Washington, D.C. Part ONE

June 29-August 5 2007

My arrival in the capital of the United States was one filled with drama.

The flight from Los Angeles to Washington had a quick connection at Atlanta, Georgia. But the first flight landed very late, and that resulted in most of the connecting flights out of Atlanta to be delayed. By the time I was walking to the gate, the plane bound for Washington was to have left already but they were waiting for delayed passengers.

So I landed at the Regan International Airport an hour later than scheduled, only to find that my bags hadn’t arrived and this happened to a few other passengers too. I filled out the forms, and was informed that my bags were probably still in Atlanta and they wouldn’t come till the next day. This was about 11pm and I still had to make my way to the hostel, where I had booked a bed for the night. Dismayed, I caught the metro to the city. Mind you, this was my first time in DC; I was alone, tired, without my bags, and it was late.

I found the hostel, which was part of the Hostelling International group and located in downtown DC, near Chinatown. The other people in the room were asleep already but I was starving and decided to find a McD’s for a quick bite. I also called Gladys to lament about the horrible day – the delayed flight, my lost luggage and not having any clothes to change into. It was truly tragic, that day.

The next day, other than having to retrieve my bags, I also had to find an apartment for the next five weeks while I was in town for my summer class. I shortlisted a few potential rentals and e-mailed them, hoping to meet up with them. I also put up an ad on craigs, hoping that a potential landlord would get back to me. Now, the bags. It was yet another tragic day. I was last informed that they would deliver the bags to me when they arrived. They had arrived at the airport but they would only deliver them to me later that day or the following day. And I couldn’t wait that long! So I decided to collect the bags myself from the airport. (Reagan International is about 20-30 mins away via metro, and it was quite a pain to be lugging my bags in the daytime, with the day crowds and all.)

Long story short, my bags and I were reunited once more. Maybe budget airlines don’t appeal to me anymore. The inconveniences and lack of reasonable service from their staff were definitely not worth the (slightly lesser) airfare at all.

On the accommodation front, I wasn’t having it good either. I had arranged to meet a potential landlord earlier but she didn’t show. Relying on free wireless isn’t such a good idea at all, especially since I couldn’t connect at some places I should have been able to, i.e. Starbucks or Cosi cafe. Anyway, I got in touch with a lady who was subletting her apartment for a pretty reasonable rate and I was quite desperate by then. I took a taxi to the address she had given me and I was quite disappointed by the neighborhood. It was predominantly a non-White neighborhood and although there’s nothing wrong with that, I didn’t feel safe because the area looked quite dodgy and I later realized that it was quite far from where my classes were held. She was a no-show too, because she didn’t respond when I knocked on her door. Anyway. So I was left with no options at all and that night was to be my last night at the hostel. There were no more vacancies left.

Truly truly desperate and without a clue of what to do next, I decided there was not much I could do anyway since it was late already, so I went walking around to explore a little of the city. The next morning, however, proved to be the turning point. A lady had responded to my ad on craigs and although the price was steep, it was within my budget and it was almost perfect because it was where I was looking for - Adam’s Morgan. Fantastic.

After speaking to her on the phone, I immediately knew I had found the right place without even checking it out. I checked out of the hostel, grabbed my bags and took a taxi to the house. She must have been surprised that I brought my bags along since I hadn’t even saw the house yet. But it was do-or-die - I would have no roof over my head that night.

It was a really nice and cozy three-storey townhouse. The owners were a Jewish American and an Indian American. They recently had a baby, but I didn’t mind that. The price was steep but worth it. After looking at the house, I knew this was the one, and after discussing a little, I moved in and paid for the next five weeks in cash, plus a safety deposit in check. The rent included wireless Internet, utilities and I was free to use the kitchen and laundry facilities as and when I wanted. My landlord had visited Singapore before and had friends there too, so that was a bonus. My week was finally starting to get better.

Hollywood and Santa Monica, LA.

