Tuesday, December 2, 2008
whirlwind ending
so right now i'm in my hotel room at the courtyard marriott in grand rapids, michigan, and i already miss the view of central park and the easy walk to the subway to go anywhere you want in the city and the constant entertainment, and even the dunkin donuts down the street....and down every street, next to the starbucks down every half block. haha. so yes, i left new york! i'm missing it already.
as malia said, i think i did new york right- if you don't come home exhausted, you didn't do it right, just like vegas. i caught some kind of viral upper respiratory airway shit because i have major rhinorrhea and sinus headache. at least the malaise has passed and the sore throat has mostly passed. i think i just have to hydrate like hell and sleep well tonight. so yes! that being said, i did new york right!
my last few days of new york were a blast, a whirlwind, ups and downs, comforting and crazy, you'll see why in a bit.
i left my empty apartment on 5th ave in the upper east side two days before i actually left new york, packed up my stuff- all 100 lbs of it- and took a cab over the pulaski bridge to brooklyn, to stay with wendy. wendy is fabulous! her apartment is cute as ever, clean, coordinated and one of the ones you see out of a movie or magazine and you strive to make it that way, but somehow it never really works out. it's like how you always want to eat someone elses food before yours. we chatted over cheese and yummy salami and bread, curled up under big blankets, drank tea and watched sex and the city, season 5, disc 1. and of course i fall asleep for alot of it. haha. this was exactly what i needed, after the last few days of going going crazy going. i was feeling stuffy then too, so the ginger green tea was great. we got up again to eat thanksgiving leftovers, mmmm...i didn't actually have turkey on thanksgiving so this was great. stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy. so so yummy.....
i fell asleep and felt like i was at home- just what i needed. thank you wendy;)
we woke up the next morning, and while she got ready to go to work, i got ready to spend my last full day in nyc. i had one thing planned and was going to squeeze stuff in around it- an 11 am sex and the city tour! hell yeah. i did the commute w/ wendy which was really nice, a 6 block walk to the L train, then 4 or 5 stops later, we were at union square. very easy...i cruised around union square, dropped some stuff in the mail - now i'm down to 98 lbs of stuff- browsed through the famous bookstore- the strand- then caught the subway to 5th ave, at the plaza hotel, between 58th and 59th street, where the tour was going to start at 11. i was half an hour early, so walked down 5th ave and gawked at the high fashion (aka high priced) stores- louis vitton, armani, etc. i walked by a couple of really nice hotels with really dressed up doormen- just out of the movies!. then made my way back to the fountain in front of the plaza hotel and notice the 'paris' theater- i had JUST seen that episdoe of sex and the city the night before!!! crazy.
the tour was FABULOUS. basically it was a tourbus load- a really nice tourbus- of 20-50something yr old women and the few reluctant brave men, and one or two eager gay or metro or openminded men. hehe. our tourguide was really funny, cute, a standup comedian/actress. she had us say 'fuck' all together and then warned us how much profanity would be used in the tour- much like the show. very funny. the tour consisted of her pointing out spots from the show and the movie, then playing the clips on a tv, w/ three stops- at the pleasure chest, a sex shop; at magnolia bakery in the village; and at onieals, which is actually aden's bar scout for a cosmopolatin. we'd have 20 or so minutes at each spot, and time to cruise the area- i loooove the village! 'fresh', the makeup store who does all the makeup for SATC was there, as was bleeker park- a park for kids, where miranda runs into steve with his new girlfriend and we see a flash of her granny panties. i was one of the few women doing the tour solo, but i met this woman from montreal, and she sat next to me and we took each other's pictures and stuff. i ate a yummy ass cupcake at magnolia- mmmm!! i saw so much of the city!! the new york public libary, where carrie get's left at the altar in the movie- i actually went back after the tour to cruise, the sushi place where samantah says 'dirty martini, dirty bastard' to the guy who she caught eating someone else's 'sushi', big and carrie's apartment from the movie, ...i can't even explain how awesome it all was! there were >40 spots that they showed us! i highly recommend it to anyone who goes to NYC.
the tour ended at 2:30 pm, and i went back to urban outfitters ( i love that store), and browsed the sale section- the only part i can afford. haha....there was a subway hold up on the red line - the 1,2, and 3, so it took a while to get anywhere. i had been in touch with chan to meet up around 4 pm, so i started to make my way to meet him at penn station, and after discovering the train hold up, i decided to walk on braodway from 42nd to 34th....this was the worst walk of my life, the most stressful, the most agonzing, the most frustrating...because at one point i texted someone, reached down to put my phone in my coat pocket....and unbeknownst, i missed my pocket, and my phone fell to the ground. i didn't discover this until 1 minute later when i reached down to grab the honey cashews in my pocket, and this was 1 minute too late...i walked back, freaked out, and my phone was no where to be seen. oh my fucking god i lost my shit. i didn't know where anything was, i was supposed to meet chan in 15 minutes, knew no one. ohmygod. i went back to the vietnamese woman who sold me my cashews and she knew no english but could read my frantic face as i asked her to use her phone. i called my phone a million times and there was no ring or vibration in my coat, or bag. fuck. fuck fuck. i had just gotten my blackberry before my trip. i got it because it was my safety harness. i got it to keep in touch. it had everything in there. maps, phone numbers. these connectoins were even more important in these huge ass city. anyway. i stopped, and breathed like 10 deep breaths.....and remembered there was an AT&T nearby. i had seen it a few days ago. i walked in there...and got a new phone. i had insurance, but to use the insurance, you had to call a number and they'd mail you a phone. at this point, i had no home base, as i was flying to michigan the next day. i had no choice but to buy the phone, which i can return in 30 days, and will call AT&T and explain the situation to them. And pray they can help me. so...i have a phone now. i had synced my phone to my computer before my trrip, so i had all my numbers except the ones acquired on the trip. i have no way of getting in touch with my scrub tech friend ryan, i realized, but luckily had email access to all other friends made along the way...i am so so lucky. it wasn't my wallet at least, right?! so that was that...
