Ireland is a tea drinking nation. For a while, we were even the reigning champion of tea drinking, consuming some 4-6 cups of tea per person per day, and only rather recently Japan overtook this country in the race for the title of Number 1 Tea Drinker in the World. The usual brands that a typical Irish household would stock are Bewley’s, Barry’s, Lyons and Twinnings (although this is an English brand).

A few years back, ordering tea would mean getting a pot of black tea, served with sugar and milk. I don’t know what happened to push forward a tea revolution in Ireland, but within the last couple of years, there is a shift for larger tea selection, to include green teas, infusions and even special blends of fruity and aromatic teas. And most of these new found favourites are best served without milk, with some even better served cold than hot.

With such an advent, it’s not surprising to find specialist tea shops in the city, selling loose teas and various tea-related gadgets and gift sets. Just earlier this year, Matchabar Tea Emporium opens its door at the Powerscourt Centre, boasting a selection of over 150 teas and tea blends to tea lovers. And just yesterday, a French tea company set up some competition by opening Le Palais des Thés on Wicklow Street, just about 5 minutes stroll away from Powerscourt Centre.

As I was passing by, I went in to have a peek in this new tea shop to see what they have to offer. A brightly lit shop with a spacious feel to it, the tins and packets of teas are neatly arranged along the walls of the premises. There were also a couple of “tea tasting stations” in different parts of the shop, where the friendly shop assistants cheerfully organise for a tasting of the tea that you would like to check out before purchasing.

This tea company boasts over its selection of some 250 different teas, that are categorised into the following “tea families” : Asian (China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia), Asian (Japan), Asian (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh), Middle East (from the Black Sea to Caspian Sea), African, South American, Blends and flavours, and Organically Grown Teas.

I am no tea connaisseur but I walked around the shop rather giddily at the thought of a whole world of tea possibilities! When I was offered an opportunity to squeeze in some tasting, I asked the shop assistant for a recommendation of something aromatic and light, of green tea variety (black tea gives me headache) and she brought me some Thé du Hammam. The tea blend smells amazingly delicious and fruity, as this is green tea flavoured with the pulp of green dates, orange blossom, rose and red fruits. I liked what I tasted, for the delicate taste to it while still carrying the unforgettable bouquet. I was sold, and I bought a 50g bag of it!

In fact, I’m liking the scent so much I am considering sewing some muslin bags to pack the tea mix in, and use them as fragrant pouches.

Drop by the next time you’re in town, and have a look at the place and try some tea for yourself. If you have friends who are tea lovers, this would be a good place to pick up some Christmas presents too, with beautifully packaged selections of teas and tea sets.

Ps: to my lovely friends in Paris, they have a few shops around but a couple of notable locations are St Germain (rue du Cherche-Midi) and Marais (rue Vieille-du-Temple). ;-)

The weekend is fast approaching and you may find yourself short of ideas for things to make and do. If you want to do the former, whip up a batch of toffee apples for distribution next weekend in order to prevent your gaff from being toilet papered/having dog shit posted through your letterbox (depending on which side of the Liffey you lay your head). If you’re more into the idea of finding something worthwhile to do, consider the following:

Why not start the long weekend early by getting your mitts on tickets to see Vampire Weekend at the Ambassador tomorrow night and relive the summer with their irritatingly catchy but lyrically sublime selection of clever tunes. If you still have some fight left in you after this, drop into FibberMagees across the road for a late drink. There’s a great Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers tribute band on at 11pm that I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in action before and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Dublin Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF Ireland) also kicks off tomorrow night encompassing everything from visual art to theatre to film to music. Hightlights over the weekend include SweeTalk in the Sugar Club (Thursday @ 7.30), where €5 will get you an insightful look into the worlds of Dublin’s most infamous street artist, Maser, and hip-hop legend Steinski. On Friday, lo-fi kings M83 supported by Dublin band, Channel One play Vicar Street. Saturday sees a Norwegian invasion at Whelans with the arrival of In The Country and Susanna of Susanna and the Magical Orchestra. After this, get down to Andrews Lane Theatre to dance your socks off to tunes spun by JohnnyMoy and Arveene. The closing party on the bank holiday Sunday is a 3 venue extravaganza incorporating Whelans, Upstairs at Whelans and The Village, with €35 gaining you access all areas and with performances from Laurent Garnier, Fuck Buttons, Chequerboard and Model 500 to name but a few, you’d be mad to miss it.

