It's been a while, guys. Finally found some time to update, let's catch up, shall we?
Hot and sticky, humid like no other in Taiwan.
Started off today with a cool breakfast, with cold soymilk and some congee. Went outside, and realized something. Motorcycles. Tons and tons of motorcycles. So many motorcycles and mopeds that I thought Aarthi was here in Taiwan too...joking. Anyway, first stop, the National Theatre and Concert Hall. Huge decorated buildings that have elaborate interior designs. The next show that was going to come next to the Theatre was Bizet's Carmen, but alas, no time to watch. We kept moving, and soon came upon Freedom Square and the monument devoted to Jiang Jieshi. Impressive, to say the least. Now that we're all tired, and as hot and sticky as the weather, we needed some stuff to cool down: nothing quite as good at cooling you down as a red bean iced milk drink, eh? The next stop was the Executive Building, which is where all the government processes occur. Granted, we only got to get within like 50 yards of the place, as there were still armed guards and sentries all around the building: government is still in session or whatnot.
Another thing I noticed: masks. A lot of people were wearing masks, but not as many as I thought. Many of them actually said that it was to protect against air pollution, and not swine flu. The swine flu protection offered by the mask was actually more of a side bonus. This was actually pretty surprising for me, since I thought the H1N1 scare was pretty big in Asia.
Before continuing, it was about time for lunch, but I wasn't really in the mood for a hot lunch. What did I end up getting? The most incredible, amazing thing ever to have been invented: Mango Cream Shaved Ice. Taiwan is known for its shaved ice, and I am now a believer. Pieces of fresh Mango, Tapioca Jellies, a heaping portion of shaved ice, and a dash of condensed milk to splash on top. Delectable is an understatement.
Next stop: Yangmingshan National Park. This is where we got to see some great scenery, some monument dedicated to scholars, and a big clock made of flowers. Unfortunately for me, I didn't get to enjoy the hot springs as we originally planned. When we were on our descent from the mountain on our way to the hot spring bathhouse, it started raining, which quickly turned to pouring...Goodbye hot spring bath. Oh well, maybe next time, eh?
Hopping on the bus, paying a fare equalling a little less than 50 US cents, we arrived at the Shilin Night Market, renown for Stinky Tofu, and other cuisine. Needless to say, we loaded up on food, and Stinky Tofu is actually pretty tasty...just don't smell it, it smells somewhat of a combination between salty fish and rotten eggs, can't quite describe it. Called it a night after finishing up dinner, in preparation of the next day.
And just to pique you guys' appetites, pictures!
Red Bean Ice: http://d2.biggestmenu.com/00/00/ab/d2a729b6b6c7b441_m.jpg
Mango Shaved Ice: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1156/727948067_2a89e67352.jpg
Spicy Stinky Tofu: http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/cinzia326/stinkytofu.jpg?t=1245507442
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Traveller's Update 6/15/09
Woke up pretty early actually, I wasn’t about to miss the Lakers win the Championship! (After all, it may be 8pm EST, but we are in fact in Taiwan means I get to watch it at 8 in the morning!) So after I saw Kobe get his number four, I went down out of the hotel and searched for breakfast. First thing that hits you is the humidity, I felt like I was drenched in sweat and sticky within 5 minutes of walking outside. Luckily, Taiwan has tons of little booths of people selling various breakfast items; I end up buying a 6 meat buns and 2 fried crullers, as well as two cups of soymilk, to share with my sister. The food is amazing, as well as cheap…can’t complain there.
After finishing up breakfast, the family got together and went to explore Taiwan. First thing we do, is ride a taxi to the nearest subway station. The subways are extremely organized, and perfect for managing the heavy levels of pedestrian traffic when it comes to the school and work rush. We jump on, and ride a few single-ride tokens, and scan them to get into the platforms, and after riding the subway, threw in the token to exit.
