Obscure Journey

Dear readers, 6 months have [almost] passed as I type this, and by the time it will go up, the situation wouldn't have changed.

I think this is a type for freelancers and bloggers alike to draw a line to see if they follow the plan they set at the beginning of the year.

It's a time to think about what we learned, lost, and gained. It's also a time to try and reset goals for the 2nd half of the year if the results are not the ones you expected.

If you're not a business, you'll probably have a harder time setting quarterly goals. :(

WHAT I GAINED

As far as I'm concerned, I don't think I gained much - except for a lot of weight, OOPS . When 2016 ended, all I wanted was a 'different' year, with hopes for a better one. Well, so far so good - it was better than the previous one. I gained 10 kg in about 2 weeks, back in January. As June comes to an end, I still haven't lost 1 kg. Maybe I should go back to this post and remind myself on how that's done. ;)

I also gained a bit of insight into how I can keep myself on a more productive line: bullet journaling.  You can read about me discovering it in this post. I can't really have an opinion on how this goes since not even a month passed since I started it, but I think that if I keep at it, I will have more results by the end of the year.

I also gained some insight that proves I'm not as mature as I'd like to be. For instance, it seems that when I decide I want something, I want it RIGHT NOW, despite some other factors clearly stating it is impossible to get. What do I mean?

Last year we decided we'll move to either Canada or France, with later deciding on France - closer to Romania, therefore easier and cheaper to do. I thought we'll be doing this in 2 months tops... but, haha 6 months later and we still have to buy tickets and stuff. It turns out, leaving for another country is more work than I previously anticipated. This pill is a bit hard to swallow, to be honest, and only someone who is still immature will not see it.

WHAT I LEARNED

What did I learn..? Thinking about it, I can't really tell, but let me try...

I learned some Mandarin Chinese - since my memory is super bad, I can't remember if I ever mentioned I'm teaching myself Mandarin. I studied mostly grammar aspects, and soon I will have to start with learning the Han characters [this is what I understood they're called in China].

I also learned that no matter how much I love cats some of them are simply not for me, or that I can't take care of all of those that come my way. That cat found some human to take care of her, but I will be lying if I said I don't miss her: she was hilarious to be honest, despite her destructive nature. But, as I accumulate more years, I realize I need calm and peace more than anything.

I also learned that creative people can't work for other people, at least not in a 9-to-5 environment.  While I may not seem so at first sight, this blog is proof enough I'm creative, as well as some of the drawings/doodles you occasionally saw [there is one right in this post, higher up ;) ].

You can also see the unedited version below because I couldn't decide which one I like more. The cursive is how I really write in my dream journal - should I post pictures of it?

I am learning now to be a bit more flexible. For instance, if I plan something in advance, I must be prepared to change those plans. Freelancers or business owners will probably know this struggle more than other folks.

WHAT DID i LOSE

Well, for starters I lost a stable job, or better said I gave it up, but mostly because it was eating my health away. I didn't search for a new one. Well, you might think I have less money coming in, and this might be true. However, as a 'freelance writer' I can tell you I had projects that paid as much as the job I gave up did. Basically, a project lasting 2 weeks brought in as much dough as a month slaving away at the job. [I do plan on writing a blog about my experience in the 'normal' work-field, but I don't know when].

PLANS FOR THE UPCOMING 6 MONTHS

I plan on continuing with the bullet journal I started - I really see it as a good way to keep myself organized and on track. I do recommend it to all my readers. I also need to improve it, as the first month planning didn't impress me. Since I never did this before, I can't now how to do it in a way that works for me - but I will.

I want to workout more - not really to lose weight [as I'm not sure it will happen], but my body simply asks for it [at least at times]. I will hopefully lose some weight as well.

I will study more French - I can read it, I understand quite a bit, but speaking it... that's a whole different story. I will obviously continue with Chinese as well, so this will not even be mentioned. After we move to France [it's a matter of when not if], I will have to find a job [I want to buy a house there, as renting is something I'm done with] and being able to understand and speak the language will be helpful [for obvious reasons]. I also want to apply for the French citizenship [or naturalization] so I will also have to study more about France' history and culture and so on. This thought actually excites me.

