This year’s NCSEPS and NCRC meetings were both held in Asheville, which gave me an excuse to get out of town for the weekend. I headed out after OR on Friday, arriving just in time for the Retina Club dinner at Curate, where the salt cod puree and fried eggplant were still as good as I remembered. The constant drizzle on Saturday thwarted my hiking plans. So after presenting my poster in the morning, I returned to explore downtown, filling on dahi sev papdi and samosa chaat at Chai Pani, lamb gyro and fish tacos at the White Duck Taco Shop, and a big mug of oaxaca from the French Broad Chocolate Lounge. I took an afternoon nap in the car for a couple of hours amidst the downpour, then awoke to notice a newly-opened pinball museum nearby. Intrigued, I paid the $10 admission and spent another 2 hours reliving childhood memories of my favorite coin arcade pastime (mainly because I lacked the button-mashing skills for Street Fighter). The collection ranged from retro machines dating back to the 1950s to fancier ones from the 1990s like the Addams Family and Simpsons games which I so fondly remember. The weather recovered beautifully on Sunday, which made for a pleasant morning drive to Looking Glass Falls before I returned to the meeting to pick up a first-place award for the poster competition. I planned the drive back home along scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, stopping first at Mt Mitchell, the tallest peak of the Appalachians and highest point east of the Mississippi River. The observation tower at the summit offered awesome panoramas, while the Balsam Nature Trail provided macro shots of moss and ferns. Sadly, I had to abandon the other stops from my itinerary due to bad internet directions leading me astray for 3 hours along tortuous downhill US-50. I consoled myself with a bowl of pho from Vanloi 2 in Greensboro on the way back home. Despite missing out on the other waterfalls, my time with mother nature helped revitalize me for a busy OR at the VA tomorrow.

Thanks again to Slickdeals, I ended a 2-year affair with my Android-enabled Nook Color and welcomed the new Microsoft Surface RT into my life. The $200 refurbished deal which included the touch cover was too good to pass up, especially since I was able to unload the old Nook on Craigslist for a good price also. My first week with the tablet has been a positive experience, with native support for Skydrive and Office 2013, which will also include Outlook with the new 8.1 upgrade due later this year. The app store is somewhat meager, but does include some good ones like Netflix, Zinio, Skype, and recently, Plex. This program provides a beautiful media front end with a 10-foot user interface along with a back end media server on my PC, which will likely replace PlayOn and PS3 Media Server. My only gripe with Windows RT is with the absence of Google integration (for obvious reasons) such as Chrome, Maps, and Drive. Fortunately, my weekend call has been quiet, and gave me a chance to play around with the new toy, and even kick back with my co-fellows for Friday night dinner. I’ll give it a few weeks to see how well it works, then decide to either keep it or flip it for a profit.

After being out of town for 3 weekends in a row, I was relieved to be home for Labor Day – a welcomed break for me to finally get some work done. After cooking up a big pot of Spam soup, I spent most of the weekend indoors. By the end of the 3-day weekend, I had completed a book chapter, a case report manuscript, 3 weeks of laundry, and the critically-acclaimed indie game Gone Home, which I played from start to finish in just two sittings. The interactive story-telling game was reminiscent of classic games from the 90’s like Myst and the 7th Guest, and featured magnificent voice-acting and period details transporting the player back to … incidentally … the 90’s. I also made better use of our swimming pool as well as my living room TV, which had been gathering dust since I bought the thing last fall. I fired up the PS3, logged onto Netflix, and added several new TV shows to watch including Arrested Development and Continuum, a Canadian science fiction series that successfully combines the best elements of sci-fi cult classics – dystopian future, time travel, and beautiful women in skin tight body suits. A weekend that is both productive and relaxing is just so satisfying.

