Ireland: Dublin in 1.5 Days

Previously: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, and Day 7

Day 8: Drove from Liscannor to Dublin. Half day in Dublin. Stayed in Dublin.
Day 9: Full day in Dublin. Stayed in Dublin.

Dublin. Hmm. To be completely honest, it wasn't our cup of tea. This young city was crowded and overwhelming. So different from the calm and scenic countryside. We only stayed a day and a half, plenty for us. Dublin is a small city, very pedestrian friendly, and if you rush, you can see it in half a day. We took our time and stretched it out a bit. We arrived in Dublin in the afternoon of Day 8 and stayed there until leaving for home on Day 10.

First, orientation. The center of tourist interest is a triangle between O'Connell Bridge, St. Stephen's Green, and Christ Church Cathedral. Within this triangle you will find Trinity College, Grafton Street, Temple Bar, and Dublin Castle.

The O'Connell Bridge...

St. Stephen's Green - a relaxing park surrounded by Georgian buildings. We came here on two separate occasions. The first time was packed with people - we couldn't even find an inch of space to park ourselves! The second time we enjoyed some hash browns and people-watched under a shady tree.

Grafton Street - the city's liveliest pedestrian shopping mall. Again, jam-packed with people. We saw flower vendors and human statues - it reminded me of Barcelona's La Rambla, but not nearly as romantic and pretty. Hubs and I couldn't get out of here fast enough - in fact, we avoided taking this street during our time in Dublin.

Trinity College - Ireland's most famous school and perhaps my favorite place in Dublin! There is a 30-minute tour, which includes seeing the Book Of Kells, but hubs and I passed. Instead, we relaxed on this bench and took a bunch of pictures.

Temple Bar - Dublin's trendiest neighborhood, with shops, cafes, theaters, galleries, pubs, and restaurants. I like the cobbled streets and colorful storefronts, but other than that, there is nothing here for hubs and me. We actually walked it in the morning, without many people around. We probably didn't see the "real" Temple Bar, which is said to be an absolute spectacle in the evening. We were okay with that, though.

The River Liffey cuts the city in two. The southern half is where we spent more of our time, where all the attractions mentioned above are located. The northern half isn't as popular, but worth a visit.

We across the Ha'penny Pedestrian Bridge to reach the northern half.

O'Connell Street is the main street of the city, located in the northern part. This main thoroughfare has everything from fast-food joints to expensive restaurants and from small boutiques to big department stores. It is home to the "Spire", the world's tallest piece of sculpture and a couple of important monuments.

Hubs and I agreed that we like this part of Dublin the least. It wasn't too long before we skipped on back over to the south side.

I enjoyed taking pictures of all the doors - a Dublin trademark - near and at Merrion Square. Hubs and I have about 50 photos of doors and our heads - maybe one day I will make a collage.

There is a public park at Merrion Square, the tour book said it is more inviting than St. Stephen's Green. I disagree. The tree branches were overgrown and I saw trash laying around. It was a bit dodgy, actually.

Our last meal in Ireland was also the best. Just some good ol' yummy burgers and fries.

Not pictured, but we also saw: Dublin Castle, Dublin City Hall, Number Twenty-Nine Georgian House, and Christ Church Cathedral.

While I think visitors can easily spend 3 or 4 days in Dublin without getting bored -with all its music, theater, after-hour tours, and lively pub scene - it just wasn't us. I am glad we spent the majority of our vacation driving in the countryside and finishing the trip with a bit of time in the city.

Wow, and this concludes my trip recaps! Thanks to those who have been following along and thank you for your kind comments. :) I am going to do two more posts - one on all the fantastic B&Bs we stayed at and another miscellaneous post.

Stick with me just a bit longer!

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Binder Clips....Prettified!

This is what happens when I have a jar of decoupage and free time:

The process of making these is easy and really doesn't require too much explanation.

Supplies you need are: binder clips, scrapbook paper, scissors, decoupage, and a brush. 1) Trim the paper carefully to size. 2) Remove the wire handles of the clips. 3) Apply decoupage to the binder clips with a brush and cover with paper. 4) Let it dry before reattaching the wire handles.

So so simple. You can easily find these selling on Etsy for $4.99 for two clips!

Love 'em. I already gave one to hubs to hold all the business cards he collects (they were scattered all over the dining table and driving me crazy). You can also stand the clips upright to hold photos, recipe cards, or notes at your computer.

