Inflation has been one of the biggest news headlines over the past week Ireland, which has seen an overall 5.0% increase in consumer prices from January 2021 to January 2022. Last week the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister for Finance announced in this press release a €505 million package in measures to mitigate the cost of living, including (among other things): energy...
My friend S. invited me to join him on a quick weekend trip to Glasgow. I’ve never been to Scotland before, so I jumped at the opportunity. The impetus of the trip was to see Melanie C. (more widely known as Sporty Spice of the Spice Girls) perform her first post-COVID lockdown concert at a nightclub venue called The Garage. Even though I’m not a huge fan, I haven’t been to any concerts...
This is apparently my 300th blog post, which averages out to about four posts a week since I moved to Ireland in October 2020, thanks to the almost daily posts during my first six months here. Nowadays, I’m writing about 2-3 posts per week. Life has become more mundane ever since I started working six months ago, so there has been less to write about, but I still find the blog to be an...
The beginning of February brought some wet and windy weather, and also marks St. Brigid’s Day / Gaelic festival of Imbolc. A summary from Wikipedia: “Imbolc / St. Brigid’s Day is a Gaelic traditional festival. It marks the beginning of spring, and for Christians it is the feast day of St. Brigid, Ireland’s matron saint. The holiday begins on the evening of 1st February and ends...
My friend S., whom I had not seen since Christmas, came for a visit to Dublin for the weekend. I met him at the Spire after his train arrived in the afternoon, then we had lunch at a Japanese place, Musashi, on Capel Street — bento boxes with katsu curry, sushi and gyoza. On a whim, we decided to go see a one-man theatrical performance in the evening by Gabriel Byrne, a well known Irish movie...
It’s Friday! What a busy week… not to mention month. Where did January go?! Dublin has been having chilly, but we’ve been having mostly sunny bright winter days. I don’t understand why people complain about the weather in Ireland at this time of the year, saying that it’s gloomy and depressing. Yes, it still gets dark relatively early but the days are getting longer...
The first “lockdown free” weekend was surprisingly quiet in Dublin, although I did not go out to any pubs on Saturday so my only first-hand experience was the street noise outside my apartment building in Temple Bar. A quick run-down of notable events from the past few days… Lunch at BrewDog On Saturday, after my usual SuperValu grocery delivery, I met up with my friend CJ for a...
BIG NEWS! Ireland is officially on the other side of the omicron wave. This evening at the start of the 6 o’clock news, Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin announced that almost all COVID restrictions will be lifted effective Saturday at 6:00am. The decision was made after the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) gave the green light on lifting restrictions in its report to...
Today marks a year (365 days) since I started a simple, 5-minute daily meditation practise. I haven’t skipped a day, although I may have skimped a little when traveling. If nothing else, it’s been a good exercise in discipline. I do think it is helpful in starting my day off from a more centered mindet. The top headlines in Ireland over the past week have been dominated by the murder...
The reality of the New Year is setting in. The remnants of Christmas decorations that still hang above Dublin’s streets have gone dark. Last week’s cold snap has abated, with the return of mild temperatures in the mid 50s F / mid 10s C. The weekend went by all too quickly. On Saturday, after my usual weekly SuperValu grocery delivery in the morning, I met up with my friend CJ for a...