9 posts tagged “me”

Yesterday (which was just an hour ago) was my 23rd birthday - the beginning of the age when we are expected to suddenly go from college students to being grownups. How intimidating! Things have been going quite smoothly in my work life, and in the next few weeks I will make my final decision about which medical school I will be going to this fall. Maybe the continued schooling will give me an excuse to be a "student" for another few years :)

I had a chance to celebrate my birthday early with my family this week. We had a cake freshly decorated for us from the only Chinatown bakery that was still open at 8pm on a Sunday night, so I'm quite grateful that I got a cake at all haha. The decorator made me a bull out of whipped cream on top of the cake, since I was born in the year of the Ox. It was done quite well if I do say so myself - I really liked the cute chocolate accents :) I was originally tempted to make my own cake, but you never make your own birthday cake heh. The cake had a mixed fruit filling, and the sponge cake layers were soft. I wasn't terribly fond of the whipped topping, as it was more fluffy and marshmallow-y than I would have liked, but the flavors came together pretty well. My family and I enjoyed the cake with some freshly brewed aromatic white tea that my dad brought back from China this past week, mmm.

My birthday cake ox :)

On the actual day of my birthday, I went out with my boyfriend for some nice sushi at one of our favorite sushi joints in Boston: Shino Express. Unfortunately, we realized that in the time we had not gone, they had not only changed their name from Shino Express to Shino Newbury, but that they also dramatically raised prices. More startlingly, they changed all of their sushi from using regular white sushi rice to using some special kind of brown rice. That's right, they don't even carry white rice sushi anymore, and for this they are charging us extra. What happened to the Shino that used to be heaven for students because they had delicious sushi of high quality for a dirt cheap price in a casual setting? It seems like with this new brown rice sushi comes on the tail of Shino trying to remodel itself into a trendy spot on Newbury St. They've changed all their plates and dishes to look modern, but all I really want is the good ol' Shino sushi that was good to my tastebuds AND my wallet (or in this case, my boyfriend's wallet :). I honestly may not go back anymore, since the sushi is no longer priced competitively.

That said, the meal I had tonight was still as amazing as Shino's has always been. I didn't really notice the flavor of the brown rice. It might have been slightly more chewy, but it definitely was a subtle difference (grr, not one I'd want to pay for), which is good because I was so worried that brown rice would ruin the sushi experience. I had a regular salmon roll, a crispy eel roll (eel, avocado, cucumbers, flying fish roe, and topped with mayo and crispy tempura bits drizzled in unagi bbq sauce), and one of their specials, the Boston lobster roll (avocado cucumber roll topped with warm baked lobster mixed with chopped raw red onions in a wasabi butter sauce). The rolls were all amazing, with fresh and fatty fish that melted in my mouth. The lobster roll is one of my favorites because it has such a unique flavor - the wasabi butter sauce really brings together everything in that roll, and it really is a monster to behold with all that lobster! My boyfriend also got a shrimp tempura roll which he said was really good too. Mmm I really wish I could go back to the days when Shino's was cheaper...

Crispy eel roll and shrimp tempura roll

Boston lobster roll

After dinner we went to Cheesecake Factory for some dessert - the Godiva chocolate brownie sundae :) Deliciously rich and a perfect end to a wonderful birthday dinner. I never knew this, but apparently Edy's makes a special vanilla ice cream specifically for Cheesecake Factory to use in their desserts. I wonder what exactly is different about it...

Godiva chocolate brownie sundae

Thanks for a nice birthday dinner Greg! Gosh, I still can't believe I'm 23 already... time just passes so fast. There are so many things I'm looking forward to this year, and I'm also sad to be leaving Boston in just a few months. It really is a wonderful city filled with an endless array of amazing places for every taste. I am certain that the years I have spent here will be fond memories I carry with me forever.

Me and Greg

Last night my boyfriend and I went to Dali, a tapas bar located near Boston, to celebrate four years together. I had been dying to try a real tapas meal for the first time (aside from the appetizer I had with Reid at Bocado), and after reading all the stellar reviews for Dali, I was sold. Everyone mentioned how wonderful of a date place it was and how amazing the food was, so it sounded like the perfect restaurant for celebrating a special occasion. So during the day yesterday, I was browsing through Dali's online menu, trying to think about which dishes I wanted to try, and by the end of the day I have to say my mouth was watering with anticipation. Since tapas tend to be pricey ($5-10 for a small portion), we decided to limit our meal to 6 dishes. After comparing notes, we decided on 6 dishes that we were both interested in trying, and off we went towards Dali!

(disclaimer: I was unable to take any pictures at Dali, but just to give a little flavor of the night I have included a couple of pictures that I did not take)

I was able to get to Dali via public transportation, as there was a bus line that had a stop literally right outside Dali's front door. How convenient! The exterior of the restaurant was not very lavish, and actually made the place look very small (albeit quaint). I thought it was interesting that the entrance to the place was located at one corner of the restaurant, which made it a tight squeeze for patrons to get in and out of the place.

