Boston: Day 2

I started Day 2 by going to Tatte Bakery & Cafe which Annie recommended! It was supposed to be a quick 15 minute walk there but I took a small detour and ventured through the Amory Woods Sanctuary and the Halls Pond Sanctuary. It was so gorgeous inside and really peaceful to stroll through the area especially because it was warm outside. Inside Amory Playground, there were also so many people walking and playing with their dogs. All of the dogs were so well behaved!! None of them were on leashes but the dogs weren't going crazy chasing each other or running up to random people.

Amory Woods Sanctuary

Halls Pond Sanctuary

Flowers found in the woods

After awhile, I finally made it to Tatte and got the pistachio croissant (also Annie recommended!) and the mint lemonade. WOW! Seriously it was probably the best pistachio filling inside a croissant I've ever had. The mint lemonade was also pretty amazing. The balance of mint to lemonade was just spot on!

After my morning meal, I took the T to Boston Public Market and roamed around the area for a bit. I just LOVE public markets!! There are so many cool things to buy and it took all my self control not to buy something from every (non-seafood) shop.

The next stop was across the Charles River to see the U.S.S. Constitution. The Constitution was built in 1797 with the original intent to protect American merchant ships from pirate ships off the coast of North Africa. It was also a major ship during the War of 1812 and apparently never lost a battle! Inside the U.S.S. Constitution Museum, I read all about the battles that the ship won and saw what it was like to live aboard the ship in the 1800s.

The U.S.S. Constitution is the oldest ship in the U.S. Navy (so cool right?!) and is currently undergoing construction and refurnishing in the dry dock of Charlestown

I got to etch my name in the copper furnishing plate that will be going on the boat when it finishes construction in 2017. Next time I come back, I'm definitely looking for my name!

I also walked over to the Korean War Memorial dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives fighting in the Korean War

After finishing up there, I walked over to the Bunker Hill Monument, which when I first saw it up close, thought it looked oddly like the Washington Monument. Inside the Bunker Hill Museum, I learned that the artist who designed the Washington Monument (built after Bunker Hill was erected) initially submitted a sketch for the Bunker Hill Monument. His design wasn't chosen though but eventually, a similar obelisk type of design was used. That's why the two monuments looked so similar! I debated for a long time whether I should hike 300 steps up the monument to get to the top and finally decided on doing it even though I'm not a super fan of stairs. Around step 250, I was really hating myself but that all disappeared once I got to the top and was able to see a near 360 degree view of Boston, especially the amazing view across the river into downtown. Pretty worth it!

Bunker Hill Monument a top a hill. What a cloudy, warm, and humid day!

Beautiful view from the top of the monument

Wind, so much wind!!!

After walking around Charlestown for a bit more, I returned back to Boston Public Market and wandered around it again (couldn't resist). I ended up getting an Almond smoothie from Mother Juice and ventured outside until I found the Cancer Garden of Hope which was a tranquil area located above all the hustle of the city below.

Cancer Garden of Hope with brick plaques surrounding it dedicated to those who lost the battle to cancer

It was almost late afternoon by this time so I walked on over to the Historic North End (Boston's Little Italy) and shopped along its Italian shops and restaurants. Along the way, I saw a house with 14 1/2 as its address, the skinniest house in the city of Boston, and Paul Revere's house! Annie and George found me in North End and we went to eat Panza, a Italian place, where I finally tasted delicious Butternut Squash Tortelloni. YUM! George got an entire plate of seafood pasta (yuck!) and Annie got a baked ziti which was yummy and super cheesy.

A total butternut squash win

Just so many mussels and shrimp and who knows what!!

Baked ziti with meatballs and cheeeeeeese

Finally, the BEST night arrived and we made our way to TD Garden to watch the Men's World Figure Skating Championships. After following ice skating for so long, I finally had a chance to go see it live in person! It was one of the best experiences of my life but also super nerve wracking as I was rooting for my favorite mens skater Yuzuru Hanyu to win gold! He ended up getting silver (sad me) but we were able to witness Javier Fernandez pull off probably the best long program in world championship history! He landed all his jumps cleanly, including three quadruple jumps. With a combined score of 317, it was the second best score in figure skating history and the best score ever at any world championships!

Ahhhhh!!!! Major freak out moment.

During intermission, I went downstairs and watched the live broadcast for Ice Network because CHARLIE WHITE and TANITH BELBIN WHITE!!! They are both skating royalty in ice dancing. Charlie White most recently won the Olympic gold medal in Sochi 2014 with his partner Meryl Davis and Tanith Belbin (now married to Charlie, aww) was a Olympic silver medalist in Turin 2006 with her partner Ben Agosto. 

Yuzuru Hanyu taking his bow. So lucky to see one of the best male figure skaters in history compete.

Day 2 logged in a total of 16,600 steps and was packed with so many activities that by the time we got back, I was completely pooped! But the Warriors were playing the Celtics so George and I stayed up pretty late to finish watching that game....sadly, Warriors lost!

