UK Day 2: The Land of Saints & Scholars
Hi, assalamualaikum! Who would've thought I'm gonna continue with my UK trip post! It HAS been more than a year, anyway...
Let's get started.
Alya and I woke up at 3 in the morning. We prayed Subuh and then got ready to catch the bus to the airport. Our flight was at 7 a.m., so naturally... we had to wake four hours early.
Walking from Alya's place to the nearest bus stop was about 5 minutes. We took the bus to East Midlands Airport for 1.20£ which was about one-hour ride. We arrived at the airport somewhere around 4.30 a.m., already checked ourselves in through Ryan Air mobile application (thanks, enllyz).
We didn't purchase any extra kilogrammes for our bags since they were small....kinda.... but before getting through the immigration check-up, we had to bag our less-than-100ml-liquid transparent bottles inside a transparent zip-lock bag provided by the airport (free). Then, we had to take off all our backpacks, jackets, sweaters, separate the water bottles and zip-lock bags...
Anyway, after all the struggle, I was reunited with Alya and we ran like there's no tomorrow to the boarding gate. No, we weren't late. No, the plane wasn't taking off.
It was just Alya. We finally found seats where we could rest, there were about two hours more to depart, so I slept on my neck pillow next to Alya and next thing we know, we were running again to the real boarding gate and queuing in the fast-lane line (Alya purchased the fast-lane for us because we didn't have checked-in baggage).
On the flight, I continued my sleep (well... we did wake up at 3 a.m.) next to Alya. The flight was about one hour and when we landed in Dublin, I couldn't believe it. OMG I WAS IN DUBLIN HSHSHHSDJKSDK I had always wanted to go to Ireland, since it was said to be the best place to study medicine (I wanted to be a doctor, remembah?) and it was (still is) my DREAM PLACE.
While Alya settled for our bus tickets (kind of like you paid a certain amount of money and you get to ride any buses to anywhere for the allocated time - half day, full day, a week, something like that it has been two years I don't remember T_T), I was busy updating my Instagram story hehe. It was lightly raining - the perfect weather. Dublin was coldddd but in a very comforting way (omg fifiey stop fangirling over dublin we all know you love that place)
We took the bus to Syira's place. Syira is one's of Alya's friends through Tahirah. Actually it wasn't technically Syira's place, it used to be, but then she moved to another place but still visited her former residence regularly, which also housed Mira, Syira's classmate, so Mira was our host, THE KINDEST HOST (seriously, she cooked for us and made us lunches to bring to our trip like... she's so NICE).
Mkay, back to our journey on the bus. We missed a few stops from Mira's place, so we had to walk for about 2 km with our pregnant baggage (eh at this moment not yet pregnant hshshsh). It was still raining, Alya walked like crazy fast and I was there chilling like, "Imma take my time and take pictures and post to my igstories, I probably won't be here a second time so imma savour this moment."
15 minutes of walking later, we arrived at Mira's place. Two of her housemates had gone back to Malaysia for the holidays, so we used their room. Their room was so comfy, the beds were freaking comfortable and next thing we knew, we were 'taking naps'. Before going in for the nap, we said, "It's 9.30 a.m., let's sleep for a while, we'll go out at 11 a.m., okay?"
Well, 11 a.m. turned out to be 2 p.m. 'cause you know...... naps can be very long.
Both of us were napping and when either one of us woke up to see the other still sleeping, we went back to sleep. That continued until one of us finally really woke up. We were mostly free the first day in Dublin, so that was why we were a bit relaxed. (YEA BUT THAT DIDN'T MEAN YOU COULD SLEEP ALL DAY -_-)
After solat Zohor, having lunch.... thank you, Mira... we went to the city centre by bus. Upon there, we headed for Trinity College Dublin to go visit the library. I had wanted to go to the Trinity College Library since forever. One of the reasons I wanted to visit Ireland. I loooooveeeee booooks.
Before going into the library, we walked around the university to take pictures with statues...? Didn't know who they were but again, this probably was my first and last trip to this place hehehe. It wasn't raining when we were taking pics, so it was kinda nice.
