July 4th 2013: Independence Day on the Harbor Islands

This evening, I had a BBQ at a friend's place, but before that, I decided to take advantage of the good weather to visit the Boston Harbor Islands, taking the ferry from the Hewitt's Cove Marina located in the Hingham Shipyard Marinas area. Along the way there, I passed by a few places in Quincy,

Quincy Point Congregational Church

St. Joseph's Church

Quincy Historical Society and Museum

Weymouth,

Bridge Street Bridge,
Bridge Street near Monatiquot Street

St. Jerome Church

Unitarian Universalist Church

and finally Hingham itself,

Hingham Shipyard

where I had some time to explore Stodder's Neck, where people go to walk their dogs and has decent views of Back River, before having to go catch the ferry from Hingham Shipyard to get to Bumpkin Island.

Stodder's Neck

I headed back to the shipyard area to board my ferry. I had wanted to visit Grape Island, Bumpkin Island and Peddocks Island all in one day, but the scheduling of the ferries pretty much meant that I had to pick 2 out of 3. I ended up going with Bumpkin and Peddocks, passing by Grape a few times along the way.

Approaching Grape Island

The dock

Leaving Grape Island

It took a while before I finally got to Bumpkin.

Approaching Bumpkin Island

The path I took to explore the entire island in less than an hour is shown below in pink.

From the dock,

I first headed left along the main path to check out the southern view of the Grape and State Islands.

Next, the northern viewpoint of Boston, where there is a shade shelter as well.

From here, I headed to the ruins of the mess hall,

and for a moment I thought this was the end of the road, until I found a path in the one direction I had not looked, heading toward the ruins of a stone house.

When I finally reached the beach on the eastern side of the island, I decided to walk counterclockwise along the beach, rocky on the northern side, to the other side of the dock. Pictures I took while here follow.

The beach

End of my beach trek

I had to climb up some rocks in order to get back to the main path, and then I proceed to the viewpoint in the middle of the island, which had a southern view.

Finally, it was time to head to the next island, so I headed down to the beach by the dock to wait for the boat.

My next destination was Peddocks Island, which apparently was where they filmed Shutter Island.

View of Hull

Approaching the island

The path I took while here is shown below in pink.

There is an old chapel at the dock, and other interesting buildings from the Old Fort Andrews here.

Inside the Visitor Center

From the dock area, I headed to the northern viewpoint, which I had to trudge through grass just to get there, but there were nice views of the town of Hull from here.

There is also the site of an old mortar pit here.

From here, I walked around the fort, not finding much more to take except from another northern view from which Boston could be seen.

From here, I headed downhill to check out the views from the beaches on both sides of the stretch connecting East Head to the West Head side.

I wanted to explore the West Head as well, but as the ferry back home was coming soon, I had to head back somewhat reluctantly.

Road to West Head

Back at the dock area, I took some pictures of the beach area here.

It was a long boat ride with several stops at the various islands back to Hingham, upon which I headed back to Boston to have lunch at Montecristo Mexican Grill, a Mexican restaurant which looks more like a cafe. I had a Groupon here as always, and had to get a lot of dishes just to meet the minimum price. I got the Strawberry Fresas Jugos (Strawberry Milkshake), the Rellenito de Platano (stuffed plantains), the Chuchito (Guatemalan Tamales), the Pork Pupusas and the Mountain Dish (beef, 1 egg, plantains, pork, rice, beans and salad with italian dressing on the side). 

Strawberry Fresas Jugos

Mountain Dish

Pork Pupusa

Rellenito de Platano (left)
and Chuchito (right)

Of all the dishes, only the Mountain dish was good, the pork being crispy and sinfully tasty, the beef tender as well and going well with the plantains and egg, while the rest were just ok.

After lunch, I decided to slowly make my way toward my friend's place in Malden, passing by the North End area,

Independence Day Street Decor

Wall of Saints

the towns of Revere

Monuments at VFW Post 6712

Beachmont T Station

and Chelsea

First Congregational Church

Our Lady of Grace Church

before finally heading to Malden.

I had a great time having BBQ at my friend's place, although it was really hot and humid after which we proceeded to my friend's office at One Broadway in Cambridge to see the Independence Day fireworks from there. As it turned out, a building was blocking part of the view, and the air conditioning was not turned on on that floor as well. I still managed to take decent pictures of the fireworks though, even while perspiring profusely.

After the fireworks were finally over, we headed over to my friend's apartment nearby to await the thinning of the crowds leaving before I headed back to my friend's place in Allston to stay over for the night.

Looking forward to surfing for the first time tomorrow.

July 3rd 2013: Learning to Make Pottery in Northampton

Today after work, I had an appointment to have a one on one pottery making session at the Celadon Studio in Northampton. I passed by a few interesting places in Worcester,

Kettle Brook Lofts

Leicester

Leicester Lions Park in summer,
Main Street and Bottomley Avenue

Police Department

and Northampton downtown

Frog Statue,
Center Street and Main Street

along the way.

It was pretty hard to find the studio, as it is located in the basement of the Maplewood Shops, but thankfully I managed to find it just as the class was about to start.

I was shown the equipment that I was to use today, consisting of a basin with a rotating wheel connected to a pedal which controls the speed of rotation, a plate on which to set the pottery piece, and some tools to help remove waste material, shape the piece, as well as separate the piece from the plate at the end.

The first step involved my trainer weighing out 4 big pieces of clay to use.

