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 186

Mar 6

1) Today has been a really cold day. As I was walking to RCSI in the morning, my cheeks were freezing, especially when the wind blew. And blew the wind did, which made me wonder when spring would come. According to the weather forecast, the temperature in Dublin for the next couple of weeks are not expected to change. I can't wait for the time when I can wear a T-shirt and shorts again, but I guess I am in for a long wait then haha.

2) Today's lessons were not particularly long, but this was to facilitate the Principal Seminars, which start today. Mine is tomorrow, and I've been busy trying to finish my presentation within the time limit. There's just so much to talk about, and not a lot of time to present it all. Anyway, after our lessons, I packed my stuff and went to the library as usual.

3) Had my usual lunch and afternoon nap, before studying for tomorrow's lectures on Anatomy. Towards the evening, I continued practising on the five topics for the Principal Seminars. On a side note, it just struck me how fast this semester is passing us by. We are less than a month and a half away from our first exam (OSCE - Objective Structured Clinical Exam), which is on the 22nd next month. Anyway, time to pick up the pace as they say. That's all for my blog today, and I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading as always, and have a great day. Cheers!

Mercer Library

(my second home)

Breakfast

Rice with mince meat, onions, mushrooms and egg

DAY 180

Feb 28

1) Today has been a normal day for me. As I have said before, I have a lot of catching up to do, and not a lot of time to do it. Anyway, after breakfast, I made my way to the library, where I've been the whole day. Later in the morning, I went over to RCSI for the lion dance rehearsal. I'm really happy because we made good progress, and will (hopefully) on schedule before our full dress rehearsal in a couple of weeks.

2) The whole afternoon I spent a) having lunch, b) taking a short nap, and c) trying my best to memorise my answers for the Principal Seminars. As my group is due to present next Tues, we have a lot to memorise, and a lot to present as well haha. Essentially it is one topic out of five, but we won't know which topic until ONE minute before the actual seminar. Definitely not something to be taken too lightly...

3) Come evening time, and I'm still in the process of memorising. Off and on, my mind drifts away and I'll take a break to do something else. As much as I might want to do well in my exams, I also recognise that there's absolutely no point in going all out, if it means over stressing my mind and body. Nothing else important happened today, other than me having some supper and returning home to sleep, of course XD. That's all for today, and I hope you'll visit again tomorrow for my next update, Stay tuned, cheers!

Yes - RCSI is also the professional training body for surgery in Ireland

The most important meal of the day - breakfast! :D

Pasta

DAY 178

Feb 26

1) Today has been a day of playing catch-up with my studies. Woke up early, had my morning toast and went to the library. I spent the entire morning and the better part of the afternoon working on the five Principal Seminar topics. Finally finished writing everything down, and now the only thing left to do is memorise all of it haha

2) After a short nap, I started working on my group's team project. I finally finished my allocated task, and there is very little left to do before we are finally finished with it. Thank goodness for that, for I'm not someone who multitasks very well. Anyway, by this time it was already evening, so I went to have my dinner at Mercer Cafe.

3) The evening was spent tackling the individual project, which had to be completed soon as well. I still have some way to go before finishing up, but at least I'm getting closer. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish all of this soon, so I can start focusing on studies again. That's all for today's blog update, and tomorrow promises to be more eventful. Thanks for reading, and have a great day. Cheers!

Unitarian Church

Yes, I'm experimenting with signatures...

Batch-cooked pasta ^^

DAY 177

Feb 25

1) Today has been an eventful day for me. I came to the Basketball Court (RCSI) early to play captain ball - a ball game which loosely resembles basketball. My friends and I were training to play for the SEA games, hosted by University College Dublin. Due to unforeseen circumstances, that would not be the case, but more about that later. We had fun practising, and by around 11 we took the 46A bus to UCD.

2) When it was time to sign up, we found out that somehow, the RCSI team had submitted their registration forms too late, and so would not be eligible to take part. We were, however, given the opportunity to play with random teams as sort of a friendly match when the real games were going on... As expected, many of us were more than a little displeased, to say the least.

3) Anyway, we were idling about, exploring UCD's lush campus until afternoon, when we were given some lunch and a bottle of water. We grabbed the next bus back, and I returned to the library as I always do. Hopped over to Dunnes to replenish my stock of bread, and came back to the library. This week will see me preparing for our Principal Seminars, which is on the 6-8th of March. That gives me 11 days to prepare for 5 topics, before presentation and a short Q and A session. I'd best get started then XD So that has been my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Cheers!

UCD Dublin

The basketball court at UCD

I must admit the view is amazing

(truly a great campus life)

And it really was free! :D

Our lunch for today

My pasta for dinner ^^

DAY 70

Nov 10

1) Today was a tiring day for me. Had breakfast early in the morning, before proceeding to practice, practice and practice for our Principal Seminars. At around ten, got into my fancy outfit (it had to be formal) before walking to RCSI. Principal Seminar lasted for almost two hours, and each of us got a chance to deliver our speech, which consisted of one topic randomly chosen from ten topics.

2) I was the first to be called up. My topic was the role of tamoxifen as a partial agonist in treating breast cancer. Spoke for the allotted time, before trying my best to answer the resulting questions. After the seminar, our examiners gave us some feedback, and told us that as a team we had done a great job. My heart leapt for joy upon hearing that, as I felt all of us had already tried our best.

