Another stick man insanity

The BGM is Fighter's Dream from Naruto. Guess who each character that shows up in the background are. Frankly, I didn't know almost half of them.

Day 27 - Dublin Zoo

I didn't update about this because I felt lazy over the weekend.

At 9am, I and 5 friends gathered at the no. 10 bus stop. This time, we didn't stop at the City Centre but headed straight to Phoenix Park. The scenery was the same as I remembered. Fallen branches and empty patches of dirt on the grass. Seriously, it's a big park, but if the entrance already sucks this bad, who would want to go further in? Even if the deeper parts looked A LOT better.

Tickets cost us 12.50 euros each. Painful but expected. If we didn't have our student cards, it would've cost us 15 euros instead!

Anyway, according to the map, there were 40 main animal exhibits split into several areas. As I recall, there was African Safari, Artic, Planet of the Apes and then some smaller exhibits like reptiles and domestic animals (cows, goats, dogs, cats etc)

I can't say whether the place was big or small. It took us about 5 hours to circle the whole zoo, but that included some resting time and walking into dead ends. Somebody explain to me why there were dead ends!?

The closest exhibit was the Planet of the Apes, where we saw spider monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas, lemurs and a few others. Xinyi had a weird way of pronouncing lemurs, "ler-mwers". We spent the whole journey joking about it, but frankly, I think it sounds better than "li-mers". I shall write in to the International Department of Animal Name Pronunciations and demand a change. Well, at least we soon learned that she wasn't the only one who pronounced it that way. We passed some French ladies who happened to pronounce it that way too.

Oh, and a chimpanzee was hitting on Xinyi.

Then, we got ourselves some ice-cream, hurting our pockets by another 2 euros. The ice-creams are no different than in Malaysia, except that almost every one of them had chocolate.

And then we saw seals. One of them really reminded us of Germaine. It kept dozing off, lifting its head up again and then dozed off again. I don't know how long it's been doing that, but when we came back from the African Safari (roughly 2 hours), it was STILL doing that. Why can't it just be satisfied with the stone floor and go to sleep!

Oh yeah, the African Safari was HUGE. Not surprising as it houses some of the largest animals on land. Elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes etc. There was a whole field dedicated to the various types of herd animals, such as zebras and giraffes. The elephants and rhinos got their own individual space. Well, who would want to put these behemoths near the small thin animals?

And then we saw the reptile house and birdhouse. Nothing much really. The insect farm and bird park back in Malaysia had more exhibits. Although I didn't like the way that owl looked at me. Like it was saying, "Come and get me, sonny boy!" from inside the cage. What did I do!?

And then there were the farm animals. It was feeding time for dogs and cats so we didn't see any. But we saw rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, cows, goats, mules, turkeys etc etc. The ponies did not come out today though.

And that concluded our tour. Bye bye, zoo! I might come back again 2 years later to see if anything's changed. Highly unlikely though. But I want my souvenirs!

Day 28 - Nothing. Laundry day, lazy day.

Day 29 - This had to be the most unfair morning since coming here. I slept early the night before. And I woke up with a headache. You have got to be kidding. I have class today. CSI too! I figured it would die down after sometime but it didn't. It got worse. By 10am, I had to keep pressing my eyebrows to keep awake (There's a part of your eyebrow that is hard and very sensitive. Press it with a finger and see for yourself. Got the info from martial arts fiction :P).

But I loved CSI and wasn't going to skip it even if I had to stab myself to keep awake. Also, if you miss a CSI lecture, you'll be pretty darn screwed because this ain't a subject you can improve on by reading notes and textbooks. It's about doctor-patient relationship! Textbooks don't help one bit!

Finally, class was over. I raced back home (uh...well... walked VERY slowly because every step I took hurt my brain). Yan Shun offered to cook dinner for me tonight. I didn't want to trouble him, but he insisted so I took his offer. And I slept from 2 to 6 after taking some medicine.

I ate dinner with Yan Shun and Valerie at 7pm and then left for the GameSoc Video Game Night at 8pm. I know I'm not supposed to, but nothing makes me feel better than good old video games. SSBB again. Don't they have anything else!? But then again, I bet the other party game they have is Mario Kart. NOOOO!!!!

I inquired more about the Go players here but I found out that only MathSoc had Go boards. Alright! I'm so joining them next year! I wonder if Stewart can help me get the Go boards. I don't mind if I have to play alone.

Day 26 - GameSoc Coffee Morning

Even thought they call it coffee "morning", it's actually held from 12pm to 6pm, which means right after my lectures. Of course, I went back to eat first.

Before going to meet the GameSoc, I went to the Student Clinic and finally got my blood taken. They do it a lot faster here, but when I peeled off the bandage, I noticed that they leave a longer scar.

It was a pretty lazy day. Everybody just sat around playing card games. Some were playing Magic the Gathering, while the rest of us who had no decks just played random card games with poker cards.

After a while, two guys suddenly asked me if I brought my DS. OH YEAH! Advance Wars time! Nobody back in college ever wanted to play against me, but now, I was actually being challenged! I immediately accepted the challenge without considering their strength levels. "The higher the better." I thought.

We played a 3 CO map but it was actually very biased. 2 players had access to a single empty island but the 3rd player did not. And of the 2 people, the better one was Plaher 3. He yielded pretty fast, since he was being rammed by 2 stronger forces. And I easily took down Player 2 later, since I had more influence on the independent land. He then cheated by not giving my DS during my turn. But I knew I'd won anyway, so I just let him be.

At night, both my housemates went out, so I cooked instant noodles again. 3 packets left... Better not get lazy about cooking anymore. Hmm... maybe I can get more at the Asian market.

Day 25 - MedSoc 100th Anniversary

It was also Guinness' 250th anniversary. By 7pm, the streets near Temple Bar had been completely packed! Me and Jen Yit had a hard time squeezing through all those people. But we did that regardless and found our way to Break for the Borders.

Just the night before, we received an e-mail from the MedSoc Event manager that MedSoc would be celebrating their 100th anniversary tonight. And they promised that it would be a BIG one with BIG cakes.

Well, the party was officially supposed to start at 10pm, but people only started pouring in at 12am. Ah well, more dancing space for us. I had a Guinness (since Nigel urged me to try the ones here). It was better than Malaysia's, but I still hate it. I finished it regardless. It cost me 4euros! I also got myself some Coca-Cola to increase my hyper-ness.

Lots of jumping and screaming and soon, I felt my energy draining. So, I bought a bottle of Megito, a sweet alcoholic drink. It was only 4% so not that bad. Oh, and it was cheaper than Coke, so why not?

I had lots of fun dancing and watching AJ and Jolin heating up the dance floor. I only quit after my knees ached horribly in protest. And here's where the bad luck starts. It always does when I'm having LOTS of fun.

Firstly, I missed the BIG cake! They cut and ate it all already when I got off the dance floor. And I didn't know until I asked Grace on the way back. Well, it wasn't such a bad thing. The next is worse. Think failing-an-exam-and-having-to-retake-and-fail-again bad.

I LOST MY LIONHEART PENDANT!!!!!!!!!! OF ALL THE GODDAMN BLOODY SHITTY CRAPPY !@#$%^%*&^(&%#$#$!@@! THINGS AND TIME TO LOSE IT, IT HAD TO BE THAT AND IT HAD TO BE TODAY!! THAT HAD A CERTAIN DEGREE OF SENTIMENTAL VALUE!!!

The Lionheart was a strength charm that allowed me to breeze through SPM and A-Levels. It wasn't a lucky charm though. Well, would you consider it a lucky charm when it keeps disappearing, and this time permanently? Sure, I didn't really need it, but it felt really good to be able to grab onto something when you're pushing yourself to do something. And not just anything will do. I'm an FF fan and a Squall Leonhart fan. It was a replica of his pendant and he called it "The strongest Guardian Force". Naturally (as stupid as it sounds), it means a lot more to me than some random lucky charm you find from a Chinese feng shui shop.

