Day 1: Tsukiji, Ginza, Edo Castle, Tokyo Station and Shinjuku
We got up at the crack of dawn to hit Tsukiji Fish Market. Apparently we did not get up early enough. We missed the tuna auction but still made it in time to see the hustle and bustle of the fish market which supplies fresh fish and seafood to Tokyo and a significant portion of Japan. We saw all sorts of sea creatures - some of them were truly grotesque looking - and huge tuna fish with heads as big as my own. Then we grab breakfast. Ankur got some sandwiches and ate it outside the restaurant that Kumi and I picked to have sashimi don buri. He reminded me of a sad puppy who couldn't go in with his owner to a store - those who did not eat could not sit inside the restaurant, a tiny place with only about 10 seats along a bar. It was definitely the earliest I've ever had raw fish - 8:30am! I guess it was dinner time at home in NYC. I feasted on sake (salmon), scallops, crab and maguro (tuna) while Kumi feasted on uni (sea urchin) and toro (fatty tuna).
We walked through Ginza, Tokyo's answer to Fifth Avenue, but it was still early and the stores were not open. Thus, we made our way to Edo (Tokyo) Castle, the Imperial Palace, but the palace gardens just so happened to have been closed. It was Friday and we did not read the guide book closely enough to realize it was open Mondays and Fridays. Nonetheless, from the outer garden, we still caught a fantastic view of Edo Castle.
We walked through Marunochi and passed by the Tokyo Interational Forum, an impressive glass and steel structure with a busy outdoor arcade area with food trucks serving foods from around the world. We had lunch at Tokyo Station with Kumi's friend Kaki, but not before walking through the entire station looking for his office building, Sepia Tower. The station was massive and undergoind construction.
After lunch, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, where we saw an exhibit by Japanese-Brazilian artist Oscar Oiwa. The main attractions of the exhibit, Dreams of a Sleeping World, were several paintings with brightly-colored flowers painted over a depressingly chaotic world full of war and destruction, inspired by the atrocities of 9/11, Iraq, among other current events.
After grabbing dessert at the cutest Japanese bakery, we headed to Shinjuku. Shinjuku was loud, busy and chaotic. It's streets were brightly light with neon lights everywhere, putting the lights in Times Square to shame. I discovered that Japan had Gap too, as well as Banana Republic. But it was Japanese stores like Beams that attracted us the most. Kumi and I sat inside Beams while Ankur shopped, liked tired husbands. It's been a long day (we started at 6am). We met with another one of Kumi's friends for dinner. We made Japanese pancakes of cabbage, egg and other fillings. It was yummy and fun. I also tried some bubbly Japanese liquor that was light but potent. It was mixed with juice and tasted more like soda than cocktail. Delicious but dangerous.
Day 2: Mister Donut, Asakasa, Asakajuban, Roppongji Hill and Shibuya
Since having my first Mister Donut experience in Taipei last summer, I've been craving another Mister Donut donut. Their original donuts are light, delicate and chewy - simply incredible. Ankur did not believe me until we had some for breakfast. Kumi and I also had taka balls - little balls filled with octopus which I absolutely love. Also something I became addicted to after my trip to Taipei last summer. It was a good morning.
It was a rainy and dreary day, but nonetheless, we braved the weather and went out to Asakasa to visit Senso-ji, one of Tokyo's temples. The temple had a lively market selling all sorts of snacks and crafts. The rain did not deter the hoards of worshippers and visitors. We had to weave through the heavy crowds (many of them locals enjoying Golden Week, a Japanese holiday), we made it to the temple. Senso-ji was a beautiful red and gold-colored temple, with a 5-story pagoda. After paying our respects, we snacked on noodles and chocolate covered bananas.
We wanted to shop for some trendy Japanese fashion in the tiny boutiques of Asakajuban but once we got there, we never found where the stores were located. Thus, we gave up and walked to Roppongi Hill where we were impressed by the Mori Tower, one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo. We went up to the 52nd floor to the Mori Art Museum where we also got amazing 360 degree views of the whole city. The Mori had an exhibit on the artwork of the finalists of the Turner Prize for promising, young British artists, hosted by the Tate in London. The artwork was edgy and innovative. We saw a mother and baby cow cut in half and preserved in formaldehyde (from Damien Hirst, who preserved a Great White Shark for the Sensation exhibit that caused a stir at the Brooklyn Art Museum when I was in high school) as well as paintings that incorporated elephant dung by Chris Ofili.
