Searching for Utopia

What to do during the Chinese New Year in Hungary? Why, play Martial Heroes of course! The official site describes the game as an ancient oriental 3D MMORPG:

The Empire of Martial Heroes uses a beautifully constructed 3D graphics engine to bring this Realm of Martial Arts to life! In reading a martial arts novel, readers immerse themselves into fictional worlds where they become the hero or heroine. They are forced to battle powerful enemies and overcome nearly impossible trials all for the sake of defending the peace. Many go on to obtain gifts from the gods, and if their legend permits they can grow to become the most powerful entity in the world.

The Empire of Martial Heroes will bring you a realistic fantasy world that could only have existed in the wildest recesses of your imagination.

Is it that good, we hear you ask? While this may not be the best game ever; it is highly addictive. Oriental theme, first of all, is still new when we come to talk about MMORPG, so it is a good alternative for those of Dungeons and Dragons or the Middle-earth. Yet the game is very user-friendly, especially for those who have played with other RPGs such as World of Warcraft or Diablo. Even better, it is totally for free. All you need to have is 434 MB free space on your PC and some time to download it.

There are four classes available: warrior, mage, monk, and assassin. Like in Diablo, player unfortunately cannot choose the gender. However each class has three different weapons and you are free to develop as you like it. I played as assassin, and Zsolt chose the mage, as you can see on the screenshots.

Besides the classic way to collect experience points by killing monsters; you can mine, fish, as well as picking herb. This way you are able to create items and potions for personal use or opening a shop in the market to get some extra coins. You also gain fame which makes it possible for you to join a guild and wear special items. And please remember that this is an MMORPG where you get to meet people online—and thus you will get killed once in a while, and it may happen often!

the market

Addictive therefore is one thing, and being flawless is another. Martial Heroes is definitely far from the latter. The lack of description—and the awful English, mind you—is the most obvious. You would frequently have to deal with a quest such as, “Go to talk with a woman who knows S,” before spending a whole day trying to search for the mysterious woman. And do not be surprised when you find monsters called as: BF Scyther YG, GB Zombie 2, or BF Leg FighterYG. As if that is not enough, you can only receive one quest at a time. And when you reach level 51, there are no more quests available—not until you get to level 59—which is a lot!

Nothing to worry about, we were just meditating there

During this period, you would need to boost your experience. You can do it by either get a master, sister/brother, or even married. That is lots of fun and absolutely worth to try, I say—but the decision is yours. In any ways, Gong Xi Fat Choi. Happy Chinese—and also Islamic—New Year, folks!

Aaman Lamba:

If you have an interest in South Asia, enjoy writing, and would like greater visibility and reach a global audience, then Desicritics.org may be right for you.

Desicritics.org is part of the Blogcritics.org family of sites, which has over 50,000 daily visitors, and 1100+ superior bloggers.

Desicritics cover the planet from Carrollton to Calcutta, and points between. You get high quality news, opinions, and reviews across a wide variety of fronts AND you get the funky, eclectic, personality-driven spirit of the blogosphere all in
one package.

Oh, and that’s me again over there!

Enough about serious posts–for now; I happened to find many interesting videos on YouTube. Here are the best so far on my list:

* Dakota Fanning in Japan.
Precious Dakota, I think now I’m becoming a fan of hers.

* Scarlett Johansson and Her Boobs–again.

* Funny Interview–Victoria Beckham
I never normally adored Victoria Beckham even on her Spice Girls days–I was more into Baby Spice, mind you–but she was amusing on this video.

* Indonesia Menangis by Sherina (trans. Indonesia Cries)
A good reminder to those in troubles. Warning: Be prepared with some handkerchief first. I needed it.

Indonesia’s PT Velvet Silver Media has said yes to the launching of a local version of Playboy magazine in March amid protests from conservative Muslim groups and national politicians. The magazine however would not publish nude pictures due to cultural reasons. It would instead cover Indonesian celebrities and experts on many fields.

