The Rental Side of the Aqua Tower

My parents bought a condo, but here's a youtube video showing what the rentals are like.



Also, a video on the amenities:

New Home

Congrats to my parents for signing the papers on a new condo in downtown Chicago! The bought a convertible 1br on the 62nd floor of the Aqua Tower, which has already become a historic landmark even though the building isn't finished yet. Chicago has always been known for having fascinating, and oftentimes daring, architecture, and this is a fact that seems to fly under the radar unless you're an architecture-aficionado or you've actually been to Chicago and paid attention to the varying architectural styles. If you have any plans of going to Chicago, then I HIGHLY recommend going on the Architectural River Tour. It's relaxing, you learn a lot, and you get tons of great photo ops. Anyways, not only is this building very modern and striking, but it's also the tallest building in the world that was designed by a woman.


The amenities at this place are insane. It makes me feel like I'm going to be like royalty once I move there. Really nice gym, indoor pool, outdoor pool, cabanas where you can hook up your own tv by the pool, terraces/park, outdoor grills, theater to play your own dvd's, game room, free shuttle to certain places, washer/dryer in every unit, and heated underground tunnels to the Water Tower Place, and not sure where else. I still can't believe the ridiculously low price my parents got this for. YAY for buyer's market and property being so far less than NYC. It's also across from Millennium Park, and we have a view of the lake, which really looks like the ocean. Just saying. I'm 100% certain that the price of the condos in this building are almost 3 TIMES LESS than an average apartment of the same size in NYC...with no amenities, no view, and no special location.

Anyways, I admit I felt like I had to write this disclaimer on the place because I know that once people see pictures on Facebook and my blog, they're gonna be all, "Wtf, who has this kind of money." It's not like that in Chicago. Property is so affordable there, and you get a lot for what you pay for. Well, that's how it is nowadays since it's a buyer's market. No one is buying.

Alright, that is all.

A Dominican 24th Birthday

As many of you know, I never really celebrate my birthday other than dinner with my family and Gabe. And really, it's always just been more of an excuse to go out to eat. I only recall having two birthday parties with friends when I was a little kid - my 8th birthday party at a bowling alley, and my 9th birthday at the ice skating rink where I took classes my whole childhood. And then I had my 21st birthday party in the Meatpacking District in NYC, for the sake of it being my 21st. So yeah, I'm not a big birthday person, and I really had absolutely no intention of even acknowledging it this year with all the craziness of studying and being away from my family, Gabe, and friends in NYC - these are the people who are my blood.

Before I could even remove my birthday from Facebook (so people here wouldn't find out), Ren, one of my closest friends here, basically gave me no choice but to go out to dinner with our circle of friends in celebration of my 24th. It was probably one of the sweetest offers ever, so I couldn't refuse. Really, no one has ever done something like that for me. I think we had at least 20 people who were originally going to come, and that was just my closest friends. It shrunk down to 16 people, but these are 16 people I really do love. I can't thank everyone enough for making me feel so special and taking me out. And I definitely can't thank Ren enough for making this happen. He is so sweet.

I often times feel a little bit sad because I am constantly missing my friends (for life) back in NYC. I've always known and believed that nothing could match up to the dozens of amazing friendships I made in that city. They are people who I will have for the rest of my life, no matter what city, state, or country I move to next. They're people who know me for who I really am.

It's a little different being in med school in Dominica. I feel like we all just mostly know each other in the med school context. We don't talk about much else besides school. And I'm not gonna lie...I'm way more reserved and awkward here than anywhere else. It's almost like I regressed back to my high school days. While I always knew that I made a few good friends here, the birthday dinner that they threw for me showed me that in spite of the rigors of med school and not having much time for socializing, these people have become like family to me. They truly are among the most genuine and thoughtful people I have ever met, and I really can't thank them enough.

With that, here are pictures of me and my friends at Riverside restaurant.


Me and the ladies.


Me and the guys.

Check out my Filipino rapper med student friend

At Ross University's cultural show last night, one of my closest med school friends, Ren, represented Filipino Union (and Chicago!) and gave a rap performance. He's an unsigned rapper out in Chicago, and he's awesome. Check out the video.

Also, here's his Myspace if you're interested: http://www.myspace.com/renwexl

I know I haven't updated in forever. School has been rough on me, and things have just been so busy.

For now, enjoy the vid.

Project AIDS

On Friday, I participated in an AMSA (American Medical Students Association) event with the Project AIDS committee. We went to the CALLS center in Portsmouth, which is a non-profit community center dedicated to providing tutoring and somewhat of an education to teenagers who had dropped out or were kicked out of their local schools for various reasons. We put on an educational play centered around possible ways to contract HIV, and then we had a Q&A session with the teenagers. It was a really good experience for myself because while I've worked with children and the elderly, I've never actually done anything with teenagers. I kind of forgot how troublesome and sometimes uncooperative teenagers can be.

It was quite interesting to be teaching them about HIV, STD's, and practicing safer sex. It seems like they know a pretty good amount, however I was a little perturbed by some of the bizarre sex questions they were asking. I won't repeat any here, but let's just say that our discussion lost its focus and strayed towards the topic of sex, rather than the initial topic at hand. Regardless, I think we got all of our important messages across, and I hope the teens learned and gained something in return. It's sad to hear that some of these teens don't even know basic math nor how to read because they stopped going to school a long time ago, so hopefully all the contributions Ross students have been providing them (with tutoring and events like these) are helping these kids live better lives.

Next Saturday, I'll be visiting the elderly home in Portsmouth, like what I did last semester when we just entertained the old folks who no longer have family left to take care of them. I really do wish I volunteered more in the community in previous semesters, but I'm glad I'm finally contributing more of my time this semester!

Karla&Jonathan's SYTYCD Week 2 Performance

Here's Karla&Jonathan's AMAZING contemporary piece last night. It was choreographed by Stacey Tookey from SYTYCD Canada, and they danced to the song, "Falling Slowly," by The Frames. It always helps to have a great song to dance to. However, regardless of the great music choice, Karla and Jonathan danced BEAUTIFULLY. I take these reality talent shows quite seriously, so I really do try to hold no bias. And with no bias, I firmly believe that these two were probably the best of last night. The choreography, music, dancing, technique, and emotion were all there. Karla's fluidity and lines were flawless, and Jonathan surprised everyone with his ability to hold his own in this number. It was a moving performance, and I think definitely one that will be among the memorable of Season 5.

So with that said, the results show is in a couple of hours, and I REALLY hope Karla&Jonathan are not in the bottom 3 again because they had quite the performance last night.

Batibou Beach

On Saturday, I joined the Korean Students Association's field trip to Batibou Beach. I think there were only 3 Korean students there, with the rest of the crew consisting of other random people, including myself. Batibou Beach is on the north side of the island, halfway between our campus and the airport. Unfortunately, I got very carsick on the way there. So carsick that my legs were shaking as I was getting off the bus. It was rather unpleasant, but I recovered during the 20 minute hike down to the actual beach. Yeah, this beach is so isolated that we have to hike down, and you don't actually see it until you get down there. It's pretty cool.


This is one of the few beaches on the island that has actual sand as opposed to rocks/pebbles/shells. Not only that, but it's also a rather large beach with lots of open space. AND we were the only ones there, which made it even nicer. Actually, there was a random white naked guy reading almost in the bushes, but he wasn't situated that close to us.

One interesting thing of note is that scene(s) from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest were filmed right on that beach. I still have yet to watch all three movies. I really should since they were filmed here. Anyways, I'm really glad I took the morning off to enjoy a real beach in Dominica. It was beautiful, and I'm not sure how often I'll get an entire beach to myself for free!