What I loved about my last US trip Part 2

This is a continuation of Part 1 of my ultra-fun US trip in April – May this year….

#6 Hanging out in Harvard Square

By coincidence, we were in Boston on May Day, and every year, there’s a May Fair at Harvard Square so we did a sticky beak (that means to go take a look in Aussie slang).

This was a chalk-drawing event for a charity but I forgot which. It was amazing that all these people came out to draw colourful creations on the road in the sweltering sun.

I spotted two pugs….awwwww….Did I mention I have a fixation on pugs? The kangaroo: are you reading this?

I also paid a small contribution to a moving statue when I took her picture and she really was quite good at keep still.

And we had to stroll through the famous grounds of Harvard where the smartest people in the world study.

#7 Sipping a smart cocktail facing the Empire State Building

At 230 Fifth near Madison Square, I tagged along to the kangaroo’s casual business drink sesh with a client. It was definitely a New York moment — sipping a martini in a posh bar facing the Empire State Building.

The kangaroo was goofing around with our bowl of lontong rice cakes. I was astonished an elegant lounge like this would serve Singaporean and Malaysian hawker eats.

This was a “healthy” vegetarian char kway teow that I loved tucking into. Pear martini and char kway teow — Singaporean gal in heaven.

#8 Eating the spiciest omelette ever and other great food

This was called Diablo eggs over brown rice Hawaiian-style and no wonder — my lips were on fire from the get go but oh-so-good. This brunch place is called 26 Beach Restaurant and is located on Venice Beach, and look, the décor is just so pretty.

They are apparently known for their long list of French toast but we didn’t try any because they were in American sizes. I peeked at what other people were having and the French toast dishes were def a meal in itself as each portion looked like it had half a loaf of bread.

And here is a tribute to the delicious vegetarian food I had in the US:

With a gal pal who lives in SF (and who loves vegan food), I tucked into what must’ve been the most heavenly Mexican vegan meal ever at Gracias Madre.

Quesadillas de Calabaza – butternut squash, caramelized onion and cashew cheese folded into tortillas with a pumpkin seed salsa.

Sopa de Coliflor Asada – roasted cauliflower soup topped with cashew cream. This one was so good. Who would’ve thought cauliflower could be so flavourful?!

Enchiladas con Mole Poblano – mole enchiladas topped with mushrooms and cheese, served with sauteed greens and beans.

Three corn tortillas topped with seasonal vegetables and cashew cheese, served with beans. The mushroom one was just awesome.

As you can tell, we literally had to sausage-roll ourselves outta there.

I couldn’t get enough of this addictive, spicy vegetarian chili at The Other Side Café in Boston. By the way, this café restaurant also has a full menu for omnivores, so I’d say this is definitely my kinda restaurant where the kangaroo would be comfortable eating at too.

At Trident Booksellers & Café in Boston, I had eggs benedict without the ham but with mashed avocado — heavenly but waaaay rich. I could barely finish the potatoes on the side which were spicy and savoury so I was a bit sorry to leave them behind but American-sized portions were just too huge for me…which by the way, made me feel a bit chunky by the end of the trip. Just three weeks of chowing down in the US will do that to ya…

#9 Zooming through the Hollywood Strip

What can I say, we were transported into a world of fantasy at Madame Tussauds…

And took this outside Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Boulevard:

Someone put flowers on MJ’s star…Awww….

And this was the closest shot I could get of the Hollywood sign:

That was LA in six hours – whoo!

#10 Getting to spend quality time with the kangaroo

To my trailing partner friends out there: it’s an absolute privilege to be able to travel like this and it’s the upside to some of the downsides in such a relationship.

No related posts.