Jodi Ann Paterson and Tiara Lestari

Ponti Carolus, the director said on a news conference, “Our concept is lifestyle and world class journalism. Our articles will have high quality, including conventional issues.” Women would certainly not be treated as an object. For an instance, he added, British band Rolling Stones was also on the cover of Japanese Playboy. Furthermore, the distribution of the magazine will be controlled because it will only be available by subscription and at selected retailers. The name Playboy is in all probability merely an affair of convenience to reach more sources.

But conservative Muslim group Majelis Mujahidin Indonesia is not buying it. “Different or not, Playboy is Playboy. It is a porn magazine. Those are the words of the businessmen. The magazine will damage the morality of the nation,” chairman Irfan Awas said.

The disapproval is also backed by The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI), the country’s top authority on Islamic affairs. Maruf Amin, head of MUI’s fatwa commission, says, “The government should forbid this kind of media, as it will cause a strong reaction from people and tend to bring anarchy among the people who are against this magazine.”

The Indonesian Press Council, on the other hand, says it has no right whatsoever to ban the magazine as it is part of legally registered franchise—despite some members’ personal objection. Chairman Ichlasul Amal commented that it was a premature step to criticize the Indonesian Playboy prior to its publication. No magazine can be banned in Indonesia’s new era of democracy due to the government’s declining intervention in the press.

Surprisingly enough, some Indonesian women have done a spread or two for Playboy in other countries. Borneo-born Jodi Ann Paterson is perhaps the most popular after being named Playmate of The Year 2000. Other names including Petra Verkaik—Miss December 1989 and model Tiara Lestari.

Indeed, pornography is against the law in Indonesia; where most people practice moderate Islam with no restriction on whether or not women must wear veil. Nevertheless it is not difficult to find pirated pornographic DVDs in public places. Hardliners have yet to do anything about these; which makes it rather odd that all of sudden they are united to speak against something that is still uncertain. Business lasts so long as there is demand, does it not? Erotic magazines—as well as other form of pornography—are no exception. It is a little out of place to say that a single magazine could utterly ruin a nation’s morality—regardless of the content. So, why bother?

Related Articles:
And the Playboy Saga Continues
Indonesia Against Porn
Playboy Indonesia, Eh?

Does anyone know how Blogsome chose their Sample Blogs? Does it have anything to do with the traffic? That is my guess–feel free to correct me if I’m wrong though. Anyways I’m there. Yay! So, folks, thank you for visiting

Last month Nigeria’s Patricia Odi (48) celebrated the most anticipated moment in her life as a woman: to be a mother, that is. It was such a long wait since her marriage to Cyprian Nnamdi Odi on February 10, 1979. Her pregnancy, however, was rather odd. She had to carry the baby in her womb for three years and eight month. How so?

“In April 2002, I missed my menstrual period. I went for a test and it was positive. Before then I had never missed my period and I had cried to God for the fruit of the womb for 23 years since I got married in 1979. I registered for antenatal at military Hospital, Yaba and looked forward to my delivery. Later—I don’t remember exactly when—I was told that my baby wasn’t growing well as it should. I was afraid but I continued in my prayers and started going to Ijaw women in Ajegunle for massages.

“I went for massages because there the Ijaw people gave me more hope and strengthened my belief that my baby would be born healthy. Meanwhile, I did not have the kind of pregnancy I expected. I never vomited; I never had any spitting of saliva. All I had were odd feelings, headaches, weaknesses and a bit of backache. My baby did not move in my womb until the pregnancy was about a year old and yet the doctor said there was no fibroid in my womb.”

By the time, she said, people started to stare at her whether she was in the bus or on her street, and even at church where she—being a devoted Catholic—never stopped praying. Some of them were worried that she might have fibroids. The others thought she simply tied a pillow around her stomach to conceal the truth that she could not have her husband’s baby. Her friends however continued to believe her when they saw and felt the baby as it moved in her womb.

