Monthly Archives: July 2025

Ireland 2025 – Day 4

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The day started by attending mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral (which is attached to a large beautiful park near our hotel). 

Then headed to the Guinness Storehouse. We did the Connoisseur tasting and tour. The tasting was at a private pub area. Here are the 4 special drinks we had:

-Citrus, grapefruit, Guinness IPA

-Regular guinness, but from a bottle (no nitrogen). Chocolate, coffee and caramel

-Guinness superior porter. Vanilla and derkncherries

-Guinness special export. 8%. Dark raisin and dark chocolate 

Here are some fun facts from the bar tender from the tasting:

-Signed a 9000 year free water contract. No government to enforce it, so not really valid today

-For past 9 years they also brewed some Budweiser

-Porter was named after the workers (aka porters)

-If you donated blood in Ireland before, you were given 3 bottles of Guinness

-Guinness takes care of their staff. Even at 2025, they call their 80 year old former workers. They even provide them a social club for them

-Arthur II (son of the founder also named Arthur) created Guinness stout in a  bottle. It does not have nitrogen though, compared to the draught version 

-In 1990, created the canned version has a ball full of nitrogen. When you open the can, the ball drops and releases the nitrogen

-A new innovation is they have a can with dead nitrogen, and there is a device you put on top of the can that releases sound waves to wake up the dead oxygen (can has to be larger though)

-Why does Guinness taste better in Ireland? It’s because they have quality teams that goes to the bars that serve them and clean the taps

—Also regular regular pours. Need 1 pour every 8 minutes 

Some suggestions from the bar tender about Dublin in general…

-Temple Bar (which we went to the previous night before) is the most tourist trap in Ireland

-Cobblestone pub is good for Irish entertainment. Beside the Jameson distillery.

-Braisen head. Great pies

-Pub that feels like a house. Lord Edward house. Go to the upstairs

-Sole. Backings are a must. Number one seafood recommendation

-Bar1661 can make cocktails with 90% alcohol

-Try dirty fries. Handsome burgers

-Liberty bell… has terrible karaoke

After the Connoisseur tasting, we went through the regular self guided tour. We did it fairly quickly since we had to get to our next destination. The tour itself was fairly interactive. Some key points are that Guinness’s dark color is from roasting the grain to 232 degrees Celsius, Water is important for its tastes (made up of 95% water).

We also went to the top floor, which is the highest bar in Dublin. Only spent 5 minutes, but it would be a good spot to hang out for a bit.

Afterwards we headed to Trinity College (part of The University of Dublin) to look at the Book of Kells. We weren’t allowed to take a picture of the book, but what page it was open to was a picture of the 4 Gospel Evengelist, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The book was made around the 800s and it is mainly just the Gospel but with man illustrations. It was stolen once, and in the 1600s was given to the university, and placed in the Long Room library. That room has lots of philosopher statues, and famous authors like Shakespeare (whose first portfolios are stored there).

Afterwards, we headed to this fast food Chinese place to get an Irish dish called spice bag:

Xi’An Street Food

Then walked around a near by park since we were in the vicinity called St. Stephen’s Green Park. Lots of people just chilling (like you could do on a Sunday in Golden Gate Park). Beside it was a mall called Stephen’s Green Shopping Center. We went through it. It has shops and a department store, but it’s nothing to write home about.

We did go back to our hotel to rest up (and I did a 3 mile run). Then we grabbed drinks at the hotel bar, and headed our way towards dinner. We walked along George St / Castle market area, and noticed on Drury St that even on a Sunday people were drinking in a street, and even sitting down on the street while drinking.

Here is the restaurant we tried, which was definitely great for seafood:

Sole Seafood & Grill

Walked back after dinner, and noticed two things. One is that people do casually puke on the street (and go back to drinking), and two garbage trucks run over plastic pylons).

And that is a wrap for Ireland.

