Weekend in New England - (II)

Today was quite an eventful day (good). We started off fairly early in the morning and drove to Stowe, the home of the Von Trapp family after they Climbed the Mountain. (Just feel like singing those Sound of Music Numbers.) Apparently it reminded them of their native Austria and I guess you do get a little bit of that feeling. There were other signs that other migrants from the alpine region settled in Stowe - the Swiss cafe would be a give away for a start. Think that this house depicted here has a slightly European feel? Also saw a Catholic church. We drove a little further around the area but did not really get many great views thanks to the lousy weather.

After that, we visited Vermont's finest - Ben and Jerry's. There was unfortunately no ice cream production (factory closes on weekends) but we did go for the tour and the B&J video show. The founders have actually sold off the company to Unilever and are now doing the more "social mission" aspects of the B&J organisation. There was also a free ice cream sample of "American Pie" - turned out to be apple pie ice cream.

We then drove back to Montpelier for lunch. The interesting thing I noticed about Montpelier this time was that there seemed to be a concentration of 3-4 churches in one particular area - all different denominations. Seemed to be a certain amount of, ahem, friendly competition? Could not find the Catholic church though.

We then drove down to St Johnsbury - but there was nothing much to see. Except that on the main street, again the "battle of the churches" was going on again with 4 churches on the same short stretch. This time, I spotted the Catholic church of St John the Evangelist - very appropriate for a place called St Johnsbury (apparently the "bury" was added because they thought "St John's" was too common a name.

We then proceeded to New Hampshire, to go through the Franconia area in the White Mountain region. At this point, the weather amazingly improved. Instead of clouds, we started getting sunshine! We drove down to see Echo Lake and take the Tramway up Cannon Mountain. The ride up the mountain was wonderful - the photo shows Echo Lake (its a glacial lake) at the bottom of the mountain, with the trees changing colour around it and I believe Vermont is in the distance. We didn't stay too long at the top of the mountain as we had to rush over to our last stop - Flume Gorge.

Flume Gorge is an absolutely gorgeous, hidden valley. Someone literally stumbled across it sometime in the 1800s. It was formed through glacial action but sometime before that there was apparently some volcanic action so there are orange lava strips embedded in the black granite. After walking through the gorge, we end up at the waterfall. Unfortunately we were unable to walk further around the region as we had to head back to Boston. And that's the end of this post!

p.s. To see more New Hampshire photos click here.

Weekend in New England - (I)

So last weekend we rented two cars and drove off to New England. Our first road trip!!! The plan was to go through Vermont, spend the night in Montpelier (the state capital of Vermont) and then drive back to Boston via New Hampshire. We were hoping to see fall foliage and great scenery. But the weather forecast was not too good (showers on Sat, thunderstorms! on Sun). So we were not expecting too much.

The first day was indeed a little wet. Not too bad, just a little drizzle or so. We drove for about an hour and a half before stopping for some coffee at quaint little one street village with probably just the one cafe in the middle of the street. We then proceeded to Quechee Gorge which is in Vermont. The Gorge was quite ok but there were just no nice photos because of the cloudy weather. There is a small little Quechee Village Shopping Centre (CK) which has a large antique market, with tonnes of stuff. Not all can be called antiques though - I saw a row of the old metal lunchboxes which I used to take to school and Nancy Drew hardcover books of the type which used to be in our school library. (Or is the sale of these as antiques is a sign of age now!!) I also saw these two little cats:

We then went down to Woodstock to take a look at the town. This was when I started driving! We stopped at a covered bridge along the way. Apparently, New England is supposed to be famous for its covered bridges, which are quite quaint (I suppose) but not really that picturesque. Woodstock has its own covered bridge, its own little quaint row of shops etc.

From Woodstock, I turned the wheel back over to my classmate. We then drove to Berlin, where we would be spending the night. However, whilst we navigated the highways quite easily, we overshot the junction leading to the hotel because, simply, it was not well signposted! We ended up in Barre (not that far away actually) and had to turn back. Our hotel was easier to find coming from the other direction - at least the sign was more visible.

After checking in, we drove over to Montpelier to check out the State Capital of Vermont. It is a pretty small little town but has a rather large and impressive State House (see photo). Anyway, we drove down two of the three main streets and then drove back to our hotel.

We had dinner at Applebee's, which is this American restaurant chain with a branch just next to our hotel. Sampled New England beer - Ottercreek beer - here. I'd earlier seen bottles of local brew in one general store in Woodstock and was quite amused to see the interesting names of the beers, eg "Scarecrow", "Monty Python", "Hobgoblin" etc. But the best part of the dinner was dessert! We had a Blondie (sister of Brownie) with vanilla ice cream and maple sugar syrup, with toasted walnuts, and a yummy apple pie with ice cream on top. (I have since checked on-line and find that Applebee's has a branch in Boston! Excellent!).

