DAY 617-619

May 11-13

1) Now it's post-exam season, and immediately boredom has started to set in. No more getting up in the wee hours of the morning to study; no more studying in the freezing auditorium the night before an important exam. All gone; replaced by a lack of purpose or direction, an endless supply of YouTube videos to catch up on, and bright sunny Irish weather (!)

2) But all that's about to change. On Friday, I made yet another trip to the main campus. I met up with Dr. Sarah O'Neill (Director of the International Summer Research Programme), Niamh (who'll be participating in the same summer research programme in China), and Claire (who participated in last year's iteration and was there to give advice). After some slight delay, we met up at the Dispensary of the New Academic Building, where Dr. O'Neill briefed us on what to expect. The duration of the research would be 8 weeks, from 6th June to 3rd August. Two topics had been set for us, one on cancer and the other on Parkinson's disease research. Although I'm fine with both, I would personally prefer the research on cancer.  ; )
                                                             
3) That wasn't the only reason I went to town. I still needed a haircut, and where better to do so than Grafton Barber. The well-dressed gentleman who did my hair was extraordinarily friendly, and we talked about my nationality, where I was studying including what prompted me to come here, and what specialty I was interested in. In turn, I found out that he was the only one in the family practising as a barber, that he had practising for more than 60 years, and that he had a stent inserted for a coronary problem many years ago. It was quite an interesting haircut overall.

4) I'm well aware that this 13th of May is Mother's Day. It would be the most special one yet, as it would be the first time in two years that I would physically meet up with my parents! My host mother, Emma, was extremely kind by offering to drive me to the airport, while I nervously waited for my parents to show up. We found out that a sandstorm had delayed their flight by a while, so I was there slightly longer than expected.

5) In the end, I saw the familiar sight of my parents pushing the luggage cart, and my heart leapt. My mom certainly looked thinner, but other than that, two years had done nothing to change my parents. They looked and acted just as they did before, which made me feel very much at home. After introducing my parents to Emma, we all returned home. Emma went upstairs, leaving us to catch up on two year's worth of chat XD. I showed my parents around and talked for what felt like ages, until around midnight. Then it dawned on us that our flight would be very early the next morning.

6) Indeed, my parents had promised to take me on a week-long holiday trip, to Lisbon and around Naples. As I'm writing this, we are well into our holidays, but due to the really hectic schedule, I will need more time to write about them (I'll do so in a future post). But for now, I'm just elated to be reunited with my parents, and to listen to all their stories and share my own. Here's looking forward to the rest of the trip. Thanks for tuning in, and have an enjoyable week ahead. Cheers! :D

Two long years... :')

Nothing has changed over the past two years - except my face has gotten wider and rounder XD

Mother's Day Card ^^

Bilingual because I think my mum would appreciate it :))

Meet up with Dr. O'Neill, Claire, and Niamh

(at the Dispensary, No.26 ;D)

My new haircut

DAY 599-616

Apr 23 - May 10

1) After what I can only describe as an eternity, exam season has finally drawn to a close. Our three end-of-semester exams were on the 30th (Cardio-Respiratory), 3rd (Foundations in Pathology), and 9th (Foundations in Microbiology). This semester has not been an easy task, but I'm glad that it happened. It has made me realise that the pathway to any goal in life is never going to be easy, and that is exactly what makes it all worthwhile.

2) Finishing our exams, to me, is akin to moving from Jupiter to the Moon. Jupiter, with its strong gravitational pull - resembles my studies, and the constant nagging thought at the back of my head to stop whatever I am doing and resume studying. Au contraire, the Moon, with its relatively meagre gravitational force - represents the aftermath of my exam. There isn't any more central force keeping me in check, and I am free to explore and discover at my leisure.

