10.5 hours is the number of hours to travel on the road to get to Transylvania in Romania from Budapest (Hungary). The plan was an itinerary of five days. With Day one in Kolozsvar better known in the Romanian local language as Cluj-Napoca. You can see the word 'Cluj' very often on the road signs.
Day 1. Budapest - Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca)
450 kilometres to drive and that was because there is hardly a decent highway to drive on. All in all, it was six hours and we arrived to Cluj-Napoca. We did stopped for more gas and snacks and doing some stretching exercises and of course, going to the toilets.
One of the most important thing to prepare is the vehicle. We got there by car, so the roads' condition in Romania is rather bad, in particular Transylvania. Better if you make sure your car is up for it.
It's really worth it to see Transylvania because it is sooo beautiful. Plus, it is a very inexpensive place and worth taking some risks and efforts to the pre-preparation of the road trip.
Day 2. Kolozsvár - Tusnádfürdő (Baile Tusnad)
300 kilometres from Kolozsvar to Baile Tusnad where you can get to see a very natural lake called St. Anna Lake. This 300 km has very critical road, totally it was five hours crossing the curvy mountainous roads. You need to concentrate and focus hard when you are driving, ensure it is during the daylight, so it helps in your vision better.
Baile Tusnad or Tusnádfürdő is like a traditional Hungarian village area that is very rurul. Carrying with you a swiss knife ( or you can buy one along the way as there are 'shopping roads' with rows of shops that sells almost the same thing from one shop to the other: baskets of any designs, pottery cooking wares, souvenirs, hats, traditional clothes, maps, you name it)
Torch. Bring a torch with you and maybe even a tent can be practical just in case. It is going to be in the car boot anyway. As for the camping knife, I have chosen one real Transylvanian pocket knife at 20 lei (RON) which converts to about US$6.70.
Day 3. Tusnádfürdő - St Anna Lake
The plan for day three was to an original volcanic lake. This lake is ultra-natural, so expect no infrastructure. Prepare enough mineral water, food, a blanket to sit or lay on while sun-tanning and do not forget your camera.
St. Anna Lake is about 45 minutes drive from Tusnádfürdő. The drive is full of big, tall trees that are like driving in a deep forest except that the roads are again twirling and whirling around a mountain. Coming back after the bath in the natural lake, seeing these trees again makes you feel 'hypnotised'
Day 4. Tusnádfürdő - Brassó (Brasov)
60 kilometers drive from Tusnádfürdő takes about 1.5 hours to get to Brasov. Brasov is at the southern edge of Transylvania. I like Brasov as it is with lots of historical sites.
Lots of verdant greens in the summer time and very beautiful sights to behold in the wilderness. There are many villas accommodation on the mountains and crossing what we jokingly said about the place, 'the teletubbies land'. The large wide fields and the cumulus clouds above with mountains landscape makes you see a previous version of Windows 95 desktop wallpaper right in front of your eyes.
Day 5. Driving back from Brasov to Budapest
The drive from Brasov to Budapest is totally about eleven hours. Romanian time is one hour ahead of Budapest. It was still daylight when we got back to Budapest.
It has been rather rainy these days. So you see colours of the sky in less blue. Better to say, grey.
I don't like grey skies. I bet you don't too.
Caught this photo on the road which expresses very well the current mood with these unusual rainy days in the summer.
I have been putting on trench coat and in the morning more warm clothes as it gets as low as 19ºC. Rainy.
And all over my facebook wall are news of Amy Winehouse, a talented singer who was found dead in her London house :( 27. Too young no matter how self-destructive she was. Too young.
Plus the crazy news about the huge bomb attack in the Norwegian capital Oslo. No one really knows why the gunman did what he did :( at the youth camp. Another number, 92. Very sad to hear about this shooting rampage, a shooting massacre on the island.
We have asked Kathi Kornel about their new invention, a special inflatable booster car seat:
'Strong as a rafting boat', that is such an unique feature about this special inflatable booster seat. How long did it take your company to research and design such a wonderful product that is compact, inflatable and with a highback booster that are functionally good for children?
Research and development phase took over a year. The first design for the inflatable booster seat was completed in Year 2007. The first safety certificate dates back to the summer of 2008. Our experience in inflatable boat technology and design of traditional car seat accessories to various automotive manufacturers provided the necessary experience with the design of the inflatable car booster seat.
What kind of certifications sets your product apart from the other types of car seat?
