And the workout continues!

Day 3:
Rest

Day 4:
Run for 25 minutes, intervals for 10 minutes, wobble around for 5 minutes
ab workout
100 squats on the inflated thingies

Day 5:
rest

Day 6:
31 minute run, 2 minute cool down
3 sets of 10 bicep curls
3 sets of 10 fly's
3 sets of 10 tricep dips
3 sets of 15 trap exercises
3 sets of 10 ant. deltoid
3 sets of 10 post. deltoid
3 sets of 10 ab roller
3 sets of 10 knees to elbows
bother brother.
done.

back to

exercising! man oh man, how i did miss having a gym easily accessible that had some decent machines, free weights, and an olympic weightlifting set. luckily the bagless gym near the medical center has all of these things (minus the usual tv's to watch while running). let's see how long my exercise kick will last until i yearn for real sports again. anywho, here's what i did so far. feel free to follow along in your own gym (shoot me an email if you want the actual work-out).

Day 1:
Run until legs feel weary
Run backwards until legs feel weary
Do crunches until abs feel weary
Do squats until legs feel mushy
Do box jumps until legs feel dead
Alternate box jumps with push-ups until my head spins
done.

yea, i missed a day of updating...

Day 2:
Run until legs feel awkward
Make dude next to me feel awkward because I'm running like a madwoman.
Run backwards until off kilter
Free weight routine until my arms are dead and I think I'm going to smash my nose into the ground while doing push-ups
Do push-ups (not the best order here I guess)
Massage nose
Look around and then sneakily go home.

weather.com

I do love my daily weather updates, but does anyone feel like whenever they predict snow its just a farce? For example, I've been waiting for the snow forecast for the past few weeks but it keeps popping up as "few snow showers" 7 days or more away and then disappearing as we get closer to the actual date. What a tease.

people should stop getting married.

we're too young for all this. (early 20's range)

or at least i don't think people should get married until they know what they want to do with their careers.

any thoughts?

A punch in the face

is worth two in the stomach.

or maybe its "a punch in the babymaker is worth two in the face?"

who knows. Sometimes I meet folks that need exactly that. The ones that talk down to you even though you are technically agreeing with them are really the ones that need it. Even so, in a professional environment I'm told that keeping my mouth shut and my ears open is better than wasting time starting an argument. bah. Sometimes I really dislike practicing professionalism.

when they say...

you know when they say "put your hands up in the air and wave them like you just don't care"?

i think that means that any person following such an act is either a mindless sheep or has gone crazy. i guess that going crazy technically means that you've gone out of your mind (i.e. mind-less) in a way so they are both the same thing.

this nugget of wisdom brought to you by monday, the week-breaker.

?

is it wrong that everytime I study gravitational forces/electromagnetic forces for the Physics section of the MCAT my feet feel slightly heavier? (just because I'm thinking about the forces of gravity and forces of electromagnetism?)

...

high school

so in the past few weeks, I've had a lot of run ins with random people from ol' troy high. if any of my college friends are reading this, you know why i'm writing about it. mostly because while some people see high school as the best educational experience in their lives, i was the most miserable. i dislike a ton of things that remind me of high school, mostly because they bring back bad memories and unhappy, lonely times. perhaps one day i'll be over it but for now i'll be a little hmm... uncomfortable with seeing old high school friends (with the exception of just a few of them...)

so i went to bernice and art's wedding over the past weekend and had a great time hanging out and re-connecting with a bunch of old college buddies, but at some point I looked over and found two guys from my high school looking over. i was a bit shocked but kinda brushed it off as one of those "i never really talked to you so it shouldn't matter at all" but began thinking about high school and if i just wanted to ignore them or actually go over and say hello. a stickler for protocol i ended up going over to say a brief hello before hitting the dance floor again with tiger. and while this action did not bother me at all, i wonder if my personal growth (socially and mentally) had shown through at all in my brief meeting with those guys.

i wonder if they could see i was much more mature and much more self-assured than i was in high school. or even just that i was well adjusted and no-longer desired the company of people who never treated me well. i feel like i am much different than from when i was in high school but does that show through? who knows.

anyways, the wedding was great. i kinda wish i can have one just like it but with 10 courses of korean food instead of chinese food. mmm... delicious.

two days until the world cup. toodles.

soccer soccer soccer

so there's only 20 days until the world cup now and i'm getting excited at the prospect of watching the games. unfortunately all the games will be played during the day (and co-incidentally when i'm at work). in preparation i've been playing lots and lots of soccer with my bum ankle which has both its ups and downs.

