So classes are in full swing now. We had our white coat ceremony on Thursday. It was very short compared to last semester's, which I was very glad of. On Saturday morning, my friends and I drove to the French side to go shopping in a place called Marigot. To our surprise, it was only a ten minute drive! The French side seems a little more… civilized. There are actual speed limit signs! And real shopping! So we spent a good few hours walking around the town, looking through racks of expensive Parisian-made clothing, and eating baked goods at a well-known French bakery.
In other news… we (the fifth termers) wrote our diagnostic NBME on Friday morning. The diagnostic was a practice exam for the real one coming up in April. It was pretty much a reality check. Time to get my butt into shape (academically)!
This is it! The final semester of basic science, and the last four months on the island (or any island) for me!! I arrived two nights ago after a few delays but nothing worse, thankfully. The rough weather apparently caused many flight cancellations at major airports in the states and Canada. On my first day back at school I noticed that it was very very empty. Well it was kind of expected given the unideal situation from last semester. I was kind of sad to hear that some people had transferred to other schools, just because I had grown familiar with their presence in the classroom since first semester. My two classes this semester are ICM (Introduction to Clinical Medicine) and FCM (Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine), but technically only one real course (ICM), as the other one consists of the Kaplan Review in preparation for the NBME that I have to write (and pass) at the end of the semester. Yesterday at noon, the school's new CEO held a town hall meeting to go over the school's status and changes being implemented. The only change I did not like was that we were ordered to wear scrubs during class. Did I mention that I made a few New Year's resolutions this year? (I don't usually). I plan on working out at the gym at least 5 times a week, and meal-prepping! The gym I go to is right on the main road and about a five minute walk from where I live. It is on the ground floor of a large hotel beside the marina. The gym itself is actually quite small. There are three areas: the weight room, the cardio room and the room with the glass mirrors (cool-down room?). Anyways I was there yesterday for about an hour. After I got home I started meal-prepping. I wanted to do meal-prepping just to force myself to cook instead of buying food everyday. So I bought a huge bag of frozen chicken tenderloins, a bag of broccoli florets, and a box of mashed potato flakes and some fresh sweet potato as well as some quinoa. Also I bought a 24-piece set of plastic containers to place all the food in. It wasn't until I started cooking that I realized how long meal-prepping takes. But it did feel satisfying afterwards to see all the food packed neatly in the containers on top of one another. It will also help me control my portions (which I have a big problem with!)
At the gym~
Today I went to the gym again and bumped into my two friends from Toronto who were also working out there. Later we went out for food (since their stove exploded!!), and ended up at a restaurant on the main road called Harbor Queen. My two friends both got the all-you-can-eat ribs option, and I ordered… lobster!! (as usual)
POSTED ON Thursday, December 12, 2013 AT 11:41 AM \\
My last shelf was on Tuesday which marked the end of a very tumultuous yet exciting first semester on St. Martin. I flew back on Tuesday night. It was so cold that I've already forgotten what it was to be warm! And the first thing I did when I got back to Toronto? Bought the new iPhone!! :D
Omg it's December which means there are only 10 days left before I go back home to Toronto! It's been a pretty crazy month with lots of ups and downs. So much has happened and yet everything's still the same. Path II finished two weeks ago. Block 4 is right around the corner, followed by shelfs in a week's time after that. Can't really think of what else to write so... pic dump!!!
Mahi-mahi salad in a deep fried taco shell at Jimbo's
Fro-yo in Maho
Carousel for late-night italian gelato :D
Fanciest ice cream parlour!
So many flavours...
Trip to Phillipsburg after finishing the Path shelf
Burgers n fries n pina coladas in Phillipsburg. Oh and lots of shopping :)
The semester is just whizzing by! One month and ten days left before I get to go home to a Winter Wonderland. It's been raining almost nonstop for the past two days. I haven't seen the island this bleak since I got here. The sky is just a solid grey.
I saw the movie Escape Plan with some friends the other week right after pharm block. It was very gripping and intense and by the end it was like I was holding my breath because there were so many close calls. I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out and to watch it in the theatres here!
We started our patient-doctor IV course this week. It takes place in a separate building about 2 mins away from the school. So far it's a very easy-going course and the prof is so sweet. Each of us will have to do an individual presentation worth 30% sometime during the semester, and then there will be a final evaluation at the end worth 70%.
I feel guilty for not cooking much this semester even though my place comes fully equipped and there's really no excuse not to be cooking. I think I've maybe cooked three times this semester so far, and two of those three times it did not come out well. The third time I made mussels with white wine sauce. That was my first time trying a recipe like that and I actually really liked it! (Recipe here) I made it a second time and added pasta to it and this is how it turned out:
Mussels and linguine in a white wine sauce
Currently studying for my final path II block, which will be covering renal, male and female, breast, and endocrine pathologies. Fingers crossed the prof won't destroy us on this block.
POSTED ON Wednesday, October 16, 2013 AT 7:54 PM \\
Yesterday (Tuesday) we had our path II block 2 exam, which went fairly well. There will be one last path block in three weeks before the shelf!!! Later that night I got together with some people from class for dinner at Bamboo Bernies for sushi. I ordered the sashimi plate, which was 20 pieces of four different types of sashimi (raw fish).
Sashimi!!!
