Strawberries; nice but fragile

Assalammualaikum!
I've been quite busy for the past few days, I didn't have time to pen down my thoughts.
But let me write something short and simple today.

So a few days ago I typed "Malaysian doctors blog" into Google search.
I want to read about a doctor's life, better if it is a houseman's life, so that I can have a rough idea how will it be like.
But I guess once one become a houseman, one won't be able to write much eh?

But I stumbled upon this blog: In My Father's Footsteps.
I didn't know who this guy was, but his writings were very funny, short and simple.
Then there were posts about him being the examiner of medical students' OSCE and the silly things the students say out of nerve.

So I kept reading, and found out that he is an IMU lecturer!
He works in Seremban, and teach IMU students.

There was this one post that really hit me hard.
It was titled Teaching Strawberries.

He first talked about strawberries being very nice to see, to smell and to look at.
But they are also very fragile, they deflate, change colour and turn bad if exposed to heat.

And some of the senior doctors actually call the new generation of doctors in this country as The Strawberry Generation.
The Strawberry Generation is the generation of young doctors who can't stand working in bad conditions, whine about lack of rest and unsympathetic superiors.

And he was unhappy with one of his bedside teaching session where none of the students clerked patients and prepare to present the case.
And he ended the post with:

"I want my students to be made of better stuff and avoid being labelled strawberries when they graduate and start work."

It was as if I was struck by lightning.
Am I going to be a strawberry when I start working?
Will I be seeing strawberries around me?

I hope I will not be one of the strawberry doctors, who break down and wilt at the slightest adversity.

p/s: But I don't see why young doctors should continue working in less than optimum condition. I hope our lives will be easier. But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, ain't it?
I just hope I will be a safe and competent doctor, if not extraordinary.

-Because life is a test-

-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com

Applying for a Medical Job in Malaysia (for overseas graduates)

Assalammualaikum!

As an overseas medical graduate, it was very hard for me to actually understand the procedure to apply for a job in Malaysia.
For students from local medical schools, the school will usually do most of the things for them.
The interviewers even came to the school to interview them in batches.
For overseas graduates, I'm sorry to say, your life ain't gonna be that simple.
You need to everything on your own...

So, let me share with you the steps I took the apply for the job.
I hope this will be beneficial for future medical graduates, and from my experience, many years later, someone will email me asking how did I first apply for the job. By then, I would have forgotten all these!
I'd better type them down now.

STEP #1 - Apply for a place in SPA

SPA stands for Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Awam.
This is the first stage of applying to be a government servant.

The online application form can be found here.
The link might change a few years from now, but just go to SPA Portal and look out for "Pendaftaran Pekerjaan dalam Perkhidmatan Awam".

What they need in the online application:
1) Personal details (obviously!)

2) Academic Results (I had to key in my PMR results but for some reason they already have my SPM results automatically. I wonder if it was because I am a JPA sponsored student?)
I am not sure where to place my A-Levels results since there does not seem to be place for it.

3) Extra Curricular Activities (meh campak la segala jawatan dulu kt sini. Setiausaha kelab la, Bendahari rumah sukan etc etc)

After you submit the application, remember to save the pdf confirmation!
This is because MMC requires the pdf confirmation. If you do not save it now, you will have to resubmit the application and your application date will be the date you re-submit it.
Get what I meant? Means even though you completed and submitted the form on 1st June but you did not save the pdf confirmation, then if you realised you needed the pdf confirmation and pressed submit again on the 20th of June, your application date will now be 20th of June.

STEP #2 - Apply for Provisional Registration with the MMC

[Source: Blog Orang]

MMC stands for Malaysian Medical Council.
Just like we have to have the P driving license for two years and have the big red P sticker on our cars at all time for the two years, we also need to apply for a P medical practitioner license from the MMC.
During these two years, you MUST work in a training hospital certified by the KKM i.e. certain government hospitals as a House Officer (HO). Once the 2yrs is over, the private hospital can now hire you; a fully licensed medical practitioner.

