Curious Notions » Boston

2009 in Review

Linda — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:01:43 +0000

In comparison to 2008, 2009 was awful! The one thing I can think of that 2009 had over 2008 was that I read more than double the books I read in 2008. I’m anticipating the fresh feel of a new year that is 2010. In the meantime, here’s a review of how my year has gone with heavier emphasis on my blessings verses my misfortunes.

Note: All links open in a new window.

January 2009

Celebrated New Years with Alan and his friends.
I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.
Saw one of my favorite movies of the year, Slumdog Millionaire.
Kim sent me Tiff’s Treats at work to cheer me up about something.

Celebrating New Year’s with the boyfriend

February 2009

Alan took me to my third Killer’s concert as a Christmas gift.
Tried out Joe Dimaggio’s for the first of three times this year. Went as a Valentine’s date with Alan.
Got flowers from Alan at work.
Alan, his roommate, and I all played Bingo for the first time.
I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.

Alan and I at the Killer’s Concert

March 2009

I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.
Went to my first rodeo with some work friends and Brandi.
Ate at Mighty Fine for the first time, now my favorite burger joint of the year.
Celebrated Brandi’s birthday at Pete’s Dueling Pianos.

Rodeo, Austin, TX

April 2009

Went to Houston for my daddy’s birthday.
I worked a lot. Logged a lot of hours.
Was supposed to be Jamie’s date for a wedding. We got lost in West Austin and ended up exploring Salado, Texas instead.
Celebrated Selina’s birthday at her house on same day Jamie and I almost went to that wedding.

Selina’s Birthday

May

Worked a lot; logged a lot of hours.
Visited San Francisco for the first time and went with Alan. It was our first vacation together and we ate very very well.
Put in notice at my Clincial Research Job and thus ending that career path (for now at least?)
I finished out May working at that job and I stopped logging too many hours.
Celebrated Sae’s graduation from Law School.
Kim visited from Houston for Memorial Day Weekend.
Katambra introduced me to a snowcone stand that I frequented often in the summer.
Saw Star Trek in IMAX, was surprised to love it.

Celebrating Sae’s law school graduation

June 2009

Ate at a lot of happy hours with old coworkers, with Alan, Sae, and his girlfriend with new free time.
I took a certification class to become a teacher
I went to Houston for Father’s Day
Kim and I tried out Feast, voted best new restaurant in Houston by a handful of magazines.
I saw Thomas in Houston and we ate at Fufu’s.
Went on a lot of double dates with Sae and Young. (Here’s our first time at North)

Cindy and me at Grand Lux Cafe in Houston

July

Celebrated Fourth of July with Brandi and her boyfriend at Zilker Park..
Went on a lot of double dates with Sae and Young.
Went to Houston for my mom’s birthday.
Saw Cindy in Houston and we ate at Classic Kitchen.
Kim and I discovered Hugo’s, hands down my favorite restaurant in 2009.
Moved in with my current roommate, and long time friend, Brandi.
Celebrated my birthday with tons of great people at Trailer Park Eatery.
At one point, had 4 bouquets of flowers delivered at our apartment and they were all to me from different people. Felt very loved.
I took and passed my state certification test to become a middle school teacher for science.

Brandi and me on Fourth of July

August

The first two weeks of August, I tried to squeeze in as much time as I can with Alan because he was about to leave for Korea for up to 4.5 months.
Starting, August 16, I started counting days Alan was gone.
Kim came to visit the weekend of the 22nd and we saw Wicked.
I saw 500 Days of Summer three times this month, in theatre, of course. This is the first movie I’ve done that.
Jon visited from NYC.
I got a part-time, part-time (yes you read that right) job, thanks to Brittany dropping a good word for me.

Alan’s last night out with friends before going to Korea.

September

Hosted the first Alphabet pot luck. We started with the letter P.
Wrote a blog entry about my journals, surprisingly my favorite blog entry of the year.
Friends and I got dressed up for Deesh’s brother’s wedding reception.
Visited Mary Ellen for a long weekend in Boston. First time I’ve gone to see her since 2005. Had best breakfast ever at Mike and Patty’s and most interesting hot pot.
Alan surprised me by coming home from Korea early.
Went out for Selina’s Bachelorette Party.

