The Lonely Mountains of New Hampshire

Last weekend M and I went hiking in one of the most isolated places I’ve ever been. Maybe it was because it’s already considered the off season in the New Hampshire state parks, but we could literally go for miles without seeing another human being. Big difference from certain other parks that even require lottery ticket systems for their most popular hikes. (Yeah, I’m looking at you, Half Dome.) You would hear nothing but the wind howling through the trees and the leaves crunching beneath your feet. It was kind of nice.

The area we visited is called the White Mountain National Forest, a huge expanse of woodland stretching over one portion of the rugged Appalachian Mountains. We went to two of the more prominent parks within the White Mountains, Crawford Notch State Park and Franconia Notch State Park.

Silver Cascade

Crawford Notch is most known for its waterfalls. As California natives, we were exceptionally excited at the prospect of seeing real waterfalls with actual water in them, so we spent most of our time in the park trekking to as many falls as we could. The Silver and Flume Cascades were easily accessible right off highway 302. They were small but photo-worthy.

Flume Cascade

Arethusa Falls took a little more effort to reach. We decided to hike the Arethusa Falls Loop, the most highly recommended hike in Crawford Notch. The trail started by going up, and continued to go up basically until we reached the falls over a mile later. With a drop of over 200 feet, Arethusa Falls was very impressive and well worth the climb. We took a nice snack and photo break there and continued along our way.

Majestic Arethusa Falls

The next part of the loop climbed up some more up to the Frankenstein Cliffs. The cliff overlook provided a great view of the surrounding mountains and the valley below. If you looked hard enough toward the west you could even faintly see the top of Arethusa Falls poking through the trees. It was all downhill from there. Though I actually thought the downhill was the most difficult park of the hike - that part of the Cliff Trail was quite rocky and steep, and leaves covered the trail to the point where it was often difficult figuring out where the trail was. Luckily there were painted trail markers at frequent intervals, and slowly but surely we made it back down.

View from Frankenstein Cliffs

Franconia Notch is one of the biggest state parks in New Hampshire and contains a variety of attractions. Unfortunately many of them were closed when we went. But we did get to see the Basin just off of I-93, a giant pothole at the base of a waterfall, carved perfectly smooth by the forces of nature over thousands of years. 

The Basin

Also right next to the highway was the Old Man of the Mountain. Or at least, what’s left of it. Look on the New Hampshire state quarter and you’ll see what the Old Man used to look like, a natural rock formation resting on the top of a cliff hundreds of feet high. If you looked from a certain angle, you would see the face of an old man, hence the name. But a few years ago, the rocks fell, leaving a gaping hole where the face used to be. Unable to let go of their crown jewel, the state of New Hampshire installed metal rods at ground level in what is now known as the Old Man Plaza. If you stand at just the right angle, the metal rods form a silhouette that lines up with the former Old Man, recreating what it used to look like.

The new Old Man of the Mountain

The last thing we did in Franconia Notch was go on another big hike up to the summit of Cannon Mountain. We made our ascent up on the Hi Cannon Trail, and it was extremely rugged - we were basically scrambling over boulders the entire way up and at some point there was even a ladder we had to climb. At some point we crossed the snow line and continued our way up tromping in snow. When we finally made it to the top, wind chill brought the temperature down to 20 degrees F, but the view was unparalleled. We could see for miles in every direction. I would’ve stayed up there longer if I didn’t feel my fingers start to go numb from the cold. 

View from Cannon Mountain summit

On our way down we took the Kinsman Trail down to Lonesome Lake. The trail was just as steep and rocky as before, and we were quite worn out by the time we got to the lake. Luckily there was a hikers hut there run by the Appalachian Mountain Club, where we could warm up and take a short break. The last segment of the descent down the Lonesome Lake Trail was the least difficult park of the hike, good news for the weary travelers.

Lonesome Lake, aptly named

I think one of my favorite parts about the trip was simply getting relatively far away from civilization. Sometimes it’s nice just to take the path less traveled and spend some time communing with nature. 

5 Places to Eat in NYC Without Breaking the Bank (Mostly)

New York City is known for many things - Broadway, Wall Street, Times Square - and I recently spent two consecutive weekends there playing the tourist and visiting these famous sites. While I was there, some of my non-tourist friends made sure I didn’t miss another big part of the city - the incredible food scene. As we partook in some of the best (affordable) food NYC has to offer, I quickly learned that there’s so much more to New York cuisine beyond cronuts and Shake Shack. 

