Musings from MS 3

hiatus

2011-12-22T13:56:00.000-05:00

I am on a blog writing hiatus until rank lists are formally submitted (mid-february), in case this was not already obvious.
The road to residency has been exciting and tiring and I have been coast to coast and on plane to subway navigating my way through figuring out what is the right program and place for me! 4th year is definitely not as relaxing as some say!

Excited to update soon...and figure out some new year's resolutions.
:)

Melodious Monday Blues

2011-05-16T21:08:00.000-04:00

I was hoping to post a bunch on my spring break trip to San Francisco and D.C., but that will all come later as I am now on my acting internship (OB/GYNE). I am having a great learning experience on the cancer surgery floor, though sometimes the sad stories can get me down. I've been listening to music nonstop outside the hospital so I thought I'd share some of my absolute favorites the past week.

Please enjoy. And remember to live life to the fullest.

Got that glitter on my eyes...

2011-04-15T20:27:00.000-04:00

This past weekend a celebrity (I think even the most critical of you would still call her a celebrity! haha) rolled into town to play at Pitt's Spring weekend. Now, I don't usually like the artists that come for spring weekends- I remember a lot of rap artists coming to MIT (though I volunteered at a lot of these concerts, I can't say I ever appreciated the music), but this time I was excited mainly because she has some hits that I love to dance to.
My top faves include- Tik Tok, Your Love is my Drug, We R who we R, Blow... you know those obnoxious dance tuns that play at clubs/radio. So you guessed it- Ke$ha came to town, in all her $$$ glory.

We had an unreal weekend of AMAZING weather (high of 80s on Sunday) and it was like we were destined to live out our Sunday like undergrads without a care in the world. The concert had a great showing- tons of hipsters/girls covered in glitter and I thought she gave a good performance and was just as she thought I'd be. There were some super funky costumes and back up dancing, but I loved it all. Pitt Med students somehow coalesced amongst the mobs and we hung out on Schenley Oval afterwards. :)

Check out the awesome animal hats they were wearing... Ke$ha is to the side of the stage.

We're dancing like we're dumb-dum-duh-duh-duh dumb

Pretending/Wishing we are hipster undergrads moshing at Ke$ha's concert! hahaha.. medicine has turned me delirious...

JLee does...Grapefruit honey yogurt scones

2011-04-12T23:06:00.004-04:00

Every once in awhile I find a recipe while blog-browsing and think to myself, I NEED to make this. I'm easily won over by

1. beautiful food photography

2. interesting ingredients

3. anything vegan

4. witty/funny food blogging which makes me believe that if I make the food of a certain blogger I will somehow become witty/funny too...not so much. :p

Anyways, joythebaker.com is one of my favorite food bloggers and I say this recipe one day and thought, my goodness- grapefruit in a baked good- mon dieu! This is something I must try...so armed with my credit card in hand... I swallowed my pride and bought a full priced grapefruit at Giant Eagle (don't even get me started on their outrageous produce prices) and some Greek yogurt that would allow me to make those baked beauties.

That night I dove into the dough with my hands and got MESSY. I zested, juiced, and segmented that grapefruit (though not Ruby Red as desired by the recipe) til my arms hurt. The recipe calls for making what sounded like a divine "grapefruit sugar" by mixing the zest with sugar and pounding them together. The final result.. (you were hoping something out of this world huh?) was something interesting, with moderate grapefruit flavor, but not something I would make again (weh wehhh). Joy, I still love you and your blog.

Grapefruit honey scones, though I will admit, it was my first time making scones!

Check out that lovely yellow grapefruit zest + sugar

However, I comforted myself by making a simultaneous batch of fool-proof Ghiradhelli turtle brownies, YUM.

I loved baked goods, can you tell? I only hope that I always will have others to ~~unload calories onto~~ share with. ;)

Rainy Day Soundtrack

2011-04-08T18:53:00.004-04:00

I've been discovering some amazing music lately- mainly courtesy of friends' recommendations and the 'Music Mondays' section of flowerchilddwelling.com. To my absolute surprise, some of my favorites appeared in a suggested mix set in this month's Glamour magazine. I figured I'd make those playlists and see how I liked them.. and I love them (I did some tweaking with the playlists)! With all this cloudy cold weather in Pittsburgh, here are some tunes to brighten your day-

Mix for Saturday Night Out:

Mix for Dinner at Home for Two-

Just finished up my Pediatrics outpatient community site this week... learned a lot for sure, and also got to know a more rural suburb of Pittsburgh as well. I never like leaving when I get to know all the doctors, nurses, PAs etc in one place, but c'est la vie...and there's and exciting weekend ahead that may involve surgical innovation and crashing a undergrad spring Ke$ha concert!!!

Food for thought

2011-03-26T18:37:00.002-04:00

I'm excited about the prospects of all things food today, so I thought I'd share this post-

Sustainable Eating
Just happened upon this article that I had saved up awhile ago and really thought was interesting, so I thought I'd share it heer. Mainly it's a spiel I'm sure many of you have heard- eat real food. And even better, prepare it/buy it yourself! Apparently Bittman calls the three best basic recipes- a stirfry (yeahh), a chopped salad (gotta get myself into salads more), and a rice and lentil dish (I must be thinking in the right direction...).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02bittman.html?hpw

CSAs
Along those lines, this year my sister and I have decided to take part in a CSA (or Community Supported Agriculture). Besides knowing that this is slightly crunchy and veggie based, here's the definition:
Community Supported Agriculture is a system in which consumers receive food directly from the farmers who produce it. But unlike a farmers' market system, supporters of community agriculture actually share in part of the farmers' risk. That is, they pay in advance for a portion of the farmer's total crop. Crops that do well will be abundant in the share, crops that do less well will be less abundant. For their part, the farmers have a stable income that doesn't depend on sunny weather on farmer's market days.(http://www.prairielandcsa.org/whatisacsa.html).

So, after some exhaustive Pittsburgh CSA research, I finally decided upon Dillner Family farms (it's the perfect price and perfect amount for two). For a sum, my sis and I will get weekly deliveries of fresh veggies for 22 weeks starting in June. They drop off in neighborhood locations and I love the concept. I was just perusing the 2010 harvest list and some of the yummy things we can expect are... green beans, peppers, pumpkins, potatoes, radishes, raspberries, spinach, sweet corn, winter squash, watermelon, zucchini and the list goes on! I've heard good things about CSA's (several med students have done it before) and the only complaint is that you sometimes get way too much of one veggie- aka cauliflower. In anycase, I look forward to increasing my veggie intake and eating more in tune with local harvests.

I believe this is what a typical csa box looks like (from bonfirehealth.com).

Cold Oatmeal Craze....

One last thing- I am obsessed with oatmeal lately after reading this blog post. Last night I prepared a cold oatmeal (1/2 cup quick cooking oats, 1/2 cup soymilk, 1tbsp honey, 1tbsp maple syrup + 1/2 banana this morningg) and it was an interesting experience...a bit soggy for my taste but I'm going to try it with rolled oats next time.

3rd Year clerkship books - the lowdown

2011-03-25T23:57:00.000-04:00

Went to a morning of women's health conference (part of my current ambulatory medicine rotation) that was filled with some good review and some new interesting research (depression in pregnant women). However, as I was mainly based in Highland Park/Squirrel Hill I was completely unaware that the 2nd years had just completed their last real medical school class today! (ICS). Woah, it seemed like just last year that I was in their shoes. It was a bittersweet day because everyone is happy to be down with class but everyone also disperses to go study for Boards (just a tad unpleasant). I wrote about my take on Boards Step 1 studying advice here.

And seeing as a lot of my friends are going to be 3rd years soon I though I'd share what I thought were good books to get for 3rd year clerkships, both for doing well on wards and on the shelves.

By alphabetical order-

Ambulatory/Outpatient medicine (CAMPC at Pittmed)- National shelf. Used Internal Medicine Essentials. Case Files PEDS/Blueprint PEDS. MKSAP 4 for practice questions.
Family medicine- In House exam. Used Essentials of Family Medicine.
Medicine- National Shelf. Internal Medicine Essentials and Step Up to Medicine were both useful to me. I also got the little green Pocket Medicine book to carry around on wards (but referred to this very infrequently, not the best $60 spent). MKSAP 4 for practice questions.
Neuro- National Shelf. Case Files Neurology. Pretest neurology for practice questions. Haines Neuroanatomy for those residents that love pimping on anatomy.
Ob/Gyn- In House exam. Hacker & Moore: Essentials of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Kaplan has a great review as well. Heard excellent reviews for Case Files Ob/Gyne.
Pediatrics- In House exam. Not yet taken, but I hear Blueprints/Case Files pediatrics is good. Pretest Peds for practice questions.
Psych- National shelf. First Aid for Psychiatry Shelf (absolute must). I supplemented with Case Files Psych and Pretest Psych for Qs.
Surgery- National shelf. NMS Surgery for day to day clerkship stuff. Pestana Review/Kaplan Surgery text were great for the shelf. Pretest Surg was all I had for practice Qs, not a bad resource. I used Surgical Recall rarely for pimping, but its high yield if your resident likes to pimp a lot in the OR.
Specialty care (EM/ENT/Optho)- In house exam. EM: Case Files EM for something to read and keep you busy during your ER shifts. ENT: read the little book PittMed gives you (best for pimping, but not high yield for the exam). Optho: lectures and handouts by course instructor. Know EKGs for the exam (Dubin's is good review).

This is a comprehensive list of the books and resources for practice Qs I used. I know others who got months of USMLEWORLD prescriptions for practice test questions (not sure how these compare to shelf questions). I know this book list may seem incredibly intimidating and expensive.

I would suggest getting together a large group of friends (~7 of mine joined forces) and sharing books with each other. I probably bought less than 5-6 books (all used and in good condition) and just traded them with my friends when the right rotation came around. Definitely a money saver! And never forget your school's friendly lending library :).

To my MS2s- kick boards butt, and enjoy the start of 3rd year, it really is such an amazing year and will be over before you know it.

Here's a good study song ;).

End-of-3rd year - rut

2011-03-17T22:54:00.002-04:00

Maybe it's the weather (ALWAYS cloudy, I'm so TIRED of winter minus snow)
Maybe it's the impending dread of my Acting Internship (May).
Maybe it's the fact that I'm not on the adrenaline high of Surgery anymore ( :(, more on this later).

In any case, I realize this past weekend that I was at a major lack of inspiration, motivation, joy for things that I, as a above-average happy person, usually am excited about. So... I did what I do best, I made myself a to-do list of things that would get me out of my funk.

Buying new vegan ingredients for baked goods, finding a cool new academic project, getting excited about my upcoming Spring Break trip to SF (yay, Angi!) were just some of the things I came up with. However, another thing I've been putting off for fear of the unknown was starting my own potted GARDEN!!!

Laugh all you want, I'm into my projects, and I was dead set on making this happen when we got our first glimpse of wonderful sunny weather (an omen, I say) of the weekend. So I jetted out of the cafe I was "studying" at and booked it to the nearest Loews. There, I wandered clueless among paper seedpacks til I dragged myself to Customer Service and asked for some gardening advice. There, I met Ben, a kind elderly gentleman who happens to be...*drumroll*... a gardener at the Phipps Conservatory, who would have thunk I would be getting gardening advice from an expert?! He quickly guided me towards what seeds he thought would work best and what soils I should use, boosting my self confidence that this WOULD NOT FAIL (famous last words, anyone?).

$30 and some moderate lifting later, I had all my supplies back on our porch.

The next morning, charged with energy from 12 hours of sleep (what can I say, I'm on ambulatory medicine right now) I dug out my dad's rubber gloves and DOVE IN.

How do you prepare pots for seeds?

Fill 3/4 of the way with Potting Mix (you can get any variety, mine seemed pretty good Sta-Green $3.50 a bag)
Fill the other 1/4 with special gardening mix (the bag said perfect for potted plants) that has little phosphorous pellets. Dunno what the reasoning behind this is. I just do what I'm told.
Press in seeds or add them so that they are 1/4" covered. *see below for how I selected seeds.
Water, and cross fingers!

Here are the seeds I choose. I wanted to see flowers during both spring, summer, and fall so I choose different flowers for when they would bloom. I also choose them to be around the same blooming height (or at least no 6' tall sunflowers that would easily topple a pot!). All these plants do well in direct sunlight which is what the front steps get (note the little suns on the bottom of the packets).

I wanted vibrant, various colors as well. And I love herbs, so I did a pot of basil and oregano.

Gettin' dirty.

The cleaned up finished product. I got some pansies for instant gratification. I watered these then moved them indoors (as the temperature still can get freezing).

Within a month or two I hope that some seedlings will be starting, will photo update then!

Groovin' Music

2011-03-02T00:01:00.002-05:00

How cool is this widget? I've made a playlist off of Grooveshark that is filled with music I love. Just a taste though. ;)
I've been inspired by having gotten 3 new CDs at the library this week-
1. Glee Hits (don't hate, I'm a new convert) - didn't love the majority of songs
2. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (loved the music)
3. Plain White T's (YES!)

Happy listening, and happy widget making!

Hey Boy

2011-02-26T19:43:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to do a quick little post on a musical artist I learned about a week ago, attended the concert of last night, and who I absolutely love as of now!

She goes by "The Blow" and this is her myspace- http://www.myspace.com/theblowus. Hey Boy is one of her songs, True affection is my current favorite.

Her music has a really great beat (the bass was off the wall at the Andy Warhol Museum where we saw her, I felt like I was in a club), and I wanted to get up and dance to all of her songs. Plus, she's quirky and does this fabulous one-woman show/transformation between all her songs, I was experiencing an eclectic taste from New York City, and I loved it :). When I love music, I listen to it 24/7 without rest, so as you can imagine I'll be moving on to another artist by the next week.

Thanks to my roomie who is up on all this neat music and tells me about these fun events to attend. And when word of mouth won't do.. the CITY PAPER rocks for unique new places to eat, events to attend- http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/index.

I'm living up my post-surgery weekend... attending a fancy formal tonight.. will blog about that later!

Five Things

2011-02-20T22:05:00.002-05:00

In honor of one of my favorite bloggers (cupcakesandcashmere.com), I'm listing the 5 things I'm really into right now- as in this weekend. These things are keeping me happy and sane throughout the weekend, my last big study effort before my surgery shelf on Friday (the end is so near!).

This is the newest cookbook I have picked up at the local public library (another thing I love). It's absolutely wonderful, full of fun color pages and delicious recipes. Having recently bought a bag of lentils I just made the "Old-fashioned lentil loaf" - it was flavorful and filling. Plus, I've never made a "meatloaf" before and I'm really loving it! I'm thinking this will be a nice post-AI gift to myself. :)

Valentine's Day- Fell in love with these Dove Dark Chocolates. They're soo good. I eat them at all times of day...they keep the spirits high during long surgery afternoons.

Thoughts of how fun it's going to be to unwind at our annual medical school formal- Black Bag Ball. This year it's called "Rock the Boat" and held at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. Can't wait to dance this weekend!

Just ordered these boots

'Annie Shoes Women's Baltic Faux Fur Boot'

to keep my feet warm through the rest of the winter, they arrive on Tuesday!

A friend introduced me to this song "Rhythm of Love" by Plain White T's. I promise it'll put you in a good mood. I was in the singing mood after watching an amazing concert by our medical school acapella group "The PalPITTations". It was titled "Regularly Irregular" , a play on heart rhythms.

Chic for Cheap

2011-01-23T21:32:00.002-05:00

Chic for Cheap by Jessica Lee 86 featuring hair flower accessories

All these items are under $50! Fun to put price into the mix, and this would be a cute valentine's day outfit, sigh...

Had a fun weekend (though it was super frigid in Pittsburgh!). Saw the King's Speech (alright, wouldn't watch it again but inspiring nonetheless), went to see the Stephen Petronio Company perform (NYC based, modern dance with some provocative costumes, also very interesting/entertaining), then went to brunch with my cousins who were visiting town!

Vietnamese food at the Tram's Kitchen, great Vietnamese food in Pittsburgh!

Playbill

Talk about cheap! We sat in the 5th row, for $13.50 per seat. I love being a student :).

Jcrew mash

2011-01-22T23:57:00.003-05:00

Jcrew mash by Jessica Lee 86 on Polyvore.com
Just got this pretty sweater on sale- loved the color, wanted to have some fun pairing it with imaginary things!

mellow mustard

2011-01-22T23:36:00.002-05:00

mellow mustard by Jessica Lee 86 on Polyvore.com
2nd set.. having fun with a more autumn style! and a version of my favorite color yellow.

Crazy for Coral

2011-01-22T23:04:00.002-05:00

Coral by Jessica Lee 86 on Polyvore.com
Just found out about a really neat site- Polyvore.com where you can make your own fashion spreads! Here's my first set... let procrastination run amok...

Delicious Nian Gao Recipe

2011-01-05T18:50:00.002-05:00

Nian Gao translates to New Years Cake and is a traditional dessert enjoyed by Chinese families around the time of the Lunar New Year.

It is traditionally made from glutinous rice flour and eaten plain, though they do make redbean version, and versions with brown sugar, essentially you can add what you like to it! Baked Nian Gao is a holiday favorite and for years I was making a really rich, not very perfect, nian gao recipe that called for sticks of butter and always ended up looking more like something that emerged from a swamp with uneven edges that ballooned out of the pan but quickly deflated into a disappointing mess. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, but the butter fat separated out making the top kind of golden and flaky with the actual correct nian gao texture lying beneath. My family willingly ate this debacle for years (actually they did enjoy it) but I thought this year would be time to try a completely different recipe in hopes of finding a healthier, more visually appealing version.

Lo and behold, there is a NIANGAORECIPE.COM. Its an entire website devoted to ONE recipe, with English and Chinese translations, so I thought, must be the most legit recipe out thereI tried it and was really happy with the results! It got golden brown on the top, had a light yet sweet taste with the perfect nian gao consistency- without requiring any butter! Im definitely sticking with this recipe in the future, though I’d love to branch out and try adding things to the nian gao, like redbean, raisins, and nuts.

Our lovely poinsettia + nian gao.

Here’s the recipe (I tweaked the sugar to be 75% than what the website calls for) and my finished product!

Ingredients

3 eggs

2 cups of milk

1.5 cups of sugar

1/2 cup of oil

1 tsp of oil

1/2 tsp. of baking soda

1 lb. of glutinous rice powder (usually found in any Asian grocery store)

Directions

1) Crack the eggs into the bowl.

2) Put the remaining of the ingredients into the bowl.

3) Blend the ingredients in the bowl with the electric whisk (I just did it by manual whisk) for 5 mins.

4) Allow the mixture to sit for 30 minutes.

5) Preheat the oven at 350°F for 2 mins.

6) Oil the cake pan along its bottom and sides.

7) Pour the mixture into the cake pan.

8) With a rubber spatula, evenly distribute the mixture.

9) Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

10) Take out the cake and let it cool for 5 minutes.

11) Use the bread knife and cut into rectangles.

12) Enjoy.

Deliciousness that can only be captured on macro setting. ahha.

