the girly dino: Weekend getaway: Dublin!

Dublin is a beautiful city. I was delighted when I found out that two of my abstracts were accepted for poster presentations at the ICHAMS conference. It stands for International Conference for Healthcare and Medical students, organised by fellow students at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. I seized the opportunity to travel and I have to say, what a good excuse that was for a weekend getaway to Europe! I googled more about the city, booked a reasonably priced bed&breakfast with plenty of good reviews, read up on things to do and food to eat in Dublin, booked my flights, bought some Euros, printed my presentation posters and packed my bags. Next thing I knew, we were off!

Waiting to fly at Edinburgh airport

Day one!

We dumped our luggages at the bed&breakfast and went off exploring almost immediately!

River Liffey
It flows through the city centre and divides Dublin into North and South.

Breakfast at Mochaland Cafe, along River Liffey

Interior of the cafe

I went for the Irish breakfast set: Sausages, bacon, baked beans, scrambled eggs and toast served with a cuppa for 7.20 Euros.

Suffice to say I was disappointed to find out that there was hardly any difference at all between an Irish breakfast and an English breakfast -.-

Talented street performers everywhere in Dublin

Grafton street - the main high street in Dublin

Dublin is renowned for its night life - bars and pubs. Temple bar is possibly the most happening night spot in all of Dublin.

Pardon the tired looking eyes. I haven't had any sleep for more than 24 hours in this photo!

Possibly everyone in the bar was having Guinness except us. We opted for cider instead.. bunch of wussies lol

My starter: some deep fried fish cake thing which was pretty tasty. Do not be deceived - it filled me up completely and I didn't get to enjoy my irish stew. :S

Main course: Guinness and beef stew - a local Irish favourite served with buttermilk mashed potatoes and a pastry puff. It was gooooood. mmMm

Day two :)

Rise and shine!
All set for the conference. Little did I know that I was in for a very pleasant surprise :)

Poster 1: Eyelid Asymmetry amongst Malaysians: A Study of 2 Racial Groups

Poster 2: Clinical audit: Long term follow-up of women with genital lichen sclerosus

*Note to self: cut back on the seductive eyes when presenting! :S*

Yes folks, that is me!

Out of 56 presenters from throughout the world, little ol me won first prize for my lichen sclerosus poster! Believe me when I say that I did not expect to win at all. I did not practise my speech, not even once before the presentation. I have no idea how I won! Nearly fell off my seat when they announced the winner and I couldn't stop grinning like an idiot - explains the retarded smile in the picture above.

Oh and did I forget to mention what the prize included? A certificate of achievement, an online PasTest account and 200 Euros cash prize baby!!!!! :):):) Possibly the most generous conference prize ever. tee hee I was a very happy bunny!

So happy that I decided to splurge 44 Euros on a magical evening of food, folklore and fairies. I read about this on tripadvisor - good food, old fashioned story-telling, live Irish music? I was sold! The location was at one of the oldest pubs in Dublin - The Brazen Head which makes it all more exciting.

To all those heading to Dublin, make sure you include this in your itinerary! More about it here: http://irishfolktours.com/
It's ranked the number 1 night life entertainment in Dublin on tripadvisor :) you can't miss it!