25th March, 2009 – Traveling from North Wales to Amsterdam via London Euston (Day 14)

This morning, after packing my luggage, I had a long breakfast while listening to the radio. Then I went for a leisure walk to the other side of town. It was just too cold out there I can't stand it. So I went back to hostel to watch TV (one tree hill and Gilmore girls) and had hot tea. The hostel owner was doing his cleaning and maintenance so we had a lovely chat.

Around 12.45pm, I grabbed my luggage, went to get a subway sandwich and head to Bangor. Took the 1.10pm bus arriving at the Bangor train station at 1.45. Waited at platform 1 for my virgin train from Bangor to London Euston. My pre-booked seat is backwards facing... bummer. While having my sandwich, I noticed there are small LCD displays on top of the seats stating if the seats are available or had been reserved. I found 2 forward facing seats nearby which were not reserved and move over. Much better now. Use the traveling time to read up on my LP guide, jotting down some places of interest in Amsterdam and Belgium.

Arrived in London Euston at 1745pm and walked to the Euston Square station and took the tube to Liverpool Street station. Then I went to pick up my pre-booked 'rail and sail' ticket. The 'rail and sail' from Stena Line's dutchflyer service provides city-to-city travel for passengers wishing to travel from Britain to Holland, where you pay just one price for your travel from London to the Harwich International by train, then board the ferry for an overnight sail (in private en-suite cabin) to Holland, and then again take a train to any of the dutch train station. A paper is given to me as proof of my rail ticket from Liverpool Street station to Harwich International station. There are 2 trains I could take, first one at 2018pm (final station at Harwich town) but I decided to take 2038pm train which terminates at Harwich International station. While having my dinner at Burger King, there's a group of Asians there, listening to their voices and conversation, I know they should be Malaysian. (hehe just entertaining myself)

I board the East Anglia train to Harwich International at platform 9, arriving around 2200pm. The train station is just next to the ferry terminal. Went up the escalator to the ticket counter to pick up my second half of ticket, my boarding pass for the ferry and also the rail ticket from Hoek of Holland to any dutch train station. All passengers waited at the waiting lounge for 5 mins before we were allowed to board the ferry. It was a very huge ferry with a total of 10 decks. I am in deck 8, room 8213, a single cabin inside (meaning no window). It's a great cabin all to myself, there are 2 bunk beds, a sofa, a toilet, a table, and one huge mirror. All these for just ￡57, well worth the money. The boarding pass also acts as the door key which has a bar code on it. After putting down my stuff, I went down to deck 7 for a little exploration tour. There are café, restaurant, game area, casino, cinema, duty-free shopping to keep you entertained if you are not sleepy. Went back to my cabin, showered and laid down to sleep after this very long traveling day.

Photos of Wales,UK

24th March, 2009 – Caernarfon, North Wales (Day 13)

I woke up at 7.45am today; Sarah told me that they are leaving the hostel this morning to Chester for another game. At breakfast table, I was joined by the team's coach and also some of the Rugby boys. The boys are ever so lively and loud. After breakfast, I walked to the tourist info center to get some inspiration on what to do today. The counter is not opened until 10am so I just took some brochures and walked to the bus station. I originally wanted to head down to Porthmadog and Portmeirion as I was attracted by the great photos of Portmeirion on the brochures. Portmeirion is a village on the Snowdonia coast which was built by Clough William-Ellis between 1925 to 1972 and was the location for The Prisoners in the 1960s. From Porthmadog, there is the Welsh Highland Heritage Railway, a small friendly railway where you can ride on the vintage train, climb up the steam and diesel locomotives during the stop at the Engine Shed. It sounds pretty interesting but sadly it is not open until 28th March. Looking at the bus time-table, the bus to Porthmadog doesn't leave until an hour later. So I changed my plan to first go north to Conwy since the bus no. 5 to Conwy had just arrived. Again, I bought the Red Rover ticket to cover my transportation for the day. From Caernarfon, the bus first goes to Bangor where the bus driver change shift before continuing to Conwy. The entire journey takes a little more than an hour, passing by several small villages. The weather is really good this morning, blue skies with the sun shining brightly.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Conwy can truly lay claim to being one of the finest remaining medieval walled towns. Upon reaching the town, the first glimpse of the town reveals the majestic ramparts of Edward I's imposing castle, built between 1283 and 1287. Alighting at the bus stop, I make my way to the tourist info center at the castle entrance. The kind lady there gave me a map of Conwy and also showed me how to go up the walls and also the location of the Britain's smallest house. I bought 4 very beautiful postcards of Snowdonia and North Wales for ￡1 and post one of them before walking the walls. The walls retained three of the original gateways and make an exciting walk with spectacular views to the quay and the pretty yacht-filled harbour beneath. A verdant mountainous backdrop complements the scene. From the highest point at the wall, the whole Conwy town comes into sight. I went round the walls that are opened to public (some parts are not accessible) taking lots of photos.

