Have you ever tried to stalk someone with your favorite search engine, like Google? If you haven’t, be aware that there are people out there (but not me, of course) who might be googling you! I recently tried to assess my own “googlability”, and realized that my name is rare enough that searching it with quotes yields more than 70 hits that are all about me! It’s nice on Pubmed, where my publications all show up as a unique list. But it’s unsettling to think that you can learn so much about someone on the web. I guess that’s where having a name like John Smith can be a good thing. Before you do decide to google that new neighbor or co-worker, however, be aware there are things that you may not want to know. A quick search with my wife’s name would make me think that she was trying to kill me!

I finally went to Safeway this past week to stock up on food for my dorm room. My mini-excursion took longer than I expected, however, as it was tough coming up with a grocery list that didn’t require refrigeration. In fact, I was surprised that I left with more than $70 worth of stuff including canned soup, canned veggies, Spam, Tuna Helper & canned tuna, pasta and pasta sauce, peanut butter, jam, bread, and breakfast bars. I also bought apples and bananas, and a bunch of snackies like chips, nuts, and pudding =P. I even got some tomatoes and eggs which I kept semi-chilled in a bag I hung in front of the AC. Anyway, now that I’ve gotten in touch with an old labmate and college friend, I should have no trouble surviving the rest of my month here in Baltimore.

This Labor Day afforded me the opportunity for a weekend in NYC to escape the drudgery of my prison-styled dorm room and cafeteria food. Unfortunately, getting there was an adventure in itself. Being the cheap bum that I am, I had ordered tickets from a Chinatown bus company online. Little did I know that saving those extra bucks meant getting totally lost in the middle of nowhere just to find the bus stop. And when the bus finally arrived an hour late, the driver wouldn’t even let me on, saying there was a mix up. I ultimately had to shell out $20 to another bus company for the ride. Despite the fiasco, the weekend trip was definitely well worth it. On Saturday, we spent the afternoon window-shopping in Soho, followed by dinner in K-town with an old friend, and … dessert on the West side. We went to Coney Island on Sunday, mainly to buy yet another aquarium mug for Melody’s collection, but also for me to fill in that missing piece of my childhood, when I enviously watched my elementary school classmates chow down on original Nathan’s hot dogs and cheese fries during a field trip to the famous (but now ghetto) Astroland theme park. Unfortunately, it’s just another one of those things that I had always wanted as a kid, but now that I can actually afford it, it’s no longer the same.

My first week here in Baltimore has failed to meet even my already-low expectations. The interior of my dorm room is reminiscent of a prison, with its exposed cinder block walls, metal bed frame, vinyl mattress, and white sheets. It also didn’t help that my floor is single-sex with common showers like a men’s locker room. Meanwhile, my dining options have also been limited. On my first day here, the hospital cafeteria served sloppy joe. The following day, they had beef macaroni which looked suspiciously like sloppy joe with elbows. Since I still haven’t found a dorm fridge to buy, my diet so far has consisted mainly of Subway sandwiches. The main issue is that the hospital is surrounded by the most dangerous neighborhood in the city. I can’t even cross the street in any direction without risking my wallet or my life. On the bright side, the faculty and house officers here have all been great, and I’ve been learning tons. Nevertheless, I’ll definitely need to get out of the city for the upcoming long weekend.

Hours from now, I’ll be flying to Baltimore for an elective in Ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins. It’s been years since I’ve lived in a dorm, and packing for this trip has brought back some not-so-fond memories of leaving home for college or CTY. Beyond the basics like clothes and toiletry, I’ll also be bringing bed sheets, hangers, pots, and kitchen utensils. I’ve even got my own hot plate since there’re no stoves in the building. The most difficult part, however, will be spending a month away from my wife. Today, we went to the romantic 5-diamond restaurant L’Espalier for their prix fixe lunch menu before my flight out. Our meal started with field greens from their rooftop garden and a delectable chilled watermelon soup for appetizers. These were followed by a delicate pan-roasted trout and a divinely-rich pork belly confit. Desserts included a decadent chocolate cake and an expresso-flavored creme brulee, both of which were adequately pleasing. Unfortunately, I doubt this will hold me out for a month of cafeteria food. I’ll hopefully figure something out … or die of starvation.