First stop, Taipei 101, the world’s tallest observatory. The weather wasn’t exactly cooperative, being rainy and somewhat foggy, but the view was still amazing nonetheless. The building itself broke like 15 different world records, a few of them being: world’s tallest completed building, world’s tallest occupied floor, world’s fastest elevator, and world’s biggest wind damper, impressive indeed. In addition, the first 5 floors of the building were all huge shops for everything imaginable. I later found out that the other floors were used mainly for offices, or structural integrity. They have little commemorative dolls that were based off the big wind damper that helps keep the building stable: they were called Damper Babies. There were a total of four of them, each of them having representative trait that goes with them. Lucky for me, I forgot what the black one stood for already, but the other three were: Rich Gold, Lucky Red, and Smart Silver. Fancy that, huh? After going through the entire tower and eating a VERY big, and delicious lunch (man, I’m loving the food) consisting of a lot of those little soup buns that are steamed in those little wicker baskets, we head off to the next destination!
Next stop, the National Palace Museum! This place has a lot of huge historical archives of different ancient Chinese relics. The story behind the place itself, is that when Jiang Jieshi moved the Nationalist party from China to Taiwan, they had taken a large amount of various treasures from the Forbidden City in Beijing before taking off. There were paintings, scriptures, calligraphy, ceramics, you name it. You think it looks good, it’s here. The three of the most impressive works of craftsmanship that I’ve ever seen was also exhibited here. The first one was an imperial gift given in dynastic times; a ball of complete ivory, but carved completely so that there were two more free-rotating balls within the biggest ball of ivory. The second and third works of art are very famous for the National Palace Museum, considered national treasures. The two are a set, both are jade works of art, and crafted to look like a bunch of bok choy, and a piece of seasoned pork. Yummy enough to eat, no?
Last stop for today was at Jiang Jieshi’s private residence. A lot of the place was actually still under renovations, so we couldn’t see the entire estate. However, there were plenty of sites to see even in the portions that we were allowed to wander around. There were literally thousands of roses in the rose garden, a huge tropical like theme, and just huge estates and offices. Hey, if you’re gonna live, you gotta live in style...Jiang Jieshi, knew style.
Oh, and pictures for those who want to see what I'm seeing:
DAMPER BABIES: http://www.chinanews.com.cn/tw/dnjw/news/2008/05-07/U124P4T8D1242159F107DT20080507153415.jpg
IVORY BALL: http://images.johnsontuma.com/jtimg/thailand/ivory-ball.jpg
JADE BOK CHOY: http://images.johnsontuma.com/jtimg/thailand/cabbage.jpg
MMM, PORKY STONE: http://images.johnsontuma.com/jtimg/thailand/stone-meat.jpg
Monday, March 9, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Thursday, December 25, 2008
A dib of confusion, a dab of concern
One of the most common phrases here around this time of year is easily: "Merry Christmas!" But honestly, what is so merry about it? The gifts? The people? The parties? What I'm asking is, when everything is boiled down and distilled away, is the holiday spirit?
When I was little, the holiday spirit was waking up to find a new video game or toy underneath the Christmas tree, and not being able to put that down for the next week. Soon after that, it was finding the next cool electronic gizmo that had appeared on the market, and thanking my parents or whoever got me such a gift. Now that I'm nearing the end of my teenage years, I feel like I've lost that intangible factor that makes the holidays that much more enjoyable. We used to pull out the good old Christmas tree and spend an entire day with Mom, Dad, and Grace decorating said tree. We used to put lights on the outside of our house. We used to have the grandparents over for the holidays.
None of that is true for this Christmas. Dad and Grace are enjoying the warmer climate of Cancun, whereas Mom and I are not so fortunate due to expired passports. Although the aspect of not being able to go to Cancun supposedly would dampen one's spirits, I don't think that's the main reason of this reflection.
A close friend of mine told me, "The holidays allow people to be fat and lazy, outside of their normal schedules." I believe her, as it would make perfect sense, and many of my friends have now adapted their new sleep schedule, which designates the time between 5AM to 2PM as bedtime. I, however, have not done the same. I don't know whether it is that I am unable to do so, or merely that I don't want to adopt said regimen. To match what my friend said, I am somehow unable to be fat nor lazy. Now fat can be understood given my metabolic circumstances, but lazy? I find myself wide awake around 9AM, doing random menial tasks for Mom before just sitting in front of my piano, figuring out the next song on my list of songs to play by ear. Is this the holiday spirit? I don't think so.
