Recommended Places to Visit: Lexington

Recreation

Water Bodies
Potter Pond
Potter Pond


Parks

Emery Park
Depot Square and Massachusetts Avenue

Museums
National Heritage Museum
33 Marrett Road


Beaches
The Old Reservoir
458 Marrett Road


Hiking
Whipple Hill
Winchester Drive near Russell Road

Parker Meadow
Hancock Street near Coolidge Avenue

North Street Pits
North Street and Adams Street

Arlington's Great Meadows
End of Sheila Road

Architecture

Monuments

Lexington Battle Green
Massachusetts Avenue and Bedford Street

Places of Worship

Chinese Bible Church of Greater Boston
149 Spring Street

Temple Emunah
9 Piper Road

Sacred Heart Catholic Parish
21 Follen Road

Community of Christ
1386 Massachusetts Avenue

Follen Community Church
755 Massachusetts Avenue

First Baptist Church
1580 Massachusetts Avenue

Hancock United Church of Christ
1912 Massachusetts Avenue

First Parish Church
7 Harrington Road

Church of Our Redeemer
6 Meriam Street

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
17 Meriam Street

St. Brigid Parish
2001 Massachusetts Avenue

Grace Chapel
59 Worthen Road

Pilgrim Congregational Church
55 Coolidge Avenue

Countryside Bible Chapel
480 Lowell Street

St. Paul Evangelical Church
451 Lowell Street

Trinity Covenant Church
7 Clematis Road

Lexington United Methodist Church
2600 Massachusetts Avenue

Schools
Lexington Christian Academy
48 Bartlett Avenue

Harrington Elementary School
328 Lowell Street

Fiske Elementary School
55 Adams Street

Town Facilities
Cary Memorial Library
1874 Massachusetts Avenue

Fire Department
45 Bedford Street


Historical Buildings
Supreme Council, 33°
33 Marrett Road

Cary Memorial Building
1605 Massachusetts Avenue

Old Depot
13 Depot Square

The Old Belfry
Massachusetts Avenue and Clarke Street

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Western
Via Lago
1845 Massachusetts Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
Pan Seared Sea Scallops
Local Grown Zucchini and Parmesan Risotto
Cookies and Cream

Korean
Dabin
10 Muzzey Street
Recommended Dishes:
Toban Yaki
Sam Sek Jun
Soft Tofu Geegae
Fish Egg Nabe

Indian

Royal India Bistro
7 Meriam Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
Lamb Korma
Strawberry Lassi

Khushboo Indian Restaurant
1709 Massachusetts Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
Lamb Masala Dosa
Lamb Dilrooba
Plain Naan


Chinese
Yangtze River Restaurant
25 Depot Square
Recommended Dishes:
Dimsum buffet

Dessert

Sweet Thyme Bakery
1837 Massachusetts Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
Chocolate Mousse Cup
Caramel Pecan Tart
Key Lime Tart

Cake.
1628 Massachusetts Avenue
Recommended Dishes:
RED CARPET
CHOCOLATE MADNESS
MIDNIGHT DELIGHT
CLOUDS OVER CHOCOLATE
For Goodness Cake
KARAT TOPPED
MOCHA EXPRESS
BLACK TIE AFFAIR
BERRIES and GOLD
Minuteman
Milk and Cookies


Tried:
Chinese
Ruyi Restaurant
27 Waltham Street
Recommended Dishes:
French Maki
Lobster Kaiyaki
Szechuan Lamb


Dessert

Rancatore's Ice Cream and Yogurt
1752 Massachusetts Avenue

Fruitee Yogurt
1707 Massachusetts Avenue

December 16th 2013: Scavenger Hunt at the Museum of Science, Boston

Today, I had a company event to go scavenger hunting at the Museum of Science in Boston. Arriving a little early, I decided to grab some breakfast inside the Liberty Hotel at a place called Clink. The inside of the hotel, which I have not been inside of before, is actually pretty nice.

The restaurant itself was actually a bit of a downer compared to the rest of the hotel, though still decent.

After looking at the menu, I decided to get the Whole Wheat Pancakes (with lemon, ricotta, strawberries and vermont maple syrup). The presentation was pretty good,

but I was pleasantly surprised when I cut open the pancakes just to find fruit stuffed inside the pancake. Needless to say, my meal was pretty good.

