Winnie the Pooh on Her Own

New Year 2012

2012-01-02T14:18:00.001-05:00

This year I decided to do something different. I'm setting goals this year as a trial to see if it really help me to organize my life. This is not to say that my life is a mess but I'm just trying to see if setting goals can become part of my life.

Goals:
1. spend some quiet time daily with the Lord
2. pick a church and go on average twice a month
3. lose 30lbs by end of year
4. spend more reading time for residency
5. call home more often

Let the New Year of 2012 begin!!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T16:09:00.032-05:00

I got a suprising long weekend for the holiday than originally planned, but didn't find out early enough so that I could've bought tix to go home. Oh well. So I ended up having Fri to Tuesday off. I spent Friday grocery shopping for the Christmas dinner and boy were the lines there long and slow. It seemed like everyone was there with a big basket full of food. I didn't have that much so I stood in self check out line but the ladies checking out were really slow, it's almost like they didn't know how to use the machine. They kept having the help sign flashing and I think it took them 20min to finish from what I saw but they've already finished 3/4 then. Ridiculous.

On Saturday, Christmas Eve, I made the dinner. Menu was Slow cooker turkey, Mexican corn, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes. Other people brought drinks and desserts. It was good. I would have to tweaked the green bean casserole for the next time and make less of mashed potatoes. The Mexican corn was a keeper and that's the only new recipe for my experiment. Nonetheless, my first Christmas dinner!

Spent the rest of Saturday chatting and watching TV with the girlfriend that stayed over. All good times.

Sunday was Christmas and we had breakfast, eggnog waffle, then went to Parkside's service. Made me realized how much I actually missed going to church. It felt soothing to be there. There came home and had left over for lunch.

We did make plans to go to Crocker Park on Monday for lunch and shopping but come Monday, just didn't feel like it. I just felt like vegging out so I did for Monday and Tuesday. It was a lot of time spent on my couch just chilling out and watching TV, saw a few Christmas movies.

Christmas Movies List:
Polar Express
Miracle of 34th Street
Home Alone series

Ca 1 year update

2011-12-15T16:08:00.011-05:00

This is just a quick update of life in residency since July, starting my Ca 1 year. This is the year where I'll start spending my time in the ORs. It's been good so far, some routine cases and some crazier ones. Calls have been good, busy during daytimes but question whether surgical teams really know the definition of emergency. I've had a couple true emergency but most of the cases during weekend calls were not really emergency. Definitely learned a little about other subspecialty areas that will get more in depth next year.

No complaints overall, enjoying my time being busy at times. Only wish I could figure out reading daily after being exhausted from work and also squeezing time for exercising and doctors' appts.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T16:31:00.019-05:00

This year was very low-key. I spent it with a family that I met not too long ago and the wife, Melissa, is also my endocrinologist. I didn't have to work the day of and had very light day before and after. We just had dinner and just chatted about random things. Also got to play with their 2 little girls, absolutely adorable. They are definitely a family that I don't mind hanging out with again. Dinner was actually yummy. They had their food delivered from a grocery store and all they did was heated up. The cranberry sauce, mashed potato, turkey and stuffing were good. Corn souffle was a maybe but the green bean was a no. But it was still enjoyable cuz of the company.

The one thing I was happy was that I finally get to make another apple pie, except this time, I changed it to crumbled and used a combination of granny smith and fuji apples. It was yummy. Friends at dinner enjoyed it too. It wasn't too sweet but it definitely needed another apple in the mix.

Grand Cayman

2011-10-31T17:23:00.020-04:00

Spent a week on the island. It was my vacay before the dreary winter starts. This was the end of the rainy season but before the tourist season. It was as wonderful as I expected. There were good and bad days. The week started off rainy but we got good walks on the beach in, good time just reading and doing nothing but relaxing and getting re-acquainted with each other again. The sunny days were spent on the beach, island tour and also sting ray city/sandbar with snorkeling. The nights were spent having yummy food (totaly sabotaged my diet, oh well) and alcholic beverages and hanging out at the beach bar next door. Mudslides became the drink of choice most of the time and definitely learn that me and Irish Bailey's and whiskey really don't agree, found a Ben Stiller look alike as bartender, getting some creative free drinks. Also participated in a hypnosis show one night, one of those things that I'm not sure I'll do again. Of course, we went to Hell. :)

The girls were great, caught up with Kirstin and Krista and got to know Gretchen (Kirstin's childhood friend). I think by the end of the trip, we agreed that we should totally do something like this again. I think the talk is somewhere close for next year and possibly Cuba the year after. So far just talks, we'll see how much of it will come true.

Here's some pics

Beloved Grandmother

2011-10-22T17:46:00.031-04:00

I feel like I should feel more about my grandmother's passing but I don't. Then I started thinking about the reason behind it. I realized that I was never particularly close to her, unlike the way I was with my mom's mom. I think by the time that I had any consistent relationship with her I was already in high school and that was the time when we had more problems with my dad's side. I'm sure she was proud of all her grandkids but I could who she favors more and that she wants to know more about their lives. Part of it was also my fault in that I just didn't open up to her. I understand it's a quirky trait of mine that it's hard for me to open up to people. She lived a long life where she did a lot of amazing things, opened up herself to enjoy life. That's the one thing I'll always remember her for.

Rest in peace, ma-ma.

passed Oct 13, 2011
wake Oct 21, 2011
funeral Oct 22, 2011

English Obituary

Chinese Obituary

First month as Ca-1

2011-07-28T21:08:00.014-04:00

First month of GenA, straight out of orientation with 3 months of gap away from anesthesia.

Wow, What a month!! The first week was like a deer in the headlight for me. I gotta figure out what it going on and where is what since everything is pretty new. Boy, was I nervous for being on my own. There's almost no hand holding, it's pretty much sink or swim. I'm glad I have the personality of just letting everything flow and see where all things go and arrange it as it fits then. Otherwise, I would be super duper stressed. The first week, cases weren't that extreme but then they scheduled me a couple of times to the ambulatory center where it's a different system. It's like starting to adjust and gotta re-adjust again.

Throughout the month, I got some days that are difficult in the sense that the cases and patients were more complicated. They had me do craniotomy scheduled, whipple and stroke (on-call). It's been a fast learning curve. I was just happy that on those days, my staff were nice and more than willing to teach and lend a hand.

Got 4 calls for the month. It's not bad at all cuz our calls right now fall under the new intern rule where it can't be more 16hrs of work day. I'm also generally a white cloud and the bad calls would usually consist of being busy early on then when it's bedtime, it's quiet. So generally I get almost a good night sleep with hours. But we all know that we usually are still in the light sleep where we have an ear out for our pager going off.

Home for the holiday/wedding

2011-07-05T20:44:00.017-04:00

I finally got to go home to Cali and it has been over a year. The last time was right after graduation. The vacation started off with going to my cousin's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, fairly extravagant with all the work and pomp, but at the same time very homey cuz they had people from church help them. The reception was very elaborate as well.

Rhys & Flora Wedding

Had a good time. But for my own wedding, I'm more for something smaller and simpler. This is just too much work, even for me attending it. But nonetheless, it was beautiful and elegant.

The rest of my time was spent at home, just enjoying my parents and my goofy brother.

ResCU

2011-06-24T20:25:00.000-04:00

Just finished the month of ResCU. It's a special unit where people who needed a little longer time to get off the vent completely. Patients usually either had lung transplant or some underlying lung disease. Some of them has been in the hospital for months. There's one on our list that has been here since Oct. The most painful part of it all is writing discharge summary for them when they leave either to LTAC or rehab. Because of the length of time that they stay in the hospital and that sometimes you would spend the month taking care of them, you get attached, especially the younger ones cuz you know that they have a better chance to leave the hospital walking.

Overall, it's a good rotation to learn about the ventilator since patients are usually long term with not much of acute issues going on. Everyday is pretty much the same with minor adjustment for work.

freaky little pic

2011-06-09T20:25:00.002-04:00

If you wear glasses, just take off your glasses.

Feeling of Cleveland ... 1st year

2011-06-07T13:31:00.002-04:00

This has definitely been my most miserable year. The job/work has been ok, most of the time I actually enjoy my work. The part of my life that's been a downer is the living in Cleveland part.

This all started with the fact I moved to Cleveland for residency and that was not my top choice, so in my mind, I didn't fully accept the decision probably until October that I'm here for 4 years. I was in denial in May and June when I first moved out here, but I still went out trying to have fun and meet other interns. I didn't really find anyone that I clicked with or people that I would like to hang out away from the hospital. By October, the winter has arrived already with the gloomy gray skies. What I was not expecting was the lack of sun for the entire winter and that the entire winter goes from mid October to April. I knew that I've SAD but I didn't know that I would be in the worst depression that I've every experienced. I changed my vitamin to get more vit D, but it irritated my stomach, so I had to change it again. My mood didn't change much.

The fact that I was working over the holidays didn't help, so I went to visit Kirstin. That help a little but it only made me realize that I really don't belong here in Cleveland. Other residents say that Cleveland would grow on you, but I really don't think it ever will. At this, I met Angel and really got to know her as she's going through hard times, so that kind of gave me a different focus, but it didn't last long for my attention span. I soon got mildly annoyed with her problem, but she was someone that I clicked with. She was applying for CRNA school and got accepted to one in Florida, which she will be going in Dec if all goes well. So I'm already trying to distance myself, not getting too attach so I won't be too disappointed when she leaves.

Then I got sucked into the SICU, which was even more depressing with the work load, call schedules and just the ICU madness. I'm feeling down is not really work related, it's more due to the fact that I don't have anyone in Cleveland that checks up on when I don't show up to church or small groups in a while or someone for me to fall back on to just talk or rant. I visited Kirstin again this time, and I could tell the difference, I was much more quieter with her, not my usual loud crazy self. I then realize that this can't keep going.

Now, I'm at the point where I'm very close to asking someone from work to write me a Rx for wellbutrin for short term to just fight this off. I also got to talking to Eddy and David, so hopefully I'll be able to find a relief through them. I just feel frustrated with the low moods that I'm feeling, most of the time, I just want to sleep more, and eat more of my comfort food.

I really want to beat this. Please God, help me.

Mini vacay

2011-05-31T22:00:00.034-04:00

2 days before leaving, I ended up buyin plane ticket for $240, which is now almost unheard of, so I was like what the heck, it'll get me there fast enough without driving and also a day earlier to spend with Kirstin.
And off I go!!

New York

The first night/day I got there was mostly spent just catching up. We ended up shopping a little for some going out clothes for Kirstin, got her a couple outfits that she can swap the tops and bottoms. Just very laid back, hanging out.

Atlantic City

We then head out to AC and stayed at the Showboat. It is still pre-season so the boardwalk was not fully opened yet. We managed to catch some sunset on the boardwalk beach. The beach was not very pretty but I enjoyed it nonetheless, being that it's ocean, has sun and not Cleveland.

Atlantic City beach on boardwalk

Dinner was at Celine's cafe, a quaint little place that serve sandwiches and full meals. We had calamari and I had the coconut shrimp. Talk about yummy and delish. Anyways, we took a walk down the boardwalk, think walked about 3 miles after the food, then play the slots machine. I of course didn't win anything, only lost $10. Kirstin actually won $30 before she was tempted by more slots to play more. She ended up being even.

We then drove to Brigantine Beach by AC, and it was gorgeous. The sand was prettier and just got the feel of summer beach vacay. The beach houses there are cute, the total cape cod beach house style. We then sort of fell asleep on the beach for about 1hr and definitely got burned. Lunch was at Nazim's Indian buffet, good, not too Americanized.

Brigatine Beach

Philly

Got to Kirstin and Mike's house in the afternoon, pizza for dinner and pool and hot tub the rest of the night. Had a little time to catch up with Krista as she just finished her PE. Then met Amy and Guston, Mike's sister and brother-in-law, and their lovely "moose". We just hung out at the house mostly, going down the real water slide and diving board, hot tub.

New York

My last night on Saturday, we head to rooftop lounge/bar on 230 5th. It's got great views but definitely a little too high end for regular night out. It's a great place for special nights outings. It was fun though, really wished I could have met Frank and Jonathan, Kirstin's NY crazy residents.

Of course, for my flight back, Chicago has thunderstorm and tornado warning and I would have missed my connection even with all the delays, so I opt to stay an extra night with Kirstin.

By the time I left, I just felt lost, I didn't want to come back to Cleveland. It's almost a dreaded feeling that Cleveland is now my home for a few years. Definitely not happy here and can't wait til residency is over and I could look foward to move to the coast.

SICU ... hmm

2011-05-24T22:11:00.034-04:00

It's been a long 2 months ... 14 calls total with some crazy things interspersed.

SICU environment is one where there's a steep learning curve on everything, ventilation, acute management, putting out fires overnight. I enjoyed the learning environment, all the staff and fellows are more than willing to teach. There are a few stories I've got on the seniors that I was on call with.

I'm sure there's always a senior where everything has problems with. And this one is driving everything nuts. He has a military background and very much into hierarchy. It's interesting how he fits in with other anesthesiologists as the people in the field is more laid back, less uptight about the whole medicine hierarchy. Also I'm not really sure how much clinical knowledge he's got. He's gotten into some trouble over some things that he's done, like starting insulin drip less than 24hrs after a pancreas transplant. The nurses did not like him as well so that makes life for me at night a little more difficult. The nurses will try their best to get around him and find me for things but because I'm an intern, there are some things that I still have to get an ok from him. Also at times, he would like to teach at 2-3am and I'm like, I'm exhausted and nothing he teach will stay with me. So don't waste anyone's time and just move on. Boy, am I glad that this is done. I feel bad for the other intern who was on call with him a couple of times. He really walked over her, more so than me. I just don't let anyone walk over me, especially major things. I also got yelled at by one of the staff when one of his patient went into Afib and find that her electrolytes needed replacement all day, which was not done.

The second month was not much better. The first month was actually fun cuz we would prank page each other, talk about other things outside of hospital, in general, we just get along better. The second month, people were just not as friendly and I find it harder to talk to them about random things. On top of that there's also another senior who was not fun to work with. She a little more hands off and disappears throughout the night. Also during daytime, she would sign out a bit of things to do to the night time.

I definitely know that when I become a senior, what not to do.

At the end, I just felt like I have been holed up in the ICU dungeon and have absolutely no idea what else is happening with anyone else. I'm glad that I'm done with ICU until my 3rd year. Also realized that I'm not a critical care person as I was getting really tired of the medicine that has become more like the floor. So that's definitely one fellowship I have ruled out.

Food ... last 2 months

2011-05-16T22:52:00.001-04:00

I haven't stopped eating out to try places despite my somewhat crazy schedule. The reviews might be out of order but there they are.

South Side
Went there twice. First time was brunch and I had chicken and waffle. Before you say gross, it is very yummy despite the sound of it. I remembered the first time I had chicken and waffle was Roscoe's in LA, I was grossed out by it too until I took my first bite. It's soo good that you can feel you arteries clogging up. South Side was just as good, crispy chicken and waffle with maple syrup and cinnamon butter. Totally recommend it. The second time I went for late night dinner and ordered Grilled Eggplant Capresa sandwich with Fried Portabella. The sandwich was made with fresh mozzarella and the portabella was fresh too. mouthwatering. The atmosphere was great too, very friendly, great place for just hanging out, time with girlfriends.