Financial problem in the meantime had been a constant problem. Her husband was transferred to Enugu and their salaries were rarely being paid on time. Considering her condition at that time, doctors suggested her to have an operation—which she refused. Mother Mary did not deliver Jesus Christ with operation, she said. She did not want to. As a believer, she found her solace in different Catholic churches—by collecting holy water, blessed salt and anointing oil which she always used.

And apparently she did not have to wait forever. On the 21st of December, 2005, she was preparing the celebration mass for the new assistant parish priest at the church; when suddenly she felt something was wrong with her body. She ignored it. She was even able to finish the cleaning and then kneeling down at the Blessed Sacrament for a prayer before going home. When she arrived, she started to have pain on her lower back and under her womb where she could not sit nor stand. She decided to call her sister Mary to take her to the hospital.

They reached the hospital at 8 pm where she was told that she was in labor. They did not lie. The baby, Emmanuela Odi, was born at 10.30 pm without any complications and physically normal. There was a sigh of relief as the baby cried.

“Now, after over twenty-years of marriage, people in my area call me mama somebody. Ah, there is indeed a God who hears and answers if you call on him. My joy is boundless and my heart has been cleansed of all sorrows”, she said.

Such a miracle—as Patricia puts it—has no medical explanation on how the offspring could have survived after years inside the womb. The doctor, Babatunde Abiodun, supported her story. “Sometimes it happens. Anything is possible,” he said. While those who only hear the story might be a bit skeptical for Patricia had no regular doctor to monitor her; many saw her throughout her years of pregnancy.

That Scarlett Johansson is one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood, I personally say. Her fashion sense may have always made her a red-carpet darling. But her determination?

Only last year she said these things:

“Scarlett Johansson was desperate to see co-star Ewan McGregor naked on the set of new film ‘The Island’.
The sexy star, who bares her breasts in one scene in the sci-fi thriller, admits she wanted to shoot a nude scene with handsome Scottish actor but claims movie bosses scuppered plans because they wanted the movie to be suitable for families.

When quizzed on the subject, she said: “We tried, but it is rated parental guidance. But he was wonderful. It’s nice to have someone who you can sing with, and joke with”

Apparently she had changed her mind and decided to add some class:

Scarlett Johansson banned ‘Match Point’ co-star Jonathan Rhys-Meyers from looking at her breasts during sex scenes. The screen beauty told hunky Jonathan to stop leering at her curves while they filmed the raunchy romps - but the actor says he peeped anyway.

The 28-year-old heartthrob told US TV show ‘Unscripted’: “I remember Scarlett telling me not to look at her t**s. And I was trying to be a gentleman and sort of asking for a glimpse. But I did sneak a peek - I couldn’t help it, they were in my face.”

What’s with that nude scene? Was Ewan Mcgregor much sexier than Jonathan Rhys-Meyers? I simply don’t get it. Why would one ban a co-star from seeing her naked body while shooting a scene? In the end there would be millions of movie-goers who could watch it for millions of times—as long as they pay, that is.

1. Zsolt (duh)

2. Chinese Shops
Chinese products in Hungary are in general considered to be low quality—my guess is because they are so cheap. I have no clue as how come they set their prices that low, yet it is funny that many manufacturers feel the urge to fool the customers by changing the labels on their products—just to avoid the “Made in China” tag.

Nowadays, what is not made in China? Even when I checked the battery on my good old Siemens mobile which I bought in Indonesia five years ago (it is still working, in case you wonder); it is written there “made in China”. I doubt you did not know that it was at that time a German manufacturer. Computer parts are also mostly made in China.

I had a funny experience once after buying a pair of socks on a normal Hungarian shop. On the label was written “Made in Germany” and they cost 1,000 Ft (US$ 5). When I opened the plastic, I found another label which said: “made in China”. What’s with that?

