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Houston, TX: A guide to the JSC & Sugarland Area

12/21/2015

 
Texas is pretty flat. Houston is kind of like any other major city-- full of freeway interchanges, toll roads, and skyscrapers.

I however, didn't spend that much time in the city. 

I did spend a bunch of time in Sugarland (where one of my friends grew up) and at the Johnson Space Center (because, well, I figured it was worth going more than once.

A closer look at the Johnson Space Center (JSC)

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A new exhibit they're constructing-- it's supposed to be finished by early 2016.
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One of the tours you can hop on takes you to mission control. Unfortunately you only get to see a video feed of the newer mission control used for the space station, but there is at least the original apollo mission control (complete with ashtrays built into the seats)
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Their other tour brings you to the astronaut training facility. Really impressive! (Also if you're a FIRST FRC veteran you'll probably appreciate the Robonauts' facility....)
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Nicely restored Saturn V rocket. I can't really describe how large this thing is! It's amazing.

Food.

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Yelp helped us find this place-- a mini container in a parking lot. It wasn't bad (though the potato salad was more like mashed potatoes that tasted like potato salad). BBQ is a must :)
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You can't go wrong with this.
The food was pretty decent. I think they had the option of pho or ramen and a bunch of various Asian side dishes. I'd definitely go here again if I was back in Sugarland....

Ky Ans Kitchen- ​11134 TX-6, Sugar Land, TX 77498

Boston's Alden and Harlow and Cambridge on Halloween

10/31/2015

 
No secret burger left, but pretty awesome nevertheless. Really rich and filling food. Man those pancakes (with the popcorn) were amazing. And that pork belly, the fried bok choy.... Alden and Harlow is a pretty cool joint and I highly recommend it!

Also Cambridge had a bunch of folks riding bikes all dressed up for Halloween. It just so happened I parked on the street that everyone was taking to what seemed like the meetup spot by the river....

Toronto: Land of Amazing Food and tiny metro tokens

10/20/2015

 
No seriously, by LA standards Toronto is amazing. 

Here's a place that has basically every Asian cuisine you might have been dying to have.

For example: a Malaysian restaurant with Hokkien mee and rendang and a whole bunch of other deliciousness. (Not very creative name at South Asia Malaysian Cuisine, but oh well.)

 Crown Prince Dim Sum 
I'm pretty sure this was Crown Prince. It used to be a high-tea place but now it's just a large fancy Chinese restaurant with a bunch of fancy banquet hall rooms. It is a treat to have dimsum on such pretty porcelain plates, though!
O Mei: they really should have named it Oh Man. (Because you will be rolling out the door in a seriously satisfying food coma.)
A trip to St. Lawrence's Market: try some local cheeses, walk around downtown...

Montreal-- my first trip to Quebec province (2nd to Canada)

10/17/2015

 
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Schwartz's Deli

Ok, it's touristy, and I've had better plates of beef. But it is sort of a tradition to go to, and it wasn't bad, though I don't think I'll stand in line for this place again. 
I introduced my parents to poutine (gravy + cheese on fries) and creating sandwiches from mountains of meat and potatoes. The district this place is in is kind of cool, though-- and definitely is worth a walk around!
See? Great area to walk around. These are some fantastic wall murals and great architecture. Oh, and there's no shortage of cured meats along the way :)
Crepes! There is a whole chain of restaurants dedicated to crepes and chocolate-- called Juliette et Chocolate (Juliette and Chocolate). Worth a stop.
Beautiful nighttime scenery along the waterfront. It is a walk back up a hill if you're going back into the central downtown area, so keep that in mind. Old town is very reminiscent of European cities.

La Sauvagine is a decent French restaurant (and wasn't hard to find a table at, either).

Vermont in the Fall

10/16/2015

 
Multiple people have told me that New England in the fall is gorgeous-- and to make it a point to drive up to Vermont.  So when a couple of family friends wanted to me to meet them in Toronto in October, I figured it would be a good time to go hit those backroads.
Highly Recommended Stops
King Arthur's Flour Bakery and Cafe (~1.5 hrs from Boston)
Ben & Jerry's Factory (~2 hrs from Boston)
Burlington, VT-- try Hen of the Wood (~3-4 hrs from Boston)

If I had more time, I would have investigated the Von Trapp Family lodge (surprisingly, my mom didn't care if we went there or not). There seems to be a lot of great backroads (that I didn't drive on)-- but one day I'll be back to find all those covered bridges!

