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.

Kiddo Talk & Pic Mar 2023

Lots of photos this month and almost all from our Hong Kong trip. Although the trip came up to about $8K all the pictures were well worth it.

Viral & Bacteria Combi Attack

It started on Monday evening when I was picking 阳阳 from school. He vomited right at the shoe rack at the school's entrance. That night his fever shot up as high as 39.7 so the first thing next morning we brought him to see Dr Ang. Even though the blood test showed both viral and bacteria infection, we couldn't ward him as there were no beds available at Thomson. There must be a bad wave of illness and infection among kids. We got on the waiting list and went home to bear it through. His fever kept going up to 39.5+ and everyone was all hands on deck. He was obviously very sick. What's more worrying is that I'm traveling this weekend.

On Thursday we managed to get a bed and brought him straight to admit into the hospital. Haiz ... hopefully he gets well soon now that he is in hospital. Meimei has to accompany her and we had to leave 萱萱 with Siti as Nyaong and Nyama are in Indonesia. I need to travel tomorrow night so Meimei shooed me home to rest for the trip.

HK 2023 - Day 6 - Going Home

Going home today! We had a slow morning and then buffet lunch at the Cordis Hotel restaurant. The kids were delighted at having a buffet lunch where they can choose their own food. They had multiple servings of ice cream cones.

After lunch it was straight to the airport to catch the flight. The kids are excited to be going home. I guess 5 to 6 days of holiday is satisfying enough. This is the first of many to come!!

HK 2023 - Day 5 - Trams

Trams day with an added bonus short visit to the flower festival display. Weather's better today with clear skies. We made our way to Central by MTR after breakfast. It was quite an uphill, literally, track to the Peak tram station. The kids were complaining all the way and 阳阳 kept wanting me to carry him.But we eventually made it and were able to get good seats on the tram. I like how they have created a sun roof so passengers get a wider and grander spectacle on the ride.

 

Thankfully it was a clear and sunny day with a constant cool breeze. We were able get a number of pictures though the sun was in our eyes as we took the shots. We took to a trail and just enjoyed the peaceful stroll around the hill. It wasn't long though before the kids complained of tiredness so we headed down to Central again for the next Tram ride.

There is a flower festival at Victoria Park so that's where we took the train. We went upstairs and found seats at the back of the train. It's a nice experience for the kids to take in the sights of the city.

The flower festival was very crowded and it was such a hot day we didn't stay long. Everyone was drained from the terrible heat so we quickly took a few photos and escape to lunch.

We made our way via Ting-ting tram again to Wan Chai to eat at Honolulu Cafe. I don't have any pictures ... well I took some ... but lunch was such a misery that none of it was good. The kids were great to try and eat the mediocre food. And don't get me started on the flat out crappy service. Never again will we eat at the cafe ... its not the old Honolulu Cafe that we know of.

Overall we tried to make it a relax day but both kids were still beat from the trip out. 

HK 2023 - Day 4 - Disneyland

Disneyland! We were smarter this time and rented 2 strollers. It was a day of waiting for rides, eating crappy amusement park food and generally trying to get as many nice photos as possible. Again I'm glad we came here, the kiddos can at least appreciate this more than walking the streets of Hong Kong.