June 23-29

So Faith and I left San Diego on yet another early bus, this time bound for Hollywood. Upon reaching Hollywood, Faith would be meeting her cousins, who were enrolled in a summer session at UCLA. I would be meeting the guys again, who were driving in from Grand Canyon, and staying at a hostel along Hollywood Boulevard.

I checked in first and had lunch while waiting for them to arrive. After lunch, I took a stroll along Hollywood Boulevard, on the Walk-of-Fame. Star sightings, literally, but there were also many names that I had never heard of before. About ten minutes from the hostel is the Kodak Theatre, where award shows and American Idol finales are held at, and Chinese Theatre, where many famous hand prints are etched in stone.

El Capitan cineplex, venue of many movie premieres.

Jimmy Kimmel LIVE.

This was the best we could manage; it was so cloudy that day.

The guys had an ingenious idea to snap a photo of their reflection off my sunglasses.

Another ingenious idea to snap a photo of our silhouette; guess which one is me.

Shannon and I dropped the guys off at Santa Monica beach before we drove Faith to LAX for her flight back to Singapore. The airport was crowded and very disorganized, such that the check-in queues were snaking out of the building to the car drop-off point. We were actually quite worried that Faith might miss her flight. After Faith left, we drove back to Santa Monica to meet the guys again. They were almost done with the beach and were about ready to leave. A few of us went shopping before heading back to the beach.

Shopping street at Santa Monica

Santa Monica beach and boardwalk

At the beach, we came across a memorial of some sort to the war going on in the middle-east. It was dedicated to those who died fighting - Americans, Iraqis and Afghans alike. It was quite a sombre sight, especially at a beach full of tourists. It was especially heartening to know that whoever initiated this was against war, and was sympathizing with innocent Iraqis/Afghans who had nothing to do with the war. The following photographs speak for themselves:

In reference to Arlington Cemetery, the US national cemetery in Washington DC.

Mock coffins draped with the stars and stripes.

I thought it was interesting to see how close the crosses were to the beach revelers.

The next day, Shannon and his friend Yi Hern were returning back to Singapore. It was to be just five of us left for a couple more days. We were kind of bored with Hollywood by then so we were just seeking places to go and basically ambled our way around the whole day. We first headed to Farmer’s Market by bus and had lunch there. Next, we went shopping again? There was this place with the most luxurious Abercrombie store ever. I couldn’t believe my eyes: a Greek statue greeted us as we entered, and there were three floors of everything A&F, and they didn’t have a clearance section! So high-class. Look at the photos and see what I mean.

Walked past an advert for King Lear, nothing that would entice me to buy tickets.

Two of my favorite singers on the Walk-Of-Fame. All in all we walked for about three to four hours after that, walking from Farmer’s Market towards Sunset Boulevard. We were kind of lost and pretty tired of walking, so we approached a lady for directions. She was on her way to her car and she offered to give us a lift back to Hollywood Boulevard. It was a surreal experience because it turned out she was a singer and had just released an album. She also told us she was friends with a famous rapper, can’t remember his name now but I’ve heard of him before. So she was on her way somewhere to prepare for a by-invitation-only Hollywood party. Our first brush with a celebrity and she so readily agreed to drive us to our hostel! Pretty awesome.

The guys were leaving for Singapore the next day, and I was moving to Santa Monica for the next three days alone, before flying to Washington DC for my summer class. I was glad to be heading for Santa Monica for a number of reasons. 1. It was by the beach, so even if I ran out of things to do, I could sit myself down on the beach and read a book. 2. It was near LAX, where I was going to catch a flight across the US to Washington DC.

Group shot with our Irish roommates before the guys left for Singapore, and me for Santa Monica.

Entitled Off To See The World, Kangli took this photo of me as I was boarding the bus that would take me to Santa Monica. There you see my bags - my only possessions those seven months in the US. 

So after three weeks spent with my hall friends in Miami, Bahamas, Chicago, Toronto, New York and Boston, and another three with schoolmates in San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Diego and Los Angeles, I was once again alone. Being in a group had gotten comfortable and now it was like being in London and Paris - I had to be extra careful for myself and my belongings even as I shared hostel rooms with strangers.

