For anyone who cares, check out this article from today's Cayman Net News (excuse the cheddar!):
Baraud Article in Net News
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Monday, December 03, 2007
Movember
Last week we put up our Christmas tree. It seems like only weeks ago that we got married, but since then we have been to Panama, nearly been hit by Hurricane, and had visits from my Mum and Anne, Joyce and Sandra, and most recently Gail and Ross.
I have grown a moustache, shaved it off, and now dont recognise myself!
Jill will be home in two days, and I wont be far behind her! Where has the last year and a half gone?
Before I get into that discussion, let me tell you about Movember!
Last time I wrote, we were nursing a hangover from a late night party after Calico Jacks. No sooner was that over then we got stuck into "Murph's last week in Cayman" TM. Tuesday night was Murph's last poker league, which we thankfully won! Wednesday was his last ever Poker night, which of course he lost, and Thursday was his official work going away in the Hard Rock. By Friday we were wrecked, but the real fun and excitement had yet to kick off!
Gail and Ross arrived on the 7:20pm flight from Miami on Friday evening, surprisingly with their bags in tow! As their plane landed, the George Town skyline was lit up by fireworks signaling the launch of Pirates Week, a festival that Ross struggled to understand until I laid it out for him, plain and simple: "it's a made up event for the tourists to make money!".
After a quick breather, we headed out to meet the gang who had started drinking several hours earlier on the "Jolly Roger" booze cruise, and were now fairly tanked up down in Hammerheads. Caoire and Kenzo had family and friends over (7 of them to be precise), so we had laid out a schedule of events for the coming week. We went on from Hammerheads to Aqua Beach, but headed home before it got too messy, in preparation for an early start the next morning. Sure to her word, Gail dragged myself and Ross out onto the beach for a 7am run (on a Saturday!!!), with stories of how she runs 10k a day. Not on sand you dont! Sure enough, her legs began to give way after less than a mile! A quick few lengths in the pool afterwards, and we were off for breakfast, picking up Foxton on the way to watch a Leinster match that we subsequently discovered wasnt being televised here!
By the time we got back to the house, the hangovers had kicked in, and we were all secretly envious of Jill who had stayed in bed throughout the morning's events!
After a couple of hours R&R, we officially kicked off Pirates Week by dressing up in the costumes that Jill had thoughtfully (or cruelly, depending on your perspective) picked up the previous week. In full Pirates Costume, we headed into George Town, stopping only to buy a few cans of beer from a street vendor, and to scream "Aahrrr" at unsuspecting children as we walked by! Digicel were hosting a corporate event at Breezes, a bar/ restaurant overlooking the Bay where the main hub of activities were taking place. We met up with everyone else, most of whom were also in costume, and got stuck into the free bar as we watched the parade. I will tell you one thing, it sure as hell beats the Paddy's Day Parade back in Dublin, watching a mock pirate ship storm the shore, with fireworks and cannons, and sunshine!!!!
As the night wore on, we gradually lost pieces of our costumes, and even more of our minds, eventually ending up on the dancefloor of the second floor of Breezes, struggling to keep the flame going 'til midnight!
On Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed, threw on some decent clothes, and headed down to the Ritz for brunch, where we had booked a table for 20 people. To set the scene, the Ritz Brunch is something of legend. Three and a half hours of pure indulgence and gluttony, with a never ending supply of champagne and five star food: breakfast, meats, fish, cheeses, deserts, you name it, it was there, and in abundance. We lorded it up, ate like fools, and rolled ourselves into the bar four hours later to wind down. We eventually dragged our near asleep bodies on to Coconut Joes, where we hit the Beergaritas (a bottle of beer, upside down in a jug of Margarita, I kid you not!) and Buddies (Budweiser Extra: beer with red bull). Our gang were "sensible" and headed home around 11pm. The rest were not so fortunate!
Monday was a public holiday, and we had all booked a boat to take us out on the North Sound, but the sea was too rough, and the boat trip was cancelled, so we headed out to Rum Point, where we were joined by Tim and Leonie. There was a "party" on over at Kaibo Yacht Club, down the road, which we joined around 4pm, finding a poor party, but an empty volleyball court where we challenged a few people that Jill knew to a game, playing until sunset when we hit the road to go home and change before heading back out for dinner for "Murph's last supper" TM.
Copper Fall was the venue of choice for Murph's last meal on his last day on the island, and sure enough he was well fed. We were all fairly exhausted after nearly a week on the go, and so after a few drinks in Aqua Beach, we bid our farewell to Murpadurp! It was a sad day, but in fairness, we had three months to get used to it! Murph, I'll be seeing you soon buddy!
Tuesday was our night off. We chilled out, Jill cooked some top notch dinner, and we watched some DVDs. Perfect!
Wednesday, and we were back in action, this time back over the other side of the island at Kaibo for a night time kayak into the bioluminescense bay in the lagoon, one of only a handful of places in the world where there is natural bioluminescence all year around. Basically there were 14 of us in 7 kayaks, kayaking in the dark (and rain!) for about half an hour up the coast until we reached the Bio Bay. In they bay, you can see fish darting past as they are lit up in silver from the algae that live there. If you put your hand or foot through the water, you get the same effect, like silver stars on your skin. Its class! After a lengthy and tough paddle back to shore, we chilled out over some food and made the trek back home to South Sound, wet and thoroughly exhausted!
