The unfurled ribbon-like Chinese fringe flowers in hues of red and coquelicot have by far been the prettiest sight of this mild and sunny winter day. The colours vibrant, the petals swaying gently in the wind, it’s akin to a beckoning of spring. And I <3 Spring.

In the mean time, I’m starting to map my travels for the year. First up, I’m off to Paris for a couple of days next week to deal with matters related to my big move to the City of Light. Hopefully there will be a couple of trips to Asia and a number others in Europe. If I’m lucky, I could make five new countries this year to go towards the challenge?

Taking a break from going through all my worldly possessions (one really does accummulate without needing to give it much thought), I grabbed a late bus to Wexford for a wee bit of R&R. It may be viewed as running away or procrastination, I see this as an opportunity for some quality time with my family before my big move in a couple of weeks.

While things are still mostly bustling in Dublin, Wexford is another kettle of fish altogether. You do feel the recession here. Sure, Monday is traditionally a more quiet and subdued night, but the town felt dead in general. I was half expecting some tumbleweed to roll past me somehow. Maggie Mays may have live music this evening, but where is life heading for this country right now without a coherent working government in place?

When a friend visited Dublin about a year ago, the very first thing he noticed and pointed out to me was the number of taxis in the city. They are absolutely everywhere. Reports at that time had it peg at 25,000 of them servicing Dublin, but as you can see from the taxi identifier number, it wouldn’t be too far off the mark to say there are a lot more of them on the road today.

I am not one who hail taxis on a regular basis, but I have observed something odd recently – there have been a number of taxis of which the driver doesn’t look anything like the person on the displayed licence (a case of bad ID photo?) and at times, I doubt the name is even the driver’s (e.g. very Irish name on display but the driver speaks with a foreign accent). I am quite sure driving taxi with someone else’s licence is not legal.

There have been reports of illegal drivers operating in the city, with a few of them sharing a single taxi/licence by working in shifts. This is dangerous, considering these drivers would most likely be uninsured, have not been vetted by the Garda, and may even be living here illegally and/or owning false driving licences. The crackdown process have been slow, much to the consternation and annoyance of genuine taxi drivers in their city, as their livelihood and their trade are under threat.

Saturday night: my friends and I have a surprise party to pull out of the bag. And I think we did rather well on that front. Mim was certainly surprised (“you guys are very bold to do this to me”) and we were all further taken aback (and roaring with laughter) when she couldn’t put the candles out. I did not realise that I have bought the inextinguishable variety… ops!

A delicious and perhaps overindulged dinner party later, it was rightly followed with a good dancing night out. Well, we need to burn the calories off the chocolate fudge cake, you know. ;) We headed over to Café en Seine which was busy and packed with the DJ spinning a good series of tunes to dance to. It was a lot of fun, reminding me how much I enjoy dancing. Certainly on my list, once settled in Paris, I’ll be looking for something like salsa clubs to go to. Woo!

The streets of Dublin are not only populated by musicians, but also of street performers and mime artists. Certainly, no one can say there’s a lack of entertainers in the city. Come weekend, there can easily be an act every 50-60m down Grafton Street.

For some reason, the junction where Grafton Street meets St Stephen’s Green often has fire-related action going on. Usually, this is the spot of a couple of guys dancing to Jamaican tunes and doing fire limbo in some funny leopard prints – one of them would even limbo as low as the height of a beer bottle. Today though, it’s a jongleur that plays with fire. He’s not bad in getting the crowd going, but I didn’t have time to assess the show in entirety since I was heading to an appointment.

Moore Street is a lively street between Henry Street and Parnell Street in the northside of the city. There’s a market that runs here daily, except Sunday, with carts selling from vegetables and fruits to meat to fish to household products, at a cheap cheap price (15 plums for €1 anyone?). Mind though, the produce boughts here should be consumed as soon as possible.

Various shops, including FX Buckleys which is a renowned family-run butchers for quality meat, also line both sides of the street and immigration in recent years brought in a cosmopolitan feel to the street. Asian, African, low cost supermarkets (such is the nature of competition nowadays), quite a variation. I may be a bit cautious about setting in to that one shop selling wigs (I think) that was pitched dark when I passed by (hence why I can’t see what else are in it), and the trade was carried out by the door…

The Irish are renowned musicians; think U2, The Cranberries, Thin Lizzy, Sinéad O’Connor, The Corrs, Boyzone, Westlife, Damien Rice, Snow Patrol, The Script, Cathy Davey etc. Even those who are not famous, are musical at heart. I don’t know a single Irishman/Irishwoman who doesn’t like music and quite a few of them play musical instrument of some sort, if not several instruments per person. (It really is very impressive.)

It is not surprising then, on any day, walking down the main thoroughfares of the city, there are a number of musicians busking and entertaining the crowd. It makes the streets gay and merry and melodic. At night, the sultry sound of saxophone and violin often invokes the urge in me to dance to the songs. If only I am less self conscious about the whole dancing solo on the street thing… :p

There are plenty of venues in Dublin where new acts perform each day. Some are free, some charges nominal ticket prices. For you and I, this is the perfect opportunity to discover more new music by local talents while socialising with friends on any night out. Chances are, someone you know (or you!) are friends/relatives to the performers of the night. Yes, Ireland is that small, and that’s what makes it great in this instance!

It may be wintry cold but when it is sunny and the sky is blue, walking about Dublin is always so pleasant. There are coffee kiosks peppered along the boardwalk for the good ol’ outdoor cuppa and in the summer months, a river boat tour along River Liffey is also possible.

One of the best walking tours available in the city are those led by Pat Liddy, a charming historian who is an absolute fountain of knowledge when it comes to the stories about Dublin. Dublin City Council, together with Pat Liddy, also offers free walking tours under the Let’s Walk and Talk initiative for anyone who are interested in getting to know Dublin outside of the city centre areas. Also available are Sandemans’ free walking tours where participants are encouraged to tip their guides at the end of the tour.

For visitors keen on self-guided tour, apart from using recommended itinerary suggested by guidebooks, check out the podcasts available via Guinness Storehouse website. There, you should be set now to know more about the city.

I cannot remember when I last visited Kildare, and even then my trip today has been rather superficial – to shop at Kildare Village. Granted, it wasn’t my idea to start but at the offer of someone driving us there, I thought, why not check it out after all the fuss I’ve heard from many?

The Village is actually rather quaint, well laid out, and good value purchases to be had. Adjacent to the Village is the ruins of Grey Abbey, a Franciscan site dated from 13th century. Its name derived from the colour of the robes wore by its monks and the ruins forming what was the Abbey Church, it looks very inviting for further exploration, if only I wasn’t pressed for time.

Visitors’ tips: if you take a train + complimentary shuttle bus to Kildare Village, present the train ticket at the Village Tourist Information Centre for a VIP card that gives you a further 10% discount on all purchases. Yes, even on top of discounted prices.

I had wanted to visit the Chapel Royal, adjacent to Dublin Castle, since learning about its architectural beauty in an evening class I sat in but the previous time I tried, it was close for restorative works. However, when chatting to a friend following my detour to photograph Lady Justice, I was informed that it has since reopened.

For a relatively cosy chapel, its Neo-Gothic interior is very impressive. Beautiful stained glass panels, opulent Rococo stucco adorning the ribbed vaults to the sides, handsome oaked upper galleries; definitely worth visiting. What caught my eyes among the splendour this afternoon though, was the bounce of sunlight into the chapel against the pews. It gave the chapel a feel that is almost ethereal, serene. Until the next tour group arrives.