Woohoo, proper blue sky for once!

It was near one in the afternoon when I realised I was famished. I have quite lost track of the number of hours I’ve put in since morning too. Good thing my body is great at telling me when it wants to be fed. Recalling there is a lunchtime food market at Mespil Road on Thursdays, I changed from my comfy clothes (read: something that may be mistaken as pajamas but I assure you it’s not) to something of smart casual variety, and went out the door.

Even before I got there, the enticing aroma of food wafted in the air. I quickened my steps and the clearing opened to a handful of stalls – about 15 if I recall correctly, but in the state of hunger, I can’t be entirely certain. Bratwursts! Paella! Roasted chicken! Hummus and pitta! BBQ! Oh the BBQ…

In the mean time, professionals in smart suits from offices nearby were queueing for their grubs before marching to one of the many benches along the Grand Canal for a spot of impromptu picnic. I love the spirit of conviviality all around me, where nothing in life is hurried or pressed. I also firmly believe people who love food are happier folks. ;)

It has been raining more or less for a week now, bar for the odd hour or two in the last couple of days. It’s wonderful to get that break from monotonous grey sky, to which I took great pleasure in sneaking out for a walk. Work has started piling up suddenly (I really shouldn’t have complained to my friend about the excess of free time – I’ve jinxed it!) and I’m practically attached to my laptop at all time. To be out for some fresh air, that’s luxury.

However, the grey clouds are omnipresent and seemingly menacing, threatening to swallow up the sun and whatever small patches of blue sky there is. Sure enough, shortly after this photo was taken, little drops started to fall from above, sending me packing and power-walked home as quickly as I can.

I am not a coffee drinker. Nor a tea drinker. (Hot chocolate is my poison.)

I used to joke with my friends, when I was a graduate student, that cafés relying on my business would easily go bankrupt. I was the opposite of many other students (and non-students alike) who need their caffeine fix daily, often several times a day. There isn’t even a point for me to carry any loyalty card, because I’ll never reach the number of stamps required to get a free beverage.

Of course, coffee houses are great for short meet-ups with friends, or to get a cup of hot drinks and sit to read. Given I’m due to move to Paris soon, I should learn to ease in the café lifestyle a bit better. Perhaps it’s the romantic view that everyone have of Paris, that this is the thing to do. For sure, you’ll also be charged a premium for that sit down privileges. Do you know, most Parisian cafés easily charge 200-300% more for the cuppa at the table than serving you au comptoir (i.e. at the bar)?

Passing by the area yesterday (George’s Street Arcade is flanked by both George’s Street and Drury Street) these colourful street art caught my eyes but in the miserably wet and grey weather, the vibrancy of the colour and form is just not that quite same as today, when the sun comes out to play for a little while.

I know I have been photographing mainly the southside of Dublin city for Project 365, and am considering venturing more often across River Liffey for variations, or perhaps to go to the suburbs areas such as Howth and Dun Laoghaire. If only it would rain a little less without the wind of 50km/h… I don’t fancy getting blown off the coastal areas into the sea!

Sorry, I couldn’t help the dig.

Had this been a display of some sort, then the label below would denote the item on exhibit. Given this is a figure of a head normally associated to religious iconography, a signage of Facebook gives it a whole new meaning. (Not that this amount to much else but the possibility that the fortune teller of George’s St Arcade is trying to promote his page on Facebook.)

George’s St Arcade is a small gem of a “market”, boasting a couple of cafés, second hand bookstalls, clothes shops, knick knacks and collectibles. It also used to host my favourite gourmet food stall, selling delectable fudge, unusual ingredients (edible lavender, anyone?), pulse and lentils by weight etc but is today replaced with a sort-of stocking fetish and plastic mobile phone cover business. Not quite equivalent in exchange, as you can see. Probably also explain why I haven’t been browsing around here much in the last couple of years.

