New York New York

The ancient art of marrying

2007-02-07T18:42:00.000-05:00

Dating today in our fast-paced society is complicated. We are free to follow our hearts but what we really lack are rituals of dating. Take for example the dating process in old Turkish villages when the secret of finding your partner lied in the intricate design of a carpet.

Young women were putting their heart, soul and dreams into the pattern of the handmade carpets. When the girl was of the age to marry, the family would hang the carpet in front of the house to let the world know about it. The boys in the village would look at it to see if their dreams match up. They could tell if the girl was lively or dull - all from the design of the carpet.

If, after seeing the carpet, a boy wanted to marry, he and his parents would go to the girl's house to ask permission. The girl would stay in the kitchen making coffee (the famous Turkish coffee of course) and listen at the door. If the parents got along, the father would shout "Bring in the coffee!" The girl would come out but she was not allowed to speak. If she liked the boy, she would have sweetened his coffee. If she did not, his coffee would be very salty.

Everyone would watch to see the face of the boy as he took his first sip. The boy was nervous and his hands would tremble. If he wanted to marry the girl badly enough, even if he got the salt, he would smile as if he's gotten the sugar.

I am not sure I am going to start making a carpet anytime soon. I will have to find other ways to find a life mate. Any suggestions?

How many friends do YOU have?

2006-08-28T11:16:00.000-04:00

Feeling lonely? Well... join the club!

Today the average American has only two close friends, and almost one in four has absolutely nobody to confide in, says a new study by sociologists at Duke University and the University of Arizona. The study found that the number of friendless Americans doubled in the last two decades.

The reasons:

longer work hours, leading to fewer chances to cultivate intimacy
personal technology, creating the illusion of intimacy but not the real thing

Americans have always been restless people taking pride in their autonomy and self-reliance. But it seems rugged individualists have gotten what they wanted - with a vengeance.

Not everything is bad news though. As community relations are weaking, family ties are strengthening. Couples rely more heavily on each other now which can create a deeper level of connection.

At the same time the Internet is making possible for far-flung friends and relatives to keep closer.

All of life is a trade-off and it seems that friendship is no exception. Even if our time has become more precious than ever before, it's up to us to set aside some of our busy lives for friendship and closeness.

How long will it take to become a millionaire?

2006-08-22T13:18:00.000-04:00

If I invest $300 monthly at 6.00%, I'll be a millionaire in 63 years at age 87. To be a millionaire at age 40, I'll need to:

Increase the amount I invest now to $488,616 , or
Increase my monthly investment to $3,739 , or
Achieve a rate of return of 41.65%.

When adjusted for inflation, $1 million in 63 years would be equivalent to $159,265 today. LoL LoL LoL

Priceless

2006-08-16T11:32:00.000-04:00

White outfit for the All-White Party at Nikki Beach: $76.45
Strappy white sandals: $ 54.00 (with 20% discount at DSW)
Cab from 79th St and York Ave to 50st St and Lex. Ave: $ 8.00 (with tip)
Rasberry Martini: $13.00
Cosmopolitan: $12.00
Screaming my lungs out on Ozone's "Dragostea din Tei" in one of the trendiest clubs in Manhattan: Priceless

For like 3 minutes I was proud that I knew the words for this stupid song :)

Houston, we've had a problem...

2006-08-15T11:56:00.000-04:00

Apollo 13 mission might have propelled this phrase into stardom but these days it seems that NASA does have a problem - a major one I should say.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong's famous "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," a NASA spokesman said on Monday.

Armstrong's famous space walk, seen by millions of viewers on July 20, 1969, is among transmissions that NASA has failed to turn up in a year of searching, spokesman Grey Hautaloma said.

"We haven't seen them for quite a while. We've been looking for over a year and they haven't turned up," Hautaloma said.

The tapes also contain data about the health of the astronauts and the condition of the spacecraft. In all, some 700 boxes of transmissions from the Apollo lunar missions are missing, he said.

"I wouldn't say we're worried -- we've got all the data. Everything on the tapes we have in one form or another," Hautaloma said.

NASA has retained copies of the television broadcasts and offers several clips on its Web site. But those images are of lower quality than the originals stored on the missing magnetic tapes.