So ends day one .... hold on for Part 2 of this story. (And check out photos of Vermont here).

Shopping - Part 2

So last Friday we went outlet shopping at Wrentham. This is a large discount outlet with lots of brands represented - Ralph Lauren, Bebe, Ann Taylor, Coach, Gap, Liz Claiborne, Nine West, Banana Republic etc etc etc. So we spent a long and happy day there. Of course, some people were happier than others. Some of the chaps were (I must admit it) quite bored at the end of the day.

But I had a pretty good time. My classmate's wife, niece, daughter and I trooped off and went to the shops together (bulk purchases get higher discounts). If someone finishes first, then that person moves on to the next stop and then the other person will catch up. Overall, it sort of evens out. We were pretty slow starting off (leading to sarcastic comments from some of the male shoppers) but managed to rush through most of the shops we wanted to go to at the end.

Anyway, managed to make quite a few purchases (and actually showed a lot of restraint as well). The trick to discount shopping is that you must know your prices so you know what is a good deal or not. Looking back, I could probably have done a little better on a few items but overall, I'm quite happy :-)

Ethics Class - Public and Private

One of my classes in KSG is this "compulsory" course for LKY Fellows, "Ethics in Public Life". One theme of the course is the tensions which arise between different types of moral and ethical obligations.

One particular class focused on the difficulty of reconciling personal morality with public life. The class read a speech by former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who is a Catholic. Cuomo gave a speech which essentially defended his public position on abortion - why he would not move to make legislation illegal (which he cannot anyway because of the Roe vs Wade ruling) and why he even provided funds for low income women to have abortions. We have to post responses to the readings each week and here is an extract of mine:

"An interesting argument he made was that the church is interested in "principles or ends", ie the ideals rather than determining which technical solution is best suited to achieving a certain end. Whilst this is, in some sense, a convenient rationalisation (which also leaves a lot of room to manoeuvre), Governor Cuomo has also usefully highlighted the need to address problems at their root causes rather than at the symptomatic level. In the case of abortion, for example, he calls to Catholics to set a personal example by respecting the right to life and thus moving others to this point of view, rather than seeking to change the law. He has also noted that it is always
possible to work on areas of common agreement, for example programmes which help pregnant women have a "real choice" by assisting them to give birth to healthy babies, in subsidising pre-natal and in-patient care. In NY City, Governor Cuomo also introduced a programme to help teenage mothers continue with their education and acquire job-relevant skills."

Whilst I do think that this argument is, in a sense, Cuomo's rationalisation of his actions, it is also in a way a response to the many criticisms of the Church's position on AIDS prevention in Africa. The Church is not about means, but ends. The Church's solution to AIDS (abstinence) may be too idealistic, and not practical in the eyes of many. But ideals are surely expected of a religious organisation! God's ways, unfortunately, are not always man's.

Museum of Fine Arts

I went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) on Thurs 21 September. The MFA was holding a special exhibition, "Americans in Paris" which showcased the work of a group of American painters such as John Singer Sargent, James McNeil Whistler (of Whistler's Mother fame) etc. It was a bit of a rush because I didn't realise that the exhibition would be ending on 24 Sep (when I would be in Vermont). So I rushed over after my ethics class and rushed back before the afternoon class.

Unfortunately the ticket counter did not accept my Harvard card because it is a staff not student card (it is one of the peculiarities of our stay here) and so I only got a student discount of $2.

The exhibition itself was good. It did not just present the artworks but also gave a sense of the life of the artists in Paris and of their subjects. The painters were very much influenced by the work of the Impressionists (in particular Monet) and also by the life of the Parisians. Some of them lacked commissions and so ended up painting each other - as Bohemians, or as "flaneurs" which are these young men about town types (sort of French Bertie Woosters, I imagine). Better known ones (such as Sargent) got commissions from Americans in Paris.

One of the "big" paintings of the exhibition was "Madame X" by Sargent. I was pretty pleased to see this one because I was looking for it at the Metropolitan Museum in NY and it was not there! Apparently there is a scandalous story associated with the portrait. The sitter, Madame Pierre Gautreau, was originally portrayed with the strap of her dress falling down her shoulder. However, the Paris Establishment thought it was shocking (even though L'Art du Nu was still very much on display at the time) and Sargent's reputation as a portraitist suffered. Mdme Gautreau was actually an American and so the story is that the Parisians were attacking the painting because they didn't like this American out-Frenching the French.

Leaving the exhibition, I took a peek at the MFA main collections - specifically the Impressionists! I must say that the collection displayed was quite small but pretty select. There was one Renoir of a couple dancing - "Dance at Bougival" and a few Monets (including some waterlillies, and a portrait of his wife dressed in a kimono).

