a line.

Update, October 22nd 2007: In the comments, Zaza [RO] endorses number 9, sodou, while Monique recommends a non-Romanian treat that works—drinking ginger tea with lemon for a full day, no food allowed—and the Romanian:

10. Onion infusion. It seems it's anti-inflammatory. Also, not related to cold, onion and garlic consumption lower cholesterol levels significantly. As if I needed an excuse to eat either!

ten cardboard boxes to beam up

One of the unbelievable, unpredictable baggages we carried back from London two days ago was a bundle of ten empty cardboard boxes nicely wrapped in two black garbage bin bags. We had fun in doing so, also because it must've been a first for business class travelers. We realised that morning that having finished unpacking most boxes in the London flat, it'd be quite logical to ship the empty ones to Bucharest, if only to see them return to London full of my stuff in the following months. Because this week we're packing my belongings out of this studio, for good. Not before having some blog anniversary drinks, which my love is very happy to be able to join this year; it tempted him last year. If there's any comfort in this coming week, other than all of sudden having one home instead of two, regardless of city and distance, I'm certainly counting the flight back, on business class again. Another first for me, one leisurely washed down with plenty bottles of champagne. The boxes will not travel with us this time, but some 100 kg of gorgeoux stuff will, in suitcases.

moving to London: the good, the bad, and the ugly

A memorable experience from the last evening in London: attending the Stereophonics concert at ICA iTunes Festival London. I'm in the back and can't see the action very well. A nice stranger points out that there's room on the floor in front of him. There was, and I could see better. I tried to get my love to stand next to me, but he pointed out that it's not nice to shorter people that couldn't see because of his back. What?! Since when is there a concert etiquette? Sure enough, a chap gestures my love regarding his height, also pointing out a shorter fellow. I was severely bewildered. After all, there were significantly taller people in the first rows who didn't seem to have a problem with it, or with the others, which explained why I couldn't see much of the stage in the first place.

A memorable experience from the first evening in Bucharest: entering the small elevator with my hand luggage and my suitcase, dead tired. A lady catches the door at last minute and attempts to cram inside next to me. I kindly ask her to take the other elevator. Why, says she sarcastically, have I got a virus you may catch? I tell her, kindly again, that I'd rather go alone, what with my baggage! But I want to take this one, she screams hysterically. I get off and hand her the damn elevator: have it, I'll take the other. I'm not gonna bite you, she screams again as she shuts the door.

Moving to London makes me even more aware than mere travel of the famed cultural differences. It also brings out the best or worst in people around me, of all degrees of separation, especially since it's become clear that I travel more often and since I've let family and friends know that we'll have a futon for guests in the new flat.

The good: Can I come over in September? I can do dishes, sleep on a mat in the corner, and would only need a little space to leave my backpack. From a not so close friend.

The bad: Can you buy some children stuff from Mothercare for me and bring them back to Romania? Couldn't say no, it was a client. And then the endless stuff included a large basket, as well! Because stuff in Romania is so pricey, you know? And clients can ask for anything, as well.

The ugly: You must move to London! Not because it'd make me happy, but because she needs a free futon. Close friends are not always what they seem.

how much will I miss Romania?

I fell in love with The Simpsons while in highschool. About the same time I found this 3D sticker that amused me, and bought it; it was only a few years after 1989 and cool stickers were nearly impossible to find. I then kept it unused indefinitely, either because it was too cute to apply on most surfaces or because I was too old for stickers. I then moved to my studio and Bart finally found its place.

Last night I realised that he'll remain on that door for as long as the rather old refrigerator of my landlady lives. I can't take the sticker with me and I know I wouldn't, anyway. Having set a date for moving to London at December's end, I appreciate the chance to once more go through all my belongings, smart and silly, and decide which ones will follow me into my new life. I value the opportunity to start afresh, and it goes further than I would've thought: once decision taken, I look at everything around me with different eyes. I label objects go and no-no and I've taken on doing the same with people and places.