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Discovered: EC Lawrence Park

For nearly a year I drove by a park on the way to work every day, but never thought once to visit. It wasn't until my sister-in-law told me all the wonderful things about it that I finally put it on my list of places to go. Over the long holiday weekend, hubs and I, along with my mom, finally did. Naturally, the puppies came along, too.

We walked on the partially paved, partially gravel Big Rocky Run Trail, along a cool creek. We stopped by the Walney Pond, filled with lily pads, flowers, turtles, and fish. We then ventured into the woods - this particular path, covered in bark and shaded by tall trees, was nice and springy. I thought to myself: what a super dog-friendly park.

Later, I looked up Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in my book - The Dog Lover's Companion to Washington DC: The Inside Scoop on Where to Take Your Dog. Guess what? The park is listed in the book and not only that, it received four paws on the scale of one to four!

I am making a mental note to myself to take them back this fall. I hear it's beautiful around that time as well.

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Personal Goals: July Oh-Nine

Whoa, is 2009 really more than half way over? I remember it was January not so long ago - when we just came back from Jamaica and went to Maryland to get our new puppy. Now we’re halfway through the year.

Six months have gone. And there are six months left. What did I achieve? What were the highlights? What am I going to do with the rest of the year? Lots to think about.

It's time to review my goals for June! Hey, guess what, I didn't do half bad!

1) Create Something! I sure felt crafty last month. My creations included: fabric covered magnets, marble magnets, and freezer paper stenciling. On top of that, I taught myself all about applying textures in Photoshop.

2) Snack properly! I don't remember raiding my coworker's candy jar nearly as much in June. Instead, having a piece of fruit around 9:30-10 every morning and lots of water throughout the day was the norm.

3) Start reading! I didn't do too well on this one. I started on two books, but didn't finish neither of them. I am still in the midst of the second book - Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron. It's an easy read, perfect for just before bed, but I always end up falling asleep. Not because it's a boring book, though! I just like to sleep.

4) Exercise! Although I didn't walk as many times as I would've liked per week, I did walk more than usual last month. Sometimes with hubs, sometimes without, but always with the puppies. A couple of times at work, I even went for short strolls during my lunch break. I figured a 15-minute walk is still better than sitting in my little cubicle.

My goals for July:

1) Wipe up the kitchen as messes occur. Yesterday I spent a good hour cleaning and scrubbing the kitchen stove and countertop. Not a fun activity. This month, I am determined to wipe down the kitchen every night or at least clean the kitchen once a week. On a side note, I've discovered the power of vinegar, hot water, and baking soda.

2) Complete a daily/weekly project. Find a simple, little, achievable project to complete every day/week

3) Same as June, snack properly and exercise.

4) Train Pesto. The little monster has been causing a lot of trouble around our little house lately. I've always defended him by saying that he's too young to learn, too hyper to learn, too this and that to learn, but he's turning 10 MONTHS in 3 days. I am going to hold a training session with him at least every other day.

I am not giving myself too much this July, just in case the weather stays great and all I want to do is fool around.

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July 4th 2009

Our 4th of July was without parades, watermelons, hot dogs, and flag cakes. Instead it was of silly "photo booth" pics, yummy traditional Vietnamese cooking, fresh shrimp chips, and mango ice cream.

Oh, and fireworks? I caught a few glimpse from the bedroom window.

Hope you all had a sparkling day!

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Ireland: A Foggy Day

Previously: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, and Day 6

Day 7: Visited Adare, the Burren, and the Cliffs Of Moher. Stayed in Liscannor.

On Day 7, we started our day early. We decided to go back to Adare, which we missed the previous night due to traffic. Adare is often referred to as Ireland's perfect rustic village and it is definitely not a lie. I am glad hubs convinced me to go back.

Coming straight out of what seems like a storybook, this spot has several thatched cottages, often adorned with colorful, flower-filled window boxes. Some of the cottages now house boutiques selling Irish crafts and antiques, along with a couple of restaurants. *swoon*

Just as we got there, several tour buses also pulled up. Although the picture below may seem that the village was empty, it wasn't. There were tourists everywhere, all snapping away on their cameras.

This cottage behind me was my favorite, probably the prettiest one of all.

