Seoul Tower, Myeong-Dong, and Korean BBQ

Today was my first day exploring Seoul. I started with some toast at the hostel, and met some people staying here as well. I researched a bit what I should do today, and then decided to go with two people from the hostel to Seoul Tower. We ventured to the subway, which took us to Myeong-dong station. We then began our trek up the hill to see Seoul Tower. The hike to the top was quite a lot of steps, but had some very nice views. It was a bit smoggy, but overall it was at least warm.  My heart rate got quite high, yet somehow my watch only recorded 6 minutes of exercise. Lame. 

When we got to the top of Namsan we saw an area with a ton of locks. Probably the densest number of locks I've ever seen in an area. It was pretty cool. They also had cotton candy shaped like a bunny or a bear. We eventually made it to the ticket booth, and bought tickets to go up to the Seoul Tower observation deck. The views from the observation deck were quite amazing, providing a nice panoramic view of the city. The observation deck also had a candy store, which was super random, and a gift shop. I bet after a good rain when the smog is clear it looks stunning! Even the bathrooms had amazing views! 

After spending some time at the top of the tower we went back down and explored the area of Myeong-dong. There are a lot of shops and small restaurants. I bought a mochi covered strawberry, which was yummy! We then had some dumplings for lunch and then went back to the hostel to rest a bit, and I had a shower. Some of us then (5 of us from the hostel) went for dinner at a Korean BBQ place. It was pretty good, some meats I liked better than others (just really different cuts of pork and beef). After dinner I stopped to grab a cookie and then headed back to the hostel. I read my guidebook for a bit and then off to bed.

Hello Vacation

And we're off! It's vacation time! Well, I'm off on my own. I finished up my shift on Saturday around 1PM and then started my last vacation week of intern year. Exciting stuff! What's even more exciting is that it was my last weekend shift of intern year, meaning I have ZERO times left I have to be in the hospital on a weekend as an intern (well, I guess I have a night shift that ends on a Saturday morning, but I don't think that counts). I only just realized that this week! I can't wait to have my time back and to finally start enjoying Portland!

When I got home from work I attempted to start packing for vacation, but didn't get much done. I did take a short accidental nap on the couch, which was well needed. I tidied up around the house, and then finally started packing, determined to only take a small carry on (which was my new Away carry-on, and I'm LOVING it!).  Part way through packing Jessi came over. She chatted with me while I got some stuff together, and then we went out to dinner at Little Big Burger (Bambooza was closed for repairs, sad, but let's be honest, Little Big Burger is amazing). After dinner I went home and cleaned Lemon and Blue's cage and finished packing. I finished around 1AM as per my usual packing schedule, and then went over list in my head until it was somehow almost 2AM!

Sadly, my alarm went off at 3:45 AM so I could get to the airport for my 5:50 AM flight to San Francisco. Stop 1. I got to the airport no problem and slept the entire flight. SFO has really been improved since the last time I was here. Now that I'm in Portland it's so easy to fly to Oakland, so I haven't been here in a while. I wandered around since my layover was three hours, and got a breakfast burrito from Urban Tortilla, which was really yummy!  I wandered around the airport for a bit before getting on my second flight. 

The next flight wasn't too bad, just long. I got some sleep at the beginning, ate some pretty good airplane food, and watched Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I also played some games on my phone to kill time. Nothing too exciting, other than realizing I left my ATM card in Portland about 30 minutes prior to landing, making for an interesting time trying to figure out how to get cash since my hostel doesn't accept credit cards. Yikes! Luckily the airport had an ATM that I could use my credit card at to get cash. A little more expensive than using my ATM card, but at least I have cash! 

Once at the airport I went through customs and figured out out to take the bus to the hostel. Also, the airport had a live concert with people playing some old looking instruments to Beauty and the Beast when I arrived! The hostel  had given really great directions, so I found it quite easily. I was super tired when I arrived, so I immediately took a nap for about an hour before getting up to have dinner (I was so tired I was starting to get nauseous). I went to a small place near the hostel with the girl who works here and had some bulgogi soup dish that was super yummy, and all the little side dishes were also excellent. After dinner I hung out in the hostel common room and met some new people, including a girl who's an internal medicine resident in the Netherlands. It was cool to talk about our different experiences. Sounds like being a first year resident isn't too fun no matter what country you're in. They have to do four months blocks of everything though, which sounds kind of awful. She has a four month ICU block coming up. Yikes! Although it was an exhausting but great day. My new passport has its first stamp, and I'm ready to explore. What a wonderful way to start my trip! Welcome to Korea! 