i met up with chan who helped to calm me down, as we grabbed some food and drinks at a nearby pub. except i was kinda sick so alcohol sounded gross to me..the food and company was all i needed. we walked through mini korea on 32nd and 7th (i think). ....
wendy had texted me right before the fiasco about meeting her and sean at momofuku this premier noodle bar in the east village, so i hugged chan a huge hug good bye and took a cab to meet wendy and sean. so so fabulous!! wendy and i had ginger scallion ramen, we had chicken buns, and sean had kim chee stew. very yummy:) we then walked around the corner after our feast to veniero's, an italian bakery...mmm...
anyway, i can't write much more now- i gotta get ready for this dinner tonight with the michigan state residents, iron my shirt,and all that, maybe get a work out in at the gym in this phatty hotel. will write more later!!
as malia said, i think i did new york right- if you don't come home exhausted, you didn't do it right, just like vegas. i caught some kind of viral upper respiratory airway shit because i have major rhinorrhea and sinus headache. at least the malaise has passed and the sore throat has mostly passed. i think i just have to hydrate like hell and sleep well tonight. so yes! that being said, i did new york right!
my last few days of new york were a blast, a whirlwind, ups and downs, comforting and crazy, you'll see why in a bit.
i left my empty apartment on 5th ave in the upper east side two days before i actually left new york, packed up my stuff- all 100 lbs of it- and took a cab over the pulaski bridge to brooklyn, to stay with wendy. wendy is fabulous! her apartment is cute as ever, clean, coordinated and one of the ones you see out of a movie or magazine and you strive to make it that way, but somehow it never really works out. it's like how you always want to eat someone elses food before yours. we chatted over cheese and yummy salami and bread, curled up under big blankets, drank tea and watched sex and the city, season 5, disc 1. and of course i fall asleep for alot of it. haha. this was exactly what i needed, after the last few days of going going crazy going. i was feeling stuffy then too, so the ginger green tea was great. we got up again to eat thanksgiving leftovers, mmmm...i didn't actually have turkey on thanksgiving so this was great. stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy. so so yummy.....
i fell asleep and felt like i was at home- just what i needed. thank you wendy;)
we woke up the next morning, and while she got ready to go to work, i got ready to spend my last full day in nyc. i had one thing planned and was going to squeeze stuff in around it- an 11 am sex and the city tour! hell yeah. i did the commute w/ wendy which was really nice, a 6 block walk to the L train, then 4 or 5 stops later, we were at union square. very easy...i cruised around union square, dropped some stuff in the mail - now i'm down to 98 lbs of stuff- browsed through the famous bookstore- the strand- then caught the subway to 5th ave, at the plaza hotel, between 58th and 59th street, where the tour was going to start at 11. i was half an hour early, so walked down 5th ave and gawked at the high fashion (aka high priced) stores- louis vitton, armani, etc. i walked by a couple of really nice hotels with really dressed up doormen- just out of the movies!. then made my way back to the fountain in front of the plaza hotel and notice the 'paris' theater- i had JUST seen that episdoe of sex and the city the night before!!! crazy.
the tour was FABULOUS. basically it was a tourbus load- a really nice tourbus- of 20-50something yr old women and the few reluctant brave men, and one or two eager gay or metro or openminded men. hehe. our tourguide was really funny, cute, a standup comedian/actress. she had us say 'fuck' all together and then warned us how much profanity would be used in the tour- much like the show. very funny. the tour consisted of her pointing out spots from the show and the movie, then playing the clips on a tv, w/ three stops- at the pleasure chest, a sex shop; at magnolia bakery in the village; and at onieals, which is actually aden's bar scout for a cosmopolatin. we'd have 20 or so minutes at each spot, and time to cruise the area- i loooove the village! 'fresh', the makeup store who does all the makeup for SATC was there, as was bleeker park- a park for kids, where miranda runs into steve with his new girlfriend and we see a flash of her granny panties. i was one of the few women doing the tour solo, but i met this woman from montreal, and she sat next to me and we took each other's pictures and stuff. i ate a yummy ass cupcake at magnolia- mmmm!! i saw so much of the city!! the new york public libary, where carrie get's left at the altar in the movie- i actually went back after the tour to cruise, the sushi place where samantah says 'dirty martini, dirty bastard' to the guy who she caught eating someone else's 'sushi', big and carrie's apartment from the movie, ...i can't even explain how awesome it all was! there were >40 spots that they showed us! i highly recommend it to anyone who goes to NYC.
