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Fun time with my neighbours

 Today I felt so bored and seeing the weather so appropriate for walking or having fun made me a bit sad because I had noone to hang out with. At 7 p.m I was supposed to participate in a meeting with the houseowners from my block which was boring as well. But my neighbour, Liviu, saved me! He called me from the outside half an hour earlier because he and his friend were bored as well. So I thought why not? Since my neighbourhood is full of kids and my cats are popular these days, it didn't take long for them to gather around.
We just sat there in front of the door talking nonsense and playing card games. This reminded me of the days when  Liviu and I were alone during the summer breaks when everyone else was off somewhere to visit their grandparents. Because we didn't have what to do, we used to play card games, our scores going to 1000 points. The loser got a punishment or not. The punishment usually was a 2 finger hit on the wrist. Yeah, we were that bored! :))
The meeting started a few minutes after 7 p.m with few of the members showing up. They started talking and after 5 minutes I realize their chat wasn't going anywhere so I returned to the kids. Among the "army" of children was a little, bold girl that had a crush on Liviu. She kept confessing her love to him. So cute!! Us, the girls, were encouranging her to kiss him on the cheek, but it didn't happen. :)) I must admit that Liviu will be a great father even if he says he doesn't want any children.

 By the time their meeting ended, all the kids from the neighbourhood were there. The main attraction was represented by my cats and the neighbours' cub dogs.

It was nice to spend some time like this. I really enjoyed it. A few years ago, I stopped going out to play with my neighbours because of other priorities, so it's been a while since I've done this. Ah~ I feel a bit nostalgic haha. I'm glad I brought out the camera to snap some pics. Thanks to Raluca for the suggestion :)

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10 day book challenge

Here I am with another challenge I saw on Jean's blog. This one is about books. Since i like reading, I thought it was a must :)


1. Name your favorite book. Explain why you like it.

It's hard to choose my favorite. I like Anne Rice as a writer and because of this I'm tempted to choose one of her books. I read "The Witching Hour" a few years ago and also, I read a bit of "The Vampire Cronicles". I love Rice's writing style and the fact that her books combine supernatural with a good amount of reality.
In the same category I would put Oscar Wilde - The portret of Dorian Grey. That novel has an amount of supernatural blended with the reality. You can even learn something from it. When you read their novels, you know that all is fiction, but somehow seems real.

2. Name the worst book you ever read. Explain why it's worst.

There are a few novels I couldn't read, maybe because of the writing style. First there is Camil Petrescu - Last night of love, first night of war. The subject of the book was captivating enough, but the main characters were annoying and also, his writing style didn't appeal to me. I couldn't read more than 2 pages at a time and just thinking I had to read it and take an exam from it was enough to make me cry.
Secondly, there is another category of novels I tried to read and couldn't - sea adventures, like Jules Verne's Dick Sand, A Captain at Fifteen. Sure, discovering treasures and battling monsters does seem interesting, but when I start reading it, I get bored fast.

3. A book you are willing to read and why.

Any recommended book is a possible candidate. A condition would be an interesting plot. I want to read an interesting story to take me in places i've never been before, to challange my imagination and make me fall for the characters. Right now I have many books I want to read. Those that Dee bought for herself, maybe, Harry Potter or something similar and from my own, huge bookcase maybe Victor Hugo - Les miserables or Alexandre Dumas - The Three Musketeers for starters.

4. Your favorite quote of any books you've read.

"The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world. They can sit at their ease and gape at the play."
- Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1
 
"Consequently, if you believe God made Satan, you must realize that all Satan's power comes from God and so that Satan is simply God's child, and that we are God's children also. There are no children of Satan, really."
— Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire) 
"In the very depths of Hell, do not demons love one another?"
— Anne Rice
"Goddamn it, do it yourself. You’re five hundred years old and you can’t use a telephone? Read the directions. What are you, an immortal idiot?"
— Anne Rice (The Queen of the Damned) 
5. Which book you want/need to make into a movie.

Aside those that were made, I think the entire "Shopaholic" series by Sophie Kinsella is worth it because it's extremely funny. They only made a movie after the 1st book.

6. Favorite character of any book.

Nooo! I can't choose :(( Well...from the Witching Hour I liked Lasher, from Vampire Chronicles i liked Claudia, Lestat, Armand, Marius, Akasha [too many] and of course Harry and Dorian Grey from Oscar Wilde's novel.

7. Favorite and worst book you had to read for school.

Favorite books would be Mircea Eliade - La tiganci, Liviu Rebreanu - Ion and George Calinescu - Enigma Otiliei. Worst would be Camil Petrescu - Last night of love, first night of war, of course. xD

8. Favorite type of book.

I like fiction/supernatural because it challanges your imagination, but in general, a book that has a very interesting plot.

9. A book you recommend and why.

I recommend all my favorite books lol :)) because i believe they're worth your time.

