ISTANBUL BABY!

Today, I’ll give course to my intention of writing about one of my most beautiful experience ever: 1st Youth Transnational Bridge Championships, held last year in Istanbul, Turkey.
The story begins like this: while playing bridge, we received a message from a Turkish junior, inviting us to play, sponsored, the teams at this event (we had already subscribed at pairs, but had no team). After further negotiations, we said OK, and there we went!
After the plane landed, we headed towards a bus. The bus took us to Taksim, the center of European Istanbul. There, I met Ovunc, one of the coolest guys ever, that totally changed my view over Turkish people. So fun, always laughing and making jokes, he took us to a restaurant. There, I met the rest of my transnational team: Stefan (Bulgaria who I already knew), Leonid (Russia) and Mohit (India).
So basically, our team was consisted of 5 countries, and was the funniest team from that tournament, or so I like to believe. Why do I believe that? Well, let’s see..
Teams start. First 2 matches, our team wins with at least 20 vps. All great, until…!!! Yes, our other pair wants to play. No problem. Ovunc says he want to take a break because” I am very stressed man, very stressed, I play poorly and you all play so good, I’m sorry, but I very much stressed!”.
End of 3rd match, me and Radu were pretty confident, awainting our teammates, Leonid and Mohit. And there they are! Coming all jolly! “It’s cool man, we took many imps! They took no imp man, no imp!” And then, we begin to look at their scoresheet, that was writing: -800; -300; -50 etc. Finals result: 10 VPs for our team.
The rest of the tournament we tried to let them play as little as possible, no result whatsoever. India was stubborn and Russia insisted on and on. Final team result: 20/41, a poor score for some people, a great relief for Ovunc “Man, I’m sorry, I was too stressed, but now it’s ok, my best Romanian friends!”
Between tournaments, we also had a 1 day break, which we took advantage of, and went sightseing. Istanbul cannot be described, it should be seen. We travelled by ferry to all important sights, without Stefan though, he preferred staying in his room and…you’ll never guess, playing some more bridge on BBO. No comment there, we had enough fun on this matter already.
While on our visit, we had a wonderful time. Everyone was joking, and we all told stories about our countries. The best ones, of course, were from Russia, and the most hilarious one began with” My criminal fiend..” “What???” I said. While looking at Ovunc, who was nodding, Leonid continued with his story: “My criminal friend escaped prison, he took only 100$ and crossed all the way to Egipt, stealing cars, killing people, and now he is a very wealthy man”
My question “Why was he never caught??” was irrelevant, and also, Ovunc’s face that was telling me to quit it made me..quit it. But Leonid was so excited into telling stories, that he continued. He told me how he went to the secret school of spies, how he learned codes, and how he quit this school because he wanted to be free, and that now he is a bookie. He continued telling me stories about how KGB still does horrid things, and how horrible junior bridge is in Russia. He concluded, of course, by asking me to merry him, after giving me his lucky hat. I didn’t mention the fact that he was always wearing a MJ hat, and an unbuttoned hawaiian T-shirt. How I did not accept, I don’t know, he even promised to move in Romania and…be a free bookie here
After the pairs tournament, that stretched Stefan’s nerves to the maximum “Damn this WBF boards! They’re typical and always trick you into playing 7nt, where there is no squeeze and the suits ALWAYS break badly!!!”, there was a party. Have you ever seen drunk bridge juniors? You cannot imagine how transformed they are!
Opposite the calm, endless ambition and concentration at the bridge table, comes the wild side of alcohol and euforia brought by being together with people your own age and people you like. Also, count on a few drinks to give you the courage to speak, dance, and try to be naughty to the girl/ boy you like. And it was plenty of that!
My fun and Spanish discussion with the French dude Dr. Love (how he likes to call himself, due to many women he claimed to have had) is to be remembered! Also, their true nature reveals after a couple of glasses too, some preffering to dance with their own sex, and have a great time doing it!
I too found myself dancing quite a lot, and talking to a lot of people. It was so fun, and it would have been greater if a certain bridge partner of my own would not have been such a party breaker!!
Other geat moments were at the cocktail parties, each night, where people were thrown in the pool while Costa Rica was providing us quite a show with their specific dancing. All the way, funny Turks were taking pics.
On our last days, after everyone left, Ovunc took me and Radu for futher sightseing, to Agia Sofia and the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, Galata, the Malls (OF COURSE) and at the end, in the evening, to a VIP part of Istanbul, where instead of cars, people had yachts parked in the front of their villas. There, we entered an exquisit bar, where Ovunc bought us several kinds of tiny beer with flavours like cheese, plants and chocolate.
Packed with several marriage proposals, some including the green card, others including secret services, my last day there found me crossing all Istanbul, in our way to the airport.
I must tell you, I have no idea, or imagination, on how those people live! If you say you cannot travel in Bucharest due to traffic, you should try Istanbul for just one day! Tens of kilometres full, cars not moving!
My trip ended even better! The captain of our flight was Adi, a bridge player, and he was kind enough to let us stay with him in the cabin! Of course I began with: UU, what does this button do, or that, or that..! Lucky for him, Bucharest was only 1 hour away! And the landing! Spectacular!
All in all, it was the best experience I’ve ever had! Meeting Ovunc was wonderful and I hope, one day, I will be able to make Romania a nice memory for him too, just as he succeeded in making Turkey for me!

