DAY 286

Jun 14

1) Today has been a tiring day for me. I got up early to meet Mr. Keogan in the labs. It seems I've underestimated how tiring it would be to work a 9-5 job, what with all the focus and concentration required haha. Luckily, we have informal tea and lunch breaks in between to boost our energy for the rest of the day.

2) In the morning, I helped Mr. Keogan to complete his own experiments (for his PhD), while learning many new analytical techniques. As an example, learning how to dry organic phase reagents using vacuum filtration apparatus and a rotary evaporator. Besides, we performed TLC (thin layer chromatography) which was taught in A-Levels! For other samples, we brought them for NMR spectroscopy (in York House, just opposite RCSI) for identification.

3) After lunch, we finally started with my experimental procedure. As of now, I need to do some more research on the availability of the reagents, or else some may need to be ordered. We got that far today, so here's hoping things will continue smoothly tomorrow. That's all for today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Have a nice day, cheers!

A sneak peak in the labs...

Brunch

Lunch

Truth be told, I never imagined I'd be doing this :)

DAY 285

Jun 13

1) Today started off quite slowly, but I ended up learning a lot of things. So I came to Dr. Griffith's office at 11am, and he brought me to meet Mr. Donal Keogan, a final year PhD student working on the same project. He showed me around the research lab (Apjohn Chemistry Lab, named after Professor James Apjohn, the first Professor of Chemistry, RCSI) in more detail.

2) For the most part, I was shadowing Mr. Keogan as he did his research on something unrelated (we'll be tackling my research project starting tomorrow). For now, I got used to the various laboratory apparatus and chemicals, as well as the safety hazards. At 2.00pm, me and some other newcomers (ranging from summer research students to graduate students) were brought on a walking tour of the premises by Mr. Emmet. We were each given a research laboratory notebook to keep track of our experiments, and as a guide.

3) While waiting for reflux of some key compounds to occur, I looked around and saw the many different apparatus which I will have to get used to working with. Among these are the rotary evaporator, NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) machine, electronic balances, and set-ups for reflux and distillation. In addition, there are plenty of safety protocol to follow, such as not lifting the fume hood too high up, and how to wash apparatus with acetone etc. A lot of new stuff if I'm honest, but hey - I've got two months right? Hope that everything goes smoothly and at the end, I'll be able to produce a five-point presentation for submission (that's part of the contract) during Research Day. That's been my day in a nutshell, and I hope you found it an enjoyable read. Thanks for visiting my blog, and have a nice day. Cheers!

Officially my first "working day" in the labs!

Blueprints for tomorrow

Dinner from Wok In

DAY 284

Jun 12

1) So today there are three important things for me to write about. The first, as you may expect if you've been following my previous updates, is of course on my research. I met up with Dr. Griffith (my Principal Investigator) at around 11am, and it was there that I met Ali, who is also undertaking summer research (albeit under a different project title)

2) Dr. Griffith took us on a tour of all three floors of the Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry. There, we met the PhD students who would be guiding us with our research. After that , we went over to York House where Dr. Griffith showed us the NMR instrument, used to determine the physical and chemical properties of atoms or the molecules in which they are contained. He also showed us a slew of different apparatus and lab equipment, from HPLCs (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) to THF (tetrahydrofuran). It really was a completely new experience for me.

3) We spent some time outlining exactly my aim of conducting this research, as well as set the list of things I would be required to carry out for this week. For today, he sent some research papers over for me to read, mostly on bismuth and its various potential applications in antimicrobial, antileishmanial, and anticancer therapy. Bismuth is frequently used in quadruple therapy (two antibiotics, a proton-pump inhibitor, and bismuth) for the treatment of helicobacter pylori infections. So the objective of my research is to develop novel bismuth complexes which are effective in these areas of treatment.

4) After the allotted time, I went over to the library. As I've written previously, today is the last day that Mercer Library will be open. After 11pm, it will be shut down for good, and library operations will continue 3rd July at the new academic building. This old building will then be converted for pharmacy students to use. As such, I spent my afternoon there, reading up on the research material that I'd been given to read, as well as taking a nice nap for old time's sake.

5) In the evening, I went for my usual run at St. Stephen's Green. It took a lot of effort to complete 10km (something that I used to do with little effort during my younger years haha), but at least I'm making progress. At least I've the next four and a half months or so to train properly before the SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon 2017. I for one, cannot wait.

6) Bought my dinner from Subway, before returning home for the rest of the night. That has been my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks and hope you have a great day. Cheers!

I wonder which "JC2 Student" wrote this? ^^

I've done this before, but which one is mine?? XD

Friendly desk staff

Look forward to meeting everyone again in the new building!!

