Escape from Omagh... NOT!

I really have not blogged for a while now. Nephrology ended like it never really started and I was thrown to Omagh for ENT for 2 weeks. One week ended right before Christmas, and the other will continue at the end of January. I wonder who planned the timetable?! Where is Omagh you say?Omagh is a town located in Tyrone County, about 70 miles away from Belfast. Fortunately, I took a lift from a friend, hence, it only takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get there.

Imagine having a posting 1 week before Christmas... Torturing right? I thought the doctors and patients have the same mentality. Some doctors are on leave, and there were not many patients. So why were we there anyway? Did I mention that there were only 3 of us?

This is the ENT and Audiology department, looking empty...

To rub it into us, there were Christmas trees around every corner! 

We stayed in the Nurses Hostel, 4 miles away from the hospital we were posted in - Tyrone County Hospital. The hostel is at Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital (T&F). I really don't know why do they have 2 hospitals 4 miles apart.

There was a massive Christmas tree at the cafeteria as well! How are we supposed to study if they keep getting is in the holiday mood?

Even Santa's smiling in my face now!

Nativity figurines were set up everywhere as well!

To as many peripheral hospitals that I've been posted to, the room in T&F seemed to be the biggest of them all.

Giselle in Enchanted could make a dress with the curtains in the room.

Because my friend drives, there has been lack of exercise for me for the past week. Climbing these stairs is about the only workout I get. Super sedentery!

There was nothing to do in the hospital that the day ended without any excitement. It was worse at night, because there was nothing to do in the hostel, with the exception of the 'ever entertaining' British TV programmes.

We were in the OT the whole of the next day. ENT surgeons have got to be the relaxed surgeons ever, because the bulk of the cases were fixing glued ears or removing foreign bodies from soundly sleeping kids on anaesthetic, such as crayons and wee toys. The main attraction for the day had to be adenoidectomy, which wasn't very interesting either.

Thankfully there was enough time to explore the town of Omagh. It is a small and cozy town where there are sufficient shops to meet the needs of the community.

This faint and quiet town cannot be compared to Belfast, where it is buzzing with people. It is probably due to the Omagh Bombing in 1998. It is still a wonder why the IRA chose to detomate this peaceful town. The bombing is still talked about now, and the verdict of the only suspect caught. Thank God it is peaceful now.

There were strange statues in Omagh as well!

Tyrone County Hospital!

The typical ENT clinic. It is equipped with nasopharyngeal scopes and other canggih-fied tools!

Being in a peripheral hospital, I am not in a comfortable state to cook. And all my spices were in Belfast. So I had to rely on oven-cooked food, such as...
...Beef Curry Rice &...

...Cheese Pizza!

We found an old school cinema on Wednesday night! Finally, CIVILIZATION!!!

It was so old school that the ticket is of the old type! With this ticket, you can enter any screen you like! And did I mention before that UK cinemas are free seating? Too bad my ticket was not torn properly.

Omagh was so cold that in the mornings, the windscreen of my friend's car was covered in frost! We had to wait until the car was heated up to melt the frost. It's super 'mah fan' to live in a country with winter.

Actually, Omagh was not as deserted as I thought it would be. It may be the company, or it may be that I just like to travel. But I certainly did not like the empty clinics and the temptation of the Christmas holiday mood! But then again, ULTIMATE HOLIDAY, HERE I COME!!!

The ENT postings ended on a high, with a small Christmas party in the ENT department. The nurses and doctors had their share of fun, and we got a share as well! I was back from Omagh one day eariler, which felt like as escape because we didn't have to go to clinic the next day! And that means 1 extra day of holiday! XD

I'm not anticipating to go back to Omagh at the end of January, but I hope that there will be more to learn then.

Oh, and did I mention that the movie I watched in Omagh was The Golden Compass?
Contrary to what many people said about the movie, I did not think it was that bad! Maybe it's because my expectations were dampened from all the reviews I read. Or maybe it is becaue I knew that this was the first part of a trilogy, so there will definitely be a hang in the ending of The Golden Compass. Ooops! Did I just spoiled the ending for you? Sorry! ;P