SO COLD IN IRELAND

The land of Guinness and leprechauns…at a nice and chill 3 degrees Celcius!!

That’s where I spent Xmas and welcomed 2009.

It began with a rather uncomfortable 13 hour flight to London followed by the usual mess of having to transit through Heathrow Airport. The fear of being deported for being mistaken for a Tamil Tiger or an Islamic terrorist was always on my mind. I made a conscious effort not to say words such as Bomb, Terrorist, Jihad, Islam, etc.
Having cleared immigration, I was off to Dublin via BMI. (British Midlands Airlines) A short uneventful flight and we landed in Dublin shortly after an hour of being in the air.
It was great to see Mary and Maya at the airport. There was my bundle of joy, wrapped in a huge bundle of clothes. It was freezing cold!!! We left the air port and headed into the midlands. ABBEYLEIX, COUNTY LAOIS…HERE I COME!!!

The following 2 weeks was a thrilling ride through the culinary delights of Irish Cooking. I can honestly say, I would have easily consumed an entire pig during my stay over there. The pig came in various forms, everyday. Ham, Bacon, sausages, rashers, white pudding, black pudding (Can’t say what it’s made of…eh hemm), roast, etc, etc.

My favorite was Mary's mom's signature dish....BACON n CABBAGE with an onion sauce.

And I, being from Malaysia, a beautiful muslim country, LOVED all the piggy stuff!!! HELL, YEAH!!! The only HALAL food I had over the 2 weeks must have been the “Thosai” that I made for everyone with my mom’s famous Onion Chutney!!

Next on my Irish Food Safari were potatoes. The Irish consume potatoes the way we, over here, have rice. Loads of rice here, Loads of potatoes there.

They came in one form. Mashed.

And for one night only, by special Xmas request, they came baked!!

Now don’t get me wrong, just like the pork, I loved the mashed potatoes but after a week or so, I needed my chilli!! My Malaysian Indian “powers” were fading fast without chilli. I didn’t care if it was Thai Chilli, Indian Chilli or even the English CURRY. I needed some spicy fire!!

My chance came when I was asked to make some Hainanese Chicken Rice at Una’s. Chicken with dark soya sauce, rice cooked with chicken fat….but wait…drum rolls please…fresh CHIILLI, ginger and garlic dip!!!
I made some power chilli that, as Mary said, “Would put hair on a WOMAN’s chest!!!!”

Hehehehehehe!!! My batteries we recharged.

It was time for desserts. YUMMY!!!

Loads of homemade cake, puddings, biscuits, pies, etc. Mary's mom outdid herself with an awesome Xmas fruit ice cream pudding. Just when I thought desserts couldn't get any better, Mary made a "Jamie Oliver" Birthday cake for me.

2 chocolate sponges with rasberry and cream and topped with molten chocolate!!!!

Finally I was ready for the most important part of the holiday celebrations.

The drinking.

Now you’ll have to understand that the Irish don’t have many exportable natural resources so GUINNESS, BAILEY’S and JAMESON’S are pretty important economic commodities. I did my fair share in contributing to that part of their economic sector over the duration of my 2 weeks stay.
The pubs were old and cold. The drinks were smooth and my holiday was getting smoother.

So there you have it….good company, good food and great drink. Good Thanni and great Pandi!! (Tamil for drink and pig!! hehehe!!)

What more can you ask for from a holiday?

Overall, it was a fantastic, rejuvenating and much needed break before I take on the challenges of 2009.