Who can say, "No" to 1.5 hours of shovelling 6-8 inches of snow and ice...while it is pouring? It's that "ray of sunshine" that is perfect for starting off one's cheery day, right? Another one of my friends said that she HAS to get out of Michigan, hopefully sooner and not later. The weather is indeed a downer. Don't get me wrong, I love snow, but the snow is slushy, the roads are just sloppy and muddy, not to mention dangerous-on my way to a friend's house that is 10minutes away, I managed to see 3 people spin out, including one spin out into the middle of the intersection. Is that the holiday spirit? I don't believe so.
Then again, I've been mentally, physically, and emotional exhausted by a difficult 3rd semester of college. Granted, I'm not even halfway through my of college experience, and if I aspire to be a doctor, I'm far from done with my educational journey. It just seems that I live to work to live; a vicious cycle that will carry me throughout my adult life and until I eventually retire. The breaks we get for the holidays, I feel are just a method of giving me a small hiatus before I jump right into another semester of difficult classes, and the occasional sleepless night filled with homework, Ramen and Full Throttle and/or Powerade. Is this the holiday spirit? I don't know, really.
So after some thought, I'm completely baffled on why we celebrate Christmas, or any other holiday. I mean, I understand the whole biblical references of Christmas (in which most people don't celebrate Christmas for), and how other holidays have similar historical references and stories; the issue I'm concerned about, is have we lost the true meaning of these holidays? I, for one, am a little downed by this.
Do enlighten me.
When I was little, the holiday spirit was waking up to find a new video game or toy underneath the Christmas tree, and not being able to put that down for the next week. Soon after that, it was finding the next cool electronic gizmo that had appeared on the market, and thanking my parents or whoever got me such a gift. Now that I'm nearing the end of my teenage years, I feel like I've lost that intangible factor that makes the holidays that much more enjoyable. We used to pull out the good old Christmas tree and spend an entire day with Mom, Dad, and Grace decorating said tree. We used to put lights on the outside of our house. We used to have the grandparents over for the holidays.
None of that is true for this Christmas. Dad and Grace are enjoying the warmer climate of Cancun, whereas Mom and I are not so fortunate due to expired passports. Although the aspect of not being able to go to Cancun supposedly would dampen one's spirits, I don't think that's the main reason of this reflection.
A close friend of mine told me, "The holidays allow people to be fat and lazy, outside of their normal schedules." I believe her, as it would make perfect sense, and many of my friends have now adapted their new sleep schedule, which designates the time between 5AM to 2PM as bedtime. I, however, have not done the same. I don't know whether it is that I am unable to do so, or merely that I don't want to adopt said regimen. To match what my friend said, I am somehow unable to be fat nor lazy. Now fat can be understood given my metabolic circumstances, but lazy? I find myself wide awake around 9AM, doing random menial tasks for Mom before just sitting in front of my piano, figuring out the next song on my list of songs to play by ear. Is this the holiday spirit? I don't think so.
Who can say, "No" to 1.5 hours of shovelling 6-8 inches of snow and ice...while it is pouring? It's that "ray of sunshine" that is perfect for starting off one's cheery day, right? Another one of my friends said that she HAS to get out of Michigan, hopefully sooner and not later. The weather is indeed a downer. Don't get me wrong, I love snow, but the snow is slushy, the roads are just sloppy and muddy, not to mention dangerous-on my way to a friend's house that is 10minutes away, I managed to see 3 people spin out, including one spin out into the middle of the intersection. Is that the holiday spirit? I don't believe so.
Then again, I've been mentally, physically, and emotional exhausted by a difficult 3rd semester of college. Granted, I'm not even halfway through my of college experience, and if I aspire to be a doctor, I'm far from done with my educational journey. It just seems that I live to work to live; a vicious cycle that will carry me throughout my adult life and until I eventually retire. The breaks we get for the holidays, I feel are just a method of giving me a small hiatus before I jump right into another semester of difficult classes, and the occasional sleepless night filled with homework, Ramen and Full Throttle and/or Powerade. Is this the holiday spirit? I don't know, really.
