well, the kiddles got back from their respective trips--to hokkaido, singapore, and australia--which means that i have the pleasure (not being sarcastic) of reading their travel essays. the gems:
I want to marry foreigner.
It was tire for me to eat the chinese food. It is not taste. This is not food! And juice is bat smell.
(bad smell)
Jingisukan is too smelly a ship of meat fo me to ate.
(Genghis Khan sheep meat (lamb) was too smelly for me to eat.)
Jingisukan is sheep meat. It is stink for me to eat. Also Hokkaido is famous for potato. However I didn't feel potato delicious. Potato is normal. I want to go there someday.
Singapole people are not friendly. I was very sad. I felt different Japan. I want to go to Singapole again.
And the winner...
I can't eat food.
Not good. Really not good.
I have never eat it.
Looks is grotesk.
I scream "Oh, my got!" all food.
Japanese food good teast.
I'm happy come from Japan.
Because of reasons lost -4 kilogram ♥
Thanks you Singapore!!
cracking up,
riri sensei
p.s. - four days till my foreign buttcheeks are jiggling in the US of A. prepare yourselves!!
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
batshiz crazy
fancy seeing you here! after a rather lackadaisical recess on my part...sorry! i've been busy these past few weeks, and haven't blobbed appropriately. but seeing as i'm sitting at my desk at work, with no classes and nothing to do, now is the perfect time to dish.
i honestly don't know where to start! i had entirely skipped posting about my trip to fukuoka, so i'd best tell ya'll about it (and put up some pics!)
mori-sensei, a history teacher at my school, had invited me to come to fukuoka with him and a few other teachers to see kabuki. and since i could bring friends, naturally i invited tracey and keith. so on the morning of november 12, the three of us waited outside my apartment as shudo-sensei, the biology teacher, cruised up in his pimped out mini-van. we picked up mori sensei and yanagisawa sensei, too (an english teacher), and headed west for fook!
stopped for lunch at a hilarious ramen place, in which each person sat in their own wooden cubicle to slurp their ramen in solitude. the ramen was so spicy i was afraid my hanamizu (lit: nose water, aka snot) would plop into my broth. snifffff
we got into fukuoka in the early affo, and after hitting up a famous shrine (name forgotten, obviously), headed straight to kabuki. but first we snapped a few shashin:
there was a monkey.
chrysanthemumz + me
after kabook, we were ravenous, so we smooshed into a street food tent to eat some grilled meats, fish, and veg. i unknowingly ate cow tongue. ew. we then moved to another place, drank, ate oysters (i fought to keep it down) and delicious gyoza (dumplings), then i broke off from the group and went to bed. i was tired!
next day featured much shopping and faffing. then we came home, the end.
short summariessss! get ready, i'm about to kick it up a notch.
november 17: special bento lunch day for the lady teachers. for some reason, japanese fancy bento isn't really my jam. some of it was okay, but there was an entire boiled shrimp (head, eyes, all) that i clumsily covered with a lettuce leaf so i wouldn't have to eat it. i also tried a very bitter/spicy black jellied square that was quickly followed by a swig of green tea. i hid the rest with some seaweed.
after lunch, it was teacher sports day. i challenged my principal to badminton, not knowing that he's an excellent player. i'm pretty good myself, though i can't serve underhand. he decided to teach me (mistake).
after i failed a few times, he told me to hit shikkari (firmly), so i steadied myself and prepared to hit as hard as i could. i swung--and WHOOOOOSH, then--WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP--my racket flew out of my hand and across the gym, causing screams of terror. then my supervisor laughed so hard she almost peed her pants.
nov 18: karaoke with tracey, keith, and a few others. some japanese songs were featured--we're learning!!
nov 20: i took a walk in the local rice paddies, when i spotted a large hawk swooping around. then i realized it was chasing a small finchy bird. i watched in semi-horror as they flew in front of me, and the hawk CAUGHT the wee bird in its talons with a POOSH! and zoomed away.
nov 24: thanksgiving. tried to skype with my family silently at work, which largely failed since i was sniggering into my hands and couldn't talk. felt quite homesick!
nov 26: pizza lunch with carmen and carl, then to jusco (biggest dept store in nobeoka) for christmas shopping. some of my students saw me, ran up to me to shout HADDO RIRI, then stood awkwardly as they couldn't think of anything else to say. i turned red and could only laugh!
nov 28: i see there is a mini-concert at lunch featuring a "kurappingu ansamburu" (japanese english for what i thought was "crapping ensemble." i kept staring at it in disbelief until i realized it was a clapping ensemble.)
nov 29: english camp meeting in miyazaki city. on the very crowded, old train on the way back. typical afternoon weekday trains are stuffed with people, mostly high school students on their commute home. most of them sleep with their heads hanging down, or would-be-discreetly stare at foreigners and whisper to their friends, haha.
i also kept catching this mean old lady's eye, and thought to myself, "why is she glaring at me?" then, when the seat next to her freed up, she beckoned me over to take it. she then spoke to me for a few minutes, asking where i was from, etc,and was sweet as could be. just goes to show...that i'm a judgy wudgy fool.
had to go to tracey's after to pick up some junk, and as we were walking up her stairwell, she let out a gasp and began scurrying backwards. "what's wrong?!" i asked in a panic.
"BATS, BATS!"
...bats. in the stairwell. we were freaked! and as i walked back to my place, my heart ached in sympathy for tracey. "so awful," i thought, plodding up to my place.
and then i saw it. above my door. BAT BALL!!!! i was sure it would fly into my apartment once i opened the door, so i noisily shuffled my bags at it. it didn't move. i finally mustered up all my courage and slipped into my apartment, trembling! BAT BALL stayed for another day or so, then was gone.
nov 30: my celine dion debut at school. i was roped into performing at a lunchtime concert in seiun's music room, and here's a wee clip of my singing. it really wasn't my best. i got quite nervous and sang kinda poorly, but oh well. the boys in the front row kept whispering "kawaaaiiii" to each other, so it wasn't a total loss. HA! watch the vid below to see the carnnnnaaaage! jokes.
after, i was munching an apple at my desk, when my office friend imamura-san came in. upon seeing me crunch, she stopped in her tracks, and with a contented-with-life-all-is-right-in-the-world smile, she happily sighed, "aaaaa...american."
and a few minutes later, jessica-alba sensei (the one who thinks i look like jessica alba and has a mad crush on me) ambled over to congratulate me on my performance. he spluttered, "YOU...ARE-U...SEIUN...JULIETTO!"
dec 2: my supervisor, who is in charge of the brass band, invited me to come to their performance at a nursery school down the street from me. it was also the first night of "illumination," aka christmas lights!! i bundled myself up and braved the freezing rain (for a two-minute walk).
first, the preschoolers sang christmas songs (in english!), and it was so cute i might have teared up a little. DONT JUDGE ME. then the band played some songs, we were served cups of hot purple bean and mochi soup (om nom nom), and i felt full of kurisumasu spirit!
dec 3: drove with tracey down to nichinan, where kiwi tiff lives. spent a lovely evening with other JETs in her apartment, drinking beer and talking to tiff's new zealander friends on skype.
dec 5: visited one of my fellow english teachers in the hospital. he's been having liver problems, so he's on bed rest. it was my first time being inside a japanese hospital bedroom, and it really shocked me. it was a shared room for two people--two beds, two wardrobes, two tvs. that's all--low ceilings, white walls, and standing room only. i don't know the last time a room depressed me, but this room took the sad cake.