Totto Ramen

If I could only have one type of meal for the rest of my life, I would be quite content to have it be ramen. We came here my first weekend in the city to sate my craving for ramen, and I returned again the next week because it was just that good. Totto has all the bases covered with firm chewy noodles and flavorful pork pieces. But what really sets them apart is the broth. Instead of using a pork base for the soup, Totto uses a chicken based broth. The result is a lighter, clearer flavor that wonderfully complements the rest of the ingredients instead of overwhelming them as some other places’ broth tend to do. And for about $10-15 a bowl, it’s great value for what you pay, especially with NYC food prices.

Paiten (regular) Ramen at Totto

Joe’s Shanghai/Ginger

If you’re looking for food in NYC’s Chinatown, most guide books will recommend Joe’s Shanghai, known for their pork soup dumplings. Instead, we went to Joe’s Ginger just down the street for basically the same food but with less crowds. We ordered both the pork and the crab dumplings. Whenever I have soup dumplings, I can’t help but compare them with the ones from Din Tai Fung - I thought the dumplings at Joe’s had great flavor, but the dumpling skin was little too thick compared to DTF’s. Nevertheless, they were quite good, and very affordable at less than $10 a basket. Great place for a quick lunch to satisfy a dumpling craving.

Everyone loves XLBs

Snowdays

One thing we are severely lacking in upstate New York is a good Asian dessert place. Which is why I was exceptionally excited to go to Snowdays and have some Taiwanese style snow ice. At Snowdays you can pick between building your own cup by choosing a snow flavor, toppings, and drizzle, or picking the pre-built combos. I ordered the “Made in Taiwan” combo, featuring green tea flavored snow, mochi and grass jelly toppings, and condensed milk drizzle. My favorite part was the snow itself. It had just the right amount of fluffiness and the green tea flavor was sweet but not too sweet. I definitely thought it was worth the $6 for the regular cup.

"Made in Taiwan" snow ice at Snowdays

Takashi

This trendy yakiniku place is the one pricier restaurant I have listed here. We split roughly 10 plates of meat between five people and ended up paying around $50 each, so not quite gourmet Michelin prices, but still more than I usually spend on food. Though I guess these sort of prices are to be expected for good yakiniku, and the stuff here was quite good. I’m not an expert on meat, but the marbling on the beef was beautiful, which I’ve heard is indicative of high quality meat. Our waitress was supremely helpful, giving us excellent suggestions for cuts to try, and great recommendations for marinades. Everything we had that night, from the beef tongue to the short-rib, was delicious. If it wasn’t for the price, I’d go back in a heartbeat, but if you do want to splurge you can’t go wrong here.

Yakiniku at Takashi

Cooking all the meat

Adrienne’s Pizza Bar

A large variety of pizza, pasta, and salads are available at Adrienne’s Pizza Bar, but apparently what you’re supposed to do here is order the “Old Fashioned Pizza”, a rectangular pie you can customize with individual toppings. The first thing I noticed when our pie came out was that it was huge. We definitely got our bang for our buck with our large cookie sheet sized pizza we only paid around $40 for total. The pizza itself also tasted great. The crust was pleasantly crispy, and the ingredients all combined harmoniously into perfection with every bite. Alas, even with the three of us we couldn’t finish the enormous pie. (But I’m sure the homeless person we gave our leftovers to enjoyed the rest.) Delicious food, and excellent value considering this was right in the heart of the financial district.

Giant pizza at Adrienne's

Looking forward to eating more on future trips to the city!

- MC 9/20

PAX Prime 2015

Last weekend I flew across the country to Seattle with some friends and guildmates, where a massive gathering of gamers was taking place at the Penny Arcade eXpo. It took roughly 9 hours of travel time one way, but it was worth every minute. I could go on and on about all the cool demos I saw and interesting game I tried, but I’ll just pick a few highlights of my PAX experience:

Crowds on the show floor

Project Morpheus

VR was the big thing at PAX this year. Spread across various areas of the convention were stations where you could try out a new game showing off the latest VR technology. But like almost everything else there, massive lines formed, and unless you got in line before 7 in the morning you were unlikely to get a spot. By some stroke of luck, we were able to get a couple of the walk-in spots at Sony’s Project Morpheus booth.

Project Morpheus

They had several different games available for demo. The game I got put you in the point of view of a tank getting besieged by other tanks from all sides. You had to physically turn your neck back and forth to see where the enemies were coming from, and then use the Playstation controller to move, jump, and shoot. The helmet was a bit heavy, and I definitely got motion sickness after a few minutes, but overall I was impressed by how smooth the game ran. There’s a lot of potential for gaming applications (and non-gaming applications for that matter), and I’m excited to see how the technology develops. I’ll just make sure to have a healthy serving of ginger before trying it again.