Boston: Day 1

After many years of saying I wanted to visit Boston again, I finally found time to make another trip out to the East Coast! It was a hard trip to pack for because the weather was close to 70 degrees for my first two days there then dropped down to just about 28 degrees on my last full day there. What kind of wild swing is that! I think in the end, I did alright and was able to shove a good amount of light clothes and lug a trusty winter coat complete with earmuffs and gloves.

Day 1:
I left Chicago super early in the morning and was able to make it to George's house before noon. He started my trip off by taking me to eat at Zaftigs Delicatessen which serves a Jewish-American brunch.

Really yummy bagel chips with cream cheese

The banana stuffed french toast was one of the best I've had!

During the afternoon, I followed the Freedom Trail throughout Boston. The trail begins at Boston Common which is a central park in the middle of the city, similar to Central Park in NYC or Millenium Park in Chicago. It was super cool to follow the red brick road across the city and (re)learn the rich history of Boston from the early 1600s. I always loved my history classes growing up so it was awesome to walk the trail and read my self-guide.

The Freedom Trail runs along the red brick road throughout Boston and occasionally you see these cool plaques on the ground.

Paul Revere's grave at the Old Granary Burial Ground. Here you can also find the graves of John Hancock, Robert Paine, and Samuel Adams (3 of the signers of the Declaration of Independence) and the graves of Ben Franklin's parents.

Another stop on the Freedom Trail is a mosaic on the ground located where Boston Latin School used to be. The school is the oldest public school in America, founded in 1635, and was attended by 5 signers of the Declaration of Independence: Ben Franklin, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Robert Paine, and William Hooper.

It's so cool to walk around Boston and find interesting plaques embedded into the cement. This one is a Boston Herald American Newspaper.

Before I knew it, it was already late afternoon so I headed back to Boston Common where I met Annie in front of one of the fountains in the park (too bad it wasn't spouting water). George came a little bit later and we all headed to the "T" which is Boston's subway system.

The fountain at Boston Common with the Massachusetts State House in the back. The State House is the oldest running house in the United States and the 23 karat gold dome was put on in 1876, conveniently on the 100th birthday of the United States!

For dinner, George and I went to a ramen place called Yume wo Katare which is apparently all about sharing your dreams. After you finish eating, you have the chance to share your dream with the rest of the other diners and workers (around 25 people total) and then the host yells out anything between "Perfect!" to "Next Time" depending on how much of the ramen you finish. George finished his bowl and got a Perfect! Unfortunately, I only finished the noodles and pork so I got a Almost....sigh.

After dinner, even though I was super, super full, I managed to eat a little bit of rum raisin and black raspberry ice cream from J.P. Licks, a local Boston ice cream chain! After a quick stroll around Harvard's campus, we finally made it back indoors after a grand total of 23,000 steps for the day!!

It's MATCH DAY!!

After four long years of wondering where I'd be for residency, Match Day 2016 finally arrived! This week has just been crazy. Monday kicked off with me opening an email saying that I matched and after three days of being nauseous thinking about my future, I found out today that I'm going to be a resident at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA!) I can't be more thrilled about where I'm headed off to and all the opportunities that lie ahead!! I'm super excited!! 

YAYYYYY!!! :) :) :)

Yep, looking pretty crazy happy here!

There are so many people who I've relied on and I'm so grateful to be surrounded by my wonderful family and friends. You are the ones who kept me sane and levelheaded especially through these last four years where I was truly pushed to the brink of mental and emotional exhaustion at times. To my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and grandparents, 謝謝你們從小到大教我怎麼用功讀書讓我可以完成我小時候的夢想。如果沒有你們的鼓勵和幫助我也不能走到這一天。我希望以後能繼續讓你們安心，讓你們繼續為我而驕傲。謝謝！To my little sister Ivy, thank you for putting up with my craziness, especially when I was studying and during these last few days too. Even though I'm sad to move away from you in Chicago, I'm excited to see you match back to California in 2 short years!

To all my best friends - you guys are truly, seriously, the best-est friends ever. I can't thank you all enough for your wishes, your never ending support, and for keeping me in your lives even though I was holing up away in Chicago. I am beyond lucky to have known you all for at least TEN years, some, even TWENTY! My life would absolutely not be the same without you all. As a reward for being my friend, free pediatric consults for your future kids! LOL :)

Finally, to CMS Class of 2016 - we finally, finally made it through to Match Day. I am so honored to have gotten to know a good chunk of my class and see the brilliance and massive intelligence that lies in this group. I just can't believe that we are all on our way to being MDs after putting in countless hours in front of our powerpoints, FirstAid, and UWorld questions. It is such a pleasure to be in the company of such an unbelievable class and I am so proud to be apart of it. Come visit me in LA!

More pictures! 

Powerhouse: Ophthalmology, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Radiology

Feature Peds colleague!

Hey LA homie!!

