Alice! So cute!

It is the most beautiful day ever. I want to go outside and play.


The Berkeley Rose Garden.

I'm suffocating today. I need to breathe some non-hospital air.

P-R-O-D-U-C-T-I-V-E
I finally completed lots of hospital paperwork that had accumulated over the past couple of months, and now I'm all caught up. Then, I realized how boring my Friday night was going to be, so I finished the rest of my confusing tax forms. Thank goodness for bubble tea and online chats with Cecilia (from Cleveland) and Kari - I'm still feeling sane.

Every day, I see enough newborn babies to fill a kindergarten class... Can you spell P-R-O-L-I-F-E-R-A-T-I-V-E ?

I hosted Diep and Cherie for dinner tonight and cooked them a nice little meal. We ate on the deck during sunset. It's nice sharing the beautiful things in life with good friends.

As Spring draws nearer, I'm hearing more about potential visitors... Karen is coming in April, my dad is coming in May, Anna is coming in June, Carol sometime in the summer... and I'm waiting for the list to grow!

It's cafe time...

Dear Mr. Terrorist,
Please don't attack my favorite local Civilian Targets:

Or little ol' me.
Peace!

It has apparently been months since I last saw Kasumi - so I went to find her for lunch today. Even though it was my invitation, she still insisted on paying for lunch. That's why my friends are so great. Afterwards, I went over to Blockbuster to settle "an extended viewing" charge. I still say I'm right, but there's no use arguing with employees who say, "but that's what it says on the computer..." Yes, I'm sure it's on the computer, but does that mean it's correct? I come waving a white flag of surrender, yet I get shot down. However, I shall consider this a friendly-fire incident and not engagement with the enemy. But no matter, because while I was standing in line, I heard someone call out my name. Even though he hasn't seen me since our high school days over a decade ago, Glenn still recognized me. What a coincidental reunion at an unexpected location. It brings back memories of my high school posse, my Coalition of Yesteryear. Such a small world it is. Anyways, I think it'll be great to catch up with him again soon. He was like a big brother to us all way back then. What a good day it has been so far. Except for the Blockbuster incident. The benefits outweight the losses, right?

I have no thoughts today. At all.

Morning jog through the Berkeley Hills. Bambi is back too.

I think a wild turkey just passed through my backyard. It must be Spring.

I've been glued to the TV over the past 24 hours. Even on call at 4:30 am, I could not resist the urge to turn on the TV to see what was going on. And since coming home this morning, my life has revolved around the TV set. If I'm not in front of the TV, I'm tuned in to the internet from Command Central Ho Chie. All this access to technology is my weakness. I am the reason CNN exists. Too bad some of their reporters got ejected from Baghdad. It's a sign that I must go too. I will resist these hermit-like tendencies and get outside. I will. I will. Off to the intern dinner at Sarah and Dean's...

Save me.

Match results: Mike is at U of C, Cat is at Loyola, Charlie is at UIC... congrats guys!

Reality TV. What's real anymore? This is as unreal as it gets: "Embedded" reporters traveling with our military forces; Minute to minute updates. I'm a news junkie addicted to my CNN, and I'm disturbed by how desensitized I am. Here's a bit of reality - A blogger in Iraq.

Ahh... My Carol is all grown up and looking like such a babe now. Apparently, she was in a fashion show this evening... How come I can't be in a fashion show?

Just came back from a nice sushi dinner with Ivy on Solano Ave. That North Berkeley area is so quaint. Anyways, I like Ivy. She's so chill and an easy person to hang out with.

Talking to the caterpillar roll.

Today is Match Day. Congrats to all my med school buddies out there! I've heard from Nina, who will be doing her residency in LA!

With Lynna at work.

My tax forms are almost complete. Hours of my life gone... but at least I'm getting a refund.

I seem to be falling back to my old ways of one-liner blogs. I need Super Marg to save the day.

The Irish feeling is gone now. What I need is a shower and something to eat.

I ate corned beef and cabbage for lunch and dinner. I feel Irish.

Just came back from dinner with Laura. We had a huge two person feast fit for five at a Laotian/Thai place. Good stuff. My stomach is about to explode. And my legs still hurt. I'm just a mess.

My taxes shouldn't be this complicated. I don't get paid enough for this.

Off to a Happy Birthday dinner for Betsy, Mike, and Elizabeth. I'm hungry. And my legs ache.

My 10 minute morning jog turned into a 3 hour hike around the Berkeley Hills and Strawberry Canyon. I got lost, and the trail I followed just had no end. I found some great views though. And after all that pain, I'm back in shape. Ouch.

Laura has a xanga! I did not know...

Anyways, after complaining to Andelle that I did not have any plans on a Friday night, I now have dinner plans with Armen and some of his co-workers. Can't refuse sushi. No way.

It's my free weekend and some stormy weather is brewing. What a bummer!

Did I mention that I'm working at the same hospital as Lynna this month? I've known her since the mid 80's, and we kind of grew up together with TAF. During lunch, we were chatting about how people think we both look really young. She thinks that I haven't changed much over the years - except that my hair is longer. I think that she still looks the same as she did in high school. In fact, some nurse pinched her cheeks recently because she looked so cute. I'm waiting for my turn 'cuz I have cute cheeks too, darnit! So there we have it... Call her Dr. Doogie, call me Dr. Howser.

Happy Birthday (today) Nancy! Happy Birthday (yesterday) Betsy! Happy Birthday (tomorrow) Joelle!