yesterday i actually had a ton of fun playing a random co-ed game with urban soccer (they are usually the epitome of dirty players but there was an amazing ref there last night). i told them beforehand that my ankle was cruddy and that i would stick to the right upper corner to receive the ball and take shots (this is my favorite area to shoot from btw). anywho, i took my three shots, scared the crap out of the other team and then got double and triple marked for the rest of the game. that in itself was funny because the games are only six v. six so i drew at least a third of their players by just standing there and close to half of the players when the ball was racing towards their goal. what silly-ness.

stay tuned for more soccer adventures. oh. and mcat madness....

spring

spring is here to winter's dismay. i know i posted about spring like two months too early because it went right back to being cold and miserable in february. well as cold and miserable as new york can get compared to michigan and new hampshire.

six months into my job i'm finding it hard to concentrate on what i am doing. though relatively interesting, i get bored doing the same experiments every day and have started goofing off at work (sure way to get fired i'm sure). i've also started volunteering to do random work around the lab to entertain myself. despite all this i know i'm just procrastinating. i could study mcats during work but i don't really feel like it. ugh. i'm such a pile these days.

speaking of being a pile, i have had a sprained ankle for the past couple weeks (it is healing MAD slowly!) but its nothing in comparison to my brother's ankle. he tore his Achilles the friday before i sprained my ankle (i did mine on sunday) long ago. because its healing so slowly and driving me nuts, i've finally decided to go ahead and see a sports medicine doctor. this will interrupt my soccer playing/tryout-ing and general exercising, but its better than ruining my ankle forever right?

anywho, i hope everyone is doing well. sorry for not posting in so long. life got a bit busier/i found out that i can afford netflix. if you're in new york, come visit. toodles.

After winter ends...

I should post stuff! right? kind of? maybe...

So just a quick update. I moved like I said in my last post. I set up my apartment which is now awesome but borders on messy because my brother and I are always moving about during the weekends. I found an awesome market close by which has everything I could ever want in terms of food. The street I live on is relatively quiet during the day and at night although I get some porch monkeys during the day (especially after school lets out.. stupid kids get off my porch!)

I am currently working on writing a paper for the research work I am doing and will submit it after I run one more test on my samples of interest.

Aside from all that (and mostly because I cannot divulge the details of my research), i signed online to pose a stupid but strange question for no particular reason but to provide myself with some distraction on a relatively boring Friday. If you respond please be creative. I'll tell you my answer too!

What is the most impractical way to wash dishes?

Apartment Update

After several months of suffering and acting like a homeless person (living out of suitcases and wondering where I was going to sleep next), I finally have a nice two bedroom apartment with a large common area and a nice brand-spanking new kitchen. The two bedrooms are a little bit small, but they fit full size beds and have closets. The common area is large enough to fit two large desks, a couch, a dresser, a tv, and more. I finally have lots of space to roam and enjoy instead of only sitting at a desk.

Aside from that, the new year went by without a hitch. I drove home to Michigan with my dad and brother and was able to enjoy a nice long winter break with my parents and siblings. Afterwards I jumped right into work and started enjoying my research topic. Aside starting a little bit behind on the literature, I think I've almost got the hang of it now and will be able to publish soon or at least near the end of the year.

Anywho, if you desire a place to crash, come visit. New York is annoying this time of year (they all freak out at the sight of snow) but there is a distinct possibility of going on a skiing/boarding day trip in upstate new york.

How To...

kill several flies that pop up like daisies in the summer.

1. Smack with empty 20 oz. coke bottle and swear profusely as it falls onto the bed.
2. Punch with hand and scoop up with tissue. Bruce Lee you are.
3. Hit with empty orange juice carton into sink and then trap underneath unwashed dishes. After this turn on scalding hot water and wash it down the drain.
4. Smother with laundry. Dirty laundry means they'll suffer.
5. Hit with a tennis racket. The ping means you are 15-love.
6. Stun by hitting it with your hand and while its on the floor roll over it with your chair.
7. Hit the fly into the toilet. Pee. Flush. Finished.

More to come.

Also, work is interesting. Almost fun, almost disappointing. I'll write a post on the weekend.

Game Review: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles

This is more for Kimmy than me, and I have yet to finish the game. Please bear with me.

