You Eat What?!

Here are two dishes on the menu from my parents' recent holiday party. Some will be grossed out by these and surely say, "you eat what?!" To the exotic epicureans from Asia, however, these are delightful delicacies. My mother, Paul and I belong to this camp.

Chinese wood ears or wood fungus, 黑木耳. (Auricularia polytricha or Hirneola polytricha). They actually grow on dead wood and have the medicinal quality of anticoagulation. These are soaked and ready for cooking. Cooked and Uncooked wood ears both look and taste the same. Very crunchy and light tasting. My mom stired fried it with pork. Yum! *Click pic to enlarge*

Chicken feet. With flavor pouch, dried chilis, green onions, soy sauce and ginger, these are ready to be cooked and simmered for a few hours. Paul made this for the few who dare to devour chicken claws!

Parents' Holiday Party

The process of preparing food for 17 people is a day-long event, but it was really nice family bonding time (when sparks aren't flying). It brought all four of us together into a small and warm space known as the kitchen. Somehow, conversation flows easily when one is chopping or stirring over a stove.

And guests arrive. Shoreh, a best buddy of mine, is an OB/Gyn resident in Maryland.

Laughter and chatting starts when friends fill the room.


Jac and Jill. Aren't they photogenic?


Friend taking our pic.

Birthday candles are for kids, no matter whose birthday it is! I love to see kids get excited over candles. Imagine, we all had that sense of wonder a long time ago. Benji (with mommy Laurel) is helping my mom and Paul blowing out their candles.



Cake time!

It's always nice to pose for a group photo. From L to R, David, Jac, Jill, Ryan, Paul, Ruth, and Andy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




***You can check out the whole collection of pictures at www.pbase.com/chienchunchen. Dear friends, pictures are in full resolution at pbase.com so you can download the ones you like.***

Christmas Day 2006

Mom, glad she liked her presents.


Matching drinking glasses! Seriously, we really needed these as we only had a collection of mismatched mugs.

"Be Still and Know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

Crabs for dinner!

Paul taking our pic; he also made this Christmas day dinner. That's chicken feet on the left side of the picture. Yummy!

A walk in the park.

Christmas Eve at the Chans'

Good food, good friends = Christmas Eve, 2006.

Having our picture taken by Adrian.

What a lovely Christmas tree.

Another shot, another view. Love the shadows in the background. Not a bad camera, eh?

Our friends and fellow Bible study members, KC and Juei.

My parents playing their first foosball game. Look like they rather enjoyed themselves.

My parents, in their more serious demeanor.

New Camera

BTW, hubby got new camera. Just in time for Christmas!:)

Visit to the Vet

I took Kitty to the vet this afternoon. I took the opportunity while I have these days off. While she got all her essential shots and lab work done months ago, she has not had an once-over by the vet.

There has to be very few things worse than a car trip and vet visit for Kitty. She vomited in the car. I didn’t know it until I opened up her carrier in the vet’s office. Then she actually started panting like a dog from all the stress!

So, I learned quite a few things about Kitty. By looking at her eyes and teeth, the vet (Dr. B) estimated her to be 6-8 years old. I knew she was no spring chicken, but I had hoped she was a spry young fellow, but actually she’s in her golden years! Instead of the smooth coloration to her eyes, the vet said Kitty’s eyes were too yellow and resembled the pattern of crushed velvet. “It could be due to age or build-up of toxins,” said Dr.B. For that problem, she gave blue & green algae pills to detox her liver. “Her eyes should turn greener after her liver is detoxed,” said the animal doctor.

Kitty's eyes. Too yellow? Crushed velvet appearance = toxicity?

Next, we discussed a hack/cough Kitty seems to have every couple of weeks. I was assured by the vet that it sounds like a hairball hack, although the possibility of heartworms is not ruled out. For that, we are going to try Felilax for hairball elimination. We will start Kitty on heartworm prevention in the future after we are certain that her cough is not due to a fatal infection with heartworms.

Lastly, Dr.B thought Kitty was allergic to either her food or inhaled particles or both. The vet diagnosed this based on excessive cerumen production in Kitty’s ears and a bare patch on her belly where she’s missing hair. We talked about what food Kitty is eating. The vet informed me that most commercial pet foods are “4-D” foods meaning it consists of “dead, dying, debilitated, and diseased” meat. For the next couple of weeks, I am to gradually switch her to a more wholesome diet from several approved brands. I purchased the “Chicken Soup” brand catfood from the office. To facilitate this gradual diet change, I’m to give Kitty Udo’s Choice pet supplements with enzymes. “This will help her from getting allergies to her new food.” I thought I was being savvy by purchasing the brand of cat food with chicken as the no. #1 ingredients. No more Wal-Mart cat food for Kitty from now on. Home-prepared food for the cat is the best but I doubt I can commit to that.

