Thursday, August 27, 2009

Dublin: Week 5

You will have no idea how much I am craving Mexican food since living in Dublin for the summer. How perfect was it when both of my roommates mentioned they were having people over for a Fiesta party!!! Mexican food!!! After an afternoon out in the city doing a little shopping, Marisol and I thought it would be a grand idea to pick up a bottle of Tequila for the party. 

We stopped by Mark and Spencers market to grab a bottle of Tequila and asked one of the workers if he could direct us to an aisle where they have the Tequila. I guess he doesn't know much about Tequila because he asked me if it was wine and I told him it wasn't (didn't want to complicate the matter and say, "well, it is an agave spirit") and then he asked me what shade is it so I told him him, "um, well they can be clear to light brown" and then he said he knows he had seen that. Then he asked me how is it usually served so I said "you know, like in margaritas and shots with some salt and lime." So we waited while he looked around and I didn't have the heart to say it's OK because he was insistent that he did see it and they do sell it there. When he came back he told me that he asked one of his bosses and I guess they don't sell it there or they were sold out so we thanked him and he wished us good luck on finding it. And to think I was actually going to be picky and want Patron over Cuervo for the night if I had a choice. 

So we went to Tesco where we found only one kind of Tequila, yup, you guessed it, Jose Cuervo which also happened to be the 2nd to the last bottle on the shelf. We grabbed it and took the bus back home. 

When we arrived the party was out in the courtyard area. Our roommates are a part of an american internship summer group and the group is huge. Hung out for a bit and everyone made the long walk down Shanowen to ride in style hopping on the Dublin bus (or party bus from what it seemed that night with a big group) and head over to the city ending up at Messrrs Maguire pub. 

Jaime, Marisol, Caitlinn  (one of our roommates) and me.


Whoever took this photo must have accidently zoomed in because this photo is just too off and weird.


During our 1st or 2nd week here, we spotted Mexico to Rome restaurant in the Temple Bar area. I know what you may be thinking because I was thinking the same thing "Mexico --> Rome?!?!?!?". But hey, we have been craving Mexican food since we got here so this was definitely an option. My "Mexican" dish for that night was Chicken Enchiladas and I didn't know that it was a do-it-n-wrap-yourself chicken enchilada! Here is a crappy phone pic of my lovely Mexican dish that night.

Jealous much?!?! The entree was just OK or so-so. What I was doing a lot of that night was dipping my flour tortillas pieces into the "salsa" and guacamole since I don't like sour cream too much and probably because my meal sucked. At least my margarita was strong, in fact a lil' too strong.


We also found an Acapulco Restaurant (Yes, Acapulco Restaurant - I LOVE Acapulco) nearby a few weeks ago. We took the bus to O'Connell Street and hailed a taxi (who happened to be a taxi driver we had before!) and told him "please take us to the Acapulco Restaurant on So. Great Georges." It wasn't that far from where he picked us up that he didn't even charge us. And I'm sure it's because he remembered us so we tipped him generously anyway for being such a cool taxi guy. 

We shared chips and salsa which was a lot of chips and a little of the blended salsa and a side of guacamole. I was sparing the salsa and the guacamole as much as possible since we sure knew we weren't going to get refills on the salsa. We both ordered the steak burrito and it was pretty good. Instead of a log shaped burrito, our steak burrito was wrapped neatly into a nice little quadrilateral. It was cute. The square shaped burrito was enough to satisfy our Mexican cravings and we even had enough room to share a chocolate fudge cake. Delicious! Didn't take any photos because how could I think of taking photos when I am starving?!
  
Quotes of the day by Jane Austen

"It sometimes happens that a woman is handsomer at twenty-nine than she was ten years before."

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid."

"Nothing is more deceitful than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion and sometimes and indirect boast."

Monday, August 24, 2009

Dublin: Wondrous


A sight for sore eyes this is! 

Maybe if we had more time we could have followed the end of the rainbow to see if the leprechaun was really hiding his pot of gold! Wish I had a more significant distance when snapping this photo so you can see the perfect semicircular shape of the rainbow. 


Quotes of the Day by Anais Nin:

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

"We dont' see things as they are, we see them as we are."

"If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it."


Thursday, August 20, 2009

X-rays Expose N.C. Wyeth Painting Hidden Under Another


Ooh la la. Very interesting. X-ray imaging exposes surprising details of another painting lying beneath another painting by artist N.C.Wyeth. At first glance of the painting without reading the headline, I thought it was an artist's depiction of Wolverine or something. 

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Dublin: Recent Addictions

Loving this postcard because the sheep is too cute! I think I was drawn to it because the sheep reminds me of my little Boo Boo that I miss. This postcard is for me.



Egg cups! I am in LOVE with them. We have them here in our apartments and how cute would it be to have my boiled egg served in an egg cup when I get home. I just had to get my very own egg cup. Here in our flat, it is used primarily for serving alcohol shots. Dual purpose indeed! 

While shopping, I came across this cute Celtic Magic necklace. It's a *mood* necklace and look at the cute cats looking out into the horizon! Morty!!! (and the rest of my cats), definitely entering crazy cat lady zone. And I love that it is a colour change mood necklace. LOVE LOVE LOVE it.


