A horsey bowley beery weekend

So. Two major things happened this past weekend. One was the lunar aka Chinese new year. On Friday, the water Snake left us and the wooden Horse began its gallop into the year 4712. 

Chinatown. Colorful. Cheery. Confettied.

Supposedly, the year of the wooden Horse will be a fierce one, so watch out and be prepared to pick your battles.

Probably one of my favourite shots from Saturday.

I order to bid the Snake a proper farewell, I spent Saturday afternoon roaming Chinatown, drinking ginger tea and eating away my weight in red bean cakes and coconut custard tarts. It was fun and colorful...

... And a great intro in a dorky Saturday evening spent in the lab. Oh, lentiviral transfection, how I cherish thee!

On Sunday, I had actually planned to return to Chinatown to watch the parade, but instead, 75 % of the day got eaten by annoying student paper grading. Which did not exactly put me in the best of moods. Luckily, there was this great Superbowl beer party in the evening. I mean, I have no idea what american football is all about, but judging by the amount of buildup going on all around New York, the Superbowl is apparently a ginormous deal. Europeans, think FIFA Champions League finals on freaking steroids! I mean, I get that it's the final game of the season, Clash of the Titans of some sort that determines who's this season's champion. But the marketing stuff was just so intense with ads, all around the city, since the fall, you would think Earth's destiny was going to be decided or something.  

Source.

Things have been hyping up a lot (hello, junk food and beer on super sale everywhere for the past ten days) and there was no way I was going to miss this quintessential American thing. 

Even the Empire State Building was lit up in
NFL's colours in honour of the 48th
Superbowl

Honestly, I got into it mostly because of the beer and the company. And even more honestly, I still am not sure that I understood what the game is all about (ups!), because the Broncos (orange team) did not do much on the field and they seemed to be totally smitten by Seattle's action. So, rookie dilemma: is that what NFL games usually look like? One team standing there while the other hammers the crap out of them? 

And WHY for the love of all that's holy is the sport called FOOT-BALL? They hardly ever touch the ball with their feet. Unlike in proper football... 

Moving on.

It's Monday. So I guess The Compulsory Complain-About-The-Weather Note is to make its entrance: after a balmy weekend spent wearing cute flats and a light jacket, this morning looked like this:

Snow-covered UES

I'm so over winter!

SOTD: Bruno Mars & Red Hot Chilli Peppers - XLVIII Superbowl's 

halftime show. Because every now and then, even I dig Bruno Mars.

I like the month of February well enough, but I am seriously waiting for spring!
Jules