Off to lunch with Rick and Bich. Indian food is the plan.

Rick, Bich, and me in Berkeley, then up in the hills.

Oh no! I've shrunk! Feed me more bubble tea!
No, really, it's a HoChie puppet. You can buy it for $39.99 at Wal-mart.

Bettina is SO cute! I miss her!

I think I'm gonna have have heart burn. I definitely ate too much today. In fact, I think that's all I did today. Dim sum in Milpitas with the TAYL crew was cool. It's nice to be part of this "family" of Taiwanese Americans, though many of them have relocated to different parts of the country. Sounds like a familiar story. Anyways, in return for chauffering Anny around, she was kind enough to make me some yummy lemon bars with lemons from her own back yard. I was quite impressed. After lunch, we all hung out at Dave & Busters. Video games. Money sucked from the pockets. Enough said.

Dim sum at Mayflower in Milpitas.

Can you handle it Anny? Driving to San Mateo at sunset.
Dinner at Jesse and Rochelle's was excellent. Dave, Grace, Mark, and their parents were in town. It's always good to see them. Brings back so many nice memories of childhood when we all really had no clue of where our lives would lead us. How nice it is to have friends who you can say you've known all your life.

Rochelle, Jesse. First Thanksgiving dinner in their new home.

More food. Here we go again...

I just got back from Cammy and Bob's Thanksgiving dinner. That was one darn good turkey dinner - probably the best "American" style T-day dinner I've ever eaten (thanks to Bob's culinary skills). I guess I never realized how "Asianized" my family's T-day dinners were before this. For example, it wouldn't be unusual to find turkey stuffing made from rice, Taiwanese style yams, soy sauce somethings, a napa cabbage dish, or even duck instead of turkey... Definitely fusion. Anyways, it was nice having such a yummy dinner, and seeing the cousins and meeting their friends too. I am now preparing my stomach for TAYL dim sum tomorrow, followed by Thanksgiving dinner #2 at Jesse and Rochelle's. Yes, I am a spoiled American. But at least I feel the turkey's pain...

Free the turkeys!

Blatantly stolen from Jen's online photo album: It's me lookin' all teacher-like... How BORING!

Ahhhh. I am crossing things off my "to do" list. Boards are now done. Our presentation on API juvenile delinquency this morning went well. And our Attending was kind enough to give us the day off... So now my car is in the shop. Again. And I will just chill until I have to go in this evening for call. Just one more presentation for next week... But at least I have several get-togethers to attend the next few days. I will enjoy this time off. I will.

It's over. Phew. Now back to work...

So many random thoughts still, thus the 3rd posting of the past half-hour, in multiple choice format:
A) Thanks for the wake-up call Frank!
B) So glad to hear from Sylvia! It's been way too long... Zachary is growing up!
C) Eating Burmese chow mein - SPICY! SPICY! (as smoke drifts from my nostrils)
D) I need a senior pic from Carol! But for now, I get to host the digital pic!
E) Uh-oh! The radiator in the car appears to be overheating. I need a mechanic!
F) Thanks for the well-wishes Kari, (Cali) Ivy, Carol, Frank! You guys rock!
G) I bumped into Anny yesterday while on my walk to the cafe! Made my day.
H) Happy Birthday to Connie's blog!
I ) Iraq - it's starting to get scary. Check this poster out. Not sure whether to laugh or cry.
J) Yeah Marg! You tell'em that Burma makes chow mein too! Dammit.
K) There are earthquakes in California. Here. I don't feel them.

Ahhh... the Holiday lights are up on the Embarcadero down in SF... Very nice!

Day 1 of my Board exams completed. Just gotta make it through tomorrow... Must keep in the exam mode...

amei412: how did ur test go?
HoChie71: it went ok.
HoChie71: day 1
HoChie71: i'm prob just gonna pass.
HoChie71: but that's fine
amei412: :-D
amei412: passing is good
HoChie71: yep. thats what i say
HoChie71: are you feeling better
amei412: about?
amei412: being sick?
amei412: stressed?
amei412: or the dood?
HoChie71: E) all of the above

So, I don't know how productive I was today, but I toured my 3 regular cafes around campus, went to some random Chinese American cultural performance that I happened to pass by, and got a slice of pizza from one of my fav slummy joints on Telegraph... My day feels complete. Now I just gotta wake up tomorrow. Wake-up calls accepted at 7 am, Pacific Time.

That's my pink apartment complex. Stop #1: Cafe Strada and balding man.

Stop #2: Cafe Milano and campus. Clock strikes 6 pm. I vibrate.

So, I think I may not wake up for this exam tomorrow morning. I've been consistently waking up after 9 am for the past several days. Where is the motivation? Or the fear and stress? I dunno. I'm worried. Or maybe I'm just pooped.

Anyways, as I was walking down the street yesterday, right before the big Cal vs Stanford game, I'd hear people driving by in cars and buses yelling "Stanford sucks!" I, of course, thought they were directing their comments toward the crowds of people wearing the Stanford sweatshirts. Well, I was partially right. Until Kari pointed out that I was wearing the Stanford colors. Oops. I could've been stoned to death or something - and not have known why.

