Baller Lunch

In Jeff's words:
"Darren, Jen, and I were in the PBL rooms one weekend practicing the CVS exam and then afterwards got sidetracked and started searching up super nice Michelin star restaurants that we'd want to go to once we were real doctors."

From that conversation stemmed our pact to meet up at some really nice restaurant, perhaps Alinea in Chicago, ten years from now when we're all doctors. We would get the degustation/tasting menu and just splurge. Then, Jeff and Kat got into Canadian med schools (CONGRATS guys!), so we decided to have a baller lunch (cheaper since we're still only students) to celebrate before they left.

After searching online for restaurants, we finally picked Gusto da Gianni in Hamilton which was voted to be the Best Fine Dining Restaurant in Brisbane in 2009.  

The restaurant is really nice as it borders the Brisbane River.  The weather was also really beautiful on Saturday, so all in all, a great day!

We ordered the Peasant Menu, which was served family style.  Overall the food was ok.  The entrees and dessert were amazing, but I have to say that I was not impressed with the mains.  In fact, I'm quite disappointed about the mains.  Here's what we had: 

Entrees: 

Focaccia - this was good...fresh bread always is...

 

Fried Olives with Cheese Stuffing...good but salty.

 

Potato Frittata: YUM-O

 

Roasted, Breaded Fresh Vegetables: Really good!

 

Caprese Salad: Probably my most favorite dish of the day.

 

Antipasto Meat Dish: Tasty!

 

Mains:

Rigatoni: Nothing extraordinary.

 

Pumpkin Risotto: Ally and I pondered whether or not the risotto was fully cooked.

 

Salad: I found a huge ass dead bug/cricket in my serving...

 

Dessert:

Tiramisu: DELICIOUS!

 

The highlights of the meal for me included the potato fritatta, avocadoes with buffalo mozzarella, and tiramisu.  All of our entrees in general were tasty, and the tiramisu was authentic and good, but I was really disappointed with the mains.  I could have made a better tasting rigatoni that than.  And for the price we paid, I expected at least some sort of meat dish.  I probably won't ever go back to this restaurant, but overall, I still had a really good time with some really awesome people! 

Kat and Jeff are now off to New Zealand while the rest of us are studying for exams.  We're definitely note hatin'!  =)  But you guys will most definitely be missed by all of us!  Have a great vacation, and I'll see you guys when you get back!  And to everyone else--good luck with exams!

My Birthday

I’m not a big birthday person.  Most years, I don’t even tell people about it…and it doesn’t help that I turned 28 either.  This year, I decided that I wanted to do something low key and try the fish ‘n chips place close to campus on Hawken Drive, A Salt and Battery.  What a clever name, right? 

So on Friday afternoon, an email was sent out, and it was on…and then came Monday morning…I walked into PBL, and everyone knew it was my birthday via FB.  Ann-Marie bought me a cake, and Jade got me some baking supplies (whoopee! Thanks so much guys!).  Everyone sang to me (majorly embarrassing), but it was really cool.  The chocolate cake was YUMMY too! 

Skip on ahead to the actual dinner—there were 13 of us, and it was SO much fun!  I hadn’t had such an awesome birthday in a really long time.  We had the banquet at A Salt and Battery, and that consisted of chips, calamari, salad, and fish.  You all know how much I love fried food, and even all the cardiovascular lectures couldn’t keep me from digging away at the food.  I have to say that I’ve had better fish, but the chips and calamari were pretty good.  

As we were waiting for our food, Jeff, Darren, and Amy arrived…of course, Amy was carrying this MASSIVE blow up kangaroo that Kat had gotten for me.  It was HILARIOUS!  Seriously, Kev is sitting in the corner of my living room right now, and every time I walk in, I’m still shocked by its presence.  Kev was situated on a table behind ours during dinner, and a family even had to cross the street to take a look at the life-like kangaroo. 

 

After we polished off most of the food, we were all just sitting around having a good time, when all of a sudden, Jeff brought over this amazing chocolate mud cake!  Everyone sang again, and I was at a loss for words.  I didn’t even see Jeff carry in the cake!  But it was amazing and awesome.  So chocolatey!  Hmm…as always before blowing out the candles, I’m supposed to make a wish, right?  Most years, I do, but this year, I couldn’t really think of anything.  I’m completely satisfied with my life, and I’m happy.  I couldn’t ask for a better life.  I just hope that everyone stays safe and healthy.  