Anyway, the exhibition ticket does allow me free re-entry within 10 days but to be honest, not sure whether I want to trek all the way back so soon. It is quite a long journey from Cambridge. Partly, because I have to take the Green Line train - this is a short little train with only two carriages and which are few and far apart so the train gets crowded quickly. The Museum is also free Wednesdays after 4pm so there is really no need to rush down. Essentially, would like to see more of the American painters and the US is the best place to see them. (Just like France is the best place to see French painters and the Tate is the best for Turners!).

A Week at KSG

This has been a pretty busy week. Not sure if it is typical of all weeks at KSG, but let me try to give a sense of the intensity of work now.

First of all, we have to take 4 courses each (say A-D) and each course has 2 classes per week. In my case, one of my courses has a single class but I sat in on another class as well so that made a total of 8 classes. Classes for each course meets Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs; I have 2 classes per day. Each class has something like 50-70 pages to read and some classes have more. So most of my time is spent reading and reading, and most of this is deep stuff which takes time. Let me give an illustration:

Monday: Course A, 1 class (+1 class sitting in): 1 case study, total of 2 + 3 readings for a total of some 100 pages worth of readings. Submit: 150 word response to the reading for the first class, half-page summary and response to readings for second class on Tuesday.

Tuesday, Courses B and C, so 2 classes : 1 + 3 readings, some 100 pages again

Wednesday, Course A and D, so 2 classes (this includes the class which meets only once a week): 4+6 readings, totalling what must be an astounding 250 pages or so. Got cold called for second class on Wednesday. Submitted para on self to lecturer for the first Wednesday class.

Thursday, Courses B and C so 2 classes: 2+ 4 readings, total of some 150 pages of which some 40 is John Rawls' Theory of Justice which is heavy going and of which I can read only 10 pages at a time.... Must submit response and summary of readings for second class.

Friday: deadline for submission of 2-page memorandum for Tues class.

Then it all starts again. How to find time for blogging!

St Francis' Chapel, Boston

Went yesterday to St Francis' Chapel, Boston, which is run by the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. It is a small chapel in Prudential Tower, Boston and reminds me of the Gower St chaplaincy chapel.

The crucifix is a replica of the San Damiano crucifix which has a special meaning for St Francis (check this site for the story, click here to see my photo of the crucifix in St Francis'). To the left is a rondo of the Madonna and child, statues of St Francis, St Joseph and St Jude are around the walls and (electric) candles burn beneath. The US is more into candles and veneration of Saints than is Singapore. It is peaceful and quite still; strong sense of prayer. The choir was just two people- the cantor and the organist who sang the second part. But I thought the simplicity of the singing suited the chapel well.

The sermon was interesting. The priest quoted (extensively) from Bishop Fulton Sheen - that Peter sought to separate Christ from his cross, i.e. the glory without the sacrifice without realising that the two were one. He then likened the cross-less Christ to western societies in which greater laxity had crept into society on the grounds of self-fulfilment; the Christ-less cross was likened to the former communist countries where rules were harsh and compassion limited. I liked these points but did think that the extensive references suggested the sermon was put together in a hurry!

Anyway, after mass we went shopping in Prudential Tower. It is very convenient with everything we need in one spot. So it looks as though (aside from its other virtues) we will be coming back to St Francis fairly frequently :-)

Whale-watching

I went whale-watching yesterday. Ok, I admit that actually this is not my photo and it was taken sometime last week and not yesterday. But my classmate got a nicer photo than I did of the whale tail and I don't see why I can't use it. Click here to see my photos. (I also have videos and if someone can tell me how to post these I'd be happy to oblige).

We had a choppy start to our whale-watching exploit. The swells were 3-4 feet high but I didn't know what that meant until we hit them. It is just like air turbulence. Fortunately, I have a pretty strong stomach so didn't feel queasy at all. We had been misled by our very smooth journey to Provincetown when half of us fell asleep on the way back.

Fortunately, the vessel stopped at our first whale quickly! We rushed out to the viewing decks to see this huge mammal blowing water through its blowhole, arching its back to the water and then taking its dive (the tail is the last thing which appears). A full grown whale is about 75 feet or so (I think) but we don't see the whole thing all at once. We also didn't really see the head that clearly. According to the commentator, the whales occasionally "breach" i.e. jump completely out of the water, but that didn't happen yesterday. What an amazing sight that must be.

When the whale resurfaces for air, it can come up somewhere different.... like the other side of the boat. That is when we scurry to the other side of the boat to see the action. After a few minutes of this, the whale disappeared and we went on to the next whale. Generally, we were going to the feeding areas for whales - where there is an intense supply of plankton for the whales. It is surely part of divine providence that the largest of mammals feeds on the smallest organisms. Much better than T-rexes eating mammals.

