My week + more pictures of Spring

3:39 AM The girl you see
While my crazy Roma neighbour is singing out in his soprano voice to the equally loud polka music, I shall attempt to blog a little about my week and pack for my trip to Vienna tomorrow. It is easter weekend, so a couple of friends and I are making use of the long weekend to take a trip. Vienna is just a 3 hour train ride from Budapest, and it is my first time out of the country since I've arrived, so I am rather excited about it :)

Talking about crazy, I had a really crazy morning today. I was scheduled to teach a class as a substitute teacher this morning. The office was located in this area of the city which I have yet to explore, and so I just relied on the teacher's instructions to get there. So, I got to the square early enough. Found the opposite bus stop of the bus that I was supposed to take. However, when I crossed the road to the other bus stop, I found that my bus that is supposed to head in the direction I wanted was NOT located at the bus stop. So, it was very strange for me. I crossed the road like three times trying to figure out why the same bus travelling in the opposite direction was at that bus stop, but its counterpart could not be found at the bus stop across the road? So as the minutes ticked by, I ran into 3 cafes and frantically tried to communicate with the Hungarians that I was looking for the bus... Everytime, I got told that I could find it across the road... so in the end, I was just aimlessly walking around, getting freaked out and panicky. In the end, I went to other place in the city to take the bus, which was basically where the bus route started. I was half an hour late for class, hopelessly apologetic and sweaty. Basically, I was singing the fuck song that morning. I was so glad when the lesson was over, and I got to run away. The students didn't look too fussed about it... but I still felt bad about it...

I went to the infamous 4 tiger market today with Dan. It is supposed to be this huge chinese wholesale market. But when I went there, I didn't really see many chinese and hardly any foodstalls. Alot of it was just stalls and stalls of cheap bags/clothes/accessories... only occasionally did I see a food stall, and it was some hungarian gyros, not chinese food. So it was quite disappointing. I was kind of glad Dan was with me, coz the market was a little intimidating. As I walked, I could hear all sorts of Asian languages, Thai/Vietnames/Northern chinese dialect. Some of the stalls are even run by hungarians, and its really scary to see them haggling with customers. It's very aggressive. Before going, I heard many stories about how the markets used to be controlled by the mafia... and maybe I'm paranoid, but when I was walking, I noticed a lot of card games going on among the males and I always felt that I was being eyed by people. Needless to say, I kept my bag firmly in front of me all the time. I doubt that I'll ever go back... somehow... if I do need clothes, I rather buy them in a place where I can feel safe and under no pressure...

I guess Spring is officially here, and it has been delightfully warm in the day time. Nights are still rather cool. So it always happens that I wear my jacket out to work early in the morning (6am) but after class, I don't need it anymore right until the sun sets. Last weekend, I went to Margaret Island with some friends to relax. Margaret Island is an island between Buda and Pest, and its filled with grassy areas where the locals love to go and sunbathe/have picnics/make-out/engage in very very public display of affection (just literally short of having sex). I totally kid you not. When I read the guidebook, apparently there were some historical buildings to be seen, but to tell you the truth... sometimes it is hard being a local and a tourist at the same time. All my other colleagues were just mainly interested in enjoying the sun... and me too... and insisting on hiking around the island to see the buildings would have probably been an anti climatic move.

At the entrance to the island... try and make out the hordes of people behind me... there were so many people at the island that day...

Trying to find a spot...

"Guys are always fond of a fun loving blonde" I wonder if this lady actually understood what was written on the back of her blouse

Wierd statue in the middle of the island. Suggestions for it have included... vagina... fountain pen tip...
Many hungarians seem to keep pets (mainly dogs), and they like to let them run free... so just one of the many dogs that smelled our fries that afternoon.

Drinks at Octogon afterwards
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The story of Vac

1:40 AM The girl you see
The original plan was to go to Vac about two weeks back. But the night before, there was this big party and everyone overslept (kinda expected) the next morning. So, I was quite disappointed that time, plus the fact that I had told everyone, and some of my students that I was going to go to Vac. So imagine how I had to tell everyone who asked that I didn't make it to Vac after all that weekend. One of my students was so sweet. He told me that if I did go to Vac I had to go to this dessert shop which was owned by this famous Hungarian pastry chefs who had won awards overseas. And he actually printed out the map of the town and the address of the shop for me! I was caught off guard, coz I usually take whatever my students offer at face value, but he actually did something for me, so it was a nice surprise. So I was quite determined this weekend to go to Vac, even if by myself just to see the town and pay a visit to that shop. So last friday I met up with Aimee and James to buy tickets to Vienna and after that, I told them I was going to go to Vac... good thing Aimee was free and feeling adventurous too, so off we went!

So just a little info about Vac. Very easy to get to this town from Budapest. Return tickets from Nyugati station (located in city centre) (See pic) cost 1050 forints (approx $8 Sing) and the trip takes no longer than 45 mins. Many trains leave the station for Vac, but they take different routes. When we went, we didn't manage to catch a direct train (25 mins), but I didn't mind the 40 min journey so much as it took us past the other towns enroute. There's a legend associated with the name of the town, but I won't go into that as anyone could easily look it up in any tourist guidebook. So pictures are posted below, and I'll comment as we go along...
Almost all the trains have graffiti painted all over them! It's like someone snuck into the railway yard at dark and started spraying all over... it looks kinda cool... but something I definitely wouldn't dream of finding back home.
We bought snacks to munch on the train ride...and me reading up on Vac so that I would know where to go... haha..


Arriving at Vac... felt kind lost when we first stepped down... usual instinct is follow the crowd and that's what we did!

The main square in the town. It was a lovely day! I actually was comfortable walking around in just my tank top and shirt. And I needed my sunnies too! The square is very pretty, and obviously much better kept and seems to be much cleaner and neater too!