So after some thought, I'm completely baffled on why we celebrate Christmas, or any other holiday. I mean, I understand the whole biblical references of Christmas (in which most people don't celebrate Christmas for), and how other holidays have similar historical references and stories; the issue I'm concerned about, is have we lost the true meaning of these holidays? I, for one, am a little downed by this.
Do enlighten me.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Injuries, Ineffective, Inefficient.
For the people who haven't seen me for the past 2 weeks, you probably wouldn't know that first I rolled, sprained and bruised my left ankle, and as a follow-up, I broke my left ring finger. All during flag football. Damn, I'm cool. Basically, current conditions would put me at a near full ankle recovery, but, the broken finger? Yeah, that'll be a while. I'm in a finger cast and it's pretty handy, and keeps all pressure off that finger.
Let's see all the steps I took to get to where I am now:
I made a tackle on J-Chuk, and realize I jammed my finger. Of course, the adrenaline was pumping so it didn't hurt or feel that bad, I just know I "jammed" it. Then when I look at my finger, the tip (before your first knuckle) of my left ring finger was crooked. I mean like 45 degrees crooked. Now that's a injury.
Jeremy got me to call up EST (Emergency Services Team) with his phone, and they came to the field where we were playing in about 15 minutes. So EST asked me a whole bunch of useless questions that didn't actually address my problem: a broken finger. Instead, they asked me if I had headaches, if I was dizzy, if I was bleeding anywhere else, where clearly, I waved my broken finger in front of them. "It's their job, they're supposed to check everything, Steve." Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's also called ineffective.
What amused me was that the police also came with EST, but he didnt' really help "assure the public" or "provide safety." Instead, he provided the light from his flashlight for everyone to properly look at my finger, and adds the extremely helpful comment of "That's cool. Did you make the tackle?" when I tell EST how I got my injury. Of course, EST doesn't do anything because "they don't want to splint my finger since it's bent and we don't want to move it. Take it to Barnes-Jewish." Jerry then drives me to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital ER where a guy standing at the registration desk, also asks what the problem was. I show him my finger, and he goes, "Cool." Deja vu, eh?
I get all settled in, and so when they do see me, the radiologist first takes some x-rays, and then tells me to wait for an attending doctor to see me. The attending looks at my finger, and says that it should just be a tendon mis-shift, where it should just heal on it's own with a splint. Wait, a splint? Isn't that what EST DIDN'T want to do? Whatever. So the attending puts me in a short finger splint that keeps my sore joint and finger stabilized. She goes to check the x-rays. 10 minutes later, the attending returns, and tells me that the radiologist thinks she found a fracture, so I could very well need HAND SURGERY...Baller. So the attending leaves again, and says that she'll send a hand specialist to check. 15 minutes later, the hand specialist comes and tells me that she's leaning towards a fracture, but they're not sure since it could fall either way...woohoo, I could be a specialist too if I were that indecisive. And then she leaves to go check on the x-rays one last time, and 15 more minutes later, the hand specialist returns, takes off the short finger splint, puts my finger in a longer finger splint, and she tells me that yes, it is a fracture, and that I'll need to go see a plastic surgeon...yay Nip-Tuck...I mean what?
I go to the department of plastic surgery at Barnes-Jewish (this is a few days later with the long finger splint) at the ungodly hour of 8AM, and I was received pretty quickly (since I'm the first appointment, duh). They sent me to take some more x-rays and back to see Dr. Sammer, the hand surgeon. Dr. Sammer is a pretty chillax guy, he knows what he's doing and told me everything I needed to know and more. He takes off the long finger splint, and gives me a much more fashionable, short finger splint that looks like a thimble gone very wrong..awesome. Basically, my oblique fracture could very well heal on it's own in a splint, but if the bone starts sliding more and more out of place, then I get the baller hand surgery. From what I'm looking at, my finger will stay just a little crooked, not very noticeable unless you know where to look. Oh, and to cap off the visit, Jerry and I pulled the ultimate hobo-move, where the parking for our visit was 3 dollars, but I had 2 dollars, and Jerry had 69 cents. No credit or debit allowed. Woohoo. We tell the parking cashier lady: "Sorry ma'am, but we don't have $3.00. We have $2.69." Man, she was probably dying inside, but she let us through. Great Success!