From here, I headed to the Museum of Science. I was really early, so I walked around for a bit in the free section of the museum.

Huge Pendulum

All sorts of bird eggs

Cosmic Light

Desert Tortoise

Chuckwalla

Amazon Milk Frog

Bearded Dragon

European Glass Lizard

Sinaloan Milk Snake

Pacific Type Locomotive

The Polage

The bus carrying my colleagues here was late due to traffic and the snow, but thankfully they all arrived eventually. With that, our hosts from Watson Adventures came to meet us and split us into different teams. Mine ended up consisting of all girls except me. Hence, we ended up calling our team "Allan's Angels".

We were provided with a binder of information, questions and puzzles to solve.

We had to go all over the museum to find the solutions to our questions, and some of them were extremely hard to find. Ingenious questions at that. Thankfully, our teamwork paid off, and with some lucky guessing and spotting of the correct spots, we actually got all the answers correct. Some pictures I took while we were on the hunt, including the T-Rex with a scarf wrapped around its neck, follow.

Thermal images

T-Rex with a scarf

Simulated tornado

My team ended up being tied for first position, and got asked tiebreaker questions about Cluedo. Thankfully, our 2nd answer was closer to the actual answer than the other team, so we ended up winning in the end. Our prize was a bag.

We were allowed to roam around the museum after our lunch at the cafeteria, and I decided to wait until the Lightning! show started, because I wasn't able to do so the last time I was here. The show was pretty cool, though more oriented towards kids. It was interesting to note that songs could actually be played using lightning at different frequencies. Here are pictures I took of the largest Van de Graaf generator in the world in action.




















From here, I headed out of the museum and back to my car, somehow losing the bag I had won along the way. After finally reaching my car, I decided to spend the rest of my daylight hours checking out frozen water bodies in Lexington

Potter Pond

and Woburn

Mishawum Lake, 252 Mishawum Road

before finally heading to Medford for dinner at the Lantana Cafe, a pretty nice looking Italian restaurant.

I decided to get the Ornesto Chicken (Sauteed tender chicken breast with caramelized apples and walnuts in an orange brandy sauce and served with pumpkin raviolis) for my meal.

Unfortunately, the chicken breast was a little dry, and the sweet and sour sauce did not seem to go well with the food either. It was still edible enough for me to finish it all though. Thankfully, the Lemoncello-Mascarpone Cake (served with whipped cream and raspberry sauce) I ordered for dessert was actually pretty decent.

Overall, I will try to give this place the benefit of the doubt, given the other dishes were probably better. With that, I called it a day and headed home. I'm glad my team won the scavenger hunt today. It was a really well organized event.

October 27th 2013: Dinners in Winchester and Lexington

The food truck had to cater a wedding at the Griffin Photography Museum in Winchester today, so while it was being set up, I decided to go find a place to buy some pizza for the rest of the guys, and had to settle for Lucia Ristorante nearby, which apparently is a branch of the upscale restaurant I went to in the North End of Boston a long time ago. 

I decided to order takeout, getting the Ammazzafame (Penne, Porcini, Sausage, Broccoli, Sun Dried Tomatoes and capers), which was the exact same, delicious pasta dish I got in Boston, and the Pizza del Buongustaio (White pizza with mozzarella, potatoes, pancetta, gorgonzola and fresh rosemary).

Ammazzafame

Pizza del Buongustaio

The pasta was excellent as always, while the pizza was just alright, perhaps because we had to serve customers for quite a while before we could even get a chance to eat.

I decided to leave the food for my friends though, and left early to grab a second dinner at the Vine Brook Tavern in the town of Lexington. Despite its name, the place is actually pretty upscale, complete with a constantly changing artisan menu. The dish that interested me the most was the Roasted Trout (Bacon Maple Apple Stuffing, cider beurre blanc, caramelized brussel sprouts), which I ordered naturally.

It was definitely not something I will regret for a long time. The presentation was excellent, the fish was crispy yet moist, and the stuffing was simply heavenly. Definitely several levels above Lucia.