We didn't stay long because it was still early and only the Visitor Center was open. Still, just walking around the village was enough for me. Besides, it was starting to mist.

The plan for the remainder of the day was drive to our B&B in Liscannor, check in, and walk to the Cliffs Of Moher. Cliffs Of Moher is one of Ireland's great natural thrills. The dramatic cliffs sore as high as 650 feet above the Atlantic. It's a sight to see!

We arrived at our B&B early in the day - around 10am. They were still cleaning the rooms and tidying up the place. However, we were greeted warmly by Mary- our host. She brought us tea + kit kat and we relaxed in the lounge.

Later, Mary offered us a ride to the Cliffs. How nice of her! We had planned on walking (about 20 minutes), but this would save us some time. However, she warned us that with the heavy fog, we probably wouldn't see a thing.

Ah, she was right on. We couldn't see anything. Boy, were we disappointed. We even waited in the Visitor Center for about an hour, hoping for the fog to pass. But it never did.

Posing in front of O'Brien's Tower. Picture taken by a couple who was just as disappointed as us.

We reluctantly left, but fortunately, since we were staying nearby, we agreed to come back later in the day. We saw many visitors on tour buses who didn't have that luxury to make your own schedule. I guess this is another advantage of traveling on your own.

Mary only dropped us off, so hubs and I walked a mile back to the B&B. We then drove about 30 minutes to the Burren, the "rocky place". The Burren reminded me of what I imagine the moon to be like. It's deserted, amazing, and mile upon mile of limestone set as the landscape!

It's hard to imagine that once upon a time, these stonewalls were built by stacking stones one by one.

This is the Poulnabrone Dolmen, a portal tomb that looks like a stone table. It is one of the highlights of the Burren.

We then pretended to be geologists and walked around. Between all the stones, there were wildflowers everywhere.

At one point on our journey, we parked the car and walked across this limestone field. Hubs saw a stack of stones and suggested that we each place a stone on top of it to keep it going.

The Burren is so different from the typical Ireland that we know and love. It was a nice change of scenery!

After the Burren, we slowly made our drive back to the B&B. It was around 3pm when we got back and still very foggy. Hubs and I decided to stay in and go back out around 8. Mary had told us earlier in the day that the parking near the Cliffs is 8 euros, but free after 8

At around 5, we couldn't wait around any longer. Although from our window, we still saw fog, we wanted to go out anyway since it was our last day of driving around the countryside. As soon as we got to the main road, we realized the the fog near the Atlantic had cleared significantly. We quickly parked in the parking lot and walked to the Cliffs.

We finally saw the view! Woweeee!

Magnificent!

Being the thrill-seekers that we are, we read the warning below and hopped across anyway. Besides, we also saw tons of people doing the same thing. =p According to Rick Steve, wind gusts can be sudden, strong, and fatal. A gust of wind can easily sweep people over the edge (Yes, it has happened before).

But here, away from the crowd, it was so isolated and the only sounds are the waves, the wind, and the seagulls.

Love this picture!

Hubs and I decided to avoid paying the 8 euros and stayed at the Cliffs for nearly 3 hours! It was time well-spent. We didn't have any plans for the night and Liscannor itself is a sleepy little town with not much to do. We took lots and lots of pictures at the Cliffs.

Here we are, our legs dangling over the edge! And as you can see, the fog was starting to roll back in.

Wherever we go, we like to take ring shots. This is hubs staging the shot with some yellow and purple flowers.

A picture of hubs taking a picture of the rings using the small camera.

Our big camera lens isn't the greatest when it comes to macro shots, but this one turned out pretty good!

Oh, I am so glad that we didn't wait until 8pm to go back out. Hubs and I are the type who likes to get comfy as soon as we get to hotels - I am sure if we had to wait from 3-8pm in our room, we would have just said, forget it. Also, when we finally left the Cliffs at 8pm, the fog was, once again, very heavy and we could no longer see everything. We timed it just right!

We went back to the B&B with big smiles. Not feeling hungry, I had an apple while hubs had a pear. We packed up our suitcases and got ready for an early departure the next day - we were driving back to Dublin.

Out little tour of the Ireland countryside came to an end that night. And it was, in a word, unforgettable.

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basily

I don't understand why my basil plants this year are either short+stubby or tall+sparse. And out of 20+ seeds we planted, only FIVE decided to pop.