Baby Roll with strawberry and chocolate on vanilla cake --> OUT and American Style Mini Choco Chip Cookies --> IN!!! So addicted to these. The little baby cookies has an abundant amount of mini chocolate chip cookies in every bite! And for those that do know me, you know how much I LOVE chocolate chip cookies. And the best thing besides our boil-a-bag long grain rice is the instant just add water spaghetti bolognese. So much flavor, so much MSG! Love it on a lot of my I'm-too-lazy-to-cook days. Simply perfect!

Sweet potato chips in Sweet Thai Chili or Salt and Vinegar (for this week). I have been missing cassava chips that I always get at home so these are a great substitute although a bit lighter, but delicious with my ham sandwiches. And BALISTO is divine! It has a graham bottom with muesli mix and chocolate on top. So good! It's like Twix but a 1000x better since I am not a big fan of caramel.


20 minute meatloaf and Marisol's yummy rice. Sorry it looks pretty funky and plain gross, but the meatloaf crumbled because I was in a rush to transfer it to my plate with a butter knife, but I guarantee you, it was very very very good. Also, you can't even see the parsley scattered on top of the crimson colored sauce. It wasn't that dark! Don't make fun of me! This time the meatloaf was made with ground sirloin and I think I really like ground sirloin over the ground chuck (one I have been using here) or ground beef (at home). I've only seen the ground chuck and ground sirloin (the leaner ones) being sold so it gave me no choice but to cook with those and I really like the way the meatloaf turned out with the ground sirloin. Now, I want to try making it with ground round if I get a chance. As you can see, I was again, in a rush to chow down.


Dublin: Week 4 - Intern Event

Hello! Did you miss me?

Long time no update I know, but as you know, or will know now, I have been beyond busy with Marisol during the week trying to get our experiment rolling.  Since DCU has a swipe card access and booking system to follow, there are bumps I must overcome to get down to the nitty gritty of where we need to be. I have been trying to get swipe card access to many of the rooms with the equipment we need but since it is after all holidays for many during this time, it has been one delay after another since those people that are vital to my access have me hanging on a limb to take care of my much-needed issues (card issues, not psychological - I am perfectly normal!).

Thus, it has been increasingly difficult to keep up here. But I will update. 

Here are some photos from a our roommate's friend's event at The Church bar and restaurant on Jervis street. Super cute and cool spot. It was a fun event. 



Jamie (left), who was part of the 2 member team that worked on the event with her friend.


Just kidding, that really wasn't my Guinness, it was Marisol's. Stuck to Pinot Grigio all night, thank you very much. No more Guinness for me after the Guinness tour.


She won a shirt at the raffle! Winners get to choose their t-shirt! Sweet!


Their boss and head of marketing. I have a shirt too!



Sunday, August 9, 2009

01 :: Today's Favorite Quotes


Quote #1 

'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. 
'I don't much care where --' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation. 

Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Quote #2

"The mind is like a river; upon its waters thoughts float through in a constant procession every conscious moment. You stand on a bridge over it and can stop and turn back any thought that comes along. The art of contentment is to let no thought pass that is going to disturb you. 

 Dr. Frank Crane 

Quote #3

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."

Friedrich Nietzsche

Friday, August 7, 2009

Boo Boo's Hymn di la Depresion

Christian sent me this video of Boo Boo looking dopey while my sister is playing the piano. The melancholy tune coming from the piano is fitting enough to dramatize my little Boo Boo's melancholy mood. Oh, how she misses me so! 

Ladies and gents, here is a short video clip titled "Hymn di la Depresion" for your viewing pleasure. You can also see a little of my little M-ers (Morty) perched up on the windowsill behind Boo Boo. 



At least Morty and Boo Boo have each other while I am away. Hmm... I have noticed that I am slowly entering the the crazy cat lady zone. 

We are BFF's and always together!!!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Dublin: Saturday Forecast

I have been feeling under the weather. If I am feeling much better by Saturday, guess what is on our short little itinerary for the day:



RIVERDANCE!!! 

Go ahead and mention you are going to watch Riverdance to any Dubliner (or just any Irish person at that!) and they will most certainly laugh or snicker at you, shake their heads while laughing and snickering and ask you this question:

"Do you know why Riverdance is in fact so popular?"
Answer: Because of Americans!!!
 

Hahaha, I know you didn't see that coming right?! Of course I am joking, I'm not that naive! What can I say??? I still want to see it! They are here until August 29th so why the hell not?!?! I'll be sure to update if I can since all of you readers are probably dying to find out and are probably jealous that I get to see it and you don't! I do suspect that there is a little Riverdance dwelling in everyone whether they want to admit it or not. I took tap dancing lessons for a short time and always wish I could tap Riverdance-style!
Le sigh.

C'mon, look at that photo - C'est magnifique!!!

Guess where else we will be going???