September 11th 2013: Stargazing at the BU Coit Observatory, Boston

Today after work, I learnt that there is a Public Open Night every Wednesday to view the night skies using telescopes at the Coit Observatory on the Boston University campus. However, as there was a chance that the event might be canceled due to cloudy skies, I had to take a chance in heading to Boston tonight, so I decided to head to the town of Lexington to have dinner at Via Lago, a cafe by day and somewhat fine dining restaurant by night, and wait for notice that the event was still on or not.

For food, I decided to get the Pan Seared Sea Scallops (potato carrot cake,  Grand Marnier sauce) for appetizers, and the Local Grown Zucchini and Parmesan Risotto (with sun-dried tomatoes and sauteed chicken medallions) for my main dish. Although the scallops were pretty small in proportion, the dish had good presentation, and even better taste.

It was so tasty that I even are the scallions that came with the dish. It also made me hungrier in anticipation for my main dish. Unfortunately, the risotto was a little disappointing, though still pretty good, with the chicken being a little dry.

I then ordered the Cookies and Cream (assorted fine cookies with vanilla ice cream) for dessert to try to salvage the meal, but it wasn't much to speak of either.

Overall, I'll put a recommend on this place, only because the menu looks very creative, and the food was actually not too bad.

By this time, the event had been given the all clear to proceed for the night, so I headed to Boston. After finding parking nearby, I entered the campus building at 725 Commonwealth Avenue, only to realize that the stairway only led up to the 5th floor and not the roof. After some more exploration, I somehow managed to find the stairway up to the top.

one of the telescopes

There were already a lot of people lining up in front of the three telescopes to see the 2 stars that were not visible with the naked eye, even in the midst of the patchy clouds tonight. Unfortunately, the night was too dark to take pictures of the telescopes, and I did not want to use my flash to disturb other people's enjoyment of the view. I did manage to take pictures of the city from up here though.

I'm glad I discovered this nice activity to do with friends, although I hope the next time, the skies would be clearer.

August 17th 2013: Getting Bashed by Tomatoes in Brockton

This morning, I started my day early by having breakfast at Charlotte's Cozy Kitchen, a casual breakfast place in Pepperell. After looking at the menu, which was pretty standard breakfast fare, I decided to get the Hash and Cheese Omelette, along with a cup of Hot Chocolate.

Hot Chocolate

Hash and Cheese Omelette

I have to say the dish was really oily, though still pretty good. From here, I went to the town of Dracut in search of the Beaver Brook Dam, located at the very end of Victory Lane behind some warehouses. Unfortunately, the water level was very low today, and there wasn't much to see.

From here, I headed to Lowell, where the annual Lowell Southeast Asian Water Festival was being held today along the shores of the Merrimack River at the Vandenberg Esplanade.

I did some sightseeing in town first before the festival officially started.

View from Pawtucket Falls Overlook Park,
383 Pawtucket Street

New Life Christian Ministries,
150 Middlesex Street

St. Anthony Parish

Colburn School Apartments

Jollene Dubner Park

Lawrence Street Primitive Methodist Church

Holy Family Parish, 30 Grafton Street

Back at the riverside, while waiting for the dragonboat races to begin, I took a stroll alongside the river,

Rourke Bridge from Vandenberg Esplanade

passing by the Rynne Beach along the way.

Various tents had been set up along the path to sell stuff from Laos, Cambodia and the surrounding regions.

 I decided to try out something unique, namely the dark purple Kralan (sticky rice in bamboo), which came in different sized bamboo containers for different prices.

 In order to get at the rice, the bamboo container is cut open to reveal the delicious rice inside.

Finally, the races started. Pictures I took follow.

Start of the race

As I had the Tomato Bash to go to in the town of Brockton, I left Lowell early, heading first to Lexington to buy some cupcakes from a really small shop, Cake., located within a house in downtown Lexington.