Chinato
Went there on a Friday nite for dinner. Not impressed at all. The portion was ok but pricey. The flavor is just not there. It wasn't anything special. Whatever I ordered, it didn't make a lasting impression. The atmosphere was ok, a little loud, maybe it's because people were eating there prior to bars.

Sushi Rock - Beachwood
It's very modern for a Japanese cuisine. The menu is very fusion like and the decor portrayed that too. It would be a good date night too. I had the Golden dragon roll and my girlfriend had the sushi rock tempura roll. They are both good. Very well made, it's comparable to the ones I've had in Cali. I also had the lobster bisque. It's a little weakness of mine, lobster bisque and pumpkin bisque, always gotta try them if the restaurants have them. The soup was a little too salty but huge portion. The calamari appetizer looked good too, I think I would get that next time too. I would come again but it won't be the top sushi place, it's a little too fusion for Japanese cuisine.

Pacific East - Eaton Village
Yummy!! It's got good sushi, no doubt. Even now, I can totally go back and eat more. They've got good size portion, especially if you ordered the bento box/combo. The flavor is there with the raw fish and they've got some good combo and some with their own added twist. Can't wait to try the one here in Coventry.

Melange
Eh. Not enough flavor. I had the lobster mac and cheese and something just didn't taste right. It's got a taste of seafood not clean or not cooked proper. I could smell and taste the fishiness. It's definitely got the Midwest portion, I had enough for another 2 meals and when I heat up the leftover, there was so much oil. gross. definitely not coming.

The Mad Greek
It's my 2nd trip. Love the place. It's a great little Mediterranean restaurant, family owned but large enough to not be hole in the wall. It's fancier than Taza and a little more formal. The food, oh my, delish. The first time I ordered the gyro and the second time I had chicken souvlaki. They were both yummy. It's not too salty and there were both refreshing, exactly what I would imagine Greek cuisine would be like.

Aladdin - across from Mad Greek
Aladdin's Flavor special is cheap and good. Totally would be something I would be ordering takeout, which I already did. Their hot sauce is something, it's tart, pepper spicy and a hint of sweetness too. I know, usually I don't eat beef but for this I made an exception. They did well, very juicy and flavorful. Even the rice was good too. None of it tasted too oily and it's light too. The atmosphere is very casual, very collegiate like. It reminds of the restaurants in Westwood when I was at UCLA.

Blake's Seafood - Crocker Park
We just had a good day and just decided to stop in for dinner. I had Garlic Crusted Haddock. The fish was cooked nicely and it had the richness that the haddock has. The place is like a steakhouse environment that serves mostly seafood. It has the very Western flavor in the decor but at the same time it feels like there's a little class. Dunno if I would come back for seconds.

Wow, after all this, realized I ate a lot. I'm sure there's going to more later .... :)

orientation to ORs

2011-04-03T22:00:00.011-04:00

Spent the last 2 months getting to know the OR and getting a taste of how the rest of 3 yrs here in Cleveland is going to be like. I actually really enjoyed it, may be because everything was new to me. I had to refresh and re-learn everything that I have already learned during 4th year.

The environment is adrenaline based for a short period of time and then it would quiet down until other burst of excitement that needed to temper down. Everything is very much about being prepared ahead of time and to anticipate of any problems that might arise. This totally feeds my neurotic need for control. Haha. I'm finding that this was a very good choice for me and my personality. It's funny how we end up in a field that matches our personality to the T.

The only thing that put a damper in my 2 months is that I won't be in the ORs until July, so hopefully by then, I won't forget everything. :) But I'm definitely looking forward to the GenA months where I have a little more freedom to learn how to sink and swim.

Me vs My profession

2011-03-25T20:39:00.010-04:00

As I was walking in from the garage to the hospital's locker room to change, I started thinking about being perceived as a physician from appearance and thinking myself as one. I'm still struggling with that even now after several months of residency and years of med school prep.

The biggest problem for me is that I don't feel like I'm a physician and that I'm too young for this kind of job, but in reality, most people my age has already been working for several years. My thing is that I actually don't want my first impression with people to be a physician, so I tend to dress fairly casual most of the time, not grungy. I only tell people what I do when I'm asked specifically. It's a ingrained in me since high school that I don't tell people exactly what I do right away because my own extended family has gotten jealous before and would try to put me down. This is just what I do to protect myself but in a way I think that's just silly as well. I am confident in what I do but it's just I don't want to come off as intimidating to new people that I meet. Truthfully, my being a female physician does seem to intimidate a lot of people that I have come across. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm usually pretty quiet with new people too.

Someone once asked me if I would do this again. Maybe, especially with this environment with the healthcare system. Now more and more the careers of NP, PA ad CRNA seem to be good options as well. But I don't think I'm willing to give up my right to power and in control of my career. So truthfully, to choose this career again would need to give me a huge incentive. Sometimes I just find it not worth the years, effort and debt I put in to, but most of the times, it's a fairly satisfying career. We shall see where God leads me with the career.

Nighttown ... Taza

2011-03-20T21:32:00.000-04:00

So after a day of fellowship and small group workshop at Parkside with Angel and Eric, we went to Nighttown in the Cedar/Fairmount area for their burgers. We each got our own. I had blue cheese with mine and we all had mayo (which I believed it house made) with our fries. It was good, delish, and juicy. I asked for medium well and mine was slightly overcooked. Angel's was perfectly done for medium well, which should still be slight pink but with no raw juice running out. Nonetheless, it is good place for bar burger. Just as we were leaving, they are packed in the sit down area, which I think it's expensive, high end menu, not really my regular fare. I would definitely come back for a quick bit of burger. The ambience is very homey, jazzy feel.

On Sunday, after church, we ate at Taza, Lebanese grill. With Mediterrean restaurants, I always order either gyros or vegetarian cuz they usually have the best vegetarian meals around. So I did the same today, ordered the vegetarian feast with hummous, baba, tabouli and falafel with pita breads. They served the pita bread first with their homemade dipping sauce (balsamic vingerette, olive oil and sesame seeds). They have the normal pita and their own pita which they call it puffy pita (poufs up like naan but with yeast). It was a good pita, wish I could buy in a store. The portion was huge. They only thing I picked on them was that the baba was slightly saltier than I would have liked. But otherwise, the meal was very light and refreshing.

Parkside small group workshop

2011-03-20T17:35:00.003-04:00

Parkside held a workshop on small group, how to lead and participated in one.

The first session was about the basics of small group, the purpose of one and the basis of one. Purpose of small group is simple, receive Christ as Lord and live with Christ as Lord. To receive Christ is what it means, salvation to conversion to trust Christ. Small group should do that for unbelievers because of the teaching that transformed lives. To live with Christ is the daily relationship with Christ. This is the fundamentals of the small groups, building relationship to promote the purpose of small group.

The second session was on essentials of small group, which should be Gospel centered and small group should be learning from Bible, praying together, serving each other, evangelism and disseminating information. Gospel should the main ingredient of the small group and it should direct us how to live our lives. Small group should not be special interests focus among the members since it can very easily excluder new comers.

The last session was the practical application of leading small group. The leader should lead the small group to be a faithful shepherd and be a humble servant. Seek out unbelievers (the lost sheep) and serve each other in the small group. Then we had an exercise where we each have a role who are difficult to handle in small group. It just goes to show that even with people that are disruptive within the group, a good leader can turn it to good and enhance the dynamics of the group. Then the finally onto the basic structure of small group and pearls of wisdom.

This workshop really remind me that I need to find my own small group of girls and have weekly meeting where open up ourselves and have each of us hold accountable. It has been since college that I have been in a true small group. Throughout med school, it's only been Kirstin that has really been there for me. So far in Cleveland, it's only been Angel and a little with Sarah. I'm praying that I'll be better plugged in at Parkside here and find my own niche with my own group to hold me accountable. I'm finding that since I've been going to Parkside, I'm having more of burning desire to better my relationship with God and wanting to read and know about Him through Bible.

We met Rosa who sat with us at our table. She regaled us with stories on relationships with what she had seen and experienced. It was very informative. She was the first person that have treated me like a daughter since I've moved to Cleveland. I hope I'll find more older ladies that are willing to be my "mother".

B Spot

2011-03-17T20:18:00.015-04:00

One of Michael Symon's 3 restaurants, very casual burger spot.

It was one of those days where I finished work earlier and I went without lunch. So I decided to go to B Spot for a burger. I ordered Shroomage and Lola fries. The burger has a huge portabella mushroom with some cheese and onions on top of the burger. The patty is not one of those thin ones, it was meaty, thick patty. It was just a little too salty for me. I added their pickled onions and pepper and their red pepper sauce. Very good gourmet burger. The Lola fries is okay, not my favorite. It just wasn't crunchy enough but it did have good rosemary flavor.

I have yet to try the vanilla bacon apple shake. I have been told that it is good despite it's weird name. We shall see. It's definitely one to go back when I get my occasional burger craving.

::Transit::

2011-03-16T22:30:00.012-04:00

Parkside's large group mostly for young adults. I've been wanting to try out the fellowship since the first time I've visited Parkside. My only issue is that it's on Wed night and with my work schedule, a lot of the times, I'm really exhausted by dinner time and I would passed out sleeping on my couch.

So this week, I've finally made it since I wasn't feeling sleepy at all. I got there and I got a surprise. Vince was there too. Totally was not expecting another Asian there, especially someone I know. The service was good. Worship was thoroughly touching especially when I connect more with music. I totally feel like it's some place where I can stay and sing my heart out for worship.

The message was short but thorough. Now they are going through John. It's such a good reminder of who Jesus is and what he did for us to save us from the world. I just wish if the message was just slightly longer, maybe 10-15min, but overall it was still very refreshing for a midweek service.

I'm going to try really hard to make it on Wed nite and try to meet more people there and get plugged in. My goal for the year is to get plugged in.

Birthday weekend ...

2011-03-14T21:52:00.037-04:00

Weekend arrived thinking that I just might end up spending my birthday by myself again. But Lord was great, provided me company so I'm not lonely and actually develop deeper friendships in Cleveland.

Started the weekend off with Le Petit Triangle Cafe for brunch with Hee-Jeong and Erika, girls I met in Chinese church but they are non-Chinese. It was good times. I don't think I have laughed as much or as hard since I've been in Cleveland. The two of them are quite a pair. Random thoughts connected, random comments with no filter, friendly abuse and most of all, I felt like they are people that I can have fun random hang out. Needless to say, the food wa awesome. This is a French cafe and they have crepes, my all time favs. I've always had chocolate crepes but decided to try their chicken cheddar chutney crepes. Oh my, yummy to the nth power!

Later, I had my girl date with Angel at Paladar. Its's a Latin restaurant with more of Cuban flavor. We decided to share our dinner, which was fine by me since I had such a yummy brunch earlier. For appetizer, we had chorizo and cheese papusa. It was good, chorizo and cheese stuffed between plantains and corn cakes with spicy tomato sauce. You can actually taste every single flavor in it. For entree we shared the roasted chicken mole. The chicken was tender and was served with fried plantains and mole sauce over rice. The mole sauce was slightly different than what I have tasted before, not my very favorite but still yummy nonetheless. For dessert, we had their flan. Wow, that definitely was the hi-light. It was creamy and couldn't taste the egg taste that's common with flan. Overall, would definitely come back for other tastes. I want to try their guacamole since they have different flavor base on the chef's inspiration.

After dinner, we went to Wickliffe bowling lane with other people from church and bowl for 3 games, as there was a special going with 3 games and shoes for $10. Let's just say, I sucked. My highest was 89 and my scores just got progressively worse over the next 2 games. I did have fun though, trying to learn to spin the ball. What a sight that was. Also I came home with a broken thumb nail. Owie. Oh well, will just be 2 weeks before it'll be fixed. Time change too, spring forward. So tired, losing an hour of sleep, but worth it.

After Parkside church on Sunday, me and Angel went to McCormick and Schmick for lunch and Mitchell's ice cream after we walked around the mall for a little bit to see if there was anything eye catching. McCormick and Schmick's is good seafood restaurant. I had the crab and shrimp melt, a little saltier that I would have liked but yummy, delish. Just couldn't tell if the crab meat for fresh or canned. Mitchell's as always, just absolute dreamy.

So for my actual birthday, it was a Monday so I had to work but I did get myself my family version of traditional birthday dinner. My family always celebrated birthday with a seafood galore with noodles, with both, it usually means more than enough blessings and longevity. Then we would have an Asian French style cake. So for myself, I got dinner from Wonton Gourmet (Sichuan fish and chicken pan fried noodle) and mini tiramisu cake from KoKo bakery. It was good enough for myself but really wished I had my mom's homemade dinner. It will have to do until I can get home to my mom's birthday dinner.

Oreintation pt 1

2011-03-07T20:55:00.007-05:00

Started my official 1st month of anesthesia training, which is looking more like shadowing senior residents having them show us how OR is set up, the basic day to day functions and just get some basic experiences with procedures.

I had a really good senior for the first half of the month, getting me started. He was really helpful, telling all the little bits of info that he wished someone had told before. Then had another one that basically let me know try various techniques and procedures and having me try to be in a room by myself. With them, I had seen some crazy airway cases and icu transfers even the staff were saying that it was not a room for orienting intern. Oh well. It was fun.

Next week, we will be starting with 1 to 1 with staff and they may just leave us alone only with a little more supervision and then our own with with senior staffing 2 rooms. Can't wait and see how well that will go.

Parkside part II

2011-03-06T17:41:00.000-05:00

Tried out Parkside church again. Tried it once a couple months ago, and it wasn't Alistair Beggs speaking. But I just felt a little lost and I think at the point I was hoping that the Chinese church would work out as well as the one in Jersey had for me.

This time, I really liked it. Pastor Beggs' sermon was intense, about the sanctuary/temple which God has entrusted to us to care for. I just haven't had an intense sermon like his in a long time, probably since my time at JMac's church when I was at UCLA. It was totally inspiring, really want me to re-build my relationship with God and really trust Him for his plans for me here in Cleveland. By the end of the sermon, I felt peace for the first time since moving to Cleveland. It's almost like I have come to a place where I can see myself grow and not be anxious about what would happen next, waiting for me.

I'm going to really try to put Wed's large group into my schedule and make it a weekly thing.

ITE as PGY 1

2011-03-06T15:30:00.002-05:00

Wow. In-Training Exam. Felt really dumb as I walked out the room. Oh, well, I'm glad that this is the first one and I can just keep on improving year after year. There are some questions that I knew the answers to cuz somebody just by chance told me about it. But realized there are so much reading to be done.

Alrighty, Jia Yo!!!

Afterwards, our program had a post ITE celebration at Bier Markt. It was nice to see other people from other classes and to see some of the staff as well. But there just wasn't a lot people. And we still kind of hang out with the same people that we know. Maybe eventually I'll get adventurous and get to know other people.

Fracas

2011-03-04T22:27:00.002-05:00

It's a gastropub in Coventry. I drive past it everyday to and from work and it's newly opened. Angel and I decided to venture out and try out this place.

Let's just say, I would not come back. The ambience is nice. It's in an old theater with stage and they had a Jazz band playing later that night. It's set up like what I would imagined a lounge/dinner place would be like. The food just doesn't have the flair, nothing really spectacular. It's the typical American fare. We had the chips and dip for appetizer. Props for the kettle chips but the dip was a little too ordinary and salty. I got the pumpkin bisque which was good. I can never turn down pumpkin or squash bisque, a new habit that I've found myself liking more as I get older. For main, I got the Grouper BLT. It's interesting but I would not get another BLT. It mostly just taste like someone dumped a bottle of salt into the sandwich. The grouper was slightly overcooked, not very tender. So overall, would not visit again.