Furthermore about the darn socks, later I found the exactly same ones at a Chinese shop nearby: they were only 400 Ft (US$ 2). How I love Chinese shops! The only silly thing is what was written on their items. They wanted to wish “Merry Christmas” by writing “Boldog Káracsongi” instead of “Boldog Karácsony” (Mery Christmas). But I let them pass!

3. Getting Resident Visa
Have you ever heard of how difficult it is to get a visa to the USA? A few years ago I read about Leony—an actress, model, singer—who was furious after her application was turned down by the US embassy in Jakarta without any reason. And her US$ 100 was not even returned. She applied for a visitor visa.

Leony might only have too much money to spend. But I have also heard several other cases. A friend of my friend—I don’t know how else to put it—had to struggle for two years before moving in with her American husband.

Leony

In Indonesia, to get a visitor visa is a lot easier as there is Visa on Arrival for foreigners at the airports. But to get resident visa is perhaps as difficult as in the USA, although the rules are more definite: You cannot get it unless you have an employer which would sponsor your working permit; in which then you can use it to get your resident visa. The visa, however, cannot be lengthened in Indonesia once it is expired. You must go back to your home country to renew it—that is once a year. To make things more difficult, an Indonesian wife cannot sponsor her foreign husband and relatives to live in Indonesia.

That is not the case in Hungary. I am grateful that since the beginning I had no difficulty to be with Zsolt—and I even got the right to work here with no delay. Quite the opposite of how the Hungarian shopkeepers serve their customers, the Hungarian embassy in Jakarta was very nice. I applied for my visa in private. But the Counsellor, Mr. Ferenc Gémes, constantly emailed Zsolt about how it was going and informed him when it was ready. It took less than three weeks. I paid US$ 50, whish is worth it.

4. Traffic
While it is true that traffic in Budapest is not always friendly, you might think otherwise after spending most of your life in Indonesia. Here you can hardly find stupid impatient motorists who constantly blow their horn. People do cross on the zebra crossings. And the best thing is that Budapest is equipped with an underground crossing to connect the busy streets: one thing I would really like to see in Indonesia instead of the crossing bridges which have grown useless. Trams and city buses stop only on bus stops—which are supposed to be normal, except in Indonesia.

5. Turkey Ham

I never ate turkey in Indonesia but here in Hungary pulyka sonka (turkey ham) is definitely my favorite food. A reminder for Muslim friends, though, be careful to read the ingredients first. Some of them may contain pork fat or bacon. For a quick guide, all you have to do when you visit Hungary, avoid eating any of the food that contains these: sertés (trans. Pork); sertés zsir (trans. pork fat), szalonna (trans. Bacon). Bon appetit!

6. Distance
What is good to live in a small country is that for a few hours of traveling we can be in another country. Austria, Poland, Romania, Greece, ex-Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, all are accessible with only a few hour trip by car. Compare this with the distance between the biggest cities in Indonesia: Jakarta and Surabaya, which is only 45 minutes—by airplane.

7. Safe from Natural Disaster
It is sad to read the news about all the disasters around the world, such as tsunami, earthquake, landslide and flood only because the place is close to the sea, mountain, or river. Nobody could do anything against such things. Hungary is blessed that the place seems to be safe enough from natural disasters. Flood is a constant threat each year as the snow melts, but so far it never goes as far as to claim one’s life.

8. Greeting Habits
Despite of the not so smiley people, Hungarian do respect the greeting habits—one thing which is starting to fade in Indonesia. Jo nappot (trans. good day), köszönöm (trans. thank you), and viszonlátásra (trans. goodbye) are mostly said when you meet others.

9. The Genius People
I remember the feeling I had when some sport events like the Olympic Games were held. Even in Indonesia all TV channels broadcasted it. What for? We were never good enough in any of them—except for badminton, perhaps. For me, to read the results on the newspapers were enough. But not here in Hungary. Many of the delegates returned with medals for the nation’s pride (although in the last Olympic it was tainted with a few doping scandals, mind you). There was the golden boy, László Cheh who finished third in the Men’s 400m Individual Medley in the 2004 Olympics. On December 2005 he set the new world record. Remember the legendary Ferenc Puskás? He is also Hungarian.