10. Make a little resume of your favorite book.

Oscar Wilde - The portret of Dorian Gray

The story focuses on an extremely handsome young man, who at the beginning is naively not aware of the power this brings. Through his friend Basil, the artist who is to blame for the exquisite portrait of Dorian, he meets Lord Henry, the fun loving, dangerously influential gentleman who takes a liking to Dorian and makes him a sort of protégé of his. It is Lord Henry that takes Dorian's innocence and teaches him the way of the world, or British society, and sparks the light of vanity and pride in Dorian.
I'm lazy, so I will let you search the resume for my other favorite books. :) This is all for my second challenge. Hope you liked it.

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4 days, 4 girls

A week after the korean girls left, a good friend of ours, Alexandra, came from Bucharest. It was her first time coming to Timisoara so we were all excited. While showing her around the city, we laughed and talked about everything. She took lots of pictures of us and of course, the city.
As she requested, among the food from "the menu" we also had chinese food from the mall and pizza ordered from one of the best shops.



We showed her our famous parks where lots of people were talking a walk or walking their dog since it was sunday and the weather was nice. Alex loves dogs so she went there to take pictures. I agree those dogs were too cute to handle. Also a 3 year old girl who [of course] found me interesting ran to me, took my hand and came with us for a very short while. She was cute. Kids like me very much for some reason.


Of course her stay here wasn't going to be without surprises like in the train with that noisy kid, the homeless people coming to ask for cigaretts or money, or that crazy guy that scared me and Dee on the street. 
Other than that, everything was good. We even went to a photo booth in the mall and took pictures as a memory. It was Lexie's brilliant idea.




We found a chinese clothing shop that has as an advertisment the main cast from korean drama "My girl". We were shocked and the next day we went to see what you can find inside. In the other chinese shop, we made Alex take a picture together with the salesman -  a cute chinese guy. I've had my fair share of embarassment in this issue. I don't think i will ever set foot in that shop ever again. Or at least, until they change the salesman xD 

During these four days it was practically a girls' time to bond and have fun. I want to do it again! We will see Alex again soon because the 2nd K-pop Fanmeeting is approaching fast.

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Highschool memories

I saw this kind of challenges on other blogs and i decided it would be fun to post stuff like that as well. So here goes my first challange about highschool.

1. First day of highschool - I don't remember much of it. I remember i seated myself among people i didn't know on the second row waiting anxiously to see my new classmaster and math teacher. When he walked in he stopped after a few steps and said "ah~ so you are the chosen ones, right? the ones who will make my life a living hell for the next 4 years....interesting..." Everyone laughed. My thought was: "What?? He is the new classmaster? Are you kidding me?" And in the next minute we had a flash math test at which everyone in the class got a 2. =))

2. My very first friend in highchool - Honestly i don't remember clearly who it was. It was a girl, that i know, but i can't remember exactly who. I always got along with everyone to be honest.

3. Highschool schedule - I had morning classes until 3 o'clock. It was ok, but when you have classes until 3 p.m. friday you want to leave, right? Well, we couldn't because the last 2 classes were math. After 4 hours of math on Friday, you go nuts :))

4. Your favorite class to go to and why - I have to pick english class because the teacher that was with us during the first 2 years was strict and you actually learned something from her. It's because of her i speak english so well. Thank you!

5. Who was that guy - Nope, there was no guy. I mean i didn't like anyone. I did get along well with the guys though ^^

6. Tell me about that time you got sent in the office - There was such an incident. Our class indeed made our classmaster life hard. Every day a teacher went back to the office and started yelling at him because one of us did this or that. The most serious thing happened in the last year when we had a really big fight with the english/french teacher and we sent a complaint form to the minister. In a few days an inspector came to analyze the situation. She just got a minor punishment and we were left alone because we were about to finish highschool and they thought it would be too much trouble to drag that further.

7. Biggest drama I can remember - When we started highschool and everyone started to get to know each other, there was a girl in our class that claimed that her mom was possessed by a number of demons from Hell and that they tried all the methods with all the priests, but no priest managed to purge the evil from inside her soul. She even told this in front of the teachers. Ok, she doesn't have a nice family, but from this to her mother being possessed...let's just be real. If her mother in the situation that she claims, i think she wouldn't have lived until that day to tell it to anyone.

8. What did you usually bought from the cafe - Sandwiches mostly because that's the only food you had if you didn't bring it from home and sometimes sweets.

9. What were your school colors - We didn't have uniforms.

10. Your favorite teacher - i can't say i had teachers whom i really hated, so...almost all.

11. The girl who you just wanted to hit in the face - unfortunately, i had such a girl in my class. once i even got into a fight with her and since then our talk is resumed to polite chit-chat.

12. That sweet boy that gave you butterflies - i had other things on my mind then, so i didn't notice if there was a possible one :))

13. Mistakes in highschool - there was one incident i remember and i'm glad that everyone else has forgotten about it. once i was raising money for something. it wasn't my day and people kept calling me one after another to solve their problems. after a while someone kept trying to draw my attention and i couldn't take it anymore so i shouted: "what the f*** do you want now?? Leave me the hell alone already!" right when the teacher entered. Of course i was heard and the teacher lectured me like half an hour being horrified at the thought that such words can come out of my mouth.