October

Celebrated Alan’s birthday at Joe Dimaggio’s. Was very happy to have him back in Texas and to be able to celebrate his birthday with him and take him as a date to weddings. He had good timing :)
Stood in Selina & Ryan’s Wedding and witnessed strong love.
Realised I don’t really want to be a teacher.
Threw 2nd Alphabet Potluck.
Dressed up as a cow girl for Halloween.

November

Went to Wurst Fest with friends.
Went to Cathedral of Junk for the first time with Brandi.
Texas Renaissance with Jessica and Brandi
Had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Houston where I reunited with people I don’t normally see! (Willis, Thomas, Kim, Shane, Kelvin, Chris, Aishah, Kym, Hillary, Alex)
Had my second progressive meal this year.

Having hot chocolate at Ren Fest.

December

I started my new full time job and kept my part time night job.
I struggled with what it means to be someone’s family.
I struggled with what it means to be someone’s friend.
I made truffles for the first time!
Saw Avatar in IMAX opening night. Awesome.
Attended and witnessed proudly, Bing graduate from college
Attended annual Christmas Party for Big Brothers, Big Sisters of America with my little and her family.
Jennifer from Philly is in town and I introduced her to Teucsher.
I went home to Houston for Christmas break and was able to see Mary Ellen, Aishah, Pinky, Cindy, and Kim of course my lovely family.
Had hot pot on Christmas day twice. Lunch with Mary Ellen and her mom and dinner with my own family. Hot potted out! (Blog entry to come.)
Released balloons 4 days early as part of a New Year’s Tradition with Kim. (Blog entry to come.)
Tonight, most likely will be going downtown for New Year’s and spending it with Alan.

After party in the car.

I’m a blessed girl. Instinctively, I’d tell you my 2009 was pretty awful but when I write it all out like this and focused on the good rather than the bad, I can see now I’m still quite lucky. Farewell, 2009.

Tell me how your year went. Or better yet, if you have a year in review entry, I’d love to read yours.

10 More Things I’m Currently Thankful for

Linda — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:43:29 +0000

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Before I head home to Houston, I’m going to squeeze in a third Gratitude list.

If you missed the first two here they are:

- 10 Things I’m Currently Thankful for
- 10 More Things I’m Currently Thankful for

Another 10 More Things I’m Currently Thankful for

A full time job! As I mentioned once or twice before, I landed a job and will be working at my Alma Mater. I start next Tuesday.

I went to the lab to talk about the job offer last week and as I was hanging out I saw one of my old professors. It’s kind of a funny thing to see professors after you graduate and be inundated with academic memories. Some not so good ones! I had to suppress an urge to shrink away. Anyway, I digress. I gots a full time gig after not having a full time gig since June.
Reunions over Thanksgiving! I have a handful of friends I haven’t seen in months and I get to see some of them in Houston this weekend for Thanksgiving. Although, it’s going to be challenging to time budget between friends and family in just 3 days, I think it’s not too shabby of a problem to have.
My car.

My first baby.

My baby Civic

I bought my car summer of 2007 after getting in a car accident. Ever try to imagine your life without your car? I wouldn’t be able to get to work (my current part time position is 45 minutes away by car.) I wouldn’t be able to drive to Houston to visit. No fun trips to restaurants, etc. Austin isn’t a pedestrian city. My car makes it possible for me to play, work, and explore. Yay car!

I’m also grateful I didn’t play around and paid off my 5 year car loan in 1.5 years. This made the last 5 months of unemployment easier without having an extra 200 dollars a month to expense for a car payment.
My Washer/Dryer. I remember the days of hauling my laundry to the laundromat and setting aside hours at a time to get laundry done. I’ve filled up COUNTLESS journal pages people watching as I think it’s extra interesting to see what people wash. Heehee. I haven’t had to use a laundromat for years now. I had a roommate 2007 with a washer/dryer. In 2008, Miss Jamie let Alan and I borrow her washer and dryer and we helped her “store” it. When I moved to my own place last year, I thought I’d forgo fun purchases and spend almost a thousand on a set. It was money well spent. There’s freedom in owning your own washer dryer.
Trip to San Fran and Boston! I’m incredibly lucky to be able to travel a little bit this year considering my stint with unemployment.