AND YOU?

How was your year so far? what aspects will you improve? or do you have any piece of advice for me?

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

This blog entry is LONG overdue. And I mean, 1 year overdue! wow! So, everything you'll see here was recorded in 2016, but I never got around to do anything with all this material. Today is a good day to show you all that I gathered.

I like looking at old buildings and imagine their history - what did they look like when they were new, what did people think of them, the lives of those that lived in them as well as what did they think of the construction they called "home."

Some buildings are nicer than others, but I rarely discriminate - I'm usually able to see beauty in the weirdest places and forms. All the images are from Bucharest, but you won't see them in any travel guide as they're generally from residential areas. The video will show you both sides of the river splitting  the city in half and was recorded in early spring - March, and then a few weeks or a month later.

The next few houses cannot usually be seen by tourists. Well, I also forgot where exactly they are located, sorry.

I know where this one is. On a very quiet street, uptown, in a very posh and expensive area. The street has 2 lanes, one for each direction. In my opinion, the picture doesn't make it justice, or maybe my memory is bad. The roof covers the sides, like a mountain house. I remember it was love at first sight when I laid my eyes on it the first time around.

The next one must have looked really good at first. I really like that patio in the "tower" - it must be my favorite feature of this house.

I wonder if anyone bought this next house. It looks really bad, but I see a lot of beautifying potential in it. Since [I'm pretty sure] it was on a quiet street, the possibilities are quite many for it.

Next, is an old and rather ugly apartment building. I believe its facade was redone, but it simply is not as impressive in my eyes. I forgot why I took a picture of it - perhaps the creepiness factor was what drove me to it. Maybe it looks better in real life? Anyways, you can easily see this one downtown as it is on one of the main street tourists are taken on a double-decked bus.

I also like mosaics. The one with blue tiles can be seen downtown in Unirii Square, in one of the fountains. I'm not sure if all the fountains have the same mosaic design, because I never really paid close attention. Perhaps they're just similar? The brownish one was the floor of a shop uptown, in an old building. That's all I remember.

And if you made it this far, maybe you want to take a short bus ride with me? Tourists don't really get to see this scenery.

You should let me know if you want more posts like this one. I still have some unpublished pictures.

Until next time, stay safe!

[ps: i just started learning Chinese, so please don't be too harsh on me]

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

If you know me, you know I dislike cleaning the most. However, it's not something I can escape. Nobody can escape it. To make myself stick to a good cleaning routine I decided to use a bullet journal. It seems like it is a good way to keep people organized and productive. I only just started it now in June simply because I just learned about it.

I tried once in the past year, but I failed at following it. I hope to be more successful this time. The main weekly tasks are cleaning on Wednesdays and Thursdays. I started with Thursday’s task, the stove: it needs a single day, because reasons, see below:

Has your stove ever been this dirty? No? How did you do it? I won't lie, I'm envious because I never liked cleaning and on top of that, I wasn't good at maintaining the place clean either I really have no idea how people do it. But now, thanks to my bullet journal I hope to become one of those people.

The first thing I did regarding this mess, was to grab an old knife and start scratching like a scratch card while the stove was cold and dry. The mess is some cream soup that boiled over so my approach worked really well. It was gone in less than 10 minutes and it also worked on the greasy parts - at least some of them. After 20 or 30 minutes of working on it, it looked like this:

Since I'm not as healthy as I used to be [not that I'm very sick, but I get tired really fast lately], I had to take breaks from time to time. I can't know for sure how long it took me to clean it to this state, seen below. Maybe a grand total of 2 hours? 2 hours and a half?

Clearly, next week, my pretty stove will not be as dirty, and it will be much more easy [and fast] to clean.

Let's see some pics - from before and after, for a better understanding:

I do want to mention the cleaning products I used as well, because the end result was not possible with just scrubbing. I used:

• - a piece of old towel,
• - Axion the grease stripper
• - Triumf for stoves and ovens [a Romanian cleaning products brand] - this think strips grease like crazy! and you need to wear gloves when using it, as well as a face mask because it's off-gasing.