After I'm done with the walls, I went down to visit Britain's smallest house, which faces the harbour. Unfortunately the house is not open at the moment so I could only take photos from outside. Then, I bought myself a Chicken Salad sandwich from the 'Spar' shop and had it by the harbour. A few seagulls and pigeons loitered near my bench, hoping to share my sandwich. Well, I know I shouldn't feed the birds but then one of the seagulls 'calls out' to me... I'm not kidding you, the seagull looked straight at me with its small innocent eyes and squawked! I gave in and shared a little bit of the bread with him. After that, I went through the bus timetable to find that the last bus that runs between Porthmadog to Portmeirion is at 3.50pm. I doubt I could make it there in time and back. Hence I alter my plan, intending to go for this walk near Ryu Du, in search for fairies in the woodland. However, the tourist info lady told me that it is a little difficult to get me there and I would have very little time there before dark. Changing my plan again, I decided to go to Llanduno, a seaside resort town nearby. I took bus no. 19 and the journey only took about 15-20mins. The wind has picked up quite a bit now and the sky turned grey again. The town is pretty crowded with tourists. After alighting at the bus stop, I head straight to the Great Orme Tramway leading to the Great Orme Summit for views in North Wales.

To my delightful surprise, the tram up the summit is operational (coz the lady at the tourist info told me the tram is not running). So I bought a single way ticket (￡4, return ￡5.40) and board the tram. The Great Orme Tram is Britain's only cable-hauled street tramway, comprising of four of the original Victorian Tramcars. There are 3 trams running every hour and mine started just 8mins later. The ride up is pretty smooth. as compared to the Snowdon Mountain Railway. Going up, Llanduno's sweeping bays is in view. There are residential houses along the tramway. Soon we arrived at the Halfway Station, where we changed to another tram to continue on our journey up to the Summit Station. The higher we climbed the windier and colder it got. Next to the summit tram station is The Great Orme Summit Complex and also there is a garden beside the station. Then there is nothing else but vast green lands and the open sea. I braved the very strong wind towards the fields near the summit complex. Tears filled my eyes as they were pierced by the cold winds. Behind the complex is the Cable car center which is closed at the moment. Then I fought my way opposing the wind towards the other side of the field. Going up a slope, it was so hard to walk in a straight line as the wind is pushing me aside and I tried my best to fight back. So strong is the wind I sometimes had to just stand still to steady myself. Good thing this is not at the cliff edge else I might just be blown down the cliff into the sea. It's just too cold and windy up here and the view is very blurry and misty I could not see much except for the sea hence I quickly came back down and started descending towards the town. I purposely bought the single way ticket as I wanted to walk back down hoping to have more photography opportunities.

I followed the trail next to the main road. Soon, I come to a farmland where there were sheep with long pointy horns grazing at the grass. It is the first time I see this species of sheep. There were 2 shepherd dogs noticing my arrival hence watching me closely and even barked at me warning me not to try something funny (what would I do... steal the sheep? hahaha). Next to the farm is the Great Orme Bronze Age Copper Mines. This is the oldest metal mine in the world which is opened to the public. I just looked from the outside and continued on descending. After the Halfway Station, the descend became very steep road. I carefully walked down afraid of injuring my knees. Finally I made it down to the main station and walked to the promenade and around the town. The wind has turned down a notch down here but it is starting to drizzle. I quickly make my way to the city centre to get a bus back to Caernarfon. It's another 1.5 hours back to Caernarfon via Bangor. While munching the ginger biscuit I bought the other day, I noticed the time displayed on the bus is an hour later than my watch. Has the time changed (due to the day light saving)? Oh dear, I must clarify this either tonight or tomorrow morning else I would miss my train back to London tomorrow.

Back at the hostel, it is back to quiet and relax mode since the rowdy rugby team has left the venue. I cooked myself the remaining beef and salad I had left last night. Over dinner, I switched on the cd player with some light & easy music while reading a magazine. Loving this moment of relaxation. Tonight I have the room all to myself. Yippie!!! I paid the hostel owner ￡30 for 2 nights so instead of the original ￡45 for 3 nights, I am just paying ￡34.50 (￡4.50 paid for deposit), a savings of ￡10 !! Double yippie !!!

23 March, 2009 (Mon) – Caernarfon, North Wales – Day 12

Well, it turns out the only noise affecting my sleep was from the lady herself as she was snoring away in her sleep. Lucky I had my earplugs ready. I slept until 7.45am and went down for breakfast were there are toast, bread spreads, cornflakes, oats, coffee and tea. I had a big breakfast before heading out to the Snowdonia National Park. I took bus no. 88 from the bus station and bought a Red Rover Day Pass (￡4.95) to Llanberis. Llanberis borders on to the Snowdonia National Park, attracts up to 12million visitors a year and Snowdon is internationally renowned as being an icon to the nation. At 1,085 meters (3560 feet) it is also the highest peak in both England and Wales. The Snowdon Mountain Railway runs to the summit of Snowdon in fine weather, since its completion in Victorian times in 1896.

