DAY 241

Apr 30

1) Today has been another full day in the library. At this point, I'm seeing all my friends at the library at one point or the other; most of them are there with me throughout the day. Even the Mercer Cafe has become a place for discussion of exam questions... As for me, lunch and dinner is when I completely disengage from my studies, and I'm not about to change that.

2) Today's focus was primarily on FUN2, as we only have till tomorrow to finish study. Granted, the earlier lectures were easier to revise because we used many of them in our Principal Seminars presentations. But still, that doesn't make it any easier to memorise the litany of drug names, mechanism of action, and side effects.

3) Anyway, I continued pushing- stopping for short breaks and naps. At least I managed to finish cooking yesterday night, so I have food for the week. It would be too much of a hassle to cook smack in the middle of the exam period, so it's better I get it over with. After our paper on Tuesday, followed by REGUB on Thursday, we'll be left with only GIHEP and HBPS. All of this can't come soon enough, as I have other things planned during the holidays... But for now, it's back to studying. I'll end on this note, and thanks for reading as always. Have a nice day, cheers!

RCSI

My lunch today ^^

DAY 240

Apr 29

1) Today has been another long day for me in the library. After having my breakfast, I came to the library. Gradually, the weather is getting warmer. Let's hope it stays that way haha. Anyway, I've been focusing on two modules - REGUB and FUN2.

2) The difficulty lies in preparing for both; I have only five days to finish both REGUB and FUN2 modules. That doesn't seem too difficult until you realise that there are 23 FUN2 lectures and 40 REGUB lectures. Not an easy task, but I hope to cover at least most of them before the exams...

3) In the evening, I went over to Dunnes for some grocery shopping. I am planning to cook again tonight, so I will probably come home a little earlier. I can't wait for summer to come along, and at least I won't have to wait too long. That's all for my blog today, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

Nearing the end of the tunnel, both literally and figuratively

My last pasta meal

DAY 238 & 239

Apr 27/28

1) I have been a bit busy preparing for my Anatomy Practical today, which explains why I didn't update my blog yesterday. Nothing much happened yesterday that was of interest, other than that I was studying for pretty much the entire day. Today's practical exam would be of paramount importance, since it contributed a significant amount to the FUN2, GIHEP and REGUB modules.

2) In addition to that, the anatomy stuff we covered here would also be asked in the MCQ paper for all three modules. So it was really important to make sure I went through all the lectures. For this, I came to RCSI earlier than usual and continued revising, just before the exam. At 9.00am, our group was called in, and I was sent to one of the tables.

3) There were two prosectors, and they had been allocated 4 minutes each to cover all three modules (FUN2, GIHEP, and REGUB). It all passed by so fast, and before I knew it, I was out the door and making my way to the Coffee Doc to grab my bags. Part of me is a little upset, as I knew I could have done better, but at that point in time that was the best I could do. Nothing else but to focus on the next exam - which is our FUN2 exam, on May 2nd.

4) I returned to the library and had a short nap. I woke up feeling much better, and started going through the lectures for REGUB and FUN2. These are the next two exams, and only two days apart of each other. There isn't much time left to revise, so I have to allocate my time wisely. After these two exams, there would only be two left - GIHEP and HBPS. And then - bliss! But of course, I shall take things one step at a time. I'll end on that note, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

No caption needed

My dinner today :D

DAY 237

Apr 26

1) Today has been yet another long day for me in the library. I came extra early to study, but I quickly discovered that having more time isn't of much use if you cannot concentrate. So I took some time off in between periods of study, and that seemed to help me learn better.

2) I've reverted to studying Anatomy rather than the REGUB lectures, since we will have our Anatomy Practicals (the equivalent of the final exam for Card Signing haha) in two days. I took the opportunity to look through my own notes too, to speed up my learning.

3) In the evening, I dropped by Dunnes Stores to pick up some groceries. Many exams are looming ahead, so I think it's good to stock up so I'm not distracted during the exam period. I want to write more, but sadly I have neither the content (nor the time) to do so haha. But after exams, they'll definitely be some really interesting things coming up. Stay tuned... and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

Dunnes Stores :D

Pasta for lunch

DAY 236

Apr 25

1) Today has been another full day at the library. Made my way to the library right after breakfast, and here I am studying. It's been a long day going through the REGUB lectures, and still tons more to go through.