DAY 283

Jun 11

1) Today has been a leisurely day well spent at home. I'm just taking it easy before my 'work' starts tomorrow haha. Anyway, that doesn't mean I have nothing to do. For starters, I've tried my best to start packing up a bit, as I'll be moving house in a couple of weeks.

2) I've started sleeping quite late at night, so that's a habit I'll have to kick before starting research tomorrow. I daren't say what time I sleep because it really is quite late. But to be fair, that was time well spent preparing some points for the Antibiotics Debate which I am arguing for.

3) In the evening, I went over to Wok In for some authentic Thai food. I accidentally ordered the prawn curry instead of the chicken, but turned out great. I stopped by Mercer Library, thinking that today's the last day before it closes. But turns out tomorrow is the last day since it closes at 11pm. Returned home to enjoy my dinner, and spent the rest of the night just reading up a bit on the research project that I'll be undertaking. That is all for my day, and hope you had a great one too. Cheers!

A lovely walk along the canal ^^

Was feeling peckish for something Thai

DAY 282

Jun 10

1) Today has been a relaxing day for me. For the most part, I was just sitting in front of the computer, looking for material to use for the next debate - Are We on the Brink of an Antibiotic Apocalypse? It is a friendly debate among the summer research students, and I'm presenting for the motion. I still am not completely sure of the rules, but that will be sorted out soon enough.

2) I received an email notifying me of the closure of Mercer Library this Sunday (June 11). It will be reopened somewhere in July, but at the new academic building and not at Mercer Court. I don't expect people to understand, but the library means a lot to me personally. I spent entire days at the library, studying, microwaving my meals, relaxing and doing my blogs here. I met all my friends who lived at Mercer here too, and we sometimes chatted in the lounge. Losing that is like losing my second home, and here's hoping the new library (three tier) would be even grander :)

3) In the afternoon, I had a short nap. Afterwards, I went for my evening run. Since I had exerted yesterday, I took it easy today and did a relaxing 5km. As I went to buy dinner, there was a street performance on Grafton Street. This guy lit a bar on fire before doing the limbo under it. This was met with great applause, and many people pulled out their cameras and so did I. He kept lowering the bar until it was barely a foot and a half high.

4) The show ended with him successfully shimmying under the bar on fire. I carried on with getting dinner, before coming back home to enjoy. That has been the gist of my day, and thanks for reading as always. Have a nice day, cheers!

Grafton St today ^^

Dinner

Nescafe

DAY 281

Jun 9

1) Today has been another splendid day for me. For one, I unexpectedly got a free meal and T-shirt from Boojum! I was browsing the Internet when I something caught my eye. Apparently, to mark the new unveiling of another Boojum (at Mespil Road), they were giving away a free burrito and T-shirt to the first 200 customers! Opportunity doesn't come knocking twice, so they say.

2) I hurriedly walked over to the location (which luck would have it, was only 5 minutes away) and waited. There was already a group of students waiting, so I waited along with them. At around 11.30am, the door was open and we were invited in. I had my usual burrito bowl and chose the M-size black tee. It looks really cool :D

3) The rest of my day has been equally nice. In the afternoon, I had a nice long chat with my parents. Then later in the evening, I went out for my customary run at St. Stephen's Green. I figured since I no longer have the stamina that I once had, I would just take it easy. Ended up covering 8.67km, a far cry of what I used to be able to do haha. At least, it is progress all the same, so I'll try to improve on it in the months leading up to my marathon.

4) Bought back dinner from Subway, and the spent the rest of the night relaxing and finishing up my blog. It has been a beautiful day for me, and hopefully it has also been the same for you. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day. Cheers!

Making some friends along the way :D

The all-new Boojum on Mespil Road

The queue literally extended all the way over to the end of the street

My free meal ^^

Boojum T-shirt :)

DAY 280

Jun 8

1) Today has been a nerve wrecking day for me. We had been informed that our results would be released somewhere around this week, so wait we did, for most of the week. Then, two days back, we received notification that our results would only be released at the end of the week. Not counting the weekends, that meant that we would get it by Thursday or Friday.

2) I, for one, was quite concerned with my results as I felt there were one or two papers that I did poorly in. And the last thing I (or anybody, for that matter) wanted was to have to take the supplemental paper later next month. So you can imagine the anticipation that had built up, right until this morning when I refreshed my email list (for the umpteenth time) and saw the message pop up that our results were out.

3) By the skin of my teeth, I managed to obtain First Class Honours. It's definitely a wake up call to focus more on my studies, and not to get caught up in so many activities for the next academic year. Anyway, I have three months to contemplate how I'm going to balance my studies with other activities haha.

4) My research begins this Monday, so I'm definitely looking forward to it. The following nights I'll sleep that much more soundly now that I've finally gotten my results. To all my friends at RCSI who are reading this now, firstly thanks for visiting my blog - I really appreciate the support and love - and secondly, I hope you got the results that you were hoping for. For those who haven't got their results, all the best! That's been my day today, and thanks for reading. Cheers!