the tour ended at 2:30 pm, and i went back to urban outfitters ( i love that store), and browsed the sale section- the only part i can afford. haha....there was a subway hold up on the red line - the 1,2, and 3, so it took a while to get anywhere. i had been in touch with chan to meet up around 4 pm, so i started to make my way to meet him at penn station, and after discovering the train hold up, i decided to walk on braodway from 42nd to 34th....this was the worst walk of my life, the most stressful, the most agonzing, the most frustrating...because at one point i texted someone, reached down to put my phone in my coat pocket....and unbeknownst, i missed my pocket, and my phone fell to the ground. i didn't discover this until 1 minute later when i reached down to grab the honey cashews in my pocket, and this was 1 minute too late...i walked back, freaked out, and my phone was no where to be seen. oh my fucking god i lost my shit. i didn't know where anything was, i was supposed to meet chan in 15 minutes, knew no one. ohmygod. i went back to the vietnamese woman who sold me my cashews and she knew no english but could read my frantic face as i asked her to use her phone. i called my phone a million times and there was no ring or vibration in my coat, or bag. fuck. fuck fuck. i had just gotten my blackberry before my trip. i got it because it was my safety harness. i got it to keep in touch. it had everything in there. maps, phone numbers. these connectoins were even more important in these huge ass city. anyway. i stopped, and breathed like 10 deep breaths.....and remembered there was an AT&T nearby. i had seen it a few days ago. i walked in there...and got a new phone. i had insurance, but to use the insurance, you had to call a number and they'd mail you a phone. at this point, i had no home base, as i was flying to michigan the next day. i had no choice but to buy the phone, which i can return in 30 days, and will call AT&T and explain the situation to them. And pray they can help me. so...i have a phone now. i had synced my phone to my computer before my trrip, so i had all my numbers except the ones acquired on the trip. i have no way of getting in touch with my scrub tech friend ryan, i realized, but luckily had email access to all other friends made along the way...i am so so lucky. it wasn't my wallet at least, right?! so that was that...
i met up with chan who helped to calm me down, as we grabbed some food and drinks at a nearby pub. except i was kinda sick so alcohol sounded gross to me..the food and company was all i needed. we walked through mini korea on 32nd and 7th (i think). ....
wendy had texted me right before the fiasco about meeting her and sean at momofuku this premier noodle bar in the east village, so i hugged chan a huge hug good bye and took a cab to meet wendy and sean. so so fabulous!! wendy and i had ginger scallion ramen, we had chicken buns, and sean had kim chee stew. very yummy:) we then walked around the corner after our feast to veniero's, an italian bakery...mmm...
anyway, i can't write much more now- i gotta get ready for this dinner tonight with the michigan state residents, iron my shirt,and all that, maybe get a work out in at the gym in this phatty hotel. will write more later!!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
entertainment
these last few days have been nothing but entertainment....it's as if my nyc experience has been fast forwarded, packed with a whirlwind of activities. it's perfect for the adhd-ness(is that word?) in me. i don't even know where to begin or how to begin describing the people/sights/things/sounds/colors/dancing/performing/wierdos that i've come across...
firstly, on friday night- well, i guess it was only 4:00 pm , but it gets dark so early here- i caught the subway to times square to meet up with chan and teresa. i almost forgot it was black friday- why is it called that?- then i was quickly reminded by the swarm of tourists, people selling tickets on the street, cameras, new york guidebooks in the middle of the times square. times square is so big and crazy that although i technically arrived at the times square station, i still had to walk 6 or 7 blocks before meeting them in times square, at the tkts booth. next to tkts is a set of red stairs....to...nowhere. yup. only in new york city can there be stairs to nowhere- that are red- and it's totally normal. oh yeah, also only in nyc will you see a pink plaid stretch limo, and a guy in a suit in the subway...wearing tabbies for shoes. yup. tabbies! i mean, it was wet out side today, but that's just hilarious!. anyway, so i meet up with chan and teresa and the line is actually moving quickly. our top three choices for shows to see are 1)rock of ages 2) spamalot and 3)boeing boeing. we ended up with rock of ages, once again, an 80s rock themed musical. we were the most asian/brown people there. the theater was full of old school older 80s rockers and new school 80s rockers. the story is about a girl from kansas who comes to LA to come to the city to live the dream. very standard story but incredible dancing and music. hit songs include journey's don't stop believing, foreigner's i wanna know what love is, and bon jovi's dead or alive, to name a few. the best part is they passed out fake lighters so we can all wave them in the air. the show was hilarious, not at all pretentious, and a blast! i highly recommed it to anyone who just wants to belt out great rock songs and be totally entertained.
after that we met dave, and a girl who graduated from JABSOm last year and is doing her residency on long island, at ps 450, a small bar. very chill, very fun.
i woke up the next day and wished i hadn't drank! sheesh! it's all good. we had a full day ahead- we wanted to go to ellis island, statue of liberty, shop in soho, ice skate at the rockfeller center, go to the museum of natural history, eat good food, see the graffiti art in harlem...i call teresa and she had gotten us tickets to the new york city ballet nutcracker that night!
one of the interns i worked with had forgotten her wallet at the hospital, so i had brought it with me on the shuttle back to save her a drive back to new jersey, so she came by and picked it up. she also gave me a cd full of surgery lectures! yippee! such a nerd. so exciting. we were gonna take the bus across the park to the west side, where the museum is, until she offered us a ride. sweet! it was weird to be in a normal, non-taxi car in new york city. her car looked exactly like every other med student/resident car i've been in- basically lived in. even across the ocean and nation! haha.
we crossed the park and went downtown a little bit to 81st, then realized we were really hungry and hadn't eat breakfast. i busted out my not for tourist book, as every time i've eaten at a restaurant from that book, i've been completely satisfied. first we wanted to go to garlic bob's...to find it no longer existed...then we wanted to go to another italian restaurant...to find out it was only open for dinner. we were STARVING and ninja by now, so went into the first restaurant we found open, which happened to be a large bumping italian style restaurant called carmines. mmmmm! two huge plates of pasta- one with clams and white sauce, the other with sausage, broccoli garlic and olive oil. so so good! and way too much food. in new york it's hard to take a box home because you're on the subway or you're usually not going straight home.
our inner hungry demons were satsified and off we cruised through the upper west side to the museum.