dec 6: mawmmy's birthday. happy birthdaaaay! also, i had a fun lesson with the second years (they were my students last year, but now i never teach them), telling them about my travels this past year. obviously, mattsy was heavily featured in the presentation. during Q&A, students wanted to know all about him. including, "will...you...wedding?" i sort of fudged an answer and blushed.
then a very boisterous boy raised his hand and asked, "by the way...how about marry with me?" i joked, "maybe!" and everyone went buck wild.
dec 7: christmas lesson with the first years. as we were playing a game, one of the loud boys wasn't getting called on, even though he kept jumping out of his seat and shouting, "HAI HAI!" every question.
finally, my fellow teacher called on him just as he was springing out of his seat. the boy wildly flailed his arms and legs as he jumped, toppling over his entire desk as he fell on top of it, and his seat flew to the side. the class exploded in screams and laughs, and i positively cried as he scrambled to pick his desk back up, bowing over and over and shrieking, "SUMIMASEN, SUMIMASEN!!!" (SORRY SORRY!) it was the funniest thing i have ever seen in the classroom!
i'm still snickering thinking about it! ...and on that note, perhaps i should leave you for today. long post! i'll try to post again this week about english camp, but no promises..you know how i be!
bat girl,
riri
i honestly don't know where to start! i had entirely skipped posting about my trip to fukuoka, so i'd best tell ya'll about it (and put up some pics!)
mori-sensei, a history teacher at my school, had invited me to come to fukuoka with him and a few other teachers to see kabuki. and since i could bring friends, naturally i invited tracey and keith. so on the morning of november 12, the three of us waited outside my apartment as shudo-sensei, the biology teacher, cruised up in his pimped out mini-van. we picked up mori sensei and yanagisawa sensei, too (an english teacher), and headed west for fook!
stopped for lunch at a hilarious ramen place, in which each person sat in their own wooden cubicle to slurp their ramen in solitude. the ramen was so spicy i was afraid my hanamizu (lit: nose water, aka snot) would plop into my broth. snifffff
we got into fukuoka in the early affo, and after hitting up a famous shrine (name forgotten, obviously), headed straight to kabuki. but first we snapped a few shashin:
mount aso; grandma statue
sweet potato snackin' in the car
there was a monkey.
chrysanthemumz + me
shrinin'
anywho, kabuki was in a large theater bursting with people. there were three different plays, each about an hour long. it was really fascinating to watch. kabuki casts are all-male, and the portrayals of the women were--interesting, to say the least. they screeched and whined a lot. but the costumes and staging were quite beautiful, and we luckily had english summaries of the plots, so we could understand what was going on. i surprised myself by how much i liked it--we had heard that it would be rather erudite and boring!after kabook, we were ravenous, so we smooshed into a street food tent to eat some grilled meats, fish, and veg. i unknowingly ate cow tongue. ew. we then moved to another place, drank, ate oysters (i fought to keep it down) and delicious gyoza (dumplings), then i broke off from the group and went to bed. i was tired!
next day featured much shopping and faffing. then we came home, the end.
short summariessss! get ready, i'm about to kick it up a notch.
november 17: special bento lunch day for the lady teachers. for some reason, japanese fancy bento isn't really my jam. some of it was okay, but there was an entire boiled shrimp (head, eyes, all) that i clumsily covered with a lettuce leaf so i wouldn't have to eat it. i also tried a very bitter/spicy black jellied square that was quickly followed by a swig of green tea. i hid the rest with some seaweed.
after lunch, it was teacher sports day. i challenged my principal to badminton, not knowing that he's an excellent player. i'm pretty good myself, though i can't serve underhand. he decided to teach me (mistake).
after i failed a few times, he told me to hit shikkari (firmly), so i steadied myself and prepared to hit as hard as i could. i swung--and WHOOOOOSH, then--WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP WHOP--my racket flew out of my hand and across the gym, causing screams of terror. then my supervisor laughed so hard she almost peed her pants.
nov 18: karaoke with tracey, keith, and a few others. some japanese songs were featured--we're learning!!
nov 20: i took a walk in the local rice paddies, when i spotted a large hawk swooping around. then i realized it was chasing a small finchy bird. i watched in semi-horror as they flew in front of me, and the hawk CAUGHT the wee bird in its talons with a POOSH! and zoomed away.
nov 24: thanksgiving. tried to skype with my family silently at work, which largely failed since i was sniggering into my hands and couldn't talk. felt quite homesick!
nov 26: pizza lunch with carmen and carl, then to jusco (biggest dept store in nobeoka) for christmas shopping. some of my students saw me, ran up to me to shout HADDO RIRI, then stood awkwardly as they couldn't think of anything else to say. i turned red and could only laugh!
nov 28: i see there is a mini-concert at lunch featuring a "kurappingu ansamburu" (japanese english for what i thought was "crapping ensemble." i kept staring at it in disbelief until i realized it was a clapping ensemble.)
nov 29: english camp meeting in miyazaki city. on the very crowded, old train on the way back. typical afternoon weekday trains are stuffed with people, mostly high school students on their commute home. most of them sleep with their heads hanging down, or would-be-discreetly stare at foreigners and whisper to their friends, haha.
i also kept catching this mean old lady's eye, and thought to myself, "why is she glaring at me?" then, when the seat next to her freed up, she beckoned me over to take it. she then spoke to me for a few minutes, asking where i was from, etc,and was sweet as could be. just goes to show...that i'm a judgy wudgy fool.
had to go to tracey's after to pick up some junk, and as we were walking up her stairwell, she let out a gasp and began scurrying backwards. "what's wrong?!" i asked in a panic.
"BATS, BATS!"
...bats. in the stairwell. we were freaked! and as i walked back to my place, my heart ached in sympathy for tracey. "so awful," i thought, plodding up to my place.
and then i saw it. above my door. BAT BALL!!!! i was sure it would fly into my apartment once i opened the door, so i noisily shuffled my bags at it. it didn't move. i finally mustered up all my courage and slipped into my apartment, trembling! BAT BALL stayed for another day or so, then was gone.
nov 30: my celine dion debut at school. i was roped into performing at a lunchtime concert in seiun's music room, and here's a wee clip of my singing. it really wasn't my best. i got quite nervous and sang kinda poorly, but oh well. the boys in the front row kept whispering "kawaaaiiii" to each other, so it wasn't a total loss. HA! watch the vid below to see the carnnnnaaaage! jokes.
after, i was munching an apple at my desk, when my office friend imamura-san came in. upon seeing me crunch, she stopped in her tracks, and with a contented-with-life-all-is-right-in-the-world smile, she happily sighed, "aaaaa...american."
and a few minutes later, jessica-alba sensei (the one who thinks i look like jessica alba and has a mad crush on me) ambled over to congratulate me on my performance. he spluttered, "YOU...ARE-U...SEIUN...JULIETTO!"
dec 2: my supervisor, who is in charge of the brass band, invited me to come to their performance at a nursery school down the street from me. it was also the first night of "illumination," aka christmas lights!! i bundled myself up and braved the freezing rain (for a two-minute walk).
first, the preschoolers sang christmas songs (in english!), and it was so cute i might have teared up a little. DONT JUDGE ME. then the band played some songs, we were served cups of hot purple bean and mochi soup (om nom nom), and i felt full of kurisumasu spirit!
