Budapest

Hotel review

2010-08-10T11:01:00.004+02:00

Back in April I stayed at the Max Hotel in Belgium as a part of the International Week for the MBA program. The Max Hotel is a new hotel business model where there is minimal staff and everything is done through kiosk computers. Even the kitchen area is all vending machines and no actual cooking staff. It's a new concept, but one that didn't bother me too much. What did bother me was that, since it was new, one of their computer kiosks double charged me for the room (530 EU or sg like that). That's quite a lot of change. As soon as I saw my bank statement, I notified the hotel management about it. They said they would take care of it. Fast forward 1 month later and they finally refunded the money (530 EU), BUT the euro has since devalued. I wrote back to them stating that they forgot about $60 USD on the refund and they replied by telling me they'd look into it. This was back in June 2010, it's now August! and I still have not received anything.
They refunded the correct amount in EUROs, but my account is in USD. The Max Hotel stole money from me. It wasn't my fault they double charged me. I never signed a credit card authorization to charge me twice for the room. Nor is it my fault that the euro devalued at that time. If they didn't charge me the second time this never would've happened.
As I said, as of today they still have not refunded the money. To me it isn't about the money so much as it is about good service. Own up to your mistake and make the customer whole. The Max Hotel, a part of 3 Stars Hotels (www.3starshotels.be), STOLE MONEY from a customer.

....This just in. I just wrote an email asking where my money is and they replied,

"You should be refunded in a few days."

I'm not holding my breath.

regarding World Cup post

2010-07-27T18:12:00.002+02:00

I just saw this article while waiting for my eye appointment to begin...(my right contact lens tore and I'm all out).

http://www.mensjournal.com/taibbi-world-cup

Titled, "Why the World Cup sucks". After professing my newfound love for the World Cup, I can still agree with some of the points brought up here. In particular #4. Diving. Long story short it addresses the "no crying in baseball" analogy I used before. :)

Ötkert

2010-07-17T11:19:00.002+02:00

Night out w/ some new friends. Party began at friends flat then moved to the newest kert (garden) in the city, Ötkert. There was a line to get in, as if I was back in LA or Vegas, but no cover. :) There was one annoying swiss f*ck that was with our group. The most arrogant ass I've met in a while. Literally looking down on me and the other american friends of mine there. I swear I was this close to punching this prick. I had a cigar, he takes it from me, sniffs it, rolls it in his fingers (as if he's a cigar aficionado) and then tells me, "oh that's no good...it's not a real cuban." I wanted to put my cigar out on his smug face right then and there.

Aside from him, the night was good. It was a "costume" party, but you only had to have one item that came from a movie character. I chose to wear a "satchel". Gabi wore her Minnie ears.

Now its time to pack. Gabi and I are heading out to Lake Balaton for the weekend.

World Cup

2010-07-12T09:03:00.002+02:00

Here's my take on the whole event now that its done. Which, by the way, ended with Spain winning 1-0 against the Dutch much like I had hoped. So here are my likes, dislikes, etc.

Liked: the overall experience of watching the games outdoors at Szabadsag ter on the big screen, or at Legends sports bar, or just out having a drink and catching the games. Kinda reminded me of the World Series or playoffs (football or baseball or basketball).
I was really trying to figure out the little intricacies of the game, why a specific formation, why pass it to this player, why attack the opposition at a particular time, etc. In baseball/football/basketball, I understand these things b/c I grew up watching/playing them. But soccer is still new to me and I tried to keep an open mind about it and actually learn about it. Prior to the World Cups (2006 and 2010), my only experience was playing in jr. high and getting kicked in the nuts while trying to kick the ball. So soccer never was at the top of my to do list growing up. However, its growing on me.

Disliked: whining. Soccer players are the biggest floppers (compared to the 3 other major sports in the US). Look at the replays and all it shows is the "whining" player got tripped up or didn't even get touched and they're on the ground grabbing their foot or ankle and "wincing" in pain. Yet once the referee comes over the pain just suddenly goes away and they're just yapping away trying to explain how the opposing player viciously fouled them.
I wish I could remember the details of this one particular play, but it happened last night Spain v. Ned. A dutch player falls to the ground and (replays back me up on this, but was never actually touched by the opposing player) grabs his ankle in "pain". When the referee doesn't give a Yellow card to the opposing player, the Ned player jumps right up and begins to argue his case. All of a sudden, the pain just went away. I mean, I'm not the toughest guy in the world, but seriously?!?! They're the biggest pansies. I'm sure it has everything to do with the way the other sports are played. You know, "...there's no crying in baseball?!?..."

Overall I'm becoming more and more of a fan. It'll be a while before I am consistently watching regular season soccer (FIFA, UEFA, BFF, KIT, SSS, etc.) but I am interested enough to want to start playing. Damn my jr. high memories! I'm afraid I'd get yellowcarded b/c I'd actually foul a guy....like elbow them :D

Sports

2010-06-29T23:37:00.002+02:00

I wanted to jot some thoughts down regarding a couple of topics involving sports.

Basketball: Kobe the "greatest" to ever play the game...

Really?!?! I read a post about how Kobe today, plays against much better competition than MJ ever did during the 90's. WOW! Kids today don't know jack sh*t about the history of any sport. All they know is whoever is on the cover of Wheaties this year, that's the greatest of all time. Now I've never been a real fan of Kobe or his Lakers, but I do acknowledge he is by far the greatest of his era and the "Showtime Lakers" were a better team. To go so far as being greater than MJ...not even close. If I'm building a team and I had to pick 1 player to start with, that's an easy choice...MJ all the way.

Football (not soccer): Haynesworth complaining about having to switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 after getting paid $100 Million dollars of which he collected something like $32 million already.

I agree with Sapp....you agreed to the contract to play football for the team for that money, now honor your commitment and DO IT!!! Stop whining like a little b*tch. Like Sapp said, you're not a dominant defender. I don't understand why you were so "sought after" during free agency last year. You haven't done anything that wow's me, except maybe step on Gurode head. You've never had more than 8.5 sacks, and you only got that in your last year w/ the Titans (contract year). You average 38.5 tackles (combined) and 3.5 sacks per year! and only 0.75 FF per year. How does stats like that warrant a $100 MILLION contract?!?! You can get production like that from a undrafted free agent.

World Cup: Sad to see the US team get knocked out, but really enjoying the games more. Becoming more and more a fan of the game. Still think soccer players are the sporting worlds biggest primadonna's though. You tap them while running and they scream and whine as if "dominant" fat albert knocked them down.

Baseball: Padres are still #1 in the NL.

There are 2 things the Padres need right now to make a serious run at the World Series. Chris Young to come back from the DL and be dominant in the second half of the season and to get another bat to hit for average. I think if they get those two things, the pitching staff will be in a good position to win each game. The batting for average gets the hitter on base and with the way SD's been stealing bases it's a good way to manufacture more runs, especially in Petco. I think they'll have enough power from the Hairstons, Hundley and Headley to get that occasional HR, but they need a guy like Eck or (cross fingers) Gwynn Jr. to hit like his old man.
Oh yeah, they also need about an extra $40M in payroll!!!!! Perhaps they can have some money from Albert "Ain't" worth it?

As you can see, I'm all done w/ the MBA and have some free time to think about the real issues going on in the world right now. :)

still here...

2010-04-15T23:14:00.002+02:00

so i'm still alive and kicking. working on the thesis, class projects, website redesign for CSM and e&h. busy man these days.

good news though, finally got a new camera. canon 550d. bought it right before i left for athens. took lots of pics in athens and when i got back to bp. still figuring things out, but having fun doing it. call it my new hobby. will post pics up as soon as the hectic schedule dies down...which it will soon. just finished up one of my classes and wrapping up all the others within the next 3-4 wks...basically only 2 classes for each subject left. then its finals and THEN...the thesis defense on june 3rd (cue music...dun dun duh!!!).

alright, back to the thesis.

Still here...

2010-03-01T15:49:00.002+01:00

quick update...i'm still alive. just been busy the last month or so. STUPID THESIS!

anyways, so far so good. got a trip to Athens coming up in 2 weeks. i was invited to attend a business week seminar there at the american college of business. i'm excited b/c i've never been to greece. should be a good trip. although i'm going solo b/c gabi can't get time off....she's saving her vacation days for when my parents come to visit (possibly sometime in sept).

also, there's an opportunity for me to go to brussels for the international week at corvinus. we'll see about that. depends on the money situation.

oh, still no new camera so i have to beg friends to send over pics. sorry for that....it's just electronics are waaaayyyy overpriced here.

so that's all for now... :)

Happy New Years

2010-01-07T16:52:00.002+01:00

NYE was fun. Had a flat party w/ some friends. Drank so much champagne and vodka oranges, ate burritos, quesadillas, kalua pork and celebrated until 6am. The weather wasn't the greatest, raining and cold. Plus when I wanted to end the night, at around 3am, we couldn't call a taxi to come get us. All were booked until around 4:30am.

