Rain Free, Sun Filled Day

Honestly, I was waiting for this day to come so I packed Aidan into the car and drove into town hoping to catch some sun.

He needed the fresh air badly, being all cooped-up at home isn’t healthy for a 4 month old.

We took a walk in the park and regretted not bringing the dSLR- I could have taken plenty of photos!

So here are some shots of Dublin from my iPhone and me feeling like a japanese tourist.

I love everything about this park

I would always recommend a trip to this park if you’re planning to come to Dublin.

If you’re lucky and the day is sunny,  grab a sandwich in town, pick a spot and just take in the scenery.

I used to feed the ducks here back in my college days

Birds eye view of the entrance of the park

I took the photo above from the top most window of this building,

St Stephen's Green SC

Shopping and dining is great too – plenty of shops, boutiques and restaurants or you can just walk along Grafton street and be entertained by the street musicians.

Oh, can I just include one photo taken last year – just around the corner from the park is a lovely theatre where you can catch some great shows. My last one was Riverdance.

This photo is pretty sentimental - I didn't know I was already 6 weeks pregnant with Aidan! No wonder the dress was a little too tight. I can't wear it now

Back to my story, today while I was just traipsing around town exploring every corner, I found a really lovely children’s boutique selling really cute clothes and toys. I must make a trip there again.

Another view of the city

You don't have to go to NYC for a Horse and Carriage ride

Anyway, I bought a little gift for a friend who just gave birth to a baby boy called Mohd Affan last week. We’re planning to pay them a visit this weekend.

Aidan got one too, aren't they cute ? You can actually wheel them around.

Daddy came home from work and turned Aidan’s name around.

It took me 4 months to realize this...teehee

So that’s a little tour of Dublin if you ever plan to come to this place.

The walk  ( and the window shopping ) did us both good, felt a little refreshed.

The sun was definitely a mood-lifter, it’s so easy to make me happy

Wonderful Wicklow

I realize I have not posted anything for a while as I have been keeping busy minding the little one who’s growing and thriving like any other healthy baby.

So here’s a very quick update packed with photos :

One sunny afternoon last week, we made a little escape to a place called Sally Gap, right in the heart of Wicklow Mountains.

Wicklow Mountains - Literally driving in the middle of nowhere

The scenery was stunning and it’s a wonder why we never came here before.

The route took about an hour and there was no sign of people for miles except for the odd cyclist or tourist.

Long and narrow road

We made a pitstop by the river and took more photos. Aidan had a BIG poo after his feed that we had to change his nappy in the car boot. Didn’t want to risk his poo being splattered all over the car seat, hehe.

Wait 'til you see the river

Tadaa…

the 'extremely' dangerous river

This would be a great place for a picnic or a walk  but I think we have better rivers back home. Don’t you agree?

'syok sendiri'

Aidan wants the limelight too.

We wanted to trail the river to the waterfall but felt it was too risky carrying Aidan in the sling and so we drove instead.

Sally Gap - Amazing landscape

Waterfall in the background

We enjoyed the short trip and was glad that we decided to come here instead of hitting the summer sales in town.

I highly recommend this day trip to anyone who wants to enjoy the Irish landscape

A Day Out at The Docklands

We were at the Maritime Festival held at the Dublin Docklands over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Replica of the Jeanie Johnston. The original ship was used to carry fleeing Irish immigrants to America in the era of the Great Famine.

Not always you would see majestic tall ships lined up along the River Liffey so we knew we had to come here to see what it was all about. Interestingly,you could also do a little tour of the various ships by paying a really small fee.

River Liffey

Infact I have always wanted to come here to capture a photo of the River Liffey and the pedestrian walkway was ideal as it offered a scenic view of the river.

I have to say, they have done a really great job doing up this place. Back in 1997, you would think twice coming here even though it was just a 10 minute walk from the city center.