The bus ride took about 25-30mins and I alighted at the bus stop where the Snowdonia Mountain Railway (SMR) station and the Llanberis Lake Railway station are located. The lake railway is not running today but the mountain railway is operating. The next train is leaving at 11am and the return ticket costs ￡16 (if you called one day ahead to book the earliest train at 9am, you only pay half price). As the weather is not very good today and there are strong winds, the train will only go up to the Rocky Valley station, which is 5/8 of the distance from the summit and we are not allowed to leave the train during our 10mins stop up there. I was hoping that the misty and cloudy weather will get better later on.

With an hour and a half to spare, I walked to the tourist information at the city center. Llanberis is a lovely little town and it is rather quiet at the moment. People here are very friendly, broad smiles and greetings as you meet. I took some brochures from the tourist info center and bought postcards. The post office is just across the road so I went in to mail my postcards before making my way back to the SMR. The air here is so fresh and clean, the environment so tranquil and serene.

Entering the train station, I see the steam-engine train that would take us up the mountain. The train officer punched my ticket and waved me onto the train coach. It is just a one-cabin coach with the engine at the rear side. At 11am sharp, we started our slow ascend to the mountain. The railway track is lined just next to the valley or cliffs. The first sight that comes to view is the beautiful waterfall on the left while the rest of the main sights were on the right side of the coach. There was an audio commentary pointing out the sights as we pass by them. Sheep runs freely at the hills and one of them was even resting just beside the railway track. The weather is still very misty hence it is difficult to see the sights clearly. Along the way, we saw some hikers walking the trail to the summit although it was not advisable to do it. Soon, it started to drizzle and as we climbed higher, the rain started pouring really hard. We arrived at the Rocky Valley about 30mins later where we stopped for 10mins. There were 3 guys who tried to go down the train and were immediately stopped by the train officer. During the stop, I changed my seat to the right side on the way down so I could see clearer the sights I missed just now.

By the time we arrived back to the station, the rain has subsided a little. I went to the cafe next to the station and had a peppered steak slice as lunch while waiting for the rain to stop. After lunch, I visited the Welsh National Slate Museum. There, I learn that Llanberis is a new village which grew due to the slate quarrying industry. The industry, which started with a number of small workings in the 18th century, was organized into larger operation and by 1870 it had reached its peak employing 3000 men. The slate industry is still alive today but modern machinery used contrast with the simple hand tools used previously. In the museum, you could see a demonstration of slate splitting and examples of tools and quarryman's living accommodation. The present LLanberis Slate Railway runs on the track that was built in 1842 to transport slate to Port Dinorwic. After the closure of the quarry, the equipment and manpower were available to rebuild it and the Lake Railway reopened in 1971 providing a scenic ride along the shores of Lake Padarn.

After the slate museum, I followed the trail along Lake Padarn. Llyn Padarn or Padarn Lake is the result of millions of years of earth movement and volcanic eruptions, and over two million years ago the Ice Age began to form what is seen today. The weather has changed for better now, with a hint of blue skies and sunshine. However, the strong and cold wind blowing is still freezing me to the bones. As the skies cleared up, the Snowdon Mountain and the rolling hills nearby are all clearly visible. I told myself that I must return to this place again one day during the Summer time to admire and to fully appreciate the magnificent Welsh beauty. The stroll along the lakeside is absolutely wonderful with lots of photography opportunities.

Later, I was undecided if I should return to Caernarfon town or to continue exploring other areas here at the park. Finally, I decided to hike up the hills to the waterfall I've seen on my trip up the Snowdon mountain. The hike was quite easy and I am really glad I did it. The trail is through some residential and as I walked in a boy on his small red bike waved and said 'Hi' to me. I stopped and waved back with a broad smile. I asked him where is he going and he pointed down the road. So I said bye bye and continue on my way. There is a viewing point across the railway track, giving me an opportunity to take some photos of the railway track. Cool... There was a group of visitors at the cliffs of the waterfall so I too went down the path. It's quite a sight to see the beutiful waterfall up close. As it soon approaches 5pm, I went back down to the road and waited for my bus back to Caernarfon.

Back at Caernarfon town, I bought some diced beef and salads for dinner. At the hostel, the hostel owner came up to the room and apologized for all the noise from the Rugby boys. Also, he told me he would only charge me for 2 nights instead of 3 as compensation. I told him I didn't mind at all but thanked him for his nice gesture. I showered and then cooked myself a nice bowl of beef stew using the chicken soup pack I had left. While taking the bowl out to the dining table, I accidentally spilled the hot soup and burnt my hand a bit. The hot soup is really good after a day in the cold wind but the beef is very chewy. With the boys out until 8pm, it's good to have a quiet place to wind down after a long day out. Again I felt like I am actually staying at a friend's place rather than a hostel.