I really don't know. I guess, i just want to tell people that even the most difficult tasks can be taken care of, even if at a slower pace. And that if you need something to keep you motivated, bullet journaling can be quite useful.

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Not long ago I promised I would show you guys the stuff I bought online, from a Chinese website called wish.com.

DISCLAIMER: this is not a sponsored post, I bought everything with my own money, and the opinions are my own!

Online shopping is good, as long as you don't buy clothes, shoes, or expensive electronics. You must pay attention to what others have to say about the seller too, to see if you can trust  - but even then, you can get cheated.

This site wish is easy to use, you can sign up using your gmail account or even your facebook account. I paid with paypal, but I think credit/debit cards are also accepted.

This is what i ordered - a tote, 3 watches (!),  a deck of regular playing cards, and a tarot deck. I also ordered a bra for my friend - it fits her, but i will not show the actual product, and a whetstone to sharpen knives - it never arrived :(

This is the Shadowscapes Tarot deck, translated into simplified Chinese, i believe. The English card names are at the top of the cards. There is one typing error on one of the cards "nice of cups" instead of "nine of cups, " which i find quite funny, especially since this is a good card to get in a reading. The typo is barely noticeable, so it doesn't bother me.

There are 2 extra blank cards included - I guess I can use them in case I lose one. As you can see the cards are quite long, so normal hand shuffling is a bit difficult. Maybe my palms are too short?

My other card deck is a playing one. But the images are with Vampire Knight, as you can see. Vampire Knight is a manga [Japanese comics] by Hino Matsuri. The cards are quite small compared to the tarot. Shuffling them is so easy!

I must admit, when i got them, i thought they're bigger - before opening them up. I was quite impressed that they were sealed in plastic - the tarot wasn't. Once i took them in my hand, i thought they're really cute because of how small they appeared.

I didn't use them, but I assume in dim light, it will be difficult to tell which card is which, so probably if you ever get your hands on a similar deck, play your games in stronger light.

So these are the watches I got. Why 3? well, i have a small obsession for watches. I have 4 of them in total. One - the first I ever got, is a Michael Kors. [I can't really remember where it is] I'm not wearing it because it needs a battery and it had a small accident, and lost a decorative plate. I'm pissed about it - I still have it, but I have trouble putting it back with glue it doesn't stay.

These watches didn't arrive all at once, though the green ones have been ordered at the same time. The lighter green one was supposed to be more blueish. but the green one looks amazing! The first one to arrive was the one with a black bracelet. It is a mechanical one - the reason I got it. The other 2 cost me $1 each, and $1 shipping for each. I really liked the design, even though they require a battery.

The seller was nice enough to send them with a battery in AND with the hour set for Romania! how cool is that?

The tote is not as big as I thought it would be. I can fit a 15" laptop in it, if i put it with the narrow side in. And it doesn't go in all the way - but I rarely take my laptop with me, so that's fine. It seems well done, though the sewing could have been more straight - in places where it is noticeable.

I like that it has a small inner pocket. The front is purple, and the other side is gray, like the handles and the bottom. The handles are long enough to allow you to wear the bag on the shoulder.

The mechanical watch was the first to arrive, after some 3 weeks.  I thought i will never get to see my tarot deck nor my playing cards - they arrived quite late. The bag also arrived quite fast, but i forgot how fast. I also forgot how fast the other items came, but the 2 green watches arrived 1 week apart - shipped separately, though the seller was the same.

Speaking of sellers, there are many sellers on wish, just like on ebay or etsy. The prices can change from one day to the other, but they're generally low. If you know me, you'll know these items were cheap - since I hate spending money on expensive stuff.

site pictures VS real item pictures

There are slight color differences between the real life items and the image you see provided by the seller. The light green watch was the biggest offender, but since i like green, I'm not complaining. My light, though natural, wasn't the best to take pictures. The tarot deck is less intense, much more pastel. As for the mechanical watch - just like with the others, several colors were available, that's why mine is not golden.