2) My afternoon was spent napping and just taking some short breaks in between the studying. For a brief moment, hail began to fall. And just as quickly as it had come, it just disappeared- replaced by a sheet of rain which barely lasted five minutes. This was followed by clear, sunny weather. And we complain about the weather in Malaysia...

3) Evening came and went. After a while, I realise that if you pen yourself up for too long in a particular area, you lose all sense of time. And since the sky turns dark only at about eight or nine, very often I completely lose track of what time it is. I suppose it's no surprise that I constantly have to check not just the time, but the date as well. Anyway, that was my day today, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

Hail - disappeared almost as suddenly as it appeared ^^

DAY 235

Apr 24

1) Today marks the first of a long list of exams, which stretch on until the 13th of next month. So registration for our OSCE exams was from 8.15am onwards, and I came early to register. There were a total of 13 groups, and each group had around 16 students. Each group took around 15 minutes to rotate between the two tasks. One station was an examination station, with 6 tasks supposed to be completed in 6 minutes. The other station was a history taking station, which had a "patient" explaining their problems as we asked them questions.

2) I can't really judge my own performance, other than to say that I gave it my best and have no regrets. Only time will tell if it was good enough. Anyway, a huge burden lifted off me, I returned to the library. Tried to do a bit of Anatomy (which is in three days' time) but I was just so drained that I dozed off. Woke up feeling better, and then it was time to meet up with Ms Cheah, our Marketing Executive from PMC, along with Ms Devaki, the Assistant Registrar. After taking some nice pics of us in front of the college, we headed to South Street Restaurant (yes, the one we went to a couple of days earlier for the PMC Appreciation Lunch haha).

3) Among us, we ordered a couple of appetizers and main courses to share. The dishes came out meticulously plated, and they tasted as good as they looked. Really decent quality, especially considering the price. During the dinner, we had a long chat about issues regarding management and communication among the Malaysian and international students here in RCSI. We also talked about strategies to help international students assimilate into life in Malaysia when they come to Penang. The chief problem apparently was the language barrier, which seemed to indicate that patients in Malaysia could not speak an iota of English.

4) To me, that seems a little insulting really. I can definitely understand if the international students find it difficult to understand our accent, but to say that our patients cannot even converse in simple English is stretching it a bit. If anything, most Malaysians from the Colonial era speak perfect English. Either way, I suppose I'll find out for myself when I return haha. So after a lovely meal, Ms Devaki had to return home, while Ms Cheah invited us to go "jalan-jalan" (go along for a stroll) with her.

5) We wanted to go to Butler's Chocolate, but unfortunately it was closed. So instead we went to The Rolling Donut where they had a €5 deal - one doughnut and large cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate. We continued our nice chat, this time about our prospects of returning to Ireland after completing our housemanship. We learnt a lot from Ms Cheah, who told us about our seniors' experiences. By the time we left, it was approaching nine. I returned to the library to type this out, and to collect my things. I shall return home soon, so I can get a good night's rest. It has been a really long day, but definitely one to cherish as we got to meet up and chat with Ms Devaki and Ms Cheah.

6) Before I end my rather lengthy post, I would just like to personally thank Ms Cheah for spending us for the meal, and also the doughnuts afterwards. It was very nice meeting up with you, and it provided a nice reprieve after our first exam. Many days of studying ahead of me, so I'd best get cracking then. That's all for today, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

From left: Me, Aisha, Melvin, Lyana, Melissa, Frank

(posing in front of the main entrance to RCSI)

I don't think we're really good at doing "candid" shots

Garlic mushrooms (with Lyana's stamp of approval) ^^

Tiger prawns salad

Hmmmm.... now where would I have seen this before? XD

This looks a bit familiar too hahaha 

(Don't mind me please my mind isn't quite it's usual self)

The Rolling Donut

4 doughnuts for the four of us :)

The Nutella doughnut (Sinfully delicious)

Got the inspiration for this shot from Ms Cheah

A large hot chocolate to wash it all down

DAY 234

Apr 23

1) Today has been a long day for me. I came to the library right after breakfast. At half past ten, I went over to RCSI to have a mock OSCE practice with my friends. We wanted to use the Physiotherapy room but unfortunately it was locked, so we found Tutorial Room 5 and used it. Unfortunately, there was only one physio bed for us to use, so we took turns.

