Time Warner Building

I try to spend time outside hospital and my apartment every weekend. After all, these 3.5 months are going to fly by and I didn't come here just to do more medicine. This weekend I test-drove my new down-filled winter coat from Landsend. It kept me remarkably warm and is without a doubt the warmest coat I own. I need to find some snow boots ASAP as snow is expected any moment now and the ground will be too sludgy for normal shoes.

Bouchon Bakery. This picture belongs to ulterior epicure.

Gorgeous macarons. I had a chocolate hazelnut. A girl behind me said the caramel ones are awesome too. For another review of the bakery click here. This picture belongs to theadirondackchick.com.

 Today I also finally had the chance to try a macaron and coffee from Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Building at Columbus Circle. They were very good, which isn't surprising since the bakery is owned by Thomas Keller who also owns the ultra pricey Per Se upstairs. I then met a waiter from Avoce (another restaurant at Time Warner) who invited me out for coffee. I've been somewhat surprised at how often I am invited out for coffee or drinks here. I think it happens every other time I go out (maybe about 5 times in the past 3 weeks). And this is bearing in mind that I only go out on Saturday and/or Sunday since I work all week. I'm not saying this is unique to me of course. Pretty certain it happens to most females in this city - I think people are just more driven in New York. They see something, give it a go, and move on if it doesn't work out. Daniel said my Aussie accent probably had something to do with it too!

That aside, I think New York itself is just as ardent as its suitors. There have been so many moments when I have felt so seduced by the city - the park, the sights, the accessibility to so many options, so many culinary experiences and an almost mind-boggling array of alternatives to everything. You go into a store for toothpaste and the sheer number of brands and alternatives - whitening or ULTRA-whitening? Fluoride or some other additive? Or just plain Colgate? Or... and being the skeptical person I am, I end up reading all the labels which takes a lot of time!

Dizzy's Club. For a Forbes review click here.

Entertainment is also quite accessible, particularly for students as we are able to 'rush' tickets. This means you turn up on the day and if there are seats left you can buy them for fairly cheap - $10-15 as compared to full price tickets which could range anywhere from $25-a few hundred quid. I'm not big on bars myself but I do like Dizzy's Club at the Lincoln Center. It's quite classy and is located in my favourite building and isnt as noisy as other bars (it's a jazz bar).

Darren Criss. I don't know which part of this face is Asian. but okay. anyway, green eyes! first time I'm noticing that. not that i've looked or anything. ;-)

Today I tried to get tickets for a 2pm show at Joe's Pub. Darren Criss was scheduled to do a 2 hour gig there and I really do enjoy his music. I think he just seems like a nice guy and he's done some good work with Starkids and Glee so I thought the intimate (100 person) show would be cool. Unfortunately by the time I got to Joe's Pub (or more accurately, the Starbucks across the road) Darren announced that tickets had been sold out. I was slightly disappointed coz tickets were only $10 plus a toy for ToysForTots (a christmas charity drive in America).

You can see Sephora in the middle can't you? This is a picture of Time Warner Center from the inside. You can read a short blurb about the place here.

Uhm, and finally, I did a spot of shopping today. Discovered Sephora which was a very exciting store. I've never been into makeup that much but this store smells delightful (not overdone) and has a great range of perfumes, eyeshadows, lip glosses, everything. All affordable too. I found lip gloss that I liked which is good coz I haven't been able to find anything I've liked since ChiChi, which is no longer producing lip gloss. Also bought a nice checkered shirt from Esprit (40% off, yea baby!) and to my surprise was an 'extra small' in terms of size. That was a little boost to my ego.

Okay that's it for this weekend. In the coming week I will be working with DrF, arguably the best cardiologist in the world so you will hear about that next week. You know, I keep getting struck by how lucky I am and what an interesting (dare I say extraordinary) life I've led. It is something that I have rarely and hopefully will continue not to take forgranted.I'm a lucky lucky girl.