 I bought 11 different mini cupcakes and 3 normal sized ones, in all sorts of flavors including RED CARPET (Smooth, deep red velvet cake laid out with a decadent cream cheese icing), CHOCOLATE MADNESS (flourless chocolate cake covered with marshmallows, chocolate chips, drizzled with smooth rich ganache), MIDNIGHT DELIGHT (Dense fudge cake filled with sweet chocolate pastry cream topped with Ghiradelli cocoa icing), CLOUDS OVER CHOCOLATE (bittersweet chocolate cake topped with vanilla buttercream), For Goodness Cake (Gold cake enveloped in smooth chocolate buttercream icing), Banana Split (banana cake topped with tri-flavored buttercream, drizzled in ganache),KARAT TOPPED (pineapple cream cheese icing set on a moist, full-bodied carrot cake), MOCHA EXPRESS (Bittersweet chocolate cake iced in a cappuccino buttercream and garnished with a mocha espresso bean), BLACK TIE AFFAIR (Sweet vanilla bean cake filled with our own pastry cream and dressed in ganache), BERRIES & GOLD (Rich gold cake filled with fresh raspberry preserves and a whipped Chambord buttercream), the Minuteman (Moist gold cake layered with strawberries, light whipped cream then topped with a vanilla buttercream), and the Milk and Cookies (Chocolate Chip Cake with malted buttercream), most of which were actually really good.

from left to right, top to bottom: RED CARPET, CHOCOLATE MADNESS, MIDNIGHT DELIGHT, CLOUDS OVER CHOCOLATE, For Goodness Cake, Banana Split, KARAT TOPPED, MOCHA EXPRESS, BLACK TIE AFFAIR, BERRIES & GOLD

From here, I headed straight to the Brockton Fairgrounds at 600 Belmont Street in Brockton, where the Tomato Bash was to be held.

 I thought I had to be there early to register for the event, so I paid $10 to park. What ended up happening was that I had over an hour to spare, and nothing much to do, although I did manage to take pictures of the arena itself, which was littered with a layer of tomatoes, which at least were not rotten, 

They also turned on the foam machine, which the crowd immediately swarmed to to get a little wet from the tomato foam. I did a little of that too.

getting my feet wet

I ended up walking around for a bit, visiting a few places in town, including the Giant Rocky Marciano statue, located at the Rocky Marciano Stadium by the Brockton High School.

Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital Outpatient Clinic,
500 Belmont Street

First Baptist Church,
10 Bouve Avenue

South Shore Community Church

Our Lady of Lourdes Church

Rocky Marciano Statue

I also managed to have time to grab some food at a nearby small Vietnamese restaurant, Pho A Dong, where I managed to get the Bun Mam (salted fish soup). which is actually pretty hard to find in Massachusetts, if not the whole of America, and was really good.

By the time I got back to the event, it had already started, so I immediately got into the heat of it, donning my goggles and walking into the crowd, where tomatoes were already flying in the air.

To properly throw a tomato, you take one in your hand,

smash it,

then throw it into the fray. Eventually, the ground became a pool of tomato mush, and people actually started diving into it.

After about 15 minutes, I decided I had had enough, and went to the side of the field to hose myself down to get all the tomato bits off. After changing into dry clothes in my car, it was off to resume sightseeing for the rest of the day.

In trying to get to Quincy, I passed through Stoughton,

Christadelphian Church

House of God Church

First United Methodist Church

Faxon Veterans Memorial Park

and Randolph, which I managed to finish up before nightfall.

Randolph Savings Bank Main Office

Trinity Episcopal Church

St. Mary's Church

Stetson Hall, 6 South Main Street

First Congregational Church

Crawford Square,
North Main Street and North Street

Imagination Station,
North Street and Pleasant Street

Town Hall, 41 South Main Street

First Baptist Church

Powers Farm Park

Norroway Pond at Powers Farm Park

Temple Beth Am

St. Bernadette Church

Great Pond Upper Reservoir,
Oak Street and Pine Avenue

Great Pond Reservoir,
~375 Pond Street

I finally reached Quincy to have dinner at the Shabu Restaurant, a small but really nicely decorated Japanese hot pot place, complete with outdoor seating. When I arrived, there were already people waiting in line, but as I was just one person, I managed to get the last available seat at the counter.

For my hot pot with regular broth, I got the Japanese Tontoro High Quality Pork (Sliced Pork Belly) and the Quail Eggs, which came with vegetables and my choice of yam noodles on the side.

Tontoro High Quality Pork

My hot pot setup

I also ordered other appetizers, namely the Sauteed Beef Tongue and the Soft Shell Salt and Pepper Shrimp.

Sauteed Beef Tongue

Soft Shell Salt and Pepper Shrimp

I have to say that my dining experience here was pretty good. A definite recommend from me. Do expect to wait in line for a table though.

With that, a long and eventful day finally came to an end. Now to go home and wash my clothes free of the tomato stench.