@ FRA

I went to the JAL lounge at Frankfurt to kill time and stock up on munchies before boarding my flight yesterday. I always make sure to head to the lounge toilets right after the boarding call, as they tend to be much, much, much cleaner than the regular airport toilets.

And this is what was on the door:Yes, it's a full-page instruction on how to use the toilet. Washlet, as they're called in Japan. I didn't need to read the details on what each of the FIFTEEN buttons did, since these toilets are the norm in Japan. But I did for amusement.
Really amazing what the Japanese have created in the field of technologically advanced toilets. Seriously though, are these functions necessary?!?!?! My own toilet in my apartment comes with a washlet, but I've NEVER used any of the buttons, aside from flushing.

I've always wondered how non-Japanese people would react to these toilets when they first sit on one…do they push every button to test each function out? Or simply ignore all but the flushing one, which might take some searching and testing to find?
Any thoughts???

Around Ludwigsburg

For having had such a long night, we woke up pretty early this morning - early enough to get our hands on some breakfast pastries. Natalie drove us into town where there was a local bakery with a huge selection of breads and pastries. (I just realized that I don't know where she lives!!!!! Did I even bother to ask?!?!?! I'm such an idiot!!! Sorry Nat!) Since there was no eat-in at the bakery itself, we headed back to her house for some fruits and the all important coffee to go along with the danishes.

Stuffed, warmed, cleaned, and properly dressed, Natalie took me out on a tour of the local area. Yaaaaaaay!!!

First, we drove to the quaint, comfy, beautiful town of Bietigheim-Bissingen. Yes, a mouthful!!! Located next to a small river, the town has some wonderful, wooden bridges and the typical, colorful German houses, with steep roofing:It just makes you want to live here!!! Well, at least Waru.
The central area is crossed by cobblestoned roads with various stores and restaurants on each side. During this late morning, the locals were busy preparing for the Christmas Market.

Walking thru the town, I found two interesting statues.
The main cobblestoned thoroughfare in town led to this unique tower of horses:I'm not sure what it represents, or its purpose in being here, but interesting nonetheless.
Now, this one caught my eye because of the language - yup, it's written in Japanese!

It's a stone monument to commemorate a Dr. Erwin Balz. I didn't read the entire inscription on the stone due to its complicated wording and the overwhelming amount of kanji on it that just didn't motivate me to keep reading. So, I did some research later on…through which I have learned that he was responsible for bringing Western medicine into Japan during the late 1800s, and was even the personal physician for the imperial household! He lived in Japan for over 20 years and ended up marrying a Japanese woman (surprising for the fact that this is still so common!!!) During that time, he seems to have discovered the therapeutic effects of Kusatsu's hot springs that has eventually led to its popularity and commercialization. Bietigheim-Bissingen and Kusatsu are now "sister towns", and there is a similar stone statue standing in Kusatsu to honor the man as well.

I will make sure to look for it the next time I go up there…hopefully soon, since the hot springs are indeed fantastic!

From there, we went back onto the road, heading towards Ludwigsburg. Being more of a city than a town, it lacked the unchangingness and charm of Bietigheim-Bissingen. Don't get me wrong - Ludwigsburg is nice enough to walk around, but just not too picturesque. Anyways, Natalie didn't take me here for the city itself, but for the nearby palace and the famous Christmas market.

Ludwigsburg Palace is, like any palace anywhere in the world, grand. With large, elegant gardens. Unlike the Russian palaces I saw this summer, Ludwigsburg didn't have the opulence, at least on the outside. Therefore, when I first saw the building, it didn't really have the "WOW" factor, and seemed more like a functioning government complex than anything else. I suppose that's exactly what it was during the 18th century…
But the interior was much better! As a guided tour was the only way in, that's what we did to see some beautiful chandeliers, super-big bedrooms (it must be cold though!), and lots of not-always-pretty, but surely expensive, artwork.

More than the palace, however, I think I was more fascinated with a particular presence in the central courtyard…

Must be the skinniest, saddest Santa Clause I've ever seen! No spirit whatsoever, but amusing.

