DAY 1746-1759

Jun 14 - 27

1) So this week I got my first dose of vaccination! This may sound like a thing of the past for those in other countries, but in Malaysia, vaccination uptake has been very slow. Thankfully, in recent times, vaccination rates have been increasing exponentially, with the latest data showing at least 15% of the population having received their first dose. 

2) My vaccination appointment was at the SPICE Convention Centre, so I carpooled with my good friend Daniel (who coincidentally had a morning appointment as well). My appointment was an hour earlier, so I thought I would wait for him after I was done. In the end, they allowed him to be vaccinated at the same time, so we could go home even earlier. The entire process was very quick and efficient. All we had to do as we progressed through each station was to keep showing the staff our app ("MySejahtera") which contained all our particulars, and our identification card. 

3) After about 15 minutes, we were led into the actual stadium, where multiple booths had been set up for mass vaccination to take place. I was asked if I knew which vaccine I was getting (the AstraZeneca vaccine), and whether I had any allergies or previous reactions to anything. The staff then briefed me about the vaccine and asked me if I had any questions. Next, I sat outside the booth waiting for my turn to get vaccinated. The doctor went through the same quick screening, and then proceeded to show me the syringe containing 0.5mL of AZ vaccine. 

4) Before I knew it, the contents had been injected into my left deltoid, and it was all over - I did not feel a thing! The last part was to wait for 15 minutes in the waiting area (just to monitor for any immediate reactions). Daniel came right after me, and we both left without any reactions. All in all, it was very smooth-sailing and uneventful. Barring a little tenderness over the injection site, I have had no reactions/ adverse complications since getting vaccinated. Before leaving, they gave us a card with our next appointment (within 3 months), which would complete the two doses necessary for immunity. Half way there, half more to go then.

5) The rest of the day (and week) was uneventful. I had missed the whole morning session that day, so I had to take down notes from my friends. Thankfully, I will not be missing any more classes after this (until my next vaccination of course!) And on that note, I shall end my blog post for today. Thanks very much for tuning in as always, and have a great week ahead. Stay safe and stay healthy, cheers!

The card reads "I've been vaccinated!"

Daniel and I, waiting for our turn to register :)

Translation: I've been vaccinated - you should too! :)

That's exactly how the COVID-19 vaccine looks like 

(not to scale of course XD)

DAY 1593-1606

Jan 12 - 25

1) As our country battles a third wave of COVID-19, most states have been placed under a fresh lockdown, initially for two weeks, then subsequently extended for an additional week. During this time, all our clinical rotations have also been suspended. In the midst of all this, there are two factions - those who feel that further lockdown is essential to contain the number of clusters daily; and those who feel that any further lockdown will severely cripple the country's already weakening economy, in particular the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). I can see the arguments for both, and I'm personally on the fence on this. But at some point, difficult decisions will have to be made, which will not please everyone.  

2) Personally, I've enjoyed the two weeks' reprieve from having to wake up early to attend clinics. This is an ideal opportunity for me to (hopefully) catch up with my revision. The downside to this "extra" bit of revision time is that we will now either have less holidays or less study time before our exams. That's assuming that we still get to graduate in time, of course. The way things are going, it is really hard to tell what will happen in the coming weeks. 

3) In the recent weeks, my email inbox has been inundated with emails from potential medical students/ school leavers who are interested in finding out more about medicine at RUMC. It has given me great satisfaction to be able to help these aspiring doctors decide if medicine is for them, and to share my own experience as a medical student. Before entering medical school, I had a few close seniors who were extremely patient in answering my many questions, so in some small way, I think of this as giving back. 

4) A week ago, the landlady came over with the maintenance staff to take a look at my bathroom. For the past few weeks, the toilet had been leaking from one of the pipes. Luckily, with some help, we were able to locate the source of the water (it was very well concealed behind the tank cover). As they did not have the necessary tools to fix the leak there and then, we made an appointment for the plumber to come again. All in all, the repair took just under an hour. I'm very glad as I had initially been told that it would take at least two visits.

5) That's basically it for this edition of my blog. Sorry there is nothing more interesting to read, but then again, these are some really strange times... As always, thanks very much for visiting my blog, take care and stay safe. Cheers! 

We need to stay strong and remain hopeful, and look out for one another :)

DAY 789-793

Oct 30 - Nov 3

1) This is turning out to be one hectic month. We have yet another quiz on Monday (Nov 5), this time on the "REGUB" module (Renal Endocrine, Genitourinary and Breast). Amidst all the studying and stressing about, I've found some time off to attend a session with the other PMC scholars at RCSI. This is the first meeting we have had as a group, and we aim to expand on this to facilitate better transitioning from each year to the next, especially the transition back to Penang, Malaysia.

