Let's begin my trip with the free walking tour. At first I was thinking of naming the posts "Day 1 in Budapest" and so on, but then again they'd be such long posts so I'll have to break them down in several parts ha ha ha...so it's easier to just divide them like this, I guess.
On Tuesday we decided to join the Free Budapest Walking Tour to get some insider's insights and tips and tricks 'coz we didn't have to book anything. We went to a cafe first to get breakfast and then found the appointed place for the tour. We were there about 40 minutes early 'coz we wanted to make sure we could find it, so we went to a nearby store first and took some pictures of the surrounding area. The morning tour started at 10.30 am and lasted for 2.5 hours. Click on the link to get more info about the tours that they organize and what kind of places you can see on each tour.
Here is the appointed place to join the tour: The Lion Fountain.
Here I am sitting down across the Lion Fountain while waiting for the tour guide to come.
This pic below is the other side of the statue where I was sitting.
Nearby there's this cafe called Gerbeaud. It's supposed to be very famous for its delicacies, but we didn't go there 'coz they say it's rather pricy he he...still the building is lovely.
At 10.30 am the tour guide and her assistant came, so we started the tour by listening to her explanations. The group of people came from all over the place. Here's a pic of us while walking through a park (except of course I wasn't in the pic):
In the park there were "Locks of Love". People who want their love to stay forever should buy locks and write down their names on the locks and then throw the keys away to Danube River. Funny thing was that we saw a bike lock there, as well ha ha ha...
Here's a close-up look at the BIGGEST lock there. Somebody is definitely SO serious about this HA HA HA...
In the same park there's this fountain:
I really LOVE this statue...VERY lovely:
This is the other side of the statue:
We also stopped by near this artificial pond below. It's actually the rooftop of a pub where they hold free concerts.
And look what I found in the pond!!! Actually there were three of them he he...the other two have darker colours.
The Little Princess statue. I thought it was a boy, but it's actually supposed to be a girl. The thing is, the sculptor used his own son as a model for this statue. That is why she looks boyish. As you can see, her knees are VERY shiny. It's 'coz they believe that if you rub them with both hands, you'll get lucky he he...
And who's this dude? It's what I call "The Lucky Policeman". If you rub the belly, it's said that you may get lucky ha ha ha...Again you'll notice that his belly is shinier than other parts of his body ha ha...
I'll stop this post here before it gets WAY too long, but I'll continue tomorrow with more pictures.
We had a GREAT time in Budapest and the weather was pretty nice, too. It went even as hot as 25'C on Thursday. In the mornings it was rather chilly (around 11-15'C) and the wind could be pretty strong and cold, but after midday it was nice and warm (18-25'C) and we even sunbathed while resting our weary legs and feet. Why weary legs and feet? Because R2 didn't want to use any kind of public transport, so we walked everywhere. Yep. EVERYWHERE. Good thing they had plenty of clean stairs and benches around the city to sit on he he he...
When we first got there, it felt weird to see dilapidated old buildings side by side with newer buildings and they all had different styles. One thing that captured my eyes was the fact that there were plenty of small streets in the city centre and people could park parallel on both sides, leaving only the middle lane for one car to pass by. Here's an example:
We arrived in Budapest in the evening and R2 was really hungry, so we didn't have time to browse around for a resto. The minute we found one, we just went for it ha ha ha...It was actually rather pricey, but we enjoyed the food and the service greatly.
I ordered seafood soup: fresh shrimps, oysters, and fish (3500 HUF or around 13 Euros - in Finland it'd have cost at least 1.5 times or twice as much). Here's a pic of it (the serving was twice as much in a huge bowl so I was really full after eating it - btw, the serving bowl isn't in the pic):
Here's the cheapest food we ate in Budapest. I bought Chinese noodles plus sweet and sour chicken. R2 ordered potatoes and spicy chicken and we bought a bottle of Nestea ice tea and altogether they cost 1700 HUF (around 6.4 Euros). And you know what? The chili sauce was TERRIFIC 'coz they use FRESH chili!!! :-D
Here's a sneak peak of Danube River at night:
I think here are the highlights of our trip:
1. Labyrinth. It's an underground labyrinth/cave. It was VERY dark and thrilling. We deliberately went there at night so that it'd be so dark and we had to bring a lantern to circle around the caves (lanterns were provided). It cost 2000 HUF per person to get in (around 7.5 Euros) but we felt it was WORTH it. I'll write more about this in a separate post 'coz I have too many photos.
