El Cajon Family Party: Day 2

Today is Day 2 of the family week long reunion extravaganza and again, I've got to say I'm very impressed with the caliber of the parties now!

The family hosts of today's party actually expanded their house to include a separate room which has a large dance floor, kitchen area, karaoke bar, and a pool table!! WOW!! That's crazy!

I don't know how our party is going to turn out but one thing is for sure, we have serious competition this year!

On a lighter note, it's amazing that all the "original" cousins came to the party today!! It was so nice seeing everyone! We aren't very lovey dovey but we all hugged/handshaked each other today (I hugged EVERYONE!). And as always, it's always nice to see baby Andrew!

I look horrible in this picture but I thought baby Andrew looked soooo cute so I wanted to post it! Doesn't he look like his a Korean baby??

 

Cousin Reunion! It's been like >5 yrs since the last time we've been all together like this! Ron (on the left) ALWAYS makes me feel so short!

This is Oscar and I getting our game face on for our family party we are about to host on Wednesday! Bring it on!!! 

Carmel Mountain Family Party: Day 1

My extended family has this long tradition of holding week long family parties. This is this year's schedule:

Sunday: Carmel Mountain Family
Monday: El Cajon Family
Tuesday: Carmel Mountain Family #2
Wednesday: My family
Thursday: Escondido Family
Friday: Out to dinner! (Treated by those who are not hosting a party at their house)
Saturday: Break
Sunday: Alpine Family

To launch off our week long family parties, we started yesterday, at our Uncle's house in Carmel Mountain.

There is a lot of competition among those who decide to host a party and participate in the week long party extravaganza. My family is a frequent participant in holding such parties, but it has been two years since we've last hosted. This year my parents decided to jump back into the game since both my brother and I graduated this year and my parents want to celebrate.

It has been a long time since I've last attended such parties because I've been in Berkeley for so long. However, since I'm home this year, I can go this time, and boy was I impressed!!

These parties are no long the same amateur parties I used to attend two years ago. The Carmel Mountain Family Party used to be ranked one of the worst of all the parties, but yesterday, it jump started our week with one of the most amazing display of food that far surpasses what I remember any of the family parties being capable of!! Honestly, there was so much food there that even if I sampled one bite of each dish I would be full already!

I also enjoyed getting reacquainted with some of my baby cousins! Those darn rug-rats are soooo cute!!

I can't wait to see what today holds!!

R.I.P. Dr. Evil

It's been about 2 months since we've been suspicious that our bunny, Dr. Evil, might have been infested with a tragic condition called "fly strike". We've been treating Dr. Evil but despite our efforts, he has left us today.

Dr. Evil, you will be missed.

Bad luck is Coming!

So I just booked this tour for my parents and the worse combination of numbers were generated:

Basically, it doesn't matter if you are Chinese or American, there is nothing good that can come out of 444 or 666!!

This is a sign!! I am doomed!! Maybe this is foreshadowing my imminent death by 30 (+/-) 5 yrs rule!!

If you don't hear from me for a while...you know what happened!!

Good bye beautiful world! It was nice knowing you and being alive....

(this is me waving goodbye)

Post Graduation: The Week After

Saturday May 19, 2012
On the night of my graduation, I safely transported everyone to Sacramento, where we met up with my Mom's friend for a late 9:00pm dinner. Keeping in mind that I am used to sleeping at 9pm...

The place my Mom's friend picked to eat that night actually ended up being really good! Although I was completely exhausted from my graduation fiasco and shuttling everyone around the whole day, I could barely enjoy the meal, but I was still coherent enough to recognize good Chinese food when I see it. After the dinner, we went back to my Mom's friend's house where we would be spending the night. So I shared a room AND an awkward conversation with my grandmother that night...

