Jolly Wolf Europe - Budapest

The owners of Nici-mania blog have planned for a tour to the mysterious, cultural and historical countries in Eastern Europe during the season of Spring... ...

While waiting to board the plane at Changi Airport Terminal-1, Jolly wolf pops out from his owner's bag: Surprise!!!

Oh! Naughty Jolly Wolf has followed his owner to the airport. "Bring me, pleaseeee....", Jolly Wolf begged. "Shhhhh.... back to the bag ok? No animals are allowed to board with the passengers"

Well, Jolly wolf is exhilarated as he knows that the final part of the our Europe adventure will end at Germany, Jolly Wolf's hometown - the motherland of NICI.

Jolly Wolf has board the plane safely! Testing the earphones.

"Let me take the remote and check out if there are movies : Red Riding Hood or Wolverine on the plane... "

Jolly Wolf is flying with Royal Dutch Airlines, so they are serving Heineken.

14 hours to go.. Our first stop, Budapest - the capital of Hungary

Budapest is a city made up of Buda on the right and Pest on the left connected by the Chain Bridge - a cast iron suspension bridge hovering across Danube River.

Budapest's Fisherman Bastion.

On top of the Budapest Fisherman Bastion

View of Budapest Fisherman Bastion on the other side.

Budapest St Matthias Church right beside the Fisherman Bastion.

The beautiful interior of St Matthias Church

Altar of St Matthias Church

Jolly Wolf takes a Danube River cruise in Budapest

Look, the sky is now covered with clouds but its not raining, a great weather for Danube River cruise. It has been raining irregularly everyday at Budapest. We are lucky its not raining now!

Jolly Wolf says Hi from Danube river with his human.

Jolly Wolf lies down for a nice sun tan during the cruise

During the excursion, you can enjoy the view of Mathias Church, Fisherman's Bastion, Budapest Parliament Building, Gellert Hill (our dinner's place), etc, on both Buda & Pest river banks.

Budapest Parliament Building is probably the best view of Danube river cruise with its gorgeous neo-Gothic design.

Jolly Wolf be careful where you're sitting!!

Jolly Wolf had so much fun on the cruise, we are bringing you to visit another great place in Budapest. Let's go!

After the Danube river cruise, we arrive at Budapest Heroes Square where you can see the magnificent statue of Archangel Gabriel on top.

Full view of Budapest Heroes Square

Look where his eyes are looking ^_^
Hmmm... Maybe he found Jolly Wolf suspicious ? ? 

View of Budapest on top of the Fisherman Bastion. Hope you enjoyed this entry.

Last but not least, here are some delicious hungarian food we've eaten:
1. Hungarian goulash, a famous European soup or stew of meat + vegetables.
2. Top right is a Palatschinke, a popular European pancake or crêpe.
3. Bottom left is chicken in green sauce with rice (the set of trio set dinner)
4. Lastly, also a chicken in green sauce while the food covered below is baked cheese + ham with pineapple (yummy!). We bought this in a food court of a Budapest shopping center.

See ya at part 2! Jolly Wolf is going to another Eastern Europe country - Slovakia

Nici - A World Of Friends @ 100% pure New Zealand

New Zealand, a beautiful paradise for tourists and ... sheeps.

Some of our Nici soft toys know that, so they flew over to NZ and stayed there. You'll never feel lonely in a foreign country.

( photos taken in Apr 2009)

Auckland, the most populous urban area in NZ.
Will there be any Nici plush hide among the city?

Spotted!
A 50cm NICI Jolly Mäh at Auckland NZ market, style himself with a fernleaf scarf.

Next, what surprise we will find at South island of NZ, Queenstown , the "Adventure capital of the world" ?

*blink blink*

Found that more Nici soft toys having their adventure here! Hugo Wolf, Jolly Mäh and Jolly Ben in differrent sizes!
Spot any other Nici toys?

Are they still waiting their owner to bring them home from the shop in Queenstown NZ?

A little souvenir from Christchurch NZ. Jolly Ben keyring.

Most of the Nici soft toys in NZ are attached with the heart shaped tag :
" Just Love New Zealand "

" Hello, I am Jolly Ben from New Zealand.

If you see my other Nici soft toy friends when you are traveling,
remember say hello to them, and give them a hug.
Sweet As! "

* * *

Now, Jolly Ben has something to share with us ...

We are shocked and heartbroken how things can be different within just 2 years ( and after one month of the above drafted).

All our Nici plush pray for New Zealand and Japan for a smooth and quick recovery from the destruction. 

