Jul 16 2015

The Long and Winding Road

Day fifteen – Lisdoonvarna

One thing that has been troubling me since driving in Ireland is the speed limits. In Australia the speed limit is determined by the maximum speed you can do on that stretch of road safely. This depends on a number of factors such as the width of the road, it’s condition, the surface, the sharpness of the bends if any etc.

Today I was driving through the Killarney National Park on my way down to do the Ring of Kerry route. The speed limit was continually posted at 100 km/hr. I felt a pressure to try and do this speed as in Australia that is certainly the expectation but there was no way that I could. Through the park, I barely left third gear it was so bendy and narrow! So, why bother making the speed limit 100 km/hr when you can barely do 60 without endangering yourself and the numerous cyclists you’re sharing the tiny, slither of a road with!

The bendiness didn’t abate when I hit the Ring of Kerry. It was a good job I was driving because otherwise I would have been puking. The views made up for it though. Here are some of the best shots from today. Spectacular!

Killarney National Park

Ring of Kerry

Panorama of the Ring of Kerry

And tonight I am relaxing in a pub where I have a room for the night in Lisdoonvarna listening to live Irish music whilst drinking my sauvignon blanc!

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Image credits

All photos taken by MerilynW and shared on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Jul 14 2015

The Colour Green and TV Timesuckage

Day fourteen – Limerick

Ireland is really green. I thought England was green but it is not in the same class of greenness that Ireland is. The intensity of the green is different. It is just really, really green here.

Today I visited Brú na Bóinne and a Neolithic mound at Knowth. If you don’t believe me about the green, check out my photos from today.

Now that’s green!

Newgrange in the distance (the not so green thing).

Even my hoodie isn’t green enough!

More green bits.

I’m spending the night in Limerick. When I entered my room and noticed there was no TV, I was actually a bit relieved. TV in English is a huge time suck. I had all kinds of plans of getting my masters assignment written this week and next but so far I haven’t worked on it since Seasalter.

I didn’t calculate how much time I would be spending sightseeing here. By the time I get back to where I’m staying, I’m knackered, turn on the TV and start mindlessly channel surfing until after midnight! There is a lot of reality TV on in the UK and I’ve been watching Come Dine With Me, A Place in the Sun, Grand Designs and Location, Location, Location for a bit of Aussie. There is also great comedies like 8 Out of 10 Cats. Then there is the movies.

I can stream anything I want to watch at home in Japan but there is something about a remote and a thousand channels on simultaneously that is far more appealing than getting off the couch at the end of each episode of Modern Family to start the next one. But tonight I have nothing but my computer and (not Japanese speed) internet. After I’ve finished tonight’s blog post, dinner and some wine in the hotel bar, had a shower, organised my route for tomorrow and checked my FB, I’ll be able to really knuckle down on that paper!

Jul 14 2015

Wet but Worth It

Day thirteen – Northern Ireland

First day in the Emerald Isle and I decided to drive to the Giant’s Causeway. The hour and a half journey became considerably longer though as I had to negotiate all the 12th of July marches that were occurring on the 13th of July.

If only the 12th of July marches were on the 12th of July!

I had planned to get lunch on the way but as it is a public holiday, everything was shut. I ended up buying the only vegetarian option on the menu at a chip van. You guessed it – chips!

I have come totally unprepared for the weather and I don’t have any rain gear. I could get away with that in London but I don’t think I’m going to get away with it here. So after traipsing all over the rocks in the rain, I got back to the visitors centre and decided to buy a ‘mac in a sac’ since the next sight I am going to visit tomorrow is also outdoors. In the end, I spent a couple of hours at the Giant’s Causeway and after considerable reflection, I wrote in the visitors book simply “wet but worth it”.

The wet rocks

Wet people on the wet rocks

Wet Merilyn on the wet rocks!

As I was writing this, I spilt my tea all over my only pair of jeans for the trip. The tea was the other thing today that was “wet but worth it” and now I am too!

Jul 13 2015

My Birthday Weekend

Day Ten – Back to London

My birthday eve and Kim and I cleaned up Smuggler’s Cove ready for an onslaught of guests the following day. Then we headed back to New Eltham and Zac’s school fete. I had a delicious Pimm’s and Lemonade and was put in charge of ‘queue control’ for Vicky’s face painting stall. Vicky painted about fifteen Frozen related faces (including a sweet boy who insisted on being Anna) and a fox that had to be downgraded to a Ninja Turtle.

Afterwards, we drove up for dinner with Kim’s family in a fancy house. We arrived just as dinner was being served so we timed it perfectly. Some of Kim’s Hungarian relatives were there and one of them was more comfortable in German than English so I tried to talk with him. I had a bit of language confusion and a couple of times used German, Japanese and English words all in the same sentence. The problem seemed to resolve itself though as the evening progressed and the Pàlinka (Hungarian firewater) hit the table. One shot and I was fluent. Can’t remember which language though!