Dali's front door

Greg and I arrived at Dali at about 8:15pm, and waited another 10 minutes or so for a table to open up. The first thing you notice as you enter the restaurant is how dimly lit it is, and then you hear the loud and lively Spanish music, and the uproarious laughter of the patrons as they wined and dined. It was definitely a place with character. All the waiters and waitresses were dressed nicely in Spanish-influenced clothing, and they spoke Spanish to one another, which was also great. When we were ready to be seated, we were taken to the back of the restaurant, where it was cozy and full of other tables, but also romantic with its soft candlelight and tiled tables. Our waiter came to take our order, and I listened as Greg used his high school Spanish skills to order all of our dishes in Spanish (this is encouraged, apparently).

We started off with a glass of Sangria each, which was nice and fruity, although I'm not terribly fond of red wine, which is the dominant flavor in Sangria. I think I liked white wine Sangria better. Next time I might try the Cava Sangria that Dali offers (I believe it's champagne-based). A small bread basket came soon after, with a bit of garlic hummus for spreading. I'm not that big on hummus myself, but I thought it went well with the bread, which was crusty on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside (it would have made for great fondue-dipping bread).

Next came our first tapas dish: tortilla espanola, which is a cold tapas described as an egg/potato/onion omelette. In actuality, it was much more like a slice of a crust-less quiche, but with an equal ratio of eggs to potato to onion, and without cheese. I was really fond of this dish, as it reminded me of a Chinese breakfast item that I've eaten before. In any case, it was not cold, but rather just mildly warmed, and came topped with some soft tomatoes and red peppers, which went perfectly with the omelette, whose flavor was lightly salty... quite savory for something that only has eggs, potatoes, and onions in it. I also really liked the thin skin surrounding the slice, which was nicely browned and slightly crispy egg.

The second dish that came was costillas de vaca, which is beef short ribs in a Rioja wine sauce. This hot tapas is normally on the late night tapas menu, but we were surprised to find it available for dinner, and so we were definitely excited to try it. We got two big meaty pieces attached to 2 segments of rib bone, sitting in a lovely brown sauce with stewed vegetables. The beef itself was completely tender and falling off the bone, and well-marinated with a mixture whose wine flavor I could taste quite prominently. It was a great balance of salty, sweet, and tart. We also dipped our bread pieces into the wine sauce, and concluded that the sauce plus the stewed vegetables tasted kind of like beef stew, but the beef itself had that different flavor from being marinated.

After the first two dishes, the next 4 came out together, and we were tempted to try a little bit of each thing. Our second and last cold tapas dish was a patatas ali-oli, which is cubed potatoes in a homemade garlic/caper mayonnaise. The potatoes were boiled and cubed, then tossed in the described mayo dressing, then sprinkled with a lot of a green herb, which may have been dill, but I couldn't tell. The flavor of garlic was very strong in this dish, as it was a raw garlic flavor. Greg really liked it, because he found the potatoes and garlic to be refreshing. I would say this was my least favorite dish of the night (though it was by no means bad), just that it reminded me exactly of the potato salads that my mom likes to make, so it wasn't that exciting or new of a flavor to me.

Next we had vieiras al azafran, which is scallops in saffron cream. This was a simply fabulous dish, where we got 7 large scallops smothered in a fragrant seafood cream sauce that was lightly charred by a torch prior to serving. The scallops were deliciously tender, and the sauce was what made the dish so amazing. It was infused with a rich flavor that reminded me of lobster (in fact, I felt like the sauce was a thicker version of lobster bisque), but at the end of each spoonful you could taste the lovely aromatic contribution from the saffron. Just absolutely wonderful. We ate the scallops slowly, and dipped our bread into the sauce until it was all gone. Mmmm....

For our poultry dish, we ordered codorniz de castilla, which is broiled herb and garlic quail stuffed with bacon. The stuffed quail was rather small, about the size of my fist, with small legs and wings extending from it. It was de-boned except for the legs and wings, so it was easy to split up. There was bacon rolled up inside the cavity of the quail. Quail meat has a really nice smoky flavor that was definitely different from chicken but not gamey in any way. Its savory and smoky flavor made it a great pairing with the bacon, and the dish came the drippings from bird, which were great as well. And it was certainly interesting eating a tiny little quail drumstick haha.

Finally, and I saved the best for last, we got queso rebozado con miel, which was a dish of fried Spanish cheese with honey and sweet onions. This dish was amazing. You got three small round cheese nuggets about one inch in diameter each, and they were lightly breaded and fried so that the outside was crispy, yielding to a soft and smooth cheese interior. I'm not sure exactly what kind of cheese it was, but it had a flavor that was similar to goat's milk cheese, except not as strong, and it was quite creamy. But it was exactly this tart similarity to goat's milk cheese that made the cheese pair so perfectly with the sweetness of the honey and the delicate softness of the sweet caramelized onions. I was absolutely in heaven eating this dish, and I only wish I could have had a second plate of it haha. It was a great dish to finish off the meal with as well, since it serves so well as a dessert dish.