To get into the Christmas spirit, we went back into the city for the Christmas market. Small stalls lined the street and plaza, selling a bunch of wooden crafts, candles, non-perishable food items, accessories, etc. I didn't end up buying anything (as usual), but just looking at all the crafts and taking in the atmosphere was great fun! To top it all off, we had the typical Christmas market food at the plaza:Bratwurst and sauerkraut. I am in Germany after all. And a cup of warm Glutwein. Since Natalie had to drive and I still had a long travel day ahead of me, we both downgraded to the non-alcoholic version. Hahaha. I love mugs the drinks came in!!! Wish I could've left with one in hand.
Sadly, we had to slowly leave the market by this point, and back to the car.

I can imagine the market to be more lively and prettier at night, but I had a train to catch at 4pm...
Natalie dropped me off at the Ludwigsburg Station, where we said our goodbyes and promises for Natalie to visit me in Tokyo : )

I took the local train from Ludwigsburg to Stuttgart. Then, boarded another train at Stuttgart, thinking that it would go directly to the Frankfurt Airport. Nope. Needed to transfer again at some in-between city…Mannheim, maybe?! Either way, I didn't miss the transfer since there were constant announcements and reminders on the train. In English. This last train apparently started its long journey in some other European country, on its way to another one, and was therefore very packed! Sort of felt like being on a rush-hour Tokyo subway or on a holiday-season bullet train.
Uncomfortable, but it did take me safety and surely to the airport.

Was in London. Now in Germany.

Late last week, I flew to London. 5 days in the city to hang out with friends. I don't intend to do an entry on that here…it was just days of chatting, eating, shopping, and sleeping. Nothing interesting, unless you are Waru catching up with her friends.

Although I flew into LHR, I couldn't fly out. Well I could, but I would've had to purchase a very, very, very expensive plane ticket. Especially since this trip was a last minute idea. So, rather than do a roundtrip, I decided to fly out of a different city for my leg back to Tokyo. Frankfurt in this case.
Which worked out perfectly because this would give me a chance to meet up with my RTW friend, Natalie. She was my dorm-mate in Santiago, Chile, and I ended up doing a Spanish course there because of here recommendation! That was….WOW, close to a year ago!!! And then we reunited in Buenos Aires for my birthday. Great memories : )
I'm so excited to see her again!!!!!!!!!!

Thus, I took an evening BA flight to Frankfurt today. I would've preferred to have taken the morning or afternoon flight, but those seem to go at a premium with the demand from business travelers. That's why I didn't get to Frankfurt until after 10pm. Rather late, creating a need to rush, rush, rush, rush, rush!!!!!
Rush through immigration (I was probably the only one traveling on a non-UK/EU passport and needed to go through passport control).

Rush to claim my luggage. Although I know that I can't do anything to control the speed with which luggages come out on the carousel. Just hope.
Rush out of the terminal, onto the connector train, into another terminal.
Rush to the 24-hour luggage storage center, where I wanted to leave my rollie suitcase with various London purchases for the night.
Rush to the train station to catch the last train out tonight to Stuttgart. I'd booked this ticket online (DB website) only a couple of days ago. Hence, it cost me a fortune!!!!! Need to book at least 3 days in advance for the discounts. In the middle of the night, the ticket booth at the station was closed, and there were no electronic machines. And no conductor to check the ticket on board. Hmmmm.... could I have possibly gotten away without having to pay for the ride?!?!?!

Surprisingly, everything went well.
And I arrived at the Stuttgart train station around 12:30am…where Natalie was waiting for me with her car. I felt soooooo bad for making her drive out in the middle of the night, but she was very nice about it. Lots of hugs and greetings.
We drove for about 30 minutes (obviously no traffic at this hour!) to her little town, our conversation jumping through trip memories, reality checks (ie. the daily, routine, somewhat duller life after travel), and plans for tomorrow.
She let me crash in her room for the night, which she had prepared with a bottle of water and a late night snack:How sweet and kind!!!!! I need to learn to be this hospitable when/if I have friends over.

Tomorrow's going to be a busy day.
I have to be back at the airport in about 15 hours.

Blue Springs of Tamagoyu

I met up with my friend on Wednesday for lunch, and we started talking about needing a break at an onsen (hot springs). We reminisced about our investment banking days waaaaay back, and remembered that a colleague highly recommended Tamagoyu. Didn't know much about it, except that the hot springs there had excellent mineral contents. A travel agency was miraculously nearby for us to take a look. After 10 seconds of debating, we booked a trip for the next day. Being a weekday, the rooms were available (supposedly hard to get a booking on the weekends) and we even got a slight discount for our last minute planning. Even better : )

Can't wait!!!!!

