Cat eyes

From behind every car has a character that reminds me of a face. For example this Mazda has a cat-eye.:)

Underground Metro: Deák Ferenc tér | Budapest

The Budapesti metró is the metro system in Budapest. It is the second-oldest underground metro system in the world.

Line 1 (been around since 1896) and was declared a World Heritage Site in 2002.

There are three existing lines, namely, yellow line 1, red line 2, blue line 3. Very easy to remember since each is designated by a number and a colour.

Metro Line 4 is currently under construction.

Paintings of Anikó Katona

Style palette

Being out in the city in Budapest, you can always see most women in jeans and casuals. I don't know if you do this too, Zannnie seems to have some favourite colours in different times of the year. And this year in 2010, she likes the bermuda blue and shades of cream colours' :) These are very soothing colours and she loves to match it with black or white. 

For Spring and Summer this year, she is in favour of pistachio (which is slightly light beige in colour). It suits her just fine since she is rather tanned :)  Finding out the colour palette is of course easy. The women's wardrobe generally includes the four seasons of clothings ranging from winter coats, boots, tights to light summer dresses. Zannnie has lots of summer dresses since our last visit to Bali for our honeymoon.

Just as you walk around the downtown, you can easily spot young ladies dressed in trendy and fashionable clothings. Those students in ELTE university can be quite trendy with their creative mixed and matches. Some savvy girls who are online, usually browse the online Style guides based on the different seasons. For example, during Winter, people wear more solemn colours. While in autumn, the colours gets more colourful ranging from orangey red, yellowish brown to different hues of greens are also very popular. To me, colour combinations is rather important aspect of depicting a women's tastes in style. 

Mismatched colours are such turn-offs and it happened a lot here in Hungary when older women are dressed in old socialists colours. There are even women in their 50s who literally 'stopped in time', and they are spotted with hairstyles of that time and age! There is a TV programme repeated in the day that shows a serial drama called 'Neighbours' (in hungarian Szomszédok) It's funny but you can really see someone standing next to you in the metro (underground) spotting a hairstyle exactly like those in the 1960s.

In summer, it is very popular that people go to the Lake Balaton and that is when the swimsuits and fitness gears are worn in the outdoors. Here, it could be the lifestyle or better to say because of the food culture, there are a lot of demands for Plus-Sized Clothing for women and men. What is most useful is this online place where you can find special sizes or even petite clothing.

Good costumer

The other day I have been to the bank and while I was standing at the desk I could see partly the screen of the bank officer's computer. My account was open and I recognized two short lines there typed with larger fonts:

GOOD COSTUMER

LATE WITH PAYMENT

So it seems I am considered as a good costumer by the bank even if I am regularly late with the payment. Being late is better then not paying at all, isn't it?:) And what are the consequences of being a good costumer? Actually nothing. I still have to wait the same long time in the queue!  

Steel

Acél means steel in Hungarian. This video was made by my student Boglárka Gulyás who is studying social work in Budapest. The topic of the short video is aging/elderly. Spite of the short Hungarian speaking parts I guess the message of the video is understandable for everyone.

Sakura petals everywhere

Cherry Blossom tree with white flowers in our yard

Right behind in our yard, we have a cherry blossom tree. It's a good thing that it flowers every spring and I love observing it for that one precious week in the second week of April. Just by turning our head in the dinning room.

In Asia, a lot of people thought that the best place to see sakura or cherry blossom is Japan. To be exact, Kyoto. Well, I think there are beautiful hybrids there, and being nearest to Singapore, it would be just a jump with a short flight to see these flowers that has a short flowering time.

Solo in Tata

The buildings in Tata is kind of pretty. This place has a very serene ambience, on a spring day like this, a mini excursion makes it a wonderful family event.

Tata, Hungary

Hungarian bean Goulash

*To avoid flatulence introduce beans gradually into your diet.
**Most beans require several hours soaking in order to destroy the bean toxin lectin.