2. Gellert Hill. Had to walk up many stairs, but the view from the top of the hill was just MAGNIFICENT. :-D
3. Castle Hill. Another hilly area.
4. Opera House. The hour long guided tour cost around 2900 HUF (around 11 Euros).
5. The Free Budapest Walking Tour. We really had a nice time walking around for 2.5 hours and listening to the tour guide. I'll also write about it later on.
What's interesting is that some places have toilet codes on the receipts, so before going to a toilet, you have to buy something and then punch in the codes. Good thing we didn't throw away any receipts - otherwise we'd be in HUGE trouble. Here's an example of the receipt:
OK, I won't write more here, but later on I'll write about our trip in details along with plenty more pics, so beware HA HA HA...
Today I found out that my FIL's condition went worse than yesterday. He started having fever again and his mind wasn't clear at all. There's no clear sign of when he can go back home again. MIL starts to wonder if she can ever take care of him at home again. I can't imagine how devastated MIL must be, so for all of you the praying type, please pray for MIL so that she's given comfort and strength and peace of mind.
She's been so worried about FIL that she has had trouble sleeping at nights. One reason is that she feels that he's not being taken care of as best as he should be, but then there's no way she can stand by at his side day in and day out. She can only come by daily and try to feed him. Yesterday she helped him finish dinner, but today he couldn't finish it all. Probably 'coz he's got fever again.
Not sure what's going on with his body. The first thing that happened was that he had fever and they claimed it was some sort of inflammation, but after some tests they still don't know what's causing it. We all know that his condition is going to get worse (mentally as well as physically), but it's just surprising to see that lately it's been deteriorating this fast. Oh well...just wanna let you know.
Wishing for peace of mind, wishing for the best kind of health care providers possible for FIL so that MIL can feel somewhat comforted...may God help them!!!
1. Hubby made me laugh so much last night till I cried and it was hard to stop laughing ha ha...
2. The grandpa that had given me flowers three times gave me a bar of chocolate the other day.
3. The same day that grandpa gave me chocolate, a grandma insisted on having me take some candies from the bag of candies that she bought. :-D
4. I've been meeting the little girl whom I adore a lot these days and yesterday the girl's little sister started interacting with me, too. She held up her arm towards me and followed me with her gaze wherever I went ha ha ha...(FYI, I was shopping at that time)
5. A regular customer (who had never asked me anything before) went back after paying and asked me where I came from and where I learnt to speak Finnish. When he found out I had a Finnish hubby, he asked me if I had kids already and when I said no, he asked, "Have you even reached the age of 20 yet?"
ROFL ROFL ROFL...So I look at least 12 years younger? That's quite a number!!! *HUGE GRIN*
6. My FIL has been staying at the hospital due to inflammation and fever but he's doing better though they're still having some tests done.
7. New comfy socks that I bought.
8. Living in a village where I can leave groceries inside my bike's bags without losing them.
9. Reading things that enlighten me towards other people's life experiences that never crossed my mind before.
In my lifetime, I know at least two mothers who have ever deemed me as a bad influence for their daughters. Of course they didn't tell me directly, but I found out anyway. The first time I found out from another friend. This particular mother was angry at her daughter for keeping secrets from her, but she blamed me instead. She told a mutual friend of ours that my parents must've brought me up badly 'coz I became such a bad influence to her daughter.
I was shocked, but I just laughed it off. Although I have influenced her daughter in some ways, but I know why she was keeping secrets from her mother. Is it 100% my fault then that she did it 'coz she wanted to have her privacy intact? 'Coz she didn't want her mother to interfere or yap at her? The mother probably thought that the daughter told me everything, but it wasn't true. I was also rather disappointed at that time that she kept some things from me, but it was her right. If she wasn't ready to tell me, then I couldn't do anything about it.
