August 7th 2012: Dinner at New Shanghai Chinese Restaurant, Boston

Today after work, I had a meetup event at New Shanghai Restaurant in Boston. Leaving work a little early, I decided to do some sightseeing in Brookline, heading first to the Lost Pond Sanctuary at the junction of Arlington Road and Craftsland Road.

The route I took while here to get to Lost Pond is shown below in pink.

The pond itself wasn't much to look at.

There was nothing much else to see here at this conservation area except for a walk in the woods.

The next place I went to was the Skyline Park, which was really nearby on Newton Street and Nelson Drive. This place is the newest park in Brookline, built on top of an old landfill. The views from the top here, where there is a soccer field and a walking path, are pretty serene.

From here, I decided it was time to head into Boston, heading to Washington Street to find parking there. After parking, I passed by the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and the Tufts Medical Center along the way.

Cathedral of the Holy Cross

Tufts Medical Center

Boston Skyline from Washington Street

The restaurant is right across the street from Golden Leaf Karaoke. I never realized that this place had a pagoda at the top of the building.

Golden Leaf Karaoke

By the time I entered the restaurant, almost everyone was there already. We took some time to order our food, not being able to decide on what to get, but eventually we ordered several dishes, all of which were pretty good, although still typical compared to the other restaurants in Chinatown. Pictures of them follow.

Scallion Pancake

Yu Hsiang Eggplant

Szechuan Twice Cooked Pork Belly

Sesame Chicken and Beef with Snow Peas

Soup Dumplings

Bok Choy with Mushrooms

Crispy Whole Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Salt and Pepper Calamari

By the time dinner was over, it was already pretty late, so I decided to take off and walk back to my car. I decided to try out my new camera for night pictures, and it was actually pretty decent compared to my old camera.

Teddy Bear Statue outside Floating Hospital for Children

Tufts Medical Center at night

The Metropolitan

With that I headed home for the day, glad I got my new camera.

August 6th 2012: Dinner at Joco's Bar, Waltham

Today after work, I initially arranged with my friend to have dinner in Waltham at Habanero's Mexican Kitchen, but I realized that it is closed on Mondays only when I got there, so as a backup plan, we went to Joco's Bar which was just a few stores away down the street, where I had a deal for $20. This bar is nothing to speak of, being really small, and having almost no customers on a Monday night. It was 25 cent wings tonight, so we decided to get 12 of them, and while I ordered the Beef Croquette appetizer and she got the Prosciutto and Mozzarella Sandwich, all of which were fried, and okay I guess, with the croquettes being a little interesting, tasting much better with the mustard sauce provided with it. My friend did not really like the fries either, mainly because they were cut straight from the potato with skins and all, which was fine by me actually.

Prosciutto and Mozzarella Sandwich

Beef Croquettes

25 cent wings

After dinner we headed back to my friend's place for some leftover cake, and then we called it a night.

Oh well, we'll go to Habanero's another night then.

August 5th 2012: Sightseeing in Revere before the Maine Lobster Festival

Today, I had initially planned to do a sea kayaking lesson, but it was cancelled at the last minute. My backup plan was to go into the town of Salem, where I had 3 Livingsocial deals to use. Along the way, I decided to stop by in Revere to do some sightseeing there.  

Revere Police Department

While heading to the Revere Beach, I happened to pass by the Suffolk Downs horse racecourse in Boston, so I decided to stop for a while and visit it, as I have never been at a racecourse before.

Suffolk Downs

Betting Booths

The scoreboard

The racecourse

My final destination was the northernmost end of Revere Beach, which I did not visit the last time I was here, during the Revere Sandsculpting Festival. Views of the beach at low tide follow.

Revere Beach at low tide

Lone Chair at the beach

I observed several interesting things while walking along the beach, firstly a few ladies going far out along the shallow shoreline to dig up clams, and seagulls doing the same, carrying their precious cargo in their beaks and dropping them onto the beach below from a height to break them. One bird actually got a huge crab, while another got a huge clam. What was funny was that the seagull with the clam got distracted by my presence, and while he was looking at me, the other bird in the picture snatched his prize away from him.

Lady digging for clams

Seagull dropping a clam

Kite in the Sky

Seagull with large clam

Seagull with crab

Along the way to the northernmost edge of Revere Beach, I realized that the last day of the Maine Lobster Festival, so I quickly called up my friend who lived nearby if he wanted to join me as well, and he did.

General Edwards Bridge

Northernmost End of Revere Beach

With that, I headed into Malden to pick my friend up, and we went and had an enjoyable day in Rockland Maine, where the Festival was held.