…

The next day flew out of DUB at 11:35am (flight got delayed until 12:20). Some facts about the airport: (1) after security, go to the lounge before pre-clearance (1 minute detour), (2) pre-clearance does have global entry, but took still 15 minutes (since there is another line before getting to the actual border agents), (3) there is a “duty” free shop after pre-clearance (where I bought Redbreast 15), (4) gate information won’t be available until after pre-clearance where there are monitors

Ireland 2025 – Day 3

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We started the day by leaving our hotel in central cork and heading towards Midleton for the Midleton Distillery tour (ie where Jameson is made).

Our tour guide was great, and I learned a lot. Here are the main facts from the tour…

-Difference between malt whisky and Irish whisky is that the former just uses grinded malted barley, while Irish uses malted and unmalted barley

-Difference between beer and whisky is that distilling brings the alcohol from 20% (beer) to 40%

-Shoveling the coal to the wash still was the 2nd hardest job (but required skill because they had to slowly increase the temperature)

-Pot still vs continuous distillation…

—Pot still distillation, the beer gets boiled at 78 degrees and rises as vapor. When it cools down the first time, it becomes x %. Doing this two more times brings it up to 84%. This known as triple distillation (how red breast and others are made). These are more full. Bodies whiskies.

—For continuous distillation, I think it doesn’t turn back to liquid, and uses steam somehow to bring the alcohol overage up. Whisky from this process is more light. 

—Mixing in continuous distillation and pot still distillation is how Jameson is made. This is also known as blended whisky

-By Irish law, you need to store it in a barrel for 3 years

-They also produce gin, using some herbal flowers

-For barrels, the use some from America (from the bourbon barrels… and by definition bourbons can only use barrels once, which is why they ship them to Ireland) (notes from American barrels are vanilla). They also use Spanish sherry barrels (fruits notes), and from Porto, 

-Barrels are kept in untouched temperatures. Slight warmer in summary, and colder in winter

-Before putting it to the barrel they need to add water to bring the alcohol from 84% to 64%

-Straight from the barrel is known as cask strength (and alcohol percentage is usually higher since they don’t dilute it????)

-Angel share is the term used when the whisky liquids reduces over time in the barrel (but it gets more flavor the longer it is in the barrel).

At the end of the tour, we had a tasting of regular Jameson, Greenspot, and Redbreast 12. Actually liked Greenspot the best. Liked the Redbreast the least since I thought it tasted like bourbon.

After the tour we did the premium whisky tasting as well. We had a Jameson black barrel, Powers, Redbreast 15, and Middleton 2024 Rare. Liked the Middleton the best, followed by the Redbreast 15, then the Jameson, then the Powers (this one was not fruity at all).

After the tour, I ended up bottling my own Jameson black barrel cask strength (can only get this barrel at this distillery).

Then we got food at this restaurant close by:

Ferrit & Lee

Before leaving Midleton we walked around the downtown area. A mix between Aberlour, but more businesses.

From there, headed towards Dublin. We did stop by Rock of Cashel (which looks like a Castle). According to Google AI “The Rock of Cashel, often mistakenly called Cashel Castle, is a historic site in County Tipperary, Ireland, with a rich history spanning centuries. It was the seat of the Kings of Munster before becoming a significant religious center. While not a traditional castle, it features a complex of medieval buildings, including a cathedral, Cormac’s Chapel, and a round tower.“  And it was said that St Patrick converted the King to Catholicism.

From there headed straight to Dublin. First dropped off the rental car at the the Avis downtown, then checked into our hotel at Radisson Blu Royal.

After, we checked out this Michelin recommended restaurant, called Spitalfields. Details here:

Spitalfields

Then checked out the nightlife in Dublin. Pubs and bars usually close at 1am. “Late night” places like nightclubs close at 2:30 or 3am.

We first visited The Stag’s Head on Dame St to see some comedy. Unfortunately Gunther a bit too late (around 11:30), but still was able to get drinks and listen to some Irish music downstairs. This area in general has lots of nightlife (bars/pubs/clubs).