At that time she was working in another city and she came back to her hometown and spent some days at her friend's house without telling her mother (and she didn't tell me, either). Unfortunately a distant relative met her in a public place and told her mother and the mother even called me to ask if I knew about it (she was raging with fury when she called me). The mother probably thought that I had conspired with my friend to keep it a secret, though I only found out about it after she had called me.
I guess it was "logical" why her mother was upset (though the reason why she had said that my parents must've brought me up badly was due to a different reason), but in a way I couldn't help thinking that if the mother was easier to talk to and to be open to, my friend probably wouldn't have done what she had done.
The second time it happened, another friend of mine was in a long-distance relationship with a guy and the mother wanted to break it off. She stated a reason why. She said, "How can you know for sure that he's not fooling around with some other girl in his city? Is there any guarantee that the relationship will work out? Do you even know any long-distance relationship that works out?" And my friend told me that my long-distance relationship with R2 did work out. And because of that, the mother thought I was a bad influence, especially 'coz she had been telling me everything about their long-distance relationship and I had been supporting it.
She did tell me about the relationship 'coz she wanted to know how R2 and I managed to work it out. But the mother disapproved of it and finally forced her to break it off. She was even forced to burn out all the pictures of them together. And during that time when she had the relationship, whenever I called, the mother or the other family members would be listening close by for fear that I'd be giving her more bad influence. At that time I decided not to call her anymore so that she wouldn't be more oppressed.
(Side note: Don't worry about this second friend. She did have a hard time breaking up with that guy, but she's OK now. She's over it.)
Has anyone of you ever been accused of being a bad influence behind your back? Just curious he he...
Ummm...I actually don't know if I can come up with so many things in this post but last night I came up with some, so I decided to do it today ha ha...
1. I'm a routine lover. If some events disrupt my routine, I'm not too welcome about them, but at the very least I'll then want to come back to my routine right away.
2. Point #1 means that some people probably think I lead a boring life ha ha ha ha...Why do I say this? 'Coz a close friend's hubby was SHOCKED when he knew that ever since I moved to Finland, R2 and I almost always visit my in-laws every Saturday (unless if something comes up and then we can't go, but if not then we'll always visit them on Sat).
3. I'm a low-energy type of person. I can't be someone who works full-time and then goes out with friends a few nights a week and still wants to go out during the weekend. I love my "me time" and spending quality time with hubby (also 'coz I love routine more than some people).
4. Meeting too many strangers depletes my energy level. I crave "deep" talks with people I know. I crave sharing my thoughts with people I know. So don't ever think of me as someone who loves meeting strangers and going out with them (a close friend of mine is this kind of person) he he....
5. Many of you have probably known this, but I'm a sleepyhead. I LOVE sleeping and I don't find it as a waste of time (I find it as a necessity), 'coz if I lack sleep I become cranky and poor hubby is my victim he he...
6. I'm not a morning person. My energy peaks during the evening and even at nights. Even my Mom said that when I was a baby, I never woke up too early (my bro always woke up earlier than I did).
7. I can't study or concentrate on reading while listening to music (well, on rare occasions I can do it, but the music has to be something I don't know) because it'll only slower the process of digesting my studies/reading material. That said, I also can't sleep while listening to music. I tried it before in the past, but it took me a LONG time to be able to fall asleep.
8. I don't want to live in Indonesia anymore. I'm now too used to the serenity of this little village. I'm used to having no traffic jams and to being able to ride my bike peacefully around downtown.
9. I have never ironed anything ever since I moved to Finland. :-D
10. I'm not a very tidy person when it comes to housekeeping duties, but thankfully R2 doesn't mind that ha ha ha...You can in fact call me a rather lazy housekeeper hi hi...
11. I think I'm pretty good in budgeting and self-discipline when it comes to spending money.
12. I'm not sure anymore if I'm meant to be a parent or if I want to be a parent (as opposed to when we were still trying to have a baby actively). I don't know if this is self-defense mechanism only or if my logic is now stronger than my longing, but at least it's helping me out in suppressing the longing and dealing with the grief.
