The Loaner

I rented a car so I could get around freely. The public transport in Ireland leaves a lot to be desired. Sure, it's under development at the moment but it still has a long way to go.

The car rental company, Budget, gave me a Toyota Auris. Actually, I had a last-minute option for a Volkswagen Golf but I stayed with the Auris anyway. Big mistake.

The first thing that I noticed the moment that I sat into the car was that I could barely see anything. The blind spots were absolutely huge. The pillars were terrible and the bonnet was actually angled so that I could never see it from within the car. It

Inside, it's a complete nightmare as well. The gearstick and handbrake are into a very strange position. It's raised up more and closer to the dashboard. And the handbrake itself resembles something from a rally car except it's shaped awfully strange. Quite un-ergonomic actually. The HUD is a bit of a disaster too. It literally took me a few days with some help from a friend to find out how to see the time. And it involved pressing some random buttons on the dashboard.

So how did it drive? Well, I have to keep in mind that it is a rental car. Well, the tyres are woeful. I had no confidence it them whatsoever. A little bit of moisture and there was no grip in the corners. Not fun at all.

I never had enough faith to take the car beyond 100kph. But even still, I had some close calls.

Flight From Hong Kong To Dublin

As expected, the flight from Hong Kong to Dublin was very punishing. The 12-hour flight in such cramped conditions was just torture. I have been known to be able to sleep absolutely anywhere. But the aeroplane is my weakness. For some unknown reason, I can never sleep on an aeroplane. And I was too tired to watch any of the films on offer.

We landed into Terminal 5 of London Heathrow Airport. It was the early hours of the morning so the whole place was empty. I didn't get a chance to explore. I was already tired and I was disoriented and confused after taking a whole series of different elevators and buses to get from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1.

When we reached Dublin, we discovered that our own wheelchair that was sent as baggage missed our flight so we had to wait for it to come in on the following flight.

I have found that flying with my parents is the biggest test of my patience and nerve.

Disabled Flying

Well, it is always a nightmare to fly. But when you've got a disabled passenger coming along, it's guaranteed stress. Due to a heart condition, my mother relies on a wheelchair to get around. This isn't really so bad until you try to get on or off the aircraft.

To be fair, all the airlines (British Airways/Aer Lingus) and airports (Hong Kong International Airport/London Heathrow Airport/Dublin Airport) that we have used so far have fantastic support for disabled passengers. It's touching how much care and dedication the staff showed. But one thing that they request is that you give them as much notice as possible - which I think is fair.

So what special care does one receive if they are disabled? First of all, the airport can provide a wheelchair and assistance where they will push the disabled passenger all the way to their seat on the aeroplane. En route, they take an express route through security checking and customs. So it really does make things a lot more convenient and it takes a lot of work off my shoulders.

Oh, and if you're disabled, you are boarded onto the flight before all the other passengers - including First Class and Business Class. So that's pretty cool. But on the flip-side, you're the last to disembark the aircraft. But that's not such a terrible thing.

Gran Turismo PSP

Picked up Gran Turismo for the PSP yesterday. Been looking forward to this.

I've only been playing the challenges so far but it's good. It's just as tricky as before. But it's not perfect. I don't know if it's because of the lack of vibration on the PSP but there's no sense of speed or grip. Maybe I just need to get used to it.

But I'm going to have to take my time. Thanks to the terrible ergonomics of the PSP, my hands are in so much pain while trying to keep the car under control. Gran Turismo 5 won't have that problem. This will have to do until then.

My 2-Year Hong Kong Anniversary

Today is my 2-year anniversary of returning to Hong Kong.

Time seems to have passed by so quickly. I can't believe it's been 2 years since I've left Ireland already. Again, I don't miss Ireland that much but I certainly miss my friends. So it's appropriate that I'm going to visit them next week. Really looking forward to that.

But it's been a good 2 years so I hope that doesn't change.