As a side note, when I took a peek at my own x-rays, there was NOTHING inconclusive about my x-rays. On the complete side x-ray of my ring finger, there was an obvious oblique (diagonal) fracture that was slightly displaced (the bone isn't lined up quite right). Hmm...the ER needed 10 people to tell me that my finger was broken...or not...or yes. Now that, is inefficient.
Let's see all the steps I took to get to where I am now:
I made a tackle on J-Chuk, and realize I jammed my finger. Of course, the adrenaline was pumping so it didn't hurt or feel that bad, I just know I "jammed" it. Then when I look at my finger, the tip (before your first knuckle) of my left ring finger was crooked. I mean like 45 degrees crooked. Now that's a injury.
Jeremy got me to call up EST (Emergency Services Team) with his phone, and they came to the field where we were playing in about 15 minutes. So EST asked me a whole bunch of useless questions that didn't actually address my problem: a broken finger. Instead, they asked me if I had headaches, if I was dizzy, if I was bleeding anywhere else, where clearly, I waved my broken finger in front of them. "It's their job, they're supposed to check everything, Steve." Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's also called ineffective.
What amused me was that the police also came with EST, but he didnt' really help "assure the public" or "provide safety." Instead, he provided the light from his flashlight for everyone to properly look at my finger, and adds the extremely helpful comment of "That's cool. Did you make the tackle?" when I tell EST how I got my injury. Of course, EST doesn't do anything because "they don't want to splint my finger since it's bent and we don't want to move it. Take it to Barnes-Jewish." Jerry then drives me to the Barnes-Jewish Hospital ER where a guy standing at the registration desk, also asks what the problem was. I show him my finger, and he goes, "Cool." Deja vu, eh?
I get all settled in, and so when they do see me, the radiologist first takes some x-rays, and then tells me to wait for an attending doctor to see me. The attending looks at my finger, and says that it should just be a tendon mis-shift, where it should just heal on it's own with a splint. Wait, a splint? Isn't that what EST DIDN'T want to do? Whatever. So the attending puts me in a short finger splint that keeps my sore joint and finger stabilized. She goes to check the x-rays. 10 minutes later, the attending returns, and tells me that the radiologist thinks she found a fracture, so I could very well need HAND SURGERY...Baller. So the attending leaves again, and says that she'll send a hand specialist to check. 15 minutes later, the hand specialist comes and tells me that she's leaning towards a fracture, but they're not sure since it could fall either way...woohoo, I could be a specialist too if I were that indecisive. And then she leaves to go check on the x-rays one last time, and 15 more minutes later, the hand specialist returns, takes off the short finger splint, puts my finger in a longer finger splint, and she tells me that yes, it is a fracture, and that I'll need to go see a plastic surgeon...yay Nip-Tuck...I mean what?
I go to the department of plastic surgery at Barnes-Jewish (this is a few days later with the long finger splint) at the ungodly hour of 8AM, and I was received pretty quickly (since I'm the first appointment, duh). They sent me to take some more x-rays and back to see Dr. Sammer, the hand surgeon. Dr. Sammer is a pretty chillax guy, he knows what he's doing and told me everything I needed to know and more. He takes off the long finger splint, and gives me a much more fashionable, short finger splint that looks like a thimble gone very wrong..awesome. Basically, my oblique fracture could very well heal on it's own in a splint, but if the bone starts sliding more and more out of place, then I get the baller hand surgery. From what I'm looking at, my finger will stay just a little crooked, not very noticeable unless you know where to look. Oh, and to cap off the visit, Jerry and I pulled the ultimate hobo-move, where the parking for our visit was 3 dollars, but I had 2 dollars, and Jerry had 69 cents. No credit or debit allowed. Woohoo. We tell the parking cashier lady: "Sorry ma'am, but we don't have $3.00. We have $2.69." Man, she was probably dying inside, but she let us through. Great Success!
As a side note, when I took a peek at my own x-rays, there was NOTHING inconclusive about my x-rays. On the complete side x-ray of my ring finger, there was an obvious oblique (diagonal) fracture that was slightly displaced (the bone isn't lined up quite right). Hmm...the ER needed 10 people to tell me that my finger was broken...or not...or yes. Now that, is inefficient.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Summer thinking; define Sophomore.
