DAY 437/438/439/440

Nov 11, 12, 13 & 14

1) The past three days have been a whirlwind of activity, as I prepared both mind and body for a weekend in the UK. I wasn't there for holiday though; rather to coordinate the hosting of UKECatalyst's first event - Coffee and Conversations with UKEC, and for the Induction Event for the 2017/2018 Executive Officers. And so, after spending a night over at my friend Vik's, we set out for the airport in the wee hours of the morning.

2) And who did we see in the bus? Denise, my friend/senior from UCD! Turns out she was going to Germany for the weekends. What a coincidence! We said goodbye to her and went our separate ways. Around two hours later, we found ourselves at London Gatwick Airport. Took the Thameslink to St. Pancras International, where we continued to our accommodation. After dropping off our luggage, it was time to explore. First, we went to the Malaysia Hall Canteen - to satisfy our craving of "nasi lemak". The afternoon was spent visiting many important landmarks, e.g. Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace, and Royal Albert Hall.

3) Our first event was Coffee and Conversations with UKEC - the title up for discussion was the recently announced Malaysian Budget 2018. Participants were invited to give their views and opinions regarding the Budget, while the moderator Vik prompted them and raised interesting questions for everyone to ponder. It was not a large turnout that we received, but a valuable event nonetheless. After the event, it was time for dinner. I went to a nice Mac 'n' Cheese shop to order a (you guessed it) macaroni and cheese cup.

4) Day 2 of the UK Trip Agenda - finally meeting up with everyone. It was a busy day from morning till evening, as we had an ice breaker session, followed by actual discussion of our trajectory for the rest of our term. In the evening, we had the pleasure of dining with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia), YB Dato' Sri Reezal Merican Naina Merican. He was very cordial towards us, asking each one of us to introduce ourselves, and having a casual conversation over a wonderful meal. After dinner, I had one more agenda of my own to complete - to meet my good friend Hon Wa. I met up with him at Queensway station, and he brought me to his place. Along the way, we stopped by various landmarks including Chinatown, Piccadilly Circus etc.

5) After a short tour of his university (Imperial), we walked to his accommodation. It was a nice chat we had about the good old times, as it was talking about our friends. I had to leave soon though, as the trains would stop operating past midnight. Day two, complete. Day three was our third and final day in UK. As usual, I took the Underground Tube to the Malaysian High Commission. The morning was spent having our committee photos taken, as well as hosting the High Comissioner, His Excellency Dato Ahmad Rasidi Bin Hazizi. He spoke to us about his experience working in London, and he how he felt about the prospects of Malaysia achieving the targeted goals of TN50.

6) After his departure, we were broken into different groups to come up with a solution to challenges facing UKEC. We were required to come up with a presentation after lunch. Our team went first, then Vik's, as both of us had to catch the 5.30pm flight back to Dublin. We said goodbye to everyone, and hurried to St. Pancras. Took the Thameslink to Gatwick, and from there it was back to Dublin. We touched down at around 9.30pm, just in time for us to grab Burger King for dinner. I took the LUAS back, and had to mentally prepare myself for the Quiz 2 the very next day. That has been my weekend, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks for dropping by, and have a great day. Cheers!

High Commission of Malaysia, London

(UKEC)

P.S. The following pictures are in reverse order, from newest to oldest. Keep scrolling :)

Back in Dublin

(Grafton St)

King's Cross, London

St. Pancras International

More deliberation on the third day ^^

Teh Tarik Talk :)

With Vik

UKECatalyst group members

Individual photo

Farewell at the station...

Rolls Royce engine

The Queen's Tower

Sir Alexander Fleming Building,

Imperial College London

Piccadilly Circus at night <3

At Five Guys 

(I tried their peanut butter milkshake with bacon bits!)

With Hon Wa, my friend from secondary school

Chinatown!

