Wonderful Weekend

Salam..

As you well have read, Ina entered the story on us spending the weekend in Cork, just lazing around there as part of our pre-anniversary celebration.. Now, the word 'pre-' was an indication that the weekend spent in Cork was merely a warm-up session.. And you may well then deduce that another 'proper' celebration was due.. I don't think that all this would need explanation, but just for the sake of telling, the pre-celebration was because our anniversary had fallen on Monday, which meant that there was no way a proper celebration could be done as it was a working day for both of us.. So, to complete the celebration, and to some extend, to compromise for not celebrating on the day itself, there was the pre-celebration and this weekend plan..

As many of you may have noticed, I had quoted 'a big plan' weekend on my Facebook shoutbox.. This is the weekend for you to share..

Saturday

Ina had her Geriatric Dinner in a restaurant in Adare on Friday night.. She only got home almost around 2am.. I, on the other hand, went out with Mate (Fadzrul) and had dinner in Copper 'n Spice.. We took our time having our dinner since I knew Ina would be late - just like the last time she went out for her Geri dinner last year!

We left Limerick by train at 9.55am, having had Mate to send us to the train station in the pouring Irish rain on that Saturday morning.. Of course, we had planned to take the 7.30am train but the cosy bed and the cool morning because of the rain had made it so hard for us to get up (plus the fact that we both slept late - me waiting for Ina and Ina arriving home late).. We arrived in Heuston Station in Dublin at 12.30 just after noon, with the rain following us all the way from Limerick.. We took the cab to St Stephen Green Shopping Centre, where our hotel is nearby located.. We had traveled with very minimal baggage that it made it easy for us to walk around before checking in..

Brooks Hotel was just about 5mins away from the shopping centre.. We checked in, and then being told that our room was upgraded from a double room to a deluxe room on the second floor.. I wonder if Ina had told them we were spending the weekend there for our wedding anniversary, since she was the one booking the room? The room was simple, quite like an old but sophisticated room used in the early English times.. The kingsize bed was just too hard to resist when the weather outside was not that friendly.. Oh, and I have to highly salute the service and attention they give to their customers - such friendly service that I would actually recommend that hotel for you fellow readers, if you ever want to stay in Dublin.. Probably one of the best service we have had in our hotel stays around the world we have been to..

Since we arrived in Dublin around the time of lunch, by the time checked in and settled in the room, it was due for lunch.. The fact that we only rushed breakfast with some stale scones and croissants didn't help either.. We decided to have a bite in Wagamama for lunch.. Unfortunately for us, even at that hour the place was jam-packed! So, giving in to the grouching stomach of ours, we went off to have lunch in Jewel In The Crown, an Indian restaurant nearby to Grafton St.. I had a small meal with chicken jalfrezi and coriander naan and Ina had her usual Chef's special briyani, which was actually a mixed chicken-meat-prawn briyani.. We didn't intend to have a big meal since we planned to have a sushi dinner later..

We got back to our hotel room after lunch, after stopping by at Clarendon Medical to get some books..

Later on, we went out to have dinner in Yo! Sushi.. It was all a different setting from our usual Aya.. Aya has since closed due to the economic strain.. We got ourselves some sushi meal but I would not say it was the best sushi meal we had had.. Well, at least we kept the plan..

We retired that night after dinner..

Sunday

Starting off the day, we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant.. Of course, it had been included in the bill anyway.. Toasts, scrambled egg, croissants and tea and coffee.. I had some yoghurt too.. Then, after that we cleared our room and checked out, heading to town for a little bit of shopping..

First off, we headed towards Grafton St, but interestingly Ina saw a pair of purple stiletto but the Shoe Rack shop was still closed.. So off we went to Brown Thomas, cruising around and peeked into Prada and Hermes shops, but none of the handbags attracted Ina.. We walked through the perfume department and that was where I offered to buy Ina Magnifique from Lancome.. In all fairness, we had tried it before in Cork but didn't come around to buy it.. So, we closed the book that time and picked up a bottle.. This was on top of four bottles from Saturday - EA's Splendour, EA's Green Tea and two bottles of CK Obsession Night.. They were on sale!

We went back to Shoe Rack and Ina tried on the purple stiletto pair, but eventually did not take it because the rose at the top of the shoes were not the same size.. Instead, she bought a different pair - the silver pair..

After that, we just strolled around Grafton St and headed towards Henry St..

Interestingly and surprisingly, we bumped into Shiqin and her brother with her 'special someone' (so I believe).. Short chat and we were off again.. Shiqin was entertaining her brother who was on vacation from Indonesia.. Oh, yes.. She also informally invited us to her big day which would be sometime in December.. Good new all around!

At Henry St, we stopped by at Arnotts, browsed through some of the kitchen stuffs and got locked into two beautiful things - a set of 58 cutleries and a set of Meyer Teflon pots.. Even more interesting, both were on sale! So, we really had made the decision that we would buy the two but would hold it for the time being and planned to buy it closer to the time we would be going home, avoiding the hassle of carrying the two big boxes..

Ina actually bought a toy set from Toymaster - the one she had been longing since we were in Letterkenny! We went back to Arnotts and got the two big boxes and off we headed to Heuston Station.. We actually bought some lunch to take away from Epicurean before leaving..

Ride Home

Our train left for Limerick at 3.25pm and the ride was smooth and direct.. We didn't have to switch trains at Limerick Junction Station and arrived in Limerick just before 6pm, and took a taxi home..

In all fairness, this year's anniversary was not as posh as it was last year.. The fact that we were both working on the day itself also did not help.. But, celebration being celebration, the most important thing is that our marriage is still going strong and only stronger by the day.. Sure, there are ups and downs, but every moment is just better and more magnificent than the day we fell in love and started this life..

For my dear wife, Ina..

Of course you're beautiful, you are my own angel from heaven..
Of course you're sweet, you are my God-given solace..
Of course you're perfect, you are my blessing for life..
And
Of course I love you, forever and ever..

Happy Anniversary, My Dear Darling

Salam..