Announcement / Bejelentes

I am gladly letting you know that the FULL photo album of our Hungarian vocation is now available in the blog’s picasa web album. : ) (X-mas 2009)
Happy surfing!

Orommel ertesitelek Benneteket, hogy a magyarorszagi vakacionk teljes albumat sikerult feltoltenem, igy mostantol rendelkezesetekre all a blogunk picasa albumaban. (X-mas 2009)

Boldog szorfozest!

Fun Saturday - Derus Szombat :)

As we are adjusting Singapore for the second time, things are cheering us up such as a day we had yesterday. Mike had a private class at 10am and I woke up with him around 8 something as he left I had plenty of time in my hand.

Ahogyan masodszorra is hozza kellett szoknunk Szingapurhoz, udito valtozatossag volt, hogy egy csomo dolog felviditott minket, mint amilyen a tegnapi nap is volt. Mikenak maganorat tartott reggel 10tol, es ugy dontottem vele kelek en is olyan 8 tajan viszont igy egy csomo idom volt, hogy szepen mindent rendbetegyek.

We heard from his student (as old as Mike) that they are planning to go to a restaurant for lunch but that was only later. So my favorite type of day started, spotless sunny with a flowery breeze, birds singing ect, just felt perfect.
I started to listen to my new discovery from Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole the Over the rainbow.

Valamit rebesgetett Mike diakja, hogy ora utan egy ettermi talalkora hivatalosak, abban viszont nem voltunk biztosak, hogy ez rank is vonatkozik vagy sem. Ez a szombat, kifejezetten a kedvenc fajta szombatom volt. Egy az, hogy szombat delelott a kedvencem a het napjaibol a masik, hogy gyonyoru szikrazo napsuteses ido volt. Az az igazi bazsalygos jo ido, ilyenkor mindig azt hiszem, amit anyukam szokott emlegetni “megis szep az elet, megis jok az emberek”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ltAGuuru7Q

Finally I got a phone call from Mike telling me to be at a Hokkaido HotPot restaurant, alright I thought and then the perfect day continued… the hotpot place’s food was a real treat! Basically the restaurant provides each individual with a huge “boat” of food, fresh, raw ingredients and your task is to “cook” your own meal while chatting with your folks. Great, really fun.

Vegul Mike hivasa utan megtudtam, hogy a Hokkaido HotPot (ForroFazek) etteremben fogunk ebedelni, pompas gondoltam es a tokeletes napom cask folytatodott... mivel a forro fazek altal elenk szolgalt etel igazi finomsagnak bizonyult! Alapvetoen az etterem csak biztositja szamodra a “hajot”, amit megraktak csupa csupa finom es nyers alapanyaggal, az ehes latogato feladata pedig, hogy szepen kifozocskelje maganak egyiket falatot a masik utan. Persze ez alatt derusen eltarsalogsz a korulotted ulokkel es fel sem tunik, hogy milyen hosszan ulsz is ott, igazan remek hangulata van az egesznek.










Not a big surprise that I was late so Mike knowing me ordered fish boat for me which contained scallops, crab, sea fish, shrimps, cabbage, mushrooms, corn, lemongrass sticks ect.

Nem nagy meglepetes, hogy kesve erkeztem, Mike ismerve engem halas/tengeri herkentyus “hajot”rendlet nekem, amin talaltam tobb fele kagylot, garnela rakot, tengeri halat, kaposztat, kukoricat, citromfuvet es meg sorolhatnam...







You have your own pot in front of you with strange looking tools surrounded your plate so you guess it is yours, but the usage of these “assets” are a serious dilemma. : )

Mindenki elott ott volt a sajat kis forralo edenykeje, ami alatt tetszes szerint lehetett valtoztatni a hofokot, emellett az edeny kornyeke el volt halmozva furcsabbnal furcsabb eszkozokkel es “bigyokkal”, nemelyik valoban dilemma okozott.
:)




The ingredients cook really fast and leaving the broth taste great so you can start sipping that as well after the 5th thing you cooked in it.

Az alapanyagok igen gyorsan elkeszulnek, hatrahagyva egy fantasztikusan gazdag leves levet, amit a 5. kifozott etel utan elkezdhetsz szurcsolni, es amiulni, hogy milyen finom.

Meanwhile you have a little tray nearby offering different sauces such as peanut puree, chili sauces, and some other things I cannot name : ) and you have to mix and match up your own dipping sauce, you can imagine it is pretty funny and the result is always pleasant. You use the prepared sauce to dip your freshly cooked bites into it.