Because NASA's equipment was not compatible with TV technology of the day, the original transmissions had to be displayed on a monitor and re-shot by a TV camera for broadcast.

Hautaloma said it is possible the tapes will be unplayable even if they are found, because they have degraded significantly over the years -- a problem common to magnetic tape and other types of recordable media.
The material was held by the National Archives but returned to NASA sometime in the late 1970s, he said.

"We're looking for paperwork to see where they last were," he said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060814/ts_nm/space_tapes_dc

Do I smell some bullshit in here... ?

My dear Marjolaine,

2006-08-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

I learned tonight that we need the pain just as much as we need the pleasure. We need the pain so we can appreciate the pleasure and one would/could not exist without the other. How do we know something is white if we cant compare it to something black. We only feel alive when we feel both pleasure and pain... in between there is nothing; its not living but just barely surviving.

We are like a jigsaw puzzle. Every time we are broken apart and tore to pieces we put ourselves back together and we create a new picture - we reinvent ourselves. That is the beauty of life and that is the beauty of pain: its the beginning of something new.

That's why we need to go through all these experiences: to feel the pleasure and to feel the pain and know that we are not dead yet. You can use the pain to be more productive, to create something: to sing a song, to pain a painting, to write a poem or a story, to enjoy ourselves more.

Love is a blessing and a curse but we could not live without it. The greatest things in the world were created because of love or the suffering it caused.

Yours truly,
Camelia

Memento Mori...

2006-08-09T11:41:00.000-04:00

Life - Death
Love - Hate
Day - Night
Good - Evil
Weak - Strong
Close - Far
Happiness - Sadness
Friend - Enemy
Pleasure - Pain

It's hard to believe that we live in a perfect balanced world.
From one end to the other.
Between good and evil.
Between light and darkness.
Between happiness and sadness.
Between pleasure and pain.
Lovers and enemies.
Closer to something and further from something else.

Our life like a line...better said like a circle. Perfect rotation from 0 to 360 degrees and back. Always running around, trying to catch we don't even know what until we run out of time and we get to the end. Like a torch that burns into ashes. Like a candle that burns itself into darkness.

Is it easier to deal with the pain when you know there will be happiness afterwards? Is it easier to accept the end when you know there will be a new beginning? Here on earth, in heaven or anywhere else outside our world?

Why do we need to explore the space? Because we have run out of answers in our small universe... because we still haven't found answers to our primordial questions... because we still hope there is something or someone above everything else - the ultimate meaning to our mortal existence?

Why do we need to die? To get a fresh new start in another world or a different universe?

Or is it because our loved ones are gone from this world and we need to catch up with them, running from one life to the other for hundreds or thousands of years so we can catch them.

What if they disappear without a trace. How will we know where to find them and how will we recognize them? Is their soul-print encoded in our DNAs? Is that what soul-mates really are?

Love is Blind. True Love?

2006-08-09T11:36:00.000-04:00

People are always looking for Love. Most of the time that implies finding somebody who can bring love in our lives.

But what I realized is that Love is not found in someone else. Love is within us and we are the ones who can awaken it. But in order to do that, we need another person. Our life is complete only when we have someone to share our feelings with. So sometimes we just want someone, anyone, to be the person to help bring our love out.

I have no idea how one becomes the object of our desire or why we choose one person over another... But I do know that love is like a volcano and when it needs to erupt it makes us blind. We are so infatuated with being in love and enjoying the state of euphoria brought on by that level of excitment that we don't even care who the other person is.

I guess that's why people always mention True Love... as if there can be many kinds of love, of which only one reins supreme. If it is so, then how can we pinpoint which one is the True Love???

Back again!!!

2006-07-28T13:53:00.000-04:00

I decided when I first moved here that since I didn't choose New York but rather New York chose me, the city needs to play by my rules and not the other way around. It's been almost 1 year since I moved here and it seems that I am just now beginning to make friends with the city and slowly I am let in its secrets. But I am afraid this is the case because now I am playing by its rules.

I don't think I will ever fit in here because I never wanted to become one of the New Yorkers, but most certainly it seems so much easier to make friends now. Maybe its my new hairstyle, maybe something changed in my attitude, maybe it's in the stars for me to move on.