Another one of my absolute FAVORITE things to do with nian gao (usually done with hard store-bought nian gao rounds for some reason it doesn’t work as well with soft baked nian gao) is to slice it into quarter inch thick pieces, dip it into a beaten egg with sugar added to it, and fry it in a pan. The nian gao softens to a deliciously chewy and sweet mess but is contained within the structure of the egg batter. I’ve loved waking up to this treat at the start of each Lunar New Year!

Ringing in 2011

2011-01-03T18:47:00.011-05:00

2011, can’t believe you’re here! 2010 was a whirlwind of intense learning, getting introduced to life on wards, and also being a bit bolder in other areas of my life :).

Big things I’ve accomplished this year:

1. Finished my 2^nd year of medical school, consolidated all my first 2 years of learning into 7 weeks of intense studying and mental instability by taking Step 1!

2. Eased into 3^rd year clerkships with some great rotations. Completed my Medicine rotation (rite of passage I tell you!) and also my OB/GYNE rotation (was def stressed over doing well in this one).

3. Become more social/made an effort to see different classmates and get out and enjoy different events! I’ve seen some great dance performances and musical performances this year (though I will have to say my first American opera experience was a miss).

4. Played host to a flurry of friends who’ve made a special visit/carved out time to see me! It’s been truly wonderful to see old friends and showing off this city!

CSK makes it to Pitt! We're at Phipps holiday gardens.

Housemates in front of our gorgeous tree! My first live one :).

Looking back at my resolutions last year (I had 5), I’ll have to say I am pretty happy with what I’ve accomplished. In perusing my old resolutions (I have records back to 2007), I tend to return to the same themes year after year, but also mix in some interesting ones every once in awhile. For instance, being green, staying fit and healthy are always a must, but at one point I had resolved to make sure I had a kick ass spring break (oh, the aspirations of a college student). It’s always fun to look back, but I have 10 resolutions this year and I very much look forward to trying to achieve them!

Onwards to 2011!

Top Pittsburgh Brunch Places

2010-12-13T22:19:00.010-05:00

After 3 years in Pittsburgh (whew can you believe time flies that fast? It seems like just yesterday I was an only-lived-in-Massachusetts-my whole-life kind of girl), I felt a need to let others know what awesome brunch places to hit up when they're in this town.

I love brunch because something about a lazy Sunday morning eating delicious food with great people = ABSOLUTELY AWESOME.

These are the places I had heard wonderful things about all along, collecting sage pieces of brunch advice from random people, but only recently have I hit up a lot of them. I've often just wanted someone to tell me where to go eat, so I figured I'd share what I've learned. So bring your friends, family, and out-of-town visitors! And in no particular order...

Zenith - My hand's down favorite brunch dining experience. Both experience and value wise. It's a funky vegetarian spin on brunch, hidden away in a secret little antique shop in the Southside. They do Sunday Brunch, starting at 11am, but there's often a line that starts before then. You can browse the antiques while you wait, and are seated at big family sized tables you might often find yourself sharing with another group. You choose from a list of tasty entrees, then can have your go at a vegetarian brunch buffet, all for $10! My favorite buffet items include almost all their bundt cakes (they have over 8 kinds usually!) and the Asian peanut noodles. When I leave Pittsburgh, I'm going to miss this place tons. Where else will I find my hipster vegetarians?Delicious vegan cake spread from Zenith's brunch buffet.
Pamela's- Definetly a fun Pittsburgh tradition, with locations in Oakland, Sq.Hill, and Shadyside (all neighborhoods with places in my heart, and I'm sure they have more locations)- I've been to all three! They have your classic American brunch items and are well known for their hotcakes (like thin buttery/crispy pancakes seen below) and Lyonnaise potatoes (delish). Brunch items are ~$6 and the diners all have a colorful retro vibe. Lines galore on the weekends, so get there early or be prepared to wait. I typically like to order a veggie omelet here, but I'm a savory breakfast person so to each her own.
Coca Cafe- A cute little cafe in Lawrenceville. They have some fun brunch specials (like gingerbread waffles around the holidays) depending on the weekend. I like their fresh ingredients and their entrees are a nice step up from the usual brunch. Be willing to pay a bit more, though sometimes it can be hit or miss. I've only been here once, enjoyed my wild mushroom omelet well enough, but a lot of my friends really like it.
Square Cafe - Located in Regent Square, I loved the colorful circles that decorate this cafe the moment I stepped in! They have a lot of brunch selections and some good vegetarian options, but out of the two times I have gone I wasn't particularly wowed by the quality/creativity of the food or the value. I've heard good things about the Breakfast Wrap and Green Eggs and Ham. I would also say their Pumpkin Chai in the fall is delicious. They get a thumbs up for a cheery atmosphere, fun decor, and outdoor seating options.
Point Brugge Cafe - I like the small intimate feel of this place, it's almost smack in the middle of a neighborhood south of Shadyside. Never would have guessed it was located there! I technically have not had brunch here yet, but I've heard good things. Other meals considered, their mussels are apparently THEE thing to get there along with Belgian Beer. I had a veggie Viet sandwich there which was alright, and their Brugge fries were good but definitely tasted of oil.
Food Glorious Food - Have not made it here yet, but close friends have said they have an amazing spread of baked goods available for purchase every Saturday morning. Technically, I think you can just buy and sit there and eat it, so not your traditional brunch. I've tasted some of their cakes (for breakfast, why not?) and they are very good and reflect the season.
Strip District Adventure- Felt a need to add this since there are a lot of fun places in the Strip to get breakfast/or breakfast food items. I've heard DeLuca's is amazing, but no friends have really recommended it as something I should try before leaving Pittsburgh. You can get a freshly brewed beverage from Presto George (specialize in fine coffees and teas, I've had their Irish Creme Hot Cocoa before, YUM), head to one of the many bakeries and Enrico's Biscotti Company for breakfast treats. There are also tons of vendors on the streets, food/clothing/pretty flowers :). It's just fun to shop there on a Saturday morning (summer + fall, there is a farmer's market there), but parking is not easy to find. You are forewarned.

Note: I'm no expert on Pittsburgh brunch. Should there be a place you think is def a top place for Pittsburgh to brunch at, please comment! :)

Thanksgiving Thoughts

2010-11-22T22:23:00.004-05:00

Haven't blogged for a bit, but I ran across the amazing collection of recipes from my favorite NYTimes that encouraged a vegan/vegetarian approach to Thanksgiving that emphasizes beautiful and delicious produce-

Check out this article: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/a-vegetarian-thanksgiving-even-for-carnivores/?src=dayp

And the lovely recipes: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/08/health/20101108_thanksgiving.html

I can't wait to try some of them. :)

Pizza mummies...scary!

2010-11-01T21:57:00.000-04:00

This is the pizza mummy I talked about in the previous post. Kinda turned out hideous...ly delicious? I had a difficult time finding the right olives for the eyes. To the R is a delicious applesauce-filled pumpkin a friend made, isn't it so cute? I'm loving the decorative plates too.

Beautiful pumpkin cupcakes by our host. I want a cupcake stand too!

Wonderfully spooky decorations...BOO!

Pumpkins Everywhere!

2010-10-26T17:20:00.015-04:00

Everyone seems to go berserk over pumpkin when fall arrives, including me.

But I will say I have no real affinity for the Starbucks Pumpkin Latte that hordes of girls seem to fall in love with come October.

That being said, I've been in search for the PERFECT pumpkin bread recipe, and after much internet scouring, I have found the ONE. It's easy to make, vegetarian, low in fat, and deliciously moist, trust me- it's worth the effort to make :).

I can't find the link to the original recipe...so I take no credit for this, but I have tweaked the recipe a bit for additional pumpkin.

Pumpkin Loaf (only 140 cals per slice!)

1C packed brown sugar
2 large egg whites
1 1/4 C pure pumpkin
1/4 C canola oil
1/3 C low fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 C white flour
1 C whole wheat flour
1/4 quick cooking oats
1tsp bkg powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350F.
Whisk wet ingredients together- sugar, egg whites, pumpkin, oil, yogurt, and vanilla extract
Combine in a separate bowl the dry ingredients- white flour, whole wheat flour, oats, bkg powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, bkg soda, salt.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing in small amts at a time.
Put in a greased loaf pan, bake for 45-50 mins, until cooked through. I like to sprinkle some oats on top for decoration!
Enjoy! :D

And since I'm on an autumn recipe kick, a friend is hosting a wonderfully festive Halloween party soon and I've been looking up spooky vegetarian appetizers to make... here are some AWESOME ones I've found so far and am currently considering.

1. PIZZA MUMMIES! adorable, I think I'm going to make these since they are super easy, and i love pizza. Will probably photodocument, haha.

2. JACK-O-LANTERN tarts! too cute, too martha stewart.

3. Haunted House cake. Gorgeous, one day when I'm retired I'm going to try to make this.

4. Devilish Eggs. Love the play on words, they sound yummy too!

This is what the Halloween party of my dreams is going to look like

(courtesy marthastewart.com, and I do find it a bit creepy that the tab icon for her the site is martha stewart's face)...

A whirlwind 5 months in the wards

2010-10-23T12:45:00.005-04:00

As the leaves turn their red and yellows... as pumpkins start to appear in every possible food savory or sweet...as it becomes wonderfully chilly at night and I have to start using the comforter... I realize... It's already autumn!

Eek! How did the summer pass by without another post? Let's just say I was overwhelmed with everything that is the beginning of clinical rotations.

It was definitely a good decision for our entire house to take a research month following boards. We took time to relax, bond, and do a little research ;) for that month. I was never so happy to see so much sunshine without the thought of studying in my head.

Proof we got out of Pittsburgh haha.

We also got to take a little road trip to D.C. I loved the feel of D.C. (as opposed to the chaos of NYC, when I went to visit CSK later in the summer). Where else can you browse for hours in free museums, meet a Rhodes Scholar in a bar, have an epic dance party night, and still enjoy a classy brunch the next morning?

Homemade donuts at the Hotel Tabard (apparently THEE place to have brunch in D.C.)

I won't deny that towards the end of May I was itching to use some of that hard earned knowledge that I had gleaned for the 7 weeks preBoards... and thus I was totally ready and psyched for Specialty Care (a rotation that is a hodge podge of things including Adult ER, children's ER, Ophthalmology, and ENT). I learned a good amount during that rotation, but ultimately didn't really feel my calling was in any of those fields.

For July and August I delved into the depths of all things psychological and brain oriented...in Neuro/Psych. I began my 5 week turn in Psychiatry on the Dual Diagnosis floor of WPIC (Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, a top institute for psychiatry). I, for some silly reason, thought being on Dual Diagnosis was going to be like being on House M.D., where they would have crazy presenting symptoms and we would have to figure out some equally crazy diagnosis. But, like most things I hypothesize about, I was wrong- Dual Diagnosis is a floor for those who had both a psychiatric disorder IN ADDITION to a substance abuse/dependence problem. What did I get myself into? In the end, I actually really enjoyed the pace of psychiatry, spending a good couple hours a day just talking to people (and something I think I have a talent for). I got to see things I don't think many people understand a.k.a. bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder in addition to seeing how drugs/ alcohol/etc. can really ruin people's lives. I was enamored of psych for a bit.. til I found myself at the VA center for Neurology!

Neurology was a whirlwind short course (only 3 weeks at Pitt Med) where I got to experience inpatient consults, outpatient treatment for movement disorders, alzheimer's and other disorders. There is nothing quite as elegant as the neurological exam (after spending 15 seconds doing a visual fields test with my fingers in front of a patient's eyes, I was able to identify the exact optical tract lesion they had!) and I hands down loved my team who pushed me to really know my neuro/neuroanatomy and master the physical exam. I didn't think I'd fall in love with this specialty, but I somehow did (so this is love?). We'll see how it competes with ob/gyn...

The hours of Neuro/Psych were pretty sweet 8pm-5pm at most and I think I got a great experience from that schedule (I know many people had even shorter hours). However... I don't think anything would prepare me for the constant having-to-be-on-your-game feeling of Internal Medicine, and boy do those hours sometimes drag (my longest day was 7am-10pm). I was looking forward to medicine being a great learning experience, which it was, and a rite of passage (walking through fire maybe?). I look back on it with both fond and not so fond memories, and I will probably share a longer post on my 8 week stint in Internal Medicine, but for now, I think I'm destined for a different specialty. Sigh.

* Summertime *

2010-06-28T22:44:00.006-04:00

I always say autumn is my hands down favorite season but I forget every year how much I love summertime!

So far, I've been enjoying a slew of Pittsburgh's free festivals and concerts (Three Rivers Arts Festival at downtown: Ingrid Michaelson (my favorite song is The Hat ), Slew of indie rock bands on Schenley Plaza, and Jam on Walnut listening to a band called Bon Journey (they play Bon Jovie and Journey songs haha, get it?)).

ingrid michaelson concert at The Point!

Good friends at Schenley Plaza

Schenley Plaza concert, check out that weird kid crawling...

I'm also really inspired to cook more interesting things with all the awesome fresh produce that is around! I made strawberry shortcake from scratch last week and made a Sicilian dish called caponata (eggplant and olive dish, recipe here) from things I had gotten either at our local grocery store or when I made a trip to the farmer's market in the Strip district. At the farmer's market I also got this killer bread called Fire Loaf that was literally 2 feet in diameter and this awesome charcoal black color (I split the loaf with a friend, but it's still too much bread so I'm thinking about bread pudding, yum).

More than anything I'm just happy to see the sunshine when I step out of clinic around 5pm everyday. Apparently Pittsburgh only has 100 days of sunshine a year? I find that hard to believe, but I'm going to soak up the sun while I can with the awesome company that is my friends. :)

My Take on the Boards (Step 1)

2010-06-01T00:42:00.008-04:00

I took Step 1 on April 21st and though I've been meaning to put this post up for awhile so that the information is really fresh, I definitely needed a mental vacation from the boards! Now that I've had all of research month to rest up (while doing a little research on the side :)) I'm ready to share my wisdom (I hope?) on what I thought went well for me during Boards studying and what didn't.

THE MATERIALS

I like you, if you're reading this for advice, struggled for a LONG TIME on what resources are better and definitely bought some books out panic. Name any book, I've probably agonized over whether to buy it. So here is my final list of books that I actually USED in order of importance:

FA for the USMLE Step 1 - my best best friend for studying for boards, know this well (I went through it in its entirety at least 4-5 times) and you've done 75% of the work in my opinion. A lot of my classmates, including me, tore out the binding and put it in a 3 ring binder and just took notes on other books and stuffed it in this binder in the relevant organ system. Everything listed below is a supplement to this book, FA is like the bible, other books are just good to fill in the gaps. All my house mates got nice tabs to separate the FA sections, good for fast flipping and finding random sections that come to mind. You will memorize this book, you will dream/have night terrors about its different sections etc., thats how well you should know it.
BRS Pathology - excellent succinct description of the pathology you are responsible for, a great supplement to the FA section on Pathology, made notes in FA from this book. Good short questions at the end of each chapter.*Goljan vs. BRS Path: I hear good things about Goljan Pathology but for me, volume is a huge obstacle and BRS is simply a smaller more compact book without too much unnecessary detail (which I hear Goljan has). I actually got a Goljan in my boards books panic, but didn't open it more than 2 times, it simply wasn't my style (its important to figure out what works early on so you're not studying the same thing out of two different resources, that's a waste of time).
BRS Physiology- loved this book to really pound physiology concepts into my head. good supplement to FA. I thought the endocrine physiology was really helpful here.
Online Q banks- I got USMLEWORLD AND USMLERx for two month subscriptions each. I didn't finish either but I don't think it hurt me at all, and I didn't beat myself over trying to finish them. I thought USMLEWORLD was nice and challenging and USMLERx hit some of the more basic concepts home. I did 75% of USMLEWORLD and 30% of USMLERx and mixed it all up when I was doing organ systems. If I had to do it again.. maybe I'd just do 2 months of USMLEWORLD.
FA Cases for USMLE Step 1- Really nice way to wrap up FA concepts in a patient based and USMLE question thinking way. I really loved this book as a nice break from memorizing FA and just applying the concepts you learned in patient scenarios.
BRS Pharm Cards- loved these short succinct cards for all the drugs. I think flash cards are important for testing that you know drugs when they are all mixed up. *BRS vs. Lippincott Pharm Cards: I definitely thought BRS cards (big print, simple take home points) were better than the complex Lipponcott ones (smaller print with pathways and tons of other non vital info).
Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple- Definitely a good way to remember clinical pearls related to Micro bugs and drugs which are heavily represented on Boards. I just went through this book alongside FA in two days.
Lippincott MicroCards- definitely helpful but NOT absolutely necessary because they have so much detail. I appreciated the little case vignettes that tested you on each microbe that could be found on the front of the cards.

Not Necessary, but helpful to look at if you have time:

***Robbins and Cotran Review of Pathology - at first I didn't even consider buying this book but was VERY HAPPY I did in the end. It's a question book and a good complement to online Q banks because it emphasizes the top path questions you will get in different organ systems. I picked up some really tough questions on the actual test that I only know because I did questions from this book!
HY Embryology (first edition!!)- short and sweet, some nice illustrations
HY Neuroanatomy- too detailed in my opinion, but had some nice head xrays, CTs, and MRIs and illustrations.
Abbas Immunology- good for some basic review on immuno concepts. Don't read the whole book over again.

Wish I didn't buy:

Lippincott Biochemistry- In my freakout during biochem review I bought this. It has some nice diagrams but in the end I focused on learning just what was in FA and did fine on biochem.
HY Gross Anatomy - too detailed
BRS Behavioral Science- too detailed

THE ATTACK PLAN

I had made a day to day schedule (click to see!) for what I would focus on for the boards. FYI, Pitt gives us 7 weeks to study, some schools may give more or less. The 7 weeks includes and "ICS" course where we have to be in school for 2 hours everyday for the first 4 weeks but that didn't really impede my studying. Our school also allowed us to take as many CBSSA diagnostic tests as we wanted, but it was traditional to do one at the beginning and one 1-2 weeks prior to your test date to assess how you stand in topic areas.

As you make your calendar you have to decide what's important to you/your weak spots as you go along. Schedules can sometimes be adjusted but it helps to get one from an upperclassman and adjust as you need to.

The way I tackled organ systems/topics-

Read the FA section to get a handle on what is important
Read the BRS Path and Phys sections, make notes on anything that is not in FA, do questions at the end of those chapters, do 20-50 questions from an online Qbank
Look through the pharm cards (I separated them all by category, make notes on them from FA) test yourself on them.
Read any other books you have that may supplment that subject, takes notes in FA (i.e. for Micro, reading Micro made ridiculously simple)
Read FA section over again with all your consolidated notes from other sources/books
Do 100 -200 practice Qs on online Qbank
repeat #5 and #6 if you still have some time or know you have weak areas in the FA section
Repeat #1-7 for every single section of FA. There are some sections you don't have to do that much work for like Behavioral Science and Anatomy, those can be done in a day or so each.
Towards the end, start doing passes of several FA sections and mixing those types of questions together on online Q banks.
Repetition and Testing your knowledge are key. Continually do practice questions and reread parts of FA you are weak on. That's why I had a second and third pass through FA. There is simply just so much info towards the end you gotta keep seeing it to keep it in your head.

