Travel

General

100 Ways to say I Love You

February 12, 2008 by 3 Comments

Thanks to Michele Neylon’s post on how to say I Love You in over 100 different languages (110 to be precise), you now have no excuse for not being able to find the right words to tell that someone special how much they mean to you this Valentine’s Day.

If you time it right, you might even get through them all over dinner … just before she falls asleep into her dessert 🙂

Have a good one!

Language Phrase
Afrikaans Ek het jou lief
Albanian Te dua
Arabic Ana behibak (to male)
Arabic Ana behibek (to female)
Armenian Yes kez sirumen
Bambara M’bi fe
Bangla Aamee tuma ke bhalo baashi
Belarusian Ya tabe kahayu
Bisaya Nahigugma ako kanimo
Bulgarian Obicham te
Cambodian Bung Srorlagn Oun (to female), Oun Srorlagn Bung (to male)
Cantonese/Chinese Ngo oiy ney a
Catalan T’estimo
Cheyenne Ne mohotatse
Chichewa Ndimakukonda
Corsican Ti tengu caru (to male)
Creol Mi aime jou
Croatian Volim te
Czech Miluji te
Danish Jeg Elsker Dig
Dutch Ik hou van jou
English I love you
Esperanto Mi amas vin
Estonian Ma armastan sind
Ethiopian Ewedishalehu (to female), Ewedihalehu (to male).
Faroese Eg elski teg
Farsi Doset daram
Filipino Mahal kita
Finnish Mina rakastan sinua
French Je t’aime, Je t’adore
Gaelic Ta gra agam ort
Georgian Mikvarhar
German Ich liebe dich
Greek S’agapo
Gujarati Hu tumney prem karu chu
Hiligaynon Palangga ko ikaw
Hawaiian Aloha wau ia oi
Hebrew Ani ohev otah (to female)
Hebrew Ani ohev et otha (to male)
Hiligaynon Guina higugma ko ikaw
Hindi Hum Tumhe Pyar Karte hai
Hmong Kuv hlub koj
Hopi Nu’ umi unangwa’ta
Hungarian Szeretlek
Icelandic Eg elska tig
Ilonggo Palangga ko ikaw
Indonesian Saya cinta padamu
Inuit Negligevapse
Irish Taim i’ ngra leat
Italian Ti amo
Japanese Aishiteru
Kannada Naa ninna preetisuve
Kapampangan Kaluguran daka
Kiswahili Nakupenda
Konkani Tu magel moga cho
Korean Sarang Heyo
Latin Te amo
Latvian Es tevi miilu
Lebanese Bahibak
Lithuanian Tave myliu
Macedonian Te Sakam
Malay Saya cintakan mu / Aku cinta padamu
Malayalam Njan Ninne Premikunnu
Maltese Inhobbok
Mandarin Chinese Wo ai ni
Marathi Me tula prem karto
Mohawk Kanbhik
Moroccan Ana moajaba bik
Nahuatl Ni mits neki
Navaho Ayor anosh’ni
Nepali Ma Timilai Maya Garchhu
Norwegian Jeg Elsker Deg
Pandacan Syota na kita!!
Pangasinan Inaru Taka
Papiamento Mi ta stimabo
Persian Doo-set daaram
Pig Latin Iay ovlay ouyay
Polish Kocham Cie
Portuguese Eu te amo
Romanian Te ubesc
Russian Ya tebya liubliu
Rwanda Ndagukunda
Scot Gaelic Tha gra\dh agam ort
Serbian Volim te
Setswana Ke a go rata
Sindhi Maa tokhe pyar kendo ahyan
Sioux Techihhila
Slovak Lu`bim ta
Slovenian Ljubim te
Spanish Te quiero / Te amo
Surinam Mi lobi joe
Swahili Ninapenda wewe
Swedish Jag alskar dig
Swiss-German Ich lieb Di
Tajik Man turo Dust Doram
Tagalog Mahal kita
Taiwanese Wa ga ei li
Tahitian Ua Here Vau Ia Oe
Tamil Naan unnai kathalikiraen
Telugu Nenu ninnu premistunnanu
Thai Chan rak khun (to male)
Thai Phom rak khun (to female)
Turkish Seni Seviyorum
Ukrainian Ya tebe kahayu
Urdu mai aap say pyaar karta hoo
Vietnamese Anh ye^u em (to female)
Vietnamese Em ye^u anh (to male)
Welsh ‘Rwy’n dy garu
Yiddish Ikh hob dikh
Yoruba Mo ni fe
Zimbabwe Ndinokuda

Source: Michele Neylon :: Pensieri

General - Multimedia

The Long Way Down

October 12, 2007 by 1 Comment

Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman recently completed another motor cycling adventure that took them from the northern-most tip of Scotland, John O’Groats down the the southern-most tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas. The highlights from their journey, the Long Way Down, are being broadcast on BBC Two (six episodes I believe), commencing October 28th 2007.