"The living moment is everything. ~D.H. Lawrence"

Shiraz Mazzeh

Jolly Rosa is at Shiraz Mazzeh in front of Orchard Takashimaya. Shiraz Mazzeh is a Persian cuisine food stall  in Singapore selling Kebab and various drinks.

Takashimaya is a departmental store in Ngee Ann City shopping mall along Orchard Road, the most tourist infested place in Singapore. Most people just call this shopping mall Taka, an abbreviation for Takashimaya instead of Ngee Ann City.

Shiraz Mazzeh mainly sells Shawarma, more commonly known as Kebab. I'm sure everyone knows what a Kebab is and surely has eaten one before. Shiraz Mazzeh sells 3 different kind of Shawarma - chicken, lamb and beef. Oh, Justin Bieber is on the lcd screen, too obvious to miss it. Notice some huge sausages behind Jolly Rosa too.

Here's a look at the Shiraz Mazzeh menu on the counter. Other than Sharwarma, Shiraz Mazzeh also sells German sausages and some side orders like french fries. The real reason why Jolly Rosa is here, is the Mazzeh Happy Hour 1 for 1 draught beer! $7.50 for 300ml and $9.50 for a pint (500ml).

At Shiraz Mazzeh, there are two types of draught beer - Warsteiner premium verum and König Ludwig Weissbier. Both German beers and sister companies. Both are quite popular beers in Singapore and very easy to find almost everywhere but if you haven't tried them before, you can have both at Shiraz Mazzeh due to the 1 for 1 beer happy hour promotion!

Here is Jolly Rosa having her first drink, the König Ludwig Weissbier. The term Weissbier refers to wheat beer which is a unique kind of beer. Wheat beer is creamy in nature and is usually sweeter in taste with a big hint of wheat in them. Let's stop here before we continue talking 10 pages about beer! Hey Jolly Rosa, its Mazzeh happy hour 1 for 1 promotion, should you find a friend to join you?

Here is NICI pug joining Jolly Rosa for the happy hour 1 for 1 beer at Shiraz Mazzeh. These 2 nici plüsch intends to get drunk tonight!

After Jolly Rosa finishes the first cup of König Ludwig Weissbier wheat beer, here is the Warsteiner premium verum beer - a classic pilsner beer. Pilsner is a light beer bitter in taste, it is brighter in color and less opaque compared to wheat beer. Your typical Carlsberg and Tiger beer are all pilsner. Oh no we are talking about beer again!

This is the leaflet which can be taken at the counter of Shiraz Mazzeh. Other than Orchard Takashimaya, there are 3 more of these stalls in Singapore.

Experience the finest Kebabs you can ever taste. Thats what Shiraz Mazzeh wrote here on their leaflet, $8.50 for one is expensive for a Kebab compared to the delicious Kebab we had at Poland. And if you pay 1 more dollar you can drown yourself in 1 litre of beer.

Jolly Rosa sitting at the counter of Shiraz Mazzeh

This is the view on our left side sitting at Shiraz Mazzeh. Orchard Takashimaya is on our right and Paragon shopping mall is what you see now. The massive amount of branded shops along Orchard road is the main tourist attraction here in Singapore.

The view behind us is Orchard road. The bright red sign says TakashimayaSC on the middle left and the top left blue sign is Wisma Atria.

Jolly Rosa drunk at Shiraz Mazzeh with her third cup of beer, another König Ludwig Weissbier wheat beer.

Jolly Rosa sleeps further down, she's seeing stars already. Meanwhile we haven't seen NICI pug around, where is he anyway?

NICI pug is busy taking pictures of himself near Orchard Takashimaya, showing you the night views of the busiest street in Singapore. Rosa is drunk at the counter of Shiraz Mazzeh, we are bringing both of you home alright.

Not long after we left Shiraz Mazzeh, Rosa saw a street performer busking in front of  Takashimaya, not sure what is he trying to express with the scary paint job on his body.

Shiraz Mazzeh Orchard Takashimaya branch

391 Orchard Road, #01-K1 Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza Singapore 238873

For deliveries: 67361771

Catering enquiries: info@shirazfnb.com

Draught beer happy hour: 6:30pm to 8:30pm

*Update: Last we went, beer is no longer 1 for 1, it is buy 2 free 1 and now they are seving 400ml for $9 instead of 330ml and 500ml for $11. Buy 2 free 1 is no longer a good deal, go to Paulaners and have a good drink instead! (see Jolly Mah at Paulaners Singapore)