NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 5)

Set off early in the morning so as to arrive in time for brunch in Boston with the gang! Straightforward journey on the highway (unlike the first leg) which took us about 2 hours. Met E at the hotel (Holiday Inn Boston at Beacon Hill), dropped off our luggages, returned the rental car and finally took a train to the restaurant where the others had been eagerly waiting.

We made it! To Stephanie's on Newbury. See those lovely smiles :) Hugs and kisses were exchanged, then we promptly commenced our big brunch. I love their customized Bloody Mary. Someone's concoction tasted like chilli sauce..ha ha..but it's entirely up to you.

After brunch we headed to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Not your typical museum we realized. It features her personal collection and we felt like we walked straight into someone's home. The diversity of the art pieces and the way they're displayed truly intrigued us. And that's probably Isabella's intention given her specific instructions in her will, not to significantly alter her permanent collection. Read more on http://www.gardnermuseum.org/.

Interesting note: Anyone named "Isabella" gets free admission to the museum! Cool.

It was still early so we decided to hang out near our dinner place. E and WP took us to Prudential Center at Boylston Street for some shopping and we spent awhile in the Microsoft store (there's a great yoghurt station outside). Next we headed to the Apple Store just opposite, before reaching the restaurant in time to meet E's roommate who joined us for some lovely Boston seafood.

Name: Atlantic Fish Companu
Location: 761 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116
Expenditure: ~50usd pp incl. alcohol

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 4)

Supposed to leave for Boston but the car rental pick-up was at 2pm so we decided to squeeze in one more attraction. (Our activities were packed because the NY citypass is valid for 9 consecutive days only.) We chose the Statue of Liberty Harbor Cruise and were glad we did so. Originally the tour would bring you to the Liberty and Ellis Islands but they were closed due to repairs connected with Hurricane Sandy. Which works out well for us actually as we were running on a tight schedule.

Lucky we made it JIT as the next time slot wouldn't have been possible. Hence be sure to check the timings. The ride took about an hour without docking, and there was some basic on-board audioguide. Happy that the captain steered us quite close to the Statue of Liberty and even gave time for phototaking. It was a pleasant experience that marks the end of the first leg of our trip.

With little time left, we packed food from a Dean and Deluca store (website) near our hotel. The sushi was surprisingly good. And we were all set for the journey. While walking over to the car rental station, we spotted hoards and hoards of santa clauses on the streets!! And it wasn't even Christmas yet. They were just walking the streets - some purposefully to somewhere - and it certainly looked like some huge event was going on. Both of us were baffled. How could we be missing out on something so happening? Only after googling did we manage to find out that it's called SantaCon. It says on wiki that "SantaCon is an annual mass gathering of people dressed in Santa Claus costumes parading publicly on streets and in bars in cities around the world. The focus is on spontaneity and creativity, while having a good time and spreading cheer and goodwill." So I guess it's some sort of a mass party tradition. Cute. It amazes me how some girls can dress in short off-shoulder dresses in the winter cold!! Kudos to that.

It's a 4-5 hours' drive to Boston but S' colleague invited us to "camp" at their place in Connecticut which is nicely located on the halfway mark of our journey. It's a huge house with so much space that we joked they could build a mini golf course in their backyard. A very comfortable, warm, and serene town. Nice break from the hustle and bustle of NYC. Dinner at the town's top restaurant was good, plus we were super entertained by the little girl. Such great hosts they were.

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 3)

Still not over the jet lag yet, we left the hotel at about noon again. Decided to take it easy and start the day at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Very cool architectural icon. When I entered, the spiral interior looked so familiar I swear I've seen it in a movie before. Some action-packed scene with shooters shooting across whilst hiding behind the low walls. What movie was that??? Ah wells.

The ongoing exhibition was Picasso Black and White and we loved it. It gave us a chance to see the other side of Picasso and how he developed his style from his early works.

