I am still digesting all those New York impressions and things I have forgotten about: wailing police / fire engine / ambulance sirens, musicians in the subway .. body oder in the subway … wearing socks again … wearing SHOES again. People coming up with loud stories in the subway asking for money, 80% of people wearing headphones, trying to ignore each other as much as possible. Restaurants asking for “20$ food order per person minimum”. Seeing tax / calculating tip on the check. Fighting over taxi cabs. Doormen. Dry cleaners on every block. Blocks. Cable internet connection … i must have downloaded 4 GB of data today … in ONE day … the ISDN plan I may get in Fiji will cost me 5 times of what I would pay in NYC and I am restricted to half a GB for the whole month .. sigh. Cable TV .. around 100 channels yeah !
Tonight we went to the opera to watch La Boheme. We met Ritsu’s friend Yuka and had food at PaneVino, which is the closest to the opera. What was nice was that we were promply seated and the waitres took into consideration to ask if we are going to the 8 PM show. So our food showed up fast … I had seared salmon, and while not bad in preparation, the bread that came with it had more flavor and the red beet sauce and the asparagus were just the wrong combination .. Ritsu and Yuka has some spaghetti with clams .. the sauce was so yummy that I ended up dunking my salmon in it … and if a place comes up with a “20$ food per person” minimum, it seems cheeky that all but one pasta dish are around 17-19$ … ah well …
(picture lost .. need to find it …
Sad to see that the Met now too has severe security controls (but it went way faster than thought) and we got nice center seats all the way up in the top level balcony … The production was pretty good, though me and Ritsu nearly fell asleep during act 1 (on my part, having had only 3 hours of sleep the night before, no wonder. Ritsu is still taking her painkillers … ) … but act 2 and 3 were very good .. and it got molto dramatico in act 4 … why do all these people have to die .. and sing their pants off while doing so ???
Anyways .. a great great evening … and after I had to upset some old ladies who thought they can jump ahead of us and steal our cab, we were on our way home …
(since I missed the midnight deadline I need to point out that this was all YESTERDAY, Saturday)
This day, our second in New York, started with me being woken up by Ritsu crying, caused by terrible back pain … so before 8 AM I made my first walk to the next pharmacy place, to find out they open at 9 … so .. i returned, held her hand, went back out at 9 … just to find out, that ‘coz it is easter weekend, they open at 10 !!! .. SO back to comfort her, then back to the pharmacy at 10 … they were open, yeah … I bought some cooling patches and painkillers … Ritsu had some back pains before and this stuff usually helped …
But not this time .. around 11 AM it got so bad that she could not stop crying and I started calling “Physician referral services” .. great experiences … they first ask you a bazillion questions, that have nothing to do with the ailment, more sounding like marketing data collection, and the this guy had only one doctor on the list that was open this Saturday, according to his computer … well .. after several phonecalls it turned out his computer was wrong … Dr. Adlersberg must have been out golfing or something, or enjoying Passover with his family … good for him …
I finally decided to bring her by cab to the next emergency room … but at this point the poor thing could hardly move at all … and we called an ambulance (which also makes sure you get attention at the ER right away … not after 1 hour of sitting … upright sitting at that point sounded as comfy as laying on a bad of nails for her at that point) … So .. 20 minutes later we added another popular New York mode of transportation: the ride in an ambulance.
The paramedics were nice and helpful and so was the staff at the New York Prespetarian Hospital on York and 70th street. Ritsu had to repeat her Q&A with our nurse Jennifer who then drew her blood and made some very general comments … then an hour later, our first Dr. showed up. Dr. Ellis was interview #3 .. and he could not really pinpoint what it was and he said she would get some strong pain killer and the he would send his boss …
From time to time we were visited by “John, I am a volunteer” … an old chap who took his role very serious, though he could not really do anything … while he offered “what can I do to make your stay more pleasant?” he could neither take Ritsu’s pain away, nor could he fix me a Gin & Tonic (“those you may find in the doctor’s office”) .. but he had a very friendly aura and I can imagine he is a tremendous help for people who come alone … we later found out a good way to put those volunteers to work: “can you find out where our nurse is?” or “what is going on?”
another hour passed before the painkiller (something nice with codeine in it) and Dr. Lappin (the Boss?) showed up (interview #4, same questions, new showhost) .. the painkiller seemed to work great, Ritsu got all woozy and felt better … the blood results showed nothing and other test revealed that we are indeed NOT pregnant 
(that was a standard quiz question) at some point she even got up and we felt like just getting more of the stuff and go home .. that was around 5 PM …
But then the waiting game started .. we asked what’s going on .. the codeine stuff wore off, then Dr. Ellis came again, said he’d bring another pill, then nurse Jennifer said “I am just waiting for the paperwork” … we got a new volunteer offering pillows again (seems this is the only thing they are actually authorized to do) and an african lady with unspeakable name showed up “I am from patient-liaisons” and wanted to know if we are happy … all we could say was that the IV drip was finished, but we expected to leave soon anyway … little did we know ..
I went outside (getting lost in the hospital maze on the way) and i found some cookies for her, which she ate .. we had not have any other food that day …
anyways .. we both were very tired and wanted to go .. finally Ritsu got knock-out pill #2 and so we kept waiting … at some point I was sleeping with my head on her bed … Then suddenly there was a speaker announcement that all visitors and relatives have to leave and wait in the waiting room .. seems around 8 PM the doctors make “their rounds” and they are scared that some of the relatives could ask silly questions, so they want them out.
