October 26th 2013: Horseback Riding in Princeton

Today, I had an appointment with a friend to go horseback trail riding at the Cornerstone Ranch in the town of Princeton.

Before heading to pick my friend up, I decided to do some sightseeing in Framingham. The first place I went to was the Hop Brook Natural Area. The path I walked while here is shown below in pink.

The water body at end was just okay looking though.

After getting back to my car, I headed to the Cushing Memorial Park in town, which had been under construction the last time I was here. The end result is pretty nice,

Cushing Memorial Chapel

along with the fall foliage here.









Lastly, I visited the Framingham Reservoir #2 at ~262 Fountain Street









before going to pick my friend up.

We headed to the town of Sudbury first for an Indian lunch buffet at Soul of India. The decor here is pretty decent,

as was the lunch buffet, which had a pretty good variety of food,

 especially in terms of soups (3) and desserts (3).

After eating our fill, we headed to the ranch, arriving a little early.

We waited a while for the previous group of riders to come back with their horses, and while they were busy eating hay,

the leader matched us to our horses for the day based on our level of experience and size, with the small kid getting to ride on a pony. I was given a female horse named Shiloh.

Using a step stool, we mounted our horses, and waited for the trail ride to start.

Soon, it was off into the woods.

At times, I tried to get the horse to go faster, but somehow it refused to listen to my kicks. We would often stop along the trail to wait for everyone to catch up, and the horse would automatically start to eat the grass around it.

The views along the power lines were beautiful, as can be expected of Princeton.

Other than that, it was a nice ride through the woods in the fall.

After getting back to the ranch and dismounting our horses, I decided to bring my friend to see a few scenic places in town, heading to the top of Mount Wachusett nearby, where the views were awesome this time of year.


















We visited the Wachusett Dam in Clinton next, where the sun was about to set.

This time, we decided to venture to the other side of the dam, which I have never done before.

The views here are pretty good too.

From here, my friend had to go shopping for a Halloween costume, so we headed to Natick where there is a Party City branch. After she finally decided on a costume, we decided to head to Oga's, a pretty upscale Japanese restaurant located close by.

After a short wait, we were ushered to our table, which was nicely shielded from public view by shutters and curtains.

The shutters did make getting in and out from out table a little more troublesome though.

For food, my friend decided to get the Sake Ishiyaki Don (Fresh salmon sashimi, roe and seasonal vegetables over a bed of rice served in a hot stone bowl), while I decided to get appetizers only, getting the Enoki Beef Maki (Sliced beef roll with enoki mushroom and asparagus smothered in teriyaki sauce), the Oga's Clam Chowder (Saikyo white miso, Ume sauce, and wasabi for spice), and the Foil-Yaki (Shrimp and Japanese mushrooms baked in a foil wrap with sake and butter).

Foil Yaki

Foil Yaki opened

Oga's Clam Chowder

Sake Ishiyaki Don

Enoki Beef Maki

The clam chowder was delicious, especially with the Japanese touch, while the Foil Yaki was interestingly good in taste and presentation. The beef roll would have been good if the beef itself was not dry, while the rice did not have enough sauce, and the fish and roe did not taste so good once they started getting cooked by the hot stone bowl. I guess that is why they never serve fish roe cooked.

We also got Black Sesame Sorbet for dessert, which was actually pretty good as well.

Overall, definitely a restaurant I would recommend.

With that, I dropped my friend off home and headed back myself to get ready for food truck stuff tomorrow.

May 2nd 2013: Dinner with a Good Friend at Tenichi, Natick

Today after work, I met up with a good friend of mine whom I have not seen for some time now for dinner, at Ten-ichi Dynamic Kitchen in Natick. It was still in time for the all-you-can-eat Hot Pot Special, and as I had not had it before, I decided to take this opportunity to do so tonight. We got the complimentary Shang Tang Broth, and ordered all the food we wanted. Even with mostly vegetables, we still managed to over order, but we enjoyed our meal all the same, especially with the special sauce.

It was great catching up with my friend again, and having good food in Natick. I did not even realize that I had not seen her since Christmas!!