Santa Monica is about a half-hour away from Hollywood, by the Pacific Ocean. I was running tight on cash then, so over the next three days, I pretty spent them at the beach reading about Nixon and the Watergate Scandal for my political journalism class, and catching up on much needed sleep as well.

Bridge over US Highway 1 that leads to Santa Monica Beach. 

Pacific Park on the boardwalk

View of Santa Monica and a bit of Venice Beach from the boardwalk

Patrol police 

My less than satisfactory experiences with seafood in the US kept me away despite my cravings for good seafood. Still, how could I not take a photo of Bubba?

So there, my week spent in Los Angeles - no Universal Studios, no Disneyland, no celebrity sightings. I was leaving the frivolity of California behind, and heading back to the seriousness of the East Coast.

San Diego.

June 20-23

Faith and I left Las Vegas on an early Greyhound bus bound for San Diego. The journey took eight hours and along the way, we stopped to ta pao lunch from Popeye’s. The bus ride was not as arduous as I thought it would be - talking to Faith, dozing off and reading. We arrived at the SD Greyhound terminal before evening and found our way to the USA hostel a few streets away.

It was pretty hilarious as we lugged our bags up the flight of stairs to the hostel reception. We checked into our respective rooms and decided that we’ll visit the renown SD zoo the next morning, and find our way to a beach the day after.

Our walk to the zoo took us through the city and over the freeway. The architecture of SD is heavily influenced by a Spanish-Mexican flavor, like buildings that you’ll see in The Mask of Zorro. SD was under Spanish colonial rule in the past, and is now a city with strong military presence with naval bases by the coast. There were many museums and also a Shakespeare theater along the way to the zoo.

Koala bear hidden in the eucalyptus leaves

Hard to see, but the lion is there looking at you

Black panther

Giraffe trio, taken for Deb.

Poor polar bear in warm San Diego climate.

Hot mama Josie.

San Diego Zoo was nice, I can’t remember the last time I visited a zoo prior to this, but I would think this famous zoo was comparable to Singapore’s. We were a little disappointed by the fact that many of the animals were sleeping/hiding in the daytime though. Back at our hostel, Faith’s roommates were from Singapore, two girls, but I didn’t see them; I think one of them was from my JC actually.

The bathroom at the hostel.

The next day, we decided to make our way to a beach, regardless of how far it was. It was either a beach, or a day trip to Tijuana, Mexico but we decided against that. So to the beach, it was. We took a bus and half an hour later, we were at La Jolla beach. Our map showed us where to get off the bus and we were surrounded by nice houses and tall palm trees, with sounds of the ocean crashing upon the shore.

Me with a lifeguard, Baywatch style. (photo courtesy of Faith) 

This is Faith dozing off under the blue skies.

This is life.

Gorgeous house by the beach front.

Beach patrol

Tufts of seaweed washed up randomly on the shore. (courtesy of Faith) 

Pacific Ocean sunset 

After a wonderful day at La Jolla beach, we had dinner at a nearby Mexican joint before taking the bus back to downtown San Diego. Our third and last night in San Diego was fun, it was a Friday night I think, and we got to see how Californian folks welcome the weekend at a little bar.

We were going to take an early bus to Los Angeles the next morning, and so we packed and I made myself stay up that night, afraid that I would oversleep and miss the bus departure. San Diego and San Francisco were perfect.

Las Vegas.

June 17-20

From our hotel at Union Square, we walked a couple of blocks to the subway station to catch a train to the San Francisco airport. We were catching a short flight to Las Vegas. At the check-in counter, I had to repack a little because one of the bags was slightly overweight so I had to shift some things over to another bag. It didn’t help that the airline staff were rushing us, afraid that we would miss our flight.

About two hours later, we landed in Vegas and there was no mistaking which city we were in. We were surrounded by posters advertising Cirque du Soleil, strip shows, Celine Dion concerts and many more. There was even a glass room filled with slot machines at the airport.

