Atmosphere: Right on the famous Maho Beach, the Sunset Bar and Grill is the best place to have a drink, eat some food, and enjoy watching the planes come in and take off right over the beach. They have a surfboard where they list all the flights and their arrival times for that day. Service: Despite being a busy restaurant, service was good when we were there. Food: Sunset has a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. I had the Sate Chicken, which was very good. Coconut shrimp was also very good. The food and drinks are a little pricier than normal, but you pay for the awesome location and good times.
About: Dominica, nicknamed “The Nature Island,” is an island country known for its stunning unspoiled beauty. It is 290 square miles (8x larger than SXM) and has a population of around 72,000 people. Highlights: Second largest boiling lake in the world, Valley of Desolation, hot sulfur springs, warm welcoming people, Champagne Reef, Waterfalls, Ross University School of Medicine.
Atmosphere: Small, simple, and cozy indoor seating, with nice outdoor covered seating. Service: The service was good when we were there. Food: Bavaria serves authentic German food (confirmed by Gundi!), from schnitzels to rolled-beef to sauerkraut. I’m not normally a beer drinker, but I found their Erdinger Dunkel beer (German beer) delicious.
To celebrate the end of our semesters, Gundi, Eileen, and I went over to the neighboring British island of Anguilla for the day. This would be Gundi and Eileen’s first time going to Anguilla, while it was my third. Just to recall, my first time was during first semester when we went out after block exams to celebrate Arif’s birthday.…
Atmosphere: Like all Hard Rock Cafes around the world, Hard Rock Cafe St. Maarten is trendy, fun, and a great place to go with groups. The location of this Hard Rock Cafe is especially cool, being by the beach, on the boardwalk of one of the most popular travel destinations in the Caribbean. Service: I have nothing bad to say about the service. Food: While the focus of the restaurant may not be the food, but the rock theme, Hard Rock Cafe does have pretty good food: BBQ, steak, pasta, fajitas.. pretty typical American, but enjoyable nonetheless.
Atmosphere: L’Oizeau Rare is a super-cute little restaurant, set in a colorfully restored creole house, overlooking Marigot harbor. The restaurant is outdoors and there is a little waterfall fountain that trickles by the restaurant. Service: The waitstaff and owner were all very personable. The waiter that served us had a great sense of humor and was more than happy in giving recommendations. They even gave us complimentary after-dinner wine on the house! Food: L’Oizeau Rare serves steaks, duck, kangaroo, lobster, grouper, and more. I ordered the Kangaroo steak with black-peppercorn sauce. I was quite surprised how tender and good it was. The main entrees are served elegantly, in the French style, with ratatouille, scalloped potatoes, and other small side dishes.
Atmosphere: Hidden Forest Cafe is all about being eco-friendly. Expect outdoor seating (under a roof), but also expect flying bugs and an outhouse to wash your hands. Other than this, the forest surroundings are beautiful and the food is presented nicely. Service: Service was good when we were there. Food: The food was delicious, and garnished beautifully with vegetables, herbs, and flowers grown on the farm. The taste is eclectic and represent a fusion of culinary traditions from around the world.
As the USMLE Step 1 Score is the #1 thing residency programs look at when deciding whether or not to grant you an intervew, you should of course aim for the highest score possible. But realistically speaking, not everyone (or anyone) can get the theoretical maximum possible score of 300…
About: Diving the Foo-Sheng and the Gregory wrecks on Dutch St. Maarten with Octopus Diving. The Gregory is 50 ft deep. The Foo-Sheng is 100 ft deep and therefore requires an advanced open-water certification. Highlights: Seeing and touching a shipwreck up close (but watch out for fire coral!), being in awe about the power of nature as it takes over the wrecks, having a good time with people you know.
Atmosphere: The family-owned restaurant is small and simple, but nevertheless they keep the place nice and tidy. They have a cute little koi pool outside. Service: The waitstaff is nice in giving recommendations, and bring food promptly. Food: The food is good, and some of the best Chinese I’ve had on the island. I love the beef Ho-fen and the Peking duck, and the dim sum is pretty good too. The prices at White Swan are a little higher than some of the other Chinese restaurants around St. Maarten I’ve been to, but the food is enjoyable nevertheless. Expect dishes to be around $10-$12, and dim sum items to be $3-$4 per dish.