13. I used to always know what I wanted and I would try to get it, but after moving to Finland and realizing that I had to start again from zero, I don't even know anymore what I want 'coz to get what I want isn't as easy as when I was still living in Indo. In this new country I first had to learn the language and then I have to find out what I want to do. But not knowing what I want is also OK. Life is an adventure and this is my little adventure.
This job that I have right now is probably not my "dream job in Finland", but I know that God allowed me to get it for reasons and I do enjoy it now (in the beginning I wasn't sure I'd enjoy it), so for the time being until I find out what I really want, this job is the best thing that comes my way 'coz through this job I meet so many nice people and I get to practise my Finnish as well as get some income.
14. Coffee activates my brain so much so that if I have a morning shift, I don't dare drink it 'coz then no matter how tired my body is, my brain will be so rampantly active that it'll take hours before I can go to sleep (meaning I'll only fall asleep at around 2 or 3 am).
15. I'm not too fond of wearing dresses (in Indo this was also 'coz it was hot and damp there and I didn't like my sweaty thighs touching each other - yeah, I know, weird, eh?). Here in Sodankylä due to the long winter naturally I prefer wearing pants/jeans compared to a dress, but even so in summer I don't like wearing dresses - I prefer wearing a thin tunic with leggings.
Hmmmhh...I can't think of anything else right now, so I'll just publish this post as is he he...
1. Enlightenment, enlightenment, enlightenment and the peace of mind as its result.
2. About a month ago or so, hubby said that I mumbled Finnish words in my sleep. :-D
3. Talking to my Mom via Skype. Always nice to chat with her.
4. Double family birthday party (MIL's and R2's) last Friday where we talked and played cards until 3.30 am.
5. VERY delicious cake that MIL bought and served us.
6. Riding bikes to and from MIL's place side by side with R2.
7. Giving back massage as one of R2's birthday gifts.
8. Reading funny jokes.
9. Walking down memory lane by listening to old songs in youtube and rereading old comics.
10. Enjoying the warmth of the sun while cleaning up the snow from the yard.
11. Seeing the squirrel in front of MIL's apartement on Saturday - this time it has gotten bigger and chubbier!!! :-D
Lately I've had this perspective nudge when it comes to this saying: "We should walk a mile in someone else's shoes before we criticize them." Someone criticized me the other day and it angered me. On paper I knew what I had to do, but in reality sometimes you have to be flexible and adjust the theories.
However, after my anger subsided, I realized that I had done the same mistakes myself time and time again with other people - even though I may not have stated my thoughts verbally to those people, but the basic is still the same. I have NOT walked a mile in those people's shoes, so who am I to judge them?
But then again I can't help being "human". All I can do now is just accept that I'm only human and that everybody else is only human with limited POV and try to be more aware of my thoughts. May God help me in dealing with other people.
I find that it's so easy for us to say this and that to others without knowing exactly what they're going through. If we had really walked the mile in their shoes, would we have chosen differently? Maybe yes, maybe no, but we'll never know until we have walked the mile.
The other day I was reminiscing the past with my closest friends in emails, particularly our Junior High School years. Some of us went to the same Junior High School so we have similar memories 'coz some of us were in the same class even.
I remember that back then before each quarterly exams at school, they divided them into two sections: the theories and the non-theory exams. The non-theory exams included sports, singing, playing a musical instrument, biology and physics lab tests, and one extra-curricular activity (at that time I had to do a typing test - yep, typing with a typing machine, which we had to bring to school on our own. It was HEAVY, you know?)
Anyhow, before the non-theory exams, we were each given a number (a series of 3 or 4 numbers) and then we had to make ourselves a numbered tag with specific directions (on a piece of carton) - they even gave us details on how big the numbers should be and how thick they should be. Then the carton needed to be shielded with a sheet of plastic so that it'd stay intact for a few days (for as long as the non-theory exams lasted) and then at the back we had to attach two pins at so that we could wear the number in front of our shirts (yeah, just like runners or something) so that it'd be easier for the teachers to mark us.
I remember that one time during lab tests, one particular year we had this "knock" system. So we entered the classroom and sat alphabetically by name and try to solve each problem in front of us. When the teacher knocked her long ruler on the table, that meant we had to move to another table beside us - and it went on until everybody had got to each table. I remember being anxious 'coz we had to solve the problems in front of us right before the teacher knocked the ruler.
