Just another Sunday mass

Yesterday evening we went for mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. I rather enjoyed the sermon which talked about how we all like keeping things private - including our faith. Why do Catholics do that? Is it because we don't know enough about our faith, or we do not exactly what we believe or whether we believe it? Or do we lack courage? Courage needs to be practiced. If we say something once, it is easier to say it again and again later on. If we believe in our faith, we will want to shout it out for all to hear.

Some of my Indian classmates went to mass. Now one of them is a dapper Indian gentleman who is slightly dimensionally challenged (read a little short and plump). He sat in between the two Filipino ladies and was very happy when they hugged him at the sign of peace. I had to restrain him from going to communion though.

After mass, we visited the shrine itself under the basilica, and the crypt church. The crypt church is a massive underground complex in itself. It is heavily vaulted (supposed to be reminiscent of the catacombs of the early church) and around the edges are many individual chapels and shrines to Mary as she has manifested herself around the world, eg Our Lady of Health, Mary at Lavang, Vietnam, and so on. Each shrine is decorated and presented in different styles. Here is the Mary of Lavang, which I took to show my Vietnamese classmate:

Following mass, we went for dinner at my Filipina classmate's colleague's home. It was nice to be in someone's home after so long in an impersonal hotel room. When we left, our hostess gave us each a hug - which made it 3 in one day for my dear classmate :-)

Lincoln Memorial

We just spent our first full day in Washington, District of Columbia. The Nation’s Capital. And it has been quite interesting. We visited the US Trade Representative’s Office, and the State Department.

But the highlight of the day was our visit to the Lincoln Memorial at the end of the day. It was a solemn and awe-inspiring experience. We got there just before sunset (daylight savings is over so it gets dark at about 5.30pm or so now). The Memorial is a simple Grecian building. The huge statue of Lincoln looks out down a long reflecting pool to the Washington Monument, which is reflected in the waters. The statue shows Lincoln’s great height – his legs look rather lanky. The face is sad, but shows Lincoln’s determination to persevere despite the odds. On each side of the statue are two of his famous speeches – the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address – which highlight his moral vision and purpose. Here’s the Gettysburg address and extract of the Second Inaugural address:

Gettysburg:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

Second Inaugural Address:

"...Neither party expected for the war, the magnitude, or the duration, which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces; but let us judge not that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered; that of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has his own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!" If we shall suppose that American Slavery is one of those offences which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South, this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offence came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a Living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope--fervently do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether".

With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

2nd Last Night in Boston

I started off this week with 3 assignments due end of this week, got a take-home exam due mid next week. I finished off one assignment on Thursday, a second one on Friday and am now 25% through the third one.

Earlier tonight we had our farewell dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club. It was a pleasant event and we received our certificates of attendance at the end. I'd been griping about the assignments all day and so one of my Indian classmates sidled up to me on the way back and asked me, "Why are you worried about outputs when you have the outcome in your hands"? Meaning, that with a certificate of attendance why did I want to bother with assignments? He then started pulling aside his shirt to show me his own certificate which he had tucked beneath. Not only was he keeping it close, it was keeping him warm as well!

Anyway, enough of procrastinating. Back to typing.

New Hampshire

This is a busy week for us. We have to finish our final assignments and get ready to go to Washington DC next week! So I will probably defer my posts on my weekend in New Hampshire for a while. In the meantime, do look at my Flickr pages for some photos and commentary. There are also some videos and photos on Multiply.

In the meantime, here is a little preview of what we saw in New Hampshire:

If you are thinking it looks cold, the answer is yes, it was cold!

The Kancamagus Highway

We drove back from North Conway to Lake Winniesepaukee (and I hope I spelt that right) via the Kancamagus Highway, which is touted as the most scenic drive in New Hampshire. It is actually quite a high altitude drive reaching almost 3,000 metres at its height.

The scenery along the way was quite spectacular with waterfalls and rapids, and scenic lookout points. We had to take a little walk to see first the Rocky Gorge, and the Sabaday Falls (photos of each in order mentioned).