King Arthur Flour

King Arthur Flour: Industrial baking, great food, and a bunch of cool things you can bring home with you! (Like flour, baking supplies, local cheeses....) Great lunch stop. My folks and I were the only non-whites there, but it was nice to see that the local senior center brought some of their seniors here to socialize and have a change of place.

​Ben and Jerry's

Ben and Jerry's-- great ice cream comes from happy cows, and this is a pretty awesome local success story. It's not a large operation by any means, but they do give you a sample of whatever flavor they're trying out that day (I think that day was like a birthday cake flavor or something). Mm fresh sugar straight from the source. Along with some prank gifts and a bunch of funny T-shirts, this was actually a surprisingly popular spot with the locals.

If you're not into being shuffled around a tiny viewing area, and really love ice cream, then just go straight to the store and order a cone (or two). 
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This is what happens when I hand my camera to my mom. On the other hand, you get a pretty good idea of what Vermont looks like.

​Hen of the Wood

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Just some meat, chilling out (you'll see it on the way to the restroom)
Interested in trying a farm-to-table restaurant? With great service, an awesome drink selection, and some fantastic food? This... was worth it. We luckily scored a table (I think I nabbed it 48 hours in advance) and it was on par with any of the great places I've eaten at in LA.

Note: very low light means it's hard for parents with various stages of cataract to see. Luckily, they were equipped with their smartphones. And luckier still, we weren't chased away for shining bright lights onto the menu!

Burlington, VT to Montreal

There's a lovely backroad (highway 2) that will take you up through the island that's a little north of Burlington in Lake Champlain. Worth the drive if you have some time. Lots of farms up here.
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LAX's new Tom Bradley Terminal

6/17/2015

 
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We've had to wait a long time, but this airport has gotten a majorly needed upgrade. I'm blown away by the modern look (and selection of food, of course) in the new Tom Bradley Terminal. The only thing that's a bit of a downer is that there really isn't anything to eat prior to getting your boarding pass at the terminal (other than selections from Coffee Bean). They've got fantastic art displayed and it's just really pretty overall.

Interestingly enough, you could purchase a $46,000 bottle of scotch, Chinese liquor, packs of ginseng, and fish oil capsules all in the duty free shop. Shopping aside (I was pretty bored waiting for my mom to finish buying cosmetics) there's a great pair of interactive displays on either side of the terminal, which display images from different destinations along with a soundtrack. There are some lidars hidden in the art-- I have a feeling they are the old security sensors that used to be mounted in the terminal. 

We ate lunch at Chaya, though in hindsight, perhaps trying out that farm-to-table restaurant or eating an Umami burger would have been tastier (there wasn't much in the way of variety, though it was definitely a step up from the last Japanese restaurant that was in Tom Bradley).

The miff I have with this beautiful modernistic minimalist airport: the announcement speakers suck. You could barely hear what the attendants were saying. 
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Boston, MA and the surrounding area

6/11/2015

 
Boston: a city home to so much culture. From museums to historic greens where great battles were 
fought, this was definitely a totally different experience from California.

It felt a little deja vu the first time I walked down the streets of Wellesley (a suburb near Olin, where I went to school)-- it felt almost exactly like Old Town, Pasadena (just a lot smaller). I later discovered that Pasadena was modeled after the East Coast. So in some sense, I never really lived in a different place (moved from one highly affluent area to the next), except, the weather was quite different.

It's a small enough place where public transportation actually works pretty well! Be sure to get a multi-day pass or a Charlie Card to get around-- a subway ride is about $2 now (as of 2015).

If you only have a day, well, you have a lot of walking ahead of you! 
"Follow the red brick road"-- check out the Freedom Trail-- it connects a bunch of historic sites but they have nothing to do with each other.

If it's a nice day, take a walk across the bridge to Cambridge/go to the Esplanade/check out Beacon Hill (a very pretty neighborhood with a great knick-nack store, The Black Ink. Get ice cream at Toscanini's in Cambridge (you might want to ask for a kiddie size).