Recommended Places to Visit: Natick

Recreation

Water Bodies

Fisk Pond
~126 West Central Street

Lake Cochituate
43 Commonwealth Road

Shopping Malls
Natick Mall
1245 Worcester Street

Christmas Tree Shops
1298 Worcester Street

Jordan's Furniture
1 Underprice Way


Beaches
Dug Pond
Windsor Avenue and West Street


Hiking
Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary
280 Eliot Street

Architecture

Monuments

Town Common
South Main Street and East Central Street

War Memorials
South Avenue and North Main Street

Places of Worship

Hartford Street Presbyterian Church
99 Hartford Street

Fisk Memorial United Methodist Church
106 Walnut Street

Albanian Orthodox Church of the Anunciation
37 Washington Street

First Congregational Church
2 East Central Street

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
39 East Central Street

First Baptist Church
13 Common Street

St. Patrick's Church
44 East Central Street

Eliot Church
45 Eliot Street


Schools
The Tobin School
73 Cottage Street

Wilson Middle School
22 Rutledge Road

Riverbend School
6 Auburn Street

Town Facilities
T-Station
1 Walnut Street

Town Hall
13 East Central Street

Morse Institute Library
14 East Central Street

Fire Department
22 East Central Street

Bacon Free Library
58 Eliot Street


Dams
South Natick Dam
Mill Lane and Eliot Street


Historical Buildings
Old Sacred Heart Parish
19 Eliot Street

Restaurants

Highly Recommended:
Thai

Maxwell's 148
148 East Central Street
Recommended Dishes:
Crab Curry
Kafir Lime Seared Scallops and Curry Eggplant with Basil

Chinese

Ten-ichi Dynamic Kitchen
1400 Worcester Street
Recommended Dishes:
Xiao Long Bao
East Coast Grilled Maki
Tropical Maki
Dynamite Maki
All-You-Can Eat Hot Pot

Western
Sel de la Terre
1245 Worcester Street
Recommended Dishes:
Creamy Radish and Potato Soup
Duck Liver Terrine
Duck Confit Ravioli with Spinach

Met Bar and Grill
1245 Worcester Street


Kelly's Roast Beef (chain)
2 Underprice Way
Recommended Dishes:
Roast Beef Sandwich


Mediterranean

The Grillin' Greek
3 Union Street
Recommended Dishes:
Lamb Gyro

Dessert
Melt Gelato and Crepe Cafe
1245 Worcester Street
Recommended Dishes:
Strawberry Royale Crepe
Andalusian Crepe
Forbidden Fruit Smoothie

Japanese
Minado
1282 Worcester Street
Recommended Dishes:
Sushi Buffet

Oga's Japanese Cuisine
915 Worcester Street
Recommended Dishes:
Oga's Clam Chowder
Foil-Yaki
Black Sesame Sorbet
Sake Ishiyaki Don
Enoki Beef Maki


Tried:
Western
Spalla's Chicago Italian Beef
229 North Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
The Overload
Chicago Dog
BBQ Zang Dog
Beantown Dog

Italian
Natalie's Italian Kitchen
319 North Main Street
Recommended Dishes:
Mozzarella sticks
Fried chicken wings
Linguini carbonara

Chinese

Master Wok
1245 Worcester Street

Indian

Gourmet India (Chain)
1245 Worcester Street

Minerva Indian Cuisine
1318 Worcester Street

April 28th 2013: Touring the Modvic Steampunk House, Sharon

Today was my first full day of sightseeing that I have had in a long time now. I started off by going on a short hike at the Fork Factory Brook area in Medfield, hoping to find a nice view that I might have missed out on the last time I hiked at Rocky Woods which is right next door, passing by Fisk Pond at ~126 West Central Street in Natick along the way.

When I arrived at the spot in Medfield, the path I took to explore Fork Factory Brook is shown below in pink.

I basically followed the orange trail all the way, except to climb up a small hill which had no views, and to visit the mill site, which did not have much to show either.

Old Mill Site

After a pretty wasted hike, I decided to head into Boston to visit the Boston Marathon Memorial at Copley Square.

The tulips were in full bloom here as well, and there was an interesting patch where there was one red tulip in a sea of yellow ones, probably symbolic of what happened during the bombings.

I also took this opportunity to peek inside the Trinity Church, which was having its Sunday service.











After leaving the area, I decided to check out a few places in the south of Boston, including the Cochituate Standpipe at Highland Park before heading to Norwood for lunch.