But the night was salvaged but my chatting time with Angel. She's been busy and I have in and out of town over the holidays, so it was the first real catch. Realized we are very similar in a lot of our choices and what we wanted in our lives. I really hoped she would stay in Cleveland for CRNA school. I really think that God has put us together for a reason. She's going through a hard time and I'm just not very happy with where I am currently, just haven't really found my niche. So with her, I'm going to make the switch to Parkside and see how it goes. I think unintentionally, we both decide to make this weekly happening, us trying out a new restaurant.

Interesting ...

2011-02-28T09:42:00.002-05:00

Funny thing happened this past weekend. It was suppose to be relatively quiet with me attempting to read for my in-training exam. Saturday night turned out to be something different.

Dinner with people I know from church but once I got to Wonton Gourmet, it wasn't only people from church but other Chinese people from other churches. Dinner was fun, conversations were random and just plain having a good time.

After dinner, debated between bowling or hanging out at Ferdi's place. We ended up at Ferdi's place, where I met even more Chinese people who are PhD or med students at Case. How bizarre. It just goes to show that us Chinese will find each other in some ways and connections go far and wide.

Wonton Gourmet is good per Midwest standard. It's fairly authentic. Would totally warrant a next visit.

I found out that I sucked at Rockband, esp at drum. Oh well, serves me right for not being a big gaming fan until med school. Will definitely need to get into the Wii and xbox.

Taiwan / Chinese New Year

2011-02-07T16:37:00.097-05:00

Yippee.... My first real vacation since starting residency.

Chinese New Year's Album

Of course, leaving Cleveland about 2-3 days after another snowstorm, hoping to go to DC for my connecting flight. That did not happened. Snowstorm is a common occurrence and I know that unless the temp freeze, airports usually keep going. I got delayed by flight maintenence and have to switch my flight to Chicago then to Tokyo. I don't have a problem with that since international flights usually have more priority in take-offs. Chicago airport was nice, they even have a sushi bar in the middle of the airport with floor to ceiling windows on one side. Totally could see the area being gorgeous on good days. Met up with my brother in Tokyo for the final stretch to Taipei. No delays at all. But it was too long of a flight. I think the grand total flying to Taipei, it took me 22hrs to land in Taipei and another 1hr to go through customs and get my bags. We were schedule to arrive at 10:30pm and we didn't come out until 11:30pm. My poor aunt who was picking us up thought she missed us. haha. Originally, my parents would have to wait for us but they ended up being delayed so they didn't wait as long as they thought they would. :)

We got to the condo around 1am then just hang out a bit before getting ready to sleep. The funny thing was I was exhausted, delirious but still had the energy to play to my 2nd cousin (baby of my cousin). I even slept through most of my flight. That shows how exhausted I was on CORS. Baby Colin was too cute and adorable. We definitely got lots of pics of him.

Day 1 - had our first of many family meals with my aunts and uncle and cousins and cousin-in-laws. We went to Thai/Vietnamnese buffet. It was yummy. Totally forgot how much walking there is in Taiwan or the use of subway. Love it better than US transport. As you can tell, I don't like driving. Ha. Then we met up with my mom and brother's friend, Jessica. They met her at the last year's cultural camp back home. I got my haircut and they went for coffee. I just had them trim my hair and pretty much just re-shape it. SalonBlu totally butchered it a while back. They are not my fav but much better and cheaped that SalonBlu. Then we all went to dinner at a Shanghai restaurant. It was more of my mom and brother chatting with them and my dad and I were just along for the ride. Good times.

Day 2 - It was a slow day. We went to Taiwan style dim sum then my parents had to do their official paperwork and whatnot. Then we went out with Kai's friend to XimenTing and other night market area. This was the night where my parents and my aunt babysat Colin. We were joking to see who was more tired, the adults or Colin. The minute we opened the door, Colin crawled up to Ka-Man and started blubbering, basically complaining to us how awful the adults were to him. It was hilarious, too bad we weren't able to capture it on camera. At this point, I was still tired and still could sleep, but there's really not enough time to sleep.

Day 3 - New Year's Eve
We decided to go to the International Flora Expo but first I was determined that I would at least get my Taiwanese breakfast. We went to the famous area for the soy milk, which happed to be where my mom grew up. Yummy, definitely better than any in US and much fresher. Even the fried stick was lighter and crisper. Then we took the subway to the expo. As from the pics, there were many flowers. I think I have fallen in love with the Calla lillies, Tulips and Angel in Water (Chinese narcissus or Shui Xian Hua). The rest of the visit were just some goofy times for us. Then we went to my oldest uncle's place for the New Year's Eve dinner. Of course, we've got the adult and kids table, but the food was good too. The shrimps, oh my. And the homemade dumplings, handmade wraps and fillings. The best. That's always the best of New Year for me, the dumplings. When we were younger, my grandma would put money inside the dumplings then my mom would put peanuts and dates that would represent certain amount. Oh the fun times.

Day 4 - New Years
We went to MaoKong Gondola, which is a trail up the mountain and able to look at the Taipei from up high. We chose the car with the clear floor so we can look down but the wait is a bit longer, so we just walked around a bit. There were some cute shops around and lots to play around. Great for kids, but it definitely made feel stupid. Oh well. My mom is scared of heights so part of the trip up was interesting with my mom making funny faces once whe realized that there was small window that opens up. Haha. I think my brother broke every single rule that was posted on the ride, no standing, distribute weight evenly. After that we went to Taipei 101. It just basically a mall with increasing expensive shops as you move up the floors. So went to the basement and got food to eat. It was yummy. That night we went to ShiLin night market. I went before but it was not as packed as that night. We were all literally front to back tight and just couldn't move. It was incredible. We pretty much ate as we walked. My fav was the stinky tofu. But there were so many different food that we would never have been able to finish if there weren't six of us to share and try. There was a stand that sold different flavors of squid. Everything was mouthwatering. I ended up buying earrings, they are cute.

Day 5 - We went to visit my mom's best friend in Touyuan. Very nice house and they also have an outdoor tub for bath. Interesting. Overall, it was just a chill time of hanging out and meeting my mom's best friends.

Day 6 - Last Day
We went to Din Tai Fung in Sogo dept store for lunch. It was yummy, better than the one in LA. Colin was cracking us up. He's just always searching for food. His mouth would open and follow either the chopsticks or the spoon for food. If you don't feed him fast enough, he would whine. Too funny. Always our source of entertainment. We went shoe shopping in Sogo, I bought a cute sparkly pair of heels, not very high, just very casual. Then we all just sat around waiting for dinnertime and playing with Colin. Finally we went for our last family dinner. Just all having a good time. So sad to be leaving the next morning and hating packing. The hi-light of packing was my aunt putting Colin into one of our luggage and him climbing out and trying to climb back in. HAHAHAHA. Classic pic.

Day 7- leaving - Chicago fiasco
Got to airport and our flight to Tokyo was delay so I missed my DC flight and have to get on the flight to Chicago. At that point I knew there was going to be a problem coming back on time. So no problem until I got to Chicago. Arrived in Chicago around 2:30pm then found out flight to Cleveland was delayed until 7:30pm. I was like ok, just going to be about 3 hrs later than expected, so I just took a nap at the airport. Then we were told, flight is delayed until 8pm because of plane maintenence. So I just started to watch the Super Bowl with the people on our flight. It was entertaining cuz the personnel and half of the flight were rooting for the Steelers and the other half of flight was rooting for the Packers. Of course, our flight was just kept being delayed with excuses of missing crew members, waiting for passengers, waiting for plane from the hangar. So finally we boarded after the the game around 10pm, then were told that one of the pilot has only 30min left on his duty hours and if we don't take off by then, we would have to de-plane. Well, guess what, even though we are priority for de-icing and take-off, we turned around and had to de-plane which took another hour since we were not expected to come back. Then waited for another hour for our voucher for hotel and ticket to get on the next flight back to Cleveland. By the time got to the room and ready to sleep it was 1am. I had just enough battery on my phone to text my brother, send email to Debi at work and copy a friend's number to let people know at work. That'll teach me to pack my charger in my checked bags. So finally got back to Cleveland around 10am then had to wait to see if my bags came on the first United flight. If not, then they would have to deliver my bags cuz it would be on the second flight, which they were. By the time I got home, it was noon. Time to take a nap and get ready for work the next day. The total for the return trip was about 32hrs of flying and waiting at the airport. Really irritated at United for the Chicago fiasco. They had more than enough time to sort it out but this had to happen. I do believe that this might be my last trip with United if I could help it.

CORS

2011-01-28T19:36:00.022-05:00

This was our notorious rotation where we all pretty much dread it. The word on the street is that it's draining, do what we are told, don't think, and pretty much be ready to be yelled at. Oh, it's a 12 + hr day 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Thankfully, I only have it for 3 weeks before my 1st real vacay since residency.

I've got Drs Hull/Gurland service, which is a good thing in that there are usually not that many patients on the list but it's a service where every detail has to be approved by the staff and the staff has know about it. Needless to say, it was stressful for the first week, since I haven't been on a surgery rotation since as a 3rd year student and I have no idea what to expect. On top of that, I've got a fellow who is probably one of the laziest one I've had.

The classic moment is when my fellow asked me to go down to radiology to look at CT abdomen to confirm a leak with the radiologist but I'm not surgery intern and I have no idea what to look for. So of course, got yelled at when I reported what I was told by the radiologist. This happened 2 more times. This should totally be something that the fellow should do because they know what other questions to ask and how to look at the scans. It's not something a nonsurgical intern should do. Later I found out that he should have been the one to do. Oh well, live and learn.

We were told that we do not go into the ORs with the fellow or staff; we just manage the floors. So of course, my fellow asked the first day if I wanted to go into the OR. Heck, no.

One last thing that really irked me was my fellow asking me do help with discharge summary. PAs used to do it but they are so overwhelmed that the fellows are now doing them. My lovely fellow asked me do it but our instructions specifically said that we are not do them since they have to include surgical info since we don't participate in those. I almost got into an argument with my fellow over this. I don't know how many times I have to stand up to him because of the inappropriate things he had asked me to do. Ugh.

Other than my fellow, my staff warmed up to me and really trusted me with her patients about the 2nd week. She would specifically page me before she rounds and asked me to do pain management at my discretion with some of her patients. She also sent me short emails letting me know that she thinks I'm doing well. She wrote a good eval to my program chair at the end. I just felt that I haven't done anything different for any other patients or staff. I guess I'm glad that my attitude paid off.

Overall, this was an exhausting 3 weeks. I'm glad this is over and that it was during winter, it didn't matter that it was dark coming in or leaving the hospital.

Restaurants to taste

2011-01-22T10:36:00.000-05:00

From Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri

Melt Bar and Grilled - DONE, Yum, stay on my personal list.
13463 Cedar Road, Cleveland Heights, OH
14718 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH

Sterle's Slovenian Country House
1401 E 55th Street, Cleveland, OH.

ParkView Nite Club
1261 West 58th Street, Cleveland, OH.

Momocho Mod Mex
1835 Fulton Road, Cleveland, OH.

Lucky's Cafe
777 Starkweather Ave, Cleveland, OH.

Geraci's Restaurant
2266 Warrensville Center Road, Cleveland, OH

ALD (Pulm)

2011-01-10T13:53:00.018-05:00

Started this rotation off with Dr. Akindipe and each of us with 3-4 patients to get to know. Fortunately, I already knew the fellow, Mike, so it wasn't too awkward. There is a PA Kathy and NP Melanie. I realize for the past 6 months so far, I have learned to work with NP/PA to help with the workload.

Anyways, the week was nice, round started around 11am and would be cone by 2pm. After that we just update what we need to then we can sign out the NP/PA as long as one of us is around to help with admission/transfers. Even then, that's only until 4:30pm. Not too bad. Mike was hilarious and very entertaining. He pretty much has a comment for every patient, depending who was seeing the patient and what topics we were chatting about.

2nd week, we had Dr. Minai and it was the week before Christmas, which I worked. Schedule was very similar to the previous week as well. Done fairly early, considering that I didn't come in until 8a on most days. But we did change fellow. For the next 2 weeks, it was Fadi. He was good too. He's a little high strung in the sense that he gets easily stressed out.

The 3rd week was when Fadi really stressed out. We were short one resident, and Dr. Chapman was staff. He known to round forever, the never ending rounds. And our list of patients were long too. I think they said that it's the longest they have seen. Our own floors were filled and we had 8 pts spilled over to other 2 units. We starts rounds around noon but still did not finish until around 7pm. I left around 6pm most nights when I finished with my patients. Thankfully, I did not have patients that are at the end of the list. It was exhausting. By the end Fadi have had it and was stressed out. Then I finally got a holiday weekend off. My New Years weekend fun.

Last week was with Dr. Lane and with a brand new fellow, his first time on the service. The fellow was nice but he was learning so there were a little scrambling at times. But all in all, it was a good week

NYC ... New Years Weekend

2011-01-03T14:24:00.021-05:00

Of course the day that I'm supposed to drive to NYC, my car skidded on a patch of black ice right outside my garage then I hi the ice and the curb. My steering wheel was then very shaky and pull to the left. It was ok so I drove anyway, but I did call my auto shop and made any appt to go in Monday to get it fixed.

The weekend was fun, spent it with my mistress (Kirstin) again. I got in Thurs night, so I just crashed. This was the weekend after NYC got the crazy amount of snow, about 3ft worth. CNN was reporting how it would take ambulance at least 2 hours to respond due to the fact that the roads weren't plowed. One tragic story was of a woman delivering the baby at home cuz she wasn't able to get to the hospital and the infant died because the ambulance couldn't get to her after delivery. Another tragic story was a father had heart attack and died and it would take ambulance 2.5 hrs to get to the apt and another 2 hrs to get the ER and it was too dangerous for the daughter to drive as well. Tragic stories. Wonder if the city is now more prepared?

Anyways, Friday, we looked up places that don't need too much covers to get in. All the one around Time Square are at least $60 cover just to get in. The no cover ones would probably be way too crowded. We weren't really looking to bar hop since it was just too darn cold. Ended up in Tonic East, only $10. Not bad. We had fun, drinks and dance. Had a couple of guys dancing with us and one of them literally decided to get us drunk, just kept on buying us drinks. I'm glad that I was still coherent enough to watch my drinks. I think I was fairly drunk that night. Definitely couldn't walk straight at all and ended up totally sleeping on the train ride back. haha. Didn't even realize it was midnight until people were screaming "One minute!!" then countdown "10...9...8... 3...2...1" It was fun, enjoyed myself. Now I can officially say, I have done SF and NYC for New Years, 2009 and 2010.

For New Years Day, called home, kind of dozing in and out since my stomach was upset with me because I didn't eat my drunk food after we came back. Kept wanting to throw up but not much ever came up. Oh well. Then we just kind of vegged out, playing Wii and watched movies. Were planning on going again with Kirstin's buddies from work for her B-Day, but no on was really up for it so we just stayed in. Had the best pizza, Joe's. NY pizzas are the best, still couldn't find anyone else that rivals theirs. I was actually craving for NY pizzas. haha.

