<<<<<<< iPOSTCARDS OF MY >>>>>>> " VACA(SEAN) / (SABA)TICAL ": 2003

1.11.03

iPostcards from Ireland

iPOSTCARDS FROM THE LAND OF MY NAME

iPOSTCARD FROM AN AIRPORT IN IRELAND

It was my first time to fly on Aer Lingus. My seatmate for the entire 10 hour journey was an Irish Man with a clip-on tie, whose English sounded more like a foreign language. I found myself just nodding my head up and down to respond to whatever he was saying. It wouldn’t have made the slightest bit of a difference, if he spoke to me in Gaelic.Gaelic seems like a hard language to learn. It doesn’t sound like it spells.So don't expect me to whip up something witty in Gaelic anytime soon.Learning “Gaelic” while flying on “Aer Lingus”…hmmm... sounds like something you read in a dirty magazine or sex manual!...LOL.
The Irish people are very friendly. Unfortunately, I, initially, did not sense this basing on the flight crew, who seemed rather bland and impersonal in their delivery of service.
Immigration and Customs went smoothly. I didn’t get any hassles or random security checks. We flew in to Shannon via Dublin and out of Dublin on the way home. One thing I learned and discovered is that if you were planning to do a self-drive tour of Ireland, it is best to fly into Shannon. Shannon’s airport is more passenger-friendly and you avoid the traffic you inevitably will encounter in Dublin.

iPOSTCARD FROM ONE OF MY HOTEL ROOMS

Since I was a child, most of my travels were unaccompanied. Then for the past 8 years, they have been with my partner, Bill. This is my first time to travel without him and with a tour group. I am curious and excited about how this trip will go, since it involves fellow lovers of travel from different parts of the U.S.A. Some come from States I have never had the opportunity to visit. It is like a microcosm of American Society, a sort of Cast of a Reality TV Show Reunion. We're comprised of every status in life: single-engaged-married-separated-divorced-widowed-and not allowed to legally marry. The age range is so expansive, but everyone is still eligible for Santa Claus' 1 to 92 good boy & girl list. I'll make sure to get to know each fascinating one during this trip. So far, we are all getting along very well. Must be the alcohol...LOL.

iPOSTCARD FROM A TOUR BUS

Our familiarization tour is hosted by CIE Tours International. One great thing about organized travel is that I don't have to worry about reading my own research, carrying my luggage, checking in and out, organizing, planning, ordering, paying, driving, etc. We are blessed with a wonderful tour director/guide/driver. We just have to listen to all his wonderful stories, anecdotes, jokes, songs to get a feel of the country. Unfortunately, we only have a week, just enough to cover the SouthWest-South-SouthEast part of Ireland. Our road trip will take us to Shannon, Bunratty, Cliffs of Moher, Kilarney, Ring of Kerry, Muckross, Blarney, Cork, Cobh, Waterford, Kilkenny, Athy, and Dublin. It is a wonderful itinerary that will give us an inebriating taste of Ireland! Ireland, like New Zealand, is full of beautiful scenery and sheep are a-baaah-ndant! Shopping for wool, tweed, Waterford crystal, linen, ceramics, jewelry, liquor, etc. is bloody expensive! The U.S. dollar is weak compared to the Euro right now.

iPOSTCARD FROM A MEDIEVAL CASTLE

Ireland is full of Castles! On our first night, we were treated like Lords & Ladies at Bunratty Castle, with court servants/jesters/singers/dancers in full costume and regalia waiting hand & foot over a medieval banquet. I suddenly was reminded of my homeland’s people and food. The Irish are just like Filipinos. They love to talk, joke, sing, and dance. They are natural born entertainers. And the food is also greasy and salty…but still proved to be a sumptuous feast. You get the feeling that if you die of a heart attack or heartburn, you’ll at least go down with a smile on your face. "Now can someone please hand me a fork instead of a dagger!"

iPOSTCARD FROM AN IRISH TAVERN

Every meal for the entire trip has been wonderful! We have had a lot of good lamb, beef, pork, salmon, vegetables, and potatoes and potatoes and potatoes and potatoes. No wonder they had the famine! They never learned how to plant rice! Don’t they know there is an Asian on this tour! I can only survive a week without rice! After that, they better give me a grain or two or they will have to ship me out in a box!...LOL

POSTCARD FROM AN IRISH PUB

Since I no longer drink coffee and alcohol, one would have thought that Ireland is the wrong place for me to be in. Well, when in Ireland, do as the Irish do...
I drank all the kinds of Irish beer they have, all the kinds of Irish whisky they have, all the Irish coffee they have, and all the Irish chocolate I could get my hands on. They are all sooooo good! Entertainment is usually typical beautiful traditional Irish music, played by a band with unique Irish instruments, and dancers that seem like they have to go potty...LOL. The Irish enjoy singing...It's surprising that the Karaoke-Sing-Along craze has not hit them...much to my dismay. At a piano bar in one of our hotels, a pianist who was singing U2 songs in a jazzy-blues style, asked me to sing John Lennon's "Imagine" with her. It was fun! I miss singing! So, after a one night of merriment at a bar, I sang a song for my drunken group mates in the bus on the way back to our hotel. Again the alcohol worked its magic...I could have sung off key and it wouldn't have mattered.

iPOSTCARD FROM THE COLD

When we landed in Shannon, it was raining! I couldn’t clearly videotape the first few sights that we saw due to the rain on the window of the bus. I really don’t like the rain, but I admit that it was a nice feeling to run in the rain, without an umbrella or raincoat, while running for cover towards a faintly lit castle.Well, it only rained on our first and last day. From Day 2 to Day 6, we were Irish-blessed with gorgeous delicious fabulous lovely bright clear days! It was not as cold as I was exaggeratedly forewarned. It was just an average of 50 degrees Fahrenheit. In fact, one late afternoon, we were given free time to shop in a little quaint Irish village. I decided to go to the hotel’s leisure center for a quick workout and swim. I finished early and decided I had a few more minutes to catch up with my group for some window-shopping, but had little time to get spruced up prior to our next engagement. I ran in the streets in my gym shorts. It surprisingly was bearable. People, who were naturally all covered up, kept staring at me like I was some kind of “stupid tourist”...LOL.

