This year’s AAO meeting brought me back to New Orleans, but there were plenty of other good reasons to revisit NOLA. My Southwest flight landed last Thursday evening just in time for us to catch the last seating at Mr. B’s for BBQ shrimp. The next day, I took an extended lunch break from Subspecialty Day to compare Emeril’s version of BBQ shrimp, then rubbed elbows with retina big-wigs at the Michels Fellowship reception before receiving my award. In the evening, I hung out with other Dukies and retina fellows at a Genentech dinner reception, then danced the night away at one of Cornea Society’s epic parties. Exhausted, I awoke late Saturday morning to the jazz brunch at Court of Two Sisters, then slept off my food coma through the rest of retina program. Afterwards, I stuffed myself again at the Duke reception and confirmed my ignorance at the Retinal Jeopardy event, before joining some residency friends for some hot jazz-rock at the Maison on Frenchmen. By the time the meeting officially started on Sunday, I already felt that things were winding down. After lunch at the Heed reception, I spent the afternoon scouting vendor booths to peruse surgical instruments and imaging devices for my job next year. I then roamed the French Quarter with a few friends, sampled sweet pralines, shared beignets at Cafe du Monde, and brushed with death over a sample of ghost pepper salsa (Bhot Jolokia: 2007 Guinness World Records’ hottest-known pepper and 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce). I recovered enough to be coherent at the MEEI reception, then shared gossip with my old classmates over some jambalaya for dinner. On Monday, I was glad to have made it to Cochon Butcher for their muffaletta. But the day quickly turned south when I became engaged in a cat-and-mouse text exchange with a suspicious party who tried to sell us a shady diamond ring just 2 weeks after my wife lost hers. Fortunately, the failed interaction did not affect my presentation at the Duke VR course. I consoled myself afterwards at the CAOS banquet, where the research talks were drowned by the roar of the Asian diners enjoying chef Tommy Wong’s menu of Chinese food with a Cajun twist (seafood gumbo, stir fried alligator on bok choy hearts, honey-glazed pecan shrimp, etc.). It was rough waking up at 5am this morning for our flight home, and even tougher returning to clinic in the afternoon. But alas, I have survived NOLA for a second time, and it was every bit as good as my first trip there.

“This is the moment.” Mike the photographer gestured to me to look at my watch. It was 9:10am, November 12, 2013 … 9-10-11-12-13. Clever. There are moments in life that can forever define your future – the forks in the road, the branch points, the decision trees. My past two weeks have been a long, agonizing process of self-reflection, as I juggled the decision to pursue one of two job offers in Sacramento. To clarify, there were no “wrong” answer, as both positions were incredible – one a well-funded clinician-scientist faculty position in a collegial academic department; the other a premier, lucrative retina-only private practice with smart, friendly, and highly-motivated partners. A year ago, I would’ve been happy to have any job in NoCal to be with my wife. Yet, the two options I now face span two ends of a spectrum that straddles the ideal balance of research and clinical work that I had envisioned. I found solace in long discussions with friends, family, and colleagues from various stages of my career. I know in the end, I will have to just go with my gut and follow my heart, and take life as it comes. I felt the stress somewhat relieved at our fellowship interviews last week over drinks with the applicants and snacks with classmates from residency. In the meantime, I also completed round 4 of my instant noodle competition. As always, scores are for soup base, then noodles.

1. Weichuan Miso Vegetable Flavor (7, 5) – Good fermented soup with lots of goodies, but boring sub-par noodles reminds us of Weichuan’s mediocrity.
2. Vifon Instant Porridge Chicken Flavor (5, 7) – The well-textured porridge smells just like the real thing, but tastes more salty than chicken-y. Also, not technically a noodle.
3. Sapporo Ichiban Miso Ramen (6, 5) – Salty soup and floppy noodles reiterates the disappointment that is Sapporo Ichiban. Two thumbs down for such a promising name.
4. Nongshim AnSungTangMyun (8, 8) – The amazingly hearty, subtly-fermented broth is paired with noodles with just the right texture, inching past their tried and true Neoguri.
5. Good Bean Vermicelli – Artificial Minced Pork Flavour (6, 7) – Little rubbery meat balls slightly elevates the spicy-salty soup, and is paired with above-average bean vermicelli.
6. JML Artificial Spicy Hot Beef Flavour (4, 5) – The bowl was so spicy that I could barely taste the soggy noodles, or my tongue, after the fact. Not for the faint of heart.
7. Vina Acebook Mi Lau Thai Seafood Flavor (5, 4) – The somewhat umami yet ambiguously-flavored soup does little to complement the soft, rubbery noodles.
8. Six Fortune Broad Instant Noodles (7, 8) – A flavorful broth with just the right amount of kick pairs well with a nice, springy broad noodles that stand out from the rest.
9. Mama Hu Tieu Nam Vang (4, 6) – Mama makes pretty solid rice noodles, but all their broth seasoning seem to taste the same.