dec 3: drove with tracey down to nichinan, where kiwi tiff lives. spent a lovely evening with other JETs in her apartment, drinking beer and talking to tiff's new zealander friends on skype.
dec 5: visited one of my fellow english teachers in the hospital. he's been having liver problems, so he's on bed rest. it was my first time being inside a japanese hospital bedroom, and it really shocked me. it was a shared room for two people--two beds, two wardrobes, two tvs. that's all--low ceilings, white walls, and standing room only. i don't know the last time a room depressed me, but this room took the sad cake.
dec 6: mawmmy's birthday. happy birthdaaaay! also, i had a fun lesson with the second years (they were my students last year, but now i never teach them), telling them about my travels this past year. obviously, mattsy was heavily featured in the presentation. during Q&A, students wanted to know all about him. including, "will...you...wedding?" i sort of fudged an answer and blushed.
then a very boisterous boy raised his hand and asked, "by the way...how about marry with me?" i joked, "maybe!" and everyone went buck wild.
dec 7: christmas lesson with the first years. as we were playing a game, one of the loud boys wasn't getting called on, even though he kept jumping out of his seat and shouting, "HAI HAI!" every question.
finally, my fellow teacher called on him just as he was springing out of his seat. the boy wildly flailed his arms and legs as he jumped, toppling over his entire desk as he fell on top of it, and his seat flew to the side. the class exploded in screams and laughs, and i positively cried as he scrambled to pick his desk back up, bowing over and over and shrieking, "SUMIMASEN, SUMIMASEN!!!" (SORRY SORRY!) it was the funniest thing i have ever seen in the classroom!
i'm still snickering thinking about it! ...and on that note, perhaps i should leave you for today. long post! i'll try to post again this week about english camp, but no promises..you know how i be!
bat girl,
riri
Sunday, November 27, 2011
warp(ed) speed
chiwas (japanese ghetto slang, rollllllin),
i had absolutely zero to do at work today besides finish my christmas lesson presentation, which could have taken 40 minutes but was stretched into 7 hours. surprisingly, my workday went by fast! who knew?
japan has warped me. and my sense of time. and fashion.
now i'm wearing thick woolly socks to school, since the weather has taken a turn for the frigid. i have to squash my piglets into my $5 uniqlo ballet flats, which bulge over with the corpulence of my fat, socked feet.
luckily, as my friend kiwi tiff so eloquently put in her blog, "in japan, feet don't count." as in, you could be wearing your finest black business suit, but if you're in the school gym, you're wearing white, marshmallowy running shoes down below. rules are rules, poeple! can't have sleek business shoes scuffing up the floor!
so that's good. my feet still look like chubby idiots, though.
tomorrow i have a business trip to miyazaki city for a pre-english camp meeting. i'm excited because this means i will spend approximately 4 hours of my day on a train, listening to sweet jams. plus i get to skive school from 10:30 onwards. yay!
aaand in other news, tracey's picking me up in a few minutes to hit up the supermarket. RICEBAWLS GALOAR
finally: big shout-out to my aunt laura and uncle jj for the sweet thanksgiving card and letter, which i got today. made my day!! thanks for always thinking of me!
with that, i'm off to shop!
with my heater spluttering in the background,
riri
i had absolutely zero to do at work today besides finish my christmas lesson presentation, which could have taken 40 minutes but was stretched into 7 hours. surprisingly, my workday went by fast! who knew?
japan has warped me. and my sense of time. and fashion.
now i'm wearing thick woolly socks to school, since the weather has taken a turn for the frigid. i have to squash my piglets into my $5 uniqlo ballet flats, which bulge over with the corpulence of my fat, socked feet.
luckily, as my friend kiwi tiff so eloquently put in her blog, "in japan, feet don't count." as in, you could be wearing your finest black business suit, but if you're in the school gym, you're wearing white, marshmallowy running shoes down below. rules are rules, poeple! can't have sleek business shoes scuffing up the floor!
so that's good. my feet still look like chubby idiots, though.
tomorrow i have a business trip to miyazaki city for a pre-english camp meeting. i'm excited because this means i will spend approximately 4 hours of my day on a train, listening to sweet jams. plus i get to skive school from 10:30 onwards. yay!
aaand in other news, tracey's picking me up in a few minutes to hit up the supermarket. RICEBAWLS GALOAR
finally: big shout-out to my aunt laura and uncle jj for the sweet thanksgiving card and letter, which i got today. made my day!! thanks for always thinking of me!
with that, i'm off to shop!
with my heater spluttering in the background,
riri
Thursday, November 17, 2011
lethargy
herrrrro. i am currently sitting at work, though i am so sleepy that there is virtually 0% chance of me getting anything done until i percolate maself. what better way than to relive the tantalizingly exciting details of my life?
if i had to summarize my life here in a stream of nonsensical words, here's how it would go:
rain. bean cakes. muffled laughter. forgotten hand towels. wet hands. awkwardness. contentedness. boredom. hysteria. mint tea. damp laundry. fruit flies. goosebumps. sweat. miscommunication. embarrassment. fried pork. bills. toothless old women. gawping children. fatigue. running. poor sleep. nytimes.com. christmas music.
on which should i elaborate?
i choose...toothless old women.
i love my neighborhood, because i see the same people all the time, and they all make a point of being friendly to me. in the mornings, there's a group of middle-aged/older adults who gather around the trashbag pile to chat, and their faces light up as we exchange "good morning"s.
on the way home, there are a handful of very, very elderly old ladies who totter around on their afternoon walks and cackle to each other. when they see me coming, they stop talking and smilingly watch me approach. i bow and say "konnichiwa," and they say "welcome home". they have also been known to make comments about how tall i am (they are all bent double, a tell-tale sign of working in rice fields for years), or about the weather. i love it.
and one more elaboration: christmas music. i downloaded a great album called "the best christmas album of all time" (too true), with all the classics. and yes, i've started listening to it. seeing as there's no thanksgiving here, i might as well try to get into the holiday spirit early! DON'T JUDGE ME.
well, i do feel plenty perky now. thanks for the pick-me-up, silent readers! until we meet again, my fine-feathered friends..
37 days till christmas,
ririan
if i had to summarize my life here in a stream of nonsensical words, here's how it would go:
rain. bean cakes. muffled laughter. forgotten hand towels. wet hands. awkwardness. contentedness. boredom. hysteria. mint tea. damp laundry. fruit flies. goosebumps. sweat. miscommunication. embarrassment. fried pork. bills. toothless old women. gawping children. fatigue. running. poor sleep. nytimes.com. christmas music.
on which should i elaborate?
i choose...toothless old women.
i love my neighborhood, because i see the same people all the time, and they all make a point of being friendly to me. in the mornings, there's a group of middle-aged/older adults who gather around the trashbag pile to chat, and their faces light up as we exchange "good morning"s.
on the way home, there are a handful of very, very elderly old ladies who totter around on their afternoon walks and cackle to each other. when they see me coming, they stop talking and smilingly watch me approach. i bow and say "konnichiwa," and they say "welcome home". they have also been known to make comments about how tall i am (they are all bent double, a tell-tale sign of working in rice fields for years), or about the weather. i love it.
and one more elaboration: christmas music. i downloaded a great album called "the best christmas album of all time" (too true), with all the classics. and yes, i've started listening to it. seeing as there's no thanksgiving here, i might as well try to get into the holiday spirit early! DON'T JUDGE ME.
well, i do feel plenty perky now. thanks for the pick-me-up, silent readers! until we meet again, my fine-feathered friends..