Puskás Ferenc stadium-Budapest

In case you had not noticed, Hungary’s Ernő Rubik was the one who invented Rubik’s Cube. Among the awards which have been given to Hungarians, they are including: Academy Awards, Nobel Prize, and Time’s Man of The Year.

10. Internet
We pay US$ 60 (almost 12,000 Ft) for our cable internet. It is awful compared to other EU countries. In Sweden, for instance, internet with 10 Mb/s is only about US$ 48, and what we have in Hungary is only 2.5 Mb/s—that is four times slower, yet more expensive.

But I am not complaining. What’s that saying? If you don’t have anything to say, don’t say anything, I say—but not always. But this time I really mean it, considering that it is at least easy to get internet connection—unlike in Indonesia. I spend most of my time on the internet, as TV here doesn’t help too much. CNN and BBC constantly repeat the same news which could have been said in an hour for the next 24 hours, making them not so reliable for the latest news. Inthernet is the only way. OK there are also free newspapers (Metro Budapest) like in Sweden, but I cannot read Hungarian—yet. Shame on me!

Related Article: Ten Things I Hate about Hungary

When most of us were probably gathering together with our family for Christmas on last December 23, poor little Miracle was strayed somewhere in Newark. He kept walking to where his feet led him.

Suddenly a parked sport utility vehicle attracted his attention. His inquisitiveness then encouraged him to climb into the guts of the SUV. He played until he grew tired and fell asleep there. A moment later a sound of engine aroused him up from slumber. He started to panic when he realized his new home was moving. Terrified, the cat—yes, Miracle is a cat, mind you—clutched to where he could. After 70 miles of journey along the New Jersey Turnpike, a person at last noticed him through a wheel well. He was afterwards taken out.

The woman who was driving the SUV—she wished to remain anonymous—took him to the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, N.J. where they did not normally take in strays. He was in quite good condition despite some burnt paws and a missing claw. But nobody could ever tell how he escaped the fan blades inside the car.

Since then his journey have attracted more than twenty people already inquiring about adopting him, which is about 8 months old and about six pounds, as the shelter director, Karen Dixon-Aquino informed.
“It’s amazing that he lived,” she said. “I’ve never heard of one surviving the engine being turned on, let alone surviving a ride down the turnpike. He’s certainly used up 81/2 of his nine lives.”

Before Miracle, however, there have been several stories involving cats’ survival; including a year old kitten that stowed away in paper bales shipped from Wisconsin to Chicago, then to Belgium and France back in September. She made it back home, compliments of Continental Airlines, after the owners listed on her name tag were contacted.

The coauthor of the book “Mews Item: Amazing but True Cat Tales” says that cats find themselves surviving the most precarious situations. And Miracle, he said, would have made his book.

1. Tax

When you live in Hungary, this is the first thing you should prepare to face. The tax rates are definitely not the most expensive in the world, let alone the Scandinavian countries. But compared to average Hungarian income, they are killing! I am not only talking about the amount, but also about the way it is set. Hungarian government is very creative indeed. For electricity, for an instance, we have to pay 25% tax, and after the tax we still have to pay another tax for the first tax. The result maybe a lot, or maybe not. But whose idea was it to ask people to pay tax after the tax?

The election is coming this year so understandably politicians are spreading “good deeds”. The most anticipated one is the tax slash. Earlier the PM had announced that it would be cut onto 20% starting from this year. Theoretically it would make the prices to fall, eh? Now we have found out that the tax cut does not include food and general things, bus tickets and we just received announcement that gas and electricity companies will increase their price. What was it all about again?

2. Price

January 3, 2006, folks! What did we find? Everything is the same, only more expensive—despite the tax cut. Monthly ticket for public transportation has also been increased 550 Ft (almost US$ 3) into 6,850 Ft (US$ 34.25) from 6,250 Ft (US$ 31.25). What can be so wrong here? The tax or the price, or both, I wonder?

