Spring Break '08 Pt. 1 - Boston

Dead tired from rushing pre-break assignments, I set off for NYC the first Saturday morning at 7am (!) to catch the Chinatown bus to Boston. The day started with a hitch. One of our friends cancelled on going that very day because she fell very sick, and thanks to my tardiness, my friend Camille and I missed the train that we had wanted to take (We were supposed to meet another friend, Flavia, on the train because she catches it at the next stop. And she didn't have a phone!). Thankfully, everything worked out, as we got to Chinatown on time and Flavia was waiting for us there. Phew! Would have felt too guilty otherwise!

We stayed in this International Hostel in Boston. It was communal, and I shared a room with 5 other guys, most of whom were mature figures, which it seemed as if they were actually living there quasi-permanently, probably because they can't afford housing or something.

First stop after we dropped our bags was Cambridge, home of Harvard.

Everyone seemed to be taking pictures with their hands rubbing the foot of this statue guy located on the Harvard campus, so I figured, "when in Rome..." and all. It must be some sort of a tradition. Gained a few IQ points hopefully!

Harvard Square, the hangout area next to Harvard (yeah, duh, i know) was very nice. It had the very relaxing, laid-back, student-y vibe of Union Square, except even more so because it is not as crowded as Union Sq.

Boston is really stuffed full of tertiary institutions. We wanted to visit MIT but didn't have the time, but another big school is Boston University, which has a great campus stretched along the Charles River. Very scenic.

Pretty art on exterior walls of houses.

Bostonian architecture, which as is often the case in the US, exhibits a lot of colonial or European influences (talking out of my ass here!)

The Charles River. Incidentally, though Boston temperatures are pretty similar to NYC, it's much colder because of the strong winds!

The first night in Boston, we went to this seafood restaurant called No Name. After all, Boston is home of lobsters and what not.

The rather nondescript entrance to No Name. Camille's guidebook listed three reputed seafood eateries. We decided on this one beause it got only $$$ out of $$$$$, the lowest of the three. Heh.

So after the meal, which was ok to me, though they loved it, we went to pay the bill of course. I began chatting with the guy at the counter, and he asked me where I was from. "Singapore", I said. "Oh," he replied in a tone which made it obvious he recognised the place, which was a bit of a surprise to me, because who would know our little dot, right? "Do you know this guy? He comes here sometimes to eat," he continued, pointing me to this photo below.

Why, it's PM Lee Hsien Loong (Blurred picture of a picture. But click to enlarge)! Lol. I said, "yeah of course. He's our prime minister." Apparently, because Lee's son goes to MIT, whenever Lee comes to Boston to visit his son, they come here for their meals! And the guy told me they'd occupy a huge portion or the entire floor (it has two. they'd occupy the smaller of the two) of the restaurant ((very celeb-like indeed) and Lee would have guards standing around. Lol.
I wonder why they choose to go there instead of the more posh ones. Maybe because he can't "claim" the expense.

Random shot. Wonder why MySpace never quite took off in Singapore.

Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. The problem with traveling with girls (or at least girls who don't give a shit about sports) is that I had to go to these places alone!

Camille and me with our bagels, coloured green for St. Patrick's Day.

Broadcast media of the devil.

Mr. Lamp Post looking sharp.

Ok, a quick googling reveals that the signs refer to Joseph Hooker, a famous US Civil War figure. But, still, LOL!

Et voila~ We left Boston on a Sunday night, taking the overnight bus to Montreal. Francophone state = chance to practice French! Or maybe not.