Altogether we saw two different species of whale (fin-backed whale and hump-backed whale). There was one exciting moment when I saw two whales swimming together, albeit some distance away. Other whale behaviours observed: bubble nets whereby the whale circles just below the water blowing water/air through its system. Also, our last whale was pretty exciting, doing "side lunges" and lifting its flipper out of the water as it circled and turned.

Highly recommended for any visitor to Boston - only the season is ending soon.

The Food Post

I must say that the eating scene in Boston is not too bad. It is quite varied, with American pizza restaurants and cafes, Italian restaurants and (surprisingly) a fair number of Asian restaurants – Thai, Indian, Vietnamese (Pho Pasteur was mentioned in an earlier post), Chinese (guess what- haven't stepped in a Chinese restaurant yet!).

There is also “Penang” in Chinatown and its sister restaurant “Rendang” just a stone’s throw away from KSG. These Asian restaurants offer good lunch deals. Rendang, for example, gives soup, appetizer, main course for US$7.50 (a little more than S$10). I had such a large serving of pork ribs today at lunch that I got a doggie back to take some back for dinner! (BTW, Rendang does quite nice chicken satay, even though the rendang flavour doesn’t quite come out of the beef rendang.).

Opposite KSG is a Thai Café, “Smile”. We went there together with the Singaporeans in the Mason Fellows programme to get to know each other. It is the same set lunch type of package. Had the chicken with cashews which could be a little more spicy, but still the good stuff.

One thing to look out for in the US is that for groups beyond a certain size, the service charge is automatically imposed (no tip) and it is a pretty hefty one too. In such instances no tip is expected, unless of course you don’t realize and tip anyway. We were caught once in NY and the Masons Fellow who paid by credit card in Smile got caught too. So it was a more expensive lunch than we expected.

I should add that we have been eating American food. The big local restaurant chain is Legal Seafood (mentioned in an earlier post). It provides the clam chowder soup for Presidential Inaugurations. The seafood is fresh (scallops were very good!) and the servings are generous. They are also trying to do a little “fusion” food. For example, they have a “Rasam Seafood Soup” which does act have the cumin seeds in it. Yum.

Finally, supermarkets. I go to Star Market, which is pretty big. There are also a number of smaller organic markets (Harvest, Whole Food). There is also a Farmer's Market next to KSG every Friday. They sell huge bunches of herbs for fairly good prices (far less than the supermarkets) - basil for US$2, cilantro for US$1.50.

We have been inviting each other over for dinner on weekends, when there is no reception provided. Have had good Indian vegetarian food (including chapatis!) and adobo chicken (Philipino). What did I cook? Tomatoes with basil, olive oil and vinegar (Italian) and broccoli and carrots in oyster sauce (at least that is quite a Singaporean dish). I look forward to more international cooking nights :-)

A New Shopping Experience

We have just finished two days of "shopping" for classes. This is a massive exercise whereby the whole student body moves from class to class for half the normal lesson time, so that we can decide upon what courses to take. Lecturers will essentially give the same introductory spiel twice, once for the first half of the lesson and again during the second half. Of course, people will attend far more shopping sessions than is necessary so as to get a better sense of what courses suit them or which lecturers suit them, to find out more about a particular programme or just because they have some free time and nothing better to do. Basically there are a few categories of courses -

• Courses taught by "big name" professors, like Ronald Heifetz (leadership), Robert Lawrence (international trade), Joseph Nye (International Relations) and so on.
• "classic" KSG courses - like the strategic management course above or "Reasoning from History" which apparently has been run ever since the beginning of KSG.
• Niche courses, like "Economics of Immigration" or "Introduction to the Non-Profit Sector".
• Skills-related courses like "Arts of Communication", "Negotiation Skills"
  

The most popular would of course be the first two. These courses are packed, with people sitting in the aisles and standing at the back. KSG students have a certain number of points they can use to bid for the courses which are oversubscribed; the trick for them is to have a good mix of courses which are popular/oversubscribed and the less popular courses which may suit their niche interests. For us, we have to get the lecturers’ permission to sit in their class which may be difficult if it goes to bidding.

As for the lecturers, they conduct the shopping sessions differently. Some talk about how they don't believe in shopping and treat the students to the first introductory class of the course. Others just treat it as a logistics session and a few try and do a bit of both. Some are very formal, and others fairly relaxed in their lecture styles. Some come in suits and others in old woolly waistcoats. One particular lecturer, for "Strategic Management for Public Purposes" looks, sounds and even uses the same phrases as my lecturer on the equivalent course in Singapore! Of course, since it is a similar course, they are using the same cases and more or less the same textbooks. So of course I am not doing this programme.