Sadly, if you have a problem with your item, the customer support is from wish, and it is not the seller. you might also have the "luck" of talking to someone who doesn't speak English well. You have 30 days for returns or refunds. This means i lost whatever I paid for my whetstone.

This is all for now. See you again next week!

©Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved. edited in march 2018

It is early May and you might find baby birds on the ground. Fallen from their nests. (I'm not sure when wild bird eggs hatch, so this article might come in handy. )

If you do, find such a baby bird, what do you do?

1. You could try to find its nest and put it back.
2. Take it home/ to the vet to see if it's OK - no broken wings or legs
3. Do nothing, let nature take its course. [do you have the heart for that? i don't]
4. Something else this author didn't think about. [care to share your thoughts?]

I only asked "what will you do" and not "what and why." I like to assume that most of us would try and find the bird's nest and try to put it back. We all know baby birds don't belong on the ground. Many would choose to do both option 1 and 2.  And there are quite a handful who would choose the last 2 options, for various reasons.

Saying that doing one or the other is wrong or good - this is actually something we can't be objective on. We were all raised differently and have different beliefs.

However, I will tell you what I did, and what my experience was. You can then decide if this was the right or the wrong thing to do.

About 3 years ago I found a baby grey crow on the ground, next to my building. It was a rainy spring, and the poor thing was soaked. His parents were still watching over him, but couldn't do anything about him - there were just too many humans around for them to risk getting down on the ground and feed him or protect him from the rain.

He couldn't protect himself from the cold pouring rain either because he was bald, only his tail and wings feathers were grown. He would have died if I didn't decide I would take him in, feed him, and warm him up.

I took him in and decided the first thing he needs is to get warm up. I grabbed a towel and proceeded to dry him off, except it didn't really work. The hairdryer did a better and faster job.

The bird was now dry and warmer. But weak. Because he didn't eat in several hours.

WARNING: Baby birds need to eat about once an hour or two. But you need to learn how to feed them because YOU are now the parent!

Learning how to feed a baby bird is rather easy, but if you worry easily, ask someone else to do it. You can find many instructions online, but I will try to explain in a future post how to feed baby crows!

Must tell you Romanian vets are not very experienced with birds, and I had 2 of them telling me he would die because they didn't know what to do to him. Guess what? he didn't die. I had to force some antibiotic on him the next day - he caught a cold from the rain. The worst part was that he could have died at my hands because I only had some strong antibiotic for humans [I used it for a UTI before... so go figure].

Of course I made sure to only give him a tiny bit, trying to figure out about how much based on his weight and to complicated measurements and math calculations on the pill. Fun times! I should be a chemist now, or a vet. The good news is that it worked and the next day he was walking all over the floor.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Because I don't plan on posting everything I do on a daily basis, I'll just update you with some highlights... from March. I skipped February because nothing special happened: I was just waiting for the snow to melt, the weather to become nicer, and my mood to improve. Because March just ended, I can talk all about what happened.

I haven't talked about this yet, but I ordered some stuff from wish.com - I will write a review about this experience later on.  So in March, I received all the stuff - with one exception. Below you can see the items I did receive:

Then, somehow spring came, and we were surrounded by trees in bloom! and not only. I really like early spring flowers, much more than those of later spring and so on. The early spring flowers are so fragile and pretty, almost like life itself. No wonder Japanese people have a cherry blossom viewing festival in April.

On a nice sunny day, we went to have some ice cream. It was really warm that day - some 22 degrees Celsius! we wore short sleeves even! this is amazing because i can't recall any March till now to have been so warm! We had Italian ice cream [or gelato] and we selected different aromas. We got coffee, kiwi, something nutty ... and i sadly forgot the other 2 flavors. I don't even have pics of them :( the biscuit on top is extra and for free!

Then, at a certain moment my friend suggested we went to some galleries to see some art. said and done. except we only managed to see two of them. And one of these wasn't even that impressive: it had only 6 or 8 pieces of art displayed. To their defense, it looked as i they were still arranging the place, but who knows - maybe this was on purpose?

Must point out the painting here were unsettling. The starry eyes made me think of the darkness many people try hard to hide. At the same time, I remembered reading somewhere that the human eyes contain something in them that can't be counted: it's more numerous than the stars in the universe. Should search again to see what that was.

