Catching up

Time flies - when you're having fun or when you're really busy. In my case, it has been the latter for the last several months. Hence the lack of blogging. After coming back from Cancun, I got right into the swing of things at school and haven't had any time to catch my breath - that is, until now.


I started with five classes and dropped one (advanced cell biology) to get to four: advanced molecular genetics, intro to genome science, intro to bioinformatics, and drug discovery development. After seeing my grades, I probably dropped the wrong class (molecular genetics didn't go so well). I also worked two part-time jobs - I continued my internship at Yaupon Therapeutics and started a new job at Penn's Center for Technology Transfer (CTT). As a CTT Fellow, I provide assessments on new inventions disclosed to the CTT. It's been a great experience - I'm learning how to look at new inventions from technical, business, and legal perspectives. In addition, I've been working on running the Biotech Investment Group with two other Wharton students.


Now I'm enjoying my winter break and am slowly gearing up for my return to Philly in a few weeks. Next semester is shaping up to be almost as busy as the last one. Whereas I focused on genetics last semester, this semester will be more about devices, my current interest, along with healthcare software. I'm scheduled to take Brain / Computer Interface, Tissue Engineering, and a CTT class (not for credit) on Lab to Market. I'm also hoping to take Healthcare Systems and another healthcare management class, though I'm not sure which one yet.


As for New Year's resolutions, I haven't completely decided on them just yet. But for one, I'm hoping to blog more than once every 6 months. Happy New Year!

Rescue Diver

For any scuba diver who plans to dive frequently or attempt challenging dives, the Rescue Diver course is a must. Like all PADI classes, this course consists of classroom, pool, and ocean components.

The most difficult and important skill in the course is rescuing an unconscious diver from the bottom of the ocean. Getting the diver to the surface is fairly easy, but at the surface it gets more complicated. Three things must be done simultaneously - rescue breaths, ditching equipment, and towing the diver back to the boat. I had the most trouble towing the victim back to the boat - I could not swim 10 feet in about 10 minutes of trying (luckily I still passed despite this obvious failing). Finally, the victim must be dragged out of the water and onto the boat. On the boat, CPR is administered until professional help arrives or the diver regains consciousness.

I'm glad I took the course in Cancun because I didn't need a wetsuit or heavy weights. With all the physical exertion that the rescue diver course requires, carrying less equipment makes a big difference. Panicked divers may try to pull your regulator out of your mouth and rip your mask off. My instructor, though a little guy, put up a good fight when playing the role of a panicked diver.

After this course, my instructor congratulated me on passing but told me to improve my swimming. I'm lucky he let me stay in the course as I was very rusty on my first day. I hope to dive a few times each year to keep my skills up.

Cancun

What better way to end a great summer than with some fun in the sun in Mexico? I was worried that it would rain constantly in Cancun (weather.com showed 'isolated thunder storms' everyday during my trip), but thankfully, it barely rained. Travelling at the start of the low season did allow me to stay in a very nice hotel, Cancun Caribe Park Royal Grand, for a fraction of the normal cost. I paid $67 per night and got upgraded to a suite that overlooked the ocean. All guests at the hotel also got a 15% discount on all food and drinks at the hotel. But because it was low season, the resort was fairly empty.




All of this didn't matter because the Caribbean water is warm and pristine and I got my money's worth just from that. During my first five days, while I was waiting for Neil and his family to arrive, I took and passed a rescue diver class. More on that in separate blog. I also did two dives in a Cenotes or cavern. This was the most amazing diving experience I have ever had. The cool, fresh water is refreshing and requires divers to carry only half the weight they carry in the salt-water ocean. You can see stalactites and stalagmites, but even more impressive is the interplay of light and shadows as sunlight refracts in the water. At times it can be a little nerve-racking as there is no direct route to the surface. Apparently, Mexico and Florida are the best places for cavern diving.


After Neil and his family arrived, I hung up my mask and fins for some conventional Cancun tourism. We took part in an excruciating timeshare presentation at the neighboring Grand Caribe hotel which lasted over 2 hours. We were hard-sold by 7 sales reps. This was the first time I had ever taken part in a time-share presentation, and according to my friends who had been through several more, it was especially tough. In the end, we got $25 off per person for a Chichen Itza tour and my friends got free transportation to the airport. Neil and I went club hoping at the Corona Bar, Senor Frogs, and The City. While the first two were lame, The City was rocking. Corona Bar and Senor Frogs were populated by tourists, and this was why it was so lame. These are not the places locals go on Saturday nights. They go to The City, and that's why this place was so happening.



We did see Chichen Itza though I would have enjoyed it more had it not been so hot (try 95+). Unfortunately, the site is not impressive except for the main Mayan ruin. There is no comparison to Machu Picchu in Peru, which is located in a far more picturesque place high in the Andes mountains.



All in all, Cancun was a fantastic 1 week getaway at a reasonable price. I wish I had gone when I was a college student on spring break all those years ago, but better late than never!

Family Festivities

I made a brief trip home in August to celebrate some very important events in my family: my sister's engagement and my dad's 60th birthday. It was non-stop excitement for these 5 days as a good portion of my extended family - maybe 50 people or so - flew in to the Bay Area to celebrate. Suffice it to say that both of these events were highly anticipated by our family and boy was it a relief to see them go off so well.

I think the highlight of the weekend was how our back yard performed as a venue for both parties. I've never seen it look so spectacular. The second highlight was that we had a bartender. The only thing that could make the backyard better is a sound system, which we're working on. The weather was very pleasant - not hot at all - and a welcome change from the hot, humid, and rainy Philadelphia weather that I have been experiencing all summer. Thank god for my AC.

With these events behind us, the next time my family will gather will be November 7 for my sister's wedding.