To apply for this provisional license, go to the MMC website.
On top of the page, you will see a "Download (Forms)" tab, clicking that will bring you to a list of forms provided by the MMC, in English and Malay.
Choose the
"Provisional Registration" form. If you just click on my link above, you will get the form directly.

The form has a checklist ready for you, that will make your life a lot easier.
You will need to send:

1) A completed form (with the Appendix A)

2) A certified copy of your degree certificate or dean's letter.
I finished my hospital placement on May 16th but my graduation is on July 8th. That means I can only start applying after my graduation.
I was afraid that it will be too late because my friends in local medical schools started applying even earlier. Hence I requested for a dean's letter from the school administration; to say that I am a student there, have completed my course and will graduate on the 8th of July.

The problem I had with this one was that my name on the dean's letter and my name on my IC were different! You want to know what was the difference?
It was a real silly one.

My name in the dean's letter contained no "binti" but my IC has "binti".
For example, my dean's letter stated "Akmar Ali" but my IC stated "Akmar binti Ali".

So when MMC received my application, the person in charge emailed me stating they could not process my application.
I had to go to the Commisioner of Oath to say that "Akmar Ali" and "Akmar binti Ali" are the same person.

Lawak la, kt Malaysia pun ada masalah camni ke? I've never had this problem kt UK pun, even when my passport wrote binti but my flight ticket did not.
So make sure your name on the letter and in your IC are EXACTLY THE SAME. =.="

3) Results Transcript
4) And many other straight forward documents lah. Malas nk tulis kt sini haha.

You can either post the forms to MMC, or just go to their office in Jalan Cenderasari to submit the forms.
I will strongly advise you to go personally.

After posting the application, you may need to keep calling MMC to ask if they have received your application.
And if you decided to post, please please use the PosLaju.

I posted my applications, but decided to go and submit my oath statement personally.
After waiting about an hour there, the girl gave me my temporary letter.
The MMC registration system was not working for the past 2 months hence they could not provide us the provisional registration certificate.
They can only give us a temporary letter, but that will be sufficient for SPA interview.

STEP #3 - Call the SPA

Now, you have already registered with the MMC.
Next step is to tell SPA that you are already registered.
I did not know this step.

It was quite a long time after my registration that I found out I have to call SPA to let them know =.="
I called and called their hotline to ask what to do next but no one answered the phone.
Eventually Kiew filled in the e-Pertanyaan form on SPA portal, and she received a reply within an hour.
They gave her the direct number for the Unit Perubatan; it is 03 - lapan lapan lapan 563 satu 3 =p

You will be asked for your IC number and only then will they put you in the interview waiting list.

I called them on Aug 6th, and was told that I will be called for interview somewhere in Sept or October.
But a few days ago they called me asking me to come to the SPA interview on Sept 3rd! That's next week~
Weee~

STEP #4 - The SPA Interview

OK, at the time of writing, I have not reached this stage yet.
My interview will be next week, exactly 7 days from now.

I've asked around and found out that dengue is a must know, we need to know some things about Ebola (or any other current issues) too.
Know the government policies e.g. What does "Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan" or "1Malaysia" mean.
You can read about them in 1Malaysia portal.
I've not read them yet so I can't explain them to you yet.

For those you don't know, Malaysia's clinical guidelines are called CPG (Clinical Practice Guideline).
The dengue CPG is very comprehensive and if you can remember the facts from there, you should be fine.
I ought to read them again, I forgot about them already. I used to read them whenever I felt bored in Hospital Serdang during my electives 5 months ago.

STEP #5 - Register with KKM
KKM (Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia) / MOH (Ministry of Health)

Go to the KKM Portal, and look for "Muat Turun Borang".

Find the "Borang Maklumat Diri (BMD)" under the heading "Pengamal Perubatan".
Download the BMD for Pegawai Perubatan Tetap.

I hyperlinked this blog post to all the mentioned forms but in case the link changes in the future, I've also written the step-by-step guide.

In this BMD form, you will need to fill in three placement choices. Only THREE hospitals, in any state.
There is a list of training hospitals provided at the end of the form.
We can only work in these training hospitals.

I plan to submit my forms straight to the KKM office in Putrajaya after my interview next week.
I think we can post it, but I'd rather hand it in personally.

