Me & Yoo: October 2007

From Bride to Bridesmaid

Last week, Paul and I had the opportunity to be a part of my brother's wedding.

Yes, indeed, four months after Paul and I were married, James and Linda also tied the knot! It was a beautiful wedding, and I am so lucky to have gained a sweet and wonderful sister...

Chris Chu, Paul, and Ken Lim with my brother...

My mother-in-law came out from Hawaii to spend almost a week and a half with us before the wedding. She is so much fun to be around...

I got to see my little precious nieces again, Lizzy and Rachel...

Boy, am I wedding'd out! My poor parents are trying to catch their breath after this marathon of a year. At least they've married us off and can now move on with their lives.

Bangladesh Mission Trip

Another reason that Paul and I were so busy (i.e. unable to post any blog entries) after we were married is that we were busy preparing for our mission trip to Bangladesh. From September 14 - 23, 2007, a team of 21 individuals from Loma Linda University (2 doctors, 2 dentists, 1 registered nurse, 1 licensed medical massage therapist, 2 nursing students, 9 dental students, 3 dental hygiene students, 1 pre-dental student) in conjunction with 40 local volunteers served the people of Bangladesh. Getting from Dhaka to Jalchatra was an interesting four hour experience. Never have I seen such a densely populated country. There were people everywhere!

The Bangladesh version of a schoolbus...

We had long days, which started at 7 am with worship and ended with an evening worship around 7 pm. As word spread that we were providing free dental and medical/eye care, the people of Bangladesh began to swarm to our little compound. The crowds were almost unmanageable. Our team saw nearly 2000 patients during our short stay there...

It was so hot and humid there that everyone's scrubs were drenched with sweat the entire week! It was literally like living in one big outdoor sauna...

The Dental School let us borrow some fancy equipment...

Thanks to the infamous beetle nut that was habitually chewed in that area of the world, many of the people's teeth looked like this...

Danny Morgan and Carlos Moretta were my flying buddies, since we had to fly in a day later than the rest of the team due to our work schedules...

I did basic eye care during my time there. Through an organization called PRVAIL, we had mass-ordered hundreds of reading glasses to distribute to those presbyopes in need. We also bought basic eye medications to distribute to the people. In about four days of work, I saw close to 400 patients! This would have been virtually impossible without the help of my two trusted translators, Peter and Babu.

This particular old man was sooo overjoyed to have this pair of glasses, donated by Sandra Shirley, one of my fellow church members...

This nun was a cutie...

This gentleman was essentially blind, but he insisted that these glasses helped him see more clearly!

I even had the opportunity to do minor surgery - two chalazion removals...

Near the end of our week, we took an outing on our "minivans" to a nearby forest. It was so surreal...

Snapshot of a local barber shop...

Sabbath afternoon we visited the local village children...

Each of us girls got a sari specially tailored for us...

Bangali couple?

Our awesome team...

Not only were we sad to say goodbye to Bangladesh, but the children shed tears as well...

Hawaii - Here We Come!

We were fortunate to have a week off after the wedding to enjoy a honeymoon in Paul's motherland - Hawaii.

We went to the Big Island first, enjoying the beauty of nature there...

We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village...

ATVing for the first time was quite a rush...

We had a few beautiful pit stops during our ATV ride...

Horseback riding was exhilarating (although Paul was quite sore after the long ride)...

We even got to go snorkeling with the fishies...

Our hotel room had beachfront access, which gave us opportunities to relax in the evenings on the hammock...

It was picture perfect there...

We even left our mark on the lava using white coral...

After a few days of bliss on the Big Island we returned to Oahu to join Paul's mother and church family for another wedding reception...

We've Tied the Knot!

Four months after my last post, I have finally decided to take a step forth into the blogosphere again...now as a married woman. Amidst the craziness of being married and starting ophthalmology residency, time did not permit me to blog at my leisure. Nonetheless, tonight I made the determination to take a free moment to post pictures from our wedding. Paul and I were happily married on June 24, 2007. Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. Many apologies for the delay!

Before the wedding...