Irish Cultural Blog

Sunday, 28 April 2013

Punchestown Horse Racing Festival 2013

Punchestown 2013 has to be one of the busiest horse racing festivals in Ireland. The bad weather on Friday did not seem to deter the punters and the place was packed.

Tickets for the Friday were €30 and for an extra €10 you could get access to the reserved enclosure. This is pictured below but don't be fooled as this is the quiet before the storm and this picture was taken around 12.30pm. This area was like a packed Dublin nightclub from 4pm onwards!

This is the Bollinger Champagne bar and the cheapest bottle was €88. I was wondering where the recession was as the punters were downing this stuff like it was water! There was a lot of men drinking the stuff also and not a bother on them either! Louis Walsh was floating around as he was judging the Ladies Day Competition. I believe he was having a chuckle with Enda Kenny later on in the day.

The €5.70 pints of Carlsberg seemed like a bargain compared to the champagne so I stuck to them. If you were drinking Guinness they costed €5.20 a pint. As the champagne bar did not serve pints it was a mission every time to get one. Ducking and weaving and side stepping around the punters was required but luckily enough spillage was kept to a minimum. At these prices you don't want to be spilling any beer!

The reserved enclosure area also had the biggest toilet queues (pictured below) I have ever seen in my entire life! We all associate a queue for the toilet with just the ladies toilet. This was not the case here and both man and woman had to queue. The ladies queue did not seem to move at all but the gents had a very quick turnover which was great!

It was unfortunate but I did not get to see much of the horse racing on Friday however Saturday proved to be a much more promising day. There was no rain on the Saturday and the majority of people were outside in the open. This made it much easier to move around the place.

It was very hard to pick horses on the Saturday as very little favorites were winning. One of the highlights for me was the three horse race on the Saturday at 3.10pm. The favorite for this race was even money. The winner was Grey Gold (6-1) and was a complete shock. I definitely missed out on that one!

In addition to the horse racing there was a lot of small stands where local suppliers were selling different goods ranging from clothing, accessories etc. Other stands were also there to advertise their products.

There was also a small funfair with the usual Waltzer, magic mirrors and other rides. If you have young children they were giving out colouring books and pencils for free. They also had a large section inside which was a children's play area with the usual bouncing castles etc. The army were there and they had several military vehicles that you could get inside and have a look.

Overall it was a very good festival but in the future they should limit the crowd to a certain number as it gets uncomfortable when it is that busy.

@IrishCultural

Sunday, 14 April 2013

An Irish approach to Chinese Curry

Getting a Chinese takeaway is always a treat but can work out expensive if you have to feed a family. It could end up costing you between €40-€50.

Another approach is to make the curry yourself at home. I have done the calculations and it will roughly cost you about 25% of the price of the Chinese Takeaway.

I have been making these curries at home for many years and have perfected the art I hope! Lots of pictures are included so you can't go wrong!

First of all you will need to select your meat. I chose pork chops because they were doing a packet of them in Super Value for €3. For this curry I used two packets, 8 chops in total. All the fat was cut off and I diced them up. You can also use chicken or beef. Just remember if you are using beef (round steak) I recommend boiling it for an hour to soften it up or it will be too hard to eat.

If your in a hurry pork or chicken is the best option. If your a vegetarian you can just use vegetables instead of meat.

Step 1:
Take one large onion and chop it up. Put it in a bowl as you will need it later on.

Step 2:
Dice up the meat and put it in the pan. Add a little oil and then turn the pan on to a medium heat. I am using a wok so I had to use more oil. If you have a non stick pan you will need less oil.

Step 3:
Fry the meat for 5-10 minutes until it is white. Remember that pork has to be cooked well. Once this is done you are ready to add the frozen peas.

Step 4:
The sauce I am using for this recipe is called Bensons and Tesco and Super Value stock it. You will need to use the entire pack for the curry. They recommend to use about 1.2 litres of water. From experience I use about 1.1 litres of water.