STEP #6 - Just wait, I suppose?

As far as I am concerned, registering with KKM is our last step to apply for the job.
KKM will then send us a "Surat Panggilan" to a specific hospital.

I've asked the SPA staff how long will it be roughly from interview to the start of the placement, he said it'll be around two months.
So yes, I may have two more months to tanam anggur kt belakang rumah, haha.

With that, all the best!

p/s: I am going to create a new tag for this post, called "Profession". Hihi..
After this, whatever I write about my job will be under this tag, not "Medical Student" anymore.

-Because life is a test-

-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com

Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool with Aisyah =]

Assalammualaikum!
Okay, so Aisyah reached the UK on June 16th, we went to Dublin on the 18th, visited Galway on the 19th, the magnificent Cliffs of Moher on the 20th and went back to Manchester on the 21st.

Aisyah followed me to my hse in Preston and we planned to go sight-seeing in Manchester with Wasil on the 22nd because he is flying home on the 23rd! See our tight schedule? Mcm artis gitu. On 23rd I brought Aisyah to Blackpool, 24th Liverpool and on the 25th we flew off to Paris ♥!

Manchester

So, where did we go in Manchester?
Of course, the United Ground! :P
But before that we went to the Salford Quays by tram :D

Over the three years I called myself a Manchester University student, I have never actually been on the city tram. I've always seen them passing by numerous times across the Piccadilly Gardens.

The tram is quite pricey, one way journey to the MediaCity UK station was more than £2.50. I can't remember the exact fare but that's still quite expensive, isn't it?

At Salford Quays

The scenery in Salford Quays was quite beautiful.
There were people playing waterski as well as rowing on that day.

We passed through the Digital World Centre, some docks and basins, walked in front of the MediaCity UK where there was a big BBC office and also a huge "Coronation Street" signboard nearby (I honestly do not know what is this Coronation St but I've heard of it zillions times before).

At Lowry Outlet. There were not that many outlets here but I think this place has the same concept as Cheshire Oaks. People can buy cheap branded stuff here.

From Salford Quays we walked to the Imperial War Museum to catch a bus to Old Trafford =D
I think this must have been my 3rd or 4th visit to Manchester United stadium, haha.

The famous spot for a picture :D

We then had lunch at Seoul Kimchi, my favourite Korean restaurant ever!
Aisyah ordered Spicy Fried Chicken and it was very good. Too bad that was my last visit there so I could not have that again. I ordered Seafood something (I can't remember the dish name) and to my horror, they started putting oyster and I think they blended even the shells of the oysters!

Top: Seafood "something" Bottom: Korean Spicy Fried Chicken. jjang!

We went to Chinatown, took some picture at Piccadilly Gardens and bid goodbye and farewell to Wasil as he will be flying back to Malaysia the next day T__T

The Eye of Manchester in the background @ Piccadilly Square.
Haih bdk2 zaman skrg. Shoelaces different colours!

Blackpool

The next day, Aisyah and I went to Blackpool!
Blackpool is a town located right at the seaside, it has many tourist attractions like The Blackpool Tower, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool Sealife, and Madamme Tussauds Blackpool.

I booked two tickets for Madamme Tussauds Blackpool, which cost me £12.50 per person. I can't remember if they give student discount.
I went to Madamme Tussauds London before, it was very good but because I was very stingy, we bought the cheap tickets; the after 4pm ticket. There were so many people we had to queue to take pictures with the wax statues.

I thought there will be less people in the Blackpool gallery, and I was not wrong.
There were very few people, and very few statues too =.="
No, there were many figurines but most of them were unknown to me.
There were British local soap dramas characters and their athletes.

It's Rooney on the right, isn't it? How about the left one? Who is it? Do you know?

I only took pictures "with" the figurines I recognise. Some of them were Simon Cowell, Lady Gaga (gasp), Michael Jackson and Russel Brand.

And oh! David Beckham too =.="

Aisyah and I spent almost half an hour jumping up and down at the beach, trying to get the best jump shot.