Kari will be my study buddy this morning. Yay! But I have to go to work all afternoon and evening today. I am so not in the mood.

I must look like a Berkeley student. I passed by a row of student organization tables on the main walkway today and got fliered left and right. It must be my Asian youthfulness. And my grungy clothes. Ah. No matter - I have Watermelon Freeze with Pearls to enjoy.

A rare day off. Study time. Which cafe to go to?

The view from above. Courtesy of Vanessa.

A Tale of Two Ivy's & A Christmas Carol.
No story really. Just a chill day - got in late to work, got out at a decent hour. I met up with Ivy C. (from TAYL) to do some studying, and while I was sitting there, I got a call from Ivy C. (from TAF/TAC). She and Carol both got my little gifts for them! Yay! It's probably something I should've done sooner. I wonder if Tiffany got hers too? And I'm just sitting here thinking about going back to Chicago for a few days right after Christmas. The TAF winter party sounds appealing right now. Plus Han and Aileen are getting married around then. That's two more reasons to enjoy the holidays.

Celia said it was 91 degrees down in San Diego yesterday. I want to be on the beach. But, no, I have to study. Where's the excitement in my life?

I need to study tonight. I'm running out of days to study - Boards exam is next week. Yikes.

Sleepy Sleepy. I need sleep.

Leonids meteor shower - the final count over the past hour: 2 big fat ones, one with an afterglow tail, 10 medium ones, 7 skinny sneaky ones, 1 bright moon, and 10 cold toes.

OMG. At Cherie's place while eating dim sum dinner takeout:

Cherie: "Oh, you might know who my cousin is. He's kinda famous."
Ho Chie: "How would I know your cousin?"
Cherie: "He wrote M. Butterfly and Flower Drum Song, the Broadway musical. Oh yeah, and he co-wrote Aida. His name is David Henry Hwang."
Ho Chie: *silence* (jaw drops)

How cool is that. I want tickets.

I studied with Kari and Ivy at Mondo Gelato yesterday night. You can only guess how yummy that turned out.

So, this afternoon, Vanessa and I went to meet Janice at her awesome home by the Golden Gate Bridge. We grabbed some dim sum and hung out at Golden Gate Park, where we watched some rollerskaters relive the 70's and groove to some music. That was totally funky man! We walked around some more and found the Japanese Tea Gardens. Finally, we drove back to Jan's place with a mini pitstop at the beach. Rad day, my man. Rad.

Vanessa is amused with her feet. Janice's home near Richmond District.

Eating dim sum at the Park. People watching and self-photos.

Amused. Amusing.

Vanessa walking under tinted lights. Japanese Tea Garden by moonlight.

I studied this morning! Yay me! But now it's time to go play downtown again!

Vanessa and I had a super nice day walking around San Francisco. The weather was perfect as we wandered through Chinatown. Afterwards, we checked out an architecture exhibit at the SF Museum of Modern Art. Later, we met up with her buddy Janice for dinner at a very garlicy restaurant. We will emanate the aroma of garlic through all of our pores tomorrow. Stay away from us for the next couple of days. After dinner, we walked a few too many hills to get to the top of the curvy street on Lombard Hill. Here's a glimpse of our day venturing around San Francisco...

Shady dim sum restaurant next to Chinatown playground near Asianweek!

Visiting SF Museum of Modern Art. Leaving tracks at Yerba Buena Gardens.

Dinner at Stinking Rose! Garlic flavored with food. Jan, Van, and me.

Jan and Vanessa near Fisherman's Wharf - before and after the accident...

I just got back from working at the Urgent Care Center. I'm happy to say it was an uneventful evening for me. After having the day off, I definitely wasn't in the mood to be working too hard. So, it was actually quite a relief to just deal with sprains, strains, bumps on heads, and healthy babies. Reassurance is the key word here. And a little Motrin on the side to help with pain. There are some nights where I'm the one that deserves the Motrin though...

I'm home now. It's a peacefully quiet Friday night. Vanessa is asleep, all tired out from her long day of travelling and campus exploring. I'm sitting at my desk with only a bright laptop screen illuminating the desk in front of me. I'm eating my Costco croissant and Babybel cheese, savoring every bite since I skipped dinner.

All I can think of is how nice it is to have this weekend off from this really intense residency program. I keep thinking that it's not a normal human experience to have to work so hard for so many hours per week for an entire 3 years. Other people get to enjoy a nice 9 to 5 schedule, take decent lunch breaks, and certainly don't have to sleep at work every 4th night. What did I get myself into? But, ah well, I guess I really like being able to take care of kids. I figure I somehow made it this far already. In the end, I know it will all be worth it. I just have to get there. And, like I said, it's a really nice and quiet Friday night for once. Plus, it feels good to have a friend visiting me this weekend. Vanessa just has this energy that is so full of life too. I'm looking forward to exploring the city with her tomorrow. This shall be my opportunity to get away from it all for just a little while.

