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…

X-mas photos

Snow White is changing...



Martin with the traditional X-mas lunch "makos guba" - poppy seed meal



Anna on X-mas lunch!









Enjoying -20 in the garden with Anna, Martin and Aszu the dog. :)





Jet lag



Agnes' X-mas cookies

Art and Fun

On Thursday I stopped by to see a friend and he invited me to his photo exhibition’s opening at 7:30 pm. His project was Sri Lanka!
I jumped right on it, sounded like a great thing to do and as poor Mike was still at work I went down by myself and I waited for Mike to join me after he was done.

It was in a lovely gallery down on the edge of the Chinese district, the guests were mostly Western people, but I did meet a Singaporean Chinese actress for instance.
I have not known her, but as we hardly ever watch TV I guess it is not a big surprise. : )

There were other photographers, painters…. All kinds of folks and I just kept on talking to new people. And the great extra was the free wine that is actually a special treatment in Sg as it is way overpriced. : )

There was 1 unusual photo about a jungle mountain scene placed on tables; it was 2-3 meters long. Nick used a special technique to take that particular photo, a sort of “montage” using more than 1500 photos.
He took 1500 photos of this mountain meter by meter, like a mosaic. He built a photo out of the small pieces, creating one large mega photo, with incredible details.

If you looked with the magnifying glass you could spot tiny workers harvesting tea leaves dogs running on the villages’ roads ect. It was really great,
I loved it.
They say it costs around 5000 SG (3600 USD) to purchase that single piece.
What a piece of art…?!

Here are some photos:

Christmas Wish for Andrew III. :)

Last Friday on the 4th on Dec, I was thinking to go out and do something, so I checked Esplanade cultural center at the Marina Bay because that huge durian look center has an outside open air stage where they have concerts sometimes free of charge.

I found out that jazz is the music for that might so good enough we headed down there… with some nice California white wine.

The music was so-so, actually we thought we were there for the wrong part, because only 5 members of the group played but we stayed and listened for an hour or two.

Last year on my birthday we had a boat ride over the Singapore River and we saw many floating balls, white balls on the river close to the bay. We understood that those balls carried people’s wishes, but we had no idea how they got the chance to write one them…? We missed the opportunity, oh well…

But this year we were at this open air concert and we saw a girl coming with the same type of balls and this time were jumped on them. We wished to my sister to have a healthy cute little baby, Andrew, whom is going to be born in the beginning of March.
We will be his “God Parents”, not that we would be religious, but my sister likes to think that this part is important for the child. : ) Let it be then!

Singing... but where? Enekles, no de hol?

I'm nowadays try to get down to the gym 3-4 times a week and I have my favorite place, it is nearby, nice, new, clean, so great works out just fine for me.

Mostansag megprobalok lejutni az edzoterembe 3-4x egy heten, mar megvan a kedvenc helyem, szep, uj, tagas, megis kicsi es meg kozel is van, szoval ragyogoan bevalik.

Usually I go in the mornings, one of the reasons is that there are just less people in the gym.But not this time, there were about 6-8 people in the gym including old aunties. (in Sg 'auntie' stands for older ladies and the usage is wildly spread in the country as a legitimate way to address family members, strangers anybody who looks old to you) - here not to mention that once I was even addressed as "auntie" to my friend's kids, I almost go a heard attack!!!
I could not stop complaining to her!

Altalaban reggelente jarok, mert szeretem, ha kevesebben vannak, de ezen jeles alkalommal legalabb voltak lent 6an 8an, beleertve egy idosebb holgyet is.

Kulturalis sokkom azon reszen mar tulestem, hogy 60hoz hajazo holgyek, urak minden gond nelkul jarnak konditeremben, nincs is ezzel semmi gond, csak javukra valhat.
Viszont ez a bizonyos kinai holgy, fuleben i-Poddal, elkezdett majd szopran hangon kinaiul enekelni, vagy tan a kantalas lenne kifejezobb...?

Na most, hat ez meglepett..., de gondoltam, rendben 1-2 percnel nem fogja ezt hosszabban birni, de nagyon nagyot tevedtem. Az egesz hatralevo idom alatt elvezhettem a mesterien kepzett hang hatasat a kis teremben... csak nevettem, es gondoltam, na ezt felirom a blogra. : )

So I am already done with the first cultural shock seeing elderly coming to gym and do their thing, fine, but this this auntie, she had her i-Pod in her ears and she started to sing loudly in Chinese!!!!! in the middle of the gym - every single person heard it, no doubt about that

I thought, alright 1 or 2 min but I was so wrong the "opera singer" just kept singing and singing during my last 30 min.

Have you ever heard tuneless, unmusical Chinese singing?

Magyar lakoma

Szivem dobbant meg a mai vacsoram hallatan. Vikieknel ert a vacsora ma este, amit egyszeruen csak nem tudtam kihagyni.

Today my heart was fluttering as I heard my dinner menu. I was at my friend - Viki's place in the afternoon and the dinner offer just kept me there for a little longer.

A menu:

-igazi aranysarga magyar husleves (magyar cerna tesztaval)/ real golden Hungarian chicken soup
-igazi magyar vekony palacsinta / real Hungarian thin pancakes
-igazi magyar nudli, porcukorral es sargabarack lekvarral / real Hungarian "nudli"







Oh hat a mennyei jelzo nem is eleg ra! Well it was heavenly good!