Gigantic

About a block away from the convention center was a large restaurant-arcade hybrid called Gameworks. After eating lunch there, we wandered around the arcade, and stumbled upon a demo station for the game Gigantic in the back of the building, completely by accident. Apparently not a lot of other people knew of its existence, so there was no line whatsoever - a miracle! So of course we decided to try it out.

I actually forgot to take a picture of the Gigantic booth

so here's a gigantic Pikachu

Gigantic is a head to head game in which you and your team of five fight the other team and try to take out their guardian, a huge (gigantic) creature that you can only damage after getting enough kills and capturing enough points from the other team. You can pick between many heroes, each of which have their own play styles and special abilities. The game itself was a lot of fun. It was simple enough to pick up and start playing right away, yet complex enough to provide longevity. The only thing I was disappointed with was the fact that it’s only available for Windows 10. Not quite sure if I want to upgrade to Win 10 just yet, but when I do, I’ll have to revisit this game.

Super Mario Maker

If you’ve ever played a Mario stage and thought, “I could design a stage so much better!”, soon you’ll have the opportunity to do so. One of the many game Nintendo had in their massive booth was Super Mario Maker for the WiiU. The game allows you to play stages made by other people, but as the name implies, the point is really to let those creative juices flow and design your own stages. My interest in this game was actually only lukewarm prior to trying it out, but once I got my hands on the controller and started playing around, I found myself really getting into it. How do I make this jump sequence challenging and exciting, yet still doable? How many cannons can I stack before things start getting too ridiculous? The game allows you to quickly go back and forth between editing and play testing, allow for rapid iteration in every sense of the phrase. Alas, this is another game I lack the platform for. Maybe it’s about time to start thinking about getting a WiiU… (Clearly Nintendo’s marketing has worked.)

Super Mario Maker

Console/PC Free Play Rooms

At PAX there were several free play rooms for both console and PC gaming. I actually ended up spending quite a bit of time here because I just wanted to play something and didn’t want to spend all my time waiting in lines. In the console room you could check out current gen and previous gen consoles and pick from their extensive library of games. I’d been wanting to try out Hyrule Warriors for awhile, so I got that. It was basically Dynasty Warriors with Zelda characters. Not sure what I was expecting. 

PC room

The PC gaming room was literally just a room full of PCs. You could hop on a PC and play for 45 minutes, more if no one was in line after your session expired, and pick between the many games they had pre-installed. There were some familiar ones, like Civilization V - although how they expect any Civ game to finish within 45 minutes is beyond me. There were also lots of games I’d never played before, many of which had been sitting on my to-try list for a long time. I tried Bastion, Transistor, and Kerbal Space Program. It was kind of nice being able to just sit down after a tiring day walking around the convention and try out some new games.

***

This was my first time going to such a large gaming convention, and it was an amazing experience. It isn’t everyday that you can walk around and see and play the latest and greatest surrounded by enthusiastic like-minded gamers. I only wish I could have spent more than two days there. Guess that’s something to consider for next year. See you at PAX 2016!

- MC 9/2

Lobsters and Landscapes in Rhode Island

The thing about New England is that the states are tiny compared to the west coast, meaning you could cross multiple state boundaries in a relatively short amount of time. Last weekend I took a mini-road trip, driving through three states in as many hours to reach Providence, Rhode Island where I went to visit some old friends. 

Delicious grilled pizza

Being quite accomplished foodies, my friends introduced me to much of the great food Rhode Island has to offer. Like many other college towns, Providence has a plethora of good, yet reasonably priced restaurants. We went to a small modest looking place called Bob and Timmy’s Grilled Pizza, famous for their grilled pizza, as one could guess. We ordered a Gorgonzola Salad and a half-and-half pizza with Lasagna and Wild Mushroom flavors. Everything was absolutely divine. The cheeses all tasted excellent, the pizza crust was delightfully crispy, and I even enjoyed the olives in the salad - quite astonishing considering I usually try to avoid olives. The whole thing reminded me of Berkeley’s Cheeseboard, but with more choice in pizza flavors.

Super fresh lobster

We actually decided to spend most of the day walking around in Newport, a charming, picturesque seaside town. On the way there, we stopped to eat at Anthony’s Seafood, featured in Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”. We ordered some lobster rolls, crab cakes, and of course the featured Kung Pao Calamari. The crab cakes were delicious, and the calamari was as good as advertised, but my favorite part of the meal was the lobster roll. Lobster rolls are always a little pricey, and this one was no exception, but the sheer freshness of the meat made it worth every penny. The lobster has wonderful texture and it tasted like it had been caught just hours ago, which considering we were in the Ocean State, I could definitely believe.

