Coffee in all its Greeky Goodness - Donauinsel, Vienna, Austria

Authentic Greek coffee, you boggle me.

When you arrived, I didn't even notice you.

Just the container you were in.

I thought to myself, "niiice.. next time i'll try this with ice." (yeah, I rhyme in my head because I'm cool like that)

And when I remembered I had you to drink, I was caught in befuddlement on how to begin.

Do I pour sugar on you or are you already sweet?

Do I stir you with something? Do I mix you with milk?

Alas, a friend by my side, who didn't really like coffee, told me I had to pour you into the accompanying cup.

So I started rush you to your new home

Like a very dark brown mini waterfall

In chocolatey thickness the bittersweet aroma escaped.

I knew right there I was in for a treat

After draining and stirring, lift you up to my lip.

Then I took a sip.

O.o LASANG LUPA.

Sensational Transylvania - Budapest, Hungary

Chain Bridge

The House of Parliament

As a child, I liked reading about vampires. Not the sparkly, full-of-hair-putty types. The black and red Batman's distant relative types. Say, Dracula. Or Louis de Pointe du Lac. Or Lestat.

I would have picked up a replica of the handwritten notes of Bram Stoker's Dracula if I could understand what was written in it. Two days after, I'm still thinking about the labyrinth, the castles, the possibility of vampires becoming real.

The 'real' Dracula was born somewhere in Romania. But it was called Transylvania then, and Hungary was a part of it.

24-hour travel card for trains and buses.  Very cheap for unlimited rides. (~U$7)

The steel balls on the wall of the Agriculture Building marking the "gunshots" fired by Soviet snipers at kids during the revolution in 1956.

Metal shoes on the embankment of the Danube River that commemorates the Hungarian Jewish victims.

A lion's head at the end of the Chain Bridge.  This is the first bridge built in Budapest.

We were there in time for the Foie Gras festival.  That rolled bread is a traditional Transylvanian pastry.

The fountain of Mathias.  This fountain drips with wine instead of water.  

St. Stephen's Cathedral right on the next street from our lodging.  It has a beautiful exterior....

...and the interior is equally stunning!

The Millenium Monument

Statue of Anonymous.

Every man has a bait he can't resist

I have accepted the fact that I will never be exceptional at anything simply because the time it takes to do all the things I would like to do are beyond the average human's life span. And in the bucket list situation, quantity beats quality. I believe every person, given the correct motivation, can learn to love what they do.

I am a recognition-loving person, and frankly I think most people are like me. In my work, I do what needs to be done and I always try to exceed what's expected of me. Why? Because a pat on the shoulder and an occasional "good job" is like an emotional payday. It doesn't increase your spending capability, but it feeds morale.

Number two on my list is travel. If you ask me if I wanted to work for a few months in Kiribati or Tuvalu or Nauru or Togo, I will have signed the contract before you can finish your question. Bait me with plane tickets and I WILL SNAP AT THAT BAIT!

Note: this is a brain fart from thinking too much about my coming assignment to Vienna, Austria. I am absolutely PSYCHED!

The Twin Steel Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur and the world-famous Petronas Towers.  The second-to-the-last stop of our 10-day Indochina tour.

The day the earth stood still, Bangkok, Thailand

This was the weather on the day we were flying out of Bangkok for Kuala Lumpur.  The low, black clouds were literally creeping over the city.

Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia

It is a surreal experience walking inside these massive (not an exaggeration) Hindu temples.  For someone who aced his high school ancient history class, I was still left speechless at the sight of these structures.  Of course, we didn't really deal with Cambodian history in depth, but if that was what I felt with the temples of Angkor, imagine what would happen if I had the chance to visit the Mayan temples in the Yucatan or Machu Pichu of the Incas.

Of Tuk-tuk Rides and Golden Palaces, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Independence Monument

Wat Phnom

Photo of a rickshaw taken from a tuk-tuk.

Paintings inside the Royal Palace