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 130

Jan 9

1) Today I woke up much later than usual (around 9.00am), most likely because I slept at around 3.00am haha. Took care of breakfast, before reheating a very special Greek dish called makaronia tou fournou, specially prepared by my housemate, George's mother, who hails from Cyprus. It roughly translates to "oven macaroni", and is usually eaten during festive occasions. In this case, George gave this to me when he came back from Cyprus, in conjunction with my birthday! I was so excited to try out authentic Greek cuisine haha. I had to reheat it in the oven for 1.5 hours though, so I stayed downstairs typing out the previous two blog updates which I had conveniently neglected.

2) Left for the library at around 11.30am, and unpacked everything at my usual spot in the middle of the library. For lunch, I had the macaroni and gosh it tasted amazing! It fascinates me that every country/ region has their own adaptations to dishes, and it is this variety that makes our food so unique. I can't wait to try dishes from all the different nationalities ^^ Anyway, my afternoon was spent finishing the animated movie "Children Who Chase Lost Voices", another masterpiece by Makoto Shinkai. A quick nap later, and I was chatting with some friends online.

3) In the evening, I took out my homemade "oyakodon" or chicken-and-egg rice dish, a Japanese staple. Okay I admit the one I made looks nothing like the actual thing (Google it!), but at least it tasted all right to me XD. At night, I was busy watching some videos online, and also sorting out files and folders on my desktop. I have to start preparing for the next semester (called JC2 or Junior Cycle 2), which promises to be more challenging than ever. As if JC1 was not tough enough already. Oh well, I guess there's but one thing for me to do: survive. That was my blog update, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks very much for reading, and goodnight. Cheers!

My morning toast

"Oven macaroni" made my George's mom!

(The Greek writing reads "makaronia fournou" )

Lunch

My "oyakodon" XD

Operating Theatre in the 1890's

(Photo taken at Mercer Library, RCSI)