DAY 253 & 254

May 12 & 13

1) Euphoria is an affective state in which a person experiences pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness (I got that from Wikipedia XD). Today, I believe many, if not all of us were in a state of euphoria when our last exam paper was collected from us. Weeks upon weeks of studying and sleepless nights culminated in this brief moment of pure joy. For me, I spent yesterday cramming every last bit of info into my brain, before waking up at around four today to continue doing so. As you can imagine, my concentration was just about enough to get me through the exam, and thereafter my mind was completely gone.

2) So where's the first place you go to once exams are over? Why, the library of course. Frankly, I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I went over to the library, now as deathly quiet as ever. First thing I did was have a nice long chat with my parents, informing them about the exam and my plans for the summer. Next, and here comes the crucial bit; I fell into a deep slumber at my desk. Had a really really good sleep (the best I've had in weeks haha), and woke up re-energised. In the afternoon, I indulged in my first post-exam movie - Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. I had always wanted to go watch it when it first hit the cinemas, but never got round to doing so. A quick review: superb fan service, great soundtrack, awesome visuals (except for some really ghastly CGI at the end), and less than satisfactory ending. Personally, I'm a sucker for happy endings, so having *SPOILERS* all the main characters die in the end is never going to have a positive impact on me. But it was really enjoyable as a whole.

3) I did not have any food left for dinner, so I went to McDonalds and treated myself to a nice ol' Big Mac. Turns out with a voucher, you can get a Big Mac and medium fries combo for just €3.90! That's a value meal if I've ever seen one. I returned to the library, where some of my friends got together to discuss on our holiday trip. I promise to reveal everything in the next blog update, since this update is getting a bit long. Anyway, as I was walking out of the library to go home, my friends Raveena and Zack approached me. They commended me on my blog, and admitted to being ardent fans of my daily musings. This really touched me, as I felt that my daily efforts were being appreciated. In all honesty, it gives me great satisfaction to receive such praise as it does creating these updates for all my readers, and I hope to be able to continue doing so.

4) All in all, it has been one heck of a year for me. Learning new skills, adapting to a new environment, making new friends, living away from my family and relatives - the list just goes on. But one thing's for sure, I've come out the opposite end stronger, tougher and overall a better person (hopefully). That's the end of my blog today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. To all my friends and batch mates, HAPPY HOLIDAYS! You truly deserved it after all the effort and hard work. And to those who haven't finished their exams yet, keep on pushing. The end is closer than you think. Have a great weekend everyone, cheers! :DD

Zack and I, posing in the courtyard

Some sweet treats, courtesy of the Archery Society :D

That's me lunch

McD's for dinner 

DAY 251 & 252

May 10 & 11

1) I'm counting down on the number of days left till our final paper. It's two more days till bliss. As usual, yesterday and today have seen me in the library, chipping away at the lectures. I'm trying to complete them by tonight.

2) These past few days, I have been going home later than usual, so as to cover more lectures. Of course this would backfire on me, and I've noticed that I take longer naps in the afternoon to compensate. At the very least, I know it's all coming to an end soon. That would mark the end of one academic year at RCSI.

3) I have a lot of things planned in mind during the summer break, most of which I'm keeping a secret because a) I'm busy and it's hard to type it all out, and b) I like to keep it secret so that I have something left to write about later haha. Anyways, the library is getting less packed now, and I'm assuming it's because some of the seniors have finished their exams.

4) To be honest, I find the HBPS (Human Behaviour and Patient Safety) Module to be quite interesting, especially the different stages of human development. However, I'd rather it remain non-testable in exams. Apparently, the seniors had to tackle two papers -both MCQ (multiple choice) and SNQ (short notes) compared to ours - just MCQs. So for that, I'm not complaining. Anyway, I think I'll end here, as I'm out of things to mention, plus I need to get back to my studies. Thank you for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

The Savoy Cinema 

 [and if you had to ask, the movie (Fast and Furious 8) was awesome!!]

Lunch today, 

courtesy of George's mum who made a big batch of makaronia tou fournou (oven baked macaroni)

Thanks very much :DD

DAY 250

May 9

1) Today has been back to the books, after yesterday's somewhat premature celebration. Apparently, quite a number of students in the previous years have taken the HBPS (Health Behaviour and Patient Safety) Module for granted, and as a result, some of them had to resit the paper, having failed to meet the 55% requirement for MCQ. I am trying my level best not to make the same mistake.

