Yup, still here.

Whoa... hi, there.

I'm still here. Still moving along the path of MCAT mastery.

I was chugging along when I was sidelined with two sudden and very painful infections. Burnout was already hitting me hard, so it was time to take a break. Besides, I knew I needed one when I was sitting in the waiting room at Urgent Care and all I could think about was the cell cycle. Or maybe how it might be viral, so I pictured little viruses, like Tholians, attacking my cells. Then, they prescribed an antibiotic that disrupted the bugs' DNA gyrase and all I could picture was unwinding double-stranded DNA.

As insane as all of it sounded, the true crazy came when I was driving home and traveling downhill on the freeway. I literally thought, Oh, I'll just ignore the coefficient of friction between the car's tires and the road and let mg sin Θ take over, and took my foot off the accelerator.

Yikes. The deep end, friends, is a hard place to return from.

I have had the opportunity to take a few study breaks and I'll report on them soon. For now, I leave you with a little bit of comfort food, a hot bowl of rice noodle soup with sauteed ground pork, scallions, and a fried egg. Courtesy of Sunday Bistro, one of my dad's favorite restaurants. Check out Wandering Chopsticks' post on it.

I've been taking a lot of standardized tests in the last few years, trying to figure out the rest of my life. My dad and D. have been the tireless leaders of my cheering squad. I've been really lucky to have a lot of people in my life offer advice, support, and encouragement as I masochistically throw myself into another round of evil standardized testing. Thanks to all of you, because I really couldn't do it otherwise.

Wine Vault & Bistro: St. Paddy's Dinner

UPDATE: Wine Vault & Bistro very kindly added two more dates, so I snagged myself a spot at the March 31 dinner. YES!

Ah, yet another meeting of one of my favorite restaurants with one of my favorite boozemakers. Of course, I can't go because I'll be at MCAT class. Yes, woe is me. Wine Vault & Bistro is pairing up with Stone Brewery (signature gargoyle above) for their St. Patrick's Dinner. Apparently, owner Greg Koch has given Wine Vault some awesome limited brews and beermaker Jeremy Moynier is hosting the dinner. March 17, 6:30pm, $39.50/person.

Anyway, if anyone out there goes, please let me live vicariously. Don't forget the pictures. Oh, and 1/2 liter carafes of all of the beers will be available during the dinner for $6. 6 bucks?! Geez, I might have to skip MCAT class for this.

Asparagus Salad | Burrata Cheese | Shaved White Asparagus | Nasturtium | Watermelon Radish | 25-Year-Old Balsamic

Stone "Levitation" Ale (4 oz. pour)

Fish 'n' Chips: Beer Battered Yellowtail | Potato Cake | Porter + Malt Vinegar Aioli | Micro Greens

Stone "09.09.09" Vertical Epic (4 oz. pour)

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin | Brussel Sprout Hash | Guanciale | Thyme Jus

2007 Stone "Old Guardian" Barley Wine (4 oz. pour)

Lamb Shepherd's Pie

Stone "Arrogant Bastard" Ale (4 oz. pour)

Glazed Corned Beef and Cabbage | Braised Baby Vegetables | Stone Ground Mustard Aioli

Stone "Ruination" IPA

Chocolate Espresso Creme Brulee | White Chocolate + Brown Butter Mousse

2008 Stone "Imperial Russian" Stout

Levitation Ale ROCKS. It's too bad they don't have the oaked Arrogant Bastard, which I tried at a recent tasting and really liked. Just remember that when you're relaxing with that carafe of Levitation, I will be working on my organic chemistry problems. Sigh.

Moo Moment: The Valentine Post

I was receiving PR emails about when I "consider my editorial content for Valentine's Day". I chuckle to myself, since I'm mildly flattered that anyone assumes that I have my shit together enough to actually plan content for anything. Nah, it's not that organized. I go about my life and write about whatever pops up.

D. and I usually don't celebrate Valentine's Day, largely because we don't like the overwhelming commercial aspect of it. We decided to forgo the pressure and expense years ago.

However, this year, we brought it back a little bit. Some of the effort, none of the pressure. Part of it is that it's our 9th Valentine's Day together and we're one month away from our 10 year anniversary. Time for a little mushiness, a little reflection. We've been together for nearly 10 years, married for a little over 6 months, and it's fair to say that we grew up together.

Back in college, D. was frustrated with the high cost of flowers at Valentine's Day. Being practical to the bone, he decided that Costco was the only way to go and rounded up a group of friends to pool their resources for several of the large Costco bunches that they could divvy up and give to their respective dates. A decade later, Costco still rocks when it comes to flowers.

I wanted to take him out for his favorite potstickers and to one of the main stops on our rotation of restaurants: Dumpling Inn. Serving Northern Chinese cuisine that isn't perfect, but very comforting. They make great potstickers with a fabulous crust.

We also really like their spicy eggplant with ground pork. Fantastic wok hei on this dish, making it perfect in taste and texture.

Apologies for the starkness of the photos... the bright white energy-saving bulbs didn't work too well with the iPhone's camera.

D. loves eclairs, so I made a quick run to St. Tropez Bakery in Hillcrest. Picked up some eclairs, meringue cookies, and a napoleon. As Darlene mentions in her latest post, those layers go soggy fast. The pastry cream was tasty and so were the eclairs. The meringues had great texture, but were a little bland.

As I slog through pile after pile of practice problems, D. does things like making sure that I eat, have clean clothes to wear, and do not generally self-destruct. I'm pursuing a very old dream, one that I gave up once upon a time. I just couldn't let the dream go and I'm grateful that D. sees that living with the dissatisfaction of having never tried is worse than the crazy schedule a medical career will likely entail. And with his quiet and unwavering support, I can only take a moment this Valentine's weekend to marvel at how very, very lucky I am.

On that note, hope everyone had a great weekend and a fun V-day if you celebrate it. Lastly, gung hai fat choi and a prosperous year of the Tiger to all!

Dumpling Inn

4619 Convoy Street, Suite F
San Diego, CA 92111

St. Tropez Bakery & Bistro (Hillcrest Location)

3805 5th Avenue

San Diego CA, 92103