There are typically little signs at each stop telling the visitor about it. For example, Rocky Gorge had a story of a girl who fell in the swirling waters of the Gorge. Apparently, there is a huge sinkhole in the gorge which was caused through erosion and the waters create a mini whirlpool at that point. The girl fell into the whirlpool, and her rescuers feared she had been drowned. But then someone saw a hand sticking up - he grabbed it and got a shock when the hand grabbed back! They pulled her out, managed to revive her and she lived happily ever after. And how did the Sabbaday falls get its name? The story is that long ago a work crew cutting a road nearby finished their work on a Saturday and named the waterfall after the next day, the Sabbath. Over time the name got corrupted to Sabbaday.

Continuing our drive, we would stop at the many beautiful scenic spots. Unfortunately for us, the foliage was a little after its peak. Nonetheless, we managed to view beautiful panoramas of mountains, valleys, and bright blue skies.
As we continued driving higher and higher, the temperatures again went lower and lower. Snowdrifts began to appear on the sides of the road. We finally hit 32 degrees Farenheit! Zero degrees Celcius! When we finally got to the peak, it was nearing the end of the day. Bear in mind that at this time of year, the days are shortening and it is getting dark earlier and earlier. So in a sense we were racing against time to get down from the highway before dark. This photo was taken at the highest point of the Highway, just before we started our descent again:




I suppose it is also timely to disclose that I had been stalked this entire day, from the time we reached Mount Washington till now. One of my dear classmates, who had evidently had a childhood deprived of any snowball fights, had taken every opportunity to make snowballs. And I am sorry to say that his primary target was yours truly. One would have thought that a grown man (and supposedly a gentleman at that) would never have dreamt of hitting a lady with a snowball. He contended that he deliberately missed the first 2 times. But he definitely scored a hit with the last one (by the way, he threw it as I turned my back!). What especially riled me is that some of my other dear classmates saw it as no more than a photo opp! Or a video opp! Sigh. But I want to emphasise that I definitely turned the other cheek and did not engage in a snow fight with him.

Mount Washington - 2 Seasons in 1 Day

We decided to go on another driving weekend before we had to leave the country. The plan was to take the Kancamagus Highway, spend the night in North Conway, and then go up to Mount Washington the next day. We would end off at the Lakes the next day.

Unfortunately, it rained throughout the first day. The Kancamagus Highway was covered with clouds and mist. In such bad weather, there was not a thing to see. So we had no choice. We had to go shopping. So we went first to Tanger, and then to the North Conway outlets. Now I realise why North Conway is considered a shopping destination. It is full of outlets! But by the time we got there it was almost 5pm. Dark, dreary and rainy too. We did some shopping at the outlet and then found our hotel - Comfort Inn (again). In the dark, I did not realise that we were next to a pirate-themed mini-golf course. I suppose kids have to do something whilst parents shop.

That night, I checked the weather report. It was not good. It was snowing on Mount Washington and at Bretton Woods. And there were strong winds on the mountain - over 100 km/h. Undeterred, we set off the next morning. Soon, the scenery around us turned white in colour - from the mountain-tops down.

By the time we reached the Bretton Woods resort, all was white. A snow plough must have cleared the roads early but there were still snowdrifts on the side of the roads and the trees were covered with snow. Even the signs were covered with snow - completely useless!

We drove carefully to the cog railway, only to find out that it was only travelling one-third of the way up the mountain because of bad weather (the winds were still blowing) and we would have to pay half the price. And, that the mist and fog enshrouding the mountain meant that we would not be able to see anything anyway. Unsurprisingly we decided to give it a miss. So we drove back down to North Conway.

It was a beautiful drive, past snow-covered trees, mountains, and a waterfall or two. Truly, a winter wonderland of water, snow and ice. But it was cold too! We were watching the temperature gauge in the car and it was pretty much 32 degrees Farenheit also known as Zero degrees celcius outside. And there we were walking out in (essentially) fall clothing.

But by the time we got back to Intervale (between Bretton Woods and North Conway) it had turned back to fall. The bright blue sky, the greens and reds of the trees made the snow and ice seem very far away. We had a quick lunch at a burger joint in Intervale and proceeded to retrace our route through the Kancamagus Highway in the hope that this time round, we could catch a glimpse of the beautiful scenery.

Carly Fiorina at the KSG

I've attended two talks over the past two days at KSG.

