June 15th 2014: Hiking in Southeastern Massachusetts

My mom was coming to visit today, so before going to the airport to pick her up, I decided to head to the south of Boston to do some hiking. I started off in Walpole, trying to find the Pinnacle Trail that has eluded me the past few times I tried to find it. This time, I found it at ~34 Plimpton Street, finally. I took a walk to the pinnacle itself, only to realize although there was a steep drop to the Neponset River below, the view was totally covered by trees. The only view of the river I got was down by the shore itself later.

From here, I headed to the Borderland State Park in Sharon to find the water bodies I failed to check out the last time I was here. The path I took here from the end of Gorwin Drive on my first leg is shown below.

Only the largest water body in this area was worth viewing.

From here, I headed to Mountain Street for the next leg of my journey. The path I took in this section is shown below in pink.

It was nice to walk through the open fields,

seeing the wildlife around,

and the water bodies here.

After leaving the state park, I headed into the town of Easton for more sightseeing, heading for a hike at the Flyaway Pond Management Area, where the path I took from the end of Picker Lane is shown below in pink.

Only the pool was worth looking at, and it wasn't in good shape either.

I visited a few other places in Easton including the Queset Garden beside the Queset House,

the Sunken Rose Garden remains near the Town Hall,

and the Father Peyton Center at Stonehill College.

From here, I decided to head into Brockton for a fried seafood lunch at McMenamy's Seafood.

I got the Lobster Pie (lobster meat baked with homemade seafood stuffing) and the Boston Combo Platter with Smelts and Calamari.

The Lobster Pie was delicious, while the smelts annoyed me a little at times with their bones, but overall, not too bad a fried meal.

I visited a few more places in Brockton before finally heading to the airport to pick my mom up.

Arnone Elementary School

Brockton District Court

Brockton Public Schools

BAT

Temple Adventiste de Brockton

Greater Generations Tabernacle Church

It's a good thing I left when I did, as my mom arrived soon after, and did not have to wait long before I arrived to pick her up. From here, we went to dinner at The Temple Bar in Cambridge. I've always wanted to try this place out every time I pass by because of how nice the place looked, but never had a chance till now.

For appetizers, we got the Crispy Soy Roasted Lamb (sesame beet puree, daikon and carrot salad), 

and the Spring Pea Soup (Smoked Pistachios, Chili Oil, Aged Serrano Ham).

Not only was the lamb dish pretty small, it was pretty salty as well. The soup was pretty salty as well.

Our main dishes were not much better. The Pan Seared Sea Scallops (Horseradish Potato Puree, Spring Peas and Tendrils, Grilled Raddichio) were okay I guess,

while the Roasted Bass (Bacon Stewed Cranberry Beans, Confit Fennel, Poblano Pepper Relish) was a little dry, and the beans were hard.

Thankfully, the dessert, the Pineapple Upside Down Polenta Cake (Rum Caramel, Coconut Sorbet), was pretty tasty.

Overall, pretty overpriced for semi-decent food. Not coming back again. Glad my mom is here for the coming few days though.

June 14th 2014: Almost Drowning While Scuba Diving

I had my first open water diving session to go to for my scuba diving certification today. We were to meet at the rest area on Route 128 North in Beverly, so I decided to grab some breakfast at the Depot Diner in town nearby. This place is pretty modern looking,

but the menu was pretty much standard breakfast fare. I went with a Hot Chocolate as always,

and a Chicago Omelette (Bacon, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes and Monterey jack cheese).

Not bad, but nothing amazing.

After breakfast, I headed back to the rest area to meet everyone else, whereupon we headed out to Stage Fort Park at 23 Hough Avenue in Gloucester,

where we were to do our diving from Cressy's Beach.

The water was cold, but our 7mm suits kept us warm enough I guess, and I was glad when we finally went diving after standing in the shallow waves for a bit, as I was starting to get a little seasick.