Grandmother: Amiee, now that you have graduated, I want you to focus on finding a good husband. Whatever happened to *insert ex-bf's name here*? Can you guys get back together?
Me: No.
Grandmother: Why not?
Me: I don't know. May be doesn't like me.
Grandmother: You know, I think he doesn't like you because you don't like RICE.
Me: RICE? really? HAHAHAHA....I don't think that's the problem, I don't think his parents or his grandmother likes me.
Grandmother: Oh...I think they don't like you because you smile too big, you have a big mouth, and that means you will eat your husband. Stop always laughing so BIG!
Me: What?? HAHAHAHA
Grandmother: I've always taught you to flash a small smile with no teeth showing when you smile at boys, like this. *demonstrates
Me: Ok, grandma...I don't think that's the core of the problem...
Grandmother: And you know, I don't think you are pretty enough. I always told you to groom yourself and look like a proper lady before you go anywhere. Use some make up once in a while.
Me: Ok...I'm going to sleep grandma...HAHAHA...
Grandmother: See, there you go with your big mouth again...always laughing....

Fast forwarding to.....

Monday May 21 2012

One of our cute little bunnies has broken both its hind legs. It's been dragging itself around with its front paws for a few weeks now. Since it seemed to have worsened, my brother and I have decided to investigate a bit on what might be causing his progressive paralysis. Upon inspection, without going into too many details, my brother and I found a nest of maggots (let's say in the 100's) around his rear area. My brother braved it all and dove right in with his bare hands to remove all of the maggots. With further investigation, we discovered the bunny was wounded by two fairly large thorns logged in "private" area. We removed all the maggots we could find and treated the area with hydrogen peroxide. We proceeded with daily maggot checks and hydrogen peroxide treatment, we even started to remove excess fur in the area to eliminate hiding spots for the maggots. It's been a few days now (Thursday May 24 2012) and we are happy to report that the bunny (Dr. Evil is his name) is doing much better! He's regained some function in his hind legs and his appetite has increased. Not too bad for two unlicensed wannabe vets huh?

Graduation: The Day Of

Saturday May 19, 2012
This is it! The day I've been waiting for for the last FOUR years of my life. GRADUATION! Boy was it a day to remember!


I woke up at 5am to get ready, pack up my stuff and get it into the car. My family and all my extended relatives arrived at 7:15am via Grayhound at the SF transbay terminal. I had to drive there to meet them so they can drop off their luggage in my car. I didn't have a lot of space in the car because I had so much of my stuff in there, but we did our best to cram as much stuff and people as we could in the Rav4. Most of the bigger/heavier suitcases fit, along with my two grandmothers and my uncle. The rest of my aunts, my parents and my brother took the BART and was going to meet us over at Berkeley.

I got over the bay bridge, parked the car, managed to help my grandmothers and uncle find the rest of my family and left them to be. I had to meet the rest of my class for class photos at 9am. I was able to snap a few photos with a couple of my friends before we were herded up to line up for graduation.

And just like that, the famous graduation song started, we all made our glorious strut through the crowd of proud parents, found our seats and the ceremony speeches started. Then the moment we have all been waiting for...our hooding to make our Doctor degree official. It is Berkeley tradition to appoint a faculty member to hood students, but it is also an option to have a personal hooder. I chose my father (or more like my mother chose him). After fumbling a little bit because my dad claimed the hood was "too slippery" I was finally hooded and I took my first steps as a Doctor across the stage to receive my gold cord (for being a Beta Sigma Kappa member) and my fake diploma. I was happy to have my dad take those first steps with me across the stage.

Immediately after the ceremony, all my relatives were apparently FAMISHED and were rushing me to return my gown so I can leave. I was rushed off and didn't even get to take any pictures with my classmates. I had to drive my grandmothers and my uncle down to Oakland downtown for Dim Sum while everyone else had to BART there to meet us. When we arrived, my grandmothers and my uncle started to eat right away while I had to walk around looking for everyone that took the BART. Once I found them, they were so tired, they asked me to carry all the luggage they have been lugging around (in my HEELS) while I lead them to the restaurant. I LOVE DIM SUM but I don't think there was an ounce of any desire in me to enjoy it that day. Once we got there, I had no appetite for food at all because I was feeling so upset about how graduation ended. I lost my one opportunity to take pictures with my classmates and I will probably never ever see them again! I didn't eat very much at all but no one realized this because everyone was so hungry they were just busily eating.