With the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia), 

YB Dato' Sri Reezal Merican Naina Merican

Dinner beckons - at Selera Restaurant (Park City Grand Plaza Hotel)

Two birthday cakes, for a lot of people

Lunch :))

Second day - getting to know everyone :)

Mac and cheese cup at The Mac Factory

Coffee and Conversations with UKEC event

Victoria Memorial, London

Sir Simon Milton Square

South Kensington Station

Victoria and Albert Museum

Imperial College London

Imperial College of Science and Technology

Royal Albert Hall

The Albert Memorial

In front of Kensington Palace

Kensington Park

Nasi lemak and air sirap

(the nostalgia kicked in)

High Commission of Malaysia 

(Malaysia Hall London)

Euston Station

St Pancras

Waiting to board the Thameslink

DAY 434/435/436

Nov 8, 9 & 10

1) Towards the end of the semester, there has been a greater emphasis on my studies, which unfortunately means less interesting activities to write about in my blog. Continuing on from the previous blog update, we had our JC3 Outbreak Quiz, which was rescheduled due to Hurricane Ophelia. It was an hour test, which required lots of calculations, and some critical thinking. We received our results that very day too!

2) After the quiz, it was time to prepare for our Card Signing - the (hopefully) last card signing we'll ever have. After this, it will just be our Anatomy Practical Finals that we will have to worry about. I say 'just' but that is 13.16% and 12.5% respectively right there, for the Neuroscience module. Anyway, Card Signing (for Group B) was today. As usual, we all filed into the Anatomy Room at sharp 2pm, and started shortly after. Our examiner was Mr. Blayney, retired Consultant ENT Surgeon.

3) To cut a long story short, I didn't quite manage an A. All those lapses in concentration started to take its toll on me, so that I felt I deserved what I got. To be honest, I'm just so very glad that it's over, because I can now concentrate on my next task - Quiz 2. This is the last major "Quiz" before our End of Semester Exams in early December. But it couldn't come at a worse time - a) three days after Card Signing, and b) my visit to UK will hinder my studying.

4) As I mentioned, I'll be flying to UK tomorrow for the UKEC's First Introductory Event of 2017/2018. Basically, we will have a side event in the form of Coffee and Conversations with UKEC - gathering student participants from the various universities to give their opinions on "What Constitutes a Constitution?" Also, the whole of Saturday and Sunday would be the first meeting with everyone, which will help us establish contacts and get to know who we'll be collaborating with. A lot to ruminate about, but also a lot of exciting new events to look forward to.

5) At the end of the day, we have less than a month to go before our exams begin. After that, I'm looking forward to a long and well-deserved break. More details on my holiday plans coming soon. Until then, thanks very much for tuning in, and have a great day. Cheers!

Christmas is coming ^^

As I was blissfully tucking into Boojum at the Dispensary...

Along came the Fire Alarm, sending everyone out of the New Academic Building...

As you can imagine, not everyone was happy to be chased out in the middle of their activities...

(but I definitely agree it is better to be safe than sorry)

DAY 431/432/433

Nov 5, 6 & 7

1) After a very busy couple of days, things have settled down a bit. But not for long, as we have the first of many quizzes/tests this week. Tomorrow is the JC3 Outbreak Quiz, an hour long quiz on some statistics using Excel. On Thursday, our group (Group B) has our Card Signing 2, which I have had no chance to prepare due to the myriad of activities I have been involved in lately. Finally, next Thursday is our Quiz 2, which includes everything we've studied since Quiz 1.

2) Anatomy Class today was quite interesting, as we were covering the lectures on the eye. We got Mr Quinlan as our surgeon prosector, and he went through the lecture, testing us on our knowledge. Although it may sound really gross (and indeed I felt the same initially), we had the opportunity to remove the eyeball from a prosected specimen, by first removing the muscles attaching the eye. By using an aptly called "bone nibbler", my friend Stavros picked away at the pieces of bone that contained the eye in the socket.

3) Once that was done, we switched roles, and I worked around the eye - cutting away at the muscles that held it in place, with a scissors. It took me a LOT longer than I had expected, but at last we managed to remove the eyeball. It was the first time I had actually seen the eyeball, including its contents - the lens, aqueous humour, vitreous humour etc. You know the saying "to sneeze your eyeballs out"? After today, I highly doubt that is actually possible. Indeed, the Mythbusters have proven that it is possible to sneeze with your eyes open, and your eyeballs definitely do NOT pop out XD

4) Apparently there is a train strike tomorrow, affecting all Intercity, National Rail, and DART services. Although no mention of the LUAS was made, I really am not taking any chances. I've decided to put up at my friends' place for the night, so that I won't be late for my exams tomorrow. Anyway, that has been a summary of my day(s), and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks for reading, and have a nice day. Cheers!