Friend of mine, Yoann from France, came back to Bp to celebrate with his gf. He stopped by the flat and had a good time. Highlight of the night: the iranian, mexican, hungarian, french, filipino language exchange. (i.e. teaching each other all the bad words from their respective languages)

A good celebration. Looking forward to 2010!

Studying

2010-01-07T16:35:00.002+01:00

Need a study break. Got 2 finals tomorrow and one on saturday. Then next saturday another one. I can't wait until this semester is over...

I did what I normally like to do for a study break...google my name. :) Found out there's another Roncarlo in SD of all places!!! I was the first though! ;) I'd like to know how his parents came up with the name. My parents gave me their explanation and it seems believable.

Anyways, if you run across this bizarro-Roncarlo, punch him...j/k...not really. :) offer him a scotch and a cigar to see if it's the real roncarlo. ;)

Christmas

2009-12-26T01:20:00.003+01:00

Merry Christmas from Szarvas!

Currently 1:20am CET, watching some Lakers v. Cavs as I wait for the Chargers/Titans game.

Skyped w/ the family earlier, now just relaxing. Christmas eve was good. Arrived here around 6pm, just in time for some whiskey. Dinner was delicious. Duck, potatoes, rice and then some "Christmas cookies". We'll be here until sunday, then heading back to Bp. Got some work to finish up.

Speaking of work, here's what's been going on since last I wrote. As far as work is concerned, I've been promoted. I now am in charge of our Asia Pacific sales channel. Been fairly busy because of it. In addition to that, school work has increased. I'm working on my thesis. Fortunately for me, my thesis is also a project I'm doing at work. So I have time to work, it's just a lot of time.

I also went to my first company xmas party last weekend. I was glad I went. Got to see a different side of the coworkers. I only get to see them when I go into the office and most are wearing lab coats and goggles (hey they're chemists?!?!) Speaking of which, it was interesting to see chemists party...I wish I had a camera still.

Anyways, "GAME ON!!"

...as i sit in my new office...

2009-10-14T15:31:00.002+02:00

i was promoted to take over my old boss' duties here at the company. i'm responsible for the asia-pacific distribution region. so for the past 2 weeks i've been familiarizing myself w/ the day-to-day operations and informing the partners in asia-pacific that they will now report to me.

a bit overwhelming, but i'm reassured by the confidence my old boss and the CEO have in me. they believe i can handle this, and i believe it too.

so now i've got a new journey ahead of me. i'm an "executive". HELL YEAH!!!!!!! :)

Chargers game 9/20

2009-09-21T20:16:00.002+02:00

Just saw last nights game vs. the Ravens...

The mental mistakes were costly (i.e. delay of game and other penalties), obviously the lack of a veteran C and NT hurt on both sides, as well as LT out. I'm just curious, why call "power running" plays (or running plays for that matter) in goal line situations when 1) we have no power RB, and 2) we 4 WR's (TE's included) that are over 6'3"?!?!? Why not call a fade route and have the receivers play jump ball w/ the Ravens CB's who are 5'11"?!?!? WTF!!

I liked what I saw from Rivers (minus the 2 INT's), Sproles' contributions on offense (278 all purpose yds), but other than that, the Def couldn't tackle, we lack a true FB for those "power running" situations (and/or for QB protection). When is Larry English gonna have his first sack and when is Merriman, if ever, gonna get back to his once dominant self? If I were AJ, i'd scour through the FA list and find solid back up D-linemen and O-linemen. If these "problems" continue, we can stop all the talk about getting to the SB or even a deep run in the playoffs, b/c all teams in the playoffs (and SB) can pressure the QB and play D. The exception being, of course the SD Chargers, circa 1995. Without a solid D, opposing offenses will have their way the entire game. I know it's boring, but great Defenses (e.g. 2000 Ravens, 2002 Bucs) can stop good offenses. The Chargers need to build that D up again. Solid tackling, applying QB pressure and a stout, run stuffing NT if they plan on continuing the 3-4 alignment.

I refrained from making any comments until I actually saw recent games. I think the game vs. the Ravens was a good litmus test for the Chargers to see if they really are SB contenders this season. Some good points can be taken from it (mainly the ones I wrote above), but some areas that need improvement as well.

All in all, I'm ok with the loss for 2 reasons. 1) it's early in the season. If last season taught us anything, it's that it's never too late and that anything can happen. And 2) Injuries contributed to this. Now I'm not making excuses for the loss, but all I'm saying is that if the injuries weren't there, the game would've been played differently. That being said, b/c it's early and injuries to the players missing weren't season ending (sans j williams) the Chargers have time to recoup and come back. But I'm sure when they look at film this week, the players will see what most of the fans saw.

In any case, I'll continue to support them out here in Hungary, when I can watch them.... :)

communication breakdown

2009-07-27T10:37:00.002+02:00

i just came back from the hair salon...my stylist (the chick that cuts my hair) only speaks hungarian and i'm still learning (you can see where this is going). i ask for my usual haircut, longer hair on top and a fade. she understood it as, "i'd like a mullet!" so she begins to cut my hair and i can see her do the fade on the sides and then start on the back, but i don't see her fade it as high as the sides. i'm thinking to myself...she's giving me a mullet. i give her the benefit of the doubt, afterall, she's cut my hair before. so it looks good in the mirror and then she asks if i'd like to wash the hair, i say "yeah, sure!" as she finishes blow drying she asks if it's good, and i ask for the mirror so i can see the back. sure enough, she gave a frickin' euro mullet!!!! bundesliga is what i was told it was called here in hungary (after the german soccer league). i'm like..."hell no!!!!" i tell her (very politely) that isn't what i asked for. she muttered something about a punk hair style...i bite my lip and repeat that i just want her to fade the sides and back. she apologizes and fixes it and says she'll remember the next time i come back. THE NEXT TIME?!?!?! we'll see....

my new faves

2009-07-21T12:30:00.003+02:00

here's some hungarian pop music i like: Zséda, És megindul a föld

she's my new hungarian celebrity crush... ;)

here's another: 30Y, Felhő

don't ask me to translate...i like the melody as is :)

party time...

2009-07-19T20:05:00.002+02:00

spent the last 2 nights hanging out w/ some frenchies. my buddy yo had some friends from france over and we partied w/ them fri and sat night. the latest ending w/ me going to bed at 8am. we (yo, geoffrey, alex and i) left the club around 5:30 or so then ate some gyros (w/ some beer) before parting ways. i went back via the 4/6 tram then the 53 bus....except when i boarded the 53 bus, i fell asleep. my street is only 3 stops away, so i should've been prepared, but i was so tired. i woke up in some part of the 11th district (my district) that i've never been to...i was 7 stops past mine. i got out and walked down the hill. luckily for me the 53 bus going the opposite direction arrived right as i started walking. long night and i couldn't wait to get home.

Bring the Rain...and random thoughts

2009-07-01T13:10:00.005+02:00

Dude! the rain came last week and it was insane. (not really) It did cause some damage here in Bp. The Danube flooded the "rakpart" (the Buda and Pest side highway that follows the river). Take a look at the pics:

The rains also tore off the roof of my boss' house. CRAZY!! Now the city is in a mess. I spent 1 hr in traffic going to work and coming back from work. It's only 10km away!!!! (or something like that...) Anyways, I'm going into the city today to buy a wedding gift for Kata, Gabi's sister. She's getting married this saturday, July 4. I'm taking the public transport b/c it'll take forever to get to the Pest side.

Speaking of weddings, my new friend Billy (he's from Dallas Ft Worth and went to TX A&M) is getting married in August 1 this year to a Hungarian girl. He asked me to be one of his groomsmen. I was surprised and honored. I told him I'd be happy to do it. We both moved here for a Hungarian chick....idk what it is about them :) They're awesome!

Oh yeah, random....i was at a pub called Szimpla Kert last friday and I met 2 Filipino dudes. They were studying abroad in Spain and were here in Bp for holiday w/ some of their classmates. I forget their names (b/c i was drunk) but I was speaking to them in Tagalog.