Once my parents footed the bill, my aunt asked me to take her to her friend's house claiming that it was really close and in Oakland. But when we gave me the address, I realized it was in San Francisco! So here we have the problem AGAIN, where there weren't enough seats in the car to take everyone, but we had to travel somewhere else FAR away from where we were. So of course, I drove my grandmothers and my aunt while my parents BARTed over to SF. Of course my GPS picked this very moment to malfunction and lead me to a route destined for San Jose. I had to call Liz, half yelling at her, trying to vent off my pent up frustration from this stressful day, and half trying to hide my hysteria. She helped me get back on the right track towards SF...but little did I know that there was MAJOR traffic on the bay bridge, which ended up taking TWO HOURS to cross.

I would like to share a glimpse of what being stuck in traffic with two grandmothers and an aunt was like:

Paternal Grandmother: This is 30th Street!
Me: Where??
Paternal Grandmother: There! *points to the sign
Me: Grandma! That says 30MPH! Not 30th Street!
***5 mins later...
Maternal Grandmother: Amiee! This is 30th Street!
Me: Grandma! I pointed this out 5 mins ago! That's 30 miles per hour!! Not 30th Street!

Aunt: Amiee, you are going the wrong way...
Me: I am?? How do you know?
Aunt: I don't know, it doesn't look right...
Me: Have you been here before?
Aunt: No, it just doesn't look right...

Maternal Grandmother: Wow, this is the most cars I've ever seen in my life! This must be the most cars in America! There can't be more cars than this anywhere else in the world! Why did you drive me here to look at this parking lot full of cars?
Me: Grandma...we are stuck in traffic! It's not a parking lot!
Maternal Grandmother: Wow, look at the cars, this is a really big parking lot....
Me: Grandma, did you hear me??

Maternal Grandmother: Amiee, are we there yet?
Me: No.
Maternal Grandmother: Wow, it's soo far, why is taking so long?
Me: Because we are stuck in traffic!
***10 mins later
Maternal Grandmother: Amiee, are we there yet?

Paternal Grandmother: Why are there so many cars trying to get into SF? It's almost 3:00pm, it's so late! So much of the day is gone! What could there possibly be for anyone to do in SF when it is sooo late?
Me: Grandma, people go into SF for the late night life, people will even drive into SF at 9:00pm!
Paternal Grandmother: What? That's crazy! There is nothing to do that late at night! And it is sooo dangerous at night! Amiee, don't ever go out after dark! Do you go out after dark???

Aunt: So, when are you going to get married?
Me: Not any time soon.
Aunt: You should find someone soon.
Me: Ok.
Aunt: So are planning on getting married soon?
Me: No plans.
Aunt: You should plan. Soon. Or better yet, now.

By the time I dropped off my aunt and grandmother, I rushed off to pick up my parents (which waited THREE hours at the civic center station). They stood in the same place and didn't move for the entire 3 hours because their cell phones ran out of batteries and they were afraid they would miss me if they left their spot. Needless to say, they were extremely happy to see me when I finally  made it there to pick them up. My parents collapsed onto their seats and I proceeded to drive them to Sacramento, which was where my grandmother requested to go because my great-grandfather is buried there.

So that is the story of my graduation fiasco.

Pre-Graduation: The Week Before

It's been a while since I've updated my blog, so let's begin from where I left off:

Friday May 11, 2012
 This was the last day of my clinical rotations at Arizona. My mind was preoccupied with thoughts of packing, cleaning, driving all the way back up to Berkeley and seeing all my classmates again after a whole long year of separation. It didn't even cross my mind that this was the last day I was going to see patients as a student until the tech, Velvet, at the Arizona clinic brought me my last patient and said to me: "Amiee, this is your last patient EVER as a student" and then it hit me like a brick wall.

I guess I should be feeling happy about finishing my clinical rotations and graduating, but I was actually overcome with sadness. I guess I was feeling sentimental about graduating and actually being a real doctor. I have become so comfortable as a student that I was very happy with where I was in my education. I wasn't ready to graduate and be on my own! That just sounds so scary! I never dealt with change very gracefully but I have to come to terms with the idea that graduation is coming and my days as a student are over. Desperately trying to hold back tears and not think about what changes graduation is going to bring into my life, I finished up the last free exam I will ever give to my last patient as a student at Casa Grande, Arizona. I packed up my things, returned my keys, waved good bye to my roommate, and ended my student chapter of my life by driving away. Now onto graduation at Berkeley...