The second gallery had more stuff to offer, and I even liked and kinda understood the artist's view on things. This artist's paintings had titles as well, and would go well in an office, or a house with an industrial, modern, futuristic, or minimalist look. This art would clash badly with classic, heavy furniture.

The second painting is called 'information overload,' i don't have the name of the third painting. The last painting is called 'anxiety amplifier' and i can see why. I also don't know the name of the paintings in the first image. I'm sorry about that.

This second gallery also has a boutique where you can buy various stuff: clothes, jewelry, paintings and wall decors, as well as some accessories for your home and games. Below are some examples of what you can purchase. If you're ever in Bucharest, you can visit this gallery at the following address: C.A.ROSETTI NR. 2-4 street, sector 1.

This crown was heavy! were the kings wearing such heavy crowns?! maybe heavier?

I also got to see some cute art on a wall! you can't really call it graffiti, or can you? as you can see it is really cute and i saw this on a wall next to a cafe, right before entering the first art gallery.

This month i tried to do some cleaning in my closet. I took some clothes I didn't wear anymore at H&M and they gave me a 5 lei coupon discount for a future purchase of at least 40 lei - from the new collections. Apparently they reuse these clothes to make other stuff. The items I took there were not wearable anymore, and I didn't want to just throw it away.

On other news, below you can learn what happens to me when I try to recycle other stuff, like papers, plastics, and what not.

This is all for now. See you again next week!

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

In my previous post I mentioned I would make an entry related to etiquette in Romania. So, here it is! These are stuff I either saw myself or was told.

In Romania, you take your shoes off when entering your own home, or the home of those close to you - friends and family, unless told otherwise. It helps with keeping the house clean(er).

You keep your shoes on when you go visit people you're not very close to - say, if you meet the parents of your partner for the first time. Some of these people you don't know very well, might ask you to take your shoes off when entering their home.

• why should I take my shoes off? If it rained, chances are your shoes are dirty and your host doesn't want their floors or carpets to get dirty, especially if the house looks as clean as a 5 star hotel room.

In the past, when paying a visit, it was a sign of good manners not to go empty handed. People were usually bringing something symbolic, like flowers, something sweet, or something to drink. The "something sweet" was something home made, but bought stuff were also OK. A casserole of home cooked food also works well - remember this is something symbolic. If the younger generations do this these days, it must be because they grew up seeing their parents do it.

While this habit might seem weird for some, consider that Romania used to be a communist country and during the regime the living conditions were harsh. For some people it would have been a financial burden to receive and entertain guests, so the guests were considerate towards this effort by bringing something to the "party."

This applies for when meeting them in the common areas of the apartment building, as many Romanians still live in apartment buildings. If you happen to meet any of your neighbors, they will say "hello" and the polite thing to do is to reply. Easy, right?

When visiting friends, you might encounter their neighbors and they might say "hello" even if they don't know you. It costs nothing to reply back with a "hello." Greeting random people they see waiting around their building is not that weird since many Romanians are renting out their apartments. Your friend's neighbors might think you're renting a place there and you're new.

All cashiers I went to, would say "hello" to all their customers, me included. They would also say "bye bye" after giving them their change and receipt. The client is supposed to answer to both greetings. This gesture sure doesn't cost nor time nor money. I generally say "thanks" before leaving. I sometimes add "have a nice day" as well.

Let' assume you're supposed to receive 7.37 ... well, let's just say you'll receive 7.35 instead, and demanding the extra 0.02 is nowadays considered a bit weird, if not quite rude. The cases when you'll receive your full change is rare (I only saw it happening at one supermarket- Kaufland) The coins of the 0.01 value (1 ban) are generally disregarded by most people. I don't think the 0.05 coins (5 bani) are too popular either.

Don't ask me how much money I lost this way. However, you'll be surprised to learn or see just how many Romanians simply leave all the coins in their change to the cashier. They might take the 0.5 coin (50 bani) but not the 0.1 coins (10 bani).

disclaimer: i don't own the pictures in this post, they belong to their respective creators. i just found them online.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

This is not a sad story, but rather one that might make your blood boil to the point where you want to smash something. But let's start with the beginning.