14. Last day of highschool - The halls were almost empty. We took pictures in a hurry and told each other we would meet at the final exams. Everyone was stressed about it.

So this is it~! Hope you liked it. Feel free to do it as well if you like.

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Tourists and another wedding

At the beginning of august, Dee housed 2 korean students who decided to visit Timisoara. We knew one of them since last year's fanmeeting. They stayed 3 days and Dee showed them around town. She did a great job at it, i must add. She should work as a tour guide. I joined them as well every day in their walks together with Lexie and her boyfriend, Andrei, who came from Cluj for a few days. The korean girls were really nice. They said they liked the city alot and i'm happy because of that. Because they wanted to spend their time visiting, we ate out most of the time. Pizza, sushi, icecream were a few of the things we ate.



Before they left they cooked for us a delicious dinner - kimbap, bulgogi and white radish soup.


It was a really good and fun experience for me. I learned a few things from them and also i discovered new things about my own city. xD I am so caught up in my everyday hectic life, that i don't see the beauty next to me. Almost everyone is like that and it's kind of sad. I would like to learn korean as well. I just know a few words and to read a bit. :D

After the girls left, I had a wedding to attend to together with Lexie, Andrei and Dee. One of my former classmates and best friend from highschool, Pauly [that's my nickname for him] got married to his highschool sweetheart, Madalina. 

Dee unfortunately couldn't go anymore, but i took Andrei and Lexie with me to the church. Because of the excitement, we got there too early, but it was ok since you could enter and take a seat away from the heat. Lexie spotted a prying mantis which scared her to death, but she still took pictures of it. xD The mantis was lying still on one of the church's walls.
After the church service, i followed my former classmates to the after party. I was a bit sick and Andreea [i participated at her wedding] helped me with a painkiller. The food was delicious, but after a while, i was so full! They served icecream too, but Andreea wouldn't let me taste it because she knows i have problems with my throat. I also took pictures with the newly weds. :D It was awesome! I have to admit that it's wierd for me to see my former classmates get married one after another. Pauly kept telling me that he will marry her ever since 12th grade, but i still need time to get used to the idea :))

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Books are life savers


Recently my computer's monitor broke down. I had no access to my pc whatsoever for about 2 weeks. It was really a bad time because Dee, Lexie and all my other friends left town. It was torture~! 

I was bored out of my mind. But fortunately for me, books exist to ease my suffering. A little problem with reading is that to me reading is addicting; once i started reading, i can't stop. I have important activities to take care of [like school], so i refrain from reading sometimes and in order to quench my thirst for literature i haunt the libraries once in a while to see what's new and interesting to add on my list.

In this relatively short time span, i finished reading Haruki Murakami's "Norvegian Woods". The novel is a nostalgic story of loss and sexuality. The story's protagonist and narrator is Toru Watanabe, who looks back on his days as a freshman university student living in Tokyo. Through Toru's reminiscences we see him develop relationships with two very different women — the beautiful yet emotionally troubled Naoko, and the outgoing, lively Midori.
I admit it isn't the type of story i would normally read. When i first started reading, i thought it will be boring, and for a moment i asked myself why did i buy it, but as i continued reading i was drawn by the story. I was curious to see what's going to happen next. I found out they made a movie after the book. I want to see it and compare it with the book.

The second book i read a day after finishing "Norvegian Woods" was Hitomi Kanehara's "Snakes and Earrings". The story follows several months in the life of Lui, a young woman who, while exploring body modification, decides to split her tongue. It follows her feelings at this time, and her slow spiral downwards into alcoholism. The story ends with Lui's own tragic discovery about her lover and the mysterious tattoo artist she has grown entranced by.

This book shocked me really bad, but I would lie if i would say i didn't like it. It is an odd mix of the sedate and simple and the brutal. It is very brutal. I read it in one night [a few hours to be precise]. The story, as brutal as it is, it's addicting.You don't have time to get bored because events unfold one after another. My favorite character was Ama. Why? Maybe because in spite of his scary appearance, he was completely opposite. This one was turned into a movie as well, but i'm not sure if i will have the guts to watch it. :))

After two sad books i decided i need to laugh a bit so i started reading Sophie Kinsella - Shopaholic and baby. The girls told me a long time ago when Dee bought this book that it is very funny. They were right. I laughed so hard at the silly situations Kinsella's characters were put in. 

This book is the fifth of the "Shopaholic" series, but even if you didn't read the others, you can understand what it is about. It follows the story of Becky Brandon (born Bloomwood) and her husband Luke as they navigate Becky's first pregnancy. I don't think there is a movie made after it yet. I saw the movie made after the first novel in the series - "Confessions of a shopaholic" and it was funny. They should make movies after the whole series. I think it will be successful.

I stopped reading for now because i had events to attend to. I will speak about them in another post.

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