DAY 119

Dec 29

1) Today was a really tiring day! Woke up earlier than usual to meet up with my Khee Heng and Zi Yan at Mercer. We were going on a day trip to Glendalough and Powerscourt. At around 10.30am, the bus arrived. Took us around an hour or so to reach our first stop, Glendalough. We were given 1.5 hours to sightsee, and sightsee we did. Followed the trail all the way to the Upper Lake (about 1.7km away), and stopped periodically to take as many photos as we could. Special mention to the Monastic Site, which comprised the Gateway, St. Kevin's Cross, Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, St. Kieran's Church, The Priest's House etc.

2) After that, we returned to the bus for another half an hour ride to Powerscourt. Again we had 1.5 hours to spare, and wasted no time in exploring the huge Powerscourt Estate, famous for being ranked No.3 on list of the most beautiful gardens in the world. Some highlights include the Italian Garden, Japanese Garden, Pets Cemetery, and Tower Valley. Admission would have been €6.50 for students, but luckily that was included in the fees for this trip (€27). Didn't have lunch due to time constraints (plus the long queue and steep prices), but had biscuits and chocolate on the way back.

3) Reached Dublin 1 at around 5.00pm, and by this time the Sun had already set. So I walked back to Mercer with my friends, stopping by Bla Blas Cafe at Grafton St. to get a long overdue meal. Ordered a hot chicken roll with a portion of wedges and a cappucino, all for only €5.00! Came back to Khee Heng's apartment, where I spent the rest of the evening surfing the net. Today's animated movie is "From Up on Poppy Hill", a 2011 film by Goro Miyazaki, son of renowned Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. The disparaty between father and son is rather obvious though; Hayao's films resonating with me a lot more compared to his son's. Anyways, had a nice long walk back home with my friend Jason, followed by a light supper of cookies and tea, and finished by typing this out. Hopefully you found my blog update interesting, and be sure to scroll down for the pics as there are TONS of them today. Have a great day, cheers!