two years in Dublin!

A (half) pint of Guinness with the usual suspects on a Monday night to commemorate two years of living in Dublin. After holidays alone, an engagement, a funeral, two weddings, weight gain-loss-gain and several long haul flights, it was fitting to just sit, drink and look back.

Welcome to Dublin!

Allan finally arrives in Dublin.  Not to stay, but only to visit for two weeks.  His first few days included struggling with recovery from the long flight and the shock of the soon-to-be-winter weather.  As a result, our first weekend was slow sightseeing-wise, but he's been to the shopping areas and have done some tours of the cities, so I think most of the important Dublin places are covered.

Photos are starting to pile up, but not as much as I had thought.  Tomorrow, we drive West though..and I expect thats when most shots will be taken.  For now, here's my favorite portrait:

this made me smile

I thought it was amusing and a clever way to advertise something...



It was actually referring to this.

Home Improvement

I promised myself a few months back that I would buy a few things for the apartment that would make it fee a little more like home. Last month, I splurged a bit and went ahead and bought a TV and an area rug for the living area.

I'm still missing decor, shelves, hangings on the wall and maybe even curtains, but at least now I have one area where I would want to spend a little more time in...

From this, to this:

It isn't much yet, but I think I've found the optimal furniture arrangement that would work for my space.

Ready for Paddy's Day

Exploring Dublin (hopefully the first of many)

reflections, originally uploaded by socs.

I need to go into the habit of shooting...and to start it off, I ventured out today in some parts of the City that I haven't been to yet. Took photos, walked around, took some more photos and did some more walking...as a result, I have a handful of almost decent shots I'm willing to share. Most are from Christ Church and inside Trinity College, with an added photo from a street march for Palestine and Joel trying out some toys from a favorite music shop.

Please visit my flickr gallery for more.

those little things

the little joys...

It started with the handing over of the keys. It didn't matter that there were still men working on some parts of the apartment, hammering away. All I knew at that moment was that it was MY home. My first ever apartment at the (relatively) late age of 30. Independence in its truest form. I was literally jumping up and down minutes later from the excitement of it all.

Since then, it was one small thing after another: the blue plastic basket I bought to hold my cleaning materials, the little white jar to hold my kitchen utensils, the sets of tea towels for my kitchen, pillowcases, pillows, fitted sheets...its all the tiniest things that make me smile everytime I come home and unwrap them. Every single piece that I buy from my own pocket and place in my humble little flat is mine. And everytime I place them where I think they ought to go, I feel like I'm placing brick upon brick, building up a house.

This afternoon I made a quick trip to the city to excitedly buy a...wait for it...a Trash Bin! Oh yes, pretty cool huh? Argos has it at half price and I decided to buy it instead of the cheaper plastic alternative. I now have a metal bin with push-to-open door in matte black! Exciting times! heehee! I'm not being sarcastic by the way, I AM excited. Over a Trash bin! hahah!

...and the little frustrations

The flat has been far from perfect since I moved in. My living area heaters only started working last week, two weeks after I had reported them to my landlord. My kitchen sink had no hot water until last week as well, and I was locked out of my own living room because of a faulty door lock. My landlord's handyman had to come in on a Saturday and force it open with two or three shoves. It looked easier on television, for sure.

And then there's the issue of having too big furniture for too little space. I've moved them around four times in the three, almost four weeks, I've lived here. This morning, I started out by heating water for my coffee and ended up letting it get cold since I was moving the furniture around. I think I've found a better layout, for now. Of course that may change when I bring in more furniture.

And I need more furniture because I lack storage space. There are no shelves in my closet, none in the laundry area, none in the bathroom and nothing but the coffee table in the living room. These things I actually take with me when I sleep, and this morning, I was intent on maybe finding a different flat. Either that or spend for storage space. Right now, the addition of my trash bin together with the new layout has made me happy. I think I'll stay here 'til the end of next year.

Or at least until I grow frustrated again.

the move that stole christmas

Moving around a month before Christmas meant sacrificing the flight home for the holidays. I've psyched myself up enough so that I knew what to expect, but seeing people leave the office for their vacation one by one was disheartening. When the last person said goodbye and happy holidays, I wanted to kick myself for staying. If I had gone home, I would've spent my Christmas with the family at the new place.

Our family christmas tradition has always been simple...just food at midnight and some gifts, mostly for the kids. Nothing fancy, no big reunions outside our (not so) small circle. But the excitement of waiting for midnight just so you can eat what was laboured over just hours before is always memorable. Every year, there's one kid that is either asleep or half asleep at midnight. At one point, that kid was me. But of course, there are now five of them who can have that claim to fame. For a few years we even had the kids wear coordinating shirts and/or pajamas. And kids being kids, there were a few musical numbers which they prepared for themselves.

This year, I bought my own pajamas and slipper socks and comfort food, armed myself with broadband access and a webcam and decided that my Christmas would be spent sleeping, surfing and chatting.

So...in a way, I wasn't alone on Christmas. I rushed home from work on the 24th just in time for midnight back home and I was sort of with them at that time. The kids had coordinating striped shirts, they had easy-to-prepare food (its never a good idea to cook to much anyway) and this year, it was decided that gifts would be skipped. As expected, someone was asleep when the clock struck 12...and as expected, it was the youngest member of the family.

Just being online wasn't too bad actually, until everyone back home goes to bed. That's when I had to raid my borrowed DVD stash (I am now into Family Guy) and comfort food. It got so boring that I ended up cleaning my living area, dining area, kitchen and bathroom in two hours. By midnight, I was asleep.

I think its safe to say that this will be the last Christmas I will ever spend alone.

(It wasn't that bad, really. It just wasn't that exciting either).

Dublin Spire

Dublin Spire, originally uploaded by socs.

Taken November 2, 2008 less than 24 hours after my plane landed. The spire is Dublin's major architectural piece and landmark. Read more about it here.

how do you like it here?

Do you like Dublin?

I've been asked this so many times in the three weeks that I've been here. To be honest, I don't quite know yet. And to be honest, does it even matter? I'm here for as long as I decide that I want to leave...does it matter if I like it or not? Even if I didn't, its not as if I would pack my bags and go back home. That's simply not an option in the short term.

In the next week I'm hoping that things will continue to fall into place, they way they have been in the past days. Slowly, I'm starting to really feel like I'm here for the long haul. However, long that may be. Slowly, I'm starting to make plans --- normal plans --- like what type of bath and laundry products to buy, what type of food to stock up on in order to cook whatever type of food. Slow...but progress still.