part of me

This is one of the shortest posts on being me ;)

I just want to let you know that I passed my third and final module for the Nottingham Advantage Award, alhamdulillah! This means I've completed the journey =')

If you want to read about how I felt, please click here. And if we're friends on FB, like what Mohd Herie Dahlan and me are right now ;) then you'd see the screenshot that I've uploaded:

I'm just so happy, alhamdulillah :))))) Of course, I tweeted my happiness as always.

Oh, by the way, this is the first time I linked my blog on UoN to being me. I'm a bit hesitant about it really since my personal blog is filled with so many details about myself but then, when I think about it again, this might be the only time for me to attract the attention of others towards Islam. Sure, my writing may not be that good, but at least it's an effort, isn't it? And I'm happy as long as Allah appreciates =)

Anyway, here are the 3 modules that I've done:

Student Associates Scheme

(and this is the special post)

NUSA (Nottingham University Samworth Academy): Insight into Education

Arabic Level 1 Part 1

Okay, I'm going back to King's Mill Hospital early tomorrow morning since I'm just too tired and sleepy right now. (Tapi masih sempat untuk type 2 posts :P)

And to the people whom I met this weekend and got gifts from me, well that's simply because I love making people's day.

What I learned from this weekend was...we are servants. We serve others by greeting others, helping one another and by doing good deeds.

And how does Adlan Wafi serve others?

He serves others by making them smile, happy and tries his best to make other people's days..and he especially enjoys serving his friends...

time after time

Okay, now I'm going to talk about my trip to the 3 countries during my Halfway Breakaway (18-24 Feb 2012). It is important to note that this trip began right after the end of my Viva for my awfully long Honours Year Project in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases & before the start of my Clinical Phase; thus the name Halfway Breakaway.

The first country that me and Fikri Hakim (Liverpool) went to was Czech Republic!

Prague, Czech Republic

18-20 Feb 2012

Czech Republic is a country full of cultures and histories. The only ones that I know are the ones that I learned from The Amazing Race, haha. But anyway, I went here on a Saturday and paid quite a pricey airplane ticket for this specific date because Ibnu aka Ib asked me to come earlier since he's going to start his term on Monday. Dah member punya pasal kan, lagila hajat nak dituruti, heh.

Day 1 - Sat, 18 Feb 2012

First, get an all day ticket which costs 110 koruna. The ticket is valid for a total of 24 hours from the first time you stamp the date and time on the ticket using the machine. It gives you unlimited rides on trams, buses and underground tubes. You can get these tickets at the airport. So, get one before you leave the airport. 

These are 2 of the tickets which I used

TIPS: I'd suggest you to buy the number of tickets according to the number of days of your stay in Prague. The tickets don't have a validity date until you stamp them thus, you can buy as many as you need without worrying of them being expired. You can buy later at the stops but you would need coins. Travelers usually carry big sums of cash, don't we? Buying 2 of these tickets are a safe option and get a map of the trams as well. It's easy to work out.

Astronomical Clock in Prague

At a closer look

This astronomical clock is interesting. It has a dial representing the zodiac, a needle for the sun and another for the moon. So, technically, it tells the date as well. Erm, sort of. There are 4 statues representing the fears of the 15th Century: Vanity, Greed, Death and Muslim Turks. It was interesting really when you learned about this clock from your friends. Faiz Nasir also mentioned that there should be statues of Arabs underneath the clock which implied the creator's admiration of the Islamic culture in Maths/Astronomy. 

TIPS: Oh right, If you want to see the statues of the 12 Apostles moving, you can come at observe it at every hour ie 12.00, 1.00 you get the idea.

Charles Bridge, Prague

I really don't know why people are so fascinated by bridges but this one is called Charles Bridge linking the Old Town and New town.

Street performers are almost anywhere

 There's even a bear

Prague Castle

 

TIPS: If you want to go to Prague castle without climbing uphill on foot, you can take a tram instead of what we did, walking -_-"

At night

Day 2 - Sun, 19 Feb 2012

If you noticed, I don't really talk much about food. That's because Ib cooked for us throughout our stay! He's just so good at treating his guests ^^

The Dancing House

This the Dancing House. It's supposed to make you dance just by looking at it. Ok kidding, it resembles two dancers. I don't know, you be the judge.

Prague Colourful Underground

And I only noticed about the colourful patterns of the underground on this day. Too bad I didn't find a blue one. But the ones that I got looked nice anyway. Try and look at some while you're there.