2) In about three hours, we covered all the possible questions for each of the three systems (GI, Cardio, and Resp). There's just so much to remember for each individual task, and even in those three hours, we had completely ignored the second part of our OSCE - the History Taking part. Since college closes at three, we decided against coming back after lunch, and instead practise on our own.

3) I came back to the library, where I had a short nap as I was exhausted. Woke up refreshed, and began browsing through my notes again. At this point, I think it's safe to say everyone knows their notes inside out; it's just a matter of not freezing up and blurting out something absolutely ridiculous haha. I shall go back earlier tonight so that I will be fresh for tomorrow's exam. So on that note, I'll end my blog for today. Thanks for reading, and have a great day ahead. Cheers!

I see this gate more often than I see my apartment XD

DAY 233

Apr 22

1) Today was a rather unexciting day. I've come to the library after breakfast -as I usually do, and I've been here for the entire day. As our OSCE exams are in two days' time, that's been what I've been doing for the most part. Plus a bit of procrastinating here and there of course...

2) In the afternoon, I had a short chat with my parents. They encouraged me to cheer up, as exams were about to start (and therefore end soon haha) and soon summer would come. Then, my friends and I would be free to take a long deserved trip. But I had to finish my exams first of course.

3) The rest of the night was just me and my notes. I've to start leaving the library earlier, so that I can get enough sleep to function the next day. Time's ticking - perhaps it's best I continue with my business. That's all for today, and thanks for reading. Have a great day, cheers!

Ducks in St. Stephen's Green

My batch-cooked lunch

DAY 232

Apr 21

1) Today has been a fruitful day for me. As usual, I went to the library after breakfast, to revise for my OSCE and history taking exams. At around a quarter past eleven, I made my way to RCSI for an anatomy revision. There were only four surgeon prosectors, so lots of students were crowded over each prosector. Still, it was a very informative session, just ahead of our anatomy practicals exactly one week from now.

2) In the afternoon, Hong and I walked over to South Street Restaurant on George St, where there was an appreciation lunch organised by PMCSA for all the volunteers and participants who helped out with their various activities. We were all treated to a 2-course meal, which was really generous of them indeed. After our fabulous meal, I returned to the library with Melvin and Melissa.

3) Spent the afternoon sleeping, before going to Dunnes to buy a loaf of bread and some biscuits. The rest of the evening was just more studying and revising. After supper, I decided to call it a day and packed my stuff to go home. That has been my day, and thanks for reading. Have a good day, cheers!

Thanks PMCSA for the wonderful treat :)

South Street Restaurant

Minestrone soup for starters...

Lasagna as the main course

It was a full house of us RCSI students today :D

DAY 231

Apr 20

1) Today has seen the resolution to many issues that have plaguing my mind. Firstly, the issue regarding my accommodation. The first host family had sadly rejected my booking application, explaining that they did not have the room vacant for the duration of my stay. So I was forced to find another one on the hostingpower website. I found another one that was a bit further, but still rather convenient for me.

2) I was searching for alternative solutions in case I got a negative response. Fortunately, this afternoon I received confirmation that they would be delighted to have me staying with them. What a sigh of relief, and a valuable lesson for me not to delay looking for accommodation ever again.

3) Another stroke of luck for me was not having to book transportation from Munich to Nuremberg for a second time, and risk losing a hard earned €50.00. My friends and I are going for a trip during the summer, and I was booking the Flixbus to Nuremberg and back. After booking, they said a confirmation email had been sent to me, and I was required to access it to confirm my booking. But when I checked my email, it was nowhere to be found!

4) So I wrote an email to them a couple of days ago, explaining the situation. And the automated reply asked me to be patient as they had received many emails of this kind, and they needed time to reply to all of them. I was seriously agitated over this, because I thought I had just squandered away my parent's hard earned cash. Although my dad told me not to worry and that it wasn't a large amount, I still felt really bad. And today, I received the confirmation of my booking, plus the voucher to print out as proof that I had already booked the tickets!

5) Besides all this, it has been a productive day for me. At around 10.00am, my friends and I went to Millin basement, where our senior Addy was kind enough to take time off to help us out with our history taking. We went through history taking for all three systems, and while I can't speak for the others, I definitely learnt a lot! It's indeed a privilege to have such good support and rapport with our seniors. Coming back, I managed to go through the Gastrointestinal and Cardiorespiratory Examinations, which form our OSCE examinable material. All in all, a day well spent indeed. That's all for today, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

Throwback to when Jason decided to cartoonise us all

(ahead of the MMII Time Bomb Event ^^)

My lunch dad

DAY 230

Apr 19

1) Today has been a long day in the library. As exams approach ever so closer, I'm afraid there is not much activity going on for me, other than me trying to study whatever I can. Thus, I envision my blogs getting shorter for the exam period.