On Thursday night, we headed to Casanova's for a nice Italian meal, and then on to Coconut Joe's for the mid-month Movember party, where hairy men compared moustaches and drunk beer! After a few bevvies, we headed home, but on a relative high of giddiness. Once we got back, we opened up some wine and beers, and slapped on the music. Jill was sensible and went to bed around 1am, but myself Gail and Ross stayed up until 4am. OK for them on their holidays, not so good for me who had to get up at 6:30am, walk the dogs, and then go to work! To say that the next day was unproductive would be a gross understatement! Sure enough, our big night out on Friday night was curtailed to dinner in Calypso Grill. We were joined by Kurt, Meredith, Chanelle and Jen, but myself and Ross were struggling to stay awake at the table from tiredness, and we soon headed home to bed!
Saturday morning and we were up early to prepare for our day of footballing! The GAA Mixed 9's Blitz was being held in the Rugby Club, and myself and Jill had been signed up for the Digicel team. Ross and Gail were signed up for another team (the yellow's), but sadly we were not destined to play them. The day was hot but we got stuck in, Ross taking someone out with his elbow in the first 60 seconds of his game. A nice start! After putting him on in the back initially, his team eventually realised his potential and by the last game he was scoring goals left, right and centre! Meanwhile, the Digicel team were motoring away, stopped only by the referee, Foxton, who took exception to a bit of slagging, and decided to call us up on every single questionable decision, even going so far as to disallow a goal that would have seen us win the only match we loss. Alas, we pulled it together and stormed away to a semi final place, against Foxton's team!! Sweet revenge!
Being the sportsman that he is, he elbowed Jimmy H in the face as he went in for a goal, causing the now infamous "Foxgate" scandal. Tempers ran high, digs were threatened, but in the end, we won! Winning the final was just the icing on the cake! We held the trophy high, and got stuck into a boat race with the runners up (drinking game), which we sadly lost, but only narrowly!
Gail and I had signed up to run a 10K the next morning at 7am, but with the taste of victory on our lips, we all headed to the Triple Crown for some post match celebrations, leaving the idea of a quiet night firmly behind us! Sure enough, yours truly was soon up doing Karaoke in the pub, and then back up again for a duet with Olive MacDonagh. Not ones to break tradition, Jill soon announced a party back in ours, and off we trooped, stopping off in A La Kebab on the way for some needed refreshment. Tina Turner was Rolling, Jimmy and Lisa were dancing, and the dogs were barking until 4am. Our neighbours downstairs joined us, as did a taxi full of people that had been at a barbecue down the road, and pretty soon the house was full. It was a tough call getting rid of them all at 4am, but it was soon done!
Sunday morning and we were nursing hangovers, as usual. We had booked ourselves in for a boat trip at 9am, but that was quickly canceled, and we opted for a 12 noon trip instead. Out we went to Stingray City in unusually choppy waters, snorkeling, sobering up, and swimming with the stingrays. Gail cried when she first got in the water, but next thing you know she's chasing the stingrays, kissing them, trying to grab their tails; madness! After a few hours out on the water, we sailed back in, heading home for some Pizza and chill-out time on the couch.
With only one full day to go, Gail and Ross went on a shopping spree (I say in jest), and we went back to work! For our last night, we all headed to Grand Old House for a slap up meal, plenty of wine, chilling out on the water overlooking South Sound.
By the time they left, most of our friends here thought Gail and Ross were living here. We were all sad to see them off, bringing to an end our near two months of guests! The house was quiet, the dogs whining, and normality returned to 282 South Sound Road.
As for the last 3 weeks, I'll have to tell you again.....
BTW, Congrats to Jim and Lisa who finally got engaged at the weekend! It was about bloody time, but fair play.
I have grown a moustache, shaved it off, and now dont recognise myself!
Jill will be home in two days, and I wont be far behind her! Where has the last year and a half gone?
Before I get into that discussion, let me tell you about Movember!
Last time I wrote, we were nursing a hangover from a late night party after Calico Jacks. No sooner was that over then we got stuck into "Murph's last week in Cayman" TM. Tuesday night was Murph's last poker league, which we thankfully won! Wednesday was his last ever Poker night, which of course he lost, and Thursday was his official work going away in the Hard Rock. By Friday we were wrecked, but the real fun and excitement had yet to kick off!
Gail and Ross arrived on the 7:20pm flight from Miami on Friday evening, surprisingly with their bags in tow! As their plane landed, the George Town skyline was lit up by fireworks signaling the launch of Pirates Week, a festival that Ross struggled to understand until I laid it out for him, plain and simple: "it's a made up event for the tourists to make money!".
After a quick breather, we headed out to meet the gang who had started drinking several hours earlier on the "Jolly Roger" booze cruise, and were now fairly tanked up down in Hammerheads. Caoire and Kenzo had family and friends over (7 of them to be precise), so we had laid out a schedule of events for the coming week. We went on from Hammerheads to Aqua Beach, but headed home before it got too messy, in preparation for an early start the next morning. Sure to her word, Gail dragged myself and Ross out onto the beach for a 7am run (on a Saturday!!!), with stories of how she runs 10k a day. Not on sand you dont! Sure enough, her legs began to give way after less than a mile! A quick few lengths in the pool afterwards, and we were off for breakfast, picking up Foxton on the way to watch a Leinster match that we subsequently discovered wasnt being televised here!
By the time we got back to the house, the hangovers had kicked in, and we were all secretly envious of Jill who had stayed in bed throughout the morning's events!
After a couple of hours R&R, we officially kicked off Pirates Week by dressing up in the costumes that Jill had thoughtfully (or cruelly, depending on your perspective) picked up the previous week. In full Pirates Costume, we headed into George Town, stopping only to buy a few cans of beer from a street vendor, and to scream "Aahrrr" at unsuspecting children as we walked by! Digicel were hosting a corporate event at Breezes, a bar/ restaurant overlooking the Bay where the main hub of activities were taking place. We met up with everyone else, most of whom were also in costume, and got stuck into the free bar as we watched the parade. I will tell you one thing, it sure as hell beats the Paddy's Day Parade back in Dublin, watching a mock pirate ship storm the shore, with fireworks and cannons, and sunshine!!!!