Oh, it was also a very precious gift from Hime-sama! I am SOOOOO SORRY, Hime-sama!!! *Bangs head on floor*

BANG!
BANG!!
BANG!!!
BANG!!!!
BANG!!!!!
CRACK!!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do the funnest times have to end with such horrible luck!!!!!!

I am never bringing ANYTHING but 30euros to a bar party again!! SCREW THIS!!

Day 24 - Archery Club

We had the whole day free on Wednesday. No classes, no practicals. So the first thing we did was head to city centre to finally settle our Garda card. We got our ticket at 9am. Our turn came at 1pm. WHAT THE HELL!?

Of course, we knew that would happen, which was why we went walking around town until 12pm. We first took a visit to our hated rival university who claims that they're better than us but we know they're not - Trinity College. Their Fresher's Week only began this week. HAH! Slowpokes!

Since Xinyi and Nabila haven't taken their breakfast, we went to eat at Trinity College's canteen. Their prices were almost insane! Everything was about 25% more expensive than UCD. But oh well, we just picked stuff that cost under 3 euros.

We then went to see then Bank of Ireland building. It was big, but can you believe that they have no restrooms for customer use there!? Once Isaac settled his stuff, we then went to find the kebab store Nabila wanted to try.

They ate, I didn't. I was hoping to go back and finish up all those leftover ingredients in my fridge. They sold some Shawarna which cost 8 euros in a set with chips and a can drink. They also had a 1/4 pounder set at 5 euros with chips and a drink.

We then returned to the Garda building and waited till it was our turn. My turn came at 12.40pm and I got my card at 1pm. Finally, with this Garda card, I don't have to carry my passport around anymore! Then we went grocery shopping and headed home.

At 5pm, I headed to the Sports Centre to look for the Archery Club with Jen Yit. We found them a little early as they haven't even set up yet. The Handball Club was still hogging the field. Some 15 minutes later, the coach came and asked us if it was our turn already. Our President replied that it would be our turn in 1 minute. The coach nodded and ushered his trainees to move aside.

We were split into groups and allowed to shoot. It felt kind of difficult at first, but I got the hang of it pretty quick. My team was the worst with the most scattered shots. The team to our left was the best with EVERY shot striking the bullseye. And they were all newbies and half of them were girls. WHAT!? Well, they definitely had a better teacher. Their teacher was always talking. Ours was always silent.

Anyway, after about 5 rounds (1 person gets 3 shots per round), I finally got the hang of it. I started shooting consistent shots, but for some reason, they just won't hit the bullseye, only the line seperating the bullseye and the red ring. Earlier, I already found a way that suited me very much and it allowed me to continuously hit the bullseye, but apparently "you're not supposed to shoot that way". Boo...

Well, the session ended at 8pm and we went home.

P.S. I started RP-ing on IAntiVirus. Hope you're happy now, Wei Yun! Now, you start being active on N5S Forums too!

Day 23 - Poker Night

Anatomy in the morning (How many times will I repeat this before I don't even bother anymore?). Headache!!

Then, Isaac accompanied me to the Sci-Fi Soc's coffee morning. There, we had biscuits and coffee while chatting about stuff. Geeky stuff. Geeky stuff which I'd rather spend my 3 hours playing Advance Wars than listen to. They were talking about DC and Marvel comics. The only knowledge I have of that is from Cartoon Network Cartoons and Choong Shern's vast knowledge of them (which I couldn't understand either).

After coffee morning, I went back home and then headed out again 1 hour later. I had to go get a document from the Student Desk. And then, Japanese class. A very Japanese-looking girl attended today. She spoke in complete fluent Japanese to the teacher... for 5 seconds. And then her vocabulary and grammar went to cloud nine. Boo...

Once class ended, I went to the Student Centre to check on the GameSoc. YES! They were there tonight! Playing poker though... with REAL money. I watched. I did not play, I swear on it. Until I start working, then I'll play. It's only 5 euros per night (or until you run out of chips). If I get a
job, the minimum wage is 8 euros per hour, or so they say.

I bumped into Nathanael who just left the Sci-Fi Soc's movie night. Some random Sci-Fi flick was on tonight. I didn't bother to go, but I'll likely go tomorrow when they show Star Wars.

Day 22 - Damn you, GameSoc and Sci-Fi Soc!

Morning = Classes. Yay! Chandralal is GONE FOR GOOD!!

In the afternoon, I had Biochemistry lab. Damn, it was difficult. Oh no, the experiment was easy. Writing the damn bloody report was hard! They gave us instructions that served to confuse us more than simplify things. It took me 45 minutes (including waiting time) for me to complete the experiments. It took me 2.5 hours to finish the stupid report! Yes, I was working overtime!

I had to rush back to Belgrove to make dinner then leave for the GameSoc and Sci-Fi Soc meeting. Since Nattanael (I just saw a letter with his name on it, so I know how to spell it now) cooked lunch for me this afternoon, I repaid the favour for dinner. Yuan Shi had already eaten though.

After dinner, I rushed to the Student Centre only to find the room which the GameSoc usually uses occupied by another society. I looked around for a while but couldn't find them. So, either they moved to another building or they cancelled it altogether. Either way, I didn't bother to find out.

I then headed to the Science Center to join the Sci-Fi Soc movie night instead. But they weren't in the room they told us to meet. I asked the reception if there were any other rooms being used by societies. They told me that the Sci-Fi Soc had cancelled at the last minute. WHAT!!??

Ah, darn it!

Day 21 - St Stephen's Park

I once mentioned a park near the City Centre near Dawson Street. I believe I typed the wrong name that time. Anyway, after completing my Sunday morning schedule, I took a bus to revisit St Stephen's Park.

The beauty of the place has somewhat deteriorated since the last time I went, most likely due to the changing of seasons. There were lots of people today, as expected on a Sunday. I saw lots of parents playing with their kids, couples flirting on the grass, weird groups (yes, several) of people doing stunts in the park (e.g. magic tricks, juggling, unicycling, clowning around etc.).

I also found a spot where the swans and ducks like to rest after coming out of the water. It wasn't hidden, though. I saw lots of people going there, but usually in small groups so as not to scare the animals. I got close to a swan and managed to snap a photo of me with it. I would've liked to touch it, but AJ warned me against doing so. I think I'll do it next time when I'm wearing leather gloves and a long sleeved shirt.

I went to take a look at RCSI as well. If I haven't said this before, I laughed at the college. Not only was it tiny, it wasn't even the one shown in the pictures. The pictures of RCSI that PMC showed us illustrated a traditional building that looked like only classy and knowledgeable people go to. But in truth, that was the old building which they hardly use now. The new building looks like any old office building, all squarey and boring. Haha!

Lastly, I took a stroll around streets I have not been to in the City Centre. Nothing much, just more shops selling a variety of things. I finally found a shop that sold anime, but it was just a tiny section in a 3-storey DVD shop. There weren't even many titles and half of them were Studio Ghibli productions.

And that concludes my day.

AWESOME!!

AWESOME!! AWESOME!! AWESOME!!! AWESOME!!!!

That's all I can say about this song! AWESOME!!!!!

Day 19 - Video Game Afternoon

Ah well, the morning was a s horrible as I had expected. Chandralal's terrible teaching skills opted me to just stare blankly into space while pretending to be copying notes. After the 1 hour of total boredom was over, we had a break till 2pm.

