Weekend in New England

I'm high and sleep deprived!! Lol, I had 3 hours sleep last night and today, it looks like I'm gonna have less than 2 hours. I am so gonna collapse soon lol. Anyways just wanna quickly post up some pics from my weekend trip to Boston.

Boston skyline

Quincy Market

The metropolitan is actually quite nice and peaceful. It has this chilled out atmosphere about it that I really liked. The Quincy Market is especially lively and you can get lots of amazing food there (free to try!) and various shopping. Met up with some Cambridge friends there, and we went on a free sailing trip on the river! It was really fun and the weather was great!

Lewis Wharf

Aboard the sailboat

Me in action

I also visited both Harvard and MIT during the weekend. However, I don't really have any pictures to post coz they really look unimpressive compared to the likes of Cambridge and Oxford. Instead, I am going to show you some of the amazing food I had there =). Priorities haha. Boston is famous for their clam chowder and lobster, both of which I tried at the Legal Seafood. Then we went on to have dessert at the Cheesecake Factory which was amazing! And the next day, we even went for high tea at a posh hotel! Lol, it was so different from the ones in Brunei. We actually got to 'taste' 4 different types of tea as well as learned the origins and characters of each of them! How cultured huh? All the information went over my head lol. It was definitely interesting.

The Lobster Bake

Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake

Having High Tea

I wish I could spend more time in Boston just to chill out a little bit before returning to hustle and bustle of New York. We stayed over at a friend's place, which actually looked very much like a frathouse you would see in American movies! Fully equipped with eccentric characters, weird creatures in a glass tank, stolen road signs, a billiards table and even a nintendo cube set! Needless to say, we slept late that night lol.

Washington D.C.

Time for another update! I'm getting used to waking up before 5am everyday now and surviving on about 4-5 hours sleep each night.. I managed to get more sleep during the weekend though, which I spent in Washington D.C.! It's actually quite cheap to get there.. $35 for a return bus ride from Chinatown. You can always count on the Chinese for a good bargain =)

The White House

Washington D.C. was not what I expected it to be at all. All I know before getting there is that it's the capital of the USA. I discovered that it's actually a really quiet place. Apart from the landmarks and museums, which were really spaced out, most of the city/town are just business-like buildings and suburban residential areas. Quite the contrast from NYC!

US Capitol

US Capitol from the back

Most of the landmarks are aligned in a straight line, with the Capitol Hill at one end and the Lincoln Memorial at the other. In between you get the Washington Monument, the newly built World War II Memorial and the Smithsonian museums.

The Washington Monument

Wow, I jump really high haha

World War II Memorial

The Lincoln Memorial

Abraham and me.

There were actually 6 or 7 museums in total, but I only visited two. The Air and Space Museum was quite cool, although I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was younger lol.We also went to the National History Museum and saw the dinosaurs and diamonds exhibits. Got to see the much-hyped Hope diamond (the biggest blue diamond in the world) and the Tiffany diamond, 'Bird on a Rock'. I don't see what's the appeal though. =P

L: Hope diamond R: Tiffany diamond

We also happened to stumble upon a soapbox race! Lol, I had no idea what it was until I saw it. Come to think of it, isn't there a children's film that has this race where a boy named Alfalfa won it with the tip of his pointed hair? Anyone has any clue??

Soapbox race.. how cute!

I found it really amazing how far this country has come, with such a relatively short history. Whatever the result, I think the intentions of having 'a land of the free' is truly inspiring.

New York, New York

"New york, new york
I want to wake up in a city, that never sleeps"

It's only been less than a week, and I'm in love with New York! Haven't had much chance to do the touristy stuff yet as I started work on Monday. And apparently, the lady typed my specialty wrongly by mistake. So instead of doing neurology, I'm doing neurosurgery. I actually find this specialty quite exciting but I wasn't planning to have 6am starts in the morning!!

NYC sunrise on my way to work @ 5am

So 2 days have passed and I was still able to make it on time so far lol. I wonder how long this will last. The hospital itself is amazing! It's not too far from where I stay, but I still need to take the subway (underground for the uk-ians) in the morning. It's a private hospital so it's really rich and all, and some parts of the hospital looks like a 5-star hotel!!

View from my flat

There's so much to do and even more to see here in New York. I have tried several restaurants in the city and they have all been really good! I love the endless choices and each of them have their own unique feel/atmosphere. Gotta go explore the city now. Til next time!

Central Park

M&Ms anyone?

Scrumptious Mexican food @ Mercadito

Philadelphia cheese steak @ Fetch (cheesiest thing I've ever eaten!!)

At the Temple

Grilled eel dolsot @ Temple

Intense Chocolate Fudge Cake @ Max Brenner (look at the flask! lol)

A new chapter?

So here I am, having just passed the dreaded Pathology exams.. and officially a final year med student. It all seems so surreal. Time really waits for no man. Will be flying off to New York tomorrow.. am not prepared at all mentally. I just feel like a zombie at the moment.. a sleep-deprived one =) I wish there was more time in between exams and my electives.. so I can actually recover from the exam stress, meet up with friends who are graduating and I might not see again for a really long time.

It was really good to have caught some of you before leaving. Too those who I didn't manage to say a proper goodbye, here's a farewell to all of you.. all the best in the future and keep in touch!

It's gonna be an interesting couple of months ahead of me. Will be in New York for a month, then off to Tanzania for another month! Not sure at all what to expect.. but I'm looking forward to it =) Will keep this blog up to date as much as I can about what's going on. As for now, goodbye Cambridge! (for 10 weeks hehe).

Sun, sea and sand... here I come!!!