Hey guys!

I AM SO SORRY. This is probably the worst blog ever. The last post was eons ago! Haha. Oops... I'll be surprised if you still read this! Which makes me wonder why I'm writing... Anyway.

I've shifted into my new flat! This is old news actually, considering that we moved in on 1 June but this is my official announcement here! My lovely flatmates are singaporean medics as well, and I'm glad to say that we've managed to live in peace and harmony for the last 2 months. I've no doubt we won't have any horrible disagreements anytime soon :) Yippee! Having this new place has really made this year in Glasgow miles better than last year. Why? Mmm... I can think of many reasons!

1. The uni is no longer a 30-minute walk away. Imagine what a dread it is to walk that far everyday, especially when the weather's not particularly pleasant!
2. I had the chance to do up my dream bedroom! Okay, it's not really perfect, seeing as there was a cash limit to restrain what actually translates from imagination to real-life but it's not bad! I'm in love with it. How nice to have your own space :D
3. My flatmates are great cooks and that means I get fed well everyday! Cooking for 3 people also means each person gets a smaller portion = less weight gain (hopefully). I know it sounds contradictory but think about it: you can hardly cook 1/3 cup of rice for yourself in a rice cooker can you? And who really wants to constantly keep rice in the fridge?? But with 3 people, 1 cup of rice suffices! The only thing is, my expenditure on groceries has more than doubled... :S
   
4. Not staying in halls = more privacy.
5. Not staying in halls = cleaner environments.
6. Staying with flatmates with common interests means we get up to more interesting stuff more frequently!
7. The washing machine and dryer are not 4 floors down from me.
8. Jason lives on the other side of the road from me! :):):) Haha.

That's all I can think of right now but I think you probably get the idea.

Life as a 2nd year medical student has started since 1 1/2 months ago and it's actually been fine! Seniors have always painted a scary picture of second year, what with the heavy workload and all, and I guess they're right, but we're getting along okay right now, probably thanks to our senior's notes! Copying and pasting Word documents have saved us loads of time and stress, trust me. So currently, life passes as a juggling act between school, cooking (aka satisfying our voracious appetites), time with Jason, cell group and church, and spontaneous events with the flatmates. Curious as to what the latter means?

Well, usually they're weekly eat-out events when we treat ourselves to good, large meals at relatively affordable restaurants. They've all been good so far :P Sometimes, they're baking events, which result in yummy desserts for us and anyone fortunate enough to be around at the right time! But rest assured, we're in more control this year. Last week though, dear Xiangning came up with a brilliant plan and it started out like this:

She hasn't been drunk before and neither have I, so we were both curious about our alcohol limits. I mean, how are you supposed to know where the line should be drawn if you don't even know what being near the line is like?? And with that, an idea was formed between us 3 flatmates... An alcohol tolerance test! Haha. I think you have a faint inkling of where this is going! With this in mind, we went off shopping for booze and ended up getting a grand stash of bailey's, pear cider, port, rum and peach schnapps. It was just going to be a small private event held in the safety of our humble abode and Lynette was supposed to stay sane to take care of 2 hopefully-drunk flatmates. Of course, we invited a few more people but they're all really sensible people, so it's nothing wild at all!

When that day finally came (which coincided nicely with our end of block, which means we have the weekend free without assignments), we really drank like no one's business! Haha! Alcohol's not really palatable to us but for the sake of a successful alcohol tolerance test, we soldiered on through glasses of booze and kept tabs of how much each person drank by writing on a mirror. How creative, huh?

Results: I found out that I don't have the liver enzyme deficiency so prevalent among Asians that causes them to turn red shortly after a drink. My friends say that probably gives me a slightly better tolerance and I'm less prone to vomiting but we don't know for sure. Xiangning fell asleep shortly after getting tipsy (the night was still young!! tsk tsk). I managed to drink till I got really tipsy but before I was drunk, so I could still remember what was going on and I could still walk in a straight line if I really focused. Lynette and Chriselle ended the night puking, though luckily not on the floor! The next morning, the minute I opened my eyes, I froze in bed and curious thoughts flew through my mind: Do I have a hangover? Would it be as bad as everyone says it is? Surprisingly, it wasn't that terrible. I mean, I did feel a strong disgust at the thought of alcohol, I had a slight headache and I was still stumbling around a bit but it all more or less disappeared with breakfast. So yay! That's one successful test! :)

Weekends are generally spent with Jason, because he's away on a placement at a hospital 1 hour north of Glasgow (Ayrshire, if you're interested), so he just stays there during the week and only comes home on Friday evenings. Next week will be his last week though, then he'll be attached to a hospital in Glasgow! That should be better.

Well, hope that's enough of an update for you guys. Sorry I haven't really kept in touch with any of you but I do hope that everyone's doing super duper well back home! :) Take care!