Obscure Journey

All living creatures have needs, and being able to take care of them is important. We clearly generally know the type of public toilets we can come across in our home-towns. But how about when we're abroad, or in cities we don't know? 

I obviously haven't been in all public toilets in Bucharest, but I have been in quite a few, and I can give you a few tips of where to go if nature calls. 

First of all, people can find public (and eco-) toilets on the side of the street. They're not the best thing to walk into, as they smell and are quite small, however if nature calls and you can't take it anymore, they'll have to do.  

The picture below is the toilet my grandparents used to have, in the countryside, near Bucharest. They recently revamped it, to look a bit better, but I haven't been there yet to see it. 

Next public toilets in which you can just walk into are the ones in the shopping centers and malls. In my experience, these can be a hit or miss when it comes to cleaness and smells. There are cleaning ladies doing their job on the clock, but sometimes they get overwhelmed as well, or maybe the toilet gets flooded. 

Overall, these toilets are cleaner than the ones on the side of the street. Many of them have a pretty standard design. While some have a rather unique design. For instance, one of the malls that opened quite recently, has an upside-down design, if i can call it that. When i walked in it, i thought i went to wonderland. 

Retro looking sinks and other elements were attached to the ceiling while the fittings you were supposed to use were modern. I believe there were actual toilet seats inside the stalls, hanging from the ceilings, that were fitted into lamps. I surely got dizzy, and expected to fall at any moment, but luckily it didn't happen. Surely this was on purpose, and the feeling I got was because it's not normal to see on the ceiling stuff that are usually on the floor.

If you're going to a cafe, restaurant, or bar, toilets are generally even more clean. They can also have a more unique design. For instance, the restroom at Starbucks coffee in Unirii Square has a really nice look. See the pictures below. 

The first sink is found before entering, and I like it more than the others inside. The wall decoration is really cool too. 

Some locations have more stalls, while others have just one for each gender. There could also be a situation where both genders have to use the same toilet. Well, whoever needs to use it will have to wait for their turn, of course. 

Do's and don'ts in a Romanian public toilet

Do expect privacy: the doors are generally hitting the floor and there is no space between the door and it's frame. 

Do expect to be able to lock the door the stall. We don't like to have to hold the door with our hands, though it could be helpful at times.

Do expect to find toilet paper. The Eco toilets might not have it though.

Do check to see there is topper paper in the stall, before you do your business. 

Don't throw the used toilet paper in the toilet- there are small trash bins in the stall for it, or whatever other trash you have. The toilet can get flooded if TP it's thrown in it. Some people don't follow this rule and flooding and smells happen as a result.

Don't under any circumstance sit on the toilet, nor climb it. You can sit if you have weak legs, but put some TP on its edge. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

This post also doesn't need more explaining. If you want to be a writer, you need a better vocabulary. Hopefully this post will be of help, and a starting point. 

I generally use a popular search engine to find synonyms to words I noticed I "abused" in my writing. 

DISCLAIMER: i don't own these pictures. they have the Tumblr page I found them on, on them.  

Does someone have a panic attack? this is what you can do to help, and even make others like you.

Disclaimer: Pictures are not mine! I found them on Tumblr and i forgot their creator. I'm pretty sure they won't mind me sharing. 

Some of you may already know I already wrote about this subject before. Let me refresh your memory.

This entry was prompted by a thread on a gossip forum. The thread was talking about this pretty young girl with quite the ugly past. The ugliness comes from her making racist remarks, fat shaming other girls, badmouthing her friends behind their backs, cheating on her boyfriend. And at the same time she acts all sweet and innocent to the general public. 

The people on that thread provided black on white proofs for these claims as some know some people in her entourage. And some of those people she knows in person, provided screen caps and audio tracks for the bad things she said or done. 

