DAY 322/323

Jul 20 & 21

1) The past two days have been very exciting for me. I spent the better part of yesterday (and admittedly, today as well) preparing for the debate on the motion, "Are We On the Brink of an Antibiotic Apocalypse?" I was debating against the motion, so the angle I chose to attack was from the definition "apocalypse". Sure no one would deny that antibiotics resistance was always going to happen, regardless if mankind had a hand it in, but does the situation we are in right now justify the title "apocalypse"? There's no clear answer to that, as evidenced by the split decision we reached in the end.

2) Ranya, a third year pharmacy student, was proposing the motion, while I was against it. Melissa was the chair for the debate. Frankly, I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout for the debate. We had over 40 research students, along with Dr. Sarah O'Neill, Dr. Fidelma Fitzpatrick, and Ms. Jane Burns. Niall was the helpful attendant, who helped pass the microphone to the audience when it was Q and A session. It was a walking debate, which meant the audience would move to the side which they supported, whether it was "For", "Against", or "Don't Know". By the end of it, all but one of the audience had picked a stance to side with.

3) As for the rest of the week, I'm heading off to Co. Kerry with the RCSI Climbing and Mountaineering Club, where we'll be climbing up Mt. Brandon. Looking forward to spending a lovely weekend there, and taking loads of beautiful pics. Here's to a great weekend for everyone. Cheers!

Post debate photograph :)

"We are on the Brink of an Antibiotic Apocalypse"

Nothing like a nice cuppa after debate is over ^^

(l-r: Melvin, Melissa, Dr. Fidelma Fitzpatrick, Dr. Sarah O'Neill, Niall, Ms Jane Burns, yours truly)

Formal attire, with Dr. Fitzpatrick

DAY 321

Jul 19

1) I woke up late today. Somehow, I tend to sleep in during rainy days, and today was no exception. Hurriedly got ready, and took the LUAS (tram) to RCSI. Thankfully, I've all but finished with my experiments, so today's job was mainly to analyse and interpret data from my last experiment, as well as helping out Donal with some of his own experiments.

2) At around 4pm, I headed over to the library with Dr. Fidelma Fitzpatrick, Consultant Microbiologist at Beaumont Hospital. She has agreed to help us prepare for the upcoming debate on Antibiotics Resistance. We were discussing some strategies when Dr. Sarah O'Neill joined in. We discussed a bit about the flow of the event, before Dr. O'Neill left and we continued where we had left off.

3) Another lesson learnt today is on the LUAS (tram) timetable. For morning rush hour (around 8am), trams come every 3-4 minutes, so missing one isn't that big of an issue. But at night, after 10pm (on weekdays), missing one tram means having to wait for at least 15 minutes for another. In my case, I missed the 10pm tram today, and had to wait almost half an hour for the next one to arrive. Not the ideal thing to do, especially in the damp, chilly weather.

4) Tomorrow I'm having an "off-day" of sorts, so that gives me (hopefully) ample time to prepare for the debate, as well as my climbing trip. Keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds. Dublin and fine weather, if the twain could ever meet XD. Anyway, that's it for my blog update, and thanks for dropping by to visit. Have a lovely day, cheers!

With Dr. Fitzpatrick and Dr. O'Neill at the new academic building :)

Q: "Tell Us Why You Are In The Library This Week?"

A: Erm..., because I live here? ^^

Missing tram home = opportunity to improve night photography skills 

DAY 318/319/320

Jul 16, 17 & 18

1) The past three days have been quite exciting, if a little tiring for me. I've met up with my second Principal Investigator, Professor Kathleen Bennett, Associate Professor in Biostatistics in the Division of Population Health Sciences RCSI. Together, she and Dr. Caitriona Cahir explained in greater detail my project.

2) This second research project, which begins Aug 2, concerns quantitative research on Adverse Drug Reactions (ADR) in elderly patients. That should be more than enough to keep me occupied for the rest of the month, after which the next academic year/ term commences. Meanwhile, I've more or less finished my first research project, with a grand total of 15 experiments.

