DAY 1954-1969

Jan 8 - 23

1) So a wonderful two weeks it has been since starting our last semester of medical school. Our class was split into two - Group A (my group) would start with medicine then finish with surgery, while Group B would start with surgery first and then medicine. Honestly, there is a huge disparity in the way the two modules are conducted. While medicine only consists of three clinicals in a week (+/- some online lectures), surgery is a whole different affair. They have 8-12 sessions every day, and sub-internship is literally an entire week of 7am-7pm clinicals, including Saturdays and Sundays. For our group, this means that we start off really slowly, giving us ample opportunity for self-directed learning and also to finish our case write-ups.

2) I would be remiss not to talk about my birthday celebration. Having mentioned to my good friend Tenisha that I usually never really celebrate my birthday, she decided to help me properly celebrate it this year. So on my special day, we kicked off by going to watch Spiderman: No Way Home at Gurney Plaza. Without spoiling, I especially loved the nostalgia and homage that it paid to the previous movies. We spent the afternoon at Straits Quay, whiling away the time before an early dinner at Pulau Tikus Kitchen - famous for their chili crab. I should mention that I am really quite fond of crabs, so it was an absolute delight to sink my teeth into them after such a long time. Then Tenisha surprised me again for dessert, taking me to China House for some kahlua infused tiramisu - their house specialty. I was at a loss for words as I genuinely did not expect any of this. Suffice to say, it has been my most memorable birthday celebration to date :)

3) Fast forward two weeks and it's Tenisha's big day. Unfortunately as it fell on a weekday, we could only celebrate it belatedly during the weekend. So for dinner, Tenisha, myself, and Olly met up at The Loft. It was fully packed that evening, so luckily we had reserved a table earlier. Unfortunately, service was really slow, as we waited for almost an hour for our meals to arrive. Luckily, the company more than made up for the poor service. We even managed to surprise Tenisha with a very impromptu slice of birthday cake - complete with birthday song and card. Hopefully it's been a memorable day for her in the same way she had made me so memorable for me. 

4) With no more birthdays to celebrate, I guess it's back to the daily grind. And what a grind it is going to be - with finals looming so large, there simply is no excuse anymore. Hopefully, we'll all make it out in one piece. And with that, I'll end my blog post here. Thanks very much for visiting as always, and have a lovely week ahead. Cheers!

Dessert at China House was such a nice way to end my special day :')

Of course, I would notice that the "KC" in the sign is my initials while the "8" represents my birthdate. Coincidence? I think not!

Another year older, another year wiser (or so they say)

Spending the afternoon at Straits Quay, while waiting for the restaurant to open for dinner

Straits Quay Marina Lighthouse

Pulau Tikus Kitchen, located right beside the police station

Was asked by our server to promote the shop, since we told her we really enjoyed the food.

Chili crab was the bomb...

Pro tip: Use the mantou buns to mop up all that sauce :)

Chili crab, fried bee hoon (vermicelli), and fried mantou buns for dinner
As you can see, we're more excited to begin eating than to pose for a picture XD

So I apparently love crabs. A lot XD

A perfect end to a wonderful birthday celebration!

Myself, Olly, and Tenisha - dinner at The Loft :)

Clockwise from top: Pasta Parma Rosa, Beef Lasagna, Alla Bolognaise

I don't think the whole hand gesture thing worked out as planned XD

Post-prandial smile :)

Trying out Bee Hwa Cafe (a traditional Hainanese Kopitiam) for the first time!

L-R: Sagar, Helmi, Myself

Banana leaf rice today

Penang is truly a food haven

And that's the end of my printer ):

Spotted crossing the Penang Bridge today - a red Lamborghini Huracan Performante Spyder :)

That's the last one I promise :)

DAY 1579-1592

Dec 29 - Jan 11

1) Just like that, the nightmare that was 2020 has passed. That doesn't mean things will get any better, but with a new year comes new hope. Some of us will have made our New Year's Resolutions, while others may not. I don't have any particular resolution, other than to continue toiling about with my studies. I'm currently just past the half-way point in family medicine, and I'll be sitting for the end-of-rotation examinations in two weeks. No pressure then.

