In Summary - New York New York!

oh the city that i dreamt so long of visiting but fate dealt a cruel blow - i fell sick. haha. yesh, a most horrendous cold which had to get worse before it got better, so i spent a good part of my time in new york sneezing and sucking on cough drops bought from the trusty cvs pharmacy.

nonetheless, new york was as exciting as everyone describes it to be, and i wished i had more time there. i didn't see the statue of liberty because the tickets were sold out! but i did manage to visit other famous new york attractions. heh.

grand central station
the stuff of folklore and romanticised by turn of the century american authors like edith wharton, grand central station (more correctly, grand central terminal) serves several lines linking new york city to other parts of the state and neighbouring connecticut. there are about 50 platforms in all and it's been operating for over a century. walking in, one is struck speechless by the grandeur of the place, the high ceiling with the star spangled banner, and simply the feeling of just being there. it's a reminder of the old money of new york, and one can imagine the upper crust of society in the 1900s mingling at the station.

united nations
the united nations building is pretty nondescript and is situated between east 4nd to 48th street. the only way to get in is to follow the tours that leave every hour or so. you are taken through the various assembly halls and lots of gifts from various nations. lots of historical facts are thrown your way, and there are exhibits about aids, land mines and other political-worthy stuff. and how can the visit be complete if you don't have a peek inside the general assembly?

security was tight everywhere, and they've got a tent where all visitors must pass through. they don't allow phototaking inside, but i was very tempted to ask for an exception because it was there that i saw the most bored looking dog ever. he was one of those k9 dogs but his handler wasn't interested in moving around. and in the new york heat, that was probably too much for the dog to bear, so he sank to his paws and barely kept even one eye open. heh.

wall streetah hah. the place where fortunes are made and lost, where people turn millionaires overnight, where the american dream begins. you can't go into the nyse(above) anymore, so the best you can do is to stand outside and imagine being on the floor, hearing the opening bell and throwing yourself into the ensuing chaos. there's something about the place that awes you, that makes you feel small, almost as if you've got no right to be there. everything about wall street was designed to impress, with an entire road lined by towering concrete monuments to money. yet there is a dignity and gravitas about the place, a certain respectability in which the people carry while scurrying to and fro, that makes you think, and hope, that one day, just one day, you can be a part of it.

brooklyn bridgea hundred and fifty years old and still standing, this bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world when it was built. it was the only land connection between manhattan and brooklyn at the time, the two new york city boroughs being separated by the east river. we walked only half of it since we had no intention of visiting brooklyn, and of all things i met my secondary school junior there! small world indeed.

empire state building
this place is best visited at night, when the air is cool and you get to look out over new york with it's pretty lights. unfortunately when we were there, it was so cloudy that we could barely make out things. on a clear night you are supposed to see even the statue of liberty. a tip though would be to get your tickets from your hotel, which we did, and we ended up jumping ahead of the queue.

times square/broadwayi got to stay just next to times square (thanks to a very special blessing heh) so i was right at the doorstep of broadway. lots of people, lots of noise, and lots of lights. even the nypd police post on times square has a huge neon sign! ticket peddlers, tour operators and imitation good sellers all vie for your attention (and wallet) and as you walk down the street, you get accosted and yelled at by people of various ethnicities and well...voices.

one must catch a show on broadway, and thanks to a tip from dr spacefan, i managed to procure discounted tickets from tkts. yesh, the tkts. went to see avenue q, a puppet show that's not for kids. (remember the list i made before i left? they were all sold out) it's a terrific show, with a shallow facade (fancy songs titled 'the internet is for porn'?) but actually lots of truisms in it. it's politically incorrect simply because it's true in almost every aspect - the temptation we face, the rutts we get stuck in sometimes, the distractions. too bad i was having such a horrid sore throat then - each time i laughed i ended up wincing because of the pain. haha.

the metropolitan museum of new yorkyes, it's the same one that has a store in suntec, and my oh my, is the best museum i've visited so far. and ten bucks (student price) it's also the most affordable. the place is huge, and contains a variety of exhibits, from egyptian mummies to chinese pottery, from music instruments to polynesian artwork. this place needs two days for a thorough visit really, so it's best to come early in the day. i liked the polynesian section because it was unique, and seldom mentioned anywhere else.on our way there, we got a treat in the form of the puerto rico day parade along madison avenue. some two million people lined the streets to cheer the floats on. a pretty spectacular sight indeed (imagine - that's half of singapore's population on those few streets alone!)

the rest of new york
my friends and i took a walk through central park, which is huge and isn't very fun to be at in the summer. then there's the guggenheim museum which was undergoing renovations while we were there. what i love about new york is the subway. it's fast, reliable, and gets you anywhere in new york even past midnight. the station interchanges are like little cities in itself, with shops and buskers, which included anything from stomp-like dustbin percussionists to opera singers to b-boys. amazing. this picture i took at times square station, and i'm looking down onto the tracks from the staircase. it's not a good picture i know, but it shows all the metal and steel that features in all stations. i especially loved the sound of the trains roaring into the staions. heh.and there it is! my travelogue is complete. what an experience it was really, to stay in los angeles for 3 weeks, then exploring two major american cities. if i've got the time, i'll do one post just on the signboards that i photographed during my time there. they're pretty interesting, america being america, so i hope to find time to share it.

for now, that's all folks!

