dublin 03: a rainy friday.

Overcast.

The day before was brilliant, we travelled to Howth and had a great time there. Wonder what I can do today? The weather certainly doesn't permit us to have a nice walk around, nor is it great for photography.




The weather makes the town look dull.




And quiet.




Since it's Friday I'll be going to the mosque for my weekly Friday prayer.




We'll be looking at the Muslim community here along the way.





Policeman riding their Segways.

For those that uses an iPhone and have been reading about how much of a failure the Map application has been. I experienced how awful it is first hand here. I asked for a nearby mosque and it failed to bring me to my destination. I got lost.

Luckily the people nearby are helpful. Kak Jannah, I'm greatful to you.

The entrance to the medical faculty of Trinity College is nearby, and it is here that I met Kak Jannah, who guided me towards a prayer room.I say prayer room because it is far from a mosque. You'll see in a minute.

The rain had stopped. And the sun is beginning to shine a little.

The prayer room is inside this building. This picture was taken when I had already finished my prayer by the way, that's why it looks as if I'm exiting the building.

If you were to go inside, you'll see that the prayer room is inside a store.


 
Now here is a scenario where there's 2 ways of looking at it, kind of like looking at a glass half empty. Now negatively, you can say that the glass is half empty, but a positive person will look at in another frame of mind and say that the glass is half full.

That is the case here. Some people may say that it is unacceptable how second rate they treat our religion and our need for a proper prayer hall, but I don't look at it that way at all.
Sometimes we just need to accept it and make best use of what is given to us. And from what I had seen the Muslims here had make best use of this place.

From this it seems that they hold the Zuhur prayer in congregation, which is very very good.




The khutbah was entitled "Sedekah" or in English "Charity". At first they delivered the khutbah in Arabic then after finishing it will reread it again in English.

This is behind where I was sitting. Not long after the place was full. Many are Pakistanian, but there are a handful of Malays also, about 10 of them going from my memory.

This was after the Friday prayers, some are reading the Quran, some doing a supererogatory prayer (solat sunat).




At the end of the day you can see that they are making the best use of what is given to them and I think that is the most important. A small mosque that is always full is better than a large and majestic, but empty mosque.

There are lots of positive values that we can take from here.

We are back outside.




I'm kind of hungry. How about we look for some food shall we?




And feast our eyes with pictures of cars along the way. Like this stunning Ford Fiesta.


   
A Porshe Cayenne. In Malaysia this costs more than RM800,000. The car is equipped with a twin-turbo unit for your information.




The taxi reminds me of those iconic yellow cab of New York.

After my 4 days here in Dublin I still can't grasp how the pedestrian traffic light works. Sometimes I need to wait several minutes for it to turn to green whereas another time I just press it and less than 5 seconds later voila its green.

I know the statement sounds funny but if you are ever in Dublin you'll know. Sometimes these little things are what drive us nuts.

I will be trying some Fish & Chips and to be honest, the place that I was told in farther than I thought. Here I was strolling with Uncle Ardy. His house is where me and my sister stayed for close to half of our trip here.




Me and Uncle Ardy split up here. The building with the many window glasses is where Uncle Ardy works. He works for an insurance company.

At the time of this trip, Superstorm Sandy was all over the news. Uncle would tell me how panicked his boss was looking at the news, thinking of all the insurance claim from his clients. "Oh God that's it Ardy, we're done, our BUSINESS IS DONE!" I chuckled, his boss sounds like a real fun person to be with.

"The restaurant is just after this bridge", pointed uncle as we shaked hands and waved goodbye at each other.




Might as well take another picture when the light is still red. When the light turned green I crossed the bridge and turned right.

Here's the restaurant, Beshoff Bros.




The interior looks very nice. Uncle said that he and his wife would always have their lunch here.




I love this picture, though even I don't know why.




I was staring at the counter for god knows how long, until the receptionist asks me "you alright mate? May I have your order now?". I struggled choosing one so I asked him for his recommendation.

"How about Fresh Atlantic Cod?" and Fresh Atlantic Cod it is.

Here's the food, no fancy decorations - just fish, a slice of lemon and plenty of chips. And a glass of Pepsi too.

It was delicious, the fish tastes fresh. But to be honest I was expecting more. I found out later on that you need to ask for the dishes sauce at the counter. I was 1/4 away from finishing my food when I knew this. Had I known this earlier I'm sure I would be enjoying the food alot more because the sauce is great.

Finished my meal, and went to the nearby bus stop. Infront of the bus stop is this large hospital.




The design is in line with other buildings in the area.




Bought some topup here.




Not long after, I took a bus and went towards the city centre for some shopping.

I'll be covering the city centre on my next entry but to make it short, not long after I arrived there, it is already Asar. Since it is nearing winter, daylight is not very long. The sky is already starting to get dark by 3PM.




So I took a bus to get to the mosque. The mosque is in South Circular Road and I took bus 121 to get there.

I purposely get off the bus early so that I can walk by my own pace towards the mosque.




And also take pictures along the way.




Since we are at South Circular Road I think it would be appropriate to share pictures of a restaurant that me and my sister dined nearby. Theses was taken on our second day here in Dublin.

We were so hungry at the time and had no idea of where a good Halal restaurant is. Thankfully South Circular Road is known for its abundance of Muslim population. I asked people nearby and they led me to a Kebab restaurant.




Kebabishi Tandoori is the name of the restaurant.




I ordered Lamb Kebab and let me tell you, the portion is huge. I think that the dish is enough to make to grown man full. It was delicious too.




My sister ordered Beriyani Rice. Hidden under the rice were an abundance of chicken meat. The green sauce was a little too sour for my taste though.




And of course, the complementary chips.




Back to the main story. Here I am, walking whilst listening to music. The unreliable Map app on my phone says the mosque is just 800 meters away. My phone died not long afterwards.

I passed by cathedral.




Not sure of the name but is sure looks nice.




It would be nice to live in this neighborhood.

Dublin Mosque. Pardon the out of focus picture. From the camera's viewfinder I thought it would look a lot better than this.

The bathroom had warm water which was nice, I was freezing out there. I did my Asar prayer, and waited since maghrib was near.

Not long after the muezzin recites the azan, signalling all Muslim that it is now Maghrib. A fun fact is the first ever muezzin is an African man named Bilal bin Rabah.




The place is nice. Several Malaysian medical students who lived nearby were here. They were very friendly. Nearby was power supply plug so I decided to charge my out of battery phone here.




At the end of the day, it is nice to know and see for myself that the Muslim community here is flourishing.