Lunch in Chinatown. Cheers!

Celebrating the New Year with Dave, Cammy, Eric, Andy, Marge, and Alison.

My much-deserved, long-awaited vacation starts in a few short hours. Destination: New York City for New Year's Eve.

I'm working extra shifts in the ER. I'm poor and tired. I need sympathy.

Yummy day! I hung around with Doreen, David, and Lindsey in Japan-town this afternoon. Thanks for treating for lunch Doreen! Afterwards, my brother and I joined Jesse, David, Rochelle, Grace, and the rest of the family for a delicious crab-bake dinner. Thanks, my friends, for feeding this poor hungry boy!

Doreen, David, and Lindsey enjoying crepes.

Silly kids.

Slaughtering crabs before the grand feast.

My dad visited yesterday and stayed overnight. My home has officially been given the highest compliments. So, visitors may once again feel free to make reservations at Hotel HoCh. Welcome one, welcome all... Happy Holidays.

I found a little angel.

On the job for both Christmas eve and day... (sniffle)

Oh yeah. Merry Christmas, people of the world. I almost forgot.

I've spent my day watching all types of home makeover and redesign shows. When did I become like this?

I calculated it out. This Christmas week, I'll be working about 100 hours in the hospital. I believe the Gulf War invasion lasted about that long. So, I will be a trooper and tough it out.

Doreen is in town again! What a nice surprise!

Michelle, my bubble tea friend, is visiting from Michigan. I'm excited! The question is whether we'll be able to meet up sometime soon...

I went to dinner at Marlene's tonight with some of my fellow 2nd year residents. Our monthly "intern cooking club" dinners have stayed strong even past our intern year. My classmates are just superstars. Good friends, good food. What more is there to ask for during the holiday season? Oh yeah, world peace...

Hostess Marlene, Sylvia, & Myra. Laura and Santa Joe checking it twice.

Cherie, Russell, and Joan - being naughty and nice.

Amin and June. Priya, me, Cindy, and Marlene.

Happy holiday smiles... from Sylvia, Reena, Laura, Cherie.
Be good for goodness sakes!

New toys: Extra computer, wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, surround sound system. This just means I'm extremely broke now.

Happy Birthday Frank.

The Holiday cards are starting to roll in... Thank you, friends, for remembering me. I truly do appreciate your thoughts and well-wishes this year. But, in order to keep the streak alive, for the 8th year in a row, there will be no Hanakawanzamus New Year cards from me. I just can't stand the hand cramps from signing all the cards and the funny taste after licking more than a hundred stamps.

However, I think of you all often. Take care.

Yay! I have cable TV!.
Boo! I have no real TV.

This is a little phrase I heard yesterday that I liked: "It's about presence, not presents." I will interpret it as I please, because I am finding it very applicable this time of year. It certainly may explain my Scrooge-like tendencies. "Bah-humbug! No gifts for you."

Yuling is in town. We've met up in Paris, New York, and now San Francisco... I feel so cosmopolitan.

Me, Yuling, and Brock. And of course the Bubble Tea.

Scandalous. I brought Ivy with me to our annual hospital-sponsored holiday party. I'm sure the rumors will start flying tomorrow at work, and the question "who was that cute young girl that was with you?" will be asked. Purely benign and friendly, I assure you.

After the TAYL meeting, I went to this Taiwanese Engineering Association's annual dinner. For $5, I walked away with the satisfaction of some excellent Chinese food and as a winner of a raffle prize. I now have a desk lamp that matches my furniture. I have seen the light...


TAYL meeting at the Taiwanese American Center in Fremont.

Hard at work.

Like working a telethon.

Ivy and Kari! So cute!

Today, more than any other, I seem to be missing the days of playing with LEGO and creating cool spaceships and lunar spacestations.

I need a doctor to prescribe me a nap twice a day. *yawn*

It's been over a year since I last saw Jenny. That's just way too long. So, after work, I trekked through the rain and drove all the way down to Santa Clara to join her and her friends for a birthday celebration dinner. There is something about seeing an old medical school classmate that makes me appreciate everything I've been through the past several years. Beneath all the "pain and suffering," there must be a certain heartfelt bond created through mutually shared experiences. Or perhaps we just gravitate towards the people who can understand what we've been through. In any case, it's good to see that she is doing well too.

Happy Birthday Jenny.

My new DSL line is beautiful. My wireless connection is even prettier. Four of five computers wired up... I'm in love again.

I dragged Margaret around with me all afternoon as I ran errands and did some shopping. I now am a proud owner of the Master Plunger... "Unclogs faster than standard rubber cup plungers." Can't wait to try it out...

My day was like eating off a sampler plate. I spent the first hour in the operating rooms intubating patients. Then, I got called to transport a sick kid by ambulance from an outside hospital to our intensive care unit. Afterwards, I was asked to fill in as an extra in the emergency room. And finally, I was introduced to the oncology kids I'll be taking care of starting tomorrow. After all that sampling, I'm ready to nap. Except that I can't because I'm still on call...

On a brighter note, an ex-TAF junior from the very early 90's emailed me from out of the blue. How surprising that she remembered me...

After spending the entire day talking to teenagers, I am truly exhausted. I feel like aliens have extended their tentacles, leached onto my head, and sucked away all my inner energy.

The parents of one of my patients totally made my day. Even though I don't finish residency for another year and a half, they're already asking about and making plans to follow me to wherever I go. There are only two doctors they think highly of, and apparently I'm one of them. I was so flattered. (Still blushing).

It's a moment like this one that makes the pain of being underpaid, overworked, and under-appreciated more bearable.

Given the difficulty and stress of residency training, the words Thank You just never seem enough.

Finally, the sun is finally shining again... I'm happy like a sunflower. And like my photosynthetic friend, my mood is directly dependent on how much sun shines on me.

In the coming weeks, I may potentially see some visitors coming into town... Yuling, Suzan, Michelle... I'm excited!

And now the rain just won't go away. How depressing.

My DSL is not cooperating. My telephone isn't behaving. My laptop software is going berserk. My cable TV just isn't happening. And even my freezer is letting ants hang out inside it. Yes, my freezer. I do believe that technology is planning a revolt against me. It is the beginning of the end. I knew this day would come.

I'm not going to fight it. Instead, I will just go to sleep and let it consume me. Leave me and save yourselves, people.

Usually I admire people who have college educations because it somewhat reflects a level of intelligence. However, if you were to tell me that you were in college for 10 years, as the telephone repair man just mentioned to me, I would have to re-evaluate. There is a reasonable and respectable limit for time spent in a single institution of higher education.

Thanks again to Anny, Tammy and I went as VIPs to watch a preview of The Last Samurai this evening. Needless to say, there was lots of on-screen slicing and dicing. Very captivating...

On my way back home, I bumped into my neighbor as she was returning from the movie too. She is exceptionally cute. Also quite captivating...

Wow. Busy day for me. This pager I carry is a curse. Every time it goes off, I lose 3 hours of my life. I don't think I want to elaborate any more than that. Let's just hope I can have a quieter night...

I guess every once in awhile, there must be a rainy day here in Cali. Even so, the gloominess of the weather is making me sad. I wish I could just photoshop the greyness into a more cheery hue. But I can't. So I will sit here and drink my free bubble tea. Buy 10, get 1 free. Bubble tea, make my sad face go away!