Yesterday's talk was by Richard Holbrooke, former US Asst Secretary of State and Former US ambassador to the UN. He was talking on the topic, "Fighting the War on Terror: A Short-Term Vision for a Long-Term Conflict?". It was an interesting talk - he was attacking the semantics of "War on Terror" - terror is a tactic and not any individual, who exactly is the war on? Of course he is a Democrat. Lawrence Summers (Treasury Secretary under Clinton, also former President of Harvard) was in the audience and he exchanged pleasantries with Holbrooke. And whilst we are talking about Harvard big names, I suppose I should add that last Friday Amartya Sen was walking through the KSG Courtyard.

Anyway, let me get to the true subject of my post - the talk by Carly Fiorina, which was this evening. Now I must admit I had pretty high expectations. Carly has a reputation for being a good speaker. And she has just published her book and is promoting it (she was signing copies after the event at the COOP). So I expected a few excerpts (of the more exciting points).

So the session starts off with what was a pretty fawning introduction (Carly said thank you for a very "generous" introduction), and if that was not bad enough it was long-winded as well so we cringed through this lengthy speech.

Carly focused her own comments on leadership - business is about the people, so you have to address people issues in leadership and managing change - and uttered truisms about how people are people wherever they are. She alluded to her own departure from the Board but sort of slipped around what happened. Difficult for people who weren't following the fortunes of HP or didn't skim through her book prior to the talk (which I did) to work out what was going on. I can look at it charitably and say that she didn't want to bad-mouth people in public, but I can also say that she wanted to increase the incentive for people to buy the book! And although her book is titled "Tough Choices" she didn't actually tell us about any of these choices except that it was her decision to say openly, despite the bad press it would attract, that she was fired from HP rather than that she had decided to step down.

I suppose my takeaways are as follows:

• Change - it's a slow process, especially in large organisations. Individuals don't like change - it's great in theory, but should preferrably happen to someone else. So needs patience and discipline. Changing during bad times is even worse - more difficult for people to stay the course and easier for them to lose faith in the leader.
• Importance of processes to appraise and enhance the performance of Board members.

She spoke for only about 20 minutes and then there was some Q&A. The two hosts on stage monopolised the Q&A for about half an hour. Unfortunately the fawning host asked some fawning questions. Whilst the other gentleman asked better questions, I must say the student questions were excellent! One asked Carly to respond to unfavourable reviews of her book (in The Economist and Financial Times) which questioned her leadership but she chickened out! and said that everyone is entitled to their opinion. Another asked her to talk about what she felt her weakness was and how she addressed that. She said that her weakness was that she didn't know anything about technology and therefore it was important to have people around her who were good at technology, that it is about being aware of your weakness and having the humility to acknowledge and address it. Again, I see this as a cop-out because I thought that the question pertained to a personal weakness rather than a knowledge gap. (Oh, and she didn't answer the question on whether she intended to run for public office!).

I personally respect Carly and what she has achieved and I do think (from the little I know) that she was hard done by her Board. And maybe after having high expectations it would have been a let-down in any case. So it is a bit of a pity because I do think she had an opportunity to gain supporters (esp if she wanted to run for public office) this evening and it ended up being a bit of a "poor me" session.

An afternoon with JFK

This morning, we went to a new church - Sacred Heart of Jesus, on 6th Street about 15-20 minutes walk away from our hotel. So near and we did not know about it till now!

It is a lovely church - all stark stone outside and very warm and welcoming on the inside. The wall behind the alter is painted a warm crimson colour and this contrasts with the white alter piece.

It was also a most amusing mass. First of all, it was a memorial mass for St Hedwig. Yes, St Hedwig, wife, mother, queen and saint. Who is she, you may ask. As did we. So here's a link to St Hedwig. Her statue in the church was restored by the Polish Veterans' Association and re-dedicated at the mass, and there was a relic of the Saint available for veneration after the mass. The presiding priest is a round, tubby, Friar Tuck-like priest. He has an Irishman's gift of the gab and he showed it in his lengthy, "informal" prayers of intercession. He prayed for ill members of the parish, the two young men who were coming back from Iraq, and so on and so forth. He also speaks fairly quickly - rushed through the Nicean Creed really quickly. In his sermon, he highlighted the generosity of St Hedwig - she endowed monastries and things like that. He linked this up with a request to the congregation to be generous in their offerings....

(Incidentally I have a feeling that Sacred Heart was merged with St Hedwig's Parish, which is why there were also references to how St Hedwig parishoners lost their parish).

