Buda_2

And the story of Buda continues...

Pic: St.Gellért's statue at foot of Gellért Hill

On my way to the famous Budapest bath (targeted Gellért Bath, which is popular among tourist), came across this magnificant statue, compliment with staircase surrounding a natural water fall. Roads users from Pest crossing the Szabadság híd or Liberty Bridge (sometimes Freedom Bridge) will be greeted by St.Gellért's statue when they enter Buda.

Walked past Rudas thermal bath as well. Initially I was tempted to go to Rudas bath, first, because it's nearer & I've really been walking a lot & second, it's much cheaper. Internet introduction & tourist guide highlighted the bath with its 16th century built centerpiece http://www.budapest.com/thermal_baths/rudas_thermal_bath.en.html but as I walked pass, I'm >100% sure that I won't go there...see picture below to understand why...

Pic: Rudas thermal bath's exterior...I thought it is an abandoned building initially :s

The journey continues and finally, Gellért Bath (which is right next to the super classy & pricy Gellért Hotel) is in front of me...with great dissapointment, it's under renovation as well. I think I must have travelled to Budapest during wrong time of the year...Matthias Church, the tram way and now even the bath is under construction, sob sob...

I went for a refreshing massage where the massage lady has really big hand that covers more than half of my back, so imagine the strength she applied during the massage, but it is nice (except my neck is slightly in pain after staying still at an uncomfortable position for 15minutes) and then took the 36-38degree Celcius thermal bath. Definitely refreshing especially after a long day walk.

The Gellért Baths complex includes thermal baths, which are small pools containing water from Gellért hill's mineral hot springs. The thermal baths are decorated beautifully with mosaic tiles. The complex also includes saunas and plunge pools, an open-air swimming pool which can create artificial waves every ten minutes and an effervescent swimming pool. They have jacuzzi pool and pretty nice indoor swimming pool as well, too bad I can't swim...just keep in mind that pictures tend to make something looks more beautiful, so keep the expectation moderate ;)

Oh...and if you purchase entrance ticket to all facilities for say 2hrs and you leave before 2hrs, you'll get a small amount of rebate ( I didn't realize it until I return to COP) and the massage charges is paid in cash only separately to the massage ladies once you enter the bath center. They don't provide shower gel / soap / shampoo in the shower so do bring your own 'supply' ;) I can't carry camera with me all the time in the bath, so the pictures are limited :p

Pic (clockwise from upper left): Gellért bath front (under construction); front look as it is supposed to be; the indoor swimming pool; reception area

Right outside Gellért Bath is the Gellért Hill where an enormous Goddess of Freedom statue stands in front of the Citadel on its peak. The Hungarian 'Statue of Liberty' commemorates Hungary's liberation from the Nazi rule & can be seen from almost all parts of the city. The site offers a superb panorama over Central Budapest including bank of the Danube River, Buda Castle and Pest city. The walk up the hill is not exactly relaxing though :(

Pic: Goddess of Freedom statue

Pic: View from Gellért hill top outposts

Walking down the hill (which is much easier) and enjoying the last time I'll see Budapest at night (at least for this trip), I'm still amazed with its beauty. During my last dinner in Budapest, I realize almost all juice / soft drinks in bottle comes in only 200ml size. Wonder why they're slightly smaller than it should. I'm so used to 330ml or at least 250ml bottled drinks...

As dawn approaches, I said goodbye to Budapest. I had good times there and I hope you have good time reading it as well :)

Buda

Day2: Buda of Budapest (which has been delinquent quite some time because I was busy going out the whole weekend, lol). Anyway, here it is.

Taking the only Metro that runs between Pest & Buda (Metro3), we arrived in front of St.Anne's church. Due to tight schedule (so many to see yet so little time), I simply snapped a front view of the church to prove that I've been there, lol... Modernization bring less effect to Buda side (relatively compare to Pest side) and most part of the city's beauties are still keep as they are hundred years ago.

Pic: Buda street view & St.Anne's church

Fisherman's Bastion takes its name from the guild of fishermen who was responsible for defending this stretch of the city walls in the Middle Ages. It is a viewing terrace, with many stairs and walking paths. Unfortunately some parts of the bastian is under maintenance work & closed to visitors. Matthius Church which is located right next to Fisherman's Bastian is undergoing some restoration work as well, I missed some of my highlights in Buda :(

Pic: (top) Statue of Stephen I; (bot) Fisherman's Bastion (snapped with black & white setting, love it)