Sunday May 13, 2012
I had to make one pit stop in Vandenberg AFB to see my attending doctors before I head back up to Berkeley for graduation. They PCS to Texas in June so that probably means I'll never see them again. They were my first attendings at my first out rotation so they had a pretty big impact in shaping/molding me as a clinician. It just so happens that this landed on the same day as Mother's Day. I really thought I was only going to stay for a lunch, but ending up, I stayed 5 hours and had dinner with them as well. We had lunch at Panera (it's where my attending would always buy me some babka bread because he knew I LOVED to eat). The cashier mistook me to be my attending's wife...which made me blush.......hehehehehe......For dinner they made some salad and some REALLY tender ribs with some super good homemade sauce!! YUM!

I snapped some pictures with them!

So after this LONG break...I hit the road again. I ended up getting back to the bay area around 10:30pm. That was surely a LONG day.

Monday May 14, 2012
No lectures today!  <--So if you are asking: what does this mean??...here's the explanation:

It is Berkeley's tradition to gather all the fourth year students and herd them back to Berkeley 1 week before graduation for what they call "OLD HOME WEEK". This is where they bombard us with lectures in their final attempt cram last bits of clinical wisdom into us so we don't completely tarnish Berkeley's prestigious reputation by screwing up in the real word! Well..at least that is how I see it anyway.

Since there aren't any lectures, you might ask why I decided to drive back to the bay area so soon? Of course I had to spend some quality time with my best buddy, LIZ. One of the FEW reasons I was really anticipating returning back to the bay area was to see Liz.

Liz and I were fortunate enough to meet each other when we were studying abroad in Hong Kong and then stay connected when we returned back to the states because we lucked out and live close to each other. Ever since she was diagnosed with her "sickness", life hasn't been the easiest ride for her. And being on my out rotations, I really hadn't had time to be there for her and offer her the support she needs. In house rotation back at Berkeley during the first part of Spring allowed me to spend some time with her, but aside from that, I've been very absent in her life. I was really glad to have had time to spend with her on my week back before graduation. I didn't want to leave the bay area without spending some time with her.

So on this day, I enjoyed some good old dim sum with her that morning and sat around chatting for as long as we could before we felt bad for taking up a table when there was clearly a long line out the door at the restaurant. We then continued our chatting back at her house, where I spent the rest of the afternoon. It was nice hanging out with her again. I wanted to feed some ducks, but we never got to it.

I was swept away by Harvey during that evening and we had a nice dinner together at a Korean restaurant on Taraval ( we ALWAYS eat Korean), where we proceeded to chat for hours as well. Almost as unexpectedly as graduation had creeped up on me, Harvey and I have spent the last four years studying/struggling together at Berkeley and our mere relationship as classmates has blossomed and grown into a friendship. It's still a mystery to me how a 26 year old female and a 42 year old male have enough in common to be best friends, but sometimes, life is not always predictable and often, these surprises can become a pleasant addition to your life. :)

Tuesday May 15, 2012
After a long day of lectures and seeing my classmates again, I had a dinner date with Alvin to thank him for being ever nice to let me crash at his apartment for the entire old home week. So since I was treating him I let him pick where he wanted to go eat and of course he picks a Japanese Seafood Buffet. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE food but I also know it's my WORST enemy! I can't control myself when it comes to eating so when you put Amiee (no self control) and Food (sooo delicious) together....it equals DANGER!! Or simply: gastric distress and gaining 10lbs in one night. The buffet that he took me to was Hokkaido. It was $20 a person for dinner and boy was it worth it!! I've been to my fair share of buffets and I've got to say that this was probably the BEST I've been to. Just basing off of variety, it's the most I've seen! Basing off of quality, it's pretty good! And basing off of decor, this place was so elegant and fancy! I was blown away by this place (especially the all you can eat sashimi bar!!). So after finishing dinner there, just as I expected....gastric distress and I gained 8lbs that night.


