"From BK To Belfast, And Back Again!" -Buckwick to Bushmills AKA My Uber Trip To Ireland

Okay, so back to our regularly scheduled program...So you DO know that I've been away in Ireland right? I just sayin' just in case you were wondering WHY I haven't posted anything new since "Rock & Bowl" (which btw was "a HUGE success!" Brooklyn Bowl's words, not mine) here's proof of my reason below. Yeah sure, I COULD have blogged while I was over there, but what fun would THAT have been? Gotta just "live the dream" sometimes dude! Anyways the purpose for the trip was that some months ago I (along with BK Circus owner Ouigi) was picked to take part in the biggest print ad campaign Irish whiskey makers Bushmills has ever pushed! Besides being paid to shoot that day, and getting a NICE hunk of change once our pic got picked, the trip to Ireland was the biggest bonus perk. Sweet deal right? So now you wanna hear about the trip correct? Well being that you're probably reading this at work, I'll be as detailed and brief as possible. I'll break it down in days. Ready? Okay so here I go...

Tues. May 11th 9:32
Packed at the VERY last minute, figuring it's ONLY a few days I'm not lugging a trunk fulla stuff over there to make a million "Beyonce' concert-like" wardrobe changes! LOL! That's NOT what's up. One bag (a carry all) and I'm done! Arrive at the gate and can't help to notice I'm the ONLY non-Caucasian there(!) So to make folks as uneasy as I was, I wrap my neck scarf around my head, threw on my shades, and started rocking back & forth like I was anxious or nervous. Mind you I was the LAST one to board on the plane, wonder if that was why. 6 1/2 hrs flight restlessly I watched "the Book of Eli" & that third "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie back to back and tired to get SOME shut eye. However someone felt that the airplane aisle was a good way for their baby to get leg stretching in, and let'em roam free UP and DOWN, BACK & FORTH down the aisle. And guess WHO had an aisle seat...Yep! The baby had a BIG ASS head btw! Thought it was the tray cart at first glance! What!?1 I'm just sayin'

Wed. May 12th 11:00 am
Finally arrive, only to be greeted by a million and one questions to "the nature of my visit" and "How long will your black ass be staying?" Once that was said and done, our handlers from the Bushmills camp loading the group of us up (17 guys in total minus Ouigi. He had visa troubles and didn't make the flight leaving NYC...bummer!) into the chartered bus to head to the hotel. Folks clicked almost right away once the jokes started flying! Most was on this dude "Ron" (professional NHL player) who wore shorts and a tee! Mind you it was like 50-55 degrees (if even that) over there. The rest of the jokes were on "Rico" who brought a suitcase about his height(!) for a four day trip! Rico was the only OTHER black cat on the trip btw. Got checked in to this swanky (newly opened) hotel called the Fitzwilliam (DOPE!) and then off to lunch to eat! Lunch was followed by a music tour of Belfast, then back to the hotel to get spiffy for dinner. Dinner was were thanked us for participating in the ad and gave us our own personal print for keep sake...Awwwww. Once that was over, and we got back to the telly, the one common thought on everyone's mind was..."Where the club at?!?" But only four of us made that happen successfully, me being apart of the four! LOL! Hit up two spots, the 1st being "Pod" or "Bot" or something like that (uber wack) and the 2nd was PAY DIRT! Some joint called "Rain"...NICE! Rock & roll on the 1st flr., Hip-Hop up top, and a huge outdoor lounge. Got straight MOBBED in there like we were a freakin' boy band and s**t! Wonder if it was cause I was black...or just American...or both! Could've been my colonge perhaps, who knows man. I was a GOOD night for some, but for others, ummm NOT so good. So NO MORE clubbing for the rest of the trip huh? All agreed say I.

Thursday May 13th 10:30 am
Grabbed a quick bite for breakfast and checked out the Fitzwilliam to start our day early so we can enjoy the sights over at this scenic rope bridge famously known over there as Carrick-A-Rede. It was straight out of a scene from that first Lord of the Rings movie! Or any of them for that matter! Still cold, still windy, but when in Rome, you best be Roman brother! Once that was a wrap, we continued on to the actual town of Bushmills to peep the facility that makes the whiskey; IE the reason why we were even there in the first place. When you 1st walkin to the distillery Ouigi and I ad is the first thing posted up you'll see (and about all I saw of our picture plastered up the WHOLE trip!) So it felt looked to pull a "Mooky" ("Do the Right Thing"-Spike Lee) and see "Some brothers up on the wall!" LOL! the Bushmills tour itself was DOPE! But on the other hand their hotel...inn...whatever was EH! But hey, all we're doing is sleeping there right? AND it's FREE? Complaint box closed. Instead of the club our final night (for reasons understood), Bushmills sprung for some singing cat named Foy Vance to lick some tunes off for us which was a highlight of the trip! Pure AWEsomeness! Oh almost forgot, I walked around in my bathrobe the whole time at the hotel, just to "brain-f**k" with people! And they LOVED it! Go figure that the Irish are Ghostface Killa fans!

Thinking of going? Here's a few pointers to keep in mind on your travels...

"Bangers & Mash" -Is NOT a sex act, nor is it a gang crew! It's actually the name of a meal over there. Bangers being sausage and "mash" being mash potatoes

"A Solid" -Don't even go thinking it means a favor! It's what we call a #2! I made the mistake of asking some Irish cat to "Do me a solid." and he looked puzzled and asked "Why the hell ye need me to s**t for ye?"

"A Pound" -a pound is their version of the dollar in that part of the country. So asking someone to "Give me a pound." will make you sound like a homeless begger. LOL.

"Wee" -means "a little" so if you wanted to play a little Wii over there you would say "I'm about to wee Wii!"

And lastly fellas be warned, there's NO Magnum condoms over there it's O'Magnus! And the pizza delivery guys ALL drive Benz, so don't think you're "ballin' " by driving one!