A surprise trip to Dublin! 🍡

Hello, hi and hey to the people that brighten my day! 😁🤣 You wanna know who makes my day super light tho?…..my sister! This post is about her and me going on an adventure last week. It was all her idea and I was under the impression that we were going to an entirely different county but was totally unaware of what the day would behold. I was simply told that it was a surprise 🤫. To what did I owe this surprise? Well my sisters a lovely person so she wanted to make me happy as I’ve been feeling low lately. But enough about that, let me tell you how the journey began! (Ps I’m not bragging, I just want to share a nice day in my life ☺️ I hope you enjoy and find it fun too).

So we drove to the top of our road and to go straight would have led us in the direction of kilkenny which is where I thought we were going but my sister took a left instead which could have meant anywhere really so I was like “you made a wrong turn!” and she slapped her palm to her head and said she’d take the next left to get us back there. Well, as you can probably guess, she didn’t take that left, she took a right so then I realised it had all been a lie and I’d fallen for thinking we were going to kilkenny. We were heading in the direction of Dublin and my mind couldn’t for the life of me pinpoint where we would end up once we were there or what part of it we would turn up at. This was starting to get exciting! 🫣

I’ll skip to the bit where we drove into the city: we passed loads of cool looking places and cafes with crazy names like “Bad Egg” in Rathmines 🤣. Normally we’d go to a shopping centre but this time it was beginning to look like we’d be on the streets like cool folk 😂. We turned up at a parking lot and parked the car. Then we walked for a little bit before arriving at the first stop, an Asian supermarket! You guys know I love Korean food (I shared a post about some of the things I’ve cooked HERE) and I’ve been to stores before but this was a really well known place here in Ireland owned by the parents of a chef I watch on TV called Eva Pau. I was super excited to get in there and show them their new favourite customer 😁🤣.

Oh and luckily the day held a nice breeze as we’re in a bit of a heatwave here in Ireland at the moment. Thought I’d just throw that in there because I keep remembering odd little facts 😂. So in the store I was mesmerised by what was on offer. They had way more than I was used to at my local Asian supermarket (it was like stepping into a tardis!) and I recognised a lot of the stuff from YouTube and recipes. I grabbed a few bits including pork and mustard green bao buns (because they sound absolutely delicious and they were!!) and two drinks, Milkis and Calpis. I’d heard of them before but had not been able to find them anywhere so they were a must! (Update: they both tasted very yummy and the milkis reminded my mum who cheekily had a sip of cream soda!).

Before we left we bought some Dango 🍡

…but sadly we couldn’t really taste them. They just tasted like a tiny bit of sweetness but we had to get them to know I suppose and it was nice to try something different. My sister said that this day had her feeling very cultured as she hadn’t heard of these things before. I’ll let you know about something we both enjoyed trying later on in the post so read on! 👀

I should have mentioned this earlier but this was in the Dublin 2 area! 🌎 Next up we went to the Market Arcade which was full of loads of trinket stands which went down two aisles and had some shops branching out.

I went rummaging through some Sanrio stationery and jewellery and I picked out a Pompompurin notepad and a Cinnamoroll notebook. I then got lost looking at Studio Ghibli pins and picked out two which my sister treated me to! I’ve got a very special idea for them and hopefully later this year I can show you what that is 😊. A little while away from that stall was a kpop shop within the market and I got treated to BTS bookmarks and a cute photo card holder!

This shop had gachapon (is that what you call them?) machines but there were none that caught my eye! We filled up a bag with different flavoured coated nuts from Nutty Delights for the car journey home and headed out.

Moving on, we came out the other side of the market and saw the sign for the Powerscourt centre. Well here’s a little side story: I was planning on taking my sister there for her birthday as they have a matcha bar there (Irelands only one I think) and I wanted to surprise her but I hadn’t known we’d be in the area! It was such a shock to see the centre. So I said to her to come with me and that I had my own surprise for her as we couldn’t just wait until her birthday now, could we?