Alya took me to the university's souvenir shop first (before going to the library), and I bought a Dublin long-sleeved T-shirt that costed €20. I didn't care about the price AS LONG AS I GOT TO BUY EVERYTHING IN IRELAND hshshshsh (two days later no more euro money xD) Got to talking with the store guy about the weather (it was starting to rain again), he said it was hot (no it wasn't...) and I was like, "This is the coldest I've felt in my entire life." #MalaysianLife
Amidst the coldness, we had to queue a long line to enter the library. Didn't have umbrellas with us and we stayed in the rain (thank God it wasn't heavy) and prayed that we wouldn't catch a coldfrom the ice inside our soul. The entrance fee was €13, which was quite expensive (Alya and I had a serious conversation about this) seeing that the library is only for exhibition and there's nothing much to do once you're inside. You can't touch/hold the books, you can't enter the aisle and whatnot. You're just in there for the !gram! to be honest.
Well, once we were inside, there was this exhibition on the Book of Kells. It is said that the exhibition is a must-see for people visiting Dublin. A 9th century manuscript documenting the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ, the Book of Kells is the Ireland's greatest cultural treasure and the world's most famous medieval manuscript (source). I personally didn't know anything about this manuscript (I still don't) and I wasn't brought up learning the four Gospels (although there were mentions of them in our History textbooks hehehe), so maybe that was why it didn't intrigued me much.
Although we couldn't do much in the library (except for looking around gaping at the wonderful architecture and amazing bookshelves and books and everything), the view was magnificent. For someone who loves books and old-fashioned libraries, the Trinity College Library is an aesthetically pleasing place to be. WOW
It also had a lot of people that it was hard to take solo pictures without someone photo-bombing in the back.
I wish I was dressed more appropriately (for a library) or maybe wore Harry Potter robe or something. I looked at out of place. AGAIN, I wish they'd allow us to go into the aisles because look at thoseeee neatly arranged books!
After taking a gazillion pictures, we moved on to the library's souvenir shop (not the one we went earlier). I remembered I only bought post cards because I had reached my spending limit of the day *cough* €20 T-shirt *cough* and since it was a tourist spot, the prices were quite fancy. I almost bought a unique notebook, kinda like a journal, but stopped myself T_T
Alya bought something but I don't remember what, probably fridge magnets or key chains. Afterwards, we didn't really have anywhere to go (we did, but we messed up our itinerary by sleeping for four hours xD). We were supposed to go to Dublin Castle but it was almost five and it closed around that time. We had to pay to go inside, it would be a waste of money to only spend it for like 15 minutes, so we didn't go. We just took pictures around the castle. It was only a walking distance from the library.
Well, at the time I was watching Once Upon A Time and one of the main male characters was my favourite, Colin O'Donoghue, hence, the picture. I'm sooooo in love with Ireland I was pretty much obsessed with Irish actors in my teenage to young adult years. It all started with Colin Morgan. I liked Katie McGrath, too. Then we got Colin O'Donoghue. Well, those were the days.
We walked further and I took more pictures. All of my photography skills down the drain, I snapped buildings and things I thought looked cool. My top favourite is this:
Can you guess why? YES, 'cause it's pink! Not even sure what it was but it stood up among other buildings in that street. #PinkLife
These are some of the shots I took. Gosh, they look so bad. HAHAHAHAHAHAH I mindfully enjoyed the view in real life. Although, I wish I took better photos. I liked seeing the architectural structures of the buildings, they're different from what we have in Malaysia. I especially loved walking around the city in the breezy weather. Can't do that in Malaysia. One minute in, let's welcome Mr. Sweat :')
I also loved seeing the buses there. I loved riding it, too. Hehehe. BASICALLY I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IRELAND, I'VE SAID IT LIKE THREE TIMES ALREADY IN THIS POST. Alya might be in love with Butlers' Iced Chocolate, but I'm in love with the country.
We strolled along the city, and it was near dusk, so the lights were slowly being switched on. We reached the crowded Temple Bar and managed to enjoy ourselves being there. We only got to enjoy the view and the hustle of the street, we couldn't really drink the beverage or eat the food. Dublin is a place you go for the pubs (I think? I saw or read it somewhere that Dublin has a lot of pubs, also the tours we went on the next days promoted going to pubs) and drinks, so probably not a place for Muslim if you're hungry. But there were halal food available at Arab stalls nearby.
