See you in September

Posted some pics from the summer ... the 'last summer of my life' as Antonia calls it. Maybe not entirely, but it sure feels like it. Classes began last week, but the work is already piling up. Anyway, this is yet another attempt to revive my blog. I do hope it works this time, because I believe it'll keep me sane this year.

Quick recap of the summer -- went to Rome, Venice, & Germany w/lolli & moiji for 2 weeks. Got back and moved into a university apartment w/my good friend. We have a million-dollar view of the Hudson & the Guh-Wuh-Buh (George Washington Bridge). Then started work on a summer research project compiling health insurance statistics for Asian Americans from U.S. Census data. Also worked at the student-run free primary care clinic, and in between got to do some fun stuff like hike the Delaware Water Gap, watch lots of movies, ride the Cyclone at Coney Island, and watch the U.S. Open qualifying rounds in Flushing Meadows w/Lolli. Highlight of the summer was having moiji as a squatter for 6 weeks. :) You'll also find pics of Q and her new Pooky from when they visited in August. Hope everyone's summer was as fun & fabulous as mine! Now it's back to the old grind ...

Old friends & new -- from R to L it's moiji, me, Q, Q's Pooky, and Lolli.

In front of the Coney Island side show. Look! Chuy is the Wolf Man!

The sheep are supervising the building of my bookcase.

Mah b-day cake, made by the one & only Joyce Torres.

After a brief hiatus

Below are pics from spring break in California at the beginning of April, as well as the APSA-sponsored Rice Bowl (fried rice competition) held last Friday in Bard Hall. My cooking buddy and soon-to-be roommate Qing won first prize w/her all-encompassing dish of Yin Yang Fried Rice (Yin = vegetarian, Yang = all the good stuff aka non-vegetarian). Kidding ... the vegetarian version was good, too. ;)

Last weekend Lolli & I celebrated 6 months, which we turned into an excuse to gorge ourselves on Brazilian BBQ at Churrascaria Plataforma (49th St b/w 8th and 9th Aves). Oh my goodness -- beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb, and more beef -- I ate until I couldn't swallow another bite, but it was so worth it. Yum.

School is ending in 2 weeks, so I (and you) can hopefully look forward to more posts in the near future.

Lolli + Muffinjr
Happy 6 Months

 

Fried Rice Competition -- And the winner is ... Team Columbia Medical Review, w/Yin Yang Fried Rice!!!!!

 

Fried Rice Competition, Team Food Club: Nasi Goreng (2nd Place)

 

Fried Rice Competition, Team Wellness: "We Kinda Winged This" (3rd Place)

 

Fried Rice Competition, Team CoSMO: Mom's Stick-To-Your-Ribs Sticky Fried Rice (my entry, left)

 

Fried Rice Competition, Team APSA: Quad-Bypass Fried Rice

 

Fried Rice Competition, Team AMA: Sacred Indulgence of the Portly Concubine

 

Coast at Pigeon Point

Pigeon Point Light House

 

Half Moon Bay

 

My yummy valentine

  

  

All I really need to know about renal physiology I learned in this book

Your IQ Is 135

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

The perfect cold-weather remedy

Recipe for blueberry muffins (from The Joy of Cooking):

Dry ingredients:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 t cinnamon

Wet ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 C milk
2/3 C sugar
1/2 C butter or vegetable oil
1 t vanilla

1 C dried or fresh blueberries
(My mom gave me a ginormous bag of dried blueberries, so I re-constituted them in hot water for 10 min)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Sift together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients. Add the wet to the dry and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix; the batter will be lumpy. Divide the batter among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean, 15-18 min. Makes 15 standard muffins.