Hello all!

I admit that I have not been the most earnest updater but the turning of a new year has motivated me to begin fresh and hopefully preserve a good sense of freshness throughout the year for the blog! As you may have noticed, I also decided to renovate with a new layer of furnishing… a retro-themed layout. Hope you enjoy!

Currently, I’m in Minnesota for the Winter Holiday and within a few days, I will be back at Queen’s hitting them books as second semester commences. First semester was definitely not the easiest and it only dumbfounds everyone how yup, we’re already halfway done with the System. While many are still very fond with the System (ie. university/college and the bags of freedom that comes with it), I personally find School to be demotivating at times as in certain subjects, we’re forced to memorize “inert ideas” for the mere intention of scoring on a 3-hr exam. That’s when I start to question the inconveinent confinements of … education, or rather, the method of education.

Nonetheless, I should be very thankful for th 3-week downtime before the cycle starts churning again. It has certainly been nice to experience Minnesota for the very first time. I’m staying at my Aunt’s place which is 40 miles southwest of Minneapolis. I’ve been asked by a few people “what’s in there?” and I think it would be fair to describe the place as being more than just a bearer of Midwest Serenity.  Here are some interesting things I’ve learnt about the city:

1. The most prominent attraction is the Mall of America. Built in 1992, it was the largest mall in the U.S. The place wasn’t enormous (or I came with heavy expectations) and a Nicklodian kids’ park is in the center of the mall. It’s cornered by the 4 department stores; Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, and Sears.

2. Minneapolis borders another city, St. Paul, by 15KM from downtown to downtown and as the most populated urban area in Minnesota, Minneapolis-St.Paul is often referred to as the Twin Cities. The full-name of the airport is Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport, thus the airport code of MSP.

3. Minnesota has the 2nd largest Tibetan population next to New York. Yes, I would know because I care.

3. A skyway is an enclosed bridge between 2 buildings and the Minneapolis Skyway System connects almost every downtown building covering 69 blocks! It is of course jam-packed in the winter because who would want to walk in minus 10 weather when you can walk in a straight line from Saks to the Metrodome?

4. Minnesota is the home to many of the Fortune 500 companies, just to name a few; Delta, Northwest, Target, Best Buy, General Mills…The midwest  also has its own coffeehouse named the Caribou Coffee, which by size, operates on a level second to Starbucks in the U.S.

The above is some defining features, I’ll add more if I do learn!

I’ll end with some photos of my visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Walker Art Center where I caught the annual screening of the British Television Advertising Awards – exactly my cup of tea.