2) As for my day today, it was well spent in the library. I came over to the library before 9.00am, and I've stayed there since. Of course, I'm not studying all the time, rather, doing all that needs to be done there. Things I've noticed so far - the library's getting more crowded. There are now more waste disposal bins lying around. I think they learned their lesson from the Easter Day clean up haha.

3) In the evening, I went over to Dunnes to get more groceries for the week. I was up all night cooking yesterday, which is why I was feeling quite sleepy in the afternoon. At least I have meals for the rest of the week. The last thing I want to do is worry about what to have during exam periods. In just four days, our first exams will commence, which will mark the beginning of a long, long race to the finish (our exams end May 13th). At the very least, we end our semester earlier compared to our friends at UCD.

4) But they start their exams a lot later than us too. So I guess it evens out a little bit. I frequently wonder how I'd find life in UCD? Especially the syllabus and the projects involved. Anyway, that's all for my blog today. I've to get cracking with my studies haha. Thanks very much for reading, and have a great day. Cheers!

Mercer Library - my first home in Dublin

The product of my late night cooking yesterday

My dinner - chicken fillet roll  ^^

DAY 229

Apr 18

1) Today has been a typical day for me in the library. I went over to the Dublin School of Barbering, for a free haircut. My hair is so short now, but I'm happy with it. At least I don't have to visit the barber anytime soon. On my way back, I stopped by at Tesco to do my grocery shopping, as I'm planning to cook tonight.

2) After a long hiatus, the cleaners have come back to take care of all the emptying of the rubbish, as well as to fit in new paper towels in the dispenser. How clean the cafe looks like now! A far cry from its filth ridden, garbage piled high self from a couple of days back. This is what we students want - a conducive environment to study and prepare for our coming exams...

3) As I had not pre-made dinner, I decided to hop over to the Bla Blas Cafe to grab a chicken fillet roll. Cheap and filling - what's not to like? XD Came back and it was down to business. Studied for the rest of the night, mostly on OSCE. After a light supper, I made my way back home. That's the end of my day, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

Squirrel spotted in St. Stephen's Green

Chicken fillet roll for dinner

DAY 228

Apr 17

1) Today has been a long day for me in the library. I have run out of stories to tell, of experiences to talk about, so I'll just narrate the day's events. I was supposed to go for a haircut this morning, but little did I know almost all the major stores and shopping complexes were closed today! Even Dunnes Stores - where I wanted to do my groceries, was closed. I presume it's due to yesterday's Easter celebrations. So no haircut today then. I think I learnt how to write "shop closed" in Irish though. It's siopa druidte. At least that's what the sign said, if I remember correctly XD

2) I came back to the library, where I proceeded to finally book a room to staying with a host family. None of this is definite yet, and I'm praying this is not a scam either. But still it had to be done quickly since summer is coming, and I don't have much time left until my exams. Had lunch at the Mercer Cafe (it still hasn't been cleaned yet!), before taking a short nap in the afternoon.

3) The rest of the day was, as you can imagine, me trying to study. Today's focus was more on the OSCEs, which includes History Taking, Cardiovascular and Respiratory, and Gastrointestinal Examination. A lot to remember, not to mention a lot to recall, as we had studied Cardio and Resp. in the previous semester. Hopefully, we'll find some time to do a couple of mocks before the actual exam, to get a feel of what it's like. That's the end of my not-so-exciting day, but as the saying goes, "like a rainbow after the rain, there's always a good thing after the pain". I'll be counting on that haha. Thanks for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Spotted outside Mercer Medical Centre

Finally opened up a new tin of raspberry jam

My first Boojum in ages :D

DAY 227

Apr 16

1) Happy Easter everybody! Most of the shops and shopping complexes in Dublin were closed today, and I forgot about that when I went to do my grocery shopping. And what better way to spend a holiday than by studying, right? Thankfully, the library was still operating, with usual opening and closing hours.