The Easycarseat carries the CE mark, the E8 universal design mark and 5 Certificates from European and North American testing facilities. The EU countries are covered by the ECE R44-04 safety standard and the US Federal Vehicle Safety Standard is FMVSS-213. The Easycarseat booster seat is certified for use in Europe, Russia and North America from 15-36 kgs (33-80 lbs).
How does your product compare with backless booster seats and what are your advice to new buyers of car seat for their young children?
It is better to use a backless booster seat than no child booster seat at all, but if you use one, we would advise you to change it for a full-size booster seat as soon as possible. High back booster seats provide better support for the upper body of the child.
Do you consider the science behind the safety valve the most important development in the Easycarseat inflatable booster seat?
There are a number of significant developments considering the nature of this safety product. One of the questions often raised is “how the inflatable booster behaves when it meets high pressures and high temperatures”. The built in overpressure air valve is the answer to these questions. This valve will automatically maintain the optimal air pressure inside the booster seat, thus preventing it from popping.
Don't you love the blue of the sea? We especially love the Adriatic Sea. It's the unique hue of cobalt blue...
Driving to Croatia takes a couple of hours (let's say four hours). And to get to Split from Budapest is about 10.5 hours by car.
The car can cross the sea via the Car Ferry, services from the maritime company provides this form of transportation at about 36 Euros. We blogged our experiences here on the BudapestZIN English travel guide to share some practical summer road trip tips.
Bonomotion has created a new solution to help individuals market and distinguish themselves. Especially college graduates who often have little experience to show, they can now have a "Mini-Movie" produced which enables them to showcase their passion, personality and potential they can offer employers.
We interviewed Bernard Bonomo, CEO of the video production company in Miami, FL about Bonomotion.
The Ultimate Video Resume by your video production company is an interesting niche that sets you apart from the others. How do you bring out the most from college graduates who often have little experience to show?
We developed Mini-Movies with the millennial generation in mind (18-30 year olds), because this platform now gives individuals who are long on enthusiasm but short on experience --a way to showcase all the wonderful things that make them unique and valuable to a company. We believe that there are many other meaningful 'experiences,' beyond just 'work-related', that can help define a person. Even if they've just had an internship or part-time work in a related field, that can be enough to demonstrate their ability to make things happen in the future. We integrate our clients personal pictures, videos and accomplishments into each mini-movie, to really give you a sense of what they've done up to this point. Finally, our unique process includes a welcome package, which contains tips, tools and questions designed to help individuals market and distinguish themselves from the competition.
Which job positions are best presented in videos?
The great thing is that Mini-Movies can work for everyone. Especially occupations that rely on personal communication skills and such as; Sales & Marketing, Customer Service, Health Care, Retail, Hospitality, Entertainment, Modeling & Acting, Performing or Visual Arts, Legal and Human Resources. Mini-Movie video resumes are without question the best way for creative extraverts to make that memorable first impression.
What special aspects can the video resume present a potential candidate as compared to the paper CV?
The single most important thing to realize is that companies hire people, not paper. Even with an impressive resume, it’s difficult to not get lost in the shuffle considering the massive amounts of people applying for the same position. Also, a bullet point on your resume saying • Great communication & sales skills, versus seeing you in crystal clear HD, telling 60 sec story about how you increased sales by 200% is a no brainer. We are living in the technology age, and the idea of summing up “who you are and what you can do” on a 1 page piece of paper is ridiculous.
Do you think that video resumes will become the future way of recruitment?
The same way iPods revolutionized the way we enjoy music and media, our mission is to make Mini-Movies the global standard for personal video production. We have no doubt that this service makes both sides of the recruitment/hiring process easier, faster and more effective. Imagine all the time and money saved from traveling across the country for interviews, if the hiring manager has already seen your best interview. When someone contacts you after seeing your Mini-Movie, you know he or she already ‘like what they see,’ and want to meet in order to discuss the job position. Success in business is all about getting in front of the right person, and we’ve put you in the front of the line.
If you are here in Hungary, people will tell you that you must go to the Lake Balaton.
Lake Balaton is a not-to-be missed in the Summer. It is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. You will hear about the Zala and the Sió :)
This was taken at Badacsony and amongst these chief resorts from Balatonalmádi - Balatonboglár - Balatonfüred - Balatonlelle - Fonyód - Keszthely - Siófok - Tihany - Vonyarcvashegy, I also like the atmosphere in Siófok :)
Many people told me too much about Tihany before I was there. So in a way the expectations was set up and I imagined it to be more beautiful. And overall, it is beautiful.
