What Women Want

Every woman wants presents. Nice things, funny things, rich things, flowers, gifts, a car, tickets to the theatre, a book, diamonds. It's all about the "getting" and the "things".

Here's a brilliant idea I found in the Red Light District. I'm not sure you're aware of it, but some of the old places for the hookers have been transformed in art galleries. Well one of this place is turned into this:

In The Netherlands you can "take food out of a wall" which means you want a burger, you put some coins in, you get it out. Just like any other vending machine. The one for food looks like the picture on the left. But actually the concept is, instead of burgers, you can put rings or jewelry in. Look on the right side picture: "be nice to a girl, buy her a ring". Just brilliant!

Girl’s Day Out at the Beach

It’s such a unique weather forecast – sunny hot and just perfect! For a Sunday afternoon at the beach with the girls, of course!! We’re going to be one Russian blond, one Romanian redhead and one Peruvian brunette, couldn’t be more powerpuff!! We’re getting lazy on our chaise-longues and have the normal girl talks of hairstyle, men in our lives, contraceptives, car as opposed to public transport, working permits, drinks, holidays and sunshine. Which made us want to take a dip in the water. I didn’t really want that in particular, I’m not that fond of water. I’ve had enough cold water during the communistic regime in Buchi. Well, the expectedly just arrived as any other self-fulfilled prophecy: I hated the cold water and didn’t manage to stay longer than 2 minutes in the freezer. Got back on the beach and after one more hour in the sun, we were enjoying beer at the terrace. Chilled out and fought the traffic jams back to Amsterdam. We shall meet again on the beach!

Girls' Weekend

Friday

What happens when girls come together?! A lot of talking gets done. One of my colleagues invited me at hers. We got down to pasta and proseco with a taste of office gossip. We moved on to more interesting topics like boyfriends and relationships, advanced to image and improvements, with a touch of housing and decorations. We got again back to love and relationships and somehow got to families, contraceptives, children and going out. Happiness is debated and how magical it is. Can’t give the details though, the woman would sue me. She’ll be turning into a piranha and I’ll be the innocent child swimming in the clear waters.. All I can say is a bottle of proseco is good enough to pull up stories of a lifetime ;)

Saturday
Another day, another girl. You womanizers should be eating your hear out! We walk around trading-yourself stands at the RAI. I find no one to sell my soul to. The company people monologue around me, I think I want to be a freelancer once the crisis is over. Is it going to be over soon, btw?! It was supposed to be funnier, people experimenting all the crazy stuff, like during war. You-never-know-when-you’re-going-to-die kind of mentality. But no, it’s actually alienating people – scared not to lose their jobs, they sit quietly in front of their computer and wait for hours before they spend 5 minutes at coffee. Get a life, you Armagedon kamikaze!! Soon I’ll be greeting zombies at the lift. I care too much about my skin to be able to unrecognizably work my ass off.

Had Belgian beer and some digestible food at a bar around the corner. The waitress was flirting with my ballerina. Get a life, bi’ha! I get a ride home and we call it off for the day. I’m getting in the housewife housy mood and deliberately spend my day in the kitchen. Food responds accordingly. I’m patting myself on the back.
Attempted to go to sleep early.

Sunday
Yes, I’m meeting yet another mermaid, different city. Gigi’s in NL so go to Arnhem to see her. We’re doing our talks while checking out the closed shops, damned them be!! We shall return for the goodies some other day, shall it be. As per usual, we’re discussing the stories of our lives. I’m not particularly enjoying the mature us with housing, real estate and mortgages stories, but can’t help them. We dig an eating bar in the center and get good food. We discover at some point that we’re the only clients left with the waiters at a decent time. We decide that’s no big city. We hug the hasta luego and swear to see each other some more. Yay!

Sat 18th of October @ Amsterdam-Schiphol-Brussels/South-Charleroi-Brussels/South – Brussels/Center-Brussels/North-STOP!

I’m so enthusiastic I figured it all out – I’m going to my best friend’s wedding. I’ll take the cheapest flight possible – that’s travelling from Amsterdam to Schiphol to Brussels South, to Charleroi and reach final destination – Bucharest. It’s just like some friend of a friend use to tell me about her boyfriend. He flew from Amsterdam to New York with final destination Bucharest, Romania just to get a 1Euro flight. It’s 2 days flying basically, but what a man wouldn’t do for love!! And One Euro!!

