The most unexpected ones always turn out the most beautiful. This shot was taken by random and I had no idea it would turn out this good :) No wonder people always say good things come to you when you stop looking. Besides, it was on iauto mode (yes go on and laugh, I have a semi-pro/micro four-thirds olympus pen lite but I use iauto more often than i should).

It was just FZ, YX/BX, IV, XC, YI (not in the picture) and me :)

AND KNOWING ME/US, the first thing to do was to FIND FOOD!! We were obviously hungry from the traveling! I think we had some Turkish/Mediterranean food but honestly, this beef/mutton cubes reminded me of a non spicy version of the rendang HAHAHA

IV had this cheese on grilled chicken breast meat

We had to go to the train station to get overnight train tickets to Prague because it's cheaper to purchase it at the ticketing booth than online.

I really love ancient train stations, they exude so much character.

Budapest still runs w trams, super old school aye?

It was spring then and we chanced upon a beautiful garden with plenty of colourful flowers! :)

This is the parliament house (i think). Dont be mistaken, that's not the flag of Italy, Hungary has the same colours as Italy just that the orientation is different!

HAHA I think sloth lent me this magazine with cool photoshop effects and I was just trying them out ;)

There's just something about this red tree that made me fall in love with this scene the moment I saw it.

Explains why I took a picture w it

IV likes it too :P

Do you know Budapest is actually made up of two parts? Buda and Pest! Buda is hilly while Pest is more flat! This scene was captured by me standing at Pest overlooking Buda :)

Happy faces! :D

I like Buda more because it has more interesting (read: older, more weathered) and colourful architecture :)

YI and his mandatory self-shots at every city

Looks like a nice house to live in from this angle

This time without any vintage effects!

Super love XC's cardigan ;)

We took a stroll to this little island whose name I can't rmb because it was too late to go for any walking tours

FLOWERS :D

We went to a bicycle rental shop and this reminded me of free town christiana in copenhagen!

YAY! Everyone was so excited to ride a bike :D I actually had a bike in Oulu but I only rode it once because it was simply too cold to cycle :(

FZ trying to pull some stuns

awwww I miss my little red bag :(

Do you prefer watch a sunrise or a sunset?

ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT, GENTLY DOWN THE STREAM........

Soon came nightfall and walking back to Pest was enjoyable because of the beautiful night scene along the river :D

I love reflections!

That's the Buda castle glowing on the Buda hill!

SM;)E

FZ is the KING (of random shit)

The glowing parliament house

This rice pudding was super super super SWEET :S

KEBAB (again)

Easter markets are just like xmas markets, only warmer (because it's spring). Giant easter eggs  are of course a must!

The market sold all kinds of handicraft as well as food

This is the best tram service for the lazy because it travels along the river and you can see the entire river view without having to exercise your legs :P

This is a sculpture of the princess (looks like a boy right?) Wonder why the legs are golden?  YES, apparently touching  both knees simultaneously gives good luck

the typical locks of love in every city :P They all come in different shapes and sizes, regardless of keypad or keyholes ;)

szechienyi bridge (sounds like a legit chinese name right?)

:)

the bridge and I

Check out the gun shot wounded building!

one of my most favourite shots ;) The bird flew by just in time!

I'm beginning to think this pose is too touristy HAHAHA

I love vintage cars!!

Another vintage train station sign :D

We went to have lunch at some jewish quarter (the lunch was mediocre, not worth posting here HAHAH) and we wanted to try the famous Hungarian red wine (called dry bull's blood or smth like that) but sadly, the restaurant that we went to didn't have it. The owner (or rather the owner's friend who doesn't work there but is made to serve us because the owners couldn't speak English) recommended this one to us. It was not bad ;)

House of Terror! Hungary had a rather sad history after their glorious days as they were pushed from one dictator to another. During the WWII, they were occupied by Hitler and obviously suffered quite a great deal because they weren't part of the aryan race. After the war, they were claimed to have been "liberated" by the Soviets even though they actually fought against the Nazis by themselves towards the end. The Soviets came too late but they still claimed Hungary as their own and this started decades of communism hardship :S

It's quite a depressing place to visit but it will fuel your historical knowledge ;) As a history junkie, I actually like to visit such places LOL.

When in Budapest, one must visit a bath!!! Apparently when the Turks invaded Hungary, they brought in Turkish baths! It became a culture of the locals ever since. It was just totally therapeutic to soak in warm pools in the cool spring weather of about 15degrees.

This is an outdoor pool so it's a pretty unique feeling when you have polarising temperatures hitting you. Your head would be at air temperatures of about 15 degrees while your body enjoys the 35degrees warm pool!

LOL at the pose HAHAHAHA anw, there were many hot angmohs :P The guys were regretting not coming with us when we told them about it!

We went for Fine Dining!! One of the most value for money meals I had in Europe :D

First up, a glass of WINE :D

I looked so shag :S

Mushroom soup (this was TOO SALTY for my liking.... tasted like sea water :S)

6 of us shared 2 of these..... it's apparently a specialty of the Hungarians! Cabbage wrap with bacon and rice? Super tasty because it has been steamed and braised properly!

