Total Recall I

*Yeech*... Could we come back to worse weather? Just as the skies were turning bluer and the air warmer in Boston, we had to fly home, and to what? Slushy roads, icy rains, and sleet! Yuck! But it does look like things will be getting better next week so I'm definitely looking forward to that :)

So the trip was a blast like I said- Terence, Stan and Susan were the perfect hosts and I think Jude and I saw and learned more about Boston in those 5 days than your regular visitor would in double that time (and probably took more pictures too!...) A thorough breakdown of what we did, bought, and of course, ate... :)

Day One:
- After a horrific check-in process and consequently barely making our 7am flight, we arrived in Boston unscathed and bags intact before 10am.
- We marveled at the ease of Boston's public transportation system that allowed us to get from the airport to Harvard Square in under an hour. Can I please say this again, I lurve public transportation!
- Before we even had lunch, Terence made the unfortunate mistake of introducing us to Harvard Book Store, a lovely bookstore that has the most amazing basement of used books. If not for the gnawing pangs of hunger, I would have set up camp and lived in that basement forever. I bought three books and would later come back to buy even more- it's all Terence's fault! ;)
- Lunch was at Mr. Bartley's Gourmet Burgers. Thick, juicy, and irreverently named- DELICIOUS! See here and here.
- The next couple of hours was a whirlwind tour of Havard. Terence's office is right in the heart of the campus and he showed us around the many notable buildings and places of historical significance. When the school has a preserved model of a water pump from before the Revolutionary Wars, you know it's ooold...
- A skip and a hop away we then went to MIT where Jude practically had to be forcibly removed from the MIT Press Bookstore. If he stayed any longer, he would have grown roots. He was a happy man, who then promptly bought a whole bunch of books :) (Note: It was 3pm on Day One, and between the two of us, we had already bought 6 books.)
- Stan joined us later, and like a school excursion, we then went about exploring MIT. I was the only one unfamiliar with Boston, so it was a mish-mash of the three guys chipping in at various places to construct a semi-coherent picture of what was what around the MIT campus. The one thing that really stood out for us was the new Frank Gehry building- The Ray and Maria Stata Center. Literally, it looked like someone stole a building from a Dr. Seuss book and plopped it in the middle of Cambridge. Whimsical and asymmetrical, it looked radically different depending on the angel you were looking. See here and here.
- We rounded off the long and invigorating day of walking by treating ourselves to the ultimate Asian comfort food- RAMEN! A steaming bowl of luscious noodles in a rich, lip-smacking broth, the ramen at Sapporo Ramen in Porter Square truly hit the spot on that chilly New England night.

Day Two:
- Brunch was tim-sum in Chinatown with Terence, Stan and Susan. I don't think I could ever get sick of tim-sum, and here, we're talking the traditional sort where the ladies still push the carts of steaming, sizzling little morsels of gastronomic delights all over. *Sigh* I miss those things, especially since they don't even have them in Singapore anymore :(
- And it being the middle of the Chinese New Year season, there was a procession on the streets, complete with lion dance, banners, cymbals, drums, and fire crackers!! I had never seen real fire crackers before (they're banned in Singapore) so I made Jude take a picture of the aftermath. Not having been home for Chinese New Year for a while, it was honestly very nice to be in the midst of the celebrations again :)
- After that, we took the Stan & Susan Inc. tour of the city of Boston. We walked through the Boston Public Gardens (where I saw the lovely "Make Way for Ducklings" statuettes), the North End (Mike's Pastry cannolis!!), and Fanueil Hall where I've never been more tempted to spend $10 on a skewer of bacon-wrapped scallops. We didn't quite stick faithfully to the Freedom Trail, but did manage to nonetheless see Paul Revere's house, the Granary Burial Ground (oldest in the country second only to the one in Plymouth Rock), and even the oldest restaurant in America (The Union Oyster House).
- Dinner was fresh seafood at Summer Shack where we witnessed Stan engaging in hand-to-hand combat with a one-half pound lobster. *whack whack* You had to be there... :)

[Total Recall II to come...]