Dali's fried Spanish cheese with honey and sweet onions

So all in all, we ordered 6 tapas, had 2 glasses of Sangria, and ate 1 and a half bread baskets. We were both satisfyingly full by the end (not stuffed, but full enough to feel quite good, with no room for dessert). The total came out to about $58 before tip, which is pricey but certainly not unreasonable for a special occasion dinner. I'd have to get rich before I could come here and happily try every single dish whenever I feel like it though lol. It was a fantastic dinner, and a really great restaurant. There was not a single thing that I disagreed with, and it only makes me excited to come back and try others. The atmosphere was fun, and although you have to shout to hear each other, once the food comes that's where the focus lies :)

Me and Greg after dinner

Whenever I come home for breaks, I make it a point to meet up with old friends from high school, since most of us have traveled to various corners of the country for college and rarely get to see one another except for during breaks when we are all back in town. My friend Reid and I have kept up this tradition for five years now, getting together a few times a year, catching up, enjoying each other's company when there's nothing else to do in my hometown, and sharing some good times of course. As I look back fondly on our times in high school, we have certainly grown and changed a great deal since going to and finishing college. But there are aspects of ourselves that never change, and then there are those aspects of us that grow together. I'm glad to have the chance still to continue to nurture this friendship and watch us step out into the real world and fend for ourselves.

Last night, Reid and I went out for the night, stopping first at pretty much the only Thai restaurant in my hometown for dinner. The pad thai there was flavored just right, but the noodles were much too mushy for my preference. I enjoy a little chew to my noodles. I tried to order duck pad thai, but the waitress insisted that it wouldn't taste good (um... that must be why I love getting duck pad thai elsewhere...), so I stuck with chicken. After spending nearly 2 hours in the restaurant chatting away, we headed out for dessert at Friendly's. It's a pretty popular haunt in my hometown, because it's located everywhere, and has both food and dessert at a very reasonable price. Surprisingly, there are no Friendly's in Boston, which made me a little sad. Anyway, I was craving a brownie sundae, so I ordered their fudge brownie sundae, which came with chunks of dense brownies that were not heated up, layered between scoops of chocolate ice cream and hot fudge. I think that was a bit too much chocolate, as I was completely chocolated-out by the time I finished it haha.

fudge brownie sundae

Then we went to a movie theater to watch Charlie Wilson's War, which was actually pretty entertaining. I was little bit lost at first, as the film moves fast with brisk dialog and lots of history and politics spun in, but I found the movie to be quite witty and as always, I loved Tom Hanks. You almost start to forget that this was based on a true story, and it's not until the end of the movie that you realize how relevant the content of this movie is to the present state of the world, and then you feel a little sad that so much has resulted from one political mistake at the end of the Cold War.

We didn't quite want to call it a night, so Reid took me to a tapas bar in town that he really liked, called Bocado. It was a trendy, semi-upscale lounge type of bar, and I really liked the atmosphere inside: ambient, busy but not too noisy, roomy, with an air of sophistication but not snootiness. I had never had tapas before, since they tend to run on the expensive side, but we just got an appetizer, which was a roasted garlic, spinach, and feta dip served with warmed pita wedges. I got a sparkling mojito and he got a mango flavored Sangria, both of which were delicious.

Me and Reid at Bocado

garlic spinach feta dip, and a sparkling mojito

The appetizer was also great, although I wish they had given us more pita wedges to go with all the dip we got. It was definitely a nice place to go and relax, and probably also a great first date place as well, which is surprisingly difficult to come upon in my hometown.

Finally, in noting that my glass is empty in the picture below, I would just like to add that I have the rare but coveted resistance to Asian glow :) I have no idea how, as both my parents tend to turn red, but I'm certainly not complaining haha.

Me and Reid at Bocado

So the past few days I've been visiting California to interview at Stanford and to see some college friends. The weather was amazing, it felt like Boston's spring. The sunshine was warm, there were palm trees, and dusty mountains in the distance everywhere I went. Stanford itself was the most extravagant campus I have ever seen. They really spend a lot of money spoiling their kids lol (maybe me one day?). The sunny happiness of the students being in a country club-like campus and a relaxing curriculum was really infectious. They were literally all smiles, and every student I met couldn't seem to shower the school with enough praise. I have yet to see a school where the students were this much in love with their school (Rochester and Dartmouth are distant seconds).

fountain pool in front of Stanford University Hospital

There were ducks in the pool! So cute :)

Um, bamboo forest in the middle of a building anyone?

After seeing Stanford, I had time grab dinner with my friend Tony near the school. We walked up and down the main street with restaurants, and finally decided to stop in at a place called University Cafe, which served American food at a moderate price. First came a bread plate with a tomato-based dipping sauce (I couldn't figure out why it was orange, but it was similar to a marinara I guess). The bread itself was too hard on the outside, and a little soggy in the middle, but it still tasted fine because we were both starving lol.

bread with tomato dipping sauce

For my entree I got a chicken pot pie with tossed greens on the side. It was the type of pot pie that has a cap of puff pastry on top of the liquid pot pie, and I really like this kind of pot pie because it was the kind that Baker dining used to serve all the time. The pot pie filling itself was delicious, as it was sort of like a cream of mushroom soup, with asparagus, mushrooms, onions, peppers, corn, peas, and chicken chunks. The flavors came together really well, and even though I was starving when I came in, I was definitely satisfied afterwards. The greens on the side were tossed in a vinaigrette that contrasted nicely with the sweet creaminess of the pot pie. It was jazzed up comfort food, and it definitely hit the spot.

