DAY 774-780

Oct 16-22

1) And another week has passed. As I count down the days till our exams finish, I'm increasingly aware that I will soon be leaving Ireland. It is indeed a shame that as much as I would love to maximise my remaining time here doing fun exciting activities, I still have to keep my studies a priority - or I wouldn't be going back XD.

2) As it is, my friends have been very supportive, and I find myself hanging out with everyone a little more. Knowing that everyone is going through the same phase certainly helps, as we can relate to each others' problems. My routine has not changed one bit - I still arrive early at the library everyday, and I leave when it closes - 10pm on weekdays, and 8pm on weekends.

3) One thing I've discovered is that breaks are really important. Everyone deserves a break, regardless of how close exams are or how much left they need to cover. I've always felt a lot more energised and in the mood to study after a well-earned lunch break with friends in the canteen. And I realise that when I do return to Malaysia, it is these memories that I will take home with me - not the ones spent cramming information in a secluded spot in the library.

4) In less than a month, it will be time for our annual Farewell Dinner - for the Malaysian (and international) students returning to Malaysia for their clinical stage of the course. It was only yesterday when I attended my first Farewell Dinner, for the seniors two years above. I still remember thinking what a long way we have to go, and yet here I am. Frankly, time has wheezed by (mostly due to the studying XD) and soon it will be time to bid each other farewell. But it's never goodbye, only until we meet again.

That's it for today's blog update, and thanks for tuning in as always. Have a nice week ahead, cheers! :D

With Andy, Barry, and Hazel at the (staff) canteen, Beaumont :))

- ft. a rare 1920 note called "Reichsbanknote" in front of my plate -

With Amirah and Ice at "1784" Cafe in the main campus, St. Stephen's Green :))

Munch ado about nothing ^^

Ein Hundert Mark (One Hundred Marks)

- 1920 note from Hazel's inventory -

Roast chicken with roast potatoes and carrots

(I've discovered stuffing is free XD)

Jacket potato with a side of chips - dinner on a lazy Sunday...

Spice burgers with mash potatoes and kale - courtesy of my awesome host mom Emma! :D

Beaumont Hospital is getting into the Halloween theme now!

Ghastly...

Baked salmon and vegetable mash, drowned in gravy

(believe me the gravy is very much necessary XD)

A rare look into the staff cafeteria :)

Finally received my certificate for being a Peer Led Tutor at RCSI

- I covered Fundamentals in Biomedicine 1 (FUN1) with Joshua last semester :)

A huge burrito bowl at Burritos and Blues - a long-term craving satisfied! ^^

(the red dots are form the hot sauce you can see on the left)

Microbiology Tutorials at the ERC Integrated Lab of the RCSI Smurfit Building

6 hot wings with fries and salad - at "1784" in the main campus :)

DAY 503/504/505

Jan 16, 17 & 18 

1) It's back to business as we started our first semester yesterday at Beaumont. I'm personally very glad that I made the choice to move here, as I do not have to go through the daily hassle of taking a 40-45 min bus ride to class everyday. Anyway, I met up with many of my friends, and we chatted about our holidays during the registration. Shortly afterwards, there was an induction lecture by Prof. Alice Stanton, IC1 Coordinator.

2) We had an hour long break, so my friends and I went to the canteen for some food. The meals here at Beaumont are really cheap and filling. The only downside is you can only pay by cash... Then classes officially started, with Prof. Mary Leader giving the introductory lecture on Pathology. She gave another two lectures in the afternoon, covering 119 slides of the insanely huge 342-slide lecture module - Neoplasms.

3) There are three separate modules this term - Foundation in Pathology, Foundation in Microbiology, and Cardio-Respiratory. Many seniors have previously warned us that the amount of content thought can be overwhelming. Personally, I feel the added burden already. Good thing we have (most) Fridays off then :)

4) Finally, the one thing that was really on my mind yesterday was my results. Although I had put in what I can only call (unashamedly) a Herculean effort, I was well aware that I did not do as I expected in a few of my exams. In particular, I was dreading the outcome of the EBH/PHE paper, which in all fairness, quite a number of my friends felt was difficult too. By noon, all had been revealed, and I am only so thankful that I managed to obtain good grades. While it is way too early to say, replicating those results again this semester will be an absolute nightmare. But at the very least - I can try.