Pic: Chain Bridge view from Fisherman's Bastion

Failed to 'decypher' the helpful local's direction guide, I chose to walk toward Buda Castle instead which is not really far & buildings along the way are beautiful, especially in autumn with the colour changing trees & falling leaves. Buda hill is almost right next to the Chain Bridge. Traffic is very busy to & fro and at the bridge but Hungarian drivers are polite to let pedestrians have the crossing priority.
Pic: Chain bridge front view & the busy traffic

Tight schedule also limited my eating time so I resolved to eating fennel cake (picture below) as lunch, isn't it cute? Hazelnut flavoured, piping hot & fluffy make it tastes so nice in slightly cold weather. Think I must have looked so enjoy eating it that another tourist actually walked to me & asked me what I was eating. She even asked for the flavour that I chose & said she'll get exactly the same :s Hmm... perhaps I should claim advertisement fee from the stall owner :p

Being Unesco World Heritage Site, I'm slightly dissapointed with Buda Castle, perhaps because I expected it to be more 'ancient' & it looks more magnificant at night (with the lighting effects) than in cloudy day time. The view from hill top is not as nice as from Fisherman's Bastian as well. The castle hill funicular ride was 'cute' though =) Even though the castle is not as impressive as pictured from far, I still spent hours in the castle (including the museum) ;)

Pic (from bottom left): Castle Hill Funicular; at bottom of castle hill; one of the garden shot from the castle; Buda castle's eagle side gate view

Pic: Snap shots from Buda Castle

After hours of walking, my next target is to take one of the famous bath in Buda. Next blog =)

Luns Restaurant

Copenhagen, despite relatively small size, is well reputed as gastronomic heaven which houses restaurants that sums up to 12 Michelin stars. These starred restaurants are quality assured but unfortunately also very expensive. I just can't bring myself to spend a fortune on merely a dinner while I could use the same amount of money for traveling around.

Then, I read reviews about Luns Restaurant which is owned and run by two former Michelin Star chefs at a much lower (hence affordable) price. They're basically the cook, the waiter, the receptionist, the 'everything'...only opens from 1800hr to 2200hr, offering only 1 choice of main course (or shall I say no choice in this case? hmm...), usually served in pot. Menu rotates on a weekly basis.

Very casual, painted wooden floor with lots of filled wine boxes pushed up against the wall and bookshelfs on the wall (books are for sale too, DKK75 each), the restaurant makes one feel care-free and homely. The wine selection is very impressive, unfortunately I'm not good at drinking wine :$

Main course is French inspired, the one I had was meat stew in a pot. Menu is simply a piece of photocopy paper with nearly unrecognizable hand writing (in Danish only anyway). Even though choice of main course is out of question, pre-course, appetizer, dessert / coffee are thankfully a choice :)

The food is very nice, lots of surprisingly refreshing combination that turns out amazing. Feel like I'm dining at a French granmother's place that I never know I had...yum yum. Picture taking is strictly prohibited, I have to snap these pictures 'very discretely', so better appreciate this. Looking forward to my next visit there :)

Pest_2

Pest cont'




Feeling dissapointed that I don't get to see the inside of the parliament, my journey continued to St.Stephen's Basilica. As if to compensate my dissapointment, the weather turns good and the cathedral looks stunning with blue sky background. Unfortunately when I reached St. Stephen's cathedral, I missed the guided tour hour (only 2 session on Saturday) and I was really not in a mood to wander around in the cathedral knowing nothing about it. So I made a decision to go for coffee instead, lol...

Pic: St. Stephen's Basilica

Budapest's street buildings are so ancient. Not exactly well maintained but I think it really doesn't change much since the last century (from the old pictures I saw at the metro station). 4-5 storey building separated only by small alley, gothic / romanic style buildings are everywhere. They even still preserve the trolley bus which I have never seen before, really eye-opening.

Pic (top): Budapest (Pest side) street views; Pic (bot): trolley bus

Statue Park which displays mementoes of the communist erawas highly recommended by an American aquintance and it looks very attractive in the tourist guides / websites http://www.mementopark.hu/. Personally I'm not a communism fan and the park is really rather far off but I decided to give it a try.

Unfortunately some of Budapest's public transport lines are under construction and notices are only in Hungarian, which makes going to the park so much more difficult (despite help from warm-hearted Hungarian people). The worse part is: reality & image has a big discrepency. To me, the park turns out to be more like it's been built up to utilize a deserted place :( However, since I have to overcome so much trouble to get to the park, I really took a lot of pictures to make the trip worth while :p

Pic: Shots taken at Statue Park (or Memento Park)

Leaving Statue Park, I rushed to the Danube river side to catch night river cruise (with dinner & dance). Budapest is beautiful by day but trust e, it is 10times more beautiful at night when the city lights up, especially on Buda side where the Buda Castle is. Absolutely gorgeous. It was pretty windy on the cruise & I didn't bring tri-pod (my hand nearly froze due to picture taking), so the night scene pictures quality is not really good...but it doesn't affect the beauty of Budapest by night, I hope.

