Chan Weng Kit's Blogspot: DAY 43

Oct 14

1) Today was a jam-packed kind of day. Woke up in the morning, had some bran flakes for breakfast, before reaching RCSI before nine. As usual, we had lectures, and then anatomy practical sessions (since today is Friday). After that, a brief respite before our dreaded card-signing at two sharp.

2) Decided that I would indulge a bit for lunch, before coming back to study. So I went alone to Dicey's Garden, where I sampled their traditional Irish stew. I must admit, it was one of the best stews I ever had, maybe even surpassing the oxtail soup I had back in Ipoh! After that, travelled back to Coffee Doc in RCSI, before trying my best to study for the card-signing.

3) At 1.45 p.m., all of us entered the Anatomy Room. Our surgeon prosector today was Clive Lee, Head of the Department of Anatomy. In no time, he started off the session, occasionally handing out tidbits of additional info or providing a hint or two. The first group did really well, while it was tough luck for us in the second group. Most of us got a B, myself included. It really boils down to luck, and the kind of questions we got.

4) When it came to me, he handed me a scapula (shoulder bone), asked me its attachments, continued with a thoracic vertebra and asked me all the annotations before handing me a rib and finishing by asking me to list its articulations with the thoracic vertebra. I think what I'm hinting at, is that I was bombarded with a lot of questions, and not given enough time to think. Anyway, I accept the result, and I'll try harder next time.

5) After that was yet another lecture, but by this time my brain was completely fried so half my concentration was gone. Barely scraped through that, and today's session was finally over! Returned home for a short rest, before coming out again at 6.30 p.m. to RCSI. This evening we had our first belaying session, which is essentially a technique climbers use to exert tension on a climbing rope so that a falling climber does not fall very far.

6) At 7.30 p.m., we moved over to Trinity College, where there was a large indoor climbing gym. I practised setting up my harness with the double figure 8 knot, before proceeding to climb to the very top, using only grips of the same colour (mine was green, for beginners). I successfully did it twice, and managed to get some rope burn on my left arm, and bruises on my right knuckle. A great souvenir then I guess XD. Lastly, I was the belayer myself while someone else climbed up the rocks, all under the supervision of a trainer. After satisfying the requirements, I was awarded my first rock climbing certificate/ license! This more than made up for my card-signing results.

7) Came back at around ten, before reheating my frozen dinner tonight. Had a nice meal, got myself cleaned up, and headed back to my room where I'm typing this out. A well spent day, if I may say so myself. Thanks for reading, and goodnight!