5) That has been a summary of my day-to-day activities, and thanks for stopping by. Hope you enjoyed reading, and have a nice day. Cheers!

IC1 here I come :)

The foyer just in front of our lecture theatre

Our lecture theatre - the Robert Adams Lecture Theatre

"How many of you are coming to Beaumont for the first time?"

"Haha, not me. "

Cafetaria

Fruitcake (eaten), sausage, a tonne of beans and scrambled egg, and an omelette-

all for only €2.80!!

Heartsaver CPR AED Course Certificate :)

Thanks so much Melvin and Melissa for the birthday present! 

It was really thoughtful of you ^^

DAY 381/382

Sept 16 & 17

1) I'm running out of things to say here. It's not easy coming up with details on how your days went by, if all you're doing is spending time in the library. The answer may sound simple: go out for a walk, go out with your friends etc. But being the cold-fearing person that I've gradually become, I far prefer to stay indoors if I can help it. Especially since the weather has taken a turn for the worse. So instead of boring you with how I spent the last two days (honestly I was stuck in front of a computer for most of the time anyways), I'm going to share with you some of my favourite songs - as well as the memories that I associate with them. (I promised to talk about my musical interests in an earlier post, so here goes :D)...

2) Back when I was in kindergarten, I used to enjoy listening to a CD recording of "Greatest Hits -Golden Oldies" that my grandparents had. Not surprisingly, I became fond of some really old tunes - including "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "Only You" by The Platters, "The Tennessee Waltz" by Patty Page, "Love Letters in the Sand" by Pat Boone, etc... I vividly remember singing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" during an award ceremony at the tender age of five, and not many actually having heard of the song before. To be honest, I never really understood the lyrics until I was older XD

3) I missed a year of school when I was six. Having skipped a year when I was five, I had to wait another year to enter Primary 1 (at age seven). Hence I had loads of time to explore the large collection of CDs that my family had. I listened to everything from The Carpenters, Engelbert Humperdinck, Barry Manilow, Elton John, Bee Gees, The Beatles, John Denver, to name but a few. Sometimes when my dad was free, he'd help me jot down the lyrics so I could practise singing to the tune (this was wayyyyy before we had the Internet, okay?)

4) Fast forward to my primary and lower secondary school years, and these can collectively be called my "gaming years". The days when I was an avid gamer, glued to the TV and with no other purpose in life than to progress further into career mode. Along with these games, however, came music that have stuck in my head even until now. As I was customising my favourite car in Need For Speed Underground 2, "In My Head" by Queens of the Stone Age was playing. Every time I booted the game on, "Riders on the Storm (Remix)" by Snoop Dogg would automatically play (there wasn't even an option to deselect it, so you were forced to listen to it every time you played the game). Not forgetting such classics like "Give It All" by Rise Against, and "The Celebration Song" by Unwritten Law.

5) Then I got Need For Speed Most Wanted, and my default soundtrack changed to "Blinded in Chains" by Avenged Sevenfold, and "In a Hood Near You" by Suni Clay. I remember challenging my friend Jonathan over who could complete the game first (by beating out other "Blacklist" members to be the No. 1 Most Wanted in the fictional city of Rockport). Good times, good times... Then it was to the next racing game - Burnout Paradise; and the theme song for it was "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses. There was a HUGE collection of classical songs in Burnout Paradise, and I was spoilt for choice when it came to choosing from them. Verdi's "Triumphal March from Aida" and "Nabucco: Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves", Debussy's "Carnival of the Animals: The Aquarium" and "Claire de Lune" - it was a unique experience racing at breakneck speeds and watching crashes unfold in 1920x1080 glory, as classical music played in the background.

6) In lower secondary, I used to go to the Internet Cafe after band practice on Saturdays. I'd begun diversifying from racing and fighting games, and now adventure (platforming) games entered my repertoire. Prince of Persia was right up my list, and I still remember going online to search for the solutions to the puzzles in the game. The Internet Cafe had a whole host of songs which I hadn't heard before. I particularly remember three: "1973" by James Blunt, "Colours of the Rainbow" by DJ Skeptyk, and "Into the Night" by Santana.

