NYC!

okies, so my long-awaited vacation is gone and done with. i had lotsa fun meeting up with friends again, and of course, SHOPPING!!! i spent nearly all of fri afternoon studying anatomy (chest, lungs and heart), since i've been slacking for 2 days already! i even declined my taiwanese neighbor inviting me to go look for an asian market. i should've gone with him 'cuz i fell asleep anyways! sigh...not too productive, but i did finish covering the lectures before packing, working out, and getting to bed at 3am.

saturday i woke up at 8am still tired, nearly missed my train which left at 934am (i got there literally at 932am, and got to NY around 11:20am. had a wailing baby on the train next to me, and a woman who kept talking about her breasts and how guys oogle them...sigh! By the time i found my way to the hotel, it was noon. i was SOOOO excited to see so many familiar shops, i had to force myself not to go in! di and sharon looked tired from their red-eye, but we all went out to shop at H&M (got skirt and shirt, total $12) and some other shops. we also had lunch at Au Bon Pian (something like that) after trying to find a highly-recommended mediterranean "restaurant" that turned out to be a NYC food stand! finally Jody and her BU classmates came, and di wanted to rest but sharon agreed to come shopping with me! i only have ONE DAY to buy everything i wanted! i even alloted myself $100 to spend. sharon and i walked down 20 blocks (yep, i know, crazy) to old navy, where HUGE sale was going on. bought 3 skirts ($5-$10 each)! we went into gap and forever 21 too. took 4h total, and i was SOOO pooped after old navy i was actually glad to stop shopping. back to hotel at 7, had YUMMY japanese food for dinner (i soooo miss asian food), and went to Tao's (lounge in "sex and the city") to meet alice and hang out with everyone. the decor was very nice--but we certainly felt young in the older crowd there. anyhow, back home by 2am, and finally got into bed at 3am.

next day i was last to get outta bed. we went outside to find the home-made mochi place, and found out a HUGE street fair was going on right outside our hotel! sharon and i had strawberry-nutella crepe for breakfast, and di had her mochi which she said was really good. the two of them left for US Open, and i continued shopping. I bought my friend some birthday gifts, and also got to try this DELCIOUS freshly-made donut stand. it was sooo good, esp since the mini-donuts were crispy on outside, and warm and soft on the inside. that was the best part of the fair =). oh, and i got myself a wallet and a belt too. i studied in the hotel room til about 3pm (didn't want the vacation to end so soon), and went out to buy a gyro since it was highly recommended. i took it to-go, and was gonna eat it for dinner tonite (sadly, it wasn't that good--meat too salty, and just boring in general). then i had to fight crazy crowds for 45 min dragging my red luggage and the blanket my mom sent with di/sharon, which was such a hassle!! ppl even swore at me to "get the sh^t out of their way". how rude! new yorkers! hrmph!

finally made it to train station, just a few min again before the train took off! so lucky! this ride was LONG and it took 2h to get home. i tried to studying my physio/biochem during the time, but hard to do. it was FREEZING for some odd reason in CT (coldest yet), and i walked home in the wind. spent rest of night trying to study unsuccesfully--way too tired.

Monday was my day to catch up on everything, but it wasn't too productive either. wanted to go shopping still 'cuz it was BEAUTIFUL outside, but forced myself to hibernate in my books. i did manage to review all my notes for physio/biochem for the test this coming thurs. a classmate also came over and we worked on physical diagnosis of each other, which was a bit strange cuz it was two girls in a room, and we needed to lift up our shirts to listen to sounds and examine backs and such. it was quite awkward for me! at night, i worked out for an hour 'cuz ate lots this wknd, but it felt good since i hadn't worked out since fri. gotta try to keep my exercise schedule regular! strange enough, but exercise definitely keeps me LESS tired and able to study longer. all it takes is 30-45min/day, right before a nice shower! =)

One month update!

it's been about a month, and nope, i'm still not homesick. i am CRAVING chinese food though, esp from my mommy! the dorm food here SUCKS!! i'm so sick and tired of everything. there just isn't enough variety to keep me happy. each day, we get salad bar (and i never eat salad, plus it is expensive at $5/lb), one soup, one chili, choice of one of three entrees (usually not good), and my fav, the deli counter. i've eaten turkey or tuna sandwiches 3 days in a row, for 2 meals each!! so tired of it!!! and once, they served "sweet and sour chicken with vegetables and rice" as an entree, and it was SOOO disgusting but i ate it all 'cuz it had rice! hahah, how sad am i. =P good thing is that they have fro yo with toppings, freshly baked cookies, OJ, yogurt, and decent dessert at times (all of you should know about my excessively sweet tooth), so sometimes that's what i eat for a meal! how unhealthy--i need some centrums!! i think once a week, i'll treat myself to the food carts outside my dorm. GREAT FOOD for $5 or less!! esp the thai place...i get choice of 3 entrees for $4!! and it's sooo big it lasts me at least 2 meals. what a deal!

so i've taken another exam, this time an oral EKG one. EKG are those heartbeat lines that you see at the beginning of "ER" that show your heart electrical activity. We're learning how to read them for problems, and it's an oral exam so we can explain what we see and how we interpret our findings. i think i did ok on that way (after my crazy director cancelled my scheduled appt time with her 2x...i was soo mad 'cuz i wanted to party after i finished this exam, but since she postponed it for 3 days, i couldn't!).

our first "real" BIG exam is next thurs covering about 18 lectures of biochemistry. it's gonna SUCK big time...so much info crammed into 60 min! =( oh well, that's what i'll be doing part of my labor day wknd, studying for this crazy thing!

so the dorms are all filled, all the students are in. i went to Club Med last nite downstairs, which is a bar/dance party put up every thurs nite by medical faculty/students/etc. drinks are only $1, but since i vowed to myself no drinking til new years, i just went to socialize. met my next door neighbor, this taiwanese guy that looks like a dorkier version of geoff (geoff is not dorky, i'm just using him 'cuz he looks well-kept and he's a bit shorter in stature). he's nice, a harvard grad, and his fam kept speaking chinese and eating fruit in his room! anyhow, we talked for a bit, then he introduced me to other med students before he went back upstairs. i wanted to stick around and socialize more, and met this indian guy named Vic from Cornell. he's nice, fun to talk to, plays tennis. then at 12:30am, decided to head back upstairs 'cuz i didn't study at all yet for the day. =) with meeting the few ppl i did! med students aren't that bad after all! oh, dunno if i said it, but i'm planning on running for the PA position on the Medical Student Council in a few weeks. we'll see!

so this weekend is my first true vacation wknd--going to NYC with some California buddies!! nearly my entire class knows i'm going 'cuz i've been talking about it! =) so happy to see familiar faces, and to go SHOPPING!! i only have 2 pairs of pants that i like to wear, and a few shorts. i really need some better outfits! haven't shopped in 2 months!! so i MUST study today, and then i'm off to NYC from Sat to Sun afternoon. then it's back to the book for 1.5 more days of studying. yayyaya i can't wait!!! NYC here i come!

oh yes, i've been playing badminton too. they've asked me to compete with them against other ivy-leaguers, but i dunno if my schedule will allow it. the ppl are actually pretty good: B players mostly, and i'm basically the only girl besides Janny (also from Cal badm team). She isn't as gung-ho about it though anymore, after she had some drama with the Cal team last year. anyhow, i hope to keep practicing 'cuz i remember how fun it all was, and i think they are happy to have a girl (finally) on the team to play. i'm happy too--and relieved--that there is good competition here! =)

okies, long enuf blog, back to the books! i've been slacking for 1.5 days, and MUST start studying NOW! =P