Step 5:
If you have a container big enough, measure out 1.1 litres of cold water and add the powder to it. Mix this up with a fork to break up the powder.

Step 6:
Add this cold mixture to your wok. When the mixture is put in the wok initially it will look a bit watery as shown below. Don't worry about this as the sauce will thicken up. This will usually take about 15-20 minutes of simmering on a medium heat and remember to keep stirring or the sauce will stick to the wok.

Step 7:
Once your sauce has reached the required thickness you are ready to add the onions. Below is a picture of the thickness of the sauce that I usually go for. Onions are always added in about 3-4 minutes before serving the dish. This way they have a little crunch and don't get soggy.

Step 8:
I use micro rice with my curry so I put this in the micro once the onions have gone into the wok. You can do standard rice but you will need to cook this when you start the curry so that both are ready together.

Look at all that lovely curry! Total cost to make this dish is about €9 and will easily feed a family of 4. If you do try this let us know how you get on by using the comment box below.

Step 9:

Enjoy!

@IrishCultural

Friday, 12 April 2013

Pensioner sticks it to the government regarding property tax.

It just seems that this country keeps going backwards. Recently former IMF chief Ashoka Mody said that austerity was wrong and that the government should have burned the bond holders. Enda just shrugged this off when he was questioned about Mr. Mody's interview.

The bond holders took a gamble and they lost. Do you think if you went to a Las Vegas casino and placed a bet and lost that the casino would give you your money back? I dont think Enda and Eamon would last too long running a Las Vegas Casino!

So why did the government not burn the bondholders in the first place. The entire public knew it was the right thing to do. Instead they persecuted their own people, ordinary people trying to make ends meet and buy food to feed their families. Is there some sort of secret agenda the government has here? What actually drove them not to burn the bond holders?

One pensioner has really stuck it to the government regarding the property tax by writing an excellent letter outlining the truth. This letter has gone viral on Facebook.

Why should people who have worked all their lives for this country have to pay for rich bankers mistakes. He also goes on to mention nobody has gone to jail yet and how these individuals have committed treason against the Republic.

Hopefully this letter causes a stir in the heart of the government and more people need to send in letters like this. Its the only way to get the message across.

Friday, 29 March 2013

Why are the Irish Public so laid back?

In most countries in the continent and also the world people usually protest if they feel they are getting a bad deal because their government is introducing new legislation that affects them. In most cases it will be hundreds of people attending, shouting and screaming in order to get their message heard.

In Ireland it is much different. This recent recession as seen the introduction of many new taxes for the Irish public. Firstly the government increased income tax and following that they rolled out a series of additional taxes such as the household charge, property tax and a new water charge which is on the way.

We also have to pay a television licence charge and part of this money pays exorbitant salaries to tv presenters of the national television station. Recently these presenters have had a cut in their salaries but some of them may still earn more than president Obama who earned $400,000 in 2012. It is understood that the tv licence is now to be converted to a general media charge. If you dont have a tv but have a laptop you will have to pay this new charge.

It makes you think about the current situation in Cyprus. Their government was planning to take deposits out of peoples bank accounts and what did the people do? They hit the streets and protested. What would the Irish do if this happened? Probably stay at home and have a cup of tea. We are really laid back about everything and nothing seems to phase us.

So what difference does it make which way the government takes our money whether directly or indirectly? Maybe they should have taken once off deposits from our bank accounts. At least it would have been a once off charge.

With annual recurring taxes such as the household charge, property tax and water charges we will be paying these for the rest of our lives. They are hardly going to cancel these taxes in 10 years. If you do the sums on it maybe once off payments from our deposit accounts may have worked in our favour, depending on how much savings you have of course.

With the introduction of this new water charge how will the Irish public react? We probably will just take it on the chin like the other charges we have incured. Pictured is a recent protest about the water charge that is being introduced. The protest is so civilised it does not even make it onto the street. What message does this send to the government?