As the night wore on, we gradually lost pieces of our costumes, and even more of our minds, eventually ending up on the dancefloor of the second floor of Breezes, struggling to keep the flame going 'til midnight!
On Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed, threw on some decent clothes, and headed down to the Ritz for brunch, where we had booked a table for 20 people. To set the scene, the Ritz Brunch is something of legend. Three and a half hours of pure indulgence and gluttony, with a never ending supply of champagne and five star food: breakfast, meats, fish, cheeses, deserts, you name it, it was there, and in abundance. We lorded it up, ate like fools, and rolled ourselves into the bar four hours later to wind down. We eventually dragged our near asleep bodies on to Coconut Joes, where we hit the Beergaritas (a bottle of beer, upside down in a jug of Margarita, I kid you not!) and Buddies (Budweiser Extra: beer with red bull). Our gang were "sensible" and headed home around 11pm. The rest were not so fortunate!
Monday was a public holiday, and we had all booked a boat to take us out on the North Sound, but the sea was too rough, and the boat trip was cancelled, so we headed out to Rum Point, where we were joined by Tim and Leonie. There was a "party" on over at Kaibo Yacht Club, down the road, which we joined around 4pm, finding a poor party, but an empty volleyball court where we challenged a few people that Jill knew to a game, playing until sunset when we hit the road to go home and change before heading back out for dinner for "Murph's last supper" TM.
Copper Fall was the venue of choice for Murph's last meal on his last day on the island, and sure enough he was well fed. We were all fairly exhausted after nearly a week on the go, and so after a few drinks in Aqua Beach, we bid our farewell to Murpadurp! It was a sad day, but in fairness, we had three months to get used to it! Murph, I'll be seeing you soon buddy!
Tuesday was our night off. We chilled out, Jill cooked some top notch dinner, and we watched some DVDs. Perfect!
Wednesday, and we were back in action, this time back over the other side of the island at Kaibo for a night time kayak into the bioluminescense bay in the lagoon, one of only a handful of places in the world where there is natural bioluminescence all year around. Basically there were 14 of us in 7 kayaks, kayaking in the dark (and rain!) for about half an hour up the coast until we reached the Bio Bay. In they bay, you can see fish darting past as they are lit up in silver from the algae that live there. If you put your hand or foot through the water, you get the same effect, like silver stars on your skin. Its class! After a lengthy and tough paddle back to shore, we chilled out over some food and made the trek back home to South Sound, wet and thoroughly exhausted!
On Thursday night, we headed to Casanova's for a nice Italian meal, and then on to Coconut Joe's for the mid-month Movember party, where hairy men compared moustaches and drunk beer! After a few bevvies, we headed home, but on a relative high of giddiness. Once we got back, we opened up some wine and beers, and slapped on the music. Jill was sensible and went to bed around 1am, but myself Gail and Ross stayed up until 4am. OK for them on their holidays, not so good for me who had to get up at 6:30am, walk the dogs, and then go to work! To say that the next day was unproductive would be a gross understatement! Sure enough, our big night out on Friday night was curtailed to dinner in Calypso Grill. We were joined by Kurt, Meredith, Chanelle and Jen, but myself and Ross were struggling to stay awake at the table from tiredness, and we soon headed home to bed!
Saturday morning and we were up early to prepare for our day of footballing! The GAA Mixed 9's Blitz was being held in the Rugby Club, and myself and Jill had been signed up for the Digicel team. Ross and Gail were signed up for another team (the yellow's), but sadly we were not destined to play them. The day was hot but we got stuck in, Ross taking someone out with his elbow in the first 60 seconds of his game. A nice start! After putting him on in the back initially, his team eventually realised his potential and by the last game he was scoring goals left, right and centre! Meanwhile, the Digicel team were motoring away, stopped only by the referee, Foxton, who took exception to a bit of slagging, and decided to call us up on every single questionable decision, even going so far as to disallow a goal that would have seen us win the only match we loss. Alas, we pulled it together and stormed away to a semi final place, against Foxton's team!! Sweet revenge!
Being the sportsman that he is, he elbowed Jimmy H in the face as he went in for a goal, causing the now infamous "Foxgate" scandal. Tempers ran high, digs were threatened, but in the end, we won! Winning the final was just the icing on the cake! We held the trophy high, and got stuck into a boat race with the runners up (drinking game), which we sadly lost, but only narrowly!
Gail and I had signed up to run a 10K the next morning at 7am, but with the taste of victory on our lips, we all headed to the Triple Crown for some post match celebrations, leaving the idea of a quiet night firmly behind us! Sure enough, yours truly was soon up doing Karaoke in the pub, and then back up again for a duet with Olive MacDonagh. Not ones to break tradition, Jill soon announced a party back in ours, and off we trooped, stopping off in A La Kebab on the way for some needed refreshment. Tina Turner was Rolling, Jimmy and Lisa were dancing, and the dogs were barking until 4am. Our neighbours downstairs joined us, as did a taxi full of people that had been at a barbecue down the road, and pretty soon the house was full. It was a tough call getting rid of them all at 4am, but it was soon done!
Sunday morning and we were nursing hangovers, as usual. We had booked ourselves in for a boat trip at 9am, but that was quickly canceled, and we opted for a 12 noon trip instead. Out we went to Stingray City in unusually choppy waters, snorkeling, sobering up, and swimming with the stingrays. Gail cried when she first got in the water, but next thing you know she's chasing the stingrays, kissing them, trying to grab their tails; madness! After a few hours out on the water, we sailed back in, heading home for some Pizza and chill-out time on the couch.
