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 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

i 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.

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

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.

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

londondairy

hello again, lovelies! where did i last leave you? ah right, so it was saturday night, post-snowbomb-meets-stickytoffee-heaven-on-earth, and i had crashed out upstairs in euan's room. (actually, i forgot to mention, before i went up to bed, matt and i went for a wee jaunt out in the cold. and i saw stormont, the government building, all lit up at night! gorgeous.)

sunday i woke up early due to jet lag, but had a leisurely morning complete with delicious tesco muesli and IRISH MILK. ask matthew. irish dairy is THEBESTDAIRY. full stop! also had a rather embarrassing moment when i filled my coffee mug with orange juice, then realized when the coffee came that there were glasses for the juice. sorry that i lack dignity, matt!

after scarfing, we got dressed all respectable-like, and matt drove us to church. the kibbuh church is called bloomfield, and just so happens to be on cyprus avenue, featured in the van morrison song (uncle norm, are you listening?)!

apparently a good chunk of the congregation had been briefed that i would be coming. yet as i was introduced to the many friendly faces filling up the pews, i didn't particularly notice that others were looking at me (i found out much later that peeps had been peepin, which they openly confessed).

matt and i snuck off upstairs to the balcony, which was much less crowded than down below. the service was really nice. it was the harvest celebration, and there was singing and preachin' and general churchiness. very much welcome after a long hiatus in japan!

after the service, i met a few more people, including the minister (no big deal, just rolling with bigshot kibsy, psyche!), then popped outside to snap a few pics.

inside. they have tv screens that display song lyrics! so high-tech. makes our hymnals seem quaint!

van's hood

bloomin' bloomfield

as usual, though, we were on a tight schedule! after going home to gather up bags, etc., we were on the road yet again, heading up to londontown (londonderry, that is).

the drive was very green, a tadmo drizzly, and stuffed full of tesco meal deals (sando+drink+choc for £2.50, cheers honay!).

signs indicated we were heading for Londonderry. there is a bit of contention over the city name. nationalists tend to stick with derry, unionists, with londonderry. almost every sign we saw was defaced, with the london scribbled out. to an outsider, it all seems so bizarre and near-meaningless. but the history runs deep, and remnants of the troubles are everywhere.

anywho, all conflict aside, i immediately fell in love with derry. the narrow streets were crowded with cars and people, but i didn't mind looking at the hustle and bustle of the city centre, with many cute shops and shoppers frolicking about. it's a small city, with more of a small-town feel.

in the city centre. i still do not understand roundabouts. we went through about 80 on the trip, and i am bamboozled by them.

anywho, by the time we parked, the sun was shining and i could shed my raincoat! we walked to the derry walls, which are basically really old (i forget how old, saawwwrrryy).

and i demanded touristy pictures!

the walls are topped with walking paths, so you can make your way around the city up top! the views were lovely.

a quiet street

my goodness, my guinness!

love that green, green grass. au natural. this is the catholic side of town, and if you look closely, you can just make out a mural of a schoolgirl who was a casualty of the troubles.

londonderry has some very famous troubles murals, though we didn't get close to any. it was the site of bloody sunday, and since it's the second-biggest city in NI, naturally it saw an unfortunate amount of violence...as this (most?) famous mural suggests:

however, counterbalancing the murals was the peace bridge, which was only just completed in the past few years. mattsy and i had a stroll on it.

(after taking a picture in which i look like bumder)

peace bridge.

hilariously, as we went across, matt let out a mini-squeal. there was a suited man, who apparently was the derry member of parliament, walking nearby. matt, in awe, awkwardly said hello to him as i snickered audibly.

we also passed a steaming pile of "dog's dirt," northern irish parlance for dog poop. dog's dirt, mate! flippin' dog's dirt!

aaand after a dip into marksies and debenhams (dept. stores), we plopped back into the car and drove to coleraine/portrush/portstewart, where matt's family has a house (the towns are practically on top of each other so i don't know where the heck we were).

the house was gorgeous. three stories! i am a fool for not taking pictures. but anywho, matt and i nabbed showers and i gussied myself up for a wee date night at the famed ramore restaurant, which is right in the harbor. i had heard that the food would be bomb, and indeed it was!

we started off with beer, then my "bang bang" thai chicken came, as did matt's peppersteak with tobacco onions. i loved my dinner, but when i had a bite of matt's, all i could do was let out a squeak. it was ambrosial. did i momentarily lose consciousness? maybe. beef is a powerful thing.

...i was rocking a food baby by the time we rolled outta there. aka it looked like i was smuggling a bowling ball under my top. luckily, as i froze my bum walking around the harbor with matt, he was a true gent and gave me his coat. so food bebe was kept warm, and hidden.

totally satiated, we headed back to the house and watched (amazing) british television, including the brit version of COPS, which was entertaining to no end...

until it was time for beddy bye. i was wrecked. so, full of chicken, i fell asleep and dreamt of peppersteak, dairy, and dog's dirt.

not really,
lilly