EuroTrip: Budapest: Nap 3

Third and final day in Budapest. Woke up, there was no breakfast today, good!. Packing my stuff, I swear to God I already loose have of the load when I was here, but why the bag still huge and heavy! Berat dosa agaknya.

Rechecked the stuff, then i saw it.. This asshole put a lot of stuff inside (kan org dah bagi tumpang rumah maki2 lagi) behind me. Mostly foodstuffs and souvenirs. Checked for drug.. hi hih, luckily there's none, not that I would know anyway.

Took out half of them, like hello pork rind, who gonna eat that. Checked for passport, train tickets, documents, etc. Everything is ready. Phew! Okay got 4 hrs more to kill. What to do. Had a chat with those losers back home (because they have to work) for a while, and called my mum to ask when is Raya. *Petir - mode anak derhaka*. Its either tomorrow or a day after. Cool.


Off I went to walk around.. Didnt bring the map, so couldnt wander off that much, else, I'm in a big shiite.


So I walk around the Kristof Square (there's like million of squares around). The main roads are grid in style, there bound to be alot of squares in between then.


Further down, saw this reddish building. Oh, its the synagogue, he mentioned it yesterday and recommended highly.


There's a cemetery outside. Cakap dalam hati: alah, kubur Yahudi, kat Penang lagi lawa (Duh, jewish cemetery, the one we have in Malaysia is even better). But then it hits me, hmm, according to tradition, cemeteries can not be on the synagogue premises. Hmm interesting, should visit.

Walked further down, and I saw the familiar name, Theodore Herzl, modern zionism founder. Ooohh, I made a paper on him at school before. Beyond doubt then, this is a must visit !! *another petir, org lain buat tentang perjuangan sahabat2 rasul, aku buat tentang penaung yahudi*

By then the petir would be sambung menyambung:
1 - Paid HUF1400 for the entrance - ala2 membeli peluru lah untuk anak2 Palestin.
2 - Wore Kippah - kupiah yahudi, di bulan ramadhan.


Ground floor for Jews, 1st floor for Goyim (kapir).

Tetiba jer terngiang2 lagu iklan dulu2 "Singer, menawan keluarga bahagia..." Merasalah korang memuji2 yahudi.


Keluar jer temple, telefon berbunyi berdering2. Ku angkat ku dengar suara.. "Hey where the f are you? We're late!" Looked at the time, OMFG, I am late.. "COuld you bring my bag to the train station, please!"

Luckily the synagogue is near the train station. So I just waited for Csaba there.


He arrived 15 min before the train left. I seriously felt like peeing my pants by then.


So we hurriedly said goodbye, promised to see each other again (ha ha!), and off I bolted away to catch the 3.00pm train to Wien (Vienna).


Turned out the actual time was 3.10pm! Grrrrrrr... With 20 minutes to spare! How mean.. Now I'm thirsty and cant drink for another 4 hrs. God is laughing at you now for visiting the synagogue.. endure my wrath you infidel. muahahahah *nanges*


Are you from the Philippines?- Asked this girl.
No, Malaysia.
Can I join you?
Sure.

So yeah thats how I met this phillipines girl on board. She worked in Singapore and now on a 6 freaking months vacation backpacking across europe. *bitch*

Sometimes she forgot I wasnt pinoy.. and she speak tagalog to me. *another slap* (She was very nice actually and kinda pretty.. hihihihi)

She also gave me a very useful tip, instead of paying hundreds for hotel/hostel, there's this website that you can go and stay for free in any city in the whole world. Its called sleepingcouch or something like that. But the catches are:
1 - You have to follow your host's schedule/meal/activities... (no problem for me)
2 - When you get back to your country you have to host a strangers as well... (also no problem to me)
3 - Your host would be a totally stranger, he could turned up to be a psycho killer or rapist.. (errk)
4 - The host might not have the chemistry with you (racist or something), so it could turned up to be a nightmare.

Nevermind then, I'll pay for my accomodations, unless I have 6 months to spend in europe. *another choke/slap/punch* effing pinoy working in SIngapore for 2 years and now could afford to spend 6 mths in Europe
*nanges*

EuroTrip: Budapest: Nap 2

Woke up there's a breakfast on the table. Csaba must have forgotten I was fasting! Luckily he was away, otherwise I'll be forced to eat... Thanks anyway.

So today I decided to go to the Castle Hill. Lovely weather as always. Took the tram, but the one I took didnt cross the bridge. So I had to alight and walk.

