New England

BOSTON! Yes! We arrived in Boston this afternoon around 2pm. It was a 4 hours long ride from New York City Chinatown. I did a last minute, yet extensive research on the internet last night so that I will be more oriented when I arrive. The time spent proved to be successful, I had an easy time navigating around, considering I don't have a map of Boston. Just a T subway map. A smooth start.

1st stop was the USS Constitution. It is the oldest commissioned ship by the US Navy. It started construction in 1797 in a shipyard in Boston. This frigate (2nd in line to the battle ship) is one of the 1st six ships of the new US navy. This ship is most famous for its victory battle against Great Britain in June 18, 1812. More than 200 years old, this ship still sail down to Boston Harbor 8-10 times a year. Peter and I were just in time for their last tour by US Navy sailors. It was a good historical lesson
experience.

Thereafter, we checked into our hotel in central Boston, the Radisson, got the room via priceline, it cost us US$100 per night. A very good deal, considering it is Boston City and during this time of the year, many visitors are in town for their children's orientation. Boston is literally a tertiary education city. Renown colleges includes Harvard, MIT and Boston Uni. There are also many smaller colleges surrounding it.

After chilling and leaving our "stone-heavy" backpacks, we headed out to Faneuil Hall, getting off at the Government Center Station. I got information from my elder brother that Union Osyter House is not to be missed if you are craving for Oysters and Lobsters. We were truly famish by the time we reach there as we missed our lunch. We put our names down on the 30-45 minutes waiting list. During the wait, we bought clam chowder at their mini bar. I put 2 packets of crackers into the chowder and gobbled down the creamy liquid. It felt heavenly! :P

The bivalves were great. However, it made it not very much enjoyable because Peter and I ended up arguing over dinner. It is so hard when we are on hiatus and trying to un-tie the tight knot. Kate told me it is hard at the beginning to try to solve relationship problems. It felt like we are so clinging onto each other and don't want to have a clean cut. I have no idea where this is leading us to.

So he ended up heading back to the hotel while I cool it off at Harvard Sq. I didn't want to go back to the hotel so early because time is limited and I am just someone who cannot sit still. I called up my friend Kunaal and we went to Finale, a well-known desert place in MA.

We had molten chocolate. Their classic. It was a thin moist chocolate cake with thick gooey chocolate inside. It came with coffee ice cream and toasted almonds. Along with a glass of desert wine, it was amazingly satisfying. Thanks Kunaal!

I really enjoyed Boston. Not as busy as New York City, in fact, it felt smaller than San Francisco. The whole academic environment made me want to improve myself and learn. If only I'm more academically inclined.

Peter arrived yesterday at Noon. He just finished his finals and was very deprived from sleep. Slept a lot yesterday and today. And he is still sleeping right now. I hope he will get back on track with his body clock, he can't be sleeping when there is a city to be discover! haha


On Saturday, we went to the Chelsea Art Museum to check out an exhibition that ends today. Was recommended by Carol (a friend I met through another friend here). Titled: Human Nature by Federico Uribe. He did a big installation of sculptures depicting safari jungle animals using puma shoes and shoelaces. Quoted from the website, this exhibition "focused on the environment, artificial and natural, longevity and ideas about the human impact on the planet." It is fascinating to see how he transformed simple objects into works of art, giving them a different meaning and function. He sculpted huge scale by dismantling the chosen material (shoes) and used every single part of it to make these animals look so life-like. It made me wonder how much advances in human history is slowly eliminating these animals the chance to live in their natural habitat.

After the musuem, we went to Don Giovanni's Pizza. It was recommended in the guide book. The oven baked, thin crust pizza is quite a good treat if you top it up with some sangria. :)

Cosi Cosi!

Olga, Lilla and me are at Cosi Cafe. It is around 7:07pm and we are here after work exchanging music and photos on our computer.We are sitting in a roll and occupying 3 tables in this small 2nd level cafe. I'm so glad I purchased my newly owned Western Digital 120GB hard disk. It made the process so much easier. :) I will have 4000+ new songs on my ipod and great pics that will leave great memories with me. :)

Eating out is expensive, no matter where you are. I spent so much today on food. Lunch=Panini and Iced Chai ($10.24), Tea Break=Yogurt w fruits ($3.50), Dinner=Sandwich ($8.01) ALMOST $23!!! Either I am really hungry and can't stop eating, or my brain is just too hungry and crave for food all the time. Whatever the reason is, New York has certainly made me put on some weight. I'll do something about it, when I go back to SF, as for now, I'll just enjoy myself to the fullest. :P

I thought of going home. To see my family before Fall semester starts. This means missing the fashion show. :P The show might not be as important compared to seeing my folks, but I've never experienced a fashion week before and have tickets to see the show of one of my favorite designer.
And also, the plane ride ticket is pricey, I'll suffer great jet lag when I start school, so...........I've decided to go back end of the year instead.

