Step 1 (Of My Life)

I have to go on hiatus (and into hiding) for a few weeks. My board exams are coming up at the end of June. For the uninitiated, the board exam scores plays a GINORMOUS part in determining the specialty and residency program you go into–basically your career.

So yeah…I gotta take it seriously.

I was going to post on The Patterson House and House of Kabob, but instead, I’ll do teensy tiny blurbs on them:

The Patterson House lives up to the ridonculous hype machine, fueled by kindling such as the Nashville Scene, Rage, and Metromix. I did find out, however, that what was written was almost entirely inaccurate, thus proving that such weekly papers are indeed useful as kindling, and not much else. It’s surprising how much you can learn by just asking the friendly staff there. It’s also how I was able to answer my friends’ questions when they came with me, and how I became part of the hype machine. While I don’t want to be a hype-monger, the place is good for drinks and some quick bites. I’m only a tiny bit worried about going broke from eating there.

House of Kabob is quite a drive, out into no-man’s-ville, er…Nolensville, but it’s good. I wish I got more meat and veggies in addition to the dune of fluffy white rice. Yes, I know I’m greedy. I don’t care. If I had more time, I’d go there. But if you read the first paragraph, you’d know that I don’t. Oh well. You can go, though.

And that’s it! I’ll be back in a month or so, likely in the form of some degenerate sub-species of human being, not quite capable of carrying a conversation anymore, much less type (funny) blog posts. But hopefully I’ll be one smart 8-hour-test-taking machine!

My Life Was So Different A Week Ago

What I do now:

Study, Eat, Poop, Sleep

What I did last week (including really quick reviews!):

Went to Jason’s Deli because they are delicious, make (fake) po’boys, and remind of Sweet Tomatoes (my favorite!).

The next morning I went to Noshville for brunch with Yash. Surprisingly, lox and scrambled eggs is a tasty combo. If the creative juices were really flowing, I would’ve put the eggs, lox, latkes, and cream cheese on the bagel, and had a bagel that could’ve easily obtained ultimate-status. Note to self: do that next time.

Went to Goten for Zack’s birthday dinner. Goten is a sorry excuse for a teppanyaki restaurant; even the ones in Fresno (particularly Edo-ya) are leagues ahead in terms of show, taste, and value.

Salt water and mushrooms = soup? No, it = fail.

Hooray for volcanoes!

This chicken contains pineapple. Pineapples are filler for what could’ve been more chicken. I want meat, dammit! Also of note, the dipping sauces are ketchup and terriyaki sauce. KETCHUP. Let that sink in. I’ll remind you that this is a Japanese establishment. Ok. Time to move on. TIME FOR PICTURES OF MAH FRENZ!

They were dressed the same.

This is a cute accessory.

How can you not love this face?

The birthday boy and his pinata. It was a one-shot decapitation; this is the strength that comes with going to the gym. Weight room!

I sorta stopped remembering things at this point. Or wait…it might’ve been the liquid cocaines. Yeeah, I probably stopped remembering stuff after having four of them. I might not be able to return to Hollywood Disco–not because I could’ve been banned, but because if I go I’ll be tempted to get more liquid cocaines. And frankly, after that weekend, I need to grow up.

And so, I’ve adopted this grown-up schedule: study, eat, poop, sleep.

It feels good to be a mature adult.

The Boba Party

After spending hours making boba and tea, and after having my friends indulge in them, I was finally able to shamelessy flaunt my skillz and delicious tea. My ego did lots of growing tonight. It was great.

And I even have pictures to prove I have friends! Food is the most awesomest way to make friends, and I’m sure anyone who’s cooked for people will know that people love to have friends who make food. Unless those people have had gastric bypass surgery and have no more tastebuds. To that: well…I don’t know what to say.

I apologize to Frances, Johnny, and Carorine for taking turrible pictures. This is why I’m not allowed to take pictures of people.

I think my little tea party tonight was kinda like Foodbuzz’s 24, 24, 24 event, even though I’m not quite sure if I grasp the concept: is it 24 dinners in 24 hours…with 24 friends? If that’s the case, my event would be like a 1, 5, 8 event: me + 5 hours prep + 8(omgimsopopular!) friends. You can tell I don’t read the emails I get from Foodbuzz; I’m probably too busy to do a coordinated event like that. Studying (or procrastinatin) usually takes up most of my time.

Speaking of which: I should be nearing panic mode soon–my cumulative final (7 months of material) is coming up on Friday the 13th (!) of February. During panic mode, I will be cramming as much information about the human pathological condition and medicine as possible into my tiny brain. Or will be updating the blog constantly.

But enough of the digression. I believe I was talking about tea parties. I made batches of Thai Tea, EMW House Special Milk Tea (which uses a mix of Assam and Darjeeling leaves), and Jasmine Green Tea. It’s not the same as what I would normally get at the tea shop, but it makes me appreciate the differences between tea brewed by steeping in hot water and tea brewed using an esspresso machine. The latter definitely creates a more intense flavor and is infinitely easier to use, especially when making iced teas.

Hopefully, I’ve gotten my friends accustomed to better tasting drinks, and they will no longer have a desire to go to Fat Straw. I don’t really have anything against them, but I just like showing people what good tea tastes like. It’s just too bad I won’t be having another tea party for a while. Sucks for them.

It’s Boba Time Again!

I’m making boba Wednesday. This is what I do instead of studying. I heart procrastination.

It’s also a good way to subvert Fat Straw and their subpar boba.

Random Pictures From Fresno…

…of food. Did you think I meant friends?

I definitely had to stop by and get grub from the family businesses, East Meets West China Bistro and EMW Tea Co. Multiple times. And every time was delicious.

My dad calls these flat (fat?) rice noodles with beef. It’s a new item. Oh ya, I’m going to be impartial once again, and not post my opinion on the food–just pictures.

Broccoli Chicken with Brown Rice. Brown rice is good for the pooper. So is broccoli.

Lots and lots of milk tea from EMW Tea Co. We made a bunch for the Thanksgiving potluck at church. People started snagging these before we were even allowed to get food–animals!

And here is my poochy, Bananas. She is more special than any other dog.

Don’t Read This Post On Boba

Before leaving Fresno, I asked my dad if I could bring some tea and boba back to Nashville so I could share some homemade deliciousness with my friends. He sent me back to Tennessee with a five pound bag of boba, six packages to tea leaves (Earl Grey, House Special Black, Jasmine Green, and Thai), a couple pounds of non-dairy creamer, and a strainer. This is enough to last at least two days in the shop, and I have until December 17th to use it all because I don’t want to drag everything back to Fresno–the boba goes bad a month after it’s opened.

However, I won’t talk about how I made boba yesterday. Nope. I didn’t spend an hour slow-cooking boba until it was soft, tender, and bled starchy goodness. I didn’t take the time to explain to my friends that the boba with crunchy innards they were eating from other bobaries in Nashville were stale because shops are too cheap/lazy to make fresh batches daily, or simply because they used instant crap. I didn’t brew a batch of House Special and Earl Grey yesterday, and I didn’t receive grandiose fanfare for spectacular milk tea. And most of all, I didn’t tell people that my black market boba tea shop would be churning out more batches before Christmas.

So since I didn’t do any of that, the Nashville Department of Public Health has no reason tracking down my underground boba operation to shutdown my medical school backup plan. There’s absolutely no shady business going on at all.