We went to Shibuya for dinner with another of Kumi's friends. We exited the Shibuya station to the craziness that is the 6-way intersection at Shibuya. Thousands of people were out and about. Even Timese Square at night can't quite compare. That night, we went to an izakaya where we tried a range of small Japanese dishes including sashimi, crab salad, zaru soba, tamago and more. It was a delicious meal like everything else we've tried in Japan.
Day 3: Harajuku and Yoyogi
Ankur and I survived my last day in Tokyo without Kumi somehow but it was definitely confusing without a Japanese-speaker as our awesome guide. Who would have guessed that Yoyogi Goen would be by Harajuku instead of Yoyogi? We literally wandered around Meiji Jingu Goen forever looking for Yoyogi Goen - twice in fact, and then only found it quite accidently. We wanted to see Yoyogi Goen for the "free entertainment" promised by Lonely Planet. Aspiring bands set up and perform for free here on Sundays. While Ankur was not impressed by the bands at Yoyogi, he really appreciated the spirit of things. It really did feel like all of Tokyo had decended upon Harajuku yesterday and lots of cute couples and families were in the park picnicking with their beautiful bento boxes. I guess Sundays must be a big day there. Oh, and we even witnessed two weddings at Meiji Jingu temple, inside the park!! The kimonos were so lovely. But we are not quite sure why the costume gang in Harajuku ranked #2 in the Tokyo Encounters book. There were some on Jingu Bashi but not that many. I took a picture with one gang and Ank did too with another. So I ended up with a lot of yen left and thus, was a total sucker for all the mochi being sold at Narita airport. I got to Narita with only an hour and 20 minutes before my flight and the check-in line was super long so I thought I would not have time buy any, but the Japanese were just too efficient and I ended up with enough time to hit not just one, but two mochi stores. Yes, needless to say, I will be quite well stocked for a while. I miss Japan already. And my Air Nippon flight might have been the best flight I've ever taken. I am not sure I can go back to flying American airlines. I had my own little tv even for the short 3.5 hour flight to Beijing. I didn't have any entertainment to help me get through my 13 hour flight to SF from Beijing, nor on my flights to Tokyo from NYC. I watched 27 Dresses and was in the middle of this Hong Kong gangster movie when they turned off the entertainment so we could land. I seriously wished the flight had been longer. Sadness. Oh, and even my airplane dinner was amazing. It looked like a bento box and tasted delicious. Who would have guessed that airplane food can actually be gourmet and tasty. I had teriyaki fish and zaru soba. I am totally flying them back to the US from Taiwan this summer.
Beijing is the exact opposite of Japan. Time to get back to shoving people around. Being polite here gets you nowhere.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Kyoto, Takayama & Shirakawa-go
Japan is a country of contradictions - a mix of traditional and modern that often seem at odds but makes this place fascinating. I arrived for my trip with Kumi and Ankur in Narita on April 28th, somehow managed to navigate my way around the JR and traveled by Shinkansen to Kyoto on my own.
Kyoto
After a simple dinner of tonkatsu and other homemade Japanese dishes, Kumi took Ankur and me through the main street of Gion and down Pontocho, a traditional street, so narrow it was more alley than street, lit up with red lanterns right along the river. The city, which looked so modern during the cab ride to Kumi's place, literally melted away. It was as if we had stepped into another world. No sightings of geishas unfortunately, but already, I was enchanted by Kyoto's charming, traditional side. Kumi's parent's home was also charming - a lovely, old traditional wooden Japanese house covered with tatami mats. We slept on Japanese futons right on the tatami mats.
The next day, our only full day in Kyoto, was filled with sight-seeing. After walking through a well-preserved, old section of Kyoto, Chawan-zaka (where we sighted many fake geishas who dressed up and preened for tourists), that was lined with little shops selling local arts and crafts and delicious local snacks, we made our way up to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, one of Kyoto's most splendid. Perched on a wooded cliff overlooking Kyoto and offering spectacular views of the city, it was crowded with tourists and worshippers alike. We learned to properly pray and make an offering from Kumi. First, you ring the bell to grab God's attention, throw your money into the donation box, pray, clap twice and then back up. We also drank sacred water from the waterfall Otowa-no-taki. The Japanese are a germ-fearing bunch and the ladles we drank from were purified in UV radiation boxes.
