February 2nd 2014: A Free Lunar New Year Concert in Boston

This morning, I had a meetup event to go for a free Lunar New Year Concert at the Boston Public Library.

Before meeting everyone for lunch at Thai Basil nearby, I decided to visit a few places in Shirley

Bow Brook Reservoir,
49 Leominster Road

Phoenix Pond,
Phoenix Street and Fredonian Street

Phoenix Park

Fredonian Nature Center

and Ayer.

Flanagan Pond, 107 Central Avenue

Balch Pond, 110 East Main Street

Shaker Millpond, 101 Littleton Road

From here, it was on to Boston for lunch. The restaurant itself is located in the basement, which took a little while for us to notice. The place usually opens only at noon, but was open a half hour early specially for our group. We were not able to sit altogether though, so we ordered separately as well. My table decided to share some appetizers, namely the Duck Wraps (Duck, mango, cucumber, lettuce and spring mix, wrapped with fresh rice spring rolls skin, served with mango sauce) and the Combo Appetizer (A platter of mixed satay (2 skewers), treasure bags (2 pcs), chicken spring rolls (2 pcs), beef golden triangles (2 pcs), winter shrimp (2 pcs), mee krob, served with cucumber salad, peanut sauce and sweet chili sauce).

Duck Wraps

Combo Appetizer

The duck wraps were just so-so, while the components of the appetizer I was able to try were pretty good, especially the triangles, the mee krob and the chicken spring rolls.

For my main dish, I got the Mandalay Noodles (northern Thai curry dish with mild herbs and spice on egg noodles), which were absolutely scrumptious.

Among other dishes, my friends got the Tum Yum Noodle Soup  (Rice noodles served with assortment of seafood, bean sprouts, scallions, and crushed peanuts in hot and sour seasoned with exotic Thai herbs broth), the Massaman Curry (Thai curry sauce with potato, peanuts, onion, and carrot) and the Crispy Pad Thai (assortment of vegetables pan fried with crispy thin egg noodles, egg, chicken, shrimps, and topped with crushed peanuts), of which I was only able to sample the last, which was pretty good as well.

Massaman Curry

Tom Yum Noodle Soup

Crispy Pad Thai

Overall, a pretty good meal. 

After a brief stopover at a Starbucks near the library, it was finally time to head in. I'm glad we managed to get into the Rabb Lecture Hall when we did, because the seats quickly filled up and the doors were locked once the concert started, leaving many people stranded outside. The performances started out pretty promisingly, with people dressed in interesting costumes and children performing as well, but it eventually got boring as it dragged on and on for more than 2 hours without a break. Which is probably why the concert was free. Pictures I took of the performances follow.

When the entire performance was finally over, we were just glad to be able to get out. It was not the end of the day for me though. I headed over to my friend's place in West Roxbury to watch the Superbowl XLVIII between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks. I was hoping the Broncos would win, but they were trashed so badly from the get go that I could only watch their total destruction with utter despair, flabbergasted at all the mistakes the Broncos made throughout the game. And to end it all, the long drive back home. Oh well, at least my weekend was fun.