I took a trip to San Fran with Alan right before putting in my notice at my previous full time position. It was kind of a celebration of a new beginning for me and was also the first trip Alan and I took together. San Fran is one of my favorite cities now. I was also extremely blessed to have such a loving BFF/FFB who gifted me her flight miles to go see her in Boston. I hadn’t seen her in Boston for a few years and it was good timing for us. I can’t wait to go back to see her new house! :)

I’m always thankful for any kind of travel I’m able to swing.
Those who read what I write. I’m thankful for my regular readers (mostly friends and boyfriend). I’m thankful for the comments you take the time to write and just over all taking the time to read my humble little blog. I’m thankful for the mentions you make when we chat, for the followers, and the subscribers. I’m thankful for you!
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. I’m thankful for great memories and hard lessons from my past. I’m thankful for the photos and the journals that help me not to forget.

I’m thankful for today and being alive. I’m thankful for the possibilities that lie in the future and my capacity to dream and plan.
Friends.

It would take me all day to name them all by name but I’m thankful for them all. I come from a small isolated family. We hardly have any extended family. My friends are my extended family. They want the best for me and are my cheerleaders in life. I’m forever thankful.
Living in Austin. Did you know this year we hold the accolade of least stressful city in the US? I love living in Austin. I love how pretty it is with the lakes and hills. I love the events hosted by us. I love our downtown area. It’s a wonderful, fun, smart, and young city.
Books

I cannot wait to own my own place and have my library set up! Books and bookstores are foolproof sources of comfort for me. I grew up around a lot of books so they conjure up a feeling of youthful awe. I also grew up seeing my dad with a book EVERY NIGHT, and every moment he had free and anything that reminds me of my dad also releases a lot of dopamine in my noggin. All the positive memory associations aside, books nourish me. They’ve molded my philosophies in life, provided understanding, clarity, education, inspiration… the list goes on. I love books. I’m thankful I’m in a country that limits censorship and that my parents raise me to value and appreciate the written word.

Shabu Zen

Linda — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:17:59 +0000

Shabu Zen
16 Tyler Street
Boston, MA 02134
www.shabuzen.com

The day after I went to Little Q and had the strangest but still tasty experience of hot pot, Mary Ellen took me to hot pot that is closer to what I was used to in Allston, Massachusetts. This one was kind of new to me because it wasn’t family style hot pot. At Shabu Zen, you have your own personal hot pot which I find perfect for lunch trips alone and super cute! I picked the spicy broth and went a la carte with my ingredients, choosing tofu sample plate and fish paste. You can also choose platters. Mary Ellen chose the vegetable platter. I prefer this hot pot over Little Q and am actually craving it right now. I’ll have to go back next time I visit Mary Ellen in Boston.

The restaurant is one of the bigger restaurants I’ve seen in Boston. There are booths along the walls. We sat at the center bar.

Personal sized hot pot! Very cute.

Mary Ellen’s veggie platter. I tried the mushroom balls which had a very weird bouncy texture but taste good.

My assorted tofu. I loveee tofu.

So fish paste comes out as a paste and when you drop them in the broth they become fish balls once cooked. I loved whatever they blended in with their fish. Perfectly seasoned. Mmm very good.

Fish paste balls.

All in all, Shabu Zen was a winning experience and definitely a place I want to go back to when in Boston along with Mike and Patty’s Cafe.

Related Blog Entries

- September 22, 2009 – Little Q Hot Pot (Quincy, MA)
- September 18, 2009 – Mike and Patty’s Best Egg Sandwich of my life (Boston, MA)
- December 5, 2008 – Photos of Hot Pot in Tan Tan (Houston, TX)

Legal Sea Foods

Linda — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:14:29 +0000

Taken from my copy of 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler’s Life List, an old Christmas gift from Selina:

Despite Boston’s recent culinary hype, and despite a new generation of chefs that dismisses the city’s old guard establishments as boring or bland, Bostonians cherish tradition and the tried-and-true, and that’s where Legal Sea Foods comes in.

There’s a bunch of Legal Sea Foods peppered all over Boston. It’s been a culinary cornerstone of Boston since the 1950s. Mary Ellen and her husband took me here as my last meal before I went back to Austin. (This however is not the last food entry from Boston so still stay tuned for more!)