Checking out the summer market

I didn’t find anything interesting at the summer market. I was hoping to get something crafty for Aidan but to no avail. Ah well, maybe some other time I’ll be lucky.

Irish grandpa

There are a few nice eateries around the place including a Malaysian Restaurant which had Selamat Datang at it’s entrance.

Malaysian Restaurant

And a funfair too, which I used to love back in my student days.

Funfair

The heat was too much for me that I took shelter in one of the malls. All in all, it was a great day out with the family and parents-in-law. Hopefully there will be more exciting things to do this summer.

Not quite my pre-pregnancy body, another 5 kg to burn

Sunshine Through My Window

View from my bedroom

After the freak snow storm in February, it’s nice to have the sun out again. It has been sunny all week and I hope it stays that way for a while.

After a very hectic week at work, we decided to have an easy weekend. Saturday we went all out cleaning the house, I did my share of laundry and cooking and he went all out with the hoover. I think the best investment you could do for the house is a good reliable sturdy hoover!

Come Sunday, it was grocery day and time to stock the fridge and kitchen with food. But before that,  we wanted to check out Blessington which is only a 25 minute drive from our house. The last time we came here was roughly 9 years ago in 2000 with my parents.

In search of Lake Blessington

It was a pleasant drive all the way to Blessington, probably because most people were in the city celebrating St Patrick’s. There were a lot of cyclists though and  I know my brother would really love cycling here!

Found it!

As usual there were very little signs along the way, so we got a little lost. Eventually we found the lake.

Lush green countryside

9 years on, all I can say it has not changed that much!

We were this close to the lake

I wish there were more touristy things to do here but I figured the Irish like  to leave things natural and untouched.

One for the family back home

And here are photos of us. Thanks to my SIL, my parents now know the existence of this blog. They have been asking for our photos you see.

Another one for the family!

Finally, this is how I look like today!

Not the most flattering pic!

ps : Happy St Patrick’s Day!

I had big plans to go to the parade but seeing that half a million people will be in the city today, I decided against it! Besides, hubby is on call saving lives…haha…poor him!

Crossing The Border

We finally made the trip to Northern Ireland last weekend .

Hubby had been on call for 3 consecutive weekends in February and the month of January we were so busy moving into the new house, so there was no way we could make a weekend escape.

Just to give you an idea of the trip, below is the route we took from Dublin to the little town called Newry.

The route

It is a brilliant place to shop as the currency is in British Pounds so we get to save a lot as compared to paying in Euro.

Nowadays, the Republic is really ripping people off that people do not actually  mind clocking the extra miles to get a really good bargain.

The drive, taken with the Fuji bridge camera

Anyway, the real reason we made the 90 minute drive was to get his belated birthday present.

Hubby’s birthday was actually in January and knowing that it would cost a bomb to buy it in the Republic, he was willing to make a wait. Heheh. Hey, it saved me 150 euros! (Now I am hoping come May I do not have to wait 2 months too) He now has upgraded his camera to a D60 so I now own his old camera. And by the way, all the photos in this blog were taken by the Fuji camera, I think it does the job though.

Whilst we were there, we bought a few baby essentials too. I am now slowly ticking off the list and hopefully come April we should be prepared for the little one’s arrival. With no family support and hubby literally working 24/7 with his on calls, it would not be wise to leave things to the very last minute. I only felt comfortable buying things after reaching 30 weeks and that is why I didn’t bother catching the xmas sales even though I knew we could have saved a whole lot more.

Anyway, back to the trip –   that evening I volunteered to drive us home to let him play with his new toy. And here’s the first shot in the car…

A glimpse of my growing belly

We were planning to test the new camera this weekend but the weather forecast is predicting  snow and rain. I think it’s best we stay home, nothing beats a good book, warm socks and a mug of hot chocolate.  If  lucky, I really hope to watch Slumdog after all the good reviews!

