Lombok, Indonesia - Mixed feelings

Lombok Island Represents a mix of feelings towards :

- People1: people here are nice. They will ask you "where are you going" instead of "how do you do" or "how are you". The first time I was a little bit intrigued why a stranger would ask a tourist where is he/she going, but then I understood that it's just their way of making conversation
- People2: people here are simple and poor, but happy with what they have; you see them smiling and laughing all the time. They are just happy for what and who they are, not worrying about money, career, society, but cArrying about their family and living in the present
- Massage: in Senggigi I had the best massage ever in my life; the girls from the salon were so very nice...tiny hands but strong hands. I strongly recommend Monika from Orchid salon :)
- Palm trees and palm coconut: very interesting taste of the palm coconut
- Corals and tropical fishes: fabulous experience...watching blue, yellow, zebra etc fishes in the water (like those you thought you will see only on discovery or animal planet channel)
- Beaches: nice beaches, with fine sand, clear water but not "wow" from my point of view; I have seen nicer beaches in Europe
- Food... Very very good; I am sensitive with my stomach ( I came from Europe prepared with various types of medicines), but I had no problem here
- Various objects made from wood, bambus, or pottery: you can spend easily one hour just watching various artisanal objects. Honestly, I bought very nice things for my house thAt I wouldn't expect to find .... everything is done manually and in a detailed manner
- The muslim moschee: lot of imposing buildings ( 2 per each village) and muslims are praying several times per day. You can here them very easily. 90% of the population from Lombok Island is muslim. We tried to enter into a moschee but we had to exit as we didn't wear long dresses.
- Hindu Temple Batu Bolong: it is locAted at the seaside on some rocks; it must be a very special place for the Hindu people; I didn't have a feeling of peace and relaxation but more as a feeling of curiosity on what is happening here; I have seen this temple in lots of postcards and photos on Internet
- Pura kelasa Hindu Temple: 15 km away from Mataram, it had very nice gardens and is one of the OLDEST temples from Lombok. Some strange statues representing various gods were standing at the entrance of the temple; the temple was closed unfortunately
- Last but not least, the magnolia... White and pink. I am in love with the white one. I think the magnolia from here is different than the one from Europe, the smell is stronger and the flour is bigger.

What I would recommend to a tourist is not to stay only in the nice resort and then to return to the airport, but to take a taxi and visit places outside the touristic ones, in order to find more about the local people way of living, habits, mentality, culture....


I would like to keep the smell of the Magnolia from Senggigi, Lombok in my memory and my mind forever.

One month, 4 countries and 2 continents

A journey with various experiences will start for me in a few days.

Some people say I am so crazy of doing this.

Facts:
1. taking the plane to Romania and spending some days in my natural country
2. coming back to my residence country
3. taking the plane to Amsterdam
4. changing the plane for Indonesia
5. changing different planes between Indonesian islands and living there for 2 weeks
6. arriving on Amsterdam airport
7. taking the plane for Oslo and spending some days in Oslo
8. arriving back to my residence country

So apparently I should sleep in 2 planes (actually I cannot sleep in the planes :)) and 4 countries from 2 continents during one month.

Indeed it's really crazy, but we should make our life crazy because otherwise will pass without having crazy stories to tell our grandchildren.

Soon one year....

I cannot believe how fast the time passes by...one year in a different country, a different home, different colleagues, friends, streets, restaurants, etc.

Well soon I will say "Happy Birthday!" to this event.

Lessons learned: Never plan your life entirely as God will have your plans with you.

God is everywhere

God is everywhere....it is in every small and insignificant thing, but it is in the soul of every human being.

The Christians have a saying:the church is not a building where you could go for praying...the church is you.

You don't need a building to pray, you don't need a priest to tell you do this, don't do that. Yes,the church as an institution may guide you, but the power it's in you. The church will not be able to teach you how to behave in every second, and our parents also cannot do this...

Some people are questioning a lot of things...do we need a "God"? Do we need to believe in a supreme force? I'm afraid that yes...we need to believe in something whether it is the God of Christians or Muslims or Jews or Budists, or whatever...

I want to thank God that I was born, and that tomorrow I will see again the sky.

Vous êtes des vrais Lulu?

This weekend I had a fabulous experience by watching a GTA4 competition at SPA Francorchamps,Belgium. Me and a friend arrived a little bit late...other friends very passionate about all Grand Prix competitions were there from the morning.

So.... 2 girls in a Toyota blue car, heading from Luxembourg to a GTA4 competition in Belgium. Before arriving to the circuit, we noted a barrier were you were stopped to pay a parking fee.