The Hiatus

mumbler is about to finish up the first of two two-week breaks that she'll have this year (no, not counting the study break right before the final m). it has been a fruitful time, going out with friends, taking time to read up on stuff she hasn't touched in years (literally, in the case of surgery) and enjoying the luxury of sleeping in. no such thing when the next posting comes, because it is s.i.p where she'll become slave to the medical housemen at the grand ol' dame. haha. am actually looking forward to it, because there'll be lots to learn.

met up with secondary school girlfriends for ballet under the stars on sunday. it was a most wonderful time as we ate, watched the ballet, and shared about our lives in the past year. and with lives, i mean current job + men. we stayed back after the performance to discuss the latter topic, and only left when the lights were turned off. heh.

i shall enjoy it while it lasts...

In Summary - San Francisco!

san francisco is a most lovely place - friendly people, cool weather, and lots of things to see. i'd love to go back there again.

chinatown
much better than the one in LA, the san francisco chinatown was bustling with activity. we followed the lonely planet's walking tour which was pretty unexciting (we've got lots of temples and chinese-y stuff in singapore anyway) but it brought us to places where the book joy luck club was set in. it's one my favourite books of all time, so this was a treat!

here is a picture of the first chinese baptist church where the four women of the joy luck club first met, and it is along waverly street, for which the head-strong character waverly jong was named after.

down one of the alleys is the golden gate fortune cookie factory. even when you're round the corner, you can smell the delicious fragrance of the fortune cookies being made inside. of course, this cookie thing was a clever invention by the immigrant chinese, but you can buy other crispy snacks when you're there. i snapped a picture of a worker making the cookies, and yes, the sign behind her says you have to pay USD0.50 to take a picture.

a few streets away, life is just as it would have been in china - groups of men were clustered around playing games of chinese chess. very quaint and surreal.

fisherman's wharf

this is touted as san francisco's most famous attraction, and it's easy to see why. the cool breeze (even in summer) puts you in a relaxed mood, as you stroll down and see the numerous piers and even more numerous sea cows that have made the place their home. my, did they make a racket!

a visit to the wharf would not be complete without sampling some fresh seafood, so i got myself an oyster while my friend tried the clam chowder. i'll put the pictures of the food on the food blog (which is still under construction, many apologies) but here's the menu for your eyes to feast on. i love seafood, and was tempted to buy one of each type of food!


alcatrazalong fisherman's wharf is the jetty from which you can visit alcatraz. a few decades ago, the name would send a chill any self-respecting crook, because it was one maximum security prison no one could escape from. it was initially used as a military prison, first by the unionists in the american civil war then the us army, it was turned into a federal prison during the tumultous prohibition and great depression periods. the place was designed to be impossible to break out from and the guards had various tricks up their sleeves to discourage the prisoners. there were frequent inmate counts, teargas canisters rigged up around the dining hall, and it was mandatory to have hot showers - not because the guards were kind, but to prevent the inmates from aclimatising to the bitter cold.but in 1946, a bunch of inmates overpowered the officers and gained access to weapons. it would have ended up like a prison break sort of escape if not for the fact that they did not have the key to the recreation yard. two officers died in the line of duty, shot at point blank range while taken hostage. the us marines were called out, and they fired grenades into the cell blocks. the scars from the shelling are still visible at alcatraz. the "battle of alcatraz" lasted forty eight hours, and it's main perpetrators executed 2 years later.

alcatraz has been designated a historical landmark, and visitors can also enjoy the wildlife that has settled on this tiny piece of rock.

coit tower


















this 210 feet monument was built by a rich lady in 1933. it was never made official, but from it's design, it was quite likely that it was inspired by the local firemen, who played an important role in the 1906 earthquake which flattened the city.

to get to the top, you must take an elevator (those old ones which resemble a cage) which is operated by a chinese man. as you ascend he recites a well-rehearsed speech about the monument's history. it was well-timed too - just as he finishes his last sentence, the elevator will groan to a halt. the tower offers an awesome view of the city and it's landmarks like lombard street and fisherman's wharf.

lombard street




















also known as the "crookedest road in the world", lombard street is one of the steepest roads in san francisco. in order to ensure safety, the city planners included eight "switchbacks" or curves, to allow drivers to slowly make their way down without accident. when we were there, we saw a line of cars all waiting patiently for a trip down. the speed limit here is 5mi/h (8km/h)!

the rest of san fran
while i was there, i also visited the golden gate bridge (completely shrouded in mist), union square (with macy's as a cool backdrop) and ghirardelli square. from the last place i bought a whole bag of chocolates "at a discount", but have been told that it's actually cheaper to get it from a supermarket. oh well. missed trying the ice cream because it was such a cold day, but i've heard it's pretty good. on the last day i took the caltrain down to stanford to visit a friend. it was quite an experience as i was alone and had to figure out how to read a train schedule and locate the platform, which i had never done before! getting to and from the caltrain station was tricky too, but thanks to various local chinese, i made it safely. it was the first time i was utterly grateful to have people of my skin colour around.

and so it is, my san francisco experience! i know i've taken very long with it, and have yet to put up my diary of new york, but i'll do that soon...before sip hopefully! but san fran is a lovely place, and i hope to visit it again in the future.