It's amazing how one little change has such a big impact and how one person can open so many new opportunities. As Carrie said in Sex and the City once, "there are relationships that open you up to something new and exotic, those that are old and familiar, those that bring up lots of questions, those that bring you somewhere unexpected, those that bring you far from where you started, and those that bring you back."

I was scared to open myself up to new relationships because I found much of my comfort in the ones I already had. Stepping out of my "black and white" world and stepping in "the mixed colors" world of New York seemed something rather unacceptable. Now I wonder what is normal and what is not. Am I venturing too much out of the safety zone? Is life in New York the standard or the exception?

My Swedish Affair

2006-02-26T13:00:00.000-05:00

If the places where we shop project our personal lifestyles, then mine would be about - Form, Function, and Price. There is only one company in this world that abides by these standards and is successful at it.

I am talking about IKEA, the Swedish mass-furniture-meets-design-chic powerhouse. There is no question that IKEA is a great world-wide retail brand. Founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, it has young, price-conscious followers in some 39 countries now.

The company name bears the initials of the founder's name, the farm where he started the company, and his community name: I(nvar) K(amprad) E(imtaryad - the farm) A(gunnaryd - the community)

Initially selling pens, watches, jewelry and wallets, they started designing their own furniture in 1955. A year later, they launched their distinctive flat packs for all their furniture.

I wish I had adopted IKEA's shopping criteria long time ago. It would have probaby saved me at least half of the moeny I have spent shopping in the past 5 years for things I don't even own anymore.

So if you find yourself going over your budget when shopping, here are three easy IKEA criteria to follow: FORM - FUNCTION - PRICE.

1. Form - Is it pleasing to the eye?
2. Function - Does it serve you any purpose? Will you really be using it?
3. Price - Is it good value for your money?

For IKEA the decision is farley simple. If the answer is "no" to any of these questions, then the company believes the product has no place in the IKEA range.

Using these guidelines I have adopted another Swedish retailer: H&M - the fashion store.

I have to recognize that I have become a Swedish fan lately. Maybe I will go visit Sweden one of these days.

Romania - Come and see more of Europe!

2006-02-23T10:13:00.000-05:00

It was about time people "discovered" Romania. As we all know, the advertising campaign is just a part of the big picture, but considering that this is the first one in the consumer magazine media (Budget Travel, National Geographic Traveler), it will gear some attention for sure. Especially with ads like these ones:

Things you do when you have too much time on your hands

2006-02-13T17:26:00.000-05:00

I have hated personal journals (or diaries) all my life. I never had the patience to go through the events that marked my day because I figured if I lived them once why should I live them again. I never intended for this blog to be a journal, not because my life is not worth writing about but because I am busy making the most of it and not just commenting on it. I have my own personal interests and ponder over death, love, relationships, politics just like any of us would. I don't believe philosophy is reserved just for the likes of Aristotle and Socrate, because we deal with the very same issues on a daily basis just as they did. The only difference: they put in writing while the rest of us just keep it within.

In between writing content for a website, learning how to fly a helicopter, exploring New York, studying for the GRE, entering the American Eagle "Live Your Life" contest, buying gifts for my upcoming trip to Bucharest, reading about Branding Romania, and being there for my family and friends... I found some time to fulfill my "tagging" duty.

So here is my list (I decided to write about what I don't like because you will discover what I do like in my future Blog posts):

Four jobs I would totally hate:

* sales clerk
* bank clerk
* fashion magazine editor
* sport newscaster

Three movies I would never watch again:

* Mr & Mrs. Smith
* Matrix
* In Good Company

Four cities I would not want live in:

* Mexico City
* Beijing
* Las Vegas
* Paris

TV shows I cannot stand:

* None - I don't own a TV

Foods I can't even smell:

* Tacos
* Hamburgers
* Musaka

Important newspapers I don't read:

* The Wall Street Journal
* NY Times

The most boring book I ever tried to read:

* James Joyce - Ulysses

And now I pass it to the following bloggers :

* Radu Ionescu
* Elis Iaia
* Ooops... no time to read anything else. But New York Magazine presents some blogs worth paying a visit.