the museum was incredible. it has the normal exhibitions, separated by geographic location and era in history - such as 'african mammals' or 'the deap ocean' or 'pacific peoples', plus special exhibitions such as 'cosmic collisons', 'sea monsters', 'climate change' and 'horses'...the special exhbitions had certain show times, so we both chose cosmic collisons, and i chose 'sea monsters' while she chose 'lizards and snakes'. i'm so drawn to the ocean! while waiting for our 'cosmic collisions' show to watch she wandered off to the dinosaur section and i wandered to 'the deep ocean' section. it was dfinitely cool..but lots of the animals were fake and it's definitely more for 8 yr olds on their science field trip or 5 yr olds who love to soak up knowledge. cosmic collisions was awesome! it's a theater, but the theater is circular, and the seats all face the middle and are slightly reclined. the 'film' is the dome- shaped theater. it felt like you were floating through space and i learned about asteroids and the formation of the moon and earth and milky way. very cool.
it was great to see something bigger than me out there. i know it's cliche but it's so true that we (i) get caught up in my little world. i forget there's an entire earth and universe out there. even other states.
we then cruised through the museum shop- sometimes these are cooler than the museum themselves!- and i bought a book in the bargain section called 'why we love- the science and chemistry of romantic love', and 'spook', by roach, who also wrote stiff. of cousre i buy books:) such a nerd!
hungry again, (it's dinner time!- it's dark after all:), we pick a 'classic nyc pizza joint'- according to not for tourists, in the east village, ride the subway there , and walked through the village. so so cute. smaller streets and stores, more hip, a small theater, a puerto rican coffee shop, very cute. arturo's pizza was great, it has a jazz piano player, it's small warm and the staff is really nice. and of course the pizza was great!
off to the nyc ballet. i'm exhausted by this point but still excited. our seats were on teh first ring, basically a balcony, but to the immedate right of the stage, and our view was amazing! i could't take pics during the show but i took some before the show to show you the view we had. i've never ever ever seen the nutcracker, had no idea what the story was about, didn't know that tchiacovsky did the music to it. no wi know. the dancers were fucking ripped, danced on their toes, wore the tightest of all tights and still looked fabulous...the decoratoins and costumes were of course breathtaking- i couldn't decide what i like more- the dancing or the decorations/costumes.
anyway...i was so tired after the show i immediately went home and slept. i'm tired now..will write more later:)
firstly, on friday night- well, i guess it was only 4:00 pm , but it gets dark so early here- i caught the subway to times square to meet up with chan and teresa. i almost forgot it was black friday- why is it called that?- then i was quickly reminded by the swarm of tourists, people selling tickets on the street, cameras, new york guidebooks in the middle of the times square. times square is so big and crazy that although i technically arrived at the times square station, i still had to walk 6 or 7 blocks before meeting them in times square, at the tkts booth. next to tkts is a set of red stairs....to...nowhere. yup. only in new york city can there be stairs to nowhere- that are red- and it's totally normal. oh yeah, also only in nyc will you see a pink plaid stretch limo, and a guy in a suit in the subway...wearing tabbies for shoes. yup. tabbies! i mean, it was wet out side today, but that's just hilarious!. anyway, so i meet up with chan and teresa and the line is actually moving quickly. our top three choices for shows to see are 1)rock of ages 2) spamalot and 3)boeing boeing. we ended up with rock of ages, once again, an 80s rock themed musical. we were the most asian/brown people there. the theater was full of old school older 80s rockers and new school 80s rockers. the story is about a girl from kansas who comes to LA to come to the city to live the dream. very standard story but incredible dancing and music. hit songs include journey's don't stop believing, foreigner's i wanna know what love is, and bon jovi's dead or alive, to name a few. the best part is they passed out fake lighters so we can all wave them in the air. the show was hilarious, not at all pretentious, and a blast! i highly recommed it to anyone who just wants to belt out great rock songs and be totally entertained.
after that we met dave, and a girl who graduated from JABSOm last year and is doing her residency on long island, at ps 450, a small bar. very chill, very fun.
i woke up the next day and wished i hadn't drank! sheesh! it's all good. we had a full day ahead- we wanted to go to ellis island, statue of liberty, shop in soho, ice skate at the rockfeller center, go to the museum of natural history, eat good food, see the graffiti art in harlem...i call teresa and she had gotten us tickets to the new york city ballet nutcracker that night!
one of the interns i worked with had forgotten her wallet at the hospital, so i had brought it with me on the shuttle back to save her a drive back to new jersey, so she came by and picked it up. she also gave me a cd full of surgery lectures! yippee! such a nerd. so exciting. we were gonna take the bus across the park to the west side, where the museum is, until she offered us a ride. sweet! it was weird to be in a normal, non-taxi car in new york city. her car looked exactly like every other med student/resident car i've been in- basically lived in. even across the ocean and nation! haha.
we crossed the park and went downtown a little bit to 81st, then realized we were really hungry and hadn't eat breakfast. i busted out my not for tourist book, as every time i've eaten at a restaurant from that book, i've been completely satisfied. first we wanted to go to garlic bob's...to find it no longer existed...then we wanted to go to another italian restaurant...to find out it was only open for dinner. we were STARVING and ninja by now, so went into the first restaurant we found open, which happened to be a large bumping italian style restaurant called carmines. mmmmm! two huge plates of pasta- one with clams and white sauce, the other with sausage, broccoli garlic and olive oil. so so good! and way too much food. in new york it's hard to take a box home because you're on the subway or you're usually not going straight home.
our inner hungry demons were satsified and off we cruised through the upper west side to the museum.