What am I looking for? One course is already selected for us (ethics). The rest – criteria would be quality of the lecturer, workload (of course), level of interest in the course content. I don’t think that the subject matter is too important but of course there should be a balance between content-type and management-type courses. Fortunately, only one of the courses I want to attend requires bidding. And I have an alternative selected in case that doesn’t work out. The only problem is the alternative is the same time as the first choice course :0

Are American students extremely vocal, do hands pop up at every opportunity? Well, they are certainly more vocal than Singaporean students but it is not impossible to get a word in. Just takes persistence and sitting in a good spot where the speaker can see you :-)

St Paul's, Cambridge

We went to mass yesterday at St Paul's on Mt Auburn Street. It is famous for its choir school, and the Boston Boys Choir. We arrived a little early and sat half way down the church. St Paul's is quite large (a bit of a barn) with a high alter and marble pillars at the front, stained glass windows down the side, a large pipe organ at the back and a smaller organ in front nearer the choir.

The mass started with a little announcement that the church had a new deacon, and the priest indicated that his wife and three children (!) were also present in the church. Hmmm. Since when did deacons have families? It must be some local practice, but it is very unusual.

The boys then came into the church, singing the entrance hymn. They were followed by the men's choir. I must say that whilst it was enjoyable, my expectations were somewhat higher. Perhaps they need to get a few more rehearsals under their belt - this was the first time the choir had sung at mass after the summer break. They did look quite sweet and charming though, walking into church two by two in their black robes with a white smock thing on top.

US mass goers differ in behaviour from Singaporeans. The ladies sitting next to me were really having a nice catching up session before mass, started smiling and waving at the choirboys/ men they knew and said hi to the priest. They also kissed and hugged this other friend of theirs on the way to communion and then after communion. Quite distracting. I must admit that these ladies were the exception rather than the norm. Everyone else appeared to be acting like normal mass goers.

Will probably go visit other churches in Boston, before coming back to St Paul's, to see what they are like.

Provincetown

We went to Provincetown, MA, yesterday. P-Town (as it is known for short) is at the tip of Cape Cod and is apparently where the pilgrims first landed before deciding that Plymouth was a better spot. P-Town is really a summer vacation place; people come here, go to the beach, look at the galleries (there is also an artists’ colony here) and so on. It is also the “San Francisco” of the East, P-Town is where people can be themselves. Check out the pictures of P-Town and of people being themselves here.

The ferry ride to P-Town was great fun.
It was a fast ferry – and we learnt what that meant when we went to the top deck. The wind literally whips your breath away! The one who loved it most was my classmate’s little daughter.


When we got to P-Town we took the shuttle to Race Point Beach which is supposed to be a very pretty beach. Well, we got there just before noon and the sun was just radiating and reflecting off the water and the sand. It wasn’t as hot as in, say, Phuket, but it was certainly warm enough to make the lot of us (clad in pants, shirts etc) feel decidedly overdressed particularly when other people were in swimming costumes. But the sun was bright, the sea was very blue and the horizon stretched to infinity. Nonetheless, we didn’t stay long (or didn’t want to stay long) and took the shuttle back to P-Town for lunch and to wander around the town.

P-Town itself was very crowded. Partly because this is a holiday destination in the first place, and it is the end of summer. Partly also because there is a regatta being held the next day and these are the crowds coming in before the race. Other events were being held in conjunction with the regatta. During lunch, a vintage car procession passed through the street outside. Old, beautifully kept cars from the 1950s (or so I think) with their proud owners behind the wheel. Some were dressed in quite crazy/fun costumes – including a gorilla, Roman centurion, ladies in drag etc.

I think that sums up the whole spirit of P-Town – the architecture is mainly old town America, with wooden frame houses and small streets, and there is this slightly camp spirit about the place (ok, maybe more than just slightly camp). I went after lunch into some of the art galleries and other shops. The art galleries were interesting – a wide range of differing styles and subject matter. It did not occur to me to go into the leather shop (I thought it would have boring things like jackets and these would be better buys in say, Wrentham) but thereafter I was informed that there could be more interesting products, eg thongs, straps, etc. What a wasted opportunity.

Spent most of this afternoon watching the Project Runway Season 3 marathon. However, was pretty drowsy and dozed off half the time, including at the announcement of results for two shows. Well, since it is a marathon I find out who got sent home pretty quickly. The designers are not as colourful as those in Season 2 (but then, who can be as entertaining as Santino?) but there were a few tiffs, including one designer insulting the mother of another and causing her to break down in tears.

Shopping

I suppose it is time to post on a topic which has certainly taken up a lot of my time and energy.