A friend who is living in the USA told me last night that she bought a Motorola Razr V3 with two-year subscription on T-Mobile for US$ 69. I checked Hungarian T-Mobile and found out that the same mobile with subscription is Ft 90,900 (US$ 454.5) http://t-mobile.hu/keszulekek/keszulek_arlista.shtml. That is almost seven times more expensive! And compare the minimum wage in the USA which is US$ 5,15/hour, and in Hungary it is about 45,000 Ft/month, which makes it US$ 1.4/hour (US$ 1 = 200 Ft).

What is funny is when I bought a Cosmopolitan. It was written on the cover: $3.99 US/ $4.99 Canada/ Foreign. It costed me 1850 Ft (US$ 9,25) nevertheless.

3. Crime
Zsolt is always worried to leave our house empty. If I had never lived in Hungary before, I might have thought he’s paranoid. But he has been having burglars broke into his house twice. Last year it also happened that somebody broke our car window while we were in a graveyard and took my mother in law’s hand bag.

The keyhole on our front door in Budapest also has some scratches. I never paid attention before. I just hope it has been there since we haven’t moved in. It is scary to think of what the person could have done if s/he could ever enter.

In August 2004, we just moved in. Zsolt called Chello for our internet cable. A guy came after that to set our connection. He dressed like Eminem and didn’t look too convincing. He checked our cable for a few minutes then saying that he couldn’t set the internet because our cable was too old and we needed to get it changed first. Afterwards we called Chello and they said they had never sent anybody to our flat. Zsolt then talked about it with his friend. He said that it often happens in Budapest that a group of people hacks phonecalls to Chello somehow and then come to people’s house pretending like they work for the company and steal what they could. Jaj!

My father in law even had an interesting experience. When he went into a store, he saw a big sign hanging on the doorway, written: Magyar (trans. Hungarian) Don’t Steal! The more embarassing thing is that the store is in Austria.

4. Medical Treatment
Recently I visited a dentist and gynecologist for a regular check—nothing special. Health insurance here doesn’t cover them; in fact it doesn’t cover anything. I paid 12,000 Ft (US$ 60) for the dentist for the same service that I regularly had in Indonesia for about $ 20. The dentist used the same tools like in Indonesia, but without TV (duh). How often do people with minimum salary of 45,000 Ft have their teeth checked? Sheesh!

The gynecologist was slightly better. He didn’t even touch me for any blood pressure check or heart beat or things like that. He asked me to take blood and sonographic test at the hospital and then return the results to him. He asked for 5,000 Ft (US$ 25) for that. And because I couldn’t return there, my mother in law took the results back there. She also had to pay another 5,000 Ft plus a message from the doctor that I had to take the same test because from the last result it could be seen that I hit myself before. Yeah right, and who doesn’t?

A week before, my mother went for the same sonographic test for herself with the same doctor in the same hospital. There she was told she had myoma . She then asked the female doctor who checked her. The woman answered, “Well, you went to another gynecologist, so why don’t you ask him? Don’t ask me!” Would she still response the same if my mother in law slipped a piece of 5,000 Ft in her pocket?

There is a tribute people must pay for the doctor and any staff who tend them in a hospital. It is called as hálapénz. It is nothing if it’s legitimate, but it’s not. There is no fixed law on this but it is definitely a must. For giving birth, one must give 50,000 Ft (US$ 250) to the doctor, 20,000 Ft (US$ 100) to each nurse and a little to everyone who ever touched them—in addition to the insurance one must pay each month. Just another warning for Indonesian friends, despite that Hungary is a member of EU which is supposed to be developed countries compared to our village, the hospitals are not so. Outside Budapest often there is only a state-owned hospital in a city. The rooms are like barrack. No tv and if you are not lucky sometimes you have to stay at the corridor—like in economical hospitals in Indonesia during an outbreak of disease.