Random acts of kindness aren't that rare actually. We just need to observe a little more than usual. I was on my way home after dinner with a friend and entered a subway entrance. It was one of those entrance without the vending machines to buy tickets, just the gates. There was this Asian guy who didn't have a ticket (a ride is US$2). So he took out $2 and asked some guys whether they could offer him a ticket. 2 young dude said they didnt have extra tickets and went through the gate. However, another older Hispanic guy, who just got out of the gate offered to slide his card and let him through. I guess he got an unlimited pass (US$76 for 30 days). He didn't even take advantage of the $2 the dude was holding in his hands. Such simple acts do put a smile on my face. :)

It rained heavily last night. SO HEAVY that it is nice to be in bed sleeping. :) There were lightning and thunder, felt like Singapore. However, not a very good sign in New York. Things get messed up over here whenever it rains. The subway got flooded in some parts of town and most lines stopped working. I managed to barely squeeze into my 1st train which was just 2 stops to my transfer station. When i got to West 4th Street, the number of people waiting for the blue line train was massive! I figured out that something fishy and decided to walk to my work place which was on W. 39th Street instead of waiting in that sauna-like platform. There were many people on the streets waiting for the bus and taxi. I haven't been in that part of town during morning hours, so I didn't suspect anything. But as I approached midtown, there were just unusually too many people on the streets. And I overhead many people on their cellphone complaining about the subway delays. I was fully convinced that it was the aging infrastructure of New York City that couldn't withstand harsh weather. Remember the steam pipe explosion few weeks ago in midtown, it happened due to rainwater seeping through the ground and got in contact with the pipes. Well, all these problem can't be compared to the devastating flooding in India right now.

I'm heading up to Boston next weekend with Peter! I can't wait. It is going to be a relaxing trip and hopefully it will help us rekindle our wounds. :)

I am in YingYing n Chris's room now. The twin-window fan thing isn't cooling me down in this humid heat, even after a COLD COLD COLD shower (Boiler in the building stopped working today.) I don't know when they will fix it, system here isn't as efficient. But I need to shower tomorrow morning before I go into office....how???

yakusouku?

Just like how I was addicted to Bleach, the Japanese Anime, and all the other lame YET entertaining Taiwanese Drama, I am once again hooked onto some long winded love drama by the Koreans. I don't do that often, just once in a rare moon, and since I have some time right now, why not. yeah? :) I'm watching Stairway to Heaven. It is an old drama series. I feel they cheated my time when they drag so long!!!

I finally received my English version of the long-awaited Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollow~ Julie said that it is better to read the Book 5 to refresh memory, but there are so many books I need to read this lifetime, I guess I might just indulge in this juicy book. :P

I learnt how to make Udon Salad from Kei (Japanese Intern). Very simple!
all you need:
1) A packet of Udon
2) Japanese Mayo (with a cute semi-naked boy logo, red cap)
3) Tomatoes
4) Cabbage
5) Cucumber
6) Some-kind of Soba sauce (have to get confirmation with Kei again)

Boil the udon, chop the vegetables to bit sizes for easy chewing.
Place udon in a bowl (bottom layer), cabbage (second layer), tomatoes + cucumber and put as much mayo to add flavour. (remember, extremely high calories for this!) Then pour the soba sauce little by little to make sure your taste bugs get adapted to this Asian salada. Enjoyyy~~

I'm hitting the hay, will continue the marathon tomorrow.

I just finished cooking a massive amount of food that will last me for 10 days!!!! But the delicious peanut broccoli pasta isn't really for me to indulge alone, it is for Kate's farewell party tomorrow! She is one of the intern that works at production department. Gradually, the great friends that I've come to make are leaving for their hometown to continue their studies and life. It is very saddening, because that means my summer holidays are ending soon and I'll be back for Fall semester too. :( I'm going to miss every single one of you gals. and guys too! :)

I went to visit the exhibition, "Luxury", at the Fashion Institute of Technology museum. It is free admission (good for everybody) and opens late (till 8pm). This exhibit is a chronology of fashion from the 18th Century till today. It is a good starting point for anyone interested in learning a brief history lesson on western fashion. Great designers such as Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel, YSL, Dior, Balenciaga master pieces are displayed on mannequins. They also have recent designer works such as Rodarte, Victor and Rolf, John Galliano, etc. What I really like about this exhibit is the "somewhat" big collection of period costume, before Paul Poiret's time. Curves and volume were the main fashion statement. Most pieces were tiny top and huge bottom. There wasn't any reflective glass panels between me and those pieces of history, thus I could observe at a close range the detailing used by lavish individuals during those times. There was massive usage of brocade silk, velvet, lace (lots of lace!!), feathers, embroideries, ribbon, tassels and golds. To come to think of it, modern designers use these materials too. I am not sure if it is constant exposure to the inner operations of the company I'm working for, but recently, everything I see in the market, I could relate it so well to the brand. I hope it will influence the way I design in a positive way. :)
-----------------extra extra : Do you know that Purple is an expensive color to manufacture? Thus those who were able to dress in Purple before the Industrial Revolution are really loaded! :P

I'm planning to visit Niagara Falls when Peter comes to visit. But a few people told me that the view from Canada side is much better than US side. However, Peter holds an Indonesian passport, might need extra visa.....wonder if he willing to go that extra mile. :)

Where should I visit next?

I finally had Taco Shits this evening..........very "shiok" (feels good in Singlish)