We all started with a cup/bowl of chowder. I got the fish chowder. So damn comforting with the oyster crackers.

I LOVE raw oysters. And I was so happy to be there for Mary Ellen’s first experience. She wasn’t too impressed by them but it was still exciting to be there.

West Coast oysters….

And East Coast oysters!

Have you ever heard of Scrod? Apparently it’s a fish! Never had it so I ordered it.
Scrod is not only fun to say out loud but is also BUTTERY and FLAKY and GOOD. Especially breaded and baked with a juicy tomato. Oh god, so good. I about finished my entire plate.

Mary Ellen’s husband got his usual stuffed lobster which he was willing to share. Mmmmmm. A meal fit for a king. (It came with 2 sides which in his case were polenta and the perfect french fries.) The stuffing was a great complement to the lobster.

Mary Ellen and I were still stuffed from breakfast which we had a mere 3 hours before. So she ordered dinky looking crepes. Hee. Seriously, look it how dinky they were. She said they were good :)

Rangzen Tibetan Place

Linda — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:38:52 +0000

Rangzen Tibetan Place
24 Pearl St
Cambridge, MA 02139
617) 354-8881
rangzenfood.com/default.aspx

During my recent trip to Boston, Mary Ellen introduced me to the first Tibetan restaurant I’ve been to. It’s tasty! I want to go back and try more aspects. Like dumplings. So we ate at night, and the tables are really squished together. The interior is really beautiful but I didn’t want to distrub the other diners with the flash on my camera. Click on the website above and you’ll see how CHARMING and exotic looking Rangzen is.

We ordered the combination fried appetizers. See below for the complete list. My favorite were the ball looking things that is the Shogo Numtak, fried mashed potatoes. You can’t go wrong with fried. I am a Texan, afterall.

SHOGO NUMTAK – Mashed potato with cilantro & ginger, rolled in bread and fried.
DULUMA NUMTAK - Thinly sliced eggplant dipped in chick pea batter and fried
TSEL NUMTAK – Shredded mixed vegetables with ginger, garlic & cilantro dipped in chick pea batter and fried
SHAMO NUMTAK – Mushroom with mashed chickpeas, cilantro, ginger, onion rolled in bread & fried.

This is my order. Langsha Chow.

LANGSHA CHOW - Noodles sauteed with beef, shredded cabage, carrot, red onion, cilantro, tomato, scallion, spinach, soy sauce, ginger & garlic sprinkled with cilantro. It was pretty tasty. Nothing too wild and crazy but I loved the tiny tomatoes and the vegetables were super fresh. It made me want to go home and make stirfry.

Mary Ellen’s SUPER tasty vegetarian dish.

Mary Ellen’s order was delectable. I tend to shy away from vegetarian entrees because I operate under the stereotype that veggies are boring but this dish totally kicked my dish’s ass. She got the PO TSEL: Fresh spinach with ginger, garlic, tomato, onion & spices combined with Gonga (Scambled eggs). Mmm.

I like Tibetan!! I want to go back.

Little Q

Linda — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:59:14 +0000

1585 Hancock St
Quincy, MA 02169
(617) 773-5888
www.littlequsa.com

I took Mary Ellen to hot pot at Sinh Sinh in Houston a while ago with Kim and Chris. She was excited because she had come to love hot pot while in Boston. However, she was a little surprised at our hot pot since it was so different from her experience. She tried to describe it but I didn’t quite get what the possible difference was. You have a tasty broth and a hot pot and then you cook raw ingredients. Hot pot!

So she takes me to HER hot pot in Quincy at a restaurant called Little Q and I myself was taken aback. Walking in I could smell spices. It smelled faintly like an Indian restaurant. I’m not accustomed to these smells when having hot pot. Little Q has all sorts of broth to order when I’m only used to 2 selections: original broth and spicy broth. Mary Ellen ordered the herbal broth and the mala broth. The only hot pot I’ve ever known has a broth is a clean broth. Everything that goes in it is what you put in it. HER hot pot broth has all sorts of herbs and things already floating in it. See below.