After dinner we headed to the movie theatre to watch Gravity in 3D. The theatre was decent, just like ones back home except smaller. We got there just as the movie started. The entire movie is essentially about one woman (Sandra Bullock) trying to survive in space and somehow make it back to Earth in one piece, which is rather hard to do while debris is whizzing about at hundreds of miles per hour. It was a very dizzying theatre experience because the camera kept spinning around to stimulate zero-gravity. I can't imagine how much of a headache I would have gotten if it was in IMAX! At times it felt like I was watching the Discovery channel or National Geographic because of the magnificent views of planet Earth from space. Despite the beauty of it all, the viewer was constantly reminded of the perils of being up in space, including running out of oxygen, being flung into space without being attached to anything, the difficulty of maneuvering around in zero-gravity, and of course, the silence. It was a very suspenseful movie, and I liked how it echoed the classic beloved Aliens movies where the female protagonist is the one who finds the courage and strength to soldier on and survive. Anyways after the movie it was about 11 PM and we were all tired so I went home. When I got to my house I saw the cat, and it followed me to my door. I opened the door to go inside and it walked right by me and inside! I was surprised and didn't know what to do at first. It helped itself to a quick tour of my place and promptly made itself at home by sprawling out on the living floor. It turned out to be a super friendly cat, letting me pet it and purring loudly the whole time. I tried to feed it turkey slices and water but it seemed picky/not hungry and only had some water. The funny part was it kept dipping its paw into the water before lapping it up, as if to test the temperature. So cute! I played with it for a good hour before I decided that I had to let it go in case the owner was looking for it. Also, what if it makes a mess on my floor! So I opened my door and pretended to run outside. It followed me outside, and quickly I dashed back inside and closed the door. I opened it a crack to check on it and sure enough it was right outside my door waiting to be let in again! I felt so bad but I had to say good night to it and leave it outside. But that was very unexpected and fun!
It was parked right on the lagoon just outside where I live. My friends and I drove to the pier next to the bridge and we took so many pictures of it. We spent a good half hour just staring at it, amazed by its vast size, the elegance and simplicity, and the possibility that Steve Jobs's wife and kids might be on board! Anyways that was the definite highlight of my day.
Until today I've never actually explored my place the Yacht Club. This afternoon two of my friends and I decided to go pool lounging/swimming at my place. We met up, threw on our swimming suits and walked to the middle of the Yacht Club where we discovered this pool side right next to the lagoon. It was beautiful!
On Sunday my friend and I went out for dim sum at the one and only dim sum place here on St Martin, called White Swan. It was about a 5-10 minute walk from my place, but it always feels longer because it's so hot and the road is so rough to walk on. Anyways the restaurant is located across the bridge, and this is the view when I was crossing:
The restaurant is called White Swan, and it looked clean and proper, at least for a Chinese restaurant in the Caribbean. We asked for the dim sum menu (only available Sundays) and this is what we got:
We asked for a pot of jasmine tea, but it was very weak and diluted. We made out selections and the food started coming out one by one at the fifteen minute mark. The har gao (upper left) with shrimp filling didn't have as much shrimp as I'm used to, but the rice wrapping was delicate and chewy. The congee was really good, and the fried dough was a great topping that we didn't even have to ask for. The turnip cakes were very disappointing because it was doughy and bland and very very oily. The rice rolls (lower right) were alright. We ordered about 6 dishes, not pictured here is the char siu bao and another steamed bun that had a sweet yellow centre. All in all it was a decent meal. A little pricier than back home in TO, but it is the best and only dim sum on this island!
POSTED ON Monday, September 30, 2013 AT 2:20 PM \\
Today as I sat in my living room staring outside at the tall palm trees filtering the golden sunlight behind my backyard, with the lagoon lapping up against the boats and beams, I realized that I no longer cared for the summer weather. I didn't like the heat that beat down on me every time I stepped outside my house. Or the sun that etched tan lines on my legs and arms and feet. I miss the fall weather. The crisp, cool weather that doesn't cling to the skin. It's been well over a year since I experienced fall weather, and I never realized until now how much I miss it. The next break I get will be in December. Wintertime will be a refreshing change to the never-ending summer here.
I am surprised by the number of pets on the property here. I've seen quite a few well-bred, well-groomed and collared dogs and cats, which is something I'm not used to. Back on Statia none of the animals wore collars nor did they ever have a proper bath all their life. But here, within the gated community of the yacht club where vacationers from America, Dutch, France, reside, all the animals are well taken care of. Recently I spotted a gorgeous Bengal cat roaming my backyard. Pretty cool!
It likes to visit me :3
I haven't really met any of my neighbours. There is a Dutch family with kids living above me, while the units on either side of me are unoccupied at the moment. I met a nice young Spanish lady in the pool, and she owns a cat who enjoys watching us swim in the evenings. It is a really quiet place, unlike the rest of Simpson Bay which is filled with bars and restaurants and night clubs. Currently studying for my pharm exam this Thursday.