Because it was so cheap and we had too much (hungarian) money left, FZ had pasta before his main course :O

YI's duck soup was so good!! Should have ordered that!

I was missing pork knuckle so I had it!

A couple of them had roasted duck which tasted really good!

YX had salmon, pretty soft and tasty too!

YI chose fish but he had alot of trouble with the bones :S But it was pretty well grilled!

Check out the ambience! This restaurant is pretty popular, we actually were turned down the first night we were there because it was full house :( My Oulu flatmate, Mara, recommended this place! It's called Ruben (same name as her bf LOL)

I had this Chocolate soffle or smth

I think this is some rice dessert with chocolate sauce? Guess how much our bill amounted to? I had soup, main course, dessert, wine and I also shared the side dish but it only cost me 17euros??? Freaking cheap for fine dining! :D Way cheaper than Singapore.

Later that night we went crazy at the supermarket and decided to have a strawberry and hungarian dessert wine party!!! Both are damn cheap and good! :D oh yeah, throw in the nutella dip too ;)

Cool advertisement ;)

We went to the buda castle again to take pictures and explore abit because on the day before we were there on a walking tour which barely gave us time to take pictures!

This time I was at Pest overlooking Buda

HAHA we started a series (read: MORE THAN 50 pictures) of JUMP SHOTS because the 3 of us were so bad at coordinating with one another :( Yes, it had nothing to do with the camera which obviously takes multishots with ease, it was just us! LOL anw, I thought this superman pose is pretty funny

Somehow IV was always faster than the two of us LOL

OK this time i was slower

THIS TIME IV WAS SLOWER

HAHAHA THIS IS JUST FUNNY. OUR EXPRESSIONS: EPIC.

OMG ALMOST!

After like 30 shots we got really tired and the guys (whom we forced to be our photographers) were laughing at us  like mad

LOL SEE ONCE AGAIN, IV OUT OF SYNC

LOL IM OUT OF SYNC

YAY FINALLY!!!!!

ANOTHER ONE :D

Love this scene :D Budapest is so pretty!

YX/BX probably saw some pretty girl walking past :P

Vigenetting effect

How could I have missed a chance to take a picture with the beautiful scenery?

HAHA I think we were on a camwhore spree :O

Another one!

OMG. What's w the pose HAHAHA and omg my fat sep face LOL

OK ANOTHER ONE  *SHAMELESS*

YX/BX what were you looking at?

Act artsy/emo

This cinnamon bread roll is super fragrant and delicious!! :D Apparently it's a feature of East Europe (or at least the 3 cities that we went to all had this!)

Reliving our childhood

Cute wooden toys

We had lunch at a self service restaurant. Tip: always opt for self service restaurants in Europe because they are cheaper but not necessarily lousier!

We went to some market after lunch and chanced upon this vintage toy shop!

I think this was taken at some viewing deck

Can you see the mountains behind? That's why Buda is called buda, it's so hilly!

FZ and his bro cap

Saw this cute little doggie :D I think it's a shih tzu?

Walked past another bazaar and we stopped to play with hand puppets!

LOL i think he was saying smth along the lines of "KISS KISS KISS"

Flowers with flowers HAHAHAHAHHA

MAD LOVE CRANBERRIES!!

This is the famous Szechienyi bridge!

The boys taking a picture of us taking a picture of them taking a picture of us taking a picture of them.......... PHOTOCEPTION

FURNICULAR! It's like a train, only vertical! It's usually found on mountains.

The view on the way down.... as you can see, it wasn't that high up

IV took w me even though she sat in one before in switzerland

Vintage right?

We went back to the easter market to find souvenirs/food. These garlands are actually quite pretty!

I think this is made of soap or smth?

This is how they make the bread roll ;) The roasting process provides really publicity because people would often pick up the fragrant scent from miles away ;)

I have no idea why this was at the easter market but I thought this giant chair was pretty cool, it's taller than me btw

When Hungary was under the soviet communists, they erected a statue (lady of freedom or smth) on the mountain but today, people refer to it as a giant bottle opener LOL.

Before heading to the train station to board a midnight train to prague, we had dinner at a food court like place. I swear I couldn't get enough of this eggplant with minced meat!! The side dish contains eggplants too....but the sauce was a tad weird for my liking.

First night train together! We got a cosy 6 bed cabin! IV and YX were sleeping on the top deck!

We didn't actually do much sleeping, we were chatting and eating most of the time hahahah The night train, despite its dilapidated exterior, was actually quite clean.

XC really loves oranges

FZ staring intently at the typical hungarian snack which most of us didn't like except him and yx

OMG, this is a freaking long post! I salute you for even reaching this part.
What I like most about Budapest is the view along the river, regardless of the time of the day! Easter isn't widely celebrated in Singapore (or at least not amongst non Christians) hence being able to experience the hyped up atmosphere in East Europe was really eyeopening and one of a kind.
If you're on a tight budget, do visit East Europe, things are really affordable there, I dare say it's more affordable than Singapore. Culture is rich too, perhaps because of the slow development from being stifled under Soviet rule for decades after WWII. One should visit soon before they become too commercialised! Food wise, I would say it can be a bit too salty at times. Carnivores would love this place because the locals eat a lot of meat!

Labels: Budapest, Hungary