Showing posts with label Shirley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shirley. Show all posts

Sunday, February 2, 2014

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.

Recommended Places to Visit: Shirley

Recreation
Water Bodies
Bow Brook Reservoir
49 Leominster Road

Phoenix Pond
Fredonian Street and Phoenix Street


Parks
Benjamin Hill Park
93 Benjamin Road


Architecture
Monuments
Whitney Park
Front Street and Phoenix Street

Giant Mohawk Statue
280 Great Road

Fredonian Nature Center
10 Fredonian Street


Places of Worship

United Church of Shirley
4 Lancaster Road


Historical Buildings
Phoenix Park
2 Shaker Road


Town Facilities
T-Station
Ayer Road and Phoenix Street

Town Hall
7 Keady Way

Police Department
11 Keady Way

Hazen Public Library
3 Keady Way


Restaurants
Tried:
Western
Piccolino's Restaurant
4 Mill Street
Recommended Dishes:
Seafood Chowder
Vermont Burger
Hawg Wings

Friday, September 13, 2013

September 13th 2013: Lunch in Shirley, Dinner in Holliston

Today at lunch, I decided to head out to the town of Shirley for lunch at Piccolino's Restaurant, a typical bar restaurant at 4 Mill Street in town. I passed by a few places in town along the way.
 At the bar, I ordered the Seafood Chowder for soup, the  Hawg Wings (tender pork legs grilled with Spicy BBQ sauce) for appetizers, and the Vermont Burger  (0.5lb Angus burger topped with hickory smoked bacon and Vermont cheddar) with seasoned fries for my main dish.

The chowder was alright I guess,

 while the legs were actually pottery tender and went well with the BBQ sauce.

Unfortunately, there was no sauce on the burger, which made out really plain and I had to salvage it with ketchup.

Overall, not a place worth coming back to for the food.

After work, I decided to head into the town of Holliston for dinner, passing by the town of Millbury,
New Creation Baptist Church

then going to find the historic manmade cave in Upton at the Upton Heritage Park at 18 Elm Street, which I missed out on the last time I was here. This time, I managed to find it.

 The "cave" itself was pretty small, but strangely devoid of any wildlife, so I wasn't bugged in any sense of the word the whole time I was inside taking pictures of the round enclosed space in the dark.
Heading in
Totally dark inside
the inside of the cave









Inside looking out

From here, I visited Fiske Millpond on the corner of Fiske Mill Road and Pond Street,

before I headed into Hopkinton to visit Sandy Beach on the shores of Lake Maspenock at the end of Hayward Street.



















I also visited the Ice House Pond at ~66 West Main Street.

Finally it was time for dinner at Casey's Publichouse in Holliston. Again like at Piccolino's, another typical bar restaurant. Here, I had $40 to spend, which meant having to get a lot of food, including the French Onion Soup (Home Made Onion Soup baked under a crouton with Swiss Cheese), the Grilled Blackened Kielbasa (butterflied smoked kielbasa, dusted with blackened seasoning and served with horseradish sauce), the Jamaican Jerk Wings, the Pub Burger (2 8oz All Angus Beef Patty grilled to your preference, topped with 4oz of our smoked pulled pork, applewood bacon, BBQ sauce, coleslaw and cheddar cheese with sweet potato hand cut fries) and finally the Oreo Pie (Vanilla Ice Cream and Ground Oreo Cookie served in Pie Crust). 
French Onion Soup
Grilled Blackened Kielbasa











Jamaican Jerk Wings
The Pub Burger











Oreo Pie
The soup was just alright, while the wings were disappointingly bland. The kielbasa was salty, but pretty good, especially with the horseradish sauce, while the burger was pretty massive and I could hardly finish it at all. The sweet potato fries were really soggy though. Thankfully, the dessert helped to salvage the meal, but my impression of the place is already set. Definitely not for me.