POSTED ON Thursday, September 19, 2013 AT 6:30 PM \\
So I turned 23 today :) I'm not a big birthday person. I like planning things for other people's birthdays, but I don't like to make a big deal of my own. If I was home I would be with my family having a cake meant for my mother and myself (We share the same birth date) and a family dinner. We always get the same cake from the same Chinese bakery with the same candles every time. A plain white cake decorated with melon balls and strawberries and kiwi slices that is not too sweet and very light. There would always be leftover cake sitting in the fridge in the morning, upon which my brothers would finish off before noon. My mom would cook dinner (like always), probably shrimp (with the skin intact), bok choy, pork chops or short ribs, baked salmon filets, and white rice. A feast I can't wait to return to! So since I never have any expectations on my birthday, today was totally unexpected... This morning before class started a girl from first semester came up to me and told me that my blog helped her in deciding to come here. When I heard that I was so happy and it really made my morning! Then in class my friend (who was also celebrating her birthday today) brought cupcakes she had baked and she gave me one. Someone else gave me a giant muffin during path class. After class was finished my friends took me to this fancy bakery in Simpson Bay called Taste Factory and bought me a macaron cake and macarons! The five of us ate macarons and talked and I really appreciated that they took time out of their day for me.
Taste Factory pastries :)
Macarons & macaron cake!!
I was so stuffed by then! But the food didn't stop there. At around 5 PM I went out to Costco Cost-U-Less with my two friends from Toronto to stock up on groceries, and afterwards they took me out to... LOBSTER!!! I am always craving lobster. Always. There are so many places to eat lobster here in Simpson Bay but I suggested we go somewhere relatively cheap. And I found this place called Johnny B Under the Tree from this blog and it sounded like a really good place to eat. When we arrived at the location (at least I think it was the right location) I was so confused because it looked nothing like the photos/video from the blog. There was no tree, there was no grill, I didn't even see any lobsters! But the place was called Johnny B Jack Skip's Restaurant, so I think it was owned by the same guy. It turns out that they had done some rennovations on the place this year and now it's more like a open-window styled restaurant and less of an open BBQ grill place. And yes they did have lobster on the menu! So we grabbed a table and ordered lobster, ribs, and some conch fritters. The food came out in about half an hour. The side dishes were a meal in themselves. Then the lobsters came on separate plates and I have to say I was a little disappointed by their sizes. The lobster I had back on Statia was twice the size. But the meat was tender and chewy and flavourful and one lobster was enough for me. It was the first time my friends tried Caribbean lobster and both had raving reviews and said that they couldn't go back to eating Toronto lobster anymore! After we had finished eating we got a drink that's very popular in the Caribbean called Vitamalt. It tasted a little fizzy and bitter yet sweet. It's pretty much what beer would taste like without the alcohol content. After dinner we went to my place and they surprised me with a ginormous red velvet cake!! They even lit some candles, stuck them on the cake and sang happy birthday to me. The cake itself was extremely good, and I made them take half of it home with them. What a pleasantly unexpected birthday made amazing by my friends here. This is only one of the many reasons that I am so thankful to be on the island of St. Martin, and of course for my friends. :)
POSTED ON Sunday, September 15, 2013 AT 9:38 AM \\
So I've been doing my best to try to cope with the loss of my iPhone. All of a sudden I see everyone around me with an iPhone! I miss it so much... Anyways on Thursday the school had an official opening ceremony followed by a white coat ceremony. It was very formal because we were expecting government officials to attend. Security guards in white gloves ushered us inside the school, the Dutch, American, and French flags were put on display at the back of the stage, and many long speeches were made by the school's executive administration. I suppose it was a rather emotional affair for them. I myself am also surprised that the school was able to relocate in such a short period of time. However, there are still many kinks to be worked out. After the speeches had been delivered and the new students donned their white coats, there was a reception of hors d'oeuvres, which exceeded my expectations. I was expecting catering by Subway if we were lucky. But this was a special treat. There was much picture taking of all the students in white coats, and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves. If I had my iPhone I would have taken so many pictures of the food... On Friday after class my friend and I drove to the AUC campus to grab some Thai for lunch. I got their Pad Thai noodles to go, which was served in a white Chinese carton box. They stuffed it to the brim and I was full for the rest of the day just from those noodles! And they were so good!
On Saturday morning I decided to take myself out to the bakery next door to my place, called Zee Best Bakery. They are very well known on the island for their fresh pastries and amazing breakfast and lunch selections. It was my second time eating there (last time I had it for lunch with some friends from class). I ordered an almond croissant and a cinammon & sugar crepe. I ate the croissant while I waited for my crepe and I regretted ordering the crepe because I was already full from the croissant! And it was the best croissant I've ever had. It had a thick covering of powdered sugar on top and the crust was flaky and crispy and inside was so moist and gooey oh it was just delightful. The crepe in comparison was plain and soggy and tasteless. (Following pictures taken with my iPad)
Basket of freshly baked pastries!
YUMMMY!!!
Lunch at Zee Best last week
The rest of the weekend I just studied pathology and pharmacology. I'm a little worried about path because we have so much material to cover in block 1. We haven't even started on respiratory disorders and the exam is like a week away!!
