Friday recap:
As I just committed myself to more blogging and as the champions league final is going on; crowding the pubs of sweet Dublin, to the brink of Guinness-fart biological outbreak. I’ll just write one more quick post. Especially concerning what I did yesterday.

Friday:

Got up, my roommate had left early for work, as he always does – My day was looking rather planned out for me; I was gonna work on a big campaign to be launched on Monday. It’s one of those – “asfastasfuckingpossible”-campaigns, that from time to time will go ahead of my other scheduled work. Most of my work I schedule and arrange myself, giving me freedom; but also a lot of responsibility in getting things done within a certain time parameter. If I choose to throttle down one day; I’ll just have to throttle up another day – or stay later. These are my own choices, and I love it. Anyhow. I skipped breakfast at work; opted in for a cup of coffee and carrot juice instead – wondering whether they would serve ginger beer alongside the abundant choice of soft-drinks for lunch. I have a great affinity for ginger; and this drink is fluid mana for me. This day was a particularly meeting-less day. Usually many of my hours can be spent in a meeting room, conference room – taking notes, sharing ideas or just discussing various topics. Learning is a big part of the company philosophy so some days are spent gaining new aspects and perspectives on an assortment of topics and intellectual challenges. Only one meeting, with the usual people, on video conferencing. I got to do some required reporting, whilst listening to the meeting going on with my “other ear”. Early on in the day; as mentioned, I knew that I would be doing one assignment most of the day and I’d allocated my day to do this. It can be a very good thing to do on a Friday – if you’re done earlier you can choose to do some work you’d planned for next week. But in the case you’re delayed you’ll have the weekend worrying how this will impact your forthcoming week. With assignments like the one I had Friday, there is only one factor that plays into whether I’ll be delayed or fast – and that is me, myself and I. No collaboration needed. Just a load of core work and creative thinking. I finished the assignment as I should and could start looking at next weeks assignments.

After work:

After work, this would be at 17:00 on a Friday. I went along with a couple of colleagues to the local bar. Called Oceans – it’s a Google bar – and named Oceans because it’s placed next to the sea, it’s a very nice place and especially great because the sun is dancing on the sky over the premises. You can sit close to the harbor front or sit with your feet slung over the dock. Looking into the murkiness of the Liffey – and it looks back. Considering with every swig of Guinness; how much more alcohol you can handle before falling into the river. It’s beautiful. And on this day the sun was shining from an azure sky of deepest summer. Joy in Dublin. Unfortunately, I only had time to consume one Lithuanian beer (?!) and some gin tonic before moving on to the next venue:

Evening:
Friday was they day that we’d planned to go to Patrick Guilbaud. A french restaurant in Dublin – boosted by two Michelin stars. It has a very good reputation. I’m not a connoisseur, sommelier or extreme francophile.  However the French kitchen, wines, cheeses and friendships have always struck me as extra stimulating. Therefore I am; Quite a fan of foie gras and small birds chopped up into infinitely tasty bites of bliss.

Patrick Guilbaud

We went 7 people and despite the pricetag and general busyness of the place; none of us were disappointed. We sat there from 19:00-23:30. Spent 150 euros each. Had the best wines, foods and cigars. Thinking about the time spent there amount eaten and gastronomical experiences gained – very, very much worth it!

Post Guilbard

On our way to find further entertainment. We started walking up and down the boulevards. Shadows searching in the night. Quick visits to two pubs revealed that we were not in the mood for Guinness and Crisps just yet. About to give in and end our joyous night of trailblazing. We found an awesome jazz/bossanova/easylistening/sing-a-long joint. Such an insanely good atmosphere and we ended up staying there – drinking mojitos and vodka shots until late into the early morning – enjoying the mood and great company.

Great ending to a great day and great week!

I’m suddenly very late for my commitments in the fair city. So i’ll be running along now.

Still kicking in Dublin.

Oh, life is moving along – hilarious amount of inspiration and experiences to share.

I am however dedicated to my work and married to socializing after hours, so it has been hard for me to devote time to write on the blog, as of late.