Chicken pot pie with tossed greens

Tony wanted to get a 12 oz steak au poivre, but the waiter got confused and gave him a steak salad instead lol. The steak tasted like it was marinated with teriyaki sauce, which I thought was kind of interesting. It came on top of a bed of stir fried vegetables and some salad. Not quite what he wanted, but at least it wasn't a bad replacement heh. (Sorry, pic is a little blurry, I blame Tony because he took it lol).

Teriyaki steak salad

And for dessert, we went across the street to a Japanese-European fusion bakery called Satura Cakes, where after trying some free samples of a very rich and dense chocolate cake, we decided on sharing a bread pudding together. For the life of me I can't remember right now what type of fruit was in the bread pudding, but I know the dessert itself was a great way to end the meal. It had the spiciness of a pumpkin pie, with the soft-crunchy chunks of fruit like an apple pie, combined with soft bread and a creamy mousse-like filling, all topped with whipped cream. It was light and refreshing, and although it was cold, the flavor of the spices made a warm impression on me. It was a quintessential autumnal dessert, even though autumn has already passed.

Bread pudding dessert

The following day for lunch, I went out with Tony and another friend, Linda, for Shanghainese cuisine at an Asian strip mall. The food was amazing, and reminded me of all the Shanghainese dishes that I've eaten growing up. We ordered "jiao bai" (water bamboo) with peppers and pork, "nian gao" (rice ovals) with napa and beef, pork liver in brown sauce, and "xiao long bao" (Shanghai meat buns). Everything was delicious, and the cooking style was light and clean, just like Shanghainese cuisine is great at when it wants to be. When I had this meal, I realized just how sick I was of the greasy, fried food of Cantonese cuisine up in Boston's Chinatown. They're not kidding when they say that Chinese food is better in California (there are so many Asians here!).

(茭白) Sliced water bamboo with peppers and pork

Pork liver with onions and peppers in brown sauce

(小笼包) Shanghai meat buns

And finally, a picture of me and my friend Tony (I'm almost embarrassed to post this because I look so stupid here, but I guess what the heck, it's for the memories right?). I wish I could have stayed a little longer, and done some more "Californian" things heh, but there's always next time!

Me and Tony

I just returned from a chilly but fun trip in NYC! I visited for a little over two days, to attend two interviews and to see my college friend Zheng. I wish I had more time to spend in nyc, taking in all the beautiful sights and sounds and cuisine, but that simply means that I will be back again sometime :) The only bummer on this trip was that I was just at the start of a bad cold, so I was feeling fuzzy and stuffy the whole time, with not much of an appetite and a diminished sense of taste.  Thus, I vow to return one day when I am feeling well!

Nevertheless, the highlight of my trip was a fabulous dinner at the trendy pan-Asian fusion restaurant Tao (pronounced "dao"). We made reservations a month in advance, because it gets very packed even on weeknights. It's one of those places that even celebrities like to go to, although I unfortunately didn't spot any the night we went. This restaurant is probably best known for its towering Buddha statue in the center of the dining room, and don't worry, I didn't forget to take a picture or two. I liked the dim ambiance of the place, although it was terribly non-conducive to my photo-taking tendencies. I must say, I was blinded more than a handful of times, by patrons who thought it would be a good idea to take pictures of the Buddha statue from far away using their camera flash. I'm pretty sure that was a waste of time. Here's my slightly blurry non-flash photo of the Buddha, bathed in multicolored lights (trendy Buddha, I suppose haha). It doesn't look so big in the picture, but it spanned the height of nearly two floors! (see lady on the lower left in comparison)

Tao Buddha

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Anyway, onto the food! Unfortunately, out of dining etiquette, I did not photograph most of the food, because it was very dim and I really didn't want my flash going off left and right. We got drinks to start off, a beer for Zheng and a "Taotini" for me, which is Absolut Mandarin, Stolichnaya Raspberry, Malibu Rum, and cranberry and lime juices, all shaken up and decorated with a spear of fresh raspberries. Mmm refreshing! The Taotini is the most popular mixed drink at the restaurant, so of course I had to try that. I figured, this is probably the only time in my life I'll be able to have dinner at this place, so I'd better get the things its best known for.

Appetizers were peking duck spring rolls and squab lettuce wraps, both of which were great. The duck rolls had some sort of paste inside that I was unfamiliar with (not the usual vegetable scraps), and I can only guess that it was a mushroom or bean paste. I made a real mess with the squab lettuce wraps, but they were delicious. It came as a dish of ground squab, cooked with scallions in a soy-based sauce, for us to scoop into bowl-shaped iceberg lettuce pieces. I have never found lettuce wraps to be a food that can be eaten without making a mess, and Tao was no exception haha. But you know, the more hands-on the food is, the more tasty it can be!

Next came entrees - Zheng got the 12 oz. kobe beef ribeye (probably the single most expensive item on the menu, at $88, only topped by the special of the night, which was a kobe beef filet mignon at $200), which came with fried onion strings. Tao is probably best known for its kobe beef, but I would decide to get another one of their highlights, the Chilean sea bass, which came grilled on top of a bed of stir-fried vegetables, and topped with a miso glaze and powder. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful the dish was, I only wish I had a bigger appetite so I could have finished the huge filet. The fish was tender on the inside, and crispy on the surface from the sear. I adored the miso powder and glaze, which was a perfect dichotomy of salty and sweet. The wok-cooked vegetables at the bottom of the dish were lacking in taste and texture, as they were wilted and much too salty, which did not enhance the fish at all, so I left most of it and focused on my sea bass instead, so delicious! I'm so glad I chose this dish, it suited my mood perfectly, because it was not greasy at all and had a delicately sweet flavor and tender texture, all of which suited me in my state of sickness. At a price of $34, it actually is not bad, considering how big of a piece of fish you get.