POSTED ON Wednesday, September 11, 2013 AT 1:07 PM \\
Today we got out of pharm class early so my friend and I decided to take a walk along the pier where all the boats were docked and take some pictures. Excitedly, we both grabbed our phones and walked out on the boardwalk. She was taking a photo with her phone when she took a step backwards and tripped, but not before she reached out and grabbed onto my arm. I instinctively spread my hands open in preparation to fall as well. But unfortunately, I had my phone in hand, and as my friend fell and landed on the boardwalk, I saw my phone fly in an arc trajectory and land in the water with a soft plop! It immediately disappeared in the dark green opaque murky water that gave off a slightly foul smell. I think I stared in disbelief for a second or two before I started pointing and yelling. I couldn't believe my phone just fell into the water! It was always one of my worst fears! I used to think about it when walking near water and I would always clutch my phone tighter in my hand as if it was a baby. But just now my phone flew out of my hand! It was so unexpected and happened so fast. We started asking the security guard who was standing nearby if he could do something about it. My friend asked him how deep the water was and he said something around the chest. Some students had started to gather by now and they offered suggestions on how to retrieve it but none were good and no one was willing to go down into the water to fetch it (I don't blame them for the water looked foul and disgusting and you couldn't see anything in it at all). People were saying how the phone is probably past dead by now. Not only had it been sitting in the water for 20 minutes, but it was salt water, which is many times worse than fresh water. But I couldn't just leave my phone at the bottom of the lagoon! It was like a little piece of me. I had thousands of photos, notes I had written for myself, all my contacts. It was my touchstone, something so familiar that I carried it around wherever I go. More importantly, how will I take photos of everything interesting that I see and eat! I had to get it back! We talked to some more people, and someone said something about a diver being in the area. We waited for a bit and someone came out on the dock in a diving suit. I pointed to where I had saw my phone disappear, and he waded into the water in his full body diving suit. The water reached up to his neck, but he didn't seem to be fazed. Slowly, he felt around with his foot for my phone. It took him about five minutes before his hand came up holding my iphone, dripping wet. I was so relieved to see it again. Even though I knew it was dead, I was still happy to have it back in my possession. We thanked him and I went with my friend to her car. We drove to the nearest grocery store and I rushed inside and bought a small bag of rice. In the car, I stuffed my iphone in the bag of rice. For the rest of the day I carried the bag of rice around with me like it was my baby.
My expression watching my phone fall into the water.
So I guess that's the end of my iPhone 4. I will have to resort to using my clunky point-and-shoot camera to take photos. Which will most likely mean less picture taking in general. The iPhone 5s is coming out this month so I will be keeping an eye on it in stores...
POSTED ON Saturday, September 7, 2013 AT 1:17 PM \\
This past week has been so crazy busy but fun!! Every morning at 7:30 AM I take the school bus to get to school. It is actually on time and quite convenient since it stops right outside the gates to where I live. I am very thankful for the school bus because walking on the road is just terrible. You can't walk on the main road because there are too many cars going very fast, so you are forced to walk on the side of the road where there is gravel and dirt and huge puddles. Furthermore, the drivers here are very rude and they almost never yield to pedestrians. On Wednesday I took the regular bus to Phillipsburgh to buy an internet box. The busses here are just minivans that have white cardboard signs in front of them to where they are going. You have to wave them down if you want to get on one, and it costs $1.50 for a ride. For lunch I went to the restaurant called Top Carrot right beside my place. They serve only healthy foods including a huge array of salads and sandwiches and fruit juices. Super delicious and super healthy!
Rainforest Salad
Menu at Top Carrot
On Thursday I tagged along with my two friends who have a car and together we went to Cost-U-Less, the Caribbean version of Costco. It was exactly like Costco except there were no food sampling events and there was an entire aisle of liquor. We took almost two hours to find everything we needed. I stocked up mainly on household supplies in bulk. I found foods that I've never even seen in Canada. There were also a ton of furniture and kitchen appliances that I was tempted to buy but I knew I could go without so I restrained myself.
Big jar of animal crackers!! :3
On Friday I went to the gourmet supermarket across the street from where I live, called Garden Market. It reminded me of a Metro back in Toronto, with fresh produce and ready-made meals packaged in plastic containers, and even a hot buffet bar! The only difference was that there was an entire section of alcohol. For lunch I got a meal from the buffet bar of mixed salad, grilled veggies, lasagna, fried fish, berries for six dollars and it was really delicious!
Later that night I went out for dinner with some girls from my class. The four of us made a reservation at Bamboo Bernie's (it was packed so we were glad we made a reservation) and had expensive sushi for dinner. We ordered 2 Maui Wowi Rolls to share, then I ordered a single roll of Spicy Yellowtail. The portions weren't as large as we expected. But it was satisfying. Afterwards we took a bus that took us to a nightclub called Bliss where the AUC students were having their whitecoat afterparty. Us Statia students were well outnumbered by them (there were like 10 of us and 200 of them). A lot of people kept coming up to us and asking where we're from. Somehow they recognized that we weren't AUC students (maybe it was that we weren't wearing semi formal clothing like them). Most knew about our school already. At the end of the night we ended up taxi-ing home together, which was the safest.
Here's to a new island and a new semester!
Mauwi Wowi Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and Spicy Yellow Tail Roll
On Saturday I took a walk down the main road to look for stores and a laundromat. I found what I needed, and more. I found a sushi restaurant (I thought Bamboo was the only place that served sushi), and a bakery that had cute desserts. On my way back I bought a slice of fruit cake and ate it on their terrace-with-a-lagoon-view. It was really good.
Lagoon side view of the Yacht Club
I live there!!
Oh and of course I've been swimming in the pool every day for about an hour. It's really great because no one ever uses the pool so I'm always by myself. The other day while I was swimming I met a cat! She was my only company at the pool!