On the way down, we grabbed some cream puffs and soft cream, then passed through Maruyama-Koen, a lovely park with cherry blossom trees before stopping at Kodai-ji, another shrine. Only a few trees still had flowers clinging onto its branches unfortunately - they would have been magnificent if we had made it for the hanami festival in early April just a few weeks back. As Kumi and Ankur can attest, I was rather obsessed with cherry blossom trees during the entire trip.
After a meal of soba and udon, we hit Fushimi-inari-taisha, a shrine dedicated to the God of Grain. The shrine was located up in the hills, and the path was lined with orange-colored tori (gates) that were reminiscent of the orange gates put up briefly in Central Park. Figures of foxes, messengers of Inari, the God of Grain, often guarded the gates, with a key to the grainery in their mouth. The quiet, heavily wooded area (you can't even tell you're in a city anymore) had a mysterious air. Some of the sections of the paths we took were completely deserted and led to small graveyards/shrines.
We ate with Kumi's parents that night in a small local restaurant. The sashimi was amazing. We went in search of jazz bars afterwards but ended up at a small basement bar with a Spanish theme. We ended the night early in preparation for our trip to Takayama in the morning.
Takayama
Ankur's obsession with onsens (hot springs) matched my obsession with sakura. Thus, we made the trip to Takayama, a charming town high up in the mountains by the Japanese alps in search of onsens. The long train ride to Takayama passed through amazing vistas. Since it was up in the mountains, the sakura here were still blooming. Sakura trees dotted the landscape - decorating it with beautiful white and pink blossoms. I could not have been happier. In Takayama, we walked around the old section of town, Sanmachi, and visited one of their morning markets, were arts and crafts and pickled vegetables were being sold. That afternoon, after visiting a brewery and grabbing a quick lunch of ramen, we made our way to Hida-no-Sato, an open-air museum that consisted of a dozen or so old Japanese farmhouses in different styles. These old farmhouses had been removed from their original locations and planted here, by a small lake, to create the most idyllic and peaceful-looking little place. It looked right out of a picture-book or a fairytale. After we made it back to Takayama, we visited Takayama-Jinya, a Tokugawa-era government office. It was a massive, traditional Japanese building, with dozens of tatami-covered rooms. Lastly, we visited the Takayama Yatai Kaikan Museum. We missed the massive matsuri (Festival) in Takayama by just a couple of weeks, but got to see 4 of the floats used in the festival at the museum. The festival is supposed to be one of the best in Japan, attracting hundreds of thousands of people, and the floats, with are over 100 years old, are intricate and beautifully decorated with golden phoenixes and dragons.
Unfortunately, Ankur's onsen dreams were temporarily dashed. We misread the bus schedule and realized there was no way we could make it there and back as we had anticipated. Thus, we made do with a quick but relaxing bath in the public bath in our ryokan (Japanese inn) before venturing out for dinner. We tried the famed Hida beef in the form of a beef cutlet with a homemade barbeque-like sauce that was delicious.
Shirakawa-go
The next morning, after eating the most elaborate breakfast of my life, a traditional Japanese breakfast with tamago, nori, hoda miso (a special Hida-region sauce made by cooking a sweet, miso paste on a leaf), rice and miso soup, we took the bus to Shirakawa-go, a World Heritage Site located deep in the Japanese alps. Shirakawa-go is famed for its gassho-zukuri, a straw-covered farmhouse. Like Hida-no-Sato, the gassho houses here (dozens of them!) were taken from its original location and placed here, in a valley surround by mountains, including the still-snow capped Japanese alps. The resulting village was so idyllic, charming and picture-perfect, that it conjured up images of the shire from Lord of the Rings. An International Herald Tribune article even noted this, and Ankur decided to call this place "Shire-kawa" instead. After walking around the town where we sampled grilled rice cake, soft cream and ice cream, and visited one of the largest Gassho houses, Nagase-ke, we hiked up to the site of the former Shirakawa-go castle for a lovely view of the entire valley. After making it back to the town, we had hida beef with hoda miso sauce. The restaurant had a beautiful view of the village. Post-lunch, we made our way back to Takayama to catch the train to Tokyo. We bought bento boxes for dinner. Even these beautifully displayed with the food laid out in the box nicely. Best of all, it was delicious. Wish we had fast food like this back at home!
