Eventful weekend trip to Budapest

Such was the experience I had in Budapest over the weekend, that I can't help but laughed at myself when I think back. It wasn't the best start that anyone would like to have at the beginning of any vacation to realise that all your keys have fell out of your baggage during the transport, including my flat keys, office keys and keys to my bicycle. Since there was nothing that I could do, and only had less than 2 days to enjoy the best of Budapest, I headed straight for the bus, and change to the metro, which was relatively cheap (but make sure you buy both tickets at the airport for better deal).

First stop, Prima Hostel, very cheap @ less than £8 for a night in room of 4. Since I only needed a bed for the night, it sounded just the deal I needed. Room was basic with promised breakfast that did not arrive the next morning (and had pretty bad bed bug bites after). Will only recommend purely based on price consideration and location. First stop is the most classic looking MacDonald outlet that I have come across, directly beside the Nyugati train station, preserving absolute classical architecture and design. I was intrigued and had to get a Happy meal and was kindly served by Ronald himself.

After filling my stomach, it was time to head towards the Margaret Bridge that strandles between Buda and Pest, with the south tip of Margaret Island connected to it amid the mighty Danube River. The evening scenery was amazing as the many building lining along the River was nicely lilted up. You get the feeling that every street is filled with some surprise waiting to be discovered and every restaurant round the corner is waiting to have it's famous goulash to be tasted. Together with the zero degrees, it certainly feel special to some degree, very European but less the tourists.



Dinner was definitely the highlight of my trip as I stumbled onto Firkasz, near to the Margaret Bridge, setup by former journalists (as seen from the memorabilia all over the walls within. An English speaking diner kindly recommended that I am definitely at the right place whilst I was looking at the menus. It proves to be an excellent choice as I had one of the best goulash that I ever tasted (not that I had any before this), and excellent Hungarian wine, affordable and cheerful. Mains was duck breast, with some strange vege that you have to pay separately for - Nice but too much for me.

I headed to Castle hill the next morning and popped in a bookshop to buy some stamps to send a postcard to my gf, only to discover later that I have accidentally left my wallet in the shop. This was really the twist to trip which was otherwise quite enjoyable. Thinking that I had been pickpocketed, I back traced my route to the point just before the bookshop and eventually headed to a police station nearby to report my mishap. With no cash in hand, I was pretty gutted that I can't enjoy the spa baths of the world famous Gellert Baths, and worse of all, getting back to the airport for my flight in 3 hours. I did manage to hope on a few trams and bus without paying to accelerate my journey and was glad that I had a peek in the Gellert baths after the manager took pity on me (see flickr photos). When the time arrived, I had to sneak onto the metro and bus again to get back to the airport and did the same on the DLR/tube after landing at London City airport. The pouring weather that greeted me and not able to get into my flat was probably not the best ending one like, but was eventful after all.

p.s. I was lucky to get back my wallet after the shop owner returned it to my country's consulate although the courier cost me £40 to get it back! But all is worth when I think back at how careless I was, at least it wasn't my passport that was lost :P

See all my photos in Flickr.

Barcelona trip

Entrance to the Guell Park

Just finished uploading a bunch of pictures from a trip to barcelona back in July this year. Really interesting city to spend a couple of days, and managed to visit most of the museums that we wanted to, except for a few Gaudi ones that have long queues which we simply avoided. Another highlight was the stay at Chic & Basic Tallers Hostel beside Universitat Square. Very modern and boutique styled accomodation, ranging from spa shower to lights that come on/off just by touching the surface. Not very expensive and highly recommended if you looking for something different to a standard hotel. Biggest miss was probably not able to attend a match at the magnífico Nou Camp.

Enjoy some of the pics - http://flickr.com/photos/tangysd/sets/72157602407281445/

"Eye" Delight at Heathrow

Heathrow has always been a nightmare for travelers, both coming in and out. Probably worse if you are one of those like me who doesn't carry UK or EU passports. Queuing at the immigration takes up to 1hr on usual, worse is never surprising, with the few exceptions when you can pick up your bags from the conveyor belt before everybody are probably on the way into Central London.

Not anymore these days after I signed up with IRIS. The IRIS program is really one of the few change by the UK govt that impressed me. To enroll on the program, you need to sign up just before leaving for your holidays out of the country. The rooms are not obviously located so it is best to ask around before you proceed to continue with your duty free shopping. In the room, you are asked a few questions to qualify for the program and then asked to sit in front of a iris scanning machine that looks exactly like those at the optician. You position your eyes into 2 red circle, wait for a click and voila!

The next time you come back into the country, you can give your mates who are queuing up at immigration the biggest grin, before walking through the iris machine in a minute, and off to collect your luggage and out of Heathrow in 10min (Doesn't take into consideration baggage delays)...*SWEET* :)

Note: The IRIS system is only available at certain airports, check the official site before leaving.