For those of you who need something to read every day while having coffee in the morning or "warming up" mentally for the workday... this is not the blog to read. This is a special treat you have when you are done with a long, hard-working week... kinda' like an Cocoa Banana Cabana ice cream you have on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Enjoy!

Climbing the real “Cold Mountain” to the Balea Lake Ice Hotel

2006-02-09T17:55:00.000-05:00

It was not too long ago when movie fans had a chance to admire the picturesque Transylvanian landscape in the Oscar-winning Cold Mountain film. This winter you can follow in the footsteps of Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and Rene Zellweger in the Carpathian Mountains for a unique high-altitude lodging experience. Although there is no Cold Mountain township in Romania, adventure seekers are welcomed to climb a real cold mountain 6000 feet to reach the first ice hotel in Eastern Europe.

Set amidst the white ridges of the Carpathians Mountains and modeled after its two big brothers in Canada and Sweden, the Balea Lake Ice Hotel opened its icy doors at the beginning of this year.
Featuring eight double-rooms, “furnished” with beds, night stands, tables and chairs made entirely out of ice, the hotel can accommodate 1,440 guests per season.

Inside you can also find a bar, a restaurant and discotheque, all made of ice. The cocktails, served exclusively in ice-glasses, will give new meaning to the ‘chilled’ term.

While Swedish tradition entails Absolute Vodka for a warm welcome, the Romanian tradition calls for Romanian plumb brandy, which comes standard in each room bar.

Construction of the hotel, resembling a large star-shaped igloo, started in mid December, at times under Siberian-cold conditions, with temperatures of -11 degrees Fahrenheit and 93 miles per hour winds. Ice blocks prepared with water from a close-by lake are used for interior structures, such as columns, the bar counters, furniture, and sculptures. Art lovers will be pleased to discover next to the sheepskin-covered ice beds, sleek ice copies of several world-renown sculptures by Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi.

The hotel will remain open for four months, or until the outside temperature rises above 37.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Warm accommodation: It is recommended you combine cold nights in the ice hotel with warm nights in the nearby lodge. Hot lunch and dinner featuring traditional Romanian food can be enjoyed at the lodge restaurant. Washroom facilities are also located in the lodge.

Nearby attractions: Explore the medieval towns of Sibiu (45 miles) and Brasov (70 miles) or visit Dracula’s Castle (80 miles) at Bran.

How to get here: The hotel can be reached from Bucharest or any other major city via a highway linking Brasov and Sibiu to the Balea Lake resort, where tourists can board a cable car to the ice Hotel and Lodge.

Prices: $23.00 per person a day

To make a reservation: Please call + 011-40-745.072.602

For more info: Romanian National Tourist Office – North America
Telephone: 1-212-454-8484
E-mail: press@romaniatourism.com
http://www.romaniatourism.com/

Shacked please, not stirred...

2006-02-05T21:12:00.000-05:00

Have you ever ordered a drink from the bar and waited there eye-popped, mouth-dropped, shacked-up for your drink to come? Well I have. Ever since watching "Cocktail" I have been dreaming on mastering the fascinating drink mixology art.

I made it my ultimate goal to be-friend one of the cocktail masters and have them teach me some of the skills of the martini shaking-up, not stirring, art.

I was never able to infiltrate myself in the exclusive bartenders gang and almost gave up on this task... until one very knowledgeable cocky wanna-be Irish bartender, named Jack, promised to teach me all about making drinks, as long as the ingredients were Diageo brands.

All said and done... I began taking bartending lessons online. Where? At www.thebar.com. Jack, our friendly bartender seems to be not only knowledgeable about drinks but also about the state of affairs of cow herds in Ireland.

One suggestions though: Do not drive your mouse and drink at the same time!

Disclaimer: I do not endorse any of the Diageo brands and I am encouraging you to "Drink Responsibly".

So, CHEERS everyone!

When I grow up I want to be...

2006-02-01T13:06:00.000-05:00

"What do you want to do when you grow up?"

I am sure you have heard this question just as often as I did when growing up. It all started with the role-playing from kindergarten and it reached its peak after graduating high school.

