DAY 516-520

Jan 29 - Feb 2

1) And yet a couple of days past. I have been very busy recently. On Monday, I had to travel to the city centre to get a couple of things done. First, I had to withdraw money to exchange for pounds sterling, as I will be going to UK for UKEC's annual flagship event, the 'Projek Amanat Negara' (PAN). This year's conference is to be held in University of Sheffield, from 10-11 Feb 2018. An exciting new approach is in store for PAN XV as the perspective we want to take with the theme “Think Again: A Paradigm Shift” is to explore the impact of the Past on the Present, and onto the Future. We have an exciting lineup of distinguished speakers, and a lot of sessions planned throughout the day. I personally cannot wait for it!

2) Second on the agenda, was to top up my phone for the trip to UK. After confirming that roaming charges incurred would apply only after I used up the 6Gb free data in EU countries, I bought the €20 unlimited data plan from 3 mobile store.

2) Third on the agenda, was to get a haircut. If you've been following along previously, I frequently get my haircut at the Dublin School of Barbering, located near Temple Bar. On this particular day, I was unlucky as the barbershop was closed (for whatever reasons). So on to the next item on my list - to enjoy a nice buffet before returning home. As I had about an hour to spare before buffet service started, I chose to walk along the River Liffey. Along the way, I passed some beautiful bridges (O'Connell, Samuel Backett, Millennium, Ha'Penny, Sean O'Casey) and took some lovely snaps.

3) After whiling away the time exploring Dublin 1 and 2, I returned to have buffet at Jimmy Chung's. All filled up, it was a short walk back to the bus stop at Eden Quay, before taking the 27b bus back home. That has been a summary of a day in my life, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Have a nice day, cheers!

The iconic Samuel Beckett Bridge

O'Connell Bridge

Irish Life Centre

Statue of James Connolly, outside Connolly Station

The Custom House Dublin (Irish: Teach an Chustaim)

Pier

UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Samuel Beckett Bridge

The architecture is simply brilliant :))

Sean O'Casey Bridge

Buffet Spread at Jimmy Chung's

DAY 229

Apr 18

1) Today has been a typical day for me in the library. I went over to the Dublin School of Barbering, for a free haircut. My hair is so short now, but I'm happy with it. At least I don't have to visit the barber anytime soon. On my way back, I stopped by at Tesco to do my grocery shopping, as I'm planning to cook tonight.

2) After a long hiatus, the cleaners have come back to take care of all the emptying of the rubbish, as well as to fit in new paper towels in the dispenser. How clean the cafe looks like now! A far cry from its filth ridden, garbage piled high self from a couple of days back. This is what we students want - a conducive environment to study and prepare for our coming exams...

3) As I had not pre-made dinner, I decided to hop over to the Bla Blas Cafe to grab a chicken fillet roll. Cheap and filling - what's not to like? XD Came back and it was down to business. Studied for the rest of the night, mostly on OSCE. After a light supper, I made my way back home. That's the end of my day, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

Squirrel spotted in St. Stephen's Green

Chicken fillet roll for dinner

DAY 228

Apr 17

1) Today has been a long day for me in the library. I have run out of stories to tell, of experiences to talk about, so I'll just narrate the day's events. I was supposed to go for a haircut this morning, but little did I know almost all the major stores and shopping complexes were closed today! Even Dunnes Stores - where I wanted to do my groceries, was closed. I presume it's due to yesterday's Easter celebrations. So no haircut today then. I think I learnt how to write "shop closed" in Irish though. It's siopa druidte. At least that's what the sign said, if I remember correctly XD

2) I came back to the library, where I proceeded to finally book a room to staying with a host family. None of this is definite yet, and I'm praying this is not a scam either. But still it had to be done quickly since summer is coming, and I don't have much time left until my exams. Had lunch at the Mercer Cafe (it still hasn't been cleaned yet!), before taking a short nap in the afternoon.

3) The rest of the day was, as you can imagine, me trying to study. Today's focus was more on the OSCEs, which includes History Taking, Cardiovascular and Respiratory, and Gastrointestinal Examination. A lot to remember, not to mention a lot to recall, as we had studied Cardio and Resp. in the previous semester. Hopefully, we'll find some time to do a couple of mocks before the actual exam, to get a feel of what it's like. That's the end of my not-so-exciting day, but as the saying goes, "like a rainbow after the rain, there's always a good thing after the pain". I'll be counting on that haha. Thanks for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Spotted outside Mercer Medical Centre

Finally opened up a new tin of raspberry jam

My first Boojum in ages :D

DAY 179

Feb 27

1) Today has been a very interesting day for me. Three things happened to make it that way, the first being I got a haircut! After months upon months of letting my hair grow like Samson, I couldn't stand it anymore and went for a free haircut at the Dublin School of Barbering. Felt a lot better too, since my hair was so long it sometimes blocked my vision.

2) In the afternoon, I went over to the National Surgical Training Centre (just opposite RCSI) with my friends, Nee Kee, Esther and Zi Yan. We took part in the Laporoscopic Skills Competition, where the top two would represent RCSI for the Intercollegiate Finals! There were two tasks involved, the first was using the graspers (yes, that's what those long grasping thingamajigs are called) to insert a shoelace through five holes, while looking through the monitor. Apparently the all time record is a scarcely believable 40-odd seconds! The next event was stacking sugar cubes, again with the graspers. We had two minutes for this, and some participants were really unlucky when their tower of cubes toppled with seconds to spare! Although we tried our best, none of us made it to the finals. It was absolute fun though, and really gave us a feel of what it's like to do surgery.

3) In the evening, Khee Heng and I walked to RCSI, where there was a "Feed the Homeless" programme, organised by a collaboration between the RCSI Islamic Society and the RCSI Book Club. We were broken into groups of six or seven, with each group assigned a certain area to cover. We then took the goodie bags, which contained the essentials like food and water, some gloves, socks, hats etc. As we were assigned Grafton Street, it was quite easy for us to find the homeless people. Grafton St is the main street in Dublin, and it makes sense that underprivileged people would camp there, waiting for passersby to donate. And off we went - and we met many homeless people along the way. All of them were very friendly with us, and many were genuinely touched that we were giving them warm clothes and good food. Other groups weren't so lucky though. Apparently someone got told to f^&* off by a homeless person. Oh well, there will always be exceptions I guess. Luckily it didn't happen to me.

4) After the event, we returned to RCSI, where we were provided with a simple dinner. We also got a certificate each for our hard work, which was an added bonus. To be honest, I felt pity for the homeless people still stuck outside in the streets while I'm here in the warm library typing this out. It was absolutely freezing tonight, and the winds are really strong. Being out in the cold with them has made me realise how lucky we all are, with food and a place to call home. Most of my friends felt the same way too. Anyway, I will be leaving the library soon, as the staff have just announced that the library is closing soon. That's all for today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Have a great day, cheers!

Surgical scissors

Breakfast :)

On my way to Dublin 1 for haircut

Before and after haircut XD

Pizza

Born again after haircut :D

National Surgical Training Centre, RCSI

Machine used for teaching laporoscopic skills, mimicking the human body

The first stage: passing a shoestring through the five keyholes, using only the two graspers and looking at this monitor (it's not as easy as it seems haha)

RCSI Dublin

INMED sent my friends and I an email recruiting volunteers for the event. After we agreed to sign up and confirmed, there was no reply from them, or any follow up. That is the last insult I will tolerate, first asking for help and then not even having the decency to reply!

My group mates for the "Feeding the Homeless" event :D

Achievement unlocked! ^^