With only one full day to go, Gail and Ross went on a shopping spree (I say in jest), and we went back to work! For our last night, we all headed to Grand Old House for a slap up meal, plenty of wine, chilling out on the water overlooking South Sound.
By the time they left, most of our friends here thought Gail and Ross were living here. We were all sad to see them off, bringing to an end our near two months of guests! The house was quiet, the dogs whining, and normality returned to 282 South Sound Road.
As for the last 3 weeks, I'll have to tell you again.....
BTW, Congrats to Jim and Lisa who finally got engaged at the weekend! It was about bloody time, but fair play.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Moctober
2007 has been a bad year for Blog entries. Not sure when I'll get back to August and September, but if I dont catch up now, chances are I never will.
Lets get back to October. It was a great month.
We kicked off the tenth month of this year with a weekend in Little Cayman, the smallest sister Island of Grand Cayman which is 90 miles East of Grand. Originally booked as surprise 30th birthday present but rescheduled due to Hurricane Dean, 16 of us finally flew off on the first Friday of the month, departing on a plane that held around 20 people, with our coolers stuffed full of beers, rum, burgers and bread rolls!
To set the scene, Little Cayman has a population of 125 in peak season, and around 80 people when we arrived there. The airport is a strip of tarmac beside the main road, the only road on the island. The airport is also the gas station, off licence, video store, gift store and supermarket. Its class!
Basically we spent the weekend chilling by the pool, drinking beer in the hot-tub, barbecuing burgers when we got hungry and generally chilling out. After a heavy night in the only bar on the island on the Friday night, 10 of us went out on a dive on Saturday morning, heading to Bloody Bay Marine Park, one of the top 10 dive spots in the world. Our first dive was off the Wall, but the second one was even better, off the shallow wall, where we saw turtles, sharks, stingray, lobster and seahorses. Not a bad morning!
On Saturday, most of the bar & hotel industry staff on the island came down to our pool where after a rumour had spread amongst the handful of islanders that the "Irish" were having a party.
On Sunday we all swam to Owen Island, a deserted bird sanctuary about half a mile off shore from where we were staying, where we played cricket, drank beer and generally arsed around. By the time we got back on Sunday night we were wrecked from two days of doing nothing.
Monday afternoon saw the arrival of my mum and my aunt, Ann. It was great to see my mum, who had just spent two long days in New York with my sister Fiona and my cousin Gillian. Sure enough, one of Ann's bags was missing, but we made do until its arrival later that night. Unfortunately my mum and Ann arrived to one of the wettest, stormiest weeks that we have ever seen in Cayman with driving rain every night for the first 4 days, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning. I dont know how they did it, but they managed to find dry spells on every day, chilling out on the beach between coffees and cakes! We ate out half the week, and chilled out watching videos the rest of the week. On Friday, a gang of us went to Grand Old House, a beautiful old restaurant up the road from us, on the water, on South Sound. Dec's parents were also visiting that week, and came out with us. After a gorgeous meal (the best I have had in Cayman), we brought the mothers up to the Ritz for Mojitos and dancing. I think they were suitable impressed!
Saturday was due to be a big day. We had rented a 12 man speedboat to take out on the North Sound for the day. At 9am we picked it up, with yours truly at the helm, continuing to bluff about my prior boating experience. 10 minutes out on the open water at full throttle and the engine started banging like crazy, with smoke spewing out from under the luxury leather seats at the back of the boat. Sure enough, there were a few unhappy faces! To make matters worse, Murph, who along with Jimmy H had accompanied the 8 of us, was still pissed from the night before, and so thought it was great craic to keep revving the throttle on the way back in when we were trying to bring the boat slowly back to shore without blowing up! We got back in at around 10am, and were met by the boat rental guys who were trying to arrange a replacement boat. Before they arrived, I had to "park" the boat, a damn sight more difficult to do when its three times the size of the only other boat you have ever driven!
Anyway, after 45 mins of waiting, the new boat arrived. Would it start? Of course not! Half an hour later and the boat trip was cancelled, with everyone packed back into the cars on our way to Rum Point where Murph was told that he wouldnt be allowed drive a jet ski until he had sobered up. This we were told before we even asked about renting them bloody things!
After lunch we headed over to East End to Morritts, a big resort hotel with an infinity pool overlooking a windswept beach, with two whirlpools, one heated, and with a pool bar in the middle of the pool. Cocktails and chilling were the order of the day.
No sooner were we back home than we were out again, this time being picked up by a bus that brought 24 of us back over to East End to Rolands Garden, a "restaurant" that is really some guy's lush, green back garden with a barbecue and candlelights. Roland, the chef, cooks you 6 or 7 courses as you drink your own beer and wine. At the end, you decide how much you want to pay! Its class. On the way home, with everyone fairly tanked up, the bus driver suggested that we stop in a "local" (read: black) bar in Bodden Town where my mother and Ann were chatted up by two Cuban men. We were the only white people in the place, which didnt stop us from bringing our own lack of style to the dancefloor. Sure enough, it was then back to ours for a party which went until around 4:30 with several people taking turns on the hammock before re-stocking with rum. How my mum and Ann slept, I do not know.
Sunday's plans were pretty much scrapped, and instead I brought Ann and my mum up to the Turtle Farm, and then home for some chill out couch time.
We chilled out on Monday in Casanovas, a lovely Italian restaurant on the water near town, and then finished the girls' holiday on Wednesday with a meal in Calypso Grill.
We were sad to see my mum and Ann off on Thursday morning, the craic had been great, with my mum and Ann telling stories and winding each other up.
Thursday night we had to ourselves, before the arrival of Jill's mum, Joyce and her friend Sandra on Friday night. This time both of their bags went missing!