Wednesday May 16, 2012
More lectures during the day...but at night...I had a dinner date with Eric, Stephanie (Eric's girlfriend...OoOooOoO), Liz, Alvin and Me! We went to PPQ in SF where I ran into my classmates Vutha and Gigi (random...). The food was delicious, but after being starved of social interaction, I was yapping away the WHOLE night with everyone. I felt like I ate enough but apparently, Liz and Eric didn't think so. They were constantly encouraging me to eat more...I think I can interpret that in two ways: 1) They really think I need to eat more to be full or 2) they just wanted me to stop talking for a few minuets while I chew some food. Oh well, either way, it was a fun night!

Thursday May 17, 2012
No lectures this morning, so I took advantage of that and had breakfast with Liz and then lunch with Tarah. It's always nice catching up with people one on one. I'm really glad I got to see Liz one more time before I leave her again. And It was nice hanging out with Tarah one final time. Who knows when will be the next time I ever see her again.

Friday May 18, 2012
Lectures again in the morning.

After lectures...I had a couple of errands to run but only got one of them done.
Errand #1: Pick up stuff I left at a classmate's apartment and move it to my locker so I can easily pick it up the day of graduation. I was able to pick things up, but I left more than I remembered so I couldn't carry it all, so good thing one of my other classmate's offered to store some stuff in his locker so I was at least able to bring the stuff back with me to school.
Errand #2: I wanted to visit the clock tower at Berkeley. It's been FOUR years and I haven't even found the time to go up the clock tower for FREE as a student! Well, my plan was a bust because I missed its opening hours! So that means the next time I want to go up the clock tower, I'll have to pay! I'm totally kicking myself because I had FOUR years and I couldn't find the time to do it! Arg!

Dinner tonight was with my ex-bf's aunt, uncle and nephew. I know it seems weird that I still hang out with them, but they are VERY nice and super friendly! And besides, his little nephew is soo cute! I couldn't bare to leave the bay area without seeing them one last time! So they took me to J-town where I had shabu shabu for the first time AND my own bowl of udon noodles! It was VERY good but I think I still prefer the Chinese hotpot more because the soup base used in hotpot is a lot more flavorful! After dinner, my ex's aunt had a chat with me about my ex. I think she's convinced that we are meant for each other and that it's a shame we are not together. She's very insightful and I really respect her judgement because she seems to understand me and my ex so well. She left me with a lot to think about.

The Hunger Games Series

The Mockingjay

I finally finished The Mockingjay of The Hunger Games series. I have to say this trilogy series really went downhill. Book one was exciting, some of the excitement started to die down by book two, and then book three was just difficult to get through. The only parts I was interested in were the ones about Peeta. I was really upset with how Katniss was treating him and punishing him because he was all crazy from getting "hijacked". Then killing off Prim was just too much. Very anti-climatic and disappointing...

Reunion

I'm so excited the attending doctor I have in Vandenberg is inviting me back to Vandenberg to meet up with him before he relocates to Texas in June. I'm probably going to drop by on my drive up to Berkeley when I head back up for graduation this weekend. Can't wait! This will probably be the last time I see him! Have to get a good picture of him AND me together :) :)

Graduation

As graduation approaches, I'm dreading it MORE and MORE and MORE. I really don't want to go through with the whole ceremony and all my relatives coming up. I really want them to just throw my diploma at me and be over with it. I don't want to walk on stage and get hooded. I don't want them to read my personal statement while I get hooded. I don't want to take a million pictures with a million relatives. I don't want to sit and eat with everyone while everyone just talks about  me graduating. I don't want any of that!! Arg! I'm a million times more stressed about graduation than I am happy about it!!

Nightmare

I had a nightmare last night that included my ex-boyfriend. I'll spare the details, but it left me feeling really weird and scared. I can't believe I had a dream about him!! According to Freud, my dream would be a psycho-social representation of my unconscious desire for it to become a reality. I don't know what to make of it, but I just know that I REALLY hope that NEVER happens in REAL LIFE!!