We then went to Izakaya, where they were playing house-ish EDM music on the lower level, and more main stream at the main level. They are open late. They also are Japanese and serve Toki highballs.

After, checked out the Temple Bar area (yes it’s an area), but went into the actually bar where they had something similar to a piano bar, but with a guitar. Got a Macallan 12 there.

We then checked out an area close by (not sure if it’s name) where there are other dance clubs: Wigwam (this one was sold out), Yamamori (friend did not feel like checking it out, but would have wanted to check out the vibe), and The Grand Social (closes at 1am, and really seems like a pub).

For G areas, the Pawn Shop, and club next to it seem like good candidates (and they’re open at least till 3am). Pawn shop is known for their electronic music in general.

Last area we went to was Camden St. it was happening, but we might have been too late since it was already 2:15am. This is where we ended the night.

Ireland 2025 – Day 2

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First part of the day was going around the Ring of Kerry (recommended stop we followed were mainly from chatGPT). We started at our hotel in Killarney, The Lake Hotel, and drove 15 minutes south to our first stop, Torc Waterfall. After parking we followed the yellow trail to get to the waterfall. It was a moderate hike in terms of elevation, but definitely recommend doing it. Waterfall was also a good view. The area in general is a good area for hiking trails (and is part of the Killarney National Park).

We then headed to the next recommend stop, Ladies View. It was a quick stop of a high scenic view of the lakes. Worth the stop.

The third stop was Moll’s Gap. Definitely worth skipping (nothing really to see).

Fourth stop was at a town called Sneem. Main attractions are the scultpure park and the bridge. I would say it’s optional to stop by, but would recommend getting lunch there if you hadn’t eaten yet.

Next stop was Kerry Cliffs (which itself is slightly off the Ring of Kerry. It’s in the Skellig Ring). Definitely recommend visiting it for the views.

Next we visited one other site that was off the Ring of Kerry, Valencia Island, to view the Tetrapod footprints (the animals were supposedly one of the first animals to set foot on land on earth, and they are 1 meter long)). Not sure if it was worth the detour, since not sure if the footprints were real.

Last stop was Roseebeigh beach. Not worth the stop (just a plain beach).

In summary, the must sees are the Torc Waterfall, Kerry Cliffs, and Ladies view. The skippable ones are Moll’s Gap and Rossbeigh beach. If there is a next time might spend 20 minutes hanging out in Glenbeigh along the way. And might try and do the west most European islands, Skellig Michael. Also, fyi, driving the ring is pretty intense because half the time the roads do not fit two cars (you have to give way to people coming on the opposite side).

Afterwards, we headed for a 2 hour drive to our hotel in Cork, the Clayton Cork Hotel, located in the center of the city.

Soon after arriving we had a reservation at a seafood restaurant a block away called Goldie. Details here:

Goldie

In terms of exploring the city for nightlife, you basically have Oliver Plunkett St happening with lots of bars and pubs. St Patrick St is filled with shops, and has the classic Burger King open late. For a touristy Irish dive bar with folk music, we churches out Sin E (recommended by a waitress). It is small, but there was Irish music. For electronic music, Resident Advisor said an event with Katie Butler (no Spotify and many sound cloud accounts with the same name) was happening at Dali. Music was all over the electronic spectrum, but ended up staying there for 1 hour. Crowd was my scene 😉

FYI the above is mainly around the St Patrick neighborhood. There is also the Victorian Quarter as well as others that would be good to visit next time.

Ireland 2025 – Day 1

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Flew out of IBZ around 11am, and arrived at DUB at 1pm local time. Immigration was fairly fast.

We ended up renting a car, and driving west towards a town called Limerick.