2) It was a short and informal meeting we had with Mr. Philip Curtis, Director of Student Recruitment, Admissions & Student Services. He informed us that he would have a meeting with the UCD correspondent, to see if we could form a group comprising PMC Scholars over the years. The main goal would be from an academic point of view, including feedback on how to improve the programme as a whole.

3) The rest of the week has been pretty much the same, but one thing I've come to appreciate more is the drastic change in colour as autumn comes. The fallen leaves turn the ground many shades of red, brown and orange. I'm not sure why I haven't noticed it before, but it looks very beautiful! I won't be seeing much of that back home, that's for sure. So best to make the most of my time here. Sadly, most of it will be spent burying myself in my books. Anyway, that's all for today's blog update, and stay tuned for more. Have a good one, cheers!

PMC Scholars from across three years!

Back row l-r: Melissa, Me, Talal, Mr. Philip Curtis

Front row l-r: Engracia, Aisha, Sarah, Shu Chen, Jamie

Empty library is the best library ^^

Halloween food!

Roast chicken with carrots and colcannon mash

(mashed potatoes with chopped cooked kale, green onions, milk or cream, and lots of butter)

DAY 576-583

Mar 31 - Apr 7

1) As we approach the last month of our semester, the race has well and truly begun. The race to finish the rest of the syllabus, to get some revision done, and to brace oneself for the onslaught of sleepless nights ahead. At least that's the plan. On the bright side, in another month's time we'll be practically finished with our exams save for one final one on the 9th. Then it's three months of holiday beckoning us with open arms.

2) I've found this semester to have been a significant change compared to the previous semesters. A shift of focus from anatomy and embryology (the "normal" human body) to pathology and microbiology (the "abnormal" human body). It has taken a while to adapt, but hopefully things will fall into place when I sit for the upcoming exams. As it is, the effects of the new semester have already left its mark - I'm well aware of the relatively fewer blog updates I now do compared to the previous semesters. I just have been stretched with various commitments and refuse to compromise my health.

3) Speaking of health, I'm off to Manchester this Saturday to run the Greater Manchester Marathon 2018 in aid of the Children Adventure Farm Trust - a registered charity that provides holidays and activities for terminally ill, chronically sick, disabled and disadvantaged children from all over the Northwest of England. I've been collecting donations both in person and on-line, so for those who are interested I'll be putting the link just below:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/weng-kit-chan

Every little is much appreciated, thanks! :)

4) On Easter Eve, I came back home to find a lovely card, along with a package of chocolate eggs and a huge chocolate bunny! My host family had very kindly slipped it there while I was out. In return, I decided to surprise them with a card of my own, which I strategically placed on the dining table with some chocolate eggs as paperweights. Picking up the mechanical pencil to draw - rather than write lines upon lines of drug names - felt strangely cathartic after such a long time. Suffice to say, my host family were very happy with the card, and it now occupies a space on top of the shelf in the living room.

That has been the gist of the past week. Wish me luck for the upcoming marathon - I'll definitely need it! Here's hoping the weather doesn't get overly cold... thanks for visiting my blog and have a lovely weekend ahead. Cheers!

My Easter Greetings Card to Emma and family :)

Easter Greetings! ^^

Came back on Saturday to find this on my pillow! :)

Chocolate egg

My studiesssssssssssssss

Canteen food two days in a row, 

as I couldn't use the microwaves in the student lounge...

Emma made this LOVELY meal for me for Easter! <3<3

They look soooo cute :)

Chocolate bunny

From 3-D to 2-D

DAY 235

Apr 24

1) Today marks the first of a long list of exams, which stretch on until the 13th of next month. So registration for our OSCE exams was from 8.15am onwards, and I came early to register. There were a total of 13 groups, and each group had around 16 students. Each group took around 15 minutes to rotate between the two tasks. One station was an examination station, with 6 tasks supposed to be completed in 6 minutes. The other station was a history taking station, which had a "patient" explaining their problems as we asked them questions.

2) I can't really judge my own performance, other than to say that I gave it my best and have no regrets. Only time will tell if it was good enough. Anyway, a huge burden lifted off me, I returned to the library. Tried to do a bit of Anatomy (which is in three days' time) but I was just so drained that I dozed off. Woke up feeling better, and then it was time to meet up with Ms Cheah, our Marketing Executive from PMC, along with Ms Devaki, the Assistant Registrar. After taking some nice pics of us in front of the college, we headed to South Street Restaurant (yes, the one we went to a couple of days earlier for the PMC Appreciation Lunch haha).

3) Among us, we ordered a couple of appetizers and main courses to share. The dishes came out meticulously plated, and they tasted as good as they looked. Really decent quality, especially considering the price. During the dinner, we had a long chat about issues regarding management and communication among the Malaysian and international students here in RCSI. We also talked about strategies to help international students assimilate into life in Malaysia when they come to Penang. The chief problem apparently was the language barrier, which seemed to indicate that patients in Malaysia could not speak an iota of English.