While summer has slowly been ticking away for me, I've accomplished much, in and outside of the scientific lab. But now as the last week of summer is coming to an end, I've finally been able to take a breather and look back on how this summer went.
One, I've realized that the medical field is exactly where I fit in, where I do my best, and where I belong. Regardless of scientific research, or clinical practice, this is where I want to be. I want it, and I'm ready for the long haul.
Two, being able to catch up with all my old friends in Michigan has allowed me to realize, just how big one person's network can be, and just how small of a world this is. I've shared moments of joy, moments of sorrow, and moments that are just simply...unexplainable. Traverse City on the Fourth of July, watching those fireworks on the beach, reflecting into Lake Michigan...priceless. We'll need to take a road trip again sometime, for sure. To the guys, whether it's our talks about life, our seemingly endless number of games of basketball, or just hanging out, I wouldn't want it any other way. To the girls, you girls are crazy...the good kind. I'll miss the energy and excitement that you guys provide for any type of social gathering. To everyone, I can only hope you guys had as much fun as I did during this summer, it was indeed a blast.
Three, things sometimes don't work out the way you expect them to, but I've learned that fighting it head-on is not the only way to go. I've learned that most of the time, taking that step back, that deep breath, that first step towards calming down, and showing the initiative to talking things out gets the results you want, in a more effective, peaceful way. In the end, the problems solved will involve some compromise, but if you want it, you'll probably end up getting it.
I've grown over the summer. It's not the physically measurable pounds and inches, but rather the intuitive, the intangible, the abstract development of the mind. I've grown as a college undergraduate still yet to declare on a major. I've grown as a friend. Most importantly, I've grown as a person.
Now, moving on from the newbies on campus, the freshmen, I will be walking around campus as the next class of Sophomores. Now Sophomore most commonly means the "second year student in high school or college." However, upon further investigation, it also means "second effort, instance, or occurrence, etc." I'll definitely be that "second year student" at WashU, but this year also provides me many second chances that I will hopefully put to good use. Ironically, another obscure definition of sophomore is a three-year old horse...haven't found any connection that I could use to continue the comparison...oh well.
To be terse,
Sophomore year, I'm ready!
One, I've realized that the medical field is exactly where I fit in, where I do my best, and where I belong. Regardless of scientific research, or clinical practice, this is where I want to be. I want it, and I'm ready for the long haul.
Two, being able to catch up with all my old friends in Michigan has allowed me to realize, just how big one person's network can be, and just how small of a world this is. I've shared moments of joy, moments of sorrow, and moments that are just simply...unexplainable. Traverse City on the Fourth of July, watching those fireworks on the beach, reflecting into Lake Michigan...priceless. We'll need to take a road trip again sometime, for sure. To the guys, whether it's our talks about life, our seemingly endless number of games of basketball, or just hanging out, I wouldn't want it any other way. To the girls, you girls are crazy...the good kind. I'll miss the energy and excitement that you guys provide for any type of social gathering. To everyone, I can only hope you guys had as much fun as I did during this summer, it was indeed a blast.
Three, things sometimes don't work out the way you expect them to, but I've learned that fighting it head-on is not the only way to go. I've learned that most of the time, taking that step back, that deep breath, that first step towards calming down, and showing the initiative to talking things out gets the results you want, in a more effective, peaceful way. In the end, the problems solved will involve some compromise, but if you want it, you'll probably end up getting it.
I've grown over the summer. It's not the physically measurable pounds and inches, but rather the intuitive, the intangible, the abstract development of the mind. I've grown as a college undergraduate still yet to declare on a major. I've grown as a friend. Most importantly, I've grown as a person.
Now, moving on from the newbies on campus, the freshmen, I will be walking around campus as the next class of Sophomores. Now Sophomore most commonly means the "second year student in high school or college." However, upon further investigation, it also means "second effort, instance, or occurrence, etc." I'll definitely be that "second year student" at WashU, but this year also provides me many second chances that I will hopefully put to good use. Ironically, another obscure definition of sophomore is a three-year old horse...haven't found any connection that I could use to continue the comparison...oh well.
To be terse,
Sophomore year, I'm ready!
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