Brian is a trained chef, author and mentor. His book called "In The Weeds" is coming out soon. We asked him bout his works:
How did you become a chef and author? What inspires you to be a mentor?
Since I was very young, I have always enjoyed cooking. It has been a passion of mine since I can remember. As I grew older I started to get to the core of what it was about cooking that I enjoyed most. As it turns out, my real passion is to create and develop. This has lead me into the mentor roll. I love to watch people grow into themselves. Seeing people develop into what God has intended them to become is the most amazing experience ever. Lately, I have been putting my life journey on paper through my blog choicewithin.com and my new book coming out in the fall of 2011 “In The Weeds” which you will be able to find at amazon.com.
Which are the techniques or methodology you use to mentor others?
When mentoring someone, my goal is to let them see for their selves the value that they poses. We all have value in the world, and many of us lose our confidence along the way. Life comes at us fast and its easy to get down on ourselves. Finding ones true passion and excitement for life is my main goal in coaching.
How did you overcome your problems and eventually recovering?
My book 'In the weeds” is my life story about the struggles as I had with self esteem and alcohol. Drinking nearly killed me. I am alive today because my family took the time to convince me that my life had value. I spent time in a rehab center and I work everyday one day at a time on keeping sober. I will never be fully recovered, I like to call it education without graduation.
Did anyone help you along the way to better your situations?
Once I got sober, I was told by several people that I should give back. This was the start of my mentoring and writing. I never knew that I had so much value within me. I can't tell you how many people coached me and loved me back to life. It is the sole reason why I believe in giving back.
What advice would you give to people who faces the same life situations as you?
If there is anyone out there that may be struggling with an addiction or low self worth, please don't go at it alone. The honest truth is, there are more people like you than there are not. This world is full of people that struggle, but there is hope. Never give up on yourself, be true to what is bothering you and reach out for help. I believe that if we can all just view each other from the inside rather than the outside, we would live in a much more productive and peaceful world.
Recently, the Google+ has launched their services. We are still waiting for more competitive services to be made available. Something like a feature to create our own community will be really good.
In Facebook, we have started a Page for 'ycrazymind' readers. We figured you might be interested. So do feel free to add us and be updated to the latest posts whenever it is uploaded. Meanwhile, have fun!
John Dalton has released his second book Maya Noise. We asked him about his new book:
Where did you draw your inspirations of your second book - 'Maya Noise'?
Inspiration? It was more to do with sleep. I wasn't getting much at the beginning of 2010. Instead I was being kept awake by insights I'd had decades before. It's not like they were new and I just-had-to-write-them-down. It's not like I thought humanity needed to hear my truth or any rubbish like that. Humanity was doing just fine as far as I could see and anyway humanity was just an idea. I'd never met a humanity. I just met people, usually one at a time. I didn't think I knew what was right for them and I didn't think anyone else did either, the only person who knows what's right for you, is you, so there was even less point to writing.
It had been different with my first book, Why Do We Get Sick? Why Do We Get Better?, that had developed from hundreds of conversations I'd had with patients. Conversations I had seen people benefit from. Organising those conversations into a book was a natural progression. There was no natural progression to this current pressure to write but the sleep issue persisted. I'd get into bed after a long day of treating people in my craniosacral practice and two hours later I'd be staring at the ceiling wide awake with these insights pressing me to write them down.
Part of craniosacral work involves deep meditation so after ten nights of broken sleep I was at serious risk of falling asleep on top of a patient. Not a good look. In the end I made a deal with myself that I'd start writing but I wouldn't show it to anyone. That did the trick and I got some sleep.
Initially what I wrote was a bit . . . well . . . smarty pants. It read like the diary of the little boy in The Emperors New Clothes except instead of saying, "You're nude dude!" I was saying, "Look at all the assumptions! Look at all the assumptions! There are big holes in reality and they're papered over with assumptions!"
Those smarty pants writings would probably still be in my top drawer if I hadn't made the mistake of reading them to my wife one day. She listened quietly throughout and when I finished she pinned me to the spot. Instead of telling me something like I was a strange cookie, but she still loved me, like I expected her to, she said something worse, "Nearly but not quite."
It did my head in. "What?"
She said, "It's very good, and it's important, and I can see why you're writing it, but it's not quite there yet."
