enchanted

By publishing this post, I can finally focus on some other things in my life..like seriously.

It's time to end the chapter of my Halfway Breakaway by closing it with this entry about my trip in my 3rd destination country - Germany.

Munich & Schwangau, Germany

22-24 Feb 2012

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I was ready to go back home after Austria as I really had a great time in Salzburg. But it's the probably the only overseas holiday I have till I don't know..winter?

Right, before I forget to mention, when I was travelling by train to Austria or Germany, local authorities wearing regular clothing came to me & Fikri and asked us to hand in our passport for inspection. I guess this is their way of maintaining border control. Quite casual really and I like casual.

Day 5 - Wed, 22 Feb 2012

We departed from Salzburg quite early in the morning but it only took about 1.5 hours by train.

The e-ticket in a language that I don't even understand. 

Yeah, you should buy it online and it's cheaper per person if you buy 2 tickets on one purchase rather than 2 separate tickets. Just go to Google and translate when you want to get your tickets. Works for me.

How to get around? Just go to the Tourist Centre and get the cheapest deal on the best available ticket. As for us, we went for the City Tour Card - 3 Day Partner Ticket inner district worth € 29.90. This ticket also gives you discounts on various tourist spots. N.B. If you're a student, you can pretty much get the same discount on a range of tourist attractions with your student card. 

Next, get a map of the tram network. If you're a true traveler, you'd have no problem figuring it out. If you're not, better hope that the locals like to help you.

So, our first stop was BMW Museum. We wanted to go to the factory but unfortunately, it was fully-booked till Friday (last day). Well, I'm not bothered. As I've said before, I'm ready to go back home after Austria. 

Day 6 - Thu, 23 Feb 2012

On this day, we went to Allianz Arena and went on the tour. I know, sangat tipikal. 

 Allianz Arena at night

 The three colours of Allianz Arena

The Megastore at Allianz Arena

Later, we wandered around the city of Munich.

 If you're in Munich and you're a milkshake fan, make sure you try this brand. Really one of my favs! And banana is still my favourite.

 Schnitzel Burger. It's halal and the restaurant is near to the train station. The reason why I wanted to try it was because it was featured on The Amazing Race -_-"

And hot chocolate of course since I have passion in food. 

Sangat sedap walaupun muka akak yang buat air ni garang.

Day 7 - Fri, 24 Feb 2012

On the final day of our holiday, we decided to take a train ride to Schloss Neuschwanstein in Schwangau. It's a castle which was built according to the wishes of King Ludwig II. This castle is also the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle and featured twice on The Amazing Race. This was probably the only day in Germany where I became slightly excited.

And then, we flew back home arriving at Manchester airport in the middle of the night. I planned to proceed to Zilal before heading off to Liverpool the next day for the Medical Careers Conference (in which I became a centre of attention). I know, really need to keep a low profile from now on. Yeah, right.

Anyway, when I arrived in Manchester, I began searching through the houses for Zilal. I sort of forgotten which one it was, lol. I called all 4 of them but none picked up their phones and I began to think...hmm, they're probably having an extended meeting O_o. So, I began thinking about what to do - like go to the streets and beg for some money like I was on The Amazing Race just for fun or go to Moonlight and devour the desserts till I get diabetes or go to Jazeera and add a few inches to my waistline. In the end, I decided to search for the correct house on my own. A few minutes later, I got a call and alhamdulillah, they were home :D

When I reached the house, I saw all 4 of them in my frame of vision - Rahim (Bat), King, Alif and Capek; all of their faces beaming with joy! I'm like, wow..I should really treat my guests better, haha. They were soooo happy to see me. Imagine a group of children waiting for their parents to come home after work. Yeap, that's exactly how I think they looked at me. Yeah, I'm happy to see them too~

As for Fikri Hakim, well he went back to Liverpool since he had something urgent to attend to. And I just want to thank you for doing all the worrying and planning for our Halfway Breakaway. I wasn't even stressed at all. All I did was being happy-go-lucky and untroubled by any problems we encountered throughout the journey. You on the other hand, looked like you're about to get a heart attack, lol. So yeah, you helped me feel at ease before I entered a period of stress - The Clinical Phase up until my graduation in 2014. Hence, sorry and thank you.

That's all for me to say, and I need to read something on Obs and Gynae...

nessun dorma

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Today is the start of my life as a 4th Year Medical student. I know, during the lecture today, I was actually trying to convince myself that I've actually passed my dreadful 3rd Year exams and I still think it's unbelievable that I made it through O_o

Firstly, let me talk about my 3rd Year. Nahh, I let the picture do the talking..specifically this one which I've put up on my blog for almost a year for my reference:

Won't you agree that this list is impressive? Yes, it is and no one in their right mind would like to repeat any of these. I know I don't want to experience it all again. 

The last examination was the most interesting one as it used a former type of examination known as the OSLER which involved me taking a history and examining a patient within a given period of 35 minutes followed by 10 minutes of assessment - 5 minutes of presentation & 5 minutes of Q&As. And this exam was my highest score for this year which is fantastic, alhamdulillah!