And mom, I wasn't up late last night, I was in the customs line :)

my plane to ICN at the gate in San Francisco

Ready to go

On the the Plane!

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Dentist and Gardening

This morning I finally had a dentist appointment in Portland. It may have taken me 10 months to find someone, but it worked out in the end and I really liked the office. No cavities still too, which I am always paranoid about. Tomorrow I'll go back to finish the cleaning and get some new sealants on my molars. Fun times.

After the dentist I went to Loens nursery to buy some new plants. I didn't find much for my little garden (only chives and chard), but I got a new hydrangea and a new lenten rose that was really pretty. I then went to Home Depot to buy some fruit and vegetables to plant, and I think I ended up with way too much! I got home and planted everything (probably a little too close, but didn't want to waste the plants I had already purchased!). I finally went to sleep around 3:45PM, which I'm mildly regretting now because I'm exhausted, but gotta stay on that night schedule for a few more days.

The finished little garden

Swiss chard, kale, and cauliflower 

Strawberries,  basil, sage, chives, and the leftover kale I just needed to throw somewhere. Pretty sure I over crowded this one. 

Heirloom tomato, little bell pepper (petty sure this may be the first victim of my gardening skills), and a little herb garden of rosemary, ming, and cilantro.

Sugar snap peas and a small blackberry bush

Done with Rainbow Nights!

Wow, it has been a really long time since my last post! Sorry Mom! In the time since I went back to medicine in November. I finished my VA medicine month, did a month in the ED at the VA, completed my last ever medicine rotation, then my first pain service rotation, and now I have just finished my month of general surgery nights at the main hospital. I still have a few more nights at the VA until I get to rejoin the land of being awake in the day time, but there's an end in sight. By the end of this week I will have officially have not been awake during the daytime during a single day in March. That is crazy!

Other things that have happened recently... I spent a week in Hawaii with my family, Blue has a large tumor that's growing a lot :( She is very skinny but still seems comfortable for the most part. Lemon had a scary episode where bleed a lot and looked horrible, but she came through it and I'm hoping continues to do okay. Otherwise it's been just work sleep and repeat these days. I'm so close to not only regaining days, but also close to regaining some weekends so soon! Can't wait!!

Some photos from the last few months:

Trapezing in Seattle in February

Giant Pacific Octopus at the Seattle Aquarium

Snow in March, UGH!

Amazing sunrise over Mt Hood

Lemon the day she was sick

Lemon yesterday :)

Blue sticking her head out the hammock

Blue and her large tumor :(

Back to Medicine

Today I started another 4 week block of medicine, but this time at the VA. I hear this is a much less crazy rotation as compared to the ward rotations at the university hospital. I hope that is true because I don't think I could take coming off my favorite rotation of the year thus far to one of the hardest months I have had on an emotional and life-balance level. Today was good so far, and I had some time to get to know the service a bit and do my work slowly, which was nice. I like my team so far, however they all switch over the next three days, so we will see how everything goes with the new team. I'm just hoping for a smooth four weeks with my sanity intact at the end. Also hoping the ED decides to give me my December schedule soon cause I'm getting super anxious to know it!

Weekend in Seattle

This weekend I drove up to Seattle to explore. I had a rough Friday night in the unit, so I wasn't able to drive up until Saturday morning, but I still had a nice time for the most part. Saturday was a little rougher than Sunday, and you will see why.

Saturday started with a roughly 3 hour drive from my house to the Westin in downtown Seattle. I checked in and got my room, which was lovely, and then set out the the Pikes Place Market. The market was not what I expected, but was still interesting to explore. I couldn't find much in the way of food like I was expecting (I thought there was going to be MUCH more), but I got a char siu bun and then attempted to get a BBQ brisket slider. Prior to my first bite of the slider I dropped the whole thing on the ground via my jeans. Keep in mind these are the only pants I brought with me and they were now covered in BBQ sauce. I went to buy another slider because I still wanted to try it, and the guy gave me two, which was nice. I didn't actually need to eat two, so I gave the second to a homeless man on the street to eat. After the market I rested for a bit and then took public transit down to the flying trapeze rig in the SoDo neighborhood. I was horrible at trapeze after so much time off, but still had a good time. Only issue was I slammed my toe on the trapeze bar and may have broken my pinky toe. Will never know cause there was no way I was paying for an X-ray since there would be nothing to do about it, but it was very bruised and hurt a lot and thats all it took. On the way home I stopped in Nordstrom and got a new phone case which I really like (Kate Spade and sparkly with roses on it). I then ordered room service for way too much money since it was painful to walk too much and went to sleep with my foot propped nice and high.