Mindez ido alatt, az asztalon leve kis talcan megvizsgalhatod a rendelkezesre allot szoszokat, ilyeneket peldaul, hogy foldimogyoro krem, chilli szoszok es namely olyan dolog, amit azota sem fejtettem meg. A feladatod, hogy keverd, parositsd kedvedre, hogy a sajat tunkolo szoszod izet kialakitsd, nyilvan valo, hogy ez eleg vices munkalkodas de a vegeredmeny szinte mindig pompas. A szosz egyebkent ahhoz kell, hogy a kifott falatokat meg egy ilyen eroteljes izu szoszba is belemartsd.





And as the course was finished you felt heated as you were sitting next to a hotpot and the room was tiny as well so a great sauna feel to this started to develop. : )

Amire a fogast befejzeted ugy athevulsz a fozocskezestol es mikro teremben megrekedt szaunara emlekezteto levegotol, hogy igazi udito hir a soron kovetkezo ital, a savanykas szilva szorp tort jeggel szolgalva.

Guess what came, a small shoot glass of sour plum drink with crashed ice, I think these people also ate this meal couple of times before us, hehehe knowing that it is exactly the thing which feels fantastic.

Then dessert, Mike got a slice of chocolate cake, not a big surprise as he is “chocolate-aholic”, I was offered a nice smooth vanilla cream containing fruit bites, very nice.

Desszernek, termeszetesen Mike egy szelet csoki tortat kapott, en pedig egy kremes vanilia sodot, benne friss, hideg gyumolcsdarabokkal es tapioca gyonggyel, finom volt.

The last thing was a tea, but a special one, we got small tea pots filled with flowers, ice and fruit. One was with peach and summer flowers and the other with apple and I don’t know what. It was tasty, bit sweet but not too sweet, cold and refreshing, I loved it and as you finished the pot you can eat the fruit from the bottom, practical. : )

Az utolso felvonas pedig tea volt, de egy kulonleges fajta, kis teas pitliben erkezett, nagy jegkockakkal, friss gyumolccsel es viragokkal. Picit volt csak edes, eppen hogy, nagyon kellemes elmeny es miutan kiurult a tea az aljan levo gyumolcsoket meg is eheted.



After the lunch Ken insisted to visit a karaoke bar which we would have liked to avoid but as we had to go we had great time there. It was pretty funny actually. : )

A maratoni ebed utan Ken ragaszkodott, ahhoz, hogy karaoke barba menjunk, mi szivesen lemondtunk volna rola, de persze ahogy ott voltunk meglepoen jol ereztuk magunkat.




Mike and Ken




Try to read this. :)

17th January - Indian musical

Nagyon kedves Szingapurban elo baratainktol kaptunk karacsonyra ket musical jegyet, meghozza egy indiani szines kavalkadot igero eloadasra. Nem kellett csalatkozni, szines volt, tancos volt, szuper jo volt.

Kepes izelito a gondtalan vasarnaprol:

We got to musical tickets from our really close friends, also living in Singapore.
The musical was expected to be colorful, great Indian vibration... and we did not need to be disappointed. It was exactly what it should have been, we had great time. So here are some photos of a cheerful Sunday:















Viki, Gabor es Mike

X-mas at home part I.

Hey Everyone,

It’s been ages I wrote the last time, but I was busy enjoying life. : )
Our last month was a great experience and we recharged our butteries with homey warmness. (and food)
fter feeling a bit homesick I decided that it is time to return to my family and see everyone after 14months of separation, especially because the new jewels of my family are growing so fast you cannot keep up with it.
For instance last time we saw Marci he was just hanging out on your arms, blowing bubbles with his mouth as 8 months old should and now he is getting to be 2!!!

I knew it well I am not interested in the place but a lot more in the people we left behind.
As our plans weren’t tight to strict schedule Mike and I decided to stay at home as much as it was possible and having a great offer from KLM we left Singapore on the 14th Dec and came back on the 12th January, 2010.
Almost a month of fun, it was irresistible!

I was definitely counting the days down; I made sure that all the X-mas presents are carefully picked.

The dates of the flights were promising signs for me as we arrived on the 15th Dec which is my older sister’s birthday and we came back on the 12th January which was our first year wedding anniversary.

At the airport mom, dad, my brother-in-law and the four year old Anna was waiting for us. The kids parents took them to the airport’s visiting center many months before and told them: “you know the next time when we are coming here Imola and Mike are coming home”!

At home the whole family was expecting us; my sister even came home after work to see us. We got our first honest-to-goodness meal, and it was great to see everyone around the dining table.

In the first couple of days we were adjusting ourselves to the cold weather (-20 on my birthday) and we had jet lag too. It was crazy we were sleepy at around 8pm and we woke up at 4am. : )

Actually the last one I did not mind because the kids wake up early anyway, so I always had to just wait for them to make noise in their room and then I came as a rescuer.