Annak idejen azt hittem, hogy a noverem terhessege alatt, annyi huslevest voltam kenyszeru enni, hogy eletemben soha tobbe nem kell majd, de tevedtem. Igy egy ev tavlataban, azert ez mar maskepp van.
Egyetlen egyszer sem keszitettem huslevest, az ertheto okbol, de ma este, hat igazan lelekmelegito volt, a finom meleg husleves.

Back in the day I thought I will never eat chicken soup again, as my sister ALWAYS asked for it while she was pregnant. So I thought I ate my fair share for the rest of my life, but I was so wrong about it.
After 1 year I feel a bit different, I have never ever prepared chicken soup since I came to Singapore but today it just felt perfect.


Illetoleg a nudli, hat nem is emlekszem, hogy mikor ettem utoljara... evek teltek el nudli nelkul.

And nudli... I dont even remember when I ate nudli the last time, years ago... for sure.

Bizony azt kell, hogy mondjam, hogy a vilag minden sarkabol van mar receptem, megbirkozom a legtobb kihivassal, azaz egy nap indiait fozok, masnap luisianai fogast, harmad nap pedig japant, de a magyar izek.

I have to say I possess recipes from every corner of the world, I accept the challenge of cooking Indian, Louisianan or even Japanese but the Hungarian flavors...!?
Olyan nosztalgia fogott el, hogy holnapra karfiol leves lesz a menu, borjupaprikassal (tejfollel). nyami... :)

Emlitettem mar...? Imadok fozni!

Such a nostalgic feeling sucked me in, I left Viki's home went into the first shop, and guess what we will have Hungarian food for lunch! Cauliflower soup with sour cream and beef stew with sour cream!!! yummy

Did I mention...? I love to cook!

Catch up

Mindenkinek Nagyon Jó Reggelt kivanok!

Csak életjelet szeretnék adni, hogy jól vagyunk és minden rendben van velünk. Mint mindig Szingapúr elkényeztet bennünket ragyogó idővel, bár néha azt gondolom, hogy a legjobb idő akkor van, amikor mi órán ülünk, igy aztán nem előrehaladott a napbarnitottságunk.

Közhely, de attól még igaz nagyon gyorsan múlik az idő és mához két hétre már utazunk is haza. Bizony be vagyunk sóza, hisz nagyon várnak már minket az otthoniak és nyilván mi is repesünk az örömtől, hogy találkozhatunk. (Ne is emlitsuk Mike utolsó amerikai hazalátogatását)

Mike még két hétig dolgozik főállásban, én pedig óraadóként. Most egy csapat gyerekkel van órám minden nap, szegények szünidős órák ezek és ráadásul 3 órásak! Szegények ez a koreai norma, azaz, hogy a szünidő értékes idő, mely alatt új tudás gyömöszölhető a kis kobakjukba.

Azért megpróbálom elviselhetővé tenni a számukra! :) (például faladtam a “viselkedj rendesen” dirigálásomat! – ugyanis hasztalannak bizonyul)

Egyik újdonság, hogy új barátra találtunk, véletlenül futottam össze egy itteni magyarral, akivel azóta nagyon jó barátságban lettünk. Egy külföldi országban talán még fontosabb, hogy az embernek legyenek baratai, de ráadásul, hogy a saját országodból találkozz valakivel, ez még kivételesebb.

E héten szerét Karen szervezésében részt veszünk az itt élő külföldi hölgyeknek szervezett estén, ez igen kötetlen találkozó, csak beszélgetése pár ital mellett.

A hely ahova megyünk egy igen különleges pontja a városnak, olyan, mintha egy kis falu lenne a város közepén. Annak idején az angolok használták ezt a kis dombot katonai bázisként, de manapság csak éttermek és bárok láncolata van a helyén. Számomra egy gasztronómiai élmény már csak ottani bóklászni is.

Soraimat majd még folytatom…



Good Morning Everyone,

I would like to just let everyone know that we are well and being busy with life. As always Singapore is treating us well with nice weather, although somehow I have this funny feeling that the best weather is at the same time with our classes so our sun tanning is not too developed yet.

Common sense but it is true, time is flying we are only 2 weeks away from our trip to Hungary. Sure enough we are very excited as we have not seen out Hungarian family for 13 months. (Let’s not mention Mike’s last visit to the States)
Mike is still in the school as a full timer and I only have kids class, 3 hours per day. Poor fellows, it is their winter holiday and they are forced to sit in language schools, well this is the Korean way…

I try to help them survive the classes and I gave up on ordering them to behave as I find it completely irrelevant… : )

Other than that I am happy to say that I met a very nice lady accidently, she is Hungarian, living in Singapore for only 5-6 months and we became very good friends! In a foreign country having good friends is maybe even more important but how lucky that is even from my country! : )

We will have a ladies’ night get together this week, Karen our witness is always the organizer, and she is inviting all of her friends to have some drinks and dinner. This time we are going to a very nice place, it is like a small village in the city, the place is called Dempsey Hill.

It used to be an army base for the British but nowadays it is a collection of restaurants and bars offering all kinds of great Western food and beverages. For me it is already a gastronomical adventure just to walk around there. :)

To be continued...