Congratzz to all the graduating students from RCSI :D

It has become customary for me to have a nice cup of Nescafe at night haha

Dinner from Pablo Picante ^^

DAY 279

Jun 7

1) Today was the second day of our Skills Workshop Programme. Most of my friends start their various research projects tomorrow, but as for me, I'm starting next Monday because my Principal Investigator is in France for a conference.

2) So our day started with a lecture on Clinical Study Design, by Dr. Lisa Mellon. Next, Ms Deidre Hyland gave a speech entitled "Introduction to Clinical Research". After a short break, it was the main event of the day: the announcement of the RCSI Student Innovation Challenge. Professor Leonie Young, Dr. Emer Reeves, Dr. Sam Anya, Dr. Oran Kennedy, Dr. Helen French, and Dr. Tobias Engel came up to stage to talk about their respective fields of research, and ultimately each of them stated their problem for us students to come up with a solution. This is part of the challenge, and we will be broken up into groups on the competition day itself (June 13) to be given a chance to present our discussion to a panel of judges.

3) Before lunch, Dr. Sara ONeill gave a brief talk on the RSS Programme thus far. Then it was off to lunch, and I had mine at AK Henry's. Our next three speakers: Dr. Tomas Carroll, Ms Rachel Lynch, and Dr. Derick Mitchell were invited to talk on Public Patient Involvement and Research. Finally, we had our last workshop for the day, Patient-Centred Research: Logistical and Ethical Issues by Ms. Louise Keating.

4) Today we made some new friends from Hoshi University, Japan. Erika and Shiori are exchange students who will be spending their summer doing research here. This is part of the partnership that RCSI enjoys with Hoshi University (Japan) and Soochow University (China). For those who know me best, can probably guess that I will jump at the opportunity to do an exchange programme in Japan haha. Unfortunately, the programme is not open to first year students so I couldn't apply last year. But this year (next academic year) I definitely intend to do so :D

5) It has been an exciting two days of lectures and workshops, and it has opened my eyes to the world of research. I hope to begin research as soon as possible, and aspire to contribute in any small but meaningful way that I can. That's basically all for today, and thanks for reading as always. Have a great day, cheers!

ようこそアイルランドへ ~~

(Welcome to Ireland ^^)

My €3.50 baguette at AK Henry's ^^

Returned from lunch to see this

A close up of what it said

Shiori and Erika from Hoshi University

DAY 278

Jun 6

1) So today marks the beginning of the RCSI Research Summer School. It's interesting to note that we have a 2-day Skills Workshop Programme, accompanied with the Friday Discovery Series. The Skills Workshop essentially introduces us to the concept of research, as well as guiding us gently through the various skills and knowledge required to present a good piece of research.

2) For this morning, we received a warm welcome by Dr. Sara ONeill, Director of the Research Summer Programme. Next, we heard a lecture from Dr. Maria Morgan, on the topic of "Project Management for Research". This was followed by Ms. Yvette Moffat giving a talk on Health and Safety.

3) After a short break, it was Ms. Lorna Flannery on "Library Skills on Research", accompanied by Dr. Finbarr Leacy on "Statistics for Research". Just before lunch break, Dr. ONeill returned to present another interesting topic entitled "Don't Believe Everything You Read: We are on The Brink of the Antibiotic Apocalypse".

4) After lunch, we were split into three groups: red, green and blue. Each one of us had chosen different time slots to attend three workshops in the afternoon, namely Introduction to Cell Culture (Dr. Tatyana Devine), Techniques for the Analysis of Genetic Material (Dr. Olga Piskareva), and All About Proteins (Mr Gerard Higgins and Ms Lauren Mohan). Unfortunately, the last one had to be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

5) In short, the entire day was really productive and I gained a lot of insight into the exciting world that is research. The rest of my day has been productive too, with me going out for a nice 5km jog at St. Stephen's Green. That has been my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Until the next one, cheers!

Welcome :DD

Those are neuroblastoma cells 

Peering into the lens of a microscope

We were introduced to various cell lines of breast cancer (this is just one type)

DAY 277

Jun 5

1) Today is our last "free day" before research starts tomorrow. A series of workshops and lectures await us for the rest of the week, before the actual work begins next Monday. As expected, I can hardly wait to begin ^^

2) My day has been nothing short of absolutely boring. I woke up so late that I decided to just skip breakfast, and had lunch instead. One interesting event happened today. It was the 2017 Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon, and the course ran past the street I lived on. So I got a nice view of the competitors, as well as the many spectators cheering for family and friends alike.