5. Shopping
To be honest I have never had any pleasant experience for shopping in Budapest. If not for the prizes and taxes, shopkeepers can ruin your day. They might simply stand and ignore without even greeting you a good day, or busy playing with their mobile; or worse they would be frowning at you. Zsolt had a guy at the grocery nearby almost cursed at him because we decided not to buy his carrot. We wanted to buy a few carrot and without telling us, he started to pick a bundle—which consisted about 20. We didn’t know that we couldn’t buy only a few since he hid the stupid carrots. And when Zsolt apologized and told him we were not buying it, he almost threw the carrots to us and said the f*** word. Nice!

We do now know several shops who are kind enough not to snub us on sight: they are Chinese shops. I am no Chinese, but usually they think I was. or something like that As far as I know they are basically kind, also with other customers. And folks, the chinese gyors buffes have the cheapest food in Budapest.

6. Services
This is one of the worst things here. If your computer is broken, your stove stops working or anything like that in Indonesia, you could simply ask the service to go to your place and get them fixed or simply take the item and they’ll let you know when it’s ready. Here things may get a little bit out of hand.

Last November we bought a new video card and processor for our good old computer at the Extreme Digital. We were surprised on how professional the shop seemed to be. We were expecting that things would go wrong, actually, as it usually happened. Then we took the computer to the EDigital service so they could set everything. We took it home afterwards and happily tried it. We wanted to play a game together, mind you. But the darn thing always restarted everytime we ran a 3D game—or after a while. Our guess was that one of the two items we bought was damaged since it worked perfectly before. On Tuesday we took it back to the service. They refused; saying that they had no time to fix it until Friday. So Zsolt had to carry the 5 kg thing all the way home again. On Thursday we returned so they could start to check it Friday. What a surprise, they said they could only do it the next Thursday—a week later! We then left it to their gentle care until the promised day. The next Thursday Zsolt called, they said they hadn’t gotten the time to touch it. Maybe the next day they would. Maybe! Zsolt called them almost everyday with the same answers.

Yesterday he called again only to be told that they couldn’t even start the computer. That’s all! After almost a month. Zsolt got very upset because the computer is like our own baby. He called them again and asked them to return our money and we’ll get our baby fixed somewhere else. They refused to do so, but promised to really check it right away. Hopefully they can really fix it at last.

Another good impression I got is from banks. Here if you leave your money in the bank then sooner or later you will lose all because you have to pay each month for keeping an account. You have to pay to withdraw on the ATM, of course—but that is normal I don’t mind it. But you also have to pay to withdraw at the cashier—the more you withdraw the more you have to pay. If you take some loan then you have to open another account—despite that you have already one, and then you’ll have to pay some management fee each month until you pay all back besides the interest and the monthly fee. My mother in law opened an account in Budapest and one day she wanted to withdraw in Eger. The officer refused to let her do so. He said she should withdraw in Budapest because she opened the account in Budapest. Huh? Imagine if I opened an account in Papua and then I moved to Jakarta and had to withdraw it in Papua everytime.

Buying a mobile is also not easy. Last year when we visited the graveyard, somebody broke the car’s window and took my mother in law’s hand bag—contained the flat key, her money, all her papers and bills, and her mobile. We went to Pannon to get her new mobile, it was not an option as they asked for her gas and electricity bills for the last two months. She couldn’t get them, they were in her hand bag also. We didn’t have those bills at that time, so we offered our internet bills, which were more expensive than the two combined. Pannon refused. So we left.

Vodafone was worse, they asked for more papers. And in the end my mother in law gave up and prepared all of them. When she came again to Vodafone, she was told that beside the mobile price and her subscription fee, she had to pay another thing. The amount wasn’t decided yet. They would send a request to the central office so then they could decide how much she should pay. She was too upset to hear this all, so she left and finally bought a mobile from T-Mobile. It is not an advertisement of T-Mobile whatsoever but I think they were the most sensible. They don’t require you to submit any bill or anything.