Spending the night at an undisclosed location

Free Cake

(Don't ask where it came from, just know it's free XD)

Looks delish (I didn't try it though)

What I expect to be calculating tomorrow

Free Tesco muffins (from MUNC Event)

DAY 429/430

Nov 3 & 4

1) Again, a very busy weekend for me. On Thursday night, I attended the Surgical Society Event - Life of a Surgeon. We had three distinguished surgeons - RCSI's own Prof Gillen (General Surgeon), Ms Carroll (ENT Surgeon) and Mr. Barry O'Sullivan (Plastic Surgeon). It was a huge coincidence that I got to meet Mr O'Sullivan, as he was the very surgeon who had performed that DIEP flap breast reconstruction surgery in Beaumont, when I shadowed him over the summer. Anyway, each surgeon talked about their pathways, the very high "ups" and very low "downs" of their field. One could sense the great moral burden they had to shoulder when determining the outcome of a critical condition. The talk gave me newfound respect for the enormous sacrifice these surgeons make on a day-to-day basis, which included blocking off any negative emotions on the outcome of a previous case, and instead focusing all remaining energy on each subsequent one. That, more than anything else, can make or break a person.

2) On Friday night, I had been invited by MMII to present my research experience in UCD, at the Charles Institute of Dermatology. Around 50 attendees were confirmed, with student researchers from RCSI, UCD, and TCD talking about their research. Each one of us had our own "booths" set up, where we displayed our posters. At 7.40pm, everyone was ushered into the meeting room. The President of MMII (Michelle) gave a short welcoming speech, and explained the flow of events. Participants were broken into groups, and each group would have around 10 minutes for each booth. At each booth, the researchers would explain their research projects, including applications, funding, grants, and reflections. So off we went.

2) Altogether, we had four rotations i.e. four groups came to visit my stand. I only had one poster available, so the other one was in my laptop. I talked about research in both areas, and how it gave me a better appreciation of the theory work we have in medical school. It was gratifying to see the large turnout and the enthusiasm that the attendees had towards research. It is, after all, a very rewarding and beneficial experience. After the booths, we moved back to the meeting room, where one of the UCD researchers (Eunice) talked about her experience in applying for external funding. Then the event was over, and everyone went back home. An evening very well spent.

3) The whole of my Saturday was spent attending the Crisis Event, organised by the RCSI Model United Nations Society. It was an extremely thrilling event, where each participant was assigned a member of the Turkish government, and had to come up with a directive (solution) to a zombie outbreak. I was assigned the role of Prime Minister, Binali Yildrim. It was crisis after crisis, as events developed throughout the course of the day. We had to deal with internal and external crises, as various ultranationalist parties, foreign intervention, and cults ran rampant. Nevertheless, I am sure everyone learnt a great deal from the experience, and I'm personally looking forward to more events in the future. The rest of my day will be spent desperately trying to catch up with my studies, as we move ever closer to our final semester exams. That has been my day, and I hope you enjoyed reading about it. Thanks very much for tuning in, and have a good weekend. Cheers!

Thank you very much MMII!

It was a wonderful experience

RCSI MUNC Crisis - delegates of Turkey! 

At the UCD Charles Institute of Dermatology, with Eunice (UCD) and Wei Herng (RCSI) ^^

Albert Lecture Theatre - for the "Life of a Surgeon" talk

Prof. Gillen started the ball rolling with a frank representation of a surgeon's life

Wine and cheese reception :)

With Mr O'Sullivan, whom I had the privilege of shadowing at Beaumont

Me and Melissa, with Ms Carroll (ENT Surgeon)

With Mariss, the quintessential international RCSI student

My booth :)

Researcher for a Day...