4) To me, that seems a little insulting really. I can definitely understand if the international students find it difficult to understand our accent, but to say that our patients cannot even converse in simple English is stretching it a bit. If anything, most Malaysians from the Colonial era speak perfect English. Either way, I suppose I'll find out for myself when I return haha. So after a lovely meal, Ms Devaki had to return home, while Ms Cheah invited us to go "jalan-jalan" (go along for a stroll) with her.

5) We wanted to go to Butler's Chocolate, but unfortunately it was closed. So instead we went to The Rolling Donut where they had a €5 deal - one doughnut and large cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate. We continued our nice chat, this time about our prospects of returning to Ireland after completing our housemanship. We learnt a lot from Ms Cheah, who told us about our seniors' experiences. By the time we left, it was approaching nine. I returned to the library to type this out, and to collect my things. I shall return home soon, so I can get a good night's rest. It has been a really long day, but definitely one to cherish as we got to meet up and chat with Ms Devaki and Ms Cheah.

6) Before I end my rather lengthy post, I would just like to personally thank Ms Cheah for spending us for the meal, and also the doughnuts afterwards. It was very nice meeting up with you, and it provided a nice reprieve after our first exam. Many days of studying ahead of me, so I'd best get cracking then. That's all for today, and thanks for reading. Have a nice day, cheers!

From left: Me, Aisha, Melvin, Lyana, Melissa, Frank

(posing in front of the main entrance to RCSI)

I don't think we're really good at doing "candid" shots

Garlic mushrooms (with Lyana's stamp of approval) ^^

Tiger prawns salad

Hmmmm.... now where would I have seen this before? XD

This looks a bit familiar too hahaha 

(Don't mind me please my mind isn't quite it's usual self)

The Rolling Donut

4 doughnuts for the four of us :)

The Nutella doughnut (Sinfully delicious)

Got the inspiration for this shot from Ms Cheah

A large hot chocolate to wash it all down

DAY 69

Nov 9

1) Today was an interesting day for me. Woke up early to have breakfast, before coming up to study. I had an appointment with my friends at 10.00 a.m. at Mercer's Library today, so we could discuss about the Principal Seminars tomorrow. After two hours, we had all finished our turn, so that was the end of that.

2) Walked all the way to Moore Street, where I had lunch (and dinner(!) at Buffet 79. There was a smorgasbord of dishes, from Indian to Chinese to vegetarian, all for only €6.99! Bang for your buck, if I should say so myself. Anyway, ate to my heart's content, before taking a long, slow walk back home.

3) Came home to study, nap, surf net - rinse, cycle and repeat - and then had an orange for dinner later. Same cycle of events until bedtime, and I'm sure you are sick and tired of reading about me doing the same thing everyday haha. But that's what most students do before exams anyways, so I guess I'm still kinda normal? That would be all for today, and I bid you all good night. Cheers! :D

Photo of the day haha

Buffet lunch here!

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland

DAY 46

Oct 17

1) Today was the big day. Exam time! Woke up extra early to make it to RCSI before 7.45 a.m., before proceeding to the Exam Hall. Our paper was only 30 minutes, but consisted of all the modules we had studied so far. That is forty plus lectures in total. Anyway, it was difficult as I expected, but not overly so. Felt a great sense of relief once it was over.

2) Immediately after that, we had two lectures before lunch. In all honesty, there was no way anyone would be able to concentrate after the exam, but we tried our best anyway. Went for lunch at Dicey's Garden with my friends. I tried the chicken kiev and it was A1! There was a lecture immediately after that, but then the final lecture was two hours after that. So I went to Coffee Doc to study, and got myself some popcorn, for the heck of it haha.

3) After the last lecture, we planned to celebrate my friend, Khee Heng's (belated) birthday. But he had a table tennis tournament to participate in, so we waited for him and Zi Yan. Afterward, we decided upon Boojum, and met there at 7.00 p.m. We ordered our dinner, before "surprising" him with a nice, chocolate birthday cake from Dunnes! Had loads of fun hanging out and relieving stress at the same time.

4) Came back home at night, before hurriedly typing this out. I have many activities planned in the coming posts, so do stick around and I'll be more than happy to write about them as I proceed with life in Ireland. Thanks for reading and have a great day. Cheers!

Lunch menu at Dicey's today!

 I'll cut down on the fries next time XD

My €2 small popcorn

That's a good meal right there!

The Birthday Cake!!

Groupie, because why not?

 Chocolate cake from Dunnes (€5.00 only!)

The birthday boy, Khee Heng! :D