22 March, 2009 (Sun) – Caernarfon, North Wales – Day 11

The night before, the hostel reception told me that there was no bus going to the Dublin port although I find that a little hard to believe. So while googling for the price of the taxi to the Dublin port ferry terminal, I discovered that there is actually a ferry connection bus from the Busaras to the Dublin port at 7.30am, and it only cost €2.50. Woohoo, if this is true, then I could save about €12 as it would costs me around €15 to take a taxi there. So I woke up early this morning, checked out and walked to the Busaras so I would have ample timing to check out if the ferry connection bus is still running, else I'll just hop on a cab. Inquiring at the ticket counter gave me a positive answer, there is a bus going at 7.30am to the port and I was the only passenger in the bus. The bus ride took about 15- 20mins and I am surely glad I didn't try to walk to the port as it is still quite a long way in after the junction entrance which I need to turn in to as pointed out by the O2 guys. The whole compound was very huge with lots of trucks and freight containers and also a row of the Guinness trucks. I walked into the terminal centre and checked in. Similar to taking a flight, you can also check-in your luggage so I checked-in the big backpack and took the elevator up to the waiting lounge.

We couldn't board the ferry yet so I had bananas as breakfast while waiting. About 8.30am, we were called upon to board the ferry. Following the instructions, walking down some flights of stairs, we were led out of the building where a bus is waiting to shuttle us to the ferry docked around the corner. I am boarding the Irish Ferries's Jonathan Swift today from Dublin city to Holyhead, Wales. The ferry carries both cars and foot passengers. The lower 2 decks are for the cars while the upper 2 decks are for standard class and club class passengers. The ferry is much bigger than the one I've been on previously from Isle of Skye back to Scotland. On the main passengers' deck, there are 2 brasseries where you can buy some snacks or have a drink. There is also a Bureau de exchange, a shop and a game arcade area. The whole journey took about 2 hours. After alighting the ferry, I went through the immigration counters and collected my backpack. Next, I am supposed to take the train to Bangor. However, the rail was not in operation today, so all the foot passengers board a rail replacement bus to either Bangor or Chester train station. I alighted at Bangor and then took a local bus to Caernarfon. I waited for 40mins at the bus stop (in cold winds) before the bus no. 5 to Caernarfon came. I had plenty of time whilst waiting so I checked out the bus timetable and discovered that the bus frequency was reduced to once every hour in Sunday hence the long wait.

Arriving at Caernarfon bus station, I didn't know where to find my hostel as there wasn't any clear instructions. I saw an Argos store across the street so I went in to ask the girls at the cashiers for help. They weren't very sure about the location but they were very determined to help. Initially there were 2 girls at the counters and both of them didn't know so they asked another colleague whom also hadn't any clue. Then one of them suggested calling another staff of theirs over the phone to ask for the direction. It is quite cool to listen to them speaking Welsh while discussing and then turn and speak and explain to me in English. After thanking them, I followed their direction into the city centre. The town was very quiet and calm today. As soon as I step into the square, the Caernarfon Castle stood majestically in front of me. The mighty Caernarfon castle is possibly the most famous of Wales' many castles. It is built by Edward I, not only as a military stronghold but also as a seat of government and a royal palace, its majestic wall and battlement tower above the walled town. Further down is the promenade and the sea. Again, I asked another local lady at a store for directions and this time the lady instantly pointed me to the location of my hostel, just down the road.

The lady owner checked me in and showed me around the house. Immediately I liked the place as it has a homey feeling. The entire house was nicely decorated and very clean. The ground floor is the living room while the kitchen and dining hall is at the basement. All dorm rooms are located upstairs. She told me that the hostel is full tonight as there's a big group coming in later. The owner actually stays at the house behind so it's pretty convenient. I was checked in to a 4 bed female dorm with a double deck bed and 2 single beds. I took the lower bunk of the double deck. After settling my stuff, I went out for a walk in this lovely little town. Many of the stores are closed today and only the cafés, restaurants, pubs and some souvenir shops are open for business. I bought a spicy Italian sandwich from Subway as lunch. I couldn't find a seat in the small store hence I ate it outside at the square in the chilling winds overlooking the castle.

After that, I walked down the street to the promenade where there is a bridge linking the mainland to the small island opposite. In the freezing cold winds, I strolled along the pathway for quite a bit before turning back. It is such a lovely place to be after the cosmopolitan city of Dublin. Everything here is so peaceful, quiet and relaxing. I was walking back towards the city when a 'grandpa' stopped me for a chit chat. He used to be a radio technician on boats sailing to the Asean countries including Malaysia. He is rather chatty and told me quite a bit of himself. From his stories, I learned that he was divorced and his children are living in Australia. Well, I guess he is just a lonely old man. He even invited me for a cup of tea when we met up at the square again but I politely rejected his offer as I wanted to continue on exploring the town.