I didn’t really do much shopping in New York. First, I was conscious that I would need to lug my suitcase to Boston, and second, I wanted to be able to compare the offerings in the 2 cities. But there were many moments of regret at Macy’s especially as it was having a sale with 20%, 40% discounts. Macy's is gigantic - two large buildings covering a whole block - and confusing , but I was able to find the floor full of “petite” clothing. Fortunately, the one suit I tried on didn't quite fit. Century 21 offered very good prices but I found the display of merchandise more confusing and the range was of course more limited than in Macy’s. On the high end, Henri Bendel’s is a lovely shop – the Lalique glass windows are beautiful, the displays are really very attractive and the prices are out of reach! I went also to Bleecker Street whilst in Greenwich Village. It is a charming street with some craft-y shops (and a nice little bookshop, Biography Books) but also some designer outlets, such as Ralph Lauren, Intermix.

Here in Boston, I must admit that I’ve been somewhat focussed on one particular shop. The first time I went to Filene’s Basement, was half an hour before closing time. I didn’t even get round to locating Basement 2. The second time, I went with 3 males and so it ended up as a recce trip. I believe they spent more than I did J . The third time, I had a nice time and bought 3 tops, 1 jacket, a pair of shoes and a bag. The range is excellent, and I get a little thrill out of calculating how much of a discount I can get.

I went around to the other shops in Harvard Square– Harvard Coop, Crate and Barrel, Ann Taylor etc. There are some shops selling quite cute little knickknacks as well, but these are pretty pricey. Around Downtown Crossing (other than Filene's) there's a pretty big Borders. I was struck by the large offering of Manga (see picture). Reverse cultural flows going on?

Boston – First 3 days

Well, we have been here in Boston for 3 days now. Arrived on Sunday 6pm and ate at Legal Seafood for dinner. On Monday, walked around the area in the morning and had lunch at Legal Seafood (compliments of the SPP). This was followed by Trolley Tour of the Boston area by “The Professor”. Fun, but I think I need to go around a second time on foot.

Went to Chinatown yesterday evening, and ate at a Vietnamese restaurant, "Pho Pasteur". Reasonably priced, generous proportions. Gave a menu to our Vietnamese classmate and await his imprimateur. Pho Pasteur is opposite "Penang". We will go there when the craving strikes. Both restaurants are pretty crowded, with queues forming ever so often.

This morning, we had a tour of the streets and shops around Harvard Yard, and of Harvard Yard itself. The afternoon was spent in an orientation session on KSG. Harvard itself is not quite what I had envisioned. Well, partly because it is in “Cambridge”, I had a certain mental image in my mind to compare it with and of course that mental image of Cambridge, UK is completely different from Cambridge, MA. It is much younger, for a start and like Oxford, is more a "town with a university" than a "university with a town".

As for KSG, I liked the look and feel very much.
KSG is essentially four buildings around a quadrangle. There is a volleyball court in the middle; there is beer and volleyball on Friday evenings. One of the buildings has a large open forum/lobby area with theatre type seating, and discussion areas along the staircases going up all the sides of the forum. We were told that this interesting concept was developed based on one student's feedback that he had learnt the most on the steps outside the building (from his fellow students). So the forum was developed to "bring the steps inside", so to speak. It reminds me of discussions in a previous life about how "corridor conversations" brought about opportunities to reflect on the day's discussions - and hence the merits to structure such discussions into formal programmes. Perhaps this is what the SPP needs to do also for the MPM- identify and put in place structures and fora to better infuse the academic/theoretical more with the experience of practitioners.

On the train to Boston

As I type this, we are chugging northwards on the Amtrak train to Boston. We decided to take the train rather than the plane to Logan airport because a) Penn Station was really near by and so the time taken is about the same either way and b) a lot more hassle going to Newark, going through airport security and traveling from Logan to Cambridge.

Now that we are about to leave New York, the weather has cleared up. It was a beautiful morning with bright sunshine. Walked out for about 1½ hours before mass, first to the Flatirons building, then to Union Square and ending up in Washington Square. I really like this part of New York. Slightly older than downtown NY, with a really pleasant relaxed atmosphere. Few cars, probably because its Sunday. So Broadway was closed below E13th Street for a street market (it was just starting up when I got there). People were going to church, or walking their dogs. New York University (NYU) accommodations are around the Washington Square area. It looked as though many people were moving in today – brings back lots of memories for me! There are also two dog runs in one corner of Washington Square, one especially for little dogs and one (I suppose) for dogs of all sizes. Dogs and their owners interacting quite happily within the run. Both runs were maintained by the “Washington Square Dog Run Association” – that’s the one thing I find different about Americans as opposed to the British of Singaporeans – they get together, associate and do things. Of course Singapore has certain obstacles in the way - I doubt that the dog run association folk had to register with any government body!

