Cathal Chu

cathalchu

Cathal Chu

As you know, I have always said that football is an excuse to travel, not the other way round. This is certainly true in the past dozen or so years that I have been actively following the Republic of Ireland national football team in various international competitions.

Although I did time in Hong Kong (I make it sound like prison!) I was born in Ireland and I grew up there - Newry specifically - before starting university in London. After a HND in Computing and a degree in Photographic Science (with a stint as a student magazine editor inbetween) I laboured in various jobs, from charity Christmas card admin to leasehold sales before falling back in my computing skills for a permanent career.

Working in desktop publishing in the City earns me enough to travel and see some of the world (yes I do save some of it too if my family are reading this) and although my voyages are by no means entirely football-based, they do take up a big chunk of my travels.

Why? Because in following the Irish team, I have journeyed to many far-flung and alien locales that I most likely would not have visited otherwise. Yes, I may be going there to watch a match, but it is also an opportunity to see exotic local sights, try something new on your dinner plate, sample the regional tipple, get a different point of view from the natives.

And not only that, but also to do so in the company of like-minded folk. Restive men and women who form the hardy band of Ireland's traveling support, many of whom I only ever see at Irish matches.

When I first began traveling, I sent postcards that took forever to write. As the list of postcard recipients grew, I switched to e-postcards. Lengthy, descriptive, sometimes funny and (hopefully) interesting emails telling of my impressions of the place, articulating my experiences and relaying a hint of what it is like.

Now, I am moving into the cottage industry phase (for all you Marxists out there) of my writing and expanding into this travel blog you see before you. Originally on TravelPod.com and set up for the purpose of my Euro 2012 odyssey, it has continued beyond June 2012 and thrives to this day. Stay tuned...

Our Seoul

Asia » South Korea » Seoul August 20th 2018

Music library at the SM Town Museum

cathalchu

It was as sweltering as ever when I caught the train from Suwon back to Seoul early Thursday afternoon. Then it was the tortuous process of getting to my hotel. The Seoul metro has much to recommend, but where it falls short compared to the London Tube is the vast distances between interchange stations. Often you feel like you are not so much changing lines at the same station, more walking all the way to the next one, especially when towing heavy luggage. Finally I get to Hotel Creto Myeongdong (all-white modern furnished rooms, but with squeaky air-conditioning) situated behind the Sejong where I stayed previously in Seoul. In the evening, I’m in Hwa-dong, an area of cobbled pedestrian streets full of artisan eateries. Here I finally meet up with Hye-Sung at Kiwa Taproom for craft ... read more

Kimchi fries and galbi short rib tacos at Vatos

Suwon-derful

Asia » South Korea » Suwon August 16th 2018

Suwon

cathalchu

An early morning train out of Busan took me to Suwon, about 30km south of Seoul, just before 1pm. My hotel was so out of way that even the local cabbies struggled to find it. But I eventually checked into the New Suwon Hotel (small room, too much ambient lights at night, but a comfortable bed and a way too big TV) and went off to explore Suwon, or at least I would have if the temperature wasn’t at an unbearable 38°C. It was so bad that the streets were practically deserted. I simply dived into the nearest eatery for cutlet lunch and had to constantly duck into convenience stores for temporary respite. There’s no metro in Suwon and you need to catch a bus to get round. That is. If you can find a bus-stop. ... read more

Suwon Bluewings vs. FC Seoul at the Suwon World Cup Stadium

Hot Hot Heat

Asia » South Korea » Busan August 14th 2018

Gamcheon Culture Village

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And so Monday morning, I’m at the bustling Seoul Station to catch the 10:00 KTX express train to Busan, and in first class to boot. What you get extra in first class is wider comfier reclining seats, Wi-Fi access, free water, snacks and newspapers. I spent most of the journey posting on Instagram and attempting an initial draft of the first travel blog. To save you from asking, there were no zombies on this train to Busan, sadly… A little under three hours later I arrive at Busan Station – home of the slowest moving escalators in the world – on Korea’s south east coast. The nation’s second city is its main port and home to its biggest seaside resort. Both were evident on the taxi to my hotel in the Haeundae district, the main beach ... read more