37 days till christmas,
ririan
Monday, November 14, 2011
daily dose of LOL
konnichiwa, long time no see! nothing too much has been hip-happening over here, other than a freshly minted batcheroo of hilarious essays.
topic: write about a good friend
grade: second year students (16 years old)
bahaha,
riri gorira
topic: write about a good friend
grade: second year students (16 years old)
My friend is Kazuya. I thought something good happened him. I asked him, “Have you had a girlfriend?” He was bashful. I was sure he had one. I hope he has happy life.
My best friend is Yuta. He always eating banana. He says me, “Banana is the best food.” When Yuta’s birthday, I think he get banana. He feels very happy. Why he like banana? Because he look like gorira (gorilla). But I like Yuta.
He is Shimnosake. I call him shinchan. He is loved by everyone. I can always cheer him. I hope he is 5 years old forever.
bahaha,
riri gorira
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
crampin ma style: the last of the 'fast
we meet again! i wanna hurry up and tell you about the rest of my trip (seeing as it happened, well, a month ago). get ready for an action-packed summary that lacks details, yippee!
wednesday morning matt's mum kindly drove us into town. she dropped off mattsy, who was getting his locks shorn, and then took me to get a manicure (heaven). the manicurist girlio and i chatted as she worked, and upon discovering i'm from the LA area, she whispered, "ooo, that's class!" if she only knew.
after carefully getting into the car, heather and i headed over to matt's grandparents' house, where we chatted and had tea and homemade lemon cake. so civilized! so dignified! SO. IRISH.
but matt and i had to hit the road before too long, since we were booked in for lunch at stormont, where he works a few days a week. to simplify things, it's the northern irish parliament building (i hope that's not too grossly inaccurate). matthew works for judith cochrane, a member of the assembly. judith very kindly took me, matt, and two of his sweet co-workers to lunch at the fancy-pants restaurant in stormont.
i tried wheaten bread for the first time (with real irish butter, of course), and it was so good i was tempted to forgo an entree and just stuff myself with bread! flipping miss decent bread, so much.
after lunch, which was lovely, we had a little meander..
mattseh in his element
...and then we were meant to walk home. too bad it was raining dog's dirt.
but i still got this sweet touristy pic!
i am at a total loss for what we did wednesday night! i think we just had a mellow family dinner? BECAUSE, the next day was the almighty wedding!
went with heather and auntie joyce to get our hur did. the lady did an amazing job on mine, i really loved it, though it was work-intensive (teasing, curling, slow-drying, teasing, smoothing, pinning, etc). and joyce treated me, out of control. too much!!
we bustled back to the house, where everyone gathered up their things, and i put on ma face.
it was a bit of a drive to the larchfield estate, which was nestled into the countryside. squished in the backseat with matt and euan, i tried not to move my head, lest i muss my hair. this amused the boys greatly. also, matt cracked a joke about how euan's cologne smelled like "the time my goldfish died," and i had a wicked case of the giggles that lasted about 15 agonizingly embarrassing minutes. thanks, matt.
matt's brother gareth and (now wife) nicole had very generously booked rooms at the inn adjoining the wedding location. so we got settled in and unpacked, and once 3pm rolled around, were ushered into our seats in the gorgeous, richly cozy wedding hall.
somehow, i ended up sitting between heather (mother of the groom) and matt's grandpa...in the second row, behind the groomsmen. i have no idea how i ended up in such a seat! i felt honored, and also like there had been a terrible mistake. LOL, jokes!
the wedding itself was truly beautiful. the minister, who is close with the mckibbins, gave what i thought was one of the best sermons on love i've ever heard. now i can't recall any of it. WAIT, it's coming back...he talked about the three types of love: eros, philia, and agape, and described the characteristics of each one, how all three are vital to marriage. i was basically blubbering in my seat, gangsta.
reception summarized: i met a ton of people, ate a delicious dinner, cried more during heartfelt speeches, laughed at lots of inappropriate jokes, etc. but what would an ulster wedding be without the "evenin' do," aka AFTTTAA PAWWWTY. apparently it's customary for a bunch of people who weren't invited to the wedding to come drink and dance after the dinner is over. so, as 9pm rolled around, the place was hoppin'.
i didn't want to be a drunken mess, so i didn't drink very much, but rather danced with some of the children (and matt, the biggest kid of all). hilariously, once the conga line started, the step-father of the bride rather wildly shouted, "I WANT THE AMERICAN!" grabbed me around the waist, and forced me to join the tenuous line of intoxicated adults. i loved it!
other highlights: meeting a man from the countryside who rambled on and on, and me not understanding a single word he said, freezing my bum off when standing by the door, matt's brother-in-law asking if i was going to finish my champagne, then polishing it off, sticky toffee pudding dessert, and pictures!
not matching at all, aye but sure.
i poured myself into bed that night. the party didn't end till 1am, aka the whole shebang was 10 hours long. i didn't even have the heart, or strength, to take out my updo, so i slept on it.
the next morning, the innkeepers made us a full ulster fry, and once again i was in heaven. but i didn't have much time to digest, because before long i was saying goodbyes to some of matt's relatives, and once again we were on the road!
matt was taking me to some surprise location...i had no idea where we were going. finally, all was revealed: we were going to downpatrick, aka ST. PATRICK'S HOOD. first stop, cathedral and grave!
creepy cemetery
st. paddy's grave, such a cool surprise!
we moseyed around the cathedral, but i didn't say my usual new-cathedral prayer cause it wasn't catholic. LOL, jokes! hope wee pat understands!
car. drove to a beautiful, empty beach that was supposed to cost moolah. but we got in fo free cause we slick (also cause no one was in the ticket booth).
one of those figures in the distance is a horse!
car. headed to newcastle, a funland destination for the northern irish youth. lots of arcades, kid-friendly gambling, etc. we gambled away two pounds, oops, then walked down to the beach...where i yet again demanded a photo sesh.
by then, it was lunchtime, and i wanted a sammy. so as we headed to our next destination, we stopped in a "spar" convenience store. matt was taking FOREEVERRR deciding, but i didn't care that much. then, to my total surprise, our friend claire waltzed in!! she had taught in japan last year. matt had set the whole thing up! i was overjoyed to see claire, and unbeknownst to me, we were in her hometown!
the three of us went to an expansive park to catch up and eat some grub. then we had a little meander..
and went along this river. that thing on the right is a huge drain to prevent flooding when it rains too hard!
only of course, there was yet another surprise to be had. matt had booked the quintessential irish countryside cottage for us to stay in! it had a piano. A PIANO! and a fireplace! i was simply in awe. haha, also, the staff apparently thought we were newlyweds, because an envelope with inn info was addressed to "mr. and mrs. mckibbin," BAHAHA
LOOK! SO COUNTRYSIDE CHIC!
more good food to be had, as well! that night, we went to a local pub to get a feed. i got vegetarian lasagna, which obvio was great, and we split some sort of cheezy potato appetizer. stuffed, we came back to our cottage, where two chocolates and whiskey nightcaps were set out for us, haha! gotta love the irish! watched some BBC and attempted to light a fire, fail. such a great place though!
next morning, the place had a very fancy breakfast, which was only slightly awkward because all the guests eat at the same huge table. we discreetly laughed at some german golfers, munched some muesli and fruit, slurped up coffee, and high-tailed it back to belfast.