She was using the carrot and the stick, together!! I knew she was encouraging me, but to what? I tormented the poor woman for the next couple of days trying to get her to elaborate but she couldn't.
After a couple MORE nights of troubled sleep I woke up early one morning like a light had been turned on inside me. I started to write what turned out to be the first chapter of the finished book. The writing style was very different to everything I'd written previously and the content was very personal, disturbingly so. I subsequently read somewhere that all good art takes big risks and exposes the artist in ways that are uncomfortable. This was certainly the case for me, I felt very exposed when I read the finished chapter to my wife. If I got, "nearly but not quite" again I knew I was screwed because I didn't have anything else to give it, I'd left it all on the page. Thankfully she didn't, she said it was "spot on" and the book continued from there.
How do you rate the 'sexually explicit content' in your book as part of the overall of the entire book?
If life is like a box of chocolates then sex is the chocolate. It takes different shapes and envelopes all the various flavours. Everyone seems obsessed with sex in one way or another. It's all over the media, in our music, our magazines, our movies, our books, on the TV, it's everywhere. And while men and women relate to it differently, men are mostly interested in having sex, women are mostly interested in looking sexy, the mutual interest is undeniable.
Life is a mystical experience and part of that mystery is sex, so writing a book about a mystical life without talking about sex would be like making a box of chocolates without the chocolate, which is fine if you life Jelly Babies, but I don't so I cover it all; the sucking, the fucking, the lust, the fantasy, the guilt, the pleasure, the porn and the abuse. It's life's rich tapestry under the blue glow of the CSI dark light revealing all the bodily fluids and pixie dust.
I know they never talk about pixie dust on CSI but it's there in sex too. Why would everyone be so interested in it if it wasn't. What other non chemically induced activity gives us access to hidden parts of ourselves like sex. It transports us to a deeper reality and breaks up our rigidity by making us crazy. Just like it's impossible to keep your eyes open when you sneeze, it's impossible to keep the mask of sophistication on when you're
cumming and that kind of disclosure is very spiritual.
So as far as rating the 'sexually explicit content' goes, I'd give it 10 out of 10, no, make that 11 out of 10.
Are any of the characters and personalities in this book conceptualized around the people you personally know?
Everyone in the book is a real person. I name some directly like my former spiritual master Barry Long, or the woman I got enlightened with, Catherine Ingram. The rest are people from different parts of my life. For most I've changed the names and some of the details of their lives to maintain their privacy. For example, towards the end of the book I talk about a former patient called Doreen who had chronic fatigue syndrome and went on to became a samba dancer. She was a real person but her name wasn't Doreen and she wasn't a samba dancer but other than that the story is real.
After enlightenment, how did it change your everyday life?
It wasn't what I had expected at all. I wasn't wiser or happier or able to do any of the cool things I'd read enlightened people could do. All the changes were internal. Before I got enlightened I was searching for something that would ʻfixʼ me, something that would remove what I sensed was a fundamental flaw in me. Not that I would have admitted it. If asked I would have said I liked myself. If pushed I would have said I was perfect just the way I was.
I wanted to believe it but in my heart I didn't. In my heart of hearts I believed there was a better shinier version of me that I could be living and that I should be living and that if I got enlightened I would be living. The problem was that at my core I didn't trust myself to get there. I didnʼt think I had it in me. I was impaled on the hook of the perfect version of myself. When I realised at the deepest level of my being that the fundamental flaw was an idea and not real, I became enlightened. I took myself off that hook and it disappeared from inside me and never returned.
The effect was like a seismic shift in the ocean floor of my being, it was unnoticeable at first. The tsunami didn't hit for a couple of months and by the end of it my marriage was over, I'd lost my child and I'd shifted continents, literally, I was living in Australia.
So, yes, it had a big impact on my everyday life, just not in the way I expected.
As a book writer, what kind of advice would you give to anyone who wants to overcome writers' block?
Show up. Woody Allen says 90% of success is showing up and I think he's right. Writer's block is no fun so whenever it happens I do what most intelligent people do, I do something else, something that's a bit more fun, I check my emails or I look on facebook or twitter, all of which are fine, the trick is to keep returning to the writing.
Because I keep showing up at the writing, the writing gets done. It still isn't fun and it often feels like I'm bashing my head against a wall, but each time I hit the wall a few more words fall out of my head and bit by bit the wall collapses - once I keep showing up.