I believe… …everything can be seen with a good and a bad side, a yin and a yang, and all shades of gray in between. …seeing things objectively is as important as seeing things subjectively. …that we should all see for ourselves what things are like. …in being active in obtaining your goals. …in being open to new ideas, but…
When I first came to AUC almost a year and a half ago, tablet PCs were “in” among our class for note taking. It was handy and it was dandy. However, I noticed a shift of technology use the past two semesters. Coming back from the semester break, I noticed there was a surge of students around school using a new gadget in their studies… the iPad! Several colleagues at school and blog readers have asked me about how I take notes on my iPad during lectures, so I thought it’d be neat to do a video demonstration on the application I use called Noterize.
Hello everyone! I’d like to share with you an article I wrote for The Scope about the recent Health and Wellness Fair last Saturday! This past Saturday, AUC students volunteered in free public HIV and Diabetes screenings at the Health and Wellness Fair in Carnival Village in St. Maarten. This large event is organized every year by the Lions Club…
Atmosphere: Le Cool Heure has a casual, laid-back atmosphere. Their menu is written on a chalkboard and you dine on picnic tables. Despite being outside, the owners keep the place tidy and beautiful. Service: The owners, a cute French couple, are really nice and try to use the little English they know and hand gestures to give their best recommendations. Food: For an atmosphere as casual and laid back as it is, Le Cool Heure’s food is actually quite fancy. The plates are all aesthetically prepared in the typical French manner and the food is high quality.
Hello everyone! I’d like to share with you an event that took place this past weekend at AUC. I did not attend this event as I was in Miami that day, but looking at the pictures, the event looked really cool. All the different colors along with the blue sky and water are just amazing. Holi, also called the Festival…
Atmosphere: Deep Bleu is a small place, hidden within the Summit Resort, but has a magnificent view of the Lagoon from above. The restaurant is clean and comfortable. Service: As a small restaurant, there’s usually 2 or at most 3 people working at Deep Bleu. The waiters or waitresses are usually spouses of AUC students, and they are always friendly and personable. Food: The tuna fillet burgers are really good and seared however way you want it. My personal favorite is the Southwestern Bacon Cheeseburger, with their fried onion ring and barbecue sauce on the burger. When given a choice between regular, curly, and sweet potato fries, I always go for the sweet potato fries.
Atmosphere: Clean, fun, elegant, friendly, and all the extra goodies that make this place more than just an ice cream parlor. Service: The service is very friendly, and they let me sample all sorts of flavors before deciding. Food: Some of the best ice cream I’ve had.
Atmosphere: With picnic tables and grills by the beach, lolos offer a relaxed setting to go with friends and family. Service: The service is hit-or-miss. Sometimes when I have gone, the waiters and cooks were very nice in recommending their specialties, and fast in serving the food. Other times, I’ve had to wait a long time and felt the waiters have forgotten about us. Food: There was quite a variety of choices, and a $10 meat plate (called “chicken food” or “ribs food”) can get you a good number of them to try. Food was good and simple, and reminds me of good ole backyard picnic food. The Christophine was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend it as a side dish to your main BBQ plate.
This past Monday, March 21, I had my 27th birthday! Yes, that’s right, BIG 27!! I could have spent that special day on the island, but it wouldn’t be the same without the person that I love. Because of this, I decided it would be the perfect time to take a trip to see Irene in Miami. I just had…
Hey everyone! I received this story from a colleague of mine from AUC, Rudy Smith. It was at AUC when Rudy and Silvia met. Rudy was a new first semester student in the anatomy lab while Silvia was a head anatomy TA. Rudy instantly had a crush on her but thought she was out of his league. But luckily Silvia…
My name is Benji and I am a third-year medical student at the American University of the Caribbean, located on the Dutch side of the beautiful island of St. Maarten. I am currently completing my clinical rotations in the US as well as the UK. I hope you enjoy my site as I share with you this exciting and challenging phase in my journey. Thanks for visiting Diary of a Caribbean Med Student!
If you would like to help me keep this website up and running, any donations will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Benji