Even as we welcomed the new fellows over dinner and a night out, I could feel the hustle and bustle of my first year of fellowship wearing away at me – literally, when I noticed the heel of my shoe crumbling away in clinic last week. Fortunately, my parents had decided to spend two weeks in town to provide me home-cooked sustenance to save me from my bachelor-like lifestyle. Together, we made many of my childhood favorites: pan-seared kingfish, beef stew, fried butterfish, winter melon soup, sesame paste, and lo mai chi. In return, I treated them to local Southern fare like fried chicken and NC-style barbeque. I also bought them a copy of the Entertainment book for discounts at the bowling alley and science museum. Last weekend, after trying our hands at the local driving range, we spent a day at Southpoint mall and Ross to score some bargain new shoes, shirts, and ties, just in time for interview season. We also shared our recent photos, with them showing off their new Android tablets, which inspired me to update my Nook with a new Cyanogen Mod build with Jellybean and the v6 Supercharger script. Our last weekend was spent mostly relaxing, with a brief tour of Raleigh after satisfying Korean food. Before taking off, they left behind enough leftovers for the entire week, not to mention groceries for another two. Nothing soothes the soul like proper home cooking, and my parents’ two week visit helped prepare me for the busy fall ahead.

My weekend trip to NYC this past weekend was my first visit back home in a long time, but also sadly an inauspicious one. I had just come home from a Friday mixer with the new residents and fellow when I got a phone call from my parents about my aunt’s passing. After seeing post-ops Saturday morning, I caught a last-minute flight that landed in time for lunch with my parents in Flushing before spending a quiet evening at home. On Sunday morning, the family congregated over take-out dim sum at my auntie’s place, which gave me a chance to catch up with the many cousins I’ve lost contact with. We took a photo of us, although our black suits made us look more like the Triad. The funeral itself brought back memories of Buddhist chants and joss paper, which to my surprise, I still remembered to fold. We celebrated my mom’s birthday over Chinese seafood, and before I knew it, was back in Durham by late evening. I was disappointed by the airline’s refusal to ease the cost of the overpriced flight despite a death in the family. With my upcoming expenses for conferences and interviews, I’ll need to starting saving up.

Taking call for the first 10 days of July was probably not the wisest choice I’ve made. Sure enough, by the end of the July 4th weekend, I’ve already gotten 2 open globes and a slew of other inpatient and ED consults to staff. It didn’t help that the residents who joined me in the OR were fresh out of first year, while the ones manning the floor were starting their first day of residency. In moments when I’m feeling a little down, one thing always bring a smile back to my face – noodles! Here’re the results of round 3 of my instant noodle competition.

1. Samyang Ramen – Beef Flavor (8, 8) – Not really beefy but still well-fermented broth is combined with springy noodles, like a milder form of neoguri
2. Mi Chay – La Bo-De (3,3) – The ghetto generic packaging predictably delivers bland, spicy soup and cardboard-textured noodles reminiscent of Cup o’Noodles.
3. Myojo Chukazanmai – Oriental Flavor (9,9) – Recommended by Nobel laureate Susumu Tonegawa and VR surgeon Shizuo Mukai, this line of near-perfect noodles taste just like the real thing.
4. Unif-100 – Artificial Stewed Pork Chop Flavor – (6, 6) Lots of freeze-dried goodies immersed in a salty broth is paired with average noodles, with emphasis on “artificial”.
5. Prima Taste Singapore Curry La Mian (7, 8) – The $3 fancy package comes with a nice, creamy if not a bit heavy broth, and unique dried steam noodles that is just a tad rubbery.
6. Shin Ramyun Black Premium Noodles (9,8) – The flavorful full-bodied broth with not one but two soup bases combines with amazing noodles to make these “premium” noodles near-perfection.
7. Nissin Ramen – Black Garlic Oil Tonkatsu Artificial Pork Flavor (9, 8) – The garlicky tonkatsu broth is addictive, and the noodles are nostalgic – heavenly when paired with a soft-boiled egg.
8. Hao Hao – Mi Tom Chua Cay (6, 4) – The tangy broth is surprisingly fragrant, but still not enough to rescue the dismal rubber noodles that is hardly worthy of the name “hao hao.”
9. Indo Mie – Chicken Curry Flavor (7, 6) – The floral scent to the slightly curried soup is served with average mie. Not bad but forgettable overall.

Our department celebrated the end of the academic year with two intense days of back-to-back research presentations by residents and fellows, fortunately concluding with a celebratory dinner at the Marriott and a blast of an after-party. The resident skit was a polished production that impressed even seasoned video-skit producers like myself, featuring internet memes like Gangnam style and the Harlem Shake, combined with a witty script, sharp editing, green screen masking, and near-professional voice-overs. After the awesome show and the requisite roasts for the graduates, we headed to the Republic where our house DJs Master P and Special K laid down some funky beats as we danced the night away. Meanwhile, Duke’s decision to have the entire hospital system adopt a new EMR in one fell swoop was an Epic fail (pun intended). Despite the $400 million price tag and an army of blue-clad tech support minions, we still ended our first week seeing only half the patients in twice the time. At home, my recent tech upgrades have not fared better, with my new refurbished mouse and keyboard arriving DOA. Fortunately, my new D5100 more than met my expectations, replacing the D40 I had sold last year. Now I just need a vacation so I’ve got something to shoot!

