DAY 217

Apr 6

1) Today was definitely one of the more tiring days for me, and not just because I had a lot of decisions to make. First life-altering decision I had to make: should I attend classes today or stick to my original plan of volunteering for the RCSI Reach Sports Day? Finally, I made up my mind (for the second time) to go for the Sports Day, which was held in Dardistown, near the airport. Our meeting point was the Swan Pub, just one block away from RCSI. Initially, I thought that none of the other JC2 students would want to come, seeing as some of them (Group A) have Card Signings tomorrow, while others would not want to miss the Anatomy Practicals and Expert Patient Sessions. So I was pleasantly surprised to meet some of them who actually decided to come along.

2) We took around 40 minutes to reach Dardistown, after which we had about 20 minutes to prep. Niamh, Dawn and I were put in charge of the "Retrieve and Conquer Rounders" game. It was quite similar to a game of rounders, sans the bat. Essentially, two teams would go up against each other. The first team would be the pitchers - they would stand behind a white line and each would throw one tennis ball. After throwing, they had to run around four cones (this represented "bases") and return to the first cone (a complete "home run"). Meanwhile, the second team was waiting to catch the balls, after which they would try to get the balls back inside the cone. If they managed to return all the balls before the first team returned to the first cone, then they got the point. But if the first team returned first, they got the point. I can appreciate that it's not easy to understand this with just words, but with a bit of demonstration, we managed to get the kids to understand the rules.

3) Today I learnt two things - that children have boundless energy, and that they have an infinite tolerance for cold. I was literally freezing in the chilly morning air, which was further exacerbated by the strong winds. My fellow Irish friends would definitely concur. And yet, these kids were short-sleeved (for the most part) and jacketless, running and playing like there's no tomorrow. This reminds me of an HBPS lecture which I went to, in which the lecturer asked, "When a parent asks their child to put on an extra layer, who is the one who is actually cold, the parent or the child?" That's right, the parents are cold; that's why they ask their child to wear a jacket. Anyway, we judged a total of ten teams over five games, briefly stopping for lunch in the Clubhouse. Sipping piping hot coffee in the cold is fast becoming one of my favourite pastimes, and there was ample coffee on demand - which meant I had a field day.

4) By the time we finished, it was fast approaching two. Everyone gathered in the Clubhouse, and the results were announced. The overall champions of the day - White Team! The top three teams were also given medals. At the end of the day, I'll go home with a volunteer T-shirt, my stomach full with a free lunch (to my Chemistry teacher Ms. Chong, I guess there are free lunches in this world after all XD), but most importantly a hug and a thank you from one of the children. Small little gestures, but with a profound effect, on me at least.

5) But now we were approaching a crisis. Would the bus be able to make it back in time for the 3pm Expert Patient Session (EPC)? My watch showed 2.30pm when the bus finally started moving. With a bit of luck, and a lot of praying, we returned to RCSI on the dot. If you were there at 3pm and noticed a bunch of students literally running back to RCSI from the bus stop, that was us. Fortunately, the session had just started, so we didn't miss anything important. It was another lucky save for us then. Afterwards, I returned to the library, only to be greeted by free doughnuts and sorbet, courtesy of the SU4U team. The rest of the evening I spent trying to finish my ICP project, which I know I can't finish but I'll try regardless. It has been a long day, but one that I really cherish. It's a bit of a shame we weren't allowed to take photos of the children themselves - for privacy reasons, which I totally understand, but still disappointing nonetheless. So on that note, I think I'll end my blog here. Thanks for reading, and have a great day, cheers!

Me, Dawn, Niamh - the (self declared) best trio ever!

Hamburger et frites

Obstacle course for the kids :D

The hockey pitch - where we had our "Retrieve and Conquer Rounders" game

This was taken during lunch time, when everyone was playing tag rugby

The tennis balls we used ^^

Me, Mahitha (anatomy buddy), and Joo Kyung (Principal Seminar buddy)

We may be smiling, but right now, all I'm wondering is whether the bus would get us home in time XD

RCSI Sports Ground, Dardistown

Team SU4U 

Don't mind if I do

Free doughnuts at the Mercer Cafe, courtesy of team SU4U

My vantage point, where I observe life and contemplate my own existence in the process

Vegan choc and cookie flavoured sorbet

Can you guess which one I wrote? :P

DAY 198

Mar 18

1) Today has been a typical day for me in the library. Frankly, as the days lead up to the first of our final exams (next month), most of my days will be spent here in the library...

2) My day started off as usual, with me leaving for the Mercer Library after my breakfast. I've been there since then. Most of my time has been spent studying and just revising past chapters, but I've also noticed that the medicine I'm taking has it's effects - it makes me quite groggy. As a result, I have no choice but to take a rest for a while after each dose. And sometimes, the effect wears on even after I wake up, and that spoils my mood to study haha.

3) This morning my friends and I had a short meeting on the upcoming MMII event held in Trinity College, Dublin. We were given a slot to fill for their event, called "Time Bomb". More info will be revealed soon XD. Anyway. we hope to make this conference a highly successful one, so lots of preparation and rehearsals are needed.

4) It was pretty much the same cycle for the afternoon and evening, my mind gradually giving up and refusing to absorb anymore. So I relaxed for a while, had a light supper, before packing and leaving for home. Not a terribly exciting day by any means, but still worth it haha. That's all for today, and thank you for reading. Have a great day, cheers!