We could immediately feel the desert heat seeping into the airport upon landing and it wasn’t long before I started perspiring while waiting in the taxi queue. A huge taxi that could accommodate all five of us and our bags brought us to Casino Royale, our hotel. It was located along the strip, but it’s not immediately visible because it isn’t one of those famous ones like Ballagio or the Wynn. In any case, it was quite a funny sight to see us lugging our bags through the casino because the hotel reception and entrance is hidden inside the casino itself.

Before coming to Vegas, one’s only experience with the city is through TV or movies but it is almost exactly the same. The strip is lined with casino hotels, food joints, arcades and little more. There’s also the ten-minute wedding chapels. The people inside the casinos are also like in the movies - jaded, bored hillbillies looking for a quick means to get away from their sad life.

This was my first time in a desert and boy, it sure was hot. Just walking, even walking slowly, induces torrents of perspiration. Sure it was the middle of summer but after spending four long winter months in Ithaca, it takes quite a bit of getting used to desert temperatures. It didn’t help that the air was dry and the warm wind carried dust and sand around.

First impressions of Las Vegas didn’t really set in till we strolled along the strip. The entire city is just one huge entertainment complex that has been planted in the middle of nowhere. Palm trees in the desert, replicas of New York, Paris, Venice in the form of themed hotels… I don’t really know what’s real in this city. It’s extravagance and artificiality at its peak.

Harley Davidson cafe

M&M’s shop

 

New York New York

It’s great that I got to see Lady Liberty up close, even if it’s a replica.

Ok, so we walked along the strip and took in all the sights and sounds of the city. It made for nice night photography, all the bright lights and energy of a city that spends its night on frivolous activities. The five of us guys were not into gambling, though we did discuss buying tickets to one of the Cirque du Soleil shows. The guys were more into photographing the sights, which got pretty interesting because they liked taking posed group shots and there was one we took in front of Caesar’s Palace. That took us very long because the guys are professional photogs and they frame and compose with the best shutter speeds, lighting and aperture before actually snapping. It was another funny sight because many people walked past us and we were posing for quite some time before being satisfied with the photos.

The Bellagio fountain that’s pretty amazing. Go YouTube it.

We didn’t really do much in Vegas, except walk and stare in wide-eyed wonder at all we’ve only seen in movies come to life before our eyes. It was an interesting experience definitely. One that you can do once in your lifetime and not have to go through again unless you’re into gambling and frivolous entertainment. In fact, I personally don’t think Vegas is even worth the time and money.

The next day, Faith, Shannon and Yih Heng drove up from LA to join us for a day in Vegas. The rest like Luana, May, Erwin and Mel were still in LA but were either going back to Singapore or continuing their trip separately. We met at the Vegas premium outlets that we were shopping at and later on that evening, met for dinner and did the same thing - walking along the strip and also watching the Bellagio fountain performance.

Seems like the Singaporeaness in us doesn’t go away even though we were thousands of miles away from home. The next day, we went for a hotel buffet, now I can’t recall which hotel it was but it was one that was within our buffet. You can’t believe how expensive some of those buffets can get..

That night, Faith and I were supposed to catch the Greyhound to San Diego while the six guys were driving to Grand Canyon. A little oversight on our part, or rather, the tickets were sold out, I can’t remember exactly but we didn’t manage to get on the bus, so we spent another day in Vegas before catching the early bus to San Diego. That, is a story for another day..

San Francisco. Part Three.

June 10-16

Cruise that brought us to Alcatraz Island

Infamous island that housed some notorious people

Inside The Rock.

Long way to swim if one decides to escape.

 

Inside a typical cell.

 

Utterly depressing.

Some of the (in)famous inmates.

 

 

 

To look out of your window and see the city of San Francisco.. How painful.

 

 

A former inmate at a book-signing session at the souvenir store.

 

 

 

The seven of us on Alcatraz Island with SF in the background.

