DAY 123

Jan 2

1) Today has been an interesting day for me. Woke up early, had my toast for breakfast, before going to three places - Euro Giant (to buy five containers), Asia Market (to buy oyster sauce and dark soy sauce), and Tesco Baggot (to buy veggies and sausages). I cooked frice rice for the whole week! Really proud of my achievement as it is my first time, using less than ideal utensils.

2) Went to library after that, before having fried rice for lunch as I Skyped with my parents. Took a short afternoon nap after that, and by then it was evening already. As the library closes at six (during the holidays), I went to Khee Heng's apartment where I spent the rest of the evening.

3) Tonight's animated movie was "Barefoot Gen", an anime film depicting World War II in Japan and the bombing of Hiroshima. Very powerful film, especially considering its age. Anyway, had my cookies and coffee (I bought a tin to last me a couple of months XD) for supper, and then made my way home. The weather in January is really cold, and even my landlord said that people in Ireland are not used to this degree of cold. So that's all for today, and thank you as always for following my blog. Have a great day. Cheers!

 

Toast for breakfast

 

My secret ingredients for fried rice ^^

Prep before cooking 

Fried rice!!

Enjoying my fried rice in Mercer Cafe

Pasta for dinner

DAY 26

Sept 27

1) Today can be summed in one word: exhausting! Woke up at 7 a.m. (still don't know how I do it), before having a light breakfast and hurriedly watching the dissection video for anatomy practical today. Attended lectures beginning at 9 a.m. Immediately after the first lecture was dissection time (our second anatomy practical so far). Our surgeon prosector was Mr. Daniel Kelly, MCh, FRCSI. He lectured us on the inner workings of the thoracic cavity and neurovascular bundle. It was a lot to take in, as the information was almost overwhelming. But I will find a way to remember all this (I hope...)

2) After anatomy class, my mind was in a whirl and I couldn't think anymore, so we went for lunch as  usual. Tried the jacket potato today. It was really filling since it consisted of a WHOLE potato! At least I felt completely full afterward. Next, three consecutive lectures were to occupy our remaining time slot for today. Suffice to say, I was happy when the last lecturer finished her lecture.

3) Walked back home to Leeson Street Lower, where I immediately cooked rice. Today is my first time trying out the basmati rice I bought at Asia Market. It is a long, slender-grained aromatic rice which, in my opinion, tastes better than the rice I have been consuming all this while. I also discovered I can prepare, cook, eat and wash up a meal in less than an hour, every single time. So I need not worry about cooking being too time consuming.

4) Finished dinner and wanted to have an orange, but the last remaining orange I had seems quite unusual. The skin is at least doubly thicker than any orange I've had, and there's hardly any juice left. I decided not to have it, for fear of an upset tummy. Instead, I had a small praline for dessert. Satisfied, I returned to my room, had an hour's nap, and here I am typing this out. It has been a long day, and I need to revise some things the lecturer told us today. Cheers!

The ice hockey match in Belfast this Saturday!

Baked potato with rice and sauce on the side, €3.95

The usual suspect (Basmati rice, minced meat bolognese 

and mixed vegetables)

DAY 22

Sept 23

1) Today has been a quiet day. Woke up early because me and my friends would finally be able to set up our bank transactions, including my standing orders. Met up at 10.00 a.m. and walked to the bank together. What rotten luck! After filling in ALL my particulars, the machine at the kiosk decided to go out of order. I had to wait again at the next kiosk to redo it all over again. Luckily, only one person was there so I didn't have to wait too long. With all the transactions done, there is only one last thing to do: get my GNIB Card, which is like a study permit card.

2) Next up, I had to buy my 10kg sack of rice. Went to Asia Market to purchase the basmati option for €16.50. Last item to purchase was my vegetable source. Lugged the heavy sack to Dunnes (since I had to pass by anyway) and bought freshly prepared mixed vegetables. Finally, I carried everything home, in preparation for lunch. This afternoon, I cooked rice, steamed my vegetables, fried some mince meat before adding the last of my carbonara sauce into it; and voila! Lunch is served :D

3) I spent the better part of the afternoon going through lecture notes, trying to make head or tail of what I was reading. Next week onwards would be brutal; no more free Thursdays and Fridays, plus the introduction of the Clinical Practice module. Just trying to stay abreast with the lecturer isn't easy. There's just too much to study. So I gave up after a while and listened to songs and had my forty winks. Woke up and felt hungry, so went downstairs to prepare dinner.

4) For dinner, I had a frozen meal (the second of my two frozen dinners that went *SPLAT*). It tasted really good AND was easy to clean: two descriptions to make any college student's day. After that, went to RCSI for archery session. It was my first time, yet I managed to hit the inner circle, thrice! But the recoil took its toll on my left arm, as you can see from the pics below. No pain no gain I guess. There was free pizza after the session, and I duly regained the calories I had just shed. What a perfect way to end the day! As usual, walked back home to type this out. Thanks for reading as always, and goodnight!

Mixed vegetables with minced meat carbonara

What's left of my frying pan :{

Archery session in progress

Trying to act like a pro, although I'm obviously not haha

Those are all mineeeeee :D

Chicken ham dinner, bought at Dunnes for €3.25

Free Pizza!

Everything comes at a price... recoil from the bow haha

DAY 14

Sept 15

1) Today woke up to have breakfast as usual, before meeting my friends to go to bank together. Reached there at 10.30 a.m., where I found out that my bank account has been approved! However, because my ATM card hasn't arrived yet, I still cannot carry out any transactions at the kiosk.

2) Walked all the way past to Dublin 1 for a buffet at Moore Street. Zi Yan brought us there. There was loads of food, from Indian to Chinese to vegetarian, all for only €6.99. After lunch, we walked along Moore Market, where I bought six oranges for just €1! Fruits are really cheap here. Too bad its this far away, or I would go more often.

3) Came back to Mercer's for a while to study, before going out again to Asia Market, where they were celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival. We took part in solving some riddles and each got a mooncake. It was sooo much fun!

4) Went home for one of my many frozen meals: spaghetti carbonara! Cheap and filling, the two words any college student would be delighted to hear. Retreated to my room to type this out. A fun and tiring day indeed. Until next time, goodnight and 中秋节快乐! :D

O'Connell Monument

Lunch with buddies

Moore Market, where the fruits are extremely cheap

Too easy: Comb, blackboard!

The free mooncake!

My dinner for tonight :D