DAY 60

Oct 31

1) Today is the last day of our so-called Reading Week. After this, it would be back to school, so to speak. As usual, woke up and had my breakfast, before chatting with my dad until nine. Then me, Kuhan and Joseph Skyped on the strategy for the upcoming John Smith Memorial Mace Debates. After an hour plus of chatting, we called it a day, and I went back to study a little.

2) Time for lunch! Headed out to Dicey's, only to find out it was closed due to National Bank Holiday. So I went to a new spot called Eddie Rocket's, a retro-themed diner, serving mostly American food. I ordered the Bacon Big Boy, which was essentially a hot dog topped with bacon bits and melted cheese. For sides I had chilli fries. They were both phenomenal!

3) I would have stayed on longer for the 50's style atmosphere, but I had work to do so I left soon after finishing my meal. Came back to laze around a bit, and before I knew it, I was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Had some soup to accompany the rice and veggies. Then it was back up here to type this out, and I am pretty much done for the day! Thanks for reading, and goodnight!

Random selfie XD

 Bacon Big Boy and Chilli Fries

Artistic graffiti, if there was such a thing

 Soup today, not sauce :D

Scotch Egg

DAY 59

Oct 30

1) Today was officially the most boring day of my time here, but also absolutely necessary for me. Woke up, had breakfast (tried out the new cornflakes I bought at Tesco), before going upstairs to study for a while.

2) Lunch time, and I decided to heat up the leftover samosas, onion and vegetable bhajis (fritters). Tasted really good, but wasn't very filling, so I had some cookies soon after. Then it was back to my room to prepare for the debate at UCC soon.

3) For dinner, I tried to make a tomato sauce to accompany the Scotch egg I had, and it turned out just fine! Accompanied by some veggies and it was a very hearty meal indeed. With dinner taken care of, it was back (for the THIRD time) to study and prepare for my Principal Seminars. Finally managed to cover most of it.

4) That is essentially all I did today. It wasn't fun I admit, but it was important that I finished off the outlying work I had, so that I was prepared for the upcoming lectures. I'll end on this note, and am looking forward to taking the rest of the night easy. Thank you for reading, and have a great night!

Runners taking part in the SSE Airtricity Marathon,

 which flagged off today at 9.00 a.m.

Lunch was simple and delicious!

Dinner :)

Scotch egg

DAY 58

Oct 29

1) Today was an exciting day. Woke up to finish the last of my cereal, while video calling my parents. Then I went up to study a little, before meeting up with my friend Kuhan at RCSI to discuss about the upcoming debate at University College Cork.

2) Afterward, I went to get lunch. Tried out a new outlet called Pablo Picante, which is just opposite Tesco Baggot, where I do my weekly groceries. Had the beef barbacoa burrito for €6.50, before topping it off with nachos with guacamole for another €3.00 I chose the spiciest sauce available (Super Picante) and it was reasonably spicy, but not overly so.

3) Came back to book my train tickets to Kent Station, Cork. Then my friends informed me of some REALLY cheap flight tickets to Edinburgh, UK. So I booked those too. Will be making a trip to UK right after our finals at the end of the year. Really excited for this haha.

4) In the evening, I went out for the Halloween Night Market at the Bernard Shaw, a pub near my house. I didn't expect it to be actually INSIDE the pub, so I had a nice time looking for it XD. Finally found it and spent some time there, looking at the insanely cheap stuff for sale. I didn't buy anything though.

5) After a while, I decided to head home because the night market was basically just a flea market, with very little items on sale. Had a nice hot bath, before updating my blog as usual. That's all for tonight, and thank you for reading. Goodnight!

Pablo Picante

Beef Barbacoa at Pablo Picante (€6.50)

I chose Super Picante 

(glad to know my Malaysian self can tolerate this level of spiciness really well)

Light dinner today haha

 Stumbled upon a gaggle of geese on my way to the Bernard Shaw

The Bernard Shaw

Some random graffiti

 Inside the Halloween Flea Market, within the Bernard Shaw bar XD

Autumn fall

National Concert Hall, Dublin

DAY 57

Oct 28

1) Today was yet another routine day. But I got a lot of things done, so I'm not complaining. Woke up to have breakfast, before studying for my Principal Seminars which are just around the corner.