The Dark Knight

the dark knight
with all the hype about the dark knight, mumbler was quite excited to see the movie. she was not disappointed, but neither was she completely bowled over. the sequel picks up from 'batman begins' and introduces the character of the joker (heath ledger), who's gone on a rampage through gotham city. on the side of batman (christian bale) is the charming district attorney, harvey dent (aaron eckhart), who's dating batman's ex-squeeze rachel dawes (maggie gyllenhaal). as the movie progresses, the joker's antics become increasingly violent and manipulative, and they finally hit too close to home. along the way, amidst the explosions and flying cars, a character dies, batman thinks of retiring, and the audience wonders what exactly was going through heath ledger's mind when he did those scenes.

as per writer/director christopher nolan's take on batman, this movie is peppered with philosophy and rhetoric, and pits the upright and human batman against the twisted mind of the joker. the movie could have been shorter (153 minutes is pretty long for a summer blockbuster) and certain story developments could have handled better. for instance, mumbler was confused for a while when two main characters were suddenly kidnapped because nothing was shown about the actual kidnapping. nolan jumps ahead and suddenly we find them tied up and professing their love for each other. very queer. and what's with the strange sojourn to hongkong? fortunately the later part of the movie runs along more smoothly, although the ending just isn't quite to mumbler's liking.

i won't complain about the casting because just about everyone plays their role well, except for ng chin han. a fair bit of coverage was given to him because it's rare that a singaporean gets to star in a major hollywood film, but i found his performance lacking in passion. he seemed so distant, his semi-british accent so inappropriate for the movie, that his baddie didn't seem bad at all!

contrast this with heath ledger. he is, of course, the star of the show. even before his untimely death there was a bit of buzz about his portrayal of the joker, and now that he's dead, there's lots of talk about him being given a posthumous oscar. i'm not too sure about the oscar, but it's obvious that ledger threw himself into the role with relish. ledger's joker giggles as he's being punched to pulp by batman and licks his scarred lips when he explains how he got them. you see pure insanity as he laughs maniacally at almost everything - burning a pile of money, wielding a bazuka, or flashing a knife while sharing his preference of knives to guns. and the attention to detail that ledger gives is admirable - i loved the neurotic, high pitched voice he used, the hunched posture and his deliberateness in the way he patted down his hair when he approached rachel dawes in the ballroom. and amazingly, somewhere in that madness is a touch of comedy, like in the way he greets a disfigured harvey dent while wearing a nurse's uniform. nothing quite comes close.

in closing, even though the joker will be his most prominent role, i would like to remember him like this:

how could anyone remember him otherwise?

And Your Time Starts Now (2)

just after dinner, i received a phone call from an old friend.

old friend: what are you doing now?
me: mugging!
old friend: okay, what else is going on in your life?
me: ...
old friend: so other than your mugging life, what other life do you have?!

the answer is, sadly, none. la-di-da.

And Your Time Starts Now...

you know that the big M stress is starting to pile up when your friends' facebook status are no longer about the cool places they're visiting but about improving their clinical skills.

A Brief Entry

three weeks of final year have gone by, just like that. we're less than 9 months away from the big M and there's much to be done.

paeds posting
having a posting at the big kids' hospital has been pretty good, even though it's been fairly dry this week. heard from my classmates in the other paediatrics department in singapore that one ward there has been closed temporarily, making the patients in the remaining ward all overclerked. we've been blessed with nice tutors, especially the registrars, who are super busy but are so willing to teach. we'll need to make better use of our time next week though - much of this week was spent wandering around trying to source for cases instead of actually focusing on work.

"all in a day's work" at the hospital includes helping parents babysit cute infants, playing with nai (non-accidental injury) kids, and comforting a mom who blames herself for her child's condition. that last one...was tough. mom showed no signs of grief until we reached the part regarding initial presentation/birth history. then she wept and blamed herself for "ignoring his high fever for many months till he fainted". she wailed and we felt the eyes of the other parents on us. my cg mate comforted her, and we made a quick exit.

we were pretty stunned, and went through the notes to try to piece the story together. the cause of his condition was neonatal (ie approximately at birth and not later as she mentioned) and i doubt any child could have survived a high fever (t max of 40 according to her) for such a long time. i'm not suggesting that she's lying, but it's clear that she's under lots of stress. someone was suggesting we write in the notes but of course we didn't. maybe we should have written something like ?carer issues, and hope that somebody picks that up.

life
one week to the break. woohoo. am really looking forward to it, not just for the hiatus, but for the jam packed weekend schedule that i already have. lots of meet ups with old friends, meals, performances...yay!

Dances and Daydreams

mia michaels is a genius. if only i had the ability and opportunity to dance her work.



and the routine for which she won an Emmy for:



just. awesome.

yet another of mumbler's daydreams (when she should be studying for paeds).

In Memoriam

as if you've never been gone.

GY (1974-2004)