I am looking forward to this as I really enjoyed watching their first adventure, the Long Way Round (on DVD as it happens) where they circumnavigated the world (London to New York via Asia) using a similar mode of transport.

I also caught the end of an interview with Charley Boorman on Ireland’s Today FM last night, which I think made for great radio listening. You could just feel the passion, excitement and fervour in his voice when describing some of the things they experienced. It’s well worth a listen if you have a few minutes to spare.

His interview starts around 15 minutes (and 30 seconds) into the Podcast of Thursday’s Last Word show.

General

How stupid can you get?

September 24, 2007 by 2 Comments

It beggars belief that in the current climate of international terrorism, someone could be so stupid that they would actually enter an International Airport wearing a circuit board with some wires and flashing lights on their T-Shirt.

We’ve all heard the not-so funny stories about the Irish guy who joked with the check-in attendant about the likely contents of his luggage and found himself in jail for several weeks as a result. But this one really does take the biscuit (or bread board to the techies out there).

I mean, what did she think they would say?

Source: SlashDot

General

Dermot Quill’s World Tour continues in Bolivia

May 1, 2007 by 0 Comments

A friend of mine is currently travelling the world. Here is his third report … His previous two reports include adventures in Nepal and Argentina/Chile.

I am now in Bolivia having left Argentina forever. Firstly, we went to Tupiza which is where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid met their end (allegedly). I spent a day there doing what is known as the Triathlon, which consisted of a 15k mountain bike ride followed by three hours on a horse through the most amazing high western scenery (and yes, I can reasonably control a horse at this stage) followed by another 2-hour jeep climb to 4200 metres and finally another 40 minute gravity-assisted bike descent on hairpin bends.

Next it was an 8 hour drive to the Salt Plains of Uyuni. It is impossible to describe how incredible they are so I won’t bother. Look at pictures on the internet. We stayed the night in a hostel built entirely of salt bricks, including the bed. The “carpet” was unrefined salt. I had dinner there too but ironically it needed more salt!!!

I am now in a place called Potosi. This was once the richest city in the world thanks to the silver mines. Over 8 million Indians died here over the course of 200 years. I’m going down the mines myself this afternoon.

Anyway off to buy a few sticks of dynamite for the mine visit (and I am not joking by the way!).

All the best, Dermot

General

Dermot Quill’s World Tour continues

April 13, 2007 by 1 Comment

A friend of mine is currently travelling the world. Here is his second report. I posted his first report from Nepal last November.

Flew into Buenos Aires nearly a month ago. This is a great city, very vibrant with bars and restaurants everywhere, and also because of Argentina’s previous economic problems, very cheap. By the way, steak is better at home.

The undoubted highlight was the football match (River Plate v Arsenal). A great game, with an incredible atmosphere and the distinct possibility of being attacked by either the supporters or the many riot police present. I stayed there for 4 days and then headed for a 2500km bus journey to Ushuaia.

The first bus journey to Puerto Madryn took 36 hours. It was actually supposed to take 8 but the bus (a Mercedes) broke down after 3 hours and the replacement took another 24 hours to get there. So I was stranded in a town called “The Avenue of the 9th July” in the Pampas. That might give you some idea what the place was like. The most exciting thing about it was the mosquitos. Anyway got out of that dump the following day and made it to Puerto Madryn.

Puerto Madryn is famous for two things – there is a Welsh colony outside it and it also contains the Valdez Peninsula which has a large colony of penguins, seals and very rarely seen Killer Whales. Amazingly I did see the whales – there were two swimming very close to the coast checking out the seals for some blubber sushi later on.

Two days later, I arrived in a town down south called Rio Gallegos to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, drinking dark beer in a Texan bar that was showing Ricky Martin Videos.