Scenery along the Cliff Walk

After stuffing ourselves silly, we took a nice long walk to digest along Newport’s famous Cliff Walk, a 3.5 mile path that follows the cliffs right next to the ocean. It was a wonderfully scenic place to sightsee from, with the dramatic seaside landscape on one side and perfectly groomed gardens and mansions on the other. We went to visit one such mansion, The Breakers, previously owned by the railroad empire Vanderbilt family. The Breakers is one of many mansions in Newport that used to be owned by the filthy rich and now function as tourist attractions, much like Hearst Castle in California. Admission included a nice audio tour that introduced each of the rooms in the house, as well as the family members and some of the house staff. I found the tour to be both aesthetically pleasing and a great insight into the life of the Gilded Age upper class.

The Breakers

There’s much to do in Rhode Island despite its small size, and if I get a chance to come back, I definitely want to check out the other Newport mansions and spend some time exploring the museums in Providence. Of course, more lobster rolls are always good too. ’Til next time!

- MC 8/23

Freedom and Seafood in Boston

As one of the oldest cities in the United States, Boston has a tremendous amount of historical attractions to occupy the millions of tourists that visit every year. Last weekend a friend and I met up in Boston and went sightseeing together. She’s Canadian, but we decided to walk the Freedom Trail anyway.

Freedom!

The trail starts at the visitor center in the Boston Common, and winds through the city, taking you to over twenty different historical sites and ending across the Charles River at Bunker Hill. Even though it’s officially only 2.5 miles in length, we made numerous detours, walking around at many of the sites, and ended up walking for a good four hours. Not exactly the most leisurely stroll, but well worth the effort if you are at all interested in history. 

I for one found myself wishing I remembered more of high school US history as we continued along the trail. A few of the sites required admission fees, but there were also plenty of free ones. Among them were a bunch of churches of various denominations, and burying grounds containing some familiar names. We were able to find the gravestones of John “City on a Hill” Winthrop, Paul “The British are Coming” Revere, and John “My Name is Bigger Than Yours” Hancock. 

The whole Winthrop clan

About halfway through the trail we stopped for lunch at Quincy Market, a large narrow building housing food stalls and restaurants as far as the eye can see. It was a madhouse in there, like going to a Taipei night market on a weekend. One would think every tourist in Boston was there, but for good reason - I counted at least five seafood stalls selling lobster rolls and the famous New England chowder, as well as many others serving items as varied as pad thai and bagel pizzas. Finding seating was a bit of a challenge; we ended up eating at a standing table. All part of the Boston experience, I guess.

Baked clams from Quincy Market

One of the most interesting stops along the Freedom Trail was the Charlestown Navy Yard towards the end of the day, a large harbor area north of the Charles River. Front and center was the USS Constitution “Old Ironsides” herself, open for tourists to walk around on deck free of charge. The USS Constitution Museum was right next door, also with free admission (though accepting donations). I found the museum to be very impressive, with well curated and informative exhibits containing a good amount of interactivity. Unfortunately we got there just 15 minutes before closing, as we definitely could have spent a good amount of time there.

Old Ironsides in for restoration

The next day, some kind friends took me on a tour of Harvard University, actually the first Ivy League school I’ve ever visited. It was suitably impressive, especially the giant pillared main library and the majestic gothic style Memorial Hall towards the middle of campus. Though I think I was most impressed by simply how clean and well maintained all the buildings were. Harvard is one of the oldest universities in the country, but the campus was pristine. Such is the difference between public and private schools.

Looks like Hogwarts

Overall, I enjoyed my first taste of Boston. I really liked how walkable the city was, and how convenient the public transit was to use. Last weekend was a great introduction to the area, and I look forward to my next visit!

- MC 8/4

Adventures Awaits on the East Coast

Having been born and raised, and done all my schooling in California, I have spent almost my entire life living and traveling around on the west coast. So when I happened upon an opportunity to take a six month work assignment in upstate New York, I jumped on the chance to travel to the east coast, a part of the country that is still relatively unknown and mysterious to me. 

For the next half year, I will be living and working in Malta, NY, a small town in an area whose sleepy exterior belies the rich history within. Less than ten miles from my apartment is the site of the Battle of Saratoga from the Revolutionary War. A few minutes drive northwest of there, and you can reach Saratoga Springs, a town with it’s own longtime traditions of hot springs and horse races. Even today, you can go there to watch (and bet on, if you’re feeling lucky,) live thoroughbred horse racing, a pastime that seems to be distinctly east coast.

