Saturday, October 26, 2013
irish in one year
Alrighty, since the unpaid vacation ended, I haven't had much time to write, but here is the numero uno thing I miss about Ireland - the kid:
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Saturday, October 19, 2013
11 years a slave
Weather: Warm
Mood: Stressed - unpaid vacation is over after sixteen days and now the work backlog awaits
Music: The Head And The Heart's Shake
Last Movie: Gravity (I originally gave this a B+, but I think I am downgrading it to a B)
Reading: Nothing
Last Pleasure: The Goldbergs - this show just tickles my funny bone and tugs at my heart string
Last Worry: Money - thank the lord we are getting backpay or else I would be totally screwed
Last accomplishment: Getting Chi Young settled in Galway
Looking Forward To: 12 Years A Slave
Not Really Looking Forward To: 11 years a slave to work
Gas Price: $4.079/gallon premium
Clothes: Old Navy's blue fleece sweatshirt, Gap jeans
Today's Headline: 2 BART Maintenance Workers Struck, Killed By Train In Walnut Creek (By the way, BART workers started their strike this past Friday, so BART trains are actually not running. This train was doing some kind of test run being driven by a manager when two non-union workers were hit. Yikes. The worker union is gonna have a field day with this one.)
Last Website Visited: ebay
Last Meal: Instant ramen (I am addicted now)
Last Purchase: Harper's Bazaar Madonna cover (I have a huge Madonna magazine collection.)
Item On My Wishlist: The Cornetto Trilogy on blu ray (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End)
Latest Evidence It's A Beautiful World: I am just blown away by these silicone cup lids. Whoever invented them is a genius; it's like magic how they are watertight once you put it on. You can find these on ebay.
Mood: Stressed - unpaid vacation is over after sixteen days and now the work backlog awaits
Music: The Head And The Heart's Shake
Last Movie: Gravity (I originally gave this a B+, but I think I am downgrading it to a B)
Reading: Nothing
Last Pleasure: The Goldbergs - this show just tickles my funny bone and tugs at my heart string
Last Worry: Money - thank the lord we are getting backpay or else I would be totally screwed
Last accomplishment: Getting Chi Young settled in Galway
Looking Forward To: 12 Years A Slave
Not Really Looking Forward To: 11 years a slave to work
Gas Price: $4.079/gallon premium
Clothes: Old Navy's blue fleece sweatshirt, Gap jeans
Today's Headline: 2 BART Maintenance Workers Struck, Killed By Train In Walnut Creek (By the way, BART workers started their strike this past Friday, so BART trains are actually not running. This train was doing some kind of test run being driven by a manager when two non-union workers were hit. Yikes. The worker union is gonna have a field day with this one.)
Last Website Visited: ebay
Last Meal: Instant ramen (I am addicted now)
Last Purchase: Harper's Bazaar Madonna cover (I have a huge Madonna magazine collection.)
Item On My Wishlist: The Cornetto Trilogy on blu ray (Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End)
Latest Evidence It's A Beautiful World: I am just blown away by these silicone cup lids. Whoever invented them is a genius; it's like magic how they are watertight once you put it on. You can find these on ebay.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
love money nudity
Why is Miley naked in front of Stevie Wonder? Isn't that a perfect waste of nudity? Do I need to write another open letter to Miley?
day sixteen: from buskers to bus drivers
Ireland Illustrated Part Trois:
I love buskers and generally anyone who tries to make a living peddling their art (except Lady Gaga of course, cuz I am not buying whatever "art" she is selling - I mean holy crap, did you see her new album cover???). Buskers on Shop Street in Galway and Grafton Street in Dublin remind me of the movie Once. Man, that was a great movie. And the song Falling Slowly has got to be one of my favorite songs of all time.
Along with sheep and buskers, ice cream is rather easy to find in Ireland. They sell ice cream pretty much everywhere - every convenience store has a soft ice cream machine. A 99 is a soft ice cream with a Cadbury Flake bar. Ice cream in Ireland is creamy, rich, and delicious, probably because of the Irish diary. I had the convenient store variety in Dingle, the fast food variety at SuperMac in Galway, the gourmet ice cream shop variety at Murphy's in Killarney, the gelato version at Gino's in Dublin, and the shake version at Shakes in Dublin. Oh and on my 2nd to last day there, I had an iced hot chocolate (like the frozen hot chocolate from NYC's Serendipity) from this chocolate shop called Butler's. Ok I am actually really craving ice cream as I write this. Should I head out to Bi-Rite for some honey lavender, or salted caramel, or roasted banana?
