Kiddo Talk & Pic Apr 2023

萱萱: "Yakult please Nyaong"

Meimei has refused to buy Yakult for fear the kids will start coughing again. We've been through a bout of bad illness through the month so everyone was wary. So 萱萱 in her innocence, asked Nyong to buy her Yakult instead. And since Nyaong has always been very obliged to 萱萱's request, he bought some. Haha smart girl.

萱萱: “Its very hard to say no to Nyama”  

We were back from buying breakfast at 216 and bumped into Nyama. She insisted we take the pack of chee zhong fun for snacks later. We were going to church and then berries so we wouldn't be home to eat it. So I tried to educate 萱萱 to think about the day and politely decline Nyama's. Her reply was so genuine and correct. It's hard to say no to Nyama hahah. 

Reading phone

阳阳: mama I want the dino toy

Meimei on toilet bowl 💩: go and find it yourself I dunno which one you are talking about

阳阳: I found one I want to show you which one it is

Meimei: I am in toilet 

阳阳: can you come out

Meimei: I am 💩 you want me to stop 💩 and come out just to see toy??

(Pause)

阳阳: no..

Meimei: good (victory for me)

阳阳: you inside just reading phone 

Love Letters: You Are My Sunshine!

First Family Photo Shoot

Our first family photoshoot. Location - Gallop extension at the Botanic Gardens. These are some of the previews we got in the evening. Can't wait for the full set of photos!!

Elixir Haul #12

 

Love Letters: Do All That On My Own

I'm so jealous!! And extremely happy at the same time that 萱萱 is showing so much love and concern for Meimei. Our girl girl is all that and more because of Meimei, all credit to mummy dearest!

Work Travels: Budapest Tips, Food & Way Home

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Spend the day at the plant to understand and document their process and pain points. We would have dinner together everyday. We had Mexican and burgers multiple times. The rest of the team don't seem interested in trying local cuisines so I just went with it.

One of the oddest thing that happen on the trip is the tip I left in the hotel room. It's always there when I come back to the hotel. Is it because it's not enough? If this was any other hotel in the US it'll be gone in a jiffy.

We are at the plant from Monday to Thursday and Friday is a holiday so I told the first flight out of Budapest. Again I stopped at Doha for a meal. The meals on the plane are really not great so I treasure the meals on the stopover. Thankfully they have a nice Harrod's restaurant here.

 

Scratchy Scratchy

It's an accident but Meimei was feeling bad about it. She scratched it on the way up the basement car park ramp at Bedok Mall. I'm glad she didn't bang anyone cos that would have been troublesome and probably more traumatic to deal with another party. 

I told her it's ok and it really is. Again I'm not the type to obsess over a car. It's just a tool to get around and a couple of scratches on it isn't going to matter at all. Most importantly everyone's safe.

Work Travels: Around Budapest City

Booked a Big Bus ticket to tour the city on the buses. For some unknown reason they were not stopping near the hotel today. So I had to walk to the nearest pickup point which was a couple of kilometres away. The weather was good so I took a casually stroll towards the riverbank while taking in the sights.

The whole district is very well maintained. It was early so the streets were sparse with a couple of folks walking around. Those may be tourist too but I can't really tell. I hopped on the bus at the bridge and plan to take it a full circle to check out the different locations and plan where I want to get down to see after lunch.

I took a couple of the nice architecture along the ride. Probably gonna stop at Hero's square later before I catchup with the rest of the team for dinner. A few are landing in the afternoon so we'll meet up for drinks too.

The way of the thousand steps. No it's not an attraction nor is it called that. It's just me complaining about the long climb back to the hotel.

I took more pictures when I got back to the hotel. I won't get the chance to walk around this week with work so I'm making most of the peaceful Sunday. Lunch is at a nearby restaurant Ramazuri Bistronomy which served what I find to be Hungarian fusion fare. The starter tuna salad and Chicken Paprika main was very good. Dessert was a little too sweet for my taste but I like the presentation.

After lunch I trekked down to the river again but this time to the south to catch the bus at another pickup point. Always easier to go downhill. I'm definitely grabbing a cab to get back this time.

So I made my way to Hero's Square and dropped off to catch a view pictures. It's definitely very touristy but hey the place looks very majestic that you can't miss it.

I took a quick stroll through the plaza and hopped on the bus again to meet the team at the Marriott. I stopped right before the hotel for some treats which I saw on the earlier ride this morning. Hungarian chimney cones. Not as exciting as I expected but hey gotta try the local foods at least once right.

Dinner was at an Italian place. The fish soup was great, the ravioli not so much. The rest had pizza and drinks. Pretty subtle affair considering they can really get into a drinking spree if they wanted to. Guess we are taking slow before the start of the week at the plant.

Work Travels: Around Hilton Budapest

The Hilton Budapest is located in the scenic castle district. And because I had Diamond membership, they had me in a room with the view of the river. It was a spectacular sight from the room.

It was 3pm before I took to the lounge to get a quick bite and a long overdue drink. I didn't sit too long as I wanted to walk around the area and see if I can find a place for dinner.

Just right in front of the hotel is the Fisherman's Bastion so it was crowded with tourist. And with good reason, the view from the castle is amazing. The city has a rustic and medieval feel to it. 

Dinner was at a place called 21 which serves Hungarian cuisine. It's not too bad though not all of it suits my palate. The beef goulash was the best thing at dinner.

I was back in the room early. Feeling very tired after the flight so I turned in early. I did catch a sight of the parliament house from my window. Planning to explore the city tomorrow.

Work Travels: Travelling to Budapest

阳阳's still very sick in the hospital but I have to get on a plane for a work trip to Budapest. At least Meimei is with him and 萱萱 is old enough to look after herself and there is Yeeyee and Siti anyways. Nyama is coming back this weekend so there'll be more help at home.  

It was a 2am flight on Qatar to Doha in 9 hours before another at dawn for 8 hours to reach Budapest. My colleagues were flying from Cincinnati and we will reach at the same time at 1pm local. I had slept on the whole flight to Doha so I had a simple American breakfast in Doha before the next flight. 

We are on a smaller plane so we had to take a bus to the tarmac to board. 

It was an uneventful flight. The customs was packed when I arrived and took about half hour to clear before I met up with Joe and Jeremy. Joe has a rental so they dropped me off at the Hilton before going to their stay at the Marriott.