So classes are in full swing now. We had our white coat ceremony on Thursday. It was very short compared to last semester's, which I was very glad of. On Saturday morning, my friends and I drove to the French side to go shopping in a place called Marigot. To our surprise, it was only a ten minute drive! The French side seems a little more… civilized. There are actual speed limit signs! And real shopping! So we spent a good few hours walking around the town, looking through racks of expensive Parisian-made clothing, and eating baked goods at a well-known French bakery.
In other news… we (the fifth termers) wrote our diagnostic NBME on Friday morning. The diagnostic was a practice exam for the real one coming up in April. It was pretty much a reality check. Time to get my butt into shape (academically)!
This is it! The final semester of basic science, and the last four months on the island (or any island) for me!! I arrived two nights ago after a few delays but nothing worse, thankfully. The rough weather apparently caused many flight cancellations at major airports in the states and Canada. On my first day back at school I noticed that it was very very empty. Well it was kind of expected given the unideal situation from last semester. I was kind of sad to hear that some people had transferred to other schools, just because I had grown familiar with their presence in the classroom since first semester. My two classes this semester are ICM (Introduction to Clinical Medicine) and FCM (Fundamentals of Clinical Medicine), but technically only one real course (ICM), as the other one consists of the Kaplan Review in preparation for the NBME that I have to write (and pass) at the end of the semester. Yesterday at noon, the school's new CEO held a town hall meeting to go over the school's status and changes being implemented. The only change I did not like was that we were ordered to wear scrubs during class. Did I mention that I made a few New Year's resolutions this year? (I don't usually). I plan on working out at the gym at least 5 times a week, and meal-prepping! The gym I go to is right on the main road and about a five minute walk from where I live. It is on the ground floor of a large hotel beside the marina. The gym itself is actually quite small. There are three areas: the weight room, the cardio room and the room with the glass mirrors (cool-down room?). Anyways I was there yesterday for about an hour. After I got home I started meal-prepping. I wanted to do meal-prepping just to force myself to cook instead of buying food everyday. So I bought a huge bag of frozen chicken tenderloins, a bag of broccoli florets, and a box of mashed potato flakes and some fresh sweet potato as well as some quinoa. Also I bought a 24-piece set of plastic containers to place all the food in. It wasn't until I started cooking that I realized how long meal-prepping takes. But it did feel satisfying afterwards to see all the food packed neatly in the containers on top of one another. It will also help me control my portions (which I have a big problem with!)
At the gym~
Today I went to the gym again and bumped into my two friends from Toronto who were also working out there. Later we went out for food (since their stove exploded!!), and ended up at a restaurant on the main road called Harbor Queen. My two friends both got the all-you-can-eat ribs option, and I ordered… lobster!! (as usual)
POSTED ON Thursday, December 12, 2013 AT 11:41 AM \\
My last shelf was on Tuesday which marked the end of a very tumultuous yet exciting first semester on St. Martin. I flew back on Tuesday night. It was so cold that I've already forgotten what it was to be warm! And the first thing I did when I got back to Toronto? Bought the new iPhone!! :D
Omg it's December which means there are only 10 days left before I go back home to Toronto! It's been a pretty crazy month with lots of ups and downs. So much has happened and yet everything's still the same. Path II finished two weeks ago. Block 4 is right around the corner, followed by shelfs in a week's time after that. Can't really think of what else to write so... pic dump!!!
Mahi-mahi salad in a deep fried taco shell at Jimbo's
Fro-yo in Maho
Carousel for late-night italian gelato :D
Fanciest ice cream parlour!
So many flavours...
Trip to Phillipsburg after finishing the Path shelf
Burgers n fries n pina coladas in Phillipsburg. Oh and lots of shopping :)
The semester is just whizzing by! One month and ten days left before I get to go home to a Winter Wonderland. It's been raining almost nonstop for the past two days. I haven't seen the island this bleak since I got here. The sky is just a solid grey.
I saw the movie Escape Plan with some friends the other week right after pharm block. It was very gripping and intense and by the end it was like I was holding my breath because there were so many close calls. I can't wait for Catching Fire to come out and to watch it in the theatres here!
We started our patient-doctor IV course this week. It takes place in a separate building about 2 mins away from the school. So far it's a very easy-going course and the prof is so sweet. Each of us will have to do an individual presentation worth 30% sometime during the semester, and then there will be a final evaluation at the end worth 70%.
I feel guilty for not cooking much this semester even though my place comes fully equipped and there's really no excuse not to be cooking. I think I've maybe cooked three times this semester so far, and two of those three times it did not come out well. The third time I made mussels with white wine sauce. That was my first time trying a recipe like that and I actually really liked it! (Recipe here) I made it a second time and added pasta to it and this is how it turned out:
Mussels and linguine in a white wine sauce
Currently studying for my final path II block, which will be covering renal, male and female, breast, and endocrine pathologies. Fingers crossed the prof won't destroy us on this block.
POSTED ON Wednesday, October 16, 2013 AT 7:54 PM \\
Yesterday (Tuesday) we had our path II block 2 exam, which went fairly well. There will be one last path block in three weeks before the shelf!!! Later that night I got together with some people from class for dinner at Bamboo Bernies for sushi. I ordered the sashimi plate, which was 20 pieces of four different types of sashimi (raw fish).
Sashimi!!!