Kyoto
After a simple dinner of tonkatsu and other homemade Japanese dishes, Kumi took Ankur and me through the main street of Gion and down Pontocho, a traditional street, so narrow it was more alley than street, lit up with red lanterns right along the river. The city, which looked so modern during the cab ride to Kumi's place, literally melted away. It was as if we had stepped into another world. No sightings of geishas unfortunately, but already, I was enchanted by Kyoto's charming, traditional side. Kumi's parent's home was also charming - a lovely, old traditional wooden Japanese house covered with tatami mats. We slept on Japanese futons right on the tatami mats.
The next day, our only full day in Kyoto, was filled with sight-seeing. After walking through a well-preserved, old section of Kyoto, Chawan-zaka (where we sighted many fake geishas who dressed up and preened for tourists), that was lined with little shops selling local arts and crafts and delicious local snacks, we made our way up to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, one of Kyoto's most splendid. Perched on a wooded cliff overlooking Kyoto and offering spectacular views of the city, it was crowded with tourists and worshippers alike. We learned to properly pray and make an offering from Kumi. First, you ring the bell to grab God's attention, throw your money into the donation box, pray, clap twice and then back up. We also drank sacred water from the waterfall Otowa-no-taki. The Japanese are a germ-fearing bunch and the ladles we drank from were purified in UV radiation boxes.
On the way down, we grabbed some cream puffs and soft cream, then passed through Maruyama-Koen, a lovely park with cherry blossom trees before stopping at Kodai-ji, another shrine. Only a few trees still had flowers clinging onto its branches unfortunately - they would have been magnificent if we had made it for the hanami festival in early April just a few weeks back. As Kumi and Ankur can attest, I was rather obsessed with cherry blossom trees during the entire trip.
After a meal of soba and udon, we hit Fushimi-inari-taisha, a shrine dedicated to the God of Grain. The shrine was located up in the hills, and the path was lined with orange-colored tori (gates) that were reminiscent of the orange gates put up briefly in Central Park. Figures of foxes, messengers of Inari, the God of Grain, often guarded the gates, with a key to the grainery in their mouth. The quiet, heavily wooded area (you can't even tell you're in a city anymore) had a mysterious air. Some of the sections of the paths we took were completely deserted and led to small graveyards/shrines.
We ate with Kumi's parents that night in a small local restaurant. The sashimi was amazing. We went in search of jazz bars afterwards but ended up at a small basement bar with a Spanish theme. We ended the night early in preparation for our trip to Takayama in the morning.
Takayama
Ankur's obsession with onsens (hot springs) matched my obsession with sakura. Thus, we made the trip to Takayama, a charming town high up in the mountains by the Japanese alps in search of onsens. The long train ride to Takayama passed through amazing vistas. Since it was up in the mountains, the sakura here were still blooming. Sakura trees dotted the landscape - decorating it with beautiful white and pink blossoms. I could not have been happier. In Takayama, we walked around the old section of town, Sanmachi, and visited one of their morning markets, were arts and crafts and pickled vegetables were being sold. That afternoon, after visiting a brewery and grabbing a quick lunch of ramen, we made our way to Hida-no-Sato, an open-air museum that consisted of a dozen or so old Japanese farmhouses in different styles. These old farmhouses had been removed from their original locations and planted here, by a small lake, to create the most idyllic and peaceful-looking little place. It looked right out of a picture-book or a fairytale. After we made it back to Takayama, we visited Takayama-Jinya, a Tokugawa-era government office. It was a massive, traditional Japanese building, with dozens of tatami-covered rooms. Lastly, we visited the Takayama Yatai Kaikan Museum. We missed the massive matsuri (Festival) in Takayama by just a couple of weeks, but got to see 4 of the floats used in the festival at the museum. The festival is supposed to be one of the best in Japan, attracting hundreds of thousands of people, and the floats, with are over 100 years old, are intricate and beautifully decorated with golden phoenixes and dragons.
Unfortunately, Ankur's onsen dreams were temporarily dashed. We misread the bus schedule and realized there was no way we could make it there and back as we had anticipated. Thus, we made do with a quick but relaxing bath in the public bath in our ryokan (Japanese inn) before venturing out for dinner. We tried the famed Hida beef in the form of a beef cutlet with a homemade barbeque-like sauce that was delicious.