I took Melody to Raleigh this past weekend to take advantage of the NC capital’s monthly First Friday event. From the airport, we drove directly to make our reservations at Second Empire. Located in an old brick house reminiscent of L’espalier’s original Boston location, the 4-diamond restaurant served up a delectable pan-roasted foie gras, spicy PEI mussels and polenta, overcooked black grouper, and a hearty cajun ribeye steak. With bellies full, we checked out synchronous swimming turtles at the Museum of Natural Sciences, then perused the maze of Artspace galleries, where Melody left happy with a flying pig canvas by Keith Norval. On Saturday, after sharing sandwiches from Toast, we returned to 18th-century America to liberate the patriots from the crown in Assassin’s Creed 3. Triumphant, we celebrated at home over homemade napa cabbage pork stew while watching deduction and intrigue unfold in BBC’s modern interpretation of the Sherlock Holmes adventures. The next morning, we awoke to wood-fired clam and crimini mushroom pizzas from Pizzeria Toro, followed by chocolate chess pie and donut muffins from Scratch Bakery. In the evening, we joined my co-fellows and residents for a year-end barbeque while demonstrating my lack of skill in giant chess. Putting my research Monday to good use, we went to Chapel Hill for curry at Raaga, then returned to Durham for dinner at Nana’s, where highlights of the regular and tasting menus include a crispy puffer fish with ginger slaw, a rich pork agnolotti with shimeji mushrooms, textbook risotto with shrimp and calamari, and a tender pan-roasted red grouper with spring veggies. With my hair cut, sheets cleaned, and freezer filled with homemade batches of cookie dough, I am well-prepared for the next two months.

More than a year after our big trip to India, I finally began compiling our photo journal this past Memorial Day weekend. Lucky for me, Blurb no longer requires the dreadfully buggy Booksmart software, but instead offers a plugin for the more powerful Adobe InDesign. I was also pleasantly surprised by the company’s decision to finally offer digital PDF prints of all our travel albums, alleviating my fear of a potential house fire that will engulf my entire scapbook collection. The other program I taught myself to use, thanks to a free Udemy course, is Native Instrument’s Traktor Pro. The software gave even a novice like me the chance to mix music like a DJ, and imagine an alternate life as Funkmaster-G. At least that was what my mind was thinking of during the 8-hour training session for our new EMR system last weekend that nearly killed me with boredom. To recover, I treated myself to a few meals out, thanks to a Restaurant.com gift certificate and a trip to Duke Raleigh Hospital for my ID badge and parking pass. Sadly, the lamb biryani at Dales’ seemed flavored mostly with ketchup (what did I expect from an Indian restaurant named Dales’?). Fortunately, the seafood soondubu at Seoul Garden was full of fantastically fermented flavors, enticing me to future trips down to the state capital for future foodie ventures. My planning for Melody’s upcoming visit has begun!

ARVO’s decision to move its annual meeting away from Florida this year gave me the chance to visit Seattle for the very first time. Eric and I took off after work last Thursday to arrive just before midnight to check in to the W hotel. Our flight and 2 nights of hotel were generously paid for by Thrombogenics, who also sponsored the day-long Retina Summit meeting that featured among a number of engaging talks a lavishly catered lunch of steak frites and steamed mussels. For dinner I went to Tom Douglas’ Dahlia Lounge for delectable dungeoness crab cakes, although I was miffed to miss the free meal that Allergan was sponsoring in the same restaurant that night. On Saturday, I took a morning stroll with some Cleveland Clinic folks to Pike Place Market, where we snacked on Beecher’s mac n’ cheese and Daily Dozen doughnuts while watching tourists lined up at the original Starbuck’s and fish thrown at the Fish Market. Miri joined me in the afternoon at the EMP Museum. There, we perused Nirvana and Jimmy Hendrix exhibits, watched the Thriller music video in the Sky Church, mixed tracks of Sweet Dreams in the Sound Lab, and immersed ourselves in the worlds of Sci Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and Video Games. Too tired afterwards for Chihuly Garden & Glass, we took the monorail back in time for me to drag my luggage to the much cheaper hotel we booked for the unsponsored remainder of the trip. We joined one of our attendings for dinner at Taylor’s Shellfish, then stopped briefly at another Thrombogenics event before meeting my MEEI co-residents over late night drinks. I awoke Sunday to free fresh waffles at our hotel before taking in day one of the conference, stopping briefly to revisit Dahlia Lounge for donuts and eggs benedict with Keith from college, and ending with dinner and drinks at the Harvard reception at the Four Seasons. On Monday, I grabbed a quick lunch with my mentor from BIDMC, then rushed back to present my data for an AREDS2 trial sub-study. A potential collaboration gave me a free pass to the swanky SERI gala at the Hyatt that evening. On the way back to the hotel, I received another text message which led me to the W hotel bar again to mingle with more fellows. By Tuesday, our nightly outings had taken its toll on me. I left the meeting early, passed by Pike Place Market for a piroshky, then returned for a hotel nap to re-energize for a Genentech-sponsored steak dinner. I passed on breakfast the next morning to get my pho-fix en route to the conference center. There, I met my friend Sush for coffee, and got convinced to hike out to Fremont for the famed Caribbean Roast sandwich from Paseo. Fortunate to have found a friend to share a cab there, I returned happy and full, with just enough room to enjoy a second dinner with the DARSI lab at Palace Kitchen. My last day in Seattle was a mad dash from my morning poster session to Bellevue for hearty soup dumplings and noodles at Din Tai Fung with three other retina MD-PhDs, then straight to the airport afterwards to catch my flight home. Arriving at RDU after midnight, I shared a shuttle back to the Eye Center to review charts and pick up my car, which made the following OR day rather painful. But between the beautiful sunshine, the culinary adventures, and multitude of learning experiences, this trip has landed Seattle among my favorite cities in the U.S.