Rushed back from my walk to check out of the hotel and go to mass. Decided some time back to go to the 11am service at St Francis of Assissi but because I spent so long walking around, it was a real rush back. But it was well worth it. I was ever so slightly late :-) but it was really a pleasant surprise to enter the church and hear a pipe organ accompanying the congregation in the entrance hymn. St Francis itself is not large but quite beautiful. It is a long church with entrances on both W31st and W32nd Streets.

A large mosaic behind the alter depicts Mary carrying the child Jesus. He smites a serpent at their feet with a spear, as St Francis and (presumably) St Clare look on at either side. One smaller mosaic on the left depicts Mary being assumed into heaven; one more on the right shows St Francis (presumably) on his deathbed.

Mass itself was fairly well attended. I was surprised when we continued kneeling throughout the whole of the Liturgy of the Eucharist (from the breaking of bread to the great “Amen” before the “Our Father”. Local tradition? At the sign of peace, there was generally warm handshakes all around (contrast the chilly reception and funny looks I get when I try to do the same at Holy Family). Just goes to show how friendly Americans are!

For more pictures of St Francis and of NY, click here.

We have now left New York proper and are in the countryside. Quite charming – just crossed over an inlet with boats tied up on each side of the river. Saw some wooden frame houses on one side of the railway track. Just passed a golf course – what a lovely day it is for a round. Most unfortunately, I believe it is raining in Boston.

Postscript: The weather was beautiful until just before Providence, Rhode Island. Blue skies, little white cottony clouds…. then dark clouds appeared on the horizon and all of a sudden the train entered a damp foggy cloud which shrouded everything from Providence to Boston. It was so bad that flights into Logan (including from NY) were delayed. So it looks as though we made the right decision to take the train. Despite the fog, Boston itself wasn't really rainy - more a light sprinkle than anything else. Didn't stop us from having dinner at Legal Seafood.

At The Met

A note on my visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on 2 Sep. It is a large museum, rather eclectic (or is that "comprehensive"?) in its mix of exhibits and artwork. As someone was saying, a combination of the dear old British Museum and National Gallery (plus many other things, including Suzhou gardens!). The Met can be all things to all men.

The main part of my time was spent in the American collection. Partly because once in the US, it makes sense to see works by US artists. But also because after the Musee D'Orsay, the museums of Florence, and the Egyptian and Grecian collections at the BM, it was time to see something new. The American collection is dominated by one man – George Washington. First of all, the large painting of “George Washington Crossing the Delaware” by Emanuel Leutze. I did not realise before that it was painted on such a monumental scale. The picture is of Washington looking resolute, standing on a small boat. His men are around him, some breaking the ice before the boat and the others rowing the boat onward. Other boats behind follow his lead. Facing this painting is another large painting of Washington and Lafayette (another Revolutionary General, I suppose) supposedly talking at Washington’s plantation, Mount Vernon. Above this, two portraits of George and Martha Washington. More portraits of George dot the other rooms.

The other series of paintings in the American Collection which I enjoyed very much were the landscapes by the “Hudson River School”. These painters were inspired by the thought of showing God’s presence in nature and include Thomas Cole, Asher Brown Durand and Frederick Church.

Guided by Frommer’s, I also chose to spend a few moments in the European section to look at the “Studiolo Gubbio”, which is essentially a small wood-panelled study room. The panelling represents bookshelves and cabinets on which are various books, scientific devices (of the day) and includes a bird in a cage. The Met’s note:

“This detail is from a study, (or studiolo), intended for meditation and study. Its walls are carried out in a wood-inlay technique known as intarsia. The latticework doors of the cabinets, shown open or partly closed, indicate the contemporary interest in linear perspective. The cabinets display objects reflecting Duke Federico's wide-ranging artistic and scientific interests, and the depictions of books recall his extensive library. Emblems of the Montefeltro are also represented. This room may have been designed by Francesco di Giorgio (1439–1502) and was executed by Giuliano da Majano (1432–1490). A similar room, in situ, was made for the duke's palace at Urbino.”

The Met also featured the Temple of Dendur, which is an ancient Egyptian shrine presented to the US govt by the Egyptian government. Whilst this is one of the Museum’s principal exhibits, I was disappointed in that it lacked sufficient detail and background to give visitors a better sense of the historical context of the shrine, its place in the community and so on (unless I missed this totally).

What else did I see at the Met? The Tiffany collection was lovely – lamps, vases (see lovely irridescent flower vase on the right), windows in beautiful glowing colours; the 4 knights charging down the middle of the hall were fun. See some other photos here.

Yes, I also visited the Store. Prices are a lot cheaper than those in Singapore – only to be expected.

In general, the Met is a most worthwhile place to spend a morning or a day (if time permits). Especially, with student discounts ($10 as compared to $20).