...and along the way, saw this stunning rainbow! it was a full arc, it went all the way across! where da gold at? i was so happy to see a real irish rainbow!
got back into b'fast. by the way, it was saturday. aka LAST DAY. i wanted to scoop up some more mural pics, so we ventured once again into the 'hood so i could get ma fix. mattsy gave me the grand tour...these are just a few select shots.
also bought a few souvenirs for the japanese peepsies (utter faux paus to come back from a trip empty-handed), and made a pitstop...
..at mattsy's favorite place. did somebody saaaaay mcdonald's?
i unfortunately had to pack once we got back to the mckibbin abode. but for dinner, mattsy and i got an indian feast, and watched the x factor. also went round to his sister lisa's house to say bye to her family, and then soon after had to be dropped off in the city centre to catch the 1am bus to dublin.
ahhhh too many painful memories! i really didn't want to leave gorgeous ireland, and i especially didn't want to leave the mckibbins, who were so unbelievably kind and generous to me. so i'll skip all the goodbye deets. suffice to say i made it back to japan in one piece. one very tired and rather sad piece!
but now, we gooood. the trip was everything i had hoped for and more, and in approximately 50 days' time, give or take, my family gets to unleash on matthew! pray for him.
acutely missing the emerald isle,
wee lilleh
wednesday morning matt's mum kindly drove us into town. she dropped off mattsy, who was getting his locks shorn, and then took me to get a manicure (heaven). the manicurist girlio and i chatted as she worked, and upon discovering i'm from the LA area, she whispered, "ooo, that's class!" if she only knew.
after carefully getting into the car, heather and i headed over to matt's grandparents' house, where we chatted and had tea and homemade lemon cake. so civilized! so dignified! SO. IRISH.
but matt and i had to hit the road before too long, since we were booked in for lunch at stormont, where he works a few days a week. to simplify things, it's the northern irish parliament building (i hope that's not too grossly inaccurate). matthew works for judith cochrane, a member of the assembly. judith very kindly took me, matt, and two of his sweet co-workers to lunch at the fancy-pants restaurant in stormont.
i tried wheaten bread for the first time (with real irish butter, of course), and it was so good i was tempted to forgo an entree and just stuff myself with bread! flipping miss decent bread, so much.
after lunch, which was lovely, we had a little meander..
mattseh in his element...and then we were meant to walk home. too bad it was raining dog's dirt.
but i still got this sweet touristy pic!
i am at a total loss for what we did wednesday night! i think we just had a mellow family dinner? BECAUSE, the next day was the almighty wedding!
went with heather and auntie joyce to get our hur did. the lady did an amazing job on mine, i really loved it, though it was work-intensive (teasing, curling, slow-drying, teasing, smoothing, pinning, etc). and joyce treated me, out of control. too much!!
we bustled back to the house, where everyone gathered up their things, and i put on ma face.
it was a bit of a drive to the larchfield estate, which was nestled into the countryside. squished in the backseat with matt and euan, i tried not to move my head, lest i muss my hair. this amused the boys greatly. also, matt cracked a joke about how euan's cologne smelled like "the time my goldfish died," and i had a wicked case of the giggles that lasted about 15 agonizingly embarrassing minutes. thanks, matt.
matt's brother gareth and (now wife) nicole had very generously booked rooms at the inn adjoining the wedding location. so we got settled in and unpacked, and once 3pm rolled around, were ushered into our seats in the gorgeous, richly cozy wedding hall.
somehow, i ended up sitting between heather (mother of the groom) and matt's grandpa...in the second row, behind the groomsmen. i have no idea how i ended up in such a seat! i felt honored, and also like there had been a terrible mistake. LOL, jokes!
the wedding itself was truly beautiful. the minister, who is close with the mckibbins, gave what i thought was one of the best sermons on love i've ever heard. now i can't recall any of it. WAIT, it's coming back...he talked about the three types of love: eros, philia, and agape, and described the characteristics of each one, how all three are vital to marriage. i was basically blubbering in my seat, gangsta.
reception summarized: i met a ton of people, ate a delicious dinner, cried more during heartfelt speeches, laughed at lots of inappropriate jokes, etc. but what would an ulster wedding be without the "evenin' do," aka AFTTTAA PAWWWTY. apparently it's customary for a bunch of people who weren't invited to the wedding to come drink and dance after the dinner is over. so, as 9pm rolled around, the place was hoppin'.
i didn't want to be a drunken mess, so i didn't drink very much, but rather danced with some of the children (and matt, the biggest kid of all). hilariously, once the conga line started, the step-father of the bride rather wildly shouted, "I WANT THE AMERICAN!" grabbed me around the waist, and forced me to join the tenuous line of intoxicated adults. i loved it!
other highlights: meeting a man from the countryside who rambled on and on, and me not understanding a single word he said, freezing my bum off when standing by the door, matt's brother-in-law asking if i was going to finish my champagne, then polishing it off, sticky toffee pudding dessert, and pictures!
not matching at all, aye but sure.the next morning, the innkeepers made us a full ulster fry, and once again i was in heaven. but i didn't have much time to digest, because before long i was saying goodbyes to some of matt's relatives, and once again we were on the road!
matt was taking me to some surprise location...i had no idea where we were going. finally, all was revealed: we were going to downpatrick, aka ST. PATRICK'S HOOD. first stop, cathedral and grave!
creepy cemetery
st. paddy's grave, such a cool surprise!we moseyed around the cathedral, but i didn't say my usual new-cathedral prayer cause it wasn't catholic. LOL, jokes! hope wee pat understands!
car. drove to a beautiful, empty beach that was supposed to cost moolah. but we got in fo free cause we slick (also cause no one was in the ticket booth).
one of those figures in the distance is a horse!car. headed to newcastle, a funland destination for the northern irish youth. lots of arcades, kid-friendly gambling, etc. we gambled away two pounds, oops, then walked down to the beach...where i yet again demanded a photo sesh.
by then, it was lunchtime, and i wanted a sammy. so as we headed to our next destination, we stopped in a "spar" convenience store. matt was taking FOREEVERRR deciding, but i didn't care that much. then, to my total surprise, our friend claire waltzed in!! she had taught in japan last year. matt had set the whole thing up! i was overjoyed to see claire, and unbeknownst to me, we were in her hometown!
the three of us went to an expansive park to catch up and eat some grub. then we had a little meander..
and went along this river. that thing on the right is a huge drain to prevent flooding when it rains too hard!only of course, there was yet another surprise to be had. matt had booked the quintessential irish countryside cottage for us to stay in! it had a piano. A PIANO! and a fireplace! i was simply in awe. haha, also, the staff apparently thought we were newlyweds, because an envelope with inn info was addressed to "mr. and mrs. mckibbin," BAHAHA
LOOK! SO COUNTRYSIDE CHIC!more good food to be had, as well! that night, we went to a local pub to get a feed. i got vegetarian lasagna, which obvio was great, and we split some sort of cheezy potato appetizer. stuffed, we came back to our cottage, where two chocolates and whiskey nightcaps were set out for us, haha! gotta love the irish! watched some BBC and attempted to light a fire, fail. such a great place though!
next morning, the place had a very fancy breakfast, which was only slightly awkward because all the guests eat at the same huge table. we discreetly laughed at some german golfers, munched some muesli and fruit, slurped up coffee, and high-tailed it back to belfast.