 

Later that evening, I met up with Alex (we hung out a bit in Ithaca) for a drink. Holly was in town too, so we decided to meet for dinner and we settled at an Indian restaurant. It was nice seeing them again, after another round of drinks after dinner, we decided that we’d meet again that week before I left for Las Vegas.

 

 

 

The Apple conference!

 

 

 

Cold Stone, one of the best ice-cream ever!

 

 

They mish-mash the ice-cream with the toppings on a cold stone, hence the name.

 

 

Union Square, SF’s shopping district.

 

 

Union Square.

 

 

 

Macys!

 

 

The girls enjoying some Thai cuisine.

 

Subsequently, all of them left for Hollywood, Los Angeles, and I was to make my way to Las Vegas with Janus, Kangli, Yan Zhao and Kevin. We had an extra day in San Fran and I decided to go meet up with Alex and Holly. We arranged to go on a wine tour of Napa Valley and the Sonoma region after finding a reasonably-priced one. It would pick us up from our various locations and bring us to three vineyards for wine tasting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alex, Holly and me with some wax statue.

 

San Francisco. Part Two.

June 10-16

 

Chinatown’s entrance

Jack Kerouac’s street (author of On the Road)

After returning from Yosemite National Park, we checked back into the Park Hotel on Union Square. There was some big misunderstanding among the CS people regarding who was sharing room with who, but that is over and not worth dwelling upon. The next morning, we were going for a bus tour organized for the Asian participants of the Apple conference. Among the stops were Stanford University, the twin peaks and Pier 39 at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Stanford University

Indeed the world is a small place. Who would have thought that I’d run into Watson. He was a close friend of mine back in Fairfield Primary - we were friends from BB. He was here for the Apple conference too and was on the other bus. We met after alighting from the bus at Stanford. Some of us were starving so we left Stanford in search for food…

The road that leads to Stanford.. Adds on to the Mexican/Spanish flavor.

Brunch included a gyro and Turkish coffee!!! Reminds me of my dear Ithaca pals!

We headed to the twin peaks of San Francisco, which are two little peaks on the top of a hill that overlooks most of the city area, with a view of the Bay area and the Golden Gate Bridge. Too bad it was pretty cloudy, and very very windy, which made it really cold and unbearable to leave the warmth of the bus. From the peaks, you can’t really see the typical San Franciscan architecture or the steep gradients. The city is pretty flat though.

It was really windy up there.. Shannon, me, Luana, Faith, May, Mel and Erwin, all friends from NTU Communication Studies here for the Apple conference.

Ripe strawberries and chocolate dip

Cherries and tomatoes..

From Pier 39, you can look across at Alcatraz Island

Where sea lions gather to bask in the sun

Fisherman’s Wharf was way crowded. We stopped for a quick one just to have a look at the area. It’s very touristy and most things are quite unreasonably priced too. Didn’t stay too long here, but we came back a few days later. The next stop was Fort Mason - the start of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Erwin, May, Mel and me at Golden Gate Bridge

The next five days were spent attending some bits of the Apple conference (which was actually more suitable for engineers since most of it was dealing with software and programming), shopping, eating, visiting Alcatraz Island and more.

Victorian architecture

Vintage stores at Haight-Ashbury are great treasure troves!

Watching Krispy Kreme glazed donuts in action…

This Krispy Kreme was right next to In-N-Out Burger, where we had dinner. They have amazing fries that are fresh and crisp.

Yosemite National Park

June 7-8

After lunch, we drove eastwards to Yosemite in two rented cars. A few wrong turns later, I took over the giving of directions. We just couldn’t afford to waste too much time if we wanted to reach before it turned dark. We had earlier stopped at the supermarket to buy bread, fruits and water, and were pretty well-stocked.

The journey took longer than expected; we stopped for dinner at Panda Express. By the time we reached Yosemite, it was already dark and the roads, though not treacherous, were still pretty tricky at some parts.