So I’m screening the multiple trains and busses I need to catch to get there. I get on tram 1 – then on train 1 and get my ass to the Airport. To Schiphol. I just need to ask myself – what the f_*k am I doing there with no direct connection.. well, if I’m still there, need to do some shopping. Browsing shops, time passing, I just missed a train, well, that’s fine, that means only that I can shop some more! Next train to catch target – half an hour later! I suddenly feel a strange emotion – an awareness which makes me go there 15min earlier. Like the guardian dog to Hell in Greek mythology this lady checks tickets before boarding to Brussels. It seems I have this ticket which is valid to one train – one train that leaves every hour. So I need to wait another 45 minutes?! Are you out of your freakin’ mind?! This is surreal. Brussels South is double!!
I catch this hourly train to Brusse

ls South, I get off and need to take a bus to Charleroi. I’m a bit late. I will be really late and unable to get on my flight if I don’t leave soon to f@*king Charleroi. I just go ask a taxi driver how much for the trip. He says Eur160. Are you out of your mind?! I paid almost 80 for the damn flight!! Well, then 120, my last offer. Shove your offer up your Algerian behind, I say! I’m getting to the damn bus which not only takes one hour, but 1h and 10 min, long enough to make me miss the check in with 2minutes. I alarm some service guys at the desks, one runs after the check in experts, they don’t want to re-open the gates, they’re done with work. There are about 10 other people with the same stupid-me expression on their face. Some Indian Dutch people, who didn’t read the tickets properly, paid huge money to the taxi to get there and see it flying out of their face. Some Romanian I-need-to-talk-to-the-one-in-charge kinda’ guys who’d think the manager gives a damn. They don’t. I start calling my uncle for flight indications and Luciana a.k.a. Lekker Piu for accommodation.

I score accommodation in Brussels North. I try to get on the next bus back. I get the answer we don’t sell tickets, you need to buy 

them in the airport. But I put my luggage in, say I in a despair’s pitiful voice. Well, then hurry up says the fat bastard. But what if you leave?! Well if you don’t hurry up, I will. What kind of a oracle answer is that?! Who talks like this?! I get my luggage down and buy the damn ticket, I’m still in time, but so is the sweaty gorilla to put his foot in the door and contemplating remark with a smile attached – we’re leaving. I guess that’s how it feels when some one is nailing you from behind. The only sense of relief gets to me when I’m on the bus and decide to go see if they have any more flights in the centre. What do you think?! They don’t. Right!

It even seems more hilarious when I’m telling Piu the story and she’s laughing her ass off and we try to make another reservation. Besides noticing the low-value of internet banking, as any machine is good enough for your account, I see I cannot book a damn flight. Luckily I’m saved by goodwill friends ready to call some one in France to make online transactions on the phone. Really trustworthy! The deep magic of the Brussels night continues with the Romanian polenta of expert Juli with a view on the city. We cand only dream at the party ahead. KMG, the funky band in the city is some hope. No offence to them, but I wasn’t expecting much. To my surprise, they go on dancing on tables and keep the hot rhythms loud. Sometimes this is interrupted by some girl bitching about just everything she can pick on. I try to get her some drinks, she refuses, I could almost smack you, bitch!

The crazy crowd is tirish, we move on to salsa shit. In case you haven’t heard about it, I’m no damn salsa girl. But I’m a groupy when it comes to friends. So we really had an amazing night partying, dancing like good old times and gossiping about some Colombian boys getting their hands all over.. Thankfully not all the time on the same ass! We move on to Piu’s house and laugh about the night.

Girlz day out

Rememoram intamplarile de seara trecuta si numerele schimbate, textele din ziua urmatoare, si mergem la piata. Eu si Lydie. E o piata mare-mare. Totul e mult mai ieftin ca orice in Romania, bien sur. Au tot ce gasesti la noi intr-o oarecare piata, plus toate carnurile posibile, mai ales peste, yummy. Poti sa gasesti orice, de la un somon simplu, la ce mai complicata caracatita.. sau haine si alte radiori sau chestii ce-ti trebuie prin casa.

Ideea principala e ca e asa frumos sa-ti iei mic-dejunul in piata, dupa ce ai facut cumparaturi. Este un peste genial! Foarte simplu si delicios. Si parca ne trezim, desi imi trebuie un espresso. Ajungem acasa la noi si in loc de cafea, primesc bere. Fane gateste ghiveci turcesc, radem cu Alberto si Paola, si ne latzim pe canapea, uitandu-ne pe geam. E o vreme prea frumoasa pentru Olanda!!

Deci mergem in Delft la Festivalul filmului iberic. Am vazut “Soledad”, foarte tare, frate! A luat premiu Goya pentru regie si alte 2 chestii, dar regia este exceptionala. Omu foloseste niste tehnici de separare a personajului, izolare si splituire a ecranului, genial!! Si personajele sunt separate, centrate si backgroundul blurat.. filmul e cam trist asa, dar mi-a placut prea mult, deci daca apare.. sa-l vedeti!