Shirakawa-go
The next morning, after eating the most elaborate breakfast of my life, a traditional Japanese breakfast with tamago, nori, hoda miso (a special Hida-region sauce made by cooking a sweet, miso paste on a leaf), rice and miso soup, we took the bus to Shirakawa-go, a World Heritage Site located deep in the Japanese alps. Shirakawa-go is famed for its gassho-zukuri, a straw-covered farmhouse. Like Hida-no-Sato, the gassho houses here (dozens of them!) were taken from its original location and placed here, in a valley surround by mountains, including the still-snow capped Japanese alps. The resulting village was so idyllic, charming and picture-perfect, that it conjured up images of the shire from Lord of the Rings. An International Herald Tribune article even noted this, and Ankur decided to call this place "Shire-kawa" instead. After walking around the town where we sampled grilled rice cake, soft cream and ice cream, and visited one of the largest Gassho houses, Nagase-ke, we hiked up to the site of the former Shirakawa-go castle for a lovely view of the entire valley. After making it back to the town, we had hida beef with hoda miso sauce. The restaurant had a beautiful view of the village. Post-lunch, we made our way back to Takayama to catch the train to Tokyo. We bought bento boxes for dinner. Even these beautifully displayed with the food laid out in the box nicely. Best of all, it was delicious. Wish we had fast food like this back at home!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Visit Home
My first trip home in 10 months. I left last July and chose to dart from one country to another instead of going home during my many vacations. Would I suffer the reverse culture shock everyone is predicting after being away for all this time?
My first stop was San Francisco. Time was of the essence – I only had two days here, so Maria picked me up and we went straight to Napa after eating a huge American breakfast of omelet and waffles. During breakfast, I slipped up a few time and reverted to Chinglish even though I was no longer in China and it became increasingly obvious that my English has deteriorated quite a bit. The prices were quite a shock compared to Beijing, but I took it all in stride.
Napa was beautiful – hill after hill covered with grape vineyards in neat rows complete with dark green trees dotting the landscape. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue, a color that is highly coveted in Beijing, but rarely delivered due to the pollution. Fresh air was a real treat. We stopped by 3 wineries in all, starting with bubbly champagnes (including my first rose-colored one) at the Frank Family Vineyards. We moved on to magnificent views atop the Sterling Winery, a veritable grown-up playground complete with a tram to carry you to the top of the hill that offered stunning vistas of Napa, where we slowly sipped our whites and reds while soaking in the lovely weather.
That night, we had dinner at La Strada in Palo Alto. Julie met us there along with Maria’s boyfriend Cem. Brian and Jaime, both GSB students who I traveled with last summer, joined us for drinks at the end. Julie and I drove into San Francisco afterwards and I stayed with her in her adorable new apartment.
We spent the following day in San Francisco, sampling the gourmet goodies at the Ferry Building. We had a delicious lunch of oysters and a divine grilled cheese sandwich made with cheese from Cow Girl Creamery. We even bought some cheese to give to Lisa. We met up with Grace post lunch, ate gelato and took a walk around one of San Fran’s neighborhoods. Still stuffed, we went to Bar Tartine for dinner where I tried sweetbread for the first time. The beet salad, shrimp and sashimi dishes were all delicious but the cheese plate was the real winner. I really missed good cheese in China. Julie dropped me off at the airport and then I was off to New York City.
I arrived home home and it felt fabulous. I really missed my friends and family. I visited friends and ate – a ton. It’s hard not to go crazy over all the amazing foods that I can’t get back in Beijing in the culinary Mecca that is NYC. Mom cooked a couple of amazing home-cooked meals for me that day. The next day, I met Karen’s boyfriend who checked my eyes (they were fine despite the fact I cracked one of my contacts), met my mom for dim sum in Flushing, and then headed to midtown for drinks at the Monkey Bar with Hillary and dinner with friends at Fig & Olive. The small plates we shared – figs, olives, olive oil, more olive oil, jamon, cheese, bite-sized crostinis with salmon, sundried tomatoes and more – were all yummy.
I had lunch with Joan at a Japanese restaurant the following day where I chowed down sushi without worries. Drinks at Volstead later that evening was followed by an amazing meal at Adour Alain Ducasse with Lisa and Melissa. We sampled scallops, beef and lamb as well as a variety of interesting vegetables, and of course, cheese and dessert. The macaroons in particular were spectacular and they gave me some to take home. My last day in New York comprised lunch with Bob at a homey midtown Italian place, and dinner at home with Mom.
