Two books I'm currently reading.

Shotokan Karate

I have been training in Shotokan Karate for only a month now. Three lessons a week ensure that I maintain my razor sharp martial arts skills - to complement my other skills: "nunchuck skills, computer hacking skills, bo-staff skills." (Napol Dynamite movie line)

I'm only a yellow belt, but the system is kind of unfair because you need to start fresh everytime you change a martial arts type. For instance, I've had a year of taekwondo, then another form of karate, judo, wrestling, boxing, but I'm still a yellow belt in this new form. Then I also have to memorize this whole new set of movements, and my old sets are not obselete. Plus, it's even kind of a liability... "Stop throwing your shoulders like a boxer when you punch!" my sensei always yells at me.

A few things that inspire my return to karate training include getting chased down the street by a homeless bum on crack 2 weeks ago, and experiencing that 5 on 1 barfight in Taiwan 4 months ago. I need to be able to hold my own, not run away from a cracked up bum like a little girl.

I don't have a car here on the East Coast, so I have to ride my bike 30 hr to the dojo and back, up and down big hills. Getting there is a workout in itself. Just wait until the weather gets colder and my fingers freeze and fall off.

Ahhhhh... back to quarter life crisis mode?!

4 days ago, while attending a talk by Admiral Roughead (Commander of the Pacific Fleet) a gentleman stood up and introduced himself as the only MD among the crowd of international policy expert PhDs. Finding an MD in this kind of environment really intrigued me, so I approached him after at shared my bio background from the Berkeley days.

Today, Dr. Robert Morrow dropped by my office and we talked for over an hour and medicine, public health, policy, government. Him and I are so similar on the inside. We both have the compassion that drives us to help people one on one as a physician, but also the desire to want to do more to impact the world.

He was a living example that you can be an MD and still work on IR issues. My biggest reason for not going to Med school was so I wouldn't get stuck in a hospital and die from repetitive boredom. He was the first living example of the type of MD / diplomat that I want to be, aside from Dr. Sun Yat-sen, MD... but I said "living" example.

So... crap!! Again, back to the classic question: Medicine or political science? I feel like I'm 22 again, only with a Masters under my belt. I like both, and I'm good at both. Shoot! Now it's between getting an MD or PhD. I know I'm going to get one, just not sure which one. Both might be too nuts, especially spread across different disciplines.

In terms of the MD consideration, I guess I'm in the same bind as our friend Jennifer Hwang at Microsoft. ;) Maybe we'll end up going to school together as the motley pair - an EECS with MD and a politics with MD.

Finn and Porter, Hilton

I just started working last weekend at the Finn and Porter restaurant inside of the Hilton. It's fairly high-end. They specialize in seafood, sushi, and steaks. People spend $45 per person there on average, and leave $10 tip per table. I decided to work there because I like the atmosphere, but didn't want to pay to be there.

The best part of working there is eating the food from the back kitchen. When orders are wrong, I get to eat them - crab cakes, lobster bique soup. Plus, staff get free food in the Hilton cafeteria for lunch and dinner, which saves me $600 a month on groceries / eating out.

I'm trying to try to transition into bartending, which is more relaxed, social and fun. I'm going to ask a few of my friends behind the bar to teach me some stuff. I like the restaurant experience bec it's something I can do anywhere, even temporarily, to get some quick cash.