From Tokyo station, we boarded the bullet train for Fukushima, taking slightly less than 2 hours. We had some time before the scheduled bus pick-up, so ended up exploring the station area. Not very happening…the usual station-front stores. Good enough for a coffee and a quick lunch, though.
Back at the bus stop, I was surprised to see that we weren't the only non-retired ones waiting. Didn't think that many people would head out to the rural countryside on the weekdays… Anyways, after driving on curvy roads thru the mountains for about 30 minutes, we arrived at the Tamagoyu Ryokan. There are other inns around the area, probably with similar quality hot springs, but this is the most famous.

I have to admit that the inn itself wasn't anything remarkable. The first thing I noticed, in fact, was the age!!! This place is quite old…so don't expect any modern amenities!!! Perhaps, there are better rooms but we had the very basic, ground floor, Japanese tatami room.
Of course, the rooms shouldn't really matter here. As the purpose is in enjoying the hot springs!!!!!!
Which we went to explore immediately after getting our welcome tea/snacks and introduction from the Okami.

After changing into our yukatas, we headed out. We initially intended to walk the short walking course around the inn, but decided not to, after seeing that the first part was uphill and along the forest. Given that we were in our yukatas and slippers, probably not the smartest thing to do.
No problem. Lets just hit the hot springs!!!

There are several baths at the inn, but the oldest and most popular is the Tamagoyu itself. In this building (maybe hut?) on the right. As you might have guessed, the name comes from the rotten egg smell of the springs. Love it!!! This particular bath is supposedly about 150 years old, which somewhat shows in the ancient wooden framework. Not sure about the sanitary conditions, but ignorance is bliss. The water here is very, very hot…I couldn't stay in the bath for more than a minute!!! In, out, in, out, repeat…

Having turned red and warmed to the core, we headed to the outdoor baths before dinner. Only a quick dip, since we'd be back for this at night.

Dinner:Yum, yum, yum!!! Chicken hot pot was the main course. Serving size was perfect, that I got to finish everything.

Then, back to the outdoor springs at night, as promised:Absolutely beautiful!!!!!!!

Good night…..Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

Breakfast:

I love salted salmon. We had quite an early breakfast so we could spend more time at the baths in the morning, before check-out.

So nice, so nice, so nice.
See how creamy blue the water is!!!!!

(Apologies in advance for the ugly, fat foot, but I thought it would provide better contrast. Hehe) Not sure if you can see, but there are all these white minerals floating around as well.

Lovely, lovely, lovely!!!
We must've spent over an hour in the various baths, and ended with the foot bath here:Definitely planning to come back.

Shibayama Haniwa Festival

Ever since my college years, I've been fascinated by the haniwa. I wasn't studying Japanese history or anything, but was introduced to these figurines by my friend, who was creating haniwa-based chess pieces for her art project. Cool idea!!! I still have the piece she gave me once the project was graded.

For those unfamiliar, the haniwa are ancient (Kofun period) Japanese clay figures supposedly used as burial objects. They come in various shapes and sizes, from the human to the animal. All very, very cute. At least I think so!!!
Being historical objects, there's a pretty good collection in the Tokyo National Museum. Of course I've been there a few times to check out the objects and to purchase some haniwa-themed goods. But I never knew about the haniwa being celebrated or displayed elsewhere.

So, when a friend asked me if I wanted to join the family for a trip to the Haniwa Festival in Shibayama (Chiba prefecture), I jumped at the opportunity.

What the heck is a haniwa festival?!?!?! Well, it turns out to be a rather strange procession of a small group of people dressed as haniwa:Hilarious to look at. Not very attractive…
Followed by some dance and skit performances, which weren't very interesting. I zoned out.

I have to say that the festival (aside from the usual festival street food) was quite blaaaaaah.
But, the haniwa museum they had on site was fantastic, and made the trip worthwhile - nice collection of haniwa figurines on display, with informative commentary. Liked it a lot!
As well as the beautiful foliage:

Fall colors in Japan are sooooooo beautiful with the momiji!!!

Takaosan Hiking with Kids

I volunteered to chaperone a group of about 10 kiddies, ranging from 5-8 years of age, for a day trip to Takaosan in northern Tokyo.

This is the best hiking course for a lazy person like Waru, because you can avoid the steepest uphill hikes by taking the funicular. Hehehe.