7) Around this time, I had my first taste of more modern music. One of my favourite bands that I always listened to was Linkin Park, and such songs as "In The End", "New Divide", "Numb", "Burn It Down", "What I've Done", and "Castle of Glass" became the staple whenever I was studying. I'd joke to myself that I would always be happy in life, because there were only two outcomes if I gave it my all: a) I'd succeed, and I'd be happy, or b) I'd fail, and then I'd just sing "In The End" to make me feel better XD. Indeed, I've failed many times before, and songs like these provided that modicum of comfort that I needed. That would also explain my complete and utter shock upon finding out the recent death of lead singer, Chester Bennington. There were just too many memories associated with this.

8) As I entered my Pre-U studies, I recall diversifying to more modern music. Imagine Dragons, Avicii, Maroon 5, Coldplay, Westlife, Sam Smith, Justin Timberlake, Shawn Mendes - it'd come to the point where I was not selective with the genre, but rather the melody or "hook" of it. I had a playlist of all my favourite songs, and I listened to them while fervently studying for my A-Levels. During my gap year (before coming to uni), I'd stay up late and listen to EDM music - tracks by Alan Walker ("Fade", not "Faded"), Electro-Light ("Fall for Gravity"), Pegboards x MisterWives ("Coffins") started appealing to me.

9) I've completely neglected to mention songs in other languages. Since I was a child, I have always loved watching anime, and one of my all-time favourites was Samurai X (otherwise known as Rurouni Kenshin). I particularly love the 3rd Ending Song - "Heart of Sword" by T.M. Revolution, as well as the 6th Ending Song - "1/3 no Junjou na Kanjou" by Siam Shade. I remember waking up at 6.00 a.m. to watch a rerun of the previous day's two episodes, before going to school! Another anime I enjoyed was Yu Yu Hakusho - a highly acclaimed anime about a spirit detective battling demons in the underworld. One particular song resonates with me - "Taiyou ga mata Kagayaku Toki" by Hiro Takahashi, in that it was the last song I heard before going to Japan as an exchange student, in 2007.

10) Another anime in which I loved the music was Yakitate Japan - an anime about a boy who dreams of becoming the best baker in Japan. Tracks like "Chiisana Uta" by MARIA and "Houki Gumo" by RYTHEM bring back memories of days gone by. Last year, while attempting to binge-watch anime over winter, I came across some lovely Japanese animated movies. The exceptionally tear-jerking "Grave of the Fireflies" had the ending song "Futari", while the visual masterpiece "Sword of the Stranger" had "Ihojin no Yaiba". Perfection.

11) Going back to my Chinese ancestry, there are too many Chinese songs (both old and new) that I enjoy. Classics from Teresa Teng immediately flood my memory, including "I Only Care About You"  (我只在乎你), The Moon Represents My Heart" (月亮代表我的心), "Small Town Story" (小城故事), "Tian mi mi" (甜蜜蜜) and "When Will You Return?" (何日君再来). Also, "Nim Can Jan" (念亲恩) by 陈百强 (Danny Chan), "San Nian" (三年) by 李香蘭 (Li Xiang Lan), "Huang Hun"(黃昏) by 周傳雄 (Steve Chou), "Fairy Tale" (童話) by 光良 (Guang Liang), "Qi Shi Ni Bu Dong Wo De Xin"(其實你不懂我的心) by 童安格 (Angus Tung) - I could literally go on and on. I'd wake up on weekends to the tune of many of these songs playing, and I guess over time I've associated them with all the good memories of the past. Talk about classical conditioning XD

12) Any other songs in different languages that I enjoy? Definitely - Warisan (Sudirman Arshad), Pergi Saja (Geisha), Danza Kuduro (Lucenzo), Bewafa (Imran Khan) etc. I think it was Captain Nemo from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" who said, "great art and music live forever". Certainly I'd like to think that, along with food, art and music break down cultural barriers and connect people together. Music continues to play an integral part in my life - whether listening to songs as I study, or when I board the LUAS back home at night; music follows me wherever I go.

13) I've gone way longer than any of my previous blogs in narrating my life story, and with it, my love for music. I hope I've given you some insight into my personal life, and maybe you may have some favourite songs of your own, which you'd like to share! Anyway, that has been my blog update (and a very long one at that), and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Have a nice day, cheers!