Such great memories from that night…and such a great birthday surrounded by friends.  And then of course, there is the online contingent of FB friends and family who all left their well wishes. I miss you all so much!!   Thanks to all for such a wonderful 28^th birthday (though I thank all who say I look a lot younger)! 

Side note:  Two of the first and good friends that I met here in Australia were both accepted into the same Canadian med school this past weekend.  A huge congratulations to the both of them (Kat and Jeff)—you both deserve it!  But you will be missed a lot!  

2.5 weeks until mid-year exams...3 weeks until my parents come...can't wait! 

Happy May!

It's already the second day of May already.  Wow!  Time really does fly.  I love the month of May--spring (or autumn here) is in full bloom, and the weather is just perfect. 

I know that it's been a couple of weeks since I last posted anything, so let me update you on my comings and goings.  Let's see.  This weekend is another long weekend in Australia!  Tomorrow is their Labour Day, so I have an off-day from school.  Yippee!  I love being able to sleep-in for another day of the week.  However, the weekend is a bit dampened by the impending due date of my ethics essay due a week from tomorrow.  I finally have a topic I am happy with, but the writing part has yet to happen.  I started last night and am very slowly progressing through it.  My goal is to finish most of this by this weekend so that during the week, I can revise and do my references section.  Wish me luck! 

Last weekend was another long weekend here in Australia--Anzac Day.  Basically, it's Australia's Memorial and Veterans' Days combined.  I spent last weekend trying to learn about the respiratory system and V/Q ratios.  Not exactly fun, but it's important stuff.  Also, last Friday night was Kat's bday BBQ.  It was really fun, and it's amazing how many people I met from the first year med class.  There are so many of us that I just keep seeing new faces and meeting new people.  But yea, Kat's party was a blast--the most fun I've had in a while!  Then on Sunday, Jeff, Darren, and I watched The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo.  Pretty good movie, though I prefer the book.  Can't wait until my sister lends me the other two books of the trilogy! 

It is here that I must digress a bit and mention my walk to the UQ campus last Sunday.  Usually, when I head to school, I always take the bus, but since it was a holiday weekend, I decided to walk and find out exactly what my route would be.  I didn't get lost (whoo!), and it was during this walk that I finalized my ethics essay topic and knew exactly what I was going to argue.  I love runs and walks! 

This past week, I also got my exam results back.  I did all right--most importantly, I passed.  =)  I did better than I expected, but there's still lots of room for improvement.  But I'm happy since I have had no exposure to any of this anatomy and physiology stuff before.  Not only that, but the last time I actually was in school was 4 years ago...so yea.  And now it's time to start major studying for June exams.  Those will definitely be a lot tougher! 

Coming back to this weekend now, on Friday, I went to watch Iron Man 2 with a whole bunch of classmates.  I didn't really want to watch it as I wasn't a huge fan of the first Iron Man, but I gave in...it turned out to be rather good, this second movie--much better than the first! Yesterday morning, I met up with my mentor assigned to me by the Australian Medical Association.  Dr. Solley is an allergist, and he's really nice!  Hopefully I can shadow him during clinic some time. 

Last bit of news--this week, I found out that I will not be able to complete my elective in the UK. Boohoo.  The school decided two months after the fact that the Ochsner cohort will not be allowed to go abroad and must stay in Australia for our elective.  LAME.  I am particularly upset with this as I have spent a lot of time and effort setting up housing and also looking for doctors/hospitals willing to take me on.  I have friends who have had their electives approved already; some have even paid a deposit to secure their spot!  But what's new?  This whole UQ/Ochsner set-up is not really well organized, and you can never trust what they tell you.  I can deal with all the day to day stuff of attending classes and pracs, going to PBLs, and even taking exams.  I can deal with spending a lot of time reading textbooks and learning things on my own.  However, I'm really fed up with the UQ/Ochsner administrative crap.  We're paying $20K more than all of the other foreign students here--for what, we're not really sure since the SOM can't give us a clear, straight answer.  We were told that we could do our first year elective anywhere since we cannot for our 4th year elective and also must come back Australia for a 4th year rotation.  But two months after everyone's started looking or have confirmed spots, guess what?  They tell us that we're not allowed to go overseas.  It's a whole bunch of BS.  I treasure this opportunity to be able to study medicine in Australia.  I really do.  But UQ/Ochsner really needs to get their act together. 

So yes, after my ranting and raving, I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend and a wonderful week ahead!  6 weeks and counting before I get a two week holiday!!