I saw this 'Farmfoods, the frozen food specialists' store so I went in to check it out. Boy, their food is relatively cheaper than what I've seen outside. So I bought a steak & chips for dinner, a pack of biscuits and also a bottle of water. I wanted to get some 100plus for my sore throat but there wasn't any. So I end up getting a lime and lemon still water. I went back to my hostel to drop off the stuff and there was a girl, Sarah, who just checked-in. She has a very cheerful and bubbly character and she is in the Rugby team with another 24 boys. They are all high school students from Canada, currently on a rugby match tour around UK. They just came from Manchester today and they have a match tomorrow. I guess it's not easy to be the only girl in the team of boys but then from their interactions I guess they are quite close together. Quite a few of her team mates sort of purposely came in to say 'hi' when they found out there is another person in the hostel, making me felt a little awkward like I am a zoo-animal ;p

Soon,they are off to a running exercise and the whole house immediately quiets down. I took a shower before heading out again. The weather is not as cold now. I walked to the Victoria Docks and then turned back into the castle area. The town is actually quite small. Most of the people gathered at the pubs, leaving the rest of the town deserted. After a 40mins walk, I head back to the hostel for my dinner. The steak and chips meal I bought earlier on is not exactly steak but more like the burger meat and chips. I also had a nice hot cup of tea to warm myself up. After my meal, I went up to my room to meet another dorm mate, whom is from Bristol. She was on the computer examining the photos she'd taken earlier on. I got a quick peek and my, her work is brilliant. We joked about how noisy tonight could be with the rugby boys in hence we better get our earplugs ready... hehe

21 March, 2009 (Sat) - Dublin, Ireland - Day 10

After breakfast this morning, I went scouting for the route from my hostel to the Dublin Port, where I'll take a ferry over to Holyhead, Wales. It was quite a long walk and the route is sort of deserted. With reference to the simple map I had, the port is located towards the far end. When I reached the far end, there is a wide road leading towards the motorway and there was a road leading somewhere on the opposite side but there was no sign board whatsoever indicating where it leads to. After some time, I still couldn't find it so I gave up and head back. On my way back, I met 2 security officers at the O2 building who kindly gave me the direction. I am supposed to make a turn and walk all the way into a road I've passed by just now. I didn't went on to confirm the route to the terminal for 2 reasons: first, I'm not sure I'll be able to walk so far with my backpacks and second, I needed to use the toilet really bad. So off I went rushing back towards the city centre but it was so far away!!! I don't think I could wait until I reach my hostel so I just walked right into the first hotel I saw, acting as if I am one of their hotel customer and use their toilet. Hehe...

After relieving myself, I walked along the Liffey River's Millennium boardwalk and then cross the Ha'Penny Bridge to Temple Bar. The Ha'Penny bridge is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey, made of iron cast. Originally called the Wellington Bridge (after the Duke of Wellington), the name of the bridge changed to Liffey Bridge. The Liffey Bridge remains the bridge's official name to this day - though it is still commonly known as the Ha'penny Bridge. Before the Ha'penny Bridge was built there were seven ferries, operated by a William Walsh, across the Liffey.[1] The ferries were in a bad condition and Walsh was informed that he had to either fix them or build a bridge. Walsh chose the latter option and was granted the right to extract a ha'penny toll from anyone crossing it for 100 years.[citation needed] Initially the toll charge was based, not on the cost of construction, but to match the charges levied by the ferries it replaced.

Temple Bar in the day is relatively quieter than the night. Tourists wandered around taking photos, there is some street performer singing away in the alley, some sat at the café enjoying their breakfast. There are 3 markets going on today at Temple Bar area. The first is the book market (Saturday and Sunday) at the Temple Bar Square, which only has around 5 stores. Then I head to the food market (every Saturday) at the Meeting House Square which was not as big as I thought it would be. There were only around 20 odd stores selling various types of food i.e. cakes, muffins, breads, cheese, fruits and vegetables, olives, oysters etc. I bought a huge blueberry scone for €2. The National Photographic Archive is just next to the food market. There is an exhibition showing the works of D James Galbraith's Ireland 1970 - 1997, with quite a good photo collection showing the life in various Ireland towns between the years. After the viewing, I went to the fashion and design market at Cow's Lane (every Saturday). It is the largest designer market in Dublin offering handmade, one-off original designs. The market sells everything from silk custom made underwear to art prints to funky clothing.

Besides the markets, you can also find the Dublin Wall of Fame (Temple Lane South), a monumental tribute to some of Ireland's favorite musical heroes being acknowledged and celebrated in a permanent outdoor photographic exhibition.The artists featured on the Wall of Fame were judged by several criteria - not record sales alone, but also for their genuine pioneering work in contributing to modern popular music and for showcasing the quality and range of Irish musical talent on the World stage. It is by no means a definitive list of the Irish top 12, but each act has been highly influential in the Irish music scene past and present.

After that I visited the Chester Beatty Library, established in Dublin in 1950, to house the collections of mining magnate, Sir Alfred Chester Beatty. The present library, on the grounds of Dublin Castle, opened on February 7, 2000, the 125th anniversary of Sir Alfred's birth and was named European Museum of the Year in 2002. The Library's collections are displayed in two collections: "Sacred Traditions" and "Artistic Traditions". Both displays exhibit sacred texts, manuscripts, miniature paintings and art on paper from the world's great oriental and western religions as well as secular items. It is such an impressive collection with lots of information and details. Outside the library, is a beautiful garden where I rest and ate my scone. There are also some cheery blossom trees around adding the beauty of the garden.