I had only expected to make 1 piece, but it turned out I could make a few during the 2 hour class. Finally, it was time to start making some pottery! With one of the big pieces of clay, I plopped it down hard onto the rough center of the square plate, wetting it with water subsequently.

The next step is to center the piece using both hands, the left hand pressing down on the center of the piece to flatten it out, and my right on the outside to control the spread, constantly wetting the setup to prevent my dry hands from sticking to the clay. I had to put quite a bit of pressure onto the clay to make the clay respond to my touch.

At the point where there is very little resistance by the clay to change any more, it is then time to slowly release my hands from the clay.

Next up, making the hole, by putting 2 or more fingers into the center and gradually pulling outward with them to create a depression, ensuring that there is still enough thickness at the bottom of the piece since its a cup anyway.

After doing this, it is time to level out the bottom of the piece using a dry sponge.

The next part is really hard to do, and I could not manage it by the end of the night, although my instructor did it easily. It involves making the piece taller and with thinner walls using both hands to pinch the inside and outside walls together gradually, moving from bottom up to push the clay up toward the top. This can be made easier by using a sponge in one hand to stabilize the process a little more.

To get it really thin and yet stable involves ensuring the clay stays vertical at all parts of it.

Mine, however, tended to arch outward, making it less stable and hence unable to reach the cup stage. My clay even collapsed on itself at times due to lack of support in the middle, as you can see below.

Anyway, after shaping the walls of the piece, it is then time to smooth out the bottom, cutting away waste pieces of clay to make it look better.

Finally, it is time to stop the turning, and detach the piece from the plate below using a taut wire cutting through the base boundary of the piece.

Pot holders are then used to place the piece on a tray to dry out further before burning in the kiln in a series of steps to produce the final piece.

Thankfully, not all my pieces were screw-ups.

Unfortunately, it would take a few more weeks of processing to completely finish the pieces, so I could not bring the pieces home tonight. It was an extremely fun experience though, despite me getting clay all over myself.

Next, it was on to dinner at Mulino's Restaurant, a pretty upscale Italian restaurant in town, located on the second floor of a building in the downtown area with a food place on each of its 3 floors.

For food, I decided to get the Cozze Parmigiano (Fresh Maine mussels pan-sautéed with lemon butter, topped with Parmigiano cheese then finished under the broiler) for appetizers, and the Conchiglie con Pollo (Julienne chicken, prosciutto, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and roasted garlic sautéed in a delicate marsala cream sauce. Tossed with parmigiano cheese and shell pasta) for my main dish.

Cozze Parmigiano

Conchiglie con Pollo

The mussels weren't too bad, although the cheese taste was a little strong, while the pasta was simply heavenly.

Chocolate Decadence

The Chocolate Decadence (Flourless Chocolate torte drizzled withraspberry coulis) wasn't too bad either.

Overall, a recommend if you are ever in the area. 

With that, I took the long drive home, looking forward to Independence Day tomorrow.

July 2nd 2013: Dinner at B.Good, Shrewsbury

Tonight after work, I decided to get my hair cut, and while waiting for my turn, I decided to grab a quick bite at B. Good, a fast food chain restaurant in Shrewsbury.

After looking at the menu, I decided to go with a Veggie Goomba Burger (mushrooms, gouda) with Sweet Potato Fries and a Mango Milkshake.

Veggie Goomba Burger and Sweet Potato Fries

Mango Milkshake

The burger wasn't too bad, while the mango milkshake had real mango bits in it. The fries however, were soft and not to my liking. Thankfully, I look good in my new haircut now.

July 1st 2013: 2nd Day of Thai Food at Bamboo Thai Restaurant, Boston

Today after work was my second attempt at riding a mini-speedboat in the Boston Harbor, but once again the rain thwarted my plans. I ended up heading into the Brighton area of Boston to use my groupon at Bamboo Thai Restaurant. This place, though pretty busy with people, has a kind of dirty feel to it, with the fabric covered seats having stains all over.

For food, I got the Golden Dices (crispy fried tofu cubes served with sweet and sour sauce with chopped roasted peanuts) and the Krathong Thong (minced chicken, onions, green peas, sweet corn & ground peanuts in golden miniature tart shells) for appetizers, the Pla Goong (large shrimps in roasted chili lemongrass dressing on top of mezclun salad) as a salad, and the Soy Sauce Duck Soup with Egg Noodles (slices of boneless duck in soy sauce & Asian spices soup with beansprout, scallion, cilantro). The starters made of fried chips and fish sauce were pretty good to start off with.

The fried tofu was really crispy and went really well with the peanut sauce provided,

while the mini tarts were really unique and tasteful as well.

The salad had a lot of vegetables which I was not a fan of, so I ended up eating the shrimp, which was really tasty as well.

Finally my duck soup came. It was really rich, and I enjoyed it a lot, although the duck was a little bit fatty.

Overall, despite the slight lack of cleanliness in the place, I liked the presentation and taste of all the dishes I got, so I'll give this place a recommend.

After dinner, I headed into the Dorchester area to do some sightseeing there with whatever daylight hours I had remaining.

Old Phillip Brooks School,
5 Perth Street

St. Ambrose Church,
240 Adams Street

New Testament Pentecostal Church,
86 Waldeck Street

The views of the Rainbow Swash Tank and the Dorchester coastline were pretty beautiful from the top of Ronan Park.

Overall, a pretty disappointing day in terms of sightseeing. I blame the weather.