Oooops. I knew it would happen, I just didn't think it would happen this early in my trip. After 3 packed weeks on Ob/Gyn, Dave's arrived and I've been choosing to stay with him over attending hospital activities. I went to clinics Tuesday and Thursday mornings, then visited the Ob/Gyn student elective supervisor to finish up in the dept, but other than that, I’ve been enjoying NY!
So what have we been up to?
Tuesday 26th January – Australia Day! Went to clinic in the morning and told the attending that was supervising that it was my national day, and he said, “Why are you here? You should be out celebrating.” I thought this was a little odd, but told him, “Oh, I will celebrate, tonight though.”
Before heading out to dinner with friends I went for a quick workout at the gym. The most embarrassing thing happened! I went to hop on a treadmill and didn’t realize it was already running. Someone had jumped off it and left it on, so when I went to get on my legs flew out from under me, and I landed on the moving belt with my knees, then elbows, then face planted… Oh God, it was horrible, and I have carpet burned and bruised knees to show for it. Cry! Anyway, got up and started running, and watched Nadal and Murray at the Australian Open, complete with Aus Day fireworks. Ahhhh. I loved seeing that they had to wait til about 9.30pm to start the display for it to be dark enough. Oh, how I love the Aussie summer.
Drinks at The Monday Room and dinner at Public in Nolita with Dave, 3 girls from uni, and a guy from uni that I hadn’t met before who had come to the restaurant straight from his flight from Australia – backpack stored in the restaurant reception area – hilarious! Was a really, really great dinner. The 7 of us all ordered the lamb. Sam Kekovich would be proud.
Wednesday morning I actually got dressed for the hospital, but ended up having brunch with Dave and walking around East Village. Brunch at a cute diner around the corner called Odessa, with free coffee refills. Walked through Tompkins Square Park and gushed at the bouncing dogs at the dog run. Discovered a cute Australian café called Tuckshop in St Mark’s Place, complete with vegemite in the window and Shapes in a shelf inside. Mmmm.
Dog run at Tompkins Square Park
Thursday morning I spent in the clinics, then caught the train up to Fifth Ave with Dave for a little window shopping. Visited Tiffany’s, FAO Schwartz and Bergdorf Goodman.
Dave infront of FAO Schwartz
It was exhausting (hehe), and we quickly became hungry so decided to visit our favourite little Chinatown dive, Nice Green Bo on Bayard Street. Those pork dumplings keep calling us!
Lunch at Nice Green Bo, Chinatown
Most days Dave has had conference calls in the evenings that he’s had to dial in for. He’s actually been working a lot more then he thought he would, so he blocked out Friday on his schedule as a day off.
We had been hearing all week on the news that an ‘Arctic Blast’ was coming for the weekend, and beginning Friday the top temp would remain around 20F. Friday morning was so icy! News told us it was only 16F (about -8C) when we decided to walk over to City Bakery for a muffin and their famous hot chocolate. It really was unbearable to be outside, but damn, the hot chocolate is worth it! AMAZING!
We probably spent an hour making our way back to Union Square, stopping in many shops on the way to escape the chill. Then called into Regal Cinemas to check the schedule, and decided to see Avatar in 3D, which started in 15 mins. Perfect - 3 hours of warmth and entertainment.
We’re so lucky that New York Restaurant Week is on at the moment. It actually runs from Jan 25th to Feb 7th, and restaurants all over Manhattan open up bookings with prix fixe menus available. I booked Sushi Samba7 in Greenwich Village for us for Friday night, as we thought it was time for a small, healthy meal. Whoops! Got talked into the tasting menu by the waiter, so we left very full, but the food was delicious and so fresh.
It’s now the weekend, and we’re camping inside until it warms up. I have a bit of a cold and sore throat, so I’m hitting the Vit C and taking it easy. Actually, I think we’ll catch the bus out to Premium Outlets tomorrow – an hour’s ride away, huge shopping area with massive discounts. There's always energy for shopping... but I don't know how the suitcase is going to hold up on the way home.
