My Irish Shenanigans

Monday, November 28, 2011

Photos from last full week: Food and Enniskerry

My last tapas in Ireland with my buddy, Ashton

Last lunch at Green19. DELICIOUS

Last brunch at Green19... MORE DELICIOUS. And yes that is brie in the tomato

Okay this may be bad but isn't this house SUPER cute?! And of course I don't know the people who own it.

Enniskerry Town... super cute!

The start of my walk to the Powerscourt House

Pretty walk ain't it?

Super cool trees

I miss the creeping vines soooo much

Why yes, I'd love a view like this thank you.

AGH so pretty

A pathway in the gardens. Love the shades of green

Doesn't it look like a fairy tale?!

I love spiral staircases... so much my hand shook EVERY time I took a photo

Cinnabon bushes. I am inherently American. What can I say?

Another beautiful pathway

View from the top of the tower looking at the house. I imagine being an unruly child and being "grounded" here.

My attempt at photography

The splash of orange totally begged for a photo

Of course every rich person's gardens needs a "Japanese" style area right?

Autumn is the best...

I loved the creeping vines across the big leaves

Bamboo!! Now where are the pandas?

Reminded me of hobbits.

I love you too Ireland!

I'll take one of these views please...

C for Christine!

Loved how the little purple one was basically saying, "I WILL NOT be left out!"

Looked like an egg to me

Their gates were insanely pretty

See? It's like the Secret Garden but not so secret

To have and to hold....? Doesn't matter. Still was pretty

A little model of what was behind closed doors. I immediately wanted to open the doors and run around

This is the nerd in me but that tree looked like a brain!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

monster last post (all words photos to follow)

So let's start with the good news, I officially have a masters in global health! Huzzah! Getting there was quite a challenge but hey, I've got one. During the last couple weeks of September I basically lived in the post-grad reading room and of course it was GREAT weather. Le sigh. C'est la vie. I have to say I've never really spent that much time writing in my life (and I really hope I don't have to again) and I truly felt like an academic! I got that pain in the neck where stenosis happens and the tingles go down the arm. Of course I scolded myself for not taking breaks just like my ex-coworkers would have but it's hard when you get in the groove you know? I used my freakishly strong hands on myself though (uh that sounds weird but just keep reading) and undid some knots at the base of my skull and it did help. Three years working at a private physical therapy clinic truly paid off! Thank you PT Works...!

The last week that I had in Ireland I basically chilled out and just enjoyed what little time I had left. I hung out with folks that I was going to miss (and I can confirm that I do miss them) and spent some time outside Dublin by myself one last time. I went to Enniskerry to the Powerscourt Gardens and it proved to be a good idea (even it was one of the most humid days in Ireland I feel). It was absolutely gorgeous! I'm definitely going to miss just taking a city bus to things like that; things with a ton of character, incredibly vivid colors and deep history. The Powerscourt Gardens has a beautiful mansion/manor (I never know what to call them things) that of course had the beautiful ivy growing on it that was turning the brilliant autumn colors. Even the bus ride there and back was filled with sights that I knew to keep in my head for as along as possible. Enniskerry town was nice to be in because it reminded me of my time that I spent with my very generous friend/classmate at Christmas time as we had Christmas Eve drinks there. Absolutely great times to remember...

Thursday night was my big last hurrah/goodbye party with friends (but definitely I wish there had been some that were missing that had already gone back to the States). We went to the pubs that I frequented (no I did not become an alcoholic, everyone has their favorite stuff right?) starting with The Quays Pub. The Quays Pub is in the heart of Temple Bar (the area) which means it's riddled with tourists but ALSO Irish folk who are interested in gaining international friends. They have live music every night by different acoustic artists who play everything from The Beatles to Bruno Mars... basically crowd pleasers and songs that people love to sing along to. On any given weekend in The Quays, I'd say at least one hen party goes through there, if not two. We then went to Hogan's which is where my (now ex) flatmate and I met (chorus of awwww's here please). It was a sentimental but fun time as our party dwindled down to myself and 2 friends. From then on the night just became mostly the three of us wandering the streets of Dublin and me mostly in my head mentally marking things and recounting memories in my head (and aloud to the chagrin of my mates). Friday the 30th was recovery and "make sure I don't have to pay the 60euro fee) day until the quiet last night. It was a perfect night of last goodbyes.

Now I'm back in California, melting from the heat and wondering why I left Ireland. I'm quickly reminded that it's because no one wanted to give me a job and I'm having the same issues here! Again, c'est la vie. Ah well, when I feel like "writing" again, meaning when I feel like staring at this screen for longer than 30 minutes again, I'll post up a photo version of this long, wordy post. TTFN (for my non-Winnie the Pooh lovers, ta ta for now!)

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Electric Picnic!

So finally I am able to write about my Irish music festival experience. It proved to be quite the experience and I loved every second of it! Meghan and I got to Stradbally Estate in County Laois on early Friday afternoon. We (well mainly she) set up the tent and it proved to be a bit more work than we expected.

There she is with the finished product!

Friday proved to be great music-wise. Started the day off with some little known bands but that were pretty good. We saw Shouting at Planes, The Lost Brothers, Willy Mason, Foster the People, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, M. Ward, Santigold, Sinead O'Connor, Interpol and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes! See? Pretty darn good and that's only some of the people that were playing that day! My favourite? I'd say Santigold and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Santigold had some awesome backup dancers and she was just having so much fun on stage! It was definitely infectious. And then of course Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes are just amazing musicians (I mean comon there's TEN of them!)

Then on Saturday started with Le Galaxie (who I've been wanting to see for such a long time), Adebisi Shank, Toots and the Maytals, OMD, Lykke Li, Health, Arcade Fire, The Chemical Brothers and Public Enemy. Those were the acts that I caught. I know it seems like less but I pretty much watched the whole sets for people on this day rather than bouncing around like crazy. I wanted to absorb the artists as much as I could. Ha. OH also I had my first ferris wheel ride! The thing spun around and it made me super sick... and made me feel old because I was like, "Oh no... I can't take spinny rides anymore."

Sunday was interesting because usually the music selection dies down at festivals on the last day (from what I've seen anyway) but it was crazy good! I watched Favourite Sons, Oh Land, Japanese Popstars, the Go! Team, The Drums, The Family Stone, Beirut and Pulp. I missed Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and James V McMorrow but hopefully I'll get to see them some other time. I spent Sunday night in a caravan... my first time ever in a caravan! It was very cramped but at least I wasn't freezing like Saturday night. Haha.

Overall, it was a super fun weekend with some super awesome music. I wish I could come every year. It kind of reminded me of Coachella with its sense of hippiness and happy people... but I was surrounded by Irish folk. I wasn't a minority just because I'm Asian, but because I'm from the US as well! Haha. Interesting experience overall. And now for some photos!