This is the White Friar's Church, which was build in the 18th Century in baroque-rocco style. The inside was really pretty even though we could only view it through the glass doors. What was extra special about this church is that a secret crypt with several mummies were actually found beneath the church in 1995 during some renovation works. The mummies are available for viewing in this museum called Memento Mori. It was a tad expensive in my opinion, 1000ft, but it was quite cool to actually look at the coffins and the burial rituals several centuries back. We weren't allowed to take any photos, but when the lady initially opened the door to the crypt, Aimee and I were a bit apprehensive because from above it looks like this descent into this scary basement and the ceiling was so low, I actually had to stoop while climbing down into the crypt. One thing that particularly striked me when viewing the crypt was the number of infant coffins that were found, which is probably an indication of the survival rate of infants back in the days. Was a little scary seeing a baby corpse... but those were the times I guess...

This is the Andras Chazar Education Institute for Deaf Mutes, the first school of its kind in Hungary, established in 1802.

The Palace of the Great Provost, a medieval house that was rebuilt in baroque style in the second half of the 18th Century.
My continued fascination with this country's obsession with statues :P

The Dessert shop!!! I purposely went to the tourist office to find out where the store was on the map, and turns out it was right on the square. True to form, it did not disappoint. I was so excited I ordered two cakes, the Dobos cake (a hungarian dessert, which was also recommended by my student) and a mandarin flavoured mousse.
The address of the cafe is:
Desszert Szalon
2600 Vac, Koztarsasag ut. 21
Tel: (20) 390 3367
Open: Tues - Sun, 10am to 7pm.
Waitresses speak some english, so not to worry.



St Hedwig: The patron saint of the Danube and Vac is at the heart of it.

The Franciscan Church

The triumphal Arch, the oldest baroque arch in Europe outside of France.

It was alot of walking for a day! We even went down to the promenade and strolled by the Danube where we saw people kayak along the river.
There is actually alot more to see in this town, which we were not able to cover, because it can be a long walk especially if you do not drive... and we were quite exhuasted after just seeing the sights around the square. I think this makes for a good day trip, and there seems to be much more to see and do in comparison to Szentendre. And of course, what better way to end the hot day by having a few beers in the middle of the square and watching tourists walk down the streets... haha...
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Oh what to blog about... :P

7:46 AM The girl you see
This was my excuse the past week for not blogging. I kept thinking, oh what do I blog about, I've not been anywhere! But tonight, at 1am, I was looking at my camera after a day trip out to Vac (a town outside Budapest which I will blog more on later), I was like oh... I do have heaps of pictures from other events... So there are are a lot of pictures to show, but as its nearly 2am and I am dreadfully tired, I shall just upload some of my social pictures and will do a more detailed post on my explorations tomorrow, which I do assume is what most people will be waiting to read about :)

Teaching update: I am getting more classes to teach!!! Terifying and a relief at the same time. Terrified because I obviously lack experience and I always wonder whether my lesson plans are actually helping the students, and having to juggle between what the student prefers to do, and what their management wants me to do with them. A relief because at least I get to do something now instead of moping around the house and thinking crazy thoughts to myself hahaha. I been to quite a number of client interviews now, and I somehow find myself being very relaxed and honest about the whole situation. Like, I don't mind playing on my strengths like having a degree etc etc, but I also don't mind admitting my weaknesses like my obvious lack of experience, and the slow pace in which I seem to be getting my teaching cert. I've sort been thinking like ," this is me, I'm human... got bad points and good points... so its up to you to decide whether you want me or not... I'm not going to lie about something I'm not." So... yah... One stereotype I've noticed though is that a number of schools have asked me if english is my first language. Hate to point it out, but its obviously because I'm an Asian kid. Luckily, I've been so de-sensitized to that question (since my days in New Zealand), that I immediately laugh it off and just answer the question.

AIESEC update: Going to be rather honest here, and AIESEC Budapest, hasn't been as supportive as I thought it would be. My buddy just quit AIESEC, and I only learnt about it today by accident because I met her on the tram. Aimee said that she already got a call from her new buddy, but I have yet to get anything. So as it stands, I have yet to sign my contract, and I really hope I get paid next week... if not, I'm probably to get like really really annoyed... and most of my friends should know my shitty look is very shitty. I wonder if they'll actually have the initiative to make sure I get my visa or if I am going to get kicked out of the country first. As it stands... the second option looks more realistic now. I mean... if they're going to take like 5% of my salary every month, they should at least do some work for it.... GRRRRR....

So I actually do not believe that I've had the chance to show many pictures of the people I work with in Selti, or of the other foreign interns who are currently working in Budapest as well. Just a brief description. Most of the interns who don't work in Selti (that I've met), work in Tata... yes that big Indian company. However, there are good number as well who work in numerous industries or different companies in Hungary. Having said that, the people I work with in Selti, are a really young bunch... so obviously, they love to party and have beers every weekend... so often our gatherings are still like a revolve around alcohol and smokes times infinity. But it's a cool bunch...so here they are...
One of the few group pictures that I actually have of Selti teachers (well, most of them)
Samantha, Lauren, me
Simon (our head teacher)
Kate and I

Haha.. ok.. Ryan and I... Ryan is the managing director of Selti, so I guess you know what that makes him...
Spanish teacher Raquel and her boyfriend. Next picture is with Raquel and Marianne... Spanish teachers...
Sneha and I
Aimee and me!! (kiwis..)

Justyna and I

The girl next to me is Maria, Aimee's Serbian roommate. I hang out at their flat frequently, so that week, her sister and friend came to visit from Serbia and this is my photo with them :)
A Russian, A Singaporean and A British.... hmmm
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