On Sunday morning I met two friends from med school for breakfast, which was really nice. I then went with one of them the the Chihuly Gardens and Glass museum, which was actually super awesome. The glass sculptures are amazing and it was one of the coolest exhibits I have ever seen I think. After that we walked around a bit and saw the Ghery designed EDM museum. I then said goodbye and went up to the top of the Space Needle, which was AWESOME. The views were spectacular and the weather was really nice. I could see Mount Rainier, which was great as I have grown to love the views of the solitary mountains. After the Space Needle I walked back to my hotel to grab a shirt I needed to return that I had bought in Portland in the wrong size, and then walked to Banana Republic to exchange said shirt for the correct size. I also managed to come out with a pair of work pants at the same time. I then checked out and started the drive home, but with a planned stop in Olympia to have dinner with Greg and Sue, which was so nice. Dinner was great, and it is always nice to connect with family I don't see nearly often enough. I then drove the rest of the way home, mostly in the pouring rain, and my two day weekend (scary that that is now a rare and exciting thing in my life) was officially complete. 

Hello again

Wow, it has been quite a while since my last post. Not too much has changed, other than a few switching of services. I finished 4 very grueling and exhausting weeks of general medicine, and now I'm in the cardiovascular ICU, which is actually quite interesting and has much more humane hours. Intern year is still hard and exhausting, but overall things are good right now. Can't believe we are already into block 5! Not doing much outside of working, but hopefully I'll plan something good for my weekend off soon, especially since its my only weekend off I know of until February!

Block 3 Complete!

And just like that my third block of intern year is done. Overall this block was awesome. Cardiology is definitely an interesting subset of medicine, and it undoubtedly incredibly relevant to anesthesia. It also didn't hurt that I had vacation and a couple of weekends off during the block, so I finally had the ability to feel a little refreshed!

Other than finishing cards, I also spent last weekend at the beach in Manzanita, OR. One of the anesthesia attending a offered her beach home to the residents, and I went with one other intern and a few CA3s with their significant others and a couple of their kids who were adorable and fun the play with. The house was right next to the first tee of the local golf course, and a 5 minute walk to the beach, which was really beautiful despite the crazy winds! We had a few breakfasts at a local restaurant and barbecued Saturday night together. It was fun to meet some people in the anesthesia department and have a weekend away with some new friends. Definitely needed! 

On the way home we stopped to shop a bit in Cannon Beach. It's such a fun and adorable town! I bought a weird soda called Fungal Fruit that was supposed to be passion fruit and lime, but tasted more like odd bubblegum. Overall not horrible, and definitely an experience. I also let myself have an ice cream cone to celebrate the end of summer. So nice 😊 

Up next is general medicine inpatient wards. It should be a tough month, but hopefully all goes well. Fingers crossed at least. 

Back From Vacation

Today was my first day back at work after taking Step 3 and going on a much needed vacation. I spent some lovely time in the Bay and then had a great time with friends up in Northstar at my friends wedding. If only vacation could last forever... I'm definitely feeling more refreshed and I'm extra glad I still have a week on cardiology left before hitting the hard stuff again next Wednesday when I start general medicine wards and go back to long hours, lots of pages, and lots of notes.

Tonight was wonderful. After work I went and met up with some childhood friends mothers for dinner and it was so nice to catch up and get out of the house. I'm feeling happy tonight, which I needed. That's all for now, here are some recent pics for your viewing pleasure. 

Flying over San Francisco Bay

Sailing on the Bay

I got to see Laura :)

Lovely day to watch some Stanford Football

Ready to celebrate Court and Evan at #thattahoewedding

This squirrel was carrying a pinecone the size of its whole body!

This picture doesn't do the wedding location justice. It was so beautiful!

Sunset at the top of the mountain at Northstar

Yummy pizza on my last day in WC

The beautiful sunset while flying back into PDX