Beautiful view

Breakfast :D

DAY 184

Mar 4

1) Today has been a very eventful day for me. So I had to wake up early to make it for the RCSI-MUN (Model United Nations) which started at 9.00am. Our motion for today was "Battling Antibiotic Resistance", and each candidate was assigned a country to represent. So Mary and I were the delegates of Canada, and there were various representatives from all over the world - including USA, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Trinidad and Tobago, France etc.

2) We broke the motion up into several subtopics and discussed from there. Essentially we tried to follow the guidelines and conduct of the real United Nations. For instance, we raised our placards when intending to speak, and referred to ourselves as "this delegate" rather than using the pronoun "I". And of course, we drafted out a working paper, which was to become a resolution as a whole.

3) Fast forward a couple of hours, and we had lunch in the Atrium. This was a good time to get to know everyone better, and I made a lot of friends (mostly senior or GEM students) from various backgrounds. It was very exciting to meet so many people with this much enthusiasm for this event. After break, discussion resumed and we carried on with the submission of our final resolution, which had been amended and modified to take into consideration the other countries' suggestions/ideas.

4) Finally at late noon, we went into actual voting procedure. Our resolution had received a unanimous vote (which is very rare in MUN - most of them are just majority votes) as almost everyone agreed with the proposed solution and the method by which it would be implemented! In a usual MUN setting, the entire objective is to draft out a resolution which can get accepted or declined, depending on the number of votes we receive. In our case, you could say we were extremely successful since essentially everyone agreed with our resolution :D

5) That was the end of this year's MUN - and I cannot wait for the next one to come around. The rest of the day I have no choice but to work on my Principal Seminars, because they are drawing closer and closer as the days go by. That would be all from me today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about today's event. Thanks for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

RCSI MUN 2017!!

The Delegates of Canada :)

Less formal, more candid picture of our team

More formal, less candid group photo XD

Posing for the camera with our placards ^^

Pizzas for lunch today. Bon appetit :D

RCSI MUN was held in the Albert Theatre, RCSI

Pasta for dinner haha

DAY 177

Feb 25

1) Today has been an eventful day for me. I came to the Basketball Court (RCSI) early to play captain ball - a ball game which loosely resembles basketball. My friends and I were training to play for the SEA games, hosted by University College Dublin. Due to unforeseen circumstances, that would not be the case, but more about that later. We had fun practising, and by around 11 we took the 46A bus to UCD.

2) When it was time to sign up, we found out that somehow, the RCSI team had submitted their registration forms too late, and so would not be eligible to take part. We were, however, given the opportunity to play with random teams as sort of a friendly match when the real games were going on... As expected, many of us were more than a little displeased, to say the least.

3) Anyway, we were idling about, exploring UCD's lush campus until afternoon, when we were given some lunch and a bottle of water. We grabbed the next bus back, and I returned to the library as I always do. Hopped over to Dunnes to replenish my stock of bread, and came back to the library. This week will see me preparing for our Principal Seminars, which is on the 6-8th of March. That gives me 11 days to prepare for 5 topics, before presentation and a short Q and A session. I'd best get started then XD So that has been my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Cheers!

UCD Dublin

The basketball court at UCD

I must admit the view is amazing

(truly a great campus life)

And it really was free! :D

Our lunch for today

My pasta for dinner ^^

DAY 140

Jan 19

1) Today has been another long day for me, albeit with some ups and downs. The downside was that my sore throat is still there, and as I predicted I've come with some flu. Luckily I still have some medication, which I will take if it gets worse. Had bread for breakfast, before coming to the library to study.

2) The whole morning was spent studying, until around noon when I had my lunch. At around 2.00pm, my friends - Khee Heng, Zi Yan, Nee Kee, Stephanie, Wendy, Esther - and me, went to view some apartments for rent. We found some nice options, unfortunately quite expensive which is why I had second thoughts. Anyway, I will just KIV first until closer to the lease agreement expiry date.

3) Returned to the library, where I chatted for some time with my dad. Around this time, I found out from my friends that the results for our JC1 exams were out. I hurriedly checked and was pleasantly surprised to find that I did pretty darn well in my exams. Considering that I once considered the possibility of having to resit the papers again this semester, I think I was very lucky to do well.

4) Had dinner afterwards (don't ask me what XD), before typing today's blog update out. I may continue studying for a bit, before heading back as I have classes tomorrow. As it is, my results, while not the best, have definitely given me confidence and motivation to persevere even harder this term. That's all for today, and I hope you enjoyed reading. Thank you very much for reading, and have a great day. Cheers!

Making toast for breakfast ^^

That was lunch today

That's my name...

(... and that's the class jacket I bought)

Dinner, because I still haven't gotten my appetite back yet ):

DAY 89

Nov 29

1) Today has been another taxing day for me. Got up and left for RCSI, where I had a bowl of porridge for breakfast (at AK. Henry's). Then, I started my studies until about 11am, when there was a revision session on Short Note Questions. Most of my friends attended too, and it was a productive hour which we spent there.

2) I bought a packet of sandwiches for lunch, and continued my studies until mid-afternoon. Then, I packed my books and headed to the library, where I further revised my notes until my brain was saturated. That doesn't mean I absorbed a lot; it just means I couldn't take in anymore information.

3) So I decided to call it a day, and went to Dunnes to do my groceries. Bought lots of oranges (for my sore throat) and some bread and cookies. Came back home and made some bread with jam for dinner. Somehow my appetite is drastically reduced when my throat is sore. Anyway, freshened up after that, and here I am, typing this out. I may or may not continue studying - only time will tell haha. That's all for the day, and thanks for reading. Cheers!

Porridge for breakfast :)

Sandwiches for lunch

A.K. Henry was President in 1953!!

Dinner (I had another slice after that, and two oranges :p)