San Francisco bus drivers are assholes. I know I am generalizing - surely there are hardworking, professional, courteous MUNI bus drivers out there, but it just hasn't been my pleasure to encounter one. When I was in high school, I actually had the driver close the door on me with my foot inside the bus and the rest of me outside. The oblivious driver started to take off, with me hopping alongside banging on the door. Fortunately he quickly realized what was happening and he stopped to let me live another day. It was craziness. I have other MUNI bus driver stories too, but I'll save those for another day. Anyways, in Ireland, customer service is top notch all around. I had great experiences with bank and post office workers. But I was particularly impressed by our bus drivers when I went on a couple of day tours. Not only were they good at their jobs (maneuvering those narrow roads in Ireland), but they were just super cool and super nice. At the end of the day on first tour, after the driver Eamon dropped everyone off at the Galway coach station, this other party and myself asked if the driver would take us back to the Salthill area. He amiably agreed even though he probably didn't have any responsibility to do so. When he stopped in Salthill to let off the other party, who were a group of elderly women, he not only walked off the bus with them and actually walked them across the street to safety. Come on! You never see that. Eamon does Ireland proud!
I love buskers and generally anyone who tries to make a living peddling their art (except Lady Gaga of course, cuz I am not buying whatever "art" she is selling - I mean holy crap, did you see her new album cover???). Buskers on Shop Street in Galway and Grafton Street in Dublin remind me of the movie Once. Man, that was a great movie. And the song Falling Slowly has got to be one of my favorite songs of all time.
Along with sheep and buskers, ice cream is rather easy to find in Ireland. They sell ice cream pretty much everywhere - every convenience store has a soft ice cream machine. A 99 is a soft ice cream with a Cadbury Flake bar. Ice cream in Ireland is creamy, rich, and delicious, probably because of the Irish diary. I had the convenient store variety in Dingle, the fast food variety at SuperMac in Galway, the gourmet ice cream shop variety at Murphy's in Killarney, the gelato version at Gino's in Dublin, and the shake version at Shakes in Dublin. Oh and on my 2nd to last day there, I had an iced hot chocolate (like the frozen hot chocolate from NYC's Serendipity) from this chocolate shop called Butler's. Ok I am actually really craving ice cream as I write this. Should I head out to Bi-Rite for some honey lavender, or salted caramel, or roasted banana?
San Francisco bus drivers are assholes. I know I am generalizing - surely there are hardworking, professional, courteous MUNI bus drivers out there, but it just hasn't been my pleasure to encounter one. When I was in high school, I actually had the driver close the door on me with my foot inside the bus and the rest of me outside. The oblivious driver started to take off, with me hopping alongside banging on the door. Fortunately he quickly realized what was happening and he stopped to let me live another day. It was craziness. I have other MUNI bus driver stories too, but I'll save those for another day. Anyways, in Ireland, customer service is top notch all around. I had great experiences with bank and post office workers. But I was particularly impressed by our bus drivers when I went on a couple of day tours. Not only were they good at their jobs (maneuvering those narrow roads in Ireland), but they were just super cool and super nice. At the end of the day on first tour, after the driver Eamon dropped everyone off at the Galway coach station, this other party and myself asked if the driver would take us back to the Salthill area. He amiably agreed even though he probably didn't have any responsibility to do so. When he stopped in Salthill to let off the other party, who were a group of elderly women, he not only walked off the bus with them and actually walked them across the street to safety. Come on! You never see that. Eamon does Ireland proud!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
day fifteen - sheep of insanity
Ireland Illustrated, Part Two:
During my first few days in Ireland, I was excited to see the herds of white, fluffy sheep dotting the verdant hillside. I couldn't get out my camera fast enough to capture the quintessential Irish scene (which of course is also a quintessential New Zealand scene). Every photo was coming out kinda blurry because I was inevitably on a moving bus. But then I soon realized that sheep are as ubiquitous to Ireland as Hello Kitty is to Japan and wats are to Thailand. They are pretty much everywhere. I even saw a show where this shepherd demonstrated how border collies are used to herd the sheep. There I finally got all the sheep photos that I needed.
In Galway, near the Spanish Arch is a row of houses by the water. One of these houses is red. I hope there is some ordinance which requires that house to stay painted red (and the other houses stay a muted color). It just works. Chi Young and I actually almost saw an apartment there, but when the agent showed up for the appointment, he said the apartment has already been let.