Job Market

2009-06-23T19:58:00.002+02:00

So I've been reading stories on Business Week, Financial Times, WSJ, etc. regarding MBA's and the job market. It's to the point where, those that have been laid off are now competing w/ the likes of me for a frickin' internship! These are people that used to make 6 figures or so. Also in the mix, graduating MBA's. They're the ones who couldn't get an internship last summer and now have to compete for one, rather than for a full time job. Most likely, I will be in the same boat. During the school year, I applied for internships/jobs here and didn't have any success. The latest is w/ BCG..."not enough structure" i was told. I'm not cut out to be a "consultant". In any case, it's a tough road ahead for me. I've expanded my job search, to literally world wide. The growing job market in China got me thinking of another move after the program is done. I also checked out the PI.

*keeping my fingers crossed!

Let me ask you (for those that read my blogs), how bad/good is the job market in the US? All I know is what I read. Tell me, tell me, tell me... ;)

Silent Commemoration @ Heroes Square

2009-06-22T23:13:00.003+02:00

IRAN

2009-06-18T18:53:00.002+02:00

Didn't know too many Iranians, until I arrived here. Oddly enough at UCI, there were plenty of Iranians, but sadly I never befriended any. But I have 3 great Iranian friends here in Bp and I officially support their request for a recount. I'm no expert in the politics of Iran/Persia, but I do know that government corruption shouldn't interfere with a "democratic" election. During the announcement of Ahmadinejad "winning" the election, a friend had forwarded me several videos that weren't available to the media yet. It showed how "democratic" Iran was. Since then, you can go to youtube and even major media outlets such as CNN, to catch a glimpse.
Here in Bp, there will be a Silent Commemoration tomorrow night at Hosok Ter (Heroes Square) from 6-8pm, in honor of those who lost their lives fighting for their rights. I will join them.

First Year done!

2009-06-13T00:04:00.003+02:00

It was official on May 30th...I've been in Bp for one whole year. Gabi and I celebrated by going out to dinner. June 13 also marked the end of my first year of my MBA program. I'm set for summer.

Things to do:
-find either a summer internship or another job (my hours are scaled back to 10hrs/wk...damn recession!)

-Take a trip: depends on the money situation, but prefer to go to Croatia or Greece...I need some water near me

-take hungarian lessons...met another american here who's taking lessons and i feel ashamed, seeing as i've been here longer and he knows more than me

other than that everything's copacetic....oh yeah, i also went horseback riding for the first time! one of my friends owns a horse and she tried to teach me how to ride....effin' hard! but i was told i did well for my first time. we'll see, i'm going again.

Palinka festival

2009-05-11T19:01:00.002+02:00

this past saturday I attended the Palinka festival. met up w/ my colleague from the mba program and we kept drinking palinka, mainly sour cherry flavor along w/ some peach. it was a good night. ended it by going to a dance club called cha cha cha. my buddy likes going there b/c there's ton's of girls and foreigners and good music (drum and bass, electronica, etc). overall a good night. didn't get too drunk b/c we were drinking palinka w/ water....if it were beer i wouldn't be able to remember. it was well deserved. had a busy week at work and school. i'll need more nights like that in about 3 wks (finals coming up).

will post up pics when i'm not lazy. oh yeah, it's hot in here! today it was around mid 80's...and our car has no A/C....ugh!

cheers!

coworkers

2009-05-01T23:22:00.002+02:00

i was invited to hang out w/ my coworkers this past wednesday. it was for a going away party for one of the CEO's...young guy, originally from Seattle. got to meet more ppl and talk to them. interesting bunch...majority of them are chemists. did the usual banter, "why are you here? why did you choose hungary?, etc..." good night. hopefully it won't be the last.

things to remember: abba girls (ask about them later)

Spring is here again....

2009-04-28T20:10:00.002+02:00

I'm back from my winter hibernation. The sun is out, flowers in bloom and the girls are wearing shorter skirts ;). Ah...I love it!! So a quick recap of what i've been upto since my last post.

-studied hard and did well in my first semester of mba
-adjusted to the Hungarian winter (~8 degrees F was the coldest)
-started a new "job"...i'm a student worker :)
-found a new group of drinking buddies (dudes from the mba)
-and most importantly came back to San Diego for a short visit! :D

Our trip (Gabi and I) to SD was a hectic one. The flights were supposed to be from Bp to Milan to NYC to SD. We left at 7am on a saturday and were supposed to arrive in SD by 7pm PST. But we when we arrived in Milan, we were told that all flights leaving JFK were delayed by 2 hrs b/c of strong winds (50 mph!!). So we chilled at Malpensa (the airport) and finally left for NYC. By the time we got to JFK, b/c of the 2hr delay, we missed our connection to SD. The only available flight, b/c it apparently was a holiday weekend (passover, i think), was for the following morning AND we had to be redirected to LA and then SD. I'm like whatever...just give us a hotel to sleep in and our meal vouchers (which they did). I asked Gabi if she'd like to go into the city...perhaps I can call up some friends (Tony and Noi) and we can hang out for a little bit. We decided we'd wait until after we had our dinner and then see how we feel. After dinner, we just crashed. We didn't sleep the night before b/c we had to be at the airport so early and Gabi had work that day as well. So we sleep and wake up ready for the flight, but there's another delay. The plane had a broken part and they needed 2 hrs to fix it or find us a new plane. After an hour and a half they find us a new plane...and after another half hour they transfer the baggage from the broken plane to the new plane. Finally on our way to SD....or so we thought. When we get to LA, b/c of the delay in JFK, we miss our connection to SD and were once again delayed for another hour. SO...we finally get to SD and we wait for our luggage......apparently b/c of all the changes and delays, my bag (the one w/ all our clothes and gifts) was not put on the flight from LA to SD. I filed my claim (too tired to be pissed off) and waited for my parents to come pick us up. The bright side was, on the way home, we stopped off to get carne asada's....mmmm. It kinda made up for it. Anyways, I eventually got my luggage the next morning.

So our trip didn't start off the best but we made the most of it. I tried to see as many ppl as possible. In Vegas we spent one night w/ my old roommate, Michelle, and the cast of Lion King. She's a longtime cast member of the one in Broadway. We went to a club opening (ND's Fuego)...free bottle service and hors d'oeuvres.
At the party for nanay, many friends came by and I tried to catch up w/ everyone. Sorry if anyone felt neglected. The family and friends were there wishing nanay a happy birthday at the same time getting to know Gabi. It looked like everyone had fun.
Fulfilled my running streak bet by taking Mark out for a "nice steak dinner and never calling him again..." We managed to see the beach for one day and tan a little. Too bad the weather wasn't as I advertised for Gabi. Nonetheless, she had a good time and enjoyed. Got to see my god daughter Hailey along w/ all my other neices and nephews (Andrew....he's so cute!)

After the SD Trip I had my intensive week for MBA....OMG, I was so exhausted. We arrived back to Bp on a friday (the flight back was not better than the flight over there) and I missed classes that day, but went to class that saturday. I was like a zombie. Used the weekend to "recover" and prepare for the week. I had so much work to do, at the same time trying to fight the jet lag, all I wanted to do was survive. I managed to get through the week (semi-zombie) and used this last weekend to rest up even more. I'm back to full strength now. I started work again this week. I also started running again!!! No streak this time (maybe) but just to get back in shape. I brought back with me my Tanita Ironman scale...it measures your body fat %, BMR, muscle weight, etc. It keeps me in check...i'm a statistics nut (the mathematician in me).

Anyways, this week is all about work and finishing up some projects for school. No special plans. I'll get the pics up on picasa soon...lates.

My Christmas Story

2008-12-28T23:30:00.003+01:00

My first Christmas here in Hungary was a good one! Gabi and I left Bp after cleaning the flat. We packed the gifts and put them in the car and headed for Szarvas. The weather was cold, but no rain or snow, yet. We arrived in Szarvas and soon after we had our Christmas Eve dinner, duck. Actually, before dinner we had several shots of Palinka w/ her dad :). After the dinner we exchanged gifts. I bought Gabi this Swarovski necklace and she got me these nice ass leather gloves w/ rabbit fur and a robe. I'm all ready for winter! Her parents gave us money for Ikea furniture...they found out that I really liked the Poang chair and gave us money to buy one for the flat.

After exchanging gifts we rested up before heading out to Gabi's godfather's house. When it came time to leave it had started snowing! :) The streets were covered with a small layer of snow, it was so nice. My first white christmas!! When we arrived at the house, there were more xmas cookies and sweets along with more champagne, palinka and other alcohol. I ate and drank a lot. We stayed there for maybe an hour or two and then went back home. As we left, the snow was still coming down steadily. I wasn't dressed warm enough and by the next morning I caught a cold. :( I had a sore throat and my nose was running. Not a good way to spend the holidays. Needless to say, that didn't stop me from enjoying my time there.