The 2pm class was a CAL class. I suppose I have not mentioned a CAL class before but these practicals are by far the fastest classes in our timetable. They put it down as a 2-hour session but in truth we usually only take 15-30 minutes to finish what we were tasked. What a waste of time!

As usual, I settled everything in 30 minutes and raced off to the Student Centre where the GameSoc was holding a video game session for 4 hours.

I found quite a number of time gathered in a room where there were 2 TVs and a projector. They had 2 XBox360s and a Wii at our disposal. They were playing Street Fighter 4 and Call of Duty 4 on the XBox whereas the Wii saw a competition between 4 players in Super Smash Bros Brawl.

I found myself playing Brawl more often than the others. Frankly, Brawl was better, because it showcased much more hilarious moments that would have gotten 10,000 hits in a day if posted on Youtube. Pikaby, you should know this pretty well.

In one match, there was only Kirby and Bowser left on the field standing on opposite sides of a ledge. Imagine those 2 idiots standing there with a considerable distance between each other attempting to attack each other. Kirby was continuously sucking and Bowser was breathing fire. It turned from tension to epic laughter when they kept that position for 3 minutes straight. Bowser then attempted to end the deadlock (?) by jumping over to fight, only to get eaten by the Pink Ribena and spat out of the field. However, the battle did not end there as the 2 of them continued to fight like crazy until Kirby used its Final Smash and successfully hit Bowser. However, Kirby was standing on a loose platform and dropped to its doom first before Bowser flew off the screen. Epic FAIL indeed.

In another match, I had successfully dealt 240% damage to my final opponent, but for some goddamn reason (and the fact that she's a pro that just owned 8 matches using Random), I just couldn't kick her off the field. I swear I was chanting "Getoffthestage!" for 1 whole minute. Imagine, 1 whole minute of being smacked off the battlefield and she can still get back on the field safely. I was using Mr Game and Watch and she was using Marth by the way.

Then, there was this one match which we had to call the Match of the Day. A noob was using Pikachu and got beaten down to 1 life and had already suffered 156% in damage while the others still had 3 lives and suffered only less than 100% damage. Miraculously, the Pikachu survived being used as a paddle ball until the remaining 3 players were down to 1 life. The Pikachu even lived long enough to see the 2 of them die. Me and another guy were screaming, "If Pikachu wins this round, we will laugh... VERY hard!" But, even with over 250% damage, Pikachu actually survived for 5 minutes, continuously running around like an idiot yet still managing to luckily dodge almost every hit or recover from being hit off the stage. In the end, Pikachu made the mistake of attacking on a loose platform which dropped to oblivion, dragging Pikachu along with it. The winner was Sheik, with 1 life and over 150% damage. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!? A NOOB MADE IT THIS FAR!!! And we known she's a noob because even I used her as a paddle ball in the previous 4 rounds.

The day ended pretty fast after that. Just went home, ate dinner and went to bed from the tiredness.

Day 18 - International Student Welcoming Reception

Morning classes were suffocating. The endless use of big words really gave me a headache. Ah well, I survived without falling asleep - something I would very much love to do during Chandralal's class tomorrow. I think it's his final lecture tomorrow. YES!!!!

I also had my first dissection class today. Unlike Hime-sama's dissection, we were doing it on cadavers, real human bodies. Hence, we were not allowed to photograph anything as it would be disrespectful to the kind soul who donated his body to give birth to a new generation of doctors. If any of you thought that sounded like sarcasm, you deserve to be shot.

This was the class I had been waiting for. A chance to fill the thrill Dr Stein (Soul Eater) does when he does his favourite hobby. In fact, I wanted to do the whole dissection myself. Sadly, I accidentally ripped a hole on my glove and I wasn't allowed to touch the body any longer. DAMN!!

After class ended, I returned to my apartment to prepare for the event mentioned in the title. As I had expected, the cheapskates who leeched so much of our money only served us sandwiches. There was also wine so I gulped down 3 glasses to balance it out. Take that, UCD Financial Office!!

But it was pretty boring, so I left in an hour. The Sci-Fi Soc was having an anime night tonight, so I thought, why not? When I got there, they just finished watching Mushi-Shi. Damn, I missed that. After that, they showed Death Note the animation. Then I requested Elfen Lied. Followed by Cowboy Bebop, Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist. I saw their anime list. It wasn't very impressive. Mostly the famous series and some lesser known ones like Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni. Apparently, downloaded anime is legal here. So, damn! I should've brought along my collection! Ah well, I'll start downloading now.

Oh yes, I am very disappointed at the anime culture in UCD. No cosplayers among the anime fans. And I've confirmed, besides myself, only 5 anime fans in UCD. Well, it's pretty obvious anime influence here is at an all-time low when somebody can ask, "What is Death Note?"

Better sleep early tonight. Then again, who cares? Chandralal's class is tomorrow. I'll go finish up Hikaru no Go.

Day 17 - GameSoc Party

No classes today, but I had a few things to do, like grocery shopping and looking at more clubs and socs.

Well, I finished everything I needed to do by 5pm. After relaxing for 1 hour, I headed out for the GameSoc party at the Student Centre.

It came as a surprise to me when I saw Nattenaya there as well. He was playing a war game with some other guys. I watched for a while, but didn't get a clue of they were doing, so I headed downstairs where the party was held.

There, I was introduced to many games I have never even heard of much less seen or played. Out of everything they played, I only knew the Rock Band video game they were playing on their XBox360. I played the drums for a while, but the addition of a foot button really threw my coordination off. I got perfect beats for handwork on Medium (bet I could do Hard), but the extra foot button which I'm not used to sent me to heck.

Soon, the pizza they ordered came. Well, I'd have to admit that they were pretty stupid to think that 2 large pizzas would be enough to fill 30+ stomachs. Good thing I got a piece. Too bad for the others :P.

At about 9pm, me and Nattenaya left since we hadn't much to do there.

I think I'll go join NetSoc and Sci-Fi Soc tomorrow. They're offering some pretty good membership deals now.

Day 16 - Freshers Week Day 2

Ah well, my morning classes start at 11am today, so I got an extra 2 hours of sleep. Or not. I just slept 2 hours later the previous night. :P

Well, anyway, Anatomy and Histology are starting to show their stuff now. I'm getting a brainache but hey, this is proving to be an excellent exercise for my rusty brain. I know just how rusty it is because I could hardly understand what the lecturers were saying. As for the lecturers, they're not horrible like Chandralal, but they sure are boring. It's not their fault though, the subject just contains too many jargons for them to even make a decent joke out of it.

Anyway, I had the whole afternoon free after that. I revisited the Sports Centre, but the Tai Chi Club is apparently dead, so I took off. I went to check out societies again and joined the Psychology Society (PsychSoc) since they seemed interesting. Heck, just to play them, I might throw a few things I learned from Liar Game.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent revising the earlier classes. And then Japanese class at 5pm. Seriously, I'm out of practice after not using it for a year. But my speaking was that bad from the start because no one could practice with me. I think my writing owns everyone else in the class though, except that one Irish girl. Just like me, she's out of practice after not having used the language for 2 years. How good was she, I wonder.

Ah well, everybody was lazy tonight, so we all just cooked instant noodles.

Day 15 - Start of Freshers Week

Today's the day all (well, most) societies and sports club show their stuff. I had been eagerly awaiting this day so I can fill up my oh-so-empty schedule. But first things first, Molecular Basis of Life at 9am followed by Cell-Cell Communication at 10am.

For the record, I dislike my current lecturer for Molecular Basis of Life, Mr. Chandralal. Useless fellar gives us incomplete notes. He says that it's to make sure we pay attention in class. Oh sure, I can understand that. But sir, you talk VERY fast and use an Indian accent. I have to pick between listening to you or copying notes. Frankly, neither helps because I catch only 50% of what you say and you keep changing slides way too fast. Sir, I may just accept your invitation and leave your class until the next lecturer for this subject takes over. I'd be better off spending time reading the textbook, seriously. And 150 other people agree with me.

