March 7th 2015: Sightseeing Amid Piles of Snow

I started out early this morning in the town of Beverly, heading to Omelette Headquarters, a small diner at 342 Rantoul Street.

Despite its name, the list of omelettes failed to perk my interest at all, although I still went with the Meat Lovers (tips, ham, bacon, sausage and mozzarella cheese)

And a Hot Chocolate, as always.

The omelette itself wasn't too bad, although I really expected much more, because of the restaurant name. Oh well.

From here, it was time to start my sightseeing for the day in town,

Second Congregational Church

Cornerstone Church

Then Wenham,

Old Wenham Church, 8 Dodges Row

Buker School

And finally Topsfield.

Steward School

Topsfield Town Library

St. Rose of Lima Church

Institution for Savings, 5 Main Street

Post Office

Trinity Episcopal Church

From here, I headed into Swampscott for my next meal at the Ocean House Cafe, which is actually more a surf shop than a cafe, looking out on King's Beach.

With my deal, I got a Ocean House Breakfast Bar (raw Cashew, coconut flakes, vegan Chocolate chips, oatmeal, local Maple syrup, cinnamon), a Peanut Butter Monster Cookie,

An Iggy's Croissant

And The Green Room Juice (Kale, celery, cucumber, lemon, parsley, green apple).

Every was way too healthy for my liking, tasting Weird at best. At least I got more than my day's serving of vegetables, or so I think.

More eating was to come after at Zoe's in Cambridge, where I had a meetup brunch event. With all the food that Was already in my Stomach, I went with something small, getting the Crunchy French Toast (Classic French Toast dipped in a special blend of cereal and nuts. Served with 100% pure maple syrup).

My friends got the Smoked Salmon Benedict (Two dropped eggs with Smoked salmon, grilled tomatoes topped with hollandaise sauce on and English muffin served with homefries),

The Potato Scramble (3 eggs scrambled with homefries, onions, peppers, gardenburger sausage)

And the Breakfast Burrito (3 eggs scrambled with jalapeños, onions, Sausage wrapped in a flour tortilla and topped with melted Cheddar and Jack cheese, served with homefries and salsa),

All of which looked better than my toast, and probably tasted better. My toast wasn't even Crunchy, but it was alright I guess. Overall, even though this place was crowded with people, I still think there are better brunch places around.

After brunch, it was on to yet another meal with friends at Brother's Restaurant in Brookline, which has taken the place of Khayyam Restaurant, which I have been to in the past.

Here, I decided to go with the Lamb Kabob  (Marinated with Spices Herbs Lamb or Chicken. Served with Rice, Salad, and Pita Bread),

while my friends got the Plain Waffle with Fresh Fruit and Whipped Cream,

the Challah French Toast with Fresh Fruit and Whipped Cream and the Corned Pepper Beef Hash.

The food wasn't too bad, especially the lamb and the hash, but overall, nothing amazing.

From here, it was on to Boston to watch the Hong Kong movie "12 Golden Ducks" at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 and RPX with my other friends.

We were a little early, so we walked around Landmark Center for a bit before heading to the theater.

I have to say, although the movie had its funny bits and all the famous movie stars, it was a little too outrageous at times, and overall I did not really like the experience. My feeling exhausted from the events of the day did not help the situation either.

A few of us headed to dinner at Hancock's, an upscale hotel restaurant located within the Boston Marriott Quincy hotel.

By the time we arrived, my other friends had already almost finished their Crispy Salt and Pepper Fried Point Judith Calamari (Bell Peppers, Jalapeños, Garlic Butter, Marinara) appetizer, although I still managed to get a bite of whatever was left over. Not bad.

This place has all you can eat Prime Rib, which is what everyone at the table got.

The cut that we all got was really huge, but somehow I managed to get through mine, it tasting really excellent and tender, with my friends even getting seconds to take home.

The night was not at an end yet though, with dessert being at Yocha in town.
This time, I got the Red Raider (RED BEAN and SESAME SOUP W/ PEANUT MOCHI BALLS & TOFU PUDDING),

while my friends got the Frozen Yogurt

and the Strawberry Madness (STRAWBERRY PUREE, DICED STRAWBERRIES, SLICED BANANAS W/ TAPIOCA and TOFU PUDDING).

I especially liked the mochi balls, with the peanut filling being so creamy. A pity that there were only 2 in my bowl.

With that, we called it a day, and somehow I made it home despite feeling extremely exhausted. Not too sure if I want to go out tomorrow.

September 7th 2013: Learning Fencing in Wilmington

Today, I had an appointment to learn fencing in the morning at Vivo Fencing Club, located in the town of Wilmington. I decided to get some breakfast first in the city of Lowell at Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus, a small nice looking cafe located in downtown Lowell.