Okay, I know what some people might think after reading the above: "the vet is a quack, " or "she's just out to make a buck." However I'm inclined to believe her. Aside from conventional veterinary medicine, Dr.B practices CAM (complementary/alternative medicine) for animals. She even does acupuncture on animals! Hmm, I wonder if the Chinese came up with that, too? I did not pick Dr.B for her CAM practice, it was just a coincidence. Now, I don't know if Kitty's eyes are really toxic, but I am now a believer in feeding her food that is more to its natural and fresh form. One thing I've come to learn is that some patients are too skeptical of their doctor's knowledge or motive. However, from my experience I know most doctors are capable and geniunely wants the best outcome of their patients. As for me with Kitty, I'm going to try every thing Dr. B recommended and go from there.

Another Day Ahead

I broke our camera yesterday:(. I'm just glad hubby do not get angry with me for such things. He said we'll buy a new one, just don't know when yet. I hope it's sooner than later!! Meanwhile, no more photo blogging for me. However, I'm using HelloKitty images to brighten up my post.

Feeling a little sluggish this morning. But I will be getting up soon. I have been listening to Christian radio during the day as I cook or clean up around the house. (Giving NPR a break.) I use to listen to Christian radio shows regularly but I haven't for a long time. It's a great way to set my mind on the right focus, Jesus Christ, and reminds me what's really important, walking with God, love my husband, and be humble. These modern wise men coming to me through the radio: Dennis Rainey, Chuck Swindoll, and James Dobson. And some wise women, too: Nancy Lee De Moss, and Beth Moore.


*_* Three Days 'til Christmas!! *_*

Sittin' Pretty

"Mommy, when is breakfast gonna be served?"

Tuesday Cooking

With continous Christmas music streaming from the radio in the background, I cooked for several hours non-stop today. I was in the mood, I guess, and eager to cross off a to-do item on my list, ;) Here's what I have to show for it.

1. Wonton Soup. Felt motivated to make this. I used the same filling recipe as in dumplings: pork, Chinese cabbage, and shrimp chunks.

Wonton Soup. Wola! Soup base consists of chicken broth, whole shrimps, green veggies, ginger, cilantro and green onions.

2. Guacamole. One of my favorite things! The avocados were still a little too hard, so it came out clumpy instead of creamy, oh well.

3. Fish Stew. Main ingredients: flounder, various veggies, oregano, basil, and white cooking wine. I added a chicken boullion, too. It's just combine and slow cook in crockpot.

Fish Stew, cooked4 hours later. Hmm, not what I expected. The flounder fish chunks just disappeared, as if they were blown into smithereens the size of minced garlic. Oh well, it ended up being an okay "veggie soup."

4. Apple Crumbles. Nice recipe! Ingredients include apples, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, butter, and nutmeg. It was simple, delicious, and relatively nutritious for a dessert. Best with vanilla ice cream! I haven't perfected it good enough to bring to someone's house or a potluck, though. This recipe is from a blog of a friend's friend. See http://provenrecipes.blogspot.com/

It's leftover time for the next few days.

My Soft Spot, Part II

Update 12:40am.
Those animal control officers never came. Yes, I waited up, hubby in bed 2 hours ago. After over 8 hours of holding the cat hostage under my laundry basket outside, I let him out. Final freedom roused a round of “meows” from Blacky, he lingered around for 5 minutes, still wanting to get my attention, before finally leaving my back porch. What did he want from me? Food? No, he’s been fed. Shelter? TLC? He must be so confused and scared. He looked lost. While under hostage, I fed him water, all of Kitty’s snack food, and half of a canned catfood. It was the only solace I could offer him. I watched him go, sick to my stomach, sleepy-eyed, and more than a little miffed.

Was I naïve for believing that the officers would come? Maybe. I even got confirmation that the animal control people work 24 hours around the clock. Who knows? I had to finally say, “enough is enough.” I was going crazy from waiting. I know I’m on break right now, no alarm clocks to worry about, no “work” next day, but I did NOT want this pet project, no pun intended!! I had plenty of happy and sunny things planned. I just don’t want to worry anymore, is that selfish? Is there really all this emotion and commotion inside of me over a cat? Yes, I can’t help but feel for them.