Comel.. Local infant has be taught to mount the lion at the early age. Supermarket diorg takde animal ride bagai mcm kat KLCC, so budak2 kat sini cengginilah nak menghiburkan hati komunis mereka itu.

Crossing the bridge across Danube river. Whoaaa, strong current!

Arrived at the bottom of the hill overlooking the Prime Minister's Office (or was it his residence)

Tunnel going through to the Buda side.

Funicular train. I thought it was like the Penang hill. You paid €8 for a two minutes ride! You read it correctly. It's two minutes ride. You went in, you sat (or stand), it moved, took out your camera to take picture, you arrived. Might as well walk. Hi hi.

Reminded me of Mia.

The view on top of the hill.

Behind the hill's view. The Buda side. Hilly side as compared to plane side on the Pest.

Post office. Postcards time, Siken, youre the only one left there, En. lukman pun dah takda, so I no longer send postcard to BMMB :p

The parliament building on the Pest side. THere's several museums/galleria on the hill. I dont feel like going. I got a couple of hours to kill before heading to the office. Decided to took the tram on the Buda side (just sat inside the tram until the end of line) . OMIGOD! It took me more than 2 hours. And there's nothing on this side. Kesal.

Still got a couple more hours to go. Hmm what to do? Have to conserve some energy for late afternoon Margit Island walk. *Idea* Bath time! Yippie, perfect. It was very cold this morning so I skipped the shower. Alah ko tengok gambar kat atas tu pun terserlah muka tak mandi pagi kan!

Went to the one of the bath house, but it was ladies day only. They suggested me to go to the other one across the street. Better luck here. Paid the entrance and were given one cotton bed sheet for a towel (??) and a loin cloth to cover yourself. Errrrr. Luckily there's only about 20 people inside (granpa mostly). So, hot bath, cold bath, nap o the bench. repeat 2-3 times until 4 pm. Then off I went to Vaci ut.

Met Agi, submitted my work badge to the receptionist to activate the access (our employee badge could be used worldwide - cool).

So off to her floor. Hmm looks similar to KL office. Must be the same interior designers.

But the pantry is ,much cooler, with better stock of vending machines and free beverages.

The pantry.

Banister? Hmmm.. we called it handrail.

The view of the building. Managed to meet several colleagues that i've been dealing with on daily basis. At 5.30 we left the building to go to the Margit island. About 5 minutes tram ride from the office.

E eh, ada Tesco.

On the tram. Funny signpost (priority sitting). It looks like.... nevermind.

Margit island in the middle of the river.

Google picture of it:

This island is pretty huge even though its in the middle of the river. Its about 2500m long x 500m wide. There's even a bus going around the island!

-- Centennial memorial.

There's a park, japanese garden, a zoo, music well, musical fountain and the water tower.

-- The small scale zoo though. Only for rabbits, dear and some birds.

--Little belgium.

-- Water tower.

Then its almost iftar. Then I bid farewell to Agi as I have dinner reservation with Csaba. And we went back to the Pest side.

I had fish that night. The waiter took off the head and deboned the fish right in fornt of me. I almost freaked out (and hungry), hey dont take that part away, we asians eat them! but nontheless, I was just sit there like a mice, staring longingly at the crispy fish bones being carted away... hihihi

Then we walked around below sub 0 temp (or at least thats what I felt it was like). 10 minutes with chill winds blowing on your face is enough to make your eyes watery and you wont see much anyway. Then he brought me to the red light district of Budapest.. Nothing that i havent seen before.. Move on! Then we go back.

EuroTrip: Budapest: Nap 1

Not suitable for Muslim! You'll see later. Hi hi.

English wasnt widely spoken either. Thus you might get lost and hungry in Hungary.

Having said that Budapest is nonetheless a very nice place to visit. Initial plan was to go to Prague, Czech Republic. But then my friends in Budapest insisted I visit them, therefore, Budapest it was!

I left Berlin at noon. Not by train, it will take forever. By Easyjet (€60) from Berlin Schönefeld.

Schönefeld is far, so if you have a choice, choose Tegel. 20 minutes by metro as opposed to 30 min by metro + 15 by bus. Anyway, the journey took 1 1/2 hr. Full flight nonetheless. Hungary is the favorite getaway spot for German.

--- Naik bas senget.

Arrived at Budapest Ferenc Liszt terminal 1. No immigration whatsoever. Just like a domestic flight. Pffft, no stamp on passport!

The empty terminal building. "Do you want me to pick you up from the Airport?" asked my friend. I arrogantly said no (well he was working that day). Its not that bad, unlike KLIA with touts everywhere, Budapest airport is quite organized. I choose taxi. And ohhh they use Forint, not euro, I dont kow how much forint per euro but the currency got many zeros.

