My time abroad in London, England has been flying by. It feels like just yesterday we arrived and had our first snake bite at the Union. There is still so much to be seen and experienced within England regardless of being here for 3 months. I am grateful to have the opportunity to spend this time exploring and getting lost in Europe
The weather has become increasingly cold and wet. Throughout the week it has been continuous rain with little lapses of sunshine. I've noticed myself in my room sleeping more, less motivated to go out as the winter season is on its way. Previously living in Seattle I did not notice my lack of motivation as much because I had a car for transportation, but when I am commuting via bus or train, the rain can become a much bigger factor in leaving the University. Regardless of the poor weather conditions many of the students seem to be doing fine as we continue to have school events to keep everyone in good spirits. The school workload is starting to compound as many of my school projects are due around the same time. I find myself socializing a bit less and studying more. I have enjoyed working on my business projects because they are all international based. I am currently working towards a business plan that will lead to a subscription based food service for the University for a business competition. The competition award is upwards of $6500+ with support of local entrepreneurs to help back your business and help with expansion. While I was attending Oktoberfest I had met up my good friend Jeremy. He had been visiting Europe on holiday to backpack around to different countries. After a couple of drinks at the festival, he had offered me the opportunity to travel with him and a couple of buddies to Budapest, Hungary. I was a bit doubtful at first, because I knew nothing about Hungary. Long story short, a lot of pints later my ticket was bought and we were on our way to Budapest the next morning.
We traveled via train for about 7 hours until we finally reached our destination. When we arrived I was amazed by the different architecture throughout the city and the beauty of the old city. One of my favorite things about Budapest were the ruin bars. During my visit, we went to Szimpla Kert which is the mecca of all ruin bars. This bar was built in the old Jewish quarter in the ruins of abandoned buildings and stores. This neighborhood was left to rot after World War II but had been remade into an underground bar area. It was an amazing assortment of different bars that looked like they had gone through a value village and rearranged all the mismatched furniture to organize some seating. Within the ruin courtyard were different bar stands that had their own special quirks which served different types of beverages and food. My favorite bar was the wine bar where they served nice bottles of wine and wine cocktails at a very cheap price ($10 a bottle). It was a fun place to be as huge groups of travelers gathered and mingled throughout the night. Afterwards we attended a SPARTY(spa party) that took place at Szechenyi Spa and Baths. This is one of the largest spa baths in Europe that been built by Roman settlers. The spa was beautiful, old and full of life. Add in the hundreds of party goers, blaring EDM music, and fire performers it turned into a wild night. Budapest quickly became one of my favorite cities in Europe because not only does it have beautiful architecture such as the Buda Castle and Matthias church but a vibrant, rich culture and nightlife. I found Budapest to be one of the cheaper cities in Europe as the conversion rate was $1 to 300 HUF. The food was delicious, cheap and filling. I ran into a bit of flight trouble on my way back from Budapest to London. My internet was painfully slow on my phone causing me to book the flight for the wrong date. After several hours of long confusing talks with the airlines I had a new flight booked for the following Monday which in turn made me miss class. My homeroom teacher was not happy with me to say the least. But the experience and fun I had on this spur of the moment trip to Budapest was irreplaceable. If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t do it any different. |
AuthorMy name is Micahl Nicolas Ong. I am addicted to traveling the world, meeting new people and getting lost with a snack in hand! I am studying abroad in London England and will be traveling the world for the next 4+ months. Archives
December 2018
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