At 11am, I have a 1 hour break before my next lecture, so I decided to check out the clubs and societies with Isaac. There were lots, but no anime clubs. Boo... The closest was a Sci-Fi club that occasionally watches mecha anime. Not interested. So, I joined MedSoc (that's Medical Student Society) and Games Society. About the latter, they play board games, card games and physical games like Twister, not just video games. And they're the most active society in UCD, with activities everyday except Sunday.

After 1 round, we headed to the Sports Centre to check out the AWESOME "We can kick Trinity College's ass 100 times over without breaking a sweat" sports clubs. There were many, but for some reason the ones I'm interested in keep clashing. So, for now, I joined the Archery Club. I plan to join Tai Chi too, but the booth wasn't open today. If nothing, I'll go join Trampoline Jumping since they have practices on Saturday and Sunday. And maybe I'll go for rifling too. After all, it's just 30 minutes per session and up to 3 sessions per week. But they're on weekdays, so I don't really know.

Anyway, back to class after that. CSI again. Of all the lectures I have this sem, I enjoy this class the most. Our lecturer, Dr Patrick Felle (I think) encourages class participation without forcing people too much, cracks appropriate jokes, delivers information simply and precisely, yadi yadi yaddah... All in all, he is perhaps the best lecturer I've ever listened to. But then again, his class IS about doctor-patient communication. If he sucks, we'd be doomed.

I think I love his class also because it allows freedom of thought. The other lectures are just laying down facts. Your opinions are seldom or not at all involved. This lecture however, you're allowed to express your thoughts and ideas of how things can be done since there is more than one answer. But then, I bet I'll hate it once I get a patient assigned to me.

Oh, funny thing today, when Dr Felle was asking for an example of a situation where moral values may influence the doctor's methods, me and another guy had the same thought at the same time, "Euthanasia!"

Well, the rest of my day was the same as always. There was supposed to be some demonstration by the GameSoc today, but I forgot the location. Oh well, they have one everyday till Friday.

Time to hit the books! (Screw you, Chandralal. Because you suck, I have to study your subject earlier than the rest!)

Dead Fantasy

Finally found time to post the videos. Credit (and hate mail) goes entirely to Monty Oum for this excellent fanwork! Well, enjoy!

Dead Fantasy 1


Dead Fantasy 2


Dead Fantasy 3


Dead Fantasy 4


Dead Fantasy 5


Please note the following things:
#1 Tifa CAN use magic. The Materia system in FF7 allows all characters to use magic.
#2 Rinoa IS that powerful once she became a full-fledged sorceress near the end of FF8, but she never used a gunblade.
#3 The Keyblade wielder is Kairi from Kingdom Hearts. Apparently, she can Drive here.

Day 14 - Another Sunday

Comparatively, I was busier today than last Sunday. In the morning, I did my laundry and cleaned my room a little. Then, in the afternoon, I finally hit the books. But that didn't last long.

At 3pm, I went to City Centre to shop for groceries. And to help my friend buy a light bulb.

Today was the latest I've ever returned to UCD. 9pm. I had to run around several places looking for the light bulb. Tesco only sells white light bulbs for some reason. Argos only sold low-power light bulbs. Dunnes, Marks and Spencers, LIDL, and ILDA don't sell push types. In the end, I found a suitable one at some Indian mini-market near LIDL.

I also took a peek inside Dr Quirkey's Wonder Emporium. It's a half arcade, half casino. I won 20 cents in a simple game, and lost it again the 2nd time. Boo.... Well, the place was pretty boring. Sure they had House of Dead 4, Tekken 5/6, Silent Hill the Arcade and lots of racing games, but there was no Taiko or Para Para. They had DDR though, but 1 euro for a game? NO WAY!

Then I came home, cooked dinner and will soon go to sleep. Class starts at 9am tomorrow. Sigh... Mondays.

Day 13 - Eating Sand and Buffet

I guess people noticed the lack of updates for Day 11 and Day 12. Well, that's because the events that happened were: Wake up, go to class, come back from class, kick back and relax, make dinner, eat dinner, relax again and sleep.

Today, the seniors took us to Marrion Beach. There, we TRIED to fly kites, but only one succeeded. The other 6 couldn't go any higher than 2m. So, aside from the successful one, the rest of us started playing Frisbee and monkey ball instead.

Our numbers continued to decrease as time went on. By 3pm, only the seniors and 2 first years were left (me and Germaine). We finally stopped when somebody accidentally kicked mud into my mouth when I was picking up the Frisbee. Ptooi.

By 7pm, we once again gathered at the 46A bus stop. At about 7.30pm, we arrived at Malaysian Hall. I'd have to say that it was disappointing. The building was recently renovated. Hence, it was almost completely empty when we got there. I was expecting a place with Malaysian flags all over or at least one big one, but nothing. The place was as empty as my stomach then (I skipped lunch).
























































See? It's only filled with people!

Ah well... whatever. The food was so-so with rice, chicken curry, fried bee hoon and some kuihs. Supposedly, there will be another gathering here for Hari Raya. I'll see if I can go.

The gathering dissolved at 9pm and I returned to my dwellings by 10pm.

Suihei Liebe

Lyrics:
suihei riibe boku no fune
nanamagaru shippusu kuraakuka
suihei riibe boku no fune
zenbu oboete nooberushou

suiso ni heriumu richiumu beririumu
houso tanso chisso sanso fusso neon (surutto anki de)
natoriumu maguneshiumu aruminiumu keiso rin (rin)
yoshi iou enso arugon (arugon) kariumu karushiumu (karitto BONE)

sukanjiumu (chitan) banajiumu (kuromu)
mangan tetsu kobaruto nikkeru dou yatte mo aen (aitai)
gariumu (gerumaniumu) hiso seren shuuso (kanari sugoi zo)
kuriputon rubijiumu sutoronchiumu (nanka tsuyosou)

suihei riibe boku no fune
nanamagaru shippusu kuraakuka
suihei riibe boku no fune
mahou no jumon da ittemiyou

nani ittoriumu jirukoniumu niobu moribuden (moribuden)
tekunechiumu ruteniumu rojiumu parajiumu (umu umu iinikui)
ginchan kadomiumu injiumu suzu anchimon (kotchi mon)
teruru youso kisenon (kisenon) seshiumu bariumu (kensa de gokkun)

hafuniumu (tantaru) dangusuten (reniumu)
osumiumu irijiumu purachina kin suigin (taionkei)
tariumu (namari) bisumasu poroniumu (mizu ni tokenai)
asutachin radon (onsen kimochi ii) furanshiumu rajiumu (kyurii fujin)

suihei riibe boku no fune
nanamagaru shippusu kuraakuka
suihei riibe boku no fune
mahou no jumon da ittemiyou

hai kansou

razahoojiumu (razahoo) dobuniumu (dobuniumu)
shiiboogiumu (shiiboo) booriumu (sutoraiku)
hasshiumu (hasshiumu) maitoneriumu (maitoneriumuu)
daamusutachiumu rentogeniumu

(rantanoido wa)
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm
Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er
Tm Yb Lu (wai bii ruu)

(akuchinoido wa)
Ac Th Pa U Np
Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm
Md No Lr Lr (minna utaou)

suihei riibe boku no fune
nanamagaru shippusu kuraakuka
suihei riibe boku no fune
zenbu oboete nooberushou

suihei riibe boku no fune
nanamagaru shippusu kuraakuka
suihei riibe boku no fune
mahou no jumon da ittemiyou

heiwa na mirai wa genso kara

English translation:

Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
A boat with seven sails catches the wind well, ain't it? (Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar K Ca)
Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
Remember everything and you get a Nobel Prize!