Day Eleven – Back in Seasalter

View of the sea from the lounge at Smuggler’s Cove.

View of the countryside from the balcony off the kitchen at Smuggler’s Cove.

After cleaning up from the night before and having a cooked breakfast, everyone headed back down to Smuggler’s Cove for some relaxation. The holiday let that Kim and Vicky have is very comfortable with terrific views. It sleeps 7+ and there is a huge deck and two balconies. You can easily walk into Whitstable in about forty minutes or get lost running along the seawall, also in about forty minutes.

I got multiple cakes, lovely pressies, cream decorated with my name and a hiding at connect four by a seven year old. I also got to watch the Eagle’s thrash Adelaide with a real football fan and a confused Hungarian! All in all, it was a wonderful birthday!

Dinner at Smuggler’s Cove – thanks Kim and Vicky!

Go Eagles!

My name in blueberries – somehow!

Day Twelve – Belfast (well a bit outside it actually)

Picked up my hire car at the airport, keyed into the sat nav my B&B and headed to the motorway. I’ve got ten days travelling around Ireland from Belfast to Dublin. A sign on the motorway told me it would take 80 minutes to reach Dublin. So am now wondering what I’m going to do for the other nine days and 22 hours.

Jul 9 2015

Best Pubs in Whitstable for Studying Your Masters

Day seven – Still in Seasalter

Whilst in the beautiful surrounds of Seasalter, my plan is to do some serious work on my masters course. I have the draft of my next assignment due at the end of the month and I want to have a less stressful experience than what I had for the first assignment. For this assignment, all I managed by the draft due date was an introduction followed by section headings as an outline. When I finally found time to dedicate to writing the 5000 word essay, I decided to completely re-write what I had done up to that point so I ended up writing the thing basically from scratch the weekend before the Monday it was due. This was quite a painful ordeal and I had to sacrifice a brunch invitation at the Park Royal Hyatt in Shinjuku to boot! Although it all turned out ok in the end and I passed the module, I really, really, really want a smoother, less panicked lead up to this assignment due date. And I definitely don’t want to be forced to turn down any eating experiences!

So, to this end, I’m taking time every day to work on my masters. Sure, I’m also checking the FB way more than usual, blogging about my trip every day and enjoying time with my friends but I am on holiday after all! Whilst in Seasalter though, I have made a lovely routine. Every day I get up and work for a few hours at Kim and Vicky’s house. Then I pack up all my gear and walk in to Whitstable which is about 45 minutes away by foot. There I find a nice pub with wifi, have lunch and continue working for a while before heading back to Seasalter where I relax for the rest of the evening.

So I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the best pubs to study your masters in Whitstable!

Pub #1 – Pearson’s Arms

This pub has a big reputation. Kim told me it is famed for its seafood menu and is very popular with locals and tourists alike. Situated on the beach, it is in a very nice location but how is it for masters studying? I’ve decided to rate the pubs on three criteria:

Just enough room for my wine on the table with all those electronics!

Quality of food
Price (I am a student after all!)
Atmosphere for studying

So here is how the Pearson’s Arms did:

Quality of food – I found the menu lacking in any plant based options. The fish and chips came with the traditional peas but that was about it. As a ‘ridiculously loose when on holiday’ pescatarian, I was trying to do my best to add some veggies. I enquired if the fish pie came with a salad and was told that sadly, no it was just the pie. So I ordered salt and pepper squid as I wasn’t really that hungry. I couldn’t find the pepper for the life of me but it didn’t matter because it was delicious!
Price – mains were about the £14 to £15 mark but the squid was an entree so was half that price. The large house white that accompanied it was £6.50!
Atmosphere for studying – very conducive. Quiet background music. Busy with patrons but not to the extent that it was too noisy. And I got a table right next to a power outlet which was great! Patrons were friendly and talked to me too which was nice to break up my work.

Day Eight – Seasatler still

On the way out of the Pearson’s Arms yesterday, I noticed another pub with a free wifi sign. So here is my review for studying your masters at the Prince Albert (no snickering please!)

Pub #2 – The Prince Albert (come on!)

Whoops – drank the wine before taking the photos!

Quality of food – A much more veggie friendly menu. Again I wasn’t that hungry so I went for the crab cakes which were listed under the salad options. A lot of the food had an Asian twist to it that made me feel at home and the crab cakes were no exception with a lovely sweet chilli dipping sauce and plenty of sesame added to the salad. Yum!
Price – Very reasonable and student friendly with even mains being around the £8 mark. My large house white was again £6.50 which was almost as much as my lunch. It was more than my lunch when you consider I drank two!
Atmosphere for studying – music was a bit loud to be honest but spot on in terms of my era! There was a power point near a small table though which suited me and over all less customers so less crowd noise. Also less spontaneous interaction which I’m a bit sad about.