At Limerick, we stopped by King John’s Castle. Learned 4 things about the castle:

-Henry II invaded Ireland and ordered the castle to be built for his son King John

-King John never actually entered it since he died 6 years after it was ordered to be built (died of dysentery)

-For some reason there was a siege/rebels (I think in the 1500s)

-lots of purses (to activate people speaking in the museum you had to lift these coin purses)

We then stopped by town to grab an early dinner. Parts of the town reminded me of the lower east side inn New York, while others were clearly more gentrified (and others looked like buildings were falling apart). Here is the restaurant we ate at, called Coqbull (and yes it is a play on what you’re thinking because the WiFi password is whipitout).

Coqbull

After we drove another 2 hours to Killarney. We passed by towns that looked similar to Aberlour, and lots of greenery.

At Killarney, first thing we did is check into our hotel, The Lake Hotel. It is actually pretty beautiful with the lake beside it (and a castle that is dilapidated).

The town of Killarney is also fairly nice, where you can definitely see people have their weddings here. We also ventured into town and checked out one Irish bar, Tinh Mary Donald’s, and got a Guiness (they also had trivia night going on). Also hopped into one other place, Kaynes Bar and Restaurant, to try Killarney whisky. It’s not bad, but also wouldn’t be my first choice.

Then ubered back to the hotel to get a complimentary night cap at the hotel bar.

Porto 2025 – Day 4

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Last full day in Porto!

Today we decided to take it easier, and had a late start at 1pm. First stop was the Livraria Lello bookstore. Apparently many authors in the past were inspired by its architecture. They also (unfortunately falsely) have claimed that JK Rowling has elements of Diagonal Aly inspired from it (she confirmed in an interview this is incorrect).

The book store itself was architecturally interesting, and they re-printed classic books in a smaller form which was cool. Since the tickets could be used towards the cost of a book purchase (10 euros off), we bought two books: The Art of War, and Picture of Dorian Gray.

After the book store, grabbed a quick Aperol Spritz and headed towards Muu for lunch (great recommendation from a friend):

Manteigaria

After head east part of downtown. We stopped by an egg tart place so my friend could try it for the first time in Portugal, called Manteigaria:

Manteigaria

Then walked to the Chapel of Souls to take pictures of the blue and white tile art.

Then visited a nearby shopping mall called ViaCatarina (seemed like a typical mall).

After, took a small rest, and then headed towards the beach area Praia da Luz. (Note for future. Apparently Porto is typically windy in the afternoons, but not the mornings. So it’s better to go to the beach in the mornings).

There is a beach club in Praia da Luz (with the same name) that was great, and would highly recommend going back (ie EDM music was on point):

Praia da Luz

Although it was a cloudy/foggy, we ended up walking (and partly running) from Praia da Luz to the town of Matosinhos. Doing this instead of ubering was a great idea. Got to see other beach hangout spots (ie beach clubs) along the way. Also for next time, the beach at Matosinhos is highly recommended.

For dinner we did end up going to this seafood restaurant (5 Oceanos) to fill a friends seafood craving:

5 Oceanos

And that’s a wrap for Porto! (Note the next day when flying out, EasyJet bag drop off line was super long). Definitely get to the airport 2 hours before.

Porto 2025 – Day 3

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We started off the day with a 2.5 hour walking tour. Highly recommend, and this is the website of the tour guide:

https://diogotourguide.wixsite.com/takeporto

We met the group at the Porto City hall building (5 minutes from the hotel. We then walked to the area where the bookstore, Livraria Chardron is located (allegedly JK Rowling was inspired by some of Howard’s designs, but she herself claimed this is false.

Here are some facts along the tour:

– Year 858AD Portugal became a country

-Olive oil , garlic and xxxx is the three main ingredients

-Not good in military, but great explorers 

-Blue and white tiles are from Portuguese architecture (people and tiles)

-Oldest alliance with England (traded alcohol /wine with commerce, military and stability from Spanish people)

-Late dinners at Porto (between 8pm to 10pm)

-The Harry porter uniforms are from the university students here where they optionally where black robes

-Slytherands founder Salazar was named after the Portuguese dictator 

-Tower of the clergy (useful for a landmark for knowing where the trade is, but also a bell tower). Connected to the church, but was only donated to the church by its creator Masoni, only wayyyy later when he discovered the church. Unofficially they lost his body (but officially it’s in one of the tombs in this church )

-Each city in Portugal has their own saint. Porto is Sao Juan (St John).

