Holiday Ski Trip

After a Christmas with minimal flurries only in special parts of Boston, I went on a family trip in search of snow.  There, I played some aggressive cards to make up for the last half of a year.  Some skiing on slushy snow happened followed by skiing on icy snow on day 2 (big dip in temperature).  Of course, few posts of mine are ever complete without mentioning food, so there is the obligatory picture of the delicious hot-pot dinner that we had on day 2.

Some snow on the ground.  Some snow from the sky.

Boston Foods

As wonderful as the food is in LA, I have mentally been compiling a list of foods that I missed eating ever since I left Boston.

My first stop was at Japonaise, the French-Japanese patisserie, in Brookline. How I have missed the butter rolls, the custard pudding, and the Japonaise (green tea mousse cake), as clearly evidenced by the inability to resist taking a bite prior to pictures.  The green latte has also been missed, although I do make it for myself many mornings.  However, I use 2% milk at home, so the occasional whole milk version is quite an indulgence (for my taste buds).  I am not sure that my pancreas agrees (more lipase please!), but I just think of it like a challenge.  I am no longer that drawn to the mochi ice cream since I know that I can order them directly from the same factory. 

Do you hear the food angels singing in praise?  If not, maybe you need a Rinne test.

NYC is The City

After a quick stopover in DC to see Grandma, it was time to hit the city, New York City.  This trip was my first time riding Megabus, which gets a plus for free WiFi and a minus for a pretty horrible bathroom.

Upon arrival, my cousin and two of her friends took me to ABC Kitchen, which is interestingly enough part of the ABC furniture store in both a financial and a physical sense.  The decor is has a Gothic theme but is spacious enough that it was not tacky.

Block 2 Exams

The lead up to these exams were much smoother than Block 1.  I have been studying using flashcards throughout the block.  However, the block exam is, as foretold, much more case-based than Block 1 exams.  I didn't discover this wonder until a week prior to exams, so that was a bit unfortunate.  I think next block, as opposed to reviewing lectures and key physiology in our weekly Friday afternoon group session, taking cases from this book will be more useful.

So much lost time...

MSTP Applicant Recruitment

It's hard to believe, but more than a year has passed since I was in the throes of putting together my applications to MD/PhD programs.  Now, I am experiencing the interview process from the perspective of a first-year student.  In fact, I am helping to organize all of our pre-interview casual get-togethers between the applicants and first years. 

After having successfully hosted three of the five sessions, I have learned a few things about myself.