What she did, to whom, or who she is - these are not important details for the current presentation. What matters more is that she wants to be followed and liked by many. However she thought those ugly things she's done or said were just words ... but she was wrong, as sometimes she was being recorded, and one of the girls in her entourage keeps all the text messages she receives or sends.

I'm not here to judge her, for I too have a dirty past. As far as i know, my dirty past haven't been recorded, and i tried to apologize and make things better whenever possible. This girl seems to show no remorse. I know that right now i may sound as if i'm bragging, and this is not my intention [aarjsagdsh such a cliché! i really don't mean it]

What I want to say is the following:

If you, like me and like that girl, want to have others like you, you must do your best not to insult people. If you hurt someone, make sure you you apologize and do try your best not to repeat it. 

Also try your best not to tell lies. Since many of us have lied at least once in the past, let's try not to repeat it, let's come clean about it, if possible. I guess, it could be understandable to continue with some if the truth you cause more damage... but the truth sets people free. 

Also, if you want others to like you, the best way to achieve this is to treat them the way you want to be treated. At the very least your conscience will be clean and whatever nasty thing they say or do towards you will be on them, and not on you.

Even if you have the means to buy  the most expensive item you're interested in, try not to brag about it. It's not only in poor taste, but you also wouldn't like to see others bragging about the stuff they got that you can't afford [if your financial situation was not as abundant]. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

He couldn't remember how much time past since he fell under the curse, for it was a curse for him, despite the humans calling it a spell. However he couldn't break free from it no matter how much he tried.

He wasn't even sure what it was for he usually controlled all spells and curses, as well as everything else humans considered to be supernatural.

He felt very much alive, but he couldn't move, s peak and everyone saw him as a statue. People weren't supposed to look at him and especially women. They thought that those who stared at it would rebel against their family. Mostly because it happened before. The men didn't want to lose their control over the women, their property. It was inconceivable!

L'Ange du Mal got trapped because of a trick a girl from the village played on him. Since then he could not stop thinking about her and he never forgave her either. After the trick, she would stop by to see him every now and then. But now it's been such a long time since he hadn't seen her. 

The men who wanted him trapped would also come at regular intervals, helping him keep track of time. Of course it would be easier if he counted the days, but counting the time of his imprisonment was only infuriating.

Every time he saw those people, they would look older and older, weaker and weaker. Despite all this, the curse would continue to be strong. Then, one by one, they stopped coming. He seemed to have forgotten humans are short lived, unlike him. He had no need for water nor food, and yet he was still alive.

The group that cursed him was bringing new faces and blood from time to time. And even these youngsters would change appearance in time and would become weak and then stopped coming as well. Slowly, the people visiting him were fewer and fewer. Then they completely stopped.

At a certain point only kids would come, however their behavior was very different than that of his captures. They were also quite weak despite their young age. They acted as if they had no idea about his true nature. He felt as if he could break them with the touch of a finger. But nobody ever touched him.

If he could move. All he wanted was to move. But not one single muscle or feather from his long black wings would listen to his command.

Story/chapter inspired by the  "Lucifer (Morningstar)" statue by Paul Fryer and found in the Holy Trinity Church in Marylebone, Westminster. Read more about the statue here.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

2016 was one of the worst years for us. But there have been some nice moments as well. 

I need to remember the good parts of that year, as means to help myself heal from its dark periods. 

Some people .... especially motivational speakers as well as some spiritual gurus say you have the power to change not only the present and the future, but also the past. 

In practice, changing the past is impossible as not even God turned back time when the world was messed up - he just erased and started anew. 

The secret to changing the past/present and future, is to change our perspective of events we've been through or we experience. At the same time, any new experience must be compared to the past ones, and imagine the outcome when we take a certain course of action. 

For instance, if we know we can't help getting really drunk at parties, and that during a very drunk state we do stuff we regret, it would be wise not to go to parties. When the past is involved, when we have events we don't like, we should try and concentrate on the nice[r] or better events that happened at around the same time - like I'll try and do here.

