BMS retreat @ Granlibakken, Lake Tahoe

Oct 4-6 was our biomedical sciences program retreat, and it was especially cool that the weekend fell on my bdae! =) Every year, we go up to this resort place Granlibakken, south of Lake Tahoe. heard it's a pretty nice place... and we were definitely looking forward to it!

Of cos the talks were interesting... but where's the retreat spirit without the booze?? =P Bunch of the first-yrs decided to get the stash ready on the very first evening, and after everyone chipped in 5-10 bucks, it was certainly quite a professional-looking bar when they came back from the nearby supermarket with their carload!

Presenting the 1st-yrs booze stash... complete with the pancakes (+ maple syrup) and hot chocolate for the hungovers with the intention of skipping breakfast. LOL.

apologies for the bad pic... but ya know, the cameraman's getting just a lil shaky~! ^_^

Me and my wonderful student host Angela, back in jan during the interview weekend!

At the ski hut: Flip cup time!

The 1st years vs... the faculty!!! (too bad, us dominating 1st yrs won!)

The winning streak continues...

We had time off on the afternoon on the 2nd day, and a big bunch of us went on a hike around the 5-mile hike trail to a lake. Our first day was a dreary rainy day... but the 2nd day (5 oct!) was a really pretty day! =D=D=D

Everyone chatting and walking along the trail, enjoying the beautiful sight all around us...

Love the views, the rocks and scattered trees on the mountains and vallys...


Pensive darling looking out to the clear lake...

A happy group of us chilling out at the lake

We certainly had a great time at the BMS retreat! Till next year, Granlibakken!

oktober-feast!

Presenting... more daily specials from the darlings' kitchenette!
if any dishes look especially tempting, feel free to email me for receipe requests! ^_^

Honey baked chicken (one of darling fm's favs!) and grilled pork chops... (the unhealthier part of the meal...)

and veggie soup! (the healthier part of the meal. >.<)
more za jiang mian （杂酱面） yummy!

ABC soup

Beef and broccoli (though the kind of beef we had wasn exactly the soft tender kind. =( so we din eat most of the meat)

Sweet and sour pork 咕嚕肉 - was certainly a proud moment when it turned out pretty nicely! =D

bbrrrr.....

for the English-units-impaired, that's 5°C. (Just a tot: calling Fahrenheit an English unit is simply brilliant; Americans take none of the blame for the non-decimal system, while taking all the credit by writing in "American letters".)

Is this really California?

3 months ago... Immunology Retreat @ Asilomar

The 1st quarter of grad sch came to an end this week as we approach xmas, and perhaps it is never a better time than now to dig out the photos that have accumulated electronic dust on my laptop through this quarter. =D

At the start of the quarter, I went for the immunology retreat. one: to expose myself to the research going on in ucsf, and two: to enjoy myself and meet people! =)

The Asilomar conference grounds... we're here! It's located at the monterey bay area, about 3 hours drive south of sf and it's right by the beach.
the bunch of us first years who were at the retreat. great bonding and interacting time for us newbies! picture was taken at the monetery bay aquarium, where we spent the free afternoon that we had chilling out and enjoying ourselves! (away from the long train of talks for the rest of the time)

The Lodge that we stayed in, Alexandra and I were paired up as roommates, and our room was in the corner room on the upper floor in the top right. Great view of the sea from there. =)

The interior of our room.

The view from our balcony! It was quite a pretty weekend all throughout when we were there!

I took some time during the afternoon break we had to take a little stroll along the beach, wading a little in the (cold!) waters, enjoying the views of the ocean, plus the surfer dudes...

The 3 musketeers - Megan, Alex, and me - at the bonfire on the last night of the retreat

The retreat was definitely a nice way to start the quarter, and we certainly had great memories together!

first parking ticket

sigh, the risks of car ownership.
a quick 15 mins in walgreens to use a $5 off $20 coupon on a warm and sunny saturday afternoon ended miserably with a $50 pain for lesson learnt. state of CA is running into budget deficits even before the financial crisis hit, and rumors are that parking attendants are working harder to bring in more monies into the state coffers by citing more idiots like me. sigh.