A funny conversation followed:
Girls:"Bonjour, le circuit c'est loin?"
One of the guardians:"Non,c'est 3.2 km,mai vous devez payer 8 euros pour le parking. Vous êtes des vrais Lulu?".
Girls:"C'est quoi "Lulu"?"
One of the guardians:"Luxembourgeois".
Girls: "Non, nous ne sommes pas luxembourgoises".
One of the guardians:"Donc vous travaillez en Luxembourg et vous avez des plaques Luxembourgoises pour la voiture?"
Girls: "Oui monsieur. Au revoir.".

Translation of the meaning of his question concerning "des vrais Lulu"....a little bit sensitive...come in Luxembourg and you will understand :))))

Invierea inseamna dragoste

Un articol cu multe cuvinte intelepte: http://www.doxologia.ro/puncte-de-vedere/invierea-dragostei-sansa-unei-lumi-mai-bune

"De aş grăi în limbile oamenilor şi ale îngerilor, iar dragoste nu am, făcutu-m-am aramă sunătoare şi chimval răsunător. Şi de aş avea darul proorociei şi tainele toate le-aş cunoaşte şi orice ştiinţă, şi de aş avea atâta credinţă încât să mut şi munţii, iar dragoste nu am, nimic nu sunt. Şi de aş împărţi toată avuţia mea şi de aş da trupul meu ca să fie ars, iar dragoste nu am, nimic nu-mi foloseşte.”

Sa aveti un Paste cu dragoste si bunatate in suflet! Si sa nu asteptam Pastele viitor ca sa ne amintim de aceste cuvinte!

Carpe diem!

Today I have found out that a former high-school colleague has just died. He was running, as usually, felt down and died. How stupid is that?

Life is short. Let's live each moment and let's not waste it doing things we do not like, pleasing others and not thinking about ourselves, staying around people that don't bring positive energy, doing things and saying words that we regret later!

Rest in peace Andrei!

Heartbeats of a boy...

So yesterday I have listen "Teardrop" of Massive Attack and watched the video...the heartbeats of an unborn child.
Today I received a great news from a dearest friend :) she will have a child and it will be a boy!

Congratulations!!!

Massive Attack and heartbeats

Today I bought a concert ticket to Massive Attack....yuppyyyy...They will come in Luxembourg in July.

The concert will be in open air in the old citadel...for sure it will be a very special concert...once in a lifetime and unique, like one of their songs "Teardrop":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7K72X4eo_s

This is one of my favourite songs among all the songs I have ever heard. A friend told me that this song was initially composed to be sang by Madonna. I am really happy that they changed their mind and they had chosen someone else.

I have seen on youtube lots of comments towards the video of "Teardrop" saying it's creepy. I agree that it is weird, but who cares about the video....the sounds are like the heartbeats of a human being...either of an existent one or either of one that will soon be borned :)

What a nice feeling!

Moments in life...

"There are an infinite number of moments in life. Some moments we create. Some we respond to."

Beautiful sunrise of Bangan

Nice surprise this evening when I got back home....a postcard from a dearest friend..with a Singapore stamp :) It took 10 days to arrive to Luxembourg :) Not bad. Thank you Maria,and I hope I will visit one day Myanmar, Bagan.

What is the best moment of the week?

Well,it's definitely Saturday morning when you realise that the world is yours. You have so much spare time...2 days to do anything you want,even if it's cloudy. Why not going for shopping, for swimming, having a massage treat, studying some french vocabulary and then...It's salsa time :) Enjoy every moment of this life!

Un altfel de "Vorbiti limba luxemburgheza? (II)"

A trecut ceva timp de cand nu am mai scris... Sincera sa fiu chiar uitasem de acest blog..era undeva in sertarul de jos intr-o camaruta a unui neuron ratacit.....

Intamplator, vorbind cu o prietena despre a scrie sau a nu scrie...mi-am zis....dar eu chiar nu am mai accesat blogul de mai bine de o jumatate de an...

Hmmm....la ora la care scriu este 13 martie...si se implinesc 6 luni de cand am ajuns pe meleaguri straine. Curios,am realizat asta doar acum cateva minute..cand m-am uitat la data pe care o afiseaza iubitul sistem de operare al laptopului meu.

Ca veni vorba de meleaguri straine...am ajuns in Luxembourg acum 6 luni... iar in august 2012 povesteam o intamplare amuzanta despre limba luxemburgheza. http://ade-luna.blogspot.com/2012/08/vorbiti-limba-luxemburgheza.html.

Nu e ciudat?

Probabil ca nu...lucrurile se intampla intr-un anume fel pentru ca trebuie sa se intample.

Intre timp informatiile mele despre limba luxemburgheza au devenit cu mult mai corecte si complete....mai multe in episodul urmator. Pe curand!