Trip 2 Galway - Day One

Summer is nearly over and atleast we had a trip - trip 2 galway! 19 of us, including 4 kids, packed in 4 cars headed to galway around 11am on 5 August. Plan was to leave dublin around 5am but thanks to sleeping pattern of some of the singhs who only sleep at amrit vela i.e., 3am, that we were only behind the schedule by 6hours! Anyway we had to take some harsh methods to wake them up at 6am and then could only leave at 11am.......

Singhan de jave car shookdi............otte jhoolde kesri jhande!

Galway is 280km from Dublin. it took us around 3 hour to reach there and and another half an hour to find the holiday home which we rented for a week. Bhai Karanjit Singh was leading the convoy and I was helping him with direction from map. Just one mistake at roundabout and another half an hour. then we rang the house owner and he helped us out.

While we stoped at Athlone Gas station, an irish guy (who was sitting in nearby car with his family) came to us. He has been to Amritsar last year, so he knew about sikhs & was very happy to see Punjabi Sikhs in Ireland! while leaving he folded his hands and very clearly said, "waheguru jee ka khalsa waheguru jee ki fateh"! another surprise for which none of us was prepared!

A photo including photgrapher as well!

Wait ....let us join (Sadi Vee photo khichoo!)

(R2L) Karanjit, Ranjit, & Hardip Singh. Athlone city is at one hour's drive from Dublin & is at centre of Ireland. Athlone city is now being developed as hub of economic activity.

Beautiful view while heading to Connemara National Park. Some of Ireland's finest scenery is in North connemara. Connemara is a unique and very special part of County Galway. It is situated on the most western seaboard of Europe, and features breathtaking scenery, a rugged unpolluted coastline, dramatic mountains, numerous lakes and rivers, woodlands, and a National Park. Many of the inhabitants of Connemara are Gaelic speaking. The Irish langauge (Gaelic) is the everyday spoken language in large areas of Connemara known as the 'Gaeltacht'

Another View! it was hour and half drive from galway. sideviews were simply beautiful. The area's National Park covers about 4,000 acres of untamed countryside.

Bhai Harpreet Singh with Sachman & Japnitt Singh (while other gang members seem to planning strategy to break into park intrance)

It was evening when we reached park and we didn't had much time to take a big round of park. so we decided to take a short round of park.

(R2L) Kirandeep, Gurmeet, Satwinder & Hardip Singh

Picture at post no 3. there were marks in the park which people have to follow in order to finish their journey in time. if you have want to take short cut route then you have turn from a paticular no. Our critical post no was 3. In pic are Jaspal singh and his wife, karnajit & japnitt Singh, harkiran, jaskiran & harpreet Kaur.

"Hamari Sehat ka raaaj" - Bhai Harpreet Singh

Baba Hardip Singh dublin wale - ek zaadgar photo

Je dhosti ham kabhi na tore ge...! Pardhan sahib and Khajanchi

Both Bhai sahib also do seva as President(Pardhaan) & treasurer (khajaanchi) in Dublin gurdwara management committee.

Gabhan de mamle vich khajaanchi nu 5 saal jail !
Bhai Karnjit Singh jee at one of park gate.

do mahapurakh bhagti karde hoye!

After samadhi, Ranjit singh going back to his kutiyah (cottage) on his bicycle ?

Baba Hardip Singh jee in jubliant mood.

Baba jee blessing the park!

Baba jee in deep meditation!

Maya naal hi mere swass chalde han........maya dekh ke mere smile vapas aah jandi hai....!!

Gill bhaji Baba Hardip Singh jee nu maya bhet karde hoye.

Kids near safety signboard. well kids didn't care for anyone and were the first to finish the round.

Bibi Jaskiran Kaur and Sachman on their way.

Bhai Karanjit Singh and Japnitt Singh

Rukkhi bhai photo khichan valiyah...mainu theek tara baith lain de...(Wait....let me sit properly)

Hamara Parvaar! - family Photograph

Spanish people were so happy to be in picture....!