Just like many other kids I went through several "career fields" during my childhood. Mine were very clear-cut fields: from "brain surgeon"(not more, not less), astronaut (I wonder where I got that one from??), lawyer (I loved to argue and still do), garbage man - or in this case woman (Oh yeah baby, I used to watch the garbage men from my apartment window and envied them for the cool truck they operated), and last but not least journalist (Does anybody remember the "Sandy Bell" cartoons?).

I did also want to become a nun at some point, but that was less like a vocation and more like a last resort type of deal in case my love life ended up in disaster.

In all these career choices I was looking for prestige or a cool environment to work in (I know that collecting garbage might not be that cool, but at least they had a very cool truck to work with). The financial benefit each job entitled was not part of the career choosing process when we were kids.

I never heard any of my friends say "I want to a big bad warrior so I can retire from the military after only 30 years with full benefits, medical coverage and the option to have my college tuition paid by the government."

But now I see most of the people choosing their career based on how much money they could make rather that how much they enjoy the job. I even saw several books that list the most promising career fields for the next 5 years. And when we come to think that one of the most powerful people in the world, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, makes only $180.000 a year, we realize that prestige does not always mean a big fat bank account.

And then there are people such as airline pilots that benefit from both high pay and high glam. Are you curious to see exactly what high profile workers are earning versus low profile ones in the US?

I am 25 now and I am not a brain surgeon, not an astronaut, not a lawyer, not a journalist and I don't collect garbage, even though I would be making $60,000 a year to do that in New York. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. I really love what I am doing now and there is plenty of satisfaction from being successful at it, but is this enough to make me want to wake up every morning and go to work for the rest of my life?

So now I am going to ask you... What do you want to be when you grow up?

Quote of the day:
“If you don’t know what you want to do, it’s harder to do it”
Malcom Forbes

The beauty of America

2006-01-09T12:26:00.000-05:00

Recently somebody asked me if life stood still at New York since I last posted a blog. I told them that life is still running at 400 miles an hour here, but I had no chance to stop and write about what's been going on.

This is the beauty of America: you can have 3 jobs at the same time if you wanted to and spent your life away working and shopping. Now that is TRUE CAPITALISM!

running shoes in nyc... by american express

2005-12-23T10:31:00.000-05:00

"Merry.... May you not go broke this Christmas!"

2005-12-23T09:22:00.000-05:00

We all know Christmas is the most expensive time of the year. I actually think they should change the expression "Merry Christmas" to "May you not go broke Christmas". I found an article in Forbes magazine that added up the numbers of the "Joyous Season".

The average U.S. household will send 26 cards this Christmas
U.S postal workers will have 1.9 billion holiday cards to deliver by Dec. 25
$42.55 will be spent on average for Christmas decorations this year (lights, ornaments and, of course, the tree)
Some 27 million Christmas trees will be purchased this year, and that doesn't include artificial trees
Christmas shoppers will spend an average of $580.56 on gifts this year, up from the $539.80 they spent last year
40% of those interviewed are hoping for electronic gadgets under the tree. Hot items this year are MP3 players (with iPod at the top), Microsoft's Xbox 360 and high-definition televisions

The only good news about Christmas is that we don't have to deal with the age-old philosophical dilemma of what to buy for our relatives or loved ones. Just get them a Gift Card for their favorite store. Or, even better, offer them a "Gift Card" from American Express so they can buy groceries if they feel like.

HO, HO, HO.... I am sure the guys on Wall Street are the ones enjoying the most all this Christmas spending

I need a ride!!!!

2005-12-21T15:52:00.000-05:00

When I first started this blog, I promised that I would bring you the "scoop" on the coolest, the strangest, the weirdest, the most amazing New York has to offer.

Today I am bringing you the most frustrating of the Big Apple. I though that the insane lines to catch a cab on a Friday evening when it's pouring outside is the worst that it can get. That was until yesterday morning when a big CLOSED sign was posted at the entrance of my subways station when the outside temperature stood still at 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

I find it amazing that 33,700 workers put a halt to the largest mass transit system in the U.S - more than 7 million daily riders normally rely on the city's buses and subways. On a daily base, some 6,200 subways cars run across 700 miles of track, and 4,483 buses run over 2,017 city miles. That was until yesterday, when all that came to a stop.

True to its second nature of adapting to disasters and hard times, the city did not seem to cripple under the effects of the strike.