Miso glazed Chilean sea bass with wok vegetables

Finally, dessert. We were both super stuffed after our entrees, but somehow the dessert menu ended up in front of us, and well, I guess if we were going to go all out then we weren't going to skimp on dessert. We ordered a mochi sampling plate, which had six mochi ice cream balls sitting in a triangle shaped plate. The variety included: pistachio, pumpkin, raspberry with white chocolate, and chocolate with peanut butter. They were all so divine, and I really enjoyed the assortment of flavors (I think my favorite was the raspberry white chocolate one, followed closely by the pistachio offering). The pumpkin mochi ice cream was actually quite good also, with its warm spiciness it tasted just like a pumpkin pie, but more refreshing. Mmmm. After dessert was done, we were presented with two chocolate fortune cookies (I can't handle any more more food!!), with funny fortunes inside.

Tao was simply an amazing adventure, something so defining of trendy culture in NYC and yet satisfying all the same. Unfortunately I can't tell you what the final tally of the bill was, since Zheng refused to let me see it, but from my estimates, the total after tax and tip must have been just over $200 (!!!) Many thanks to him for treating me to such an extravagant meal, he's much too generous, I will probably never stop feeling indebted lol. So now in closing, an obligatory picture of me on the second floor balcony, trying to get the Buddha in the background. (Zheng refuses to take pictures with me, god only knows why. He claims it will be incentive for me to visit again, but that makes no sense to me whatsoever haha). Anyway, unfortunately, the flash meant that I was too bright and the Buddha was too dark. If anyone is good with photoshop and can help me fix this picture, I would be so grateful!!!

Me with the Tao Buddha (please help me fix this photo!)

In the frenzy that was this weekend, I managed to shop for interview attire (suit, shirts, shoes, the works...) and get a new haircut at the same time. I had been getting tired of my long flat hair which was reaching the middle of my back. Sure, there are lots of styling options for special occasions when you have long straight hair, but I wanted something fresh yet not over the top to kick off the arrival of fall.

In the past I've always gone to a particular hair salon for my haircut needs, and the barber always did an acceptable job in terms of me asking for layers. This time, at the insistence of my mom, I tried out a new hair salon. My request was not totally different, I simply asked for her to cut about 3 inches off the bottom, and to re-emphasize my layers. She told me she would add some face-framing angled layers, to which I was fine with. But she went an extra mile after washing and cutting my hair, because she was nice enough to style it for me with a curling iron and everything. She said she wanted to show me how I could make my hair look nice for a special occasion, and it really did look quite fabulous, with outward soft ringlets that were nicely defined with minimal hair gel. I sort of felt like a celebrity :)

It's been a few days since the cut, so I don't have any nice pictures of my styled hair, but I played with it a little to get some flippage at the bottom today. I love the way it feels, floating around my face instead of dragging me down. So here's to new hair!

Haircut

So today is the day that I walk with my classmates of the past four years down the aisle in Killian Court and receive our hard-earned bachelors diplomas. We had to get up really early to assemble for our procession into the ceremony area, and I was up late the night before playing Starcraft with my friend Tony haha. Naturally when I got up with only 4 hours of sleep on my graduation day I was cursing myself for making such a dumb decision the night before. The day was a bit of a blur as friends weaved in and out of my day, and I tried to capture as many pictures with as many of them as I could. My family came to the ceremony also, and I think it was as much of a proud day for them as it was for me. I originally thought that I'd get bored during the 4 hour ceremony, 3/4 of which consisted of handing out diplomas to the 2000+ people that graduated that day, but it actually flew by surprisingly quickly. My heart was pounding as my classmates and I lined up row by row to go up to the podium and accept our diplomas, and it was truly exhilarating, despite knowing that I'd be staying next year for a year of grad school. As I write this entry weeks later, I'm already feeling terribly nostalgic, and really missing the presence of all the familiar faces. Sure, it's summer and many students are gone, but the campus suddenly feels empty and lonely. Even though I get to talk to my friends online, I can feel how far away they really are. And the thought didn't hit me until my graduation day, the fact that these amazing people I've met are really and truly leaving here. Some of them may never come back. Many of them I will never hear of or see again in my life. Faced with this truth I feel terribly sad (I am a sentimental soul), and I can only hope that one day I will see many of them again at our class reunions... How far away it all seems!

Well, enough soul-baring. Here are some pictures from my big day (graduation hats look really unflattering on my face for some reason):

Procession in progress

It was a beautiful sunny day for our graduation, and for that I am grateful. Graduation gowns are unfortunately really hot and uncomfortable, so everyone was complaining most of the day from the heat. Here we are walking towards Killian Court, with a few random stops along the way. During the stops my friends and I played a word called called Contact, which is basically a super hard version of 20 Questions. Our procession was quite a sight to behold though, so many people dressed in various colored gowns representing different degree types, and so many bodies all walking in the same direction! Heh I refer to the procession fondly as the "march of the penguins" :)

Killian Court early in the morning

This is where our ceremony takes place each year. My parents got a picture of it while the seats were all still empty. There are well over 5000 people that come for the ceremony, so many seats!