I’ll therefore make a quick recap:

- Went to Denmark
- Went to to Belfast
- Went to London
- Went to Cork
- Neglected Dublin
- Ash cloud drama
- My neighbor visited
- Ash cloud drama
- Went to Copenhagen, again.

Ackbar and I – heroes.

A picture of the pictures

Drastic Measures:
I’m now taking drastic measures to update my blog on a regular basis, however finding the time has been tough. The measure taken is making my blog the start page of my browser. It has worked before, it might work again. It’s a slight narcissistic dogma to impose upon one-self however in this case I deem it necessary. There are to many thoughts and experiences, that slip through my hands and therefore future references to my stay in Dublin. However I can say this: It’s a lot of working at Google at the moment; it’s not the craziest of things that are happening nor the most libertine of times. However I am scheming to get a life.

I’ll be moseying along the trail, but watch this space.

Just a normal day at work:

Yes, we dress out at Google. Today Green Hornet and Kato roam the offices of the Dublin Office. Hulk, Batman and Superman are also present. All by coincidence.

A little reference for the unenlightened.

In his own place..

So this weekend has been quite eventful. But in any regard all the weekends has been jam-packed with activities since I arrived. The great Irish Ferris Wheel could be another word for my experiences so far. Anyhow I received the keys to my apartment on Friday, immediately and overly excited I jumped into a cab to get me out to my new place. Pronto! – I just wasn’t thinking straight when I placed my butt in a taxi on the south side, going to the north side at 5 pm Friday. Anyone familiar with terms such as “rush hour” and “crazy traffic” would shake their heads in disbelief of my actions. Anyhow, two hours and a months salary later I arrived to my new palace. My ivory tower: Camelot. Brideshead and Tara put into one very window adorned apartment. It’s beautiful, but this is Ireland; first thing i noticed when I walked out of the elevator was this horrific smell of electrical fire. confused, perplexed and full of anticipation I would only dwell in sorrow as the pungent smell increased for every step I took towards my apartment. Disheartened I opened the door and was met with a fray of smells and sounds. Smoke alarms was going on in an annoying cacophony, the smell of burnt… something made me frustrated. After 1 hour I finally got a hold of a caretaker who, of course was enjoying his weekend. Apparently it was his job to prep the apartment for me, but he had forgotten – I suppose – in any regard he told me what to do and which buttons to press, the alarms stopped – then instructed me to open a window and that the smell I was experiencing was the smell of “new radiator” – which may or may not be true. Stinky in any regard.

Anyhow – after three trips to IKEA and many many stories of my inability to match duvet and sheet sizes I’m finally settling into the apartment. And it is beautiful. I enjoy sunrises as professed. I enjoy a whole day of sun on my south turned balcony and I have unobstructed views of the cityscape. However my immediate surroundings are nothing but construction lots – but it will change sometime in the future.

I’ll take some pictures of the apartment – but the grand visual tour will have to wait!

Some pictures to keep the car running.

At work we recently changed seats. This is my new seat – overlooking an atrium. I’m fairly content. Sharp observers will notice the lavalamp which is a staple of Google culture. I inherited two from the former account strategist and they now adorn my table. I actually find them a pretty supplement to the Macbook. Yes, people I’m working on a mac.

Another integrated thing in Irish tourism culture; besides Guinness, is oysters. Apparently Irish people don’t eat them a whole lot. But thankfully all the tourists do. The Irish will even go as far as to combine oysters and Guinness. It’s actually a very good. Guy sitting in front of me is my cousins friend Stefan. Whose friendship I have overtaken in my cousins absence. In any regard;  we went full Irish on Saturday eating oysters drinking Oyster-brew and watched Rugby in a pub – finishing of at a nordic party in the G-Ghetto. Great times. At the pub we ran into a Scottish guy that sounded like he just walked of the set of Braveheart. Hilarious accent for the less traveled in Celtic circles – I took full advantage of the situation and made him recite quotes from Trainspotting. “We on the other hand are colonized by wankers”. Bliss.

Polish haircuts, polish marked. And this picture was taken in the Italian part of town.

