Irish tapas

We spotted this the night we went in to town for the recent surprise birthday meal, and I took a photo at the time but didn't use it. I remembered the spot (it's a pub on Dame Street) this afternoon when I went in to town for a bit of a browse and a wander, and promoted it to blip status. We thought it a strange idea when it saw it first, and I still think it strange: "Irish tapas"? Mind you, the notion is so intriguing that I'm quite tempted to investigate further. I suppose what they've done is prepare a selection of bite-sized dishes, Spanish-style, but using traditional Irish ingredients. Maybe I will give it a go. If I do, I'll report back.

Before this little trek, I'd done final preparations for that time again, which, as last year, consisted principally of taking off the hubcaps and checking tyre pressure. I'd brought along a book in November, and did the same this time - electronically, though, since this time the book was on my iPhone. They've introduced a live updating system in the test centre which displays estimated times to completion, which is a good idea. Most importantly, though, is the fact that everything went much quicker than usual, and I was out again by 11.20 from a test time of 10.45. If memory serves me, the cost has been reduced (50 euro now), which took away some of the sting of having to get a test done again only eight months after the last one. The bottom line was good too: Passes all the way through, and an NCT cert valid until June 2013.

I'd thought of going in to town immediately after that but changed my mind and went home instead. That meant I was actually in when my best mate Derek phoned for a coffee check. We had a great old chat about DACs and headphones and health and doctors and homeopathy and music and computer peripherals and the imminent arrival of Mac OSX Lion. We chatted and chatted and chatted and had a grand old time until Derek's work called and he had to go.

The day wound down a bit after I got home later on from my city wander. Not much doing. Fed myself, listened to some music, watched the fist episode of The Hour on BBC (looks promising).