3) I had initially planned to do another run today, but rain and the cold weather discouraged me from doing so. Unfortunately, the weather forecast indicates rain and storms in Dublin throughout the week, so I'll be praying that there will still be a chance to train.

4) For dinner, I walked all the way to the Subway at Grafton Street, and got a nice tuna sandwich. For the rest of the night, I was just surfing the night in search of videos that piqued my interest. Late at night, I chatted with my mum for a while. The time difference currently is +7.00 hrs for Malaysian time, so talking with my parents really isn't an issue. I guess that's all for today's blog update, and thanks for reading as always. Have a nice day, cheers!

The Fusilier's Arch, dedicated to the officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted men of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who fought and died in the Second Boer War

A nice cup of Nescafe Latte at night hits the spot ^^

DAY 275

Jun 3

1) Today has been a largely uneventful day, thanks mostly due to my own tardiness. I woke up late as usual, and went down for breakfast. Continued to tidy up my room as much as possible, until lunch time.

2) In the afternoon, I went over to the library to meet my friends. We took some time to calculate how much to pay each other for our long holiday together. Glad to say that everything is officially sorted out. My friends stayed back at the library, while I went over to Argos (at St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre) to buy a portable hard drive.

3) My dad had recommended me a cheap 1TB hard drive for €64, so that was what I got. I've used it to store all the photos and videos from the trip, in order to free up space in my Mac. As it was still drizzling outside, I decided against going for my run today. Perhaps tomorrow then... XD

4) I had my dinner at Boojum again. Returned to my apartment for the rest of the night. I discovered (quite by accident) that the 2nd season of the "Attack on Titan" anime had already been uploaded. Cue binge watching haha. In all seriousness, I've finished half of it already so I need to start rationing or I'd finish too early. Anyway, that was my rather boring day, but I hope you enjoyed reading about it anyway. Have a nice day, cheers!

At Boojum today ^^

DAY 274

Jun 2

1) These few days are going to be the most relaxing days for me in a long time. Waking up super late, plus having virtually nothing to do the whole day. Of course, when there's nothing to do, it's only natural to find something to do haha. So I've been cleaning up some of the mess in my room, in preparation for my shifting houses come next month.

2) Not much else to mention for the rest of the day. I was preoccupied catching up with YouTube videos for the most part. Finished watching the two big Tekken 7 competitions (Combo Breaker and Collision) on YouTube. For the uninitiated, Tekken is a fighting game series which I've taken a lot of interest in, and have been an active player back when I was younger (and addicted to gaming XD).

3) In the evening, Zi Yan came over to copy some of my phone camera pics into his Hard Drive. Shortly after he left, I decided I'd begin training for my marathon this October. Did an easy 4km this evening, and here's hoping I'll have enough reserve to complete the full 42km when the time comes. Bought dinner at Subway after the run, and took it back home to enjoy. The rest of the night I've just been listening to nice songs, and reading up a bit on the research project. That's all for my day, and hope you enjoyed reading. Have a great day, cheers!

My cluttered bedside:

(that's my Ventolin inhaler on the left, and a Kawaski rose on the right, sitting on top of my Dublin Marathon acceptance slip)

I was cooking yesterday ^^

A nice meal after my run

DAY 273

Jun 1

1) And just like that, our holiday trip is over! In five days, I will be participating in the RCSI Research Summer Programme, with Dr. Darren Griffith as my Principal Investigator. It has been non stop action since our exams ended, so I do appreciate the couple of days' spare time to compose myself and mentally prepare for it.

2) So my day began with waking up late. Went to AIB Bank to withdraw some money as I had almost none left from my trip, then I went for my appointment with my doctor at Mercer Medical Centre. During the trip, I noticed myself coughing more often, and towards the last few days of the trip it got quite bad. My throat always felt ticklish, and that made me want to cough.

3) The doctor examined me and suggested that it was the aftereffects of my chest infection, which I had had a couple of months ago. He prescribed Ventolin, in the form of an inhaler, which I got at Boots Pharmacy. One puff three times daily was the dosage. Took one soon after buying it and felt instant relief. Here's hoping the cough subsides soon enough :)

4) I was under the assumption that I would be meeting up with my friends to settle some of the payment for bookings and accommodation. However, the meeting was postponed till tomorrow, so I decided to just stay at the library, since I had been waiting there already. Later, I went to Dunnes to buy groceries to cook for the week.

5) Came back after buying dinner at Boojum, where I've been relaxing and just chilling the night out. I'm cooking after this, so I'd best end today's blog update here. Thanks for reading as always, and have a nice day. Cheers!

If I'm not mistaken, the "Congrats!" Balloon was used in the Graduation Ceremony 2017 for the Senior Cycle students

My prescription

Subway sandwich for lunch ^^

Boojum's burrito bowl for dinner