Si ne mai intoarcem cu Lydie la finalul zilei de gatit.. desi duminica este ziua lui Alberto de gatit paste.. excelent. Saptamana viitoare sa vedem daca mananca cineva ce gatesc eu :) deshiiiii!! Joi am gatit surpiza si a iesit yummy, mai am putin si devin nevasta ideala :P

Girlz night out

Ma suna Anna, colega mea din Rusia ca sa mai vb de faq si ce taskuri se mai trezesc profii nostri sa ne dea inainte sa incepem un nou modul, oribil!! Si tot vorbind aflu ca ii pleaca prietenul la intalnire cu baietii, pai, hai, dom’le sa iesim si noi ca fetele!! Anna vine sa ma ia si mergem la Lydie, celalta colega congoleza, mai mult traita prin Belgia, deci ne exoticam pe drum si ajungem in centru, unde sta Lydie.

Toate barurile olandeze arata la fel. Toata lumea a fost macar o data intr-o crasma la tara, imbacsita si maro, cu bautura imputita; stramta si plina.. E! Asa e in orice bar din Olanda, n-ai da 2bani daca ai fi in Bucale.. ti-ar fi si scarba sa intri, da astia se inghesuie de nebuni peste tot si stau in picioare, de parca asa s-au nascut.. Deci eu am decis sa mi se para sordide toate baruletzele lor infecte. Daaarrr!! Vineri am descoperit placutul. Un bar finutz, cu mese mari de lemn, unde se poate si manca, si sta la bar, si in picioare, cu poze artistice si pereti albi, un pic boem si cu lume diversa.. in fine, lume diversificata e peste tot, da parca acolo erau toti mai frumosi, si lumina batea mai bine, deci se poate!!

Acolo am mai palavragit noi de ale noastre si vorbeam de spinning si alte sporturi, cand observam ca cele doua femei de langa noi termina sticla de vodka Finlandia si golesc in graba paharele de bere.. ce femei!! Ca bradu! N-au nici, da nici o problema, iar Anna spune linistita ca, precum expresia ruseasca, vodka fara bere e degeaba... asa si mujerele! Sa zicem ca rusoaicele bat englezoiacele la ingurgitat bauturi, da parca nici cu polonezele nu mi-e rusine.. noi ar trebui sa ne strangem vreo 10 sa facem fatza, cred :P

Lydie si cu mine mergem in continuare prin oras, estimam cluburile, vizualizam ce e coolish si ce nu, vorbim despre relatii, sex si dorinte, despre barbati si femeile lor, de noi si de lume.. Iar noaptea e caldutza, centrul linistit si distantele mici. Ajungem in Paap, un bar unde o latino-sangre canta hit-uri cu band-ul ei. Are o voce puternica de-ti face pielea gaina, si noi o ascultam si ne lalaim pe muzica.. Dupa care incepe muzica si dantuiala..

Toata lumea e prietena. Poti sa vb orice cu oricine, nu exista limite, iar cel mai adesea te bagi in seama pe orice subiect, iar ei la fel... este unicul moment cand un olandez vine la tine fara complexe si-ti spune ca esti frumoasa sau ca de ce bea prietena lui rose. Sau iti da un joc nerdy de uniti puntele si-i zici ca nu-i normal, sau toate chestiile pe care le stie despre Romania.. da cui ii pasa?! Noi dansam si ne imprietenim :)

Timpul trece si se face 4. Este timpul sa mergem in cel mai dubios loc din Haga. Am auzit de el, toata lumea stie ca acolo se intalnesc cei mai crunti dubiosi din oras si ca e o adunatura. Dar un after-party tot trebuie sa fie. Ajungem in Pijpelaar si parca o lume noua se deschide. Nu am fumat, nu-s pe ciuperci, da parca toti de acolo arata cel putin de parca esti pe ciuperci. E o lume fantastica, de film de Fellini, dupa cum zice amicul Alberto. Parca esti la circ, la faceti poza cu maimuta, la zoo, la disco din anii ’70, ’80 si ’90 la un loc, in spatiu, in cosmos, in Africa si Japonia, in dormitor de oameni cu fantezii fetish si bondage, intr-un tablou de Kandinsky si unul de Toulouse-Lautrec, intr-un videoclip de Muse si unul de Fatboy Slim, la un concert de Gogol Bordello si unul de Faithless, la un festival Pinkpop si un Sziget, la cinema si la bordel, in crasma si la teatru, in casa si la gym, in parc si la plaja. Iar fiecare e din alta parte, da la un loc, jur ca n-am vazut in viata mea atatia dubiosi si cata-mai filmu de Fellini!

Nu pot sa ma abtin sa nu ma holbez la fiecare in parte, sa vad ce minte de Trantino i-a pus acolo pe toti si sa mai beau, ca sa ma trezesc.. iar dimineata ajungem la Lydie acasa si uitam.