After dinner we headed to the movie theatre to watch Gravity in 3D. The theatre was decent, just like ones back home except smaller. We got there just as the movie started. The entire movie is essentially about one woman (Sandra Bullock) trying to survive in space and somehow make it back to Earth in one piece, which is rather hard to do while debris is whizzing about at hundreds of miles per hour. It was a very dizzying theatre experience because the camera kept spinning around to stimulate zero-gravity. I can't imagine how much of a headache I would have gotten if it was in IMAX! At times it felt like I was watching the Discovery channel or National Geographic because of the magnificent views of planet Earth from space. Despite the beauty of it all, the viewer was constantly reminded of the perils of being up in space, including running out of oxygen, being flung into space without being attached to anything, the difficulty of maneuvering around in zero-gravity, and of course, the silence. It was a very suspenseful movie, and I liked how it echoed the classic beloved Aliens movies where the female protagonist is the one who finds the courage and strength to soldier on and survive. Anyways after the movie it was about 11 PM and we were all tired so I went home. When I got to my house I saw the cat, and it followed me to my door. I opened the door to go inside and it walked right by me and inside! I was surprised and didn't know what to do at first. It helped itself to a quick tour of my place and promptly made itself at home by sprawling out on the living floor. It turned out to be a super friendly cat, letting me pet it and purring loudly the whole time. I tried to feed it turkey slices and water but it seemed picky/not hungry and only had some water. The funny part was it kept dipping its paw into the water before lapping it up, as if to test the temperature. So cute! I played with it for a good hour before I decided that I had to let it go in case the owner was looking for it. Also, what if it makes a mess on my floor! So I opened my door and pretended to run outside. It followed me outside, and quickly I dashed back inside and closed the door. I opened it a crack to check on it and sure enough it was right outside my door waiting to be let in again! I felt so bad but I had to say good night to it and leave it outside. But that was very unexpected and fun!
It was parked right on the lagoon just outside where I live. My friends and I drove to the pier next to the bridge and we took so many pictures of it. We spent a good half hour just staring at it, amazed by its vast size, the elegance and simplicity, and the possibility that Steve Jobs's wife and kids might be on board! Anyways that was the definite highlight of my day.
Until today I've never actually explored my place the Yacht Club. This afternoon two of my friends and I decided to go pool lounging/swimming at my place. We met up, threw on our swimming suits and walked to the middle of the Yacht Club where we discovered this pool side right next to the lagoon. It was beautiful!
On Sunday my friend and I went out for dim sum at the one and only dim sum place here on St Martin, called White Swan. It was about a 5-10 minute walk from my place, but it always feels longer because it's so hot and the road is so rough to walk on. Anyways the restaurant is located across the bridge, and this is the view when I was crossing:
The restaurant is called White Swan, and it looked clean and proper, at least for a Chinese restaurant in the Caribbean. We asked for the dim sum menu (only available Sundays) and this is what we got:
We asked for a pot of jasmine tea, but it was very weak and diluted. We made out selections and the food started coming out one by one at the fifteen minute mark. The har gao (upper left) with shrimp filling didn't have as much shrimp as I'm used to, but the rice wrapping was delicate and chewy. The congee was really good, and the fried dough was a great topping that we didn't even have to ask for. The turnip cakes were very disappointing because it was doughy and bland and very very oily. The rice rolls (lower right) were alright. We ordered about 6 dishes, not pictured here is the char siu bao and another steamed bun that had a sweet yellow centre. All in all it was a decent meal. A little pricier than back home in TO, but it is the best and only dim sum on this island!
POSTED ON Monday, September 30, 2013 AT 2:20 PM \\
Today as I sat in my living room staring outside at the tall palm trees filtering the golden sunlight behind my backyard, with the lagoon lapping up against the boats and beams, I realized that I no longer cared for the summer weather. I didn't like the heat that beat down on me every time I stepped outside my house. Or the sun that etched tan lines on my legs and arms and feet. I miss the fall weather. The crisp, cool weather that doesn't cling to the skin. It's been well over a year since I experienced fall weather, and I never realized until now how much I miss it. The next break I get will be in December. Wintertime will be a refreshing change to the never-ending summer here.
I am surprised by the number of pets on the property here. I've seen quite a few well-bred, well-groomed and collared dogs and cats, which is something I'm not used to. Back on Statia none of the animals wore collars nor did they ever have a proper bath all their life. But here, within the gated community of the yacht club where vacationers from America, Dutch, France, reside, all the animals are well taken care of. Recently I spotted a gorgeous Bengal cat roaming my backyard. Pretty cool!
It likes to visit me :3
I haven't really met any of my neighbours. There is a Dutch family with kids living above me, while the units on either side of me are unoccupied at the moment. I met a nice young Spanish lady in the pool, and she owns a cat who enjoys watching us swim in the evenings. It is a really quiet place, unlike the rest of Simpson Bay which is filled with bars and restaurants and night clubs. Currently studying for my pharm exam this Thursday.