"We cannot give them the satisfaction," said mayor Michael Bloomberg, calling on New Yorkers to walk, bicycle and find other ways to get around to avoid shutting down businesses and schools and the "havoc" he says the union is intent on creating. The mayor - wearing a "I love New York" sweatshirt to underscore his message - went on to say that New Yorkers have a habit of getting through tough times and will once again prove that this is a city that works - "even when our buses and subways don't."

News of the strike sent many New Yorkers scrambling for their car keys, trying to get into town before 5 a.m., when most of Manhattan will be off-limits to vehicles trying to enter with fewer than four people. That rule will be in effect from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. until the strike ends. Numerous car pool locations have also been set up.

New York's subway has about 1.4 billion riders a year and is the fifth-busiest system in the world, behind Moscow, Tokyo, Seoul and Mexico City. Counting buses and commuter railroads, the MTA estimates that it moves 2.4 billion people a year.

Considering that the last citywide bus and subway strike in New York from 1980 lasted 11 days, I offer the number one position in my top of most frustrating moments in the Big Apple to the New York Transport Workers Union of 2006.

I need a ride!

No comment...

2005-12-20T10:10:00.000-05:00

Ooops... she did it again

2005-12-16T16:56:00.000-05:00

Bring on the music, bring on the disco lights, ... the retro 70s party is moving online!

I have been waiting for this special moment for a long time now. I dreamed of the day when I would visit a website and feel like I am in a disco club, all under 2 seconds of loading time. I wanted Flash to reinvent itself and provide users will all that goodies of interactivity, less the waiting time.

Such a website finally exists .... and it took a Material girl and some Confession on a Dance Floor to make it happen.

The chameleon of pop music has not only managed to reinvent her music but also to reinvent the loading time of a fully "loaded" Flash site. Although I am very Hung Up on her latest song, I am more excited about the disco lights feature on her website. Oh, not to forget mentioning that I had already purchased the "Hung Up" ringtone for my cell. Bring on the 70s... we are having a Madonna online party all!

This ain't no Michael Jackson bed....

2005-12-14T11:57:00.000-05:00

Bring on the chemical weapons... bring on the next Katrina hurricane if you'd like.

You can even shoot at me while I am sleeping. Now I have peace of mind. There is a bed out there that can protect me like no Marine can. Hey, maybe this is what they should be using in Iraq instead of Humvees.

The Quantum Sleeper Wonder Bed

Time is money... and money buys time

2005-12-13T11:35:00.000-05:00

I am sure you are familiar by now with the expression "Time is money".

But what do you do when money cannot give value alone to a product or a service? Then you make it inaccessible not by its financial value but by its timely value.

To give you an example: you might have $380 to pay for the magic-making scissors of Oscar Blandi to run through your hair for 15 minutes, but he might not have those 15 minutes available to you for the next 3 months.

Point and take, last night I called to have an appointment made at the Oscar Blandi salon, the New York celebrity hairdresser to stars such as Monica Bellucci, Salma Hayek, Katie Holmes and "a client list of Park Avenue princesses". Since I have not inherited a large sum of money nor won the lottery recently, I was making an appointment through the apprenticeship program. For only $40 I would have an apprentice to the "maestro" play with cutting my hair.

After I agreed that for this money the style is at their sole discretion - so if I end up hating my new hair oh well, too bad for me - the lady in charge of appointments politely informed me that the waiting list is......... 6 months long!!!!!!!!

After picking myself from the floor, I told her that in 6 months I might not have any hair left on my head, thanked her for the information and offered to donate my vacant spot to somebody willing to wait that long.

This morning, on my way to work, I stopped by a hair salon that advertised a hair cut & wash for $21.95. The lady seemed to understand very easily what I wanted done with my hair, and 20 minutes later I was happily showing off my new coiffure in the subway to work.

And when I think there are people out there willing to fly from Tampa to New York just to have their hair cut at the Oscar Blondi Salon... I have to agree that we do live in a crazy world.

After four months in New York I have come to love these words: "No appointments necessary"

1st of December

2005-12-01T13:54:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Romania!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When in England... do as the other Americans

2005-12-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

I read a lot of travel magazines, both because of the nature of my job and the hope that one day I will have a chance to put their advices to use in my own "voyages"...

