Everything tastes of salt.  

Never too chocolate

I'm in bed willing myself not to finish the last of the German peach Bellini gummies too quickly but, as I had with the rest of the sweets V sent me, I practically inhale them anyway and am already browsing the store's website and contemplating my next order.

Just a few summers ago, I was sipping the most delicious apple martini in Huangpu district, watching a logo-laden group of middle-aged men pay for enough bottles to have the privacy of a partition because they were too embarrassed to dance on the main floor. I would never spend my hard-earned money on such ridiculous things, I had mused.

It just goes to show that even the best of us sometimes eat our own words, amongst other things, like the gold-dipped marshmallows and candied black cherries that will arrive at my door within the next few days via expedited shipping.

I've become quite the frivolous spender since starting becoming a doctor, and money is not the only aspect of life I have completely given up control of. Work has become the perfect justification for evading self-discipline: being too busy to exercise yet always making time for retail therapy, adopting reckless eating habits as reward for trivial accomplishments, and forever giving myself one more day off from studying.

Perhaps it is post-call mania, but after an afternoon of reflection, I don't see why I can't have it all. I'll have my red velvet and eat it too. 

The Perfect Egg

I am absolutely eggstatic to share with you my foolproof recipe for soft-boiled eggs, aka the first result on google search.

You're welcome.

Perfect for a breakfast, lunch, or a rainy night in. 
Instant curry and leftover rice not included.

Way To His Heart Series: The Perfect Soft-Boiled Egg
1. Take a little pot and heat more than enough water to cover your eggs on their side. 

2. Wash your eggs while that's boiling (newbies: maximum heat, lid on). 

3. When your water is at a full boil (newbies: spilling over the sides) lower your eggs in with a strainer. Or with as much gentle loving care as possible without steaming yourself. 

Goodbye, my children!

4. Your eggs may crack up a little if you told them a joke If they came fresh out of the fridge due to the temperature difference (hello heated soda can experiment in year 7). This makes them easier to peel later on, but by all means leave them out at room temperature for longer if you prefer intact shells (you don't).

5. Lower the heat so that your water is making the tiniest bubbles (I turned my setting to 7/12 on my electric stove). Replace the lid and let your eggs cook for five and a half minutes. 

6. Fish them out with a strainer. Run cold water over your eggs until they're cool to touch. 

7. Peel off the shell. Realise how right I was about #4. 

8. Sprinkle on salt. Savour this glorious eggsperience. 

And there you have it, directions to heaven, all in an eggshell.

2.0

'Most men die at twenty-five, but aren't buried until they're seventy.'

In my second year of medical school, I made a conscious effort to turn my brain off. To keep things short, it was probably a rebellion thing, having been a model student/nerd for all the prior years. I'm not sure why I'm telling you this in public, but then again this space should be desolate considering the length of my hiatus. 

I just read somewhere about a small study concluding that we are happiest doing mindless tasks, but there surely is more about life beyond online shopping and going to work without my brain. In no way do I intend to drop everything and backpack around South America, but I'd like to have more to derive happiness from than just a difficult drip in the convoluted veins of an oedematous granny. 

It has been an embarrassingly long time since I have read (frantically scrolling through Wikipedia because I have no idea what on earth is wrong with my patient hardly qualifies). I brought home with me Murakami's Norweign Wood today - it was shelved under 'Literature' - as my first step to becoming a person of culture. 

And while we are on the topic, perhaps I ought also to invest in some new glasses from Oliver Peoples to look the part.