I left for Boston the next morning and arrived just in time for pad thai at 9 Tastes with Kelly and Huang Laoshi. It was as good as I remembered. I attended some HBS events before dinner with Kelly and Ming. Burgers was followed by divine dessert at Finale for the HBS healthcare club’s event. But my 3 days in Boston were specifically for visiting HBS, and thus, did not center around eating. It consisted of the expected awkward introductions and conversations with future classmates but the big surprise was the faculty. They were hysterical and I think classes will be entertaining come this Fall.
I rushed back to NYC afterwards to pack and eat one last meal with Mom, who made my favorite sticky rice dish for the occasion. The next morning, I was off to Japan. It was a whirlwind 9 days.
My first stop was San Francisco. Time was of the essence – I only had two days here, so Maria picked me up and we went straight to Napa after eating a huge American breakfast of omelet and waffles. During breakfast, I slipped up a few time and reverted to Chinglish even though I was no longer in China and it became increasingly obvious that my English has deteriorated quite a bit. The prices were quite a shock compared to Beijing, but I took it all in stride.
Napa was beautiful – hill after hill covered with grape vineyards in neat rows complete with dark green trees dotting the landscape. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue, a color that is highly coveted in Beijing, but rarely delivered due to the pollution. Fresh air was a real treat. We stopped by 3 wineries in all, starting with bubbly champagnes (including my first rose-colored one) at the Frank Family Vineyards. We moved on to magnificent views atop the Sterling Winery, a veritable grown-up playground complete with a tram to carry you to the top of the hill that offered stunning vistas of Napa, where we slowly sipped our whites and reds while soaking in the lovely weather.
That night, we had dinner at La Strada in Palo Alto. Julie met us there along with Maria’s boyfriend Cem. Brian and Jaime, both GSB students who I traveled with last summer, joined us for drinks at the end. Julie and I drove into San Francisco afterwards and I stayed with her in her adorable new apartment.
We spent the following day in San Francisco, sampling the gourmet goodies at the Ferry Building. We had a delicious lunch of oysters and a divine grilled cheese sandwich made with cheese from Cow Girl Creamery. We even bought some cheese to give to Lisa. We met up with Grace post lunch, ate gelato and took a walk around one of San Fran’s neighborhoods. Still stuffed, we went to Bar Tartine for dinner where I tried sweetbread for the first time. The beet salad, shrimp and sashimi dishes were all delicious but the cheese plate was the real winner. I really missed good cheese in China. Julie dropped me off at the airport and then I was off to New York City.
I arrived home home and it felt fabulous. I really missed my friends and family. I visited friends and ate – a ton. It’s hard not to go crazy over all the amazing foods that I can’t get back in Beijing in the culinary Mecca that is NYC. Mom cooked a couple of amazing home-cooked meals for me that day. The next day, I met Karen’s boyfriend who checked my eyes (they were fine despite the fact I cracked one of my contacts), met my mom for dim sum in Flushing, and then headed to midtown for drinks at the Monkey Bar with Hillary and dinner with friends at Fig & Olive. The small plates we shared – figs, olives, olive oil, more olive oil, jamon, cheese, bite-sized crostinis with salmon, sundried tomatoes and more – were all yummy.
I had lunch with Joan at a Japanese restaurant the following day where I chowed down sushi without worries. Drinks at Volstead later that evening was followed by an amazing meal at Adour Alain Ducasse with Lisa and Melissa. We sampled scallops, beef and lamb as well as a variety of interesting vegetables, and of course, cheese and dessert. The macaroons in particular were spectacular and they gave me some to take home. My last day in New York comprised lunch with Bob at a homey midtown Italian place, and dinner at home with Mom.
I left for Boston the next morning and arrived just in time for pad thai at 9 Tastes with Kelly and Huang Laoshi. It was as good as I remembered. I attended some HBS events before dinner with Kelly and Ming. Burgers was followed by divine dessert at Finale for the HBS healthcare club’s event. But my 3 days in Boston were specifically for visiting HBS, and thus, did not center around eating. It consisted of the expected awkward introductions and conversations with future classmates but the big surprise was the faculty. They were hysterical and I think classes will be entertaining come this Fall.
I rushed back to NYC afterwards to pack and eat one last meal with Mom, who made my favorite sticky rice dish for the occasion. The next morning, I was off to Japan. It was a whirlwind 9 days.
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