And this, is our pride! =D That is Blackpool Tower behind us

We had to put my camera on the sand, resting on my bag and stabilised by our phones and other stuff. We put a 10 seconds timer and tried to jump at that PRECISE shutter time. It was so hard.
Sometimes Aisyah jumped beautifully but my legs were still on the ground and vice versa.

Anyway, it was a good and relaxed outing day.
Our next stop was Liverpool :)

Liverpool

I always call Liverpool as Kolam Hati. Liver = "Hati" and Pool = "Kolam". No?
Later I found out that the "liver" actually refers to a mythical bird called the Liver Bird.

We did not do much in Liverpool, we went briefly into the Merseyside Maritime Museum. We actually spent most of the time going into shopping outlets. We did visit the Albert Dock but Aisyah wasn't too interested in taking pictures there, perhaps she was tired of being a tourist and the excitement of going to Paris the next day somehow overwhelmed her.

We spent a significant amount of time in the Superdrug store, that is equivalent to a Watson's store in Malaysia.
And what did we do there?
Trying on make-ups! @.@
Aisyah wanted to look her best for the pictures in Paris, and so did I.
I wanted to buy some make-ups for my graduation ceremony too.
I planned to do the smokey eye make-up!
I'll let you know if I managed to pull it off on my actual graduation day haha.

Anyway, I've never thought this day will come that soon. That is, the last day I can set foot in Liverpool city.
To commemorate the day, I decided to take a picture in front of the Liverpool Railway Station~

My last picture in Liverpool city :(

With that, I end my writing for now.
I will write about Paris soon, insyaAllah :)
Bye~

-Because life is a test-

-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com

Travel: Galway and Cliffs of Moher

Assalammualaikum!
Since I am now quite free, I decided to write about my travelling experience.
Today, it will be on Galway and the breathtakingly beautiful Cliffs of Moher!

So, from Dublin we boarded an IrishRail train to Galway, it cost us €9.99 per person and the journey was just over 2hrs.
We booked our seats in advanced hence our names came out on the screen! It was so exciting haha...

There wasn't much to see in Galway either, as the town is small; like Preston.

At one of the streets in Galway town

But Galway is definitely prettier than Dublin. If I am given a choice to either study in Dublin or Galway, I will definitely choose Galway.
However, the food was sooo expensive.
Burgers can cost up to €10! We had dinner at Capital Kebab House, a halal Turkish restaurant.

We also visited one of the famous place in Galway, the Spanish Arch.
I am not sure why was it called Spanish Arch. But the place was more beautiful in picture than in real life.
But since the ambience was very peaceful and cooling, it was very nice to hang out.

The Spanish Arch; the arch that is behind us. See it?

19th June 2014 was also the day my Galway friends had the graduation but since I arrived in the evening, their graduation ceremony ended and they were already in the middle of the celebratory lunch/dinner.
That night I spent the night in Nani's room with Aisyah. Nani's parents were there for her graduation hence she stayed with them in a vacant junior's house.
Radhi was the only occupant in the house whose parents did not attend the graduation ceremony hence she hosted my stay there.
Wasil stayed in someone else's house; a Malaysian brother called Abg Aji. He worked as a chef, and he had two children (in these situation, I am not sure if I should use past or present tense? Had or has two children?)

The next day was our day tour to Cliffs of Moher day.
I've always heard beautiful stories about the cliffs and having been to Carrick-a-Rede in Belfast, I really wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher.

I joined the tour by Galway Tour Co and it cost us €20 per person (student price). The bus departs at 10am from Galway Coach Station.
I will strongly advise people to sit on the left side of the bus because the scenery is muuucchhh nicer. I sat on the right side and always had to peek onto the left.
The driver was also the tour guide, but he was not as funny and as lively as the one I had in Belfast.

Our first stop was the Dunguaire Castle.
We had only 15 minutes there so I dared not walk nearer to the castle. We simply took pictures from far. Good thing I brought my monopod though! It will be so hard to always ask someone to take our pictures for us.

Dunguaire Castle in the background. That was the nearest we went

Our next stop was a restaurant/toilet stop, the place is called Monk's Seafood Pub and Restaurant.
The restaurant allowed us to use the toilet for free, but charged us excessively for a cup of coffee.
The weather was very cold and I thought a cup of hot cappuccino will be nice. Turns out it cost €3!
I could have gone to the toilet 10 times!

