Our Holiday – Part 2!

Was told that I have been keeping the readers hanging… Hee Hee… Here’s more updates! 🙂

Day 4 – 23 Nov 2010
We slept until about 9am, before heading out for the Freedom Trail. A and C’s place was near the subway and it was convenient to take a subway to Park Street. We took the train to Park Street where we had a quick breakfast at MacDonald’s and explored the area. Went to the Visitor Information Centre, got some maps and discount coupons, then went on the Freedom Trail. Also went to Quincy Market where we got some small knick knacks and a bowl of clam chowder. Not very good though…

In the afternoon, we went back to Cambridge area and walked down Charles River. Very beautiful scenary. I would love to stay in a country like that, where I have a house that overlooks the beautiful scenary of a river. However, I am not particularly fond of winter. So I guess a holiday will suit me fine. ☺

Dinner that night was superb. C cooked lobsters!!! I had heard so much about lobsters in Boston and we had it in the comfort of their home. It was a nice and relaxing dinner, with wine, lobsters and good company.

How much better can life get? ☺

Day 5 – 24 Nov 2010
We woke up early and headed for Boston Logan airport to collect our rented car. When we were near the rental car pick-up, we realized that we forgot to bring our GPS! Had to use a map to navigate from Logan airport back to Mt. Auburn. That was when I realized how bad my topography skills were. ;( Anyway, we have a good God and He brought us back safe and sound. Quickly went back to get the GPS before heading to fetch CG’s friend – YH.

Together with YH, we drove down to Salem. Salem is a pretty small town which focused a lot on their witchcraft history. I wasn’t very comfortable about all the witchy stuff though. We started out in Salem with lunch at Finz Seafood. Guess what CG and I had for lunch? Lobsters and clam chowder!!! It was a pretty good lunch and the clam chowder was certainly better than the one we had at Quincy market.

Salem was quite deserted, probably because it was a weekday.

We went to the Witch Dungeon Museum which was supposed to tell us about the trials of those who were believed to be witches. There was a short skit which enacted a trial, followed by a tour to the Dungeon where suspects were held captive. The Dungeon was a very dark and narrow place and there were cells, of different sizes, supposedly similar to those that were used to hold prisoners. Before we started on the tour, YH told me that in one of the rooms, one of the exhibit will move. His intention was to alert me so that I wouldn’t scream later. Instead, it made me very apprehensive and I screamed all the same when I saw the exhibit move. I guess witchcraft is just not my cup of tea. 😛

We finished Salem in the early afternoon, and decided to head to Gloucester. A had recommended Gloucester and said that the scenary was very beautiful. Indeed it was! We came to a pier where we saw the river with nice houses. However, the weather was way too cold and we found ourselves running back to the car very quickly.

In the late afternoon, we decided to head to Walmart just so that I could take a look at what it was like. Bought a bit of stuff, then wanted to head back to Boston for dinner. YH suggested A&W and we were for it. However, our GPS and the GPS on his phone kept giving differing directions. We went round and round before we finally arrived at A&W. But guess what? We arrived at 8.04pm. A&W closed at 8pm! We then headed for a nearby Bungaboo but it was also closed! We thought it might be due to early closing for Thanksgiving, so maybe Asian food would be a better option. Finally decided to settle for Jap food at Sake at Peabody. Not too bad though, serving was very big and the sashimi slices were THICK.  🙂

After dinner, we dropped YH off at his place before making our way to the airport to return the car, followed by taking the Silver and Red Line back to A & C’s place. By the time we reached Mt Auburn, it was about midnight. Totally exhausted and headed for bed after shower.

Day 6 – 25 Nov 2010
It’s Thanksgiving! Not that we celebrated the event, but it seems like a really big thing here in the US. Everywhere was closed. We headed down to Kendall to take a walk around the MIT campus. I think Harvard campus looks better. 😛 From Kendall, we went back to Park Street and wanted to complete the Freedom Trail. Nothing really very much cos everywhere was closed due to Thanksgiving.