Weekend socials continue. Not that I am complaining. I’ll take all socials time with my friends as much as I can right now. Afterall, soon enough, I can’t just call them up for coffee/dinner with a mere 30 minutes notice. It’s a tricky business, to live in a different country.

Ranelagh is actually my old neighbourhood. I lived there for a good 4 years, loving the village vibe yet secure in the knowledge that I was only about 20 minutes walk away from south city centre. It is vibrant and dynamic, an area of choice of many young professionals of the city. For a short while, it even boasted a Michelin-starred restaurant, if only it was better managed. In the end, there just wasn’t enough good food to rescue the business from closing down. What a shame.

As I walked the streets of the village, I relived the memory of time past. One of my friends has just recently moved to the area and I think she would be very happy there. Had it not been for unwillingness of my previous landlady to renegotiate rent at a time when rental property prices were falling, I would have continued living there. I was happy where I was.

Free movie? Opening night of a film festival? Sure.

I nearly pulled out from attending though. The weather has turned rather foul in Dublin in the past 30 hours or so, wet and extremely windy. There have been news report of overturned vehicles and a tragic freak accident by this very spot where a fallen tree killed a woman. Flower tributes now tie along the sign.

However, the weather did improve somewhat in the evening (drizzly with occasional gusts of wind) and I made it to the IFI in Temple Bar. The film festival has been organised in conjunction with Dublin Chinese New Year Festival, but the hope is to turn it into an annual film festival. We saw Bodyguards and Assassins which was very good (if a tad bloody), and the evening was followed by a small reception.

The DCNYF Chinese Film Festival will close on 13 February with a world premiere of Blood Oath, directed by Stephen Shin and produced by Zhang Yi-Mou. The director himself will be in attendance, opening the movie and taking part in Q&A at the end. I look forward to that.

It seems the shops are gearing up for Valentine’s Day. Passing by the junction where Wicklow Street, St Andrew’s Street, Exchequer Street and South William Street meet, Butler’s is all red and pink and aiming to catch lovebirds’ attention to their heart-melting chocolate gift boxes.

Meanwhile, I continue to experiment with my new-ish camera. I have just (a couple of days ago, in fact) discovered the in-built miniature/tiltshift mode (no, I haven’t read the manual) so I couldn’t help playing around this function. The effect is pretty impressive too, given my baby is a compact PnS at the end of the day. What do you think?

There is a sweet little stand of delicious goodness in the form of cupcakes at the Powerscourt Centre. They look pretty and well-iced, although I don’t normally buy them, given the rather extravagant price tag (for me) and I could bake them myself at home (although I admit to not being very good at icing the cupcakes). Still, today, I gave in to the temptation of a chocolate biscuit cupcake.

This is the most delectable marriage between chocolate and biscuit, and possibly a very Irish thing too since I’ve not seen this elsewhere abroad. Maybe I have not paid enough attention? In any case, it is actually quite easy to make some at home too, except it takes time for the cake to set. Not ideal, however, if one is looking for instant gratification.

My favourite places for immediate chocolate biscuit cake in Dublin:
– chocolate biscuit cupcake (€2.25) at Cupcakes
– chocolate biscuit slice (€2.60) at Café Sol
– chocolate biscuit slice (€2.00) at Pichet

Another weekend comes round quickly and for anyone who claims January as a slow month for socials, they are wrong! And on this Saturday night, we’re out to celebrate Cait’s upcoming nuptial! No faux glittery tiaras or bunny ears folks, Miss C is waaay classier than that. Instead, we each receive a beautiful white silk peony as our group hairpiece.

We went to the Mint Bar at Westin Hotel for cocktails and music after dinner, and a live jazz band was in the house to entertain us all. The band seems to love playing songs by Michael Bublé (which I like anyway) in up-tempo beats and there were even couples swing-dancing to the lively tunes. Totally different vibe to last Saturday’s dance session but I love it! A big thank you to Fi who organised the evening out. :)