the museum was incredible. it has the normal exhibitions, separated by geographic location and era in history - such as 'african mammals' or 'the deap ocean' or 'pacific peoples', plus special exhibitions such as 'cosmic collisons', 'sea monsters', 'climate change' and 'horses'...the special exhbitions had certain show times, so we both chose cosmic collisons, and i chose 'sea monsters' while she chose 'lizards and snakes'. i'm so drawn to the ocean! while waiting for our 'cosmic collisions' show to watch she wandered off to the dinosaur section and i wandered to 'the deep ocean' section. it was dfinitely cool..but lots of the animals were fake and it's definitely more for 8 yr olds on their science field trip or 5 yr olds who love to soak up knowledge. cosmic collisions was awesome! it's a theater, but the theater is circular, and the seats all face the middle and are slightly reclined. the 'film' is the dome- shaped theater. it felt like you were floating through space and i learned about asteroids and the formation of the moon and earth and milky way. very cool.
it was great to see something bigger than me out there. i know it's cliche but it's so true that we (i) get caught up in my little world. i forget there's an entire earth and universe out there. even other states.
we then cruised through the museum shop- sometimes these are cooler than the museum themselves!- and i bought a book in the bargain section called 'why we love- the science and chemistry of romantic love', and 'spook', by roach, who also wrote stiff. of cousre i buy books:) such a nerd!
hungry again, (it's dinner time!- it's dark after all:), we pick a 'classic nyc pizza joint'- according to not for tourists, in the east village, ride the subway there , and walked through the village. so so cute. smaller streets and stores, more hip, a small theater, a puerto rican coffee shop, very cute. arturo's pizza was great, it has a jazz piano player, it's small warm and the staff is really nice. and of course the pizza was great!
off to the nyc ballet. i'm exhausted by this point but still excited. our seats were on teh first ring, basically a balcony, but to the immedate right of the stage, and our view was amazing! i could't take pics during the show but i took some before the show to show you the view we had. i've never ever ever seen the nutcracker, had no idea what the story was about, didn't know that tchiacovsky did the music to it. no wi know. the dancers were fucking ripped, danced on their toes, wore the tightest of all tights and still looked fabulous...the decoratoins and costumes were of course breathtaking- i couldn't decide what i like more- the dancing or the decorations/costumes.
anyway...i was so tired after the show i immediately went home and slept. i'm tired now..will write more later:)
last few days
it's my last few days in nyc! holy shit it's gone by quickly. i don't have time to write so much now, but i will update in a little bit. since thanksgiving yumminess, i've been to rock of ages, a broadway musical, basically, 'what momma mia did for abba, rock of ages did for 80s rock'- it was an amazing hilarious show set to the soundtrack of music like bon jovi, reo speedwagon, whitesnake. fricken amazing! chan, teresa and i stood in line at tkts in times square and got great seats. after that we cruised to a midtown bar called ps 450, met up with dave then went home...
yesterday teresa and i had our cultural excursion, eating family style italian at carmines in the upper west side, going to the museum of natural history, eating new york pizza at arturo's in the village, then going to watch the new york ballet's version of nutcracker. holy shit amazing day! i'll tell you the details later.
today's my last day in my place, then i head to wendy's in brooklyn today. yay to chilltime with wendy. tomorrow, my last full day in nyc, i booked the 'sex and the city' tour- thank you malia for the idea! i thought it would be a great way to end my nyc experience. anyway, today i'm going to grand central station to check out the architecture and to macy's to gawk at the window displays...it's a rainy rainy day in nyc. yay!
yesterday teresa and i had our cultural excursion, eating family style italian at carmines in the upper west side, going to the museum of natural history, eating new york pizza at arturo's in the village, then going to watch the new york ballet's version of nutcracker. holy shit amazing day! i'll tell you the details later.
today's my last day in my place, then i head to wendy's in brooklyn today. yay to chilltime with wendy. tomorrow, my last full day in nyc, i booked the 'sex and the city' tour- thank you malia for the idea! i thought it would be a great way to end my nyc experience. anyway, today i'm going to grand central station to check out the architecture and to macy's to gawk at the window displays...it's a rainy rainy day in nyc. yay!
Friday, November 28, 2008
uptown, downtown
so everyone in new york has a dog it seems. maybe it's just because i live right by the park, but it surprises me that you can still have a dog in a big city with little space for them to run. most of them are small dogs. i wonder if new york city dogs think about different things than dogs in hawaii or guam. do dogs notice that there are so many people in the city or do they only know and see the concrete beneath their feet? and would new york dogs know how to swim?
wednesday was my last full day at the hospital. i really really like my team, and i did see come cool surgeries while i was here. honestly though, whether it's because i have senioritis, or possibly there's so much distraction in nyc, or maybe it's because i have some hesitations with interacting with some of the harsh surgeons here (i've also met cool surgeons too, don't get me wrong)- but forever reason i wasn't balls to the wall with this general surgery rotation. and i'm okay with that. i will have tons of time- haha- and i laugh because intern year is going to be intense- to get my game face on. anyway.