The Old Jameson Distillery
FYI: Even though no whiskey is distilled at this particular Jameson distillery, the refurbished distillery serves as a museum retaining and capturing the feel of what is imagined in an old distillery instead of a tourist trap (aka Guinness Brewery). 


Other things we have planned in due time thus far:

1) Belfast
2) Malahide
3) Kilkenny
4) Galway
5) Wherever Ryan Air decides to take us for a weekend.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Pets

I miss my all my pets. Especially, Boo Boo and Morty, the neediest of the bunch. I wish I had at least a cat to come home too. I look out my window and see stray cats hitting up the bin area and wish I could bring one of them in, but upon closer inspection, I find that the cats do in fact have collars so they apparently do have owners. :(




Monday, August 3, 2009

Dublin: Week 4 - Ghostbus Tour



Ghostbus Tour
Talk to any Dubliner and mention that you just did the Ghostbus tour and they will tell you that you wasted your money. Hey, but I'm a tourist and I am entitled to do as many touristy things that I WANT and how many times can you say you went on a ghostbus tour?!?! The ghostbus tour was FUN and sure wasn't a waste of my money (IMO) as I do find a fondness for such creepy and unexplainable stories. Experience alone is priceless, wouldn't you agree??? Enough of the philosophy. Fin. 

The Ghostbus tour introduces you to the dark romance of a city of gaslight ghosts and chilling legends. We passed by haunted houses, learned of Dracula's Dublin origins, learned about the Dublin's origins of the "white lady", visited the Haunted 40 Steps to Hell and even had a crash course in body-snatching. I didn't get spooked or anything unless you are one to fright easily, but our ghost guide's theatric performance is what definitely made the tour downright entertaining while being whisked away to learn about haunted Dublin areas. 

St. Kevin's Graveyard
This graveyard is considered to be most haunted in Dublin. Supposedly the ghost of Bishop Dermot O'Hurley resides in the church there. He was executed during the times it was dangerous to be a Catholic preaching. Late July is usually the time when apparitions are high. I'll be sure to update if I see any unusual figures or orbs in my photos for the paranormal fans out there.

(catholicireland.net)

"3. Bishop Dermot O'Hurley: tortured and hanged at Hoggen Green, Dublin, 20th June 1584
Dermot O'Hurley was born near Emly, Co. Tipperary, about 1530. His family were well off and as a young man Dermot went to study law at Louvain. In 1581 Pope Gregory XIII asked Dermot, still a layman, to become Archbishop of Cashel and he accepted, knowing that this appointment would make him a fugitive working in dangerous conditions. He reached Ireland in 1583, but while he was sheltering at Slane Castle he was recognised, arrested, imprisoned in Dublin Castle. Accused of plotting to overthrow the Queen's government in Ireland, he was repeatedly questioned and tortured. He persistently protested that his mission was one of peace and he had no information to give his captors.

On 20th June 1584 he was taken to Hoggen Green, near St Stephen's Green, to be hanged. Before his death he said: I am a priest anointed and also a bishop, although unworthy of so sacred dignities, and no cause could they find against me that might in the least degree deserve the pains of death, but only my function of priesthood wherein they have proceeded against me in all points contrary to their own laws. When the report of his execution spread in the city, some devout women carried his body with great respect to the Church of St Kevin (near Kevin St) where he was buried. A monument to his memory was erected there in 1992."

Body-snatching 101 in St. Kevin's Graveyard




You dig a hook in their jaw and yank the body out. If the jaw was weak, you can hook through the nose or somewhere on face yanking with all your might and stuffing in the a bag and dumping it over.









Haunted 40 Steps
During the 18th century, St. Audoen's church bordered the area of what was then known as Hell. Around the 1950's up to to 1980's there were many accounts of nuns reporting to the Gardai their encounters with leper ghosts. Dublin's most famous ghost, the Green Lady has been known to haunt the outside of the church. She is believed to be Dark Kelly, a woman bringing her unwanted offspring to St. Audoen's church. She was put to death by Simon Luttrell, Sheriff of Dublin and a member of the Hellfire Club (satanist group) believed to be the father of her child. 




Haunted 40 Steps. Eeeeeeeeeek!!!


Marisol and I (along with the brave ones) walking the haunted 40 steps to hell!!! We are scared!!!


That's me in the middle taking pictures of what was considered a portal to hell also referred to as leprosy colony back in the day. I have my sweater over my head because stupid me forgot to bring my umbrella that was in my purse back in the bus. Actually everyone left their umbrellas back there.

Those that dared not to walk the 40 Steps. 
Portal to "hell" aka "leprosy world" where you can escape and never come back. It was said criminals would commit murder and enter this zone knowing that no one will come after them since their fate has already been met once stepping inside. 


Another Interesting Thing I Learned on the Ghost Bus Tour:

The origins of the term "dead ringer". 

People would be buried with a rope leading from inside the coffin to a bell above the ground. This enabled anyone who was buried alive to ring the bell and to draw attention to the mistake. Since people would not expect to see their 'dead' loved ones again, a person resembling the deceased is a 'dead ringer'. This is also reputed to be the origin of the expression 'graveyard shift' because people from the village used to take it in turns to listen for the bell.