Anyways .. those rounds were luckily over quicker then I thought and finally I could get my wife out of the ER (in a wheelchair) and then in a cab and then back home .. it was 9 PM by then … Not the next adventure started .. finding a place on saturday night before easter that would fill the prescription for more happy codeine drops .. I walked to the closest Duane Reade but the place was closed already … a sign told me that the next 24h place is only a 15 minute walk away … but it turned out that while this place was open 24h … the pharmacy section closed already at 8 .. great ! … and I found out from the manager that the next place with a 24 h pharmacy was another 20 minutes walk away .. so i started my walk … but gladly I came across a CVS store before I crossed half manhattan and they had their pharmacy still open. I just had to wait 20 minutes for them to print out everything and count 40 pieces of Ritsu’s new drug and then I made my way back, just in time so she could take it as recommended at 10 PM …
I made us some clam chowder for dinner .. that was pretty much the only meal of the day .. and now I am tired and will go to bed very soon … we are just very glad that it was nothing serious .. and that we were together when it happened … imagine her being in Honiara, Solomon Islands, where doctors can be paid with food .. and she has something like that …
well .. but not everyone can say they’ve been to the ER in NY … and in the end it was sure an interesting experience .. even though at time I was just bored and she was just in pain .. and there were so many other things we wanted to do … but also .. it could have been much worse .. it could have happened just before flying … gee .. i guess i always like getting something positive out of things
picture links need fixing … original here
We just got back from our third weekend trip to Toberua Island and again it was fantastic: food was great, diving was fun .. all in all a swell weekend. I will add pics a bit later, but a videoclip is already there
Friday
For the first time we drove to Nakelo Landing with our own car, instead of taking the cab. The road had some very interesting potholes this time around. The boatride was again in the new boat, so It only took 20 minutes and we watched the clouds turning red and beautiful thanks to the sunset.
When we arrived we saw other guests getting ready to leave, among them Lynn and Terry, the manager couple, leaving for a 2 week vacation. We were introduced to Verne, the owner of the island, who would take over for them for the time being.
Initially we were supposed to stay in bure #6, but we heard that our “old” bure #9 could be ready in an hour as people just left, so we opted for that.
We hung out at the bar, where a new barman Matthew took care of us. We also got to talk to Eric, who was getting ready to get married the following day.
Then finally the main event of the evening: dinner: lobster fritter, pumpkin bacon soup, poached mackerel, cashew-date slice. All very very nice. Ritsu had her “Toberua Prince” cocktail, while I washed that all down with some beers …
We planned on reading, watching some TV .. but we just fell asleep.
Saturday
Great breakfast, then getting ready for diving. #1 was bird island reef where we swam with a big school of barracudas and 3 medium size white tip reef sharks. The surface interval was a bit rough, so understandably Ritsu shared her breakfast with the fish. Here is a little videoclip indicating just how rough the sea was.
On the second dive we encountered a pretty big nurse shark … i’d say 10 – 11 feet in length … and it was hunting some little fish .. very nice … we also ran into 2 turtles …
Upon return it was already time for lunch: shrimp in/on a patty of dalo leaves and mashed dalo. Then a Walu / Avocado salad, and banana fritters for desert .. again, all very great !!!
Sure enough we needed a nap after that. We woke up just before 4 since that was the time of the wedding … from the bar we could initially only hear some music from the bure where the happy couple got ready, but then we saw a cute procession coming down the beach. The groom was already waiting at the “beach altar” and the bride, led by her parents, walked the last half of the sandy isle by herself. There was a pastor performing the service and several islanders were singing and following the prayers. It was a very beautiful ceremony, including tearjerking moments. Afterwards there was champagne and cake.
We returned to the bure for some reading / napping. Around 6:30 we went to the bar were we rejoined the wedding party. At 8 PM the drums called us for dinner: Kokoda (which could have needed a bit more bite in form of chilly) Corn/Chicken soup (which needed quite some help via salt / pepper) and then it was time for the mongolian BBQ. It starts out like a buffet: Bowls full of different cut veggies and 5 bowls with shrimp, fish, lobster pieces, cut beef and chicken cubes. You load on your plate whatever you feel like and hand this to the chef and he sautés it and spices it up. I selected mainly seafood and it was very nice, albeit a bit too salty.
That amount of salt requested beer, and thus we went to bed pretty early
Sunday
I decided to have only fruit for breakfast. We then got ready for another dive. Again we went to “the playground” where we had been before twice, and again it was a very pleasent, 1 hour + dive. We saw a small shark and lots of neat little things. The boatride was smooth both ways.
Back at the bure we waited for Ritsu’s massage.
According to her the massage was great … then it was time for lunch .. if i could only recall what lunch was … oh yeah .. seafood salad in a wasabi vinegrette .. was great …. we then had time to pack and the boat brought us back speedy to Nakelo where we had to stop at the shopkeeper’s house to have the gate opened to get our car … so .. door to door it took us 1 hour 10 minutes … great !!!
For dinner Ritsu made us her famous “Somen” .. cold japanese noodles with a nice dipping sauce ! perfect summer food !
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