1 - Airport is about 15 KM from the city center (very near)

2 - Kristof Ter, the accommodation for the next 3 days

3 - Castle Hill

4 - Margit-sziget (Margaret Island)

5 - Office

6 - Városliget (City Park)

7 - Keleti Train Station

Halfway from the airport the traffic was sooo slow, urghh, I thought it was a regular traffic jam. The first experience in europe then. But then, I saw this..

A close encounter of a third kind. Hi hik. Kidding, actually I saw an old lady flashing to the traffic. It would be cool to see the above though!

Little did I know that there's a lot of this kind in the city actually.

We reached the city center in 25 minutes. The taxi dropped me by one street and he said Kristof is somewhere there (pointing on the right). He couldnt go in because its a pedestrian walk / on way street.

So I was circling the area for 10 minutes looking for the darn road. And he didnt replied my sms either. Shite! Tried to call but didnt get through. Cursing, I saw Marriot and were about to go in when I Lift my head, and there it was, right in front of me all this while.. I was on the other side actually and the road sign was kinda hidden. Phew!

He passed me the key and left again for work.. pftt.. So I put my beg inside and tried to get the bearing.

The view from the balcony.

The view from the room. Facing the Castle hill.

The elevator. Seriously tiny! Could only fit one or 2 person. And its the old school type of elevator.

It was 3 pm, I got about 3 hr to kill before I meet my colleagues. So I walk along the river on the Pest side. Budapest got its name when three different districts merged together to become one: Buda, on the Castle hill side; Obuda, Buda’s oldest neighborhood to the north; and Pest, the commercial and happening areas.

They used to have a King under the Austro-Hungarian empire period before the World War I.

The building style there is Germanic/Austian/Eastern european style. I didnt know what to expect, knowing it was a communist country before. To be frank, I wasnt looking forward to go there, because I thought Eastern European was boring.

To move around, you could either walk, by bike or by public transportation. You won't get lost because the Castle hill is an excellent landmark. I bought the three-day travel card for 3850F (€14). You can use all the trams, metros and buses with unlimited rides daily.

Some of the trams and metro were new, but most were the old one. Like this tram, as if they never changed it since 1940s.

Another encounter of a third kind. That's not a real jeans and spaghetti string :p

Anyway, just like in Vietnam, the writing and pronunciation is totally different. And almost everyone doesnt speak english. Kinda terrifying, in a city of 10millions, you felt so alone sometimes. But only for 5 minutes, then you saw smiling faces and beautiful sceneries, and you totally forgot abt that

So after like 2 hrs of walking and getting my bearing (the map doesnt help much actually), I think I already get the hang out of it. Confident enough to explore more.. hihihi

The most untrained dog Ive ever seen in Europe. He's literally drag his master around.

Then I met my colleagues, Agi and Nelli. They showed me around town, and then we proceed to have dinner. The we walk around to the same places I have been, but this time with descriptions.. This building is this, that building is that.. Much better..

One of the many bridges connecting the Buda and the Pest side.

Agi, meself and Nelli. Peter pan statue, supposedly to bring good luck if you rub it on the crotch area? Bizarre, but heck, I already seen so much mind fcuk things around, this is the least bizarre of all.

The parliament. It was freezing cold! I was wearing a thin jacket that night, its so not enough. Seeing how cold I was, they suggested that we go for a hot spring bath at one of the bath houses around. Hearing that, I was like a kid getting in a candy store *evil grin*. So we took the metro and reached there in minutes. :)

Omigod, the took the bath outside! The elation turned into a torture. I had to endure the bone biting cold between the locker room and the pool only on my skimpiest trouser. And the hot spring is super hot okay! It was either too darn cold or too darn hot. Either way your testicles would pay for that!

And the crazy just got crazier. The got the mud wrestling thingy going on. Like hmmmm... See told you its so not suitable for muslim :p

After like an hour, we were done. My head was kinda light and I felt like I was flying all the way to the metro. No longer freezing and it was the most satisfying bath I ever had (no pun).

The metro station was kinda scary though. And the train was rustic.

So rustic, some compartments even had a missing door.

By the end of the day, I was back home. Woke up in the middle of the night and only then it hits me. Where am my? Were the expereinces I had a reality or a dream.

-- Budapest and its charms VS my inner self battling. Ya Allah, kau berilah kekuatan kepada insan mu yg lemah ini.. Well, no prize for guessing whose the real winner is. :p