I’m a little (more than a little) angry at irresponsible pet owners everywhere and unreliable animal control agents. I’m heartbroken over the suffering and misery of small innocent animals who were only suited for household living. Perhaps I’m mad at myself for not taking Blacky in. I could become one of those animal rescuers. I could have let him in and did more. But his wound and filth scared me, I didn’t want or know how to deal with that.

What’s to become of Blacky? He’ll come back, no doubt, now hooked on the canned cat food. What shall I do then? I’m too tired to think, but will I be able to sleep tonight?

Update 10:30am
The animal controll officer did come this morning at 10am, I found a note on my door. I missed him, however, since I was still sleeping for staying up so late to wait on him in the first place! Aggg, the irony of this whole ordeal. Blacky is not outside anyways.

My Soft Spot, Part I

Over the last few days, another cat has been frequenting our back balcony (we live on the first floor.) He was very cautious at first, and would run away when we opened our back door. Kitty regarded him as an unwelcoming intruder and did her best to hiss and howl at him. Feeling strong pity for the cat and remembering how our own Kitty came to us, we decided to leave a bit of food for him outside. Blacky, as I’ll call him for now, soon came around and learned that we were friendly people. I finally got a good look at him as he was no longer running off. He’s a big and stocky black and white cat, much bigger than Kitty, with a full roundish face, small beady eyes, and a thick neck. Blacky was in poor shape. Across the back of his neck, he had a long wet-looking wound. It was not actively bleeding, but it was definitely not healing well. He also has scratches, old and new, by his ears and one eye seemed to be oozing. He was smelly and dirty. I just felt terrible for him. Blacky did not show much interest in food and he did not look like he’s starving, yet a couple of times a day he would come by and just rest on top of a box we had outside. When I opened our door, he would start meowing and circling around my legs. After a while, he would disappear. As the weather is very mild, I just left him be.

This morning around 9am, Blacky was outside again. I woke him up from his sleeping post as I opened the door. He immediately started meowing and wanted to come inside. I did not allow it, though. I don’t know how Kitty would react and I don’t know what diseases he might potentially bring to Kitty. His wound looked worse today. I quickly closed our back door and saw Blacky standing on hind legs and pawing at our door. I knew I had to do something. There were only two options: 1. Call animal control or 2. Take him to the vet myself. I liked the idea of taking him to the vet to get all fixed up, but what would I do after that? We could not keep another cat and I know from past experiences, the no-kill shelters are always full, and I’ll have to turn him over to animal control anyways. So, while I had Blacky outside (he was back to his nap again on our balcony) I called the city’s animal shelter. Somebody will be on their way, she said, but I had to keep him contained in a cage or box until they come. To my chagrin, Blacky was already gone before I had a chance to cover him with a box. So I had to call back the animal shelter and cancel the whole trip.

Paul came home around 4pm this afternoon and alerted me to the fact that Blacky is once again outside. This time, I got our long rectangular laundry basket and caged him underneath with several of my heavy textbooks. Poor cat, he was unsuspecting and trusting. The animal shelter said it could be 4-8 hours before they can come out. It’s now 4 hours later and I’m still waiting. As I sit here typing, I wonder, “is anyone coming tonight to get Blacky?” The lady on the phone this afternoon assured me they would. She also said they have nice vet techs to take care to his injury and nice facility to keep him safe. For three days, that is. Shelters are only legally bound to keep an animal for three days and around 70% of the animals there end up euthanized after that.

I questioned my decision to turn Blacky in. I was in that same dilemma last December with Kitty, except Kitty was in much better shape than Blacky and Kitty found a home with us. If I could provide a home for all stray cats, I would. I finally decided to it would be more humane for Blacky to get euthanized than keep living the sad life he’s leading as a free cat.

I will update later.

Picture of Comfort

Sleeping beauties or just lazy nappers?

Hubby's View of the World

Tonight, after hubby came home, I said to him with enthusiasm, "honey, today's a special day!"

"Why?" he asks.

"Because I just finished another semester of school!"

"Oh yeah, there goes another $10,000." He quipped without taking a break from the chicken he was chopping up.

I thought it was funny so I didn't fault him in not joining my celebratory mood.