My last destination of the day is the Guinness Storehouse. It was quite a long walk there and I passed by the St. Patrick's Cathedral, St. Augustus Church and also a street market just opposite of the St. Augustus church before finally arriving at the Guinness Storehouse. There was quite a queue inside but the Guinness TV advertisements on show were very entertaining. The admission fee is €15 which includes a pint of Guinness at the end of the tour. I was given a floor map as it is a self guided tour and off I went with the crowd entering the exhibition hall. The exhibition inside is very interesting and informative. Coincidentally, the year 2009 marks the 250 years anniversary for Guinness brewery. The first room I entered showed the 4 main ingredients used to make the Guinness; malt, barley, hops and water. There are malts and barley on display where you can touch and smell them. There are also short films explaining each process of brewing the stout. Some of the machines used were also shown. The air was filled with the sweet scent of malt, barley and hops. Suddenly the bell rang and apparently they are just preparing to launch the next half a million bottles of Guinness. A lucky visitor was chosen to push the button to start the launch. There are a total of 5 floors in the building where you can gain much insight into the whole brewing process, the machinery used, the process of producing the big wooden barrels to hold the stout, the history, the marketing strategy, the advertisements, the Guinness cartoons, etc. There is also a tasting lab where you get to taste the different types of stout produced. Here, I learned that Guinness Stout is first exported to Malaysia from Liverpool in the late 1880s.

Towards the end of my tour, I'm ready to redeem my pint of Guinness. There are several bars that you can go to; one of them allows you to pull your own pint into the glass. I originally intended to try that out but the queue was just too long hence I decided to just to get my pint elsewhere. I went up to the Gravity Bar which was a glass-paneled window bar providing a 360 degrees view of Dublin city. It was quite a clear weather day hence a good view round Dublin city. However the bar is so crowded that it is hard to find a spot to sit down. After enjoying the view, I went off to another bar, ordered my pint of Guinness and sat down to savor the fine brew. Slainte! (Cheers in Irish)

After my pint, I walked back to my hostel, down along the Liffey River again. I stopped at the souvenir store to get myself an embroidered Irish Badge. Tonight, I bought a sweet & sour chicken rice to go with my broccoli. Quite a tiring day with all the walking but a very eventful one.

Photos of Dublin, Ireland

20 March, 2009 (Fri) - Dublin, Ireland - Day 9

Today, I will be joining a day tour to the Wicklow and Glendalough. I met the 2 SG girls at the breakfast hall where they were joined with 3 other guy friends also from SG and studying in Cambridge. A brief conversation, we discovered that we were both doing the same tour by the same tour operator. Well, let's see if we will be on the same bus. (again, remember in my dream I did the same tour with the girls?) End up we were on different mini buses (there were 2 mini buses by the same agent today). Our transport for the day is a 24-seater Mercedez Benz midi coach and it is fully-seated today. Martin is our driver cum tour guide for the day and he is a very informative and fun guy. The weather was brilliant today, blue skies and lovely sunshine.

We left the Dublin city, headed for the east coast, traveling along Dublin Bay to Dun Laoghaire, and passing through Dalkey, home to Bono, U2, Enya, Van Morrison, Dalkey is also a heritage town complete with its very own historical castles. We were given a 10mins photo break at the harbour. After that, we stop at the Avoca Handweavers, established since 1723 (Ireland's oldest) for morning coffee/craft shopping/toilet for another half an hour. I wasn't interested in the shopping / the coffee, so after using the bathroom and a quick round inside the shop, I went out to sit in the garden, enjoying the morning sun, waiting for the rest. After that break, we went inland, heading west to the wilds of Wicklow Mountains.

Wicklow Mountains National Park covers part of a mountain range that extends over most of County Wicklow on the east coast of Ireland. The upper slopes and rounded peaks are blanketed with heath and bog. The open vistas are interrupted only by forestry plantations and the winding mountain roads. Fast-flowing streams descend into the deep lakes of the wooded valleys and continue their course into the surrounding lowlands.

Our first photo stop is at Loch Tay, also known as the Guinness Lake. It is a small but scenic lake set in the Wicklow Mountains in County Wicklow. It lies between the mountains of Djouce and Luggala, and is best viewed from the above, which is what we did! We stopped at the roadside, looking down the steep valley onto the lake. It is simply amazing. The reason why some called it the Guinness Lake is due to the black lake water (viewed from above) edged with a beach of startlingly white sand, imported by the landowners. This combination definitely resembles a pint of the Guinness, hence the name. Quite a number of movies i.e. Braveheart, Excalibur, Michael Collins, Reign of fire, Ballykissangel, King Arthur (2003) and the most reason film, P.S. I Love You was filmed here in the Wicklow Mountains. We also made a photo stop at the bridge where Hillary Swank walked past while she's lost (P.S. I love you), which excites several girls on the bus upon learning this information.

