London: After almost 3 months here....

Bismillah...

Gosh! I haven't updated anything for the past 4 months!!! Truth is, 3 days after the last post, I received an email saying that my study leave was not approved and from then on I was fully occupied until the day of my departure to the UK. It was a period full of frustrations. To be honest, I have never thought of leaving the system. Serving and giving my all for the public is a passion. However, I'm starting to think that the system is not for someone who wants growth. It's a system that 'celebrates' mediocrity. As long as you keep to your routine, do as you are told and not challenge it, you are very secured. Well, I guess some people would say it's normal to go through the obstacles that I experienced. But it left me thinking about exiting the system every day. Especially when I've discovered that in this part of the world, career advancement is greatly supported. But the delay actually was a blessing in disguise. I managed to go back to see my Mom. If I were to go as planned which was on 19 September, I would've left without seeing my family in Labuan.

Okay.. Now lets move on to my life in London.. This city is undoubtedly very expensive! And I am very glad that I decided to bring a lot of my necessities from Malaysia and paid extra for the luggage. It is this particular move that I currently able to live more comfortably with my study allowance. I have a whole year stock of skincare. I brought all the basic kitchen utensils too. Although you have Poundland and other £1 Asian shops, they can't beat the price you get back home. They can't beat Shopee!!!!  So if people question or mock you for bringing so many things, don't be affected by what people say and just stick to your plan! Hahahaha 

HOME

This is my studio in the university's residence. It cost me £229 per week but the payment is made per term. The shared flat room type is much cheaper by about £20 per week but at this age I cherish comfort and privacy too much that I'm willing to pay more hahaha. You could get a better price if you're living in Zone 3 or 4 but then again you will have to calculate how much is the cost for transport. Sometimes it might not save you much. I chose this one because all bills are included, the tube station is just 50 m away from the entrance and I don't have to change line to go to class. We have many choices of convenient stores just downstairs and the nearest shopping area is about 15 minutes by foot. The wifi connection is superb and I can log in directly into all database since we are using the eduroam wifi. 

TRANSPORT

During my first week here, I spent a lot on transportation! One journey by tube cost me £2.50. I purposely took some time to decide which type of discount that I want to register to because I want to see the pattern of my commute first. So in the end I decided to take the Railcard and linked it to my Oyster card (the card you use for public transport in London) which reduced the fare to £1.65 per journey during off peak and weekends. The 18+ oyster card seems appealing at first, but there are times when I just want to stay at home, or just walk so it doesn't really suit me. As you can see there, this card is for those aged 16-25 years old . Because I was not eligible for the 26-30, so I have to apply for the student age group as mature student but it's not written there, which is good! hahaha

GROCERIES

Luckily, there are a lot of supermarket options to shop for cheap groceries here in London; 

Iceland, Tesco, Lidl, Sainsbury

I cook most of the time since the kitchenette is just next to my bed, so there's no excuse not to do so hahaha But it did took me many weeks to adjust how much to stock to avoid wastage. At first I was buying all fresh things from the market. But since hospital attachment started, I started having microwavable food on certain days to save time. Dining out is a once a week compulsory activity for my sanity hahaha

There are also some phone apps that can help you save money. I'm only using Getir because I don't want to have too many apps on my phone. I have been using the £10 discount for any £11 purchase and the £15 discount for £16 purchase. You just have to check whether the promo is available on that day to use them. I have no idea if there is any limit to how many times you will get the promo. So far I've used it for 5 times and I made use of it to buy pricey items and cleaning products. 

The one above cost me £3.15.

HOSPITAL ATTACHMENT

The placement started on our 5th week which was a relief to me because I'm not used to sitting in class all day. While most of my classmates struggle with the new schedule and environment, I was really happy to get up early, go to hospital and see patients which what I've been doing for the past 11 years.

When we were first assigned to our placement sites, the distance got me making mental calculations of how much the fare will cost me. But now, I don't mind about the distance anymore because it is the best place for my learning experience. It's a huge teaching hospital and the staffs are so used to having students that where ever I go on a particular day, the staffs are very warm, attentive and was happy to teach everything they can. Plus our supervisor is such a charming gentleman. I'm so lucky to have him as my dissertation supervisor too! Bersemangat terus hahaha

One of my lecturer approached me asking whether I'm okay with the course or is it too basic for me and she even asked if I needed more stretch. I spontaneously reacted, 

"Oh please no! I'm okay! Everything is fine!" Hahaha

Since the placement is very much self-directed, it is really up to you to plan your own learning. We were given the emails of people in different units in a discipline hence it is up to us to arrange when is our shadowing at that unit. And you can even ask if you need anything extra which what I did.  That was why I have no intention to have more stretch from the university hahaha

I'm already in clinical for the past 6 years so it was just me familiarizing myself with the other subspecialty rather than starting from basic like most of my course mates. But I wouldn't say I'm having it easy at all because I don't intend to learn just the superficial stuffs and go back with another degree. Plus they have too many drugs here! And yes this is one of my struggles, getting to know all these new drug classes.

I think that's all for now. I'll try to write more in term 2!