We spent the weekend with my residency classmates for a ski trip to Loon Mountain in New Hampshire. It was the eve of my 33rd birthday, and being aware of my mortality, we decided to forgo skiing and opted for snowshoeing instead. The well-groomed 2 km trail took us along a quiet mountain stream with sightings of mora tapinella reminiscent of a scene from Skyrim. After refueling on hearty American fare like lobster-mac, Portsmouth pie, and mussels at The Common Man, we made fools of ourselves over a few rounds of Cranium before calling it a night. For my birthday dinner, we met up with the Harvard gang for HK-style seafood at East Ocean City. Dinner at our old med school hangout reminded me of our bygone days, but with more babies at the table this time. We felt a bit out of the loop with all the baby chat, but it was good meeting all my friends again before we leave the city this summer. Meanwhile, my team at the VA hospital celebrated the end of our rotation with dinner at El Oriental En La Cuba. Despite the flog of all the administrative duties at the VA, the patient and surgical experience has been amazing, and is something I will look fondly back upon. That said, I am also looking forward to returning to home base, where I can’t wait to get back into the groove of academic teaching and more importantly, good cafeteria food, again.