>>pk@columbia: roadtrip

boston [1.11 - 1.12]

I met Rich and Anita when I visited Boston back in October to see Warren, who goes to MIT. Rich was kind enough to let me, head, and Jeff stay at his frat house (PKT) as we spent our time in Boston. Upon arrival, we walked around Newbury St. checking out stores like a mystery book shop, Niketown, and Swatch - stores that served to sharpen our window shopping abilities. After meeting Rich and putting our stuff down at his frat house, we went to play ball at the MIT gym, where Rich and Jeff decimated me and head in bball and Rich intimidated us with his casual repetitions with 225 lbs on the lone bench press they had at the gym - scary, considering my max on a good day might be 225. We ate dinner at Legal Seafood at the Prudential Center, went clubbing, and then sang karaoke. We might not have had as much fun clubbing or singing karaoke at the time, but we got to experience part of the non-frat social scene at Boston. Sitting on the green sofas at Rich's frat house, with Anita also there, and just talking about random stuff early into the morning was nice. Anita suggested dim sum for our last meal before departing for Dartmouth, and that turned out to be a great idea as we concluded our stay in Boston with a light, delicious session of plate picking and people-spotting at Chinese Pearl. As we drove away from Boston, I was able to capture a distinct feeling about the city - the blocks of cutesy buildings that remind me of Ally McBeal, a sense of historical significance that has continued since colonial times, and an aura of irony that feigns snobbiness in its cleanliness but also maintains humility through the lack of pompous glitz and symbolic skyscrapers.