3) This Friday, I have two things on my agenda. The first is the debate on Antibiotics Resistance. For the longest time, I was under the impression that I'd be debating FOR the motion "Are We on the Brink of an Antibiotic Apocalypse?", but today I received an email from Dr. ONeill that I would be debating against it. There goes my weeks of preparation, I thought. Oh well...

4) The other event is the climbing trip to Mt. Brandon, in County Kerry. We're going to trek up the 952m mountain, before coming down to have a splash by the beach. That promises to be a fun weekend, and I can't wait for it. That's all for my three days' worth of activity, and I hope you enjoyed reading. Have a great day, cheers!

Not bad for barely six weeks I reckon ^^

That was a free meal from Burrito & Blues

(can't reveal how I got it for free now can I?)

Duck spring roll at AK Henry's for lunch today

DAY 289

Jun 17

1) Today has been a rather mundane day for me, so I'll keep it short. Got up late today, and then made a list of things to do for the rest of the day. I still have much packing to do, as I'll be shifting soon. Also, I have to finish preparing my points and memorising the "Antibiotics Resistance" debate speech. On the same day after the debate ends, I'll be packing up and heading to Co Kerry to climb Mt. Brandon, as part of the expedition organised by the RCSI Climbing and Mountaineering Society. I can't wait ^^

2) In the afternoon, I was chatting with my parents for a while, before taking a nap. Woke up refreshed, and decided to go for a jog. I haven't jogged these past few days (due to various circumstances) so I did not expect to complete 15km today. My legs were burning after exercise, but it was an awesome feeling to slowly return to my *cough* fitter *cough* past self. I used to run 21km (a half marathon) every Sunday together with my dad. Those were some great times, but sadly inactivity and other commitments have meant a steady decline in my stamina. Hopefully I'll be able to build it back in time for the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon.

3) In the evening, Zi Yan came over for a visit, and we watched a movie together. We initially wanted to watch "Logan" but after the connection failed a couple of times, we opted for "The Mummy" instead. The quality wasn't great, but at least it was an enjoyable movie. Zi Yan asked me if I'd be able to sleep after watching it (admittedly I'm not particularly fond of any horror-type movies), but I suppose my workout today will offset any difficulties in sleeping from watching the movie haha. That has been my day, and this blog update turned out to be longer than I thought.

4) I'd thought it'd be best to end on a high note. So here goes: Happy Father's Day! To all the fathers in this world, and especially to my own dad. Thanks for looking out for me, tolerating all my shenanigans, and assisting me in every way possible. And thanks everyone for reading this. Have a great weekend, cheers!

Happy Father's Day!!

Another street performance at Grafton St.

Tried Yum Thai Noodle Shop for a change :))

DAY 282

Jun 10

1) Today has been a relaxing day for me. For the most part, I was just sitting in front of the computer, looking for material to use for the next debate - Are We on the Brink of an Antibiotic Apocalypse? It is a friendly debate among the summer research students, and I'm presenting for the motion. I still am not completely sure of the rules, but that will be sorted out soon enough.

2) I received an email notifying me of the closure of Mercer Library this Sunday (June 11). It will be reopened somewhere in July, but at the new academic building and not at Mercer Court. I don't expect people to understand, but the library means a lot to me personally. I spent entire days at the library, studying, microwaving my meals, relaxing and doing my blogs here. I met all my friends who lived at Mercer here too, and we sometimes chatted in the lounge. Losing that is like losing my second home, and here's hoping the new library (three tier) would be even grander :)

3) In the afternoon, I had a short nap. Afterwards, I went for my evening run. Since I had exerted yesterday, I took it easy today and did a relaxing 5km. As I went to buy dinner, there was a street performance on Grafton Street. This guy lit a bar on fire before doing the limbo under it. This was met with great applause, and many people pulled out their cameras and so did I. He kept lowering the bar until it was barely a foot and a half high.

4) The show ended with him successfully shimmying under the bar on fire. I carried on with getting dinner, before coming back home to enjoy. That has been the gist of my day, and thanks for reading as always. Have a nice day, cheers!

Grafton St today ^^

Dinner

Nescafe