Three more stamps to go at Boojums - till free T-shirt XD

Dicey's Before...

Dicey's After....

DAY 94

Dec 4

1) Today was another day of revision. Woke up early, had my breakfast, and it was straight to library after that. Studied for the morning, and then went to Subway to have lunch...

2) For €6, I got a nice lunch deal, with fizzy drink. My stomach full, it was back to the books haha. Then, at around three, I went over to my friend's apartment to discuss on anatomy. Stayed there for around two hours, then came back to the library.

3) Had an early dinner, and continued with my revision. I will be leaving the library a little earlier tonight, to make sure I have enough sleep for tomorrow's exam. Our first exam is the Anatomy Practical, worth 10% of our total CVR-UL (Cardiovascular and Upper Limb) Module.

4) As always, I will just try my best and hope things go as planned haha. That's all for today, and thanks for reading as always. Have a great day, cheers!

Orange with interesting structure ^^

Breakfast!

The long, long road to my house

Subway for lunch

Mince pie :D

Subway for dinner

DAY 92

Dec 2

1) Today was yet another routine day for me. Had some toast for breakfast, before making my way to Mercer Library, which has fast become my second home haha. Studied for a couple of hours, and then at around 11.30am, there was a revision for Anatomy in RCSI.

2) After our last revision session before our exams (in three days (!)), I went to have lunch at AK. Henry's, and met up with some friends. Next, I walked back to the library for another bout of studying. For dinner, I had brought some biscuits and a warm cup of tea...

3) Took a short break to unwind and maintain some semblance of sanity, before continuing studies for the better part of the night. I really am trying my best, but at the same time, I hope I'm wise enough to balance study with some down time, so I don't end up like a walking zombie, saturated with medical information but not much else XD

4) That is all for tonight's blog update. Thanks for reading as usual, and have a great day/ night. Cheers!

Toast for breakfast! ^^

Sandwiches at AK. Henry's for lunch

DAY 91

Dec 1

1) Today was a typical studying day. Woke up early to have some toast for breakfast, and headed straight to library to begin studying.

2) Around noon, I went to Burger King for lunch, and tried their Lunch Deals for €5.75. Left very satisfied haha. Then it was pretty much revising until evening...

3) Had dinner at Burrito Blues, just opposite Boojum. I ordered a quesadilla, and had some Mexican fries as a side. I managed to choose the spiciest sauce though, and that instantly opened up my sinuses haha

4) Came back to the library. After a while, it was time for our second session of Laporoscopic Surgery Tutorials, under Mr. Cuan Harrington. Today, it was free and easy, so we were allowed to pick our own tasks and complete them, under his guidance. I did all five tasks, and so did the rest. Essentially it was a revision session from the previous lesson.

5) Had a lot of fun playing "surgeon" for a day. Apparently the tasks that we did are the same ones required as basic skills needed to become a surgeon. It wasn't easy that's for sure. Anyway, came back to library at around half past nine, and I plan to stay here for a while longer before heading home. That's all for today, and thanks for reading. Cheers!

Toast

Mercer Library

Burger King Lunch Deals (€5.75)

Quesadilla for dinner (at Burrito Blues)

Me and Zi Yan with Mr Cuan Harrington

DAY 89

Nov 29

1) Today has been another taxing day for me. Got up and left for RCSI, where I had a bowl of porridge for breakfast (at AK. Henry's). Then, I started my studies until about 11am, when there was a revision session on Short Note Questions. Most of my friends attended too, and it was a productive hour which we spent there.

2) I bought a packet of sandwiches for lunch, and continued my studies until mid-afternoon. Then, I packed my books and headed to the library, where I further revised my notes until my brain was saturated. That doesn't mean I absorbed a lot; it just means I couldn't take in anymore information.

3) So I decided to call it a day, and went to Dunnes to do my groceries. Bought lots of oranges (for my sore throat) and some bread and cookies. Came back home and made some bread with jam for dinner. Somehow my appetite is drastically reduced when my throat is sore. Anyway, freshened up after that, and here I am, typing this out. I may or may not continue studying - only time will tell haha. That's all for the day, and thanks for reading. Cheers!

Porridge for breakfast :)

Sandwiches for lunch

A.K. Henry was President in 1953!!

Dinner (I had another slice after that, and two oranges :p)