...and along the way, saw this stunning rainbow! it was a full arc, it went all the way across! where da gold at? i was so happy to see a real irish rainbow!got back into b'fast. by the way, it was saturday. aka LAST DAY. i wanted to scoop up some more mural pics, so we ventured once again into the 'hood so i could get ma fix. mattsy gave me the grand tour...these are just a few select shots.
also bought a few souvenirs for the japanese peepsies (utter faux paus to come back from a trip empty-handed), and made a pitstop...
..at mattsy's favorite place. did somebody saaaaay mcdonald's?ahhhh too many painful memories! i really didn't want to leave gorgeous ireland, and i especially didn't want to leave the mckibbins, who were so unbelievably kind and generous to me. so i'll skip all the goodbye deets. suffice to say i made it back to japan in one piece. one very tired and rather sad piece!
but now, we gooood. the trip was everything i had hoped for and more, and in approximately 50 days' time, give or take, my family gets to unleash on matthew! pray for him.
acutely missing the emerald isle,
wee lilleh
Thursday, October 27, 2011
ojama shimassuuu (i am interrupting)
konnichiwa. just jamming a wee japanese update in here, lest you forget where i am actually located.
in a matter of weeks, the weather went from blisteringly hot > moist and warm > nice > cool > chilly. i'm trying to postpone putting on the heater in my room for as long as possible (scrimp central), but i think that next week i'll have to succumb to the inevitable.
school is school is school. classes have been back for two months, but the schedule is sometimes goofily sporadic, and once in a while there will be a week where i have diddly to do. this week, however, we've resumed our oral communication classes, so i'm teaching kids about da weather. the students honestly make or break the lesson; when they are motivated and try hard and participate, everyone learns more and the lesson goes swimmingly. when they are tired and don't care, everyone (me especially) is wildly unhappy and hostile. it's a complete crapshoot!
my eating habits are improving. is that because mattsy up and left, taking with him an unending stream of bacon butties, pizza chips, and pino ice cream? maybe. but also because i'm trying to stuff myself full of fruits and veggies (3-5 a day. i know it should be 5-7, but cut me some slack, a cantaloupe here costs $25 on a good day and lettuce doesn't exist. only cabbage).
i DID find out that our local mall sells gnocchi, which is the single greatest discovery i've made since coming here. UMMM, and why didn't anyone ever tell me gnocchi is the fastest and most delicious dinner ever? in 2-3 minutes, i have a sultry, steaming pile of soft potato pillows covered in basil and olive oil, and i am HAPPY! i can't eat it too often, though, cause i only go to the mall once every 6 weeks or so.
oh yeah, i also randomly sampled a drink called "tiovita," which has about 23498 vitamins squeezed into it. it tastes like dimetapp, so i like it. there are lots of bottled vitamin elixirs to be had here, but i never try them because i can't read what's inside. the only one i ever buy is a turmeric drink that prevents hangovers.
speaking of which, tomorrow is the big halloween party! pictures to follow (if you're good!). i'm very much looking forward to having a few drinks and dancing in costume! wait till you see what my friends and i are going as...you will laugh.
anywho, my sweets, i should probably put up the facade of productivity, since i'm at work. lunchtime is in 50 minutes and i can't wait that long. story of my life.
slouching,
riri
in a matter of weeks, the weather went from blisteringly hot > moist and warm > nice > cool > chilly. i'm trying to postpone putting on the heater in my room for as long as possible (scrimp central), but i think that next week i'll have to succumb to the inevitable.
school is school is school. classes have been back for two months, but the schedule is sometimes goofily sporadic, and once in a while there will be a week where i have diddly to do. this week, however, we've resumed our oral communication classes, so i'm teaching kids about da weather. the students honestly make or break the lesson; when they are motivated and try hard and participate, everyone learns more and the lesson goes swimmingly. when they are tired and don't care, everyone (me especially) is wildly unhappy and hostile. it's a complete crapshoot!
my eating habits are improving. is that because mattsy up and left, taking with him an unending stream of bacon butties, pizza chips, and pino ice cream? maybe. but also because i'm trying to stuff myself full of fruits and veggies (3-5 a day. i know it should be 5-7, but cut me some slack, a cantaloupe here costs $25 on a good day and lettuce doesn't exist. only cabbage).
i DID find out that our local mall sells gnocchi, which is the single greatest discovery i've made since coming here. UMMM, and why didn't anyone ever tell me gnocchi is the fastest and most delicious dinner ever? in 2-3 minutes, i have a sultry, steaming pile of soft potato pillows covered in basil and olive oil, and i am HAPPY! i can't eat it too often, though, cause i only go to the mall once every 6 weeks or so.
oh yeah, i also randomly sampled a drink called "tiovita," which has about 23498 vitamins squeezed into it. it tastes like dimetapp, so i like it. there are lots of bottled vitamin elixirs to be had here, but i never try them because i can't read what's inside. the only one i ever buy is a turmeric drink that prevents hangovers.
speaking of which, tomorrow is the big halloween party! pictures to follow (if you're good!). i'm very much looking forward to having a few drinks and dancing in costume! wait till you see what my friends and i are going as...you will laugh.
anywho, my sweets, i should probably put up the facade of productivity, since i'm at work. lunchtime is in 50 minutes and i can't wait that long. story of my life.
slouching,
riri
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
in a neat little town they call belfast
top of the mornin' to ya! jokes, it's evening over here in nobeoka, but we're picking up where we left off in airurando (ireland).
i needed fuel on tuesday morning, because mattsy and i were off into the city centre (don't spell it "center," the american way, or else everyone will hate you forever and ever, amen).
mr. matthew's dad (aka john) had promised to cook me an ulster fry, and i meandered downstairs to discover the gorg-fest he had whipped up.
an ulster fry, sans mushrooms. fried egg, RASHERSSSS, snnnausage, potato bread, and (my new favorite!)--soda bread. choice breakfast!
tucking in! check out my personal servant matthew obediently making coffee in the background while i feast, LOL. such a good lad!
i was insensibly stuffed after breakfast, and almost sweating grease. but we plowed into legendary belfast, the very centre! old buildings and sketchy people abounded, i loved it.
the first thing we saw (after matt made us stop so he could buy a coke), was the city hall.
poseur
this was a memorial to the crew of the titanic. there was also a 9/11 memorial on the grounds, which was unexpected and nice.
there were lots of shops about, including...wait for it...ZARA! the kingdom of euro fashion, dahling. we poked around, matt tried on some skinny cords that nicely showed off the "paper boy" legs he's so proud of, and i didn't buy a dang thing.
re-emerging, i was shaking with cold, so i demanded matt's scarf. we then hit up primark, and i bought a sweater for a tenner, heyoo! i missed primark. then i bellowed for coffee, and we rested our weary leggums for a bit in a cute cafe-type place.
more shopping, etc etc, including TOPSHOP. i die. i dragged mash around until he couldn't take it anymore and found a random couch in the store to plop on. haha! we ended up buying matching socks...his have cartoon policeman faces, mine soldiers. yeah we hip.
we had been shopping for a while in victoria square, and after climbing what seemed like 10000 steps, reached the top floor of the building, aka observatory with great views of the city. couply pic, sawwwryy
on da bus!
dis is da clock tower. it's crookedy cause the river flows underneath it!
harland & wolff dockyards, where the titanic was built!
rando church
a neighborhood called "the shankill," which is traditionally unionist, and unfortunately saw a lot of violence during the troubles.
one of the "peace walls." it amazed me how many remnants of the past were still very much intact.
there were a ton of murals. some were violent, others not at all. i like the flowers on this one.
bobby sands
the tour was really good, very well-balanced and chock full of facts! we stayed on for the whole ride, jumping off once we got back to the starting place.
which, i believe, was near this guy? IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME!
we headed back to the kibbuh household to get ready for dinner...at PIZZA EXPRESS!! i hadn't had da express since my study abroad. it was exactly how i remembered it! and happily, we were joined by matt's auntie joyce and uncle billy, so the craic abounded at dinner.
after, we went for drinks (champagne, daaaaaang yo!) at joyce and billy's gorgeous house, then ventured into the night one more time--this time, to meet matt's friends ali and anna at "the lonely poet" bar. it was so good to meet more authentic NI folk...i can't get enough. i'm addicted to them, halp halp. jokes, but for realz it was lovely to chat with matt's friends and have yet another drink.