Saturday was the Rugby World Cup final, which yours truly won 25 bucks on. Wost game of rugby I have seen in a long time, but sweet to see England lose.
Saturday night was Oktober fest in Coconut Joes, where we ate and had a few drinks.
Sunday, 12 of us headed back out to Morritts in East End where we spent the day chilling and playing volleyball with bunch of Russians (we lost!).
On Monday night, Joyce and Sandra treated us to a beautiful meal in Grand Old House, and then they headed off to Cuba on Wednesday morning with Jill and her friend Meredith, where they had booked into a hotel in Havana for two nights.
On Friday morning, 12 of us lads flew to Montego Bay for Murph's official going away golfing and drinking weekend. I only found out on Thursday night that we were all booked to return Monday, and not Sunday as I and my employer had previously thought! Ah well!
We arrived in Mobay just in time for breakfast, checked into our private villa, dropping off our 12 bottles of liquor and the cocktail shaker, before heading out for our first round of golf in Cinnamon Hills. The course was beautiful, and I think we pretty much had it to ourselves. The caddies were of crucial importance in me finishing second place overall for the day, finally winning some golf money!
We came back, changed, ate dinner in the villa, cooked by our personal chef (not great, more of a landlady who cooked on demand) and then hopped onto the bus that we had rented for the weekend, along with a driver, for US$300. We drove around countless bars and clubs, gradually leaving a growing trail of carnage, before finally heading home at around 5am. The next day, Kenzo and Jimmy H couldnt get up until dinner time, both returning straight to bed afterwards, not resurfacing until Sunday. The rest of us dragged ourselves out of bed, into the pool, and off to White Witch, the Ritz Carlton's golf course, definitely the most beautiful course I have ever seen. The level of service was unbelievable, and the course was amazing with even better views of the ocean from higher up the mountain. My golfing prowess was not quite as good, and so begun my current slump!
We headed back to the villa for steaks, spuds, and veg, and ended up not going out; instead just making cocktails until the early hours.
On Sunday morning we all headed down to the Jamaica Bobsleigh bar to watch Liverpool V Arsenal (the bar had the original bobsleigh used in the Olympics aka Cool Runnings), sipping bloody marys to sort our heads out before heading out of town to another top course, Tryall. One of the lads from Digicel Jamaica had advised us that it was the best course in the Caribbean, a claim that it couldnt live up to. Still a great course, but after playing White Witch the previous day, nothing was going to match up! That night we went out for dinner on a boathouse, a floating restaurant on the lake just outside Mobay. Monday morning was painful, getting up to fly back to Cayman, drive home to throw a suit on, and then back to work. I was a shadow of my former self on Monday evening!
Joyce and Sandra flew home on Tuesday morning, after apparently having a good time in Havana, but general consensus was that it is a dishevelled city not for the faint hearted!
Sure enough, last week was quiet! The plan was to take it very easy at the weekend as Gail and Ross arrive on Friday 9th to spend nearly two weeks with us. In true Johnny and Jill tradition, we went to a fancy dress Halloween party next door on Friday night, with Jill inviting some people "back to ours" for drinks afterwards. I dragged myself up for golf on Saturday morning, which was tough, but not as bad as the shameful round that I had! I had read during the week that there was a ladies exhibition volleyball game on at Public Beach at 4pm on Saturday, with DJs and party games, in aid of charity. It wasnt that difficult to persuade the lads to join us!
What started as a few afternoon drinks matured into drinking games and as the flies dropped off, it ended with Jill and I, Jimmy Mac and Lisa agreeing that a night spent dancing on the sand listening to old school dance classics being pumped out of the speakers was sure to beat sitting on the couch. The music ended at 12; we turned the iPod and speakers on for another hour and a half, not wanting the party to end, and then all headed "back to ours" for more singing, YouTubing, Christopher Walken impressions, and general BS!
So here we are, just recovering again, with Gail and Ross arriving in four days for an action packed bank holiday weekend. Life in Cayman is a lot of responsibility, not for everyone, and requires a lot of stamina! Beats rain, wind, and cold back home!
BTW, in the midst of Saturday night's madness, myself and Jimmy Mac signed up for Movember (www.movember.ky), agreeing to grow a handlebar moustache during the month of November to raise money for Cancer research. Let the hair gro mo in Movember!
Lets get back to October. It was a great month.
We kicked off the tenth month of this year with a weekend in Little Cayman, the smallest sister Island of Grand Cayman which is 90 miles East of Grand. Originally booked as surprise 30th birthday present but rescheduled due to Hurricane Dean, 16 of us finally flew off on the first Friday of the month, departing on a plane that held around 20 people, with our coolers stuffed full of beers, rum, burgers and bread rolls!
To set the scene, Little Cayman has a population of 125 in peak season, and around 80 people when we arrived there. The airport is a strip of tarmac beside the main road, the only road on the island. The airport is also the gas station, off licence, video store, gift store and supermarket. Its class!
Basically we spent the weekend chilling by the pool, drinking beer in the hot-tub, barbecuing burgers when we got hungry and generally chilling out. After a heavy night in the only bar on the island on the Friday night, 10 of us went out on a dive on Saturday morning, heading to Bloody Bay Marine Park, one of the top 10 dive spots in the world. Our first dive was off the Wall, but the second one was even better, off the shallow wall, where we saw turtles, sharks, stingray, lobster and seahorses. Not a bad morning!
On Saturday, most of the bar & hotel industry staff on the island came down to our pool where after a rumour had spread amongst the handful of islanders that the "Irish" were having a party.
On Sunday we all swam to Owen Island, a deserted bird sanctuary about half a mile off shore from where we were staying, where we played cricket, drank beer and generally arsed around. By the time we got back on Sunday night we were wrecked from two days of doing nothing.