I guess I'm not making an abundance of Fresh Basil Pesto, Three Cup Chicken, or Pad Krapow any time soon.... or maybe ever. Not from this gene pool, anyway.

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Learning About Shutter Speed

This past weekend I went to a local park with a couple of friends. One friend brought her kids and they went round+round on the carousel. I took that as the perfect opportunity to play with the shutter speed setting on my camera.

Shutter speed refers to the length of time the shutter remains open when you snap a photo. It is measured in seconds or fractions of a second: a shutter speed of 1 (”one second”) would be considered a slow shutter speed, while a shutter speed of 1/1000 (“one one-thousandth of a second’) would be considered a fast shutter speed.

Short shutter speeds (meaning, the camera clicks really fast) are used to freeze fast-moving subjects (the photos come out clear) and long shutter speeds are used to capture motion (the photos come out blurry).

For the following pictures, I set my camera to Tv mode and I tested out several shutter speeds.

Since the carousel wasn't moving too fast to begin with, I didn't have to use a very short shutter speed at all to freeze the action.

A shutter speed of 1/60 did the job.

The picture became a bit blurry when I changed to a longer shutter speed.

At a shutter speed of 1/5, it became very blurred. Most of us don't like blurry pictures, but I actually think this one captured the moment the best!

With the knowledge of aperture and shutter speed under my belt, maybe I will work my way toward going full manual (M) one day. :)

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Zha Jiang Mian (炸醬麵)

Zha Jiang Mian (literally translates to "fried sauce noodles") is a northern Chinese dish consisting of noodles topped with a mixture of ground pork stir-fried with fermented soybean paste. I have long wanted to try it ever since I saw the recipe on Sunday Nite Dinner. Anything with noodles and spicy meat sauce is the ultimate comfort food for me.

At first I wasn't sure what "bean sauce" is and where to find it, but wiki educated me that chili bean sauce (辣豆瓣酱), which I have it at home, can be used as a substitute.

The noodles turned out wonderful! Fulfilling, homey, and spicy!

I didn't have any cucumbers, carrots, or bean sprouts available for garnish, but I cooked a side of bok choy to get our veggies for the day. Mmmm....will make it again soon.

Zha Jiang Mian (Chinese Spaghetti):
(recipe adapted from Sunday Nite Dinner)

Marinade:
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 tsp corn starch
- a splash of rice wine

- 1.5 tbsp bean sauce (I used chili bean sauce)
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1/2 tbsp chili garlic sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp rice wine
- 2 tbsp chicken broth
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp ginger, minced
- 1 stalk green onions, minced
- noodles (any kind that you like)

Garnish:
- English cucumber, julienned (optional)
- carrots, julienned (optional)
- bean sprouts (optional)

1. Combine pork, corn starch, and rice wine in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the bean sauce, hoisin, chili garlic sauce, and soy sauce. Set aside.
3. Heat a large pan over high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Toss in garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant, about 10-15 seconds.
4. Add pork, stir constantly to break apart meat. Cook until just a bit of pink remains and it begins to brown, about 4-5 minutes. Add rice wine and stir for a few seconds.
5. Pour in sauce and mix thoroughly with pork. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil.
6. Add green onions and toss to combine well. Serve pork over noodles and garnish with cucumber, carrots, and bean sprouts.

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Pargo and Pesto's Puppy Poppers

There are many great dog treat recipes out there, and when I came across the following recipe with just four basic ingredients, I couldn't wait to try.

I knew that my boys would love anything with peanut butter.

These little poppers were so simple to make. They can be cut out with cute cookie cutters, or cut up (like I did in the picture) into small pieces. The texture of the cookie is similar to chocolate chip cookies - therefore, easy to chew and perfect for training.

I was right! The puppies went gaga for them - they couldn't stop wagging their tails. I think with this new treat, I just might be able to teach them how to do cartwheels. :)

Pargo and Pesto's Puppy Poppers:
recipe from bullwrinkle.com

- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, chunky or smooth
- 1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375F. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes (or if using for training - cut out circles using a small round cookie cutter or cut small pieces using a pizza cutter).

Bake for 13-15 minutes on a baking sheet until lightly brown. Cool on a rack, then store in an airtight container.

Other pup-friendly recipe: Pargo's PB Carrot Cake

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