Angrod
Marcus Tan Joined: September 29th 2007
Logged in: January 9th 2008
Logged in: January 9th 2008
That wasn't written by me by the way.
Travel Blog Posts
The calm before the storm
Yes, there's actually a Marathon here too and Dubliners are as equally health conscious and competitive when it comes to sports. Though known largely for Irish Football / Rugby, distance running seems to be gaining the popularity as well. So here're photos of the most recent Dublin City Marathon. Don't ask me why I'm not in there. I just discovered there was even going to be one only when I got here - a little too late to train for it. I'll certainly be in it next year. The Marathon was organised on 29 October - the National Bank Holiday - a national holiday declaring the 'succes' of the Banking sector? I don't know. I've little idea what a 'Bank Holiday' is. It's quite an exhilirating event. Just watching the crowds watch the runners is an ... read more
Marina at Malahide
Malahide is yet another seaside town that is fairly close to Dublin - just a half hour train ride away from the City Centre. North of the City and just north of Howth, Malahide was once a small village with a harbour. It's now a town that is quaintly sleepy and calm. The marina though has undergone significant development is certainly no longer the dull ancient harbour it once was. The town centre exudes a unique characteristic of modernity and antiquation. There are modern brand-names housed in houses that date back to the 1800s. The town centre is a pleasant promenade with shopes that are deceivingly inviting (till one sees the price of items being sold). The Marina is beautiful, as all Irish harbours are. And Malahide's main attraction is clearly Malahide castle of which it ... read more
Seminar: Strategies of Analysis (same one as before) Topic: Globalisation and Empire (My) Summary of the Topic: Globalisation is an inescapable phenomena that is pervasive and prevalent; it is all aroud us from the social to the political, from the micro to the macro, the personal to the communal. It is an all-encompassing term that gestures at a kind of homogenisation of the world (some critics view it as an 'Americanisation' of the world), a levelling of differences, of communal individuality and uniqueness. Globalisation breeds what some other critics have called a new Empire - an Empire that challenges and possibly dissolves the autonomy of the State and re-defines concepts of Nationhood and Nationality. It is Empire of everyone and no one, an Empire led not of a particular nation-state and certainly not of old-imperialism. Discussion ... read more
Howth Castle
This entry is somewhat overdue but anyway, here's more of the rolling hills and blue oceans. Howth's a really beautiful town and it's just about 20 mins north of Dublin city by train. It's really a residential suburb with nothing spectacular in terms of historical monuments or edifices but the scenery is indeed breathtaking. And of course, needless to say, it's really popular with tourists (I'm still trying to decide if I am one considering. This sense of dislocation is pervasive). Howth used to be an important shipping port for Dublin but that's past and it's now a major fishing centre and yacthing harbour, as can be seen in the pictures I managed to take. Yacthing seems to be a favourite pastime there and when you look at the pictures, you'll understand why. There are supposedly ... read more
There will be no photos for this entry (although I certainly wish I had) but a humorously terrifying recount. Alright, terrifying is exaggeration but appalling would be the mildest adjective I would select. This happened last Tuesday for a Postgrad Seminar called "Strategies of Analysis", i.e. Critical and Cultural Theory, something I'm familiar with. First year PhD students are required to attend this class alongside MPhil students. So I was asked to lead the seminar considering my familiarity with some of these topics. The topic for that seminar was "Postcolonialism and Orientalism in Performance". Well and good, given that MPhil students, from various parts of Ireland and the international community now enrolled in Trinity's School of Drama, Film and Music, have little or no exposure to Critical Theory, the class went pretty slow (yes, I was ... read more
Town Centre
Everybody's been asking for a more scenic Ireland but you do need to hold your horses because I haven't had much time or opportunity to wander out of the city. The irony is I haven't yet explored the city completely either, i.e. it's historical and cultural sites and landmarks. There's been Lonely Planet's Literary walking tour that I've been intending to make, which has pit stops at the homes and birthplaces (etc) of Ireland's infamous writers and poets (such as Yeats, Shaw, Joyce) but I've yet to do that. The procrastination comes from living in the city itself and always thinking it'll be there. But here's an entry of a scenic 'town' with their rolling hills, evergreen valleys and deep blue seas. It's a town called Dalkey and 20mins south of the city by train. It's ... read more
Residence from Outside
Yes. Everyone's been asking about how a lowly paid student-coolie lives and what his living space resembles? Well, according to my supervisor, the quarters that I'm in - Goldsmith Hall - is a dog house. A little larger than a doghouse that is. As you can see, it's meant to be an apartment but it really is resembles those testosterone and estrogen infested Halls of NUS. You enter the 'apartment' to see a corridor and alongside are the 4 rooms, two toilets, and a Kitchen / Living Area. So yes, that's how the 'apartment' looks. The room is a shoe-box of shelves and cabinets dully placed and unimaginatively designed (in fact, many modern Dublin buildings look really really ugly). So there ... that's my living space; a place I'll call 'home' for at least a year ... read more
Front Square
I'm not one that likes dictating the events of the day or describing the possibly mundane things one would do in a day - that's essentially what teenage blogs are all about. Sometimes I wonder if they ever realise their lives are terribly dull, myopic, and contained! Who actually cares what you had for lunch and in reading back many years down, does it matter if it were Sushi or Cabonara?! But at the request of many friends who seemed sincere about knowing honestly how things are here and how I'm getting along, here's a mundane blog of the things I see, have done and might do. The one for personal reflection still remains but this is in supplement of the more mundane. Hopefully, it'll not be as mundane as some of those I read. I ... read more