Decided for Sun, we'll go into Chinatown for dim sum and shopping for what nots. Found Vegetarian Dim Sum House, across the street from Joe's Shanghai. It was actually pretty good. The only thing I didn't like was the shumai. We both acutally like the shrimp/pork shumai. The vegetarian version of it just didn't taste right. Everything else we ordered was pretty good. Totally forgot how cheap the food was in Chinatown. Then we went in search for grocery market. Found Hong Kong Market, a fairly clean and formal one. I bought few fruits to take home with me and introduced Kirstin to various fruits and spices and food. She was in food heaven. Her mom would totally be jealous. Love introducing Chinese food to people who actually likes it and would get a kick out of it. Then we went to bakery, Fay Da. It's ok. Not bad, tolerable for being in US. I still like the one my family goes to in SF. BUT no one can beat the ones in Taiwan and HK. Those are the best. Overall it was a productive Sunday.

I drove back afterwards. The drive was long and boring, especially the Penn stretch.

Got my car checked out on Monday. Yep, tires replaced and rim as well, apparently I bent the rim pretty badly and they couldn't hammer it back out. Oh well.

Christmas Weekend

2010-12-27T14:22:00.007-05:00

I was working the weekend. I was being nice so the 2 guys with family on the service can get the weekend. This way I can get my 3-4 days New Year's weekend for sure.

I guess I lucked out, since the staff on for the weekend is a quick rounder so it won't be too bad. Also CCF gives us a free meal as well for the holiday. It wasn't so bad. The entire weekend I was done by 1pm so I get the rest of day to myself. It was only 4-5 hrs a day and by the time I was finish, I would still be fairly early in calling home.

I do feel sad, depressive, since I was the only one around for the holiday. Definitely lonely. I do believe it was the first time that I have felt the loneliness to this extent. It made me really miss my family. The very first holiday that I did not go home. BooHoo.

I just spent the weekend with me and myself and my lonely pitiful Christmas tree. I did watch the classic Christmas movies too. My favorite is still the Miracle on 34th St (original and remake).

Weekend with my mistress

2010-12-20T14:18:00.048-05:00

My Mistress (Kirstin) has come to visit ... Yippee ... super excited. Haven't seen her since graduation. Would say she's my best friend. She drove in on Thurs night and Fri she's getting pampered while I'm at work.

So after work on Friday, went to meet up with Kirstin and Sarah's place. We just hung out, chatted and playing with Sarah's boys. They are adorable and love to play. I'm excited that Evan remembers who I am.

Then we went to Mad Greek for dinner where I got the GroupOn. They serve both Greek and Indian food. I had gyros and Kirstin had curry. They are both good. Totally worth going. I think I'll use my lunch coupon either with someone or just order take out on a weekend.

Cleveland is not a Friday night going out city, so we stayed in and watch movies and just hang out with the 2 of us. I really miss her. In Kirksville, we would chat nearly everyday and we live so close together. She was the reason that I even looked at Cleveland then she pulled the card which the program she wanted was not taking any. Now we just swapped out cities. Too funny, God, You just love to play with us.

For Sat, we had brunch with Sarah and Scot and then just hang out. It was good times, we had girl talks with Sarah and catched up with Scot as well. Poor dude, he's exhausted. Looking at him, I'm glad that I didn't do medicine. Whew. We also played with their little guys too. Love them. They are so much fun.

Afterwards, we went to Melt. It's basically a grilled cheese restaurant but they have some strangest and weird combination of grilled cheese. But it's actually good. It was featured on Diners, Drive-in and Dives show with Guy Fieri with Lucky Cafe. I've always want to try it but there's always a wait especially for a table. So this was a good opportunity for me to go with Kirstin. I had the Tokyo Tuna melt with fresh tuna and wasabi and Kirstin got the Big Popper (essentially jalepeno popper sandwich). We shared Melt Peirogi. Everything was yummy, delish. They have really good saurkraut too. I think it's got vodka in it, making it taste better than any other ones. Their coleslaw is fresh too, not much of mayo, mostly vinegarrette with lemon juice and whatnot. I think this will become a new place for me to order takeout.

That night, we went to Cadillac Ranch and like we are not leaving cuz it was too cold outside. It was quiet until around 11pm when more people started to arrive. It was fun, we just had drinks and danced the night away. We did attracted a couple of the older guys who were a little creepy than we would like. We ended up trying to run away from them. Yuck! After that we ended dacing with a group of Indians. The guy I was dancing with was cute and the girls with them were giving me the stink eyes. Haha. It was fun. The one Kirstin dance with just 21 so still fairly young but wa just as fun. Overall it was a good fun night.

So for Sunday we went to my church, mostly Chinese and Kirstin was one of the only blonde in the sanctuary. Haha. Afterwards we went Mint Cafe for Thai food. Yummy. This was a good place for my fix of Thai food. Definitely another take-out place for me. Afterwards, we just veg and watched movies. It was a good restful Sunday.

This was a great weekend. Can't wait to see her over New Years in NYC. :)

Infectious Disease

2010-12-12T14:16:00.032-05:00

Finished one of our crazy rotation. ID in any hospital is busy, so being busy at CCF is no surprise at all.

The service is great despite being long days. The staff are really nice and tried to teach as much as they could. Also there's at least one lecture everyday then the residents have their required lectures depending on individual department. Sometimes I felt like I was just running between patients and lectures all day.

Then we have to come in one day during the weekend. Those days are usually lighter depending on the number of consults and the fellow. I have been getting out by 4pm and usually with 3 consults or so. We also had to see our own patients from the week as well.

Everyday, we had to see our old patients from previous day then pick 2-3 new consults. Sometimes we would double our list in one day. When we get too busy or had one too many complicated patients, our staff would help out too. At times I would have to see 6-8 pts before lecture and new consults rolling in around 9am.

There are some interesting patients being that it is the Cleveland Clinic. One that I had was a patient with a mass growing the brain but negative cultures. The biggest question was what is it. That was never answered but the extensive work up needed required thinking and see what the next set of work up would be required. He may one in which we would never know the answers to.

Other than the occasional strange cases, most of the consults were post surgical infection. I have learned much of the antibiotics, what they are, when to use it and how to manage them. Also learned about the prior tests that should be done before consults. I think this is definitely a good intern rotation especially for the IM residents.

Overall, this has been a good rotation. Totally recommending it.

Chronicles of Narnia

2010-12-11T21:17:00.007-05:00

The 2nd awesome movie I saw in the span of 2 weeks. It's a good fantasy genre and still Christian base. Totally worth seeing. great for family and adults. A great way to talk about the parallels to Christianity. I felt like a kid again watching the movie, the awe, the amazement of the fantasy.

It's food!: Mexican Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad

2010-11-28T20:01:00.001-05:00

It's food!: Mexican Sweet Potato Black Bean Salad: "Ingredients: Salad: 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks 2 tbsp. canola or other vegetable oil 1 tbsp. ground corian..."

I had this at a potluck and it was surprisingly yummy. Didn't think this was going to taste good because of the combination.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T14:00:00.019-05:00

of course, I'm on ID and the first day, was told that Thanksgiving is a regular work day, not a holiday or weekend. Bummer, didn't think I was going to be able to go to Eskestrands for the holiday but could make it to the church one though.

That week was also my first official week on ID with just me, senior res and staff and the load of patients just keep increasing and days are long with us meeting our educational requirement. Days go from 7:30a to 6p.

For Thanksgiving, thankfully, it was quiet and the fellow let us go around 1pm whenever we finished with out share of consults. I did manage to get to Eskestrands' luncheon and met some of their friends from their church. It was nice since it's a truly homecooked thanksgiving meal and good people and company. It at least made me feel like it a family gathering.

After the lunch, I basically got home and showered then went straight to the church dinner with Nepalese and Burmese refugees. It was multicultural and was very nice to see other people who were not able to go home for the holiday gathering together because we have God and church in common.

By the end of the night, I was stuffed, got some left over from church that lasted me for another 2 meals. I'm very thankful that God has provided me with friends that willing to take me in and a church that provided me a home away from home.

I did miss my "mistress", Kirstin's, family, I have spent previoius Thanksgiving with them, they are very much like my own family except Americans and do the traditional Thanksgiving meal. I haven't been to my own family's Thanksgiving get together in years. This year, there's not one potluck but just a few of of family members having dinner with my grandmother. It's always one holiday where I don't try really hard to get myself back home. Christmas is the one that I tried harder. Oh well, but I had fun, not too bad this year being alone.

Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows

2010-11-21T17:05:00.010-05:00

Movie time ... first movie since the last one I saw with my brother.

Definitely a fan of Harry Potter, never read the books but totally enjoyed the movies. So totally up for this when friends from church made plans for this.

Watched this with Angel and everyone else bailed out on us. Oh well.

The movie was great, intense with humor thrown in every so often. It got both me and Angel on the edge of seats most of the time. I didn't even realized that it's been 2hrs when I checked my watch. Usually I would start checking my watch about 45min-1hr into the movie. So didn't want the movie to end.

Can't wait the next installment in May/June. Totally watching it the weekend it comes out.

Afterwards, we went the Cladagh (Irish pub). They are known for fish and chips around the area. I had that and Angel had their Jack Daniel Burger. Both were yummy. Normally, I don't like restaurant burgers but this one was really good, totally impressed with it. The fish was more fish than dough. Good quality, totally could come again.

COMLEX step 3

2010-11-20T14:05:00.020-05:00

Yucky ... glad that it's the last one for the ridiculous COMLEX. My goal is to just pass and if I scored high, then it'll be a bonus.

Materials:
First Aid Step 3 - chose this because bad experience with Crush step 2, not a fan of sentences/paragraphs study guides. Need something that is readable and easy to understand.
Combank - used it for step 2 and it was fine, so I stuck with it. signed up for it for a month.

Plan: read the FA book twice and do the Qbank for the month with the goal of getting around 70%.

Note: By the last week before the test, I got really sick of it, so the weekend before I just decided to not do any studying. I even went to the B-Ball game the week before. I guess it's pretty true that for Step 3, you just need a No. 2 pencil. :) I'm not that crazy but I think if I had studied 10-12 hr/day for 2 weeks, it would've been fine. Certainly glad that I'm done.

Test: it's long, 400Qs in 8hrs. There are some ridiculous questions, like anatomy related to OMM (literally muscle insertion and what not) and ethics/medicare/medicaid. Lots of OB and peds and case related. There are certainly a few of pull out of the hat types as well. Generally the format and the feel were similar to Step 2. Ended up with a headache by the end.

As a treat, I went to SalonBlu for eyebrow wax and a short massage. The therapist was good, excellent. She went right for the muscles and got the eyebrows right. Totally coming back for it even though it was a bit pricey.

Update: 12/18 - passed Step 3. Lowest of the 3 but passed with a good cushion. 487/81.
Also as of now, my eyebrows are still in good shape even a month after. Plan on going back 1-2 weeks before going to Taiwan.

Hospitalist

2010-11-13T12:56:00.030-05:00

So glad I'm in anesthesia and not end up in internal medicine. ::happy sigh::

The biggest issues I had was that I felt like a social worker/case manager instead of physician. For every patient, it was dealing with where would they go, how would they get meds, insurance issues, who would take care of them and follow up after discharge. There are little medicine involved. Only complicated patients would I feel like that I'm actually practicing medicine.

Other than that, it has been a fairly good month. Reminding me of some basic medicine since I haven't really seen medicine since Jan of my 4th year. It's a good practice and learning to prep for my Step 3.

The funny thing is that there's a fellow for hospitalist. Why would anyone want do 1 yr fellowship in hospitalist medicine? Shouldn't anyone who had finish IM residency should be able to practice hospitalist medicine? Bizzare.

One thing that really irked me was that a patient was transferred from cardiac ICU after MI was ruled out. When I saw the patient, she was breathing really fast and in pain. There was a CT report of pancreatitis vs cholecystitis. Of course, no abx was started, totally unconcerned that it could turn into necrotizing pancreatitis. When I got patient, decided to watch carefully for the night with low threshold to go to MICU. Of course the next AM, disaster struck. Septic picture, change in mental status, respiratory distress. MICU she went. I followed with what happened. She coded and suffered anoxic brain injury. CT read 75% necrotizing pancreatitis. Passed few days later when family withdraw care. Sad. what a disaster from too focused specialties and units/floors.

NBA Nets vs Cavs

2010-11-11T13:58:00.018-05:00

I got tix from CCF to the basketball game for $40/pair in the middle seats. Pretty good seats for the price. I figured why not? It would be my first NBA game and it was pretty cheap game. The only problem was who to ask to come with?

My thought was that I don't really know who would be interested in going with me. So I decided to ask one of the guys I met at church that I knew was interested in B-Ball. VL is from Cali and knew several people from my home church. He's very funny too, great sense of humor. So I asked him to come with as friends, no other intention at all.

He ended up asking me if we want to grab a bite to eat before the game as I would be going staright from work. I didn't even think that this might become a date at all. He did paid for the meal and drove me from dinner to game.

From my close girlfriend, this turned into a date, despite me being completely oblivious about it. This was only supposed to be friendly hangout time. Oh well. We shall see what will happen next.

Otherwise, game was fun but the best part was the end that determined the results. I would definitely be up for another one. The weekend after I found out that there were 2 other girls from church that are up for sports game too. Now I've got buddies to go with for the next games.

This turned out weird, probably me being oblivious. Oh well. We shall see what happens the next time I see him.

CV-ICU Part 2

2010-10-16T12:44:00.018-04:00

J 54
My week in this unit was slow. Not much going on. People are fairly stable, just keeping an eye out for them and make adjustment as needed. The only issue I had was the fellow that was in the unit. He's Egyptian CTS who is doing critical care training. He was sent up by his dept for extra training. He drove me crazy. He doesn't understand how to use the EPIC and even the nurses from his patients were coming to me for orders and what not. We lovingly call him Dr. "Useless". haha. He really should stick with surgery but at the same time he needs more patient contact time.

J 66
The unit is upstairs and pretty much it's me and the PA/NP. The staff I was with pretty much treated me as a 2nd or 3rd year where he would come in so I can go for breaks/lunch and sometimes around for lines and new admits. It's been interesting. There are times I'm like, I'm not ready to handle the unit by myself. This is the first time where I truly experienced that I am a doc and have the privilege to take care of patients the way that PA/NP couldn't. I'm definitely not ready to run the unit by myself but I'm sure that by the end of 4yrs, I should be able to. I'm glad that they don't just throw us into units and have us run it by ourself. That would be too scary.

Overall, it's been a really good experience with a good fellow, Mike. He pretty let me do what I'm comfortable in and wanting to learn and he would just supervise. Very good teaching, Dr. Boss. (gotta love the last name esp on the unit when we called by last name without dr. in front)

CV-ICU ... part 1 ... hearts

2010-10-02T14:44:00.000-04:00

ICU ... much more intense and faster paced. First day was orientation and just hanging around to learn about the patients and the units.

For the last 2 weeks, I've been in what they called the heart units, pretty much all patients have some sort of heart surgeries or are on artificial hearts. These patients wer very sick.

For the 1st week, the unit had more thoracic patients than hearts but it definitely turned around the second week. Heart patients then started rolling in like crazy. All it takes was one day of multiple admissions with several people going nuts with plenty of work for us. It was fun though. My co-resident working on a patient withthe fellow and the NP was busy with other surgeons rounding on their patients and phone calls. So I was pretty much covering for whatever else going on for other patients. It was a definite adrenaline rush.