Monday afternoon saw the arrival of my mum and my aunt, Ann. It was great to see my mum, who had just spent two long days in New York with my sister Fiona and my cousin Gillian. Sure enough, one of Ann's bags was missing, but we made do until its arrival later that night. Unfortunately my mum and Ann arrived to one of the wettest, stormiest weeks that we have ever seen in Cayman with driving rain every night for the first 4 days, accompanied by heavy thunder and lightning. I dont know how they did it, but they managed to find dry spells on every day, chilling out on the beach between coffees and cakes! We ate out half the week, and chilled out watching videos the rest of the week. On Friday, a gang of us went to Grand Old House, a beautiful old restaurant up the road from us, on the water, on South Sound. Dec's parents were also visiting that week, and came out with us. After a gorgeous meal (the best I have had in Cayman), we brought the mothers up to the Ritz for Mojitos and dancing. I think they were suitable impressed!
Saturday was due to be a big day. We had rented a 12 man speedboat to take out on the North Sound for the day. At 9am we picked it up, with yours truly at the helm, continuing to bluff about my prior boating experience. 10 minutes out on the open water at full throttle and the engine started banging like crazy, with smoke spewing out from under the luxury leather seats at the back of the boat. Sure enough, there were a few unhappy faces! To make matters worse, Murph, who along with Jimmy H had accompanied the 8 of us, was still pissed from the night before, and so thought it was great craic to keep revving the throttle on the way back in when we were trying to bring the boat slowly back to shore without blowing up! We got back in at around 10am, and were met by the boat rental guys who were trying to arrange a replacement boat. Before they arrived, I had to "park" the boat, a damn sight more difficult to do when its three times the size of the only other boat you have ever driven!
Anyway, after 45 mins of waiting, the new boat arrived. Would it start? Of course not! Half an hour later and the boat trip was cancelled, with everyone packed back into the cars on our way to Rum Point where Murph was told that he wouldnt be allowed drive a jet ski until he had sobered up. This we were told before we even asked about renting them bloody things!
After lunch we headed over to East End to Morritts, a big resort hotel with an infinity pool overlooking a windswept beach, with two whirlpools, one heated, and with a pool bar in the middle of the pool. Cocktails and chilling were the order of the day.
No sooner were we back home than we were out again, this time being picked up by a bus that brought 24 of us back over to East End to Rolands Garden, a "restaurant" that is really some guy's lush, green back garden with a barbecue and candlelights. Roland, the chef, cooks you 6 or 7 courses as you drink your own beer and wine. At the end, you decide how much you want to pay! Its class. On the way home, with everyone fairly tanked up, the bus driver suggested that we stop in a "local" (read: black) bar in Bodden Town where my mother and Ann were chatted up by two Cuban men. We were the only white people in the place, which didnt stop us from bringing our own lack of style to the dancefloor. Sure enough, it was then back to ours for a party which went until around 4:30 with several people taking turns on the hammock before re-stocking with rum. How my mum and Ann slept, I do not know.
Sunday's plans were pretty much scrapped, and instead I brought Ann and my mum up to the Turtle Farm, and then home for some chill out couch time.
We chilled out on Monday in Casanovas, a lovely Italian restaurant on the water near town, and then finished the girls' holiday on Wednesday with a meal in Calypso Grill.
We were sad to see my mum and Ann off on Thursday morning, the craic had been great, with my mum and Ann telling stories and winding each other up.
Thursday night we had to ourselves, before the arrival of Jill's mum, Joyce and her friend Sandra on Friday night. This time both of their bags went missing!
Saturday was the Rugby World Cup final, which yours truly won 25 bucks on. Wost game of rugby I have seen in a long time, but sweet to see England lose.
Saturday night was Oktober fest in Coconut Joes, where we ate and had a few drinks.
Sunday, 12 of us headed back out to Morritts in East End where we spent the day chilling and playing volleyball with bunch of Russians (we lost!).
On Monday night, Joyce and Sandra treated us to a beautiful meal in Grand Old House, and then they headed off to Cuba on Wednesday morning with Jill and her friend Meredith, where they had booked into a hotel in Havana for two nights.
On Friday morning, 12 of us lads flew to Montego Bay for Murph's official going away golfing and drinking weekend. I only found out on Thursday night that we were all booked to return Monday, and not Sunday as I and my employer had previously thought! Ah well!
We arrived in Mobay just in time for breakfast, checked into our private villa, dropping off our 12 bottles of liquor and the cocktail shaker, before heading out for our first round of golf in Cinnamon Hills. The course was beautiful, and I think we pretty much had it to ourselves. The caddies were of crucial importance in me finishing second place overall for the day, finally winning some golf money!
We came back, changed, ate dinner in the villa, cooked by our personal chef (not great, more of a landlady who cooked on demand) and then hopped onto the bus that we had rented for the weekend, along with a driver, for US$300. We drove around countless bars and clubs, gradually leaving a growing trail of carnage, before finally heading home at around 5am. The next day, Kenzo and Jimmy H couldnt get up until dinner time, both returning straight to bed afterwards, not resurfacing until Sunday. The rest of us dragged ourselves out of bed, into the pool, and off to White Witch, the Ritz Carlton's golf course, definitely the most beautiful course I have ever seen. The level of service was unbelievable, and the course was amazing with even better views of the ocean from higher up the mountain. My golfing prowess was not quite as good, and so begun my current slump!
We headed back to the villa for steaks, spuds, and veg, and ended up not going out; instead just making cocktails until the early hours.
