DAY 187

Mar 7

1) Today has been an exciting day for me. This was the first time I overslept haha. Woke up at 7:40am, when I had a lecture at 8:00am. Did my best to hurry up, and reached RCSI by 8:10am. Anyway, lessons were on as usual with GIHEP and Anatomy today. Finished our lesson at 1.00pm, which gave me ample time to do some last minute practice on our Principal Seminars.

2) My slot for Principal Seminars was at 3.00pm, so off I went to Nightingale Lecture Theatre. There were only five candidates, and I was lucky number one. We drew lots, and I ended up with the fourth question, which was on viral infection and immune response. We had one minute to draw our diagrams, and another five minutes to present.

3) I went through everything as planned, and said all that I had to say. Afterwards, two questions were asked by the examiner (Prof Murphy - who also taught us this semester), one of which I wasn't able to properly answer. At least I gave it my best. Next it was the other candidates' turn to deliver their presentations, and after half an hour we were done. The examiners gave their feedback, and we were allowed to go back!

4) Finally, after this much preparation, we are finally done with Principal Seminars. I made my way back to the library, to respond to emails and generally NOT study XD, before coming back out to RCSI for our Lion Dance practice at 8.00pm. Tomorrow is our full rehearsal, which should take around 3 hours or so to complete. Hopefully, everything will be sorted out by then, and we can expect an awesome International Night 2017! That's all for tonight, and thanks as always for reading. Have a great day, cheers!

Art display in the library

Scones for breakfast (for a change ^^)

Homemade rice meal

DAY 122

Jan 1

1) And just like that a New Year begins! Can't wait to start the year 2017. And what better way to do that than to try something new? Today almost all major shopping complexes were closed, except for one particular Tesco Express. I bought some veggies and meat, in preparation for my new dish - fried rice! Never tried it before, and so I'm experimenting before lectures begin again.

2) Made a huge plate of rice for lunch! After that, I had a long and well deserved nap. Woke up about two hours later, before meeting up with Zi Yan to watch a movie at Meeting House Square. Just for today, they were screening the 2015 movie "Inside Out". Turned out to be a really enjoyable movie, especially the concept behind it.

3) Walked back to Khee Heng's apartment in the freezing cold weather, before reheating my packed pasta for dinner. I'm listening to some of my favourite songs as I type this out. That's all for my blog update today, and I hope you have a great day. Cheers!

Toast for breakfast

Ingredients for fried rice

My first attempt at fried rice ^^

Inside Out, screened at Meeting House Square

My reheated pasta dinner XD

DAY 33

Oct 4

1) Today I woke up extra early, so I could have breakfast before going to class. As usual, lectures starting at 8 a.m. are annoying, but at least tomorrow it starts at 10 a.m. We have anatomy practical sessions every Tuesday and Friday, which is very frequent compared to other universities. In fact, some schools have decided to do away with cadavers and use plastinated models or slides to teach anatomy. I can't comment on that, but I personally think that the intrinsic skills that we acquire by using a real cadaver - who generously donated their bodies that we medical students may research upon, are more than enough reason to continue with this method.

2) Our surgeon prosector today was Paul J Farrell, BSc, MB, MCh (NUI), FRCS, FRCSI, FRACS. He was extremely kind and jovial in manner, and even related to us stories of his children who ended up smoking, despite him as a doctor trying his best to prevent them from doing so. Anyway, anatomy was on the thorax, with some revision involved, since my group's first card-signing is due next Friday. Time to get prepared then haha.

3) Lunch was at AK. Henry's as usual, before another two lectures to end the day at 4 p.m. By the end of the day, most of us were mentally drained, and some even dozed off during lectures! I did my best to keep awake, and luckily I had finished studying the modules the night before. Went back home after lessons, made a quick dinner, and signed up for the Run in the Dark, a 5km or 10km race for charity (research for a cure for spinal cord disease). I chose the 10km option. Hopefully I will be fully prepared for my first run in Ireland. That's all for tonight, and thanks very much for reading. Have a great night!

The sandwiches at AK. Henry's are really really good...

But they can't lay a finger on MY cooking haha

My registration for the Run in the Dark

Event starts 16th Nov 2016 (8.00 p.m.)

DAY 27

Sept 28

1) Today was a sunny day. Woke up early, to complete my pilgrimage to St. Stephen's Green for my morning jog. I finally managed to dip under an hour for eight large rounds at the park. Came back for some cereal, before starting my daily routine of playing catch up with my lecture notes.

2) Made lunch slightly earlier, since I was planning to use the lunch time afterward to seek assistance for my phone. Hurried to finish washing up, and got myself ready for the first lecture today. With the first lecture done, I went over to Meteor to ask why I couldn't use the mobile data despite topping up €10 just two days back. After much talking, we finally managed to sort it out, and now my mobile data is available again.

3) Then it was back to lectures, including our first healthcare symposia, where a patient would present their story and we would learn to take down notes. They spoke really quickly and with a strong accent, so that it was not easy to pick up what they had to say. Anyways, we still tried our best. It was certainly interesting though, to listen to them explaining about their problems (in this case, arthritis) and how they learned to cope with it.

4) Back home, I prepared dinner as usual. Finished the last of my minced meat, which is great, since the expiry date was yesterday... Anyway, I still have a frozen dinner which I can reheat for tomorrow, so I'm still covered. Took a quick nap, before waking up rejuvenated, and proceeded to type this out. That's all the time I have, and thank you for reading. Bye!

