The Things I Do At 3.30 am In The University

It's a cold and dark morning outside. I am in the University Place computer cluster at the moment I'm writing this entry. Lots of people have gone back to their home for a good night sleep in their comfy bed. Only a few are still in this building, trying to get their courseworks done and some revising their studies. And not to mention, there are some inconsiderate people staying back here just to listen to Youtube and putting it out loud on speakers to let the whole world acknowledge their 'awesome' music. God! Don't they have internet at home?. They really don't have to spread their music to the people (or nerds) here. No one's gonna say "Hey, I love your music. What's the name of it?". Pathetic.

I, on the other hand, are still struggling to finish a part of my revision, which is my aim for tonight and then pack my stuff and go back home. I am being accompanied by my friend, Klone, who are sitting right next to me right now, smashing his head to find solutions for his coursework. I wish I could help him, but I'm no good in Maths and I'll end up making things worst. :p

University Place, University of Manchester

Back to work now. I'm just writing this entry with the intention to clear my head off and get some time-out from medical and clinical textbooks. There are still lots that need to be covered. Seems like an endless road to me to finish it before the exams. But, nothing is impossible!

Of Exams And Going Back Home

I really need to be more focused now. This one month will be an intensive one due to the amount of workload that needs to be done. The exams are only two weeks away and there are still lots of topics need to be cover. After this, there should be less time for playing, movies and more time revising.

Even though I'm busy with my studies, there are still some responsibilities and tasks that I need to do. First thing, is the Farewell Party for the final years in Manchester which is to be held this weekend. Gifts for the final years have been bought and things are going as planned for the time being. I hope that the event will run smoothly this Sunday.

Then, I have to find some souvenirs for my family and friends back at home. After the exams, I have only about 3 days for to pack and organize my stuff before I leave for Malaysia. It seems that the amount of time will not be enough considering the fact that there's to much stuff to buy.

My exam time table for this semester

I really want this month to finish quickly. Stress is a common occurrence among students during this particular time and that's why I still look for some time to just chill out and hang around with my friends. I always said to myself that after the end of this month, I will be back home, free from any obligation to study and will be with the ones I loved.

Help Me!

I don't know what's wrong with me right now. I really can't get this song out of my head. Yes, Cheryl Cole is pretty and this song is amazing. But it is too much for me right now. Help!!

Holidays, SSC and Portfolio

Hi to all!!

I am finally in Manchester after a long trip in Spain for about a week. It is extremely tiring and I promised to myself not to do such a long trip ever again. You guys might have already knew that I was on a trip to Italy for about a week as well. Came back to Manchester for about 3 days to re-pack my stuff and then continue with my journey in Spain. Sounds crazy, huh? I think no one has ever matched a two weeks trip as I am. What a 'good' way to spend your three-weeks of Easter Holiday. And not to mention the money in my account as well.

In the garden of Al-Hambra, Spain

A lot of academic works was waiting to be completed by me. These works was supposed to be done during the Easter. But, as a 'normal and average student', I did what a 'normal and average student' does - procrastinate my work. Which ends up leaving me with a heavy burden to finish up all my work in a short period of time.

SSC is one of the tedious homework that I need to do. Luckily, this is a group work, so the tasks are divided among us and I only have to make sure that my part is done. I really hope that my group will do well in creating the poster and also during the presentation day.

Then, there's the portfolio. As a medical student in the UK, we are obliged to have a portfolio not only during our studies, but it will be continued until we are in the real settings of the medical field. Portfolio is a written record of what we have learned so far, any skills that we have performed and any memorable experience in the medical career. It actually helps us to assess our development from day one of medical school until we are retired. The problem is, I'm not the kind of person who likes to write and record any experiences that I had. Therefore, I had to write up all the things that I have learned the whole year in just 2 days!!

PBL can be set aside for a while. I haven't even open my PBL book after I got back from holiday. I think the other medical students, apart from the ones who are really nerd, are in the same situation as me. Everyone is focusing more on SSC because we need to submit it on 5th May.

