Another ankle sprain (I think) after 2 years

It's the 7th month. Call me superstitious but I feel it was bound to happen one way or another. I did all the things I would never do normally.

First, wearing high heels when it was raining. If you meet me often, you would know that I even bought a pair of jelly shoes to wear during this rain season. And today, I ignored my common sense, or something made me ignorant. I had picked up my jelly shoes, and then put it down, just to pick another pair of high heels.

Second, chasing after a bus. Well, I stopped doing that for a long time, whenver I have to go to that bus stop. Why? Cos I need to cross over an overhead bridge. And the stair going down to the bus stop is very steep. I didn't know why but when I saw the bus today, I ran for it. And I still had two third of the bridge to cross over, plus the staircase. How the hell did I think I could catch the bus? But no, I had to run.

When I ran down the stairs, the heels of my shoes caught the step, I slipped. I dropped for a few more steps before I settled myself. My shoes fell a few more steps further. I just sat there, on a staircase, feeling so painful. One kind uncle picked up my shoes and asked me if I needed any help. I could only say thanks and asked him to continue on his way.

I sat there for about 5 mins when the rain was so heavy. The wind blew the water into my face and clothes. But I couldn't move at all. After a while, I tentatively tried to see if I could stand and walk. Yes (Thank God), but not with my shoes. So I decided to go back to my house, bare-footed. It was raining so it wasn't that dirty. But it was a painful walk.

A fortune teller told me earlier this year: I would have some accident with my limbs. I thought I had had that with my arms burnt by josh sticks during CNY. But apparently, I still had another accident await (hopefully, the last one of this year). And it's the 7th month. I'm not surprised but of course, I'm not happy.

I have to laugh at myself though. Cos the first thing after I feel less painful that I think about is: Thank God! It's this month, not next month. I still have time to recover before my France trip. So yeah, let's cross fingers that it's just a mild ankle sprain.

New York attractions - St. Patrick's Cathedral

There is one established fact that I am a city gal. There, I've said that. When talking about travelling, I always think about big cities with interesting architecture. Natural scenery doesn't appeal much to me. I like my trip well-planned, even down to which directions to take. I don't like the surprised elements, especially when I travel alone. You might think this is not a right way to travel, but I prefer being safe and knowing what might happen.

As a result, I love visiting buildings, i.e. castles, churches, skyscrapers, etc. That was why Chicago really fascinated me with its old but charming buildings. New York was no difference. Even the atmosphere seemed colder than Chicago, I love walking along Fifth Avenue, not shopping (I know what you are thinking), but looking at different architectures. Very lovely and also vibrant.

St. Patrick's Cathedral captivated me with its beautiful design and old charms. I'm not a church goer but I used to dream to get married in a church. And St. Patrick's Cathedral is exactly where I wish my wedding would be. However, that dream is still very far away, at the moment (at least).

One thing I really regretted was I didn't have time to go inside the church. Just to sit down and listen to the choir would be a great experience.

New York eats - Bouchon Bakery

After an interesting but tiring city tour around Manhattan, it was time for us to fill our stomach. We didn't even have lunch, just a big breakfast at Kitchenette. I was amazed that I could still manage to fool around in Columbus Circle. Cold and hungry but we still tried to take as many photos as we could. Oh... the length we could go for our passion/obsession.

Talking about breakfast, I always try to have a good meal to start a day when travelling. Experience has proven that it is a very good strategy. Good breakfast means you have plenty of energy to spend on exploring new places. You cannot always manage to eat lunch on time, sometimes your next meal after breakfast is served as half lunch and half dinner. That is why breakfast is very important.

Back to Bouchon Bakery. This is a small coffee house located inside Time Warner Center. I chose to come here for lunch/dinner for one reason, there is a Borders bookstore within the building. And why Borders? Because I need to buy a book which I have been pinning for a few months. Which book, you might ask? I will show you at the end of this post.

Time Warner Center is located on Columbus Circle and was decorated beautifully during Christmas. A lot of people were enchanted by the mirage of lights when stepping into the building. I was glad to come here, after all!



Bouchon Bakery has an open-space concept. Even there were not many choices, the cafe was still very crowded when I was there. Tracy and I had to wait for more than half an hour to be seated. In the meanwhile, we went to Borders, for Tracy to surf around, and for me to buy my book.

After a good 40 minutes of waiting, we were finally seated. Here is the only picture I have of the cafe:



And the meals we had there:











And here is the book I had to cross half the globe to get my hands on it. Especially on its paperback release date. Yay!!!

New York attractions - Staten Island Ferry

It is said that Staten Island Ferry is one of the must-do when you visit in New York. Part of the reason is that the ferry is free of charge. So instead of paying for some cruise tours, you could just take the ferry. You could get a glimpse of Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline. Not bad at all!

To take this ferry, you just need to get to Staten Island Ferry Terminal at Lower Manhattan (if you get off from Manhattan). This terminal is very near to Battery Park, where you take a cruise to Statue of Liberty Island. Here is the terminal building:



The building has a very big signboard. You can't miss it.



I took the "Spirit of America" ferry:



I also saw another Staten Island Ferry when I was on board one.



You could see Statue of Liberty from the ferry:



And here was I, with Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge (not sure) in the back:

Winter 2009 - Upper West Side Manhattan

I really need to finish writing about New York trip before embarking on a trip to France. That gives me less than 2 months.

Here was I, in Upper West Side Manhattan, in a sunny winter day. There was something very interesting about beautiful old buildings and leafless trees.