Christmas day was more quiet. Gabi's sister, Kata, and her fiance, Andras arrived that day and we exchanged gifts again....Gabi refers to it as Baby Jesus came by and dropped off some gifts. I got a nice nail cutter from them from Germany. We ate dinner and then just stayed in. We were supposed to visit her cousin, but postponed it for the following day. Her cousin lives in another town called Csongrad (chon-grad), about 45 mins away. On the way there, her dad (Istvan) asks me if I wanna get a beer afterwards at the local pub. Of course I say yes. It was just a guys night out. Istvan, Andras, myself and a friend of the family, Janos all go to the local pub for some beers and palinka. If I haven't already explained what palinka is, it's the Hungarian version of moonshine. Usually made in the countryside, it's now produced commercially and consumed by many Hungarians. It's strong ass shit. We decide to all have a shot of palinka w/ honey and then beers afterwards. The funny thing is, Istvan, can't speak any english, so we were using Andras as the translator. He taught me a new Hungarian phrase, "meg egyszer", it means another round! So everytime the bar maid came by, i'd just shout, "meg egyszer!"

Now I knew palinka was strong, but didn't anticipate it being that strong. I forget how many rounds we had, but it was plenty. Usually if you drink palinka you don't mix at all. We kept mixing w/ beer.....ugh...beer was a bad choice! The next morning I was sooooo hungover. It was the worst that I've ever felt and i've drank a lot before. But I couldn't eat anything the next day until 6pm. Gabi told me I'm not allowed to drink palinka w/ beer anymore. I was ok with that.

In spite of the hangover, it was a good guys night out. I missed that. I asked her dad what he really thinks of me. He said he was embarassed that he can't speak to me in english. He says we have similar sense of humor and sees I really love Gabi. I think I made a good impression.

**sorry no pics available

Christmas time is here....

2008-12-10T00:06:00.012+01:00

So it's been a month and a half since I last blogged. School's been keeping me busy. Last month we had our intensive week where we were in class M-F. In addition to that, the weekend before we had regular Fri and Sat class, so it felt like being in class full time. It took some time to adjust to the schedule, but I managed. During the week we have regular courses in the morning and then electives in the afternoon. I decided to take a Mergers and Acquisitions class taught by a Harvard professor. By far, one of the most interesting and exciting classes. ;) For our final, we had to negotiate the acquisition of a Turkish telecom company...I represented the investment banker :D. Needless to say, I'm enjoying my education right now. Good times!

That's what's been happening since last I wrote. Not a whole lot of exciting adventures. We did have some cold weather come in early November. It got down to 28 at times and we had SNOW!! Right now its around low 30's but snow is coming back later this week. I'm getting slowly acclimated to the cold weather....and I do mean slowly. I find myself adding more layers than any of my colleagues. They're cool w/ a shirt, sweater and coat. I have to add an undershirt to that LONG SLEEVE shirt along w/ a scarf, gloves and a beanie. Yeah, slowly...

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good. I celebrated mine by preparing for class the next morning (refer to M&A class). I was surprised they don't celebrate Thanksgiving here. Don't all foreign countries celebrate the pilgrims? (j/k....per wikipedia, Netherlands celebrates it ;) )

I've got some new pictures, but haven't uploaded them. Wasn't able to take many b/c I haven't really gone anywhere or did anything. I did go wine tasting. Here's some pics:

in the wine cellar

with Miklos...homeboy's like 6'5"

I'm loving the wines out here. That night we tasted 5-7 wines (ranging from Irsai Oliver to Cabernet Sauvignon) At the end, the unfinished opened bottles were ours to take. My personal favorite that night was the Barrique Chardonnay and the Irsai Oliver. I bought a bottle of the Irsai Oliver for Gabi. The wine tasting was with my colleagues during the intensive week. Istvan, the one who took the pics, is planning another trip sometime next spring in another wine region here. There are so many wine regions here. When I go back and visit SD, I'll try to bring some back. From my understanding, Hungarian wines are not available in the US, at least not in SD. Which is a shame, because they're really good. I'm no expert, but I can appreciate a good wine. Many of the parties I go to here are wine tasting parties. They're mainly Gabi's colleagues and some are very knowledgable on Hungarian wine making.

So on to the topic of this blog....Christmas! I'm staying here for the holidays. The way Hungarians celebrate the holidays is different from what I'm used to. First off, December 6, St. Miklos/Mikulaus/Nicholas day, you're supposed to leave your boots out and in the morning you'll find a chocolate Santa in it. I found a chocolate Santa in mine. :D Secondly, families don't get a christmas tree until 3-4 days before the 24th and decorate only on the night of the 24th. Christmas, btw, is a 2 day holiday (25 AND 26). Lastly there are special meals prepared just for that day....kinda like Thanksgiving ;) except we're having duck here. Anyways, I hope it snows during that time. Gabi told me the river freezes over and you can go ice skating on it. :D I haven't gone ice skating since high school. Should be fun and cold.

Streak over

2008-11-03T12:14:00.000+01:00

My running streak officially ended Oct 25, 2008. From December 17, 2007 to October 25, 2008, 312 days(or so), I ran at least one mile each day. I made a bet with my friend Mark to continue the streak for as long as we can. The prize, dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. I lost due to injury. I started to feel pain on my left arch a couple months ago, but I was always able to stretch and run through it. Well, the weekend of the 25th was a long weekend here in Hungary and we went back to Szarvas. Right before we left for Szarvas that thursday, I did my usual run but I was already feeling pain in my arch. I thought if I ran and stretched it out, it would go away like usual. Boy was I wrong. I made it worst and toughed it out for another 2 days. Sunday comes around and we're going back to Bp so I had to decide whether to run in Szarvas or wait until we got back home. I chose the later in hopes that my foot would feel better. At this point, I could barely put pressure on it. That's when it was decided that I had to stop. You know when professional athletes say, "my body was telling me it was time to leave the game", well yeah, my left foot was screaming out loud, "Get the f*ck off me!!!" I was bumming hard because I hate to lose and I really wanted to make it to at least 1 year. Also mentally, I wasn't ready to stop.
So now, I'm still not running because my foot still hurts (possibly Plantar Fasciitis). The arch on my left foot feels like it's no longer there. I vowed to continue and start a new streak because I know I can. Mark's streak is still intact and when I return to SD, I owe him a dinner.

Non-smoking please

2008-10-28T15:39:00.000+01:00

After receiving an email about the American Lung Association, I was compelled to blog about this. This has been on my mind ever since I arrived here...everyone smokes! (ok, not everyone, but a lot) Growing up in CA, I've been accustomed to leaving a bar/restaurant and not smelling like an ashtray. I'm not a big fan of smoking cigarettes, I prefer cigars but I smoke a cigar about 3-4 times a year. I've got several friends in the US that smoke and its never bothered me because I'm not around it 24-7. So when I would go out, my clothes didn't need to be febreeze'd. It's a different story out here.
Now my general stereotype regarding Europeans and smoking is that its more accepted here than in the US. Maybe it's because of all of thetruth.com ads. So, I figured that smoking is more prevalent here, but failed to realize the extent. I've only visited European countries in the past...never lived in any of them. When I first came to Bp last year, I smoked cigarettes b/c it was very "european" but knew it would only last until I returned home. My time frame here is a little longer than my previous 2 week vacation. But there is relief in sight. Rumor has it that Hungary will ban smoking in bars and restaurants starting next year. One of Gabi's acquaintances mentioned this when I first arrived here. Even if it's only half true and it's only banned for restaurants, that would be a big relief. As a former asthma sufferer, I can't wait for that.

Vienna, Austria

2008-10-28T14:26:00.000+01:00

Some pictures from Vienna, Austria:

me in front of Schönbrunn Palace

Gabi and I at the fountain below Gloriette

Autumn in Austria

Gabi showin' some love

Wienerschnitzel!!!! It ain't a hot dog!?!?!

September recap

2008-09-29T16:11:00.000+02:00

4 months here and I'm still enjoying it. I find new things to do each time I go out. Last weekend Gabi and I took a day trip up to Esztergom. It north of Bp along the Danube and borders Slovakia...(part of the former Czechoslovakia). The main site in Esztergom is the big cathedral there. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esztergom_Basilica) I took some pics there:

Saint Adalbert's Basilica

inside the Basilica

the Organ

Gabi and I climbed to the top of the Basilica and took some pics of Esztergom, the Danube and also Slovakia.