2) Exam stress aside, family medicine has been very interesting. Our 10-day break for Christmas was very useful for me, as it gave me time off to rest and recuperate, as well as revise some much-needed medicine and surgery notes. Given the recent increase in COVID-19 infections in Malaysia, we will have to wait and see if there are any changes implemented to our current movement control order, which may have an impact on our studies and exams. I guess we'll find out tomorrow evening.

3) When I was younger, I loved reading about space and astronomy - of quasars, supernovas, and supermassive black holes. Of course I was not able to understand most of it, but recently I've begun watching videos on YouTube, and it has piqued my interest again. Everything from the theory of the universe, how life began, and how we measure the age of the universe etc - all easily assessible and explained in layman terms. 

4) Another aspect of science that I've always enjoyed is evolutionary biology, specifically that of humans. Those days, it was always a search for the "missing link" - that transitional fossil that describes the intermediate form that separates modern humans from our anthropoid ancestors. Nowadays, we know that evolution is neither linear nor progressive (i.e. it is branching), and so the term "missing link" has fallen out of favour, replaced by the newer term "last common ancestor". Again, some excellent videos are available on YouTube explaining this in more detail - I just find them fascinating.

5) There's nothing really new going on in my life right now. The main objective is to finish off our family medicine rotation in one piece, and then transition to the next rotation (i.e. ophthalmology) before our Chinese New Year break. Until then, I should probably get back to revising haha. Thanks very much for visiting my blog as always, and have a great week ahead. Cheers! 

Welcome to Cat Beach!

(We took a nice detour during our posting at Teluk Bahang Health Clinic to visit this gem of a location)

I don't know anything about cats but here's a contented-looking one XD

These are all stray cats that have been put up for adoption :)

One of them even decided to get close to me XD

At the entrance to the very aptly named "Cat Beach"

Here's a close-up photo of my left retina, taken during one of the clinic postings

(it's a normal eye XD)

Lunch with Sharifah and Rachel @ Oldtown Kopitiam :)

As quickly as they appeared, the Xmas decorations have been taken down and replaced by the Chinese New Year ones

Compulsory face shield, for extra protection against the current pandemic...

A huge thanks to Melvin and Melissa for the lovely cake and banter! :')

DAY 538-542

Feb 21-25

1) These past few days have been uneventful for the most part, as I have been to the library at Beaumont for the whole day, only returning during night time. Our mid-semester exams are but a week and a half away, and as a result everyone has gone into hardcore mode. Everyone, but me. I've just been finding it difficult to consolidate that much knowledge and commit it to memory. But of course, where there's a will, there's a way.

2) This year has been passing by at breakneck pace - while keeping watch, I've noticed the following: in two and a half months my parents are coming over to visit (yeay!), and in only ten months it will conclude my stay here in Ireland, whence I return for the clinical portion of my studies (the latter is not set in stone; it is still subject to my passing the end-of-semester exams). I cannot help thinking that I've come a long way, and that I've grown a lot from my experiences, which have been both good and bad.

3) I've recently found ignited within me a passion for photography. I have lost count of the number of times I've witnessed gorgeous sunrises by the River Liffey, the sunsets at Beaumont, or the vibrant nightlife near Temple Bar. At each opportunity, I've tried to take some quick i.e. un-professional snaps to capture the scene, and I'm quite happy with how they turned out. Maybe in the future, I may actually consider taking up photography as a hobby. As for now, it's back to the same rigmarole of study, eat, sleep, rinse and repeat. Thanks for visiting and have a lovely weekend. Cheers!

Intense sunset at Beaumont

Sunset at Beaumont :)

Sunrise by the Liffey

Sunrise by St. Stephen's Green Park

Night life by the Liffey

Contrails at the Northside Shopping Centre