We met some friends over the first week and once we met Viviane our Columbian-Swiss friend we stuck in Budapest due to snow barriers. We had to sleep at her house and go home in the morning because within hours the snowing got so unpredictable, it was great fun as in the evening she had a friendly get together.

We had an afternoon trip to Visegrad which is famous for its pretty (ruin) castle on the peak and also the Danube has a noticeable curve there. (pictures are in the picasa album) It was really pretty but just wicked cold. : )











Soon enough X-mas arrived and we started to decorate the house, planned meals for supper. We and generally speaking Hungarians eat fish for dinner in and form or shape. As I can recall we had traditional fish soup and fried fish and the meal I prepared was a baked fish with wild mushroom in cream + cheese, it was quite good. The cake was a new favorite my sister brought the recipe of a chocolate, chestnut cream cake, it was brilliant.







As you can imagine, we put on weight. : ) Our philosophy was to eat as much as it felt good, and that was pretty personal measurement. : )
My grandmother was with us this year, she is 84 and it is incredible to realize that we were 4 generations around the table.

Our X-mas tree was beautiful, each year my parents did good job buying a huge, pretty tree and this year was not an exception either. The tree was so tall, almost reaching the ceiling, just as it should be.

In Hungary the baby Jesus brings the presents as we have “Santa Clause day on t he 6th Dec”, so our Jesus this year brought over a department store, that is for sure. Usually during our childhood we opened presents after dinner in the evening on the 24th, but as my sister’s kids are quite young we changed a bit to be “kid-friendly”.
They were told that Baby Jesus will not come if they do not sleep during the afternoon; that trick always works.
When we heard them waking up we jingled the bell and pretended to talk to the “Baby Jesus” and as the kids were coming down… huppp “Baby Jesus” just left, oh kids you missed him, but next year you can try again.

The presents were great and beautiful but Anna got a bit sad as she did NOT get ANY dolls although she clearly wrote it down to him…
Oh well, I guess next year Baby Jesus will be more careful with that list to avoid disappointment. : )



My older sister went to ski in Slovenia during the holidays, we had a bad feeling about it because it’s been years she hasn’t seen skis and unfortunately we were right. She fell and hit her head so badly she fainted later at their accommodation, she had concussion, not that serious but it took her down from the slopes.

Meanwhile we had a day trip to Vienna, to have fun, eat great sea food and buy a nice winter coat to my dad. Clothes shopping are starting from Vienna, unfortunately not from Budapest. There was a funny incident there, we followed my dad’s GPS which is a great tool, most of the time helps you to find the doorstep of your destination but this time our targeted street was clearly unsolvable mystery for her. (the speaker’s name is Andrea)

Guess what, I became Andrea, for some reason my orientation is not super great but I think I can say it’s above average. So just by following my instinct we found the address and we bought the perfect coat we could just ask for.

One of the presents for Mike was to invite our common friend from Warsaw to come and spend time with us during New Year, but it had to kept secret till the last moment, but how to do it…?

I had many plans and alternatives but in Vienna while Mike was in one of the shops my dad and I agreed that we tell him a story of a client who is arriving in couple of days from Poland and he needs some help at the airport. Well it worked out perfectly, I was not disappointed in Mike, he said yes without hesitation. Brilliant!

During the regular days we played with the kids and I was amazed by their charm. I always loved my sister’s kids but man, they are PERFECT!

Ok the smaller one, he is a bit of a peril, while you are tickling, kissing and playing with him, he takes his turns and hits, bites and kicks you. He does not really feel the boundaries to know what is funny and what is painful, but in his defense he is the happiest kid ever. He laughs constantly; you know the one which makes you laugh because the cute sound of a kid giggling.




Sometimes he was frustrated because he does not really speak yet, there are some who know songs at this age, I know he is not one of those. He knows some words, about 20, carefully picked such as yellow : ), hat, worm (from his book) and it is funny because the word is “kukac” but he pronounces it like that “kuka C”. We just laugh and ask him to keep repeating it!

For some reasons he was able to name me during the first couple of days but then something has changed, and no more Imola-ish sound from him. How did he call me…? Aga
Our theory is the following, Agnes is my sister whom is loved by Marci, and he must have thought to himself, ok I guess this newly arrived girl can be in my “Aga group” too which group contains ladies who are similar to mom, and they also play with me, tickle me, feed me if I ask it and change my diaper. : )

Anna is the older one, very bright kid; her magic is that she is considerate, humble, good-natured and curious. You can clearly see all the effort my sister did to have such a pure soul. Funny to see the huge difference between the 2 kids and it has to come down to





Im sick so to be continued…