Temple Bar is a busy riverside neighbourhood, spread over cobbled pedestrian lanes. Crowded pubs host live folk music and DJ sets, and diners pack restaurants serving Asian, American and Irish cuisine. Quirky boutiques stock clothes and crafts by local designers. The National Photographic Archive highlights Ireland’s past, while the Project Arts Centre and Temple Bar Gallery + Studios shows contemporary art. (Source: Wikipedia)
(I've just read about Temple Bar and so naturally, I found out that it's a place of art.... k. I should be more excited back then!)
Of course, anything related to books, I was eager to be part of.
The Library Project’s first iteration began as the Book and Magazine Fair as part of the PhotoIreland Festival in 2011. The team behind PhotoIreland quickly saw that this kind of resource was a valuable one, a collection that included all the latest photography publications from photobooks to zines and spanned many areas of image culture. (Source: Totally Dublin)
Alya and I didn't go in since it was closed. Would've had a lot more pics if it were still open.
Since we were back on track with our itinerary (not really), we headed for Ha'penny Bridge. If Alya had started watching The Big Bang Theory at the time of this trip, it would've been funnier, but she thought it wasn't funny and a hundred years later, look who's binge-watching TBBT like there's no tomorrow *roll eyes*
The Ha'penny Bridge, known later for a time as the Penny Ha'penny Bridge, and officially the Liffey Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge built in May 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. Made of cast iron, the bridge was cast in Shropshire, England. (Source: Wikipedia)
It's one of the tourist spots in Dublin. Never heard of Ha'penny Bridge before, and it was quite nice chilling nearby the bridge overlooking the river. Not far from the bridge (maybe far but as far as eyes could see, I could see it) there was a dock. It was supposed to be a key point in this Ha'penny Bridge stuff but I can't seem to recall it. SORRY :3
Next stop is: the Spire of Dublin. Still, it was a walking distance from Ha'penny Bridge. We almost got lost but Alya's expertise with Google Map would never let us down! XD Plus, it was easy to spot the spire since it's really tall. Alya kept wanting to take cool pictures with the spire but I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE WAS TRYING TO PULL im sorry im stupid hshshshsh
The Spire of Dublin, alternatively titled the Monument of Light, is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 120 metres in height, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in Dublin, Ireland. (Source: Wikipedia)
Alya wanted to make me look like I had a horn like a unicorn, like the picture above. But I didn't understand (I made the 'side-eyeing chloe' face) what she meant, so here's my version...
We went to browse some souvenirs at a market (they were all closing since it was almost nighttime) but didn't find the ones we wanted so we ended up window shopping. TETTTT! We stopped at a souvenir shop where I bought a pink-blue glass shade. HEHEHEHEHEH we'll be seeing those shade for the next posts (if we get any u_u).
*in fact, you can see the sunglasses if you go back to this blog's main page :p
Feeling hungry, we wanted to get food but Mira texted Alya saying that she had cooked for us, so I only got a slice of pizza from a kebab stall and we waited for the bus to get home.
We got back at Mira's place around 7 to 8pm and ate her cooking which was super delicious T_T We prayed Maghrib and Isya' and ate the pizza and then went to bed since we had a full day the next day.
It was a wonderful day for me. I was in love with Dublin and I couldn't wait for more adventures! I couldn't believe I finally got to be in Ireland, my dream place. Even if I couldn't further my studies here, this was enough. I'm truly grateful that Alya planned the perfect trip for us and I don't regret one bit that we didn't get to see other parts of Europe, I could stay in Ireland for a month! I also can't believe I've completed this post, it has been a draft for like a year xD
See you guys next year. Just kidding!
Not really.
Bye!
Let's get started.
Alya and I woke up at 3 in the morning. We prayed Subuh and then got ready to catch the bus to the airport. Our flight was at 7 a.m., so naturally... we had to wake four hours early.
Walking from Alya's place to the nearest bus stop was about 5 minutes. We took the bus to East Midlands Airport for 1.20£ which was about one-hour ride. We arrived at the airport somewhere around 4.30 a.m., already checked ourselves in through Ryan Air mobile application (thanks, enllyz).