anyway, so i had a great thanksgiving. firstly, on wednesday night, my friend teresa flew in from LA to hang out for the weekend. she got a hotel room at paramount hotel on 46th and 8th, right by times square. she got the 'petite room', the smallest and most affordable room- affordable by new york standards, and representative of what it's like to have an apartment in the city- small. but it does the job for the weekend. so i navigated my way by subway to get her, then we met wendy at katz deli - a classic ny experience- for dinner. mmmmmm! it's very low key, with a huge deli counter, and they give you samples of meat while you're waiting. when you first walk in, they give you a ticket and you have to give the ticket back when you leave. since the sandwhiches are HUGE, we ordered a pastrami and a corned beef sandwhich. they also give you a plate of different types of pickles. these pickles are essentially whole cucumbers that taste like pickles with a different twist. i usually don't eat meat, but i had to make an exception for this experience. we almos ordered potato pancakes with apple sauce and sourcream too, but there was way too much food. the sandwhiches were basically plates of meat with some bread for decoration. we then cruised our way to this small spanish bar and we all got different kinds of drinks- i got one with horchata, rum and cinammon, teresa got one with mango juice and vodka, and wendy got a yummy limey-tequila drink. very very strong! after one drink we headed out. wendy, headed back across the river to brooklyn, and teresa and i went to my friend dave's house to hang out. i'm always a little nervous mixing my circles of friends but teresa is great and social and can take care of herself. awesome.
dave his friends and ourselves ended up going to this cool club called the green room. it was SO FRICKEN cold waiting to get it. holy shit. and a limo full of girls pulled up in just their little dresses, no coats, no stockings, nothing! i was in a skirt with sweater tights, boots, my big coat, a warm hat and gloves and i was still cold. making it in the club never felt so good. the music was really good and we danced all night, which is something i wanted to do in new york. very fun.
i've heard new yorkers say this before but they can all tell when a club or bar is filled with jersey folks. i guess people from the surrounding states come into the city on the weekends to shop and eat and go out- i personally can't tell the difference, but new yorkers know who isn't a new yorker. i guess it's equivalent to someone mistaking a chinese person for korean when you're in hawaii. it's what you're used to.
i woke up on thanksgiving day, made my way to the gym quickly, then got ready to head out. i took the subway to times square area, and it was crazy! the macy's day parade was going on. i hoped to catch a bit of it. on my subway ride i saw this group of litereally 50 or 100 girls dressed in bright orange abd pink dancy/gynmanstics outfits. definitely stood out amongst the dark coats and the dark subway. it was way to crazy, and teresa and i were STARVING, so we went to chinatown, and found a yummy dim sum place. we were both zoning out partly because we needed food badly and partly because there was so much to watch. we thought we stood out like tourists, even with my small black 'not for tourist' book, but there were way more obvious tourists. i don't know why i'm so uncomfortable with looking like a tourist- i think it's a safety thing. sometimes though i'm people watching on the subway and get caught staring so i quickly look away and hope they didn't notice.
we ate dim sum at this place on mott street- i think it's called ping's. all i know is it was packed, there were tons of chinese people, and there was a 'zagat' sign on the door - zagat is a guide to great restaurants in nyc. the kicker was that we saw tons of chinese people eating there. we got our table early, led downstairs to a hidden section of the restaurant. the waiters and waitresses with plates of yumminess came by trying to convince us to eat their plate of food. we ended up getting mostly plates of steamed dumblings, shumai, this yummy noodle dish- they were giant fried noodles- almost like donuts- wrapped in steamed noodles. we ended our meal with sesame mochi yumminess. we were way happier!
we also had bubble tea. it was freezing cold out but we had to get bubble tea while we were in china town. we wandered down canal street, through the tourist stores full of scarves, hats, ny paraphenalia, past the vendors with chestnuts, fruit, bok choy, seafood, flowers. we acquiesced to the cold and found refuge in the subway, taking a couple different trains to dave's place.
ohmygod we ate like queens! dave and aileen made red rice, chicken kelaguen, bbq chicken, steak, beef kelaquen, shrimp in coconut milk, daigo/cucumber salad, and latiya for dessert. it was a classic chamorro meal- about 9 or 10 folks from guam and their significnat others were there. also classic in the nappage that went on. so so great!
i got home at about 10 pm last night, and slept so happily:) so so thankful!
now i'm sitting at a coffeeshop , waiting to catch the 9 am shuttle to the hospital, where i'll basically just turn in my pager and scrubs, say my goodbyes. i'll take the noon shuttle back and this afternoon i'll make a run to the post office to mail some stuff back to hawaii to ligthen my load up. today is black friday, so i will avoid shopping like the plague. it's gonna be crazy as hell, as if new york wasn't crazy enough. teresa and i have plans to hang out with our friend chan from hawaii who's visiting his family in queen's.
only a few more days in nyc! it's gone by quickly. there's still so much i want to do, but i think i did most of them. just gonna soak up what's left...
wednesday was my last full day at the hospital. i really really like my team, and i did see come cool surgeries while i was here. honestly though, whether it's because i have senioritis, or possibly there's so much distraction in nyc, or maybe it's because i have some hesitations with interacting with some of the harsh surgeons here (i've also met cool surgeons too, don't get me wrong)- but forever reason i wasn't balls to the wall with this general surgery rotation. and i'm okay with that. i will have tons of time- haha- and i laugh because intern year is going to be intense- to get my game face on. anyway.
anyway, so i had a great thanksgiving. firstly, on wednesday night, my friend teresa flew in from LA to hang out for the weekend. she got a hotel room at paramount hotel on 46th and 8th, right by times square. she got the 'petite room', the smallest and most affordable room- affordable by new york standards, and representative of what it's like to have an apartment in the city- small. but it does the job for the weekend. so i navigated my way by subway to get her, then we met wendy at katz deli - a classic ny experience- for dinner. mmmmmm! it's very low key, with a huge deli counter, and they give you samples of meat while you're waiting. when you first walk in, they give you a ticket and you have to give the ticket back when you leave. since the sandwhiches are HUGE, we ordered a pastrami and a corned beef sandwhich. they also give you a plate of different types of pickles. these pickles are essentially whole cucumbers that taste like pickles with a different twist. i usually don't eat meat, but i had to make an exception for this experience. we almos ordered potato pancakes with apple sauce and sourcream too, but there was way too much food. the sandwhiches were basically plates of meat with some bread for decoration. we then cruised our way to this small spanish bar and we all got different kinds of drinks- i got one with horchata, rum and cinammon, teresa got one with mango juice and vodka, and wendy got a yummy limey-tequila drink. very very strong! after one drink we headed out. wendy, headed back across the river to brooklyn, and teresa and i went to my friend dave's house to hang out. i'm always a little nervous mixing my circles of friends but teresa is great and social and can take care of herself. awesome.