In the afternoon, I went to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. We went through the museum which is really a multi-media exhibition on JFK's Presidency. It featured a lot of his speeches - he is such a good orator. It also showed a little about his legacy, including of course the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard... It was a strangely moving visit. There was an exhibition room featuring the role of Robert Kennedy as Attorney-General - looks as though his contribution to JFK's short Presidency was substantial. The Kennedys are a truly tragic family. Anyway, I bought replica JFK campaign badges for my room mate and myself. Now I have a JFK badge and a Mao badge, haha!

The Freedom Trail

Last weekend, I went to Lexington and Concord and found out what happened to set off the American Revolution there. This weekend, I walked the Freedom Trail in Boston which tells what set the stage for Revolution and ended off with a visit to the Old North Church. The belfry of the Old North Church was used to signal to Paul Revere and other messengers that the British were moving off by sea ("one if by land, two if by sea"). So in a sense I've travelled through the Revolution story in reverse!

Anyway, it was a pleasant walk through Boston - the first long walk I've actually had here (excluding through Copley Square last week). We started off at the State House, and then went on to the Park Street Church, the Granary Burying Ground, the King's Chapel and Burying Ground, the Old South Meeting House, Faneuil Hall, etc (in total, the trail includes 4 churches/meeting houses and 3 graveyards! Does this reflect the strong Puritan and religious tendencies of the revolutionaries or is it just that what was said in a church was regarded as "sacred"?). We ended off, as I mentioned with a stop at Paul Revere's house and the North End church.

What was a little surprising was that the Old State House actually seems to have a T stop in it! Here is a building which was the seat of the British colonial government, and subsequently became the seat of the state government. The Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony in the front of the building (can see it in the picture). It may now be a museum etc but I wonder that the city planners could not find a more appropriate place to locate the subway stop.

Viva Italia (Part 2)

Today I did the Freedom Trail (which I will talk about more in my next post). We ended at Paul Revere's House and the Old North Church, which was also in the North End, on either side of the street we had dinner at last night. It was nice to see the North End in daylight, for the very first time. So here is the "Connah Store" - for viewing pleasure.

We also did what we left out yesterday, which was go to "Mike's Pastry" to eat 'cannoli's, which are cream/mousse filled tubes which can be chocolate coated or dipped or just plain. I've never seen cannolis before in Italy so it is either a south Italian pastry, or I did not go to enough pastry shops in Italy. Suffice to say that they are very rich and gooey and sinful. It was good on the first bite but I got a little "jelak" about two-thirds of the way through. We also had the best coffee - a cappuccino - that I have had in the US. Foamy milk-topped coffee, with cinnamon, nutmeg and cocoa sprinkled on top with a sugar-tipped stirrer. Bellissima!

Viva Italia

The World Cup came to Boston's North End the other week. Unfortunately, it was only a replica - and when the Italian fans found out they were not pleased.

The Italian identity of the North End is strong indeed. Restaurants, gelataria, and pastry shops line the streets. Above us - banners supporting an Italian-American for political office, and banners supporting the Italian football team. In the "Connah Shop", there were T-shirts supporting the World Cup Champions, and with little slogans saying "France Sucks" and "Yankees Suck". Yankees being, of course, the NY baseball team. The chap standing at the entrance to one of the restaurants also looked a little mafia-like, but I suppose that is a wicked stereotype on my part. There's also a Catholic church - St Leonard's on the street.

We were in the North End for dinner - the second time I've been here, but the first time on a Friday night and it was crowded! We went into a few restaurants but there was no place for anyone without a reservation. Finally we went into the "Florentine". We opened the menu and someone goes, "they have a Machiavelli pasta"! Need I add that we are all reading Machiavelli now for our ethics class. So two of my classmates had his pasta, and flung around a few quotations ("it is better to be feared than loved") for good measure. I just had a tagliatelle with seafood. We are not getting much else except chicken, meatballs, sausages, and vegetables at our dinner buffets so every time I go out for dinner I look for some variety.

I personally preferred Bricco, the restaurant we went to on our last outing to the North End to the Florentine. The menu was more interesting and the cooking better overall (I also thought my seafood could be a little fresher). When we went there (must be around a month ago) it was also a lot warmer. The restaurants have large windows which are opened up in warm weather - they were all closed today. Temperatures are starting to fall.