So this morning, while reading the Budget Travel Online newsletter, I found the following travel tip to be of extreme importance to my fellow Americans and decided I had to blog it.

" If you're renting a car in England, remove the left front hubcap. The last time we were in England, I met another American at the car rental agency. He had just returned his rental and was annoyed he had to pay for a missing hubcap. He said that between negotiating the narrow roads, having the steering wheel on the right side of the car, and driving on the left side of the road, he couldn't judge exactly where the left front wheel was. As a result, he repeatedly hit the curb and eventually knocked off a hubcap. Later that trip, while visiting Hadrian's Wall, I noticed many cars in the parking lot were missing hubcaps. Sure enough, most of the drivers were Americans! I'm glad I had taken my new friend's advice and put mine in the trunk. Bernard Hershkowitz, Commack, N.Y. "

If you found this tip useful :) here are some other travel tips.

People and their hobbies

2005-11-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

They say you can learn more about a person by finding out what his or her hobbies are. The question "What do you like do to in your free time?" or "What hobbies do you have?" is bound to come up whether you are going on a romantic date or just meeting your new co-workers.

Since I am interested in widening my cultural horizons, I wanted to find out what hobbies people have in other parts of the world.

I will let you guess what these people like to do with their time and money - if you are curious enough, click on the picture and you will find out...

Did you know it only takes 37 cents to be famous?

2005-11-29T13:57:00.000-05:00

I was a big fan of Irene Cara's 'I want to live forever' song long before the cool hunters spotted the Gravanity trend. I do understand that millions of individuals "crave immortality" or at least their "15 minutes of fame", just like I understand wanting a character named after you in a popular book (name the price on eBay and you might end up in Stephen King's next bestseller), individualized license plates and ...least but not last, a personal blog.

What I don't really understand is: "Who wants to live forever?"

That was until this morning, when I received a promotional postcard from www.photostamps.com/imagine, telling me that I can turn my favorite photos.... into my very own postage stamps.

So, my philosophical question of the day now is: Who wants to have their picture go under meter machines, through security scanning and end up in a mail box?

I think I already got you thinking about this year's holiday gigs, so let me tell you how this new ego-boosting technology works: Upload a photo, customize it by selecting one of 10 different border colors and then purchase PhotoStamps in one of seven different postage denominations, ranging from 23 cent postcards to 37 cent regular first class to $3.85 for packages. A minimum order for 20 stamps will set you back about 17 dollars.

And when you think we were so quick to predict that the post mail will be dead due to the advent of the internet era and digital technology.

Lesson: Don't resist changes; make them work for you!

Once upon a time... in New York City

2005-11-22T22:06:00.000-05:00

"Imagine a story come to life. Gathering by the fire to read aloud the words that trigger colors of your childhood to come swirling back in bold, beautiful flashes. The misty castle grounds, the shimmery pond, the enchanted creatures that lurk in shadows amid the forest. Relieve them all. The moment a glass-slippered beauty comes into her own, the exquisite kiss that shatters an everlasting silence. Arabian treasures, gurgling potions, ropes of golden hair that mysteriously beckon the valiant gentleman to climb. Imagination has the power to take you anywhere - even to a spellbinding world you thought you'd long forgotten."

How many of you wished that one day you could see your favorite Grimm Brothers fairy tales transposed into the windows of one of the largest department stores in the world ?

Well, I guess Bloomingdales secretly read the mind of every little girl and boy, now fully grown up, and made their wish come true.

Please allow me to introduce you the New York store windows version of our favorite "once upon a time.." fairy tales.

"Imagine Awakening to The Kiss of the Charming Prince..."

"Imagine a Kiss That Brings Dreams to Life..."

"Imagine You're the Fairest of Them All..."

"Imagine a Night of Mistery..."

"Imagine the Ride of Your Life..."

"Imagine a Voice so Beautiful..."

" Imagine Being Invited to the Ball..."

The end...

Parking a la carte

2005-11-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

I guess when people run out of space they get really ingenious. One such example is the invention of the skyscraper. When people run out of space horizontally they start building high into the sky.

So, what do you do when you don't have space to build a parking garage, but you have a prime location the size of a tennis court?