Shannon had made a booking at Yosemite Bug, a rustic log cabin joint just outside the Park. Turned out our cabin was isolated from the main area so it was just the eight of us in that one cabin and no one else near us. We had some trouble unlocking the cabin because we were given the wrong keys. An arduous drive back to the reception to get the correct set of keys; the roads were especially narrow and the sharp bends required some skill.

We were pleasantly surprised when we finally got into the cabin. It was very cozy, and was exactly how I’d imagined a typical American cabin to be. It had a well-equipped kitchen and for a while, I thought we should have extended beyond two nights. The bathroom was another story altogether.

The next morning, we headed out early and it was very chilly. My brush with nature has been minimal at best. I remember a trip to Taman Negara with my dad and his students when I was in Primary Five or so.

And the little of Ithaca and Florida’s Everglades National Park that I’ve seen earlier.. It really isn’t much to boast about. And it definitely did not prepare me for what I was about to see at Yosemite. About half an hour into Yosemite, and all you get to see are rolling hills and deep valleys. We came by the El Capitan and decided to park the car and get out for some photos.

El Capitan

First group photo of many to come..

Giant sequoias 

Home cooked pasta at our log cabin  

Group photo before driving back to SF.

Washing the car on the way back to SF.

Yosemite is very beautiful, definitely a must-go!

30 weeks in the US. 30 down.

I interrupt my chronological travel entries –

So finally it’s time for me to bid adieu to the US. It’s been 30 splendid weeks and I couldn’t have asked for more. Oh of course, saying goodbye to the US in New York is never the easiest thing to do. One can never say goodbye to New York. It would have been easier if I was departing from LA or Miami maybe.

But it is time for me to go home. Home to my family and friends where life can return to normal. Home-cooked meals prepared by my parents; coffee, dinners and ice-cream and much more with dearly missed friends. I can finally sleep in my own bed again, stop living out of a suitcase, and just feel comfortable in an environment that I know so well.

No more junk food, no more burgers, no more sandwiches, no more fast food, no more pizza, no more fries, no more hot dogs. Sadly, no more Abercrombie and Fitch, no more Cold Stone ice-cream, no more Broadway, no more adorable ang moh children, and no more cheap Ben & Jerry’s.

My flight leaves Ithaca in about six hours and I will be arriving at Changi Airport Terminal One on Thursday at 12:55 a.m. on Northwest 5. Yes, a coincidence that I’m arriving in time for National Day.

I kind of have a list of cravings to fulfill. In no particular order:

1. Min Jiang Dim Sum at Goodwood Park Hotel
2. Claypot Crab Bee Hoon at Ang Mo Kio Avenue One
3. Nasi Lemak from Boon Lay
4. Carrot Cake (both white and black)
5. Calamari at Fish and Co.
6. Crystal Jade Fried Rice and Congee
7. Japanese food at Sushi Tei
8. Pasir Panjang Stingray
9. My parents’ broiled chicken wings
10. Lots of Asian food - phad thai, mee goreng, beef noodles, beef hor fun, hokkien mee, fish ball mee pok, indian rojak, chinese rojak, yong tau foo, ban mian

San Francisco. Part One.

June 6

So I took a flight to San Francisco. Woohoo, it was going to be three glorious weeks on the west coast. For those who didn’t know, I was attending the Apple Developers’ Conference in SF, so I was going to meet up with schoolmates from school. NTU sent about 15 of us over for the conference. I arrived in SF a day earlier than them.

Domestic flights in the US are nice because you don’t have to be at as high an altitude as international flights, so you get to see what’s below. Flying into the California skies, you start to see the mountains and the deserts below. Some of the mountain tops are still capped with snow!

As we were descending, there were these pink fields/ponds? I don’t know what they were, so tell me if you do. Nuclear waste dumping?

So pink that it makes me worry.

Took an airport shuttle from the airport to Union Square, where the hotel was. First impression of SF was that it’s a very cosmopolitan city. There were many Asians too. Traveling to all these cities in the US, it has become my natural reaction to look at other Asians, wonder what their story is like, where they came from. Lots of Filipinos in SF.