If it's a crappy day, check out the Aquarium, the Museum of Science, or get some clam "chowda" at Faneuil Hall or Legal Sea Foods.  There is also the first public library (aka. the Boston Public Library) located in Copley Square, and the Harvard Museum of Natural History if you're into old-school oddities.  Check the box offices at Symphony Hall or Berklee's auditorium if you want to catch a music performance.


If you've got more time, check out the squares in neighboring Cambridge:

Kendall: famous for MIT, it's an interesting walk around. (There's also an interactive music chimes display in the T station underground.) They've got decent food trucks on the weekdays.

Harvard: famous for Harvard, you can join in the hordes of tourists trying to see John Harvard's statue. Lots of great eats here!

Or Somerville:
Porter Square: There's a multi-story building next to Lesley University that's got a Japanese/Asian food court! Additionally, they have an awesome book store in the Porter Square Shopping Center known as Porter Square Books, and just next to the shopping center is probably one of the best ramen places in the greater Boston area.
Davis Square: Good burgers can be found, as well as things college students like. (This is where Tufts is located.)

And if you have a car, you can go see...
  • Nearby Lexington Green, Minuteman field, and many other sites from the Revolutionary War
  • Plymouth Rock. (Though it's not nearly as huge as I was expecting it to be.)
  • Salem. Witches, anyone? (Worth a look during halloween.)
  • Gloucester/Rockport.
  • New Hampshire (you'll see the state liquor stores right on the border)
  • Cape Cod/Buzzard's Bay.
  • Providence, RI
  • Haraseeket, Maine, for lobster 
  • New York City (it's only a 4 hr drive/bus ride)


Where to Eat:
  • Summer Shack (there's one next to Berklee School of Music and another next to the Alewife T station)
  • Courthouse Seafood, located on Cambridge St (north of MIT)
  • Legal sea foods-- there's one in the Prudential Center and by the Aquarium-- I think of it as a Cheesecake Factory equivalent

  • If you're into bars, there are a lot of Irish pubs in downtown Boston near the waterfront. There's also a great Irish/Lord of the Rings-esque pub in Harvard Square known as Grendel's Den.  There's also Harpoon and Sam Adams Breweries in town... and they have tours....


  • In Arlington, there is szechuan's dumplings on Mass Ave.
  • There is also a penzey's spices, which is a great place to spend time inhaling goodness (that will definitely empty your wallet if you decide to buy some-- highly recommend smelling/trying Sunny Paris).
  • Check out Wilson Farms if you are into local growing. (CSAs are also common around here.)

Ice cream. New Englanders take this very seriously.
  • Cabots in Newton (old school parlor)
  • il Casale in Belmont, and Tosci's in Cambridge
  • Dairy joy in Weston if you don't have time to drive out otherwise GO TO KIMBALL FARMS!
  • Try raspberry lime Rickey, fish and chips, fried clam strips, and black raspberry ice cream.

Kimball Farms deserves to be mentioned on its own-- they've got bumper boats, a driving range, a batting cage, a general store, classic summer eats, and they're in quite a pretty part of New England!

Asian Supermarkets (hey, they're important!)
  • Go experience the dinky places in Boston's Chinatown
  • Super 88 in Allston (near Boston University)
  • H Mart in Cambridge and Burlington (Korean stuff)

By the cape
  • Oxford creamery (easy to stop off at if you're headed towards Rhode Island)
  • Woods Hole: Pie in the sky. Best pie ever (or at least rivals the place in Milwaukee,Wisconsin that my brother-in-law's mom always gets apple pie from)
  • There's the Cape Cod chip factory!
  • Check out the oysters, clams, and lobster at the local seafood joints.


Cancun (Isla Mujeres and Chichen Itza)

6/8/2015

 
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Playa Norte looking towards Cancun.
My mom came back from Cancun a few years ago, describing how beautifully blue the water was. My dad took pictures, and I just didn't believe that it was that blue, but that the camera was over-saturating the colors. Now that I've been here, I can tell you that there are certain spots that are absolutely amazing. Now if only it wasn't so humid....