By now, I have already done multiple central lines, arterial lines and even tried a bronchoscopy. Bronchoscopy, oh my!. It's a video game in medicine

It's been so fun; there are just so much hands on things to do. Really glad that I'm anesthesia. it's tiring and takes up so much of energy, but I really think it's so worthwhile for me. Totally enjoying it.

SalonBlu

2010-10-01T14:44:00.021-04:00

I'm in search of a salon here in Cleveland that can give me a Asian layering haircut that I've had from my favorite hairdress in SF. Since I won't be going home as often as I like, I really need one here. My hair is now long enough where once it gets out of shape, it gets annoying and makes me want to chop it all off. I do want to keep my hair long for a while.

So I found this salon from Groupon and was pretty much 50% off with a facial/massage. The salon was quaint, cute and would love to be able to love it and make it my place for next 4 years. Unfortunately, I ended up with Sammy and by the way she was cutting my hair, she's still fairly new and needs more experience. Also I couldn't see how the other 2 hairdressers do since one was doing coloring and the other was styling. Also they don't seem to know what Asian layering style cut means. So I walked out with a fairly uniformed layering, a trim and not much of thinning out as I would have like. Even the bangs was done well. Bangs were cut but there wasn't much of a flow from bangs to the rest of the hair.

I guess this was an okay haircut until it grows out of shape and try another salon. There's a couple that I want to try. I think the next one would Michael Christopher salon.

~~SalonBlu~~
Michael Christopher Salon
Laura Lee Aveda Salon (Coventry)
Rosalina's Markfrank (Shaker Hts)
Lucia's Salon

APain

2010-09-18T14:41:00.029-04:00

Acute Pain month - "Pain in the butt"
Anyways, it was a fun month. Did lots of regional blocks for surgery and had my first experience ever being on call. It was impressive that they would let me, an intern with practically no experience, to do quite a number of blocks. For the first week, I was pretty much the assistant, setting up, prepping, clean up and doing records. By second week, I was doing some of the easy blocks myself with assistance. It was exhilarating. I have done with and without ultrasound. It's finally something anesthesia related, not just medicine anymore.

Had my first ever call. nerve wrecking but good. The rest of my calls were good. Apparently, I'm one of the residents who has the "white cloud" for calls, meaning that the calls were light, no craziness and able to get good amount of time for sleep. I think I got at least 4 hrs of sleep for every call.

During the month, I was able to see and do some less common blocks. One of them was the axillary nerve block and supraclavicular blocks. Those are usually done by fellows but they were busy or it was beginning of my call, so I ended up doing it. Way cool.

Epidurals are still difficult. I have done a few but it's still difficult being that there are no imaging to see where I'm going with the needle, unlike other regional blocks. It's definitely a good one to learn, but I need more practice.

I can honestly say, I can't wait till I do my anesthesia rotations. :)

Frustrated ... Lesson learned

2010-09-06T14:43:00.013-04:00

Never ever agree to cover someone else's call for a couple of hours. Be sure to switch call days if needed.

I stupidly agree to cover for about 4 hours on Labor Day so my colleague can see her husband for the long weekend. Of course, I knew that there was a risk of her flight being delayed but I was not expecting what was about to happened. I was on 24 hr on Sunday already. Even though my call was very quiet not at all busy but still, I was tired and ready to go home and be away from the hospital. I was planning on grocery shopping to stock up for the week and just relax before working again the next day. I would still have majority of the day left when I was to leave at noon.

Of course I got a call around 11am from my colleague that she missed her flight and her connecting flight is delayed until 2:30pm. So I was like fine. But inside, I was thinking how can you miss your flight when you know that someone is covering for you. If I was her, I would not miss the flight cuz then I would feel bad and I wouldn't want something like this happen to me. Be warn. I was being kind in covering, missing a flight is a big no no.

Then when 2:30pm came along, she called saying that she's landed and is currently on her way. So I was expecting her around 3pm since it only takes about 30min from the airport to the hospital. She didn't get in until 4pm and that's when I found out that she went home to her work bag and scrubs and then back to the hospital. How can you not have your work things already in the car when you are fully aware that you would be coming straight from the airport to work to relieve the person who has generously agreed to cover. It was unbelievable. Now that's what I call total irresponsibility. By the time she got in, I was so pissed that I couldn't even make small talk. I had to sign out immediately and leave or else I would've said something mean.

There goes my day and my week in shambles. Lesson: never cover. only swap. be responsible when asking someone to do something for you.

SING CHOW MAI FUN (SINGAPORE FRIED RICE NOODLES/星洲炒米粉)

2010-09-03T12:15:00.000-04:00

INGREDIENTS:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
8 dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms
12 ounces of fine dry rice vermicelli (Wai Wai brand recommended)
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced thin
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
8 green onions, root end trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound char siu (Chinese barbecued pork), cut into matchsticks
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons oyster sauce

FOR SAUCE:

3 tablespoons Madras (hot) curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons granlulated sugar
2 teaspoons hot chili paste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

METHOD:

1) If using dried shiitake mushrooms, soak them in hot water for half an hour. Drain, then cut off the stems. Slice the mushrooms thinly.
2) Put the rice vermicelli in a large bowl and soak in enough hot water to cover, until the noodles are soft (about 8 to 10 minutes). Drain noodles and set aside.
3) Start by heating up 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the curry powder, the ginger, and the minced garlic, and saute until fragrant. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, and chili paste. Stir to combine and then cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large wok over high heat. Add in the remaining garlic and ginger, and stir-fry until the garlic starts to become golden. Add in the celery, onion, pepper, sprouts, green onions, and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 3 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften. Set the vegetables aside in a bowl.
5) Heat the last 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok over high heat. Add in the shrimp and stir-fry until they start to turn pink on both sides. Add the char siu and toss to combine.
6) Add in the noodles and the vegetables. Pour on the sauce and also add the oyster sauce. Mix the ingredients thoroughly to coat all the noodles and incorporate all the vegetables.
7) Serve hot.

Mee Goreng (Malaysian Spicy Fried Noodles)

2010-09-03T12:14:00.000-04:00

Fresh Chinese egg noodles, chili sauce, dark soy, oyster sauce, shao hsing wine and fried shallots are available at Asian markets. Serves 5-6 as part of a family-style meal, 3-4 as a main dish.
INGREDIENTS:

2 cups fresh Chinese egg noodles
2 Tbsp chili sauce (Sriracha), or more to taste
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp oyster sauce
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp minced garlic
1 cup mung bean sprouts, rinsed
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1/4 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 lb boneless chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (or leftover shredded cooked chicken)
2 Tbsp shao hsing wine
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp scallions, sliced
2 Tbsp fried shallots (available packaged at Asian markets)

METHOD:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles for 30 seconds, drain, and rinse with cold water. Set aside.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine chili sauce, dark soy, sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, oyster sauce and ketchup. Stir to combine, and set aside.

In a large wok (at least 12 inches in diameter) preheated over high heat, add the oil. Crack the eggs into the wok, stir vigorously until the eggs are lightly scrambled and just set, then add the garlic, noodles, bean sprouts, cabbage, shrimp, chicken, and 3/4 cup water. Stir-fry continuously until noodles are cooked, 3-5 minutes (depending on the heat of your wok), making sure to also cook the chicken and shrimp. Add chili sauce mixture, and keep stirring until well combined. The noodles should begin to get a bit drier (no liquid left in the bottom of the wok). Add shao hsing wine and white pepper, stir to combine, and remove from heat. Garnish with scallions and fried shallots.

First Call ever ....

2010-08-27T16:44:00.021-04:00

Acute Pain - one of intern anesthesia months.
It's been busy so far. Acute pain is mostly epidurals and regional blocks. What it means is that we put local anesthestics specifically near a certain nerve that would help with pain control during operation and post operation. It's absolutely crazy in some areas that we can block. Epidural is one that we know well about since most labor and delivery patients have them, natural or C-section. The regional blocks, some are normal and some are very new, but nonetheless incredible to watch/assist.

My first call ever. I've managed to not have any calls all through med school because the hospital I was at wanted all students to be there every weekday so we can't stay past midnight hence no calls. People are amazed at what I have gotten away with so far. It just makes it seem like I have had an atypical med student experience where I was not going crazy with stress and crazy hours during rotations.

The experience ... It was good actually. I only had to call my staff about 2 things. First was because the nurse mentioned something and I felt obligated to call and confirm even though I was pretty sure of my findings. Oh well, joy of being an intern where people just don't trust your judgement. The second call was actually legit where it was something that the staff is required to notified. Otherwise, my call started off with running between 2 PCAU, putting orders in, bolusing pts with pain meds, seeing new consults, and others. Then time was spent running between orthro floor and others. By the time I actually sat down trying to eat dinner it was 9PM. Then the pager decides to go off. I think I finally ate dinner around 10PM. I'm glad that we on call meal allowance so I can get AuBonPain. I normally don't get ABP cuz it's expensive but oh so good.

The pager finally quiet down a little before midnight and I had some time to finish off the new consults. The last consult was finished a little after 2AM and finally able to catch some zzz's. Woke up a bit before 6am for sign out and one 1st round block before taking off for post call day.

Not bad for 1st call ever. No disaster, got some sleep. Now hopefully, the rest of the month will go as well.

Nephrology ...

2010-08-21T22:44:00.024-04:00

2 weeks on transplant and 2 weeks of floor consults.

Transplant: Basically, my work is with acute renal injuries in any transplant patients, heart, lungs, kidney and any other organs that CCF have deemed transplantable. It was a 2 weeks since with my luck, now new kidney/pancreas transplants but the Monday after I left the service there were 3, of course. But I definitely get to see some crazy transplants done. Lungs were the scariest ones since most of the patients either don't leave the hospital or if they do leave, they'll end up coming back a couple months of later and not leave then. Kidney/pancreas transplant seem to have the most success. Liver patients are disasters to start with so they are disasters to end. Heart transplant still amazes me. Patient comes with nearly nonfunctioning heart or already on some sort of artificial heart pump and they leave here with a functioning heart. Amazing. Definitely my first time seeing some of these amazing procedures that I have only read about in the last couple of years. With these people, either they do really well or they crash hard. Of all the transplant I would not recommend lung transplant unless it's the absolutely the last resort.

Floor Consult: Pretty much anyone with kidney problems, either chronic or acute. Acute on chronic, new acute injury, dialysis. It's almost always the same. But I did get to meet some of the other medicine residents/interns and urology intern. It was fun 2 weeks with them since each of us know different things/ procedures.

Overall this rotation, I have definitely learn a bit about the kidney and what happens during surgery/low BP from other reasons and how to care for it. Immunosupressants really do a number on the body organs, brain, kidney, liver and any other organs that bugs would like to live on.

CMDA Picnic

2010-08-15T16:45:00.005-04:00

CMDA annual picnic. My first contact here in Ohio with Christian medical people. Again, it was mostly caucasians but it was encouraging to see that there are quite a few number of Christian physicians active with CMDA. There were a few medical students from Case and Lerner that are active with CMDA. There's a women medical society type meeting once a month. The one in Sept will be hard for me to make since I'm on a call schedule for APain, but will seen. I'll definitely try to make it to one to see what's like and meet others.

It was here that I realized I'm sorely missing my Chinese Christian connections. I hope I can get settle with this soon.

Church

2010-08-01T15:30:00.020-04:00

Looking for my new home church ... quite a task and challenge.

I've been in Cleveland now for about 5 weeks and explored a couple of the churches in eh area. I'm stilling looking for a place to call home. So far I've come to the conclusion that finding a church with a group of young working adults is quite the task since the ones I've been to either are family oriented or college oriented.

Cleveland Chinese Christian Church
It's very close to my apt. It takes me less than 15 mins to get. That's a definite pros so I can get there even when I'm tired. The church has several branches but the young adult English branch is the one I went. It's actually pretty small. Mostly college or grad students there and a few residents and new attendings there. The teaching is good and it's base on the scripture for topics. I've only heard the pastor once and the other times I wents, it was visiting pastors speaking. They are good but they are not as good as the one I went to in Jersey. I feel like they are just still trying to find their own niche for the English group whereas, the Chinese services are already very well established. I can see myself coming for the next 4 yrs but will it be good for me? That's the million dollar question.

Parkside Church
It's a big church. Probably on par with Grace Community Church with J. MacArthur. I wouldn't have minded joining that church, but it's a bit far. On good days, I don't mind driving the 30 - 40 mins there but when I'm tired or it's snowing, I'm not sure I can do the drive. Even though the drive is only 10mins longer than the one I make in Jersey and home. Otherwise, the teaching is very sound and I could definitely grow there. I only wish that it's not so far. Their small group fellowship is on Wed, wish it's on Fri so I could actually have the chance to make it there. Midweek is just a bit difficult. Oh well.

Riverview Church
I went to one other church and I had high hopes that it would be good since the pastor is from Masters Seminary. The pastor was great and the sermon was very similar to Grace Community Church style. The biggest thing I have against it is that the church is mostly caucasians with families. There are not many young adult for me to at least associate with. So sad.

I think I'm going to settle with the Chinese church. Even though it's smaller that I'm used to in NJ, I think there are great potential that I can work with. Can't wait to see what God brings.

CCF ED ...

2010-07-25T19:57:00.011-04:00

Officially done with ED .... YEA ... A big celebration ....

It's been exhausting month ... 18 shifts in 3.5 weeks with just 1 full weekend. All my free time has been spent sleeping. Even when my mom calls me, she's like "you sleeping?" and I'm like yup and somewhat coherent. I don't think I have ever been this exhausted before. I just finished my last shift and tomorrow is the start of new rotation, Nephro.

I have definitely learn that it is with difficulty to get patients admitted when they needed to and to filter patients as they come into the ED. Some patients use the ED as their personal primary physician office so they come in for everything. Some of the things they come for, we would be skeptically say "really? that is emergency?" But what can you do. It's the American healthcare with Medicare and some PCP are not taking Medicare and ED cannot refuse patients who want to be seen. What a mess and definitely needs lots of cleaning up and politics are not doing much good now. Everything is very political within the hospital.

The staff has been great. I'm definitely going to miss them. They are protective of the residents and very willing to teach. It happened to me once where I called medicine admitting team to give them an admission but they were trying to argue with me that the patient doesn't need to be admitted. I just couldn't argue back so I handed to call over to my staff. Staff pretty much laid it into them and backed me up when the admitting staff mentioned that me as a new intern doesn't know what I'm doing. I was like "Wow, what a bogus!" All the admission calls has to be approved by ED staff before the calls are to be placed. I'm definitely glad that we interns are somewhat protected even though I do expect that we will get some verbal "teaching".

The ED was so busy that pretty much at the end of each shift, I'm tired that I just want to shower and collapse in my bed. Hardly even have to time to eat during the shift. Graham cracker and peanut butter has became the staple food during shift. I probably only end up eating one real meal a day for the entire month. I lost 5 lbs and I'm pretty sure that's the unhealthy way of losing the weight I'm really trying to lose.

That's my personal goal for intern year. Lose about 30 lbs. So 25 more to go.

Girls Night/ Weekend ...

2010-07-20T15:57:00.007-04:00

Desperately in need of girl time and connections ... Help ...

So far, only been in the ED for about 3 weeks and have already felt very isolated. Before moving to Cleveland, I've always had some girlfriends with whom I could rant and rave to and just to meet up for lunch/dinner. I have yet to find my own group here.