This entry is getting way too long,  finally I leave you a shot of Pepper lounging at home

Pepper all curled-up

A Glorious Sunday

It was great to have the weekend off for once.

Did some catching up with an ol’ friend and she made a lovely lunch of briyani, yums!

But earlier that morning as the weather was super glorious, I went for a stroll along the harbour enjoying the breathtaking views of the bright blue sea. If only the weather was like this all year round!

It would be nice to own one of these!

I should have taken a photo of hubby’s hospital but was too busy enjoying the view, heheh.

The hospital would have been to the extreme right of this photo unfortunately it’s not in it, maybe next time then!

Beautiful seaside town

Sushi Mushi

Went for a shopping trip with friends last Tuesday and with all the great summer sales going around, we had very little time for dinner.

And so we headed here for a quick dose of sushi without the frills. (It’s handy that they have one at Terminal 3 Heathrow too)

yummy!

I was surprised to find a branch in Gardens when I went back home last February/June, had a glimpse at the price list and thought it was rather pricey compared to paying in Euros/Pounds.

So instead, we opted for a meal at the food court in Midvalley. Cheapskate, haha!

Wouldn’t you do the same too ?

A Taste Of Summer

Finally we experienced some sunshine today!

The neighbourhood leisure center, will probably tryout the swimming pool one day.

It has been raining buckets all week, makes you think whether it’s mid-July or mid-December!

Anyway, I had an extremely busy week with 3 on-calls, so the weekend was all about organizing and decluttering the house.

We went hunting for a bookshelf on Saturday to accommodate our ever growing collection of books.

The landlord promised one a week ago but to no avail, and I couldn’t stand the sight of my books strewn across the living room.

We drove 20 minutes away here and fortunately we found one which suited our budget and car-space Bought a few other essentials too at the mall below.

Look at the clouds, how depressing!

I love the little market just outside the mall.

So thankfully the mini-shopping trip was a success and the house now is much more livable. We have finally installed cable tv last friday, 2 weeks without it was pure agony and what a relief to be connected to the outside world once again.

So till my next post, have a good week!

Back To The Daily Grind

our street

We have moved to a new place and hence the lack of updates.

the new neighbourhood

We are slowly finding our way around and last week was all about discovering the local Tesco, post office, bank, indian takeaway etc. So far things are looking good and it is just a matter of time until we fully adapt
ourselves.

our apartment block

The move was somewhat tiresome and moving 11 years worth of belongings across the country was definitely no joke. I couldn’t believe at the amount of clothes, coats and shoes I have collected over the years and I blame it on the four seasons!

the big move

Anyway, the long break is over, sleep is a luxury nowadays and occasionally, I do miss the freedom and liberty I once had before.

I was terrified the night before I started my new job but thankfully the week went by pretty smoothly. As before I was only dealing with premature babies (who only cry and poo) and hormonal moms, now it’s back to interacting with bigger kids who are so much easier to work with. A big sigh of relief there!

The hospital too is just a 5 minute drive from home so unlike my previous job, it’s great not to spend too much time on the road.

I have 2 paediatric courses and a presentation lined up for the month of July which requires me to do a little bit of studying, so, if you don’t hear from me in the next few days/weeks/months, you know where I am.

Didn’t I say ? *Gulp* The break is over!

The Perfect Companion

The perfect companion when you are stuck at the airport for 2 hours.

I could probably live without Starbucks actually, it’s the camera that should have been in the picture.

But how do I take a photo of my own camera ?? Tsk, tsk.

Anyway, the journey on the bus to the airport was smooth. Less hassle this time, with no rush looking for parking.

Miraculously, we managed to find all the gifts for the kids apart from the Irish bookmark and keychain, which I plan to buy after I check-in.

They have a greater selection of souvenirs at the airport compared to the ones in town.

So, wish me a safe journey. As much as I love to travel, I really hate flying. (And my other phobia is balloons by the way)

ps: Hey Momster, look at the photo! I’m reading your blog!