2) Not long after, it was lunch time! I was contemplating whether to have it at Boojum or Dicey's, but in the end, Dicey's won. So I went there and tried their beef meatballs, humongous and marinated with a thick, savoury sauce. It was, in a word - divine! Absolute bang for your buck, if you ask me.

3) Went for a short walk to check out the vicinity for other food outlets, before walking back to my apartment. Another study session later, and I went to prepare dinner. Emptied out the last of my veggies, before cooking rice with some mince meat in tomato sauce.

4) Then it was back to the old grind, so to speak - until my friend reminded me I hadn't written my blog today yet! So hurriedly typed this out, and this is the result haha. Hope you enjoyed reading my blog update, and have a great day/night (depending on which part of the hemisphere you're in)!

Beef Meatballs 

Yum....

The meatballs were HUGE!

The Dicey Bar

Lovely artwork...

Dinner for today, served Kevin's way :)

DAY 56

Oct 27

1) Today was another routine day. Woke up to have bran flakes for breakfast, before trying to study for a while. My roommate had gone for a trip, leaving the room all to myself. So just continued reading the lecture notes, trying to cram as much information as I could into my brain before our next quiz...

2) Lunch time! Decided that Dicey's would be my stop for lunch today, so went there and had the beef lasagna. It tasted sooooo good! I think it's the quality of beef that they used, but it was really a pleasure to dig into. The thing I like about Dicey's is they change the menu everyday, with different combinations and options for sides etc. That makes it my go to place when I'm at a loss of what to eat.

3) Came back in the afternoon to message some of my friends back home. It's really nice to keep in touch with them and just chat for old time's sake. Before I knew it, it was evening and I went down to prepare dinner. Opened up the new pack of farfalle pasta, and it actually tasted quite good! Would be trying out different recipes with it in the future.

4) Anyways, finished dinner and came up to study, again... Then I remembered I haven't done my blog for today so here I am, typing this as I contemplate what to read up on next. That's all for tonight, and as usual, thanks very much for reading. Goodnight!

 Road leading to Dicey's Garden

The menu for today

If that doesn't get your appetite going,

nothing will XD

A testimonial I wrote for the scholarship board of RCSI,

which they promised to publish in their Student Journal of RCSI

 Farfalle/ bow tie pasta,

tasted great with my tomato sauce

DAY 55

Oct 26

1) Today was a routine day. Woke up to have my toast for breakfast, before studying a bit to keep up to date. Then, I travelled all the way to near River Liffey for a free haircut which I had booked earlier, but ended up being told that the student barbers were all on holiday and would be only back next week. I wasn't very happy about that, having just walked half an hour to get there, but that's what happens when we expect free things, right? There's always a catch haha

2) Decided to have lunch at Dicey's. Today the roast lamb with mint sauce caught my fancy, so I decided I'd have it, accompanied by all the fixings. The lamb was completely unlike that which I had in Malaysia - it was tender, juicy and sliced really thick, all the makings of a winner right there! After lunch, I dropped by RCSI to hand in my deposit refund form, to retrieve the deposit that my dad had paid earlier.

3) With that done, it was back home for me. Came back to have a chit-chat with my dad, before studying for a bit. Then I took a short nap, before waking up to prepare dinner. After dinner, headed back up here to complete this blog update. Will be cycling through the daily routine of study, YouTube vids and staring into empty space... Just kidding about the last one. Anyway, that's all for today, goodnight!

Breakfast time!

The Dublin School of Barbering,

which allows their students to give haircuts for free (not today tho D: )

This was supposed to be a before-after pic

St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre

RCSI Main Entrance

Hmmmm... what should I have today? 

Roast lamb with mint sauce-pure bliss!

All dolled up with nowhere to go ^^

 Scones (€0.60) are a lifesaver 

when the hunger pangs strike

These taste so good, and are really healthy too!

Rice with mince meat in tomato sauce, with salad greens 

for dinner