My other tip for getting through writers block is alcohol. Here's what to do. Fill a bowl with red wine and soak the tips of your fingers in the wine before you start writing. When you are ready to begin, towel your fingers off and drink the bowl of wine. Repeat the process until the writers block is gone. The finger-dipping part is optional.
Booze is a risky proposition but if used consciously can fill the dreaded blank page and get your momentum going.
There was a famous Taoist artist who made a point of drinking a lot of alcohol before he started to paint. Once he was blind drunk he would stagger towards the canvas and start painting wildly with chaotic splashes of colour and movement. He'd use his hands and fingers as brushes or he'd fill his mouth with wine and spray the canvas with it. He'd bump into the colour jars knocking them over and then use the odd mixtures to paint with. He regularly trashed his studio.
The next morning he would tidy his studio and begin work on the paintings he had started the night before. He would bring all his skill and training to bear and in a very controlled and systematic way give his wild inspirations of the previous night full expression.
Sometimes what is needed to get through the writers block is dynamite. The trick is to drink the dynamite sparingly.
If you love forest, lakes, waterfalls and nature, you will surely love this place as much as we do. There are 16 interlinked lakes, upper lakes and lower lakes. All natural and these beauty are preserved and protected and it's a UNESCO site! Worth visiting!
What aspires me is my willingness to help other people. Everybody is more or less happy when they make another person's day. Since I was a child I enjoyed helping my relatives and friends. We would hang out and when there was a house work to be done in a friend's house I gladly helped him. As the time passed and I grew up, as I write in my profile on my page, I got to materials about psychology. I've been enjoying learning process and as I continued to speak with people my age, I found lot of them are too worried about things, they should not be worried about. I don't like to see people to be in a bad mood and the most rewarding thing is for me when somebody thanks You that You made their day. Even when it takes some time to talk them out of bad things and sometimes I feel like they are too stubborn etc. the outcome is worth it.
How are your consultations different from the other life coaches?
It is hard to tell what is different. Everybody has own style of talking and thinking and while the idea behind words used might be the same, the process may differ a lot. ON my main page I have a link to my blog, where I post articles every week or when something crosses my mind. So possible clients can read it and see themselves if I am worth their attention ;) Also I am younger than many of life coaches (while I don't call myself life coach yet) so I have better understanding for problems of young people.
What are your personal strengths and quality and when did you realize you have a great potential to help others?
I am an outgoing person, very extroverted, I like working with people. Also I am a good listener which is a good quality to have when you work with somebody. But let's see what my DISC profile says about me (DISC profile determines behavioral styles and personality types).
- You are a very strong leader, and able to take control of a variety of initiatives and maintain control.
- You are concerned for others without giving everything away; a stabilizer
- You are able to be a multi-threaded problem solver, able to shift gears and projects in a flexible way.
- You have a high interest level in understanding all aspects of a situation or subject.
- You are able to appreciate the benefit for balance and harmony without losing sight of the practical side of things.
As I said before, I realized that just a few years ago that I have a potential to help others. But it's been only 2 months since I found out there is something like "life coach" profession and when I read more about it.
I realized this is exactly what I want to do. It is a mixture of psychology, motivational speaking and mainly self development which are aspects that I found very alluring and enjoyable.
Considering face-to-face consultations which you can read your client's body language as well, how do you overcome the issues that phone consultations cannot achieve?
While I agree with You that personal communication is the best, phone and mail consultations are widely used for coaching and they are sufficient. The fact that I can't read body language doesn't matter at all. Voice tonality, rhythm etc. are also parts of non-verbal communication. You can read emotions pretty well just from hearing people. The main thing is to see what client's problem is so it can be solved. And for that I don't need to see their body language or them in person. But in case anybody wished to see, there are things like web cameras so visual contact is not problem at all.
Which modes of communication do you use to communicate with your potential clients?
Clients can contact me via mail ( letter icon in the upper left corner of my website). There they can write me any questions regarding site improvements, their questions about coaching etc. Once they decide to invest in themselves, they are redirected to a different contact form. So the communication types of choice are mail and after that we can set-up Skype calls or chat over instant messenger.
, that had developed from hundreds of conversations I'd had with patients. Conversations I had seen people benefit from. Organising those conversations into a book was a natural progression. There was no natural progression to this current pressure to write but the sleep issue persisted. I'd get into bed after a long day of treating people in my craniosacral practice and two hours later I'd be staring at the ceiling wide awake with these insights pressing me to write them down.