Hydrogen and helium, lithium, beryllium
Boron, carbon, nitrogen
Oxygen, fluorine, neon
(Remember them all!)

Sodium, magnesium
Aluminium, silicon, phosphorus (Phosphorus!)
Alright! Sulphur! Chlorine, argon (Argon!)
Potassium, calcium (Calcium for bones!)

Scandium (Titanium!)
Vandium (Chromium!)
Maganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper and zinc! (I wanna see them!)

Gallium (Germanium!)
Arsenic, selenium, bromine (Pretty amazing)
Krypton, rubidium, strontium (You're quite strong)

Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
A boat with seven sails catches the wind well, ain't it? (Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar K Ca)
Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
Try these magic incantations!

What's yttorium?
Zicronium, miobium, molybdenum? (Molybdenum?)
Technetium, ruthenium, rhodium
Paladium (It's hard to say "umu umu")

Silver, cadmium
Indium, tin, antimony (Here too!)
Tellerium Iodine Xenon (Xenon)
Caesium Barium (Digest it all!)

Hafnium (Tantalum!)
Tungsten (Renium!)
Osmium, iridium, platinum, gold, mercury (Thermometer!)

Thallium (Lead!)
Bismuth, polonium! (Can't dissolve in water!)
Astatine, radon (Hot springs feel good!)
Francium, radium! (Madame Curie!)

Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
A boat with seven sails catches the wind well, ain't it? (Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar K Ca)
Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
Try these magic incantations!

Okay, interlude!

Rutherfordium (Rutherfor!)
Dubnium (Dubnium!)
Seaborgium (Seaborg!)
Bohrium (Strike!)

Hassium (Hassium)
Meitnerium (Meitneriuum)
Darmstadtium, roentgenium

What are the lanthanides?
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu (Yb Lu)

What are the actinides?
Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr! Lr! (Everybody sing along!)

Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
A boat with seven sails catches the wind well, ain't it? (Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar K Ca)
Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
Remember everything and you get a Nobel Prize!

Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
A boat with seven sails catches the wind well, ain't it? (Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar K Ca)

Peaceful waters, oh my boat (H He Li Be Bo C N O F Ne)
Try these magic incantations!

A peaceful future begins with elements

---

The romanji can also be read as the bracketed element symbols. Creative and catchy, aren't they?

Day 10 - Running Around In Circles

As the title states, I've been running around in circles about 3 times today. Our hospital visit was scheduled at 10am today. However, to avoid missing a stop (since we had to find our own way there), we took the 8am bus, which means I was up since 6.30. The bus ride gave us a few scares when it kept turning into wrong streets. However, the driver ensured us that he will stop near the hospital, which he did. And we were 45 mins ahead of schedule.

And here comes the first circle. We asked the receptionist for directions to the lecture theater. Her directions were unclear and she used the word "up", so we went down a long corridor and headed upstairs. There, we asked another receptionist and she told us to go back down, go back to where we started and use a different corridor. DAMN! But we made it at last.

Oh, the hospital we visited was a paeds hospital. So, what we learned today was how to deal with brats... uh, I mean kids. A mother voluntarily brought her 10 month old baby to explain their circumstances, their experiences and their feelings about them. Interesting, but I still don't think I'll be going into paeds.

After the hospital visit, I went to town to buy a few groceries as well as bread and cereal for breakfast. Seriously, the French guy eats bread but he never bothered to buy more when he finished the final slices 2 days ago. But he cooks good spaghetti so I'd best not anger him.

Now, I needed a map of Dublin. I heard that Jervis (a mall) gave out free maps, so I went there. When I stepped into the building, I turned into a Slowbro and used Amnesia, resulting in an increase in Special Defense, but also forgot the reason I was there for. Just like a Slowbro, I walked really really slow towards the center of the mall, hoping that I remember what it was that I needed. Sadly, I couldn't recall it. This was the spark for the 2nd circle.

I headed back to the bus stop which was situated about 10 minutes from Jervis. While waiting, my usual habit kicked in and I glanced around all the shops around the City Centre. Then I saw the shop "Budget Travel" and as you have guessed, recalled what I needed and I quickly went back to Jervis. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the shop/person that was handing out the maps, so I just went back to the bus stop empty-handed. 30 minutes wasted for nothing!

I bumped into Daniel during the wait. The 2nd time was at the bus stop we went back to UCD together. We took the 46A bus instead of the 10 bus this time. We did not know that 46A makes a big round before stopping in front of the UCD gate. We thought we overshot the stop when it just drove past the UCD gate. So, we quickly got of at the next stop and walked back to UCD, only to see the same bus driving past us again and stopping in front of the gate. Crap!

I returned to campus with 3 tasks in mind. No. 1, print tutorial notes, no. 2 take blood test, no. 3 buy lab book. I headed to the Health Science Centre to print the notes as it is closest to the Student Centre where I can take my blood test. I realised that my lecturer had not given me the notes. I checked my timetable and found out that I had mistook the lesson. I was supposed to attend another tutorial that didn't have notes. Ah well, I just printed the Dissection Room Permit that I was supposed to sign.

The clinic at the Student Centre was full (again), so I couldn't take my blood test (again). After that was a 10 minute walk to the campus bookshop near the James Joyce Library to purchase the lab book. They asked me to go back to the Student Centre where there was a Student Union Bookshop and so I did. At the bookshop, they told me that I had gone to the wrong Student Union Bookshop. This one only sold 2nd hand books. They informed me that the Student Union Bookshop under the James Joyce Library was the one I was supposed to visit. "Screw this! Screw this!" With that thought in mind, I raced back to the James Joyce Library to find this underground bookshop. At that bookshop, the lab book was...sold out. ARGH!!!

And that concludes my day. Oh, I cooked dinner again and I failed again. I don't know why I keep failing but it can only be 1 of these possiblities: 1. My cooking sucks. 2. I lack practice. 3. The materials here are different, resulting in a different taste. No. 3 would apply for the chicken (bigger and harder to cook) and the thick soy sauce (it had a different taste from the one back home) But I guess no. 2 is possible too since I keep screwing up recipes. No. 1 would be true if you compare my cooking to the guy from China. Pick one.

Ugh... I think I'll go play my DS.

Day 9 - Anatomy Classes

Today's class started a little later, at 11am to be precise. Our classes today were Musculoskeletal Biology and Basic Tissue and the Early Development of the Body , or you can call it Embryology (Somebody explain to me why they needed to use such a long name).

Compared to yesterday, the lecturers today were BORING!! There was an obvious sign too. When the lecturers aren't boring, we don't make jokes about the lesson since we're hearing enough from the lecturer. When they are, we'll go "That artery looks like a grandma's boobs!", "We have sesame seeds for bones!?" etc etc.

In any case, the Embryology lecturer was fine, but the Musculoskeletal Biology lecturer seemed pretty scary. It's a good thing the bulk of the lecture will be done by someone else! She only teaches certain topics. I wouldn't want a creepy lady glaring at me when I'm already half-dying of boredom. Oh yeah, and she likes to repeat "Don't worry. You'll be learning about that later." when she uses terms we don't understand like osteoblast. (I looked it up and it is the name of a cell that produces bones. Is it so hard to at least tell us that!?)

For lunch, I cooked since I didn't cook tonight. I had a Japanese class from 6pm to 8pm. Unfortunately, I was still groggy from the boring lectures that I kept screwing up recipes. My fried meatballs was bland because I forgot to put soy sauce and my sausage and veggie omelet turned into sausage and veggie soup because my housemate took the eggs. He told me, but it didn't process until I needed the eggs. And I couldn't throw my meatballs into the soup because they were already half-fried, so... "Ah, screw it! Just eat!" And I dumped the meatballs onto my rice and poured soy sauce all over. That worked. And since it takes talent to ruin soup, that was consumable too.