Once this water charge is introduced the government will probably brainstorm some other pointless charge so they can tax us. Ask yourself the question when will it end?

@IrishCultural

Airport Hotels - Why don't they have the same customer service?

Hotels in general will make a genuine effort to accommodate you. Sometimes you might forget to bring certain essential items with you like a toothbrush etc. One call to reception usually sorts this out and you will get what you need delivered to your room.

So why do hotels go the extra mile for you? Well it is to maintain their good name and generate repeat business as this is what keeps the hotel in the black. Competition is healthy and hotels battling for customers in the same area will continue to maintain and improve customer service standards. Bear in mind it is called the "hospitality industry".

How do airport hotels differ? They have a continuous stream of punters staying for one night and customer service goes straight out the window. You can forget about getting the little extras in an airport hotel so remember if you need something bring it with you. They dont need to impress you because they are guaranteed to get repeat business from airport travellers the very next day.

The menu in airport hotels can be rather limited so if you have the option to eat somewhere else before hand take it.

This might not apply to all airport hotels but from a recent experience in a Dublin Airport hotel I left as a very disappointed customer.

Good Friday Feeding Options

With meat taken off the menu it was actually more difficult than I thought to pick something to eat today on Good Friday. Most years I cave in and order a meat dish but this year I decided to make a special effort.

Today I stumbled into the K Cafe in Kildare Town, Co Kildare Ireland. The cafe is located in the shopping centre on the main street which has the Euro Spar in it.

Still undecided on what to order which does not have meat in it the lady recommend a Veg Delux toasted sandwich which has tomato, cheddar cheese, mixed pepper and red onion.

It turned out to be an excellent choice and with fresh vegetable soup to accompany it I was on to a winner. Of course it all had to be washed down with a hot coffee or two!

One of the other perks was the free wifi. You will have to ask for the user name and password from one of the staff members.

The service was fast and efficient and the staff were very friendly and helpful. If you do decide to visit Kildare Outlet and are looking for a reasonably priced cafe this is an excellent choice. There are not many feeding options in Kildare Outlet and Cafe K is only a few minutes walk away.

@IrishCultural

Thursday, 28 March 2013

Emo Park County Laois Ireland

Emo Park in County Laois Ireland is a hidden gem that most tourists and even Irish people will not know about. The park is situated in the small village of Emo in County Laois.

Entry into the park is free and is ideal for couples or families. It is the perfect spot for a lovely walk, picnic, photography or just to take in the fresh air and scenery.

When you turn into the park from the main road in Emo village I recommend that you drive all the way up. Otherwise it is about a 10 minute walk to Emo Park from the main road. There is a link at the bottom of the page which will help you get to Emo Park.

There is a tour available of the old house for €3 per person which is the price that was given to me by the attendant the last time I was there. Unfortunately, I did not attend the tour on that occasion but will do in the near future as I believe there is a lot of history associated with the old house (pictured below).

If you didn't bring a picnic you can visit the tea rooms instead. They have a range of different sandwiches, cakes, snacks and tea/coffee on offer. The food is excellent quality and also reasonably priced. In addition there is a small gift shop where you can purchase something to remember the occasion. There is seating both inside and out so you have the option if the day is fine to catch some sun while eating your lunch and having a cold refreshing beverage.

One of my favour parts of Emo Park is the huge lake which is engulfed by trees, shrubs and wildlife. In the lake you will find swans and ducks so remember to bring some bread to feed them. There is a path that follows the perimeter of the lake which is a unique scenic walk. Below is a picture of mammy and baby ducks swimming in formation and also one of the swans.

The gardens at the back of Emo park is also a beautiful stroll and is like a little adventure. You will encounter some random statues and also some peculiar shaped trees. This is typical Ireland with lots of different shades of green so take it all in!

Because Emo Park is so picturesque I have seen newly weds getting their wedding pictures taken there. So if you are getting married in the future just bear it in mind as a possible location for wedding photos.