"This comprehensive exhibition focuses in depth on Pablo Picasso’s career-long exploration of a black-and-white palette. Surveying his oeuvre from 1904 to 1971, Picasso Black and White comprises some 110 works, including painting as well as sculpture and several works on paper." -taken from guggenheim website

"Picasso Black and White is the first exhibition to explore the remarkable use of black and white throughout the Spanish artist’s prolific career. Claiming that color weakens, Pablo Picasso purged it from his work in order to highlight the formal structure and autonomy of form inherent in his art. His repeated minimal palette correlates to his obsessive interest in line and form, drawing, and monochromatic and tonal values, while developing a complex language of pictorial and sculptural signs. Picasso’s palette reveals the development of a unique working process, which he pursued until his death on April 8, 1973, in Mougins, France." - taken from exhibition website

Thereafter, we took a bus down to Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue area. Randomly popped into a Japanese restaurant for a hearty meal (new york food just doesn't fail us). At one point we reached the Rockafeller center and spotted its famous lighted angel decorations and a christmas tree. I was too busy taking photos to realize a crowd growing and suddenly we were stuck. Turned around and saw everyone waiting eagerly for the Saks animated window displays! It lasted a minute or two but okay quite a cute thing to chance upon. We then quickly escaped the crazy human traffic.

Tired, we cabbed (ny taxi is actually not THAT expensive) to Lincoln Center and hung out at a nearby cafe before our War Horse show. The play caught me by surprise and I never knew a (horse) puppet could look so real. Something different so I'd say go catch it.

Since we stayed near Times Square, we decided to take a detour from the train station and pack some deep-fried supper from Bubba Gump. Plus some shopping at Hard Rock. What a long day :)

NYC-Boston 12-28Dec12 (Day 2)

Slow start to the day due to jet lag. But pulled ourselves out of the hotel at noon and rushed to the Empire State Building when we realised the off-peak hours were almost over. Think we caught the tailend of the window. Got through the security line and queues smoothly and enjoyed unobstructed view at all four facings. Then the crowd started to swell really quickly. Decided we've captured and seen enough so it was time to flee! Took us a considerable amount of time to get out as there are numerous waiting lines at the lifts. Thus note of advice is to go early or late (opens till 2am) in order to avoid an unpleasant experience.

Do also get the tourist booklet called New York Citypass (website) that includes 6 main attractions. For $89 I'd say it's well worth it as it'll save you money & more importantly, time (entitled to express queue at most attractions).

It was a day of mad rush as we were late for our lunch reservation too. Thank goodness they still welcomed us in with grace. Seems popular for a business lunch destination. One of the more formal dining places I've been to so make sure you're dressed suitably! Otherwise I can assure you'll feel rather out of place (like how I did). This 3 Michelin-starred restaurant is ranked 19 on the S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. It prides itself as a seafood-only restaurant and I found myself lusting for everything on the menu.

I don't usually talk about breads (not a fan of crumb carbs) but the salmon dip that came with the thin-crusted bread was simply divine. It was almost like a course by itself. We even asked for bread refills. Oytsters were normal. Hamachi sashimi was good. But one thing I fell in love with here is the "SURF and TURF" - uni on roasted bone marrow. Exquisite perfection. They were also very generous with the lobster and I like the half-cooked au naturel style. Don't usually like fish but the crispy black bass was very good too.

So now you know. The way to my heart is.... seafood ;)

Name: Le Bernardin *** (website)
Location: 155 West 51st Street  New York, NY 10019, United States
Expenditure: 284usd for 2, incl. a half bot of wine

Satisfied, we went to the nearby Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and walked around for over an hour until they closed at 5pm. Tiredness set in and we headed back to the hotel.

R&R-ed in preparation for the big NBA game between LA Lakers vs NY Knicks at 8pm. Brisk walked to Madison Square Garden from our hotel and got there JIT. The game was not the most exciting (Lakers was trailing by 20 over at one point) but it's the whole atmosphere and experience that counts right. What more...I got to see my childhood fav Kobe Bryant :D