The Cliffs of Moher is surely one of the must-see tourist attractions in Ireland. The Cliffs were featured in The Princess Bride as the Cliffs of Insanity. The day we visited, it was initially pretty foggy. But within ten minutes, the fog shifted and we were able to enjoy the Cliffs in all their majesty. I did not see Princess Buttercup though.
During my first few days in Ireland, I was excited to see the herds of white, fluffy sheep dotting the verdant hillside. I couldn't get out my camera fast enough to capture the quintessential Irish scene (which of course is also a quintessential New Zealand scene). Every photo was coming out kinda blurry because I was inevitably on a moving bus. But then I soon realized that sheep are as ubiquitous to Ireland as Hello Kitty is to Japan and wats are to Thailand. They are pretty much everywhere. I even saw a show where this shepherd demonstrated how border collies are used to herd the sheep. There I finally got all the sheep photos that I needed.
In Galway, near the Spanish Arch is a row of houses by the water. One of these houses is red. I hope there is some ordinance which requires that house to stay painted red (and the other houses stay a muted color). It just works. Chi Young and I actually almost saw an apartment there, but when the agent showed up for the appointment, he said the apartment has already been let.
The Cliffs of Moher is surely one of the must-see tourist attractions in Ireland. The Cliffs were featured in The Princess Bride as the Cliffs of Insanity. The day we visited, it was initially pretty foggy. But within ten minutes, the fog shifted and we were able to enjoy the Cliffs in all their majesty. I did not see Princess Buttercup though.
Monday, October 14, 2013
day fourteen: fairies, crepes, and castles
How about talking about Ireland through illustrations?
The Irish people are extremely religious and spiritual. Therefore there are lots of Irish folk tales. One of these is of the fairy trees. Celtic legends tell of fairies who live in certain trees such as the hawthorn or the oak, and misfortunes will come to those who harm these trees. The people also tie pieces of cloths or ribbons on the branches of fairy trees to pray for those who are sick. On our bus tour, we saw a few of these trees along the road. I like folklore like this - it reminds me of many Chinese traditions we have when I was a little kid growing up in Macau. Sadly after we moved to the U.S., and as we got older, these traditions gradually disappeared from our lives. Magic is good and should never disappear.
One of my first meals in Galway was at this French cafe called Java's Creperie that serves giantic crepes. I had both a savory and a dessert crepe and a coffee (all for around 10 euros). They were so filling that I had to give up and left the dessert crepe unfinished - and that never ever happens to me.
Galway's a quaint little city. I quite like the vibe. But its tourist attractions are sort of a letdown. I had plenty of time in Galway so I was trying to see most of the attractions listed on the tourist map. One day I kept trying to find Lynch's Castle. I walked in circle around the marked location looking for the castle. After a while, I realized that I was standing right in front of it. The castle is a bank - a branch of the Allied Irish Bank on Shop Street! I actually withdrew money from this ATM just a few days before. Initially I was like, what a fraud. But then I warmed up to the idea. How cool is it to be doing my banking at a castle? It's not everyday you can do that. (Well I guess if you lived in Galway, you could do that everyday...)
The Irish people are extremely religious and spiritual. Therefore there are lots of Irish folk tales. One of these is of the fairy trees. Celtic legends tell of fairies who live in certain trees such as the hawthorn or the oak, and misfortunes will come to those who harm these trees. The people also tie pieces of cloths or ribbons on the branches of fairy trees to pray for those who are sick. On our bus tour, we saw a few of these trees along the road. I like folklore like this - it reminds me of many Chinese traditions we have when I was a little kid growing up in Macau. Sadly after we moved to the U.S., and as we got older, these traditions gradually disappeared from our lives. Magic is good and should never disappear.
One of my first meals in Galway was at this French cafe called Java's Creperie that serves giantic crepes. I had both a savory and a dessert crepe and a coffee (all for around 10 euros). They were so filling that I had to give up and left the dessert crepe unfinished - and that never ever happens to me.
Galway's a quaint little city. I quite like the vibe. But its tourist attractions are sort of a letdown. I had plenty of time in Galway so I was trying to see most of the attractions listed on the tourist map. One day I kept trying to find Lynch's Castle. I walked in circle around the marked location looking for the castle. After a while, I realized that I was standing right in front of it. The castle is a bank - a branch of the Allied Irish Bank on Shop Street! I actually withdrew money from this ATM just a few days before. Initially I was like, what a fraud. But then I warmed up to the idea. How cool is it to be doing my banking at a castle? It's not everyday you can do that. (Well I guess if you lived in Galway, you could do that everyday...)
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