We then stopped by a ring fort. I was actually super sleepy in the bus so I didn't really hear what did the tour guide say about the ring fort. If I am not mistaken, mythically it was a place inhabited by fairies and leprechauns.
I could not even get the name of the place, Wasil was too sleepy to listen too while Aisyah was too new to the Irish accent she could not catch up. LOL~

As we were leaving the fort, I hastily took this picture before running to our bus. I thought it will have some information about the fort. Haih... This was all that was written. I hope they will put REAL signs next time

Next stop, the Poulnabrone dolmen; a portal tomb.
A portal tomb is a tomb made from portal stone (surprise, surprise) i.e. two or more upright stones supporting another flat stone on top of it.
From what I read on the visitor information boards; the Poulnabrone served as a tomb with perhaps their farms and houses surrounding the tomb.

See the portal tomb behind us? There are two big upright stones, supporting a big flat horizontal stone on top of it

Next stop: Kilfenora Cathedral and Crosses.
Awkwardly, as soon as we get into the main entrance of the church, we were welcomed by a graveyard.
Since all of us from the bus walked in at the same time, there was quite a queue outside the door because people had to really observe where they put their feet since the graves were not arranged symmetrically.
One will have to walk in zig zag to avoid stepping on someone's grave!

I did not really understand the significance of this cathedral, but I know that this is a historical site.
I don't really find it strikingly beautiful.

That is the small entrance to the cathedral. Once you enter the door, you will see the graveyard

The tour bus followed the tourism trail called the Wild Atlantic Way and along the trail, the road dividers are made of stones arranged on top of another.
I think the structure is very unique, I wonder if was made long time ago or did the government arrange it that way?

See how the rocks are arranged? This arrangement exists ALL THE WAY! SubhanAllah~

Next stop: FOOD!! We stopped by at Doolin village for lunch before going to the highlight of the day; The Cliffs of Moher!

The Cliffs of Moher
I don't even know where to start!
The place is so breathtakingly beautiful I can only say SubhanAllah all the time.
The weather was nice, cool and breezy, the sound of the water hitting the rocks was very calming and everyone seemed to be captivated with the beauty.

If you read/watched Twiligt Saga, Jacob's hobby was cliff-diving. That is, they dive from the cliff into the water below, and somehow that was what exactly I felt. I felt like diving down the cliff, into the water below.
Adrenaline really rushed through my blood.
I felt like singing, spreading my arms and start dancing.
On the other hand, I also felt like sitting down quietly and just stare at the cliffs and the blue water underneath.

Let me give you some pictures!

See the beautiful water below?!

Everywhere you turn your eyes to, you can only see the cliffs. It was almost never-ending!

The thing about the beauty of God's creation, it is so beautiful that even cameras could not capture it as beautiful as our eyes can see it.
If you think these pictures are beautiful, wait till you go and see the real one.
The green ones are even greener and the blue ones are bluer.

We had two hours there, and it felt so short!
I wish we have at least half a day there.

Once we enter the compound, the Visitor Centre will be in the middle and we can choose either to walk to the left or to the right of the centre.
We chose to walk to our left and we can't seem to stop ourselves from walking and exploring more.
The cliff just never end! We later found out that if we continued walking, we will reach Doolin town, the town we stopped by for lunch earlier.

I wish I can just sit there, and stare at its beauty

See the length of the cliffs? Even if I walk to the end of the cliff in the picture, I can still see more cliffs like that

So how was it?
Did you feel like going, now?
Haha...

I am very satisfied because I brought Wasil and Aisyah here. Wasil might come again with his friends but I think this might be once in a lifetime chance for Aisyah. She really enjoyed the time and scenery here.

Some people say no matter how beautiful the cliffs are, it will never beat the beauty of our own east Malaysia.
But well, I myself has never been to east Malaysia so I can't really comment on that.
But I doubt we have cliffs like these?