On Saturday night The Sugar Club plays host to the fantastic Erin McKeown, whose last visit to Ireland a few years ago saw her play to a sellout crowd at The Village. Her razor-sharp, tongue-in-cheek lyrics set to folksy country music is both infectiously catchy and clever at once. Check out the clip below for a sampler.

Happy Bank Holiday!

watch?v=Qde0K0ZbGj4

Taking a break from the usual Dublin-related blog entries, I came across this video while catching up on some US election articles on The Guardian. Hurray to the Irish for embracing diversity and never forgetting one of their own - Obama’s great great greatgrandfather hailed from Co. Offaly.

(By the way, all the 4 main names on the election tickets have Irish ancestry. I wonder if the others have songs written and dedicated just for them the way it does for Obama.)

You can sing along to the chorus too, if you wish:
O’Leary, O’Reilly, O’Hare and O’Hara,
There’s no one as Irish as Barack Obama,
From the old Blarney Stone to the green hills of Tara,
There’s no one as Irish as Barack Obama.

Not sure though if Bill O’Reilly would be pleased with such inclusion. He hasn’t exactly been a fan of Obama of late from what I gather from the media…

The lads are in town to promote their latest album, and you can try to squeeze in some free performances next week on Friday at lunch time! It does mean a little queueing required in the morning to get some sort of wrist band. (Details below, as print screen-ed from HMV’s website)

Oktoberfest in Munich is world renowned, but not all of us can afford to jet out there for the festivities (especially in the wake of financial crisis and a new belt-tightening budget from the government), nor are some of us beer-loving enough to make that much effort for an expensive weekend away (flight, accommodation, beer tent entry fees etc).

In Dublin, Oktoberfest comes to us, free entry, and yes, we may lack the party atmosphere and the authenticity of München’s finest social gathering, but it will be a whole lot more pocket-friendly to us and our friends.

Some German friends who have been there in the last week so far had had given good feedback, and even if you don’t drink beer, there are a good selection of German food to keep you going. Not only that, they also have staff dressed in dirndl, so all in all, that has got to lend some feel of Oktoberfest to this!

The Oktoberfest 2008 runs until this Sunday 19th October at Georges Dock in IFSC, so just a couple of days left for you to check it out. I’ll be off there myself this weekend to see what the fuss is about. ;-)

There are plenty of buildings in the city which may intrigued you, but normally closed to public that you can’t really take a closer look. This is why you should take advantage of Open House Dublin and explore the city’s architecture. It is currently running, from Thursday 16th October until Sunday 19th October. And oh, more importantly, they’re FREE!

There are some tours available (I was browsing the site quickly) and unfortunately some are already booked out. Most locations though, are open without reservation required, but operates on a first come first serve basis.

Let’s hope the weather holds up for the weekend so everyone can go out and enjoy this unique opportunity to take a glimpse on historical buildings such as Georgian townhouse/houses, Liberty Hall (which I think there’s plan for demolition soon - are they still debating it?), Leinster House (you have to prebook for this), Mansion House, Custom House (Visitor Centre) and Royal Irish Academy.

Lykke Li is set to return to Dublin for her second Irish show this year. Her gig in The Sugar Club earlier this year was phenomenal and, since the release of her debut album, Youth Novels, she has developed something of a cult following. She plays The Button Factory on November 24th. Tickets are only €17.00 and go on sale tomorrow morning. These are sure to sell out so snap them up.

Check out the talented lil lady herself in the video below along with El Perro Del Mar (who played support on Lykke Li’s last tour) and some miscellaneous musicians ad-libbing in San Fransisco - great stuff altogether.

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It’s the time of the year where students are starting or going back to college. First there are students of UCD starting in mid-September, then students of RCSI, DCU, DIT etc starting a week or two after that, and last but not least TCD in early-October. That’s the trend for Dublin colleges as far as I know of.

At the same time, flights are arriving in Dublin airport with fresh-faced students, be it someone from Europe on an Erasmus exchange or someone who’s here and registered as a fully-fledged international student. For the Europeans, their main worry would most likely be competing with the Irish for accommodations. And maybe a small sense of inadequacy in using English 24/7 for the first time in their lives. For the non-Europeans though, add on another (major) headache - the immigration.

This article in Irish Times today highlights the immigration issue that every foreigner faces in this country - the procedures involved in making sure your entry and residency status in this country is legal and above board. But as pointed out in this article, the immigration procedures are arbitrarily carried out and trying to pinpoint on guidelines is a mammoth task for many.