I had a bad period before May. On the 13th we went out to the mall. I don't remember what we did there but we surely tried to relax a bit. 

Seeing the time stamp on the picture's details, i think we wanted to watch a movie. And checking to see what movies were released before then, Allegiant is the only one we could have been interested in at that time. [it takes a while for the new movies to make it to Romania, and i know we saw this series in theaters.]

I remember really liking the decor with these rainbow umbrellas. They were hung at the Starbucks Coffee entrance, in the parking lot. I think it was a sunny day, and the light made them appear more colorful. 

The next day, at about the same hour, we went to eat sushi uptown. 

Let's just say i really like sushi, i don't mind the wasabi one bit, despite my stomach, and im not grossed out by raw fish either .. nor the thought of eating it. 

The restaurant was pretty expensive in my opinion, but im not the one to like to spend a lot of money on a single item. 

Sadly, A didn't really like the sushi there. Somehow we also struggled with the chopsticks despite me having tried using them before. 

The restaurant's name is Yoshi. It reminds me of a movie i watched some 5 times already, and i really like - Bunraku. 

The same evening I also saw a store with high end decors and other items for the house. 

I like animal print, however, seeing it on a bathrobe or towel, i think it's a bit too much. I do like the wall paper though. The plain towels aren't that bad either.

Since they say those are made by Cavalli, i won't even try to imagine the price-tag. Let's not forget the up-town area is pricier than most others. Which is another explanation for the prices at Yoshi.

A few days later we went out again. We had a coffee at McCafe and then we walked along the river. I believe that's a flat white - I used to like it so much. <3 Hmmm, maybe I should try it again. 

I also remember that when it opened, McCafe baristas were trying their best to make really pretty designs on the cappuccinos. I don't think they are doing it anymore. Also at the time I was pretty addicted to coffee. These days I still drink coffee, but only in the morning. I'm trying to convince myself to give it up. 

I think it was at about that time that I started paying attention or being more interested in the traditional Romanian crafts and decors, as McDonalds had on the menu a limited time type of offer with some specific Romanian street food. It's pretty good, but can make one nauseous if it's not cooked well. And it has garlic, but almost everyone and their mother really likes it. I didn't try the Mcds' version, but I think it's better at the fair vendors where it's a common dish.

You guys have to remind me to make a post about all the coffees I drank over the time and to display all the pictures I took.

"A" remembered there was a pretty nice store somewhere uptown, called The British Galleries, if I'm not mistaken. I have no idea if the store is still open, though. 

The place had really cute things to sell, and was set in an old type of building. The merchandise was cute stationery, various items for the many rooms in the house, including kitchen and bathroom, and even souvenirs. 

We didn't buy anything, but we took several pictures there. I always wanted to show those pictures to the world, but I somehow never got to. 

The store was near Victoria Square, as seen in the first 2 pictures below. The last 2 pictures are from the street on which that shop was.

The next day I was returning home from somewhere. On my way I saw this shop with interior decors. The stuff was rather pricey, but there was a really pretty plate in the window. See it below. 

These days. the store closed down for some time. I think it happened sometime in 2017, towards the end of the year. I can't recall anything else opening in its place.

Then I have 2 pictures from 2 places I don't recognize. I also don't remember anything regarding what were we doing there. I think the weather was pretty hot though. 

All I can say is that they're taken on 2 separate days. But somehow I didn't take any other pictures between these two, judging by their names which are actually numbers. Enjoy!

Then It seems that at the very end of the month we went to a cafe. I believe I had a lemonade - read here why. The same day I saw a really cute car, I believe you call it a Beetle? Clearly I had to censor its registration plates, but even now I think it's really cute. 

I think that revisiting the year through these images and memories, did help a bit in purging the negative memories out.

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

It doesn't matter you're a woman or a man - cover up! 