After checking in, I took a walk around Union Square. It’s a lively shopping area. You can practically find every brand here. Walked down Market Street.

United Nations Plaza

Singapore joins the UN in 1965!

Asian Art Museum

Orange flowers on a red carpet. Hmmm, isn’t it strangely familiar? 

Civic Center, if I remember correctly.

San Francisco has quite a number of homeless people though, especially along Market Street. Most of them are old African-Americans, and I have reason to believe that some of them are mentally disturbed. Throughout our time in SF, we came across many who mumbled to themselves or did weird things on the streets.

San Francisco has the best weather I’ve experienced though. Clear sunny skies with low humidity in the day, and cool (though sometimes chilly) at night. I love SF’s climate.

The next day, I was using the internet down in the hotel’s lobby when I heard the distant sounds of Singlish. Definitely recognizable from a mile off, I got up from my seat and peered into the reception area. True enough, there was Luana and Faith who just arrived. I was waiting for them because we were going to drive to Yosemite for two days. Eventually the rest arrived. There were Yanzhao, Kangli, Kevin, Janus, Faith and Luana from Year Two; Shannon, May, Erwin and a bunch of others from Year One, and Mel from Year Four. It was so nice to meet them again, after three weeks with accountants! I was glad to be among other communication students. HAHA.

After everyone was settled in, we had lunch at a Vietnamese place in Chinatown. We packed a separate bag for Yosemite, collected two cars that we rented and off we were to Yosemite - a supposedly three to four hours drive from SF.

Boston.

June 3-5

We checked out of the Manhattan Inn Hostel and took the subway to Chinatown, where we were going to catch the 9 a.m. Fung Wah bus to Boston. It was not fun trudging through the streets of Chinatown with our bags. We walked about five blocks from the subway, which is normally fine without bags. Anyway, these Chinatown buses are operated by Chinese immigrants, for half the price of what Greyhound would cost. But their buses are of the same standard, if not better. Clean and not as crowded, for $15.

We pulled into Boston’s South Station bus terminal within 3-4 hours. For the Boston leg of my travel, I was just going to be a lazy tourist and depend on Yeh Yang. He did spend four months here as an exchange student at Bentley College, so he knows the area well, or so we thought. From the bus terminal, we took the T - the underground railway - to Fenway, which is where our hostel was.

Boston was cold. Surprisingly cold. New York was really warm while we were there, and we expected Boston to be the same, but apparently the day we arrived in Boston, the temperatures plunged. It was covered with mist that hung low over the tops of buildings. The hostel was pretty nice. It houses Boston University students so each room had a bathroom, and individual beds, and a study desk.

We took a walk, passing Boston University and settled for lunch at a burrito cafe. After that, we walked towards Newbury Street. It’s the main shopping area. According to Yeh Yang, the shops are in a way, arranged in order of their brand value. On one side of the street are affordable brands, while on the other side are higher-end brands.

Rugby Ralph Lauren, one of only nine stores in the US.

Copley Square

Trinity Church

Boston Public Library

Prudential Center is Boston’s tallest building

Inside the shopping area of Prudential Center

Dessert at Finale - pure indulgence. Too bad I’m not a dessert person.

Theater District

We passed a theater and it was the Boston production of The Light in the Piazza. Having never heard of this musical before, we peered into the theater, checking out what was going on. There was this guy standing outside the theater smoking and he asked us if we were interested in free tickets to the show. He said he worked for the theater and he had tickets but wasn’t going to use them. We were thinking, “Why not? Free tickets to a musical and we didn’t have much to do anyway.”

The musical was SO bad. The dialogue was SO lame, the songs weren’t nice, and the story line was terrible. And mind you, I later found out that this particular musical had won six Tony Awards and had a one-year run on Broadway. So, nothing comes free. We sacrificed time and energy to sit through that musical.