POSTED ON Thursday, September 19, 2013 AT 6:30 PM \\
So I turned 23 today :) I'm not a big birthday person. I like planning things for other people's birthdays, but I don't like to make a big deal of my own. If I was home I would be with my family having a cake meant for my mother and myself (We share the same birth date) and a family dinner. We always get the same cake from the same Chinese bakery with the same candles every time. A plain white cake decorated with melon balls and strawberries and kiwi slices that is not too sweet and very light. There would always be leftover cake sitting in the fridge in the morning, upon which my brothers would finish off before noon. My mom would cook dinner (like always), probably shrimp (with the skin intact), bok choy, pork chops or short ribs, baked salmon filets, and white rice. A feast I can't wait to return to! So since I never have any expectations on my birthday, today was totally unexpected... This morning before class started a girl from first semester came up to me and told me that my blog helped her in deciding to come here. When I heard that I was so happy and it really made my morning! Then in class my friend (who was also celebrating her birthday today) brought cupcakes she had baked and she gave me one. Someone else gave me a giant muffin during path class. After class was finished my friends took me to this fancy bakery in Simpson Bay called Taste Factory and bought me a macaron cake and macarons! The five of us ate macarons and talked and I really appreciated that they took time out of their day for me.
Taste Factory pastries :)
Macarons & macaron cake!!
I was so stuffed by then! But the food didn't stop there. At around 5 PM I went out to Costco Cost-U-Less with my two friends from Toronto to stock up on groceries, and afterwards they took me out to... LOBSTER!!! I am always craving lobster. Always. There are so many places to eat lobster here in Simpson Bay but I suggested we go somewhere relatively cheap. And I found this place called Johnny B Under the Tree from this blog and it sounded like a really good place to eat. When we arrived at the location (at least I think it was the right location) I was so confused because it looked nothing like the photos/video from the blog. There was no tree, there was no grill, I didn't even see any lobsters! But the place was called Johnny B Jack Skip's Restaurant, so I think it was owned by the same guy. It turns out that they had done some rennovations on the place this year and now it's more like a open-window styled restaurant and less of an open BBQ grill place. And yes they did have lobster on the menu! So we grabbed a table and ordered lobster, ribs, and some conch fritters. The food came out in about half an hour. The side dishes were a meal in themselves. Then the lobsters came on separate plates and I have to say I was a little disappointed by their sizes. The lobster I had back on Statia was twice the size. But the meat was tender and chewy and flavourful and one lobster was enough for me. It was the first time my friends tried Caribbean lobster and both had raving reviews and said that they couldn't go back to eating Toronto lobster anymore! After we had finished eating we got a drink that's very popular in the Caribbean called Vitamalt. It tasted a little fizzy and bitter yet sweet. It's pretty much what beer would taste like without the alcohol content. After dinner we went to my place and they surprised me with a ginormous red velvet cake!! They even lit some candles, stuck them on the cake and sang happy birthday to me. The cake itself was extremely good, and I made them take half of it home with them. What a pleasantly unexpected birthday made amazing by my friends here. This is only one of the many reasons that I am so thankful to be on the island of St. Martin, and of course for my friends. :)
POSTED ON Sunday, September 15, 2013 AT 9:38 AM \\
So I've been doing my best to try to cope with the loss of my iPhone. All of a sudden I see everyone around me with an iPhone! I miss it so much... Anyways on Thursday the school had an official opening ceremony followed by a white coat ceremony. It was very formal because we were expecting government officials to attend. Security guards in white gloves ushered us inside the school, the Dutch, American, and French flags were put on display at the back of the stage, and many long speeches were made by the school's executive administration. I suppose it was a rather emotional affair for them. I myself am also surprised that the school was able to relocate in such a short period of time. However, there are still many kinks to be worked out. After the speeches had been delivered and the new students donned their white coats, there was a reception of hors d'oeuvres, which exceeded my expectations. I was expecting catering by Subway if we were lucky. But this was a special treat. There was much picture taking of all the students in white coats, and everyone looked like they enjoyed themselves. If I had my iPhone I would have taken so many pictures of the food... On Friday after class my friend and I drove to the AUC campus to grab some Thai for lunch. I got their Pad Thai noodles to go, which was served in a white Chinese carton box. They stuffed it to the brim and I was full for the rest of the day just from those noodles! And they were so good!
On Saturday morning I decided to take myself out to the bakery next door to my place, called Zee Best Bakery. They are very well known on the island for their fresh pastries and amazing breakfast and lunch selections. It was my second time eating there (last time I had it for lunch with some friends from class). I ordered an almond croissant and a cinammon & sugar crepe. I ate the croissant while I waited for my crepe and I regretted ordering the crepe because I was already full from the croissant! And it was the best croissant I've ever had. It had a thick covering of powdered sugar on top and the crust was flaky and crispy and inside was so moist and gooey oh it was just delightful. The crepe in comparison was plain and soggy and tasteless. (Following pictures taken with my iPad)
Basket of freshly baked pastries!
YUMMMY!!!
Lunch at Zee Best last week
The rest of the weekend I just studied pathology and pharmacology. I'm a little worried about path because we have so much material to cover in block 1. We haven't even started on respiratory disorders and the exam is like a week away!!
