yaven

Hi, I hope you arrived home safely. :) The day you wrote me that post I was at Buda castle with my mother to watch an exhibition, so we almost met each other. :D Anyways if I remember correctly, the weather wasn't too nice the next day, but I hope you could visit the castle. What places did you like, what food did you try? Anyways I hope you and your colleagues had a good time in our city. If you feel like it, I'd love to hear more about your trip. :)

Hi! I've finished the one-day trip plan. You can download it here: http://speedy.sh/KYmrW/one-day-trip-budapest.doc
If you'll have the whole day for the trip you'll be able to visit all the places mentioned. Also I've included a few information that might come in handy. :) Please let me know how you and your colleagues liked the plan or if you have any questions. Also if you tell me which hotel you'll be living at, I can help with the directions from the hotel to a metro station.
I'll be away for the next few days, so I won't be able to answer so soon though.

We were there for 10 days, lived near Taksim square. And yeah, we've seen Topkapi (although we had only 2 and a half hours there), Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and a lot of other beautiful buildings. But I did like most the ship tour. Istanbul is truly beautiful and it's nice that the town is divided by water (just like in Budapest where there is the river Danube). I'm 23 by the way. How about you if I may ask? :) (I'll send you the one day trip plan soon, but I just recently got back from work, so now I'm not functioning too weel. :D)

I'd love to visit all the different parts of Turkey! But definitely first I'd visit Istanbul again with my mother as she's super interested about the city. :D Last year I was with my choir.

It's no bother at all. Hungarians are usually very excited when we have the chance to show our capital city. :) I'll make a list about places you could visit during you trip and also the public transports there.

About the cuisine: there are a few typical Hungarian meals that you can find almost anywhere. There's the goulash soup -also written Gulyás (with pork or beef), and there's Halászlé (fresh-water fish soup). Pörkölt is a main dish (it consists of pork or beef in paprika-onion sauce) and so is Csirkepaprikás (it's chicken with paprika-sauce). There are a few desserts you shouldn't left out on: Kürt?skalács can mainly be found at street vendors (there's a good place at Buda Castle). There are also very good bakery and dessert stuff with sweet curd cheese. These can be found in every shop. Also there are quite a few types op pancakes. Mostly you'll find these with jam or chocoa, but curd cheese ones and ones wiht meat (called Hortobágyi palacsinta) are very tasty. If you look at a restaurant's menu, there are always pancakes listed at desserts.

It's cool that you're from Turkey! I've been to Istanbul last year in October and wow, that was the most beautiful city I've ever seen abroad! Anyways, I do think you could visit both Buda castle and Heroes' Square (with City Park) in one day. Actually if you'd like, I'd be happy to make a tour plan for you for that day. It wouldn't be a too tiring trip, but you'd see lots of beautiful historical places and all of them outdoors, so I think that you and your colleagues would be satisfied. :) Anyways I recommend you not to watch museums and indoor places, but stay outside and enjoy the scenery. There are more than enough historical places out there, you shouldn't waste time and money indoors. (The exception is St. Stephen's Basilica) So what do you say? May I make that plan?

There are also quite a few spas in Budapest, but I don't recommend spending time in them during your trip. (Surely, if you'd stayed 3 days instead of 1, I'd say you have to try them, but sadly this isn't the case.)
Also there is Aquincum with Roman Ruins, but unless you're a huge fan of antiquity or have never seen such places, I don't recommend it. (It's a bit further from downtown, and you'd have to stay for a few hours to see everything.)
Also there is a somewhat large island in the heart of Budapest, a perfect place to rest under trees. It's called Margaret Island.
Last but not least, there is the Central Market Hall. I love visiting the markets of other countries, and while I could not imagine a trip without trying out some of the inland food, you may think otherwise.
So please let me know which places you feel like visiting. Also may I ask what country are you from?

The other place you should definitely visit is Buda castle. It has it's own district with churches, museums, a library and old houses. Plus the chain bridge is close to it too. (You can read more about the place at budapest.com) Also if I remember correctly some parts of Iris were filmed here.
The third most important part of Budapest is Heroe's Square with Andrássy Avenue, City Park and Vajdahunyad Castle. In my opinion this is the most beautiful part of the town.
Also if you're in Budapest, you should definitely visit St. Stephen's Basilica. It's monumental and is easy to get to from Buda castle via bus.
And now on to famous sites, that may take too much time to visit during a one day sightseeing trip. Gellért hill is well known, and can be seen from most parts of the town, but visiting it might be too tiring.

Hi :) It's cool that you liked Liar game and Kazoku game too. I think those are the best japanese series out there. Even my non-drama-addict friends did like those along with Kagi no kakatta heya (which I recommend you). Anyways it's awesome that you're coming to Budapest! I would love to recommend you places, but there are quite a lot of things to see, and one day is just not enough for all of them. So let me list the most important World Heritage Sites and then some other places I think worth the visit. Then you can decide for yourself which ones to visit. So first and foremost you should see the neo-gothic style Parliament. It's the most famous building in Hungary, but due to the reconstruction of the surrounding park, it's a bit tricky to get close to. Not to worry though, there is a place you can see it perfectly from.