Seoul Survivor

Asia » South Korea » Seoul August 12th 2018

Myeongdong, Friday night

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The start of Grand Trip 2018 didn’t get off to the most auspicious of beginnings. Prior to departure I already had to abandon the Vladivostok leg of the plan due to visa issues. I was supposed to meet up with a friend on my first night, but he had to leave early for the US on business. So I made alternative plans to take in a baseball game Friday evening, however my flight arrived nearly three hours late. And by the time the ball game started I was still on the train into Seoul. The capital of South Korea may seem like one of those overcrowded metropolis’s that form the basis of dystopian nightmares. In actual fact it is amongst the friendliest places I’ve been to and one of the easiest to get around. Except that ... read more

Coping in Copenhagen

Europe » Denmark » Region Hovedstaden » Copenhagen November 18th 2017

Torvehallerne food market

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Okay, so Ireland didn’t win their World Cup qualifying group, but a spirited victory in Wales coupled with a string of other scores going our way resulted in the Irish team going into the play-offs. Fortune further smiled upon us in the subsequent draw, sparing Ireland a tie against Croatia or Italy and instead pitting them against Denmark. And so Friday morning I find myself at Heathrow boarding an SAS flight to Copenhagen, anticipating a weekend of cold climates, enlarged expense and no little wear in walking the miles. It takes just 15 minutes to go from Copenhagen Airport to Københavns Hovedbanegård (Copenhagen central station) by rail. I found my hotel – Best Western Hebron, down a quiet street near central station, next door to a “gentlemen’s club”, small rooms, with a bed barely an arms ... read more

Much of Copenhgen is covered by metro extension construction

With tour guide Alan and his new RISSC scarf

Lusaka, Zambia and Tbilisi, Georgia II: Humid and hospitable

Asia » Georgia » Tbilisi District September 3rd 2017

Freedon Square

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Took ages to clear security customs at Tbilisi International Airport, but finally emerged to find the driver from our hotel waiting to collect us. It was warm, too warm. In fact I was astonished find the weather even hotter than Zambia on account of the humidity. This was not going to be good. We arrived at our residence for the next three nights, Hotel City, on a side street off Freedom Square. My room was a disaster; right at the top floor where there was no lift access, it was tiny and u-shaped (to fit around the bathroom) with windows on three sides and curtains that didn’t keep out the light, an uneven floor and air conditioning above the door that didn’t reach the bed at the other end of the “U”. I complained to the ... read more

The old Gergian parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue

The view of Tbilisi from Narikala Fortress

Wine tasting at the end of the walking tour

Lusaka, Zambia and Tbilisi, Georgia I: Plan C

Africa » Zambia » Lusaka August 31st 2017

Loving the PS3

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This year’s grand tour takes me to Zambia and Georgia. Not the most obvious pairing of countries to visit on one trip, but having missed Ireland’s previous match against Georgia in 2014, I wasn’t going pass on Tbilisi this time. But before that though, there is a return to Zambia after three years to see the children of WONS Orphanage again. And so Thursday night I set off from Gatwick Airport in the company of Tommy Feely – legendary Ireland cheerleader, storyteller and, truth be told, the main benefactor on the orphanage – and arrived in Lusaka (via Dubai) at 14:35 the next day. Our hotel collected us and took us straight to The Best Western Lusaka Grand on the outskirts of town. Imposingly grand looking from the outside (complete with palm treed swimming pool in ... read more

And again

Asia » Hong Kong January 3rd 2017

Fanling, my old hometown

cathalchu

Dear all, Yes, Christmas in Hong Kong for the fourth time in five years. By now, it is a familiar routine I have fallen into; part festive celebration, part family gatherings and part Hong Kong things I like to do. Not that it all went predictably. Arriving at Hong Kong airport early morning on Christmas Eve, it was onto the A43 bus to Fanling, my old hometown deep in the New Territories. Then it was straight out to lunch with Mum at a new dim sum place at Green Code Plaza with so-so food and poor service. Sterling may have laughably lost value thanks to Brexit – this time last year it was about HK$12 in the pound, now it's less than ten – but Hong Kong bargains still abound if you know where to look. ... read more

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