3) There has been a drastic change in weather these past three weeks, with Dublin (and I'm sure, most of Ireland as well) experiencing a lovely burst of warm weather. In fact, the past few days have come very close to matching the weather back home... Speaking of home, the end of my exams also means that my parents will be coming to visit! In just three short days, I will be greeting them at Terminal 2, the same place we touched down on our first arrival to Dublin two years ago.

4) My dad informed me that he had a trip around Europe planned, but stopped shy of the details. "It'll be a surprise," he says. Indeed, the thought of reuniting with my parents after two long years brings more than enough joy to me - so everything else is just icing on the cake. I simply cannot wait :)

5) As for my plans for the summer, I applied - and was successful - in being selected for the International Research Summer School Programme. In the past years, there were four spots available each, for two universities (Hoshi University in Japan, and Soochow University in China). To my disappointment, funding was halted for the Japan programme, and the China programme intake was reduced to two. I can only count my lucky stars to be selected for this wonderful opportunity to do research over the summer in Soochow, China.

6) With the GE14 (Malaysia's 14th General Election) well and truly over, Malaysia has reached a decision. It is a decision that I believe many had hoped for, but not so many (myself included) believed would be possible. Vox populi vox Dei - "the voice of the people is the voice of God." The majority have spoken - let them be heard! :)

That has been roughly three weeks' worth of blog update. Thank you very much for visiting as always, and have a lovely week ahead. Cheers!

Marking my territory - in Beaumont Library

(frankly it's so empty here compared to the college library)

A vegetarian lasagna from Beaumont's Cafetaria

My host mom left this for me - I'm so touched <3<3

As you can see, there's really no one here :)

1784 is the name of the new cafe in the main campus

(they have a wide variety of food items which rotate every single day)

Such as this phyllo-wrapped rice pastry

(it kinda resembles ouzi)

Two falafel cakes served with pita, rice, and hummus, on a bed of greens :)

Fish and chips is my favourite at 1784

(loaded with a heapful of chips and mashed peas - it's heavenly!)

My post-exam meal - mushroom risotto with garlic bread and salad

(with an extra heapful of parmesan)

DAY 372/373

Sept 7 & 8

1) For the longest time, I thought that meiosis (germline division) consisted of meiosis I and II, and that meiosis I was just prophase I, metaphase I, anaphase I, telophase I and subsequently cytokinesis. Today I learnt that prophase I could be further subdivided into five phases; namely Leptotene, Zygotene, Pachytene, Diplotene, and Diakinesis. I find this really intriguing since we've learnt this chapter of cell division since secondary school, but never once have I come across these terms. The other reason I'm writing on this is so that I can remember the lectures better. That's the ulterior motive actually... ^^

2) Lectures at 8.00am are a real pain for me, seeing as I'm now living at Dundrum. Worse still, oftentimes the LUAS Tram is full, so we have to wait for the next tram before boarding. That means I have to allocate upwards of an hour to arrive in time. And worse still, our lecturer for that specific 8.00am slot yesterday couldn't make it either... It was a bit of a letdown as I really missed Mr. Koenig's lectures. That being said, I had at least more time to prepare for the following lectures...

3) Back-to-school week is over. So a week has passed since our return to RCSI, and a couple of things have changed. Firstly, we've had many lectures at the new "Desmond Auditorium", and they've been great thus far. One downside is many of us have not received locker allocations yet, which means we can't store our stuff e.g. lab coats, change of clothes etc. This is a touch inconvenient as many of us would not want to keep our lab coats (filled with the lingering odour of preservatives and preserved tissue) in our bags.

4) Also, they are currently doing work on the Anatomy Room roofs, which means anatomy practicals have shifted to the Exam Hall, temporarily. To be honest, I prefer the layout in the Exam Hall as it is much larger, hence more space to move about. On the bright side, we've had loads of activities planned for Fresher's Week. Some of them include the Pink Party (RCSI Cancer Soc - get your tickets from me, Raveena, or Claire please ^^), the Amazing Race (PMC Student Association), White Party, Ballad Session and Pub Crawl. The Pink Party this year will be held at DTwo Club/Bar/Garden, and tickets cost only €5, with the proceeds going to charity (most likely Breast Cancer Ireland). There's free entry to DTwo till late, so make sure to come and join in the fun! :D

That's all for my blog updates, and I hope you enjoyed reading. Thanks for popping by, and have a great weekend. Cheers!