Day Nine – You guessed it, I’m still in Seasalter

I wandered into Whitstable today with no direct plan. I walked up the high street and ended up in the, hmm, looking around the pub and can’t find the name of it. Hang on, I’ll just pop outside… The Quayside Freehouse!

Pub #3 – The Quayside Freehouse

Too nice a day to be inside but the wine deal convinced me!

From the exterior and a brief look in through the windows, I could tell this was a bit of a rougher style pub. I took a deep breath and headed inside for today’s review.

Quality of food – Finally a pub with a decent veggie option. I had the grilled vegetable lasagne with chips and salad. Very tasty.
Price – Very economically priced for students. My meal was just £7.95 and therefore the cheapest of the three pubs I’ve visited. But that wasn’t the clincher. On ordering my standard large house white, I was informed that if I intended to get two glasses (well duh!) then I would receive the rest of the bottle free! “Done!” I said in triumph!
This is the biggest pub I’ve worked in but not too loud or busy so quite good for working. No obvious power outlets near the tables though so I will have to pack up as soon as my battery runs out. I did help out a retired couple who were trying to get directions to a store from the waitress. I brought over my computer and we looked it up on a map. They were very happy! What is it with old people and maps? Mum, Aunty Peta – any thoughts?

So there you have it. If you are ever in Whitstable and need to do some study on your masters degree, hopefully this post will help you decide the best places to do it! I’m sure this is a niche worth covering! 🙂

Image Credits

All photos are by Merilyn Winslade and shared on Flickr.

Jul 9 2015

The Importance of Planning

Day eight – Still in Seasalter

Whoops!

Note to self – when in a foreign country, look up a map before going on a forty minute run!

Today I headed out thinking for my run that I’ll just keep the sea to the right for twenty minutes and then keep it to my left for the next twenty minutes. So I started off running along the sea wall. I don’t like looking at my phone all the time so I decided to judge the time by counting the number of songs that had played. I estimated that each song was roughly three minutes long so I decided to run for seven songs along the wall. It was a bit slow going along the wall and so I thought I should go a bit longer than half way and when it came time to turn back, run along the road a bit faster.

After seven songs, I came a long a gravel track heading back to the road so I took it. It didn’t lead back to the road. I went up a hill, down a hill, along a bit, around a corner and two kilometres later, finally hit the road and the way back to Seasalter. I had only run along the road for a few minutes when my phone told me my forty minutes was up. I thought about keeping on going but I was really tired. I had walked into Whitstable and back earlier in the day.

I checked the route on my phone and I was about five kilometres away from my starting point! I began walking along the narrow road and I decided to hitch a ride back. I stuck my thumb out but car after car passed me by. I’ve hitchhiked in New Zealand, the US and even Botswana before and I never had trouble getting a lift in those places. Did I look particularly threatening in my running gear? Lots of bikes passed me by too but they were the flimsy racing type and there was no way I was scoring a dink on those!

In the end I had to resort to putting on a limp to get a lift and finally a nice lady stopped to pick me up. She drove me back to Smuggler’s Cove. As I alighted from her car, some of the cyclists that had overtaken me earlier went passed. They yelled out at me that I had cheated. I agreed with them!

At least I had time to snap a few selfies!

Image Credits

Photos taken by me and shared on Flickr.

Jul 7 2015

Packing for English Summers

Day six – Seasalter

It is hot in my old country of Australia during summer. It is hot in my new country of Japan too. I had forgotten that it isn’t hot in England during summer.

Just before I left to come to London, the BBC headlines were all about the heatwave in the UK. I only noticed the headlines and didn’t read the articles. If I had, I would have noticed the the sweltering temperatures they were talking about were low 30’s and sometimes just high 20’s. Unfortunately, it was on the headlines and not the articles themselves that I based my packing. I generally pack light anyway, but I may have gone a bit far this time considering I’m here for a month. This is my packing list:

One Aussie’s comment on the UK heatwave published on the BBC!

3 x t-shirts
shorts
jeans
green hoodie
dress/shoes for wedding
5 x knickers
2 x bras
2 x sports outfits
hat
sunnies
thongs
sneakers
3 x socks
pj’s
toiletries
a large variety of electronics and associated paraphernalia including selfie stick

So far, I’ve had two problems. Firstly, since I didn’t specify the toiletries to take, I forgot deodorant. This meant I arrived at Kim and Vicky’s very, very smelly. Secondly, I believed the headlines and indeed, the day of my arrival, it did feel a bit hot. I was definitely hot on the train to New Eltham and this combined with my no deodorant problem, meant myself and the passengers surrounding me were particularly uncomfortable.