If you haven’t seen Chow Yun Fat’s Hard-Boiled, you’re probably wondering why he would be carrying both a shotgun and a baby on the movie poster. Last night was my first time watching this movie, and I must admit that it was completely ridiculous, but totally AWESOME! For those of you who are not in the know, this film pretty much defined HK action cinema as a genre, and elevated John Woo’s slow-mo gunplay to a form of art. Forget the fact that their M92Fs can fire hundreds of rounds without reloading. Forget the crazy premise of an illegal arms cache behind the morgue. Does it really matter? The movie was a masterpiece of bad-ass action, down to the final scene when Chow Yun Fat swings out of a hospital as it burst into flames to rescue the last baby from the labor ward (even though the baby looks waaay too big for a newborn). Anyway, it was a perfect complement to our Pan-Asian food fest in NYC this past weekend, which started with steaming ramen from the food court at Mitsuwa marketplace in NJ, followed by cold dungeoness crab, abalone soup, and fried frog legs at Ping’s Seafood, and finished with lunch buffet at Brick Lane Curry House. Hmmm, I’m getting hungry just writing about it.

After all my hard work collaborating with different labs back in grad school, one of the projects finally got published (it’s about time)! Check out this article in the new issue of Neuron to learn how your mug gets mapped during development. In other news, my applications for residency in ophtho have finally been sent. The programs I applied to are some of the most competitive ones out there, so I can only keep my fingers crossed. With these out of the way and Melody almost done with her summer courses at HSPH, we were finally able to take a breather. Last week, we went to a free screening of Rush Hour 3. Sadly, Jackie Chan’s moves have become much less impressive with age, but Chris Tucker is still obnoxiously annoying. Since the night was young, we also hopped next door to The Simpsons Movie. Some of you may call us suckers for watching something you can get on TV, but watching those giant yellow faces on the big screen was really something else – especially since it’s free. 😉

This summer’s Restaurant Week once again left our wallets empty, but our bellies full and oh-so-happy. For the first time, we got reservations for lunch at Radius. The place was round as the name suggests, and blended ancient Greek decor with chic modern design. The food itself was just as imaginative. The cauliflower and yogurt soup was a cool idea for the summer swelter, but ultimately too sour and spicy for our palates. The chilled poached salmon was more to our liking, but the flavors were too complex. The dish that ultimately stole the show was the grilled swordfish entree, which was cooked to such a perfect consistency as to take swordfish-iness to a new level. We also enjoyed their creative desserts, pairing a mango-blueberry tart with hibiscus ice-cream and a pilon de chocolat with (of all things) fenugreek ice-cream. This year, we also revisited Icarus, where I took particular notice of their delicious crisp polenta appetizer, accompanied by braised veal breast, black truffles, and parmesan. The corn chowder was thin and bland, and the grilled leg of lamb was good but underwhelming. Yet, their richly decadent chocolate cake and delicately-flavored lemon buttermilk panna cotta were absolutely to die for. Anyway, for those of you who haven’t gone out yet, be thankful that the event is extended to next week as well.

Despite spending most of my last 12 months working with patients in hospitals, it’s been a long while since I’ve actually gotten sick. Who knew then, that on the eve before the last day of my Neuro Sub-I, that I would catch a cold – from a resident! With all the fatigue and muscle aches, I couldn’t even stay awake through Shakespeare on the Commons this year. The unique rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream combined multi-color, psychedelic fairies with the hilarious antics of Bottoms and his company, which made for a thoroughly enjoyable experience… for other people. Now, as I sit here with my brain toasting with a fever of 101.5, I think I’ll just stay in this weekend, and shoot some bunny rabbids – thanks to my friends at OTBmods. AAAAAAAAA!!!!!!.

If there were a movie that was made for us, it would be Ratatouille. Reason #1: it’s about food. And yes, we love food. Reason #2: it’s about a rat. And not just any rat, a rat with a morbidly obese brother. (Sound familiar?) Watching this movie last weekend brought back fond memories of our two furry little friends, and our common love for food. The film was extremely well done, funny and heart-warming, proving once again that Pixar sets the standard in 3D animation. For lunch, we checked out the Boston Chowderfest, part of the annual Harborfest festival. The chowdaa there, however, were clearly out-classed by those we tried in Newport 2 years ago. We nevertheless had fun collecting free samples and enjoying the beautiful weather. Otherwise, the rest of my summer break was spent tuning up the new computer and finally completing my photo album for London. A selection of the pics are now up on my travel page. Enjoy!