But there is still some work out involved from the funicular station, which is about 200m below the summit. Obviously not too strenuous, especially considering that the little kids in tow didn't peep a single complaint.

At the summit, we were rewarded with some basic food stalls. Yaaaay! Had noodles and amazake. More interesting than the scenery, given that the fall foliage hasn't really started yet. Plus, this is still Tokyo…and we're only 600m up. Can't expect too much in terms of breathtaking scenery. No Mt. Fuji sightings either since the day was cloudy. Boooooooo.

I don't know which route we took, but the walk down was quite nice, with some temples on the way.
Yes, we walked the entire way down. Good exercise…although I must say that I probably consumed more calories than I burned during the hike.
(I ended the trip with a soft serve ice cream at the base…)

Waru needs to go on a diet!!!

Taipei Food

I was just in Taipei last weekend for a wedding reception. Same couple that had the ceremony in Italy a few months ago.

I don't really understand the need to have 2 separate wedding events for one marriage. Seems a bit excessive. But that's just my thought.

Anyways, since it was my umpteenth time in Taipei, there was no need to see the sights. Food was more important. MUCH MORE!

My favorites:
Din Tai FungNot much of a novelty to their dumplings since they've expanded a lot. I haven't been to the one in Tokyo (due to overpricing and an infinite selection of yummy food options there), but often go to the one in LA whenever I'm there. Always order the same stuff - juicy crab/pork dumplings, chicken noodle soup, pork chop with rice, and veggies. So it was nice to taste some of the other dumplings they offered. Some not even on the LA menu. Love the taro dumpling for dessert; can eat the whole order.

Tofu dessert (豆花)
Usually found in tiny food stalls. I can eat an endless supply of this!!!Note - the entire 4 orders isn't mine!!!
I've always loved豆花, with the addiction having started in NYC Chinatown. They have the tofu and syrup, but no toppings like in Taipei. Which makes it all the more yummier! Chewy taro, barley, rice cakes, etc. Mmmmmmmmmmmm…. Personally prefer it served warm.

Beef Jerky

Aside from attending the reception, my friend had one task in mind while in Taipei - buy a specific brand of beef jerky. I followed. This place was sooooo popular that we had to wait in line to get our hands on them!

Unlike the thick, juicy, sticky beef jerky that's normally available, the ones here were light, thin, and crispy. I'm hitting myself right now for not remembering the name of the store…I'll probably never be able to taste it again : (

Beef Noodle

Spicy. YUM. Extra cartilage or not. I prefer the later - didn't really like the texture of chewing on soft cartilage. Meat better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taiwan has a lot of interesting, unique food. Thought I'd end this entry with this one:

Yup. Duck tongue. I didn't dare try, but my friend bought a whole bag. Apparently, it comes with a tasty, crunchy throat section. Hmmmmmmm

A Post-RTW Reunion in London

During my trip to Argentina earlier this year, I met a few French travelers. We rented a car down in Patagonia to tour the glaciers from El Calafate.

My post from back then - http://warutravel.blogspot.com/2009/01/glaciers.html

One of the guys (kind enough to do all the driving!) was a chef at a restaurant in London. With his business card in hand, I searched online for his whereabouts and luckily found his restaurant.
I wanted to take my friends out for a nice meal as part of a thank you to their extremely kind hospitality during my stay in London (i.e. being my crash pad while in town!), and mentioned the restaurant.
To my surprise, they knew about the place….apparently a well-know, Michelin starred place.
Wow!!!
Cool!!!
I'm there.

For privacy reasons, I'm not going to disclose the name of the restaurant.
But let me just say that the food was delicious. I'm not a really big fan of French food, but this one wasn't too thick/creamy and to my liking. The presentation was wonderful, too : )
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any good photos of the appetizers and main courses, but here's dessert:Awesome, right?! Fun and sweet!

After finishing our meals, I asked the server if the chef was in - explained my situation and expressed my desire to say a quick hello to him.
Pascal came up from the kitchen to meet me out front on our way out. How nice!!! It was great to see him. We were only able to have a quick chat and a hug, but it was very memorable, being my first reunion with a fellow traveler I met during my year-long RTW adventure.
Hope to have more of them in the future!!!

@ BHD

While waiting in line to check in for my flight to London at the Belfast City Airport, I came across this sign:

How many errors can you spot?!