Day2 trip, Buda side, to be continue...

Pest

Budapest consists of two parts: Buda & Pest; separated by River Danube. Hence my trip itinerary is conveniently divided into one day for each side =)

Day1: The Pest side of Budapest

I always think the best way to get close or trying to understand the local is by visiting their daily life. What better than a market? So first stop: central market (which looks like train station from the outside). Being a country famous for paprika, paprika & peppers of all varieties are abundantly available at the market. I'm amazed to see that butcher shop actually takes credit card at the market.

Pic (top): central market; Pic (bot): various goods 'for sale' :)

Tried an apple poppy seed strudel (tasted so so) and walked across the road to pedestrian street where lots of different souvenir shops, restaurants & café are located. Creative souvenirs made from plants & vegetables (like lotus doll), delicate hand made cloths, Hungarian wine in special container & typical tourist souvenirs (key chain, fridge magnet etc) can be found along the street.

Pic (top): pedestrian walk way on the 'souvenir street'; Pic (bot): various souvenirs

Next stop is the parliament, absolutely beautiful. I spoke to a local about how beautiful their parliament building is, he agreed but said it's only beautiful on the outside not on the inside because politicians are in there, lol... The plan was to take up a parliament tour but the tour ticket was sold out :(

Pic: the parliament 'paranomic' view

Video: Budapest Pest side's view (shot from Fisherman's Bastian on Buda side)

I tried to summarize day1 in a single blog entry but it doesn't seem to be possible. Can't believe I walked & saw so much within a day in the Pest side. Will continue on the next blog...

Hello Budapest

Budapest greets me with its very friendly people, absolutely 'foreign' language & very (and I mean very) old metro system. There are guards stationed at the entrance to the metro station for ticket checking (even in Malaysia, it's fully automated) and the metro trains are really 'historical'.

Pic: 'Historic' metro train

Arriving late in the afternoon, took me quite a while to find the hotel. As if to fit into the 'historic' setting, the lift is pretty much an antique itself (picture below). Went into the city centre for a quick walk around just to 'feel' the environment after checked in.

Pic: Buttons for the 'antique' lift

Budapest swept me off my feet with its beauty, especially at night. It is however, surprisingly, colder than Copenhagen (geographically speaking, it should be warmer). Found a nice restaurant for dinner, tried out the famous goulash & paprika chicken. In Budapest, one must really get used to big amount of money (Hungarian currency = Furint). A dinner costs almost 6000 Furint. I feel 'rich' suddenly, lol...

Hungarians are one of the most friendly people in the world I believe (strongly agree with you, Finland's finest). Stand still for 1 minute with a map in your hand looking lost, then someone will come to your rescue. The only problem is most of them don't speak 'understandable' English which often leaves me more confused. But they are nice & helpful for sure. Bonus to the beautiful city.

Another remark is: most of the water sold in Budapest is sprakling water. For people who's used to only drinking still water, please choose water with pink bottle cap. All other colours are only for sparkling water (took me a few wrong purchase to realize that).

More about Budapest sights next blog.

Doll-y

In our corporate cultural & ethnic online training, one of my colleague found out that apparently addressing a lady from China as China Doll is a violation. Well, personally, I wouldn't mind if someone calls me China Doll, think it's kind of cute, not sure why it's an ethnical issue :s

Anyway, this 'mean' colleauge purposedly highlighted this point to me & call me China Doll just to see my reaction (probably he's trying to violate the rules & get some warning? hmm...). Instead of getting the respond that he expected, he got corrected because I'm not really a 'China' Doll but more of a 'Malaysian Doll' :p

Feeling defeated, he came back to me hours later, called me 'Dolly' and explained that Dolly is the name of the first clone sheep (duh...I know :s). I responded with -- 'méhh' which surprisingly entertained him a lot. Now whenever he sees me, he greets me with 'méhh'...

I will 'revenge', soon!

Pic: Dolly the sheep

Updates (9-Oct-08)

I was complaining to another friend that my mean colleague, let's call him 'B' is calling me 'Dolly' and received feedback that instead of making people complying to the training material and become better behaved, the training actually brings out worse of my colleagues. How true...

My 'Dolly' story starts to spread around the department (partly because I find it funny & tell a lot of people...my own fault) and my boss finds it amusing. He said B is right. I'm Dolly from 'Méh-laysia', a Pe-'néh'-ng girl...

Another colleague (after hearing the story) said I should stop dressing in t-shirt & jeans to 'live up to my Dolly reputation'...ish...