Yatta!!!

That's Japanese for "It's done!", hehe! And I'm sure you've guessed what it refers to! On 27 April 2007 at exactly 15:07, I submitted my Ph.D. thesis to Graduate Studies (Trinity College Dublin). Ureshii desu ne! :D Now I am FREEEEEEEE!!! Well, until the day of my viva voce, that is! Anyway, here are two photos before the submission event! The first one is of Doireann who was a huge help on the day, proofreading my copies for any typos, and so was Rebecca (the girl in the background).

This is me in front of the Graduate Studies Office, holding one of the two soft-bound copies of my thesis, which had to be submitted that day.

To celebrate, my friends and I first went for dinner at the new Yamamori restaurant on Ormonde Quay, Lower. The place was really cool and I have to say, I like it more than the old one on Georges' Street, South! After that, we went to Bia Bar, which is Irish for "food bar". I'll just be going through photos of several friends who came out to help me celebrate. First up is a photo of me with the friends I made during my undergrad years (left to right: Michael, Stella, Dermot, me, Terry). Stella and Dermot are the couple who's getting married next year, where I'm one of the bridesmaids. :D I also live with them whenever I'm over in Dublin.

This is me with Celine, also one of my dearest friends. She used to work in my research group, and we're ex-housemates. :)

Here we have Aine and myself. Aine did her Ph.D. in Trinity College Dublin as well, and is now a postdoctoral researcher in the same institution. She's great fun, and really nice! Oh, yeah, she's holding a murder mystery party this coming Saturday for her b'day, so we all have to dress up! ;) My friends wouldn't be surprised of the character that I'll be playing. You'll find out on the post about it!

Me, Rebecca and.... [pause] Julien, who else?! Sheesh, he's always fooling around like that!!! >:( Poor Rebecca, haha!

This is a photo of Ruth (a close friend of Aine), Nuala and I. Nuala was someone I met in the early years of my undergraduate course. She did Science like myself. We lost contact until we met up again at Terry's annual Halloween party two years back. And what a small world - Ruth and Nuala used to go to school together!!!

Stella, Gary and Michael. Gary is also a friend from my undergrad years. We always watch anime together, and he's also into manga. He's a fellow boardgame player too. He and Stella introduced me to Carcassonne! ;D

Here's a photo of Doireann, me and Jen. Really great friends! They're, along with Rebecca and Julien, the ones who came to visit me in Berlin. :)

(left to right: Celine, Niamh, me, Andrew) You know who Celine is. Niamh is part of my research group as well. Andrew used to work with us. Now Andrew, he's one lucky guy. If you knew how things just fall into place for him, you'd be so jealous of him, like most of us are, hehe. ;D

Eoin-chan!!! Sorry but this was the only photo where he had his eyes open. Grim look there, Eoin-chan. :P

Well, that's it! It was a great night, one I could enjoy completely without feeling any guilt for not working!!! So I'm enjoying my thesis-free bliss at the moment, though I still have to study for my viva voce, and then I will be completely FREEEEEEEE! Till I get a real job, that is! [sigh] It's a never-ending cycle. Ah well...

So tschuss till the next blog post! :D