Some people wants to give the impression that Malaysia has the best of everything.
I acknowledge that Malaysia is a very beautiful country but I don't understand why some people just can't accept that some of the sceneries outside Malaysia is really really beautiful.
We are not comparing government policy or society's standard here. We are comparing the beauty of God's creation, which has nothing to do with who the government is.
I understand if some people want to say Malaysia health policy is better or the attitude of our society is better (because we still respect the elderly more than the English does) but to say Malaysia is far more beautiful than any other country; that is plain ego.

Anyway, let's not get there.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip!

-Because life is a test-

Another cliff. We stopped by here for 5 minutes on our way back. Less greeny, more rocky. Beautiful never the less!

-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com

Masjid Cina Melaka; 24th August 2014

Assalammualaikum!

Yesterday 24th Aug my whole family (excluding Wasil) went to Melaka for a hari rays visit to Akmal's house *gemuruh gler nk pegi sana, x tipu*

We reached his house at about 12.30pm and stayed for lunch for over 2hrs.
I think I was very poise while eating, mcm x pernah la makan selembut tu. On the floor lagi.

We left the hse at around 2.15pm and went straight to Masjid Cina Melaka for Zuhur. We saw the signboard on our way to his house, and mama, being a very proud Chinese requested to visit the mosque for Zuhur.
So off we went~

The mosque was very beautiful and striking.
It looked really...CHINESE.

The main entrance. Very beautiful right?

The first thing that came to my mouth was "Eh cantik masjid ni...Nk nikah sini la.."
Aisyah overheard it and quickly announced it to everyone in the car "Akak kata nak nikah kt siniii"
Mama quickly say "Nikah kt tempat perempuan laaaa"
Haih Aisyah ni...laju betul mulut dia.

Me and mama. Eyes became even smaller, for the sunlight was veryyy bright!

Me, mama and Aisyah

Mama is very active in MACMA (Msian Chinese Muslim Assc) Selangor branch and for a very long time, MACMA Selangor wanted to build a chinese mosque like this one in Selangor. I hope the dream will be materialised soon.
And I really hope the mosque will be somewhere near the centre, if not in the heart of Selangor. I hope it will not be in parts like Kepong, Sg Buloh or Banting. So far from the centre!

This Masjid Cina Melaka is located behind Stadium Hang Jebat, near Cheng.
How near is it from the Melaka city centre?
I don't really know haha.
But Melaka is not as big as Selangor, so it might not be too far.

But where is the heart of Selangor?
Hmm...PJ area maybe? Or Cheras?
Haha..
Shah Alam is the official capital city, but I don't think it is as busy as PJ.

Alah shuweetnye couple nih.

5 of us. A young boy took the pic for us.

We then went to Nilai 3 for shopping!
Mama bought a RM700 carpet for the house and guess what, the Pakistani who sold the carpet tried to flirt with me. Aish~
He asked my mum how old am I, and if I am married. He then said he is 24 as well.
While I was alone at the cashier counter, he asked if I am engaged and if I want him. Urghh~

Ok, that's all for now.
I will continue writing later.
I have actually written half of my travelogue in Dublin but I have not uploaded the pics yet so I can't publish it yet.
Will do so some time in the future, insyaAllah =]

With that, bye!

-Because life is a test-

-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com

Travel: Dublin

Assalammualaikum!
Yep, so this is when my summer trip really started =]

Edinburgh was just an introduction because I had to fetch Aisyah from Edinburgh Airport.
Our flight to Dublin from Manchester Airport was at 0745hrs on 18th June, and so we spent a night in Wasil's house.

Wasil's house was supposed to be empty i.e. free of man.
But suddenly two of his housemates came home earlier from their summer camp. And when we reached there, to our horror, Wasil was told that a group of 5 boys from London was stranded in Manchester and they needed a house to stay, so they had to stay at Wasil's house!

And when people know that Wasil's hse has many ppl (the London boys, not us!), some other boys decided to make the night merrier, they came for a sleepover.

So that night, Aisyah and I became the prisoners of Banff Rd.

We were confined to Wasil's room because there are boys in every single corner of the house.
Wasil made them aware that we are in his room, and whenever we needed the toilet, Wasil will have to clear the path for us.

