DAY 360/361/362/363

Aug 26, 27, 28 & 29

1) The past four days have passed by so fast. Tomorrow is the second last day of "work" for me, and that gives me a couple of days respite before school reopens (5th Sept). Also, this week has been much warmer, so that's a welcome change.

2) On an unrelated note, the Dispensary has opened, selling Starbucks drinks as well as biscuits and snacks! It's a bit sad they opened so early, because that means the end of my free coffee/tea as well! Now I'm just waiting for the renovations in the main building to be completed. It certainly looks promising.

3) For the most part, I'm looking forward to starting with my studies again. Any longer and my knowledge will become rusty, and my study ethic dull. So I guess it's back to burying myself in my work... not! And since nothing exciting or unusual has happened this past four days; nothing new or worth talking about, I'll end on this note. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day. Cheers!

The Dispensary has officially opened!! ^^

Selling Starbucks here too... :)

The work doesn't end

Thankful for cheap and delicious food at Dunnes

AK Henry's has some of the best fish pie I've tried

(plus if you know the servers well you could ask for "lots and lots of chips" XD)

DAY 356/357

Aug 23 & 24

1) They say things happen for a reason. What were the odds that the random person I asked for help with taking a photo (the one with me and the Head Porter in front of RCSI) would turn out to be Martin, first year student at RCSI (under the PMC programme) come September? And he was extremely lucky himself, for both he and his mom came just that morning, and by evening had been taken through an extensive tour of the College.

2) We decided to meet up over a cup of coffee today. Together we went to Cafe Nero, just outside St. Stephen's Green Shopping Centre. We sat down for some hot beverages, and chatted about life in Ireland and how to survive medical school. I don't think I'm the best person to ask for advice on study strategies etc, but hey, I'm still in one piece, right? XD Jokes aside, I tried to recount my experience living in Dublin for the past year, and staying back for research and other opportunities. In return, I got to learn more about Martin and his mum, and how he ended up coming to RCSI.

3) As evening came, we took a casual stroll down Grafton St, and onto Trinity College Dublin. After a brief turn, we reached Temple Bar. Feeling a little peckish, we opted to try out Banyi Japanese Dining, the self-stylised "Best Japanese Restaurant in Dublin for hand-crafted sushi, fresh sashimi, and traditional Japanese dishes". The food came served in elaborately decorated sushi plates, complete with liquid nitrogen in a bowl for that extra smoky effect. Fancy to say the least ^^

4) Good food, even better company - I almost lost track of the time! Before I knew, it was almost 10:00pm, and then it dawned on me that I had left some of my belongings in the library, which was closing soon. Cue mad dash back to the library, muttered some apologies to the security officer to let me in, and retrieved my stuff just before the library was closed. As it was getting late, we decided to call it a night, and I made my way back to the LUAS station. That was an awesome evening out for me, and a welcome reprieve to my otherwise mundane (and repetitive) daily routine. That's all for my blog today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Have a nice day, cheers!

A lovely Japanese style dinner with Martin and his mom :D

Hot chocolate and brownie at Cafe Nero

A quick visit to Trinity College Dublin

Sashimi and sushi platters ^^

Pleasure making new friends :)

DAY 107

Dec 17

1) Today we woke up at around 4am to catch the bus to the airport. Walked all the way to the bus stop, and reached the airport early. We spent the next two hours catching up on some much needed sleep, before checking in and boarding the plane back to Dublin.

2) Our flight was at 8.30am. All I remember is getting on board the plane, and waking up about an hour later when we were landing. Got the bus at Terminal 2 back to Mercer, where I went to the library first. I planned to have lunch at Grafton St, before going home. Bought a sandwich at Subway and went back home to Leeson Street.

3) Did my laundry and sorted out all my documents and stuff, before having a nice afternoon nap. In the evening, my friends and I met up at RCSI, where we walked over to Dublin 1 to a Korean shop called Han Yang. Had some lovely noodles there, with huge portions too! Came back to watch a sappy movie (My Times) with friends. Came back home at around midnight, and that's basically how my day turned out. Thanks for reading, and have a great day. Cheers!

Our dorm

Glove! ^^

Christmas Carol at Grafton St.

Subway for lunch :)

Han Yang (Korean food) for dinner

Dinner

DAY 102

Dec 12
1) Today was an intense day. I had a quota of thirteen lectures to complete, and not a lot of time to do so. Woke up later than usual (cuz I slept late...) so I bought scones for breakfast at Coffee Doc RCSI, before making my way to the library. Then it was full force studying until lunch time.

2) For lunch, I went to the shop located below Subway on Grafton St. I finally found out (thanks to my dad hehe) that it is called Bia Blas Cafe. Had a really nice chicken roll, some wedges and a cuppa joe. Returned for Round 2 of studying, and the coffee did wonders in keeping me awake.

3) Up until evening, and I was right on track to achieving my goal. Took a short break to walk around, and decided to grab a quick dinner. Went to Burrito and Blues, and I chose to treat myself a bit today by having the "Big @$$ Nachos". A little on the expensive side at €7.20, but worth every cent in my opinion. Essentially you get all the bells and whistles of a regular burrito, but instead of the tortilla you get lots and lots of nachos. In fact, it looked (and tasted) so good that some random stranger actually asked me what I was eating!

4) Walked back to the library, and will be starting Round 3 of studying soon after typing this out. To be honest, I'm okay with this level of intensity, if only because I know it is only for two more days XD After that, I'm on a vacation! That's it for my day today, and thank you very much for reading. Have a great day, cheers!

Scones for breakfast! ^^

Chicken roll for lunch

The "Big @$$ Nachos"

at Burrito and Blues

DAY 96

Dec 6

1) Today was a long day for me. Woke up to have breakfast, then made my way straight to library to study. A couple of hours later and it was time for lunch. I went to Subway today, and tried their beef melt sandwich. It tasted really, really good after all the studying haha.

2) Came back to the library, where I studied for the next couple hours. I should point out that I'm not studying non-stop like some of the students here (they're absolutely bonkers XD), instead I take breaks to watch videos and listen to songs, or chat with my parents...

3) In the evening, I was looking for a nice restaurant for dinner. I found a Japanese-esque one selling ramen, for only €4.00! Then I found out that €4 was only the soup and noodles, and there was additional charge for meat, veggies or topping. Still, I went for the tonkotsu (chicken stock) ramen and really enjoyed it.

4) Returned to the library, and what rotten luck! Not only had the Wi-Fi at the library been temporarily shut down due to maintenance, but my phone's mobile data was out of credit! I wasn't feeling too happy about this to be honest, but thank god the Wi-Fi came back about 45 min later.

5) Continued this cycle of studying/ watching videos/ listening to music until 9.00pm, then I had a light supper. I plan to go home slightly earlier tonight, as my exams (Fundamentals of Biomedicine) begin at sharp 8.00am tomorrow. Anyway, that's all for tonight, and thank you for reading. Cheers!

Toast as usual! ^^

Subway for lunch (all for only €5!)

Christmas deco at Grafton Street

Yumo, Japanese-style restaurant 

(strange it doesn't offer sushi though, just noodles)

The selection of ramen (noddles)

Tonkotsu ramen, with egg noodles