So I finally picked up this game today and was immediately surprised by the graphics. For a Wii game this is not only great animation but great graphics in general. Think a combination of Resident Evil 4 and 5 + Umbrella Chronicles and you have even more in depth animation that does pays very close attention to the details in every part of the game. I've only finished the first chapter but damned did that take forever. All in all, the average length of a chapter is about 9 minutes and the status bars at the end of the chapter will show you how many kills, headshots, etc. are possible in each level.

The guns are about the same as before and the reload times differ making it hard to switch from gun to gun. Upgrading guns takes money instead of stars which you can collect by shooting stuff in the environment. You can make around 3000~4000 G a level which is enough for the basic upgrade but not enough for the second level of upgrades (those cost about 5000 up to 8000). Reloading guns is done with the same mechanism as in the Umbrella Chronicles but is a bit more sensitive than before requiring only a small flick instead of the violent shake from the last game.

While the graphics are awesome, the enemies are sometimes hard to see in the murky water. This would almost add to the element of surprise except for the fact that the things in the water include frogs, fish, and only one weird monster that appears in the first level.

If possible, play with a friend. It makes it funny and interesting.

At the end of it all, the story line is interesting, the game play is pretty fun, and the graphics are great for a Wii game.

Essay Help?

anyone want to help me cut 499 characters out of the following essay?


In my freshman year, I had my first allergic reaction. While my initial reaction was not life threatening, my allergies soon escalated and before I realized it, I was in a hospital staring up at the ceiling. Diagnosed with exercise-induced anaphylaxsis, this prognosis struck me to the core, because as an athlete, I relied on gym visits not only to maintain my physical health but also to relieve stress.

Shocked with my own brush with death, my immediate response was to deny any sort of problem. However, each visit to the gym reminded me that I was being reckless with my life and my future. As a future medical professional, I knew that allergies were treatable but suffered mentally after being weakened by just one reaction. My anxiety initially caused me to avoid proper medical treatment, but after a few weeks, I realized that my allergies should not be a restriction but rather a reminder. My allergies became a reminder of what I was working towards, understanding and relieving the uncertainty of patients who lost faith in their physical health.

Thankfully, my allergies are now managed with medication and I, have since, restored my physical and mental health. As a student of medicine, I realize now that my anxiety should not rule my life but serve as a reminder of how illness disrupts a person's confidence in their health. In the future, I hope that my experience as a patient will help me help patients to restore the physical and mental stability that comes with physical health.

Hot Water Update!

Excitement, excitement! The hot water came back a week ago much to my surprise especially since there are three gaping holes in our wall where the gas pipes used to exist. Anywho, they left a note on our door yesterday but in their moment of greatness, it was all in Chinese. Ah Chinatown. You would think that they would realize this by now. The only floor that has people who can't speak Chinese is the second floor. Since leaving a note on our door on Tuesday for repairs on Wednesday, they have replace the pipes in our room and ran them outside the wall and around a few corners in our room down to the stove (so maybe the stove will work soon...) and then finished.

The fun thing is that they left a TON of debris all over the floor. Now they did try to sweep it up but its more like pushing dust from one side of the room to the other. So after two weeks and more than 20 hours of them wandering in and out of our apartment, we had hot water AND heat for some reason. I was happy for like... a day.

I woke up this morning and di the normal stuff, bathroom duties, eat breakfast and whatnots. Unfortunately after I did some work on my computer I went to go brush my teeth before leaving the apartment (working in starbucks is usually a large part of my day) and the water did not work. At all. No water whatsoever. Fun. The manager of the building told me that it would take 30 minutes before the water was back on, but knowing Chinatown 30 minutes means at least 2 hours and possibly the entire day. I should just give up and move somewhere else already. They are determined to drive me out!

More Chinatown Fun

So in the grand scale of fun Chinatown bullshit, I actually almost like Chinatown. Its full of yellow people who generally are rude and annoying, but will give you less looks than the tourists because you are... also of the same skin type. While I hated living here in the beginning (and still somewhat do) its gotten a bit better as I've met more people and have started to form friendships with people. I like most of the people we play soccer with, which works out well, and some of the folks who wander around the park (random drunk fat guy is not one of them).

Anywho, I went out today to get some fresh air and get out of this apartment (god knows what fumes I am inhaling by living here) and ended up reading my articles, coming back, and kicking the soccer ball around a bit regardless of the annoying cold I have right now. Afterwards I wandered back to my apartment to find a notice posted up on the lovely outer door from ConEdison that said "Gas has been shut off due to leaks". Now this does not make me the happiest camper in the world. ConEd's reputation is terrible about getting around to stuff which makes me think that this no gas, no hot water thing might last a LOOONNNNGGG time. So even though I was getting used to Chinatown and maybe actually enjoying my time doing my work and getting to play soccer every once and a while, now I can't actually take a shower after my relaxing bit of soccer. Boobears to that.

