I caught Wicked here in Chicago a fantastic TWO TIMES - once with Jhow, Jeff, Rico, Jong, and Chris Co, and once with Cindrella Chavez (who cried pagdating sa "For Good" hahaha!). Haaaaay heaven! |

Makikipost lang ako.... Happy Birthday Daj! Eto yung cake, baka kasi walang magbigay ng cake sayo jan eh!

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I'm back in Chicago from a GREAT two-week vacation! I didn't realize it would be so cold here - it was 57 degrees when I deplaned yesterday - a very far cry from the weather in Texas where I spent my first week.

We stayed in Winnsboro, Texas, which was an hour and a half's drive from Dallas. My uncle, who seems to be one of the big shot surgeons of the town, has a HUGE, let me repeat HUUUGE house. The entire land area spans 40 acres and he has his own forest, his own little fishing lake where he grows catfish, and his own personal road that leads up to the highway. The road is a good length and winds up to his driveway where he parks his cars. The house itself is big and roomy with centralized airconditioning (I hardly even noticed the heat)! The picture above looks a bit scary cause it was taken in the dark. But you can see the road and part of the house with the forest behind it. Creepy lang nga!

Most of my time was spent either shopping in outlet malls, acquiring the books I need for my last exam, or catching up on my studies. The best part of it all was being able to drive my uncle's Lexus around - it was a sleek black pick-up style car that had everything you could possibly think of, in addition to a GPRS screen. You just typed your desired destination into the computer, and it would figure out the fastest route AND tell you in a cool female voice where to turn left or right. It just took awhile to get used to the 'standard' road rules we ignore so often back at home.

The food in Texas was also great! We ate in a Japanese Hibachi restaurant in Dallas where the cooks prepared everything at your table - flipping the pans around in acrobatic style to boot. But the best food I had in Texas was undoubtedly their steak! I had never tasted anything as tender! According to my uncle, they only rear the cattle to a young age before they are killed - unlike in other countries where they allow the beef to grow old and tough.

Overall, Texas was loads of fun, and I can't wait to visit my uncle and aunt again. Oh, and if you were wondering about Rita, we left Texas for Vegas the morning the storm hit. More about Vegas and our effective escape to 'higher ground' in my next post. Gotta study muna! |

Waaaah I'm so sorry I forgot! Anyway, these are for you...I picked them myself! |

I had a wonderful day in Chicago two days ago - after a full week of studying and basically getting bored at home. We started off with a stroll through a free artshow where we had hotdogs with marinara sauce (Carlos' treat). The sausage was really good, and it reminded me of the wursts we had in Frankfurt earlier this year.

We then headed down to the Magnificent Mile for a look at the shops - Saks Fifth Avenue, the Apple Store, Bloomingdale's - everything was pretty expensive! I did get a look at the new iPod nano though -- it was FANTASTIC! It really looked a little longer than a standard credit card with a thickness of around 1cm. It comes with a color screen that can display pictures while you listen to your music. Ah what a dream item!











Anyway, afterwards we went down to the Millenium Park where they had this oversized bean that was supposed to reflect the city's skyscrapers. Past that we walked into the main park where there was a stage crowned by the HUGE metalwork of Frank Gehry - it actually reminded me of one of those machines in War of the Worlds. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was playing there for free and they put on a terrific show of Copland, Ives, and a FANTASTIC Rimsky-Korsakov suite - Sheherezade. The sound they put out was marvelous - much better than any live orchestra back at home I daresay.

The day ended with a trip to the suburbs where we had dinner at Jo Lee's, a Chinese restaurant with huge servings accompanied by bubble tea. We had to wait around 20 minutes to get a table but the food was well worth it. Afterwards, we drove down to Evanston beach where we took a quick walk before we drove back home. The entire experience blew me away, and now Chicago is high up in my list of considerations for residency (I'd say #2 to New York).

OK folks I'm heading to Dallas in a few hours for a two-week stay there. Will let you know how the Texans party in a bit. Hang in there! |

Guess who took this picture! |

Hey people! I'm finally taking the 3rd of four exams I have to take for board certification tomorrow! In a way I'm glad its gonna be over already because I've been stuck at my new home here in Chicago reviewing and basically getting really bored in my spare time.

I've never EVER used the internet so much in my life, and I've recently turned to perusing items at Amazon.com (now I can get what I want shipped straight to the house in a week or two) - but you can see how dangerous that might turn out to be.

Well, wish me tons of luck with the 'American' patients I'm gonna be examining tomorrow. Ciao! |