2) My strategy for tackling all 38 modules is simple: finish ten modules a day, and for the penultimate day, dedicate that to full-on revision. That should give me some confidence, as the questions are only multiple choice, unlike past years when there were Short Notes Questions as well. Of course, I may underestimate the content and end up having no safety net to do revision, in which case I just might emulate my friend and pull an all-nighter. After all, it's the last paper and I have nothing to lose haha.

3) When exams are over, I will have much to prepare for. Starting with our planned trip, I will have to gradually pack my stuff to shift houses, in addition to resuming training for the Dublin Marathon which I'm participating in. By the way, I'm still in the process of raising funds in support of the Irish Cancer Society, so if you're feeling generous... And if not, it's all good. Anyway, I will be hitting the books soon. Have a great day, cheers!

https://sse-airtricity-dublin-marathon-2017.everydayhero.com/ie/irish-cancer-society-fundraiser

P.S. Just follow the link above to donate for a good cause :D

Dundrum stop at the LUAS Station yesterday

That's my lunch ^^

DAY 248 & 249

May 7 & 8

1) The past two days have been very eventful for me. Yesterday was a full day as usual for me in the library, where I studied for the GIHEP paper today. As I had expected, our GIHEP paper was not easy. Many of the questions had more than one possible answer, and the problem lay in choosing the best option. As always, I did my best, so I'll just have to wait and see.

2) Today was a much more exciting day for me though. After our exams, I had to go to Dublin 1 to sort out some documents. Walked back to RCSI, where Zi Yan and I took the LUAS to Dundrum. It's our friend Hong's birthday today, so we went for buffet lunch at a restaurant called Global Cuisine. It was not easy to find the place, as it was in an obscure location at the cineplex, just beside Dundrum Town Centre (the largest shopping mall in Ireland). The food was really good, and at 9.95 euro, much cheaper than Dublin 2.

3) After a wholesome meal, some of us went shopping at Penneys, while the rest of us took the tram home. But that's not the end of our escapade. At night, some of us (Jason, Alvin and me for now) are going to watch Fate of the Furious (a.k.a. Fast and Furious 8), a film which I have been yearning to watch ever since it came out. Now is the best time to watch it, and then binge study the rest of the week for this Saturday's final paper, the HBPS. All in all, it has been a really meaningful day for me, as we near the end of our exams and the holidays are just round the corner. That's all for my two days' worth of blog updates, and thanks for reading. Have a great day, cheers!

The birthday boy Hong :)

That's as candid as we'll ever achieve...

Group photo :))

Dundrum Town Centre

Global Cuisine Buffet Lunch

That's my friend Alvin, who was really keen on being in my blog ^^

Happy days!

DAY 244 & 245

May 3 & 4

1) I've taken the liberty to combine two blogs into one again. In all fairness, I was busy studying my derriere off yesterday. I had to commit all 40 lectures of REGUB to memory; and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I did not budge from my cubicle yesterday. I even got up very early today to do some last minute revision and cramming haha.

2) But of course, this pales in comparison to what some of my friends did. But how much more intense could their studying be, I hear you ask? Well, one of my friends did not get ANY sleep at all - he just decided to pull an all-nighter. And the only thing on all of my friends' minds after our exams today? Sleep. I admit I was one of them as well.

3) In the end, I found this paper to be harder than the previous one, but that is probably because I had more time to study for that. After this, we have only two more papers, and we're done :D The next paper, GIHEP, is four days' away. So at least there's more time to study. C'est la vie I guess... On the plus side, today was absolutely balmy, and is the first time in a long while that I've been able to walk out with a single layer. I still brought my jacket, because I've found a country whose weather is just as fickle as London's.

4) Coming to Ireland, I've learnt a valuable lesson - that nothing takes precedence over my own happiness. If it means that I don't do as well as my friends, or that I achieve less than my peers, then so be it. At least I'm happy with the way things are. So on that note, I'll end today's (and yesterday's) blog update. Thanks for visiting, and have a nice day. Cheers!

So many flags... ^^

Finally decided to treat myself to a Subway

(I needed a new bottle anyway XD)

DAY 203

Mar 23

1) Today has been a nice day for me, as I managed to get many things done. In the morning, we sat for our Quiz 2, which comprised three modules -HBPS, GIHEP, and REGUB. I found the questions challenging, partly because I didn't have enough time to prepare. At least that's settled for now, and I don't have to worry about it any longer. Now the next important date is Card Signing 2, in just 8 days' time.