At 5pm, I went for my Japanese class. I met one of my seniors there. Tong Tong, I think. The class was pretty small as expected. I looked at the course overview and almost laughed. This is actually just the equivalent, perhaps even slightly lower than my Japanese Proficiency Test Level 4! But I haven't got the chance to practice the language for more than a year, so I guess this can act as a refresher course. Sucks that I can't take Stage 4 thanks to my stupid timetable next semester.

Also, I finally found another otaku. I haven't talked to her much yet, but perhaps next week.

I came back to the apartment and realised that I had forgotten to get myself dinner. Ah well, instant noodles, it is! I finally used up that carrot that's been in the fridge for a week as well as some more mushrooms and minced beef. The meatballs came out alright this time too.

Well, bedtime!

Oh, for you DOA and/or FF fans out there, go to Youtube and search Dead Fantasy. It seriously nice! There are currently 5 episodes. Here's to hoping that episode 6 will be released soon and ROCK just as hard!

Day 8 - And the War Begins

Right. A lecture on the Molecular Basis of Life was our first lesson of the medical school. I'm not gonna go through what we learned today because none of you would bother reading the long, boring, complex etc explanations anyway. To summarise, we just recapped our entire secondary school/A-Level syllabus on carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and DNA in 50 minutes.

Then, there was Cell-cell Communication which also covered the syllabus we've studied during secondary school in 50 minutes. And finally, CSI lecture at 12pm.

After that, I went to settle my electives at the Daedalus Building. Hah! It seems my level of Japanese comprehension allowed me to skip 2 grades and just start from Level 3. I would have liked to take Level 2 first for a recap, but my timetable in the 2nd Semester clashes with all the Japanese classes, so I might as well just push myself in Sem 1. For now, my electives in Sem 2 are still a blank. I'm either taking French (which I can practice with my housemate) or Business Management (which supposedly will help me in my future career).

Then, I went out again. Today, I visited Phoenix Park, the furthest stop for the no. 10 bus. To my dismay, the place has a long way to go before it can even hope to match the park near City Centre (Grafton, if I'm not mistaken). Of course, it may also be so because it is now nearing autumn. I'll visit the place again in spring.

I stopped at City Centre on my way back to find the place that supposedly distributes detailed maps of Dublin. I couldn't find it, though. Perhaps it was closed seeing as it was already 6.30pm. I caught bus no. 10 again and returned to campus shortly after that. No point hanging around when everywhere is closing already. Unbelievably, even restaurants close so early. Only the fast food stands and bars were open. Of course, there were also some of those EXPENSIVE classy restaurant, but I wouldn't step in there even for a glass of water!

Home sweet... what the hell!? Back in UCD, massive amounts of people were gathering at the UCD Restaurants. Some random white girls (I think they were my neighbours) stuck their heads out of a taxi window and screamed at me (I am 100% sure that they were talking to me), "Party at Marty's!" *Just got info from my housemate that there's a party at City Centre* I declined. I just ate and blew all my steam running around the park.

Oh... some bunch of guys are shouting "Nerds!" at all the people who are still at home... Maybe I should go. Yeah... right...

P.S. CSI stands for Clinical Studies and Healthcare Informatics and not the other commonly known phrase.

Day 7 - A Precious Boring Sunday

Man, today was boooooring! I couldn't go to town because it was raining from the moment I woke up till evening.

Despite that, it was laundry day. If I don't wash my dirty clothes today, I'll have to wear them again next week. Something I'd prefer not to do.

At 12pm (I woke up at 10 today), I headed down to the Accommodations Office to complain about the non-functioning heater in my kitchen. I know it's only autumn, but do you expect me to wait till it's 5 degrees Celsius outside before I get it fixed?

Unfortunately, it was a Sunday and none of the maintenance workers were on duty, only the receptionist. He came up to check for me, and confirmed that it was broken. But I'll have to wait till Monday before he can get someone to fix it.

After the guy took his leave, I took my dirty laundry and headed to the launderette in my residence. The place had lots of washing machines and dryers so I didn't have to wait. I just walked up to an unused washing machine and loaded the detergent, fabric softener and my dirty clothes.

The good: Washing was pretty fast and fully automatic. 15 minutes and it was done. The bad: It costs me 3 euros per wash and I still have to use my own cleaning agents! CHEAPSKATES!!

The dryers however were useless. It costs 1.50 euros per go and takes 45 minutes. However, when I took the clothes out, most of them were still damp!! Since I didn't want to spend another 1.50 euros, I just neatly folded them and returned to my room. There, I hung the wetter clothes wherever I could and left them to dry. That was 3pm. It is now 11pm and the clothes are still rather wet. Lousy Ireland weather... I guess I'll turn on the heater in my room tonight. What a waste of money (Heaters are the most power-consuming machines in my whole apartment).

A chat with my mom followed by some random net browsing was how I spent the rest of my day. I killed the DS battery yesterday and it needed recharging today (since I forgot to last night).

Finally, dinner with all my housemates again where we each cooked a dish and then went back to our own rooms. I realise that I have to act as a translator a lot because I'm the only guy there who can speak both English and Chinese rather fluently. Well, not a problem for me.

Today went by quickly, but I did pretty much nothing today. And that's meaningful to me. After today, I'll bet there'll be no more days which I can kick back and do nothing anymore.

Reason #1: Anatomy! (Musculoskeletal biology looks scary enough...) It really is like studying your entire house down to the atoms in it (including furniture, lamps and air!).

Day 6 - City Centre 2nd Visit

Aimai sansenchi!

Despite having heard that alarm tone 5 times already, I always jump from my sleep whenever this plays. The volume was only set to 4 bars, but I think even my neighbours could hear it.

Well, I didn't really mind since it was supposed to wake me up at 8am. I got up, brushed my teeth, took a bath, ate breakfast (It was the first time all 3 of us were up at the same time in the morning. Yuan Shi was going to meet his friends and Nattenaya had an English assessment test, so they both got up early today.), packed my stuff and was on my way to the bus stop by 9.30am.

My reason for going to the bus stop in the wee hours of the morning (People here usually get up at 9am and only start moving around at 10+) is because the seniors offered to show some of us around Dublin 1 (aka. City Centre) again. However, this time, the trip was aimed to give us some knowledge of the places in and around the City Centre.

Unfortunately, I wasn't informed (again) that the time had changed to 10.30am. Apparently, the seniors decided at 11pm last night that 9.30am was too early and only informed those who called them to reconfirm. And so, about 20+ idiots were standing there enduring the cold morning breeze for 1 hour. TO BE CLEAR, I WAS NOT ONE OF THEM. I went into the UCD Business Centre (no wind+heater+clear view of bus stop) after 15 minutes of waiting.

Finally, at 10.30am, a few seniors arrived, some of them yawning and stretching along the way (DAMN YOU!). Once AJ (president of PMCSA) and the last of the 1st years arrived, we marched off to the 46A bus stop and caught a bus to the City Centre. And it was the first time I used my Rambler card.

Here's a brief explanation of the Rambler card. It is a card that allows you unlimited rides on the Dublin Bus from the time you use the card until 12.00am (the next day). Depending on the card you purchase, the card may be valid for 3 days or 30 days (I think there are others, but these are the 2 I know of). However, the 30 days need not be continuous. It can be used on any 30 days before the expiry date (which is usually January next year). For students, the 30-day card costs 75 euros, which means 2.50 euros per day. Since it costs 1.80 euros without the card to get to City Centre from UCD, I'd say it is very worth it. After all, it costs another 1.80 euros to return to UCD.