STANDARD!

Daca anul trecut o sarbatoream pe Elena pe insula Afroditei, anul acesta am sarbatorit-o pescuind in Eforie Nord, intr-o mare alba ca lacrima..Marea Neagra.
Prima achizitie este As:

I ARE LOST

LOST incepe in 2004, cand eu stiam ca exista serialele: Buffy, spaima vampirilor; Xena, printesa razboinica si Hercules.
Ca un veritabil roman ce sunt, am zis ca mie nu imi trebuie LOST, ca sigur e o telenovela, si daca e dragut, sigur stiu finalul: ori ei sunt morti inca de la inceput si nu isi dau seama, ori e o telenovela, in orice caz, nu ma suprinde cu nimic, deci de ce sa pierd timpul. De ce as urmari ceva dat cu portia, in cel mai bun caz astept sa se termine si ma uit.
In 2008 plec in turul Romaniei, si deci noaptea trebuia sa iau pauza de la M&M (Bulgakov) si sa ma uit la ceva. Si uite asa am luat primele 3 sezoane LOST.
Acum evident ca a trebuit sa recunosc ca e cel mai misto serial, si ca mai vreau. Asa au aparut Heroes, Prison Break, Galactica, Rome, Gossip Girl, Spartacus, True Blood, Vampire Diares, Two and a Half Men si tot asa…seriale pe painee!!!
Dar sa revenim..dupa maratonul primelor 3 sezoane, incepe asteptarea la zi a sezonolui 4, apoi 5, si in sfarsit 6.
In fiecare saptamana, un episod. Lingurita, portia, si cand nu eram cuminte, si mai putina lingurita, si mai putina portie, 1 data la 2 saptamani.
Intre timp, apar noi teorii pe langa cele 2 initiale: apare Faraday si bomba de hidrogen, si in sfarsit am mai multe explicatii stiintifice. Dar apoi apar cei 2 frati si un fum, si apar si cateva mitice (explicatii).
Si in sfarsit, apare si ultimul episod LOST. Eposidul care a plictisit si nemultumit toti fanii. De ce? Pentru ca din toate posibilele explicatii spectaculoase, scenaristii, regizoru si toata echipa..s-au plictisit sa aleaga si au aruncat praful dupa pres. Asa ca ignoram ce tot vroia Faraday sa ne explice, Widmore sa ascunda si fumul care l-a ales pe talentatul actor/antrenor de fitness Locke, si pentru ca toata lumea s-a incurcat in posibilitati si explicatii, ii reunim pe toti la poarta raiului.
Eu n-am inteles nimic.
De ce fumul a tot staruit sa fie Locke?
Ce tot facea Desmond, ca daca pe final lui i-a fost foarte clar totul, pe noi ne-a confuzat si mai tare. I-a reunit pe toti in calitate de ce? Si pe insula, de ce s-a lasat pe mana tuturor, avand smug face ca si cum intelege tot?
Fratele CEL AL CARUI NUME NU A FOST MENTIONAT a murit in apa luminoasa?
Fumul lua chipui ultimului mort pe insula? Ca daca da, trebuia sa aiba muuuulte fete!
Ce a tot facut Juliet cu bomba?
Jack vede ca avionul pleaca (care nu era plin de bombe de la Widmore?)..asta inseamna ca toti mortii au bantuit pe pamant, nelinistiti, pana cand au murit cu totii ca sa se poata intalni?
De ce Ana Lucia era doar un politist corupt si nu s-a dus si ea in rai?
Mai am multe intrebari, dar am obosit.

Concluzia mea este: cel mai misto serial pentru ca: a avut personaje frumos conturate, actorii bine alesi care au avut priza la public, s-a jucat in general bine, actiunea a avut loc pe o insula (subiect fashion si cu priza intotdeauna) si a avut mult, mult mister.
Pacat de incurcatura si de plictis. Poate data viitoare are mai putine sezoane, si o explicatie.

Nota: acest text nu este o critica, ci doar o nota scurta nedocumentata.

O imagine cat 1000 de cuvinte!