To end off an Italian post on food, it seems appropriate to say a bit about Fig's pizza. Fig's is the budget restaurant of a celebrity chef, Todd English. He is also the owner of a far more expensive and upmarket restaurant, "Olives". Fig's is a small little restaurant on Charles Street. They don't take reservations but you can call ahead to put yourself on the waiting list. So when you actually get there your waiting time is reduced. The pizza is huge! It comes on a rectangular tray (and in our case was flopping off the tray) and is put on a little stand in front of you so the pizza is elevated to just below your face. My room-mate and I had a half-and-half pizza, half figs and prosciutto and half steak and onion rings. We managed to eat about half and took the other half back. Refer my last post on where the left overs ended up.

Ciao!

Dinner Time

There are two good things about our hotel.

First, it not only provides breakfast, it provides dinner. Second, it is possible to take food upstairs to eat. So we hoard food in times of plenty and cook it in times of famine (also known as the weekends, when the dinner reception is not available).

Let me say that the dinner food is not remarkable. Except for the main dish, it is exactly the same every night:

• chips with salsa
• green salad (with vinegar and olive oil on the side, also croutons)
• mixed salad - raw califlower, broccoli, capsicum, baby carrots.
• main dish - could be meatballs, sausage with peppers, tacos, soup, baked potatoes, etc. Comes with bread or rice.
• fruit - green apples, or red apples
• chocolate cake or carrot cake.

We are plenty tired of this menu. But it is amazing how much food ends up in our rooms. So last Friday evening, when we had a pot luck dinner, it ended up something like this:

• fried vegetables I (from the buffet)
• fried vegetables II (someone bought Chinese lettuce and so this dish was actually made up of "original" ingredients)
• cucumber and green apple in vinegar (the cucumber was actually bought)
• red chicken curry (the chicken was from "fajitas night" and the baby carrots in the curry from the buffet)
• fried rice (all ingredients from the buffet)
• Fig pizza (I must admit this was from my doggie bag - went out for dinner the previous Wednesday)
• bread with cheese topping (this was freshly purchased)
• fruit salad with yoghurt dressing

The cooking was quite tasty but it was a little sad eating the same food ... albeit presented in different ways. But the company was good and my classmate hosting us had a tablecloth (!) plus classical music playing in the background (she turned her radio on loudly). So it was a lot more classy, so to speak, than our dining hall.

Breaking News

I was just leaving KSG when I caught a glimpse (in the plasma TV in one of the building lobby areas) of a breaking news report on a small plane crashing into a building in NY city.

My first reaction was of course, shock and a certain sense of deja vu. My second - that I have 8 classmates in New York, 6 of whom stay in the Upper East Side where the plane crashed.

Got back to my room and apparently the plane was flown by a NY Yankees pitcher, Cory Lidle. So it appears there is no connection with terrorism. I also sent out an email to check on the safety of my classmates. It crossed with another email from one of my NYC classmates saying:

My God, thank you very much. A small aircraft crashed a high building near our street today, it is just sited in 524 East, 72th street. And we are living in 301 East, 96th street,East.
Hope my God going on protecting us.

It was good to hear from him. Of course as a member of the Communist Party he is not supposed to believe in God but one should not quibble about such things at times like these. Especially since today's gospel is on the "Our Father" (Lk 11:1-4) so indeed the Lord has protected them.

Architectural Reflections

The other good thing about long weekends spent in Boston is that I have time to bring my blog up to date. Yesterday, I went to mass at St Francis' in Prudential Tower, and thereafter walked around Boylston and Newbury Streets, and Copley Square.

Copley Square is the site of Trinity Church, the John Hancock building and the Boston Public Library - three distinctive pieces of architecture. Here I portray two of the three:

It costs US$5 to tour Trinity church so I didn't go in. I have never paid any admission charge to enter a church thus far and I'm not starting now. It has always been on the basis of voluntary contributions. It also strikes me as rather, ahem, electic in design. But I love the way John Hancock building reflects all the buildings around it.

Boston Public Library is made up of two buildings. The original building is classical renaissance in design and the second, a modern reflection of the old:

There is a free public tour on the BPL's art and architecture, which I went on. What a contrast to Trinity Church's exhorbitant charge for a "self-guided" tour.