A few days before:

I panicked hardcore. I didn't do very well on my second diagnostic CBSSA and I only had 10 days to improve my score. I didn't sleep well or eat well, I was a ball of anxiety and an emotional wreck. Acknowledge that this can happen and realize what you need to do mentally to move on and keep studying. For me, that meant I had to calm down and just reread sections of FA instead of trying to complete the online Qbanks which I originally had planned (getting questions wrong towards the end was really getting me depressed and upset, so I ended up just reviewing old questions). I was really upset I had to change my original plan, but I decided to stick to my decision and that worked well for me in the end. I did a whole day dedicated to all the pharm which was helpful for me to tie together interactions and get a good look at the big picture. I also focused on trouble areas, that I had been bookmarking all along, the day before my relaxation day so that I could feel more comfortable to have that troublesome material recently in my memory for the test.

The day before:

I studied trouble areas and skimmed through FA cases (hit the big concepts like congestive heart failure, lupus, etc.) took some good relaxation time the day before the test, drove to the test site, worked out, packed snacks for the test day, and slept decently well that night.

Test day:

I've never taken a prometric computer test before so the whole signing in and out for breaks was novel to me. You will probably have a ton of energy in the first few sections so coast with that if you can. I took 2 minute breaks at my desk and just put my head down because I didn't want to waste time signing in and out. By the 3rd or 4th section I made myself take some 5 minute breaks. But seriously, I was coasting with adrenaline from the time crunch of trying to complete 48 questions per hour that the sections fly by. I took a 12 minute lunch break and did some 5 minute breaks between each section until the end.

Looking back on this all and with my score report in hand, I was really happy with how I did on the test! I improved 89 points from my first CBSSA and 34 points from my second CBSSA, proof that you can keep improving your score if you put your head to it! Just remember, it's important to just keep your spirits up and be attentive during the entire test. I definitely caught myself not reading some questions carefully enough a few times as I got more rushed or tired. Don't let one difficult section get you upset and stressed over the others, you never know what questions are experimental you just gotta keep trucking through it!

Plan some sort of celebration when you finish! Whether its just relaxing by yourself or heading out with friends, you deserve it! :) Good luck!

San Antonio- the home of the Alamo and land of post-boards relaxation

2010-06-01T00:17:00.006-04:00

My family travels a good amount and every summer growing up we'd fly to some different part of the United States and tour that area. That being said, there are few states I haven't been to and even fewer major national parks I've never visited.

That being said- my mom decided we should pay a visit to the Alamo- and the city it is located in- good'ole San Antonio (most people will know this city for its Riverwalk, where Miss Congeniality 1 was filmed hehe).

I had a great time in the city, it was warm, people were friendly and I got my fill of salsa for the next 2 years. However, the Alamo was smaller than I thought and there isn't too much to do in the city other than walk the Riverwalk (which we did everynight) and eat local cuisine. Although I will say we were lucky in that we arrived during the weekend of the Fiesta a week long affair that culminates in a day long city parade and nighttime parade as well! I would have enjoyed the Fiesta more if it weren't so darn hot during the parade, I almost got heatstroke and couldn't imagine how the marching band kids were surviving in their hot uniforms.

We spent 3 days there and that was more than enough. We actually filled up the last few days there by wandering out of the city to a nearby art gallery (gorgeous) and caverns (creepy but cool!).

We frequented the local IMAX theater (one of the bigger attractions of the town mall, no joke), to see Avatar in 3D, amazing! and then a movie about the Alamo which was well done and i love that historical stuff.

The Riverwalk is super colorful with people cruising the water in motorized boats. We went to this restaraunt Casa Rio twice cuz it was good cheap food.

A float in honor of the fiesta!

Pretty carriage during the nighttime Fiesta!

Part of the small but beautiful gardens of the San Antonio

Cool caverns nearby, really astonishing formations and some of the caverns were ENORMOUS.

After San Antonio I got to continue being pampered by good food and mommy time as we did shopping and errands in Pittsburgh for 3-4 days. We also got to visit the Phipps Botanical garden the day before student IDs were no longer accepted for the summer! I particularly loved their 'gargoyle in the gardens' concept and found the coolest flower.

Anyone know what this is? I forgot, but it's so neat!

texas teaser

2010-05-20T01:24:00.002-04:00

To get you excited about my upcoming posts on what I did post-boards (a.k.a. my trip to San Antonio with my mom) here's an awesome photo:

my mom had never seen one before! Aardvark right? Adorableeeeee

The Weekday Veg

2010-05-18T19:54:00.003-04:00

Saw this on someone's gchat status and thought it was a really great presentation of a novel way to think about eating veggies. Instead of going vegetarian cold turkey (haha)- why not try just weekdays?

http://www.ted.com/talks/graham_hill_weekday_vegetarian.html?utm_source=newsletter_weekly_2010-05-18&utm_campaign=newsletter_weekly&utm_medium=email

Just 4 mins of your time and a thought provoking approach to the weekday veg.

Pizza experiment

2010-05-01T14:31:00.003-04:00

My wonderful friend took me on my first jaunt to the local Trader Joe's a few weeks ago and I was delighted to find a decent selection of awesome vegetarian "meats" and even more excited by the prospect of making my own pizza for the first time.

Here are the cast of characters, I didn't follow a recipe but just followed my gut instinct as to what I thought would taste good on a pizza:

red onion, mozzarella cheese, soy chorizo, trader joe's pizza dough

I cooked the red onion with sugar and some salt til it was caramelized goodness. I also heated up the soy chorizo (only used half the amount) and broke it up into crumbles. I sliced the mozzeralla into thin slices and used some leftover tomato sauce I had in the fridge (it was a 6 cheese sauce, yumm).

Here is how the pizza looked before being tossed mercilessly into the oven. Note that most of the ingredients are pretty much cooked and that my pizza looks a hideous shape. One of my housemates called it a bear rug.

After about 20 mins in the oven at 375F. Oozing with deliciousness and oil that came from the chorizo cooking.

Up close beauty shot. It was delicious, and lasted me about 3-4 meals more. :) I also made pizza again later with homemade dough, will write a post on that soon!

Vegan baking bananza!

2010-01-25T23:36:00.006-05:00

For those of you who know me well, you know I enjoy being vegetarian and cooking my own food. My love of food is almost obsessive, and can only maybe be rival ed by my love of all things Harry Potter. Perhaps I could kill two birds with one stone (bad phrase to use in a vegan-related post) and make some Harry Potter-inspired baked goods- like puking pasties or treacle tart? Another day :).

Well lately, in addition to being vegetarian I've really become enamored of baking vegan goodies. Why vegan you say? Well that's a whole other conversation, but I thought it would be a nice challenge to create something delicious that omitted what many baked goods traditionally call for- such as eggs, butter, and milk.

Though I have had some baking disasters in the past, which are rare but catastrophic (recall my pumpkin brownies anyone?), I like to say I have a good knack of knowing what usually tastes good, is easy to make, cheap on my budget, and uses the fewest ingredients possible.

So after wasting a few hours online finding doable and exciting recipes. I set to make my first vegan creation. YAYYYY.

Here was the inspiration: http://www.recipezaar.com/Healthy-Vegan-Banana-Bread-106912

And here's my simple, tasty take on it:

Jessica's Vegan
Apple Banana Breakfast Loaf

Dry Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup quickcook oatmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

Wet ingredients

2 mashed bananas
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or 6 tablespoons apple juice concentrat)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:
1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease loaf pan.
2. Mash banana with fork. Add all other wet ingredients to banana and mix.
3. Combine all dry ingredients, mix.
4. Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Use hands to really mix it up and get rid of big banana chunks.
5. Pour in loaf pan. Sprinkle top with some oats for looks. Bake for 45 minutes.

It's delicious. And I've made it twice this week already. Refrigerate to keep fresh.

yum yum yum

I also made these Vegan apple banana muffins- http://vegetarian.about.com/od/breakfastrecipe1/r/applebanmuffins.htm
But I subbed 1C apple sauce for everything apple in the recipe and omitted sugar. However, I added choc chips to the tops...hehehe.

Happy Baking! Join the vegan baking craze!

hello 2010

2010-01-03T02:15:00.003-05:00

2009 was such a transition year, from learning how to really adjust to medical school, to making and maintaining lasting friendships, to learning what heartbreak means and how to start anew again, and again- my life has been filled with so much learning!

and... my gut instinct tells me that 2010 will be much more of the same- the exciting, ever-evolving same.

Rather than more transitioning though, I think this year will be about getting into the groove of things and pushing full speed ahead to becoming a doctor. This year is all about achieving life goals, Boards anyone?, and engaging in things fully. I'm incredibly excited about the leaps and bounds I'll accomplish and learn this year- I know I won't be bored a single moment.

Here's to you 2010, here's to accomplishing my resolutions (only 5 this year, but a BIG five they are), and thanks to all for a wonderful 2009.

fall, all in one go!

2009-12-01T22:32:00.005-05:00

How to sum up my entire fall semester in one go? I'll try my best.

Squirrel Hill:
1. I love living in this neighborhood. It's quaint, I feel safe, I think the hills present a good challenge when running and the foliage is beautiful in the fall. I've become a fan of the little shops at the intersection and in particular love studying in the 61C cafe and Carnegie library. Both have a lot of windows, so I feel like I'm appreciating the sunshine even though I'm just a pale bookworm of a med student (bye bye Sicilian tan).

Beautiful Fall

2. I love my housemates (also known from Halloween as fall, spring, and winter- guess what season I was?) and my med school squirrel hill neighbors! I love our house which has gotten more filled with furniture and is a lot homier than it started. Don't ask about our living room art that came from a dumpster...

Medical school:
1. I enjoy this 2nd year material a lot more, I can almost always understand in what's going on in medical tv shows and books now! Dreading boards, but starting to study for that so I don't freak out.
2. My classmates are wonderful as always. I grown closer to a lot of them, even though I worried about drifting apart during my summer abroad. We do fun things like go applepicking, go to ballets, celebrate post exam, random adventures that are mostly documented in all my facebook photo albums. I'm really grateful to be surrounded by so many talented people, being inspired constantly is a good thing.

The seasons

3. I worry about how I'm going to distinguish myself from a sea of talented medical students, this worry is kind of magnified now that I get closer to making more life decisions. This fall has been a pretty contemplative time for me, but I always like contemplation (can you tell from this blog?). Keeping positive is sometimes challenging.

Life in general:
1. I think I still maintain my old friendships well (mainly MIT and CHS), and if things haven't picked up from when I left Italy I'm working on it again! I went to my high school 5 year reunion this thanksgiving it was actually a great experience where I reconnected with a lot of old girlfriends from chs, middle school, I guess I wasn't as much as a nerd as I thought.
2. I'm trying to keep myself enlightened beyond the medical school bubble. I should try to keep up with world news (thanks to all the magazines my mom has ordered for me) and read books before bed.
3. These lists always turn into kind of new years resolutions things... but I'm trying to keep up with running and dancing (oh dancing! the opportunities are too few) and maintaining a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. Especially as we are learning about nutrition right now...

In summary, I'm looking forward to the next few years of medical school. Who knows what they'll bring, where I'll be in 2 years...

Home Sweet Squirrel Hill

2009-09-10T00:42:00.003-04:00

This is my first post under the new blog title "Musings from MS2". This summer passed in a whirlwind and it's hard to grasp the fact that I am now a second year medical student- but alas, I've got to get used to the idea.. and the fact that Boards are approaching.. but more on that later.

I spent a lovely 1.5 weeks in mainland Italy with my family touring dusty over-touristed Rome, quaint artistic Florence (or Firenze), and my personal favorite sunny, romantic Venice. After getting home, I lounged around for 1.5 days trying to spend as much time with family and friends, before jetting back to Pittsburgh so I could move all my belongings into a house (below) I'm currently sharing with my 3 closest med school friends!

The townhouse is in a perfect location, right at the junction of 2 busy streets lined with cafes, restaurants, and shops. The local branch of the town library is a mere 3 minute walk from our door (I love public libraries). Our house is set up really nice and we can't wait to have a house-warming (all in good time). We've collected furniture from random sources and in the end our kitchen, living room area looks homey :). I'm excited to share the next 3 years of my life with these friends and in this new part of Pittsburgh! More pictures to come, I'm currently in the middle of our Cardiology block (quite a good segway from my summer cardiology learnings!)

Trek to the island of Magma

2009-07-23T07:47:00.006-04:00

Having been somewhat disapointed in the lack of magma when we visited Mt. Etna, the smoking volcano on Sicily's eastern coast, we were determined to end our weekend trips with a bang (hehe) and venture to the island of Stromboli (pictured below). Stromboli is part of a strip of islands called the Aeolian islands to the north east of Sicily (we took a 7 hour hydrofoil ride straight from Palermo, whew! definitely some nausea during that trip). Stromboli has 3 active craters at its peak and is remarkable because of the length of time for which it has been in almost continues eruption (magma, here we come!). In February two new craters opened on the island in which lava flowed into the ocean from them, considering the small size of the island, I could imagine being pretty darn scared if I lived on such a volatile geographic landmark...
The main town of Stromboli is at the bottom tip of the island in the above pic, we stayed at a cute little bed and breakfast. Everything is painted white, with vibrant gardens and very charming, kinda funny since its surrounded by black volcanic rock and black sand beaches.
It was a harrowing trip, with choppy seas threatening to prevent us from getting to the distant island, and windy weather at the top of the volcano causing our tour troup to be canceled, but in the end we decided to trek up to the highest point you can without a tour, the Sciara del Fuoco ("Stream of fire"), a big horseshoe-shaped depression generated in the last 13,000 years by several collapses on a side of the volcanic cone. We started hiking around 6pm and made it there within 90 minutes despite the winding, rocky path which snaked around the edge of the island.

Ah, the top of the volcano! Almost time for sunset...

There was a deck to lay down or sit to watch the volcano. We were able to spot a few small eruptions, pretty awesome to be so close! However, we didnt want to be caught up so high (the path got really steep towards the top) when it turned dark so we descended down to a pizza restaurant with perfect views of the top.
A very tasty dinner after all that hiking, I was dying of thirst!

As the sunset on the ocean, we started to see glimpses of the glowing red magma. They really werent kidding when they said that it was continously active. Every 10-15 minutes or so we would see something like the above picture, I was so delighted we could appreciate it from the bottom of the volcano but also was jealous of those that stayed on the viewing platform much closer to the top. As night fell, those travelers strapped on their head lights (we got one too) and were making their way down the mountain like little fireflies. We sat at the restaurant for a long time just admiring the volcano and wanting to stay for the next explosion.. and the next and the next.. til we realized we should probably hike our way home. Because the island is so small, isolated, and energy concious, there were no street lights, but we and all the inhabitants were walking about with our flashlights and the quiet town. It was magical to appreciate the night sky filled with stars (little to no light pollution) and realize we were right next to an active volcano. wow, what a memorable experience!

Determined to milk all we could out of the weekend, Xiao and I woke up at 6am the next morning to make sure we could find a black sand beach and make it back before our hydrofoil ride back. Little did we know there was one just 10 minutes away by foot! The sand was gorgeous, so fine, and glittering black.

Water water everywhereee

2009-07-23T07:30:00.005-04:00

In our quest to visit Sicily's "most beautiful" beach (even though we are not that beach/sun/tanning crazy as even the most conservative of the Sicilians) we booked ourselves a 8 hour boat cruise snaking along the northern tip of a coast near Palermo. It was a small boat, the sea sometimes got rocky, I felt motion sick, but the scenery more than made up for it. Breathtaking!

Its times like these that I realize how much I love mountains and the ocean...put together! What a unique and gorgeous coastline Sicily has!

The town which we departed from, after running haphazardly from the bus stop in order to make our boat (things worked out fine). Very quaint.
They kept leading our boat into the entrance of caves. Somewhat interesting, but motion sickness go the better of me by the second cave. and can I just say I love my camera? (Canon powershots are the best! thanks mom and dad!)

sighhhh.

Around 2-3 hours later we arrived in San Vito Lo Capo, the famed pretty beach. I would say it definitely was a sight to see, but very similar to the beach even closer to Palermo, Mondello. The upside was that it was not too crowded... and that Xiao and I rented an umbrella and didnt have to bake in the sun!

On the way back, they stopped the boat so that the passengers could jump into the water and cool off. Here are Xiao and I, just basking in the boat and trying not to be sick hehehe.

Have you ever seen blues like this? I'm going to have these images in my mind for awhile.

Glittering gold.. mosaics

2009-07-23T07:21:00.004-04:00

With a lazy Saturday ahead of us, Dan and I decided to check out one of Palermo's must-sees. We embarked on a short trip (30 min bus ride) to nearby city of Monreale which overlooks Palermo and which is known for the Cathedral of Monreale, one of the greatest extant examples of Norman architecture in the world. Begun in 1174 and completed in 1200, it was very grand and the gold mosiacs were meticulously laid and very beautiful. Even more perfect, a wedding was taking place around the time we got there, so we got to experience it with flowers and organ music.

We paid a bit to see the Treasury and a very ornate stone room. Here's Dan working on his statue emulation skills. Note the statue is also named " Daniel" hehe.

It was about a 2 hour round trip with some bus snags to get to Monreale, but we were back before dinner!

Viva Santa Rosalia! Palermo's patron saint!

2009-07-17T15:44:00.006-04:00

On Wednesday, we had the pleasure of being in town for the biggest summer festival in Palermo, that which celebrates their patron saint (and I'm told that Italians are very serious about their saints). Palermo's saint is named Santa Rosalia who was born in 1130 AD and is the patron saint of Palermo and a few other cities. Apparently she was a noble, but then retired to live as a hermit in a cave. In 1624, Palermo was haunted by a horrible plague and Santa Rosalia appeared as a vision to several and ordered them to bring her bones from the cave and have them put on procession through the city. After this, the plague ceased... and thus the big festino every year on July 15th commerating her. The entire city center was closed off and we spilled onto the streets with what seemed to be all of Palermo. There were gorgeous lights and archways hung all over the street and we made our way slowly to the start of the parade, the cathedral. Our excellent guides were two doctors, fellows, from IsMeTT who defintely were in the know on how to experience the festino... Sicilian style!

The gathering place where the parade started. They brought in fountains and beautiful lighting, it was totally tranformed from the dusty and littered plaza the day before.This year's theme was "Woman", pretty broad.. but I'm sure something got lost in translation. In any case, power to the women and they had these awesome dancers floating from BALLOONS! This is the stuff my dreams are made of, but in stead (probably violating many safety codes), the Palermitans had filled over a hundered or so huge balloons with helium and were able to suspend two dancers in the air! It was really a magical site.

With so many people out on the streets and basically trailing, following, the huge float of Santa Rosalia, we had to shuffle about and run to escape being trapped ina huge confusing, chaotic crowd. Here we met up with the float again the big intersection of the city which is surrounded by 4 fountains!