So after 6 days we finally made it to Ushuaia or the “End of the World” as it tiresomely proclaims itself. Actually, it’s a really lively town set in stunning scenery which made a real change as most of the trip down was through flat arid, monotonous land. The next time I would fly.

After a few days there, we went to Torres del Paine in Chile to do what is called the “W” walk with 6 others. If the weather is good, at dawn the towers glow bright orange. But guess what – the bus (Yes another Mercedes!) broke down delaying us by 4 hours. So we decided to camp for a few hours and set out at 3.00am in the morning in the darkness carrying all clothes and food for 4 days. Made it for dawn but the weather was cloudy so no glow. Still, I am glad to have done it.

It wasn’t until we retraced our steps in the daylight when we say how dangerous the trail was in some places. That day consisted of 13 hours walking, the next day 9 hours and the final day 7 hours. Was heartily sick of raisins and Salami by the end of the walk. The scenery is stunning though.

Then came a days rest and back into Argentina for a 15 hour hike including a 2-hour Glacier trek and an hour of ice climbing which was brilliant. This was in the Fitzroy Mountains. We then took another bus (a Toyota this time) for a days rafting on a class 4 rapids in Fatalefu in Chile.

I am now resting in Barlioche for a few days over Easter and relishing the thought of doing nothing. I am looking forward of going back into Chile again as I think I prefer the scenery on the Chilean side. The people there seem more laid back than the Argentines as well.

If anyone is interested in South American Politics check out “El Supremo” on the Internet – the first ruler of Paraguay. Among his many accomplishments was having all the dogs in the country shot. Everyone had to raise their hat to him when he passed by. If you didn’t wear a hat you had to carry a hat brim and raise that. In his later years no one was allowed to look at him in the face and all subjects had to keep at least 6 feet away. El Supremo died peacefully. His body was then fed to Aligators.

Anyway thats all for now.

EL Supremo!

Travel

Greetings from Nepal

November 2, 2006 by 2 Comments

A friend of mine is currently sampling life in Nepal. Here is his first report …

Well I am back after 29 days sleeping in a tent and not washing. It was an amazing experience commencing with a near plane crash and peaking (if you pardon the pun) with fabulous views of Kangchenjunga and the Himalayan range around it.

Flew from Kahmandhu to Taplejung which is an airstrip on a ridge (or to be more exact a cow pasture that doubles as an airstrip). The day was cloudy and it turned out that this was the first flight into the airstrip for 4 months owing to cloud. The pilots here don’t bother using electronic equipment to guide them instead relying on sight – all very good except they couldn’t find the airstrip. After circling 6 or 7 times the mists cleared right in front of us and there was the airstrip, or more accurately, there was the cliffs underneath the airstrip. There was a roar from one of the pilots and a sharp dive upwards and to the right and we cleared by a few feet. Undeterred they did another circle and brought the plane down perfectly. Then they turned to their passengers laughing and waving. I found out afterwards that a helicopter was not so lucky the previous week 3 miles away from the strip. It crashed into a mountain side killing all 23 people on board.

As mentioned the weather started cloudy, warm but cloudy. The days walking initially were about 7 hours decreasing to 5 hours when we hit the 3000 metre mark, and it got steeper. The poor weather initially did not matter as we were walking through thick forest and jungle. One nasty side effect was the presence of many leeches. These are harmless though disgusting and nearly impossible to get off once they have sunk their fangs into you (burning them with a cigarette or using veet is the best way). They drop off once they have their fill of blood. I got done on the foot at night-time. It was my own fault for walking around in sandals. One woman was not as fortunate and got bitten on the arse.

The forests eventually cleared and we ended up in pastureland and villages. The area is very remote here so at every village, children would come down to practice their English and get their home work done. Less interested in practising English and more interested in collecting taxes were the Maoists. There was negotiations with our head Sherpa, money was given over and we were on our way. In fairness, the Maoists have done a really good job in replacing dangerous trails higher up.

We made our way eventually up to South Base camp at 4700m.The views hear are stunning or at least they would be except that they were clouded by a heavy mist. The Sherpa told us to wait 20 minutes as he was convinced that the mists would clear. And indeed they did and the views were stunning. We stayed approx 2 hours there taking photos and getting cold in case there were no further views. In fact apart form a heavy snow shower the weather remained sunny from then on to the rest of the trip.