What I found fascinating about the Boston Public Library was the considerable European influences - the selection of the classical renaissance style, the murals within reflecting European traditions and culture. One of the three mural series was done by a French artist and a second was the story of Sir Galahad! The third was by John Singer Sargent but I much, much prefer his Parisian paintings to the rather dour "triumph of religion" mural series in the BPL.

I walked down Newbury Street after Copley Square. This has to be one of the more charming shopping areas I've been too. Small little boutiques line the street. Shops are either half a floor up, or half a floor down (down to the basement of the building). There are many restaurants and cafes along the road and their clientele were spilling out on the pavement to enjoy the sunshine of what was really a lovely day.

And here's the photo link!

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

Well, yesterday was the first of the 3-day long weekend (from 7-9 Oct, with 9 Oct being Columbus Day). Many of my classmates elected to go out of town this weekend but after two successive weekends on the road and two weeks in which I rushed through my readings I thought I had better do some catching up. So I went to Lexington and Concord (pronounced "conquered") yesterday, where the American Revolution officially began.

And that is where the interesting bit about Lexington and Concord begins (at least for those people who are not US history buffs). Where was the "shot heard around the world" fired from? The two towns have differing opinions. (Incidentally it is somewhat grandiose to call it a shot fired around the world? Had as much impact as the length of Cleopatra's nose?) Yes, there was a skirmish at Lexington before the skirmish at Concord. And the minutemen and militia fought in both places (see the two minutemen statues below). But history seems to favour Concord - it was where, apparently, the order was given to stand and fight, and chase the British out of town.

Both Lexington and Concord have statues of Minutemen. Lexington's (left) is not particularly impressive. But Concord's Minuteman was sculpted by Daniel Chester French, a Concord native. He went on to sculpt John Harvard (statue in Harvard Yard) and Abe Lincoln in the Lincoln memorial. So Concord seems to have won out all the way. Other photos of Lexington and Concord are here.

The big hero of Lexington and Concord, of course, is Paul Revere. However we found out that the poem by Longfellow is not really factual. Apparently Revere made it to Lexington but not to Concord. Revere got caught on his way to Concord and the chap who made it through was one of his two companions, a doctor with a good horse. He alerted Concord to the impending arrival of the British, and the rest, as they say, is history. Except that the doctor's place in it seems to have been taken by Revere. I guess it would have spoiled the poem.

NIAGARA FALLS!

The next day (1 Oct) we went off to the Cave of the Winds (where we got into touching distance of the falls) and rode on the Maid of the Mist to the Horseshoe Falls.

There are three falls altogether: two in the US - the American Falls and the Bride Veil Falls and one in Canada - the Canadian or Horseshoe Falls. The Horseshoe Falls are the most spectacular of the three. Apparently a greater volume of water is flowing over the Horseshoe Falls than over the other two, hence a more rapid erosion of the falls there.

We went first to the Cave of the Winds, where we were given little beach slippers and also a raincoat. We then walked down to the bottom of the Bride Veil Falls to see the Falls at pretty close range. This was quite exciting as the falls sort of spray you as you walk around the area. What I didn't dare do, however, was climb out to a platform about a third of the way up the falls. I did start up the stairs and then there was a sudden gust of wind which hit my face and my legs (including the bottom of my rolled up pants) so I beat a hasty retreat.

But, what was truly exhilerating was our ride on the Maid of the Mist to the Horseshoe Falls.

Frankly, it is difficult to see much of the Horseshoe Falls. The most active area is shrouded in mist and so you only see one of the ends more clearly. Nonetheless, it is spectacular - the water falling all around us, the roar of the water as it falls, the cold of the spray and mist around us. I must admit however I carefully tied my blue martian raincoat around my face and turned my face away from the mist and the spray of water when the wind inconsiderately blew it towards us.


After the MotM, we went up to the observation deck for a good view of the falls. The bridge between US and Canada was on our right and I could see why it was called the "Rainbow Bridge" because there was one just in front of us.

Oh yes, I forgot to add. We met one chap from the Masters in Public Policy (MPP) Prog in the School at Niagara Falls! He was doing a term in Columbia (this is part of the School's exchange programme with Columbia) and he chose to visit Niagara that weekend too. Talk about coincidence.

We left the Falls soon after and went back to Boston. But this trip has truly been the highlight of my US trip thus far. It really brought me face to face with what must be one of the wonders of the natural world. A moment to remember indeed.