2) I finally finished taking my medicine. Somehow I feel really tired and sleepy after taking it, so it is good that I don't have to take it anymore (touchwood). Took my stuff to the library, where I have been reviewing today's lectures. A short nap in between did me wonders, and I woke up refreshed. I continued studying into the evening.

3) At around six, I returned to RCSI, where my friends and I are practising really hard for the International Night 2017, held tomorrow at the Olympia Theatre! Today is our last chance for rehearsal, although we may have some time to practice on location tomorrow before the actual performance. This promises to be loads of fun, and I can't wait to see how our performance turns out, as well as watch the other performances. I'm sure they'll be spectacular! Anyway, that's the rest of my day in a nutshell, so I'll be ending on this note. Thanks for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Free pizzas after our final practice together! ^^

A full Irish breakfast - a rare treat at AK Henry's after our second quiz

Fried rice for lunch

DAY 202

Mar 22

1) Today has been a free day for us. The only caveat being tomorrow is our quiz, so I suppose the plan is to allow us to study as much as we can before the quiz. And so I've been in the library as usual, studying and going over lecture notes for pretty much the whole day.

2) In the afternoon, I went over to the Mercer Cafe for lunch. Took my medicine right after (I'm on my second last day of meds) before getting my much needed rest. Woke up about half an hour later, refreshed, and carried on with my work.

3) I've covered so much material, yet I always feel that for something new I learn, something old must be lost. It's definitely not easy retaining all this information at one point in time. I guess I'll just try my best as always. Anyway, night passed soon enough. Another round of studying, and that's it for today. I'm packing up earlier tonight, as I have to be early for the test tomorrow. That's all for tonight, and thanks for reading as always. Have a great day, cheers!

Another view of St. Stephen's Green ^^

My fried rice

DAY 199

Mar 19

1) Today has been another typical day for me. Went to the library after my breakfast, and began studying for the whole morning. Today's focus was more on the Healthcare Behaviour and Patient Safety Module (HBPS), and I covered as much as I could.

2) After my lunch, I intended to chat with my parents for a while, only to find out the audio wasn't working - neither of us could hear each other! After many, many attempts, my dad came up with a solution - to use my mum's phone instead of the house PC, and it worked like a charm! I spent quite some time talking with my parents, until the effects of my medicine started kicking in and I had to go XD

3) Took a short nap, before waking up and studying for a bit. Then it dawned on me that I still had one more unfinished folio, and that was the Early Patient Contact (EPC) Individual Project. So I spent the rest of the afternoon tackling that, and I still haven't finished yet. Went out to Dunnes in the evening to do some grocery shopping (I'm planning to cook tonight), coming back in time for dinner. The rest of the night has seen me studying as usual, but I'll leave slightly earlier tonight as I need to go back to cook. Anyway, that has been my day today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Funny cartoon ^^

DAY 192

Mar 12

1) Today has been a long day for me. As it's nearing our next batch of quizzes, there's nothing much to do, other than to study and cover as much as possible. This afternoon we received our timetable from our class reps, and it did more than raise a couple of eyebrows. For HBPS (Healthcare Behaviour and Patient Safety) alone, we need to cover 24 lectures, out of which only 4 questions will be asked! So much effort, for what is potentially so little gain...

2) Anyway, I spent the whole morning studying as usual, covering the rest of the GIHEP lectures. I've by and large skimmed through the REGUB (Renal, Endocrine, Genitourinary and Breast) module, so I still have this and the HBPS to cover. Hopefully that will be covered before the test.

3) This evening, Ali, Maziad and I met to do the final proofreading, before submitting our group work for the HBPS Team Project. We shall expect a score and some feedback from Turnitin, and we will then amend whatever needs to be amended, before submitting it one last time. But for now, I'm just happy that we have submitted our first draft version.

4) Most of my night has been spent continuing what I started out to do today; going over past lectures. It may appear to be boring and monotonous - being stuck in the library all day - but I assure you I am more than happy here, learning new stuff about the human body every day. That's all for today, and thanks for reading as always. Cheers!

A lovely day today in St. Stephen's Green

Cooking for the next batch of food ^^

DAY 191

Mar 11

1) Today has been a normal, typical day for me in the library. I came directly after breakfast, and I've been sitting here the whole day. However, what I have not been doing, is studying the whole day, which many may assume. I studied in the morning, and then had lunch at noon.