I came to Isla Mujeres for a family friend's wedding. It's an interesting place that's a vacation spot for both locals and foreigners alike.  We stayed near the ferry stop at Hotel Playa de La Media Luna.  There was a great beach, though it seemed that the nearby Mia hotel had an even better cove to snorkel and swim in. Nearby was Playa Norte, which had some amazing sand and deep blue oceans.  For the most part, there are lots of restaurants that cater to the American tourists, but if you look carefully as you walk a block or two off the main roads, you'll find some interesting places.

Handy Tips:
  • The max amount of money you can change at most places is $300. The bank that seemed to give the best exchange rate (and a lot of locals lined up there too) was Banco Azteca, which was fairly close to the hotel media Luna.
  • Rooster has got some amazing twists on standard breakfast fare. Be sure to try their french toast.
  • Meals are great at Lola Valentina, located on Miguel Hidalgo. Get the octopus if you can, the BBQ-esque sauce is amazing.
  • If you do go snorkeling, make sure that you sunblock your butt. Snorkeling requires a life jacket tied around your waist which leaves your butt and legs up near the surface. 
  • Conch shells are sharp, so make sure if you buy one to blow on that it's somewhat sanded down. (note: pretty sure that the starfish and conches were a big part of the local ecosystem so just think about that before you buy one....)
  • You can exchange pesos at the ferry terminal in Cancun (either withdraw from the ATM or pay the store clerk in dollars). The rate is better by 1 peso or so on the mainland. Don't change at the airport, though.
  • Cocktails are good and cheap. Piña coladas, mojitos, margaritas... They were all good. 
  • FYI toilet paper can't be flushed down toilets in most of the island....

Places of note: 
  • Near the turtle farm, there's a fairly touristy beach known as Playa Lancheros that serves up some great grilled fish, aka. pescado tikin xik. It's cooked on a huge wood grill and everything tasted and smelled wonderful.
  • Lagoon outside the Mia hotel. Almost felt like I was standing on a beach in the South Pacific.
  • Ceviche-- they prepare it right in front of you at the restaurant with the turquoise paint a few stores north of the Ferry terminal. The restaurant is known as Picus Cockteleria and is brightly turquoise on the outside with plastic chairs and tables in the sand on the inside.
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Yum, BBQ fish!
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Underwater museum that's meant to be an artificial reef. Snorkeling was fun but it didn't really seem that the coral reefs were healthy. Notice the people with their heads in the sand.
Chichen Itza is a fair distance from Cancun (~3.5 hr car ride). It's one of the oldest ancient pyramid sites in the Yucatan Peninsula and consisted of two ancient peoples, the Mayans and the Toltec. There is some shade, but for the most part, it gets really really hot.  Just as a side note, we stayed at one of the local hotels that was connected to the entrance so we could go in at 8 am (there is also an option on some days to go in at sunset).  If you take the tour from Cancun (as in join a group bus tour) the buses arrive around 11am, which means that you're in some pretty sweltering heat.
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Cenote ik xil. There was also a sign that said red bull did cliff diving here....
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See that platform at the top between the pillars? That's where they sacrificed the greatest warriors by ripping out their hearts....
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The great pyramid of Chichen Itza. You can clap and the stairs will "crow" back at you.... Also it was correctly positioned to showcase the summer and winter equinoxes.
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Once upon a time, these columns supported a roof.

Nova Scotia: where the folks from New England go....

5/31/2014

 
So I'm actually writing this in June 2015, roughly a full year since I've been to Nova Scotia. This was a journey I took with two of my friends after our commencement ceremony for about 10 days.  It was a long trek from Boston (who knew that Maine was such a large state?) and we ate lots of lobster along the way.  Also developed a love of oysters.

This was roughly our route (we did hit the major cities like halifax and moncton). Lots of 1-lane in either direction roads. Do keep in mind to time the trip when the Canadians aren't on school holidays (we were there roughly a week or so before the Canadians were on vacation).
Places I'd definitely go again:

Halifax
  • Was worth staying in the dorms during the summer-- it was like ~$100/night for a fully equipped apartment!
  • Check out the brewery, they make some great stuff! (and you get to try a lot of it, in our case, for free)
  • Supermarkets are interesting-- they cook lobster while you wait, they sold tangerines from Israel, and just seemed different yet familiar all at the same time.
  • The old fort is worth a look and a walk-around. The whole city has a lot of great architecture and history.  This is where most of the British supporters moved to when the British lost the Revolutionary War.