To be honest, I think the other boys should have been more considerate.
They knew Wasil wanted the hse to be empty for me and Aisyah to spend the night comfortably, but they still spent the night there. Isn't it inconsiderate?
It was so weird to spend a night in a house with 10 other men/boys.
Thank God we plan to leave the house at 0530am the next morning.

The real deal: Dublin

Our RyanAir flight cost only £9.99!
That was cheaper than an open return train ticket from Preston to Manchester.

RyanAir has now allowed two bags to be brought up in the cabin.
I used to have to shove everything I owned into one cabin bag.
I even wore many many layers of sweaters before! Just so that I can save space in my cabin luggage.
So, congratulations RyanAir.

The next step is to discard that passport check procedure for non-EU passport holders.
That procedure is very very annoying.

I booked a family suite in the Ibis Hotel in Red Cow, Dublin.
It cost me €51 per night, it was the cheapest that I can find.
And it took 30 minutes from the city by tram!

Wasil, Me and Aisyah in the LUAS. LUAS means tram in Irish

Anyway, I don't really find Dublin interesting.
Even though we walked under the hot summer sun to most of the places in the Dublin map, we did not go in. We simply took some pictures at the main entrance because we need to pay to enter most of the places. Hence by 6pm, we did not know what to do or where to go.

I really hope this does not happen to tourists visiting Kuala Lumpur.

Places we visited in Dublin:

1) The Spire of Dublin.

It looks like a long thin sturdy needle in the middle of O'Connell Street.
I found out that it is 121m! I could not get any picture of the whole structure. I will have to lie down flat on my stomach if I want to get the picture of the tip.

The Spire of Dublin in the background

2) The General Post Office

The General Post Office is also on O'Connell Street. It has a Georgian architecture and looks very impressive.
We bought postcards from Carroll's Gift Store on O'Connel St and crossed the road to post them.
The inside was quite busy but because there were really a lot of counters, the queue was not long at all.

The General Post Office Dublin

3) Mary Street

We walked along Mary St in Dublin and there were many street performers.
One of them was this bashful Spiderman.

We are supposed to pay him some money and take a picture with him but because I did not want to pay, I took his picture from far. I think he noticed us and quickly face the wall so that we cannot get a good view of him.

Shy Spiderman

Men in Black

There were many roadside stalls selling the in-trend colourful hairbands.
There were also Penney's, equivalent to Primark in the UK.

We then crossed the River Liffey to get to the other part of Dublin.

River Liffey, Dublin

4) Dublin's City Hall

The Dublin's City Hall is located on the other side of the River Liffey.
The hall itself is free to go in, but not the exhibition section.
When we were there, a wedding was about to be done so they were preparing the chairs divided by isle in the middle and a place for the priest in front.

I can't remember how much was the entrance fee for the exhibition section since we did not go in.

At the main entrance of the city hall exhibition room

5) Dublin Castle

Not far from the City Hall is the Dublin Castle.
I can't remember how much is the fee to go into the castle since we did not go in either.

Within the Dublin Castle compound

Wasil's jump shot. My jump shot is too ugly to be displayed

6) Dublin City Council

Alah, nothing here.
We did not even go in. We took a picture here because the writing was very big.
I told you, we were already kinda bored.

Dublin City Council

7) The Four Courts

Our last attraction site was the Four Courts.
This court was in the visitor map so I thought it is one of the visitor's attraction.
Little did I know that it was a proper, working court!

As we go in, the security personnel asked us to place our bags in the scanner and he told me to keep my camera in my bag.
We spent quite some time in the court because we were already very tired of walking.

We saw a group of people coming out of one of the rooms, some of the men were wearing the white wigs and black robe, just like in the tele.

We looked like little ants in front of the Four Courts. LOL

We bought dinner from one of the Pakistani shop and made our way back to the hotel.
We reached the hotel before dark and stayed in.

In conclusion, it is okay to miss Dublin.
There is not much things to see.
But since it is the capital city of Ireland, people will expect you to visit it at least once.
Hence spending half a day there will be sufficient.

-Because life is a test-

-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com