Gabi and I atop the Basilica

View of Esztergom

The Danube and Slovakia, city of Parkany...the bridge connects the two countries

don't know what it is, but thought it was cool from atop the Basilica...

After taking a tour of the Basilica, we drove across the bridge and checked out Párkány, Slovakia. Didn't see much there because it was a Sunday and most places in Europe are closed on Sundays. We stopped to eat there at a restaurant along the river bank. I ate a bean soup w/ sausage and also a bratwurst. Eating cold weather foods is a new experience for me, but I like it.

me in Parkany...if you know what Pogi means, you'll understand ;)

Overall the daytrip to Esztergom was beautiful. The weather was cloudy and cold, but no rain and driving up through the small towns and seeing the green mountainside reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. Definitely going back there again.
In other news, school is going well for me. I'm in class Friday and Saturday and it's every other weekend. So the rest of my time I can devote to my budding singing career...j/k! I spend most of my days still trying to look for a job. I'm getting a lot of support from Gabi and her friends. Whenever they meet a headhunter or know someone, that knows someone they let me know to pass my CV along. I'll have to tell you though, it's frustrating the hell out of me. I'm trying to keep positive...I'm not to the point where I NEED to work, so that's good. But I know it won't last. I'm hoping to find something soon. At this point I just don't want to be a "bum"... :)

"And without a job, residence, or legal tender, that's what you're gonna be -- a f*ckin' bum!"

Gabi and I won't be coming home to SD during the holidays. She just started a new job as a Project Manager for a Translation company (English to Hungarian) and it'll be hard to try and get time off so soon. Also the price of airfare is too much and Gabi still needs to apply for a visa. I believe beginning next year, Hungarians don't need a visa to enter the US. So we're postponing the trip until sometime next year. We're shooting for April '09.
Gabi had a going away party this past Friday. Her coworkers from the Parlament decided to get together at their favorite bar, Club Tatu (Hungarian for Armadillo). Here's some pics:

Gabi and Anita, their weapon of choice "tequila shots"

Gabi and Michael

The Parlamentary Funk

and here's to you, Ms. Danko! Egészségére!

...catch ya later!

it feels like Summer's Over

2008-09-09T00:15:00.002+02:00

I've been here in Bp for 3 months now. My tourist visa has expired, but my student visa is in the works and should be ready by Wednesday. I'm a bit disappointed that I haven't found a job yet, but i'm hopeful once the MBA program begins i'll have an easier time finding employment. I have my orientation this Friday and Saturday at a city called Tata...about an hour or so away from Bp by car. Gabi and I were given the old family car to use, but still prefer public transportation for going out. (Bp has a zero tolerance policy regarding alcohol and driving...i.e. BAC=0.0)

...continued (9/18/08)

**Tata**
Finished the orientation. I'm excited to start school tomorrow. At the orientation we met the others that are in the program and a brief intro of the classes we'll be taking. I'm really looking forward to it because it's things I really want to learn. My colleagues range from MD's to Engineers to Ironman Triathletes to professional Basketball players...(no, you probably don't know her). I'm the only US Citizen in the program, but several have either studied or lived in the US. So the dynamics of the program should be interesting. One of the main reasons for choosing a program outside of the US was to get this diversity. Not only in Ethnicity, but careers, academic disciplines, etc. I hope to provide some valuable insight to the group and learn from them as well.

Here's some pics at Tata:

some of the colleagues

view of the lake at Tata

another view from the lake

**weather**
It's hella cold!!!! It went from 90's during the first week of Sept down to the 40's a few days ago. I'm freezing my a** off here!! And it's only September!?!? It kinda gets this cold in SD, but we're talking about Jan or Feb and i'm all bundled up with my thermal shirt, gloves, snowboard jacket, etc... and that's at night. Here, it's this cold during the day. What's worse is, it's raining too. I brought with me my Pea Coat and some other "SD-winter" clothes, but wasn't able to bring everything. I was hoping to come back to SD during the holidays and bring back the warmer clothes. My fault for not realizing the coldest SD gets in the winter is the coldest Bp gets in the Fall. WTF?!?! Anyways, I've made several trips to H&M and bought more appropriate clothing just for the Fall. I'm sure I'll need even warmer clothes come Winter time...
(keep in mind, i've only lived in warm climate...philippines, saudi arabia, so cal...there is no winter time)
Good lesson learned.

Anyways, I begin class tomorrow at 1-8pm and on Saturdays from 9-520pm. Tonight Gabi and I are going to check out the MOL Jazz Festival. They have various jazz concerts near Corvinus University. It started yesterday and it's going until Sunday. Most of the bands are from Europe, with a couple members from the US. Should be fun...jazz, scotch, cigars, cold weather...my kind of atmosphere.

Oh, I know I mentioned before I may come back to SD during Christmas time, but that may change. One, Gabi started a new job and doesn't know if she can get the time off so soon. And two, she still needs to apply for a visa to come to the US. Hungary signed a treaty with the US to allow Hungarians to come the US w/o a Visa, but it hasn't taken into effect yet. Also the airline tickets are too expensive during that time. But we'll see. Things could change. I would like my first time back to be with her. It would be her first time in the US and I like playing tour guide to "America's Finest City".

**side note: running streak is still continuing...although, i honestly don't know once winter comes...i may be running in snowboarding gear.

On that note, I'm gonna run right now. Stay warm kids...i'll try.

rants and raves

2008-08-21T15:52:00.000+02:00

so today i continued my quest to apply for a student visa/Hungarian residence permit. i say continued b/c yesterday, gabi and i spent 2 1/2 hrs waiting for our number to be called at the immigration office so that we can submit all the paperwork, only to find out that we needed to pay for the fees first. the thing is, you can only pay via postage stamps (don't ask why) and the post office was already closed. after hearing this, i imagined myself as a cartoon character whose face just turned red w/ anger and steam came blowing out of my ears, eyes and nose...
several logical questions came to mind, like "why don't they state that on the application forms?" or "why don't they have a sign in the waiting area to pay x-amount at the post office before taking a number?" "why did i waste that much time only to have to come back the next day and do it again and come to find out once more that i'm missing some forms?"
i've learned that administration in Hungary is very inefficient. they make you take a number and you wait....not to be helped, but to pay whatever fee there is. then you take another number and fall in another line for them to tell you whatever you requested is available....and then you wait. THEN, you get the help you need! if they did away with the first 2 sets of people that "help" you, things would run more efficiently. granted 3/4 of the current workforce would be out of a job, but i don't give a damn!!!
the immigration office is just one example of the inefficiencies of this great country. i'm sure i'll run into more. it felt like the CA DMV, only worse...

**the lone bright side.....the workers weren't a-holes.

July recap

2008-08-02T13:44:00.000+02:00

My 2nd month here in Bp and things are improving slightly. I've committed to Corvinus University for the Fall, had my first US visitor and continued to explore the city and it's sights. Among the most frustrating things here is the fact I can't seem to find a job. The novelty of being on a permanent vacation has wore off now. The best part of my day is when Gabi comes back from work and I get to spend time with her. I live for those moments. Anyways, it hasn't been all that bad. I'll post some more pics up on either Flickr or Picassa.

So there's a couple of things going on right now. One, I'm still trying to get my residence permit here and my initial 90 days will be up this month on the 31st. The student visa is the easiest way to go but I ran into a big setback when the schools Director of Administration decided to go on vacation for the summer w/o sending me the official letter of acceptance. Without it, I can't apply for the student visa. She finally came back earlier this week and emailed it to me. So now I'm getting the ball rolling on that. In the meantime, I have to leave the country and go to another country NOT a part of the Schengen Treaty (if you don't know, wikipedia it!! :D) So...Gabi and I are going to visit Romania this weekend and stay in the Transilvania region (oooh.....scary!!) Don't worry folks, I've got my cross and stakes...i'll pick up the holy water at church this sunday. ;) We'll be leaving Bp, most likely early Sat morning and then staying at Szarvas for a day or two, then driving to Romania.
**a little note: the currency in Romania is called the RON!!!!! and...I have an official translation of my CA drivers license now, so I can drive here in this country. Yay!!!!

I'm still doing my running streak and ever since Victoria brought over my running shoes, I've been running longer distances again. Oh btw, the football thing is over...who am I kidding, i'm not a football player :D. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. So, the longest i've ran is a whopping 4.3 miles just the other day. I'm getting back to form. And most importantly, Gabi is joining in on the fun of running! :D She decided to train for the Nike Half-Marathon Relay on September 7, 2008. The relay point of the half is at 13.8km and the second half is only 7.3km. I gave her the choice of which half to run :).