If you are an international student who applies for a visa while still residing in your home country, this is the minimum guideline from the immigration service website. The international students office in your education institution should also be able to provide assistance and further information that you require.

For continuing students, things should be more straight forward as there would be a record file in place and one who also already have some experience dealing with the immigration bureau. Please note that the processing fee for visa this year has increased from €100 to €150.

The following is a list of minimum documentations that everyone applying visa in person should be aware of, and hopefully these would be all that would be asked to produce. The thought of re-queuing outside the GNIB office with hundreds of other students should be an encouragement for anyone at all to ensure he/she has all documentation at hand the first time round.

• Passport, with at least 6 months validity post-course completion date
• Letter from college, certifying that you are a registered student with fees paid
• Valid student card, obtained following registration week in college
• Bank statement showing sufficient funding, or letter from sponsor
• Proof of course attendance, particularly if attending private colleges e.g. DBS
• Evidence of private medical/health/personal insurance
• Specific bank giro of €150 for processing fee, or credit card to pay this amount

[Note: this is only a guideline, and is by no means exhaustive. The invididual immigration officers dealing with the cases may exercise their rights in requiring more documentations and in approving/declining the visa applications.]

I am uncertain of this year’s application procedure (this has been changing several times in the past years) so I would just write on what I know based on last year. While the immigration bureau on Burgh Quay opened its door at 8am, students were asked to queue outside (it snaked around to the back to the building/block even) before numbered tickets were distributed starting at 9.30am. The number of tickets distributed per day was limited. Someone who was too far back at the queue may not get a number and would have to return another day.

A good book and a music player won’t go astray while one waits for his/her turn inside the office once a numbered ticket is obtained. For some, based on the number given, it could well be hours before their turn to talk to an immigration officer. Some people leave to return later, but my advice on this is, if you’re doing that, time it smartly. If your number is called and you miss it because you’re not there, then you’re back to square one and will have to queue again another day.

A few minor things. Be courteous and respectful. Turn off the mobile phone. Put it on silent otherwise. The office will most likely be packed this time of year so your bag doesn’t need a seat. Hours spent at the immigration bureau is frustrating, but everyone is in the same boat. Good luck!

If you have any other tips, or have been at the bureau recently, share it with us through the comment box.

I was catching up on some news through Huffington Post when I came across this article (full text below). Interesting attention grabbing headline, until I read further and the writer was drawing examples from this very city itself! I don’t really have much time to assimilate the details within this article right now (work beckons!) but thought I’d post it here for your reading pleasure.

What’s your thought on it? Were anyone in the audience of the debate? (And I wonder if it was L&H Society that organised this debate?)

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In Ireland last week, in front of hundreds of students at University College Dublin, I participated in a debate on whether pornography is destructive or harmless. Numerous speakers on the pro-pornography side argued that pornography was a central part of women’s liberation, a point which met with thunderous cheers from the women in the audience. When it was my turn to speak, I asked the young women present to raise their hands if they needed a man. Not one hand went up. I then told them that commensurate with the degree to which men are becoming immature, porn-obsessed schoolboys, women are giving up on the hope of ever finding a noble, well-mannered gentleman. As women confront the vulgar reality of how men treat them, they discover that becoming masturbatory material to men is not particularly liberating.

The despair of Dublin’s women was mirrored the next evening in a conversation with a twenty-nine year old woman who told me that she had given up on finding a good man because the men in Dublin were conditioned ‘to treat women as orifices.’ She said, ‘A huge number of women play along by coming out on Friday and Saturday nights in their skimpy mini-skirts in the freezing cold, getting completely drunk and doing anything the guys want in the mistaken belief that somehow this will bring them love. After a few years they give up on men and become like me.’

Nowhere in the Western world are we raising a generation of men who pride themselves on their restraint and respect toward women. We are likewise failing to cultivate women who refuse to be complicit in their own degradation and who insist that their sexuality be shared with a man only in the context of a serious and tangible romantic commitment. It’s a man’s world. Women just live in it.

This is even true in marriage as more and more relationship experts blame a cheating husband on his wife. If a man is unfaithful, they argue, it is often due to the fact that he feels lonely and unappreciated by his wife. By recognizing that their husbands have emotional and sexual needs which wives may be ignoring, a wife can win her husband back and ensure that he does not stray.

A few months ago I mentioned that this was the position taken by Dr. Laura Schlesinger after the Eliot Spitzer affair and it has since been echoed by other relationship writers.