Day 7 – 26 Nov 2010
Black Friday Sale!!! I had heard about the Black Friday Sale but never really experienced it for myself. We woke up nice and early at 7am and together with A, we walked over to GAP. We reached there about 7.50am when GAP opened at 8am. However, there were already some people waiting outside GAP. We decided to pop over to Urban Outfitters so as not to waste our 10 minutes. I bought a stapler in the shape of a tuna sushi. ☺

At 8am sharp, the doors of GAP opened. We decided to “divide and conquer” and “conquer” we did! Managed to get the Christmas presents for many of the children. Never have I felt so happy to be shopping! After our first conquest, we went back to Mt Auburn to fetch C and the children, before we all headed to Cambrideside Galleria for more shopping. At Cambridgeside Galleria, the sales were also going at crazy prices. The GAP branch at Cambridgeside Galleria was more crowded than the one at Harvard Square, but we went in all the same. After GAP was Banana Republic where CG unleashed his potential. Believe me, I have NEVER seen my husband shop so much before! ☺ The amusing thing was, everyone was in a shopping mode. There was no time to shop and chat, just brief updates on which shop we were heading next and that’s it. We finally met for lunch at about 1.30pm at the foodcourt and there we made a critical decision – We are going to Wrentham!!!

We reached Wrentham about 4pm and the same strategy applied – Divide and Conquer! It was quite crowded at Wrentham. Apparently the Black Friday Sale offers better discount than the Boxing Day Sale and everyone was shopping with a vengence. We shopped until closing at 10pm before we headed home. Take a look at our (the Kongs and Kohs) combined conquests! Our fruits of labour after a total of 12 hours of shopping. ☺

Day 8 – 27 Nov 2010
Having contributed to the US economy, we decided to stay off shopping for today. At about 10am, CG, A and I headed down to the Banana Republic downtown to make some exchanges before heading back to fetch C and the kids. C had prepared lunch and we were going on a roadtrip to Pawtucket, Rhode Island. I must tell all you readers that the lunch was very good! C is very good at cooking! 🙂

At Pawtucket, we watched a short video about textile manufacturing before we walked around the area and saw mills. You know that the shopping poison had gotten into me when I saw the word “Mill” for “Mall”. 😛 Weather was pretty cold especially when the wind blew.  We went to a nearby lake where we took nice photos and walked around the area.

Came across the Rhode Watercolour Society and there was an art gallery with some nice watercolour paintings. Wanted to do some apple picking but when we called the orchard, they said it was not available. Eventually we headed back to Boston, and stopped over at Market Basket where Chef CG bought chicken to cook chicken rice for dinner.

Dinner that night was an oven-baked chicken, a sumptuous plate of vegetables and a roast chicken, topped with chicken rice.. We enjoyed the dinner with Coke and Root Beer and ended it all with Apple Pie and Ice-cream.

Talk about enjoying life. ☺

Day 9 – 28 Nov 2010
We decided to take part in what’s left of the Black Friday Sale again. 😛 We drove to MacDonald’s drive-thru, grabbed burgers and fries, and headed down to Wrentham. Some of the stores were still giving good discounts just like on Friday, though they had claimed that the offers were only for Black Friday. But oh well, we are not complaining. The damage this time was not as severe as on Friday, but we now have a new problem – we need to control our buying otherwise we will have problems lugging the stuff around. 😛

Finally left Wrentham at about 6pm before proceeding to Cracker Barrel for dinner. As usual, dinner was an enjoyable affair with the Kohs. There was much laughter and jokes at the dinner table. After dinner, we headed back and that was when reality set in – we really bought a lot! Had to squeeze and pack everything into two luggages so as to avoid paying more, cos the domestic airlines charge for every checked-in bag. Finally managed to complete everything by about 2am before quickly going to bed.

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