First visitor

2008-07-27T13:13:00.000+02:00

I finally had my first visitor from back home. Victoria came to visit me in Budapest as a part of her first Euro Trip. Her brother was studying in Geneva for the summer and decided to stop by Bp first before going to meet up with him. She arrived on July 17th and stayed until Sunday the 20th. We started by taking her to a nearby restaurant. It has a nice outside garden and the food is excellent. I warned Victoria of the moody weather here then she understood why. As we were eating, the sound of thunder came out of nowhere and then rain came pouring down. It came to the point where the streets flooded and on the way back we had to hop over several small puddles. Not the very best impression, but we enjoyed good food.
The next day we decided to take Victoria around the Buda side of the city. I played tour guide while Gabi was at work. We started out at Gellert Hotel then trekked up the hill to the Citadel. The view from atop the Citadel is awesome. You have a 360 view of both the Buda and Pest side. Also on top is the Hungarian version of the Statue of Liberty.

view of the Danube and Pest

Statue of Liberty

We met Gabi up there for some coffee and then headed towards Buda Castle. Within the Castle District, there's many things to see in addition to the Castle itself. Although there are several museums there, we just walked around the main courtyard and enjoyed Hungarian funnel cake. We also took her to Matthias Church and took pictures.

Gabi and I outside of Matthias Church

Later that evening we went to a kocsma (coach-ma) for Gabi's friends bday. Kocsma's are Hungary's version of the local pub or dive bar. Cheap drinks and often filled with locals. We drank a lot.....i mean I drank a lot. Lots of beer, shots of jager and some goulash.
The next day we decided to have a rest day. After the heavy drinking the night before we decided to take Victoria to a Hungarian Bath. We went to Rudas (rude-ash). Rudas is one of the older baths in Bp. It has 5 different pools with varying temperatures starting at 28 C (~82.4F) upto 42 C (~108F). In the center is an octagonal pool and above it is a dome w/ different stained glass circles. The temp was only a nice 36C. There was a sign on the 42C pool that said you shouldn't stay more than 5 mins inside. That sh*t was hot!! You can feel the heat in your bones. I swear my insides were cooking.

Victoria at Rudas

Later that evening we wanted to take Victoria to the Pest side of the city. We started by taking the tram to Margitsziget (Margaret Island). We went to an outdoor bar called Holdudvar for a drink and to people watch. Victoria tried Palinka for the first time. Palinka is a Hungarian spirit made from fruit and can be very strong. I'm not sure what kind she tried but she seemed to like it.
After Margit, we walked to the Parliament and then to Old Man's Pub. Victoria wanted to see where I met Gabi. I warned Victoria that Hungarian men are very aggressive. She realized it as soon as she got out of the bathroom there. She said she felt the eyes staring at her immediately as she opened the door. One "old man" in particular went so far as to ask Gabi about Victoria. We didn't stay long b/c we were all tired still from the night before so we left after an hour or two. But we had to have one more meal. Kinda like having carne asada after drinking, we stopped off to get gyros. That completed the night.
The next day was Victoria's last day. There were only a couple things we wanted to show Victoria before she left. One being Vaci utca, the other being Heroes Square. Vaci utca is a famous street (i believe i wrote about it on one of the previous blogs). During the daytime, it's good for shopping. At night, it's a different story. ;) Anyways, after going to Heroes Square we decided to go home and get ready. Gabi's mom had sent us some homemade Goulash and we ate that right before we left for the airport. The perfect send off.

Victoria and Gabi at the airport

Victoria and I at the airport

Lake Balaton

2008-07-14T10:08:00.000+02:00

I had a blast last week in Lake Balaton! We (Gabi and I) were there since the 4th. First we stayed with her friends at this awesome vacation house. It sits along a hillside that overlooks the lake. Originally the family wanted to turn the house into a BnB for German tourists (back in the day, the East Germans would meet other family members from Western Germany at the lake)...but never panned out, so the family just turned it into a huge vacation house. The house has 3 floors, a basement, ground floor and second floor. It has several balconies overlooking the lake. A swimming pool and lots of space to lay out and tan.

a view of the lake from the balcony

We stayed at that house from friday to sunday, came home to Bp, then the following monday took a train back to Balaton and stayed with Gabi's sister, Katta and her fiance Andras. The two of them rented a sail boat for the week. Andras is an avid sailor. Both are die hard MotoGP fans and Andras loves American muscle cars. His dream is to drive a V8. Cool people.

I got my new cell phone (sony ericsson k660i) and it has a 2mp camera on it. So I used it to take some pics of the trip. Hope they're ok.

Captain Roncarlo

My First Mate

the pirate ship, HMS Nobody

Langos (pronounced lang-go-sh)

The langos is a piece of dough like bread that's fried and topped with sour cream, cheese, garlic and salt. Me being lactose, I passed on the sour cream and cheese. Really good w/ a beer, but so unhealthy. Oh well, I was on holiday.

school and football

2008-07-04T13:48:00.000+02:00

I've decided to go with Corvinus University and their Executive MBA program. I thought about both programs and felt what Corvinus had to offer was much better. The university is more renowned, the alumni network I felt was better because of this, they offered to help find me a job while I went to school and overall just got a better feel for it. So there it is.

I had to email CEU and while I was writing stating that I chose another, it felt like writing a rejection letter to a girlfriend. "...i'm sorry, but it's not working out....i've decided to see another..." :D it gave me a laugh after a hard day of football practice.

With that said, football practice was harder than usual. It seemed like the coach was seeing who was fast and who wasn't. He broke us up into 5 groups and the first in each group seemed like the fastest people. I say seemed like because he spoke in Hungarian. Anyways, I was chosen to be the first in one of the groups. It was a sprint to the other side of the field. If you didn't finish first, then you had to do 10 pushups. We did this over and over and each time I didn't finish first. I always thought I had decent speed, not necessarily the fastest, but good speed. But these guys are pretty fast. The reason I say that is they were running with full pads and all I had on was shorts and a t-shirt!! Anyways, the fastest guy beat me by 2 steps or so. So a couple of things here; reality check!, I'm not that fast. Next, I need to buy pads asap and get accustomed to running with them. And lastly, because of this hundred push up contest I'm doing with the others, doing 10 push ups after sprinting wasn't so bad. (there's my silver lining)

OH! Before I forget.....I found a Mexican restaurant here!!!! :D Now, it's not Barrio Logan or Chula Vista mexican restaurant, but I'll take whatever I can get. It's actually more like Chipotle, but whatever....they sold CARNE ASADA! Apparently the guy who owns it, is originally from California and preferred to use Chipotle's model. In any case, I've got a place to go to for my burrito fix. The place is called Arriba Taqueria and soon, they'll deliver! SWEET!!! :D

Now i'm hungry...lates.

monthly recap

2008-07-01T13:02:00.000+02:00

here's a little recap of some adventures i've had here that weren't included in the previous blogs.

about a week ago, gabi and i visited one of Hungary's famous thermal baths. we went to Lukac's (pronounced Lou-catch). most of the baths have 2+ pools w/ varying water temperatures. it was a hot day, so we wanted to stay in the cooler waters (of lake minnetonka)...after swimming we go up to the rooftop to lay out and tan. most of the ppl there are older men and women. i look over to my left and i see this chick talking to this older dude. i do a double take b/c she's TOPLESS!!! now i've been to europe before and i know that topless bathing is no big thing here. but the reason why i did a double take was i also saw her (woohoo...) i asked gabi if THAT is normal...she said no. well she didn't seem to mind...she wasn't the hottest girl by any means, nor the most hideous, but when i see a naked woman i have to look...and look....and look. anyways, i got over it and that was that.

another story, not involving nudity, but a funny sight. we went to this all ages type of outdoor venue called Zold Pardon. they have 2 dj's spinning mainly rock music and a plethora of drunk 18 yr olds (they're legal here...to drink). of course to me, most of them looked like high schoolers still searching to find their identity and be comfortable in their own skin. your normal teenage years...anyways, we sit down and i'm drinking my beer and gabi her wine and i'm doing what i like to do...people watch. i look over to my left and i see this big girl dancing all by herself wearing a short black skirt she shouldn't be wearing. and this chick is moving! she's working her one dance move and doing it to every beat of the song, from bryan adams' "summer of 69" to queen's "we will rock you"....it was awesome...good entertainment. one guy was brave enough to ask her to dance, but i think he did it as a dare b/c his homeboys were right in front of me egging him on. i wish i had it on video.