Back in November I was coming back from buying some groceries. As I was opening the door to the apartment building where I live, this little [mostly black] cat dashed right in with me. I have no idea where it came from, but it sure wasn't shy. This little fellow simply followed me home. So I took her in... Lucky that my two 7 and 6 year old male cats didn't try to kill her, but she wasn't happy with their presence either.

This black furry thing wasn't shy nor scared of being touched or even handled. I quickly discovered this was a female cat. "Sweet! I never had a female cat before" I thought to myself. Of course, I talked to my friend about it, and we decided to keep her for a while, until we find a more suitable furrever home. The little cat went in heat in about 2 - 3 weeks after finding her. Her screaming sounded as if someone was torturing her to death. I waited till it passed, and then got her spayed. Quietness returned.

There are more reasons I need a new home for Milky - this is what I named her. Ironic given her color, right? but it's mostly because she likes to nurse on tshirts and pants of a certain texture. She also LOVES milk, so now the name seems more fitting.. The most important reason is that we will be leaving the country this year [hopefully soon], and there is no way to accommodate 3 cat at the new place [with some relatives until we find a job, and a place of our own].

So we posted a few "up for adoption ads" for Milky.  A few nights ago I received this phone call from an older lady showing interest in Milky [the female cat]. We decided to meet the next day, with me bringing the cat to her place. Said and done.

I wrapped the cat in a blanket as there was no need for a cat carrier, and off we went to meet the lady. Luckily, she lived some 3 bus stops away, and this means easily reachable by foot as well. As soon as the lady saw the cat, she melted -"a good sign" I thought to myself.

She led us to her place - some 5 minutes by foot away from the bus stop, on a quiet street. When we entered, I was requested to take off my shoes. She had a good point for it: that place was SO clean and everything nicely arranged. [I will most likely address etiquette rules regarding wearing shoes indoors, in the next post. Let's just say it is not really polite to ask your quests to remove them.]

I told the lady everything she needed to know about the cat, I showed the cat where the litter was, and I was ready to leave. Right before leaving, the lady informed me it is customary to give a little something in exchange for the cat, so she had prepared some bananas and a box of chocolates.  I took that, my blanket, and I returned home.

Later in the evening, she called however I couldn't pick up the phone. I called her back the next morning... The lady informed me she wanted to return the cat! Yes, you read that right - to return the cat after she promised she would take good care of her and all! She complained that Milky cried, that she went on the opened window, and that the cat wanted to suck her pajamas at night. Apparently she couldn't sleep because of all these! Other than the clothes sucking, all the cats go on open windows and cry in a new house!

1. if you're going to adopt a cat, expect her to cry at least the first night if she's sociable, or to hide if she's less sociable. dogs and puppies also cry the first night or two.

2. your new cat or dog is an ALIVE CREATURE! it is definitely NOT a toy, piece of clothing or some other thing you can just return the next day because you changed your mind!

3. having a pet is NEARLY identical to having a human baby! it requires your attention and it needs you!

Do expect your new companion to give you some headaches, but seriously, children are no different.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

My friend had this recipe for a cake made with natural orange juice and orange slices on top. The recipe is in Romanian, and I will try my best to translate it for you. Because you should try it the next time you want something different.

The recipe was recently found at the bottom of a drawer - it was being kept VERY safe as you can tell [aka we had no idea where it was]. I was cleaning that closet and the recipe resurfaced. yay! I don't have much to say at this point, so let's see what this cake is all about!

INGREDIENTS

 For the batter:

• 175 grams [real] butter
• 175 grams [caster] sugar
• 2 eggs [beaten]
• 225 grams all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 oranges [peel and juice] - see below

• 175 grams almonds [grounded] - I substituted with some almond essence
• a pinch of salt

For the syrup:

• 9 oranges
• 100 grams [caster] sugar
• 150 ml water

METHOD

Making the batter:

[disclaimer] the recipe said to mix all the ingredients at once. i didn't do that, because i know the consistency differs depending on how you mix them. so i will tell you how i mixed my ingredients. please use a mixer, and not a hand beater like i did [the cake turned out fine, just look at the pictures, but i don't think the ingredients ere mixed as they should have been.

