Ireland

...is windy and chilly. That typical island feature. 

But I’ve to say, Irish are very warm and welcoming! Warm enough to compensate the hypothermia-phobic (if the word does exist) feel inside of me. Dan oh, mata mereka. Mata mereka ada yg biru dan hijau. Cair luluh hati saya melihat gadis-gadis Ireland fuhh.

But the windy side of Ireland is no joke. Hands down. 

It was the scariest flight I’ve ever experienced. My very 13th. flight in 2013; such an unlucky number eh. Passengers held their breath as the plane plunged in air pockets and as it tried to stabilise upon approaching Dublin Airport. I sat beside a window, and I saw how close the wing was with the grass field below. Finally, it landed hard.

Alhamdulillah, no injuries or casualties. Only the howling winds outside was heard. It was a heavy relief. Suddenly, these passengers burst into laughter. They whistled and applauded the crew. Being a Malaysian, this was really a view.

The next day, we went straight to Killarney national park to attend PUISI (check out my previous blogpost), after a 3-hour sleep at Aiman’s house. Yes, 3 jam je sbb pillowtalk dgn Aiman sampai pukul 3 pagi -.-

During PUISI, we had a stroll to Aghadoe; a countryside with a lake view. Carrauntoohill stood majestically behind the lake, providing a paint-like backdrop to the view. Subhanallah lawa gilss!! Tapi duk sekejap je la kat situ sbb ada hail and sejuk nak mati.

Killarney at night is much more awesome. There’s hardly any light pollution, and we can actually navigate our way at night without using torchlights because those twinkling stars were actually bright enough to light the night. And there were millions of them. I was literally pointing out some constellations I knew to a friend when suddenly came a few meteors crossing the sky. Memang. Lawa. Gilo.

Then, we headed to Cork. Sedih gila sebenarnya meninggalkan warga PUISI. Ya lah, mana cukup 4 hari 3 malam je makan sedap-sedap huhu T_T

Hijaz, Fendi and Haziq brought me and Siddiq around Cork for about 2 days. Oh ya, not to forget Aiman and Aizat have been a great host as well. Nothing much, really. We were strolling along the main river and through the city during the Christmas, so yeah there were literally nothing much haha. Aku di bandar Cork pada ketika itu sebijik mcm Bangla di KL pada musim raya. Haaa gitu haha.

Then we went to Dublin again to have a proper tour. I don’t quite remember what our plans were, but I could totally map those roads within a mile radius from the spire. Maksudnya aku pusing2 kat kawasan tu je lah. Tried Butler’s chocolates and Bewley’s coffees. Sedap gila okay!! Recommended.

Went to RCSI. Bebajet nak jadi budak medic sekejap. Went to TCD, but did not visit the Book of Kells. Went to the Chester Beatty Library (pernah dapat european museum award ke apa ntah), but was quite sad because its reading hall was closed. Tapi best sebab ada banyak artifak Quran lama dan tinggalan sejarah Islam.

The historian side of Kamil and I made us to the National Museum of Ireland as well. Worth a visit laa, but our own Muzium Negara is much better haha. Fair enough though, because Irish history was not as extensive as compared to us. Opposite the museum is the national library of Ireland. Masuk laa sekejap buat hati puas.

On our final day, we went to Howth. It was a sunny day and the cliff view was superbly perfect. Aaaa rasa macam nak terjun okay! Then we went for a hill walk, covering a few kilometers around the Howth summit. It was during this walk, me, Hijaz and Kamil tiba-tiba rasa nak bercurahat, tiba-tiba rasa nak bermuhasabah, trying to discover oneself, and trying to gauge our ukhuwah’s contributions. Tiba-tiba.

Ehhh apa random aku ni. Peringatan, peringatan. Ada benda yg tak boleh cerita public mcm ni -.-!

Anyhow, our conversation stopped at some random bus stop at the end of the hill path. It was not a busy road. Only a few cars passed by, and we knew we’re gonna be in a tight schedule to catch our return flight. Two buses went by on the opposite road. None on our side.

I was busy observing the geological aspects of the rock formation behind the bus stop when suddenly a car honk appeared behind me.

“Hey guys, do you need a lift?” ask the man as he pulled the power window.

We hesitated, but the kind man continued, “there are not many buses along this road. I’m on my way picking up my son from school and if you guys want to have a ride to Howth, come and get in.”

Now that’s Irish hospitality. We had a 10-minute free ride and some good rapport between each other alhamdulillah. And we were happy kids!

Ok setakat tu je kot nak cerita ttg Ireland ni. Obviously kena visit Ireland lagi sbb tak pernah jejak Belfast, Galway dan tempat2 lain. I know that this is like a very brief overview, tapi insya-Allah aku share lagi yok. K bye.