Not sure if I'm more amazed at the sheer amount of dumb mistakes on the sign, or the fact that the airport/airline staff doesn't seem to care at all about the mistakes!
Also, not sure which I like better - "lick & fly" or "blackpoo"!!!

Anyways, I'll be in London for a few more days.
Then, back to Tokyo.
BACK TO REALITY.

Belfast in a Day

I've never really thought much about Belfast. The only image that comes to mind when I hear that name is IRA bombings. That's how limited my knowledge of the city and Northern Ireland itself is. Pathetic and unworldly, I know.

So, when my friend suggested heading up there from Dublin, I was honestly baffled. Why??? What's there to do???
Turns out Belfast and the surrounding areas have some wonderful sights, including a UNESCO Heritage Site.

Since we only had one full day (not nearly enough time!), we signed up for the Giants Causeway Day Tour offered by Mini Coach, which leaves the Belfast International Youth Hostel every morning.
[Random note. By the way, the hostel looked very, very nice. Perhaps even cleaner than the Travelodge we stayed in. My friend doesn't "do" hostels, but I would've definitely stayed there had I been on my own]

Leaving the hostel, and saying hello/goodbye to the cute bee......we drove along the coastal route for a brief glimpse of Carrickfergus Castle. Not very interesting, aside from the strategic, yet meaningless, placement of toy soldiers around the perimeter of the castle:

Then, off to the Bushmills Distillery!

Having done the whiskey production tour in Dublin, we passed on the opportunity here. Instead, we spent the time at the bar, tasting some yummy whiskeys. Well, my friend did most of the tasting, while I happily gulped down a cup of hot coffee : ) Better to stay sober when a full day of bus rides and sightseeing lies ahead for Waru.

After we all had some sort of drink in our systems, we were back on the bus. Passed through a lot of Irish greenery to make a quick photo stop at the ruins of the medieval Dunluce Castle:

Very picturesque with its dramatic cliffside setting and oldness. I wish we could've walked inside the ruins to explore more!!! Although that might be rather eerie…

From there, we headed towards the highlight of this tour - the Giant's Causeway. Yup, the UNESCO Heritage Site I mentioned earlier. It's been a UNESCO site for over 20 years, but I never knew about it!!! Weird…
The Giant's Causeway is famous for the hexagonal rock formations lying along the coast:

Apparently created by volcanic eruptions, but the naming comes from a local myth…something about the rocks being shaped by a giant. I don't tend to believe in giants, but it's a bit difficult to imagine that the lines of uniformly shaped rocks could be attributed solely to the forces of nature! I mean, the shapes are so consistent, it's easy to picture them being manufactured by hand and/or machinery!

We spent some time walking along the rock formations, and found that they weren't restricted to the coastline; some tall, hexagonal columns could be seen embedded in the surrounding hills as well.
What a unique place!!!
For some reason, I think there might be a similar sight in Japan, on a smaller scale. If any readers out there know of its existence, please let me know. Would love to check that one out, too : )

Our last stop of the day was the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge. A beautiful seaside park-ish place, where you can take a walk along the coast and cross the famous bridge (for a small fee).As you can see, the bridge is a rope bridge, but it's very Westernized (in other words, modernized, secured, and well-maintained), so that the adventurous, wobbly feeling of being on a rope bridge is pretty much nonexistent. Not for the adventure/challenge hearted, but worth it for the scenery:

Wonderfully crystal clear green waters and green-covered rocks.
There was a rainbow out in the ocean for a while, adding more to the "wow" factor.

Back in Belfast, we went out for dinner at the delicious Ginger Bistro (the sticky toffee pudding with ice cream was without a doubt the yummiest yummiest yummiest one I've ever had!!!), and ended the night with some Guinness at the Crown Liquor Saloon. Great atmosphere. Great setting - old wooden tables, carved ceilings, and beautiful stained glasses.

And best of all, Waru was allowed to drink as much as she wanted, since the bed that she'd be collapsing on was only a few steps away.

Guinness, Guinness, Guinness!!!

No first-time trip to Dublin can be complete without a visit to…

The Guinness Storehouse.And that's where a bunch of us went this morning.

Of course, we've all had a few pints of fresh Guinness at various bars since we got here, but this is the official tourism part.