Sorry about the incohesiveness of this post. Fever makes me a bit weird, but willing to post apparently.

Job Search

Just an update on the job search for anyone who may or may not care (i hear whispers of my brother yelling "shut up" from the bathroom, jk). So far i've interviewed for six jobs. Two at Columbia medical center, two at the Aaron Diamonds Research Center, and two for MIT over the phone. I've already be rejected for one at Columbia, and told by the other five that they were interested in hiring me if I make a two year commitment. So two year commitment it is! For goodness sakes I do need a job and I would like it soon so I can write on my applications that I am actually doing something worthwhile in my spare time.

In any case, I've got and have been working (thinking about) my secondary essays and whatnots and will hopefully finish those soon. Oops, the housecat is here. Time to go. More updates later.

Happy

Korean Thanksgiving! Or Autumn festival whichever one you chose to follow. Go eat songpyeon and/or mooncakes and have a blast. Its and excuse to eat and do whatever you feel like.

Last night my brother and I made songpyeon actually. It was interesting because we've never made it without my mom before. In essence, I was extremely worried about messing everything up and/or the mung beans (yellow sweet beans) getting messed up as well. Because of this I wanted my brother to do the beans and I would work on the dough (I thought that maybe I knew how it felt better than my brother would). Anyways, my brother added sesame oil to the mung beans which made them more wet than needbe, however, everything ended up fine. The dough came together after it sat for a few minutes and the mung beans were quite tasty if I do say so myself. I'm listing the recipe below which I got from mangachi but added a few notes in case you wanted to try it yourself.

Ingredients:
Frozen Rice Flour
White Sugar
Dried Skinned Mung Beans (split ones are nice)
Salt
Water

1. Dump your dried mung beans into a bit of water to let them soak.
2. Set 2 cups of water to boil.
3. Sift the flour through a strainer or sifter to weed out some of the coarser grains.
4. Add 3 table spoons of the boiling water and a pinch of salt for every 1 cup of flour.
5. Knead the dough until it sticks together well and doesn't have too many cracks.
Note: If it keeps cracking and is hard to keep together in once piece after 15 minutes of kneading then add a half a tablespoon of water.
6. Cover the dough in saran wrap and turn your attention to the mung beans!
7. Drain the water from the soaked mung beans and add the equivalent amount of water (1/4 cup of mung beans = 1/4 cup of water) to the pot.
8. Set the mung beans to simmer, but remember to stir often.
Note: The beans might look a little dry but that's fine. Just leave it and keep stirring.
9. Allow the pot to simmer for 25 - 30 minutes before removing from heat, crushing the beans with the back of a spoon, and adding the equivalent amount of white sugar.
10. After the filling is mixed, start making songpyeon!
Note: If the dough is STILL to dry or breaks apart really easily when you try to knead it again add another 1/2 tablespoon of water and knead that in.
11. Take a ping pong amount of dough and work it gently with your hands. It's usually a little cracked, but if you have inconsistencies in the dough at this point then you will have more trouble when you steam it.
12. Make a small indent with your thumb in the middle of the ping pong ball and keep depressing the spot until you have a small cup.
13. Fill the cup with filling (but not too much) and seal the top by pressing the two edges together.
Note: Seal this properly otherwise all the filling will fall out while steaming.
14. Set water to boil in a large pot with your steamer over it.
15. Wet a cheeseclothe or paper towel or new, clean rag and put it at the bottom of the steamer rack (not in the water, in the thing with holes!)
16. Stick your songpyeon in here for 25 - 30 minutes to steam.
17. Rinse the finished sonpyeon quickly in cold water with a little bit of sesame oil dripped in and then enjoy!

Give Me A

job already!

Sorry for the long wait between updates, I've been pouring my efforts into finding me a job/purpose of life in New York and applying to medical school. If you've got a cousin thrice-removed who is a Principial Investigator, help me out here and send him an email. I will even give you my resume and cover letter.

On a less depressing note, the weather is finally getting colder. To my dismay, I gave all my warmer clothes to my dad a few weeks ago so I went shopping for a new sweater to go underneath my happy green jacket (my polo jacket). Also, no shoes. Gave those to my daddio too. So I'm stuck wearing chucks and high heels and running shoes. Oh well. Drop me a line if you want to catch a meal, I'm bored here.