Christmas Season Starts Today

The Christmas holiday season officially starts now for me, on this 15th day of December, 2006! I finished my last day of PM&R rotation today. It has been another great rotation, I saw patients from cerebral palsy to spinal cord injury to stroke to run-of-the-mill chronic back pain. I am now a believer in physical therapy and feel comfortable advising my patients in the future on the utility of PT and the general field of physiastry (a.k.a. physical medicine). Speaking of rotations, I made a list of ones I’ve done this year and ones I have left. I can hardly believe that I have just three more months of rotations to go as a MSIV (4th yr medical student)!!

As much as I love medicine and seeing patients, I really relish my days off at home. The way I see it, it’s my time to be “domestic.” I love staying home and waking up, not to the alarm clock, but my own body. I love wearing my cotton robe all day, and slowing working through the chores of the home. I love folding a fresh load of laundry in front of the TV, I love sorting mail and organizing the living room while listening to NPR in the background. I love taking a nap with Kitty in the middle of the day. I love greeting hubby at the door with a clean home and hear him say, “wow, good job, honey!” Our small apartment of a home is rarely up to the level of clean that I want and most of the time I forgive myself but no excuses if I’m home all day.

I do have a tendency to be overly lazy and become a couch potato, so I made a list of what I want to accomplish before the New Year’s and before I return to work:

Winter Break To-do List:

1. Make the bed everyday
2. Sprout broccoli sprouts
3. Try making a delicious new recipe or two
4. Cook a complete dinner for hubby
5. Study, believe it or not
6. Exercise, on more days than not
7. Clean out kitchen pantries
8. Spend wedding photography credit
9. Clean out e-mail inbox
10. Negotiate new phone from T-Mobile

I am especially excited about advancing my skills in cooking, albeit slowly, one recipe at a time. I use to think, I’ll pick up cooking when I have the time to focus my mind and energy to such things. But you know what? If I keep waiting, such a time might never come! So, I’ve already picked out two (just two) recipes to try: a fish stew and a baked apple dessert.

So, that’s my rather conservative, but realistic list of to-dos. I definitely don’t want to overwhelm myself with “cook every night” or “read 3 books” or “lose 5 lbs.” type of list. Aside from being a very short-term full-time housewife this holiday season, hubby and I will be heading back to Arky again for a few days to see my parents and friends. I also have a sleep-over planned with two of my best friends and little baby Zachary.

"Eat When You Can, Sleep When You Can."

One of the very FEW things I like about driving is listening to NPR, something I normally would not make time for nowdays. Aside from getting a good survey of what's going on in the world, I get to hear a lot of interesting stories and reports, one of which I heard this morning and I'll elaborate on it later. First, a gripe about commuting! I was lucky enough to work a half day today as attending was busy doing resident interviews. I was happily driving home after lunch...but who gets stuck in traffic at 1:30 in the afternoon??? I was inching along for the longest time and wishing I hadn't finshed my bottle of water out of boredom as my kidneys work super fast. The highway was totally shut off for what reason I don't know. I had to call hubby to get alternate road directions. Thank goodness he was so helpful and I got home without incident albeit it took me 3 times longer!

Here's what I heard on NPR this morning: another study, this from Harvard, showing dangers of excessive medical resident work hours. Well, I copied and pasted an article that sums it all up:

http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/10/02/prsd1002.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Study finds widespread resident work-hour violations. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education disputes these results, stating that the majority of residencies are in compliance.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff.

Some 43% of medical interns are working more than 80 hours a week in violation of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education standards, according to researchers with the Harvard Work Hours, Health and Safety Group.
The study was conducted the first year duty-hour limits were imposed, but researchers said current data suggest further noncompliance.
These data, published in the Sept. 6 Journal of the American Medical Association, contradict results reported by the ACGME, which found only 5%of residencies in violation of its standards in 2003-04.
The study is the latest from the Harvard group of sleep experts that has called into question ACGME standards intended to curb resident fatigue and limit errors.
In the same issue of JAMA, a second Harvard study found that interns were at a higher risk of needlesticks during extended shifts. Previous studies from the Harvard team documented fatigue-related medical errors during the 80-hour schedule with 30-hour call shifts and found a link between residents, 30-hour shifts and car crashes.
"In the face of this evidence, it's ethically imperative that we change the system," said lead researcher and study author Christopher Landrigan, MD, MPH, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. "The standards that we have right now are not evidence-based, and it's becoming increasingly evident that residents are not safe."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As for myself, I have experienced sleep deprivation in the name of medical education. I don't want to be around myself after I've been on overnight call, much less providing good patient care to someone's loved ones. I remember having to stop and park in parking lots to take a nap in middle of my driving home after being on call. (Do I need another reason to hate long drives?) I never got to the point where I actually fell asleep on a patient's chest as I listened to the heart with the stethscope, this happened to a resident I heard and the patient was not very happy. But I have felt my knees buckling and body swaying while just standing around after going without sleep for 30 hours. I've learned just how important sleep is to me, eight hours per night is really optimal for me. That makes me feel like a time-wasting hedonist or 6-yr. old child sometimes, but it's just the biological truth! Without adequate sleep, I can nod off like crazy if I'm allowed to sit for even a minute, and perceptibly, I feel the slowing of my mind. I'm apt to forget the easiest things and when I talk, I get this weird out-of-the-body experience as if I'm hearing someone else talk. I have often thought this must be what my brain is like on drugs, without the euphoria, of course.

