Trip to Montreal: Day 7

 

Another day at the conference, this time met some new people from New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The keynote speaker Dr Block was very inspiring. The need for psychiatric skills in the field of hospice and palliative medicine was highlighted in this presentation. There were also several physicians honored for their exceptional contributions to this field. Overall, this branch of medicine does draw some remarkable people into it which makes it a rewarding experience to be associated with them all. There is an incredible amount of kindness in the hearts of these folks and one can feel those vibes. 

Met Dr Andre Cipta again today. The dinner with the faculty wasn’t working out. Instead he invited me to join them at happy hour after the conference schedule at Intercontinental Hotel across the street. He introduced me to his assistant program director Dov Shalman, Dr Joseph Kwack and a couple of other colleagues. Dr Susan Wang who I first met in Las Vegas last month was there too. It was really good interacting with all of them. 

Later in the evening Abhay and I walked three blocks down from our hotel to Chinatown. Ate at a ramen place. The schezuan soup was quite spicy but very welcome in the chilly weather. Abhay was craving for dessert. The Brasserie(French restaurant) within the hotel had some interesting choices. We indulged,sharing an apricot cheese cake and an apple tart topped with vanilla ice cream before returning to our room. 

Saree all day was another designer single ikat from dear Meera Mehta. The steel gray body has a rather unusual spread of ikat on it. The portion that forms the pleats is divided into an upper half with one pattern, lower half with another pattern. The portion that goes over the chest has ikat running horizontal in the center of the fabric flanked by the thin borders. Pallu has a band of gold as well as matching ikat design. This saree seems so appropriate to wear at formal meetings such as this conference.I love it.