on to running...i nearly lost the bet the other night b/c when i gmap-pedometer'd the route i wasn't sure if it was a mile or not. it was just over, 1.002 miles. i was out at this pub w/ gabi's friends watching the euro cup championships (viva espana!) and of course we were drinking. i intended on going home early to do my run right before midnight, but after a couple drinks it was hard to leave the fun. so i took a shot of jager and some water and set off to run....in my flip flops. now i've run in various conditions (drunk, hammered, barefoot, in dress shoes, etc) but never in flip flops. lucky for me i have my watch to keep time and i pretty much now how fast a 10min/mile pace is, but not when i'm shuffling my feet. it's hard to run in flip flops b/c i could barely lift up my legs w/o the flip flops coming off. so i figured i'd run and head back after 5 mins or so. i turned back at around 5:30 and hoped to god, that that was far enough. thank you gmap-pedometer!!!! i ran from the pub at KATONA JOZSEF and BORBELY to the danube and headed down towards the park on the other side of the bridge. had i not gone past the bridge and more, i would have lost my bet.

in addition to my running now, some friends issued another physical challenge...to do 100 push ups. to find out more about this bet go to thehundrepushupsbet.blogspot.com or go to hundredpushups.com. so with all the running, pushups and football practice, i better be mr universe when i return to SD. of course all of the beer and salami may prevent that. anyways, i'm up for the challenge.

so, whats up for the next week? we have plans to go to Lake Balaton w/ gabi's friends this weekend and then next monday go back again w/ her sister and fiance. Balaton is similar to Lake Tahoe and there's a big music festival going on there this month. go to http://www.sziget.hu/balatonsound_english if you wanna know who's performing. i don't know if we'll still be there when it starts. hungary has a lot of music festivals and the biggest one (sziget festival, pronounced sea-get) in central eastern europe (cee) is in august and is here in budapest. http://www.sziget.hu/festival_english sounds like fun...

well that's all for now....i make a decision on the schools this friday. i'll let you know what i decide on.

Meet the parents

2008-06-23T21:52:00.000+02:00

my trip to Szarvas...

we missed the morning train directly to Szarvas so instead we caught the train that arrived in the town next to it. gabi's mom, edit (otherwise known as 'mom'), picked us up from the station. she's a cute mom w/ blonde hair, shoulder length, coming in at a cool 5'0" or less. she can't speak any english and my hungarian is just as bad, so gabi was the translator. 'mom' said she was glad to finally meet me and i told her the same.

we got in the car and headed for Szarvas, which was about 20 mins away. as you enter Szarvas, you get a sense of how small a town it is. one main road, a town center, the local tesco (aka Euro Target or Costco), horse-drawn carriages, etc. anyways, i was loving it. we stopped off at a family friends house to pick up some salami and eggs. the family friend is gabi's old schoolmate, agnes. agnes went to purdue university to get her masters and then moved to hanover, ca when she got married (her husband is from there). she was back in Szarvas for the summer b/c the heat in hungary is much better than the heat in the central valley of CA. we met and talked a little about how i'm liking hungary and decided to go meet later for drinks.

after picking up the salami and eggs (which is stored in a separate room), we headed for the danko family flat. it's a cute 2 bdrm flat on the 3rd floor of the building. 'mom' says she's gonna make me breakfast (eggs w/ sausage, paprika, tomatoes and bread). i thought that was really nice, but what's even better than that is she found "lactose-free" cheese! the breakfast was awesome!!
after a 2 hr nap, we head for the river to swim and lay out. swimming in the river is a new thing for me. having been raised in So Cal, i went to the beach or my pool to swim. i saw the river and it was green water...WTF?!? then i saw a bunch of ppl just swimming, diving right in, floating...i figured it can't be that bad. so i dove in (wearing my speedo's...when in rome my friends, when in rome)...refreshing considering the heat (~90's). after swimming gabi and i ran through the park (to continue my streak, day 187 and counting). when we got back, 'mom' made dinner...gulyas (mmmm!!) and then sponge cake w/ dark chocolate, peach and sour cherry. it's a good thing i'm doing the football thing, otherwise i'd be HELLA FAT...the food is so good here though.
before dinner i had 2 fingers of Ballantines, while gabi drank Becherovka and 'dad' had palinka. it's customary to drink a liquor before a meal. :D we also had white wine and champagne...it was awesome.
after dinner, gabi showed me around Szarvas. we went to the bar where she used to bartend back in the day and then bounced to another bar that had a band playing metallica covers. i felt like i was back in junior high, except i could drink.

the next day (sunday) gabi and i went back to the river to swim and tan. 'dad' left early to tend to some business in the northern part of Hungary, so i wasn't going to see him and say goodbye to him. meanwhile, 'mom' was shopping and preparing food for "Sunday Lunch". she made a pheasant and chicken soup (complete w/ chicken feet), chicken (battered in egg and flour), bacon wrapped catfish (soooo good!) and cucumber salad. topped off w/ more sponge cake. i was so full. after lunch, we packed up and left for the train station. 'mom' dropped us off and we were on our way.

so overall the trip was good. the parents were super cool. i went through the interrogation, but it helped to have gabi translating...it made it easier. 'dad' asked questions about my family, if i've decided on a school yet and about job prospects. he was very nice though. 'dad' went on to say how much he liked my name. he asked me if i was a first generation filipino in america then made a joke about how my children will be first generation hungarians in hungary. cute...

some good news

2008-06-20T22:47:00.000+02:00

so i'm finally going to meet her parents...we leave by train tomorrow morning to Szarvas. i'm not really nervous. i'm a little excited to see the countryside and her hometown. don't really know what to expect. i've met girlfriends parents before, but this is a little different....i moved in w/ their daughter from halfway across the globe. i'm sure it'll be ok...i'll write more after the trip is done.

in other news, i received my confirmations from both universities that i've been accepted into the programs. i've been going back and forth between the two. they both have their advantages. i'm leaning towards corvinus university right now. i have until next wednesday to decide b/c the deposit is due for ceu that day.

also, i finally heard back from one of the companies i sent out my cv to. exxonmobil tried calling my cell but couldn't get through (i still have my SD #)...so i have to email them and let them know when i'll be near gabi's cell so they can call that. regardless, i'm excited about the job opportunity. they emailed me explaining all this and said based on my experience and background, they wanna find a position for me. so yay!!!

on to football...i attended 2 practices, one last tuesday and also this past thursday. a drastic improvement by my standards. last week, i felt so out of shape doing the conditioning drills that i couldn't complete all of them. i was dehydrated and felt like i was gonna pass out. this last practice was a different story. going through the drills, i kept up w/ everyone. i even managed to buy a pair of soccer cleats from the addidas outlet (3990 HUF =~ $25) not bad! all in all, i'm holding my own. gabi attended the practice w/ me and the coaches were telling her that i did an excellent job on the cone drills, my form was perfect (backpedaling and laterally) and i'm learning to block and tackle. on the tram ride back to the flat, some of the other rookies were on the same tram and told gabi that i was good and that i'd have no problem making the team. that made me feel awesome, considering most of the guys are younger than me.

so here's what's lined up regarding football....in late august we have a mini-camp and then right after that we start regular training camp for next season. the wolves are going to add an additional team for the b-division and it's going to come from the jr and rookie teams. so that's something to shoot for for spring 2009. we'll see...

i'll end this now, b/c i gotta get up early tomorrow to catch that train.

MBA/Football

2008-06-11T10:11:00.000+02:00

So first and foremost, I had my interview w/ Corvinus University yesterday. They offered me a spot for their Full Time MBA program starting in mid-Sept...YAY!! They also have an Executive MBA program that they want me in, but they're waiting on my decision regarding CEU (which I should have an answer from them sometime this week). I'm stuck now weighing the pros and cons of each program (cost, length of study, alumni network, business connections, etc). The way its looking right now w/o knowing CEU's decision, I'm leaning towards the Exec MBA. I told Corvinus I'd make a decision by next Monday. The plus side of Corvinus is that the director of the program offered to find me a job if I accept the Exec MBA. They also want me to teach a couple classes. Serious stuff! :D Anyways, I was so stoked after my interview.

**side note: as i was leaving the interview, they were still screening other potential candidates and outside waiting was this hot ass chick...guys, you gotta come see this. ;) j/k gabi!...u know i love u!