In all, I made a promise to myself to not have a long two weeks of holiday in Europe again. One week is still OK, but two weeks is just too much. And never ever procrastinate my work again (Hmm..heard that sentence before).

Gelato Or Ice Cream?

Some of you guys might have already knew that I was on a trip to Italy for the past 8 days with one of my course mates and two new-found friends. How was the trip? it was a blast! We went to all of the interesting cities and places that Italy could offer. However, exciting details of the trip will be written in the next entry as I am extremely tired right now due to the long-hours of walking during the trip and I really need a good rest now, badly.

But, in this auspicious time of the day, I decided to spend some time to write on one particular detail that we really loved in Italy - Gelato! OK, I know most of you guys out there do not know what Gelato is. And maybe some of you never even heard of that word before. Now, let me explain it here.

Gelato is actually Italy's own version of ice cream. And yes, therefore it is only available in Italy and any other versions of Gelatos outside Italy will not taste the same. It's not the same as the ice cream that you guys had in Moonlight or Treats. The difference between Gelato and normal ice cream that we can find in supermarkets is that they are very silky in terms of texture, much softer and smoother and it comes in a wide variety of flavours, even the ones that you never imagined!

The most common flavours that I can find in Italy are chocolate, fruits salad, caramel, milk, yoghurt, vanilla, strawberry, coffee, and mint. There's even some shops that has after eight-flavoured gelato! I know my housemates would love to get a taste on one of those.

Everytime we went into a Gelato shop or kiosk, we would buy different flavours from one another and then we would compared it among us. I tried all of the flavours and they were some that I like the most. One of my favourites is the fruits salad gelato. It is made by mixing all types of fruit to get that exquisite sour and fresh taste. Shahira likes to try all sorts of flavours and I think she really likes the caramel and mint ones. And she would always be the last one to finish her Gelato because she loves to savour it thoroughly and slowly. Mayura's favourite Gelato in Italy was the yoghurt-flavoured gelato. People who knew Mayura really well would know why she loved that flavour. :p And Fiqah's favourite Gelato was the Amanera (cherry-flavoured).

The price of Gelato varies between places. The cheapest one that we had were in Venice which only costs about 1.30 Euros. And the most expensive one that we could find was in Rome which is 3 Euros for only one scoop! It was really disappointing for us as well because it was difficult for us to find a Gelato shop in Rome, considering that it is the main attractive place in Italy.

If I counted it correctly, I think I had about 7 Gelatos in total during my whole stay in Italy. But it's still could not match the Gelato-fanatic like Mayura who had 9 Gelatos in 8 days!

Shahira and I with our last Gelato that we had at the airport

Mayura and Fiqah at the airport

I really missed all of the Gelatos that we had in Italy. It was well-worth the money and I hope that someday I could make my own Gelato and savour it till the last bit!

A Game For The Gentleman

Rugby has always been my passion since I was in secondary school. I could still vividly remember the first time I step foot on the pitch for training. It was extremely horrendous for me at that time. Just imagine that you need to run at least ten laps around the field and then 20 sets of shuttle run everyday. And that's not all - there was also the exercises to increase our strength which include weight-lifting and carrying one of your teammates on your shoulder. I always feel exhausted during training and there have been once reached to a certain point which I nearly gave up rugby. But, my strong mental and determination prevented me from doing that. I know that all of this training would benefit me in the future by giving me the fitness and strength to play. As what my former rugby coach said - "There are 3 things that are important in rugby - fitness, strength and tactical". Even if one of these aspects is missing, the team will not win in a rugby match. My school rugby team was absolutely amazing. We won not only tournaments at the state level, but also in national level. SBP 10's and Cobra 10's are just the few highlights during that time. We were victorious and seem unstoppable. I really missed those wonderful times. Full of joy, pride and happiness in the air. This tradition of winning has been continued even when I left and entered KMB. My rugby team back in college was also a great one. Even though we had to train and practice by ourselves, we managed to played well and won the SUKOMA Rugby Tournament two years in a row!!