It’s been nearly 25 years since I last visited Toronto, and this year’s ASRS meeting gave me a chance to return to the bustling Canadian metropolis. Getting there was no piece of cake, however, as our frugality required us to fly into Buffalo first, followed by a 2 hour car ride across the border. The Five Guys burger from the airport did not hold me over adequately, leaving me hungry and exhausted by the time I arrived at the hotel at 3 am. On Saturday morning, I walked to North America’s largest Chinatown for toasty pineapple buns and a bowl of pho bo kho before returning to the meeting. The conference itself turned out to be one of those events where one spends more time socializing than actually attending the talks. By the time I made it through the sea of my retina colleagues, the day was nearly adjourned. We walked to the dinner reception at Canada’s well-loved Hockey Hall of Fame, and snacked on small plates while mingling beside the Stanley Cup. The food certainly did not compare to the fancy culinary spread atop the CN Tower sponsored by Genentech on Sunday evening. With 360 degree views of the Toronto skyline as the backdrop, we stuffed ourselves with Caribbean jerk chicken, Indian biryani, Chinese dim sum, and Italian lasagna. The night ended with a Mexican party at a bar called the Bier Markt, which aside from the absurdity of the concept, left us memorable photos that will no doubt make their way online some day. On Monday, we joined Regeneron reps to lunch at Canoe, considered one of Toronto’s finest restaurant with impressive city views. I returned to the meeting to present my poster, then joined other fellows for the Vit Buckle Society dinner at swanky Brassaii sponsored by Synergetics. With my growing list of financial disclosures, I decided on Tuesday to sneak off by myself for lunch at Momofuku Noodle Bar. Here, my bar seat gave me a front row view to the creation of David Chang’s acclaimed pork buns (too fatty) and Momofuku ramen (good but overrated). Despite all the gastronomic adventures, the meeting itself was one of my busiest, with 3 case presentations, 2 interviews, and a research poster. The fear of international roaming costs also kept me tied to the hotel lobby, which added to the exhaustion. I shared the car ride back to Buffalo with my co-fellow and attending, stopping briefly for pictures at Niagara Falls and wings at the Buffalo airport before our flight back. After three consecutive weekends out of town, I was ready to finally unpack my bags.

There are many perks to becoming a second-year retina fellow. Having slaved away as first years to cover our seniors during interviews and meetings, we are now finally reaping the benefits of seniority. This weekend’s AVTT meeting in Chicago was an all-expense-paid educational experience for fellows. Beyond learning just new surgical technologies and techniques, there were also talks about contract negotiations, practice design, reimbursement changes, and the future of healthcare reform. The eye-opening discussion was not all doom and gloom, as it gave us a chance to network with the experts and mingle with old friends. The central location of our hotel also gave us opportunities to sample dining and nightlife in downtown Chicago. Despite our late arrival on Thursday, Eric and I scored 10pm reservations at Girl and the Goat, where Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard’s creative menu wowed us with plates like pig face and a goat belly confit. Unfortunately, the Friday night wait for Rick Bayless’ flagship restaurant was more than 2 hours, so we went next door to his more casual counterpart for some mediocre tortas and churros. The wait at Giordano’s on Saturday night was no better, and even Chicago’s famous deep-dish pizza did not impress me enough to consider a return visit. After dinner, I met up with some friends for drinks at Crimson Lounge, then bribed our way into the Roof lounge – considered one of the top 3 rooftop lounges in the world by Travel & Leisure – for house music and people watching. By the time I got home, there was little need to unpack, since I will be heading out again for ASRS in just a few short days.

I returned to Sacramento this past weekend, not only to visit Melody, but also for my first job interview at Retinal Consultants. Although it took time away from my wife, my plane tickets were covered, and the prospect of landing a position in Sacramento was well worth the sacrifice. I spent Friday observing the practice in both their clinic and OR, concluding with a lavish dinner with the partners at Ella. The harrowing day-long experience showed me how efficiently private practices are run, and how some doctors manage to see more than a hundred clinic patients or do more than 10 VR surgeries in a day. The group continued their welcome on Saturday over dim sum for lunch, followed by a barbeque with spouses and children at the managing partner’s house in Arden Park. Overall, I was impressed by the partners’ collegiality and the extent to which they enjoyed family life, not to mention the potential for big bucks. On Sunday, after filling on banh cuon, we spent the lazy afternoon hanging with the rats, munching on macarons, watching Game of Thrones, and feeding spiders to the praying mantis in the backyard. In the evening, we celebrated my sister-in-law’s birthday over HK seafood, followed by late night sweets at Rick’s Dessert Diner. Once again, the weekend trip felt way too short. But with two more weekend trips ahead, I won’t have to worry about feeling lonely.

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!