It was no more than a week after the devastating Boston Marathon bombings that misfortune unexpectedly descended upon me as well. I was programming my GPS on my way to pick up my co-fellows to attend a meeting last Saturday when I struck the rear of a Ford Expedition, just minutes away from my apartment. While the other vehicle was unscathed, the front bumper and hood of my poor Accord was completely smashed in. Although everyone was okay, I was taught a good lesson that driving does not mix well with multi-tasking. To avoid the potential half-hour walk while on call, I had to urgently trade away my call week. Cooking with the scant groceries I had in my fridge was challenging also, although our incoming co-fellow’s weekend visit gave me a chance to supplement with some enchiladas. Fortunately, living next door to Eric gave me the ability to bum rides to work while the car was in the shop. Meanwhile, the second monitor I splurged on (before the accident) was finally delivered this week. Learning how to use the extra screen space does take a little getting used to. I also had to adopt new dual screen wallpapers to accommodate the wider aspect ratio. However, I’m sure this dual screen luxury will soon be just another thing I can’t live without.

With the boards out of the way, I was able to visit my wife in Sacrmento for a second time. More importantly, this trip was to be my first meeting with the folks at UC Davis with whom I hope to work with next year. Despite having my flight paid for, the need to make a good first impression added a bit of stress to the otherwise relaxing visit. I arrived in Sac Town Thursday after work to enjoy nostalgic late-night Canto seafood at New Hong Kong Wok. The next morning, we walked to Melody’s office, located conveniently across the hall from the eye clinic where I met with the retina division chief for a tour and lunch. We enjoyed the scent of spring along the path home before heading out again for dinner at Taylor’s Kitchen, which we burned away afterwards with some indoor dancing. On Saturday, we solicited departmental gossip from my ex-co-resident over ramen, then headed to dinner with the chairman and retina faculty over home-cooked halibut and lasagna. The friendly company and pleasant conversations helped me relax and raised hope for a potential academic job opportunity for me at the same institution as my wife. With the formalities out of the way, we spent my last day with a food tour from Local Roots, using up our gift certificate from Melody’s co-workers from Boston. After chowing down banh cuon to warm up, we met the tour guide in the afternoon for the 3-mile hike around East Sacramento. Along the way, we munched on Thai noodle salad from the Paragary’s Cafe Bernardo, iced coffee and scones from Coffee Works, margherita pizza from La Trattoria Bohemie, ice-cream from La Bombe, and tacos de carnitas from Centro. The culinary experience kept me well-nourished for my red-eye flight back home, just in time for Monday clinic.

The final weeks before the written board exam has been brutal. I was getting so deprived of sleep that I had to switch from ‘timed’ to ‘untimed’ mode on OphthoQuestions to avoid getting penalized for dozing off while doing question sets. Meanwhile, a few final touches for my research manuscript necessitated some creative coordination for last-minute meetings with my mentors – including one that took place during commercial breaks for the Duke-Creighton game preceding our team’s entry into the Sweet Sixteen. Between my usual pre-exam insomnia and the NCAA finals tournament, I was left with only 3 hours of sleep which definitely compromised my math and reasoning skills, but luckily, spared my recall center for esoteric facts. The 5-hour test felt shorter than previous standardized exams I’ve taken. Afterwards, I returned to Pho Far East for a bowl of hot, steamy celebration, then shopped at nearby Belk for a new sports coat. Sadly, since none of my co-fellows were up for going out tonight, I’ve decided to kick back with another episode of Game of Thrones, as I addictively immersed myself in the tumultuous struggles between the Starks, Lanisters, and Targaryens.