2) In the afternoon, there was another HBPS Group Meeting in one of the study rooms. We are all but finished with the group project; now all that's left to do is to proofread before submitting our draft copy for feedback. Considering the deadline is next week, I am extremely happy and relieved that we managed to complete it in time.

3) I took a short nap afterward as I was really tired today. Probably I got up a little too early haha. Went to Dunnes to grab a loaf of bread, before coming back for dinner. After a while, it was back to studying. I still have much to cover, and I hope most of it will be sorted out when we have our next quiz (Quiz 2) in just two weeks. That's the end of my day, and thank you very much for reading. Cheers!

When food becomes art...

Hyped up for International Night! ^^

DAY 189

Mar 9

1) Today has been a very long day for me, even though we had no classes at all! It started off fine, with me walking to the library and getting some studying done. Then, from 11-3pm, my friends and I were discussing on various activities, including the latest issues on MMII (Malaysian Medical International Ireland). We have a lot of things going on right now, so I guess the onus is on me to juggle my responsibilities efficiently, while not forgetting my academics haha. It feels like SPM (Secondary Five Exams) all over again...

2) Immediately after that, our HBPS group had a meeting from 3-5pm. We're essentially done with the project, with the exception of meeting the word count limit. I'm proud to announce that we're more than double the maximum word count XD. So the next meeting will (touchwood) see us carrying out the final proofreading, before submitting our first draft via Turnitin for feedback. We have until next Monday to do this, and tomorrow is a full 8-5 day as usual. It doesn't get any better than this *sobs*

3) But my day was far from over. In the evening, I still had to go to RCSI to practice for the Lion Dance in preparation for International Night. By the time I came back, I was both physically and mentally drained. Nothing a good sleep cannot cure, I reckon. So I'm going back a bit earlier tonight. Anyway, tomorrow classes start at 8.00am so there's really no other option. At least I can look forward to the coming weekends... That's all for today, and hope you enjoyed reading about my day. Have a great day, cheers!

Zi Yan's birthday cake

(forgot to upload yesterday haha)

The usual suspects for breakfast

Day 167

Feb 15

1) Today has been quite a busy day for me. We had but three classes today, namely two REGUB and one HBPS lecture. With that in mind, I was bogged down by my individual project, which requires us to download an app and use it for two weeks, before critically appraising it by writing a report. This has taken up quite a lot of my time, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm doing it correctly, hence the pressure haha. At least the deadline is quite far away, April 4th if I remember correctly...

2) In the afternoon, I went to meet up with my Principal Investigator, Dr Darren Griffith. Earlier on, I had gone for an interview with him, to undertake a research project for the summer. Essentially, RCSI has an awesome Summer School Programme, which allows medical students to carry out research under a Principal Investigator (PI) for around eight weeks. But today, I approached him again for help in completing the application form, which would allow RCSI to provide me with a stipend (essentially a scholarship) to cover living expenses for the two months which I'm staying back.

3) We managed to fill in all the details, and all that's left to do is to scan the signed documents into the Mac, before uploading the completed application online. Hopefully, there will be a positive outcome haha. Anyway, I hopped over to the library after that, had a nice short nap, before waking up to study. I have really been slacking off recently, and I need to catch up before our first Card Signings next week! That's all for my today, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Not the most welcoming sight I would presume

Fun fact: Only in RCSI will someone approach you nearing closing time to offer free boxes of Domino's pizza leftover from an event (I took a box XD)

That's my homemade fried rice :)

DAY 165

Feb 13

1) Today was a very long day for us. Essentially another 9-5 lecture, and for some of them there wasn't even time for lunch! This isn't really healthy haha. Anyway, we had so many lectures, from REGUB, GIHEP to HBPS, and two P4S (Passport for Success) programmes. For me, I had my Small Group Tutorial at 4pm, which means I had to skip the last P4S programme.

2) To top it all off, the website where we download our lectures and timetable (called MOODLE) had gone down. So many of us had no clue of the upcoming lectures only until the very last minute. Fortunately, the problem has since been rectified, so it's all systems go again.

3) After what was essentially a full day of lectures, I was more than happy to pack my stuff and head to the library. Had my fried rice for dinner soon afterwards, and here I am trying to sort out my life haha. I have a lot of things to sort out, from appointments to projects and assignments, so I'm hoping to get all this done soon. Here's to more hoping XD That's all for today's blog update, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading, and have a great day. Cheers!

The RCSI Library, fully equipped with skeleton staff :)

My morning layout

Some pepperoni pizza

Fried rice for dinner ^^