2015 - Black Friday Day 1 (Michigan)

This year, we will repeat our outing last year where we went Black Friday shopping in Michigan and we plan to visit Great Lakes Crossing and Birch Run. The initial plan is to go on Thursday afternoon and return on Saturday unless we find more to do in the area and return on Sunday.

Blue Water Bridge is the border crossing that we go to this year which is the same border that we went to last year. While the border took us about 30 minutes to cross, it seemed like they were checking a lot of cars now (possibly due to what happened in Paris). We saw a lot of cars where trunks were checked which didn't really happen in the past. However, by the time we were up, the officer must have been bored because when Allison drove up, he asked what we were doing, to which Allison said we were going to Great Lakes Crossing and Birch Run, he swiped the passports and let us go. He didn't even look at me at all (the passenger). Odd...

We checked in at our hotel which is Sonesta ES Suites this year which is a short drive from the hotel we stayed at last year (Hyatt Place) and I would say, I think I like the Sonesta ES Suites more. While the Hyatt Place hotel had a bigger TV and the room seemed a bit larger, Sonesta ES Suites had a small kitchen which had a full size fridge, a two burner induction stove, and full set of kitchen appliances and cutlery (pots, pans, utensils, etc). There is a full sized tub, and what seemed like a slightly larger queen sized bed even though on hotels.com it said that this is a king. Breakfast, parking, and WiFi is included.

After we checked in, we went to the local McDonald's which we went to last year and it turned out to be closed today except for the drive-thru. We sucked it up and went through the drive-thru and just ate at the parking lot since we didn't want to fight the crowds at Birch Run since we were certain that the restaurants would be open. This year, we noticed that they had different deals (for us Canadians). $5 gets you two Big Macs, Filet-O-Fish, or McChicken (we opted for the Big Macs), $2 gets you two small fries and a large pop cost us $1.39 (or was it $1.29). All in all, it cost us less than $10 USD for two big macs, two small fries and a large pop. They also had a peel-and-win style game for football (I believe) and we won a small coffee, bonus!

Our first stop is Best Buy where I hoped to get the Lumia 640 for $30 and we got it! Actually, they had a few left when we got there at around 7:30pm. We spent about 30 minutes waiting to pay and then headed to Birch Run.

We got to Birch Run at around 9:00pm, and it didn't seem as busy as I remember it. We ended up going to our usual shops (Banana Republic, Nike, Ann Taylor, Gap, Columbia and a few others) and we finished at around 1:00am and go back to the hotel at around 2:00am and called it a night. Our damage at the end was 3 cardigans, 3 tops, 1 jean skirt, 1 pair of Nike runners for Allison and 1 Lumia 640 for Wai. The phone cost $32.37 USD after taxes and the total for the clothing was $113.85 USD.

Day 1 results, 1 phone for Wai, the rest for Allison.

Tomorrow, we go to Great Lakes Crossing after checking out the breakfast at the hotel in the morning.

Past POIs - Széchenyi Thermal Bathes [Budapest, Hungary]

While I don't quite understand and appreciate the thermal bathes, there are a lot of people who do and I thought it would be interesting to learn about its history and how it came to be.

Széchenyi Thermal Bathes is the first thermal bath of Pest built in 1913. With the 3 renovations that have taken place, with the last renovation being completed in 1999 which added the whirling corridor, neck showers, water beam back massage and more, it is one of the largest spa complexes in Europe.

From wikipedia (source)

The water comes from Saint Stephen Well Nr.II commissioned in 1938. The hot spring water contains lithium, sodium, potassium, calcium, and more. It also supposedly helps with degenerative joint diseases, chronic and sub-acute arthritis, orthopedic and post-accident treatments and more (Szechenyi Bath Water Composition and Therapeutic Uses).

From wikipedia (source)

The bathes are divided into two sections, indoors and outdoors. Indoors, there are 11 thermal water pools ranging from 28 C - 40 C, 1 cooling pool at 20 C, and 1 immersion pool at 18 C. Outdoors, there are 2 immersion pools at 18 C, 1 swimming pool at 26 C - 28 C which is 50 meters long, 1 activity pool at 30 C - 34 C, and 1 thermal water pool at 38 C.

From wikipedia (source)

As of January, 2015, the base price which includes a locker, entry and no time limitation is 4,500 Ft on weekdays and 4,700 Ft on weekends and holidays. There are cheaper options but limit when you can go (for example, 6:00 am - 8:00 am), you can find the details here (prices).

To get here, simply get off at Széchenyi fürdő on the M1 (yellow) line. It is also just a short 5 minute walk from the Heroe's Square for reference.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!

Past POIs - Little Princess Statue [Budapest, Hungary]

While we were wandering Budapest, we stumbled upon this statue which we actually assumed was the Little Prince Statue but in reality it is actually the Little Princess Statue.

The Little Princess Statue (Kiskirálylány) can be found sitting on the railings along the Danube river in Budapest, Hungary along the pest side of the river. The statue was created by László Marton and placed where it is now in 1989, so a relatively new statue.

The statue is actually based on the artist's daughter who while as a child would dress up like a princess, wearing a newspaper crown made by her father and also having a bathrobe as a cloak. Knowing the details now, it actually makes sense and maybe we should have spent some time looking at the plaque at the based that would have explained it.

Not really knowing about this statue, while I was looking it up, I found that there are actually a number of statues in Budapest that seem like they would be worth visiting which we missed. Ones that come up that sound interesting at Szt Gellert Statue, Statue of Liberty, Timewheel monument, and Anonymus.

Come back next Friday for another Past Point of Interest!