Holidays

Now I'm starting on a two weeks holidays. With just 7 days taken from my vacations.

24th and 25th of December are bank holidays. Since they are on the weekend, they move to Monday and Tuesday. Company also offers a day (the 26th), so with only 2 days people can have a week off.

Merry Xmas everyone, and a Happy New Year

I bought a TV and a Media Player

Christmas arrived a little earlier in Dublin. At least for me :D

I bought a TV and a Media Player! :) The TV was bought second hand on adverts.ie for 50€, It's not LCD, it's not Full HD but it's 32" and did I said 50€ :) The media player was bought on ebay.ie for around 40€. It doesn't have any storage, so I must connect a USB pen, but it can read everything!!!

It's good to have spare money (even if not much) for some little treats :)

I got a visit

This past weekend my wife came to visit me :) Of course, we had to go and make a visit to Guinness and drink a pint...

The weather was very cold and a bit rainy... but I think she liked Dublin, nevertheless. She just stayed for a few days, so not much time to see the city. We also went to Howth that is very nice but should be visited only in the summer. It was ice cold :\

I bought a bike

Today I've bought a bike :) Not a motorbike, yet... but it has 2 wheels :)

Like everything in Ireland, a new bicycle can be very expensive. For instance, in cyclesuperstore.ie the cheapest bike is 349€ all the way up to 2.345€!!!! In Ireland, they have Bike to Work, where you can get up to 51% of the bike and accessories value from your pay taxes. Even so, it's expensive. And at work they advice me to "don't buy a new bike, it will get stolen"! So, I started looking for second hand bikes.

I've searched online (buyandsell, gumtree) but there isn't much offer, with very few offers near 100€, more around 200€ to 400€! So, today I went to a bike shop near where I'm living (Little Sport). They were just finishing the check-up of a second hand bike to sell it by 130€. It was a bit expensive from what I've seen online, but hopefully buying from a shop means that the bike should have no problems. I also bought a security lock, as bikes tend to disappear in Dublin :( So, I spend a little more than expected it's done... I have a bike :)

Not everything is perfect :(

I know I live in a somewhat dodgy area, near to East Wall and North Strand. Searching online if those areas are safe, you can find advices like "As long as you don't stop the car ever and keep your doors locked you should be grand!" followed by "That Garda that was shot there last year, he died right???". And some times, there are some not so good news... Nevertheless, truth be told, I never had a problem. And wish that it keeps that way :)
But yesterday I saw that a motorcycle has been thrown to the river. Last week didn't rain, so the river is almost dry...

It's a mobile photo at night, so it has really bad quality, but you can see the motorcycle there :( Probably was stolen and throw away...

Edit: Took a photo this morning... Very bad quality, but with more light. In the afternoon when I return the river was full and the bike could no longer be seen...

Food

As everything in Ireland, eating is also expensive... At lunch time, I usually go at The Epicenter, inside East Point Business Park. A sambo or a wrap with chips (or salad) on the side is usually 6€ or 6,5€. A drink would be an extra 1€ but a glass of water is for free :) A hot meal on a plate is 9,90€ (daily special is 8€)... There's a lot of people that brings food from home and eats in the office but getting out and catch some air is also good.

At night, my chef qualities arise :) Rice and Pasta are very easy to cook. Then I just buy something pre-cooked, put in the oven for 15 to 20min and it's done.

Usually I shop at Centra, as is very near the house I'm staying and I can walk. But it's a bit expensive. To go to the center I must take the bus and pay 1.20€ for each side. But it has Lidl that is way cheaper...

Accommodation

It's been almost two weeks since I arrived in Ireland and I promise to myself that I would update the blog. So, here's a new post :)

In Ireland there are lot of B&B (Bed and Breakfast) that are family houses that have rooms for rental where, as the name implies, you can sleep and eat your breakfast. I'm sure there are lot of sites on the Internet were you can find an Irish B&B. I used Ireland B&B Network. Since a B&B in the city center is more expensive, I've decided to stay in Swords, a small town 13km of city center in the same place (Seamount House) I stayed when I'd came for my interview. It's a 3 star B&B, the cheapest I've found (30€ a night with bathroom outside the room) and the people are nice and friendly.