The second last part of the tour was at the Sao Bento station. Mainly talked about the art that was there.

The last part of the tour was in front of Porto Cathedral. When we were there, he gave the advice that the south part (pointing to Gaia) was the tourist area, the north was where the locals are, and the west is where there is history.

After the walking tour, we had lunch at TimeOut. Details here:

TimeOut Market Porto

We then ventured off into Gaia (officially Vila Nova de Gaia) by crossing the lower part of the Pont Luis bridge (which was constructed by the architect of the Eiffel Tower, which is why they look similar), and went to the WOW museum area. 

The first museum we went to was the cork museum (as mentioned previously Portugal makes 60% of the worlds cork). The picture below explains how corks are made  Some interesting facts include Also got to personalize my own cork!

The next museum we went to was the wine museum. Main thing I was interested in is the making of sparkling wine, and how the second fermentation in bottle gives it its bubbles (and that in the process they turn the bottle upside down and sediments build up at the bottom (which is actually the top

Of the bottle), so they have to freeze the “top, remove the cork and the sediments, and then re-cork it (but replacing the liquid with a bit of wine). At the end of the museum there is wine tasting, but we skipped it since we had time constraints.

The last museum we visited was the chocolate museum. The best part was the chocolate tasting at the end. They got us to try a dark, hazelnut and chile chocolate. They then had us try a dark chocolate shaped as a cup, and put Porto wine in it (you had to drink a bit from it before eating it together). Apparently what you want to do is pair a less sweet chocolate with a sweet Porto (basically make sure the sweetness between the two are inverted).

The order of the best museum were: the wine making musesum, the chocolate, and then the cork.

After, since we had time before our dinner reservation, we had an Aperol spritz beside the Duroro River near the Pont Luis bridge. 

We then crossed the bridge, but the upper part this time (secret trick to cross from the sea level to the top is to go through a nearby parking garage, go to the 8th floor, then walk outside around 50m). View was definitely worth it.

For dinner went to this Michelin suggested restaurant. Definitely worth it:

Almeja

Last thing of the day was checking out an EDM festival at Parque da Pasteleira called Electricofest. Only one stage, but sound system was pretty good, and overall good house / disco house experience. Mainly headliner we checked out was Kerri Chandler.

To end the night, we did stop by the McDonald’s Imperial, and got the standard chicken nuggets and quarter pounder (friend got an Arch burger, which is something McDonalds is slowly rolling out, which is bigger than a Big Mac). Great way to end the day

Porto 2025 – Day 2

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We started our day having continental breakfast in our hotel.

Then we met our tour guide at a location 15 minute walk from our hotel, and had a family of 4 in our group (who were also from California). We drove west for over an hour. During the drive the tour guide explained how the mountains make the temperature in Duoro Valley magnified from Porto (ie warmer if it is warm in Porto and colder if it’s cold in Porto).

One also fun fact he mentioned was that cork is something that is highly manufactured here from Cork trees (around 60% of world market.. 20 % is the definition of a monopoly).

The first stop (1.5 hours away from Porto) was a winery called D’Origem. It is a direct to business winery (only 30K bottles of wine produced each year, but they do deliver to the US… 100 euros for 6 bottles, including shipping). They first explained how they make olive oil, and then how they make grapes (grape stomping season is in September). We then had breakfast, where they served a white, rose, and red wine. Really liked the rose, and we bought a bottle for our boat ride.

Next stop was the boat ride at Pinhao town, where had a scenic view of the valley (it was an hour ride but it went fast thanks to the rose).