So, after a year of suffering, we were given 2 weeks (sangat sikit!) of holiday. I initially thought about staying in Nottingham and just get some rest from all the torture but noooo, I became impulsive and my plans were filled for the whole 2 weeks - I went to Edinburgh, Newcastle, Birmingham, back to Nottingham for my volunteering role, off to Durham for the Psychiatry Summer School for the Top 20 applicants, back to Birmingham for Kamal's graduation and finally back to Nottingham to find out my results on Friday. So, kepada sesiapa yang kata hidup saya bosan - sorry babe, there's not a dull moment in the life of Adlan Wafi ;)

And  now I'm a 4th Year student! It's easier to pronounce 4th rather than 3rd. You'd understand if you read my post on my university blog here.

I'm really looking forward to a year of specialties! I know, I'm always excited about the future. Guess what? Our credits rise from 120 to 200, hahaha. Crazy, I know and the total weeks of 4th year is 40 weeks with each week representing 5 credits.

And these are the specialties that I will undergo in the order that was randomly allocated by The University of Nottingham: 

Obstetrics and Gynaecology

10 weeks 

Pediatrics

10 weeks

Otorhinolaryngology

2 weeks

Ophthalmology

2 weeks

Rheumatology

4 weeks

Dermatology

2 weeks

Geriatrics

3 weeks

Psychiatry

6 weeks

I'm looking forward to Pediatrics as I love working with children and possibly Rheumatology as it's related to Immunology. And the one that I'm looking forward the most? Psychiatry of course! Too bad I had to face it at the very end of the year which means...March next year. Lambatnye...dahla 6 minggu je. Oh well, lagila memberi semangat kan?

And my 4th year results will contribute to my placement scores (for application to become a doctor after graduation) as well as for my BMBS - Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree. Awesomeness!

Adlan Wafi sedang menjadi semangat sekarang. We'll see how long I'm this enthusiastic. Hopefully, till the final exam inshaAllah. 

Hence, I can't really waste my time worrying and fretting like I did in 3rd Year. And same goes to you; especially if you're back in Malaysia this summer. You don't want to be sliced by the sword, don't you? Utilize every time that you have with goodness and don't you dare fill it with meaningless activities. This is a reminder for myself as well and till then, every moment counts...

shake it out

Alhamdulillah, today is a momentous day for 3rd Year Medical students from The University of Nottingham as we all faced our 3rd and Final revelation of this long grueling year.

The Crazy Idea

First, I shall tell you about my original plan. I initially thought about downloading the result on my iPad, find a boat, paddle far away from everyone else and do this all after Jumaah prayer. But the results were released 2 hours earlier than scheduled and I figured that I didn't want to go out now cause I have laundries to do and all. So, I checked straight away.

The Result

I passed all components alhamdulillah and decided to write this status:

What people didn't realize was that I'm also in the bottom 30% for one component...I should have probably written that on my status as well. 

You see people, prior to the examination, people around me kept saying things like..

"Knowledge boleh baca bila-bila. Skills yang susah nak develop."

Saya terkilan bila dengar orang cakap camni sebab it made me feel stupid -_-". But I don't mind though. Korang memang pandai, so cakap je la apa-apa pun. I know my place.

Yes, some people in this world are much better in skills rather than knowledge. It may be uncommon but I can tell you one of them is named Adlan Wafi. Yes, I am in so much trouble in the Knowledge part of my assessment. But I'm least worried about my skills when my friends on the other hand, were worried about the skills (don't get me wrong, I was nervous on each day of my exams as well). So, the next time Adlan Wafi wants to learn more in terms of knowledge, that's because this is not his forte. Korang bertuah, otak besar-besar, sebab tu knowledge krg excel and selalu fokus kat skills. I have to put extra effort into my knowledge section. Tau tak, I barely escaped from being in the Bottom 10%? That's how close I was to elimination.

So yeah, I am in the Top 30% for my skills and in addition, I'm in the Bottom 30% for my knowledge bringing my mark to average which I am proud of no matter what you say. By the way, my definition of proud is "happy and grateful for an achievement despite the fact that it's not a big deal according to other people". So yeah, my total is 60+. See, takdela hebat sangat kan? But I'm proud of it :)

As for my two other modules, I didn't get a First Class for one and for the other one, it's strong enough but I know that someone beat me for that module. So, I may not be in the run for the Prize which I'm okay with. A strong result is enough to make me feel happy and I hope that you become one of the nominees!

Oh yeah, I think I am finally back into the Top 50% of my batch which is awesome cause that has been my aim all this time alhamdulillah. What a great start to my 2nd degree! Once again, my average is 60+, so no need to feel jealous or anything.

And if my calculation's right, inshaAllah I'll be graduating with a 2:1 degree which is PERFECT to me. 

The Call in the Rain

I talked to my Mum in the rain this afternoon as I was really upset with something which I just came to realize. I cannot tell you all about it cause it's too personal but I just have a favour to ask of you - please pray that Adlan Wafi will be healthy and find a cure. Cause I'm just too young to have this happening to me :'(

This is the reason why I've been showing some depressive symptoms lately at home (only my housemates would realize this). And the GP wasn't that helpful either. He really needs to show more empathy!

I've called some of my friends in Malaysia today. I didn't really talk about it cause sometimes their voices weren't clear or they had to do some things. So, I don't really want to bother them with my problem and just talked about my result to keep the mood positive. 

Anyway, I'm still upset though. Can't seem to shake it out of me. I couldn't get much sleep last night because of this. My exam result was the least thing bothering me at the moment before it was released today. Ya Allah, please heal me...