Market place

TIPS: This is really a good place to get good bargains. I even bought some beautiful paintings from this place and some cool souvenirs.

Oh yeah, I have something interesting to talk about at this place. As I was walking, an old lady approached me to ask for some money. I denied her request by saying that I don't have enough money and she asked, "Credit card?". And I'm like, "Mak Cik! Kamu sangat kelakar! I'm so going to write about you in my blog."

This is probably the delicacy from Prague courtesy of Faiz. It's delish! 

Marlenka Cake

And here we are! My friends through and through. Ib actually would write to me every now and then on FB and I've known Faiz since Jasin (MRSM TGB). 

Going on a trip and meeting your friends can really be indelible even though the time you spent with them is only for a while. It's the moments that we shared that matter.

And to other friends of mine not only in Prague but in Olomouc and Hradec Králové; I'm sorry that we didn't get the chance to meet. Keep looking forward..cause our time would come, inshaAllah...

who let the dogs out?

Dear readers,

I'm sorry but you have to get used to my new retrospective style of writing. The next few posts will revolve around events which have happened weeks ago and this is the first one.

Clinical Phase really is challenging. It's good that I worked in a Microbiology lab previously. At least, I've experienced the worst. Now I know I can face almost anything. King's Mill Hospital in Mansfield is quite good. I love my room although the bed is springy. I'm so going to cook salmon for dinner soon since there are no halal butchers in the city of Mansfield. Now, let's move on to my story..

At The University of Nottingham (you can see that I'm typing the proper name of my university since I was trained to do this as a student blogger, haha), 3rd Year medical students would have to produce a 2000 word report and a 7 min individual presentation (finally! my favourite type of assessment) for a module known as CFU - Community Follow-up. 

In CFU, we have to follow-up a patient for a period of about 1 and a half years. Then, we'd write a report about the patient so we can score high and get a good job after graduating. 

On the 13th of February (the day my result was released), me and my friend went to see our patient at his house for the second time. And then, there's his dog. During our first visit, he put the dog in another room which I was so relieved at that time. But this time around...

Patient: "Are you alright with dogs?"

Friend: "Yeah"

Me: "No, I'm scared of dogs!!"

It's a tie, so the patient decided to let the dog moving around the living room while we interviewed him -_-"

Okay, truth be told, I'm really not fond of dogs although I do think some of them looked very cute. I just can't stand them in close proximity. It kept moving around and my friend gladly stroke her (it's a female dog) head. I don't even want to touch it. When I was a kid, I wouldn't even stroke a cat or even a tiger. I wouldn't even touch a chicken. It's just a general feeling of not liking to touch animals. Haha. But dolphins are fine cause I can wash my hands afterwards since if I were to play with dolphins, I must be in water. Maybe because, I need to wash my hands after each time I touch an animal. OCD maybe :P

And then I remembered my first encounter with Charlie in my 3rd Year. I know, a lot of people in Dunkirk already met the cat in their first year but I only had the chance to play with it this year. When I was walking around Highfield Road, I suddenly bumped into a very cute cat. It was so chubby! And then I remembered Lut said that if you call his name, he would come towards you and rub his fur on your legs. So I tried, "Charlie!" and he came towards me and started rubbing his fur on my legs and I was starting to make a run for it. This is of course due to my nature of not liking to touch animals. But then, I think it's time for me to embrace animals and so I tried letting Charlie rubbing his fur around my legs for a few minutes. And I actually enjoy it. That was really a night to remember.

This is Charlie!

Ok, so let's talk about my patient's dog. I had a hard time focusing on the interview since she kept sniffing my legs. I know she was trying to ask me to pat her but I just can't. I knew that I had palpitations for a while during that time, haha. And then I said to myself, "Ok Adlan, I think it's time for you to let dogs into your life. You gave cats a chance. Now let's embrace some dogs". I know, lol. So, I calmed down and let the dog sniffed even more. I actually find it cute that the dog loves sniffing people. No, I didn't pat her. I wasn't ready for that step. Mind you, it took me years to pat a cat. One animal at a time people.

 This is the the breed of my patient's dog - Doberman. Picture courtesy of Dog Breed Insight.

So yeah, sometimes..you need to find the willingness to make the change. If you don't, then you'd be stuck on the same spot forever. The change starts from within, it starts from you...