...predictably, by the end, i was morphing into my tiredness-induced-shell-of-a-human-self, so we were graciously driven home. where i happily crashed.
day 4, FINISHED. howd'ya like them apples and snausage and soda bread?
now distinctly aware that soda bread is not made from sprite,
lilleh
i needed fuel on tuesday morning, because mattsy and i were off into the city centre (don't spell it "center," the american way, or else everyone will hate you forever and ever, amen).
mr. matthew's dad (aka john) had promised to cook me an ulster fry, and i meandered downstairs to discover the gorg-fest he had whipped up.
an ulster fry, sans mushrooms. fried egg, RASHERSSSS, snnnausage, potato bread, and (my new favorite!)--soda bread. choice breakfast!
tucking in! check out my personal servant matthew obediently making coffee in the background while i feast, LOL. such a good lad!i was insensibly stuffed after breakfast, and almost sweating grease. but we plowed into legendary belfast, the very centre! old buildings and sketchy people abounded, i loved it.
the first thing we saw (after matt made us stop so he could buy a coke), was the city hall.
poseur
this was a memorial to the crew of the titanic. there was also a 9/11 memorial on the grounds, which was unexpected and nice.re-emerging, i was shaking with cold, so i demanded matt's scarf. we then hit up primark, and i bought a sweater for a tenner, heyoo! i missed primark. then i bellowed for coffee, and we rested our weary leggums for a bit in a cute cafe-type place.
more shopping, etc etc, including TOPSHOP. i die. i dragged mash around until he couldn't take it anymore and found a random couch in the store to plop on. haha! we ended up buying matching socks...his have cartoon policeman faces, mine soldiers. yeah we hip.
we had been shopping for a while in victoria square, and after climbing what seemed like 10000 steps, reached the top floor of the building, aka observatory with great views of the city. couply pic, sawwwryyi finally had to get a wee chicken wrap before our bus tour, because even the full ulster fry couldn't keep me full for more than 5 hours. om nom nom
we hit up the open-top bus tour, which took us all over the city and was informatively narrated. i learned lots, which i have since forgotten.
we hit up the open-top bus tour, which took us all over the city and was informatively narrated. i learned lots, which i have since forgotten.
on da bus!
dis is da clock tower. it's crookedy cause the river flows underneath it!
harland & wolff dockyards, where the titanic was built!
rando church
a neighborhood called "the shankill," which is traditionally unionist, and unfortunately saw a lot of violence during the troubles.
one of the "peace walls." it amazed me how many remnants of the past were still very much intact.
there were a ton of murals. some were violent, others not at all. i like the flowers on this one.
bobby sandsthe tour was really good, very well-balanced and chock full of facts! we stayed on for the whole ride, jumping off once we got back to the starting place.
which, i believe, was near this guy? IT ALL LOOKS THE SAME!we headed back to the kibbuh household to get ready for dinner...at PIZZA EXPRESS!! i hadn't had da express since my study abroad. it was exactly how i remembered it! and happily, we were joined by matt's auntie joyce and uncle billy, so the craic abounded at dinner.
after, we went for drinks (champagne, daaaaaang yo!) at joyce and billy's gorgeous house, then ventured into the night one more time--this time, to meet matt's friends ali and anna at "the lonely poet" bar. it was so good to meet more authentic NI folk...i can't get enough. i'm addicted to them, halp halp. jokes, but for realz it was lovely to chat with matt's friends and have yet another drink.
...predictably, by the end, i was morphing into my tiredness-induced-shell-of-a-human-self, so we were graciously driven home. where i happily crashed.
day 4, FINISHED. howd'ya like them apples and snausage and soda bread?
now distinctly aware that soda bread is not made from sprite,
lilleh
Saturday, October 22, 2011
coal-rain, the countryside, giant's causeway, and bushmills!
hola! it's an absolutely pristine sunday morning here in nobeoka--sunny, warm with a cool breeze, and not a cloud in the sky!
but let me take to where the sun don't shine...that's right, back to northern ireland.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
actually, despite the dog's dirt weather, we had a glorious time in the countryside. on monday, we woke up early to hit up coleraine, one of the main towns up norf. it was quaint and cold. we went to starbucks and got flatwhites (creechurs of habit) and pastries, then walked around the rather empty streets.
"I RUN THIS TOWN. I. RUN. THIS. TOWN!"
picturesque-ness
pretty!
we also managed to find a FLIPPING AMAZING wedding card for gareth and nicole. it was an indian wedding card...aka it was approx 1 square foot in size, covered in ornate gold and red designs, and pictures of an indian couple. yesss!
after hittin' up the hard knock streets, we jumped back into the hot rod (mum's car) to cruise the coast. we stopped bootleggedly at this castle to take pics as the souvenir shop people cast us suspicious glances.
then it was "on the roooooad aagggaain." up to the giant's causeway! we spotted this wee sign on the way..
i want to go to there.
well, we arrived at giant's causeway, paid (thanks matt! bwa haha, i soaked him the whole week), and walked down to the beach. the walk felt a bit long thanks to the painfully sharp wind, but it was beautiful.
so, basically giant's causeway is a world heritage site (no big deal), because i think the rock formation is like, an anomaly or something. clearly i learned a lot from the visit. at any rate, we took some sweet pics, enjoyed the salty sea smell, and froze our wee bums off.
alien markings in the grass; alien wearing mattsy costume
BOX O' ROX
i haz no balance.
there were cute little groups of schoolkids mucking around, but other than that, it wasn't too crowded. so i asked for a personal photoshoot.
seriously though, how did my modeling career never take off? this could be on the cover of the ross catalog! LOLZ
very cute, with a streak of awkward. just the way i like 'em!
after taking in all of the rocky gloriousness, we trudged back up the large hill to the car park and souvenir shop. for some bizarre reason, mash kept trying to pressure me into buying useless souvenirs, lolz, but i had none of it. he randomly bought himself a very nice blanket, then we went off in search of "game of thrones" scenery.
we bopped along to bbc radio 1 in the car as we cruised the coast, looking to see if game of thrones was being filmed anywhere (they film in the NI backwoods). nope. but we did find this random stretch of coast...
it was purty. but my hair was blowing all over the show, so i shrieked and got back in the car right away.
by then, we were hungry mungry and in the mood for pub grub. we headed back to "the smugglers inn," which had a restaurant attached. it was raining, naturally, so we bustled in...to the inn! the place was deserted, save a lone host. lucky us, pub was open!