For food, I decided to get a small Hot Chocolate and the Spicy Capitalist Panini (Ham, swiss lettuce, tomato and spicy mustard), which was just alright I guess.

I managed to visit two other places in town

Holy Trinity Polish Church

Kerouac Park, 75 Bridge Street

and Tewksbury

9/11 Memorial

before finally having to head to Wilmington for my class. The place itself is a small gymlike place located in an industrial office space.

When everyone arrived, our instructor talked to us about our attire, that we should be wearing long pants (I was wearing shorts), and showed us our suits and masks,

as well as the swords themselves, which are electrically wired to register a light when it hits a target.

He then showed us how to hold the sword properly, like so below.

Next, we warmed up for a bit, running around the gym and doing certain stretching exercises before he suited us all up, giving us all breast plates as well.

After suiting up, it was time to start learning how to fence, like how to stand, move forward and backward, and lunge in attack.

After giving us swords, it was time for target practice.

After a few rounds of using correct stance to advance or lunge to attack the target, our instructor showed us the various types of parrying and reposing to attack.

Finally, it was time for the real thing. As there were not enough people, I ended up fighting a kid who apparently was more experienced than me, but I still managed to win him easily, partly because of my longer reach.

I got to fight another kid after that, and won easily again. This time, my instructor paired me up with the most experienced fencer today, and although I won the first round, he beat me easily the next round after figuring me out. I guess I still have more to learn.

After the class, I rushed to the town of Ipswich, where there was supposed to be an equestrian event, the Jumper Classic, but apparently it got canceled a few days ago due to a lack of riders, and I only found out when I arrived and did not see any crowds at all.

Frustrated at all my wasted time, I decided to head westwards to the town of Andover for lunch, passing by an old Polish Church converted to condominiums in town at 28 Topsfield Road,

and the Institute for Savings in town,

passing by the towns of Topsfield

Town Common,

High Street and Main Street

Town Hall, 8 West Common Street

Proctor Elementary School

Congregational Church of Topsfield

and North Andover

First United Methodist Church

before finally reaching the Boston King Cafe in Andover. This place is a really nicely decorated cafe,

but I could not say the same for the food I got here. The Honeydew Smoothie tasted horrible,

while the Corned Beef Hash was just average as well.

After my okay lunch, I headed out to check out the Andover Day festival, which I had no idea was going on today.

I also visited the Andover Historical Society, which happened to be having an exhibition on clothing in the 19th and 20th centuries.

From here, I went to Central Park, located on the corner of Bartlet Street and Chestnut Street, where there were a lot of people having fun under the sun.

Other places I visited today before going to get my second lunch at the Pizza Connection in town follow.

Christ Church

Public Safety Department

St. Augustine Church

Memorial Hall Library

Andover Town House,

20 Main Street

Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Free Christian Church

South Church in Andover

Nathan Frye House

Stevens Street Dam, ~5 Stevens Street

First Church of Christ, Scientist

Kiley Law Group

Balmoral Street Dam,

Riverina Road near Haverhill Street

Wood Memorial Park,

Lowell Street and North Main Street

Andover Baptist Church

I got the Big Mack Pizza from the small takeout place, consisting of (Thousand Islands Dressing, Hamburger and Extra Cheese, Topped With Cold Lettuce and Tomato), which was actually pretty good and interesting.

I also finished exploring the Phillips Academy, which I was unable to do so the last time I was here.

While here, I managed to visit the Addison Gallery of American Art, a pretty nice art collection to say the least. I wasn't allowed to take pictures, but managed to sneak some in nonetheless.

The last thing I did for the day was hike at the Moncrieff Cochran Sanctuary, located at the end of Chapel Avenue within the Phillips Academy campus. The path I took to view the various water bodies here is shown below in pink.

Pictures of the water bodies, which were just okay I guess, are shown below.

I don't know why, but even though the walk was pretty easy, I was exhausted by the time I left the place. I guess fencing does really zap one's energy. With that, I called it a night, and headed back into Lowell to get dinner at Hookslide Kelly's, a typical bar restaurant in the downtown area. There was hardly anyone in the bar when I arrived.

The menu was totally different and much more limited than what I saw online as well, so I ended up ordering just appetizers to use my Groupon at this place, getting the Chicken HSK Quesadillas (Melted Colby Cheddar, monterey jack cheeses tucked inside flour tortilla served with sour cream and salsa), Wing Dings (bone in wing sections battered and fried golden brown) and the Jalapeno Poppers (crisp jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese and breaded with panko crumbs).

Of the food I ordered, only the quesadillas were pretty good, while the rest was just so-so. Definitely not coming back here again. With that, my somewhat okay day of sightseeing came to an end. I definitely look forward to another fencing lesson next weekend.