Okay, I’ll return with a picture update. But it might be a while since I’m having an exam on Wednesday and a highly anticipated visitor – followed by more visitors. I’ll try and fit in a little blogging along the way.

9 days and no posts:
So life is moving forward in Dublin at a nice pace. I’m still royally thrilled that I accepted this opportunity and new experiences and learnings are abundant every day.

However, I’m also here to work – and work I do – and will do. A lot. Days easy go from 9-19 with 30 minutes of transportation each way, which just leaves time for cooking dinner and doing essential laundry and email before sleepy time. Weekends are spent socialising and exploring the city. But Sunday night come way to fast. It’s actually not a complaint. I’m quite content and enjoying this life. But working in another country with your fellow countrymen in the same company also means that your work/life balance becomes skewered; into some sort of “life is work” balance. This is not encouraged by the employer. But naturally, when you like what you’re doing on a daily basis and you’re fond of your co-workers – professionally and socially- you adapt your life and time spendt outside of work suddenly is a holding point for when you’re going back into the grinder – you simply assimilate and optimize from a strictly hedonistic/pragmatic perspective, due to the fact that you’ve been thrown into this world. This Island.

People would complain that I don’t call or proactively take contact, believing that I’m doing all sorts of interesting things: Nah, I’m just working.

I will be opening the door to my new apartment on Friday:
It finally happened. My apartment is ready for tenancy. Now I don’t have anything in the apartment – So it’ll be fairly empty. But I’ll have my own spot.

Tranquility achieved. Courtesy of Hockney.

I’m back with a little picture focused update:

So, I was missing some picture from Dublin. Here they are – they should say more than a thousand words each accounting to the cliché. So I’ll shut up. They are presented in random order.

I am well aware I put this, fetish/obsession of taking people that dress alike behind me 2½ years ago.
But COME ON!! This was way to good to pass. Look at the feet! -All three of them in perfect E-T harmony.

Enjoying Cheese and Wine. Here the Nordic team; which includes yours truly, consume some fine wine and an assortment of Cheeses – before going to a Mozart concert. Being all cultural for about 3 hours until we stepped into a pub and had Guinness. Which meant we were back – face down in the muck and mire.

We are still enjoying some good ol’ recession pastime here in Dublin: Reading magazines without actually paying – or caring about paying.

There was a harp lady at the hotel I stayed. Not your everyday occurrence. She would show up on Sundays and pluck the hecka-hella out of the edgy instrument. Pro bono? – Who knows – The ways of the Irish moves in mysterious ways. (did you all get this cornucopia of pop-cultural references?)

Mural I came across at Google. Now for some funky reason I feel like I was born to work here.
For individuals perflexed at this “born” statement please click on this: Picture from my living room -  Note the date of the picture

Bridge and river right around my first habitat in Dublin. After seeing this on a daily basis for 10 days I made it my primary goal to find an apartment next to this river. I failed in my attempts. But came close. Just to be attempted bamboozled by a bamboozling rental agent. However you cannot bamboozle the bamboozler.

The apartment:

I’m proud to tentatively present my new apartment on the blog.

So basically it’s placed 10 minutes outside of downtown Dublin and 25 minutes on foot from my work – in an area called “The point Village”. Now most of the stuff out there has not been built yet, but me; being such an avant-garde situationist – I’m there now. My apartment is as mentioned, not yet ready for habitation, but it soon will! – Until then I’m enjoying seaside suburbia with my wonderful friend Ruth, up in a small sleeper village called Sutton north of Dublin.

Floorplan:

Please note; I did not draw this – I filched it of some developers website; there are minor inconsistencies but it’s basically correct; it is of course furnished from the get-go in a high standard that soothes my Scandinavian heart.

The apartment in itself appears quite spacious – the combined living/dining room features a sofa group with coffee table plus a 4 seat dining table adjacent to the balcony. It should be noted that I will be living there alone – so more than enough for poor me. It is a corner apartment so it has basically floor to ceiling windows facing south and east all the way around, it looks extremely impressive.

There are two bedrooms, both feature double beds and ample amounts of closet space + mirrors. One bedroom features a balcony facing east, giving me a great view of the sunrise since there are no imminent obstructions in the way. Both bedrooms seem to be the same size except one features a balcony.