The white broth is the herbal broth and the other one is the Mala broth which is a spicy broth

I stuck mainly with the Mala broth as it’s nice and spicy. The other broth was good too. It has a comforting simpler taste that I would have appreciated more if ailed with a cold or something. It is 16.99 for all you can eat. You choose from a paper menu all the ingredients you want. Mary Ellen focused on a lot of vegetables and I focused on the fish and meatballs. I did find that I like iced bean curd. It has the same consistency as fried tofu but is a lot healthier! (Now if we can find similar substitutes to other fried foods…)

We stuffed ourselves silly. Here is a fraction of the ingredients we ordered.

Mary Ellen ordering from the menu.

All in all, it was very curious experience. I’d do it again.

Related Blog Entry:

December 5, 2008: Photos of Hot Pot at Tan Tan (Houston, TX)

L.A. Burdick Chocolate Cafe

Linda — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 20:23:23 +0000

L.A. Burdick Chocolate Cafe
Harvard Square Cafe
52-D Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-491-4340
www.burdickchocolate.com

Saturday morning, we started off our day at Burdick Chocolate Cafe. A day can’t go wrong if you start it off with chocolate. Mary Ellen and I each picked something to eat and split later. I chose a hazelnut orange cake and she chose the yogurt parfait. I really enjoyed the yogurt parfait which surprises me. I’m not usually the yogurt parfait kind of girl but the honey was a perfect match to the yogurt and the crunch of the granola was the perfect amount of crunch. It wasn’t too cold or tart which are the two most common complaints I have about yogurt parfaits. The hot dark chocolate was.. alright. Good but it doesn’t come even near how good Chocolate Bar’s (Houston, TX) hot chocolate is. The hazelnut orange cake was my favorite. Soooo good. If you’re ever in Boston, this is definitely a must stop if you’re a chocolate fan.

Now for the photos!

Have I told you lately that penguins are my favorite animal? I like to drop that in conversation at least thrice a year.

I got a demi cup of the hot dark chocolate.

I made my own shoddy version of latte art. Do you like my heart?

We each picked one thing and split it. I gleefully chose the hazelnut orange cake.

Our breakfast. Makes me wish I could go back in time.

Mike and Patty’s – Best Egg Breakfast Sandwiches of Our Lives

Linda — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:45:43 +0000

Mike and Patty’s
12 Church St
(between Tremont St & Fayette St)
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 423-3447
www.mikeandpattys.com

Mike and Patty’s teeny tiny storefront.

I originally added this on my to do list for Boston because I yelped around. Then a friend suggested it on my facebook profile so it augmented my already eager determination. We took a very scenic walk to 12 Church St. That’s something I really appreciate about Boston. The cobblestone streets and pots of flowers on the sidewalk and hanging from lamp lights. I forgot how romantic Boston is. Perfect for strolls. I literally have stopped to admire flowers several times today and yesterday.

The miniscule interior.

I took this photo to try demonstrate how tiny this place was! Note the distance between the door and the counter. At the very most Mike and Patty’s can seat 6 people.

The menu!

After poring over the menu on the wall, I was most drawn to the Bacon and Egg, Fancy sandwich. I asked the super friendly and down to earth girls what was their favorites and or most popular. They said definitely the Bacon and Egg, Fancy. That was enough to sell me!

bacon, egg, cheddar, avocado, ~~red onion~~, house mayo on toasted multigrain bread (I held out on onion.)

Seriously the BEST egg sandwich I’ve ever had. I kept reliving the memory of this sandwich ALL day. Everything fit perfectly. Mmm, the bacon. I love me bacon. My vote for new food groups are chocolate and BACON. The house mayo gave it a pleasant tang and my taste buds thoroughly craved every ingredient of that sandwich. I was skeptical about the multigrain bread but even that just fit the sandwich. I can see (taste? hee) why it’s Mike and Patty’s most popular sandwich. Mmmmmmm.

egg, salsa, cheese, roasted poblanos, potato, refritos and avocado

Pictured above is Mary Ellen’s order, the Breakfast Torta. I’m usually not a fan of tortas as the bread is usually too starchy for me but when asked to describe her sandwich, Mary Ellen boldly claimed that it was the best egg breakfast sandwich of her life. She said the combination of the salsa, beans, and avocado gave the torta kind of a Southwesterny taste but not and the bread was light. She said everything about the sandwich was divine. The egg was slightly runny and the roasted poblanos surprised her with how well it went with everything.

Definitely worth a visit!!