We then made our way slowly to the waterfront, where the parade would end and where the fireworks would be launched. While waiting for the fireworks, we were able to experience the local Palermitan speciality "sfincioni" an interesting bread heavy pizza with light sweet sauce on top. You should defintely check out Xiao's posting about the local delicacies of Sicily, some are yak-tastic, a great read!

Xiao, Dan, Francesca, and Giuseppe with the Sficioni! Yum, greasy goodness!

And the fireworks, oh the fireworks! They were gorgeous, shot right in front of us (probably some of the closest fireworks I've ever viewed in my life) and above and beyond awesome. They lasted 30 minutes and we ohhed and ahhed endlessly, what a perfect perfect end to the night!

Claustrophobia of the Heart

2009-07-17T14:50:00.008-04:00

I've been meaning to blog about this for awhile, but a few weeks back (around the end of June), we went to this really neat free art exhibit called "Claustrofobia del cuore".

We wandered into the third floor gallery, hidden away in a ritzier part of Palermo and caught the exhibit on its last showing day. We were able to meet the artist, and here comes the cool part, who was declared dead for 14 minutes before he was somewhat miraculously was revived (some of this got lost in translation). In anycase, the showing was the art which was inspired by his time "in limbo" and all were titled cardiology themes ("Tachycardia", "Angiography")- perfect, due to our recent dive into the topic for our research!

One of his works, a bit abstract, but you can maybe tell its a meter of some sort?

Also, to supplment our knowledge of cardiac pathology, Xiao and I got to watch 3 open heart surgeries on my birthday! The surgeon was super nice and very good at teaching. I basically got to see all the surgeries (double bypass, aortic valve replacement, and subaortic stenosis removal) with my face a foot away from the heart! The procedures were really fascinating (I was standing in the OR for about 7 hours and the time FLEW) and I was incredibly impressed with the agility and meticulousness of the surgeons.

I never knew much abou the bypass procedure until we observed it then looked up stuff on wikipedia. But its incredible! The surgeon basically reroutes the major arteries of the heart (while a crazy pumping device substitutes in for the heart) using other nearby arteries (see above pic) or an vein from your leg. The surgeon was basically stitching together two ends of hollow spaghetti, it was that ridiculous and detailed.

The last procedure we saw was even more complex (see above pic)! Xiao got to scrub in and hold the beating heart in her hand which was pretty awesome, I stayed behind the lines and was happy to observe. The surgeon had to cut away the grossly overcalcified existingn aortic valve and then set things up to lower a biological valve into the original space. They had to set up a ring of threads (over 40 different threads going in!) and then hooked each individual thread through the valve and slid it down into the ring. It took over 2 hours and was pretty neat engineering if you ask me! I think the builder/engineer in me would love doing this stuff for a living, but the long hours and intense focus would be a bit much, but who knows!

We have also been super spoiled to get mini lectures from many of the hospitals doctors, including a few lectures on cardiac pathology from the chief of cardiology and the chief of pathology! They really take care of us here and really want us to learn! In addition, we were treated with twice a week Italian lessons... til we became lazy and tapered off- right before verb conjugations hehe. Unfortunately, my mom has informed me I am responsible for communicating for my entire family when they arrive in Rome in a week, uh oh...

Opera in a garden

2009-07-11T18:18:00.003-04:00

To culture ourselves a bit, we decided to partake in some fancy opera seeing in the summer home of Palermo's music and plays, Teatro di Verdura (very far from the opulent Teatro Massimo theater, where performances occur the rest of the year) which was a well maintained garden and outdoor theater. It took some hassle getting there, but we arrived to quite a classy place, all lit by outdoor lights/lanters, where we were definitely some of the youngest people there.

We dressed up... in primary colors. hehehe.

We saw two short operas. One was called "Cavalleria Rusticana" and the other "Pagliacci". Both centered on themes of adultery and intense drama (wiki does a good job explaining what's going on, but even then the story lines are a bit complex). The story lines can get a bit confusing, so we printed out the synopses beforehand because we knew we could not understand the Italian!

I really enjoyed the second one, Pagliacci, which centered on a love triangle among clowns...I know, defitely a surprise hit with us. The costumes, dancers, and singers were all great. But the long drawn out singing and emotional scenes left us a bit confused and bored, I'm not sure I can appreciate another opera any time soon. But I'm glad my first opera experience was in Italy! The theater was nice, I enjoyed the night time air, not too many mosquitos.

Fun Picture: Later in the week, Xiao led us in our attempt to make white sangria. We had it all prepped on Tuesday and enjoyed it for our weekly hump day celebration. It was pretty good, potent, and the fruit was yummy. Salute!

And a pinchof salt...

2009-07-11T18:08:00.004-04:00

We spent last weekend with a big adventure in mind, to travel to Marsala (land of the famous sweet cooking wine) and also view the large well known salt pans that produce fancy salt for more discerning tables. To our surprise (or maybe more to our expectations) we took a 2.5 hour bus ride only to find a small, sleepy town in which no wineries were open on the weekend. We did get to sample some Marsala wine in some specialty food stores, and I enjoyed it a lot. Alas, we quickly realized there was not much to do (besides the ship museum, which held some ruins from 200 B.C. found offshore of Sicily), and we promptly booked it to the salt pans hoping that we could see it, and then make it back to Palermo by nightfall. The salt pans covered a lot of area and definitely made use of the scorching heat, the windmills were originally used to grind the salt.

large white piles of salt + windmills = one of the more interesting/different landscapes in Sicily. I only wish I could have seen it at sunset.

I tried a few granules of salt, couldn't really tell if they were anything special, but.. you guessed it.. very salty...

We slept in Sunday, lazed about and then Xiao and I revisted the nearby beach, Mondello which I really enjoy.

That monday, we had some plans to hit up nightlife and dinner, Sicilian style. Our wonderful coworker LeTizia took us out to a nice bar a few towns away, near the ocean (oh the freedom you have with a car!). The crew!
We enjoyed aperitivo (appetizers and drinks before dinner, only starts around 8pm!). I had my first "bellini", which is apparently very Italian. It was like fizzy peach juice, not bad.

Another Birthday Abroad!

2009-07-08T17:46:00.002-04:00

My past 2 bdays have been spent abroad (turned 21 in India, celebrating in a disco club, and then 22 in Ecuador, enjoying time with a best friend :)), so ringing 23 in Italy seemed fitting! My birthday fell on a Monday, which is like ghost town evening in Italy, so we enjoyed homemade dinner, some wine, and then set out to get gelato before the shops closed. Xiao, the ever awesome friend, went in search of a candle and lighter for me, just so my brioche gelato (coconut and nutella) could be decorated just so. It was the nice chill and delicious bday I was hoping for!

To another great year!

Fun fact: Dans bday was on the 28th and mine as on the 29th. Dan went to meet up with his family over the weekend, so when he got back we all celebrated our birthdays together. For his bday, we got him a baller purple shirt (FASHION UPDATE: Sicily is head over heels about the color purple, we see people wearing this everywhere, sometimes pairing purple pants with purple shirts all in the same outfit), and for fun we all dressed in purple to go out! We ate at this quaint Osteria and then hit up some gelato at our favorite joint.

Another random picture. Fresh fruit is abundant in Sicily, in fact we buy our veggies and fruits almost everyday from fruit stands! I have enjoyed mini pears, apricots, and most of all fresh figs which I think are such a novelty! Here is what one looks like, kinda weird, but really yummy, you eat it skin and all.

A pastry adventure among the Valley of the Temples

2009-07-08T17:31:00.006-04:00

At first, Xiao and I didn't know how to spend our free Sunday, but we were quickly drawn to Agrigento via Lonely Planets (LP) description and online suggestions.

Agrigento, on the southern coast of Sicily (we have seen A LOT of sicily, but the south we had yet to explore, perfecto!) is known for its amazing Valley of the Temples, one of the most memorable sights of the ancient world. This area used to be called Akragas when established in 6 B.C. and in time it grew to become one of the most prosperous cities in Magna Graecia.

Agrigento was a heavily warred over city by the Romans, Byzantines and more, but the temples were gorgeous and very impressive. You see a whole succession of mamoth ruins, all strung a long a path; I like to imagine what it would have been like to see them when they were just built and what they were used for. There are 4 or 5 major temples and ruins and many many more small ones we did not have a chance to see.

A mix of old and new, you can see the modern city in the background, a haphazard development of apartment buildings that has "seriously dimmed the glory of Agrigento, but much is left to fill us with wonder" - LP

Tempio della Concordia

Xiao jokes that my yellow shirt made me blend in too much with the columns of stone, hehe.

LP, a somewhat good but often times inaccurate guide that has often led us astray, suggested that we pursue a shopping adventure in the main city, to search for a monastery where "nuns bake heavenly pastries". It instructed us to ring the bell on the front of the monastry door (I hesistantly did this, and an adorable old woman's voice answered us in Italian), to request sweets ("Vorrie dolci!"), and then to "see how you go" (seriously, this was all the instruction we got?). Nevertheless, Xiao and I were intrigued and ready for an adventure, so we found our way to the secluded monastery, had the nun ring us in, watched as the monastery front door swung open, only to reveal a very dark lobby, with a single light... illuminating a smiling old nun. She asked if we wanted a kilo or half a kilo of sweets, which didnt come cheap, so we went with a quarter kilo. She then scurries off in the darkness, and 5 minutes later, presents us with a small package tied with ribbon. We thank her, and made our way to the nearest park, eager to see what heavenly goodies we got.

Xiao in front of the monastery, there really wasnt a soul in town or bustling anywhere.
Our dolci! I loved them, they again, reminded me of potent Indian sweets and were made with a lot of almond paste and pistacchios. Buono!

Cefalu Paradiso

2009-07-08T16:50:00.006-04:00

We had heard a lot about the quaint little town where the italian film, Cinema Paradiso, was filmed, so Xiao and I hopped onto a train and in 1 hour we were in Cefalu! We were immediately surprised by how small the town was, and pretty much saw all the attractions in about 3 hours. We climbed a really rocky staircase and path to the top of La Rocca, or the giant cliff above Cefalu to enjoy the view.

Morning over Cefalu, only half way through the hike. Flip flops were not a good idea. The eastern view from La Rocca.

We spent the rest of the day milling aimlessly (who knew idleness was so intolerable?) about the small touristy town and lounging on the beach (we didnt last long in the scorching sun). We were really hoping to catch dinner in Cefalu before heading back, so we waited til 5pm (Italians generally dont eat til 8 or 9!). We were the only souls in the restaurant, which we picked because it had this gorgeous view and stretched right to the water! Xiao tried the local specialty, pasta con ricci, or sea urchin pasta and I had a nice vegetarian dish.

My lovely date for the evening, hehe, arent you jealous Larry?

Beach bumming.
Gorgeous sunset that we just caught! They were playing live music on the boardwalk.

Mondays... aren't so bad!

2009-06-30T15:51:00.003-04:00

Xiao and I got monday off since the Cath lab was undergoing some maintenance so we took advantage of our free time to go and see some of the local sights- mainly the fortress palace of Palazzo dei Normanni, once the center of a magnificent medieval court and now the seat of Sicilian parliament (Lonely Planet). Hours are pretty sparse here in Sicily, every place takes a break for lunch (so we had to wait for the place to reopen at 2).

The gorgeous Cappela Palatine inside the fortress, apparently Palermo's finest site. The gold mosiacs (all the pictures were mosiacs!), were very beautiful.

For fun, I saw this statue I really liked. Life imitates art... maybe?After a lazy monday, Xiao and I were treated out by our coworkers from the Cath Lab (RNs, and radiology technician)- LeTizia, Magherita, and Vito. They took us to the most posh and beautiful outdoor bar I've ever been to. We were literally on the ocean and watching the sun set. I was awe-struck, especially after my mojito.

What a hidden secret! We were treated out to a very very nice and expensive dinner by some medical equiptment guy (probably would not fly in America...), but it was a wonderful evening!

Fairytale Taormina

2009-06-28T17:09:00.006-04:00

After our exhausting day at Mount Etna, we decided to spend a leisurely Sunday in the touristic town of Taormina (an hours bus ride away). Taormina is "spectacularly located on a terrace of Monte Taura and with dominating views west to Mt Etna" (Lonely Planet). Which was pretty much right! It had spectacular views and famously noteed for its "heavenly" Teatro Greco, basically perched on the mountain, open air, with Mt Etna looming in the stage's back ground. It would been wonderful to see a greek tragedy reenacted here, but alas we missed the night shows!

Teatro Greco
Wouldn't it be ridiculous to watch a performance here? You can see Mt Etna with its tumultous clouds in the background.
Fromaggio!
Etna looks prettier in the distance. But wow! We climbed close to the top yesterday!
Gorgeous coast lines... We also wandered into some beautiful gardens. There are bright pink flowers and well manicured topiaries all over Taormina, clearly a tourist town. But it left such an impression on our minds that Xiao and I were scoping out expensive hotels as we walked, for when we start making money and could perhaps visit again... in style!Marzipan is BIG in sicily. I wonder why, but you find a lot of these displays everywhere. Marzipan is a confection made of sugar and almond meal, I enjoyed the bite of Xiao's marzipan fig that I had. Its very very sweet, and very similar to my favorite Indian sweet, barfi (trust me, it tastes better than it sounds).

Magmaaaa and Mount Etna

2009-06-27T16:48:00.006-04:00

The lovely view from the train, on our way eastward towards Catania.

For our third weekend trip, we decided to venture to the eastmost cities of Sicily and give hiking Mount Etna a go! We took a train (12 ish euros one way, 3 hours) to the city of Catania, our "base" for the weekend. Catania has been described as Sicily's most vibrant city, second largest to Palermo, but generally felt it was a bit sleepy and small until night descends and everyone hits the streets for partying and dinner. Not one of our favorite cities, and our hostel was, as described in the guest comment book, "NOISIEST HOSTEL EVER", I couldn't agree more- we were right above train tracks which Lonely Planet conveniently forgot to mention.

Lets learn a little about Mount Etna! I've always loved the idea of a volcano and got to see some volcanic activity when I visited Hawaii a few years ago, but something about the ancient history of these Mediterranean lava spewers is more intriquing.

Mount Etna- "Sicily's most prominent landmark [yes, but not too impressive when not active] is Europe's largest live volcano and one of the world's most volatile. At 3,323m it towers over the Ionian Coast, dwarfing everything beneath it, its smoking peak is visible from almost everywhere on this side of the island, and is heart-stirring [quite beautiful from coast side cities!]." (Thank you Lonely Planet). Mount Etna has existed since 35,000 years ago [awe inspiring huh?] with a history littered with eruptions, some as recent as September 2007 [I guess we just missed some action, thankfully]. The most devastating eruption was in 1669 and lasted 122 days [wow!], destroying 16 towns and engulfing a good part of Catania.

We took a cheap bus to the base town of Etna, then a crazy expensive funicular, Funivia dell' Etna (27 euros for both ways, eek!), but worth the oppurtunity we got to climb up to the highest point tourists were allowed. Mount Etna is a bit of a tourist trap, they were advertising a 51 euro package to take the funicular, get bused up to the highest point, and have guides, but we were determined to hike up ourselves! It was a pretty short hike (90 minutes going up), but really steep, and lots of cardio got me a bit grumpy hehe. The landscape was completely barren, covered with volcanic ash and rock. Thankfully it was a cloudy day, and we made our way slowly as busloads of tourists passed us on the dusty road.

We made it to the top! Pretty tired, but check out the ridge on one or Etna's craters. We climbed up.
Lots of vapor, no magmaaa, but interesting nonetheless.
The earth and stones were warm! Neato! Xiao and Dan warm their hands, did I mention it was freezing up at the top? brrrr.
Finally, some color on the crater's edge.
Go team! We descended very quickly back down and wasted a few hours in the cafe and tourist village. We were lucky because right after we descended the weather got horrible and no one else was allowed up.
Tired, but ash-free after showering, we hit up Catania nightlife and absolutely loved this local, packed restaurant near the Piazza Diumo. We ate a ton and then Dan convinced us to try grappa for the first time. Strong stuff, eckk! But fun ensued.
Cheers!

Pasta, Vino- Va Bene!

2009-06-25T14:16:00.006-04:00

We've been getting a good amount of exercise each day by walking to and from the hospital- about a 50 minute walk/saunter each way (apparently you burn 100 calories per mile, our route is about 2.5 miles), so not bad. We pass this awesome discount supermarket which is close to the hospital and we've been eyeing the 2 euro wine for awhile but didn't want to walk back home with gallons of liquid. Taking matters into our own hands and armed with bus passes, we brough duffel bags to work one day, loaded up on wine and food after work, then took the bus home. It was a brilliant.
We got all this for 20 Euros! We totally could have loaded up more. We made eggplant parm that night (work of master chef Dan) and enjoyed a bottle of white wine. Along those lines, we've begun rating all the bottles of wine we've had so far and placing them next to each other-the collection is rapidly growing and I will take a picture of the finished line up at the end of the summer.

We took a walk to a park we've heard about near the ocean in palermo. You can see the port/cruise ships in the distance. It was a nice green grassy area, kind of rare in Sicily, surprisingly. There were also quite a few joggers, also a rare breed in Sicily.One night, Dan's friend, a young gastroenterolist fellow Gabe, took us out with his visiting physician friends from Florence. They were a really fun bunch and we went to a trattoria where Xiao tried the local Palermo special- Pasta with Anchovies! We had strawberry and white wines as a group and enjoyed the cultural exchange :).

Our new Italian friends!

Ah, and what does "Va Bene" mean? It basically means "it's all good" and people say that a lot here. Life is wonderful, summer is great! Va Bene!

Favignana- swimming in the Terranean Sea!

2009-06-25T05:39:00.005-04:00

Favignana

Sunday morning we take a ferry to the nearby island of Favignana. There are many small islands around the western coast, but our coworkers suggested this one as perfect for an outing and some bike riding. Ive never noticed this on the east coast, but when you look out onto the ocean in Sicily, the sky and water blend into a hazy blue in the horizon, you cant tell when one stops and the other one starts- its really beautiful. Favignana was one of those islands in the hazy blue distance we could see from Trapani, and we were happy to arrive to a small but navigatable island when we jumped off the ferry.

Didnt I tell you the water is unreal? Xiao showed me how to use the Vibrant Blue setting on my camera, but even then it still doesnt do the colors justice!

We rented bikes for about 5 euros for the day. It was a good workout to go all around the island, which is not entirely flat, and basically coast right next to the ocean.

Some pics of Xiao and Dan with their bikes. Behind Dan is the castle on the island.

After about 2 hours or so of biking (unfortunately, Dan got a flat and had to exchange his bike) we decided to cool off in the sea! It was so refreshing just to jump in and the waters are surprisingly shallow. We got some gelato, jumped on the ferry back, then headed back to Palermo via train. It was a great first weekend exploring Sicily!

Medieval Fortresses and endless sea...