The bathroom is a standard bathroom, it features a tub, but it is nothing in particular – the kitchen is built in an alcove style – also quite spacious with room enough for two people to work out there without getting in each others way – the “F” indicates a huge fridge and freezer. As far as I can see the “Store” room featured in the original plans has been cut out from the actual plan; giving a bigger kitchen; it has now basically been converted into a closet only featuring washing machine and dryer (separate).

There is of course the unobstructed south facing balcony, it is quite spacious as well; but it is facing a bustling square and streetcar (LUAS) station, so privacy issues might be a problem – but I think it’ll be akin to the privacy issues yacht owners in Saint-Tropez are facing on a daily basis *hehe*. I’ll just screen it of with carefully placed plants. The apartment is placed on the 3rd floor – so only a small amount of noise from the street. The streetcars are amazingly quiet as they drive by.

The area in general:

Right across from my apartment this ginormous shopping center is being built. With the iconic spherical class facade facing my apartment – but there is actually quite some space between the two buildings, so it does not obstruct my “view”

Development has come a bit further these days.

This pretty well matches my south-east view from the balcony.
The big building in the front is Dublin’s biggest and newest concert place. The O2. Not a bad neighbor for a me. At all. In the front you can see the streetcar station  – The development to the left is the early stages of the shopping center.

Virtual view from the other side.
You can go here to see an architectural 3d flyby presentation of the Point Village area with focus on the shopping center and the LUAS and a coming skyscraper (which I bet has been put on indefinite hold)

So I’m quite excited – and I will keep you all posted!

Update:
Now with an actual map, showing where things in Dublin are relatively to my apartment.

I have created this wonderful amalgamation Google Maps and Gimp-graphics.
Click on the map to get this wonder of Photoshop and design in full size.

There will be updates:
I’m still here, still functioning, still learning, still adjusting. I’ve moved to a quiet little oceanside suburb of Dublin called Sutton. At the moment I’m battlening poor internet reception and 30 minutes commute to work. So it seems like I’m 21 again traveling to business school; Bright eyed, rosy faced and full of expectation. So sad: 7 years later I’m doing the same trek, with coffee.

In any case, I secured a bad ass apartment in a new development in downtown Dublin. I’ll post pictures, but right now it’s nothing more than a pile of stones and three polish guys stabling these into a Jenga-like contraption that I will eventually be living in.

For the record:
I’m having tons of fun and meeting new exciting people every day, pushing me to change my evil way of being initially aloof and detached. Good stuff.

Not yet expired from Guinness excess:

Okay, here comes the obligatory review of my first week in Dublin, as mentioned earlier; Google is great and Dublin follows suit – and it’s not really that different from any other European capital, including Copenhagen. There are differences; but I do appreciate all the various schisms, chasms, pitfalls and misunderstandings I run into. It’s all about personal development – right? – Idleness = root to all evil, rolling stone= no moss, flowing river = no dams? – in any case, clichés aside. I gain a tremendous amount of self fulfillment by first being a blubbering idiot and then, as time progresses learn to adapt.

Ireland is definitely more defined by low-culture and pretentious blood runs not through the veins of the Irish or those who have chosen to settle here – this soothes me fine as well. In my years of mad rambling about the real, the hyper real, essence, simulacrum, simulation and dimension I’ve always garnered a great respect for societies that has shed the layers- or maybe deflected the influx of pop-culture on an ethical level. It somehow seems that using “Carrie arguments” and “Friends scenarios” won’t help you get your points through any clearer in Ireland.

A leprechaun, What is Ireland without it?

Tgif:

Last night I had my first “Thank god it’s Friday”-event. Now I don’t remember much due to a memory allocation error; but luckily I had my personal digital assistant taking random pictures.

The amount of people and food : staggering, mindboggling and not at all surprising.

…and a little something for the ladies I caught earlier in the day

The sun is up, the sky is blue – It’s beautiful and so are.. I better get going, weather in Dublin is quite unpredictable and I’ll probably see rain soon.