This issue of lack of sleep and excessive work hours is the biggest concern I have as a resident-to-be. Early on in medical school, I was very elated when I found out about the 80-hour work week limit and I thought I won't have to suffer as much by the time I become responsible for patient care. It is disheartening to hear about the rampant violations. However, I am happy to say that I'm going into a speciality that is kinder to residents in terms of sane work hours. My worst year will be the intern year. I've come to terms with not being the most healthy person to my body for a year. I will give myself the freedom to gain weight, that's what the expansible drawstrings on scrub pants are for! So, like the intern mantra of survival says, "eat when you can, sleep when you can!"

Wei and Lauren's Wedding

The Happy Couple. I took the picture too dark initially, so here's the altered version.

We attended W&L's wedding this Saturday in a Catholic Church in downtown Dallas. The ceremony was very Catholic and formal. Aside from the usual exchange of vows and rings, there were quintssential Catholic rites, such liturgy of the eucharist and Communion. The church was very beautiful, old Cathedral-style architechure with tall vaulted ceilings, marble statues and stained glass. No wonder the bride got away with having very little flowers at the wedding. When the sound of real organ music and a live cantor bellowed out from above, it was as though I was carried back in time to the beginnings of Christianity when early believers worshipped this way . Both architechure and ambience were full of tradition and history, worshipers signing the cross, some women donning the mantilla, kneelings during the ceremony, alter boys in white robes, etc. These traditions and rites were all so dramatic to me perhaps because of their obvious absence in the baptist churches I'm use to attending, where the architecture is modern and simplistic, the sound system is technologically advanced, and the pastors wear suits.

We met up with some old friends that we haven't seen in a while.

My wedding outfit.

Christmas Card 2006

This is our first ever Christmas photo card. It was quite simple to make and order, all done via the web in 6 minutes and delivered in a few days to a Wal-Mart near me. If I can hunt down some friends' addresses and remember to buy stamps after work, I can send them!

Bananas Gone Mini

Bought these at a Asian market. Aren't they cute? They taste sweeter than the bigger variety and has a thinner peel. I imagine their nutritional status is the same.

Weather Rules!

Wintery weather arrived at Dallas this morning! The resident I'm working with said I didn't have to come in if I felt driving was dangerous. Well, the major highway I take into Dallas was closed down for hours due to a major accident and the weather report predicts further drop in temperature into the 20's. Soooo, I stayed home! Here's a pictorial rendition of my day:

View from our back porch. None of the snow stuck on the road, as hubby had an easy time driving to work at around 10am. I'm glad for his early return home at around 3:30pm since the commute weather worsened signifcantly and caused over a hundred crashes, per the news.

Can you imagine that the we had high 70's weather just earlier this week!

I had some fun with kitty. I have a goal of taking a good picture of her. Her eyes are always closed (due to camera flash) or she's in a boring sleeping position.

Whew, look at this mess of a kitchen!!

Another mess corner.

Aahh, much better.

I put Teddy and Totoro back in their place.

And finally, several loads of laundry....who doesn't love a warm load of laundry on a chilly day?

~~~~~~~

I also wrapped up several Christmas presents. Okay, confession time: I did take a short trip to the mall to return a couple of things and buy a chunky/wide belt to go with my wedding-attending outfit. I also bought hubby some gloves as he requested them. See, wasn't totally a selfish trip.

Found this belt at Burlington Coat Factory. It was perfect for my outfit.

I bought these matching gold jewlry yesterday at the hospital's annual jewlry sale. Profits go to a scholarship program.

That's it for my day!