The heatwave ended the day after I arrived as it rained. It hasn’t been hot since. I have been wearing my one pair of jeans and my one hoodie ever since. I went shopping to get some more clothes on Friday but all they are selling are ridiculously short shorts (the type you bottom falls out of) and skinny jeans. I can’t wear skinny jeans because I’m not skinny. So the shopping trip was a total failure and I’m now stuck wearing the same pair of jeans and the same hoodie until the 17th.

Why the 17th you ask? Because that is the day of Ruth’s wedding and I’ll be wearing a summer dress, freezing my arse off and popping my jeans in the wash so they are ready for wear again the next ten days of my holiday!

Jul 6 2015

A Weekend Away Whilst Away

Day three – Still London

Elaine and I made some goals for the holidays for our weight loss program. She’s been doing really well and is hoping to lose a few more pounds while she’s away. My goal was to not gain, exercise every day and track my food in MyFitnessPal.

Day three and I’ve already lost the will to track all my meals. The food is too good at Kim and Vicky’s and Friday’s dinner of lamb, roast veggies and salad washed down with a sparkling red was two helpings worth of delicious.

Day four – Milton Keynes

I caught up with Simone, Chris and Ella and Simone’s parents for some sober karaoke. That’s right people, we were all stone cold sober. Now that I know how I sound, I won’t be attempting sober karaoke again. For full enjoyment, myself and the audience need to be a little bit numb.

Day five – Back to London

Before heading back to London, we visited the fascinating Bletchley Park. Conversation moved to reminiscing about our time in New Zealand where Simone and I lived in a shared house in Wellington. Somehow we got talking about New Zealand accents and I mentioned this ‘advert’ from New Zealand.

Apparently we were talking too loud because one of the workers came up to us and said he knew exactly what we were talking about!

Jul 3 2015

Meeting My Masters Mates

Day two – London

Santi, Heather and me discussing the issues!

Yesterday I met with two people from my masters course that I have known for about six months but who have only ever seen me from the waist up and in my pyjamas with my early morning snottiness on the go. Thanks to London’s heatwave cooling off momentarily, they’ve now seen me in jeans without my face being partially obscured with tissues.

At the Rockingham Arms in Elephant and Castle, it’s student friendly prices and the house wine comes out of a tap in three sizes of small, medium and large. They only had to ask my preference once. Thanks Santi and Heather for a terrific evening!

Image Credits
Dev Ed Meeting shared on Flickr by Merilyn Winslade (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Jul 3 2015

Too Loud for the Cheap Seats

Day one – Travelling to London

I’ve been told once or twice, that I’m a bit loud. My sister Terri (who has also been told the same thing) and I, have been chastised by members of the public in various locations when we’ve been together. This has included a movie theatre (whilst the ads were playing – “shut up you stupid bitch!”), the Eurostar (during school holidays – “you girls are worse than the kids!”), every family Christmas event I can remember (“quieten down girls – people think you’re talking about them!” – and we were) and most recently, on my balcony in Yokohama whilst chatting over Facetime (a head pops round the corner and… “neighbour!”).

Yesterday, I wasn’t with my sister. I was instead sitting in cattle class on British Airways flight number 8 from Tokyo on my way to London. It is a 12½ hour flight and I was looking forward to watching at least four movies. As soon as I settled in to my seat, I got out my noise cancelling headphones and plugged in. There was an enormous amount of crackling coming through the headphones and I noticed that using the supplied set didn’t resolve it either. I called over the air steward and explained the situation. He promptly found me a new seat in the emergency row. This was a little upgrade as people normally have to pay about £50 for the privilege. It is the cheapest upgrade you can get!

There were three seats together and I was put in the middle one. I had a Japanese lady to my left and a Brit bloke to my right. I began chatting with the bloke. I was so happy to be able to talk to a stranger! It is something that I miss a lot living in Yokohama – random conversations with people you’ll never meet again. He turned out to be a bit of a ‘Harry-have-a-chat’ so we were talking a lot. After a few minutes, the lady on my left asked if I could swap seats with ‘Harry’ because she couldn’t listen to me for twelve hours!

I was actually very taken aback because I wasn’t laughing which is what usually pushes people over the edge and I didn’t think I was talking any louder than my companion. He was also quite shocked. In the end, I politely refused to move. She said that people normally pay for these seats and I counted that that was for the extra leg room and not for a cone of silence.

Harry and I did continue talking but we both made an effort to be extra quiet. This meant that I had to keep repeating myself a lot because I think he was a bit deaf. And not too much later, the lady discovered her earphones and apologised to me saying that she forgot she had them. If I was sitting next to my sister, I’m sure it wouldn’t have ended so amicably!