There are also countless activities available for the outdoor enthusiast. Warm summer days offer swimming and kayaking on the many lakes in the area, hiking in the vast Adirondack mountain range, and running through the nearby forest trails. Winters are said to be harsh, but also provide opportunities to ski, ice skate, and snow shoe without having to drive four hours up a mountain. 

As an added bonus, upstate New York happens to be in a great location for weekend trips to popular east coast destinations. Three hours of driving can get you to New York City to the south, Boston to the east, and Montreal to the north. With an additional hour of driving, you could reach Philadelphia farther south or Niagara Falls to the west. I definitely plan to visit some of these locations, as well as others in the vicinity. 

So far I’ve been enjoying the east coast experience, seeing interesting places unique to the area. It’s been a bit hot and humid, nothing like the year round temperate weather back home, but that hasn’t deterred me from going exploring. There’s so much to see and do - more than enough to keep me busy for the next six months.

- MC 7/27

P.S. I'd love to hear any suggestions for things to see/do from all you east coasters!

Ships and History in Halifax

We ended our train journey across the eastern stretches of Canada in Halifax, a port city known for its history and lobsters. In many ways, Halifax almost reminds me of San Francisco, with its ample selection of seafood restaurants and waterfront establishments swarming with tourists. But as an older city that had taken an active role in numerous international events in the past, I found the historical buildings and attractions in Halifax to be much more interesting and impressive.

Famous Halifax seafood

Similar to Quebec City, Halifax also has a star-shaped Citadel built on the highest hill overlooking the city. These fortifications were also built by the British, but were intended to be used in defense against the French. The Citadel in Halifax seemed a little smaller than the one in Quebec, but boasted equally impressive features. A tall wall and deep ditch surround the entire fort, meaning any attackers would, after charging up a steep hill, have to drop 20 feet into the ditch and climb 40 feet up a sheer wall before making it into the fort’s interior, all the while being shot at by snipers on both sides. The inside of the fort contains storehouses and sleeping quarters, giving it the ability to be self sufficient in the case of a siege. It appears just as impenetrable as the Quebec citadel, but we’ll never know how it would have actually held up in battle, because like the other fort, this one has never been attacked. In fact, the only time the Citadel ever functioned as a defensive structure for the city was during the Halifax Explosion of 1917. 

Standing in the ditch of the Citadel

It was the height of World War I, and the French cargo ship, the Mont-Blanc, was on its way across the ocean loaded with explosives. Before heading east back to France, they were to make a stop in Halifax. The big ship barely fit in Halifax harbor, and due to miscommunication, the Mont-Blanc collided with the Imo, a Norwegian ship headed in the opposite direction out the harbor. Fire quickly spread across the carnage, resulting in a massive explosion that wiped out the entire east side of the city. The Citadel however, stood firm, protecting the rest of the city behind it from the blast.

The Halifax Explosion is the subject of one of the many exhibits at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Other exhibits featured model ships with exquisite detail crafted by local hobbyists, and a real full-sized ship outside that was free to explore with museum admission. Also featured was a whole exhibit about the Titanic and the aftermath its disastrous journey, of which I was surprised Halifax played such a large role.

Intricate model ships at the museum

After the Titanic sank, rescue ships quickly set out to bring the survivors to New York, the original intended destination. The bodies of the victims however, were sent to Halifax. Halifax was the closest port city to the wreckage that had relatively easy access to the rest of the continent via railroad. After the bodies were identified, they could be sent to their families for burial. Of course, only the families of the first class passengers could afford the shipping costs, so many of the bodies ended up being buried right in Halifax. During our city tour, our guide took us to Fairview Cemetery, where most of the victims were buried. It was interesting hearing the stories he had to tell us about certain individuals buried there, but also sad to think about the tragedy that had befallen all those people. Many of the tombstones were simply labeled with the date of the disaster and a number, the body unable to be identified, destined to rest there forever in anonymity. 

Grave marker at the Fairview Cemetery, inspiration for the character Jack Dawson

Having gone through the US school system, I learned a lot about American history, but not much about the rest of the world. My favorite part about this past trip was learning about the rich histories of each stop, visiting monuments from a different time, and hearing stories about the lives of people past and present. There are many things that we didn’t have time to get to during our stays in Montreal, Quebec, and Halifax, and discover more stories yet untold.

- MC 6/27