But this attempt to blame the victim ignores the fact that the principle reason men womanize is to shore up their broken egos. There are so many damaged husbands who think that a nurturing stranger who both desires him and wishes to be an ear to his pain will be a salve to his painfully low self-esteem. In many cases, these are husbands who have wives who could not be more devoted, who give them sex whenever they want, who pine for them to come home at night, all to no avail. No matter how much she huffs and puffs, she cannot inflate his perforated ego.

Would we really suggest that, as Elizabeth Edwards ran around the country with incurable cancer catering to her husband’s yearning to be president, he cheated on her because she wasn’t caring enough? After Silla Ward Spitzer garnered national ridicule by quite literally standing by her husband in his greatest moment of shame, would we inflict the final insult on her by telling her that her husband hung out with hookers because of her neglect?

In this age of husbands who are sports and TV addicts, I dare say that there are probably more wives who are ignored by their husbands than the reverse. But women seem much more capable of controlling themselves and deciding that a husband’s neglect is no excuse to corrupt one’s character and become immoral. Indeed, the only way to truly affair-proof one’s marriage is to decide that the pleasure of righteous action and moral heroism by far outstrips anything that can be experienced in illicit sex. This is something magical in a man’s ability to turn down an opportunity to stray and walk away from the encounter a devoted husband and moral giant. One of the prime reasons we all suffer from low self-esteem these days is that we are not the people we want to be. Becoming a liar and a cheat is probably not, in the long run, going to make us feel a whole lot better about ourselves. But deciding to behave righteously even when we are in pain will.

To be sure, wives should of course work to reach their husband’s buried emotions. Contrary to what many women believe, men are intimacy seekers. In these challenging financial times, wives should ask their husbands not, ‘How did your day go?,’ but, ‘How do you feel about all the convulsions in your company?’ They should nurture their men’s hearts and do their best to address their pain. But in the final analysis, if a husband cheats, it’s his fault. Period. He has his own selfishness and ingratitude to blame.

As I survey the current cultural landscape I often wonder, where have all the gentlemen gone? Our movies are filled with male bathroom humor. Our sporting heroes like Alex Rodriquez can’t seem to respect their commitments. Our college campuses are filled with frat boy party animals for whom womanizing is an integral part of ‘higher’ education. Do men today only aspire to an internet startup but not to refined character? Do they yearn for the Forbes Four Hundred list but not to set an example for their own sons of how a great man honors his wife and prioritizes his family?

There was a likable young man I met in Dublin who was very smart but also very cynical. As I spoke with him he shared with me his desire to be recognized as a great director. He also said, matter-of-factly, that when he meets a woman he is unapologetic about trying to have sex with her. When I asked him if he wanted children, he said, “I love my future children enough not to have them. I would inevitably mess them up.” Of course, by the same logic he might as well never try and make a movie. But then, great directors get Academy Awards while gentleman receive no public accolades other than the knowledge that they alone among men tamed and harnessed the beast within.

[Rabbi Shmuley Boteach hosts a daily national radio show on "Oprah and Friends." His most recent book is the 'The Broken American Male.' (St. Martin's Press) www.shmuley.com]

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The Music Show (formerly Music Ireland), Hotpress magazine’s comprehensive exhibition showcasing all things, em, musical is back in the RDS next weekend, Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th of October.

The exhibition brings together the cream of the Irish music industry all under one roof. With exhibitors ranging from recording studios and duplication plants to vintage guitar stores and rock schools, you’re sure to find something to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, whether you’re in the industry or not. Complementing the exhibitors, there are a number of workshops running throughout the weekend such as drum and guitar masterclasses and recording techniques tutorials, all headed by experts in their respective fields. Seminars and panel discussions chaired by the likes of Liam O’Maonlaí (he of Hothouse Flowers fame), Mick Quinn (rock photographer extraordinaire) and Dave Fanning (needs no introduction) serve to provide invaluable insight to the ins and outs of the music business.

And thats not even the best part. For the bargain price of €15.00 (weekend ticket in advance), you get to witness live performances from the fabulous Ham Sandwich, The Blizzards, Jaded Sun (check these guys out if you get a chance - really great classic rock sound from an unbelievably underrated Irish band) and Mercury-nominated Fionn Regan, to name but a few.

So, if you’re in any way musically inclined and find yourself free next weekend, get yourself to the RDS for the only Dublin Show of it’s kind.

Tickets available from Ticketmaster.