MMII Event - welcoming speech by the President

Another take on my poster

The Charles Institute Charter, I presume

Am loving the pen too :)

On muffins and coffee/tea

Boojum FTW :)

Group photo time :)

PC Victor Yoon

A bit blurry haha

Too many photos, too many memories :^)

DAY 428

Nov 2

1) I promised more details on what has kept me busy these past couple of days. So here goes: I've recently been convinced to apply for a position in UKEC. For the uninitiated, UKEC (United Kingdom and Eire Council) is the national coalition of Malaysian student societies across Britain and Ireland. To be honest, prior to coming here, I had absolutely no idea what UKEC was or what it stood for. Then I found out that some of my friends (in both RCSI and UCD) had joined and I was interested in finding out more.

2) The UKEC, simply put, has many overarching goals. They provide a platform for intellectual discourse, while tackling various issues such as employability, brain drain, promoting our nation, and promoting unity. In UKEConversations, students have the opportunity to present their opinions online, in a professional and supportive environment. CEKU, the editorial arm of UKEC, runs a student magazine chronicling exciting student articles for Malaysians everywhere to read. We also have many internship and volunteer opportunities for those who are interested.

3) UKEC is divided into four equal and distinct offices: UKECareers, UKECatalyst, UKECares, and UKEConnect. After doing some background research, I was interested in joining UKECatalyst, the intellectual arm of UKEC. We are the proud organisers of the Projek Amanat Negara (PAN) Conference, which gathers together young, talented student leaders and prominent figures to engage in non-partisan dialogue. We also have smaller, more regional-orientated conversations regarding our country's socioeconomic stance on various issues. To put it succinctly, the core thrust of UKEC is it aims to empower and inspire the next generation of Malaysian youth leaders, as well as giving a voice to the various Malaysian student bodies both local and abroad.

4) After submitting my application form, I was required to go for a Skype interview with the other committee members. It was a short interview with the usual suspect questions - what can you contribute; why should we choose you; how would you balance your studies and commitments here? I answered as best I could, and was pleasantly surprised to find out (a few days later) that I had been offered the position. I personally feel that assuming my duties here would equip me with more knowledge and insight into the way our nation is run, and to at least understand the reasons why it is run the way it is.

5) All in all, I have more responsibilities to juggle than before, with further implications as well. I shall endeavour to do the best I can with what I have, but no compromises to the quality and content of this blog. Thanks very much for reading, and have a great day. Cheers!

DAY 425/426/427

Oct 30, 31 & Nov 1

1) I've been pretty busy over the past couple of days (more updates to follow in the next blog post!). A number of events have transpired after I finished the marathon on Sunday. First up, my pal Zi Yan gave me my 1st runners up medal for frisbee, which was held during the PMCSA Sports Day in UCD. I never got a chance to properly thank my teammates, but thanks very much for all the training sessions we had. Looking forward to the next one :)

2) Second important event was the PMCSA Annual General Meeting (AGM) yesterday. The event was mediated by Aisha, and consisted of the bowing out of the previous committee, and the election of the coming one. Among all the posts contested, only the position of Vice President had more than one contender. So off it was for everyone to promote themselves, and convince the audience why they were a good fit for the job. It was very reassuring to see all those who stood up for a post getting nominated. In the end, the 2017/2018 President of PMC Student Association will be Khee Heng! Congratulations to everyone.

3) Today, we had our Flipped Tutorial, attended by two or three members of each group (Team Project Group). Essentially, a lecturer presented us with hard copies of the project lecture, and spent time with each group to answer our questions. At least we clarified some points on our project. Then it was time for RCSI MUN Club's first Crisis event - at TR2/3. This is a precursor to the full-scale Crisis event happening this Saturday. Rudy, the Co-President, gave a brief presentation of what constitutes a Crisis, including the standard procedure and terminology used.

4) That has been the summary of the past couple of days, and I hope you enjoyed it. More to come in the next one, including what has been occupying my time recently. Thanks very much for visiting, and have a great day. Cheers!

GG RCSI Frisbee Team

My first PMC Sports Day medal :))

Scrambled eggs

Nasi Lemak tasted delish after such a long time <3<3<3