(R2L) Phulpreet, Kirandeep,Ranjit, Gurmeet, Satwinder, and Hardip Singh.

After we came out of park.

After visit to Connamara National Park, Singhs relaxing in the room. Gurvinder Singh (2nd from right) joined us in the evening. Pictures from 2nd and 3rd day are follow soon. stay tuned!

Wonderful and Interesting Facts!

From a forward email.............

Armadillos are the only animal besides humans that canget leprosy.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are onthe Australian coat of arms for that reason.

Certain frogs can be frozen solid, then thawed, and survive.

To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs - it will let you go instantly.

If you toss a penny 10000 times, it will not be heads5000 times, but more like 4950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom.

Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age.

The longest recorded flight of a chicken is thirteen seconds.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, youwould have produce enough sound energy to heat one cupof coffee. (Hardly seems worth it!)

If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. (Still not over that pig thing!!!)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

On average people fear spiders more than they do death.

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.(Hmmmmm.....)

You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.

Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 ofa calorie. (Licking?)

You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.

Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

Polar bears are left handed.

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, that makes the cat fish rank #1 for animal having the most taste buds.

The flea can jump 350 times its body length, It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.

A cockroach will live nine days without it's head,before it starves to death.(Creepy!)

Some lions mate over 50 times a day.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

A cat's urine glows under a black light.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.

Starfishes haven't got brains.

MEET THE PRESIDENT:multicultural garden party at the Áras an Uachtaráin - the official residence of the President of Ireland

The Áras an Uachtaráin - the official residence of the President of Ireland

It has been a while that President of Ireland, Marry McAleese played host to 'New Irish' at her official residence. The day was Friday, June 14, with excellent sun in the sky. There was good gathering, around 400-500 people from every community. Although most of them (around 80%) were from african continent... and five from Sikh Community! Like Everybody else, we also reached Cross car park in Phenix park, where buses were waiting to take 'guests' to president's residence. As we reached president's residence (hardly 2mitues drive), President and her husband received all the guest on one to one basis and exchanged 'pleasentries' with visiting dignitaries! :)

(LtoR) Bhai Harpreet Singh, Dr Martin McAcleese, President McAleese, Bibi Jaskiran Kaur and me. Bibi Jaskiran Kaur presented flowers to President while we all posed for this important pic!

Me and Bhai Harpreet Singh in The Francini Corridor.

Person who were guiding us through President's residence explained so about this .....all i can say now is this ...is very rare and precious object!

This is State Dining Room, which was built in 1849 for a visit by Queen Victoria. The table, u see was made in 1927 and brought to this place in 1960. The Very first meeting of new Governments is usually held around this table after Ministers have received their Seals of Office from the President. Also, all the visiting dignitaries held their discussion with president in this room!

This is Council of State Room. The furniture in this room is replicas of Louis XIV furniture. The painting you see on the top is of the first meeting of the Council of State, the President’s advisory body, presided over by Douglas Hyde in 1940 and is by Simon Coleman RHA. The other oil paintings in this room are 18th and 19th century landscapes on loan from the National Gallery of Ireland.

Kids Entertainers! Keeping kids busy by painiting their faces with coulours.

Photo with some members of Singing group . Their performance was simply awesome!
This Gentleman from some east european country(forget name) was too impressed with Sikhi Saroop that decided to have photograph with us! amazing isn't!

Bibi Jaskiran Kaur having talk with a member of Musical band. While enjoying straberries (see right hand!)


I forgot this group's name, but their singing coordination was amazing, their voices varied as if they were being remote controlled!

African dancers - Good performance too! Majrity of people present there were from African continent.

Life is the coffee.....................!

From email..........

Life is a lot like drinking coffee, or tea, in oriental culture. We sometimes be distracted by the cup which holds the coffee.but the thing is the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides ,what we drink. What all of us really want is coffee, not the cup, but lots of us consciously go for the best cups.

Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society, and all or the 'luxuries' are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.

Written by Lin li(London)

Sikh Soldiers in Lebanon!

