The BEST SNOW on Earth --- Utah!

Ok, seriously, Utah?! Yeah, the "greatest snow on Earth." I wasn't sure how it is going to compare to the French Alps, such as Val d'Isere and Espace Killy, but, let me tell you, I was impressed! 2 friends, Michelle and Adam, and I warmed up at Brighton and then progressed to Snowbird and then Solitude. We snowboarded for 3 straight days and then wrapped it up with one day of cross country skiing at the Nordic Center at Solitude!


Snowbird is the hardest terrain I have ever snowboarded in... I wish I am better... I wish I can fly off the trail like a bird... I wish I can work the moguls... I wish I can telemark these trails...

Solitude really is solitude. There are less people here and the runs are wide and groomed. We spent a day here to our hearts' content and then another day at the Nordic Center learning how to cross country ski. So, learning the freedom of cross country ski, with the glide motion, and skiing on bent knees made me wanted to learn how to TELEMARK...


So, this is my next goal. I am gonna learn how to do this. This looks so cool and almost like flying... so free. If you want to see what I will be doing when I master this, here is the video (click on the pictures above to see some videos of it). Doesn't that looks so much fun?!

Here are some pictures of our trip:

My personal record: 11 thousand feet and 4 degrees F, on top of SNOWBIRD!

Thanks to Adam, who took these pictures...

My ride: Lib Tech Banana Technology with Magna Traction and some Burton Cartel bindings and boots.

Making snow angel on my 'pillow top feather snow bed'

'Hidden Peak' on top of SNOWBIRD: 11 thousand feet and 4 degrees!

Michelle and I taking the tram down after a long day, while Adam is shredding down some double diamond unmarked clift.

Learning and falling on the frozen lake... withe my cross country ski teacher, Bonnie.

Michelle and Adam skiing in style!

Racing into the village... come catch me if you can!

The signs says "Watch out for Moose," and here are some Moose tracks... I think we are close... I think its watching us!

All I have to say is: WE WILL BE BACK!

Snowboard trip to Snow Summit, and Acupuncturing my arm.

First free weekend on ICU... what shall we do guys? How about go snowboarding! Yay... that's what we did. Lorinc, Aaron, and I went to Snow Summit last weekend and snowboard/ski'd for 2 days. When we got there, we 'Night-Ski' the first night... it was beautiful, less people on the slope, clear view of the lake on the way down, and it wasn't even cold. The trails were a little icy but ok. Then we went back to the small cabin that we rented for a night. We hung out, ate, and watched a movie. The next day, we went out again and ski'd and snowboarded until about 2:30pm. It was a nice trip!




HOWEVER, unfortunately, for me, I fell pretty hard on one of the runs coming down. I hit a ditch and instead of landing on my neck and back, I stuck out my left arm and jammed it into the ice and way hyperextended it. My elbow hurt really bad. But, I had to finish the day snowboarding so after icing it for about 45min, I was back on the slope for 3 more runs. So, here are pictures 3 days after it happened and my acupuncture attempt to treat myself.

I used a surface energetic treatment called the TendinoMuscular Meridian. It require a "Ting point," a "gathering point," and lots of needles to focus the treatment. The ting point starts the flow of energe, the gathering point directs to where the energy flows, and the local points focus the healing energy of the needles and Qi. So my ting point is on my pinky (SI-1). Gathering point is on my head (GB-13), and lots of local needles surrounding the lesion on my elbow.

It didn't look any better the next day, but I believe that the healing is taking place. For those orthopedic minded, the medical evaluation I gave myself ruled-out fracture right after it happened. X ray negative for fractures. My diagnosis: muscle strain and likely a ligamentous tear of the posterior portion of the ulnar collateral ligament at the left medial epicondyle. Next step: Rest, Ice, Elevate, Ibuprofen, time (6 weeks) for recovery. In the mean time, ace bandage and ice to minimize swelling; ibuprofen for pain and inflammation; continue increase range of motion to speed up recovery.

Now, if you are suspecting a fracture or know there's a fracture, the management changes a little bit. Make sure you consult your doctor.

Off the hook! Mission Inn, Riverside!

Do you know the Mission Inn Resort in Riverside, CA? It is like a super fancy hotel, 5 stars, where a few of our presidents got married in it, many of them have stayed in it, many foreign leaders have stayed there, and also lots of celebrities also stayed there... It is built with lots of mixtures of different architecture styles with lots of secluded spaces.

So, I've lived in the Riverside/Loma Linda for nearly 10 years and always wanted to stay at this hotel. I used to sneak into the hotel and hangout in one of the beautiful and secluded court yards... But, guess what? No sneaky sneaky anymore! I actually got to stay there like a high-roller this time!

So, I went to the ATLS (Advance Trauma Life Support) certification course, given at Loma Linda University by several trauma surgeons from the American College of Surgeons... I went there with my friends Kevin and Julie, who are also co-residents in the Ventura program. They are from the South... and I thought to treat them to the best of the Inland Empire that I know...
So, here is the where the rampage start:

You see that corner white tripple-arch door at the end of the terrace? Well, that was our room! And as we enter, we were all jaw dropped at how large and how our room was! Yeah, no joke, it was off the hook!

Then, as we walk out of the door, we can look down into the Terrace Cafe, where we ate a very nice 4 course meal on our second night there.

The rotunda!

There's Kevin and Julie looking cute on the stairs; Kevin and I stuck together in a box.

Me, chilling in a secluded court yard; the pool overlook.

Customized chair for the 335 lb president Taft; which both Kevin and Julie fit in easily... Kevin was doing a Taft impression.

A sweet Cadillac.

First course of our four course meal at the Terrace Cafe: Crab cakes.
Second course of my meal was a gourmet halibut.

Third for me was a spiked coffee; and then, of course, chocolate!

And yes, we all passed the ATLS certification. Yay.