Day 35 - Friday, February 4th, 2011

Unusually for a Friday, work was a busy affair, and lunch was celebrated with the adding of boling water to a pot of Koka Noodles, after emptying two sachets into the pot - one of curry powder, the other of 3 dehydrated peas and a shrivelled carrot flake. The results were surprisingly tasty, albeit with diminished expectations.

Fortified by at least 4 of my 5-A-Day, the afternoon transpired speedily and I grabbed a Dublin Citybike back to the Lighthouse in order to change. Possibly not a great decision, for whilst the gale-force winds were at my back on the outbound journey, they were in my face with added rain-lashings for the struggle back into town. The body was re-energised however with two tasty courses (chicken skewers and beef teriyaki) washed down with a glass of rouge house-plonk at Sushi King, a steal at €13.50 thanks to CityDeal.

Onwards to the public house formerly known as Judge Roy Beans - the Porter House Central, where boisterous farewells tinged with unspeakable sadness were being bade to Louise McNerney, who is departing Northern Trust to sign for Capita. Spirits were high, especially those in the shot glasses that were presented to Lou during the night, each one bearing a more potent brew than the last. My libation to her was Sambuca, which went down well but did seem to attempt almost-instant re-emergence. The Porter House brews its own ales, and my choice for the evening was Chiller, not dissimilar to Budweiser in taste and hue. In a damning sign of the recession that has devastated all our lives, the pub was absolutely wedged with people, causing some lengthy delays at the bar, as people seemed to be desperate to offload what little money they have remaining.

All too soon it was time to move onwards to Tripod to see awesome DJ legend John Digweed in action. As conditions were hazardous and Enda had a gimpy knee, the 800-yard journey was made via rickshaw, up Grafton Street, past St. Stephen's Green and up to the top of Harcourt Street - a bargain at €3 per person. After the first of many trips to the bar for the energizing goodness of vodka and lucozade, we took up our dancing positions at the front row of the balcony, and Diggers' 4-hour set did not disappoint.

Sanity would dictate that at 4am it was time to go home, so we headed to Colossus Casino for some early morning gamblage, and three hours later I emerged no richer or poorer, having been down, then up, then even. Mighty craic though!

Contentment : 155 / 25
Excitement :    4.5 / 10
Memorability : 5.5 / 15

Overall Score : 50% (4th out of 35)