On Sunday morning we all headed down to the Jamaica Bobsleigh bar to watch Liverpool V Arsenal (the bar had the original bobsleigh used in the Olympics aka Cool Runnings), sipping bloody marys to sort our heads out before heading out of town to another top course, Tryall. One of the lads from Digicel Jamaica had advised us that it was the best course in the Caribbean, a claim that it couldnt live up to. Still a great course, but after playing White Witch the previous day, nothing was going to match up! That night we went out for dinner on a boathouse, a floating restaurant on the lake just outside Mobay. Monday morning was painful, getting up to fly back to Cayman, drive home to throw a suit on, and then back to work. I was a shadow of my former self on Monday evening!
Joyce and Sandra flew home on Tuesday morning, after apparently having a good time in Havana, but general consensus was that it is a dishevelled city not for the faint hearted!
Sure enough, last week was quiet! The plan was to take it very easy at the weekend as Gail and Ross arrive on Friday 9th to spend nearly two weeks with us. In true Johnny and Jill tradition, we went to a fancy dress Halloween party next door on Friday night, with Jill inviting some people "back to ours" for drinks afterwards. I dragged myself up for golf on Saturday morning, which was tough, but not as bad as the shameful round that I had! I had read during the week that there was a ladies exhibition volleyball game on at Public Beach at 4pm on Saturday, with DJs and party games, in aid of charity. It wasnt that difficult to persuade the lads to join us!
What started as a few afternoon drinks matured into drinking games and as the flies dropped off, it ended with Jill and I, Jimmy Mac and Lisa agreeing that a night spent dancing on the sand listening to old school dance classics being pumped out of the speakers was sure to beat sitting on the couch. The music ended at 12; we turned the iPod and speakers on for another hour and a half, not wanting the party to end, and then all headed "back to ours" for more singing, YouTubing, Christopher Walken impressions, and general BS!
So here we are, just recovering again, with Gail and Ross arriving in four days for an action packed bank holiday weekend. Life in Cayman is a lot of responsibility, not for everyone, and requires a lot of stamina! Beats rain, wind, and cold back home!
BTW, in the midst of Saturday night's madness, myself and Jimmy Mac signed up for Movember (www.movember.ky), agreeing to grow a handlebar moustache during the month of November to raise money for Cancer research. Let the hair gro mo in Movember!
Monday, October 01, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
The Wedding...part 1 (The Lead Up)
Well, here we are, nearly two months later, and the honeymoon is well and truly over! No seriously, I cant believe how quickly the last two months have flown, and we still havent finished the thank you cards!
So to pick up from where I last left off......I arrived home the Friday before the wedding, went for a bite to eat with the folks in the Step, then back to my brothers where myself and Ais stayed up having a few glasses of wine, joined by Graham after he got back from a work do. It wasnt too late, so we made it up in OK time the next morning to travel down to Waterford for the stag. Jill had come up to Dublin to pick me up from the airport, and then headed back to Nicola's where she was staying the night with the girls. Her hen night had been organised months in advance, a day at the races in Kildare, but somebody forgot to tell the Irish weather, so at the last minute Gail and Nicola pulled it out of the bag and had organised for all the girls to go into a casino in South Anne Street, followed by dinner and cocktails, and then off to Club 92. Needless to say, the casino went down a storm, and several gambling habits were born!
Meanwhile, myself and Graham took a few wrong turns but made it to Waterford just in the nick of time for the golf. One four ball had teed off in front of us, but we squeezed in, beating Dawood, Shane, and Scats! Ahead of us were Barry, Simon, Johnny Weir and Hubb, and myself and Graham and Gavin hacked our way around the 18 holes on what turned out to be the first sunny day in Ireland in 2 months (apparently!). We were joined by Robbie and Brian in the clubhouse afterwards, and by Jay, Dave, Gary and Niall in the hotel.
After a quick shower we all met up in the bar and hit the road in search of the local lap dancing club! (sorry to offend any readers, but it was a stag after all!!).
We then continued on on our pub crawl around town, ending up in one of the nightclubs until closing time wherein we proceeded back to the hotel residents bar, finding not one but three separate hen nights in progress. I thought I snuck off to bed after a few hours but discovered a photo of myself and Scats drinking Buddies (Bud Extra for the uninitiated!) back in my hotel room, and I assume it was Baz on the camera!). Meanwhile the boys were running around the corridors having the craic and driving the hotel staff a little but mad.
The next morning none of us were too fit to drive, so a breakfast and walk around town were in order before the return home!
Back in Dublin, myself and Gav dropped in to Nicola's to get the low down on the hen night, just missing out on walking in on 5 of the girls walking around Nicola's front room half naked (or so the story goes). Needless to say my bride to be was still quite giddy from the night before, and wasnt alone in her semi-drunk state!
Off we trecked back down to Athy after some Sunday dinner, and up the next morning to sign the official documents in Kilkenny Cathedral and pop into the hotel to make sure that everything was OK for the weekend. The countdown had well and truly begun!
Tensions were high in the Chambers household so yours truly skipped out that night, back to Dublin, to "organise my end of the wedding", otherwise known as meeting up with people all week and going out!
I re-insured the Vespa for the week, happy out on my two wheels buzzing around town! A few meetings on Tuesday, and some shopping followed by dinner with Gail and Graham, and then off to Harry Potter with Gail, rounded off the day! Wednesday involved some more shopping, a visit to Black Tie to get the suits fitted, some lunch with Fiona and Joe, and a night in Drogheda in Gav's new house with Col, Halpo, and the Griswalds.
Thursday and I was back on the train to Dublin, some more shopping in the avo, then up to my bro's to get my stuff, back to my mum's to drop the Vespa off, and then off for the night to Simon and Noreen's, where to my pleasant surprise, Simon had invited all the lads over for the night. With sore heads the next morning, softened by Noreen's fry, we set off down to Athy for the rehearsal!