After, we went to another winery called The Vintage Boutique Winery. They served us lunch (pork and risotto), plus a red and white wine. For desert we had a chocolate cake with a 10 year port pairing. Later they took us to a room where they gave us a 20 and 30 year. It was sweeter as the years increased. A fun fact is that apparently ports can age in a bottle, as long as it air tight.

Beside the winery was Ferdinand Magellan’s house frontage. (But not his really house).

Afterwards, we stopped at a town called Amarante, where a saint called Sao Goncalo was from (aka Portuguese Valentine. Their popular baked good is a penis shaped baked good. We also tried some ham from the region, in addition sampled what they call “green” wine, which is less alcoholic because of its young age (it is not actually green). It wasn’t really good (even our tour guide mentioned that).

Last stop was at the chirch of the above saint, Monsteiro De S. Goncalo.

We then rested for 3 hours at the hotel to get ready for a night out.

First had dinner at this steak place where we tried a Portuguese style steak called Pinhão. Details here:

Vaccarum

Afterwards, checked out a bar called Ferro (near the train station, Sao Bento). Slightly grimy, but still I could see it being an ok place to chill (the 2 rooms are small, and there are 3 (3rd one wasn’t open yet since it usually gets busy around 2am allegedly), but crowd seemed ok).

We then ventured off to the street where most of the bars and night clubs were at, Candido dos Reis. Went to a 3 room club called Plano B. One room was dedicated to techno. It gets busy around 2am. I would come back. Also crowd was my type lol.

Afterwards, went to one more club called Hors Extra. Music was meh (also a 3 room club, but had no electronic music).

Haha on a side note, the street adjacent to Andido dos Reis was full of strip clubs.

Porto 2025 – Day 1

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Flew out from SFO using by Swiss Air. First leg was to Zurich. Paid 37K points (through chase portal) for economy, then upgraded to business for $1210 for the first leg. Definitely worth the upgrade. Got to use the Polaris lounge in SFO since they are a Star Alliance member (main thing in Polaris I got was Macallan 12. They also had Arran).

On the flight itself, remember to make sure that if you’re flying business, either choose the seat that has a lot of side table space, or the lone seat. Overall, great experience. No complaints about food (except that the cheese I think made not more gassy than usual, which did affect sleep). For the first 11 hour leg got 3 hours of work done, and watched 2 hours of shows before trying to sleep. Oh, and one thing they did not have was Aperol (they had Campari). They did have Rebel 0.0 non-alcohol spritz, so used that instead with (actual) champagne (but note Rebel is 15g of sugar, when daily intake should be 30g).

When landing in Zurich (ZRH), connecting flight we only had to go through passport control (not through security again). Could also use the duty free (at SF or Zurich) for alcohol since we were transferring from the US. In addition, since our flight to Porto was delayed, we were able to use the Business class Swiss lounge (I could bring an economy guest). ONE major complaint (which may deter me from flying through ZRH in the summer) is that it does not really use AC, so was sweating in the lounge. Fortunately the business class Swiss lounge had showers! Otherwise, food was subpar at that lounge (and even drinks). Only other good thing was the ice cream and Swiss chocolate.

When boarding my flight to Porto, they instantly upgraded me to business class (which was sweet for the free drinks but really didn’t want to eat more). and FWIW they have bottled Aperol spritz on that flight. Not sure if they upgraded me because of my previous business class ticket, or because I’m Star Alliance Gold)

When we arrived at Porto (OPO), unloading and picking up luggage’s was easy. Instead of ubering to the hotel, used a taxi.

When we got to the Hotel Dom Henrique Downtown, we checked out the 17th floor at this place to view the sunset (unfortunately could only view it through a window):

17 Restaurant and Bar

After, we wandered a slight it around the Aliados area (fairly clean, spacious architecture) walked to a Portuguese restaurant called Brasao, and tried the rissol and francesinha dishes.

Brasao

That pretty much ended out first day.