Our first stop was Grafton St. near a park. I've forgotten the name of the park though, but we did take some pics there.





























Moving on, we went to visit the various Asian markets like uhh...well... Asian Market and Oriental Emporium. There, I finally found thick soy sauce and corn starch! I also bought some Asian veggies and tofu.

We also visited some other shops. Our seniors also introduced some places of interests as well as Malaysian and Chinese restaurants should we ever miss home food. I know I won't, but others might. Either way, the prices were insane. 8 euros for a Char Hor Fun! That's WAY worse than the menu TBY showed me from Australia.

We were also brought to Temple Bar. Some of you might know the importance of this legendary bar, and some of you might not. I was one of the who didn't, until I saw the shop. Yes, it is THE birthplace of the famous Guinness Stout. You alcohol fans out there probably worship that place, but to me, it's just a bar (and an overpriced one at that!). I just snapped 1 pic and got the heck outta there.















At 2pm, the non-Muslims were already hungry. So, the Muslims (and some nons) left the group while the rest of us and most of the seniors went to have lunch. We picked a popular Malaysian restaurant as our dining spot. As I have said before, the prices are unbelievably (and I bet unreasonably) high! A set lunch with Fried Wan Tan and rice with Cha Shao meat cost me 9.99 euros. I died, but didn't say a thing since the seniors weren't complaining.

During lunch, I also learned that AJ has a similar educational background. He is also an express class student thanks to the PTS exam and also took a 1 year A-level equivalent programme. Owing to that, he was the youngest of his group when he arrived in Dublin at the age of 17 (his birthday is in December). Because of that, he got his Garda card for free! (DAMN!@#$&% I missed by a few days!) Despite that, he is the head of the largest national student association in UCD. Unbelievable!

It is a good thing the others do not know. If information leaked out that he was almost the same age as most of the 1st years (MARA and JPA scholars are all 20 years old, and AJ isn't officially 21 until December), he might start getting bullied by his juniors too. I can divulge information here because none of my university mates visit this blog, I hope.

We were then dismissed and I returned to UCD at 4pm. After dropping off my things, I decided to return to the City Centre to explore for myself. Unfortunately, due to unforseen circumstances, I only left the house at 5.30pm. Hence, I only got to walk a few rounds around O'Connell Street and Grafton Street. I did return to the Temple Bar to TRY to feel its holy greatness, but I guess that won't happen unless I get myself a pint. The idea is veery tempting, but I think I'll pass on that until later, if not never.

I was hoping to visit Phoenix Park (another popular park in Dublin), but seeing as it was getting late and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to the park from the City Centre, I returned home. Before that, I bought a cup of hot chocolate from Butler's Chocolate House, but just like AJ said, it was good but nothing to really scream about or continuously go back for like the girls do.

I bumped into Yuan Shi just before entering the house. He was planning to cook tonight, but firstly, I ate a late lunch and secondly, I had been walking around O'Connell St. sampling some local delights (only a few, but portions are big here), so I passed. However, in the end, he cooked too much and Nattenaya cooked as well, so I joined in their feast and had a taste. Nattenaya's spaghetti bolognese was good, but after tasting Yuan Shi's food, I am now discouraged from cooking again. He claimed that it was his third time cooking and he (as his friends did before) claimed that it wasn't at all as good as back in China, but to me, that meat and potatoes he made can almost rival those regular Chinese restaurants back in Penang! Please remember that it's his third time cooking (without an actual recipe book).

Sigh........... Guess I'll cook tomorrow and see what the both of them think. There's also laundry and trash disposal to take care of tomorrow. Well, TGIS (thanks goodness it's Sunday)! -Background: LAME!!!!-

Day 5 - Meeting the Lawyers

No, we did not do anything so bad that UCD and PMC had to hire lawyers for us!

Anyway, today, we were to settle our Garda Vetting Forms and application to join the MSD (Malaysian Students Department). Back in the past, the MSD always had problems getting the private students to sign up for membership, leading to problems I did not catch. The fact is that it isn't compulsory but it helps keep track of Malaysian students all around the world and the government wants it that way.

Sure, some of you anti-government protesters out there may say, "Why do we give a damn about what they want?", but signing up entitles you to discounts and participation of events at any of the 12 Malaysian Halls around the world. Nothing much, you say? Well, let's see you say that when you suddenly have trouble finding college/university accommodation when you're 5000 miles away from home.

Anyway, we signed the forms and settled the matter once and for all. We private students had it easier. We did not have to listen to long talks of terms and conditions like the JPA and MARA students did. This really makes me wonder why the private students in the past did not just save the government some trouble and just fill in the MSD form.

I also signed up for the Penang Medical College Student Association (PMCSA). I volunteered to play basketball for the UCD-RCSI Sports Day where we get the chance to kick some RCSI butt! But I haven't played an actual game in 3 years. And 3 years ago, all I could do was shoot... Oh well, blame the seniors for saying, "You don't have to be good! You just have to be enthusiastic!" if we win by just 1 point (RCSI will lose for sure!).

I also volunteered to be props-in-charge for Malaysian Night. I'm mainly looking forward to making weapons, but I wouldn't mind making cardboard mamak stalls too. It's my chance to show those idiots back at Scouts that we could have produced better-looking props for sketches if they had let me help! ...not that they could ever see me doing it.

And that was it for the official stuff. We then went to check on our bank accounts in preparation for another official matter that we'll be dealing with next week. And after that was a trip to Centra for lunch. They sold customisable (I used this word due to a lack of exposure to gaming terms since last Sunday) baguettes (in other words, pick-your-own-fillings).

We stopped at Germaine's apartment to finish our sandwiches and then left for a stroll around campus. Jean (remember the senior from yesterday?) led us to a small pond where a few ducks resided, hidden within the campus's "Area of Biodiversity and something-something". Apparently, she rests there often when returning from Tesco.

We took a few pics there, watched Yan Shun bully Jean etc etc.

And we parted. I returned to my apartment and cooked some spaghetti carbonara for dinner. My housemates were out and eating on their own, but I was lazy and stingy, so...

I could still do it, but the main problem was Tesco's lousy milk. I thought I had done something wrong with the recipe. Then, I tasted the milk. Oh... I'm chucking the milk out tomorrow. Sour milk would've been better than that! It was like drinking water! It wasn't creamy like milk, it didn't taste like milk, all it did was SMELL like milk. What did they do? Feed a cow water for all its life!? No more Tesco-branded milk for me. I heard the yoghurt sucked too. Sucks to my housemate's friend who bought a big cup of it!

And from 7pm on, I've been playing the Nintendo DS I've UNINTENTIONALLY neglected for the past week until now.

I'm gonna have a tour of Dublin City Centre tomorrow, so better get to bed early!

Day 4 - Medical Students' Orientation

Let me start of by stating clearly that I was late for the orientation AND it WASN'T my fault. Initially, they announced that the orientation was to be held at 10.30am. However, they brought forward the time to 10am last night. Normally, this would have been announced by e-mail or online notice boards, which I do check before I go to bed.

But this was not the case this time. The message was transmitted by word of mouth and can you believe all my friends thought, "He/she (other friends) should have told him, so I guess I don't need to."!?

So yeah, I was late. I left early, but because I was still rather unfamiliar with the place, I arrived at exactly 10.30am. So, I was screwed. The good thing was, there were also others who were screwed. Another good thing, the speakers today were boring and I missed the bulk of their hypnotic chanting.

After the orientation, we were free to run around till 3.30pm. So, I, Yan Shun, Valerie, Nabila and Xinyi went to Tesco Marrion again. Oh, Jean (a senior) came along too because she needed stuff, although she hid that by saying that she would guide us there since we might get lost (riiiight...).