So Friday nite, we had a interns' girls nite out with Tania and Deanna, a fellow anesthesia intern and derm intern. We went out to niteclub to dance and had drinks. Guys that nite were mostly creepers but we had a great time just dancing and being silly. We also had girls talk prior to going out as well. As usual, we talked about guys and the pickings that we have in Cleveland. It was fun.

Then I just had a quiet weekend with a phone call to Kirstin, just catching up. I really miss her. She was my biggest lifeline throughout med school. We were brought up in similar family lifestyle despite her being white and me Chinese. It was soothing to be able to talk to her and have her understand what's going on in our lives since we are both interns. I really want to make plans to go see her in Bronx sometimes soon. I need my Kirstin dose.

Then, Monday, I just spent a few hours before work with Sarah E and her 2 little adorable boys. It was calming to chitchat with her about finding our own niche in Cleveland as we both see Cleveland as a place for residency only. Her 2 little boys really reminded me of how much kids have and how innocent and naive we all were. They are so adorable and everything to them is so new to them. Her baby, Drew, is so content to just look around and getting used to what's happening in the world. Wondering what they think about everything that they see.

This was a good weekend to just reconnect with the world outside, away from the hospital. But I really miss the student times when we call for girls time we would go out, eat, chat or traveling. so much easier to set up. ::sigh::

First time as doctor

2010-07-04T12:14:00.012-04:00

This feels weird as a "doctor". I start my intern year in the ED. My least fav rotation and I'll be dreading it and starting my countdown.

So far, I've had 3 shifts already and this is the start of me working on the holidays and being "owned" by CCF for the next 4 yrs. The shifts were 10 hrs long each but I have yet to get out on time since I have to sign out and finish up my notes. It's weird for to ID myself as Dr Cheung when I call for consults, call for info in nursing home or answering pages/calls. I guess it's something I'll have to get used to it really soon.

Patient population at the clinic is very complicated. They are not necessarily emergent but they always have some complicated issues. ugh. trying to dig through those is a pain in the butt, but I've definitely spent some time on UptoDate reading about them. I guess that's a good way to get some reading in during this extremely sporadic hours month.

So far time has been flying and I am glad that I'm not doing ER. It's busy and I feel very disoriented half the time I'm there since a lot of the care are broken up. So far, I'm adjusting to the fact that I have the power to put in orders and actually be able to do something for the patient despite being on the bottom of the totem pole in this crazy medical hierarchy.

I'm definitely on my way to working the holidays as this is the first holiday weekend we got. I've worked the day before and day after. Not much of celebration. Any time that I'm not working has spent either sleeping and maybe cooking if I feel up to it. It may or may not get any better as the month goes by. We shall see.

Orientation ...

2010-06-30T21:45:00.016-04:00

June 18 ... not much except spending the day getting oriented somewhat to the clinic itself. Tons of forms to fill out, getting packets of papers and trying to meet random fellow intern at the same time hoping that you'll find someone in the same program or someone you recognized during interview trail. Thankfully, I did meet new people but do I remember their names, not likely, but I'll recognize their faces. I did run into a gal that I met on interview trail, can't remember which one but it's nice to see a familiar face around. Met a few other people from Anesthesia as well, but otherwise, a fairly boring day.

Went to a get together over the weekend that was arranged by a couple of medicine folks but ended up meeting more non medicine people. haha how funny. It was fun, just hanging out, drinking, and "clubbing" for the night. Good times.

Monday - 6/21 - crazy 8 hrs of Epic training on the computer. It's so boring and I'm not how much of it I'll remember. It got to a point where we are sending emails for side chats since there's no cell phone reception. Haha. Finally got to see out class.

Tues through Friday - our official anesthesiology orientation. We all sat around the conference table for 8 hrs a day, listening to lectures, having discussions and getting to know each other really well. And come on, yes, we are always around the "good" drugs all the time but really necessary for the 2 full days worth of talks and discussions on drug addiction. But I guess prevention is better than cleaning up after messes. These couple of days, we literally bonded and found our own little group to hang out with. Surprising stats is that only 3 gals in the American grad side and we are all single but there's only 4 single peeps total. So we all kind of hang out together mostly. Also there's like a DO group as well since there are 6 of us. But we are good group, will have lots of fun and do pretty well. Can't wait to see how we'll all do in the next 4 years as a family. On Friday, we finally met the rest of the IMGs that made up half of out class of 26. They are all married and if not, they don't tend to hang out with us American grad. Oh well. We'll all get to know each other soon enough when we start rotating.

Mon - Wed - BLS/ACLS - necessary but super boring and somewhat ridiculous as well. To think that we have to do this every 2 yrs. ugh. enough side about this. But definitely more bonding time and ever more distince cliques of IMGs and AMGs.

Oh boy, July 1st here we come whether we are ready or not!!

Last vacay home for the year...

2010-06-17T10:55:00.007-04:00

Spent three weeks ... I think it's the longest that I have spent home since I've left for college back in 2002. It was great ... a last vacay of just bumming around before the crazy residency starts in Cleveland.

I really miss the time with my parents and made realize that they already have their own schedule to their lives and are quite happy. I spent lots of time eating out with my mom and eating my mom's homemade food. It was great time to just be able to chat with my parents the "adult" topics that I never really cared even a couple months ago.

It finally hit me that being away from home for so long that I don't really my parents' home as my home any more. I still say I'm original from Cali cause I just can't shake off my Cali style but I tend to say I'm from wherever that I have been living before. Now, I'll say that I'm from Jersey. My parents' place now has become one of my vacation place where I can just lounge and not obligated to do anything beside visiting my family. I even feel like I'm a visitor at the church that I grew up in. I guess this is part of growing up and becoming an adult and moving so far away from home.

I don't know when I'll be moving back to Cali but I have a feeling that it'll be awhile.

My brother's graduation ...

2010-06-16T21:22:00.010-04:00

One long crazy weekend ...

Sat ... early morning drive for the long awaited haircut with my fav hair dresser. Hair feels much lighter and much easier to deal with. Then photo session with my parents. I don't like to be in photos and my mom is determined to get some good shots in with my brother so she can send to them and to keep them on her phone ... sigh. Surprisingly, we did get some good ones. Then onto our usual family game night, except this time around it's Monopoly and MahJong. Before it used to Big 2 card game... my family goes through phases.

Sun .. graduation ceremony and pictures galore. We took pics prior to the ceremony with my dad's side of family. Way too many pictures and I'm the silly girl with the green hood in the midst of lavendar hood for dentistry. Oh well. The ceremony was over 2 hours and I was so bored ... then dinner at a fancy Chinese restaurant where the food is more for the adults and the younger gen was wondering what half the food was. One of the dish is the fish's stomach ... interesting and ech... Then onto our usual family game nights ... oh the crazy fun ...

Monday ... finally finshed with packing up my brother's room ... This was the 3rd trip out to bring his things back home. Imgaine how much things he had as a single guy. I swear, he has more than I do and I have an entire apt with furniture and what not. We moved everything back home and his stuff filled up my room, his room and what used to be the study. Amazing how my brother has pretty turned the house into his storage until he finds a job and move out. I'm just waiting for the phone calls from my mom when she can't stand up any more and need to vent... haha

Post Grad Party

2010-05-24T16:21:00.002-04:00

Went to Vegas day after graduation for a couple of days. It's really the first time as a legal adult for me. Went with a couple of the girls and their boyfriend/fiance. Had a wonderful time partying it up and getting the Vegas feel. It's been a great self esteem booster at XS (club we went) and at Carnival Bar, which we randomly stop by. Alcohol definitely seems like free floating since we all pretty much drank more than usual. Definitely some stories are remained to be stories among us girls and will remain in Vegas. The last party before work, work, work.

Med School Graduation

2010-05-23T16:19:00.005-04:00

Finally after 4 crazy years, I'm Dr. Carina Cheung. Until this day, I still don't really respond when people called my Dr. Cheung. It takes me a bit to go Oh! That's me. It was great to see my Aunt and Uncle whom I haven't seen for years. I got to see my silly cousin and his wife too. It's always great to get to see family.

Everything before graduation went smoothlyg. The financial aid session was mindboggling in that I have too much debt and there are too much info to process to find the best way to pay off the debt. AHHH!! Had a good time catching up with everyone in class. It's been almost 2 years since we've seen each other and it was good times. There are so many new babies. I'm guessing our class now have about 50+ kids. It was great seeing the girls from CMDA and see how our lives are. We had a class party and a white coat bonfire. Too funny.

The only glitch was the my family's flights were delayed and missed their connection but thank the Lord! He made it happen so they can get on the later flight and arrive a couple hours of later than planned.

None of the I'm a doctor mindset hit me until we recite our Hippocratic oath. That's when I realize that I'm really going to be responsible for people's lives now come July 1st. I'm still trying to process that thought. Who knows when I will fully wrap my head around that thought? The one thing that I have no trouble with is that God has made all this happen. Without Him, I would not be where I am today. Now just waiting for my next adventure... Cleveland Clinic ...

New Home

2010-05-10T15:33:00.001-04:00

My home for the next 4 years. It's been almost 2 months after I found out I'm going to Cleveland. I'm happy and excited at the thought of being at the Clinic for anesthesia, but I'm too sure about being in Cleveland for the next 4 years. I was really hoping to stay in the East but I guess God has other plans. So far, I'm liking my apartment and it doesn't feel like a student apartment or one where I would move after a year or so. I'm hoping I'll be able to fall in love with this place as I finally immerse myself come June. I'm sure once things get going, I'll enjoy being in Cleveland and all it has to offer too. Just waiting to see what God has plan!

Please pray for a church that will be my home and family for the next couple of years.

Last 2 weeks in NJ

2010-05-04T21:41:00.004-04:00

The first week back from Uganda - adjusting back to States lifestyle, faster pace and more right sided. I felt like I even had to adjust to driving again. I spent the time sorting my pics out and uploading my INMED blog and dealing with paper work for graduation. But I did really miss Uganda and all of the people that I have met and befriended there. It was such a short time but I still felt like I have been there for a lot longer.

It was nice that I have the 2 weeks left in NJ and I could officially say my own good bye to the place that have been my home for the last 2 years. I said goodbye to the people I have befriended at church and it made me reflect back on the last 2 years that I have known them. They have really become my support and home for the last 2 years despite me being MIA every so often. God has really put them in my life as I really needed a family after my not so great experience in Kirksville. Thank you CCCNJ and 5W.

Then moving. Found a company East West Movers Inc and they help with packing. So I planned on packing my bedroom and bathroom and leave the rest for them to help me pack. It only took us all together a little over 2 hours to pack up what I didn't pack and for them to load into the truck. I'm impress. At first when I saw the space that all my things were suppose to go in, I though "Oh crap! I'm going to have to pay more because it will not all fit in there, 300 cubic feet." But they did it with room to spare on top. The only thing that didn't go is my desk but no harm done. I have been wanting an excuse to get rid of it. So now I only have my duffle bag of cothes, sleeping bag and food in the fridge. Everything else that's left either gets toss or get shoved in the last 2 boxes or so that I have left.

I don't think it really hit until today that I am really moving. It was when I looked at my empty apartment and DING! I really am leaving the East Coast for the next 4 years and will being calling Cleveland home. I'm sure God is having fun up there with my life and how everything is turning out, but nonetheless, it will be great. Can't wait to start my new phase of life.

Highlights of Uganda Pics

2010-04-26T22:24:00.007-04:00

INMED Blog - Uganda

Uganda

2010-03-23T15:55:00.003-04:00

I am excited. Can't wait ... Thurs I'll be embarking on my trip to Uganda doing my last medical school rotation. After that, when I come back, I'll be waiting for my degree and be officially a doctor. No more playing doctor. Wonder what my next adventure will hold.

My adventure in Uganda will on the following blog as it is part of the organization that I'm doing my international rotation with. I don't think I'll try double blogging. Too lazy. Hopefully I won't get into something way over my head. I'll update as much as I can when I'm there, but definitely when I'm back.

INMED Blog - Uganda

I'm glad that I have finally found an apartment in Cleveland, OH before I leave. That's one less thing for me to fuss and cram/stress about when I come back. Now I just have to wait for the final word at my apt complex.

Matched!!!

2010-03-18T14:38:00.002-04:00

Mon 11:55am
Congratulations! You've Matched.

Thurs 12:55pm
Cleveland Clinic Foundation

I officially have a job post graduation. I matched into Categorical Anesthesia. Cleveland, OH will be my home for the next 4 years. My family decided to play their own version of guessing game. My brother and dad guessed Baystate and mom guessed Maine Med. I personally knew that I would end up in Cleveland, just a gut feeling that that's where God was leading me to. I'm thrilled to be there and am not disappointed that it was my third choice. To me my first 3 choices were all my number 1's. I just couldn't really distinguish their tiers. I guess I'm still processing the results but nonetheless, it's great.

Now, I just have to find a place to live so I can get the moving process in order once I'm back from Uganda. Now only if I could get my mom stop going on and on about moving process long enough for me to fully process what happened and make my own decisions. Seriously, she is starting to treat me like a kid again. ugh.

I need to savor the sweet moment.

NYC ... College Gals Weekend

2010-03-08T17:42:00.002-05:00

My college small group mate Dung came down this weekend to visit. She's in New Hampshire for nursing school and want to see NYC while on spring break. So we did the touristy things. We hit Chinatown's Joe's Shanghai, Doughnut Plant, WTC, Rockefeller, Times Square. I only spent one day with her and her friend in the city. I'm not a fan of the city and I can only handle so much going into the city. They stayed at my place for the weekend. It was nice see her again and catching up on our news. She's still very much as I remembered. And I felt like I was the one who changed the most once I have left UCLA/GOC. It makes me feel old that now I get think back how college was. ::sigh:: Time just flies.

One of the place we visited in Times Square, M&M store. Couldn't resist.

Digging my car ...

2010-02-26T11:25:00.000-05:00

The last 2 weeks had been fun. I had to dig my car out of half a foot snow the first week then a week later a foot and half of snow. What a workout. Each time took me at least 45 min to a hour of arm strength. The second time I lost my parking spot to the snow since my spot is next the handicap spot and is at a corner. It had the space for the apartment to pile the snow. What a crazy 2 winter storms.

The 1st snow dig out.

ROL #2

2010-02-22T17:41:00.001-05:00

It's official. It's in. Here's my ranking list.

1. Baystate
2. Maine Med
3. Cleveland Clinic
4. VCU/MCV
5. UTSW
6. SLU
7. Thomas Jefferson
8. Univ of Washington
9. Case Western/ MetroHealth
10. St Luke's Roosevelt
11. Univ of Washington (Adv)
12. Baystate (adv)
13. UMKC
14. Henry Ford
15. Univ of Mississippi
16. Mizzou
17. Mizzou (adv)

Senoritis

2010-02-19T17:40:00.002-05:00

It's the home stretch of the end of my med school training. Graduation is 5/15 and my international elective is coming up. I have a hard time motivating myself to get to work. Also, once I get to the hospital, I keeping wanting the day to be over as soon as possible. I'm on Peds EM this month at St Joseph's. It's actually a pretty good rotation and I am glad that I don't have to go in every day. I have a grand total of 15 12hr shifts. During my shifts I was able to get the required reading done for my Uganda rotation and able to chat with other 3rd and 4th years that are rotating at the same time. For most of my shifts, the 4th years take a long lunch breaks about 1.5 - 2 hr long. haha. Anything to shorten our workload.