2009-06-25T04:41:00.007-04:00

For our first weekend trip, we decided to visited the western side of Sicily- to the small town on a peninsula (Trapani), the medieval fortress town on the mountain above (Erice), and the butterfly shaped island nearby (Favignana)- pretty ambitious, but in the end we enjoyed it all at a leisurely pace! (such is the way things go in Sicily :))

We took the train for some euros and enjoyed the seaside view as we snaked westward along the northern coast. It was a pleasant ride, though the train stopped often and it took us about 3.5 hours to get there (2 hour bus ride is the other option). We arrived to the quiet, empty (not high tourist season yet), a bit rundown, but scenic town of Trapani early in the afternoon. Its such a narrow town that you can walk down the middle and look both ways and see the ocean. We wandered a bit because Dan was in great need of a fried fish sandwich, we eventually came upon a small local deli and Dan and Xiao satisfied their seafood craving with smoked tuna sandwiches and I got my fix with a local cheese sandwich! We sat by the water, which was an aquamarine color, and ate our lunch happily in the calm sea breeze.

Trapani

Next, we made our way to the funicular (gondola), which was to take us all the way up the nearby mountain to the medieval town of Erice. Here we all are before our funicular ride- about 5 euros, pretty steep... in ascent and in price.

Beautiful view from Erice of the Sicilian countryside.

We got a pass to see all the churches and towers in Erice. Here is their most famous church. We walked in, the church was majestic with white carved ceilings, and monks were singing, a very spiritual experience.

More views of Erice.

We climbed to a more secluded road and were blown away by the view we saw. Check out this background!

Very fortress-y, very steep medieval cobblestone roads!
Stunning!

We opted to have a nice dinner up in Erice rather than returning down to Trapani. We decided to try some Trapenese specialities. I got Pesto Alla Trapanese, a wonderful dish with an almond sweetness I didnt expect and Xiao got the famous cous cous dish, below. All in all a wonderful Saturday!

Nightlife and Pastries-

2009-06-12T14:38:00.004-04:00

Some miscellaneous but fun pictures of our time so far here.
Nightlife in Italy happens mainly around the weekend, but we've found that Wednesday (hump day) is quite the happening time as well. We basically take a walk into the city every night- the weather's perfect, and we don't have to walk too far from our apartment to hit some excitement.

Teatro Massimo: A pretty opulent theater that hosts operas, ballets, and symphonies. Prices are steep- maybe we'll try getting a student discount here... currently playing is an opera by mozart.
Here we are on one of our nightly walks. We decided to try Spinnato's, a famous patisserie and bakery of Palermo, the Finale's of Boston if you will. We heard their tiramisu and cannolis were not to be missed so we split them between all of us. Cannoli = A (sickenly sweet ricotta filling, mmm), Tiramisu = C (too bitter, too sour (is this what the real thing is like?) didn't enjoy it at all)

Our first Italian cappucino! Every morning.. on our 1 hour walk to work (we like trekking it, since we're such an ambitiously fit bunch) we pass by this "sweet old man" according to Dan who first discovered his pastry shop. He made friends with the owner and we stop by almost everyday on our walk to work. Today we tried cappucinos for the first time! I really enjoyed it and had a ricotta conetta (croissant) as well. Sugaroverloaddddd...

With our cappucinos and conettas, by 8:30 in the morning, it's already getting pretty hot in Palermo.A little treat of a picture- we got bored on our way to an English conversation dinner gathering, so we stopped in a pretty little park. We started talking about asian squatting, and Xiao taught us the "right way" to do it (she's got the most compact, perfect technique). This was mainly a rite of passage for Dan, but I had to relearn how to balance for the perfect asian squat. Basically we looked ridiculous for 20 minutes squatting up and down. It was great, I love summer days.

Gnocchi- gone horribly awry

2009-06-12T14:32:00.002-04:00

Gnocchi (pronounced [ˈnɒki] or in Italian /ɲɔkːi/; singular gnocco) is the Italian name for a variety of thick, soft noodle or dumpling. They may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, potato, bread crumbs, or similar ingredients. (thank you wiki)
We attempted gnocchi one day, with no previous experience, and after an exhausting walk from IsMett <-- BAD IDEA

Does this look edible? We didn't think so, but it's our gnocchi. And I'm loyal to my creations so I ate it.

How did this monstrosity come about? We began with 2 lbs of patatas (potatoes, but too much we think), mixed in 2 egg yolks and 2 cups flour. We followed a recipe, mind you!

Trouble ensued. The dough didn't look like dough, it looked like a mashed potato mess, which is what it was. Oh my... We had to call Dan in to douse us with flour so we could extract ourselves from the lumps.

Xiao and Dan couldn't stomach the dish. Not happy campers... but I was fulfilled. hahaha. We're never trying this again.

Gelo di mellone- dessert extraordinare?

2009-06-12T14:10:00.004-04:00

Our wonderful Pitt med mentor and IsMeTT advocate, Dr. H visited us (he's performing some surgeries at IsMeTT as well) and invited us out to a wonderful dinner. We went to Focacceria San Francesco, a restaurant since 1934 that's tucked in a little square near Cattolica's Princes Chapel. We, of course (certamente, I love injecting vocab into my writing whenever I can), ate outside on the warm night. We were really spoiled with getting an antipasto, primo, secondo, and dessert- which is pure gluttony and way too much food in my opinion! I had an antipasto rustic, eggplant and tomato spaghetti, and eggplant roulades with pine nuts and raisins stuffed inside. It was wonderful with our white house wine and we learned a lot about Dr. H's past travels! Dessert was quite the experience and has led to Xiao and Dan making fun of me whenever I have to chose desserts. Read about my poor decision making here, under the title Sicilian Food.

dan, Xiao, Me, and Dr. H during out secondo course!

My eggplant (melanzana) roulade dish. I took most of my dishes home by doggie bag- a total foreign concept to Italians.

Me with gelo de mellone- a special watermelon dessert to Palermo. It tasted pretty much exactly as I expected. The experience was enhanced by hysterical laughter from Xiao.
By popular demand. Christmas elf gear. What I wear to work everyday, here I am in the room right next to the Cardiology office! We get to see procedures going on here everyday- cool!

Trattorias, Gelato, and some care-free beach going

2009-06-06T18:51:00.000-04:00

Dan, fellow first year med student, arrived (literally on our doorstep) on Thursday. We set out to introduce him to the city and also seek out an English-Italian conversation group at a local wine bar (we were invited by an IsMeTT interpreter). However, directions to the wine bar were horrible and we ended up wandering around for about an hour til we hit a small trattoria on a side street. We had their fixed menu with antipasto, primo, secondo, then insalata. They made a "vegeteriano" version for me. Our dinner began at 8 and lasted until 11, meal pace is very very lax around here. Our waiter, Guiseppe, found us amusing as Americans and spoke to us for about 30 mins, suggesting places for us to visit etc. It was a really nice dinner out, my first nice meal out at Palermo! But not very cheap- about 18 euros for all those courses.

Antipasto- lots of eggplant (my best friend here) and some sweet potato balls, "panella" a fried chick pea slice (delicious!).
Dan enjoying antipasto as well! They got a lot of seafood in their dishes, mussels (cozze) and squid ink pasta (sepia).

Abbreviated saturday: Dan made breakfast in the morning with tomato (pomodoro) and mozzarella and eggs, yum! We then took a 30 minute bus ride for 1.20 euros to Mondello- the nearby beachtown to Palermo. There are lots of young people around and its super crowded on the shallow but long beach. The water was a gorgeous color, not cold like Maine (where my favorite beaches, and favorite summer memories are from) and I went for a short swim/wade. There are towering seaside cliffs surrounding the beach, a beautiful view. I also had the best dessert ever- gelat0 (pistachio and banana) served in a bun! We then walked around the entire cove (we were very very well covered in sun screen, dont' worry mom!). We stopped by the marina area and I had bruschette with a dense olive spread (I'm acquiring a taste for olives ;)). Headed back on the bus and was home by 6pm, I made a roasted eggplant pasta for dinner.

Yay!!! Xiao, Dan, and I - Pitt Med 2012!

Gorgeous cliffs

My absolute favorite culinary experience so far. Gelato (pistacchio and banana) in a bun, totally unexpected but wonderful. * beams *

Research at IsMeTT

2009-06-06T14:04:00.004-04:00

So I've been blogging mainly about my touristy adventures around Palermo-but I am indeed working here this summer doing research in the cardiology department. Xiao and I arrive at the hospital, IsMeTT (I like this acronym, for some reason I always think of the word "kismet" :)) everyday at 8am to listen to the grand rounds- basically when 2-3 doctors/nurses review EVERY SINGLE case in the hospital (60-70 patients total, it's a small hospital) briefly. They speak in heavily accented English, which I appreciate but also have to concentrate to understand. I'm not sure how much I get out of this, but alas it's only 30 minutes out of the day and I get to see all the doctors that work in the hospital (around 20-30). Dr. Scotti, the head of medical education and the guy who started a big branch in the hospital introduced us to all the staff on Wednesday. I think the two of us stand out well, we're probably known as the 2 asian girls that are working in cardiology. haha.

ismett- the hospital doesn't exactly look as big as this, but it's super modern.

After grand rounds we'll often putter around the tiny cardiology office (adjacent to the huge informal cardiology OR-type room). Xiao and I change into these forrest green scrubs and red crocs that get cleaned everyday, in short we look like Christmas elves.
We dont' have our own desks or even our own chairs, so this is a bit different from my research experiences before. We've been very frustrated at the slow pace of our introduction here... we're still not sure what research and work we'll be doing day to day but have been able to observe a multitude of internventional cardiac procedures. Our mentor, Dr. Baglini is wonderful, caring, and truly wants this experience to be awesome for us- but his pace of work and thought (i'm not sure if he's had research students before) is slow, or rather Sicilian paced. He speaks wonderful English which I'm grateful for. Most of the cardiology staff are super nice and speak very little Italian. Between gestures and our limited vocabularies we get our points across and learn a bit of cardiology along the way! We've srubbed in and seen many cardioangiographies and stent implantations (all of which go through the femoral artery) and reviewed a lot of anatomy in our downtime. It's interesting that interventional cardiology uses a lot of xray to visualize what's going on, and we have to wear very heavy aprons to protect ourselves.

We hope to be able to shadow a heart/lung/liver transplant (what IsMeTT is known for) during out time here!

We often eat in at lunch. The staff will order paninins or pasta and sometimes we bring our own food. We have scheduled Italian lessons with the Interpreters office at IsMeTT and begin our weekly classes on Tuesday, excellente! We've been assured that our research will pick up pass this upcoming week and that we'll soon delve into our projects and many additional projects. I hope this is the case, as of now, Xiao and I are dying of boredom. Well rather it's a good test of our patience, because I think we're used to being busy/stressed 24/7.

Festa della Repubblica

2009-06-06T12:40:00.004-04:00

Our second day of "work" was actually an Italian holiday! Considering we ended work at 2pm our first day and we get our second day off...life seems pretty wonderful so far. The holiday today is called "Festa della Repubblica", this day commemorates the institutional referendum held by universal suffrage in 1946, in which the Italian people were called to the polls to decide on the form of goverment, following WW2 and the fall of Fascism. There were 12,717,923 votes for a republic and 10,719,284 for the monarchy. I guess it's similar to their 4th of July perhaps? In anycase, Xiao and I took advantage of this day off to do a walking tour of the city. We wandered south to the "Old City" on a hot and windy day.

The interior of the "cattedrale". Not sure what this cathedral is called, but it's beautiful!

Me in front of the cathedral! Which is conveniently located right nearby the adminstrative offices of IsMeTT.

We are literally 2 blocks away from the port. Tons of cruise ships here, perhaps I could stow away? I kinda wish we had a beach within walking distance though.

We live near a lot of piazzas- which I think translate into plazas with lots of old relics and buildings. This is Piazza Settimo. We ended up wandering very far south til we hit Piazza Parlmento (Parliament building?) and then we got some delicious gelato as a reward for walking for about 2 hours. Then we walked back home and made dinner!
Xiao and I made a delicious culinary creation- Pizze de Xiao e Jessica? haha. We bought this huge round loaf of bread for less than 2 euros and put tomatoes and zucchine on it. Deliciousso!A nice Palermo street view. Gorgeous mountains in the background!

Our Italian apartment :)

2009-06-03T17:10:00.004-04:00

This blog is dedicated to our new home (I'm living with 2 other pitt med students- Xiao and Dan) that we have in the heart of the "shadyside" of Palermo! Our wonderful mentor at Pitt was able to arrange housing for us at a pretty decent price. When we arrived, 2 IsMeTT guys picked us up and dropped us off right in front of our apartment. It's quite a quaint street with brightly colored facades (we live on the 3rd floor)!
We arrived to meet Signora Genuardi, our loud (and very big), non-english speaking landlady who promptly showed me how to work all the AC, the utilities, and how to boil water (I'm not kidding, although this turned out to be an issue later). We have a washing machine, an oven, and lots of other little things I really appreciate! Subletting is pretty sweet (or dolce as they say here :)).

Our little kitchen and the balcony outside looks onto a courtyard.

The living room/aka dan's room. Xiao and I share a bedroom further back that also has a little balcony!

I mentioned in my previous post that Palermo is currently dealing with a trash worker strike- there are piles like this all over the city- not a very pleasant introduction to Palermo... but they've started to clean up! The city is a mix of old and new, many of the main streets have very high end shops but all of sudden you'll walk into an ancient piazza with ancient looking buildings! Vespas and tiny cars are the main mode of transport. There are city buses as well that are clean and well labeled- it reminds me a bit of the 'burgh!
Xiao and I spent the first day (after a very brief introduction to work at the hospital and eating a very leisurely lunch with our mentor) perusing all the food vendors. We saw a "zucchine" for 1 euro and decided we definitely had to buy it. It's super long and we made good use of it for a meal!
Xiao and I and our first homemade dinner! Homemade pasta, homemade tomato (pomodoro) sauce and roasted eggplant. And of course red wine. This summer is looking pretty good right now!

Arrivederci America, Salve Italy!

2009-05-31T19:00:00.008-04:00

The end of my first year of med school was a whirlwind- I enjoyed our end of the year medical school party, packed up all my belongings in one night and stowed it painfully into the basement of my apartment building at Pitt. I jetted back to Boston and was whisked almost immediately away to my sister's graduation at Yale. Talk about pomp and circumstance, there were 3 days of festivities to send the graduates off... and yes I begrudgingly went to all of them (jk, mei). I have to say my favorite part of the weekend was their "Class Day" (day before graduation) where all the seniors wear crazy hats (betsy wore bunny ears) instead of their graduation caps and they have a yale alum as a speaker (clever guy, but i fell asleep nonetheless). It was pretty chilly weather and I wore two jackets most of the time, but the sun finally showed up on Class Day!

Family at commencement ball, congrats mei!

The rest of the week I wrapped up by seeing old highschool, college, and med school friends. An album of end of the year pictures!

So Boston had pretty freezing weather, miserable for May!, most of the time I was back, and in many many ways I was in need of a change of pace and some warm Italian sunshine. On Saturday I packed my bags and my parents drove me to Logan- off to Italy I went!

This summer I'll be doing cardiac stent research at a UPMC hospital in Palermo, Sicily. A few Pitt Med students go every year, though this year was definitely a struggle with funding. Thanks to numerous sources I was finally able to scrape up the moola to go! I'll be living in the green region above, and at Point A below for the next two months. I'll commute to Point B (via taxi or bus everyday) which is IsMeTT hospital (Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Highly Specialized Therapies). Note how close I am to the ocean! (bwahaha, although I will note that we are at a port with tons of cruise ships, and not a beach).

The beautiful city of Palermo- I was particularly struck by the proximity of mountains to the shore. You can see them off to the distance all around the city.
When we arrived in the area of our apartment we were informed by our friendly driver that Palermo is currently undergoing a rubbish strike. Unfortunately, that means that trash has not been picked up for awhile = unpleasant stench everywhere. There's overflowing rubbish on all the curbsides... I only hope that the city resolves this fast!
Otherwise, the drive in was wonderful- the ocean is a cerulean blue, our apartment is beautiful- clean and outfitted with kitchen supplies including home-made pasta sauce by our landlady, and Xiao and I enjoyed pizza/pannini and gelato our first night in. Buona Notte Italy!

French Fry Pizza (made me recall a certain Pittsburgh style of sandwich... ;)) and panini and the local pizza shop!

Reflecting back on MS1

2009-05-28T23:55:00.007-04:00

I know the posts have been sparse this semester, but I will say that coursework definitely picked up (and became more interesting, amen!) and that extracurriculars consumed anything left of my spare time, well that and spending time with friends. :) <- they really do make the world go 'round!

As I look back on this year, I'm so happy I came to Pitt and medical school. I've met some of my best friends ever here (to add to all my wonderful friends that have stuck with me from high school and college) and I've also learned so much. Though some days are long and coffee makes me irritable, I'm always invigorated after a patient interview and exam and monotonous days of studying don't get me down anymore. A lot of my classmates have experienced doubt over their decision to come to medical school- the hours, the memorization, the little importance you feel as a first year- yet I haven't doubted my decision to be at medical school at all. It was just meant to be.
I've never felt more at home among my classmates, the more I get to know everyone, the more I'm so happy and privileged to be in the same class as them all. As diverse as medical school student bodies are (there are 150 or so of us after all!), I still think we all are intuitively a little bit similar in one way or another, and I can sense that I'll be true friends with a majority of my class before the end of the next year. When I first arrived in Pittsburgh, after that 12 hour drive of misery from Boston, I was in a horrible mood and could not have been more turned off by the cloudy and suffocatingly hot city that laid before me. However, through the seasons, the exams, the party weekends, I've explored the city a good amount (more than I've explored Boston!) and I've fallen in love with it unexpectedly. My top five favorite places in Pittsburgh are:

Favorite Zen Study Spot: The bamboo garden at the Carnegie Public Library (Oakland), when the weather's warm and the bamboo's swaying in the wind, it's like going on a vacation :D
Favorite Hipster Study Spot: The second floor at Kiva Han, my home away from home with occasionally "ok" music selections, thought-provoking angry hipster quotes in the women's room, and delectable carrot creme muffins
Favorite Brunch Place: Zenith in Southside, this antique shop turned vegan brunch extravaganza is like you just landed in Alice in Wonderland... with at least 10 vegan cakes to choose from.

4. Favorite museum/gallery: A tie between Phipps (their gorgeous spring flowers) and the installations at The Mattress Factory.
5. Favorite place to soak up the sun and chill: Schenley Plaza, on the lawn if you're in need of some sun, and under the tent if you need some shade hehe.
6. one extra one! Favorite Bar/Neighborhood Grill: Harris Grill, though you didn't sponsor our date auction, we still visit you at least once a month, we love you harris.

Goodbye MS1, and MS2 I'm not quite ready for you yet.

circle of life, cliche i know.