The year after, though, we had this kind of "ballot" system. So the tables in the lab were numbered and before entering, we had to pick a number. I still remembered that I was SO glad I didn't get any yucky experiments such as dissecting a fish (and having to describe its insides and draw them) or any experiments that had anything to do with cockroaches (yeah, we did also dissect roaches and even house lizards). Cockroaches are my enemies - especially flying roaches. YUCKKKKKK!!!!
Anyway, during the theory exams, they sat us down either with someone a grade below or above us and we had to leave all our bags outside the classroom (or in front of the classroom) and we were only allowed to put our pencil case on top of the table. This was meant to avoid cheating. Pretty harsh, eh? HE HE HE...So during theory exams, they put maps on the doors so we could find our names and our seating places.
Back then we had to buy our own exam sheets and one time when I sat next to a third grader, I ran out of my answer sheet, so reluctantly I had to ask one from him. Good thing he gave it to me without any fuss HE HE HE HE HE HE...I still remember his name even until today. Funny how memories are, don't you think?
Anyway, today I went to the police station to apply for citizenship. We'll see how it goes. I sure hope there'd be no trouble with my passport 'coz the Indo Embassy took my old passport and gave me only a copy of it, but at least the woman in charge wrote it down that my original old passport was held by the Indo Embassy. I sure hope that I can get a decision before next year - before my current residence permit is no longer valid 'coz if I have to wait that long, I have to renew my residence permit and it's going to cost me at least 120 Euros. So keep your fingers crossed, people!!!
I'll be busy tomorrow 'coz I have a morning shift (a change of work schedule) and then in the evening we'll have a small birthday party with Arttu's family in my MIL's place. WOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!! :-D We may even spend a night there, though I'm not too sure yet he he he he...
My computer has been down due to a broken fan so I'm using R2's computer at the time being and hoping that I can get it running smoothly again soon. Yesterday my friends came over and we had so much fun - we even talked about morbid topics while laughing so much ha ha ha...Can't wait to gather with them again next week. :-D
And guess what? Today I've lived in Finland for FOUR years!!! I'm gonna apply for the citizenship on Thursday. WOOOHOOO!!! I've printed out all the necessary paperwork he he he...
Anyway, I don't want to give the wrong idea that everybody in Finland (or Sodankylä) is "warm". It's kinda hard to say whether a person is warm or not 'coz what's the standard? If I want to compare Indo people and Finnish people here in Sodankylä, then Indo people are "much warmer/friendlier" in many ways - that also means that they're much more nosier than Finnish people.
I mean, in Indo it's very normal to drop by unannounced at somebody else's place and to ask your neighbour where he's been or where he's going to go if you happen to see him coming in or out of his place, but here? At the most we'd only say "hei" to our neighbours and talk about the weather ha ha ha...
However, the "introvert" in me kinda likes the quietness of the Finns. When I still lived in Indo, I was so used to their "warmth" and "friendliness", but now after living in Finland for 4 years, I find that some parts of Indo warmth to be "too much". I just read this Facebook status of an Indo friend who has decided to have only one child and one woman (her yoga student) insisted that one child wouldn't be enough. Duh!!! As if she'd help out pay for the child's education and help take care of the child.
Another Indo friend was once scolded by somebody (maybe a relative) in a wedding party 'coz she said that she wanted to wait before having kids.
Anyhow...before I started working in this current workplace, I did some trainings in different places. In some, I've met "cooler" people who don't smile even when you smile at them - though they do smile every once in a blue moon when the mood strikes. However, I've also met many nice people - though to be honest, there are MANY more nicer older people than the younger ones. The older people seem to be more patient and they take the time to talk to you and support you verbally, whereas the younger ones are OK, but they're not as "warm".
I've also seen and heard about some annoying people so just like anywhere in the world there are nice and not-so-nice people here too. Anyhow...I'm just rambling here in my post hi hi...soon I've to prepare some food for hubby, so gotta go. Hope you've all been doing OK. May angels protect and comfort you all, especially those who are in trouble (such as the people in Japan).