MIT 5 year reunion

Last month, after 5 years, I finally ventured back to the place that I was (5 years ago) only all too happy to leave - my alma mater. The reunion weekend was awesome. It was well-organized from start to finish. The first activity was the best - an evening at Symphony Hall listening to the Boston Pops. This was my first time hearing the Pops and they were fantastic. Even better was the MIT soloist (a junior from Hawaii) who played Rhapsodie in Blue and left the audience speechless. It's nice to see that the MIT musical department continues to attract top talent. I also took a tour of Fenway park and learned all about the storied stadium. I wish I had gone to a Red Sox game when I was a student - in 5 years, I can't believe I never went! I visited the Haystack Observatory at Lincoln Labs - where they receive radio waves from the universe and try to understand what they mean. Aside from the events, I found time to catch up with some of my friends and wander the campus, Cambridge, and Boston. I was happy to see that Cambridge - and in particular Central Square - looked a bit more developed than when I was there. The one eerie thing about reunions, however, is that you see people from all class reunions - 5, 10, 20, etc. You can't help wondering as you see people from older class years - is that what the future has in store for me?

I'm planning to get more involved with the university as an alum. Hopefully it won't be another 5 years before I make it back.

Volunteer Mission to Juarez

A few weeks ago, I travelled to El Paso, Texas to visit a friend of mine and to run a medical / dental clinic in neighboring Juarez, Mexico. This was only my second time visiting El Paso - the first was about 15 years ago when my family did a driving tour of the Southwest, going as far as El Paso before turning around and heading back to California.

I have to admit that I enjoyed El Paso more than I thought I would. I barely remembered it from my first trip. Interestingly, El Paso is at about 4,000 ft above sea level and it is also quite dry. So, I had to drink extra water to stay hydrated. People are very friendly in this town and life moves much slower than it does on either the West Coast or East Coast. The city is about 90% Hispanic and Spanish is probably more common than English. Of course, the Mexican food there is excellent and very authentic. Maybe the best thing about the city is its natural beauty. Thunder storms are common there with high winds. The air is very clean and mountains are jagged and imposing. The desert scenery is quite picturesque. While in El Paso, I visited the Kool Smiles clinic where my friend Neil works as a dentist and met many of his friends.

Of course, the main purpose of the visit to El Paso was to run a free medical / dental clinic in Juarez through our non-profit, HealthCare Volunteer. We partnered with a group called CHIA Missions to run the clinic. The volunteer team consisted of one doctor, four dentists, 10 other volunteers. We left for Juarez early on Sunday morning and setup our clinic at 9am. We had no trouble going into Mexico - there was no line nor did we get searched. This was significant because the previous day our partners at CHIA Missions told us not to bring a lot of medical equipment because we hadn't registered it in advance and we could be turned back to the US or imprisoned if we were searched. As a result, we left a lot of useful equipment behind - and we weren't even searched. The clinic ran smoothly throughout the day and we were given great lunch by the pastor of the church. At 5pm we closed shop having treated 38 dental patients and 22 medical patients - ranging from kids to the elderly. Neil let me do a bit of dental assisting, despite my lack of clinical experience, which was a rewarding experience. That experience has made me more interested in helping non-clinical people do clinical volunteering. I came back and bought the books "Where there is no Dentist" and "Where there is no Doctor" to learn more about how I can provide dental / medical treatment in places in the world where dental / medical professionals don't exist or are lacking.

When people think of Juarez, they think of 1) drug violence and 2) swine flu. I encountered neither on this trip. I was a little nervous the night before, but as soon as we got into Juarez I felt completely safe. Maybe these things are bigger problems elsewhere in Juarez, but not where we were. I've now been to a few 'dangerous' places and things have worked out fine for me. I enjoy going to these places because it adds an element of excitement to the trip. I try to do everything safely to minimize the risks but some risks will always remain.

Our organization learned a lot through this experience. We will certainly do this again - but we don't know when or where. If possible, I will try to make it. I do a lot of administrative work for HealthCare Volunteer which needs to be done for our organization to survive and to grow, but finally being able to work with my hands to treat patients and rest after a hard day's work is the satisfaction that I have been waiting for.

Summer's here

Wow, it's been more than a month since my last post. Chalk that up to a busy last month of school which had me working on an engineering biotech project, engineering biotech final, a lab report, an in-class biochemistry final, a take-home biochemistry final, and a final presentation for PBG. How did all of that go? I don't know, I haven't checked my grades (and don't plan to until mid June). I like to wait long enough until I don't care anymore what my grades were before I check them. It's a mind game I play on myself.

Overall, the semester was good. I enjoyed the classes - the teaching could have been better in several places, but the subject matter was really interesting. And I really lucked out with my PBG consulting project. Not everyone had a good experience with their project, but I was fortunate to have a good team, good project, and good client. I learned a lot about drug pricing and pharmaceutical marketing practices. Serving on the international council of GAPSA was also a good experience - we got to work on a lot of important issues for international students. International students, I learned, have faced a lot of difficulties due to the economic recession including greater difficulty in securing loans for their education. I also adjusted pretty well to Philly. It's a manageable city with down-to-earth people and getting around is really quick and easy.

I'm excited about spending my summer in Philly. This place is really alive in the spring and summer. I will be doing a 2-month project for the client I worked for in the spring that builds off our previous project. I'm also taking Immunology at Penn, which will count toward my course requirements. For fun, I'm taking Arabic I at Temple University. I've always liked the Arabic script and I thought I might learn some words that would help me with Hindi. Of course, there is always HealthCare Volunteer work to be done. We are currently preparing for a volunteering trip to Mexico next weekend. We're hoping for a safe and rewarding experience for everyone involved.