2009-05-06T01:00:00.004-04:00

restarting the blog a bit-

this past weekend was a wonderful one- everyday was sunny and in the 70s-80s. College kids all over Pittsburgh just enjoying the sun :). On Friday I went to go talk to local high school kids at a Career Day, attended our remembrance ceremony for the families of all the people who donated their bodies for our anatomy studies, and then attended a baby shower I helped organize for the PALS program (Pregnant Adolescents Learning with Students) that I'm now one of the coordinators for. Talk about really feeling the extremes of both joy and sorrow in one day!

the interior of heinz chapel, all the med students sat at the back, the families were at the front

Heinz chapel on a sunny day

I felt our class did a spectacular job with making the remembrance ceremony something really special and touching for all those who attended (all the families of the 75+ donors were invited), it was held in the gorgeous (non-denominational ?) Heinz church right near our school. Many of my classmates attended and a core group of them organized all the details of the ceremony which had poem readings, singing, and music. The cello, violin, and piano piece was so lovely, I'll never forget it. It's been awhile since I sat in a place of worship, but I liked the feeling. Also- I can't imagine a more worth cause to donate your body too (besides organ donation), but I'd like to donate my body-not sure how that process works though.

PALS coordinators 2009-2010 :)

The PALS baby shower went off without a hitch and I was able to see my PAL with her 4 month old beautiful baby boy! PALS is a program where you mentor adolescent mothers and go to all their third trimester appointments with them/attend the birth(!)- I was so fortunate to have a PAL that allowed me to share such an intimate experience with her and let me be her friend. It was basically a super exhausting Friday, but I was beaming by the end- from the culmination of experiences.

2009-04-22T22:26:00.001-04:00

this semester has been pretty mentally, socially, and emotionally exhausting (well not as dramatic as other people's lives I'm sure). I like my life pretty consistent and positive.
Need to take some deep breaths and resume happiness mode!

Food blogs I lust after.

2009-02-08T23:24:00.004-05:00

So.. I have this obsession with food blogs. I kinda just love looking at pretty pictures of other people's culinary creations (yes, even (especially) if they involve meat). Angi and I bond over this and I've shared some of my favorite blogs with her, but it's time I shared them... with the world wide web. And yes, I do have a test in two days... but I just studied the whole day and finished a PBL presentation- thus you get this post.

A lot of these have/will win blogging awards, but they are also my personal favorites:

1. MY FAVORITE FAVORITEEEE- ThePioneerWoman.com - her life story is like a fairytale and she blogs about delicious food, her amazing photography, what it's like to go from an LA hipster to being a cattle ranchers wife... I absolutely love it. You can spend hours on this site and her sense of humor is sooo mine.
2. CUTE BLOG NAME!!- SmittenKitchen - again, fun recipes, beautiful photography that makes me want to lick my computer screen, but it's initials are SK! (which = squirrel killer.. or Sigma Kappa, both parts of my life :)).
3. VEGAN FRIENDLY!! - VeganYumYum - i love this name too. And its totally vegan food! Only downfall is relatively infrequent posts and sometimes its food I just wouldn't want to make/really enjoy eating.
4. FOR THE ASIAN IN YOU: Adventures in Bentomaking - this lady is so creative with her food, I can't imagine how much time it takes. But she manages to make rice boxes more appealing than I've ever seen.

BAKED GOODS:
5. DELISH- Bakerella - again gorgeous photography, cute website, very girly, love it.
6. FANCY - Tartelette - a bit too fancy for things I would undertake in the kitchen, but I still like looking at what she makes.

So go and procrastinate! Have I made any recipes from these sites? No.. not really, but they inspire me regardless. I also like watching foodnetwork.com (they have whole episodes now!) and Mark Bittman on nytimes.com.

Oh wait! I did make a recipe from online. Here are my pumpkin cupcakes with dark chocolate frosting from this nytimes recipe. I made the cake, and I made these with the leftovers for Thanksgiving potluck. Do you like my artsy food blogging photography? Eh, me neither.

Also, to keep you all tech-y, keep track of your favorite blogs using Google Reader (like an RSS feed, you can even follow my blog this way!) and I pull my favorite recipes straight from the web using the highlighting and post-it note application- Webnotes.

Happy reading!

The secret lives of .. eggplants

2009-01-29T01:37:00.008-05:00

This is my mommy's recipe- I think it's meant to imitate "Yu-Hsiang Eggplant" (which translates into fishy smelling eggplant...weird.
Anyways, this version is completely vegan/vegetarian friendly, and tastes delicious or so I'm told. Anyways, this is it's long awaited recipe release.. drumroll!!!

Meipo's Chinese Eggplant
Pre chop these ingredients:

3-4 Japanese eggplant ( I used 4 in this retelling, but you can also use 1 large "white people's" eggplant, heheh, but it's inferior, shhh) Look at below pictures at how I cut my eggplant, it's hard to describe, but it's really helpful in making sure your eggplant cooks through. Also feel free to alter this recipe for less eggplants- everything should be proportional.
1 red bell pepper, diced (optional)
3-4 scallions, diced (optional, for color)
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced/diced (not optional!!!, i love garlic, it makes this dish)

This is how you cook those veggies:
Put this into the pan in order:

1/3 C veggie oil (so I cheat and use random measuring cups, this may be accurate only to dry goods... but trust your intuition, this dish calls for quite a lot of oil- if the eggplant looks thirsty, it's calling out for oil, I added maybe 1/6 C extra adding it during the entire cooking process)
toss in garlic, let it really simmer and release all its garlicy goodness
add the veggies
1/6 C soy sauce (to taste, but remember it's this and the oil that's hydrating your thirsty eggplant, so let it drink up! Sometimes, I feel health concious and substitute some water in for either one, so feel free to do that too)
3/8 C sugar (ok, so I usually add 1/4 C and then add more to taste)
1 tsp of salt (to taste)
all this just sits and gets tossed together for 20-30 minutes of HIGH HEAT stirfrying!!!

NOW TIME FOR SOME AWESOME PHOTODOCUMENTATION!!!, are you excited? this is my first time food blogging- get ready!

The veggies- bell pepper/scallion/garlic/japanese eggplant. Note the diagnoal tapered cuts of eggplant. I kinda cut them spiraling out from the eggplant so that the tip of the eggplant remaining is a sharp tip until I use the whole egg plant up. If this is confusing, I will teach you in person. maybe.
You poured in that yummy yummy oil (yes it will look like a lot), and once that oil heats up, toss in your copious heaps of garlic.

We have this phrase in chinese called "bao xiang". It means to let your garlic burst in the oil until you smell the flavor. This is how it should look like. And it should smell heavenly.

I tossed in the red bell pepper and scallion. Not necessary, but doesn't it look so pretty? :)
btw- giant eagle will rip you off for bell pepper ( I once spent $5 on ONE)- i got these at lotus market (less than $1.00 total), sooo cheap!

Eggplant suicide for delicious cause

You must be thinking what I'm thinking. the eggplant still looks kinda parched even though its bathing in a nice coat of veggie oil. So you'll add the soy sauce, sugar, salt now.ACTION SHOT!!

I basically let it sit in high heat, stirring it around every 2-3 minutes or so, until the eggplant is super soft. (20-30 mins). Here's how it should look. You can def add more of oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt at this point- everyone's taste is different.
The eggplant should look like this up close (MACRO!!), the membranes are totally mushy and soft, delish. If your eggplant doesn't look like this? Your eggplant is probably still thirsty, it wants more oil (also gets the heat nice and high to soften the egg plant), feed it!
Another macro shot. Don't be afraid, when you serve this a layer of oil will kinda settle to the bottom. But it will be so delicious no one will care.

Enjoy!

love, JKL

i can do it your way.. but dont' get crazayyy

2009-01-29T01:20:00.003-05:00

Getting back to med school was strangely comforting. You always have a lot of work to do, or something to take care of, and if you go to school you're surrounded by interesting people and friends. A more grown up version of college I guess? Any ways I was happy to be back. The first 2 weeks back, everyone I possibly knew had birthdays- apparantly capricorns are very type A and med school-y but I just know of them as some of the most caring and supportive peopel I know :).

See photos of our social outings here. In 1.5 weeks I studied for Fuel Metabolism like nuts, raised almost $1000 for diabetes research through a date auction Natalie and I threw with APAMSA- mommy and daddy, i swear i studied during this time!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2074103&l=5817e&id=702648

Some highlights:

We rode in a limo for Erica/Niyathi/Vig's bday! That's what you can get for $10 a night in pitt, not bad not bad.

Packed room for our date auction! :) Thanks to all who came and supported the cause!

visited my dearest betsy pie at Yale for the long weekend before the inaguaration. I had such a blast meeting her friends and enjoying my first real relaxing post test weekend. Love you mei. More pictures to come.

Bringing in Lunar New Year with most of the MS1 asians. I had food I almsot died over, it was so good. thanks to meme and yinjie for being wonderful wonderful chefs. We also rolled dumplings afterwards, I feel like we're becoming our parents and i love it.

Happy year of the ox! (shout out to mommyyyy).

attack of the snowbots.. into 2009

2009-01-29T00:56:00.006-05:00

We had a flurry of finals starting from dec 12 or something like that. We all basically lived at the neighborhood coffee shop, Coffee Tree Roasters. Mirat and I started bringing dinner and eating it in front of their big fireplace, we're THAT cozy there. Sometimes we even take off our shoes, but don't judge us. Anyways, the weeks went by in a blur- first genetics, then ethics, then Intro to Physical exam, then Biostats- lots of finals WHEW.

Ok, I'm kinda weird. But I organized everything the night before my flight back home for Christmas- and here's my whole first semester of med school on a shelf! It's kinda of crazy and painful to think that I once knew every single page in these syllabi/books/notebooks (they're dense!. I'm not kidding- that's what med school does to you, make you vomit out books whole- trust me it hurts.

We had a few fun days before the end of finals tho! Jess M. hosted a delicious holiday dinner at her place, we enjoyed the food and dessert while watching that holiday classic- Elf. Doesn't Amy look adorable in reindeer antlers? :) Mirat and I also had a secret santa exchange amongst some friends at our apartment, it was a good time, I got exactly what I wanted thanks to secretsanta.com (awesome online tool)- leopard print earmuffs!!!

secret santa girls :), dont' look under the stairs... mirat and I dont' clean that often :P.

Ok. my flight was delayed going home, I got to catch the semester end party which was fun, but then I had to get up in 2 hours to catch my 5:30am at CMU and flight outta pittsburgh- ouch.

Got back to good ole Chelmsford, my hometown.. of my whole life. It's cold in our house, so my clever mother decided.. NO MORE OF THIS LET"S GO TO MIAMIIIII!!!
And we obeyed, and we had a good time! We toured Little Havanna on Christmas Day, looked at the art deco strip, went to a few museums, a few fancy mansions (owned by the Deere family of John Deere tractors since like the 1800s!!), and a few botanical gardens, all that stuff asian families do!

Bets and I on Miami Beach, it was warm, we went in the water, which was cold, so we ran out and my mom took a lot of pictures.

Bets and I at a beatiful historical home of the Deere Family. We arrived back to frigid Boston on New Year's eve. I rung in 2009 shoveling our untended driveway, it was awesome. I spent my remaining time at home (med school started up again on jan 4) visiting childhood friends and making a trek into Boston to see the MIT kiddies. Met up with Csk, Ptar, and Yeem- went to Pho in Harvard square and then played the night away with our favorite game ANAGRAMS and telephone pictionary (if you dont' know how to play I will teach you!). Had a sleepover (not sketch!) and then had brunch together.
I really miss college.
but on to med school and 2009!

Living from one test to another

2008-11-12T23:42:00.004-05:00

We learned the equivalent page volume of 7 weeks of anatomy for our 3 week cell bio test, whew, what a brain drain! Thus, we all celebrated with a much deserved sushi buffet- so delicious and just hit the spot for my Asian food craving. We drove out 10 miles just for the occasion which involved running across highways and jogging across parking lots just to reach the destination! As a vegetarian, I was still happy with the selection and of course I was delighted with the red bean and green tea icecream for dessert. We were all in good moods, and not quite ready to start our second cell path segment just yet...

Large group made it out!
Yeah, I was in heaven :).

Our class is really social, so we also visited 3 different election night gatherins, all which were very fun. The excitement that night was contagious!
I wore blue and red for the occasion.

undergrads begin rioting, med students join in!

After a week of Indian summer weather and intense studying indoors (boo), we emerged to enjoy the weekend only to find it had turned.. freezing! Nevertheless we hit up Pittsburgh Neighborhood Narratives, a film of short films of different areas of Pittsburgh (Think "Paris, Je t'aime, and go culture yourself if you haven't seen that). The last screening (we just made it!) was held at a bar called FireHouse in the Strip District (where one of the short films was centered around).

We enjoyed free gourmet popcorn, yum

Many of the short film makers made it there and talked about their work! it was a great show

And into November ...

2008-11-12T00:52:00.004-05:00

The thing about med school is that tests often fall on Mondays and you start a new section on Tuesday- so you can always be learning.. and burnt out. This also leads to somewhat lame weekends before exams, but I never let that common perception stop me from doing new, fun things.

So the Friday before our 1st cell and path test was Halloween. Mirat and I played it pretty chill, but our friends got us to go out for a late night bite to eat in Oakland. We arrived, dressed up, and were the only ones who had done so.. and thus were ridiculed. Some great costumes were around that night- several Michael Phelps, Sarah Palins, and Joe the Plumbers :).

Mirat is a cat burgular...hehe

The crew goes to Fuel and Fuddle in Oakland to celebrate Halloween

Pitt Arts is amazing, and I got tix to see the ballet, Great Gatsby for $15, including a gourmet cupcake reception where we got to hear the artistic director of Pitt Ballet talk about the production. It was a really classy night, and the perfect study break. The ballet itself was very different, I wasn't a huge fan of all the 1920s music they used, but it was "interesting" and entertained me.

The performance hallGirls night out to the ballet!

Spooky October

2008-11-01T17:57:00.008-04:00

The weekend after our anatomy final we drove off to nearby Philly (5 hours, I forget how long this state is) to the national APAMSA (Asian Medical Students Association) conference. Pitt paid for the whole thing! It was a great weekend of learning how medical issues take into account ethnicity and networking with students from all over the country! I was really pleased to see quite a few recent MIT alums at the conference, it really is a small world! We took the last day off to explore Philly, I love all the historical monuments and houses the city has. We visited Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross' house, and old city. Of course, no Asian medical conference weekend would be complete with out a last meal in Chinatown!

The APAMSA delegation from Pitt with our faculty adviser, Dr. Lee

Girls in front of the Liberty Bell

Cell Bio is our new block and we are now learning a lot of old stuff (cell cycle, growth factors) mixed with new. In particular, we learn pathology, and are able to identify lots of different cell types from slides. It's a lot of brute memorization, which makes it hard to study for long hours, but they do try to put many clinical references and cases in our course work.

The weekend after APAMSA, I had a booked schedule! I participated in my first ever flag football game (I went to 2 practices where I looked like a fool doing drills around the field and trying to catch a football), but when the big day came for us to play against the MS2 girls, I was pumped! Our team did great, we ended up losing (only by a bit), and so much of our class came out to cheer. Despite the rain, it was a great time :D.

Team spirit, like our shirts? (photo by Josh Levenson)

After the game I carved pumpkins with the elderly, to give the geriatrics field a try. It was a fun event, but definitely difficult to see how some elderly no longer could talk to or understand me.

Our beautiful pumpkins!

Still pumped from the APAMSA conference, we held out annual Diwali event for Pitt Med. We had such great MS1 attendance and everyone enjoyed the performances, dancing and food. Natalie and I had helped organize performances for this and it was rewarding to see so many people at the event.

Aren't we a good looking bunch? APAMSA board at Diwali
Diwali- festival of lights!

Continuing on with my booked Satudray- I ran over to the med school dorms to visit my dear friend Amy. She's like a mom to all of us and had a caramel making event. The caramel apples were DELICIOUS, we dunked em in crushed walnuts and M and Ms. Thank you Amy!

YUMMO

I love this New England type stuff!

No more Anatomy :(

2008-10-18T01:45:00.001-04:00

We were given 3 hours for the anatomy final (130 mult choice questions) but I decided I had done my best and turned my test in about an hour early. Having Honors/Pass/Fail is a decent system, since you know that you will be in some great company if you Pass, and Honors (top 25 kids/150 kids in the class) sometimes just isn't worth beating yourself up over. I'll really miss anatomy- my lab group was the best, our teacher was so great and encouraging.

I destressed by working out at the student gym, walked over to the public Carnegie library and read for a bit. Then Amy hosted a wonderful post-test wine and cheese party- it was so nice to see everyone without the stress load we've had for the past few weeks!

Destressing :)

Delicious

That night we celebrated some long awaited birthdays (everything gets put off til after the big test), everyone was so merry!

Oh yeah.. and continuing on the weird artsy stuff we do here: this weekend we saw an opera about aliens in the middle of a park. It was rock music with psychedelic singing, and at some point we all chanted "tilt the dish" at the sky. It was called SQUONK OPERA ASTRO-RAMA, and if I may so say, that's one of the best names for a performance I've ever heard. It's part of Pittsburgh's Festival of lights and at the end they lit up the Cathedral of Learning (it'll stay lit every night into November with different designs!)

SQUONK!!

nicely lit cathedral of learning

Gearing up for the Anatomy Final

2008-10-15T17:37:00.008-04:00

Let's describe the weekend before our Monday Anatomy Final (cumulative 7 weeks).
We studied like crazy.. and then studied like insane people.. and then studied like we were zombies... it was a bit brutal. Our syllabus was 400 pages long or so, I knew every page (almost like the back of my hand)- and everyone else knew the material just as well too! I guess it's like memorizing Harry Potter #4...but I'd do that for fun anyways, haha.

We carefully planned to review for the final as the big day approached, so my friends and I could still attend some events we've been looking forward to for awhile. Pittsburgh always has a lot of cool artsy performances (at great student prices) and they dont' always fall on convenient days. But hey, we're flexible and the Friday before the written test (we just had our last anatomy practical on legs and arms (quite tough, since they flipped the limbs into confusing orientations)), Mirat and I took a break to watch a really neat ballet.

Here's the premise to the ballet: It's called Radio and Juliet and it's the epic love story done BACKWARDS to the music of RADIOHEAD. I had no idea what to expect but Mirat (who always encourages me to do interesting artsy things) and I bravely ventured downtown (yay, free bus transportation for Pitt students). I was completely enthralled and amazed by the performance which was at times really weird, but so incredibly beautiful nonetheless. It's the best dance performance I've seen in my life and I left it all giddy and happy. And now I'm kinda a radio head fan!
Watch my favorite scene of the ballet HERE.
This part was super cool, too, they all wear surgeon's masks but it's meant to be the Masquerade scene in romeo and juliet- the ending is the best, the guys were such amazing dancers :). WATCH!

Radio and Juliet :)

The next day we camped out at Keva Han and did some intense studying. But just across the street was student night at the local Carnegie Art Museum, so we took a break at 6pm to eat free catered food and enjoyed the art- the exhibition was called "Life on Mars". I didn't really get it... but sometimes art is lost on me...

Carnegie Museum, really pretty place!