After buying lots of groceries (I still can't find that non-stick wok and spatula), we quickly returned to Belgrove (our residence) to drop off our things before going for the library tour.

Finally, at 3.30pm, the PMCSA had an ice-breaking event which consisted of several games. It was fun but nothing special. I was hoping for a cross-campus scavenger hunt or something, but we were stuck in the Health Science Centre playing charades. Booooo....

I headed home after that. Upon arrival, I met my last housemate to arrive, a French ERASMUS student by the name of Nattenaya (I do not know how to spell his name but it's read "NAT-A-NEIGH-YAH). Yuan Shi brought back some friends for a group cooking session too. So, we all had fun cooking, eating and cleaning together.

I hope thins go well between us. The main problem now is that Yuan Shi speaks Chinese-style broken English and Nattenaya speaks French-style broken English while I speak Manglish. Looks like we'll have to settle our communication problems first.

Oh, Yuan Shi and his friends came from Hubei. And I don't understand a single word of their dialect!

Day 3 - Orientation

It was the official Orientation Day for all first-years in any course. We went ahead to settle all the things we hadn't done (collecting student ID, blood tests etc.)

Next, we went for a tour of the UCD Sports Centre where we were allowed to try out various sports to decide what we would take up next week. I tried the trampoline jumping, which was quite easy to me (I don't understand why my other FITTER friends kept falling down doing the same simple tricks I did, like sitting then standing, turning etc.). I'd post a video of one of my friends, but she's kill me if she found out.

Boat-rowing was our next game. We did in on machines of course, and not out on the artificial lake that we'll be fined 150 euros for swimming in it. All the guys fell off the sliding chair while rowing. We did rock-climbing next. I was already pooped from the rowing so I fell off very fast. Finally it was aerobics. I suck, 'nuff said.

Then we had lunch at the Sports Centre Cafe. They charge 6.50 euros for everything on their menu. I ordered a beef lasagna and took lots and lots of salad. Salads were free... I can't believe I filled my whole plate, I can't believe I finished my whole plate, AND I CANNOT believe that their salads tasted better than the lasagna. The salad was excellent, might I add. If only it wasn't so expensive, I'd be having my lunch there everyday!

At 2pm, we gathered at the O'reilly Hall for the official welcoming ceremony. Upon arrival, we were given a UCD official scarf, a small cookbook and a small booklet containing welcoming statements by the members of the UCD Student Union. At the time, seniors entertained us with the UCD choir while we awaited the arrival of the VIPs.

The choir had some pretty good singers. there was a plump girl with a powerful voice. She lead quite a lot of the songs. If I were to compare, she sounded like those Disney Princesses singing in showtunes. But there were (intentional or not, I wasn't sure) tmes when her voice became very hoarse and she sounded like a witch instead. Then, there was another girl that only lead during the final parts of the last song. She dragged a very high note for 10-15 seconds, which was the only I remembered from her. Finally, there was a male singer who had a deep charming voice but should learn to control the volume! He almost completely covered all the other singers when he sang with them.

I did not pay attention to the background singers. Sorry.

Then came the UCD teaching staff as well as the heads of the university. 5 people came up to speak, with our Vice-president of UCD being the funniest, constantly joking about his Canadian wife and daughters. Poor wife and kids... As for our Student Union president, his speech was so fast, we didn't even have time to laugh at his jokes.

Following that was the International Student Orientation. We got another scarf! We listened to the Vice-president talk again followed by the head of the International Students Office. Finally, we listened to a brief history of UCD and its importance in Ireland. Booooooring...

After that, we were dismissed.

2nd Day in Dublin

Yesterday felt like 2 weeks before it ended (Kinda like Robert Langdon in the Da Vinci Code! 24 hours took me 2 weeks to finish)! Today, however, felt like 3 days. Much better, huh?

Anyway, for today, we spent the morning going around collecting freebies for first years. Here's a pic of the stuff I got.

You see that pack of tiny red packet above the poster's thumb? It's a pack of condoms. What the...!? They expecting us freshies to be banging girls already!?










Lots of coupons and snacks too

I've already opened a bank account in AIB, but it takes several days to be activated. Why can't it be fast like in Malaysia where we get the account the moment we register!?

Then we went to the IT Centre for a course on "how to use the IT services in UCD". It was lengthy and I did not catch everything. But nothing that can't be learned at the last minute.

Then, we went to the Student Services Centre (not sure if it's called that) to make our Student Travel Card which makes every transport service cheaper. 41% off for certain train services! That was fast, and thanks to the bank goodies this year, we get the card at 3 euros, whereas the seniors had to pay 15.

We were supposed to do our blood test (mandatory) today, but due to overcrowding, we were rescheduled to do it tomorrow. So we went back to the bank where they gave out free hotdogs for lunch. I should've taken more...

Picnic below a tree with Valerie, Xin Yi and Han Beng (photographer)












In the afternoon, we set out for town. It cost 1.80 euros for one trip to the City Centre. Kinda pricy, IMO. With or without conversion.

We went to get our phone numbers. We had problems choosing in a hurry, so we picked Meteor since it has the cheapest rates as our temporary network. Me and 3 others will be discussing what we will choose as our permanent network providers soon. There're still O2, Vodafone and the very neglected Three.

The prepaid system here is different and a little complicating somewhat. First you have to buy the credit from their branches, then you have to fill in a form either in their branches or online to GET the credit. At least, that's how it is for Meteor. I hope the other networks are different. but I'll probably get postpaid once we decide on a network.

After that, it was Argos and Tesco (Round 2). Got more stuff today. I shared with a friend to buy plates, bowls and cutlery. I didn't need the mugs, but since the offers were 4 sets of 4 items, I got them anyway. At Tesco, I bought some stuff I needed for tonight's cooking (just additional dishes for instant noodles) and a saucepan. I will have to get a wok before I can start cooking real dishes. Tomorrow or the day after perhaps.

And I cooked for the first time here. Instant noodles with carrots and egg. Not much, but at least I still cooked.

Anyway, goodnite.

First day in UCD.

Yeah yeah, I know I'm late. But the Dublin airport charges to use their Wi-Fi and the university wi-fi required me to go through some troublesome procedures to enable my computer to access the internet. And I just got it done.

The flight was again another boring 7 hour flight where I'm sandwiched between an old white guy and a lady in her late 30s. When I tried to sleep, the baby behind me would start crying and prevent me from getting any shut-eye.

Once the long flight was over, we were finally at Dublin! The journey had been tiring but the real battle had barely even begun. So, we sucked in our guts and went to settle immigration and look for our seniors.

Coming to greet us were the President and Vice-president of the Penang Medical College Student Association (PMCSA) and the president of the PPIMI (a society for Malaysian Muslims).

When the JPA students have finally arrived, it was already noon. We then headed to our bus and prepared to head for UCD. Along the way, the president of PMCSA gave us a briefing on the events to come during our week-long orientation.

Upon arrival, we checked into our accommodations and were then directed to the Health Science Centre of the university, where the bulk of our studying will be located. We also went to the computer lab to finish off our registration. Since I did part of my registration earlier, I used the remaining time to e-mail my parents instead.

Finally, we went to Tesco Marrion to purchase some things we may need. We were advised not to buy many things as we would be going to Tesco City Centre tomorrow. So, I only bought fruits and tomorrow's breakfast. Unfortunately, upon returning to my apartment, I realised that I should have also bought dish cleaning detergents.

Looks like I'll have to continue unpacking my kitchenware tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm tired. Goodnight. I should be online 8-9am tomorrow, which would be about 3-4pm in Malaysia. Yes, it's a 7 hour difference and not 8. My bad!