25 Dec 2015

Kylemore Abbey


This beautiful picture was taken at the roadside. The man was selling some stuff and he had his pets with him- 2 or 3 cats, a dog and a lamb, as well as a pony. 

The bus driver kindly stopped to give us a chance to walk a bit and to take more pictures of the fantastic scenery. 



Kylemore Abbey is in the background. Kylemore Abbey was a massive yet graceful castle built in the early 18th century by an American and his wife. He had fallen in love with the country when visiting it and decided to stay on and build the castle for his young and beautiful bride. It was a sad story however because the wife died just after the castle was completed. The husband grieving for his wife left it later and sold it. It was then bought by Benedictine nuns who turned it into abbey and much later was also used as a school for girls. 



The beautiful Victorian Gardens at the Abbey. The gardens here are truly splendid and gave us a glimpse of a past where grace and beauty is the norm. 

 

12 Nov 2015

Ireland - from Dublin on to County Kildare and Galway

3 October 2015

Being on a tour means your time isn't your own. Granted in this way we could see a lot more of a country than we otherwise would. The Globus tour is actually one of the best there is. This particular tour for example would be partially active but not as hectic as many tours are. Today which is our 2nd day we would be visiting an Irish Stud Farm in County Kildare. Ireland is famous for breeding race horses and this farm is also a show house for Irish race horse breeding. We arrived at the farm around 9 am and were greeted by two ladies who would take us around  and answer any questions pertaining to the farm. 
It's a fascinating place- very beautifully landscaped with lots of trees around the paddocks, lakes and gardens. The horses were healthy looking and were kept mainly for breeding purposes. Sometimes horse breeders from as far as Australia, Japan and even Bahrain would send their mares here for breeding. Most of the horses were famous racers. 
  






After the horse farm we next stopped at Glendalough , an old town famous for its centuries old church and graveyard . We walked around looking at the stone architecture of this 11th century ruins of what once had been a cathedral. Here too the scenery was stunning and peaceful. A small but deep looking brook wound along beneath the trees and there were lots of other tourists too. I saw groups of excited Japanese ladies chatting, a few headscarfed ladies who I presume to be Muslims too and also some Indian men in turbans. 
After walking around the graves of past Irish poets, lords and ladies etc, Repin and I had had enough of it so we decided to go back to the cafe. There we had a quick lunch of a vegetarian quich and tea. 
By 2 pm we were back on the bus , going towards Connemara to visit an abbey an also the famous Connemara marble factory. 






28 Oct 2015

Tour of Ireland (2015 Oct)



We landed in Dublin early in the morning of October  1st. A car was waiting Immediately after we left Immigration. We w ere taken to the Hilton Claremont, where we stayed for two nights. The hotel was within walking distance of the city centre and considered to be in the outskirts of Dublin, and it had a beautiful canal just opposite it. After a short rest we decided to go for a walk a long the canal. 
It was a lovely day - cool yet sunny. There was a slight breeze which made it a bit cooler but this was still early on Friday morning. Most people were going to work and there were some who were running or exercising too. I saw a young mother pushing her pram and walking along the canal. There were ducks swimming- it all seemed so tranquil and beautiful. 


After a bit, we decided to go back to the hotel - I was already feeling sleepy because I didn’t really sleep well in the plane. 
Back in the room, we both decided to nap for a while but must have dozed off completely because when we woke up it past noon!  
After a nice long bath and freshening up we went downstairs to look for some food but looking at the menu, decided to walk back into town instead. 
We took the same path along the canal and stopped to admire some houses along the way. Ireland is a beautiful country. No wonder they call it the Emerald Isle. Everything is green and there are flowers everywhere. 
We walked on towards the town but stopped half way when we saw a fish and chip shop. Buying some take away we decided to go back to our hotel. It was around 3.30 pm. The fish and chips would serve as our late lunch then. 


7 Jun 2015

A trip to Bandung, Indonesia



On the 26th March, Repin and I were off to Bandung by Air Asia. This trip had been planned since last year- in late August when Air Asia had a sale. We only paid for the flight over, the return flight was free! And we were supposed to celebrate Repin's birthday there. Anyway we arrived in Bandung in the late evening - our flight had been delayed by almost an hour in Kuala Lumpur so instead of arriving at 4.40 as scheduled we arrived at 5.40 pm. After checking in we decided to eat dinner at the hotel instead and have an early night, rather than go out. Pak Rosikin was supposed to come the next day anyway. 

The weather in Bandung at this time of year is cool but slightly wet. According to the driver it has been raining almost everyday this past week but mainly drizzles. I hope it does not rain while we are here. 
Dinner was simple but delicious. I had fried noodles while Repin had a soup ( ox tail soup) with rice and vegetables. That night we went to bed fairly early - around 9.30 pm and woke up the next day at 4 am for the early morning prayers. 

The next day Wan and Emma arrived. We went to the airport to get them and then had breakfast at the coffee shop nearby. Good breakfast with pancakes and scrambled eggs, just the way we liked it. After checking in Emma and I decided to go the the Pasar Baru first for some shopping, then off we went to a few places for sight seeing. Rosikin told us about this nice place for families - where we can eat and relax. It was on the way to the Daun which is on the way to the mountains so we went there first. 


    

It's a man made lake with a lovely garden around it and beside it one can see all the various plants which are found in the area. There is also a kind of herb garden with lots of herbs growing  and even vegetables such as tomatoes, peas, cabbages, kailan etc
Later we went to the Daun, a restaurant that specialises in local delicacies set amidst lush greenery, complete with man made streams and even a waterfall. This is a popular place for both locals and visitors and one has to book in advance in order to eat here. Unfortunately for us it rained while we were there, and spoiled the view for us. But luckily, as always the food did not disappoint. 
 

Bandung



9 Mar 2015

A nasty experience with online games


SHave you ever had somebody stealing and playing your game? . I'm talking of online games - such as Farm Story, Hay Day etc. These are the two games that I play and have been playing for some time. While playing Farm Story I made a number of good friends from US , The UK and also from China. Even though I have stopped playing Farm Story I still keep in touch with these friends I had made in the game. 

Hay Day is another of these games - it's more challenging and fun especially once you are in a neighbourhood. Apart from actually 'planting, harvesting and making use of our produce' we can chat and enjoy ourselves with the people in our neighbourhood. But one day recently my farm was hijacked and all my produce that I had accumulated  were stolen. It was the scariest moment - like your identity had been stolen. In fact since the game used our FB address, it is stealing our identity. I quickly changed my password but the hacker still could get in. All my coins were used up to buy things which were then transplanted to his farm. How did he manage to do this? It was my own fault - sheer carelessness. He came in the guise of an Fb friend and wanted me to add him as a friend. Like a fool I added him and when he asked me to go to a certain website ( to move to higher levels faster) I did. The website asked for my password and like the gullible fool that I was i filled in the password without a second thought. Immediately however I realised my mistake but it was already too late
. Within seconds he had my password and accessed my farm. In front of my eyes I could see stuff in my barn being put on sale for the minimum  of coins. I felt helpless and angry. I switched off my tablet and proceeded to delete the account. However it was too late because in half an hour he had sold everything I had in my barn- things that had taken me months of playing. And if that is not enough he even passed my farm to some friends of his! I felt violated. I changed all my passwords and even my id. But to no avail. Right now I feel like a fugitive  - running from group to group hoping he cannot find me. 
Finally after much complaints to HD admin I finally could get my farm back. HD had updated the game and to continue one had to use one's password. From then on I felt slightly safer. Weeks passed and the intruder was never seen again. I had learned a valuable lesson in online security.