Moving on to football. I don't recall if I mentioned this, but Hungary has several American Football teams. Budapest has the Wolves (www.wolves.hu -check out the cheerleaders!) and they are looking for players. I was invited to check out the "rookie team" practice yesterday. Now, a little background on me, I like sports, but have never played any high school, Pop-Warner, or any organized football ever. I was always a small skinny guy. My high school sport was golf...so i'm not exactly the best athlete. But I thought i'd give this a try b/c I didn't bring my golf clubs and I couldn't find a "rec"-league softball team. (FYI: rec=beer) Ok, so I just jumped right in to the lineup as they were doing their conditioning exercises (shuttle runs, cone drills, push ups, etc)....hot damn! I got my ass beat and no one even tackled me. Those exercises and drills are not like running a marathon. You're not sprinting 10 yds and then doing 10 pushups and then sprinting again to do 10 more situps and hopping around 1 leg over foot high blocks.
Anyways, I got over those and then we started to actually work on running routes. Most of the people on the rookie team have no experience with football and so they don't know what positions they would want to play. Now i've played 2-hand touch and flag football w/ friends and I mainly play WR or CB/S. So running the routes was fun. They didn't use a passing tree, they just had the routes on a sheet of paper that showed a picture of the route and the names in Hungarian and English. This was a lot more fun...I caught a couple balls. Slipped on a route b/c I have no cleats and couldn't cut back. After that we worked on tackling. This was actually cool. Like I said, we played mainly 2hand or flag, so no real contact....except that one time in college and we got really drunk and....I MEAN...
Seriously, the coach was showing us how to tackle properly and where to hit the guy. Now some of the rookie's had full pads and were practicing with them. So when we practiced this, if you had no pads going up against someone that did, you're assed out. It didn't happen much b/c they paired you up. So at first it was slow going for me, trying to get the footwork and then the tackling. After a while, I got the hang of it and the coach even said that I was hitting better than those that had pads.
So all in all, it was a fun first practice. The guys I met were all cool, a couple could speak english. I met some of the guys on the "Pro" team and they all had high expectations from me...mainly b/c I was from the US. Actually when they found out that I was from San Diego, the coach and those that understood all went up to me and started asking what position I play and all this other stuff. They're hoping I make it on the "Pro" team. That was cool. A couple of the guys could play, others were a little awkward looking running the routes, but overall it was fun. Made some new friends, got some exercise and had fun. We'll see about next weeks practice.

In other news, my friend Victoria just confirmed that she'll be the first to visit me here in Budapest on July 17th. SWEET! I'm looking forward to it.

That's about it. Still no camera...too expensive here. If you'd like to send me a care package, I could use some SPAM, Gatorade powder, a baseball hat (preferably Padres)... :D Anyways, i'm out. Comment back if you have any questions.

roncarlo, the homemaker

2008-06-05T13:11:00.000+02:00

So here's the news on the MBA front. Central European University(CEU) has received my GMAT score and will make a decision, hopefully by next week. (fingers crossed) Meanwhile, my interview with Corvinus University is scheduled for the 10th. So my guess is i'll have a better idea of what i'll do here, by next week.

As for the jobs, I'm just waiting for the companies to call me back. Gabi informed them that I'll be in Budapest beginning in June. So hopefully i'll hear from the companies soon. I have sent out another CV for an english teacher position yesterday. So i'm playing this waiting game as I sit around the flat. Gabi returned to work yesterday and i'm left here by myself. To occupy my time, I do my run, look for jobs, clean the flat, take an occasional cat-nap, play the guitar or read until Gabi gets home and we get ready to go out.

Yesterday I went with her to Capoeira, brazilian martial arts. She'd been taking it for the past year or so. Afterwards, we all went out for dinner and drinks with her capoeira mates. I met Andres and Marcell. Andres is an attorney for the Mortgage Banking Association. I told him about my previous work with WaMu and told me to send over my CV. Cool guy, someone I'll go drinking with and partying with....and ladies he's single. The other dude Marcell, talked to much. I could see Gabi and Andres getting annoyed everytime he opened his mouth. I thought it was hilarious.

**side note: on the way over to the bar, i sat next to "mi scusi" look-a-like on the tram...scary.

Other things happening: Hungary loves American Football. Budapest has several teams that play football. One in particular, the Budapest Wolves (www.wolves.hu) is looking for players...so i emailed to find out what's up. They invited me to join the "rookie team" and attend practice next tuesday. I'll check it out. (sign of the cross) Hungarians are slightly bigger than filipino's. :S
I'll see if they need a waterboy.

Anyways, so Gabi and I had a talk about me looking at other women. I've spoken to several friends and they all have different POV's. She tells me it's ok (SCORE!!!) and i was glad. :D b/c it's hard w/ so many good looking women here. If and when you guys come to visit, there's no shortage on eye candy here.

Well that's it for now. I'm off to run (Day 171). June 18th will be Day 184 and the halfway point for the year. 6mos of running at least 1 continuous mile each day...i'm stoked!

2008-06-02T11:06:00.000+02:00

Ok, so here's my first blog. I'll do a quick recap of the last 5 days. Left for Ireland last Wednesday and arrived in Dublin on Thursday morning. The whole plane ride over I couldn't go to sleep. I guess I was excited. Honestly I was, and at the same time starting to feel nervous. I was on a plane to Europe, to live with a girl whom I've spent a total of 4hrs with physically, but countless hours communicating with via email, text messaging, skype, etc.

(for those that don't know the full story of how Gabi and I met, i'll write about that another time)

So I arrived in Dublin, picked up my luggage and made my way out towards the arrival area. I finally saw Gabi and I smiled. Gave each other a hug and then shared a kiss, our first kiss. It put my mind at ease and I was all smiles. We made our way towards the City Centre of Dublin to find our hotel. And after walking up and down O'Connell St, we found our hotel and dropped our bags off. We couldn't check in until 2pm, so we went to Cafe Kylemore for coffee and enjoy each others company.

Now, we had no real plans in Dublin because it was just a means to get to Budapest (Bp). But the week before, as I was getting my haircut, I found out my stylist (Sara at Zina G Salon in Hillcrest) was going to be in Dublin as well. So I sent her a txt msg and we decide to meet at Gogarty's bar in Temple Bar District. Sara tells me she's really excited to hang out and meet Gabi. She knows the entire story and Gabi is excited to meet one of my friends. After dinner at Gallagher's (i had the seafood boxty-irish potato pancakes w/ salmon...mmm good), we meet Sara and start drinking.
**side note: we meet around 10pm and there's still light out...it tripped me out!
Anyways, we bar hop around Temple Bar District and that was that. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad Sara met Gabi.

The next day, Gabi and I decide to go to the Guinness Storehouse. I was still jet lagged so that was all we did. BTW, if you've never been to the GS, I highly recommend it...you get a free pint of Guinness w/ the tour....BRILLIANT!!!!

**another side note: for those that care, I ran about 1.5 miles in dublin both days to continue my streak...i lost count of how many days, but i'm sure mark can tell me. i think 162 days at that point.

So, we finally arrive in Bp. Gabi's 2 friends (Julia and Agnes) pick us up at the airport and drive us back to "our flat". :D When I get there, I was in awe of my new home. The place is really big. It's 2 bdrm flat, i'd say roughly 1000 sq ft. The 2nd bdrm is used as a storage room. We have a balcony that overlooks Eagle Mtn. The bathroom is separated, the toilet is near the entrance and the bath tub is connected to the master bdrm. The toilet reminds me of a port-a-potty w/ running water and electricity b/c it's about the same size. The bathtub is a trip! I don't use a bath tub....i shower. :D

Gabi and I decide to go out and get something to eat. We hadn't eaten since breakfast in Dublin (oh, btw....there's a filipino restaurant in Dublin called Cafe Manila and they serve Longsilog!). At this point in my journey, i'm already missing carne asada. Rich sent me a pic of a carne asada burrito while I was in Dublin...i hate u rich! Now, here in Bp, instead of mexican restaurants open 24hrs, they have "turkish buffets" or arab places (according to gabi) that sell gyros. It's kinda like a carne asada burrito, if you squint your eyes and are really drunk, you can't really tell the difference. At least that's what I tell myself. Anyways, it's quite delicious.

The next night Gabi and I have our "first date" here in Bp. We go to Old Man's Pub, the place where we met. On Sunday night they have live jazz performed by the Cotton Club Singers. They're kinda like the Manhattan Transfer but in Hungarian. We enjoy the music, a nice dinner and a bottle of wine. I even order a cigar and Laphroaig neat. It was a good date. (for those that are wondering...yes ;) )

Now i'm off to get ready. Gotta go to the American Embassy.