Unfortunately, they didn't had a room for the night I would be arriving and so I had to search for another B&B to spend a night. I stayed at Abbeyglen Cottage. It's a 4 star B&B, with a different quality... that comes with a price: 42€ a night with full Irish Breakfast.

It was very nice. The owners were extremely friendly and helpful and I would gladly stay there the full week if there wasn't the money constraint :\

Both B&B had wireless, so I could use skype everyday and look for a room in a shared house (daft.ie). It can take a while to find a place to stay. Houses in Ireland are VERY EXPENSIVE. A room in a shared house can be 500€ + bills. In my case, it took me less than a week to find a room as I'm not really picky. I pay 250€ + bills, it has wireless and it's near the work (15 to 20min walking). How did I do this? Easy, it's a shared house with 4 other persons, only one bathroom with shower, my room has (at most) 6m² with a single size bed. The house's street is also not the prettiest...

In Ireland, in the first month one must also pay a deposit (usually the same amount as the monthly rent). The deposit is return at the end of the rental if everything is ok with the house. If one leaves the house earlier than what it's the contract you'll loose the deposit (unless you find someone to replace you). In my case, another good thing is that I don't have to stay a given time. I say a month earlier that I want to leave and it's enough.

Just next to the street of the house I'm staying there's a very nice park :)

Portugueses Pelo Mundo - Irlanda

Há mais portugueses na Irlanda :) Na série "Portugueses Pelo Mundo" da RTP calhou a vez da Irlanda.

Survived 1st week

That's all I wanted to say to the world, for now... I'm still alive ;) One week has gone by and I'm still here :) I don't have much patience to update the blog but I'll try.

I arrived

Here I am... Not much too say. Arrived today, and since it's Summer, it was raining and a "hot" 16º :\ And you guessed, as soon as I got to the bus stop it stopped to rain... The weather in Ireland is not that good but I hope it's the only bad side :) Tomorrow I'll start my quest for a room.

Job in Ireland

The first question everyone asks is "IRELAND??!!!!! Aren't they in a bad situation?". And I always have to explain that IT is a different league. Ireland seems a good choice for me. For starters, they speak English :) This is the only language besides Portuguese I know, so I just have to improve it (a lot) instead of having to learn a new language. Second, it's a safe country with a good education system. And the cherry on the top :) The cities have small buildings. In Dublin's center, it's very rare a building with more than 4 floors. Not very far from the center, people live in houses with a front garden and a backyard. There are also lots of parks as Dublin is one of the greenest cities in Europe.

So, how to get a job? Monster is a good place to search for jobs in IT. Create an account and upload your CV there. I also advise to create a LinkedIn account, connect to former colleagues and employers and ask them to recommend your work. Answer as many job opportunities you see as most of them won't reply to you, don't give up.
Then, someone will call, make a small phone interview. Second stage, another phone interview and some online quizzes. And finally, the best/worst part, the in-person interview. Companies don't pay a cent for someone from another country going for a interview, so you must have some money aside.
The cheapest flight from Lisbon is with Aer Lingus. From Porto, Ryanair is cheaper. There are lot's of places to stay in Ireland, I've stayed at a B&B (Bed And Breakfast). It's a house where a family lives and rent some rooms. A hostel can be a cheaper alternative if you don't mind sharing a room with 8 to 16 other...
There's usually two in-person interviews. The first one, a more technical interview where you should prove your value. The second one, if they liked you, where you meet "The Big Boss". Unless something goes terrible wrong, if you get to meet the people in charge you're probably hired.

And that's how I got hired by eSpatial :)  

I'm moving to Dublin

This is my first post... Just wanted to say to the world that I'm moving to Dublin :)