Neato exhibit with ribbons that had people's wishes on them. You can take one, tie it aorund your wrist, and when it falls off the wish comes true. You can also leave your wishes and they may make them into ribbons for a later exhibit. I took the wish "Je voudrais retrouver l'amour".

Happy 250th Bday Pittsburgh!

2008-10-04T23:26:00.004-04:00

Weekend of 10/3/2008 and maybe a combination of a few weekends before it... (losing track)

It was a pretty rough week of Anatomy- we've started concentrating on the extremities which have a ridiculous amount of muscles ( you need to know exactly which muscles contribute to what movement, much more complicated than I ever thought) and dissection goes pretty slow since the muscles, nerves, and arteries are a bit more foreign to us and difficult to find.

But we decided to celebrate our hardwork by enjoying a much deserved weekend:
We revived our Harris Grill Happy hour tradition and had our delicious favorite Frozen Cosmos- only $3!

Our favorite hang out place in Shadyside, we love sitting on Harris' patio!
Frozen Cosmo to the left and some classic perogies!

Since it was the first friday of the month we also enjoyed our tour of the local galleries along Ellsworth St., a tradition since we love visiting our friend's boyfriend's gallery where he works and displays his art. These First Fridays are really fun, with people just mingling in galleries and enjoying wine and yummy appetizers. I particularly loved the glass gallery- they had a whole showing of artistic/wild/creative glass teapots. Anything you imagine a teapot could possibly be.. they had it!

We then made our way over to a classmate's apartment for a preparty (best thing about Shadyside is that a lot of medschool students live here!) and then we all went as a big group down to the Southside where we danced the night away at our favorite club...Diesel :). Diesel is really non sketchy and plays great music!

We hunkered down for some studying at a groovy cafe we love on Craig St. It's called Keva Han and we can wittle away 8-12 hours there with hardcore studying!

Keva Han..it's that groovy... we're studying muscles

Some time in the midst of studying, we decided to take a study break to the IHOP 10 miles away... (we get odd cravings sometimes due to extreme use of brain power, hehe), and so a group of us drove and I nearly died of happiness eating my blueberry/sweet cream cheese crepe with hash browns and scrambled eggs. I still dream of this sometimes.

We rushed back to Pittsburgh just in time to witness it's 250th Birthday fireworks! Fireworks were launched from 17 locations on Pitt's 3 rivers. They were hard to see since we didnt' stake out a spot on the bridge, but nevertheless the atmosphere was very merry as we sat atop the hill in Schenley park with hundreds of other watchers.

Wished we had this view, but it's spectacular non the less-! WATCH a video HERE

READ about the special event HERE

Who says med students can't have fun? Fun and productive weekend all around!

post test destress...and it starts all over again!

2008-09-19T16:21:00.007-04:00

We had our first anatomy test this Monday, which everyone studied feverishly for over the weekend. It's odd that though we only get honors/pass/fail and that our class is not ranked at all, people still really study obsessively. I think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain and studying endurance, but in medical school I think people put out a whole new standard. I have just enough time to review the material on my own, and people are already making study sheets/diagrams etc and sending them out to the whole class! They're really helpful, but it's like " how do you have time to do all of that?!?". Reality check: Jessica is not as uber hardcore as she thought she was.

It's been a year since I've even taken a real test (BE senior year was full of labs/long answer tests) and I think it's been at least a few years since I've taken a scantron! (evil MCAT Summer 2006). I studied by going over our syllabus (over 100 pages of packed material for this exam), going over all the new terms I've learned (probably over 300 new medical/anatomical terms), going into lab twice during the weekend (to look at body structures on all the different bodies), and doing practice problems released by Pitt, UMich, and even taking some practice BRS (Boards) tests. I felt pretty good the night of the test- though Hurricane Ike hit Shadyside and we lost power for an hour (Mirat and I freaked out (along with the rest of our med school neighbors) because we hadn't quite finished up studying, but our medical resident neighbors were awesome and gave us a huge candle). We felt like we were studying back in the colonial times, it was like Little House on the Prairie. Don't make fun of us.

What it really looked like- studying lymphatics by candlelight.

Mirat tudying at the table with my camera's flash on :).

Monday morning half our class took the written test (50 multiple choice questions, 70 minutes) and half our class took the practical (ID'ing tagged and pinned structures in the anatomy lab, 50 stations, 25 rest stations , 75 minutes total- more on this later). Then we switched. Man, the written test was intense, and multiple choice was never my strong suit, I ended up doing not so hot on the written, but not terrible either- the 70 minutes flew by. Then we went into the lab for our practical:

I'm going to detail the anatomy lab practical because I think it's a strange and fun experience, unlike any academic test you will ever take. Can you tell I love rambling? :)
So the Friday before our test, our wonderful anatomy T.A.s set up a mock practical for us- at 7:30pm at night. It was wonderfully spooky and almost ritual as all 150 of us were led into the empty building, and barked orders at in the lecture hall. This is how the test works - There are several stations, 1 person to a station, you get 1 minute to ID everything that is asked at that station, then the bell rings and EVERYONE shifts to the next station- this continues until you hit all the stations. You can not touch the body/organ/structure, you can only look, absolute silence, and you write down your answer on your clipboard and must move promptly from your station to the next when the bell rings. You are responsible for knowing/recognizing every single structure mentioned in the dissection book in our section (about 300 terms), this includes odd bones, fascias, muscles, organs, arteries, veins, nerves. Some structures always appear on the exam some others are totally random. Our class shuffled into the eerie anatomy lab, picked stations to start at and then silence started and nervousness consumed us all... the first few minutes made me really nervous, it's silent, everyone's craning their next to look around the structure, I'd panic like crazy trying to orient myself to where I was looking at in the cadaver and then had to narrow down all the possible things the little red string could possibly be tied to. Most of the time I had a good idea, some of the time I had to guess. Things on some bodies look completely different to things on some other bodies, due to either drying of tissues, biological difference, or gender differences. I thing anatomy lab is a great way to learn the body, so I think I generally do well at this portion of the test- indeed on the actual test this was my strong suit :).

we're not allowed to take pictures in anatomy lab (respect for cadavers) but it's something like this old photograph...btw my anatomy team of 6 is super awesome!

Whew, needless to say we were all ridiculously relieved when we finished the two portions of the test, many of us went out to celebrate that night and everyone was in such a great mood. Unfortunately the next morning we dove straight back into the next section- head and neck-even more complicated with more material than our first section.
Med school has no homework, but it's constant studying, and hard tests - bring back some MIT psets for me and I think I'll be a little more sane...or not...

The weekend looks fun from here- vegan potluck, saturday rooftop party, sunday dinner with my advising group, and studying all in between. I'll update again soon!

musings of med school

2008-08-27T00:21:00.003-04:00

it's 2 weeks in and we just began anatomy and real class.

they said at MIT that education was taking a drink from a fire hose, med school is like taking a drink from a REALLY BIG FIRE HOSE.

we have class at 8am every day, end around 5. since this is the beginning of school, everyone shows up, more or less on time. We had 4 hours of lecture, 4 hours of lab- WHEW, and if you fall asleep for 5 secs (not that I do or anything...) you almost always miss something important. Pitt med does a great job- they have stripped anatomy down the the absolute essentials, but it's still a heck of a lot of material. Today was our first day dissecting our cadaver (we named her Edna), an alien experience at first, 150 students with lots of protective gear and gloves with our cadavers in white body bags on metal bed stands. Our group is lucky because we are under a huge air vent meant to remove the slightly harmful formaldehyde quickly from the room air. The entire room is COLD, like we are in a huge fridge- meant to keep the bodies from decomposing too fast. We first met Edna yesterday- she died at age 83 of heart disease and the preservation process makes her look very different from a live body. She is very pale, stiff to the touch, and her skin (especially on the stomach) is hard, almost looking like a paperbag. Her face is covered for now, something we are all grateful for since we're squeamish as it is. Anatomy... is a discovery process with a little learning sprinkled in. Structure are hard to identify, most of the time is spent cleaning or cutting to get to what we are trying to find. Tiring but my dissection group is a great team :).

I feel now that my profession is truly being a student. To even prepare for class I need to read A LOT of material every night- almost 2 hours of prep just to GO to school in the morning with some clue of what's going on. Review is really necessary (we learn almost 50+ new terms everyday) and fills whatever spare time I have. And I'm not even that anal of a student...yet. There are many kids in my class that buckle down right after our 9 hour day and study in our library for hours. I've never seen so many people so driven to learn, an interesting environment for different personalities.

I'm really happy to be surrounded by people who care about the same things I do. We took personality tests- Myers Briggs- before we came to school. 23% of the class are the same classification as me. 17% of the class is vegetarian or vegan. Everywhere I turn I find people who I can really connect with and who I really admire. Naturally, med school draws a lot of "type A" people- and it's really amusing to me that you can have a dinner party and people arrive EARLY. People help you clean up without you asking and are super considerate and willing to colloborate. Of course, there are exceptions, but I'm confident I've found an environment I'll be happy with for a long while, if not my entire life.

Here's hoping that I feel that way after anatomy test 1...

the beginning of my dream career...

2008-08-27T00:19:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone!
I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the rest of summer or the start of a new academic year! I just wanted to send you a facebook link of my album so far of pictures I've taken at med school- it's not quite as good as a blog but I thought you'd all appreciate seeing my views of Pittsburgh, my new condo, and the new friends I have made here.

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2061893&l=81324&id=702648

We just finished up our first two weeks- first we had a week of orientation (filled with logistics and diversity training during the day, and fun social events at night), and then a week of "Introduction to Being a Physician" a light course where we got to hear panels of physicians talk and learn about a new disease each day and meet patients in our small group sessions to interview them. We got to wear our white coat almost everyday this past week, it was pretty nice to get a taste of what we have to look forward to the next four years.
The most recent highlight was today, when Mirat (my roommate) and I hosted a big dinner party for vegetarians/vegans/and our allies. Our medical school class is actually 17% non meat eating, which is really neat- so about 25 or so of our classmates came and we had a really wonderful potluck. :) Tomorrow our class goes white-water rafting, something I'm really excited about! Monday we dig in and begin anatomy!

I would love to hear about what is going on in your lives, so please keep me updated!

Love, Jessica

Life in Chelmsford

2008-07-16T13:09:00.002-04:00

Some of you have been wondering what I've been up to since arriving back from Ecuador. 7/9.

Well, as is typical JLee, I sleep about 12 hours a day (awesome!) and wake up at noon consistently. I then play around with my laptop (yay HP) for a few hours while also doing chores and errands in my house. Lately that time has been apartment hunting in Pittsburgh, which is strangely both annoying and exciting (i've never really looked for a place on my own before!). I'll be rooming with Mirat Shah another MIT student going to Pitt Med this year. As for the other waitlists, though things had previously looked "optimistic", apparently all waitlists have been "spookily" stable this year and no one has been really taken off. So I'm getting psyched for Pitt and learning a lot more about the school and its programs.

The Pitt FB group has also been inviting to me to all these awesome orientation events including a boat cruise (pitt has 3 rivers), an artsy museum crawl (home of andy warhol), white water rafting!!!, an amusement park visit and more.

In the afternoon I usually read (Pitt sent me the book " complications" by Gawande, a book about imperfect medicine) or bake (I've made banana and zucchini bread, yum). I then take a run around my town in the late afternoon, but generally that is quickly exhausting due to heat.
Then my parents come home and I cook delicious asian food with my mom or go grocery shopping (my family is very food-centered). Evenings wrap up with some online chatting, magazine reading, or PBS watching.

Some days I'll go with my dad to work and spend the day at MIT having lunch with my friends that are still here and then lounging around Baker dorm. It's a pretty relaxing summer.
Today, I brought a big birthday cake to MIT and invited 20 friends to come celebrate with me tonight, it's a good excuse to bring everyone together :D.

Ecuadorian Food :) YUM

2008-07-03T22:41:00.004-04:00

Of course, trying new food has been a big part of this trip.

Christina and I absolutely love the fresh fruits and vegetables available here. They are so abundant in the summer! They make us pineapple, naranjilla (cross between orange and kiwi), guava, passionfruit, watermelon, tree tomato juices at our hostel and local restaurants. Salads are also very popular here and avocado is used heavily :).

Christina's favorite fruit- narajilla (no english name). Very delicious in juices.

However, local ecuadorians seem to prefer heavier, fried foods- alot of main courses involve rice, beans, heavy meats, french fries, fried plantains etc. It's pretty hearty and definitely fills you up. Thank goodness we hike around enough that I think the calories have not yet accumulated... famous last words.

Ecuadorian things we were told to try include-
empanadas:

Humitas - tamale-like , cornmeal with cheese in the middle Also interesting to note is that soups or sopas are popular and that ecuadoraisn like putting popcorn in their soups ! kinda like oyster crackers...

Oleeee!

2008-07-03T01:48:00.005-04:00

Today we met up with our third team mate who has been in Ecuador for a bit working on our same project. Her name is Jean and she's a sloanie! We had a super productive day of meeting with the local medical school and working out a scholarship for the indigenous students that may want to study medicine further. Later at night we were able to meet a shaman from the community who is pretty well educated.
We asked him questions for about 2 hours, his views on Western medicine melding with traditional shaman work were something we really wanted to know. He basically has complete faith in his healing capabilities and will only use Western medicine as a supplement to his knowledge. He told us tales of curing cancer, AIDs, and TB with his unique abilities. It is truly something that is almost unbelievable and we had to wonder how much it was luck, faith, or just belief that a sickness was cured. He was very curious about our own backgrounds (our team is all asian!) and how we have delt with melding asian medicinen with american techniques.

We interviewed with the shaman late into the night and caught a quick dinner only to be in the midst of a hugely important soccer game! We watched as Ecuador beat Brazil for the first time in history in the Copa Libertadores. Thousands of people were in the square we were eating in and Ecuadorians were jumping and screaming, singing, chanting during the whole game! I've never seen such excitement over soccer. We happily hung out with the rioters as they drunkenly cheered in the streets. Flags and shirts were waving everywhere, and by the end of the night I knew some chants. The celebrations lasted long into the night. :)

Publish Post The team!

Guayasamin and Quito Nightscapes

2008-07-02T01:26:00.008-04:00

Today Christina and I hiked up big hill (high altitude + out of shapeness = huffing and puffing) to see the two museums dedicated to the art of Ecuadorian, Guayasimin. I found his art very interesting, often grotesque, but all in all the experience was more visually powerful than a lot of American art I've seen.

Guayasamines has a lot of pictures involving his trademark hands.

This museums were very well organized, and I enjoyed my time at both of them.

After visiting the museums, we went to the museum cafe and had our first empanada! Mine was cheese filled and Christina had one with meat. The view every where from Quito is spectacular. I know I keep on saying how beautiful the montain and clouds are...but this is a picture of the view from the museum that was pretty breathtaking.

While eating empanadas we met Frank, a young guy volunteering in Guayiquil. Every traveler we meet here has some interseting life stories. Frank (though he looks hip and very californian frat guy) worked in a seminary for two years, currently volunteers in Ecuador with HIV/AIDs kids and families and wants to work in a faith related occupation for the rest of his life.

Thanks to his excellent recommendation, we had dinner with him at Ecuador's "top of the hub" which was open air. We could see all of "Old Town" sparkling in the valley as well as the lit old town buildings. I tried Ecuadorian specialties- a humita (think tamale filled with cheese), locra de papas (potatoe soup with cheese and avocado), morocho (warm mikly drink with corn and raisins, like rice pudding). It was a wonderful night and we were treated with a live latin band which we stayed to listen to.

Old town during the day- isn't quito gorgeous?

Old town at night, so beautiful. It gets chilly at night here so they turned on these heat lamps that looked dangerous...

Quichua Health Care Project!

2008-06-30T23:16:00.005-04:00

btw: for some fun pictures and different perspectives on Ecuador, you all should visit Chrisitna´s blog csk07.blogspot.com

So.. though I love telling you all about the details of traveling and sight-seeing, real reason Christina and I are in Quito is because we`re working on an HST (Harvard-MIT) health care project with the Amazonian indigenous people called Quichuas.
The Quichua lack basic health care and suffer greatly from a lack of first-aid knowledge. We worked with a business school student and ER doctor this past semester and through this summer to develop a comprehensive wound kit and telemedicine scheme to aid the Quichua people.

Our project goals changed a bit since the completion of our HST class. We were to bring a portable aid kit for wounds to the Quichua community and teach volunteers about wound care so that they could treat emergency cases in the large and difficult-to-traverse community. We also worked on a partnership with Wound Technology Network who will provide the community free telemedicine consultation- the idea is that a health care volunteer will take pictures of wounds they do not know how to handle, email it to WTN, and then get free physican feedback on how to treat it.

We were able to commute to the community center (40 min motorized canoe ride) every day with the help of our amazing native Quichua guides, Javier and Freddy. They grew up in the Amazon but through their studies learned english very well and have studied at university. They really wanted to give back to their community so they work for Sani Lodge. We were able to give our medical supplies to Blanca, the community health volunteer who really appreciated them. We also got great response for our telemedicine scheme and our native guides really want to make it happen. We spoke to village headmen and community members to learn more about their health care system, deficiencies in health education, and their response to our telemedicine and health education schemes. We collected a lot of data and presented many solutions to their problems.

We are now in Quito and are workign directly with the lodges' administrative offices to get support and funding for our project goals. We were able to give a donated camera to the community and hope to get the telemedicine rolling as internet becomes more available to the community. We're goign to visit a shaman and the Quito Medical school later this week. We hope to get donated medical books and possible scholarships for people in the community to become better trained in health care. So far, it's been a very positive experience- Sani Isla is a really enthusiastic and forward-thinking community that's been backing us the whole way. We hope the positive experinece continues until July 9!

More on the Amazon soon...

Into the Amazon... at Sani Lodge

2008-06-29T02:19:00.008-04:00

So last you heard from us we were debating a trip into the Amazon to carry out our wound care project... the next morning we were on a plane to the amazon region! It was pretty last minute due to lack of response from our sponsoring amazon lodge (Sani Lodge), but it worked out wonderfully.

During the flight (we quickly ascended into clouds due to Quito's high altitude) we were able to view some of the breath-taking mountains of the Andes- huge portions of the mountains were above the clouds! However, when we landed we were in the middle of Coca, a city built with oil money and at a pretty low elevation (it was much more humid and hot than Quito).

It's definitely got the makings of a ramshack rapidly growing town. It's a bit grungy and muddy. We were transported by lodge staff to a motorized river boat and traveled 2.5 hours on the large Napo River. It is rainy season in the Amazon and the river is very full and fast flowing. Half way there we lost a motor on the boat, we hit a floating trunk or something, and though it didn't affect our travels, the lodge staff were very upset over the loss (motors cost several tens of thousands).

We switched boats - to a small dugout canoe and entered a smaller river that weaved throught the jungle and within 25 minutes we were at a peaceful lagoon where our lodge was located. Sani Lodge has a very intersting history. It is a lodge owned entirely by the indigenous Indian (Sani Isla) population after they bartered with an oil company. The oil company wanted to just survey their land for oil and in exchange they had to build the lodge and other amenities for the community. Oil companies are the big bad wolf here as they cause much environmental harm but often many indigneous communities are lured by the money and allow the destruction of their environment. So it's really neat that something eco friendly and sustainable came about the deal, the lodge employs a great amount of the community members and all the profits go back to them.