POSTED ON Wednesday, September 11, 2013 AT 1:07 PM \\
Today we got out of pharm class early so my friend and I decided to take a walk along the pier where all the boats were docked and take some pictures. Excitedly, we both grabbed our phones and walked out on the boardwalk. She was taking a photo with her phone when she took a step backwards and tripped, but not before she reached out and grabbed onto my arm. I instinctively spread my hands open in preparation to fall as well. But unfortunately, I had my phone in hand, and as my friend fell and landed on the boardwalk, I saw my phone fly in an arc trajectory and land in the water with a soft plop! It immediately disappeared in the dark green opaque murky water that gave off a slightly foul smell. I think I stared in disbelief for a second or two before I started pointing and yelling. I couldn't believe my phone just fell into the water! It was always one of my worst fears! I used to think about it when walking near water and I would always clutch my phone tighter in my hand as if it was a baby. But just now my phone flew out of my hand! It was so unexpected and happened so fast. We started asking the security guard who was standing nearby if he could do something about it. My friend asked him how deep the water was and he said something around the chest. Some students had started to gather by now and they offered suggestions on how to retrieve it but none were good and no one was willing to go down into the water to fetch it (I don't blame them for the water looked foul and disgusting and you couldn't see anything in it at all). People were saying how the phone is probably past dead by now. Not only had it been sitting in the water for 20 minutes, but it was salt water, which is many times worse than fresh water. But I couldn't just leave my phone at the bottom of the lagoon! It was like a little piece of me. I had thousands of photos, notes I had written for myself, all my contacts. It was my touchstone, something so familiar that I carried it around wherever I go. More importantly, how will I take photos of everything interesting that I see and eat! I had to get it back! We talked to some more people, and someone said something about a diver being in the area. We waited for a bit and someone came out on the dock in a diving suit. I pointed to where I had saw my phone disappear, and he waded into the water in his full body diving suit. The water reached up to his neck, but he didn't seem to be fazed. Slowly, he felt around with his foot for my phone. It took him about five minutes before his hand came up holding my iphone, dripping wet. I was so relieved to see it again. Even though I knew it was dead, I was still happy to have it back in my possession. We thanked him and I went with my friend to her car. We drove to the nearest grocery store and I rushed inside and bought a small bag of rice. In the car, I stuffed my iphone in the bag of rice. For the rest of the day I carried the bag of rice around with me like it was my baby.
My expression watching my phone fall into the water.
So I guess that's the end of my iPhone 4. I will have to resort to using my clunky point-and-shoot camera to take photos. Which will most likely mean less picture taking in general. The iPhone 5s is coming out this month so I will be keeping an eye on it in stores...
POSTED ON Saturday, September 7, 2013 AT 1:17 PM \\
This past week has been so crazy busy but fun!! Every morning at 7:30 AM I take the school bus to get to school. It is actually on time and quite convenient since it stops right outside the gates to where I live. I am very thankful for the school bus because walking on the road is just terrible. You can't walk on the main road because there are too many cars going very fast, so you are forced to walk on the side of the road where there is gravel and dirt and huge puddles. Furthermore, the drivers here are very rude and they almost never yield to pedestrians. On Wednesday I took the regular bus to Phillipsburgh to buy an internet box. The busses here are just minivans that have white cardboard signs in front of them to where they are going. You have to wave them down if you want to get on one, and it costs $1.50 for a ride. For lunch I went to the restaurant called Top Carrot right beside my place. They serve only healthy foods including a huge array of salads and sandwiches and fruit juices. Super delicious and super healthy!
Rainforest Salad
Menu at Top Carrot
On Thursday I tagged along with my two friends who have a car and together we went to Cost-U-Less, the Caribbean version of Costco. It was exactly like Costco except there were no food sampling events and there was an entire aisle of liquor. We took almost two hours to find everything we needed. I stocked up mainly on household supplies in bulk. I found foods that I've never even seen in Canada. There were also a ton of furniture and kitchen appliances that I was tempted to buy but I knew I could go without so I restrained myself.
Big jar of animal crackers!! :3
On Friday I went to the gourmet supermarket across the street from where I live, called Garden Market. It reminded me of a Metro back in Toronto, with fresh produce and ready-made meals packaged in plastic containers, and even a hot buffet bar! The only difference was that there was an entire section of alcohol. For lunch I got a meal from the buffet bar of mixed salad, grilled veggies, lasagna, fried fish, berries for six dollars and it was really delicious!
Later that night I went out for dinner with some girls from my class. The four of us made a reservation at Bamboo Bernie's (it was packed so we were glad we made a reservation) and had expensive sushi for dinner. We ordered 2 Maui Wowi Rolls to share, then I ordered a single roll of Spicy Yellowtail. The portions weren't as large as we expected. But it was satisfying. Afterwards we took a bus that took us to a nightclub called Bliss where the AUC students were having their whitecoat afterparty. Us Statia students were well outnumbered by them (there were like 10 of us and 200 of them). A lot of people kept coming up to us and asking where we're from. Somehow they recognized that we weren't AUC students (maybe it was that we weren't wearing semi formal clothing like them). Most knew about our school already. At the end of the night we ended up taxi-ing home together, which was the safest.
Here's to a new island and a new semester!
Mauwi Wowi Roll, Philadelphia Roll, and Spicy Yellow Tail Roll
On Saturday I took a walk down the main road to look for stores and a laundromat. I found what I needed, and more. I found a sushi restaurant (I thought Bamboo was the only place that served sushi), and a bakery that had cute desserts. On my way back I bought a slice of fruit cake and ate it on their terrace-with-a-lagoon-view. It was really good.
Lagoon side view of the Yacht Club
I live there!!
Oh and of course I've been swimming in the pool every day for about an hour. It's really great because no one ever uses the pool so I'm always by myself. The other day while I was swimming I met a cat! She was my only company at the pool!
