Good sushi place in Alameda

Small homey sushi place in downtown Alameda. Literally run by a mom who’s the waitress and a pop who’s the sushi chef and seats 12 people in the whole place. Very good sashimi

1428 Park St.
Alameda, CA 94501
510 865 7141

Best Peking Duck in the bay area

Great China = best peking duck in Cali! Crispy skin, deboned tender meat, thin wrappers, green onions and sweet plum sauce makes this just amazing. One piece of advice, don’t go there for dinner on a Sat night w/o a reservation. Its a small place and it gets packed! Jane and I ordered take out and ate it in the car. $26 bucks for half a duck but its definitely worth it!

2115 Kittredge St. Berkeley, CA
5108437996

Good restaurants in Boston

Helmand Afghan food in Cambridge! Rack of Lamb was really really good, oh and the dipping bread was excellent as well.

http://www.helmandrestaurantcambridge.com/index.html

Dali Restaurant and Tapas bar – not as good as Madrid but not bad and a good ambience for late night drinks

http://www.dalirestaurant.com/home.html

Super88, the best Asian food I’ve found in New England which is probably still worst than the crappy places in Cali. Go to the foodcourt in Allston for Korean, Japanese ramen, Indonesian, GREAT Taiwanese place, good Indian food

http://www.super88market.com/loc.htm

Taberna de Haro – a supposedly much more authentic tapas bar (I got it from a drug rep who lived in Brazil )
999 Beacon St
Brookline, MA 02446-5609
Phone: (617) 277-8272

Oleana – looks like a good mediterranean place

http://www.oleanarestaurant.com/

Tangierino – VERY good moroccan place in Charlestown, MA
http://www.tangierino.com/

Family style Italian place in Gorham NH

Saladino’s Italian restaurant
152 Main St.
Gorham, NH 603 466 2520

Great pasta and salads!

Currie K hair – Korean cut

Wanna look like a Korean pop star?
Currie K hair in Ktown
213 382 3040
3832 Wilshire Blvd#205
LA, CA

$1 hand rolls before 6pm in SoCal

Restaurant Yoshino
14181 Newport Ave
Tustin, CA
714 730 3888

Food Santorini

Mythos Taverna – best place we ate in Greece
Pirgos – Santorini
+302286032444
open all year round
referred by Antonis from Art Space
best dishes: Eggplant dip, anything with Feta cheese, grilled fish, fried calamari, kebab

Consultant’s Guide to Dating

For all you single consultants out there

Poem for the stressed out

ITHACA
When you start on your journey to Ithaca,
then pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
Do not fear the Lestrygonians (*)
and the Cyclopes and the angry Poseidon.
You will never meet such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine emotion
touches your body and your spirit.
You will never meet the Lestrygonians,
the Cyclopes and the fierce Poseidon,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not raise them up before you.

Then pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many,
that you will enter ports seen for the first time
with such pleasure, with such joy!
Stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and corals, amber and ebony,
and pleasurable perfumes of all kinds,
buy as many pleasurable perfumes as you can;
visit hosts of Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from those who have knowledge.

Always keep Ithaca fixed in your mind.
to arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for long years;
and even to anchor at the isle when you are old,
rich with all that you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.

Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would never have taken the road.
But she has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not defrauded you.
With the great wisdom you have gained, with so much experience,
you must surely have understood by then what Ithaca means.

— Constantine Cavafy (translated by Rae Dalven)

To the joys of cubicle-dom

In the last three hours, I reviewed two weeks of biochemistry, reviewed a business plan for a fuel cell company, set up meetings for a book publishing company in China, finished a budget for a clinic in Burundi and collated names for a gift exchange I’m organizing. All in the name of productivity.

Somehow in the midst of thinking about what specialty I want to do, memorizing detailed biochemical pathways, writing outlines to organize elusive physiology concepts and digging around in cadavers to find obscure arteries and nerves, it is refreshing to feel productive writing emails, reading business plans and advising entrepreneurs. Business concepts seem to come so much more naturally to me than being a med student.

I like multitasking. When life seems too simple, I complicating the heck out of it. I like feeling like I am a part of a thousand different things, relationships, opportunities at once. I like networking. The thought of finding suitable business partner for people, doing favors for someone else so that they may someday help me. I like believing that friends can be business partners and I love making introductions that work. Most of all, I like the thought of being a part of something that is being created. I like starting new things, meeting new people, brainstorming new ideas.
As I build a new life around being a med student, learn new knowledge and meet new people headed in a wholly new direction, I am reminded on days like this what I liked most about business, working in a cubicle, cranking out emails and making phone calls . . . Is it more important to spend little effort, “feel” important and make a small difference to society or to spend lots of effort and actually accomplish something really meaningful for other people??

Well, here I am, pencil in hand with a laptop on my lap and a stack of notes on my desk putting in a lot of effort. Isn’t life crazy?