We didn't purchase any extra kilogrammes for our bags since they were small....kinda.... but before getting through the immigration check-up, we had to bag our less-than-100ml-liquid transparent bottles inside a transparent zip-lock bag provided by the airport (free). Then, we had to take off all our backpacks, jackets, sweaters, separate the water bottles and zip-lock bags...
Anyway, after all the struggle, I was reunited with Alya and we ran like there's no tomorrow to the boarding gate. No, we weren't late. No, the plane wasn't taking off.
It was just Alya. We finally found seats where we could rest, there were about two hours more to depart, so I slept on my neck pillow next to Alya and next thing we know, we were running again to the real boarding gate and queuing in the fast-lane line (Alya purchased the fast-lane for us because we didn't have checked-in baggage).
On the flight, I continued my sleep (well... we did wake up at 3 a.m.) next to Alya. The flight was about one hour and when we landed in Dublin, I couldn't believe it. OMG I WAS IN DUBLIN HSHSHHSDJKSDK I had always wanted to go to Ireland, since it was said to be the best place to study medicine (I wanted to be a doctor, remembah?) and it was (still is) my DREAM PLACE.
While Alya settled for our bus tickets (kind of like you paid a certain amount of money and you get to ride any buses to anywhere for the allocated time - half day, full day, a week, something like that it has been two years I don't remember T_T), I was busy updating my Instagram story hehe. It was lightly raining - the perfect weather. Dublin was coldddd but in a very comforting way (omg fifiey stop fangirling over dublin we all know you love that place)
We took the bus to Syira's place. Syira is one's of Alya's friends through Tahirah. Actually it wasn't technically Syira's place, it used to be, but then she moved to another place but still visited her former residence regularly, which also housed Mira, Syira's classmate, so Mira was our host, THE KINDEST HOST (seriously, she cooked for us and made us lunches to bring to our trip like... she's so NICE).
Mkay, back to our journey on the bus. We missed a few stops from Mira's place, so we had to walk for about 2 km with our pregnant baggage (eh at this moment not yet pregnant hshshsh). It was still raining, Alya walked like crazy fast and I was there chilling like, "Imma take my time and take pictures and post to my igstories, I probably won't be here a second time so imma savour this moment."
15 minutes of walking later, we arrived at Mira's place. Two of her housemates had gone back to Malaysia for the holidays, so we used their room. Their room was so comfy, the beds were freaking comfortable and next thing we knew, we were 'taking naps'. Before going in for the nap, we said, "It's 9.30 a.m., let's sleep for a while, we'll go out at 11 a.m., okay?"
Well, 11 a.m. turned out to be 2 p.m. 'cause you know...... naps can be very long.
Both of us were napping and when either one of us woke up to see the other still sleeping, we went back to sleep. That continued until one of us finally really woke up. We were mostly free the first day in Dublin, so that was why we were a bit relaxed. (YEA BUT THAT DIDN'T MEAN YOU COULD SLEEP ALL DAY -_-)
After solat Zohor, having lunch.... thank you, Mira... we went to the city centre by bus. Upon there, we headed for Trinity College Dublin to go visit the library. I had wanted to go to the Trinity College Library since forever. One of the reasons I wanted to visit Ireland. I loooooveeeee booooks.
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| This was in Trinity College compound. It was a big place and lots of people. |
Before going into the library, we walked around the university to take pictures with statues...? Didn't know who they were but again, this probably was my first and last trip to this place hehehe. It wasn't raining when we were taking pics, so it was kinda nice.
Alya took me to the university's souvenir shop first (before going to the library), and I bought a Dublin long-sleeved T-shirt that costed €20. I didn't care about the price AS LONG AS I GOT TO BUY EVERYTHING IN IRELAND hshshshsh (two days later no more euro money xD) Got to talking with the store guy about the weather (it was starting to rain again), he said it was hot (no it wasn't...) and I was like, "This is the coldest I've felt in my entire life." #MalaysianLife
Amidst the coldness, we had to queue a long line to enter the library. Didn't have umbrellas with us and we stayed in the rain (thank God it wasn't heavy) and prayed that we wouldn't catch a cold
Well, once we were inside, there was this exhibition on the Book of Kells. It is said that the exhibition is a must-see for people visiting Dublin. A 9th century manuscript documenting the four Gospels of the life of Jesus Christ, the Book of Kells is the Ireland's greatest cultural treasure and the world's most famous medieval manuscript (source). I personally didn't know anything about this manuscript (I still don't) and I wasn't brought up learning the four Gospels (although there were mentions of them in our History textbooks hehehe), so maybe that was why it didn't intrigued me much.