July26: Troops carry the body of one of the three unarmed U.N. military observers killed by Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. Complete story @ FoxNews.com

U.N. peacekeepers from India carry the body of one of the U.N. observers who was killed in Israel's airstrike in southern Lebanon on Tuesday. Complete Story @ MSNBC.com

All the networks are repeatedly showing the footage on T.V. where peace keepers from India (including Sikhs) are assisting in the aftermath of the bombing in Southern Lebanon. Pictures courtsey FoxNews.com, CNN.com, MSNBC.com.

Top 10 US Employers in Ireland

Ireland is currently home to 620 US companies, which employ more than 100,000 people directly and a further 250,000 indirectly through related industries and services. The US is Ireland's single largest source of inward investment, making Ireland the 4th most popular destination for US manufacturing investment overseas!

The following is top 10 US employers in US:

1. Intel : 5,000
2. Dell : 4,300
3. IBM: 3,200
4. Wyeth: 3,090
5. Boston Scientific: 2,600
6. Hewlett-Packard; 2,500
7. Jassen Pharmaceutical: 2,200
8. Bausch & lomb: 1,800
9. Analog Devices: 1,500
10. EMC Ireland: 1,400

World Refugee Day Awards 2006

Today there was two events which took place in Dublin. One was AGM of Integrating Ireland and another one was World Refugee Day 2006 Awards. Integrating Ireland is an umbrella organisation which works with over hundred of ethnic/immigrant led organisations in Ireland. Irish Sikh Council (http://www.irishsikhcouncil.com) is also a member organisation. I was quite surprised by the fact that some of most active member organisation/ persons are coming from african background & how they are helping to raise issues associated with their communities is eye openers for us.

Then there was world refugee day 2006 awards at Dublin City Council building. Programme started at 7pm. I reached there around quarter to seven and saw that everybody was being serving nice stuffed, vegetarian samosas and rolls.I took some pictures, then a man came to me and said, "sardar jee, how are you". I cudn't believe my ears for a moment. I asked him how do you know that I am a sikh. then he told me that he had taught biochemistry in CMC Ludhiana for 3 years in 1980's. At present he is teaching in Trinity College Dublin. He was very friendly guy and had been very appreciative of India, especially of sikhs throughout the conversatioin. As programme started there was address by Lord Mayor of Dublin. and before they stated other things, to our surprise, person incharge of stage announced the Punjabi Dancers are welcomed to stage!

these Drumers (informally) started the programme, by plying there drums. All the four participants belong to different countires!

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Catherine Bryne giving her inauguration speech.

Jagroop & his Bhangra Team giving their performace. It was very nice performance.

Bhangraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! (Punjabi folk dance)

Giving them bit of support!

Audiences enjoying the Bhagra!

Audiences were from all countries, majority of them from africa.

Hardip, Ranjit and Vivek in the background.

Mayor giving awards to nominated members.

Dr. Ronit Lentin, Dept of Sociology, Trinity College, Dublin, inviting people for awards.

( LtoR) Naimah Manna, Salome Mbugua, and Kay Mulhall nominated and awarded for their work in Community & Environment Category.

Nigerian Community presenting their dance. It was funny that they were asked by the stage secretary to perform better than the Punjabi dancers!

Mr. ......., Director of Integrating Ireland, giving his speech.

(LtoR) Memet Uludag & Laurence Van de Hogen awarded for their work in Education & Youth Category.

Drumers- a trually diverse team!

(LtoR) Dass, Vivek and Hardip Singh, at world refugee day.

(LtoR) Dass, with Ranjit & Hardip Singh

Vivek Jee with big smiles!

As we came out, some of afgani came to us and said, "Sardar ji ki hall hai...chak de fatteeeh"....We all were very surprised and had photo with them.

Ranjit Singh outside Dublin Civic Offices!

Vivek outside Dublin Civic Office.

After that we decided to go to nearby Museam but nobody thought that museam is open for certain time rather than 24hrs! Front doors were open for some other reasons, as we went inside, security guard told us that museam is already closed!

Hardip and Gurcharan Singh on the way to Museum!