During our dive, everything was going perfectly fine, passing by occasional hermit crabs scuttling along the ocean floor, when I suddenly felt like I was not getting enough air from my regulator. I started panicking, as I knew there wasn't anything wrong with my tank, and if I was not getting enough air from it, trying to figure it out was not going to help. I had to surface. It was then I realized how far the water surface was from where we were, 20 feet below. I'm just glad I managed to get to the top in the end, and even then, I had trouble breathing. I threw off everything I had, even my mask, which I ended up losing, and only eventually got back my normal breathing after calming down. I could not continue, and my instructor had to drag me back to the shore. 

On the shore, my instructor told me I had to come back another week to continue. He put it down to the inefficient way in which I was kicking, which caused me to become exhausted, which seemed a little strange as I did not feel tired in any sense before the action actually happened. Deeply disappointed in myself, I brought all the stuff back to the shop in Chelmsford, where another instructor told me that I had had a panic attack, and that I was not suitable for scuba diving as it might happen under more dangerous situations, and most divers die because of this occurring. Oh well. I'm just really glad I had the opportunity to experience what scuba diving is all about, which is what half the people in this world will never venture to experience. 1 more item off my bucket list.

After leaving the shop, I decided to not waste the rest of my day, heading first to Burlington to have lunch at Romano's Macaroni Grill, where I had a $25 gift card to use.

Pretty nice decor, as can be expected from this mid level dining chain.

The food was just alright though, nothing amazing. I got the Braised Pork Pappardelle (roasted pulled pork, pappardelle, fennel, tomatoes, hunter's sauce) for my main dish,

and the Lemon Passion (Citrus Cake, lemon curd, whipped cream) for dessert.

Can't expect more from a chain restaurant.

After lunch, it was on to hiking in Woburn on the Battle Road Conservation Area, where I entered on the Briscoe Street side, the path I took being shown below in pink.

There were no views to be had here though, and I had to thrash a little to get out onto Cambridge Road, from which I decided to walk the road all the way back to my car.

From here, it was on to Lexington for more hiking there. First, Willard's Woods, where the path I took from North Street is shown below in pink.

The area around the pond here was pretty overgrown though.

The next place was the Turning Mill Pond area,

The trailhead on Tidd Circle is partly hidden between 2 private properties, and the only hint to it was the two rows of mini Christmas trees lining the path. Heading down to the pond here, it wasn't much to look at either.

 Next, it was on to Lower Vine Brook, the path I took from the end of Utica Street being shown below in pink.

Yet again, not much to see here.

My last hike was at the Sutherland Woods, which was even more disappointing as I had to cross a playground where kids were playing a baseball game with parents watching, and the paths to the swamplike mini ponds were overgrown as well. The path I took from the end of Sutherland Road is shown below in pink.

Finally done with hiking for the day, I decided to head to Concord, where I had a dinner meeting with colleagues from work at Asian Gourmet, a Taiwanese restaurant in town. I arrived a little early to realize that Papa Razzi, which I have been to a long time ago, was right next door, so I decided to head in to get some dessert, going with the Frutta al Forno (oak-fired fresh fruits with cinnamon, brown sugar & vanilla gelato).

Pretty good actually, the vanilla dampening the cinnamon taste that I'm not too much a fan of.

I headed next door just as everyone else arrived, and we did not waste any time in ordering, getting several Taiwanese dishes, namely the Pan Fried Pork Buns, the Spicy Noodles in Soup with Beef Sirloin, the Oyster Pancake, the Salt and Pepper Fried Chicken,

the Noodles with Beef and Seasonal Vegetables in Sha Cha Sauce,

the Sauteed Water Spinach, the Sliced Beef Wrapped in Scallion Pancake,

the Sweet and Sour Chicken,

the Sautéed Shanghai Bok Choy,

the Steamed Whole Fish with Scallion

 and the House Special Crispy Duck.

Of the food, I enjoyed the oyster pancake and the duck the most, while the fish was fresh as well. The only disappointment was the salt and pepper chicken, which was hard and had bones in it.

After dinner, I headed over to my friend's place in Acton for a bit and could not stop eating their pistachios, but eventually we had to call it a night. I'm just glad I did not die scuba diving today. Probably not doing it again.