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| This was some of the illustrations of the manuscript (plus me) |
Although we couldn't do much in the library (except for looking around gaping at the wonderful architecture and amazing bookshelves and books and everything), the view was magnificent. For someone who loves books and old-fashioned libraries, the Trinity College Library is an aesthetically pleasing place to be. WOW
It also had a lot of people that it was hard to take solo pictures without someone photo-bombing in the back.
I wish I was dressed more appropriately (for a library) or maybe wore Harry Potter robe or something. I looked at out of place. AGAIN, I wish they'd allow us to go into the aisles because look at thoseeee neatly arranged books!
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| Hello tengok ni Alya KURUS AF #idola |
After taking a gazillion pictures, we moved on to the library's souvenir shop (not the one we went earlier). I remembered I only bought post cards because I had reached my spending limit of the day *cough* €20 T-shirt *cough* and since it was a tourist spot, the prices were quite fancy. I almost bought a unique notebook, kinda like a journal, but stopped myself T_T
Alya bought something but I don't remember what, probably fridge magnets or key chains. Afterwards, we didn't really have anywhere to go (we did, but we messed up our itinerary by sleeping for four hours xD). We were supposed to go to Dublin Castle but it was almost five and it closed around that time. We had to pay to go inside, it would be a waste of money to only spend it for like 15 minutes, so we didn't go. We just took pictures around the castle. It was only a walking distance from the library.
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| Dooblin Castle featuring me |
We walked around Dublin Castle and took pictures. There was this huge field surrounded by buildings or forts, which Alya and I weren't really sure what they were, but we took pictures anyway. From the place I was standing in the picture above, we could see people going for the Dublin Castle tour earlier.
Dublin Castle is a major Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in Dublin. Until 1922 it was the seat of the British government's administration in Ireland. (Source: still Wikipedia)
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| the building back there is called the Dublin Castle Coach House |
Coach House: With its mock Gothic stone façade, the Coach House was built in 1833 to house the Viceroy’s coach and horses and is now a conference centre. The building overlooks the Dubh Linn Gardens. (Source: In Your Pocket)
(Ah, so the field is the Dubh Linn Gardens. Okay, thanks Google.)
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| This building is like opposite of the castle, and we dunno what it is.... |
We continued walking around the city. Alya wanted to take me see a place called Temple Bar. She said it was a beautifully decorated street - and sure it was. Very bright and vibrant. But before we went to Temple Bar, Alya took me to Butlers Chocolate Cafe on Wicklow Street. She was hooked with the cafe's iced chocolate (like, crazy obsessed, mentioning how good it was every step of the way -_-), so we went to get some.
Sure enough, once she got a hold of the drink... she gulped it down like she had never had a drink that good in'er life. (Yes, Alya, I geddit. You love the chocolate drink.) I'm not really a fan of chocolate, so for me the drink was very chocolate-y. In a good way. But I can't say I really liked it (maybe because of the expectation earlier since Alya said it was the best thing evah), I like McCafe's Iced Chocolate better. Alya finished hers until the last drop and I think I gave her a quarter of mine (for her to finish).
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| Asked her to take this photo because of the O'Donoghue's |
Well, at the time I was watching Once Upon A Time and one of the main male characters was my favourite, Colin O'Donoghue, hence, the picture. I'm sooooo in love with Ireland I was pretty much obsessed with Irish actors in my teenage to young adult years. It all started with Colin Morgan. I liked Katie McGrath, too. Then we got Colin O'Donoghue. Well, those were the days.