I went to see another film at the festival entitled Long Life, Happiness, and Prosperity, and I must say that it was one of the most entertaining films I've seen in the past year. Sandra Oh is a talented actress - I was impressed by her performance in Double Happiness when it first came out years ago at the Chicago Asian American film festival, and after tonight, I'm still stunned by her range of talent. Mina Shum, the same director, does a great job with this film, shedding light on the human spirit and personal hopes/dreams. I must admit that I'm always fascinated by the mind of a 12 year old; Co-star Valerie Tian was just a pleasure to watch - her character definitely knew how to walk to the beat of her own drum. I'd watch this movie again in a heartbeat, if only to watch a particular serenading scene between two men... Hilarious!


Well, that's it for now! Thanks for joining us! Next week, on Ho Chie's Movie Reviews, we discuss film classic Blue Crush and an oldie, but goodie, A Walk To Remember... Stay tuned!

It looks like yet another beautiful day outside.

Happy Birthday Alice!

I wasn't keeping track... Now I have caffeine overload. I grabbed a Coke on my way out of work today. Then, I stopped to get a bubble tea on my way home. After the Asian American film of the evening, I bought myself a cappucino. Well, I'm home now. And I am wide awake. Jittery, man, jittery. Kinda like those little neonates as they feel the chills of the world outside the womb.

I have a free weekend coming up... with no plans. I need plans. Someone give me a plan!

How neat... I'm the AAA alumni interview of the month!

Overheard in clinic:
Nurse: "And then what comes next?"
Five-year-old girl: "Eleventeen!"

Hello world! - I heard him say it as he was brought out of the womb by C-section. Then, he cried out some other expletives.

"Hello world!" is what I imagine some of these babies would be saying as they are welcomed into the world. But most are probably screaming, "Damn, it's cold out here!"

A nice rest of the evening: I said goodbye to Alanna about three times today, but it turns out she's staying for the rest of the weekend anyways. That's three free hugs, so it's all good. Then, I went to join Cammy and Bob for dinner in Rockridge at an excellent Italian restaurant (Thanks for dinner guys!). I also caught another film at the Asian American film festival - No One's Ark - damn funny! I'm glad I went. I wish I could totally catch all the other films around town. Now I'm chatting with NaYoung and we're both complaining about our difficult lives as interns. Bleh.

Time for rest... I'm on call again tomorrow.

I hosted Alanna last night on last minute notice - but it was such a nice surprise to see her. Plus, it's been really cool hanging with her, hearing about her singing/songwriting career and also picking her brains a little bit regarding Taiwanese American Conference planning. I last saw her maybe five or more years ago, but it feels like yesterday when we were all at TAF. It's always good to see another TAF person; No matter how long, how far, how old, they always feel like family. There's this unspoken connection simply because we've shared the experience. Gotta love it. At least, I do.

This morning we went to this cafe, Crepes From Paris, for breakfast. Even though it's just down the block, this was the first time I had ever been there. What a deal for such awesome crepes! They reminded me of the ones I had in France. I think it will become my new hangout place for a quick bite. Afterwards, Alanna and I went to the TAYL planning meeting... It's been a good day so far.

Breakfast and Nutella/banana crepes. Old school TAF brains.

TAYL Meeting at Anny's place.

A-ha... Look who I found!

The San Francisco Asian American International Film Festival started yesterday. I think I'm going to try to catch a film tonight, if I can actually get a ticket before it sells out. I've known about the film fest all these years, and now I finally get to see some! Can't tell you how excited I am! On a side note, I hear Alanna is coming into town... Hopefully I hear from her...

It's so beautiful outside today! I'm gonna go outside and play!

So, this month, I'm working out of a neighboring hospital near Berkeley where babies are actually born. (Because children aren't born at Children's Hospitals, unless their moms are children themselves - sad, but true.) It has been a fairly rough day considering that I had no swipe card access throughout the hospital for most of the day, no meal credits on my card, no computer access for lab results, and no Resident counterpart from this hospital who could actually show me the ropes. And now I'm on call tonight figuring out all the little things as they come up. It's almost kinda stressful managing the newborn nursery by myself... They keep popping out of nowhere, those little rascals.

Yummy "Caterpillar" Roll. Happy Birthday Heather and Justin!

Cherie and Shashaty with the waiter who looks like someone we know...

Cheers! Enjoy Hakusan Sake - good stuff!

I've survived yet another month on the wards... Tomorrow, I move to the newborn nursery to welcome March babies into the world... How exciting! I wonder who was born today on 3-03-03. How cool of a birthdate would that be?

I was supposed to meet up with Ivy this evening to do some reading. My nap went on for a little too long though. Bummer. Now it's almost time for bed again.

I've made it to the 30 hour mark of no sleep. Still at work. I'm tired. Maybe 2 more hours worth of work to do. My head might explode. That is, if my body doesn't give out on me first... I need a personal masseuse.

It was an excellent chill evening to end a busy week... Even though I was super tired, I was so happy I could spend some time with surprise visitors Cathy and Mike from Chicago. We met up at a Filipino restaurant in South San Francisco and enjoyed a tasty dinner with some of Mike's college friends from Stanford. Afterwards, we went to Whisper, a club/lounge in the Mission, where we met up with one of Cathy's good friends from her college years, Ameet. It turns out that his wife happens to be Sayali, one of my fellow interns at the hospital. And coincidentally, Mike's mom and my dad are doctors at the same hospital back in Chicago. It's all about 2 degrees of separation for me...

My yummy halo-halo and all the shakes and bubbles! Mmmmm....

Outside Sinugba, a guy with snotty fingers took this pic for us. Mmmmm...

2 degrees of HoChie: Ameet, Cat, Mike, me & Sayali.