DAY 912-914

Mar 2-4

1) Back at it again with the blogs - it's the weekend and I'm desperately trying to finish my portfolio for surgery. In between all that hullabaloo, there's of course time for some enjoyment.

2) Saturday night - our surgical end-of-rotation assessment done, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched into space to dock at the space station, and my friends and I went to Gurney Plaza to have dinner. I had just finished dance practice with my other batch mates for the final dry run before our dance performance on Sunday morning. Anyway, we went to GO Noodle House for dinner, and I tried their house specialty triple dark sauce "pan mee" - very fancy name, but very delicious indeed.

3) It has become somewhat of a routine for me to go out with Denise, Aden, and Aly at least once a week (especially the weekends). I've never found the time to do anything else during the weekdays but collapse onto my bed after coming home from college. That being said, we've definitely come a long way in our clinical experience, even if it has been nary a month or so since we started back here in Malaysia.

4) Sunday morning - all dance groups met at the stage for our final practice. Self praise is no praise, but today I finally felt our group (the Dikir Barat dance) click together - we memorised our moveset AND lyrics, and it all seemed to work out perfectly. Of course, this was during final rehearsal, and we still had the actual performance to worry about. The order of dances was as follows:
Malay Dance --> Sabah/Sarawak dance --> Chinese Dance --> Silat --> Dikir Barat --> Bollywood Dance. There was a 10-minute break in between each performance, which meant we only started at 10.40am. That gave us plenty of time to explore the carnivals.

5) In the end, it was showtime. Time to dance for our marks (as opposed to singing for our supper XD). I honestly think we put up the best version of our dance ever, as all the moves, the timing, the lyrics, and the cohesiveness of the team as a whole --> everything worked out perfectly! (perhaps the thought that we were being filmed, and therefore probably assessed for marks later on contributed to the exponential increase in dance quality).

6) With our part over, we stayed on for the last dance to cheer our friends on. I then waltzed over to get a RM20 coupon book - to be used for the many stalls at the carnival. I saw a stall offering haircuts for RM10 - a steal anywhere in Malaysia. As my last haircut was almost 2 months ago, now would be the perfect time to go get one. And luckily I went early - when I was done, there was a whole line of people waiting to get their haircut. I was thoroughly impressed with my new look - to be honest I didn't expect as much for RM10 at a charity carnival.

7) With my remaining coupons, I bought some snacks and lunch (pomme aligot - cheesy whipped potatoes with German sausage, strawberry and plum popsicle, and homemade chicken pie) in order to finish off all the coupons. It was blisteringly hot by this time (noon), but I felt like a million bucks (probably a lot cooler without the extra layer of insulation over my head XD). The rest of my day has been spent at home, preparing for our next rotation (Medicine) that begins tomorrow. That's it for this edition of my blog, thanks for tuning in, and as always, have a great week ahead. Cheers! :D

The Dikir Barat ensemble - phenomenal job guys!

(sorry I couldn't record as my phone data is as near as dammit full)

All smiles for my new look - I honestly had NO idea how I looked at this point - as there were no mirrors around! XD

Saturday night dinner with friends @ Gurney Plaza

Triple dark sauce "pan mee" with onsen egg - very authentic, very filling :)

GO Noodle House

Sunday morning- last minute practice before the event began!

Each white tent is a separate stall offering various services/food items/snacks

Everyone crowded over to watch our performances

RUMC Student Services set up shop at the entrance - providing advice and counselling to future prospective medical students

The Sarawak/Sabahan dance - really sorry I missed the first dance!

Dance #3 - Chinese fan dance

Dance #4 - Silat exhibition!

Dance #5 - Dikir Barat - our starting pose

I'm in the middle row second from left (obscured completely in this pic haha)

Pommes aligot (cheesy whipped potatoes) with German sausage (LHS)

Strawberry and plum popsicle (RHS)

That's me AFTER the haircut - I honestly think it's really good haha

DAY 557-561

Mar 12 - 16

1) Another week has passed. Literally two weeks after our mid-semesters, we have our OSCEs, after which we have another CR exam (two weeks following). As a result, there's barely time for a breather, as we struggle to keep up with the lectures. At least the weather's looking a lot better now -warm and sunny, and longer daylight.

2) But one can only hope that this is not a foreshadowing of the calm before the storm. After all, Met Ireland reports the return of the "Beast from the East" later this week, with three warnings already issued for heavy rains and gale force winds, and an alert for flooding in parts. While we have been largely affected thus far, only time will tell if the impact will be as large as it was with the previous encounter with the storm.

3) On Monday night, I participated in the RCSI Model United Nations, a collaboration between the RCSI MUN Society with UNICEF Society - to organise a keynote speech/ MUN conference. The title was "Syria - Paving the Road to Peace. Our guest speaker, Dr. Bismar, is an orthopaedic surgeon who travels to Syria and other conflict zones on medical missions. He gave his keynote speech detailing his experiences while in Syria, after which it was time for us - the delegates - to draft out a resolution ("solution") to the crisis.

4) As the delegate of USA, the onus was on me to draft a resolution to be debated upon. Other delegates formed their own alliances as well, and proceeded to draft out their resolutions. All in all, it was an exciting and informative session, as I really broadened my understanding of the crisis plaguing the Middle East. Innocent lives were being lost in a proxy war that has been going on for years, yet the coverage has been startlingly lacking, and *dare I say it* we've become desensitized to such depictions of violence and brutality in these regions.

5) Ultimately, the event was a huge success, and we were given our certificates of participation. I took the night bus back to Beaumont, reaching at around 11pm  - Beaumont is far ): Anyway, that was the gist of my week (the rest was just studying, eating, not getting enough sleep etc), so thanks very much for dropping by. Have a great weekend ahead, cheers!

Delegates of the world

Delegate of the United States of America

Dr. Bismar - orthopaedic surgeon and guest speaker of the conference :)

Night by the Liffey

Group photo again ^^