We then passed by Sally Gap, which is 759m above sea level and on to the Military Road. The Military road is quite a narrow and winding road where it is impossible for normal large coaches to navigate through. The views along the tour so far were just simply breathtaking. There were quite a lot of sheep farms that we have passed through and according to Martin, there are 2.5million baby lambs due in the coming months. Already I could see some baby lambs on the farms which were extremely cute. Before breaking for lunch, we stop at a place (forgot the name) and had this amazing view. Looking down we see a stream flowing alongside the woods. Absolutely gorgeous. We then went for lunch at Laragh, meaning "Site (or ruins) of a Building", a small picturesque village in County Wicklow. There is a pub and 2 cafe here and I had a chicken sandwich (€3.40) at Anne's Coffee Shop. After the meal, I still have some time left before the gathering time, so I went walking around the area. I think this is quite a nice place to live in, very peaceful and quiet (except of course for the tour buses that comes in every day at noon).

After the lunch break, we drove another 5mins to arrive at Glendalough, (Irish: Gleann Dá Loch, meaning 'Glen of Two Lakes') is a glacial valley, renowned for its early medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin, a hermit priest, and destroyed in 1398 by English troops. The two lakes, which gave the valley its name, came into existence thousands of years ago, after the Ice Age, when great deposits of earth and stone were strewn across the valley in the area where the Round Tower now exists. The mountain streams eventually formed a large lake. The Pollanass river spread alluvial deposits across the centre of the lake and created a divide to form the Upper and Lower Lakes. The Glenealo river flows in from the West into the Upper lake which is the larger and deepest of the two lakes.

We were set down at the lower valley and Martin came with us to brief us on some of the important monuments here before leaving us to go explore the area ourselves and then pick us up later at the upper valley carpark. The most famous of all the landmarks in Glendlough is the Round Tower which is built of mica-slate interspersed with granite stands 33 meters above the ground, with an entrance 3.5 meters from the base. It was built almost 1000 years ago by the monks of St. Kevin's monastery. The conical roof had to be replaced in 1876 when it was struck by lightning. The tower originally had six timber floors, connected by ladders. The four stories above entrance level are each lit by a small window; while the top storey has four windows facing the cardinal compass points. The Glendalough round tower was originally built as a bell tower but also served on occasion as store-houses and a place of refuge when the monastery was under attack.

There were several other monuments to see here besides the round tower i.e. the Gateway. The Gateway to the monastic city of Glendalough is one of the most important monuments, now totally unique in Ireland. It was originally two-storied with two fine, granite arches. The antae or projecting walls at each end suggest that it had a timber roof. Inside the gateway, in the west wall, is a cross-inscribed stone. This denoted the sanctuary, the boundary of the area of refuge. The paving of the causeway in the monastic city is still preserved in part but very little remains of the enclosure wall.

Following the path after the gateway, I came to The cathedral, the largest ruin at Glendalough. It is built of stone and is now missing much of the walls and all of the ceiling, but is still a fascinating structure. The nave and antae were built in the 10th century, and a chancel and sacristy were added on in the late 12th and early 13th centuries. The chancel arch and east window were finely decorated through many of the stone are now missing. The north doorway to the nave also dates from this period. Under the southern window of the chancel is an aumbry or wall cupboard and a piscina, a basin used for washing the scared vessels.

Next is the Saint Kevin's Church / Kitchen. This stone-roofed building originally had a nave only, with entrance at the west end and a small round-headed window in the east gable. The upper part of the window can be seen above what became the chancel arch, when the chancel (now missing) and the sacristy were added later. The steep roof, formed of overlapping stones, is supported internally by a semi-circular vault. Access to the croft or roof chamber was through a rectangular opening towards the western end of the vault. The church also had a timber first floor. The belfry with its conical cap and four small windows rises from the west end of the stone roof in the form of a miniature round tower.

The monastery is also actually a cemetery and this cemetery only allows burial by relation. This means that you can only be buried here if your family is buried here. A research showed that there are only 7 valid burials left before the cemetery is closed. From the St. Kevin's church, there is a pathway through the woods towards the lower lake. This pathway also links to the upper lake. The view along the pathway is great and the weather today makes it a very nice stroll. As I didn't have much time left, I hurried over to the upper lakes, which has an even more amazing lake scenery. I wished I had more time to spend here at the lakes as it is so gorgeous. Unfortunately it is time to go back to Dublin. On the way back, I was thinking about my little Micra, who had accompanied me in my adventures in UK, giving me absolute freedom to spend as much or as little time at the places visited.

We arrived back in Dublin around 5pm. I went to the Temple Bar area, thinking of taking some night scenes of the famous Dublin bar area. Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin. Unlike the areas surrounding it, Temple Bar has preserved its medieval street pattern, with many narrow cobbled streets. It is promoted as "Dublin's cultural quarter" and has a lively nightlife that is popular with tourists. However I think it'll still take quite some time until the sky turns dark and honestly I'm not 100% comfortable loitering at this bar area after dark. So I dropped the idea and head back to hostel. While resting in the room after dinner and shower, the 2 SG girls came back. So I chatted with them for a while about their life in Cambridge, where I've been to and where I'm going next. It seems that life in Cambridge is pretty tough (at least for their course, in Natural Science). They had lessons and tutorials Mon-Sat and only have Sun left for some relaxation. Wow, can't imagine going through that kind of life again. One of them is on MOE scholarship so she'll become a teacher after she graduated. It's quite nice to have someone to talk to after a while especially when you have something in common.