Entrance fee 13.50 euros. The self-guided tour gets you through the usual stuff, including history of the company, as well as the manufacturing history & methods. I found the most interesting, unique exhibits to be those on the advertising history - a collection of props, characters, slogans, etc. used in their marketing efforts since launch. Love the Toucan…"See what one or Toucan do"! How great is that line?! Totally irresistible, that I ended up buying a mug with Toucan at the gift shop.

On one of the higher levels of the storehouse building is the Gravity Bar, where you can get a free pint of freshly-made Guinness. Free as in it's included in the entrance fee. The place is very, very crowded with tourists from all over the world. So it's not really a place to chill while enjoying the beer, since someone seems to be waiting for a chair/table at all times. More like get the free beer, drink, and leave kind of place. Oh, and take in the views of the area:

Since some of us STILL wanted some more drinks, we headed towards one of the other bars on the lower floors. Not so crowded as the beer isn't free here. I munched on some yummy pork sandwiches as my friends continued their drinks.

By the way, the best way to test the freshness and yumminess of Guinness is to check its white creamy top. See how thick it is?

You should be able to draw pictures on it (often a shamrock) which doesn't immediately disappear. Or, you can stick your fingers into the foam and see if it creates a sharp tip. Sort of like a cappuccino.

I don't usually drink beer. Makes me too full too soon. Makes me pee too often. But when I do drink, I tend to always go for wheat beer. Now, I think I'll add Guinness to my repertoire too! It was sooooooooo good!!! Although the quality of the beer will probably decrease as the distance from Dublin increases. A huge bummer when I don't think I'll have the opportunity to settle in Europe anytime soon.

For me, one of the greatest discoveries here was the HALF PINT. I never knew they existed, no joking. It is THE PERFECT size for Waru's drinking purposes, and will be hooked on it going forwards : )

(Sorry for the random note)

Finally leaving Guinness behind, we headed to the Dublin Castle. None of us were really interested in seeing it, and didn't bother going in for the tour.
The sand figures being created in the nearby courtyard were enough to grab our attention:

What is it with Ireland and sand figures?! Seen in Galway, and now here too.

Anyways, some final comments on Dublin.
An odd sighting:I think it's a dinosaur's tail. Why???
And very cute wall art:There might've been some art festival going on in the area, as there were a lot of walls being painted when we walked by.

In the evening, most people flew back to London, while my friend and I took the bus to Belfast. Even though this involved leaving Ireland and entering Northern Ireland (different countries with different currencies), there was no border check or passport control. A Mystery.

Arriving at night, we immediately checked in to our hotel across the street from the bus terminal. As the streets were all dark, with not too much liveliness around us, we settled on a nearby Chinese restaurant for dinner.

A Very Busy Dublin Day with U2

It wasn't until early this morning that the whole U2 group got together. Aside from myself, everyone was supposed to arrive sometime yesterday. But, there seems to have been some sort of weather issue going on at LHR or the wonderful Aer Lingus that canceled many flights. Either way, one of my friends didn't make it - she had to travel throughout the day and night on the bus, train, and ferry to get here today! Poor thing! Sounded like a fun adventure, though.

Now that we were all together, we did some Dublin sightseeing.

First thing first, FOOD. We went to a place called The Pig's Ear. The name is adorable, and so is the restaurant. What an amazing brunch!!! After my delicious haddock omelette, I had to try the brown bread ice cream with crushed yellow man. Yummy, yummy, yummy!

I honestly thought that "yellow man" referred to some Asian thing…you know how we're yellow people. Turns out to be a reference to sugar cookies instead. Haha.

With our tummies very happy, we walked over to Trinity College to see the famous Book of Kells. I don't know much about it, except that it is a manuscript of some gospels in the Bible. The highly intricate illustrations and the colors of the Book are gorgeous!!! Although I'm not sure it merited a 9 euro entrance fee… Instead of the Book, I think I enjoyed walking through the old library itself. Definitely a bit dusty, but the shelves lining the halls, filled with ancient-looking books was a sight to admire. Made me want to have a library in my own house. Not that I have a house, or plan to have one any time soon : (

At this point, the group broke apart and went their separate ways, to reconvene at the concert.

Since there was still plenty of time, I went to the Old Jameson Distillery with a couple of friends. I can't drink much, but I actually like whiskey; it's the smell that does it for me. Joined the 10 euro tour that takes you through the whiskey-making process (none produced at this exact location anymore) and some whiskey tasting. It was okay…I prefer the ones I'd tasted in Scotland.

