in Port Lairge

(*senget..)

I’m back in Ireland, the good green land of Shamrocks and Leprechauns. Almost half a decade being in here, all I can say is that Irish never fails to amuse me. It’s their courtesy on the roads, how they respect the pedestrians, the way they smile at you though you’re a complete stranger to them, the professionalisms they show at workplace, how courteous they are when dealing with customers in shops, the list goes on.

Having said that, I can say that I’m also amazed by how simple these people (Westeners) are leading their daily lives. Taking food as an example, it’s funny to think that they’ve been eating toast with butter and jam if not scones, or well, sausages and omelet at best, for breakfast all their lives. Let’s compare with what we, Malaysians, eat for breakfast..well, let’s not. It’s obviously incomparable. I was having my scone one morning when I realized that it’s the same bland scones I’ve been eating for breakfast for the past 4 mornings. Suddenly my taste buds yearn for section 15’s tosai rawa with teh tarik. Yummy! I honestly feel sorry for these people who are missing one huge part of life’s excitements; great scrumptious food! Why go dairy and cheesy when you have all these spices in the world that can dance tango on your tongues so elegantly? Owh food, great Malaysian food..

Well, the only thing I miss about this place is the weather honestly, and alhamdulillah the weather’s been very decent since my arrival apart from some heavy rains once in a while. The view’s still very much charming in rains notwithstanding. Well, I’m an optimist.

I traveled down south to Waterford the morning I arrived Dublin for my first final med posting. A week late from the scheduled date and still very much tired and jetlagged, I was ready for any consequences of my actions. There was no reason for being late whatsoever; I’m at the most crucial point of my medical course and the fact that I just finished my elective posting in HUKM a week prior wouldn’t sound good for a reason when they’ll soon find out the outcome of that elective (other than the fun, err not so impressive!) if looking at the amount of knowledge I’ve gained.

Nonetheless, the good side of it is that I already have the momentum of being in the hospital mood thus the change of environment wasn’t abrupt, so coping was a lil bit easy this time. And I smiled broadly when the first question I got from my consultant on the first day of ward round was interpreting an ECG, which I had done numerous times (and failed a lot of times) during the elective in HUKM. Guess the elective wasn’t bad, at all..

Last week flew very fast and I passed every awkward moments (of not knowing what to answer when being asked in class, thus cute face was made) with flying colours. This week my level of concentration dropped, so badly that I can’t do any studies once I’m back in my apartment. I miss home dearly. I miss Pia to be exact. I can imagine how depressed I’m gonna be if I were to work here for my internship later. Well, whatever it is, I’m still leaving the options open. We’ll see..

GAMBATTE SHU!