Timothy Baptist Church

Alvah Kittredge Park,
Highland Street and Linwood Street

United Baptist Church

View from Highland Park

Cochituate Standpipe,
Highland Park

Cochituate Standpipe from afar

When I reached Norwood, the Thai Boo Cuisine Restaurant was still not open for business yet, so I decided to check out the Perks Coffeehouse nearby first, getting a raspberry mousse, which was pretty good, in this nice looking cafe.

After finishing my cake, it was time for lunch. The place was pretty empty as it had just opened, but the decor was pretty nice.

For lunch, I decided to get the Larb (Minced chicken with mint leave, cilantro, scallion, onion and rice powder tossed in lime juice), the Duck Love Boo (Crispy boneless half duck topped off served with Fresh Ginger Sauce), and the Thai Donuts for dessert.

Larb

Duck Love Boo

Thai Donuts

The Larb was pretty tasty, although I did not know how to wrap it with lettuce properly, while the duck was crispy and delicious with the giner sauce, although I did not like any of the vegetables on the plate, so I ate only the duck. The donuts were presented pretty well, and were a good, sweet finish to my meal.

From here, I headed to Sharon to visit the Modvic Steampunk House. For those of you new to the steampunk concept, it is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century, where old machinery are infused with modern technology to give them new life in the modern age.

The owner of the home was really proud of his creation, giving us a short presentation on the concept of steampunk before giving us a tour of his house which is filled with tons of interesting looking but functioning furniture and appliances. Pictures follow.

The Steampunk House

The TV

Interesting clock

Modernized old stove

Puffins

Computer desk

USB Thumbdrive

The submarine door

After the tour, it was time for tea and biscuits, which were pretty good.

The biscuits

Tea Cups

I left soon after, having enjoyed my experience here in Sharon. On my way to Canton, I passed by the Sharon Memorial Park, a large and beautiful Jewish cemetery in Sharon,

and the Knollwood Memorial Park right next door in Canton, yet another large cemetery.

The Last Supper

From here, it was on to my next meal at Junction Bar and Grille, a typical bar restaurant in town.

I decided to get a French Onion Soup and the Chicken Carbonara.

French Onion Soup

Chicken Carbonara

Both dishes were pretty decent, though a little salty, but average overall.

From here, it was back to Boston, passing by a few places in Dedham along the way.

Mother Brook Millpond,
~235 Colburn Street

Charles River from Riverdale Park

In the Hyde Park area, I visited the Dell Rock Urban Wild on Dell Avenue and Hyde Park Avenue, which had semi-decent views when I got to the very top of the rocks.

At Sprague Pond at ~240 McDonald Street, I chanced upon a father trying to teach his kids how to fish, and the little girl actually caught a fish while I was there.

Next, I visited a few churches in the West Roxbury area of Boston.

St. Matthew's Syrian Orthodox Church

Emmanuel Episcopal Church West Roxbury

Stratford Street United Methodist Church

I also visited Havey Beach and Rivermoor Park at the end of Rivermoor Street in this area which had okay views of the Charles River, but they were pretty overgrown and hence not much of parks.

At Havey Beach

At Rivermoor Park

Millenium Park is situated on a hill with three levels of trails. The beautiful views from the top reminded me of Skyline Park in Brookline, but the views were better here, especially of the Charles River in the distance. Pictures I took in this large and beautiful park follow.

Prudential Tower and John Hancock Tower in the distance

I decided to leave at this point to head for one last meal at Ghazal Indian Cuisine in the Jamaica Plain area, but ended up passing by a few places where I could not resist but stop to take pictures.

Wind Cup Structure,
Corinth Street and Belgrade Avenue

Alexander the Great Park,
Robert Street and Belgrade Avenue

St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church

Adams Park

The restaurant itself is relatively small, though nicely decorated.

I went with the Machhi Pakora (Fresh salmon fish with spices, deep fried in chick-pea batter), and the Rack of Lamb (marinated in yogurt and clay oven cooked), which came with a side of curry as well.

Machhi Pakora

Rack of Lamb

The salmon was really dry, but the lamb was pretty good, going well with the curry as well. Overall, I would give this place a recommend, but skip the fish pakora.

With that, I finally called an end to my day of sightseeing. Back to work tomorrow.