dave his friends and ourselves ended up going to this cool club called the green room. it was SO FRICKEN cold waiting to get it. holy shit. and a limo full of girls pulled up in just their little dresses, no coats, no stockings, nothing! i was in a skirt with sweater tights, boots, my big coat, a warm hat and gloves and i was still cold. making it in the club never felt so good. the music was really good and we danced all night, which is something i wanted to do in new york. very fun.
i've heard new yorkers say this before but they can all tell when a club or bar is filled with jersey folks. i guess people from the surrounding states come into the city on the weekends to shop and eat and go out- i personally can't tell the difference, but new yorkers know who isn't a new yorker. i guess it's equivalent to someone mistaking a chinese person for korean when you're in hawaii. it's what you're used to.
i woke up on thanksgiving day, made my way to the gym quickly, then got ready to head out. i took the subway to times square area, and it was crazy! the macy's day parade was going on. i hoped to catch a bit of it. on my subway ride i saw this group of litereally 50 or 100 girls dressed in bright orange abd pink dancy/gynmanstics outfits. definitely stood out amongst the dark coats and the dark subway. it was way to crazy, and teresa and i were STARVING, so we went to chinatown, and found a yummy dim sum place. we were both zoning out partly because we needed food badly and partly because there was so much to watch. we thought we stood out like tourists, even with my small black 'not for tourist' book, but there were way more obvious tourists. i don't know why i'm so uncomfortable with looking like a tourist- i think it's a safety thing. sometimes though i'm people watching on the subway and get caught staring so i quickly look away and hope they didn't notice.
we ate dim sum at this place on mott street- i think it's called ping's. all i know is it was packed, there were tons of chinese people, and there was a 'zagat' sign on the door - zagat is a guide to great restaurants in nyc. the kicker was that we saw tons of chinese people eating there. we got our table early, led downstairs to a hidden section of the restaurant. the waiters and waitresses with plates of yumminess came by trying to convince us to eat their plate of food. we ended up getting mostly plates of steamed dumblings, shumai, this yummy noodle dish- they were giant fried noodles- almost like donuts- wrapped in steamed noodles. we ended our meal with sesame mochi yumminess. we were way happier!
we also had bubble tea. it was freezing cold out but we had to get bubble tea while we were in china town. we wandered down canal street, through the tourist stores full of scarves, hats, ny paraphenalia, past the vendors with chestnuts, fruit, bok choy, seafood, flowers. we acquiesced to the cold and found refuge in the subway, taking a couple different trains to dave's place.
ohmygod we ate like queens! dave and aileen made red rice, chicken kelaguen, bbq chicken, steak, beef kelaquen, shrimp in coconut milk, daigo/cucumber salad, and latiya for dessert. it was a classic chamorro meal- about 9 or 10 folks from guam and their significnat others were there. also classic in the nappage that went on. so so great!
i got home at about 10 pm last night, and slept so happily:) so so thankful!
now i'm sitting at a coffeeshop , waiting to catch the 9 am shuttle to the hospital, where i'll basically just turn in my pager and scrubs, say my goodbyes. i'll take the noon shuttle back and this afternoon i'll make a run to the post office to mail some stuff back to hawaii to ligthen my load up. today is black friday, so i will avoid shopping like the plague. it's gonna be crazy as hell, as if new york wasn't crazy enough. teresa and i have plans to hang out with our friend chan from hawaii who's visiting his family in queen's.
only a few more days in nyc! it's gone by quickly. there's still so much i want to do, but i think i did most of them. just gonna soak up what's left...
Monday, November 24, 2008
brown brown
i'm sitting here at the airport in Providence, Rhode Island, and just had my Brown interview. The interview was fine, and I actually really like the program. The residents seem happy, you get kick ass, broad training, the hospital is gorgeous, the faculty love to teach and it's very academic...the only thing is that Providence seems to SUCK. There's nothing really to do- Boston is an hour away and NYC is 3 hours away, but the town is so so small and cold...I met an Ortho resident and his plastic surgery resident girlfriend who surf, they actually know my friend Joe, an Ortho resident in hawaii, who i've been surfing with. they said surf around here is 40 minutes away...mostly point breaks, but COLD. so anyway, i'll have to sit down and do my spreadsheet analysis on the program- my gut feeling is that while i can't see myself living here, if i ended up here i would be a kick ass surgeon. ahhh! such decisions.
last night i called a cab to take me to union state brewery in downtown providence for the resident social dinner thing, and the cab driver just happened to be picking up another girl who was staying at the comfort inn and interviewing. well first of all, i called one cab company and they didnt have an available cab so i had to call another one- that wouldn't happen in nyc! anyway, so the other girl who was interiviweing was cool, from philly, and we ended up splitting all cab fairs, catching shuttles and everything, together, and our flights even left at the same time. very nice to have a buddy. at the interview i also ran into two people i had interviewed with at georgetown. the folks you meet along the 'interview trail', as it's called...