MIT dome, with graduation hack

Graduation speaker Charles Vest, our previous president

It kind of sucked that this year our graduation speaker was our previous MIT president! I know a lot of people were upset that we didn't get a speech from someone more famous, who could bring a different perspective. Charles Vest hasn't done anything since he left MIT a few years ago, and even though he's ABOUT to start a new position, he still has nothing new to share with us. Sure, his speech was motivational, as they all are. But I do hope for someone more interesting to learn from next year.

My brother, and hugs from my mom

With my diploma in front of MIT's seal

Yay, diploma!

Family picture

After the ceremony was over and I had taken pictures with my family, it was time for more pictures with classmates! My family was really understanding about my wanting to see as many friends as I could during the reception after the ceremony. They were probably bored out of their minds while I was running around saying my goodbyes and taking pictures, but they told me that today was my day. They were really very sweet about the whole thing.

Me and Shuo

Tony and me

Karen and me

Zheng and me

Me and Greg

Jacqueline and me

These guys are going to be famous one day...

My brother really liked wearing my hat, although he doesn't look too happy here haha

After the main graduation reception, I also went to a departmental reception where I saw some more of my biology pals. Later in the afternoon, my family and I went out to dinner with Tony, Jacqueline, and Tony's family members. Initially I had decided to go Dolphin Seafood restaurant with my family, and after I told Tony he asked his parents if they would be interested in going also and thus we all ended up having dinner together. I got the broiled bluefish with crumb topping and a mustard sauce on the side. Ever since I got the bluefish last time I went to Dolphin Seafood, I've been craving it. And boy did it hit the spot after a long day of graduation without eating lunch. Bluefish is very tender when fresh, and it has a delicate but meaty chew that is finer than salmon or swordfish. It's a very satisfying fish to eat, and it was just fantastic with the buttery crunchy crumb topping and the flavor from the honey mustard-like sauce.

Broiled bluefish with crumb topping

After dinner when we were saying our goodbyes, Tony's mom came up to me and started shaking my hand and thanking me very sincerely for "being Tony's good friend". Haha we all cracked up because she sounded like a mother whose precious son had no friends at school. But it was good to have dinner with my friends before they left. I will miss them all very much.

I spent the weekend after graduation at home, so we'll get back to the food entries next :) Well, that's it, I've graduated!

Back at home

(6/06) Lunch cruise in Boston harbor! Our class rented out half of the well known Spirit of Boston cruise ship for a lunch cruise in Boston Harbor today. It was to be casual dress, and parents were invited to come along with the seniors if they so choose. I was excited to finally be on that cruise ship again during the daytime, so I could actually SEE the harbor (the last time I was on this same cruise ship for a nighttime cruise on Halloween, called Boo's Cruise). This lunch cruise was to last 2 hours, and would be serving a buffet style lunch with various entrees, as well as dessert afterwards.

Being the food lovers that we are, Greg and I made a beeline for one of the tables closest to the buffet area to be seated as we entered the ship (I'm not even kidding, we passed up tables next to the windows with great views just to sit near the food in the center of the room). Hahaha. The big shiny lids of the food trays were tempting us with their secrets beneath, we could barely wait to see what was inside.

Buffet lunch cruise

Sitting not near the windows...

The waiters came around to tell us that since we rented the deck as a group event, there was a complimentary soda and juice bar for the lunch. I didn't feel like getting soda for a lunch cruise (seemed less than classy, and I was feeling more brunch-y), so I asked for juice instead. It did come in a nice glass, with a straw no less. Weird, trying to drink orange juice with a straw.

Orange juice

So then it turns out that they send people up to the buffet area table by table, so as to prevent long lines from forming. They started sending up the people sitting on the opposite side of the room near the windows first, and we were pretty much doomed to be in the second half of the room to be called up. We were both super disappointed that we'd have to wait a long time to get food. The whole point of getting a seat nearby the area was to be able to get up there first, right? So here is my dearest boyfriend looking dejected while everyone in the background is getting the food we aren't allowed to touch yet haha. (Do you see how close we were to the table!!)

Greg waiting to eat

But guess what? By the the time we got to go up for food, we had realized that most of the dishes weren't all that interesting. They had pasta primavera with marinara sauce, Asian pepper steak beef, pan seared chicken strips with julienned onions and peppers, baked coated chicken pieces, and crabmeat stuffed sole. Sides were green beans and boiled red bliss potatoes. They also had a small salad bar. I of course got a little bit of everything just to try. But as to be expected with a lunch cruise, they tried to cater to as many different types of people as possible, and did a poor job of it. The Asian pepper steak beef was predictably bad and didn't taste Asian at all. The pan seared chicken strips with veggies tasted like chicken fajitas, only with less flavor and more dried up meat. And the baked chicken, which looked beautiful, just like KFC or southern fried chicken, tasted boring and dry. It lacked the punch of spices that makes other fried chickens delicious. The things I did like were the pasta primavera, which had gemelli pasta. It wasn't anything extraordinary, but compared to much of the other items it was pretty palatable. I also enjoyed the green beans a great deal as they were tender and crunchy, with a good cooked flavor. My two favorites of the lunch were the potato salad (white blob of stuff on the right side in the picture) and the crabmeat stuffed sole. The fish itself was overcooked, but I really liked the crabmeat stuffing, which is supposedly Chesapeake Bay style crabmeat stuffing. It had some real crab in it, but also some imitation crab and bread-based filler, which made it nice and savory. It was probably the most worthy item on the menu. They were very small though, smaller than the size of my palm, so most people took multiple servings. The stuffed sole is hump featured in the center front of the picture below. Clearly I got two of these on my plate. The baked chicken is behind the soul, and topped with the green beans.