We walked further and I took more pictures. All of my photography skills down the drain, I snapped buildings and things I thought looked cool. My top favourite is this:
These are some of the shots I took. Gosh, they look so bad. HAHAHAHAHAHAH I mindfully enjoyed the view in real life. Although, I wish I took better photos. I liked seeing the architectural structures of the buildings, they're different from what we have in Malaysia. I especially loved walking around the city in the breezy weather. Can't do that in Malaysia. One minute in, let's welcome Mr. Sweat :')
I also loved seeing the buses there. I loved riding it, too. Hehehe. BASICALLY I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT IRELAND, I'VE SAID IT LIKE THREE TIMES ALREADY IN THIS POST. Alya might be in love with Butlers' Iced Chocolate, but I'm in love with the country.
Temple Bar is a busy riverside neighbourhood, spread over cobbled pedestrian lanes. Crowded pubs host live folk music and DJ sets, and diners pack restaurants serving Asian, American and Irish cuisine. Quirky boutiques stock clothes and crafts by local designers. The National Photographic Archive highlights Ireland’s past, while the Project Arts Centre and Temple Bar Gallery + Studios shows contemporary art. (Source: Wikipedia)
(I've just read about Temple Bar and so naturally, I found out that it's a place of art.... k. I should be more excited back then!)
Of course, anything related to books, I was eager to be part of.
The Library Project’s first iteration began as the Book and Magazine Fair as part of the PhotoIreland Festival in 2011. The team behind PhotoIreland quickly saw that this kind of resource was a valuable one, a collection that included all the latest photography publications from photobooks to zines and spanned many areas of image culture. (Source: Totally Dublin)
Alya and I didn't go in since it was closed. Would've had a lot more pics if it were still open.
Since we were back on track with our itinerary (not really), we headed for Ha'penny Bridge. If Alya had started watching The Big Bang Theory at the time of this trip, it would've been funnier, but she thought it wasn't funny and a hundred years later, look who's binge-watching TBBT like there's no tomorrow *roll eyes*
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| Ha'penny Bridge |
It's one of the tourist spots in Dublin. Never heard of Ha'penny Bridge before, and it was quite nice chilling nearby the bridge overlooking the river. Not far from the bridge (maybe far but as far as eyes could see, I could see it) there was a dock. It was supposed to be a key point in this Ha'penny Bridge stuff but I can't seem to recall it. SORRY :3
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| How come Alya's photos are good, and mine are not?! |
Next stop is: the Spire of Dublin. Still, it was a walking distance from Ha'penny Bridge. We almost got lost but Alya's expertise with Google Map would never let us down! XD Plus, it was easy to spot the spire since it's really tall. Alya kept wanting to take cool pictures with the spire but I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE WAS TRYING TO PULL im sorry im stupid hshshshsh
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| Spire of Dublin |
Alya wanted to make me look like I had a horn like a unicorn, like the picture above. But I didn't understand (I made the 'side-eyeing chloe' face) what she meant, so here's my version...
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| I tried. |
We went to browse some souvenirs at a market (they were all closing since it was almost nighttime) but didn't find the ones we wanted so we ended up window shopping. TETTTT! We stopped at a souvenir shop where I bought a pink-blue glass shade. HEHEHEHEHEH we'll be seeing those shade for the next posts (if we get any u_u).
*in fact, you can see the sunglasses if you go back to this blog's main page :p
Feeling hungry, we wanted to get food but Mira texted Alya saying that she had cooked for us, so I only got a slice of pizza from a kebab stall and we waited for the bus to get home.
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| Excuse me, I need a bus. |
We got back at Mira's place around 7 to 8pm and ate her cooking which was super delicious T_T We prayed Maghrib and Isya' and ate the pizza and then went to bed since we had a full day the next day.
It was a wonderful day for me. I was in love with Dublin and I couldn't wait for more adventures! I couldn't believe I finally got to be in Ireland, my dream place. Even if I couldn't further my studies here, this was enough. I'm truly grateful that Alya planned the perfect trip for us and I don't regret one bit that we didn't get to see other parts of Europe, I could stay in Ireland for a month! I also can't believe I've completed this post, it has been a draft for like a year xD
See you guys next year. Just kidding!
Not really.
Bye!
Wow you made me feel wanderlust amidst this pandemic... The photos are nice actually. I miss UK. Idk when I'll visit that place again :(
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