What made the night worse was that I encountered snobbish Bostonians. Yeh Yang had earlier said that in Boston, dress code was important. Some places required men to be dressed in pants and dress shoes, and didn’t allow men dressed in jeans and sneakers to enter. I was in jeans and sneakers, but seriously.. This was a musical in Boston, and we came without prior notice that we were going to attend one. I would dress up if I was in New York maybe, but Boston? I didn’t think we were dressed inappropriately.

As I was walking out of the theater, two ladies behind me were talking about us, obviously. I overheard them saying that we looked as if we just walked in from the streets, which IS true, but there was such a rude message in the way she said it. She said anyone could have walked in from the streets and attended a musical. For your info, you don’t have to be well-dressed to appreciate a musical. And dressing up doesn’t give you the right to judge or criticize others. I mean, come on, there was a guy dressed in sweatpants and these ladies were making a fuss about us? Shallow snobs.

The next morning, we left for Quincy Market, which was a really nice area, with a variety of shops and eating places. It was raining pretty heavily though, so that made walking around quite a bother.

New England Clam Chowder 

The mist was thicker than the day before and now with the rain, it just made everything more gloomy. The area, however, had very rich history as one of the main British colonies in the New World. Also pretty significant in the Civil War and independence era. New England architecture - very old school red brick type.

Holocaust memorial

The glass structure was printed with the words of Holocaust victims, survivors and their families recalling the painful days.

Serial numbers of the prisoners imprinted on the memorial.

Very interesting road, decorated with banana skins and trash.

 

Boston Common

An ice rink during winter, now a pond. 

At the Beacon Hill neighborhood, there are lots of nice houses, very upmarket houses where the rich people live. I had a good impression of the people here, because even though they are rich, some I passed on the street smiled and said hi while walking their dogs. Boston is associated with “old money”,  and I think this area is where they live. We were looking for Acorn Street, which according to Lonely Planet, is the most photographed street in America. It’s a quiet traditional back alley, though I don’t understand what’s the significance behind it. It’s just a quiet grandeur I guess. The houses have very nice windows though.

We did a little window shopping, I can’t remember what that area is called. Had a sour cream cheese and herb pretzel at Seattle’s Best while chatting for a little bit. Finally settled at a Taiwan eatery for dinner. We ordered quite a bit of food for the two of us - beef noodle, soya sauce chicken and vege. It was a satisfying dinner, one of the better Chinese food I’ve had.

My first time having kang kong in US.

Soya sauce chicken. Yummy.

Fenway Park - home of the Boston Red Sox

After walking around Fenway Park, we left for Harvard. It’s outside Boston, across the river in Cambridge. So happened that they were having their graduation rehearsal, so saw many of them in their gowns, with flip flops and shorts. Quite a funny sight. There were many parents walking around campus. Harvard is so lively, more buzz going around than in Boston.

John Harvard

All set up for the convocation ceremony.

Harvard students for a day, if only.

Charles River

We left Harvard and walked back to Boston along the river. Yeh Yang was going to meet up with his friend and collect his luggage. So his friend drove us back to Bentley where YY had left his bag. Nothing much except that the handle of his bag broke! It was quite a funny sight, though I felt bad for seeing it as something funny. Now he had to struggle with the bag all the way to the airport. It still is funny!

YY had a flight back to Singapore the next morning, while I was going back to New York for my flight to San Francisco. We said goodbye and I was on my way to the bus terminal to take the Chinatown bus back. The bus left Boston at 11 p.m., and I reached New York City at 3 a.m. or so. The plan was to take the subway from Chinatown to JFK airport for my flight at 8 a.m. Being alone is not fun. Being alone on the New York subway could be dangerous. But it went well.

The thing about being in New York is that people generally mind their own business. The city is safer now compared to what it used to be. There are still many homeless people around, and on the subways overnight because they have nowhere else to be, so they hop on the subway and spend the night there. As long as you mind your own business, and don’t show that you are scared, they won’t mess with you. At least that’s what I tell myself. And of course, with God’s angels and blessings of guidance, one definitely feels safer.