Have you seen Beck? I think he made a really good job with that film.

You misunderstood me with the "go-stop-go-stop motions". :D I meant that they talk, then the mother leaves then Hako stops her, then she leaves again then Hako stops her again. That seemed too awkward for me. But it was quite interesting, because after a quarrel, in western movies when one of them says stop then the other don't even look back. But in Japanese dramas the other stops, despite being angry or even being elder.
I remember that line in Saki...I had a bad surmise, but I hoped that wasn't the case. But it was.
I've seen the first half of episode 1 of Nobunaga no chef. It just seemed so cliche and overall childish that I've dropped it. These days there are too many time-travelling dramas. At first this theme seemed interesting (I did like JIN after all), but it became repetitive. The only other drama I liked was Startling by each step, but they should've left out time-travelling.

It was a nice scene, but for me it would've worked better if there was no music at all. It was in itself heartbreaking enough, but for me the music was so over the top that I couldn't concentrate on the actual dialogue. Also, my problem with Hako's mother is that she's strong with her face, but somehow the go-stop-go-stop motions were awkward. But that's just my opinion. I still love the drama, this episode just wasn't for me I guess. Also I've seen too many American shows this weekend, that I had a hard time returning to Japanese ones. Such a difference! But I love both.
What was the scene that made you drop Saki? :D

I've just seen the 3rd episode of Itsuka Hi no Ataru Basho de and I was a bit disappointed. The dialogue between Hako and her mother should've been emotional and deep, but the loud sappy "background" music ruined it for me. Also the mother's acting lacked a bit in my opinion. What do you think? Did you like that scene?
Also I see you've started Saki. How do you like it so far?

Well I still think Takei Emi has more potential than Ayame. But I'm not going to argue about taste. :)
I've seen the 2nd episode of Saki, and this time it wasn't only boring but also distasteful. Nothing ever happens, the characters are talking nonsense, and there are so many scenes with Saki eating, that you start to wonder whether this is actually a food-drama. This show is really poorly written, the producers try to make it mysterious, but in the end it comes down to incest. I just can't stand this theme. On the other hand Nakama Yukie and the male lead also try their best, but the story is just plain bad. What a pity!

For me Takei Emi seems a better actress than Ayame. I'm not saying she's good, but compared to Ayame, who irritates me every time, she is at least watchable. :D I mean she was okay in Rurouni Kenshin, Otomen and 2 more dramas I've seen a few episodes of starring her. I guess I should watch something she's the main actress to judge her objectively.
Also I do agree on the Miura subject. His personality is cute, but he's just not cut out to be an actor. The only time I've seen him act differently was Crows Zero 2, where Oguri helped him with the role.

I know what you're talking about. I have the same feeling with Miura Haruma. He's a friend of Oguri Shun and he has praised him in an interview, but I just don't like Miura's acting. He has such a cute personality, that it shines through all his characters and so he's just not capable of showing emotions other than his own. Contrary to him, Seto Koji has a very girl-like appearance, but he can proceed with acting. I think that's part of the reason he's one of my favourite actors. But back to the actresses! Indeed Ayame is just so not fit to be a main actress, especially not for the monday 21:00 drama on Fuji tv. What were they thinking putting a drama with her in a slot where previously Rich Man Poor Woman, Kagi no kakatta heya and others were? I kinda guess she might have a huge fanbase due to her beauty and model career. and that's the reason. What do you think?

I liked it most when Hako asked Ayaka if she'd like to live together, and her answer was; I'm a murderer. I like it when the plot seems to be going a usual way and then something surprising happens.
Anyways, I've just started Biblia Koshodou no Jiken Techou and i'm not sure I'll continue to watch it. I can't imagine a good drama with Gouriki Ayame as the main chaacter. She's beautiful, but that's about the only good thing I can say about her. I just get irritated by her remembering how utterly stupid her character in IS was. :D

I didn't feel the same way about Nao, but that's coming from someone who's a big fan of Fukunaga, so overacting in Liar Game was no problem for me. Usually I do hate fake acting, but somehow it fit perfectly with LG.
By the way, I've just seen the 2nd episode of Itsuka Hi no Ataru Basho de and I still love the show. It's light and dark at the same time, makes me almost cry, but the end I feel good about it. I don't know how to explain it, but I absolutely love this show. And indeed Ueto Aya and the other main actress are great.

The last crime drama I liked was Kagi no kakatta heya. There were amazing cases there. I liked Toda in Liar Game, because she fit perfectly Nao and the whole LG universe with it's cartoonish characters. I'll try SPEC 2 then, but I might not continue Strawberry Night. :/