Below are some pictures taken and sent to me
by my fellow tour mates.:

Cliffs of Moher

O'Brien's Tower

Ring of Kerry

Moll's Gap

Crossroads

The Lady's View

Ring of Kerry

"Where's the mint jelly?"

Blarney Castle

Kissing the Blarney Stone @ Blarney Castle

Kilkenny Castle

view of Ring of Fairies from a B&B

view of Ring of Fairies from Athy

Ring of Fairies

whisky tasting @ The Old Jameson Distillery

@ The Old Jameson Distillery

Hanging around outside Trintiy College in Dublin

After our last meal in Dublin

15.10.03

iPostcards from France

1.10.03

iPostcards from the Netherlands

7.5.03

Skydiving in New Zealand

"If at first you don't succeed,
then skydiving is not for you!"

I've finally checked skydiving off from my “Bucket List”!

A few years ago, when I learned how to scuba dive, I told myself the next step was to get certified, then learn how to ski. After learning how to ski from the top of the mountain all the way to the bottom without falling, I told myself that the next thing was to experience skydiving... And so Bill and I finally did!

We were just approaching Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand, the size of Singapore, right smack in the center of the North Island. We had a late start out of Rotorua, the heart of Maori culture & geothermal-volcanic activity. I was therefore worried about not having enough time to enjoy what Lake Taupo had to offer, such as trout fishing, jetboating to waterfalls, whitewater rafting, quad biking, learning more about volcanic activity, and bungee jumping. Unlike Bill, I was not at all that interested in bungee jumping, which traces its commercial roots to New Zealand. It seemed to me like it was the quickest way to a 34 year old heart attack.

Once we had arrived at the Visitor's Center to get some more detailed information, we were greeted by a spry elderly woman. She asked, "So, what are you boys into...museums, bungee..?". Somehow in the deep dark recesses of my brain, I had stored some information that I had recently read about New Zealand being one of the top drop zones in the world. So out of nowhere, I quipped, "How about skydiving?". She quickly made a short call, and immediately informed us, "It's a perfect day for a jump and if you head out right now to the airport, they will be waiting for you with your gear all ready to go."

And so we drove directly to the spot, not a word was spoken in the car, with just a dazed look in our eyes; we inadvertently forgot to look out the side of our car window to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the region.

As we arrived at Taupo Tandem Skydiving, NZ's first skydive operation, and currently the largest in the world, I thought to myself, "Oh my God, what did I just do?! Am I entitled to at least one phone call?!"

After selecting our package, getting weighed, signing the liability waiver, getting suited up, watching the instructional video...we were on our way. "Oh my, where's the restroom?" We were introduced to our jumpmasters and camera crew who were young and possessed a Rock 'n Roller daredevil head-banger type of attitude towards life.

pre-jump - with our instructors and cameraman

We then boarded a Fletcher plane, which holds a maximum of 8 passengers. I went all the way to the back, while Bill had the seat beside the plexiglass door.

pre-board

take-off

As soon as we took off, I paid close attention to my altimeter which was fast approaching the target altitude. I tried my best to avoid looking out the window, even peripherally. Finally we were 15,000 feet above the ground, peering nervously into the bright blue expanse of sky, scattered with fresh white clouds.

Before I knew it we were being tightly fastened and strapped to our jumpmasters' bodies, being instructed to rest our heads on their shoulders, and to curve our bodies like a banana and swing our legs backward as if to kick them in the butt, as soon as we got off the plane.

After the pros from France and Switzerland solo jumped, it was our turn. With pulse racing and teeth chattering, we trembled as we were scooted towards the open door of the plane, only pausing to pose for the camera to take our exit shot. “This could very well be my last close-up, Mr. DeMille!”, I thought to myself.

"Oh-Oh, what did I get myself into?!?"

Bill suddenly vanished before my eyes... "Wait!...did you remember to pay the life insurance premium?!", I shouted. Oh-Oh...my turn... “Don't close your eyes, Sean; this will only happen once in a lifetime!"

Are your eyes closed?!...
"No, they're not, they really come that way!"

YAAAIIIIKESSSS!.... I felt like my “family jewels” had just punched my tonsils. With 45 seconds of freefall, we plummeted to the earth at a ferocious 200 km/124 miles per hour! Sheer terror quickly turned into WOOOOOOW! It was f+_)(*&^%$#@!g amayyyzing!!! I felt like I had died and turned into an angel floating in the clouds!

"Yaaaiiikes!, my right foot got snagged!"

"Ooops, I think I just wet my pants!"

"I think I left my balls up in the plane!"

drag chute opens

"I beg of you, please don't let go of me!"

in Cloud 9

"WOOOW!!!"

"Amayyyzing!"

"Look, up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane – no, it's..."

"This air pressure makes my face look like a Chinese dumpling"

At 5,000 feet our main chute was released and we glided at a pleasurable speed over the stunning background of the Lake Taupo region and got an awesome view of the snowcapped volcanoes and the lake in its entirety!

Chute Opens - "Pheeww!"

By the time it came close to landing, I was disappointed that it was soon going to be over. Once Bill and I were reunited on dry land, all we said to each other was..."YEEEEAAAH Baby!!!".

post jump