On Broadway

Attended my first Broadway play today - "The History Boys", by Alan Bennett. Although, strictly speaking, it is a British play which enjoyed considerable success in London before crossing the Atlantic to Broadway, where it won Tony Awards (2006) for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

The play is about a group of schoolboys preparing for their Oxbridge entrance exams. The main tension in the play is the different teaching styles and approaches to life as manifested between the boys’ English teacher (Hector) and their History teacher (Irwin), and the legacy they pass on to their students. The play challenges the audience to ask themselves, of the two, who is more “successful” as a teacher, and how would we define success in the first place. It is about the purpose and nature of education – of form vs substance, rationalisation vs understanding the truth, about improving school rankings vs education for life (sounds familiar?). It has been reviewed in many places, but I happen to like this one in the New York Times.

I found the Broadhurst theatre (where the play was being staged) a little different from London theatres. The lobby is small and we moved straight into the house proper (and bumped into the bar). The seats were pretty narrow and there was not much leg room in between the rows. Probably an older theatre. On the other hand, the playbill (programme) was free! Unfortunately my jet lag caught up with me near the end of the first act. Considering this is a pretty intellectual play with a lot of literary references, this meant that some portions just swept over me. Managed to shake off the drowsiness and was pretty alert during the second half.

What I enjoyed – great performances from Richard Griffiths (as the English master) and Frances de la Tour, scenes showing the interaction between the boys and their teachers, the songs and performances put up by the boys throughout the play, the use of film segments for additional scenes (probably the best use of it that I’ve seen, not that I’ve seen that much). Also, the interesting sets – different rooms were constructed using movable walls on the stage. All in all, a great play and a great evening out (even though we had to walk to the subway station in the rain, through crowds of other umbrella-carrying people).

Jet Lagged

I woke up at 4am today, and went back to sleep until 5.40am. At this point, recognised that my body clock was still not catching up with me and so started drafting this blog.

Yesterday was spent largely downtown. We went first to see the Statue of Liberty. The intent was to take the cruise which would ferry us to Liberty Island itself – but there were no admissions to the statue that morning. So, we took the free Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. No complaints personally but its truly amazing that this ferry service is free. It is heartily abused by all these tourists round-tripping from Manhatten to Staten Island just to see the Statue, and from a distance at that. (That’s why it turned out pretty small in my photo.) However, there were 3-4 people dressed up as Lady Liberty around Castle Clinton (Ticketing Station for the Cruise to Liberty and Ellis Islands) and that was close enough for me. But the ferry ride was fun – and with the cold winds blowing in our face as we went back to Manhatten from Staten Island, quite exhilarating. Having said that, the weather right now is not the greatest. Temperatures are quite ok (about 20 degrees C or so) but there are overhanging clouds and it gets a little nippy. But we should count ourselves lucky. There is flooding in Norfolk, Virginia. Thanks to Tropical Storm Ernesto.

After the Statue of Liberty, we went to the World Trade Centre site. It was sobering to see the massive site where so many people had lost their lives, but the new construction work has started, and we could see some trains (the subway?) going through the site. The fire station next to the site has a huge memorial on its outside wall which I think said it well – acknowledging both “those who fell and those who carry on”.

I went on to Greenwich Village for a walk in the afternoon (other members of our party went their separate ways). The Village is an older part of New York and the houses built reflect the architecture of their times (see photos). It is indeed a pleasant part of NY which has a warm feel of community about it. One neighbourhood adopted a street corner and turned it into a little garden. People walk their dogs (but there is no trace of you-know-what on the ground) and pop into the "neighbourhood" shops (Bleecker Street ranges from craft shops to designer clothes, with one rather nice bookshop - Biography Bookshop).

Jet lag struck in the evening (about 6pm) and I slept for an hour before going out for dinner. Probably the main reason behind my early start this morning!

My first night in New York, New York

We arrived at New York City yesterday at about 7pm. This is the second time I've been to NY, the first since 9/11. Am here because my Masters' programme includes a stint at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and am taking advantage of the trip to visit NY first.

Am staying in a fairly decent hotel in "Korean Town", and there are certainly a wide range of Korean restaurants on our street, none of which we ate at! Walked to Times Square last night after dinner and window shopped along the way - Gap, Footlocker, Macy's, Toys "R" Us, Sephora (actually that was more than just window shopping), Virgin, etc. Look forward to a more ... purposeful? ... visit later on.

I didn't really notice it last visit but this time, what was obvious was the range of accents with which people in NYC speak. Our cab driver was Egyptian, and the serving staff at the little cafe we ate at didn't have obvious American accents either. We pride ourselves that Singapore is a pretty cosmopolitan place but if you listen to people's voices, the range of accents is similar. Will Singaporeans be comfortable with a range of accents in the restaurants, shops, cinemas, supermarkets.... and most of all taxis? Hmmm.