1. Preheat the oven, prepare your baking tray, and make sure to have your butter at room temperature - it ill work faster this way.

2. Beat your butter and sugar together until you have a creamy looking mixture. My hand beater didn't manage to get the right consistency, luckily this didn't matter much in the end.

3. Add your beaten eggs, salt, baking powder, and orange juice and mix. Mine looked like this:

4. Add your flour, orange peel, and almonds and mix. This is what I had in my bowl at the end:

5. Throw in the oven on medium heat till it's well done. Mine took about 40 minutes. I use a gas stove and oven, and this means I cook and bake with fire. I have 8 heat settings, from 1 [lowest] to 8 [highest] - I can make pizza on settings 6 to 7. I usually cook [in the oven] using the setting 3 or 2, even 1 - I feel the heat is too strong at 3. I baked this cake at setting 2.

Making the syrup!

1. Use a small pot. Place the sugar, water and the juice from 6 oranges in it, and on a small fire [low heat].

2. Mix until the sugar dissolves.

3. Leave it on the fire for 10-15 min, WITHOUT stirring. When it's done, you'll have less juice [syrup] left in the pot.

Assembling!

• Peel your remaining 3 oranges and slice them.
• Place your cake on something to cool down, for some 10 min. [I left mine in the tray, you'll see why]
• Take a fork and pierce the surface of the cake a few times, in different places.
• Pour your syrup over the cake [if the cake is in the tray, this step is less messy]
• Place your orange slices on top of the cake.

My friend can testify this was moist, flavored, and out of ordinary delicious! Much better than any other cake I baked before. I must admit, this time I too liked the texture - I'm picky in this regard.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

It is March already, oops. wanted to post this at least in February, but if you read back my posts, you know why this didn't happen.

So, December, as you might already know, was super cold. But we had no snow. Snow came in January..

I took this picture at night and the only edits I used was cropping and the writing on it. I can use the #nofilter hashtag too. That night we were watching a Korean horror movie. I must say the movie was pretty good. However, at a certain moment I was wondering why is there so much light, even though it was about 3 am.. The answer was rather shocking for me: it was snowing like crazy. The snowstorm continued for a day or two, I believe. In any case, this wasn't the first snow of the year, but the first snow wasn't as ferocious, so to say.

Here are some pictures I randomly found on my computer. They are taken last year, still in January. There isn't much difference if you ask me.

I really wanted to build a snowman. this year. I never got around to. Somebody else build the one you see below. Too bad the wind blew its hat off, as you'd better see the mop as hair.  Like thi, we see the hairstyle is specific to the 1990s era (any Backstreet Boys fans out there?).

In any case, the snow didn't last very long. The video below will show you what the snow looked like after a few days. The worst part was the ice that formed like magic, as if hoping we would fall and break our feet. Luckily this didn't happen to anyone I know. I recorded the last part of the video at night, and it seems the light was worse than I thought.

At a certain moment in January [of this year], me and my friend were walking downtown. I forgot why I decided to do that. Perhaps I just felt the need to move, to feel more active. In any case at a certain moment we came across this stand with bikes for rent.  I didn't go too close to have a better look, to see how the system works, however I thought it was pretty neat to have this in Bucharest. You can also see the snow, and the lights from the bike stand and bikes themselves looked quite nice as well.

On a different evening, I asked my friend to go out somewhere. We went in the Old Town area - it's filled with cafés, restaurants, and bars. I have no idea how we stumbled across a sorta steampunk looking café, that seemed to want to take us back in time.

Sadly, the lights weren't too good, and we couldn't take much or better pictures. I had a hot tea and my friend had a café latte. Or this is what I remember it being. We weren't impressed much with the drinks, but we promised we would go again. We have yet to go again. I believe the owner of the place was the bartender there (for now at least).

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved. edited in March 2018 after renaming my blog and finally deciding on an author name.