What a difference between 3rd and 4th year. As a 3rd year, we are doing everything we can to get the good eval and possible letter. We needed to impress our attending and want to see everything that comes in. Now as a 4th, we know what we needed to do to just get by. What an amazing difference.

I have more time to go over and over my ranking list and the order of all the programs.

ROL #1

2010-02-10T17:41:00.001-05:00

I have Maine Med, Baystate and Cleveland Clinic running around in my head. I can't decide how to order these 3. I love each of the three. Maine Med is smallest of the 3 and is in Portland, ME. It's gorgeous and has a very quaint feeling. The only thing holding me back is the small Asian population. Baystate is great, a medium size, great hours, resident friendly. Clinic is great too, the only thing is that it's big. It has great cases and great name.

The decision really is between a big well known program or a small regionally know place. Decisions, decisions.

As the next couple on my list would be VCU, UTSW, SLU and Thomas Jefferson. With them, it'll probably be based on location. They are about the same feeling for me.

I know that I'm definitely going to be disappointing my mom regarding UW ranking. It's going to be middle of the list because I'm not sure how well I'll fit into the rogram there. I love Seattle but just not sure about the program itself.

The rest will be based on location again with Mizzou at the end. I'm not the greatest fan of these because of location. Texas Tech is not on my list because I didn't have a good gut feeling about it and also, it sounds a little sketchy being that I feel like the residents learn from books.

Will see how it all turn out.

Winter Break

2010-01-06T17:35:00.007-05:00

Finally got home after 2 more interviews during the week. I think in the last 4 weeks, I've had 9 interviews. It's really exhausting and all of those beside the 2 this past week, were within driving distance for me. The interviews themselves are not exhausting, it's more of the traveling that is making me tired. So I'm definitely glad I'll have 2 weeks of doing nothing to just rest before coming back to Jersey for a couple more interviews and rest of med school rotations. I spent most of my time with my parents, going out to eat and shop, while being my brother short term tutor for his boards whenever he has a question. He's taking his boards right before New Years.

The highlights of my break was going to SF for New Years then going to LA day after New Years of Disney on Ice. My brother got a new digital SLR camera and spent ton of time experimenting with the camera. It's been a long time for me for photography. Once I have some time and some cash flow, I'll definitely get back into it.

With my parents doing hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. Just being goofy at my brother's apartment while he's experimenting with his camera.

For New Year's Eve, we went to SF to spend some time at my brother's place. In SF, it's the one night where the cable car is free and tons of family out past 10pm. We took the cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf and watched fireworks. It was cold though while waiting for the fireworks, but pretty.
This was taken at the Bread Company right by Fisherman Wharf. This Bread Company was also featured on Food Network too. It was too cute to pass up.

It was fun again, being touristy, seeing SF again as an adult. I've seen it as a kid during day. I really liked SF and totally don't mind living there if I could.

Then we drove down to LA to see Disney on Ice the Princess. It was definitely more for younger kids but it was fun for us too because we have never seen one and it was a family thing for us. The show was amazing on its own, the costume and choreography. Very nicely done.

Disney's version of popcorn.

Disney on Ice: Cars

Interview # 6

2009-12-05T13:12:00.002-05:00

Baystate .. Categorical

I drove the 3 hrs to the hotel that they put us up in. It's the longer route because I was trying to avoid driving through the city traffic.

It's an awesome program. I was already in love with it before even going for the interview. I love the fact that they are very pro residents and a medium size program. The dinner was at the restaurant next door and there were 5 residents that sat down with us. Some of them brought their SO as well. The residents are very happy and said all the good stuff about the program.

Interview Day: It starts at 9 am not the 7am shuttle that hotel runs to the hospital. We didn't know that beforehand so a bunch of us met in the lobby and just sat and chatted until it was time for us to carpool to the hospital. The orientation that started the day off was long and the lights were off. We all were pretty much ready for the PD to end by the end of his presentation. But the PD was very informative and excited. He was all praising how great the program was and how supportive they are of the residents.

The one thing that impressed me was that they have managed to arrange an advanced airway month. They have small enough number of residents that about half of the faculty practice one their own. They also have plenty of funds for the residents for education/conferences. They have a CRNA night system where it lightens the residents' load during calls.

The interviews were laid back. No crazy questions were asked, just wanting to know you.

Overall, I'm so far loving this place. Now, I can't decide between CCF and here.

Interview # 5

2009-11-30T20:11:00.000-05:00

St Luke's Roosevelt .. Categorical

The one where my day was filled with what could've gone wrong, went wrong.

I left my place early enough and took the train into NY Penn station plenty of time. Then I hopped onto the subway and took me 2 stops to realize that I got on the wrong direction. Of course. I got off and cross the streets to try to get on the other way. I bought the ticket and went in then realize I was on the wrong direction platform again. I had to get out and cross the other way to finally get on the uptown subway. I got off and I have 5 min before breakfast and I would only be 5 min late, so it wasn't too big of a deal. Then I walked in the wrong direction and I had to bactracked a block and walk the original 2 blocks. I ended up being 15 min late to breakfast and walked into a roomful of people dressed in suits. Ugh.

The program felt a little out of place for me. I'm still not sure what is it that made me feel that way. The PD and chair were role playing and entertaining us during their orientation/presentation. They were the only ones to interview. They didn't ask anything about me and their only question was if I have any questions. That was it. The residents came in during their lunch breaks and they didn't hide the fact that this was not their first choice and some even said that they wouldn't come if they did want to stay in the city.

They are definitely known for regional. Starting as CA 1 they dive right into doing the regional procedures. The residents didn't seem as happy as some other places I have been to so far. They definitely to rave about it.

They do have subsidized housing but even then, it's $1400 for studio. expensive.

Overall, it's a quality program, just not sure how I'll rank them.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T12:14:00.001-05:00

The week has been great. Came back from CCF interview then went into my FP rotation at Morristown office. They are very laid back and pretty much just do what you like and they are ok with it. I went in on Tues and then before I left at noon, one of them told to go home and take the rest of the week off and show up on next Tues after my St Luke's interview. Amazing or what? Worked only 1 day for the entire week. It was great. I just vegged for the rest of the time and just recuperating from the traveling for the previous interview and the previous month in Seattle and rest up before my crazy whirlwind of interviews in the next month.

I spent Thanksgiving with Kirstin and her family. It was great that I get to catch up with her and her process with the match. She's doing AOA match and she pretty much has narrowed down the a few she wants and knows the order to rank. I wish her the best and in getting what she wants. Perhaps we may end up in the same city for once. ;)

Her family is great. They pretty much have adopted me for the holidays and I have spent a couple of nights with them a couple of times. Her mom, Mary, makes good food, fairly healthy and taste good too. No complaints about food. It's been so long since I have had any home cook meals. Just satisfying. I just kind of vegged out at their place as well, definitely did not do any Black Friday shopping. I don't have any absolute need and have no need to wake up that early on my days off where I don't have to be up and functioning by 6am.

Overall, it was a quiet and relaxing time.

Interview # 4

2009-11-24T14:10:00.003-05:00

CCF ... Categorical

As per my previous review, nothing change during this visit for me. I was a little intimidated going in because of the other applicants not becuase of the interviewers. The applicants all seem to be from a much stronger batch than myself so there was a little inferiority complex. But other than that, CCF is still what I saw 2 months ago.

They put us up at the Intercontinental next to the Clinic. They were very accomodating. I got in very early, right around their checkout time, and they were able to put me into a room with no fuss. I was impressed. For dinner, we all met at the lobby and they chartered a bus/van for us. There were 2 chiefs there with interns and all other classes. Dinner was at Fire in Shaker's Square.

Interview day started aroun 7am and done by 2pm. Interviewed with 3 facutly and 1 residents, not necessarily the chiefs. The interviews were laid back and the ones with the chair and PD were nice and short. Everyone interviews with PD and others are just luck of the draw. Residents came in during lunch and tour was after. Tour was long, 1 hour and definitely needed the walking shoes. They took us all over the clinic. Whew.

They no longer do the exit interview where they sort of give you hint of how likely you'll match there because the PD and the chair are new.

Overall, they are still one of my tops and would love to be there.

Interview # 3

2009-11-20T13:00:00.004-05:00

SLU ... Categorical

Awesome peds... Cardinal Glennon .... peds wonderland ... need to say more ....

Anyways, it's a medium size program about 10 per and only pain fellows around. So work/cases wise, no competition. They are working on setting up a peds fellowship but according them, there are enough work that they shouldn't have any problems.

They have one thing special is that they are starting a course on healthcare policy/management. I find that amazing because I know that I myself am fairly clueless when comes to healthcare politics/business. The fact that they are starting a course on it sounds like they really do care how the residents do while they are there and afterwards out in the real world.

This was one of the few that did not put up hotel but got us a great deal at Hyatt Riverfront. It was a gorgeous hotel and I think the going rate was around $200 per. Dinner was at Ruth's, which was right in the lobby so it was great not having to worry about where to go for dinner. The residents there that night was very blunt and straight forward. They tell you straight up what is good and not. Same thing during the interview day when they came in during breaks and lunch.

The interview day was one of my longer one. It started around 7:30 and did not end until 5pm, partly due to a series of situations that the interviewers had and they had to call other to come in to interview us. Interviewed with 3 people and they are all very laid back, no crazy questions.

Overall, I liked this program, which surprised me. I didn't want to like St Louis because it's in MO but it made an impression.

UW

2009-11-20T12:46:00.001-05:00

Loved Seattle. Very much like SF but not too city like. It just turned cold when I got there. I felt that it was even colder than the East Coast. There's even decent public transit. But I'm not sure if West Coast is for me anymore. When I first arrived, I was thinking that it feels strange to be back on the West Coast and I'm not sure if I can fit in anymore with the lifestyle. The sad thing was I've only been away for a little over 3 years.

UW is great but I felt it was a little too intense. I would say it was a little more intense than any of my other anes rotation. There's lectures to go early in the morning and pbld once a week in the afternoon. The attendings there were from all over the world so it was sort of fun guessing where they are from. The attendings really like to teach and they do pimp a bit but nothing crazy. The residents there seem to be happy but definitely busy and some of them look tired. I ended up interviewing there before I left. I was told by the last year's chief that sometimes the people who rotated there seem to fall through the crack so he helped me talk to about giving an interview before I leave.

My fav part was that a couple of residents talked about their international trips that counted as an elective as CA3 and that the faculty help them set it up. It all seems to be good but my gut is telling me that it's not my perfect fit. I would be perfectly happy here but I just felt that there are more out there.

Interview # 2

2009-11-16T15:02:00.003-05:00

University of Washington ... Seattle, WA

Interview while on my away rotation. Felt like it was more of a courtesy interview. Anyways, normally they have dinner night before. Interviewed with 2 interviewers. One with the PD and the other with a faculty. Both were laid back. PD asked about the current ASA/health policy a little, but nothing too crazy.

Overall: very strong program. Faculty are mostly international so lots of ways of doing things. An elective month during CA3 to go abroad and the faculty has connections to help. Seattle is aa great place to live. Loved it there. Lectures are on Thurs morning. Wed morning is grand rounds and then 3 hrs protected after for class lecture depending which year's turn. Simulation every 4-6 mos or so.

TJU

2009-10-25T17:26:00.001-04:00

Spent a month at TJU in Philly. Loved the area, totally wouldn't mind living there. Lots to do and see and my fav, public transit. Totally no need for cars but parking is super duper expensive.

Jefferson is a good solid program for the residents but really doesn't care for the students. I didn't really know what to expect and by the end of month, the other girls and I ended up trying to see when we can leave and not to show up. The residents seem very happy and love what they are doing there. They claimed that it's the most benign program in the city despite their increasing case loads. The lectures are on Tues and Thurs early am and Wed afternoon for boards prep. Grand rounds is on Thurs morn after lecture.

Faculty will teach only if you ask questions but the relationship between faculty and residents seem to be open and friendly. Everyone knows each other and get along well. They also got lots of toys to play with. Attendings semem to be open about what and when to use or try what. They also sent more than half of the residents to ASA, mostly on presentations. More than happy to work with the residents to get papers/presentations out.

Mashed Butternut Squash

2009-10-18T15:01:00.000-04:00

I found this in Shape magazine while I was waiting at Dallas airport.

Whole Foods frozen butternut squash
apple butter

boil and mash the butternut squash. add apple butter and mix.

Interview # 1

2009-10-18T14:04:00.005-04:00

Texas Tech ... Lubbock, TX - Categorical

Dinner - Lots of food at steakhouse. Food is really good. Got to talk to the residents and have their honest opinions and the going ons of the program. They seem to be happy to be there, not really have complaints. Got to meet the other applicants and just talk about random things and also hear about their other interviews as well. I got lucky and manage to coordinate rides with a couple of the applicants. Being 1 of 3 gal applicants there, got the story behind them having only 1 gal in their program. One left due to personality issue and the other left wanting to be full time mom.

Interview Day (Sat) - Starts with breakfast @ 8am. Again their theme seems to be food. Day starts with a couple of slideshows by Dr Hall, program director, introducing Lubbock and the program a bit. He is funny, very laid back, approachable. Then interviews start. Each of us has 3 interview sessions, 2 one-on-one with faculty and 1 with 2 residents. There are 12 of us and about 5 faculties and 4-5 residents. The rest is luck of draw to see who you get. I interviewed with Dr Boswell, Dr Hall and 2 of the residents. Standard questions. Asked about my personal statement, my research, what I liked and how I dealt with struggle and of course my school and OMM. I just hoped that I answered coherently. In between interveiws, can chat with other residents popping into the conference room for food. Everyone there is very open about answering any questions. They are up for accreditation renewal so they'll know in Nov. They are planning to rank 25 ish to match 4. Their ranking process is very mechanical. Everyone is given a score and then are put in order after interveiw. They would talk about it before submission. Lunch is provided and a short tour after. The hospital looks fairly new and has electronic records. It's a decent size, not too small. They have plenty of call rooms and they all look very nice.

Hotel - Hawthorn Suites - gorgeous hotel for the price of 80ish bucks. The only thing I could complain about is not having shuttle service or not being too reliable. Interview is on Sat morn and we were told that they would have a shuttle for us in the morn even though they don't normally run on Sat morn per program coordinator. Anyways, I asked them 3 times about and they didn't have a clue to what I was asking about. Thankfully, I met one of the guys on the plane and ran into someone I knew from Dallas at the hotel. We ended up bumming a ride from another that rented a car and staying there as well. Also there's not much around the hotel besides Covenant Hospital and I didn't know what else is there and being that dinner was not till 8pm, I got hungry after I landed at 12:30pm. Took quite a bit of walk but ended up eating at the hospital cafe. would be nice if the hotel could provide some surrounding area info for those of us without rental.

Overall - Solid program. Not have enough pediatric but do send residents to Dallas Children's. Seems to have good education to pass boards. Lubbock is interesting being that it serves West TX, NM and surrounding states. Will consider.

Apple Picking and PJ Pancake House

2009-10-05T20:44:00.003-04:00

End of the 1st week of rotation at Jefferson ... more about it later. Drove back to my apartment and went apple picking at Terhune Orchards in Princeton with my small group. It was fun and we caught a bit of rain halfway through.