You offer parking a la carte... in New York terms=suspended parking.It's almost like the good old puzzle game: you only have one free space to move the pieces around until you get the puzzle right... or, in our case, until you get the car on top safe to its owner on the ground. Can I have the menu please?

Parking a la carte (New York style)

And here is the menu!

I found out where LOVE is! - part 2

2005-11-20T13:42:00.000-05:00

It has been argued by many that the meaning of life is to love. You can love a country, a city (see my previous posting), a certain lifestyle, a book, a movie… and last but not least, you can love somebody.

In spite of its popularity, love is rarely defined. It can be “a miracle of life, sun-kissed emotion, the river of paradise, the force that moves the planets, the seed of happiness, the tear of the universe,” the…Oh, man I love this pizza!

If you have the curiosity that I had, open the dictionary and look for the definition of love: “A very strong affection for or devotion or attachment to a person or persons.”

This definition though could not satisfy my thirst for knowledge so I decided to go even further in the core of the dictionary. You cannot imagine how interesting and fun it can be to look up for common words and replace the main words by their definition. Here is what I came up with and believe me, at the end I was wondering if I had ever loved or even come any close to it.

"A morally powerful mental state of inclination or disposition, believed or expressed without any doubt, easily noticed, felt, tested, or smelled, physically powerful or energetic, not easily broken or damaged, having character or will for, fondness, tenderness, heart, faithfulness, inducing a positive feeling of liking for a human being or beings, distinguished from a thing or lower animal."

If this is not enough and you are still confused of what the source and description of the feelings you have for your partner, here is a “more detailed” explanation:

"A set of circumstances or attributes characterizing a person or a thing at a given time, with conscious or unconscious unity, having a specific ability or capacity in a manner relating to, dealing with, or capable of making the distinction between right or wrong, having moral strength, self-discipline, or fortitude, showing commitment allegiance, and dedication trough binding yourself, intellectually or emotionally, to a course of action, being faithful to those persons or ideals that one is under obligation to defend or support, existing as an individual entity and different from any living organism inferior in rank, dignity, or authority, typically capable of moving about but not of making its own food by photosynthesis."

After all LOVE is not as easy as it may seem. And I haven’t even attempted to define TRUE love:

"The property possessed by something that is in correct or proper alignment, consistent with fact or reality; not false, of real or natural origin…"

Do you understand now why LOVE is so complicated?!

The good news is that at least I found out where LOVE is: at the intersection of 6th Avenue and 55th Street, in New York City.

This is how LOVE looks like:

I found where LOVE is!

2005-11-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

I decided the first posting in my brand new blog (my first ever, so I guess I can say from now on that I lost my blogging virginity to some site named Blogger.com) to be about LOVE. You might wonder why in the world I would pick such a cheesy topic, considering I have so much more I can tell you about the city of all cities, New York City.

Maybe because there is so much love all over New York City that I became infatuated with the idea. I see LOVE everyday on my way to work, written all over the millions of souvenirs hungry New York tourists buy by the pound. Judging by the number of people wearing “I love NYC” T-Shirts, sweaters, hats, armbands, stickers… you would say that the city of LOVE would be New York and not Paris. After all, how many people have you seen wearing “I love Paris” pink fluffy sweaters? I have seen ten wearing “I love NYC” sweaters so far.

I also hear LOVE every time NYC women talk about shoes (particularly Manolo Blahnik), designer clothes or the fashionable hairstylists charging $180 for a cut in Manhattan.

I am also writing about LOVE because Christmas is coming and I have to admit NYC is absolutely lovely around this time… the trees dressed in red lights down Madison Avenue, the skating rink in Central Park, the store windows at Bloomingdales…

But I am writing mainly about LOVE because for so long I wondered where I can find it… and I have a feeling that I am not the only one looking for it. So, I guess there should come to nobody' surprise that I found out where LOVE is: in New York City... at the intersection of 6th Ave and 55th Street to be more precise.

How does LOVE look like? I promise I will take a picture and show you not only where love is, but also how it looks like.

As one of the songs of DJ Tiesto (who recently mixed live in Romania) proclaims: "LOVE comes again"... just make sure you catch the next plane to New York City so you can see it in person, or just wait for my next posting.