December 28th 2013: Watching the Sunset from Deer Island, Boston

This morning, I got out pretty late after a long night of driving back from Quebec, Canada. My first destination was for some food at Fuzzy's Cafe, which I thought was a brunch place at 100 Main Street in the town of Fitchburg, but it turned out to be a side cafe in the Fitchburg Commuter Rail train station.

With my deal, I decided to get a Bacon Cheeseburger, which came with french fries, but it was so dry that I lost my appetite for it.

I spent most of the day before lunch to visit several frozen water bodies in Fitchburg.

Putnam Pond,

John Fitch Highway and Pearl Hill Road

Green's Pond, 99 Ashby State Road

Nichols Pond, 57 Burbank Street

Saima Pond, 41 Scott Road

Scott Reservoir,
Ashby West Road and Thurston Road

McTaggart's Pond, 288 Sanborn Street

James Pond,

366 5th Massachusetts Turnpike

Sawmill Pond,
George Stanton Highway and Princeton Road

The Overlook Reservoir at the end of Flat Rock Road was of special note, with a lone standpipe standing out of the water.

At this point, my friend called to tell me that he was coming in from NYC to Boston later in the evening, so I decided to head to the town of Woburn for some lunch at Zaika Indian Bistro, an Indian place in town.

Everyone else in the place was having the lunch buffet, but I had a coupon in hand, so I proceeded to order a la carte.

I got a glass of Mango Lassi,

the Dal Soup (Spicy hot soup made with home grown lentils and spices),

the Dahi Bala (Lentil dumplings in tempered yogurt drizzled with tamarind chutney)

and the Lamb Sali Boti (Parsi dish of lamb with tomatoes, onions, herbs and spices).

I liked the spiciness of the soup, and the yogurt sauce for the appetizer. The lamb curry had a sweet taste to it, which made me want to eat it all, but I had to control myself as there was more to come for dinner with my friends in a short while. Yet another good Indian cuisine experience for me.

From here, I still had some time before my friend arrived, so I decided to head to Winthrop to do some sightseeing as the sun set, passing by Revere along the way.

887 Winthrop Avenue

Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church,

Webster Street and Winthrop Avenue

 The last time I was here, the town was shrouded in fog, but thankfully, the weather was just right, and I managed to take a picture while driving of Winthrop Beach.

I headed first to Coughlin Park at Bay View Avenue and Triton Avenue, where the sun was just setting behind the Boston skyline.

I've also realized that this is the perfect place to watch airplanes coming in to land at the Boston Logan Airport, as they fly directly overhead. Here are several pictures I took.

From here, it was on to Deer Island, which is actually part of Boston, although it is totally separated from the main part. I tried to drive around the island, but was blocked by a huge gate.

After parking at the parking area, the path I took while here to capture the setting sun is shown below in pink.

I have to say, this is probably the best place to watch the sunset in the Boston area.

I took pictures of the water treatment plant, especially the grenade looking digesters,

and some surrounding structures in the water.

Long Island Head Light

Deer Island Light

Nixes Mate

Boston Harbor Lighthouse

The view of the night time Boston skyline was pretty decent too.

I thought I would be able to finish walking this place by nightfall, but I ended up being lost a little in the dark, but thankfully I managed to find my way back to my car eventually.

I was to meet my friends at Seoul Soulongtang, a new Korean restaurant in the Allston area at 1245 Commonwealth Avenue, and thankfully I was able to make it there on time.

After seating ourselves in the decently decorated place, we ordered our food, with me getting the Doganitang (white ox-bone broth with tendon, thin wheat flour noodles),

while my friends got the Soulongtang (with brisket and marrow) and the Bulgogi (Grilled thinly sliced rib eye steak marinated with soy sauce).

The soup itself was pretty flavorless, although it was already stated that salt and pepper had to be added to taste, but otherwise it was actually full of beef bone flavor, and the tendons were really tender as well. The bulgogi was seasoned exceptionally well, and I think it is the best one I have had so far. The side dishes

were a bit disappointing though, but apparently I guess they are more authentic than the ones served at other restaurants.

By the time we were done, people were starting to wait in line to get into the restaurant. Pretty popular already I see.

From here, we headed nearby to the Shanghai Social Club for drinks. Like the last time I was here, the place was pretty much void of people, although it was still a little early in the night. I decided to try the Lion's Dance (Flor de Cana Grand Reserve Rum, Lillet Blanc, Cointreau, Regan's Orange Bitters) cocktail, which was horrible in taste to me, so I did not even drink half of it.

With that, I brought my NYC friend home with me for the night. We watched the Michigan-Kansas State Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl football game, which Michigan unfortunately lost because the main quarterback was injured. What a sucky year for Michigan football.