Vanessa is here! We just had lunch in Japan town and now we're gonna wander Berkeley. Bubble Tea??

So excited! Vanessa is coming into town tomorrow! And since I have the day off, I can actually pick her up and hang out with her. Too bad I'm working tomorrow night though. But it's all good - I have both Saturday and Sunday off again. Time to have some fun! Yay!

Random things I'm thinking about right now:
I hope Ivy is feeling better now. New James Bond movie coming soon. The time I screwed up at a music recital. Winnie from the Wonder Years. Shiny rings. Ambulance taking the twins away at TAC. Superman movies. Indiana Jones. Craving some Babybel Cheese. Telescopes. Vacation plans. How poor and in debt I feel - need more money. Where are the cute girls? Yoda kicking ass. Meteor showers. Ivy again.

Not much to blog about today. It was a relatively easy day for me... I just had a nice conversation with Jenny - it's been awhile. She's cool. Here's my little tribute to her. Miss ya girl.

No joke. What is HoChie? Ai-yo.

And so now that my last call is over, life begins again... for one nice long month. And I have Fridays off. I'M FREEEE! Well, actually, I have my boards exam in 2 weeks, and I haven't started studying yet... So, I think I shall start tonight. The question is which cafe to hit...

I'm at the hospital on call. This is all I have time to write. Bleh.

I went jogging this morning and ended up in the fire trails in the Berkeley Hills. I wish I had brought my camera - it was so peaceful out there, running uphill along a winding dirt path surrounded by trees. At one point, I reached the top of an incline, looked back and saw all of Oakland and Berkeley below me surrounded by fog and rain clouds. It was simply amazing. The pitter patter of rain on leaves started echoing around me, and out of nowhere a little dog started to follow me on my nature run. I was the star of my own Nike commercial...

It should've ended there. But, the rain kept falling harder and harder. I was lost, soaked, and I couldn't find my way back. The dog ran off to chase some deer... I stood there all alone, wondering where the heck I was. Well, I finally found a street that looked familiar, and worked my way back. Now I'm a little bit tired, a little bit cold. And now that I'm home, it's just a gloomy day outside...

Such a small world. I went out to dinner with John, Lara, Phil, and Amy at Park Chow - a hip little joint near UCSF. Since Judy lived around the block and I hadn't seen her since I moved out here, she came by to sit for awhile too. Turned out Judy knows friends of both Phil and John because they all went to U of M together at about the same time. Judy and Phil also know Eddie, who is one of the Attending physicians at my hospital.

That of course would be amazing enough, but it didn't end there. While we were eating dinner, a group of Amy's friends came in. One of them asked if I knew Venni, who was standing outside with the rest of their party. And, I did, because she's a visiting med student from Texas doing a rotation at my hospital. Venni, by the way, also knows Curtis (from TAYL and TAF) because they went to college together. I lost count of the degrees of separation...

Afterwards, our little dinner group went to chill at an artsy cafe nearby. Tall warehouse height ceilings. Odd angles. Central cafe stand. Couches. Tables surrounded by walls of art. Very original. Very cool. I'm inspired. I would like to find time to start drawing again.

Yikes. I missed Liz's and Bettina's birthdays yesterday!

I'm post-call today. And I'm still standing. The goal is to stay awake for the Intern Dinner tonight... Can I do it?? It's my golden weekend... I must enjoy myself. I must. Must resist... falling... asleeeeep... zzzz...

So, I managed to sleep about 12-13 hours yesterday and regained some energy to get through the day. And after 36 hrs of not eating, I tolerated a nice lunch with my ward team. I'm now at 80%.

That would typically be the end of what Carol says is "the Ho Chie disease - posting 2 sentence entries with a picture." But, just for you girl, here's a few extra sentences! Thanks for the wonderful gift! You know my tastes so well! I am now ready to enjoy some frozen Pumpkin Peeps! You're the best! *MWAH*

I woke up this morning with fever and chills. It hurt to move, my back ached, my legs felt weak, and my head was in a daze. I don't know what I got, but it feels really bad. I still went to work, but it was such a painful day for me... just to get through and do all the stuff I was supposed to. I guess I don't have the luxury of taking sick days. If you can still walk, and you're not puking on somebody, then you just have to go in. Unwritten rule. That sucks. I really need a massage.

I have nothing to blog about today. My brain is dead. Someone needs to bring me back to life this weekend.

Lovely day. I wandered around Berkeley, ate Bi-bim-bop for lunch outside, found Ivy at her wushu demonstration, got some bubble tea, and studied a little bit. I couldn't ask for a more relaxing day.

And I caught a beautiful sunset right behind the Golden Gate...

I've been in the hospital every day for the past 2 weeks. By my calculations: Over the past 12 days, there were 288 hours. I was in the hospital for 3 call nights in addition to my regular work hours... That works out to about 170 hours. This equals about 60% of my time living in the hospital and 40% of my time visiting my home to sleep and eat and pass time online...