3) For my celebratory lunch(!), I went to Dicey's Garden. Today I tried the roasted pork chops, and boy did they taste great. I am not a fussy eater, but I have to admit that today's meal was extra delicious, maybe because of the immense burden off me haha. Came back home to have my bath, before Skyping with my parents for an hour or so.

4) Returned to my room for a short nap, and then it's back to the old grind, so to speak haha. I guess that's the life of a medical student here at RCSI. Anyways, tomorrow I have an appointment at Mercer Medical Centre, where they will do a blood test, and later on in the evening I'll be leaving for Mt. Errigal on a hiking trip. I guess there's that to be looking forward to haha. That's all for today, and thank you for reading. Goodnight!

Today I was feeling like Pork Chops haha

Sweet BBQ Pork Chops

DAY 69

Nov 9

1) Today was an interesting day for me. Woke up early to have breakfast, before coming up to study. I had an appointment with my friends at 10.00 a.m. at Mercer's Library today, so we could discuss about the Principal Seminars tomorrow. After two hours, we had all finished our turn, so that was the end of that.

2) Walked all the way to Moore Street, where I had lunch (and dinner(!) at Buffet 79. There was a smorgasbord of dishes, from Indian to Chinese to vegetarian, all for only €6.99! Bang for your buck, if I should say so myself. Anyway, ate to my heart's content, before taking a long, slow walk back home.

3) Came home to study, nap, surf net - rinse, cycle and repeat - and then had an orange for dinner later. Same cycle of events until bedtime, and I'm sure you are sick and tired of reading about me doing the same thing everyday haha. But that's what most students do before exams anyways, so I guess I'm still kinda normal? That would be all for today, and I bid you all good night. Cheers! :D

Photo of the day haha

Buffet lunch here!

Royal College of Surgeons Ireland

DAY 68

Nov 8

1) Today was an easy day for me, just like yesterday. Got up, had breakfast, before heading for lessons at RCSI. I finally got reimbursed for my trip to Cork, which is awesome since I didn't think I could get a refund. Sat down for lectures, including Anatomy Practicals (today we did the hand region) and by 1.00 pm, we were done for the day.

2) It was raining fairly heavily when I decided to have lunch at Dicey's. Tried out the roasted beef with horseradish sauce, and it was awesome. Thick slices of beef drowned in hot, rich sauce - comfort food if ever there was one!

3) Came back home to clean up, study a bit, and have a short nap. Woke up and continued preparing for our Principal Seminar event, which is this Thursday. Glad to be finishing soon. For dinner, I reheated the lamb rogan josh with pilau rice, and supplemented that with some veggies and an orange, to make it more balanced. Returned to my room to study/ surf the net, and that is all for tonight hehe. Once again, thanks very much for reading, and have a great day/night. Cheers!

It was raining when I went to Dicey's

Il piatto principale ("The Main Course") XD

 Inside Dicey's

Mah Dinner :D

DAY 67

Nov 7

1) Today was a slow day. Woke up in the morning to have my breakfast, before going to RCSI at around 10 a.m. I can't believe the weather was 1 degree Celsius this morning! Thankfully, the winter jacket I bought just yesterday kept me warm and toasty. After two lectures, it was time for lunch. Went to AK. Henry's and had their brown bread sandwiches, with chips. Then, it was time for yet another lecture. Somehow made it through, and that was it for today!

2) Walked to Mercer with my friends, where we practiced our Principal Seminars. Essentially, we are given 10 topics to prepare, but only have to present one topic, in 5 minutes or less. My seminar is this Thursday, so I have to prepare well since it is worth 10 marks. Finished practising, and I walked home to Leeson Street.

3) Went to prepare dinner, before sorting out my stuff for the day. This included confirming the appointment for our GP Visits, handing in the Cheque Refund Form for the Irish Mace Debates, receiving my package for the Run in the Dark Event which I'm taking part in etc. All in all, a day well spent. That's all from me, and thank you all for reading. Cheers!

Brown Bread Sandwich with Turkey Slices, 

Egg Mayo and Mozzarella Cheese

Voila - dinner is served! :D

DAY 59

Oct 30

1) Today was officially the most boring day of my time here, but also absolutely necessary for me. Woke up, had breakfast (tried out the new cornflakes I bought at Tesco), before going upstairs to study for a while.

2) Lunch time, and I decided to heat up the leftover samosas, onion and vegetable bhajis (fritters). Tasted really good, but wasn't very filling, so I had some cookies soon after. Then it was back to my room to prepare for the debate at UCC soon.

3) For dinner, I tried to make a tomato sauce to accompany the Scotch egg I had, and it turned out just fine! Accompanied by some veggies and it was a very hearty meal indeed. With dinner taken care of, it was back (for the THIRD time) to study and prepare for my Principal Seminars. Finally managed to cover most of it.

4) That is essentially all I did today. It wasn't fun I admit, but it was important that I finished off the outlying work I had, so that I was prepared for the upcoming lectures. I'll end on this note, and am looking forward to taking the rest of the night easy. Thank you for reading, and have a great night!

Runners taking part in the SSE Airtricity Marathon,

 which flagged off today at 9.00 a.m.

Lunch was simple and delicious!

Dinner :)

Scotch egg