so back to NYC. i fly into la guardia tonight, will chill tonight, or if i motivate, go to the gym. i have a couple days at the hospital, thursday off, then friday's my last day. wow it went so quickly!! i don't leave nyc till tuesday, so i have a few days to enjoy nyc....
i'm tired as hell! i've spent many call nights up for 30 hours straight and feel more tired now, after a night of socializing and a half day of interviewing. i think the difference is that at these social events and interviews, you're always 'on', talking to everyone, coming up with intelligent relevant questions, talking about yourself, selling yourself, analyzing residents and faculty...this whole process is much like speed dating. everyone applies to 20-40 programs, and each program gets 1000s of applicants, and interview about 50-75. the program figures out if they want you to work there, and oyu figure out if you could see yourself there. then the program makes a rank list of who they want, number candidates from 1-75 or whatever, applicants make their rank list, and this vortex of a computer program analyzes it and makes the best match for everyone.
anyway...i'm feeling lots of things right now.
1)anxiety- about this whole process. i have 9 more interviews! anxiety about how i'm gonna analyze everything and where i'll end up
2)excitement- everyday in nyc and the cities to follow bring a new set of adventures and people
3)longing- i miss the guy who i recently fell for in hawaii. i think about him tons and i hate it because i doubt he's thinking about me. i let him take the initiative on calling me when i left hawaii, since i had basically told him how i felt wiht no reciprocation or explanation. he took the initiative - a lot- for the first week. then i stopped hearing from him. he's going to be in nyc and today i got a text 'how's nyc? in d.c. still. heading up for tgiving'. for some reason i was really upset. that's all i get?! not a 'i miss you!' or 'let's hang out!' or 'can't wait to see you!'. why did i expect that? so i got mad! mad at him because i really like(d?) him at one point. now all the time we spent, conversations and interactions seem like a total joke, fake, and waste of time. aahhh...
4)wanted- i went out with my friend from the hospital on saturday and he calls and text me all the time. very endearing...almost too eager! now i feel like a guy- you want what you can't have and now that he's obvoiusly missing me...i'm pulling back. don't know where these feelings/actions come from but it's just how i am right now.
5)antcipation and comfort- for spending time with friends in nyc. my friend teresa comes in on wednesday, i'm gonna spend thanksgiving with my friend from guam, and then stay with wendy from sunday thru tuesday, when i leave.
6)stoked- on doing more nyc things!
7)homesickness- i miss the ocean and surf and friends and warmth and familiarity! i know it'll be back soon enough and for now i will enjoy this experience.:)
off to grab coffee before my flight boards:)
last night i called a cab to take me to union state brewery in downtown providence for the resident social dinner thing, and the cab driver just happened to be picking up another girl who was staying at the comfort inn and interviewing. well first of all, i called one cab company and they didnt have an available cab so i had to call another one- that wouldn't happen in nyc! anyway, so the other girl who was interiviweing was cool, from philly, and we ended up splitting all cab fairs, catching shuttles and everything, together, and our flights even left at the same time. very nice to have a buddy. at the interview i also ran into two people i had interviewed with at georgetown. the folks you meet along the 'interview trail', as it's called...
so back to NYC. i fly into la guardia tonight, will chill tonight, or if i motivate, go to the gym. i have a couple days at the hospital, thursday off, then friday's my last day. wow it went so quickly!! i don't leave nyc till tuesday, so i have a few days to enjoy nyc....
i'm tired as hell! i've spent many call nights up for 30 hours straight and feel more tired now, after a night of socializing and a half day of interviewing. i think the difference is that at these social events and interviews, you're always 'on', talking to everyone, coming up with intelligent relevant questions, talking about yourself, selling yourself, analyzing residents and faculty...this whole process is much like speed dating. everyone applies to 20-40 programs, and each program gets 1000s of applicants, and interview about 50-75. the program figures out if they want you to work there, and oyu figure out if you could see yourself there. then the program makes a rank list of who they want, number candidates from 1-75 or whatever, applicants make their rank list, and this vortex of a computer program analyzes it and makes the best match for everyone.
anyway...i'm feeling lots of things right now.
1)anxiety- about this whole process. i have 9 more interviews! anxiety about how i'm gonna analyze everything and where i'll end up
2)excitement- everyday in nyc and the cities to follow bring a new set of adventures and people
3)longing- i miss the guy who i recently fell for in hawaii. i think about him tons and i hate it because i doubt he's thinking about me. i let him take the initiative on calling me when i left hawaii, since i had basically told him how i felt wiht no reciprocation or explanation. he took the initiative - a lot- for the first week. then i stopped hearing from him. he's going to be in nyc and today i got a text 'how's nyc? in d.c. still. heading up for tgiving'. for some reason i was really upset. that's all i get?! not a 'i miss you!' or 'let's hang out!' or 'can't wait to see you!'. why did i expect that? so i got mad! mad at him because i really like(d?) him at one point. now all the time we spent, conversations and interactions seem like a total joke, fake, and waste of time. aahhh...
4)wanted- i went out with my friend from the hospital on saturday and he calls and text me all the time. very endearing...almost too eager! now i feel like a guy- you want what you can't have and now that he's obvoiusly missing me...i'm pulling back. don't know where these feelings/actions come from but it's just how i am right now.
5)antcipation and comfort- for spending time with friends in nyc. my friend teresa comes in on wednesday, i'm gonna spend thanksgiving with my friend from guam, and then stay with wendy from sunday thru tuesday, when i leave.
6)stoked- on doing more nyc things!
7)homesickness- i miss the ocean and surf and friends and warmth and familiarity! i know it'll be back soon enough and for now i will enjoy this experience.:)
off to grab coffee before my flight boards:)
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