Spaghetti for lunch

My room, which I share with my roommate 

from Myanmar

Bon apetit!

DAY 24

Sept 25

1) Today woke up early as usual to jog around St. Stephen's Green. Did 8 full rounds, which should translate to around 10km. The weather is getting colder and colder these days. Even with the Sun fully up, I can't feel the heat. And the winds are becoming stronger too. At least it's not raining. Anyway, came back for breakfast before - you guessed it - studying and revising the week's lectures.

2) For lunch, I heated up a frozen dinner - chicken korma with pilau rice. Tasted really good and hearty after the morning run. In the afternoon, I decided to pay Tesco Baggot a visit and found the prices there to be much (and I mean MUCH) cheaper than at Dunnes. I am definitely going to do my groceries at Tesco from now on!

3) Dinner comes soon enough when you're hungry. I blame the cold weather for it. I cooked pretty much what I will be cooking for a really long time here; rice with minced meat and vegetables. I used up the last of the rice which I brought to Ireland. After this, I will open the basmati rice I bought at Asia Market.

4) Not much transpired after that. Washed up, packed my stuff for tomorrow's lessons, before returning to my *studies*. Tomorrow's class starts at 8.00 a.m. Apparently the seniors weren't telling us everything when they said that class at 8 is only for the JC2 cycle. Thank god I'm an early riser then. Tonight's post is shorter than usual. But anyway, that's all folks! Cheers!

Lunch was delicious!!

One of the more amusing signs I saw on my way to Tesco

Dinner by the MasterChef XD

DAY 23

Sept 24

1) Today was a rainy day. Woke up to have some peanut cookies for breakfast, before trying to cover some of next week's lecture notes. Had an early lunch because there was badminton later in the afternoon. For lunch, I opened up the tin of tomato paste, so I could create spaghetti with minced meat bolognese. Worked pretty well I reckon, and only my opinion counts for this haha.

2) After lunch, waited for a while before suiting up for badminton, at Archbishop Byrne Hall. Turns out it is so much closer from my residence to the venue than from RCSI. It was raining a bit when I left, but thankfully nothing heavy; just a light drizzle. Badminton session commenced from 1-4 p.m. I partnered a friend, Andrew, a local here. We had a ball of a time, chatting in between matches as we let the others play as well.

3) Came back, got myself cleaned up, and prepared dinner. Tonight I would be having rice, with minced meat and mixed vegetables in a tomato sauce. Now you, the reader, know to what length I go to cut costs haha. Anyway, the food tasted delicious, so I won't complain. Ate an orange afterward because, digestion. Continued studying and covering lectures, until 9 plus.

4) Walked down to Mercer's to meet up with friends. We were going to watch a movie, called Tangled. I'm sure most of you reading this will have seen it, but I have not. It was not too bad, although if I'm honest, I prefer hand drawn animations better. But to each their own, I guess. So after that, returned home to my trusty laptop. Tomorrow promises to be a breath of fresh air, and I for one can't wait for it! Thank you for reading and have yourself a pleasant evening!

Spaghetti bolognese a la Kevin XD

Free banana after badminton session

Dinner - unusually filling and wholesome!

DAY 20

Sept 21

1) Today was a routine day. Got up to have some cookies for breakfast, before reading up on the previous day's lectures. There's just so much stuff to know, plus one more module (Introduction to Clinical Practice) to be introduced today! Oh well, I'm not complaining. As the saying goes, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Left for lunch at AK. Henry's as usual, before going early into the lecture hall to grab a spot before lectures began.

2) Lectures were short today because a large segment, called the Passport for Success programme, had been postponed. We did, however, learn about essential clinical skills and the professionalism associated with it. Apparently, there are many aspects of Clinical Practice that we will cover, from GP visits, healthcare symposia, all the way to having to create our very own portfolio at the end of JC1 (Junior Cycle 1). Really looking forward to the Early Patients Contact programme as well.

3) After lectures ended, I decided to pay the Students' Services a visit, to see if I could purchase a souvenir from RCSI. They had a wide range of items, from ties to jackets and even hoodies. In the end, I decided on a red hoodie with the RCSI logo and name behind it, for €25. I expect to receive it by tomorrow. With everything I set out to do for the day finished, I walked back home, just in time to prepare dinner.

4) Clumsy clutz me tried to boil rice without adding water to the surrounding vessel. This had the effect of the heating element essentially heating up the metal part of the rice cooker, which would result in overheating, and ultimately damage to the cooker. Fortunately, the rice cooker automatically switched off before any real damage was done, and I was still able to cook with it. I have to be much more careful next time. Would not want to damage the beautiful kitchen for my other housemates.

5) With dinner done, and the pots and pans washed, I showered before booting the laptop up to type this. It is fast approaching 9.00 p.m. I plan to take a jog around St. Stephen's Green tomorrow, so I will be sleeping earlier than usual tonight. Anyways, thanks for reading and have a great night!

 Vegetable au gratin - €3.95

(I'm trying to increase my intake of vegetables for lunch, 

to compensate for dinner)

One of the lecture slides

Minced pork with rice, 

and consomme soup

Dunnes Stores sells some really good chicken and potage soup

I will try other flavours in the future! :)