Lunch cruise food

Can't forget about the scenery! It was really tough to get nice shots of the outside when we weren't sitting next to any windows. Here is a neat ship parked in the harbor. It looks antique, and is so beautiful in black.

Old ship in harbor

Next it was time for dessert. I got the creme brulee cheesecake, which is a slice of vanilla cheesecake that has a layer of vanilla bean custard on the bottom right above the graham cracker crust, and the top ot the cheesecake was caramelized with sugar. Honestly this cheesecake wasn't as great as I thought it would be. There was no creme brulee flavor. They basically just took vanilla cheesecake (this is the same kind, even down to the custard layer, that is sold in the Simmons dorm night cafe) and topped it with sugar to caramelize. That doesn't make creme brulee cheesecake, I'm sorry to say. It was just vanilla cheesecake with a crusty top. And the caramel that they drizzled looked nice, but didn't go well with the flavor of the cheesecake. It also made the caramelized top taste fake, because the fake flavoring of the caramel sauce was too strong. All in all, the dessert satisfied a sweet tooth, but it really wasn't very innovative in taste. I had some coffee on the side to go with it also, but the sweetness of the cheesecake made the coffee taste terribly bitter.

Creme brulee cheesecake

After dessert Greg and I went onto the observation deck to enjoy the view and the beautiful weather for the rest of the cruise ride. I've never really seen this side of Boston, since I'm always looking at the ocean from the city. But this port city is really quite lovely from the ocean, and considering that it is one of the oldest cities in the US, it sure stands up to its fame! Enjoy the following photos:

Bunker Hill

The evidence of a port city

Approaching Boston

The original waterfront Legal Seafood

Sailboat, and the Boston World Trade Center in the background (see all the flags?)

The gates of the city of Boston

(6/07) It's the day before graduation, but I wasn't interested in going on the senior week events for today, which were Boston's famous duck tours (really just a tourist gimmick) and a Boston Pops concert. Well, I would have loved to see the Pops concert, but the tickets were extravagant despite being a class event. So I spent the day relaxing, mentally preparing for the long graduation day ahead and just enjoying my last day as a carefree undergraduate.

Me and Greg on the steps of MIT's front door, waiting for a bus

For dinner I went out with Greg to one of our favorite cheap eats place, Pho Pasteur in Harvard Square. It's a semi-trendy Vietnamese restaurant that caters to the American crowd while maintaining the authentic flavor of good Vietnamese food. Recently Pho Pasteur changed its name to Le's, which I find to be an annoying and unattractive name for a place that I am so fond of. So don't be alarmed that I continue to refer to it by its former name. Pho Pasteur is a quick bus ride down the street from MIT, and is located in the heart of Harvard Square in a cluster of stores called the Garage. The food is amazingly cheap for the quality and quantity, as long as you enjoy Vietnamese cuisine. A bowl of pho that is enough for me to eat costs only $5.25. Last time I went with Zheng I showed you the pho and summer rolls that I got. This time I decided to get something different for the sake of variety. Greg and I started off with an appetizer of Vietnamese spring rolls, which have a ground pork mixture inside, served with a side of fish sauce. These are delectable to start with, because they are fresh and crispy, and their small size (similar to a cigar) makes them easy to eat. Unfortunately the waitress misheard our order and brought us both the spring rolls as well as an order of summer rolls. Oops. At least they were both appetizers we liked haha.

For entrees, Greg got a big face bowl of pho (the bowl being bigger than his whole head), and I got a traditional Vietnamese rice dish whose name is "Com Suon, Bi, Cha" (I'm sure that is just a description of the dish rather than a real name). It is a plate with steamed white rice, a honey-grilled pork chop, julienned pork skin, and tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce. The plate comes with a side of fish sauce as well, which goes really well with everything on the plate. I know julienned pork skin sounds pretty weird, but it's a Vietnamese thing and it's really good. It's not strips of fat, it's the actual skin, which has a lot of collagen, so it's a little bit like eating small strips of tendon dusted with some sort of powdery seasoning. The pork chops are delicious too. They are thin and juicy, with lots of sweetness from the honey. I generally dislike American steak-house style pork chops, but these are so fantastic I pick up the bone and try to get off all the meat at the end haha. This dish usually also comes with a steamed ground pork, egg, and vermicelli meatloaf square, but sometimes it doesn't get served, and no explanation is given. Why???

