Sin city - day 1

Woke up at 4 am after going to bed at 1 am to catch my early morning flight to Las Vegas - the infamous Sin City! This means that in the last 60 hours, I have only had 8 hours of sleep. I am officially sleep-deprived. Will need a holiday to recover from this holiday....

Arrived in Las Vegas around 9 am, and was pleased to be able to check-in early at Planet Hollywood hotel. Well, it is apparently low season so they could do so. I checked out the casino, but wasn't very impressed. Interestingly, the casinos here do not have those body scanner machines or even guards to check your age, unlike the casinos in Genting Highlands and in Macau. Pretty casual to the point that anyone can walk in and out.


First stop, shopping! Am so deprived of shopping that my first stop was the Premium Outlet Shopping. Why pay full price when you can get it 60% off? Annoyingly, it took an hour via public transport to get there. It's probably only 5 miles out from the Strip. Ah well.....

And man, I did sooo much shopping that I had to literally stop shopping because I was unable to physically carry my bags anymore. At times like this, a boyfriend would definitely have been very handy. Or a maid will do as well. Hehe....

Came back, grab a quick dinner and was off to watch America's Got Talent Live, hosted by Jerry Springer. It was good entertainment, but I think Britain's Got Better Talent. Hhehehe...

The Texas Tenors and Terry Fator

Oh, and the winner of Season 2 America's Got Talent, Terry Fator, was in the audience as he is now performing his own show at the Mirage. If you have never watched him perform, I suggest you youtube him now. He is a ventriloquist, comedian, impressionist and singer; all in one package! I managed to catch a DVD of him performing and he is excellent. Totally blew my mind watching him sing.

After the show, I went to walk along the Strip.

A break finally

After 5 long months of working, I finally have a week of holiday. A very precious week as we only have 3 weeks of holiday per academic year. Am saving my remaining 2 weeks for a trip back to Malaysia in April 2010.

I was on-call the day before my holiday started, which meant I was post-call the day after. Had a busy call night, in which I was only able to take a short 1 hour nap sometime at 3-4 am. Luckily, I managed to leave work around 10.30 am, and came home immediately to shower and finish packing.

Took a shuttle to Minneapolis Airport, hop onto my airport hotel shuttle and checked into my hotel. Watched X-men on TV and loved it! Then, waited for my friend to pick me up to Minneapolis for *expensive* Japanese food. Came up to 66 USD per person. *faints* But I have to admit, it was extremely fresh Japanese sushi.

Then, it was off to relish some high school memories by watching Cranberries live in concert. They were extremely popular when I was 13-14 years of age, I think. Zombie was the 'in' song then, with everyone trying to copy Dolores O'Riordan style of singing. They faded out eventually, as all good music bands do. I believe the lead singer went on to have kids, and now she was doing a world tour, and I couldn't resist the chance to see them live.

And it was amazing! She sounded as brilliant as before, her energy and enthusiasm were outstanding. It was great listening to all her hit singles, Animal Instinct, Zombie, Ode to my Family, and of course, Zombie!


Was still buzzing with energy after the concert, but turned down my friends' invitation for supper as I needed sleep! Also was going to be up early tomorrow to catch an early morning flight.

Ode to Joy

Attended a classical concert at the Civic Center with a few friends. It was aptly titled, 'Ode to Joy' and the music was pretty good. I have to admit, it was the smallest concert hall I have ever been in. Compared to the previous concert halls I have been, this one pales in comparison. I guess I shouldn't be comparing, considering my current location.

Interestingly, I only found out that Ode to Joy was originally written as a poem by a German poet to celebrate the ideal of unity and brotherhood among mankind. It is sung to the music by Beethoven, in the final movement of his Ninth Symphony.

Shostakovich: Festive Overture

Ives: Double Fugue on American Hymns

Bernstein: Candide Overture

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9

ACP Minnesota

I presented my first poster presentation at the American College of Physician Minnesota meeting today. Although I didn't make it past the first round, it was a good experience learning how to present my case. Here is to more poster presentations to come!

My poster (authors' and institution's names have been removed due to confidentiality)

Pumpkin carving

Apparently, the house that we are currently renting, is known infamously to the Malaysian-Singaporean community here as the venue for the annual pumpkin-carving for Halloween. This tradition has been performed in our humble abode for the past 6 years, hosted by previous Mal-Sing occupants, and we were expected to continue the tradition.

We graciously opened our doors, (not as if we had a choice), and welcomed everyone to carved pumpkins in our living room. Luckily, not much mess was made as everyone was very conscientiously trying to clean up after themselves.

I didn't buy a pumpkin this year, but shared it with my housemate and together, we carved our first pumpkin, as can be seen below.

Our carved pumpkin (without candles)

Our carved pumpkin (with candles in the dark)

Joshua Radin in concert

Ever since hearing Joshua Radin's music on Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs, I have enjoyed his music tremendously. I had actually bought tickets to see him perform live in London on March 19 this year, but I was at the BES conference in Harrogate, and was unable to watch him perform.






Fortunately, he performed in Minneapolis and I wasn't going to forgo it this time round. And he was definitely worth it!

Renaissance Fair

Visited the Minnesota Renaissance Fair this weekend, which is supposedly the largest Renaissance Festival in the United States with an annual attendance of 275,000. It amazes me, it really does, a Renaissance Fair here in Minnesota!

As you enter the festival gates, one is welcomed by roaming street characters with a gracious “Good day my lord and lady”, and slowly immersed with the sounds, smells and sights of an authentic 16th century village.

Greetings galore my fair lady

Fencing - the aim is to burst the balloons on the ears!

As usual, the main attractions are the numerous food available to sample, quite similar to the State Fair actually. And pricey too, which explains the photo below. =)

Lady Visa and Master Card are always welcomed!