Viva Las Vegas

It's spring break! Feel my pain; it's been a long long term but we only have a week's break (as compared to 5.5 weeks in Uni of Cam). Mid-term exams, lab rotations (just started a new one this week, hopefully I'll join this lab), as well as tax season (I've to submit tax forms to the USA federal govt, the state govt, AND to Singapore!). Got tickets back home to Singapore (June 8th-June 28th, anyone free?), and am looking for housing for the coming academic year (living in a house with 3 other coursemates - geekfest).

Tomorrow though, Vegas! 4 days with Srinjan, Derek and Jen - staying at the MGM Grand Signature, which should be quite an upgrade from my dorm room. Most of our planning time has gone to which buffet to visit; some time maybe we'll hit the casinos. We had a practice poker session with fake money - the others have now limited me to only bringing 10 bucks to the casino, so that I can't lose my life's savings.

I'm going to make a beeline for the 5-cent slot machines; since gambling has a negative expected return anyways, this way I'll be able to 'enjoy' gambling for longer. Mum's asked for 20 bucks on red 25 on the roulette wheel though.

Glitz and Glamour.... with graduate students. How incongruent.

The Boston skyline

The view from the Top of the Hub restaurant, on the 52nd floor of the Prudential Tower building in Boston. I especially like the sailing boats, trapped between ice floes on either side.

Good place for special events.

Snow

There's the half-hearted attempts at snow in Cambridge, UK. There are the arctic blizzards that snuff out all life outdoors and raise ground level by several feet here in New England.

And sometimes there's the snow that sprinkles down like icing sugar, coating the land with a layer of frosting. And when the wind blows, the snow flows along the roads like souls down a Stygian river.

The latter happens when it's very, very cold. But once in a while it's worth it.

The thawing of the Charles

We've only had two instances of huge snowfalls so far this year, one just last week. Covered everything in snow/ice, and even the Charles River was frozen (never seen a river frozen before; and the Charles being several times the size of the river Cam).

It was warm yesterday, and sunny. And though it's going to be -9 degrees Celcius again tomorrow, just for that one day we could go out and explore.

Winter's a clingy lover, but looks like spring's finally on its way.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tons of admin to do these days. Finishing up my current lab rotation, arranging flights back for summer, housing for next year, and filing taxes (TAXES!) for the US federal government, the state of Massachusetts, and Singapore. All on top of coursework.

But Srinjan (Queen's College guy) and I managed to import Pancake Day into the U.S.A., at least for our class. None of the Americans have ever heard about Pancake Day; weirdos, how can anyone not love a day devoted to eating pancakes?



We put together a good selection: blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, raspberry pancakes, with maple syrup, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, rainbow sprinkles, strawberries and butter. With a tub of Ben and Jerry's that we didn't even manage to get to.

Saint Patrick's day is coming up. Apparently you've got to wear green, and drink green beer. Jen's a big fan of it. =)