There was only one problem, once we were in the centre I managed to navigate us towards the balcony overlooking the seated meal area but I had absolutely no idea where the matcha bar was. I asked but even someone working there didn’t know but I think they just didn’t want to help (lil bit of sass for you there 🤣). We saw a store directory sign that said what floor it was on but we didn’t know the direction (at this point my sis knew what it was and was super intrigued!), we then asked the right person and they told us where to go!

My sister ordered what the person infront of us ordered and the first couple sips were nice (coconutty), she let me try and even I thought so and I don’t like matcha! But the bottom tasted very earthy which pulled me back down to earth quickfast 🤣, she enjoyed it tho which is all that matters! I think I’m just a chai latte lover tbh.

Stepping outside we came face to face with Søstrene Grene which just so happens to be the place I bought my first ever bullet journal! (in Cork). We had to have a look as my sister hadn’t been there before!

It’s a store with a very calming vibe as everything is so rustic. We came out of there with chai latte powder (need I say more? 🤤).

Next it was time to go get lunch and it was another surprise as I had no idea where we were going, it was a running theme! 🤣

Turning up at Super Asia was like a dream, it was very much like 7-Eleven (what I’ve seen of it anyway) and had a section where you grab ice cups and make your own drink, cook up some noodles, buy snacks or order food. We both ordered corn dogs (which were HEAVENLY I tell you 😍 we both enjoyed them so much and know we’ll be going back for them 🙌 hell to the yes!) and I got a sushi burrito which tasted very healthy so I evened it out there 🤣. It had black rice in it: I order that whenever I see it as an option as I like the slightly nutty taste to it! I also got a bubble tea without the boba and my sis got me an ice cup which I opted to fill with a strawberry drink which was the perfect amount of sweetness. I also saw these BTS coffees but there wasn’t gonna be a decaff one was there? 😂

After eating we made our way back to the car and it was a half hour drive to our next destination which I was told was another shop but how big it was took me by surprise!

The first thing I grabbed in here was a big box of honey pomelos (which I’ve never had) to surprise my mum as we see other people buy them on YouTube but I didn’t know until I researched on the way home that people with kidney problems should avoid them but don’t worry, I won’t let them go to waste 😋 and I’ll share with my dad and sis of course 🙄🤣. It is always fun trying new things!

I bought a few things in here but I can’t remember what they were. What I do recall is that I never mentioned I got kimchi bao buns (spicy 🤒) and a salted butter flavoured bun (which was odd) earlier on and that I grabbed some gummies for my parents as I like surprising them whenever we go out too! (It lengthens out a trip 🤣). Oh I remember what I got! A lotus root here and a radish at the other Asian shop, I’m going to make side dishes!! 😄 (Update: I have since made a radish salad and it went down a treat with the family and braised lotus root that was super bland 😅). We then went to Carrickmines which is an area we are used to and had a lookaround tkmaxx of course! It wouldn’t be a trip out for us without tkmaxx 😂.

All in all this was a magical day and it goes without saying that what made it even more special was the time spent with my sister. Just singing in the car together and feeling my mood shift to a lighter place. We had the best time and made a pretty good memory in the process ✨️. We like to spoil eachother and I’m not saying that that has to be done in a monetary way, time together is what’s important and I was in my element this day looking around in awe at what I’d normally seen on a screen. Much love to my sister for making this happen, she is a star but burns brighter than one 🌟.

When was the last time you were surprised? Let me know in the comments below as I’d love to know (especially if you fell for it like I did! 🤣).

I hope you enjoyed seeing what my sister and I got up to! It was super fun to create this post and now the memory will forever be imprinted in my mind thanks to the power of blogging! 🤯 I’ve gotta go now but if you made it this far into the post, comment: 🍡!

I’ll see you again next Saturday with another exciting post that will have you laughing and drooling at the same time if you’re into that sort of thing 🤣 so don’t miss it! Stay safe, take care and buh-bye! ✨️💗