I'm not a Muslim and i'm not any other type of extremist religious person, so before you bash my words, please read my 2 most important reasons I urge EVERYONE regardless of gender, race, religion, and skin color, to cover up. 

What are you supposed to cover up? hair and skin. Hear me out!

By covering up your hair and most of your skin, you protect them from pollution. If you live in a city, you're aware of the levels of pollution on the streets. If you live out in the country side, you might want to skip to the 2nd reason ;) 

Sure, not everyone is made the same, but whatever skin and hair issues you may have, they can get worse when exposed to pollution. Dust and smoke get attached to our skins and hair, especially when our faces become oily towards the end of the day, most of the skin becomes sweaty throughout the day especially in summer, and so on. 

We're then getting home and we have to use various chemicals to remove all the stuff our hairs and skins collected. Sure there are many products that use natural ingredients, but let's be real - not everyone can afford those, or pays attention to buy them. Most of us need to buy really aggressive cosmetics that leave our skins and hairs really dry, and in turn we need other products to help moisturize them back. 

These products are pretty bad for out skin, hair but also for the environment. Maybe by covering up, we won't need such aggressive cosmetics, nor in such a large amounts. However, this need is influenced by other personal factors that you can't ignore and that i'm not aware 100% aware of.

The sun does a lot of good but a lot of bad as well. Doctors say that you should be fine as long as you wear sun screen when you go out. Truth is that CLOTHES are the best sun screen - as long as they're not transparent. 

Sun screen usually needs to be reapplied, usually leaves a sticky sensation on the skin which can attracts more dust and pollution on your skin. 

The sun doesn't avoid some people - just because you're a person of African descent, and your skin is as dark as coal, it doesn't mean the sun won't burn you. It also doesn't mean you won't get skin cancer - not that i wish cancer on anyone, for i don't. You could be a dermatologist and still get it. 

Skin cancer can be a small dot on your skin, can look like an ingrown hair. But I'm not a doctor so you better go talk to one, or do more research on your own. As you can see from the experience of  that dermatologist, cancer can appear on your scalp too, if your head is not covered. 

You thought I'm done? not yet. 

REASON #2 - PART TWO: PREVENT PREMATURE AGING

If you're a woman you may want to look young for as long as possible - maybe men want this too, but i haven't seen as many as i saw women. 

Sun exposure doesn't only increase the chances of getting skin cancer, but also ages. Have you seen the truck driver with half face looking like an 80 year old man and the other half looking about 60 years old? His real age was 69 at the time of having his picture taken. Read more here. 

The clear message from this man's picture is that the sun ages a person and that being somehow covered prevents that. 

CONCLUSION:

Cover up! Cover up if you want to increase your chances of staying cancer free for as long as possible, and for looking younger for longer, without the help of bad cosmetics or plastic surgeries. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

Hello!

If you remember from a past entry, I visited the National Museum of Art of Romania for free. And I promised I'd do a second entry when I visit the other section. 

The museum is split in 2 sections: Romanian art an European art, and you need to pay for each section. 

I don't have much to say about this visit. This section of the museum is much smaller than the Romanian section - maybe less than half? Exploring it made me think of a maze. 

I'll explain a bit more after the video.

There were many rooms, mostly because the museum is hosted at The Royal Palace. Additionally, going from one room to the other was a bit confusing - well I also had a low sugar level in my blood that day, so I was feeling quite weak. 

I'm disappointed to say that the European art didn't impress me as much as the Romanian art did. The video is a quick collection of the works I liked the best. 

There was a time when I wished I lived in such a big place. Not anymore - all the cleaning... remembering where to go to find the room i need... no thanks.. i barely find the stuff i need in an 1 bedroom apartment, let alone a huge palace like that. 

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

I have to post this, because for the first time I managed to roast eggplant in a way that worked, is healthy, and I actually enjoyed eating. Oh, and yea! It's vegan friendly! 

So i had these eggplants [aubergines] about to go bad. So wondered what to do with them. Roasting them sounded really good. Here is how I did it!