2nd Med (the cover makes a great colouring page XD)

The relocated Anatomy Practicals

(in the Exam Hall)

Arancini (stuffed rice balls) with fries and peas,

 at AK Henry's

Lasagna from Dunnes for dinner, while I contemplate life...

DAY 369/370/371

Sept 4,5 & 6

1) The past few days have been chalk full of activity! School officially began on the 5th for us, while the 1st years had orientation on the 4th, followed by the customary White Coat Ceremony on the 5th. It's the first time anyone of us had been in the "Desmond Auditorium" for lessons, and it was, in a word, terrific! The larger seating space, coupled with the powerful audio system, two projected screens on either side, as well as the ever enthusiastic lecturers - ensured that our lessons were never boring. Which is just as well, seeing as our 8-5 lesson woes begin as early into the semester as tomorrow... Can't wait for the pain to begin then.

2) With the influx of old and new students, the new academic building is now operating at maximum capacity. Even waiting for the lift can take a while, so I have just resorted to using the stairs. On an unrelated note, in between lessons today (actually it was lunch break), some of us had signed up for a quick photo-shoot at the new building. We all met at the third floor, and the photographer took us to some really fancy rooms, to pose for photos. We modelled various procedures, including venipunctures (drawing blood from a patient's vein for a blood sample), delivering babies, performing CPR in a state-of-the-art operating theatre, among others. It was really fun doing stuff we haven't learnt yet, especially since we got a first hand look at the latest gadgets and gizmos in the National Surgical Training Centre (Levels 4 and 5 of the New Academic Building).

3) Today was also Club and Societies Sign-Up Day! Lots of clubs and societies, not to mention various tidbits for those who stopped by to sign up. As a committee member of the RCSI Cancer Society, I was promoting our society's first event - the Pink Party! We had loads of people come by to sign up, and quite a few bought tickets for the Pink Party, which is next Thursday (9pm onwards) at DTwo. The Sports Complex (the venue of the event) was buzzing with activity; all the committee members were doing their best to attract the others over to their booth. I did my best too, but after well over an hour, I needed some rest. So I returned to the library (2nd floor is my territory), and had a short nap. It feels odd sleeping in the library especially when there are no dividers (there were dividers in the old Mercer library), but if you're tired enough... XD

4) Anyway, I woke up reenergised, but still not mentally prepared for an 8-5 session tomorrow. I suppose that's one of the challenges of any university student - just waking up in time for lessons. That's the gist of the past few days, and I hope you enjoyed reading about them. Thanks very much for visiting, and have a great day. Cheers!

 Yeap, that's a dummy not a real person...

Seniors and juniors bonding session at the new building :D 

 Celebratory/reunion lunch at Dicey's Garden

(I'm reminded of the huge portion sizes ^^)

Our first lecture at the Desmond Auditorium

The cameraman at the back is taking a picture of me taking a picture of him XD

Such a great experience using all the latest tech and equipment

(even if only for modelling haha)

 Clubs & Societies Sign Up Day

 RCSI Badminton Club

(it's been a while...)

 Photographic proof that they opened the box of doughnuts!

(the fancy one on the left I mean...)

 At the PMCSA Booth Melvin and Esther, and Faiz as cameraman ^^

Manning the RCSI Cancer Society Stand

(pardon the obscured sign at the back)

CU Cupcakes!!

With Joshua at the Christian Union Booth

Still with Joshua at the Christian Union Booth XD

Miniature ping pong (table tennis) was soooooo much fun!!

Look at the plagues at the back! 0.0