i decided on beef & guinness pie, whereas matt got like baconcheez fries, LOL. i hadn't realized i could pick a side, and rather stupidly, i asked, "what's CHAMP?'
champ is champion. aka mashed potatoes with leeks, amazing! so i got a huge bowl of champ with my pie, and i ate it like a champ. champ champ champ.
it was a lovely lunch, seeing as it was only the two of us in the huge restaurant, and we could peek out the window at a large green field filled with sheepsies. so scenic!
i don't think this was our smugglers' view, but it's the general idea.
after stuffing ourselves full of potatoes (and beef for me), once again we hit the road to get to the bushmills whiskey factory! i was a bit too tuckered out for the full-on tour, so we walked around the grounds and hit the gift shop (much to matt's unending disappointment, i did not buy a souvenir. SORRRYYY).
yay! WHISKEYYY
stuck in a glass case of emotion, just a day in the life
i still don't understand this sign. why is it the best IRISH whiskey in the WORLD? woudn't irish whiskey only be the best in ireland? semantics. WHATEVA
boozy boy!
as a last country hurrah, we stopped off to see the "rope bridge," which you can't really see in this photo. the peeps tried to wrangle six quid out of us to see it, and obviously we're cheapskates, so we parked sketchily and snapped this bootleg shot.
you're welcome.
but let me take to where the sun don't shine...that's right, back to northern ireland.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
actually, despite the dog's dirt weather, we had a glorious time in the countryside. on monday, we woke up early to hit up coleraine, one of the main towns up norf. it was quaint and cold. we went to starbucks and got flatwhites (creechurs of habit) and pastries, then walked around the rather empty streets.
"I RUN THIS TOWN. I. RUN. THIS. TOWN!"
picturesque-ness
pretty!we also managed to find a FLIPPING AMAZING wedding card for gareth and nicole. it was an indian wedding card...aka it was approx 1 square foot in size, covered in ornate gold and red designs, and pictures of an indian couple. yesss!
after hittin' up the hard knock streets, we jumped back into the hot rod (mum's car) to cruise the coast. we stopped bootleggedly at this castle to take pics as the souvenir shop people cast us suspicious glances.
then it was "on the roooooad aagggaain." up to the giant's causeway! we spotted this wee sign on the way..
i want to go to there.
well, we arrived at giant's causeway, paid (thanks matt! bwa haha, i soaked him the whole week), and walked down to the beach. the walk felt a bit long thanks to the painfully sharp wind, but it was beautiful.so, basically giant's causeway is a world heritage site (no big deal), because i think the rock formation is like, an anomaly or something. clearly i learned a lot from the visit. at any rate, we took some sweet pics, enjoyed the salty sea smell, and froze our wee bums off.
alien markings in the grass; alien wearing mattsy costume
BOX O' ROX
i haz no balance.there were cute little groups of schoolkids mucking around, but other than that, it wasn't too crowded. so i asked for a personal photoshoot.
seriously though, how did my modeling career never take off? this could be on the cover of the ross catalog! LOLZ
very cute, with a streak of awkward. just the way i like 'em!after taking in all of the rocky gloriousness, we trudged back up the large hill to the car park and souvenir shop. for some bizarre reason, mash kept trying to pressure me into buying useless souvenirs, lolz, but i had none of it. he randomly bought himself a very nice blanket, then we went off in search of "game of thrones" scenery.
we bopped along to bbc radio 1 in the car as we cruised the coast, looking to see if game of thrones was being filmed anywhere (they film in the NI backwoods). nope. but we did find this random stretch of coast...
it was purty. but my hair was blowing all over the show, so i shrieked and got back in the car right away.by then, we were hungry mungry and in the mood for pub grub. we headed back to "the smugglers inn," which had a restaurant attached. it was raining, naturally, so we bustled in...to the inn! the place was deserted, save a lone host. lucky us, pub was open!
i decided on beef & guinness pie, whereas matt got like baconcheez fries, LOL. i hadn't realized i could pick a side, and rather stupidly, i asked, "what's CHAMP?'
champ is champion. aka mashed potatoes with leeks, amazing! so i got a huge bowl of champ with my pie, and i ate it like a champ. champ champ champ.
it was a lovely lunch, seeing as it was only the two of us in the huge restaurant, and we could peek out the window at a large green field filled with sheepsies. so scenic!
i don't think this was our smugglers' view, but it's the general idea.after stuffing ourselves full of potatoes (and beef for me), once again we hit the road to get to the bushmills whiskey factory! i was a bit too tuckered out for the full-on tour, so we walked around the grounds and hit the gift shop (much to matt's unending disappointment, i did not buy a souvenir. SORRRYYY).
yay! WHISKEYYY
stuck in a glass case of emotion, just a day in the life
i still don't understand this sign. why is it the best IRISH whiskey in the WORLD? woudn't irish whiskey only be the best in ireland? semantics. WHATEVA
boozy boy!as a last country hurrah, we stopped off to see the "rope bridge," which you can't really see in this photo. the peeps tried to wrangle six quid out of us to see it, and obviously we're cheapskates, so we parked sketchily and snapped this bootleg shot.
you're welcome.thoroughly coasted (but not toasted), we headed back to the house to pack up and shower before going to ballymena, where matt's uncle paul lives, for dinner!
the road there was quite bumpy, literally! we passed lots of farms and sheep, but (of course, it was gorgeous.
as is matt's family's way, everyone met me with friendly hugs and chat. it was matt's uncle paul, his daughter claire, her husband justin, and their two kids, ciona (age 5), and baby harvey (age zero, according to ciona, hahaha!). we got domino's for dinner, AKA I WAS IN HEAVEN.
and i had a great time! harvey got lots of my attention. he is a humongous ginger baby who is always smiling, giggling, and lolling around. omg, i loved him. and ciona was adorable. i could tell that she normally is sassy and loud, but she was in awe of my american accent, i think! by the end of the night she was cuddling up next to me, so cute!
then she challenged me to jenga and, naturally, i lost. but it was way fun!
we had to head back to belfast that night, and wow, i was shattered. i think i even slept in the car on the way back (sorry, matt). i think we got back, said hi to matt's parents, and my eyeballs were rolling back into my head, so they shooed me up to bed...after matt's mom lit candles in my room for me. could not believe the royal treatment!
coming soon: belfast, matt's workplace, the wedding, etc...woo!
champily,
riri
the road there was quite bumpy, literally! we passed lots of farms and sheep, but (of course, it was gorgeous.
as is matt's family's way, everyone met me with friendly hugs and chat. it was matt's uncle paul, his daughter claire, her husband justin, and their two kids, ciona (age 5), and baby harvey (age zero, according to ciona, hahaha!). we got domino's for dinner, AKA I WAS IN HEAVEN.
and i had a great time! harvey got lots of my attention. he is a humongous ginger baby who is always smiling, giggling, and lolling around. omg, i loved him. and ciona was adorable. i could tell that she normally is sassy and loud, but she was in awe of my american accent, i think! by the end of the night she was cuddling up next to me, so cute!
then she challenged me to jenga and, naturally, i lost. but it was way fun!
we had to head back to belfast that night, and wow, i was shattered. i think i even slept in the car on the way back (sorry, matt). i think we got back, said hi to matt's parents, and my eyeballs were rolling back into my head, so they shooed me up to bed...after matt's mom lit candles in my room for me. could not believe the royal treatment!
coming soon: belfast, matt's workplace, the wedding, etc...woo!
champily,
riri
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