Ingredients:

• eggplants [as many as you like]
• condiments [i used black pepper, basil, and thyme]
• some salt
• some cooking oil [unflavored is best]

I first washed and peeled the eggplants. Then I sliced them as evenly as i could - i'm really bad at this task. Their thickness was about 1cm - i didn't measure.

I realized that using a long-bladed knife helped a lot with this task. 

I used the brush usually useful when baking, to lightly spread some oil on my baking pan. 

I realized that the baking pan is quite important - I had some non-stick types, but they burned by foods as they were too thin, and the non-stick coating peeled. 

The pan i used this time is thicker and rather shiny, but I can't tell what type it is, or what it's made of. All i know is that i can scrub it quite a lot and it won't peel. It's not really enamel either, or at least i don't think it is enamel. 

After I sliced the eggplants, and after i had lightly oiled the pan, I placed as many slices of eggplant as i could in the pan. I then tried to smudge a bit of oil on each slice, and sprinkled with salt and the condiments, and then i put the pan in the preheated oven. 

I let the slices stay for some 25 to 30 minutes, and then i flipped them over. I proceeded to still let them cook for some 15-20 minutes. 

Unlike with the non-stick pans, the slices did NOT stick to this pan - they did stick to the non-stick ones when i tried the recipe before. I have no idea how it happened. All i know is that i got rid of the so called non-stick ones, but mostly because they started peeling.

I cook with gas, hence fire, and this may be a reason for my previous attempts at roasting to turn into failures. Vegetables turned mushy, or burned. I guess this baking pan is specially made for cooking and roasting with gas. 

Bottom line is that if your roasts are not like the expectation, try to change your pan - it might just do the trick.

(c) Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.

It baffles me how people fro different backgrounds or countries can have such different energies. Let me give you an example.

"the time to meet was too short."

I write this at the beginning of November*, a few days after we met with our friend from Japan. While we wish we were the ones to go visit Japan, it was him who came to see us. He took some 3 or 4 months off from work to have a tour through Europe. He wanted to come see us for a long time already, and we couldn't be happier to make this a reality. We hope he felt the same. For me, I'm sad the time to meet was too short. But we can't always have what we want, and the best things come in small portions anyways, right?

But despite the short time we spent together, I could notice a stark difference between him and the many people surrounding us on a daily basis. He's calm, peaceful, pleasant, and overall quiet. My partner and I can't stress how relaxing it was to talk to him. Despite what you heard about Japanese men, our friend doesn't really fit that image. He was very quick to ask for selfie pictures when we where in places that would offer a good backdrop to the image - not shy at all.

To give some more depth to the experience, a couple of weeks before he arrived, my partner and I attended a contest on Korean culture. We were just the audience ... along with the about 100 other women and a few guys. The event left us with barely any energy, a lot of anxiety and confusion. How was this possible? I wish I knew, because all we did was to sit on chairs, and clap now and then.

"Romanians sound angry or as if they're having a fight."

The event/contest was sorta boring in our opinion - no blog entry on it, other than this one. The sensation of being drained of energy is something we often get around Romanians - maybe it has something to do with them being too loud and us being too sensitive to loud noises? Often times when talking, Romanians sound angry or as if they're having a fight, much like Russians. Can you imagine we were afraid we'd feel similar around our friend? Yeah, neither can we. Clearly, because he's Japanese he's quiet, doesn't want to disturb or to upset anyone. This helped us realize it's not just our imagination that it is difficult to be around certain people, even though they've always been around.

"real psychic vampires ...?"

As the last thoughts for this entry, I want to say that if you feel there is any person draining you of energy every time you meet them, and others do not - it's not just in your head! They may not be real psychic vampires, but you should still consider having as little contact with them as possible.

*written in November 2017, posted in July 2018.  

© Charly Cross 2013 - present. All rights reserved.