Sani Lodge, and the pond/lagoon entering it.

To our surprise, we need a canoe to get to our campsite from the main lodge (where rich tourists stay in cabins). Since it's rainy season the dock to the campsite is completely submerged and the canoes have to just line up right with the submerged walkway. Sani Lodge took really good care of us and loaned us heavy duty ponchoes and galoshes, which are definetly in need as we're always sloshing through water, mud, and rain. Our campsite lodgings were really nice, we're in these huge palm covered tents with mini tents and matresses inside. The bathroom however is located about 30 seconds from the campsite and we often got lost going there with our weak flashlight.

The other tourists (there are about 6 of them) are really intersting and from diverse backgrounds. We met californians, canadians, british, and australians. Many were traveling alone and they ranged from mid 20's to a grandma! We talked a lot at every meal (they blow a horn to signal lunch and dinner). The meals at the lodge were fabulous and we were definitely spoiled. We had three courses at each meal and always got fresh juices and veggies. I got to try exotic things like a tomatoe fruit, yucca, and other meat-eaters tested staff-caught piranhas and a local pig-sized rodent, pacca. Meals are in this open air dining room thatched in traditoinal palms and at night we ate by candel light since electricyt is only used when necessary.

The weather was often super rainy, 5-6 downpours a day, but when it was cloudy or sunny we enjoyed the lush green scenery. Birds and wildlife were spotted by our guides at all times of the day and we'd be treated with glimpses of parrots and monkeys through their expert eyes and telescopes. Our first night there we met with the native Quichua guides (who speak great English) and organized our visits with the Sani Quichua community we wanted to work with for our wound care project.

Picture of the jungle.

Hola Ecuador!

2008-06-22T22:01:00.004-04:00

Arrived in Quito on Friday night via a long series of delays and flights!

Our hostal- Hostal Alcala is this beautiful yellow bed and breakfast in the heart of Quito. We really have enjoyed our stay there thus far. Jose the owner is very nice and puts up with all our questions. We get hot cocoa, tea, and coffee all the time and get served breakfast in the morning.
Breakfast is scrambled eggs, fruit, toast, and this gorgeous papaya juice (we've been too scared to try the juice so far). We get all this for $13 per person a night plus hot water, electricity, a private double with a private bath, and tv and wireless access :).

On Ecuadorian food- its mostly lots of juices, fresh fruits, and vegetables with meat main dishes and rice. Sadly, Christina and I are staying clear of any potential stomach troublers like fresh produce for this week.

Christina and I explored on Saturday 6/21 starting early in the morning. It was the day of the Solstice (longest day of the year!) and there were a few festivals and cultural events happening in Quito. We were directed to the "Mitad Del Mundo" or rather the "Middle of the World". Obviously, Ecuador is at the equator and after about a 1.5 hour tiring bus ride (christina and I had to stand the whole time) we made it to the equator line! It is centered in a park of artisans and restaurants so we spent a good few hours there. It also seems to rain every afternoon in Quito- not always very nice. It's supposedly winter here so water and cold = damp and shivering Jessica.
The scenery around Quito is gorgeous. It is a small/quaint city in the middle of a valley-surrounded by towering peaks and so highly elevated it almost touches the clouds. It really is beautiful as clouds blanket almost any peak in sight. Public transportation is great, we are able to purchase tokens for $0.25 and travel almost anywhere in the city -much more modernized than I expected! Also, we never even needed to exchange currency as they use the US dollar.
Safety has been a concern for us, because we here about a lot of theft and all the locals we meet tell us to guard our valuables, however we met this tall German guy, Nicco, our second night here and befriended him to join us on our adventure to the "Old City" today. This part of the city is very touristy and reminds me of Italy- its filled with many many old churches and museums. It also sits below a hill with a towering Virgin Mary made from stone on it (We took a taxi to the top and climbed the statue a few flights). So the three of us spent about 8 hours exploring that entire area. Each museum's fare is about $1 for students, makign it easy for us to hop from place to place. Streets are cobblestone, lots of squares for people to meander about, and there were some musical festivities while we were there. It is quite steep in some places of the road, so when it started pouring mid afternoon they turned into turbulent rivers (I can only imagine what a "rain" forest is like)! We hopped and jumped across the rushing water to find shelter in churches and museums. It was fun hanging out with Nicco and exploring a new section of the town were we saw many more tourists than our first day.

After the tiring day we returned to the hostel and went to a nearby pizza place :). christina and I spend our evenings safe in the hostel watching T.V. and chilling out. We have yet to have confirmation from the rain forest lodge about our stay there this coming week, so we're a bit on edge but doign our best to get the wound care project off the ground.

My spanish remains very bad, and Christina and Nicco are invaluable in their skills!
For now, buenos noches!

For my dear premed friends...

2008-05-27T18:36:00.008-04:00

With the new round of medical school applications starting I thought I'd share some words of advice to you all! It was a bit of a lonely, confusing process for me (I don't think MITCO's site is really sufficient), so I definitely want to make it a better experience for some of you!
Some people have been asking me what needs to be done when, the basic steps of the application process and I'll address that as well.

What to get done:

Use MITCO's timeline as a base for Freshman to Junior Year- http://web.mit.edu/career/www/preprof/medtimeline05.pdf

This is a pretty basic but comprehensive guide. I thought the really confusing part was the beginning of the app process which I will detail below:

By June 1:

Regarding Recommendations:

Make sure you have 3 recommendations lined up for you (preferably 2 science profs + 1 other). This takes more time and effort than you think- you need to establish 3 STRONG relationships with professors who are often really busy. Make sure you give them THIS FORM (Recommender Info Sheet and Waiver Form) when you ask them for a recommendation, this waives your right to look at it and details what your recommender needs to do.
At the same time you need to get THIS FORM into MITCO (Recommender Designation Form) , this tells them who they should be expecting recommendations from.
Also to be submitted to MITCO (Credential Form), this makes sure you have a file in the Careers Office for recommendation letter submission only. You may have already done this when you requested a premed adviser earlier in the year.

AMCAS- Primary Application

Start your primary application on AMCAS: https://services.aamc.org/AMCAS2_2009/

Big things: write your personal statement- get it edited by MITCO, your premed adviser, your friends, at least 3-4 people.
Also make sure to put effort into writing about your activities, this will really make your commitments come alive on paper.

Make sure you have submitted a transcript request form to the Student Financial Services office (11-120). You need to have an official transcript submitted to AMCAS to complete your primary application. Your grades may not be all in, but just tell them to send it once your grades are all in.
Choose schools. I'd suggest applying to 18+ since its all a really random process. MITCO has a great "matching" sheet that shows you where people with your GPA and MCAT score got it and I used that as a base for my list (ask for it). I also bought a U.S. News book. I applied to 21 total ranging from UPENN to UMASS.
Once you've finished with your primary application submit it! AMCAS will submit it to all the schools you choose (for a hefty fee). Do it earlier rather than later- AMCAS gets really backed up towards late June with all the primaries coming in. So try to submit June 15 or earlier. Call and check that AMCAS has received your official MIT transcript. Check regularly that your application is complete

By July/ Aug 1:

Secondary Applications

Your primary application should have been completed by now and you should start receiving invitations to complete secondary applications from all your schools. They send you the emails and they take varying amounts of times to get these invitations to you.
Once you get a secondary invitation, look at the secondary! Some schools just ask you to pay more money and that's it! Some schools ask you to write 7 extra essays! So definitely check before assuming anything. Complete and send the secondary ASAP.

It gets overwhelming very quickly to have to write 21 essays +. But tackle them, keep yourself on a strict deadline. My biggest regret was not sending my secondaries earlier (Being abroad is hard, having a summer job, the start of school workload..). Try to get them in by September (I send my last one at the beginning of October).
Why get secondaries in early? Because schools will not be swamped with a lot of apps yet and will actually get to read yours in a reasonable time frame- thus you get interview invitations earlier, more of them, and you are less stressed. I got turned down by some schools that just seemed overwhelmed with apps and didn't seem to get to read mine (just my opinion). Over 6,000 people apply to medical schools- set yourself apart from the pack and get your secondaries in EARLY!!!

Secondaries need your recommendations! Now is the time to check in with each of your recommenders and see that they have submitted your recommendation to MITCO. (you should be regularly checking in with them starting in June).

You need to let MITCO know which schools you want to send your recommendations to. Fill out the School Designation Form and give it to MITCO.
Make sure you've done everything on this checklist: http://web.mit.edu/career/www/preprof/filechecklist.pdf to make sure you are ready for your recommendations to go out and complete your secondary application.
In particular, meet with your premed adviser and physically GIVE them all the stuff mentioned in the checklist. You should have formed a decent relationship with them since they write your summarized letter of recommendation (they read all your other recs and put it together). While your secondary app can be submitted before your recommendations, the schools won't look at it until EVERYTHING is in. Therefore, nag, bother, remind your premed adviser to get their part in by the end of August LATEST. Check that MITCO receives it! You'll get an email confirmation when MITCO sends out all your reccs and to which schools they send it to.

Since secondaries are submitted to each school separately (unlike AMCAS nice standard primary app) you need to continuously CHECK with each school on the completeness of your secondary app (have they gotten your recs from MITCO?) and whether your application has been reviewed by the committee. Often the school's secondary application website will have an accurate status of your application, but call if it hasn't changed in awhile.
You will most likely be offered an interview through EMAIL, so check often. Interview sooner rather than later, just my personal opinion that earlier interviewees get more attention and that the committee isn't overwhelmed with everything yet.

Interviews October - February

Do a mock interview with MITCO before your first real interview. Practice practice practice before it. Read up on sample questions: http://web.mit.edu/career/www/preprof/pminterviewquestions.pdf, I even wrote down answers and memorized them for ones that are tougher. You want your answers to be eloquent and well though out. I did not get one question I didn't practice on already during my interviews.

Try to live with student hosts, saves on the hotel bill and you get a unique perspective on the school.
Take notes on everything. You'll be happy if you have to make a tough decision between schools and you have these details.
Ask the same important questions of each school: How long is the anatomy course, What housing options are there, What kind of mentorship do students get...
Write a thank you letter to your host, to the dean of admissions after your interview. Common courtesy
Make sure you read interview instructions CAREFULLY. a lot ask for passport photos of you, make sure to get a lot of these done! I'd suggest making them yourself, print the correct size out at a local walgreens- s0 much cheaper than getting them done officially.
After your interview, or before it, keep the school UPDATED with your achievements, grades, your continued interested in the school. Make it complete and send it only when you have something major to report. Send both a paper version and an email version to the admissions office. CHECK that they receive it and put it in your file.

Waiting...

Once again, keep your med school updated with your activities, achievements.
Check in with schools that have not yet offered you an interview.
Once you get your first acceptance (YAY!) withdraw from schools that you don't have interest in. Common Courtesy. If you want to hold your place in the class you often send in a check (~$100) to the school around mid May. You can always notify the school if you get off a wait list and decide to switch schools, but you will not get your $100 back.
If you're wait listed somewhere (oh the fun!NOT), write them a letter of interest. I included updates in mine and wrote passionately about why I still wanted to attend their school. I sent this at the beginning of May. This way they'll have read it when they start pulling people off the wait list around May 15.
Keep your premed adviser, recommenders updated! They care about you, and took the time to write you a recommendation. Keep them in the loop.

OK! That's my spiel. I hope its complete. If you have any questions at all, contact me jlee629@mit.edu. I'd love to help :). If you want to see my personal statement etc. let me konw as well.

Just FYI- I sent secondaries to 21 schools. Got invited to interview at ~8 schools. Accepted to 2 schools, wait listed at 2 schools currently.

Passion without Words Sushi Roll- Adventures at Yale

2008-02-16T23:36:00.010-05:00

Friday-
Getting to New Haven is moderately easy but very overpriced ($30 on way compared to $15 one way to NYC). However, I arrived safe and sound at New Haven's Union Station. Betsy picked me up on Yale's Daytime "Saferide" and we had a delicious lunch of food truck drunken noodles. We then went to the mall which was an adventure. We're very spoiled in Cambridge to have the Galleria so close- Yale's nearest mall is 40 minutes away by bus! But it was worth it because I discovered the store 'Forever 21', fell in love, and lived stylishly ever after.
Our loot from Forever 21- under $80 for 11 things, including the jackets we're wearing! heheh.

After the mall we went to Yale's Sex Week Lingerie Fashion Show- quite an event! I was pretty amused by everything and also relatively shocked at how many (half-naked) white people there were vs. my comfortable bubble of Asians.

Yale's Sex Week Lingerie Show- risque!

Then we went out the the MOST delicious restaurant ever- Miya's, which specialized in exotic sushi. How exotic might you ask? Well...
top left- curry cauliflower roll, top- "killer squid roll" containing udon noodles, hot peppers, black beans, right- "voompa roll"- contains cream cheese, eggplant, + more, bottom- contains goat cheese, avocado and tempura mushrooms- SO EXOTIC AND DELICIOUS! (and btw, there was a 'passion without words roll' and used to be a 'naughty geisha boy roll' HAHAH)

The night ended with wonderful fried ice cream and bananas and a midnight workout in Berkeley College's gross gym (not many calories were burned by it's the thought that counts!).

Saturday
Slept in, then went to Betsy's Chinese Dance Troupe's, Phoenix, practice. Met her Asian friends and had brunch in Siliman college, a beautiful, newly renovated college at Yale. The brunch was delicious and among many things I had a chocolate vegan waffle and grapefruits. Betsy was an awesome host and dragged me to get a bit of culture by watching " The Importance of Being Earnest" by Yale Reperatory Theater. The play was surprisingly funny amidst my fits of narcolepsy.

In front of the theater on a bitterly cold day.

Night fall arrived and then we had dinner at 'Hot Tomatoes' and Italian restaurant with Betsy's friends which I liked and all got my approval. :)

I like Betsy's friends :).

We then saw one of Yale's many a capella "jams" by the group "Out of the Blue"- a long but somewhat enjoyable concert. The night ended spectacularly with Rum Raisin ice cream at a local icecream shop "Ashley's". Wasn't motivated enough to work out. Bleh.

Sunday-
Woke up, had delicious dorm brunch, watched my sister dance for 3 hours/ danced a bit with them, studied in their new sweet underground library, had dinner with mom (who drove down to see us) and sis (yummy calzones)-tried to break into a secret society house, etc.

Can you believe we used to be mistaken for twins???

Monday-
Slept in, went to Betsy's Women's Health class to listen to a midwife talk about midwifery (sounds funny when you say it out loud). Interesting perspectives and noted that people at Yale go nuts taking notes on their laptops. Imagine 30 girls around you ferociously typing everything the teacher is saying. Pouring rain, had lunch at Betsy's dorm's dining hall, drove home with mom :). For now, I'm enjoying Chelmsford and the delightful lack of fat in Chinese home-cooking. Will be back at MIT tomorrow morning.

Am experiencing anxiety about medical school, sigh.

Museum and Goodbye NYC

2008-01-29T03:06:00.000-05:00

Our last day in NYC began with a fancy brunch beneath where Sherry works (Credit Suisse). It's called 11 Madison and seems like the kinda place "Sex in the City" would be filmed. Here is a beautiful floral arrangement at their doorway. White roses galore! Peter and I shared delicious Pecan Praline Pancakes with golden raisins and a rum sauce. Ellis and Sherry both had the frittata and I got to taste :). Of course the service was impeccable and I felt a bit out of place but it was fun being there regardless!Pretty rose floral arrangement at 11 Madison.

After brunch, Ellis, Peter and I headed to the Columbus Circle shops. We browsed around a bit and then took the Metro to the Museum of Natural History. Once there, Ellis again scored us free tix and we really enjoyed the space, animal exhibits. It was a great way to spend 3 hours and I even took a nap in the fish/water mammal room underneath a life size replica of a blue whale. Truly cool!

Me and Betsy ( a prehistoric dino creature).

In the dinosaur/early mammal exhibit.

We were pretty tired after walking the museum for awhile so we grabbed an early dinner of paninis at a nearby cafe. We then had a "Napoleon" which is like a cake version of a creme puff for dessert. SOOO GOOD!
As we waited for the Chinatown bus in Chinatown, we ducked into a warm asian bakery and I ordered a green tea egg tart. It was a bit liquidy but the flavor was not bad. I also got a little Chrysanthemum tea juice box, my new addiction.

My green tea egg tart! Kinda freaky looking.

Peter, very tired after a long day and ready to head back to Boston on the bus.

Honestly, Fungwah was better than Greyhound. The seats were more comfy and it was half the price. I'd highly recommend it!

Some Art and Laughs :)

2008-01-29T02:38:00.000-05:00

Our second day in NYC began at a fancy Mexican brunch place. Dos..Camiros? I forget the name. Anyways the food was amazing, thanks to Sherry and Ellis for joining us and suggesting the place. We started off with ordering their famous guacumole and chips. I got the Mexican eggs benedict which was a sunny side up egg on a japaleno and cheddar biscuit with potatoes and salsa on the side. And if that wasn't enough we got a complimentary with our meals and I got to glow with my fruity frozen prickly pear drink (pink and smooth).
With full stomachs we set to explore more of NYC with Sherry and Ellis. The shopping mood hit us so we went to SoHo (South of Houston) to window shop and browse furniture stores. I really like "CB2" a fancy ikea type place.
Next we went to the Guggenheim Museum near Central Park. Thanks to Ellis for scoring us free tix because of his company. Unfortunatley the museum was nearly 75% under renovation/installation so we only saw like 3 small rooms. I wasn't that impressed overall but the new exhibit (invovling 99 lifesized wolves) looked uber cool.

Peter and I in the Guggenheim. Behind us was closed but you can see the 99 wolves being set up.

The infamous duo.

Before we knew it the sun had set and dinner time was upon us. Time for a new restaurant and adventure! Sherry suggested an Italian place called "Don Geovani's (spelling?)" that is supposedly a chain in NYC? Anyways we met Sherry and Rani (her little) in the restaurant. It was kind like Vinny T's and a bit more upscale than most chains with candle lit dinners and a homey atmosphere. Peter and I shared a "Californian pizza" with artichokes, feta, peppers and more! how fitting for the Californian Ellis- Peter duo.
After dinner we wondered around the nearby Times Square, reading for news on the Democratic primaries in South Carolina. To Peter's deligh Obama won by a landslide and all was right again.
Peter and I then got cheap tickets to the local comedy club "The Laugh Factory". The line up was pretty good, I thought 2 of the guys were genuinely funny! The room was packed and I started glowing a bit after my "2 drink minimum" (most comedy clubs have this). But no fear, I finished up with a Shirley Temple. :D The show lasted about 2 hours and there were 4 performers.

First Comedian in line up at Laugh Factory.

The night was filled with humor and we were nearby our hotel so we didn't have to walk too far. Good for our tired feet!