7. Pork Fat
Hungarian food is in general nem rosz (trans. Not bad), I would say. I like that there are so many kinds of mushrooms. I love mushrooms and it was not so easy to buy it back in Indonesia. And there are also lots of delicious parizsi and sonka which I have never seen before. My only problem is that people use pork fat for everything—which I try to avoid. First of all, Muslims don’t eat pork, mind you. I cannot say I am a very dedicated Muslim, but I simply cannot eat red meat. Because I hate the way it tastes, and I don’t need anymore cholesterol, kösz (trans. thank you). I thought people used butter or margarine or olive oil or even cooking oil. But here most people use pork fat—even for frying doughnuts which I find very difficult to eat. Even when you buy chicken soup in package, it is sometimes written that it uses pork fat instead of chicken stock. I have never checked the price so far, is fat lot cheaper than cooking oil / butter?

8. Nudity
We have more than 50 channels on the cable tv. Mostly I watch CNN or Cartoon Network or MTV. First of all because I can understand them, and second because they are all quite safe—from nudity, mind you. Hungarians seem to enjoy nudity a lot. Each program has its own rating and the lowest is 12. Don’t worry, people still get naked there. Sex sells, people say, and they are buying it in Hungary. Advertisements are mostly full with scantily clad women—or even naked. The country is famous as the European porn stronghold.

There is a dull quiz called “Ciao Darwin” where two groups of people have to compete with each others. They have groups like fat and thin men, theater and porn actresses, small and big breasted women. They have to answer questions and do some erotic dance down to their undies. I doubt they are even paid. Serious news also cover news about porn stars who are shooting their latest movies—they are artist. They are also invited to quizzes and redcarpets where they signed autographs like divas. There is no clear limit on what is considered to be pornography or not. I would say Playboy is porn, here they said the opposite. It’s art, don’t cha know?

Zita Görög, perhaps the most famous actress, model, presented and a lot more titles at once, had done a spread for Playboy. Recently she went all the way by having threesome with a couple for a cheap American movie—and I still remember she cried earlier last year because her picture was posted on a porn website where people could hire her as professional prositute with her picture topless. She said that picture was taken for modelling. Well there is no smoke without fire, I say.

9. Open Hour

Most people work eight hours a day (some work more, and some less) from 9-6 with an hour lunch break. I know it is supposed to be equal for everyone, but have you ever thought of how difficult it is if something go out of our plan? For an instance when we had to take our computer to the service. The service is opened until 5, and closed in the weekend. Since Zsolt also works until 5, he has to start to work earlier so we could go to the service before it is closed. That is why we were very upset when they simply told us they were too busy to repair our computer and asked us to return later.

Many shops and services are closed in the weekend, which makes me wonder why. Don’t they know that is the only time people could go to shop? Plazas are still opened but you cannot get your computer fixed there, can you? Doctors are also not practising in the weekend. The last time we had to wait three days for a guy to fix our boiler because he couldn’t come during the weekend. When he came, he stayed for 15 minutes to change a cable—about 10 cm long. We paid 15,000 Ft (US$ 75) for all his trouble and time.

10. Cold

Now the everyday temperature in Budapest is around -1 degrees Celcius. Not too bad, I say. What I hate is rather the effect. I am caught cold each winter, and my skin got so dry that once I had to see a doctor for it. His advice was easy: I had to avoid water for a month! What, no shower for a month?

Going out is a good reason to ruin my mood. I hate to dress like Michelin man and have to go home with dirty pants because of the snow or rain water

But then again, which one is better? Heat or cold, I cannot say. I used to hate to go out in the heat in Indonesia also for afraid for getting sunburnt. Either way I think I am merely so hard to please! Happy New Year 2006, everyone!

UPDATE:
For Zita’s fans who still haven’t heard of her movie I was talking about, I wouldn’t cover the story in detail but you can read it on Pestiside. Hopefully it’d satisfy the curiosity.

Related Article: Ten Things I Love about Hungary