2) Today I'll share with you my experience with scammers. So I am in the process of booking an apartment for when my lease ends this summer. Most students use daft.ie for this purpose, and I used it too. One particular ad caught my attention, a €520/mth apartment for rent, in Dublin 2! Now the saying goes, if it's too good to be true, it probably is. But in this case, it wasn't absurdly cheap; just really cheap and good location.

3) So I messaged the owner, and I didn't get a reply for two days. Contrary to what you may think, I actually thought it was NOT a scam because they didn't reply instantly - usually scammers would reply you straight away since they want the money ASAP. But this was different, or so I thought. Fast forward till today, and I received an email apologising for the late reply, plus they shared some of their personal details with me.

4) At this point, I already had my reservations. Firstly, the original ad had been removed from daft.ie. Secondly, some sections of the email had perfect English while others were mediocre, with the ending asking me "not to let them down". Thirdly, they were asking me for my particulars, including a photo if I had one! All in the name of issuing a receipt and drafting out a lease, apparently. More like trying to identify me so you can target my friends too, I say.

5) Now all the warning bells were ringing. I continued digging deeper. I searched the name of the fool who claimed to be working as a doctor at a hospital. At first, I was a bit stumbled when the name and hospital matched, but it didn't take long to figure out they could just use the identity of someone else. Then I took paragraphs of the contents of the email and searched on the web. Turns out the content was from an Airbnb website, which explains where the perfect English came from.

6) So that was that. I never replied to the email, and that's the end of the matter. The moral of the story: if it's too good to be true, it usually is. And always double and triple check. Never give your personal details to anyone. EVER.

7) And to the scammer if you somehow managed to track my blog: People like you are the reason parents who send their children overseas to study have nightmares. You prey on gullible students, who have little to no experience dealing with situations like this; you are a cancer to society, and you take away whatever little hope we have left for humanity. All I know is retribution awaits, and it will come, especially when you least expect it. I won't wish it upon you, for that is sinful, but if and when it comes, you shan't have my sympathy.

8) That's the end of my little experience. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time it has happened. A couple of weeks earlier, my friend had a similar experience, and he was fortunate to identify the scammer before any sort of deal could be made. So to all future students coming to Dublin to study, I implore you to be careful, and be weary of such advertisements online. Take care, and have a great holiday, cheers! (EXCEPT MR./MRS./MS. SCAMMER ^^)

Flowers calm me down when I'm upset ^^

*Someone* decided they'd just make off with my leg XD

(10/10 for effort, RIP grammar)

DAY 226

Apr 15

1) Today was another long day for me in the library. As usual, I went to the library right after my breakfast, It was time for study, and so I focused on anatomy. At this point, I would rather the exams just come a little quicker, so that I can focus on one particular module. As it is, I'm not sure where to begin, and what to study haha. So I'm just going with whatever catches my fancy, which happens to be anatomy.

2) The cafeteria and toilets have run out of tissue paper, which is a shame. On top of that, the waste disposal bins have not been properly emptied for the past couple of days, which means they are now overflowing with garbage. Hopefully, this problem will be rectified soon, and we can all go back to our daily routines.

3) I have not enough content for my blog today, so I'm going to tell you something really funny that happened during our last Card Signing. So the examiner asks Student A, "What is the embryological remnant of the falciform ligament (of the liver)?" to which she replies, "The umbilical vein." The examiner continues, "So which one?"At this, the student hesitates. "Right. Ugh... left."

4) So now the examiner turns to Student B and asks, "Was she (Student A) wise in changing her decision?" Student B replies, "Yes." The examiner then asks, "Why do you think so?" "Because when are you are wrong, you should change your decision," comes the answer. At this point, even the examiner, who is usually a really strict guy(he works in the A & E department), can't help but stifle a laugh. The rest of us burst into laughter, and the mood is lightened for the rest of the test.

5) If you didn't get the joke, or didn't find it funny, that's fine. I'll put it down as my current mental state, that I'd find something like that worth laughing at. And to explain the joke a bit, the falciform ligament is attached to the liver, which is on the right side of the body. So he thought the student would answer right umbilical vein instead of left. But in this case, the student was right. Right about it being left. Okay, I have to stop before I further confuse everyone. Bottom line - the answer is left umbilical vein as the right regresses.

6) That's all for my painfully uneventful day today, but at least I reinforced one part of my anatomy, while hopefully entertaining you with a story. Thanks very much for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Flowers blooming in spring - a sight for sore eyes ^^

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Random pic of lunch