I didn't realize that there are more variation of apples that I have seen in the markets. They tasted much better than the ones in the market. They had Stayman Winesap, Jonamac, Macintosh, Empire, Liberty, Macoun, Golden delicious and Red delicious. I'm still not a friend of the delicious types so didn't pick any of those nor try them. I did try a bite or two of all the others. My favorite was Empire and I picked more of that. I also liked Liberty and Macoun. Jonamac and Macintosh just tasted too grainy and too thick of skin for me. And they were little more tart than I liked. I really like the Empire because it was more crunchy, slightly sweet and just more refreshing.

Before we left the orchards, I bought pecan pumkin bread and of course 1/2 gal of apple cider. I really miss the good yummy pumpkin bread. My first time was last Thanksgiving trying it at my friend's home and now I'm hooked. For apple cider, heat it up, a dollop of caramel and whipped cream ... yum ... perfect for fall. I knew there was a reason that I'm enjoying fall this year on the East Coast.

Lastly, apple cider doughnut. Never seen it or had it before. It was good but not my fav. The taste has more apple flavor but it's still a doughnut. I also bought apple butter but haven't had a chance to try it yet. Will definitely go for it after I'm back from Seattle around Thanksgiving.

Then we had lunch near Princeton University at PJ Pancake House, which is supposedly this awesome pancake place. I'm not a big fan of pancake and only when I'm in the mood for them. I had their fish and chips. It's not bad but probably wouldn't go there again. We went there mostly for the landmark.

Cleveland Clinic

2009-09-26T09:07:00.003-04:00

SICU ... completed ... next Thomas Jefferson Univ (anesthesiology).

All I can say, the Clinic is amazing. I had a great time there and it's one of my top programs right now. The residents there are great, very laid back, not too stress. The attendings love to teach and very resident friendly.

The caseloads are huge but then it's the clinic so it gets a ton of zebras cases. Residents definitely finish there with solid abilities in handling pretty much any type of cases. There's no lack for any type of cases. Their call schedule seems decent even in the SICU. SICU depends on the number of residents there for the month. The craziest week was Q3-4.

Didactic was good. Nothing really spectacular. 1 hr/week for each class, going over the relative topic and 1 hr/ week for every one. The rest is rotation dependent. SICU has lectures Mon and Tues for 1 hr and journal club on Wed. Otherwise, it's a lot of your own initiative and learn on your own.

The only thing I really had an issue with was the size. I keep getting lost around the clinic even by the end of the month. The clinic covers about 4 block square all connected and some more on the periphery. It almost felt like a mini medical city.

I've surprised myself in really liking it and enjoying it. I was kinda uncertain about it being in the midwest and knowing that I'm not really a midwest kind of a gal. So this has gone up on my list.

Passed !!

2009-09-25T23:18:00.000-04:00

PE ... passed

Officially done with boards and can graduate with a DO degree and not have to worry about step 3 for another year or so.

West Side Market

2009-09-19T16:58:00.003-04:00

Per my good friend Kirstin, I had to visit the West Side Market. It's an indoor farmers market. The fresh produce is on the perimeter and the inner block was the meat, bakery, seafood and ready made food stalls. It's absolutely wonderful. There's so much that I didn't know where to start. I ended up roaming around and repeated some of the stops that I have made. They gots lots of good Italian food and pastries. They all looked to die for. There's an awesome gyro stall and the regular gyro was huge. It was enough for my lunch/dinner. There are even some Asian fruits that I would only expect to have in the Asian market. I'm very impressed by them.

It's definitely an experience and would love to go again if I'm back.

Honey Curry Chicken

2009-09-09T21:49:00.003-04:00

skinless chicken breasts (6-8) or chicken tenders (2.5-3 lb)
¼ c. butter or margarine
½ c. honey
¼ c. prepared mustard
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt

Place chicken in greased casserole dish. Melt butter in a pot on stove. Add other ingredients to pot and mix well, warm only, no need to boil. Pour mixture over chicken. Place in oven, bake uncovered at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear. Garnish with sautéed mushrooms (in butter, with salt and pepper) if desired. I like to serve it with rice.

Home Away from Home

2009-09-06T20:53:00.002-04:00

Chinese Cleveland Church. That's where I went to church today. It's also where I realized that I will always have a home no matter where I go because my home with God. It really gave me a warm feeling while I was sitting at the pew.

The sermon was good and very applicable despite the pastor being a little monotone. I don't mind it at all because it was a good reminder of what my purpose in life was. The people was great as well. I was immediately drawn in with the medical people, whether docs, res or med students.

I totally don't mind making this my home if I come to Cleveland.

Potato and Green Bean Salad

2009-08-29T21:57:00.000-04:00

Servings: 10 • Size: 9 oz • Time: 15 minutes • Points: 3.25 ww points

7 large new potatoes, peeled
1 lb string beans beans, ends trimmed
1 2.8 oz can sliced olives, drained
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 scallions, chopped
kosher salt and fresh pepper

Cook potatoes in a large pot of salted water. In another pot, cover string beans with water and boil until string beans are cooked. Run under cold water to prevent them from overcooking. When the potatoes are done, drain and slice in large chunks.In a large bowl, combine balsamic, oil, salt and pepper. Add potatoes green beans, scallions and olives. Mix will and serve room temperature.

Baby Red Potato Salad

2009-08-29T21:55:00.000-04:00

Servings: 6 • Size: 3/4 cups • Time: 15 minutes • Calories: 108 • Points: 2 ww points
4 cups baby red potatoes, cut in small pieces
1/2 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
3 scallions, diced
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp reduced fat mayonnaise
salt and fresh pepper

Boil potatoes in salted water until soft, approx 10 minutes. Drain and let cool.While the potatoes are boiling, combine red onion, green pepper, mustard, olive oil, vinegar and mayonnaise and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and let the flavors marinade while the potatoes cook. Once the potatoes are done and cool, mix into the bowl and add scallions and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve room temperature or refrigerate until ready to serve.

UTSW

2009-08-28T22:31:00.002-04:00

Today, officially done with my anesthesia rotation at UTSW. The month have flown by and it was a really good experience. There was definitely a lot of getting to meet the right people and showcasing myself so that I won't look like an idiot. I definitely felt like I had to be on my toes a bit even though the attendings didn't pimp as much as I thought they would.

Overall, the program is very solid. The residents definitely get to do a lot and see a variety of cases. They rotate through 5 different hospital throughout Dallas and get to see how each hospital run the anesthesia department. I get the impression that once finish, the residents are very well clinically trained. Research wise, I know it's there but I just didn't get the feeling that it's heavily emphasized. Perhaps they just don't showcase that aspect to the students.

The didactic portion is good. It's mostly online and they expect the residents read the short blurp on the topic of the day and read up the case of the week and discuss them with the attendings. There's weekly conference and other lectures depending on the service the residents are on. The program is definitely more self motivated and less structured on lectures.

I would totally come here in a heart beat. The staff is great and there's really good relationship among the residents and the staff.

JFK

2009-08-17T22:18:00.002-04:00

Saturday, Wei and I went to JFK museum in Dallas, basically to see the history of JFK's assasination. The museum was full of the his life and family stories and his political career up to his assasination and the aftermath. I felt that the museum did a really good job in transforming the building where the shots were fired into a walk through history showing what happened at the time and how the case was pieced together by the technology of the time.

I thought it was interesting in how the city preserved the "X" that marks the spot where JFK was shot. The city paints it every year to keep it visible from the 6th floor of the museum. Then the museum keeps the same box arrangement where the assasin was. It really give the sense of you being there and being able to piece together yourself what happened.

The aftermath was also talked about as well. I don't remember much but what sticks out was the fact that not only the people loved and mourned JFK but even the politics afterwards were still following what he dreamt of. It was just amazing to me that a president was so loved that he made an incredible impact during his interrupted reign.

It was through the museum that I get know some history of Parkland Memorial Hospital, place where I'm rotating through. I'm glad that I visited the museum, now I can put a place in mind regarding this incredibly sad history of US.

18 mos break of Boards!!!

2009-08-10T22:42:00.000-04:00

Got my scores back and now just waiting for my PE scores.

CK - 217/89
CE - 524/84

Funny thing happened, my scores flipped flop from step 1. I actually did better in USMLE than COMLEX. That tells you something about COMLEX. Slightly disappointed with COMLEX but from studentdoctor forum, it seems like most people dropped on CE. I didn't have too big of a drop but I was hoping to be about the same or higher. Oh well. I did hope to break the 220s on the CK but any improvement from Step 1 I'll take. I think by the end of my studying time, I just got really tired and just want to get it over with. What's done is done. Now I can only hope for the best for the match.

Now I get to have a break from boards until step 3 during my PGY 1 year. Yea!!

Jorg's Vienna Cafe & Dallas

2009-08-07T21:59:00.003-04:00

First week in UTSW Anesthesia -- complete.

Anyways, I'm staying with my cousin Wei in Plano, TX about 25min from Dallas. Plano is an old and new suburban city. Wei lives near the old downtown area. The Vienna Cafe was spotted on my way home and Wei also saw it too. So we decided to try it and see. I have never had any Austrian / German food so this is a first for me. For Wei, this is to compare to what he had when was living in Germany.

The food was ok to me since I didn't realize that Austrian food mostly consist of "wurst" (sausage), suaerkraut, and cold potato salad. The sausage part wasn't bad, it's just a little too much meat for me. The sauerkraut is good. The interesting part is the potato salad. It's not a salad where there's potato chunks, it's more like mashed potatoes but with dressing. All I can say is interesting. Wei said that it's actually very close, but not as good as the real thing. This is a maybe try again category.

Dallas in general is hot. I'm not used to the 100's degree since I have left Sacramento more than 7 yrs ago. I'm still trying to get use to the heat. Anyways, the rotation is set up like radiology rotation where it starts early but ends by noon after the lecture. People interested in Anesthesia stay later. We rotate through 2 hospitals, Parkland Memorial and Zale University. The residents rotate through 5 hospitals throughout Dallas as UTSW is the only anesthesia program in Dallas. So far, it seems like there's pretty good system set up where the residents do their own learning on the own time and there are short reading for each day to trigger more in-depth discussion with the attendings. The attendings are very willing to teach. There's definitely heavy case loads but there seems to relief from the CRNA around 3-4pm unless there are just too many cases going on. Calls seem to be Q4d. So far so good.

Fiesta Chicken Pasta Salad

2009-08-01T01:08:00.002-04:00

1 pkg Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch dip mix
½ c. oil
½ c. vinegar

1 lb cooked, shredded chicken (about 1 ½ to 2 breasts)

3/4 box garden rotini
1 can black beans
1 can black olives, halved
2 -3 tomatoes, chopped
Frozen corn

Mix dressing mix, oil, and vinegar in small bowl and set aside. Combine chicken, cooked pasta, beans, olives, and tomatoes in large bowl. Add dressing and frozen corn about 20 minutes before serving. Be sure to toss again just before serving, as the dressing will seep to the bottom.

Garlic Chicken with Bow Tie Pasta

2009-08-01T01:05:00.001-04:00

1 Tb olive oil

1 lb boneless/skinless chicken breast, sliced crosswise

1 tsp salt

1 Tb olive oil

6-8 cloves garlic, crushed (1 rounded Tb)

1/2 lb mushrooms, quartered

1/2 c green onions, sliced

3/4 c red or orange sweet peppers

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (undrained)

1/2 c chicken broth

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups dry bow tie pasta - cook as directed

1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped (may use fresh parsley)

parmesan cheese, grated

1. Fry chicken in oil over medium heat until done. Sprinkle with salt and remove from skillet. Keep warm.

2.Cook garlic in oil until golden. Add mushrooms, green onions and peppers - cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, broth, red pepper, cornstarch and salt. Heat to boiling then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Combine chicken, hot mixture, pasta and cilantro. Sprinkle with fresh parmesan to your liking and enjoy!

*Use less crushed red pepper to make it mild. Also, I add the peppers when I have them on hand - zucchini and squash are delicious too. You can omit the chicken as well for a healthy, vegetarian dish.

Jalapeño Shrimp Pasta

2009-07-28T00:55:00.000-04:00

12 oz frozen, uncooked shrimp in shells
6 - 8 oz dried linguine
2 Tb olive oil
1 or 2 fresh jalapeño chili peppers, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 c. chopped ripe tomatoes (sometimes I add a bit more)
½ c. finely shredded parmesan cheese

Thaw shrimp, if frozen, according to package directions (run water over them for a couple minutes). Peel and devein shrimp. (Deveining shrimp is completely for aesthetic reasons, and in this recipe I can’t see the vein once it’s cooked, so I highly recommend skipping that step!) Cook linguine. In large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Add jalapeños, garlic, salt, and pepper; cook and stir one minute. Add shrimp; cook about 3 minutes more or until shrimp turns opaque. Stir in tomatoes; heat through. (Add a little more salt to taste.) Drain linguine; toss with shrimp mixture. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Variation: Add 3 Tb chopped fresh basil instead of the chili peppers. (I haven’t given this variation a try, so let me know if you try it and like it!)

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

2009-07-28T00:52:00.002-04:00

Again, from another's blog and thought looks good.

2 Packages reduced sodium Stuffing mix

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 lb sliced deli ham, cut into 1 inch stips
1 cup swiss cheese shredded

2 cups cheddar cheese shredded

2 cups cooked chicken ( I used shredded--but I think cubed would be better)

Prepare stuffing mixes according to directions on box. Meanwhile in a bowl, combine soup and milk. Put chicken in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with pepper. Layer with ham, swiss cheese and 1 cups of cheddar cheese, soup mixture ans stuffing. Sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese. At this point you can freeze. Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from fridge 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10-15 minutes longer.

Rumbi Island Easy Mango Chicken and Rice

2009-07-27T23:26:00.001-04:00

From another website and I thought it looked good.

4-5 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless)
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups mango salsa
Cumin to taste
Lemon Pepper to taste

Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Add spices. Cover and cook chicken until tender. Shred chicken on a plate and return to crock pot. Save juices in separate bowl.

Add corn, beans and salsa. More salsa can be added to taste. If mixture seems dry, add some of reserved juices.

Serve over coconut jasmine rice for that Rumbi Island Grill taste. Garnish with cilantro or parsely, if desired.

*You could use regular salsa for a Mexican taste and serve over regular rice or tortilla chips.

Carjack ....Warning

2009-07-27T22:49:00.003-04:00

Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!! Warning..!!!!

Something I got from a friend's blog and thought it should be passed around.

WARNING FROM POLICE THIS APPLIES TO BOTH WOMEN AND MEN

BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE-- NEW WAY TO DO CARJACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating.... You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine and shift into reverse. When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into park, unlock your doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car.

So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!

BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive away. Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to friends and family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.

Please keep this going And tell all your friends

After Boards Vacay

2009-07-23T15:30:00.001-04:00

After all the boards, I flew home to enjoy some family time and SF before going off for my away rotations for the next 4 months. I spent a couple of days at my brother's place in SF and we went to a couple of good Chinese restaurants that my mom found and want to go as family.

We went to this awesome and expensive dim sum place in Daly City. They also sold Dragon's Beard. It's a candy but made it like tons of white threads woven together. Yummy

This was my makeup birthday cake. My brother bought this from a place that he deemed really good. It was yummy too.

In the end, I had plenty of yummy food for a couple of days. I also met my brother's girlfriend and we had lunch with her family after her white coat ceremony. She's nice but I personally don't think they'll last long. She just doesn't really fit with my brother.