Pattayan Sun

     The sun is shining so bright- every day- brighter and brighter! It has warmed me and I am simply glowing!
     Thailand has something special- it's not only the hot weather, nice beaches and kind people- it's like here the time flows differently- quicker and with fewer stress.
     I am so happy that I am here- I strongly recommend to everyone to come to Thailand- it's an unbelievable experience!
     Here are some photos:

     As about the tournament, I managed to win yesterday from a young WFM from China. You can see the game here:


     I play against an unrated Indonesian with a 2384 performance today. I hope to have a good game :)

P.S. A big interesting photo report with the rating favorites of the tournament to follow! ;)

Walking Street

     My Thailand experience continues and I am simply thrilled!
     It is a pity that the tournament doesn't go that well too, I made 2 draws against some weaker opponents, but I guess that one can't have it all. I try my best during the round, but it seems that draws have been the best lately...
     I went on the famous "Walking Street". It is so lively and full of "walking" people :))) There are a lot of bars,cabarets,pubs and clubs- all kind of places to make one feel good.
     Some friends of mine and I went to a rock pub with a Thai band playing live. They were amazing! We had a lot of fun listening to them :D Here is a video of the band and some photos:

Walking Street!

Some Octopus perhaps? It was really nice!

"The Hungarians"

Carting you say?

Welcome to Paradise

Levente Vajda, being among the leaders of the tournamnet with 4,5p/5

Czebe Attila

Enjoying a ride on the local cab :)

xoxo from Pattaya! ;)

So far so cool

     I am in love with Thailand!
     There've been played 2 rounds and I've got 2p out of 2. It's a double round today, so there's another game to follow in the afternoon.
     I went out for diner with some friends yesterday night and it was very cool! The city is only getting livelier at night. We tried some thai food and this time I didn't have any "chilli experience" :D I also tried a thai beer- "Chang" and it's actually not bad at all- I liked it more than the Romanian ones.
     When returning to the hotel, we found ourselves on a street with bars called "Roxy", "Red Light",etc-all pretending to offer massage... I guess it was something else meant :))) It was quite funny to look at the "ladies" standing in front of all that bars and guessing weather they are men or women :D
     A torrential rain caught us still walking then and when we finally got to our hotel we were looking like we took a shower all dressed up :)))
     Here's the game I played this morning:

     Thailand can't be compared to anything I've seen before. It's an unique experience and I am so excited that I still  have 9 days to enjoy it!

xoxo from Pattaya ;)

Thailand

     Thailand... I don't have enough words to describe how much I like it! You can judge by yourself- here are some pictures:

Pattaya City

Our hotel's inside garden

Local traffic

Irene Sukandar, my roommate :)

Dusit Thani Resort- the place we're staying at

     The tournaments starts today, at 3.30 pm local time. I hope to play as good as I feel here :D

xoxo from Pattaya ;)


   

The chilli experience

     There've been some very interesting 36 hours!
     I am writting from Pattaya- a nice resort in Thailand, but the story begins in Bucharest.
     I am in Thailand for a chess tournament-the 13th BCC Open- you can see the official site of the event here: http://bangkokchess.com/events-calendar/13th-bcc-open-2013  I decided to visit London on my way there- a quite weird decision if to think that it was on the opposite direction with my destination :))), but I definitely don't regret it. I had an amazing day in London- went for a ride on the London Eye, walked around through the rain- yeah, raining in London-what a surprise!

Enjoying a ride on the London Eye

      All in all, I had a really nice time in London! I went back to the airport afterwards and slept during my whole 11 hours flight to Bangkok :))) I didn't even feel how all that time passed!