We climbed a steep pass to another valley and stayed the night in a really pretty Tibetan village called Ghunsa. Got to try a Tibetan drink called Tsomba which was fermented Millet and Barley served in a wooden pot. You just add hot water and drink through a wooden straw. When finished, just add more water and repeat the process. A publicans nightmare!
We eventually made our way to the North Base camp at 5200 passing through the village of Kambachen en route. In 1930 the British Mountaineer Frank Smythe must have drunk too much Tsomba night before as he described the residents of Kambachen as “interbred cretins and imbeciles of stunted dwarf like appearance and possessing but limited intelligence”. Kambachen is now twinned with Ardee!

Base camp was stunning, surrounded by 7000 and 8000 metre peaks all around. It is also consisted of many memorials to various people who died on Kangchenjunga over the years, The most recent being 2004.The temperature at night ranged from a balmy -8C to a distinctly chilly -12C.

Stayed there for 2 days and then it was time to descend. Its not good to stay in altitude too long. I had no problems but a Sherpa and a Porter got sick and had to descend rapidly.
We went down the trail the same way as we ascended. It took about 4 days to go back. We flew back to Kathmandhu on the weekend.

I am currently in a resort town called Pokhara resting. I have lost about 6 kilos in weight so will head off again in a few days.

All the best, Dermot

Humour - Travel

North Main Street

September 27, 2006 by 0 Comments

I had reason to drive to Cork city recently to a premises on North Main Street. Not knowing Cork that well, I sought the assistance of a map on the internet and started to look for North Main St. However, I just couldn’t find it and all the references in site search results were useless.

My 70 year old father happened to be in the room at the time and since he grew up in West County Waterford (not a million miles away from Cork), I decided to ask him if, by any chance, he happened to know where North Main Street in Cork was. Here is his reply…

….pause….stare at wall…pause…. “Er, um, No … but I know where North Main Street in Youghal is…”

Priceless (and useless) !!!

Sport

New Liverpool players

September 27, 2006 by 1 Comment

Got a chance to see Liverpool FC play at Anfield recently and witnessed to a 3-0 thumping of Tottenham Hotspur. The scoreline flattered them a little as Spurs played very well in the first half. However, they were still good value for the win.

I was very impressed with some of their new signings though. In particular Daniel Agger and Mark Gonzales caught my eye. Agger is a fine defender and keeps a cool head about him. Gonzales on the other hand was exciting, daring and ran Spurs ragged down the left wing. Conversely, Craig Bellamy was awful but maybe he just had an off-day.

Travel

To Ryanair or not to Ryanair

September 27, 2006 by 4 Comments

I flew from Cork to Liverpool with Rynair for a weekend break recently and experienced two completely different journeys. My wife and I both took hand luggage only and the flight took off right on time. We were off the plane in a matter of seconds after it landed and sailed out of the arrivals hall in Liverpool, both extremely impressed with efficiency of the outward journey.

I have to hand it to Ryanair on this front. Fair enough, they won’t wait for you if you’re late for your flight but this certainly works in your favour when everyone is off the plane so quickly.

But of course, my enthusiasm was short-lived because the return journey was reall pain. Once again, we checked in with hand luggage only and made our way to the security gates. However, I was stopped and told that pretty much all of my toiletries would not be allowed on the plane because they contained liquids (even my toothpaste for God sake). My options were to have them throw it all away or to return to the check-in area and check my bag through. Well I wasn’t going to just throw away over €100 worth of stuff so I duly returned to the Ryanair check-in desk (escorted by security of course) only to discover that they now charge £7 per checked-in bag and that I had to go and queue at the other side of the airport to pay this and then return to the check-in desk to collect my boarding card!

Finally, as I walked back through the departure area, I decided to buy some Lockets for my impending sore throat only to be told they wouldn’t be allowed on the plane either because they too contain liquids. Mother of God, what’s the world coming to? The laughable part about it was that the lady told me if I waited and bought the Lockets inside the departure area, I’d have no problem bringing them on the plane. So, are we to believe that all products for sale inside this area have been vetted for suspicious contaminents down to every individual throat lozenge. I don’t think so!

By the way, the new terminal in Cork airport is very nice but the long term car park still needs a lot of work.