Pictou
  • Wish I spent more time here-- we drove specifically for the Grohmann knife factory which requires FOUR people to take a tour. Will have to come back for that. Ended up buying lots of great kitchen knives from them at discount prices! (though no warranty)

Sydney
  • Kind of a weird fishing town that wasn't quite touristy and wasn't terribly interesting. However, coal mining is a big deal up here, and you can actually go on tours of real mines. As it turned out the "real" mine was closed and the smaller miner's museum was open (our tour guide who had actually grown up in the town with the smaller miner's museum and had actually worked in that mine before told us that his museum was the real deal, and most of it is flooded since it was below the water table). 

Cape Breton
  • The Cabot Trail is very scenic and well worth the drive. We found it to be much prettier going counterclockwise rather than clockwise (plus you could pull over easily to stare out over the ocean).
  • Overall a great place for hiking. We stayed at a cabin at Igonish. Do check out the Keltic Lodge in Igonish (it's got quite a nice hike for a decent view) and the food is good. Plus they have live music!
  • There are great trailheads you can pull off and visit. It wasn't terribly warm yet (still snow in some places in late May) so we didn't do a whole lot of hiking. But we did see a moose!
  • Do go to Cheticamp and eat seafood there. They had steamed crab, lobster, and raw oysters. Yum.
  • Just south of Inverness is the Glenora Inn and Distillery. Some of the smoothest scotch I've ever had (go for the 15 year) and some of the most amazing food I've had ever. Highly recommend eating here (lunch and dessert are excellent) and they too have live music. The distillery tour is also like $7 CAD and is totally worth it! (You get a taste at the end.)


Bay of Fundy
  • Hopewell Rocks are really strange. Almost like the faces on Easter Island, just naturally sculpted.
  • Try a lobster. They do taste different. Just make sure they're not overcooked.
  • Rockhounding is a big deal here. 

Helpful Tips:
  • Oysters are great but they try not to serve them to you within two weeks of snowmelt (you'd get sick since oysters are filter feeders and the runoff has human waste).
  • Follow random signs to go places. We read touristy brochures and drove down skinny streets to end up at a fruit-winery near the Hopewell Rocks. 
  • If you want to go to the beach, make sure you look at the tides tables. ESPECIALLY in the Bay of Fundy, which has something like a 12 foot difference between low and high tides.
  • Unless you're super hungry, think twice about eating any poutin (though it is really good).


Places to go to next time:
  • Yarmouth.
  • Hiking in the Bay of Fundy.
  • Taking the ferry to Newfoundland
  • Going to Prince Edward Island (PEI)
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Go to the Parrsboro Rock and Mineral Shop! They've got a great collection of things, and can give you directions to the local beach to go find minerals of your own. (Definitely a place to go during low tide.)

Portland, Maine

5/30/2014

 
Truthfully I've been here mostly for the food, though I've enjoyed walking around this newly remodeled hipster-like port. They've got a lot of local artists and some great stores showcasing the art/pieces you can use for daily use. Lots of unique things here, though I really have to see more of the place and am giving a fairly skewed view of the 5-block area I've been to!

Food: Grab some Omakase at Miyake, located at 468 Fore St.


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Great use of $40, in my opinion....
Art: Peruse the gallery across the street (I had to stop in for a fish that makes faces as funny as mine)
Head over to the kitchen-ware store up the block (on Fore St), same side of the street as Miyake, and right around the junction with Exchange St.

Go up Exchange St. to take a look at abacus gallery for some really creative pieces (they'll give you some great inspiration, especially for interesting gift ideas)

Nearby, be sure to grab some lobster-- the prices are usually good and fresh lobster tastes really sweet and tender.  If you go to a lobster pound, keep in mind that those specimens are not necessarily caught right there in the river. 

    Adela Wee

    Traveling the world since 1994. Taking notes about the places I've been so that friends and family can go there too!

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