      Arriving in Bangkok, I was very worried about the "visa procedure", but it turned out to be just a formality- so I easily passed the passport control (btw, the woman who put a stamp in my passport was wearing a Hawaian shirt :)))) and went for my bus to Pattaya. It took me about 2 hours to get to the hotel, where I was welcomed by the organizer- Mr. Kai Tuorila. I was shocked when I saw the hotel- there's a garden in the lobby- a huuuge one and the room is really nice. There were all kind of unusual fruits waiting for me there; yes "were" is the right word, because I've already eaten all of them :)))

      I went with some local friends of my roommate-Irene Sukandar- for diner in the city and I had "the chilli experience". I was eating some rice with all kinds of sea food- being really proud of myself (everyone was wondering how I-an European- can eat such a spicy food) until I tried a soup- it tasted really nice- the problem came when I tasted a green thing that turned out to be chilli- I literally started to cry, my tears seemed unstoppable and I thought that my brain will be blown away :)))) I somehow survived and I hope that "the chilli experience" will be the only thing to cry about during my stay in Thailand!

     Some photos from Pattaya will follow the next days, until then- here you can see the starting list of players: http://chess-results.com/tnr94564.aspx?lan=1

   

     Gone for some more fruits :)))

xoxo from Thailand ;)

The great terror

    It's almost a week since I've returned from Astana and I already miss playing.
    I will go on a hiking trip with some friends in a week and I'll play  the U20 Nationals afterwards. It's going to be nice- my sister will come too- I will terrorize her with chess :))) hihihi Can't wait!
    Then Thailand follows! I have just read on Wikipedia that April is the hottest month in central Thailand- 35-38 C degrees. Maybe I should have read it before deciding weather to go there or not :))) Well, but what is a little heat for a 20 yo chess player- one extra excuse for blunders :P (God forbid them!)
     I will visit London on my way to Bangkok- will have some 12 spare hours- so that will make one more new country this year :D
     Making plans is very nice when no worries at all. That's what I like about being home, actually that's what I like about being 19 :D

Roller skating- one of my childhood's favourite activities-you can't imagine how my knees looked like back then

xoxo from Chisinau

   

Master of my World

     It's amazing how a few little changes can make one's life different!

     I don't know if it's about the really nice weather outside, about my session coming to an end or about my 3rd cup of coffee today- the thing is that I suddenly feel much more optimistic :) It might be the thrill of the upcoming tournaments- Women's National, World Teams in Astana, Thailand- what is there not to love? I can feel that everything will be just fine and it's a comforting and power-giving feeling :)
     I've been thinking that there are so many things I'd like to do this year- learn some foreign language, read as many  Russian classics as possible, go hiking in the mountains and soooo many more other little things.
     I realize what a lucky person I am- I get to do the things that I like- I don't have to worry about anything but to accomplish what I really want- I am the master of my World.

Sailing through the World

Rhodes island

      What is it about us, chess players, that we seem never to get enough of travelling? It must be one of the main reasons why we've chosen chess as a profession. We choose to sail through the World, our thirst for new places seeming to never get enough.
      I had some crappy days and my mood was under the ground, but I feel like in the 9th sky now, as I've found out that I'll have the chance to visit a place I've always wanted to see- the Rhodes island! I like Greek islands so much! I've already been several times on Crete and I also visited Leros - there's such a nice atmosphere there- a pittoresque, but in the same time a very lively one! One can get whatever he wants on the Greek islands- from sightseeing and peaceful sunbathing to wild nightlife. There's one more island I'd like to visit one day- Santorini!

Rhodes

     I am so excited when going to new places- I try to visit at least one new country per year. I added to my list Poland, Austria and Hungary last year and there's going to be Kazakhstan, Thailand and Serbia this year,well and Rhodes (though I've been so many times in Greece, Rhodes should be a whole new experience!).
   
Looking forward to writting xoxo from Rhodes, Belgrad, Astana and Bangkok!

As for now, xoxo from Iasi ;)
 

Thailand,I'm coming!

     I'm very excited to add a new tournament to my calendar for the 2013 year-the 13th BCC Open, held in Thailand from the 14th to the 21st of April! I've never been to this country before and I'm sooo looking forward to visiting it! Here's the official site of the event: http://bangkokchess.com/events-calendar/13th-bcc-open-2013

The Dusit Thani Pattaya Resort,the place where the tournament will be played

     Looks like the summer will start a little bit earlier for me! :D