More LA friends!

Sisssssy

LA friend #4 and Future LA friend??

Map pinning

PICU girl, I'm def consulting you!

Little sib - SEE YOU IN LA and SO excited for you next year!

GHHS lunch

Proud

WE MATCHED!

7 Weeks left

In 12 days I will find out where I'll be living for at least the next 3 years of my life. I never thought that 4 years would blow by just like that when I first moved out to Chicago back in 2012. It was a long road made so much better by the people I've met out here. Of course there were bumps and hoops to jump through but somehow, I made it out okay. As each day passes, I realize that I have fewer days left to spend in Chicago. It blows my mind to see how much I love this city, outside of its crazy politics and government. Every time I walk outside or drive around, I'm reminded of how I know this city and the surrounding suburbs better than I know my own hometown of San Jose.

There is 7 weeks left in Chicago now as the chances of me staying here are slim to none. I can't believe I'll have to leave this city soon. It will always be my second home!

A snowy day trip to the beautiful bean. It's rare to catch a picture in front of the bean without too many people around!

Running along Lake Shore Drive pass the piers. I think this is an absolute must-do for anyone visiting the city!

After making it to Museum Campus you're rewarded with a spectacular view of the city skyline. One of the best in the world in my biased opinion :)

One last Chicago Bulls game to watch the great Kobe Bryant's last stint at the United Center.

A short day walk to Navy Pier to catch the ice pieces before they melt in Lake Michigan. It's a beautiful sight to behold.

End of February

Today was the last day of my Allergy & Immunology rotation. I'm so sad to leave the AMAZING clinic at University of Chicago. It was such a blast spending time with my brilliant Attendings and the most capable, efficient, caring, and funniest RNs ever.

Most exciting of all, I think I may have found my (gasp) future career!!!! I LOVE ALLERGY!!
Who would've thought!!

A snowing, windy day after work. University of Chicago Medicine - what a wonderful, beautiful place to be!

I'll miss my badge!! This is probably the one badge picture where I look not too shabby.

Introspective Extroverts

I have and always will consider myself an introvert. (No matter how many times I take the Myer Briggs Personality test, I always end up as an ISTJ) Though after reading this article, should I maybe think of myself as an introspective extrovert? Most people who meet me for the first time would probably say that I'm an extrovert. In fact, my good friends at med school definitely think of me as an extrovert until I tell them otherwise. My sister also says that I'm really good at faking being extroverted, which fortunately, actually has its advantages at times.

Some points from this article that describes an introspective extrovert:

1. You constantly feel too introverted for the extroverted crowd but too extraverted for the introverted crowd.

Yes, kind of true. For those who are true introverts, I don't fit in perfectly there. For those who are true extroverts, I absolutely don't fit in there.

2. You connect quickly and easily with a wide variety of people but are careful about whom you invest in as a friend or romantic partner.

Yes!!! SO yes. I can make immediate surface-level connections with pretty much anyone but very few people know the personal parts of my life.

3. Though you enjoy bouncing ideas off those around you, you need to reach all major decisions independently.

Though this is true, I imagine most people are like this no matter if you're an introvert or extrovert. It's always nice to bounce ideas off of other people but most people will ultimately make the final call themselves.

4. You accidently end up being everyone's therapist.

Don't know how it happens or whether it's a part of being in medicine, but very true, especially in recent years.

5. People drastically under-estimate the significance of you asking for help. 

Hm, not sure if this is totally true. I think my best friends realize the significance if I'm asking for help or sharing something personal about my life because I don't do it often but maybe most other people don't? Not sure!

Rotation #5 The University of Chicago Medicine

Wow!! I kicked off February at Comer's Children's Hospital at The University of Chicago doing an elective rotation in Allergy and Immunology. What a cool experience this has been so far. I think I've added another future possibility on my ever expanding list of possible fellowships and future job careers. I think I've been pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoy doing outpatient clinic. At the same time, you still get consults in the hospital without being too swamped like most of the other major specialties. You get to see all the very, very common cases like rhinitis, asthma, food allergies, atopic dermatitis but you also get to see the very, very uncommon cases of things such as common variable immune deficiency (CVID) and severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). It's definitely a pretty interesting spectrum.

Throughout this year, I've also found that it's incredibly easy to fall in love with a particular rotation when you love the people that you work with. It makes me wonder whether I really, truly love that specialty or that I love the specialty because of the people I'm surrounded by. Every single Allergy/Immunology attending at U of C have been so wonderful to me. I'm expected to see my own patients, suggest a plan, and write my own notes. Sure, I don't know everything but when I'm wrong, they correct me, teach me, and teach me more. At the same time, I also love all the nurses in the clinic too and it helps that we all sit in the same room so that I get to know them really well!



Two weeks in and enjoying every day. The best part is waking up and not dreading going to work :) Only dreading going outside because it's freezing cold these days...but I shouldn't complain because it's been much, much worse in previous Februrarys!