Summer in June

It is getting very warm here in London. Very much so at the Halls especially when the windows annoyingly do not open all the way. I suppose it is a safety measure for the drunk freshers and Springfield hospital is just across the golf course. I have already removed my 10.5tog king-size duvet out of its cover. If it gets any more stuffy than it is now, I might resort to buying a fan!

Anyway, I am not complaining as I get to go out without any jackets or scarves these days and a bright sunny weekend is always very enjoyable. Hope it'll stay this way over summer.

Uncharacteristically, I read a book. I have just finished the DaVinci Code. It has been a long while since I read a book properly, or have I ever? Well, not surprising as this is a good book. I suppose reading it after watching Angels & Demons allowed me to imagine the plot better. Plus Greg's lent me an illustrated copy of the book. So it was all good.

Might pick up reading as a hobby now that I've injured my back yet again. The GP was right about the prognosis of the acute back pain - cocodamol, diclofenac and diazepam concoction was all I needed. Good news is that we got into the UH tennis finals against Bart's this Sunday. *fingers crossed*

Good old friend Daru is here in London once again; this time in Tooting. He's doing his elective for 2 weeks here at St George's. So we've been showing him around all the hot spots in London. The weekend out in Greenwich was great. It has been generally fun catching up the good old times. I'm afraid he's getting a bit phobic of curry now after being in Tooting for just more than a week. LOL

Lots to look forward. In less than 2 months, I'll be back home. YAY! This weekend we're heading to Windsor to see its famous castle. It'll be lots of fun spending time with our favourite German friends as they are very soon completing their exchange programme.

Stay sunny London!

Punting at Oxford

Finally I have made it to the much talked about University of Oxford; well, the city of Oxford rather. There happened to be the annual Oxford Bumps going on last weekend and we were invited by Graham to come and enjoy the festive event. Quite a few of the Oxford transfer students were meant to be there and it would be great to head there when there were people who know the place well.

In the end, Eva, Sophia, Moira and I went as a group up to Oxford, departing London on a bright early Saturday morning. Such a nice day :) We had a nice chilled evening the day before, having desserts and good post-dinner conversation at Sophia's backyard, and really hoping the weather would do us good while we were there.

On arrival, I was amazed by the buildings in the whole city. Each of the colleges were just simply beautiful and the grass lawns...amazing! One has to be there to experience the calmness you'd feel being on the campus sites. No wonder it is such a great place for studying.


We had a good look around the New College after meeting up with its alumni Katy and Stu. They took us to the "squeeky hill" which was rather amusing I must say. We also had the chance to go on a punt - with lots of Pimms! A good way to burn off our good lunch and G&D's yummy double-scoop ice cream. We punted for a good 4 hours. Relaxing and enjoying the scenic route under the bright British sunshine. Felt like summer already!

Each of us newbie had a go at punting. Confusing! But thanks to experienced Stu's good tutoring (with some booze to make him a bit relaxed), we all did a fairly good job as beginners. What fun!


Oxford being that small, we met up with Kasia and Tom whilst punting on the river. We later met up for dinner on the lawn of the New College. Pretty much a lot of us transfers were there.

A good day, despite having to walk very briskly to catch the last train back to London. A definite must to go back to Oxford again!

London Zoo

So after much discussion with the guys about what we should do over last weekend, we finally decided it was a good idea to pay a visit to London Zoo! Easy choice it was, considering there were not many good ones for the 2-for-1 promotion in this bright summer-ish season in London.

There were a lot of fuss before actually reaching the zoo itself. Although choosing to go to the zoo was easy, there were a lot of fine prints we had to go through before actually qualifying ourselves for the cheap fare. Anyway, we got it in the end after much confusion.

The London Zoo

To be honest, the zoo was just alright. Not super impressive really. Somehow the animals were very lazy! We had such a hard time spotting them - either in the shade or within the bushes. Most of them were already sleeping by 2pm. I have to say that we saw a lot of the animals' backside!

Personally, I have been to reknowned zoos like the Singapore Zoo and Sydney's Taronga Zoo. I would definitely rate them higher than the one here in London. Singapore Zoo is simply larger, and the layout is generally more impressive and the animals were more active. I don't know if this is to do with the British weather.

Taronga Zoo, on the other hand, is a very unique one. Getting there by ferry with the view of the famous Opera House and The Harbour Bridge makes the entire trip very relaxing. The fact that the zoo is on a separate island makes it all very special.

Nevertheless, it was a good day out with the blokes and Sarah. We ended the day with a Szechuan dinner at The Old Place near Liverpool Street station. I still very much enjoy the aurbegine dish there.

Officially 4th Year!

The major 3rd year exam results finally got released today. You can't imagine how nervous I was when my friend sitting next to me in our Cardiology lecture received a text saying that results were already posted on the wall! My concoction of Co-codamol and Diclofenac for my recent tennis injury didn't help either - makes me sick =(

Anyway, suspense over. I passed :) And what makes me happy is I passed all my OSCE stations. That matters to me. And my big SSM project: I scored Excellent. That makes me a happy bunny =D

I'm officially a 4th year medical student now, although chronologically still 3rd year.

However, this is only 25% of the lot done. No complacency just yet. I need to work hard for the rest of the 75% coming up next year!

Sunday at Greenwich

I first realise that Greenwich is in London when good old buddy Azrul told me he wanted to go there when he was down here a few months ago. Nonetheless, we didn't end up going that time as it was too far away from the central for his short trip down to London.

Coincidentally, a week ago, our dear German friends invited us to head to the world-reknowned time line. Years of Geography lessons back in primary and secondary schools; I finally meet the line which divide the time zones of the world. Imagine the queue for the actual monument! We didn't bother to join in. Instead, we took a group photo by the queue and the monument itself.


To be honest, there was nothing really spectacular about the time line. It does have a significant function in the world though.


We had a great day out after all. The boat ride along River Thames towards Greenwich was scenic, and we had a good stroll around the Greenwich Market. The town on its own is worth visiting. It's got a good mix of the old and the new. Apparently, some of the areas are used for filming.


Another fun day out in London. More discoveries to come :)

Flat Outing

It's been 2 terms and a bit more, and finally the 6 flatties of Block C have come together for a meal in Chinatown. We have been planning this since the beginning of the academic year, but as all of us do different courses and have different commitments in life, it has been hard to get all 6 of us out together, let alone all the 6 of us all in the kitchen. It does happen occasionally, and when it does, it has always been lots of fun.

I am very happy this outing was a great success :)

We decided to give the Taiwanese restaurant Leong's Legends in Chinatown a try. I have personally frequented the restaurant a few times and I do enjoy the food there. In a way, it is similar to grandma's cooking. I was pleased that my British flatmates find the food amusing too. A good start for those who are planning to pay me a visit back home this summer. Can't wait for that!


After dinner, we ventured into an oriental store in Chinatown. Such a good way to learn more about Chinese food by browsing through what they sell there. We then headed for a couple of cocktails in a nearby bar to end the night and to shade ourselves from the English rain.


As Lisa would say, "Love it!". It's been awesome living with these 5 chaps. Looking forward to more flat outings and I do hope we will meet up when we separate at the end of this term

George's win!

Today was good. We won overall against Imperial College in the University Hospitals tennis tournament =D

I almost forgot how it feels to play a match after not playing properly for such a long time. Will slowly get myself back in shape and regain the touch.

Let's win more!