See here for more Niagara (and Thousand Island) photos, the Multiply link on the left will bring you to my videos of Niagara (and other videos too).

Night at Niagara

We got to Niagara Falls City US at about 8pm on Sat 30 September. We had paid our $5 to the driver for his overtime work in driving us to the falls at night (he has a good thing going).

It was pretty chilly and windy at the falls. And frankly visibility was poor at that hour of the night. Theoretically there was supposed to be a nice laser light show but it did not really light up the falls that vividly. But, very surprisingly, once I took a photo (using the auto feature) the laser light seemed to somehow suffuse the mist which was rising from the falls:

Anyway, after a chilly half hour or so we checked into our hotel, which was clean and drab and dull. I pulled some of my classmates out and we had a drink at the bar across the road. Beer is surprisingly cheap in Niagara, just $1 per mug. The bar itself looked like the bars one sees on TV. But the bartender behind the bar was pretty helpful. She spotted us looking at the menu and told us that the kitchen was closed, but there was a pizza place which was open down the road and if we were keen, she could give them a call and ask them to bring something over. That's what I call customer service!

Thousand Islands

First things first. Yes, this where the dressing comes from. I reproduce from ask.yahoo.com (complete with links):

Dear Yahoo!:
How did Thousand Island Dressing get its name?
Salad Spinner
Chesterfield, Virginia

Dear Salad Spinner:
With a toss of lettuce and a sprinkling of croutons, we searched for the "history of thousand-island salad dressing." This led us to the original birthplace of the creamy condiment. This slightly sweet, chunky salad dressing got its name from the Thousand
Islands area of upstate New York. The region is filled with about 1,800 islands and stretches along the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario, reaching into both the U.S. and Canada. In the 1870s, vacationers discovered the area and began building summer homes and hotels.

In the early 20th century, Sophia LaLonde of Clayton, N.Y., served the dressing at dinner for guests of her husband, who was a popular fishing guide. One of the dinner guests was leading actress May Irwin. It was Irwin who christened the dressing with the Thousand Island name, and the dressing was
served by Irwin's request at the Herald Hotel in Clayton. The actress also introduced the dressing to the wider world when she gave LaLonde's recipe to the owner of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Thousand Island Dressing is a variation on the so-called Russian dressing popular around the time, which consisted of a yogurt base with chili sauce or ketchup added for flavor. Early Thousand Island recipes used mayonnaise instead of yogurt and added pickle relish, chives, and sometimes chopped hard-boiled eggs. In the 1950s, Thousand Island Dressing made of mayo, ketchup, and pickle relish became a standard condiment, used on sandwiches and salads alike.

We visited the Thousand Islands on our way to the Niagara Falls on 30 Sep 2006. As the little story above suggests, the Thousand Islands is a scenic stretch of islands within the St Lawrence Waterway. One-third of the islands belong to the US and the other two-thirds to Canada. We took a cruise around the islands, so at times we were in Canadian waters. The houses on the islands still remain largely private property so can only be looked at from the boat. However, one island, Heart Island, and Boldt Castle on the Island has been bought by the state. The story is that the original owner of the island actually bought it and started building the castle for his wife. He planned to give it to her on her birthday, which was on 14 Feb, Valentine's Day. Unfortunately, she died before her birthday and he was so heartbroken that he never went back after that and made his children promise not to go back either. The castle fell into disrepair until it was bought and restored for public viewing.

More pictures of the Thousand Islands can be found here.

After our cruise, we proceeded on to Niagara Falls where we had a stop for dinner. Did I mention that our tour operator (Sunshine Tours) is actually run by a Chinatown company? It should be no surprise, after this piece of information, to hear that we stopped at a Chinese buffet restaurant for dinner where the two Singaporeans and one PRC Chinese had a hearty meal. (Some had heartier meals than others. I had one plate of food, one plate of dessert, in the same time as my Chinese classmate had three full plates of food and dessert. He says it was the best meal he has had in the US.) Our Indian classmates, on the other hand, had a nice time shopping in K-Mart and ate the pratas they had prepared before coming. Talk about a clash of civilisations!

Watch this space for the Niagara Falls post...

Niagara Falls

Just came back from Niagara Falls. This has to be the highlight of my US stay thus far. I will write a more detailed post later on, but this is to introduce my new Multiply website, where I have posted some videos of the visit. The website has also been added to my links on the left.