Vietnamese rice plate: pork chops, julienned pork skin, veggies, fish sauce

After dinner, Greg and I wandered around Harvard Square for a while, and went into CVS where I bought myself a bottle of Olay Regenerist daily serum (I heard it works wonders... and it cost me $17 for 1.7 oz or so... so let's see if it really does make my skin look beautiful). Then it was time for dessert! :) We had a coupon for a buy any sized ice cream cone or cup and get one of the same size for free. So we got 2 medium cones, one in strawberry cheesecake flavor, and one in vanilla heath bar flavor. The strawberry cheesecake (in the picture below) was pretty good, and not too rich. It tasted more like vanilla and strawberry ice cream mixed together, with some chunks of graham cracker crust. The heath bar flavor was much sweeter, with indulgent pieces of crunchy heath bar in vanilla ice cream. Yum! Greg and I shared the two cones, but I'm pretty sure he ate more of the heath bar one before giving it to me to finish off. Grrr!!

Ben and Jerry's strawberry cheesecake flavored ice cream

As with many other colleges in the US, MIT has "Senior Week" the week before graduation, and it's a week of events for the seniors to enjoy each other's company one last time at. We had to sign up for most of these events in advance, and it was a mad rush to nab the spots for some of them. Leave it to our class council to plan events where it's supposed to be for our whole class of about 1000 people, yet each event only had about 200 available spots. I've missed out on many an event in the past 4 years due to tickets selling out ridiculously early. Somehow the people that are all friends with the student council members were always able to go... Anyway without further ado, here are some memories from my senior week.

Friday 6/1 The first day of senior week was a wine tasting event, which I didn't attend because I was at home eating lobster with guests lol. I'm also not big on alcoholic drinks because I still haven't learned to enjoy the strong and bitter taste of alcohol. I guess eventually I should learn to be more refined and enjoy wine for what it is, but that can wait heh.

Saturday 6/2 I came back to MIT on this day for the Cape Cod dinner train event (I paid $25 for a ticket). It's a train that serves a 5 course dinner while taking you down around Cape Cod to see some scenery. It sounded like a beautiful train ride, and while the food was great, the view was less than spectacular and certainly not what I imagined it to be. In my mind the train ride would be a glorious 3 hour excursion around the tip of Cape Cod, following the ocean. Instead, the train started out in the woods and spent 4/5 of its time surrounded by trees that not only prevented us from seeing anything but also prevented good picture taking opportunities. I felt like I was traveling through a random rural part of Massachusetts, with all the trees and houses that lined the railroad. The only sights worthy of seeing were some of the cute farms, expansive salt marshes, and a short-lived view of the bay area at the midpoint of the ride. Here are some pictures from the day:

Greg and I waiting for our bus

It happened to be a dreadfully hot day out (with temps rising up into the 80s), and very humid as it usually is up here in MA over the summers. Greg and I were waiting outside for our buses to arrive to take us down to Cape Cod to board the train. Everyone was hot and sweaty, and imagine our horror when we realized that the buses we had to ride for the 2.5 hr ride down to Cape Cod were big yellow school buses. Yes, and that was just miserable. But at least I got to be with my friends and had a fun train ride to look forward to. I had a Kashi cereal bar for lunch and that had to tide me over until dinner on the train haha.

On the dinner train

Here we are on the actual train itself, which looks kind of like a very long restaurant, with dinner tables lined up against the wall on either side. The train was pretty inside and on the outside, but I forgot to take a picture from the outside, oops. We were eagerly awaiting the food to be served, because I think everyone at the table was starving from not having eaten a proper lunch beforehand (except for my friend Tony who ate a sub for lunch, sheesh haha).

To recreate the dinner train experience, I'll post some highlights in the order that I took them, and the food courses that came in the process :) Some of the pictures are blurry because of course the train is in motion the whole time I'm trying to snap pictures, and I'm doing it through a glass window.

Pond by the road

Small farm

Seafood chowder

This was an amazingly good seafood chowder with potatoes, clams, cod, lobster, and shrimp all in a creamy chowder. It definitely compares to the famous Legal Seafood clam chowder. Either that or we were all just starving to death and therefore thought any food was heaven. I think this was my favorite course of the evening though. I savored it slowly with some oyster crackers. Yummm.

Expansive marshland

Dinner roll

The rolls were hot and fresh, and they tasted pretty good. The only downside? I'm pretty sure the roll counted as a course in our 5-course dinner... :( The menu says we were supposed to get hors d'oeuvres, but that definitely didn't happen for us. The served entree was also different from the menu. Weird huh?

Garden salad with champagne vinaigrette

Beautiful salt marsh

The sun setting over the river

My friends Tony and Jacqueline at our table

Sun setting behind trees as casual fishermen pack up for the night

Pistachio encrusted pan seared salmon entree

The salmon entree was very delicious. It had a nice crust of bread crumbs and pistachios which gave it a nutty, rich flavor and crunch. The salmon itself wasn't overcooked, and it came with a lemon lime beurre blanc whose mild acidity cut well though the meatiness of the fish and richness of the topping. Sides of blanched asparagus spears and creamy mashed potatoes accompanied the dish for a pleasing presentation.

Farthest point of train ride (at Cape Cod bay)

Crossing a bridge on the way back, after the sun has set

Strawberry shortcake with custard