My friend participated in the taste-testing event, getting herself a "certification" for having completed the test. Glad I didn't do it, as there was a significant amount of alcohol consumption required in the testing, which would probably have gotten me quite incapacitated. Not a good idea with the concert coming up in a couple of hours.
With not enough time to have a proper sit-down dinner (plus, we didn't really have a clue where to go!), we grabbed a quick bite to eat at Jameson. A little bit more of the whiskey, too.

Then, off to the concert!!!!!!
I know it must sound crazy to most people, but I really haven't been to a single concert in my 30+ years of existence on this planet. I mean rock or pop concerts. I have been to the more classical ones, which are easier to be dragged to by parents when younger and also by yourself when older. I can't imaging going to a rock concert on my own would be much fun…

Anyways, it was a great experience! I loved the funky stage set, which somewhat reminded me of the gross spider statue in Roppongi Hills:

Better when darker:

Obviously, since we weren't in the VIP section or anything like that, we didn't have a good, clear view. But the live sound was fantastic, as well as the vibe of the other concert-goers. I guess that's what makes it exciting…enjoying the music with fellow fans. I've followed U2's music for a couple of years, but that was a while back ago. So I didn't know all of the songs that were played tonight, which was a tiny bummer.
Now, I want to go to a hip-hop or rap concert…

After having lost my concert virginity, what better way to end the night than chowing down on some McD!!!I can never resist their fries.

The Irish Countryside

Cliffs of Moher vs. Connemara. I could only choose one.

It was a tough debate.
The Cliffs would offer spectacular views of the tall, sheer drop-offs into the Atlantic Ocean. On the other hand, Connemara may be less dramatic, but it would offer beautiful scenery of the traditional Irish countryside, full of green hills and the all important fluffy sheep.
If I had time to do some hiking in the area, I probably would've gone to the Cliffs. However, given the fact that I had to leave for Dublin tomorrow and had planned to join a tour rather than do my usual independent sightseeing, I opted for Connemara.

I took the 20 euros bus tour from the Galway Bus Terminal. A good sized group of about 20 tourists, filling only half of the bus. Probably because of the cold, gloomy weather we're supposed to be having today.

The bus drove by some beautiful, small villages (with the requisite sheep farms) and through windy pathways along deep green hills. The stone walled cottages in the mist looked so cozy!!!
First stop - A quaint pub/cafe in the middle of nowhere. Great for some hot drinks and the toilet. Turns out we were in the Irish fjord area. Since I missed out on the more famous Norwegian fjords last month, I was very excited to be able to at least see some here. After my cup of hot chocolate, I took a short stroll…and found that the clouds were hiding most of the views. Darn.

So…this is what a fjord looks like?! Hmmmm….slightly disappointing : ( This could be anywhere in Oregon or Washington!

Back on the bus, we passed through more countryside and woodlands, on our way to today's highlight - Kylemore Abbey.
Admission is 8 euros, and was not included in the tour.
I may have this all wrong, but I think Kylemore used to be a castle, which turned into monastery/abbey, and then into a boarding school. The school closed down just a few years ago, and now, the castle and its premises are a tourist attraction.

There's a 20 minutes guided tour of the castle, which I gladly joined and found mediocre. It looks better from the outside:More than the castle, I enjoyed taking the short walk in the mossy woods:…to reach the pretty, little gothic church:By this point, rain started pouring. Rather than take the shuttle bus to the Victorian gardens and get drenched there (no umbrella on me), I headed to the cafeteria for a bite. Plus, I'm not really a garden fanatic.
While enjoying my coffee with a book in hand, a local couple started chatting with me. I was reading a Japanese book, and they were fascinated by the vertical writing and right to left progress. But I think they were more stunned by me - they seriously couldn't get over the fluent, accent-less English that accompanied my totally Asian face! They even invited me to dinner at their house!!! Of course, I had to decline as my only way back to Galway was on the tour bus I came on. As an alternative, they gave me their business card so that I could contact them if I ever came around this area again. Cute couple. I guess there aren't many Asian Americans (not that I am) that come by this way.

On the way back to Galway, we made a quick souvenir stop. Usually, I hate such stops. But this time, it was at a wool store. No sheep here, only sheep-made goods. I probably touched every single sweater, scarf, and blanket in the store! Being a poor customer, though, no purchases. Hey, it is July right now!!!