“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.