Till now, my passion for rugby haven't fade even the slightest. However, playing rugby in the UK is really different compared to back in Malaysia. Well, it's not the way of playing that is different, it's just the environment and temperature here that makes it different. My hands felt numb and I my lungs felt really cold because I had to breath in cold air.

My first rugby game in UK was against the Chinese Society Rugby Team. We played 7-a-side and most of my team mates are the ones from that I played with since in college. As some of you guys might know, to play 7's you need a high level of stamina, which my team and I lack. So, in the end we lost but not much. One thing that I like was that our team pattern of play was still intact. It's just that we were not fit enough to chase our opponent which made us lose.

Malaysian Barbarians vs MUCSS

The first ever rugby team formed in Manchester (probably in UK as well)

In all, winning or losing is not the primary matter. For me, it's the love and passion for the game that counts. And I hope to get a little bit more action of UK rugby in the future ahead.

A New Unexpected Friend

As my nearly-daily routine, I would go to my gym in the city at night to get some exercise. But, last night, I was pretty occupied with some unfinished business, I went to the gym quite late, at 11 pm. For your information, my gym opens 24 hours daily, 7 days a week (except Christmas of course). So, there I went on my own in the night to my beloved gym.

A glimpse of what my gym looks like

After about an hour and a half at the gym, and full of sweat on my back, I finally decided to head for home. I walked to the changing room and turned the door knob to open the door. To my surprise, the door would not open because normally, the staff would just left the door unlocked the whole day. I entered my PIN number few times and hope that the door would open for me. But, it seems that my effort came to no avail. At that time, I hope that there was a staff still available for me to seek help, but there were none because their working hours is only till 5 pm.

Suddenly, a man tapped my shoulder. I turned around and there's this guy who said to me that the door is actually locked everyday at 12 am and will be opened at 9 am in the morning. I was speechless and stunned by this fact. I could not even call for help because my phone is in the locker inside the changing room. How could a gym that opens 24 hours everyday, have their changing room locked at 12 am? So, basically, the gym is 24 hours but the changing room is not!!

I sat down on a chair in front of the gym, worrying and thinking of what should I do next. If I were to run back home and come here again the next morning at 9 am, it would be extremely tiring and I need to withstand the intense cold temperature outside. Bear in mind, that I was only wearing a t-shirt and my trainer at that time. My second option is that I would just stay in the gym and do some extra work out that night to kill of the time till morning. But, I can't be here at 9 am the next morning because I have promised with 3 of my beloved friends to play badminton with them on the next day at 9 am as well. So, they are my first priority the next morning.

When I was thinking of what my next step is, a person approached me. It was the same guy who informed me about the changing room. He asked me if I was having any trouble. Well, of course I said 'yes' because I don't have any idea how to get home that night. To my surprise, he told me that he would help me to get home by bus that night. I was relieved. How could, a stranger who I don't know anything about him, suddenly came to me and offered me help? I guess, there's still some kind-hearted guy out there.

So, I followed him from our gym to Piccadilly Gardens and took the Finglands bus to home. On our way back home, we talked to each other and get to know about each other a little bit more. His name is Ali and he's actually from Iraq. He's a final year high school student and wants to be a pilot in the future. He actually lives quite near to my home in Rusholme. Even though his english is not so good, I could still understand him perfectly well and he is really chatty. The journey to home was brief, but I could tell that he is a really nice guy. He smiles a lot too and that has made him a lot friendlier. One thing that we agreed that night is that the gym should have posted a big notice about the changing room so that this incident won't happen to others. A lot of Ali's friend have faced the same fate as I had that night before this. But, if this didn't happened, I wouldn't have known Ali, would I?

After we got off the bus in front of Moonlight, I said a million thanks to him for helping me and hopes that we will meet again in the gym some other time. This would be a start of a good friendship. I guess I won't be alone next time when I'm at the gym. ;-)