Kidney beans aka Chili Beans are rich in the best sort of fiber - soluble fiber - which helps to eliminate cholesterol from the body. They are a good source of folate, potassium, iron, manganese, copper and zinc. As a high-potassium, low-sodium food they help reduce blood pressure. Not only are they low in fat, but when combined with grains, beans supply high quality protein which provides a healthy alternative to meat or other animal protein. Kidney beans also contain protease inhibitors which frustrate the development of cancerous cells.

Hungarian Goulash

NO booking.com

Our trip to Venice Italy was a very romantic and pleasant one. We didn't take the plane there. Instead we went there by a sleeping train from Budapest Keleti to Venezia Mestre. It was a 14 hours ride crossing the Croatian and Slovenian borders.

All in all, our trip was fantastic. It was just a problem before we started our journey about three weeks before our departure when we encounter an unpleasant booking experience with an internet hotel booking provider called 'booking.com' :((((

If you google any hotels in Europe, you can't missed them. This is the UNFORTUNATE fact :(

I wanted to write about the ethics of this service provider as their business tactics is not something I can tolerate. My story goes like this:-

For two weeks, I was surfing online to look for an accommodation for our Venezia stay. Our first night has been taken care as it has been arranged in Venezia Mestre. It is the second night as we would like to stay in Venice itself.

We placed a booking on 7th March, most of the rooms in Venice are with Twin Room setup, even if they offer Double room, they would just push two beds together, calling it a 'double'. That was one review I have specifically read before pushing the key to book the Double Room with 'Hotel Gabrielli Sandwirth'.

As you know I was being totally careful about the room details. Immediately in a one minute I received the 'Booking Confirmation' via email. That wrote the price I paid for was for a TWIN room :(

Within minutes, I wrote an email to dispute their confirmation details as follows:-

===

Dear Hotel Manager of Hotel Gabrielli Sandwirth,

I have specifically made a booking for ONE DOUBLE ROOM but this confirmation has indicated 'TWIN ROOM'.

Please make sure we are getting a double room NOT a TWIN room.

Kindly confirm and revert.

Best,

===

I was sure my tone in the email was polite. But to my shocking surprise, nobody from the booking service provider 'Booking.com' nor anyone from the hotel contacted us. It was until the 11th March, when I received a phone called from a man who speaks reasonably good English. He said he is the representative from the booking.com and he started telling me that if I want the double room, it will be prices from 150 Euros to 200 Euros depending if it faces the lagoon or not.

Then he started quoting the prices of those that faces the lagoon but mid way I told him to stop.

I said:''Why are we going through these prices? And may I know what is going on?''

he said: ''Well, the prices are variable and we do not have the room at the price of the twin and by today, this is the price of the Double room booking''

I said:''I have specifically wrote an email that was almost as immediately as I could since I noticed your system error prompting me that I have booked a twin NOT a double room. Now why are we discussing about the new room prices? And why aren't anybody coming forward within the last three days to prompt us about the room availability etc, until today? It's been three days and now you are telling me for double room booking it has to be 150 Euros??!!''

he said:''So what can I do for you, Mdm?''

I said: ''Tell me what is the cancellation charges (if any) for this case?''

He immediately said, ''There is no cancellation charge.'' Upon saying this, he took a breath (as if he knows exactly that I have unveiled their tactic to make potential customers paying extras to top up for a Double room should they insist).

I said:'' ok, then please email us a confirmation that we would like to cancel this order'.

He said: ''ok.'' and hanged up.

Well, this is not the end, the worst was when I see the cancellation confirmation, it was indicated that:-

Reason : She wanted a double room for the same price.

How unethical can this company be? Is this how they train their staffs in customer service? Putting words in this way is really beyond what I can tolerate!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

So remember, if you really need to book an accommodation online, check carefully and don't fall into the same trap. Following this, I read some feedback that this practice was experienced by other tourists to Venice as well and they were too embarrased being already at the hotel to say no to the extra charges for the double room. (If you want to see by your own eyes, you can go read on tripvisor.com)

This is my bad experience with this 'Booking.com' online hotel reservations