Life This Week: All is Bright on 124 Street, Pho, & West Edmonton Mall

This post is a little late (because call), but I wanted to share some highlights from last week and the weekend, both of which were really nice. The weather has warmed up a bit too, which is a bonus. The snow, sun, and blue skies made for a picturesque University of Alberta campus on Saturday:

oncology research day -- The reason I was on campus was to check out the Cancer Research Institute of Northern Alberta research day, which I must say was as science-y and over my head as I'd expected. It was neat to catch a glimpse into the experimental oncology world though -- lots of incredibly intelligent, innovative, and enthusiastic people in that room.

My co-resident took home an award for his PhD research!

And how cool is the CCIS building? That's a plesiosaur skeleton!

learning & desserts -- The residents also got to attend a local GI oncology meeting in place of academic half day on Friday, which I actually quite enjoyed.

and not just because of the catering ;)

kimchi -- I picked up this 3-lb (!) tub of kimchi and have been making any and every excuse to eat it on stuff...or by itself.

my perpetual craving since visiting Korea last spring

Christmasy -- The cancer centre's halls got decked on Friday by a lovely crew of volunteers and staff. It's so nice and cheery now! I hope it makes being here slightly less hard on our patients.

anticipation

pho -- Had a nice time catching up with a friend over dinner at Delicious Pho, which lived up to its name.

trying a little bit of everything: steak, flank, tendon, tripe, and meatball

winter festival -- We also checked out All is Bright on 124 Street, which was a spirited way to kick off the seasonal festivities. It drew quite a crowd with live music, a beer garden, horse-drawn carriage rides, Santa, axe throwing, and more.

talented guitarists/vocalists -- their poor fingers, it was cooold

first time on a segway -- harder than it looks!  (that's someone else in the picture who didn't hit any cones...)

this guy made me nervous, but he was awesome

highlight of the night

West Edmonton Mall -- I spent a couple hours on Sunday walking around the mall, which turned out to be decent timing, as the Black Friday crowds had died down, but there were still plenty of sales :)

also, look how festive!

requisite lagoon shot