Myself and Si were an hour early. The girls were running late in the hairdressers, Graham and Ais were stuck in traffic, Gav was late and lost, but it all came together eventually, but not without a stressed Jill having to shout at everyone to shut up in the church to allow the priest to be heard! At last I got to see my sis and my two nephews, but my poor Nephew Gavin wasnt so much in the mood for running around a church!
With the run through over and done with, myself and Graham, Si and Gavin headed back to the Heritage, followed closely behind by the rest of the wedding party who were coming down for some last minute deliveries and checks. After a few drinks in the bar, the girls all headed off, and the enormity of the day ahead begun to sink in!
We went over to the Italian for a bite to eat, then back to the Thatch bar until closing, and then back to our 4 bed golf house where Gavin whipped out the guitar for a sing song. At 2:30am, the night before my wedding day, we finally called it a night and headed to bed.
By the way, I think Jill was busy enough that week, organising something, cant remember what she was doing but she definitely seemed busy! To be honest, between all the meeting up, lunches, dinners, drinks and craic, I just didnt have the time to keep up with her! ;)
So to pick up from where I last left off......I arrived home the Friday before the wedding, went for a bite to eat with the folks in the Step, then back to my brothers where myself and Ais stayed up having a few glasses of wine, joined by Graham after he got back from a work do. It wasnt too late, so we made it up in OK time the next morning to travel down to Waterford for the stag. Jill had come up to Dublin to pick me up from the airport, and then headed back to Nicola's where she was staying the night with the girls. Her hen night had been organised months in advance, a day at the races in Kildare, but somebody forgot to tell the Irish weather, so at the last minute Gail and Nicola pulled it out of the bag and had organised for all the girls to go into a casino in South Anne Street, followed by dinner and cocktails, and then off to Club 92. Needless to say, the casino went down a storm, and several gambling habits were born!
Meanwhile, myself and Graham took a few wrong turns but made it to Waterford just in the nick of time for the golf. One four ball had teed off in front of us, but we squeezed in, beating Dawood, Shane, and Scats! Ahead of us were Barry, Simon, Johnny Weir and Hubb, and myself and Graham and Gavin hacked our way around the 18 holes on what turned out to be the first sunny day in Ireland in 2 months (apparently!). We were joined by Robbie and Brian in the clubhouse afterwards, and by Jay, Dave, Gary and Niall in the hotel.
After a quick shower we all met up in the bar and hit the road in search of the local lap dancing club! (sorry to offend any readers, but it was a stag after all!!).
We then continued on on our pub crawl around town, ending up in one of the nightclubs until closing time wherein we proceeded back to the hotel residents bar, finding not one but three separate hen nights in progress. I thought I snuck off to bed after a few hours but discovered a photo of myself and Scats drinking Buddies (Bud Extra for the uninitiated!) back in my hotel room, and I assume it was Baz on the camera!). Meanwhile the boys were running around the corridors having the craic and driving the hotel staff a little but mad.
The next morning none of us were too fit to drive, so a breakfast and walk around town were in order before the return home!
Back in Dublin, myself and Gav dropped in to Nicola's to get the low down on the hen night, just missing out on walking in on 5 of the girls walking around Nicola's front room half naked (or so the story goes). Needless to say my bride to be was still quite giddy from the night before, and wasnt alone in her semi-drunk state!
Off we trecked back down to Athy after some Sunday dinner, and up the next morning to sign the official documents in Kilkenny Cathedral and pop into the hotel to make sure that everything was OK for the weekend. The countdown had well and truly begun!
Tensions were high in the Chambers household so yours truly skipped out that night, back to Dublin, to "organise my end of the wedding", otherwise known as meeting up with people all week and going out!
I re-insured the Vespa for the week, happy out on my two wheels buzzing around town! A few meetings on Tuesday, and some shopping followed by dinner with Gail and Graham, and then off to Harry Potter with Gail, rounded off the day! Wednesday involved some more shopping, a visit to Black Tie to get the suits fitted, some lunch with Fiona and Joe, and a night in Drogheda in Gav's new house with Col, Halpo, and the Griswalds.
Thursday and I was back on the train to Dublin, some more shopping in the avo, then up to my bro's to get my stuff, back to my mum's to drop the Vespa off, and then off for the night to Simon and Noreen's, where to my pleasant surprise, Simon had invited all the lads over for the night. With sore heads the next morning, softened by Noreen's fry, we set off down to Athy for the rehearsal!
Myself and Si were an hour early. The girls were running late in the hairdressers, Graham and Ais were stuck in traffic, Gav was late and lost, but it all came together eventually, but not without a stressed Jill having to shout at everyone to shut up in the church to allow the priest to be heard! At last I got to see my sis and my two nephews, but my poor Nephew Gavin wasnt so much in the mood for running around a church!
With the run through over and done with, myself and Graham, Si and Gavin headed back to the Heritage, followed closely behind by the rest of the wedding party who were coming down for some last minute deliveries and checks. After a few drinks in the bar, the girls all headed off, and the enormity of the day ahead begun to sink in!
We went over to the Italian for a bite to eat, then back to the Thatch bar until closing, and then back to our 4 bed golf house where Gavin whipped out the guitar for a sing song. At 2:30am, the night before my wedding day, we finally called it a night and headed to bed.
By the way, I think Jill was busy enough that week, organising something, cant remember what she was doing but she definitely seemed busy! To be honest, between all the meeting up, lunches, dinners, drinks and craic, I just didnt have the time to keep up with her! ;)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Medellin
For those of you out there who are huge Entourage fans, like us, check out this trailer:
http://www.medellinthefilm.com/
Pure class! The best movie that was never made!
http://www.medellinthefilm.com/
Pure class! The best movie that was never made!
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