Some people just won't be able to maintain a long distance relationship; I already know most of them--they find it hard to see or call me now, when I spend a week a month in London. They will fall out even more in stage two, starting now, when I'll spend two weeks a month in London. And they will have vanished entirely after my good-bye party. It's natural and it doesn't sadden me in the least. Places are even amusing: most of Bucharest streets and corners can easily be replaced by London's offers, and I seem to see my current surrounding in a more tolerant light--things that used to upset me a week ago are now forgiven, because I may not see them again, ever. Each time I take a city route I get to think, at some point, that it may be the last time, and that is comforting. I'll only miss a few exceptional places and venues, like the secret garden and Herastrau lake (my love pointed out correctly yesterday that such a place does not exist in London), which I only see a few times a year anyway.

Lately, all sorts of city birds from pigeons to sparrows to swallows stop in my balcony at any hour and sing or coo beautifully--could there be a reason or meaning? It's miraculous and definitely miss-able. I'm not sure, though, that I'll remember these moments next year, busy exploring London, UK, and other world places. Here's to birds prettifying my life at the moment and not being entirely forgotten--a blog is a diary more often than not.

Will I miss Romania? #1

gotta love Romania # 7

1. The Marasesti tunnel road is open, lit, and pristine. A breath of fresh air.

2. The Dudesti tramway depot is gone. Mountains of debris replaced it and the rails heading towards its entrance have been removed. Why does it smell like a new real estate project in the making? Side thought: Catavencu [RO] needs to get its facts right.

3. Speaking of tramways, my favourite number, 34 sports a severely diminished route due to road works at both its ends. Good-bye straightforward trip from South to North for now!

4. Cinema Gloria is dead, but Fonzi center behind it invites the neighbours to a free movie via fliers distributed on street. Last night. I missed it! It would've been interesting to see who didn't.

5. Amsterdam Cafe it's closing its doors for one year due to the troublesome renovation project badly managed in the historical center of Bucharest. Five years of building a business, five years of fun down the drain. It's never a good sign when the Dutch give up. You can read Jerry van Schaik's e-mail here.

Gotta love Romania: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6

supermarket strategies

In my neighbourhood in Bucharest there are two main supermarkets, both conveniably placed within walking distance from my block of flats: La Fourmi and Mega Image.

La Fourmi closed nearly three months ago for refurbishments. It's not clear when it opens. It's slightly closer to me than the other and generally better located, across the subway exit. The worst part about it being closed for so long is that there's no proper way to shop 24/7 anymore in the area. It was one of the two 24/7 shops in their whole network and it was full of customers 24/7. How much money have they lost in these three months?

Mega Image, on the other hand, is restructuring and upgrading its interior, as well, only they keep being open and selling. The main problem with that is taking double the time you needed before for shopping because all products change isles and shelves these days and you need to hunt them down. Add that it isn't open 24/7; never been. Yet, they don't seem to be losing money.

Either way, I'm left with some inconvenience. Which model is better, business and customer-wise?

180 MB of electro/ breaks from Junkyard and Lalo

Via feeder [RO]: Junkyard, vocal/ MC with Suie Paparude and Lalo are a new presence on the Romanian clubbing scene, this time as DJs with a new mix this month.

Having worked in a studio for many years as audio producer, sound designer, composer and other similar jobs in the fields of advertising, film, and music in general, Junkyard (Cezar Stanciulescu) [..] decided at the end of 2006, together with his good friend Lalo (Laurentiu Boeriu) to mix live, as a DJ.

Lalo has been the manager of a music shop in downtown Bucharest, for several years, a venue that represented for a long time an important music source for buyers of jazz, classical, experimental, electro, etc. He thought that being a simple listener and collectioner is no longer satisfying and that it was the time to take the next step towards DJing. [...]

The mix, their second production, is issued under the title Ciudad del electro and addressed to those into electro/breaks. [...] You can download it (username: tempftp, password: upftp).

change sheets or finish presentation?

My love is arriving within a few hours and, almost as usual, I'm wondering what to do first. I thought I've got to choose between several necessary house chores. That is because, in all this heat, the professional duties slipped my mind and it's finally the hour of the day when they could be attended with a brain other than melted. Tough choice. You can say that again.

Speaking of heat, he's excited to trade the chilliest month in London, to the record, with the hottest in Bucharest. I only hope that the deal stands for my next trip, too. I'd take almost any level of chilliness in exchange for this daily near or over 40 centigrades. And think I plan to cook soon! That's how much I love him.

Enough to turn wonder woman mode on.