19 March, 2009 (Thu) - Dublin, Ireland - Day 8

I had 2 interesting dreams last night, the first relating to my job; while the second dream was about meeting 3 girls from Singapore and we sort of end up doing some traveling together. I slept a little longer today since my main itinerary today is to join the free Dublin walking tour, at 10.20am. The hostel breakfast is rather simple; toast, butter and jam spread, coffee / tea / hot chocolate and some kind of cake. After that, I went out for a quick walkabout before the tour begins. It is really misty and cold today with very poor visibility. I walked towards the river where there were some sculptures of some Irish families with very rugged clothing with sad faces. I do not really understand what the sculptures are about as the plates on the ground beside the sculptures just list the family names etc. As I was walking along the O' Connell's street, I looked up and found the tip of the spire disappearing into the mist. As the time nears, I went back to the hostel to meet the pick up guide. There were 6 of us from the hostel and we picked up another 6 from the nearby Isaac's hostel before moving on to the main meeting point at City Hall. We were separated into English and Spanish group, the English group has around 30 odd people. The area was quite noisy with passing vehicles and since I was standing at the back row, I couldn't hear clearly when the guide gave us introduction and some brief history about Ireland. Luckily things got better as we moved to other places and I try to stand closer to the guide.

During the 3 hours tour, we were brought to a number of places around Dublin, many of which I've been to on my little exploration yesterday. However, having a guide explaining about the backgrounds definitely adds more color to the place. Our tour guide, Connor, was pretty funny and lively as he told us story after story of the Dublin's past. It was extremely cold today, 6 deg C. I had my hood up and I thought I looked absolutely funny compared to the rest on the tour because I looked as if I'm all geared up for winter sports :p But I don't care as long as I am getting myself warm (although I still felt a little cold under 2-layer my jacket). We break for a quick snack at 12.30pm at the Temple Bar area. Normally on these kind of tour, the guide will bring us to some specific cafe for lunch cum toilet break, and in exchange the guides get to eat free. I've packed 2 bananas and a pack of crisps as lunch today. After the break, we continued on our tour for slightly an hour more before finally ending it at St Stephens Green park. These free walking tour guides survived solely on tip basis. I gave the guide €2 as tip and went into the park. I sat on a bench to rest my feet and had a bar of Snickers. The sun has finally shown his face for the day and the temperature warms up a little. After the break, I had a nice little stroll in the beautiful park, with river, stone bridge, gazebos, and the colors of the trees and flowers, all these creates a surreal scene as if a scene in a fairy tale story. I then visited Grafton street, a busy shopping street in Dublin.


After that, I went in to the National Gallery of Ireland, which houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. Entrance is free but you need to deposit your bags at the cloakroom (free). There were lots of portraits and art pieces on exhibit inside. I wasn't that interested in these art works, so I left after a quick tour of 15mins. When I went to retrieve my backpack from the cloakroom, the elderly man at the counter told me that I couldn't get my backpack until half an hour later. That answer really caught me off-guard so I showed a blank face and blurted 'huh'? Then as his serious face turned into a big smiley face, I realized that he was just joking with me. This became like an ice-breaker between us and we chatted a little he asked me where I was from and how I liked Dublin. I then asked him if the National Museum nearby is open. He says 'Well, yes! Today the National Museum is especially opened for people from Malaysia'. We both burst into laughter. What a funny guy. He then told me the direction to get there. I thanked him and wanted to walked out the door I came in from earlier and he called out to me, 'No, no, no... not that way, sigh do I have to do everything?' He then came out from the cloakroom and escorted me out to the correct exit and again told me the direction. :p However, I did not go directly to the National Museum as I had to hurry to the tourist information center before they close to book for my day tour tomorrow. I signed up for the Wicklow and Glendalough tour from 'Day Tour's Unplugged'. The tour costs €25 and will start at 9am tomorrow morning.

After that, seeing it is near to the museum's closing time, I decided not to go back to the museum. Instead, I went to the nearby post office to mail my postcards back home. The postage here is a little more expansive compared to posting in UK. Then, I decided to call it a day and walked back to my hostel. Tonight, there were 2 young ladies in my room who were from Singapore and they are currently studying in Cambridge University. If you could remember earlier in the post about my dream? What a coincidence (although in my dream there were 3 girls)! Also, there were some incidents in the hostel where there were some girls being kicked out from the hostel because she hasn't paid her dorm money and also she was involved with the loud party the other night. One of my dorm mate was a friend to one of the girls so she let her come in to our room while she try to call some other friends asking if she could crash at their place for the night. Well, all sorts of things and people you see in hostels ;)