Maria "Asano-mama mou suteki~" V.'s Profile

Ohhh nom nom nom noms!

I just... how can...  it's... so... beautiful!

As much as I do so love the gritty grimy markets in Chinatown and the like, H-Mart is the antithesis of all that.  It's big, it's bright, it's super-clean and sparkly.  Did I mention it's BIG?  It's not just Korean food, it's not just Japanese food, it's not just Chinese, it's not just Vietnamese, it's not just Thai, it's not just Indian.  

In addition to the gargantuan selection of food from all sorts of ethnic niches, there's a whole wonderful housewares section, where I seriously went bananas and got myself a Zojirushi hot water boiler :D  There's a cosmetics store, furniture store, appliance store, cute-things store.  

Oh yeah, and a food court complete with several food selections AND a bakery.

I'm seriously in heaven at H-Mart.  Even though it's a Korean chain, it did remind me a lot of the supermarkets in Japan (sorry, Korean friends, I don't mean to say they are the same, I know they are not!).  It's a pleasant place to be, I love shopping here... when I can find parking, anyway ;)

Remember, don't park at the Market Basket parking lot or else you could get towed!

I've done kaitenzushi in Japan so I'll rather boldly self-declare that I'm not a sushi noob, k? Yo! Sushi definitely caters to folks who find the whole concept of sushi --let alone kaitenzushi -- a novelty worth paying for.  Here you're paying for the quirky atmosphere and unlimited fizzy water really more than the cuts of fish, though they're not that bad.

Sushi snobs will turn up their noses here, as will anyone on a budget, but if it's a treat you're after and you don't care if it's good versus REALLY REALLY GOOD, then Yo! Sushi is just fine.

The service here is phenomenal, a welcome change from what you might be used to with other hotels in this tourist-saturated part of town.

Room and bathroom were top-notch, bed was perfect, just the right softness without being suffocating. All in all very welcoming.

Room service was very discreet, turndown was very frequent! I was in and out of my room quite a bit for the two days I stayed here, and every time I returned to my room, my things were all neatly placed, toiletries refreshed, new chocolates on the pillow, the LOT.  Turndown once, maybe twice I'm used to, but this was above and beyond (definitely something you pay for, but it is a nice amenity).

If you don't pay for a river view you will get the courtyard view -- I was fairly high up on the courtyard view so really all I could see were other buildings. Granted, not the most impressive view, but I'm not in the hotel for the window view -- that's what walking around the city is for, after all.  I can only imagine the water views must be phenomenal as this hotel is right on the riverbank.  Hopefully next time I stay here I'll be able to see it for myself!

If you're going to stay right along the Strand and don't want to be flanked by loud tourists (which are generally a given on the Strand), this Swissotel is a great option.

This bike trail took the town of Chelmsford 25 years to complete -- it opened just shy of my 26th birthday, and I grew up in this town, so yes, they've been working on this trail since I was *BORN.*

The wait was worth it.  This fantastic trail is a very worthy addition to Massachusetts' wonderful array of rail trails. While the Chelmsford section is just one of (hopefully!!) three sections of the entire Freeman trail, it's only 6 miles or so, it takes the walker/jogger/biker/skater through some gorgeous wetland and woodland scenery that I didn't even know EXISTED in my quiet hometown.

One trailhead is at the Crosspoint building (formerly known as the Wang tower) in Lowell, and the other is on the Chelmsford/Carlisle border.  I recommend approaching from Carlisle and making your way north, as close to the Lowell trailhead you go through Chelmsford center, a convenient pitstop.

Not to mention, as you go north from Carlisle, the landscape changes from woods into open wetlands that then feed into more and more streams until suddenly the path parallels a large, gushing stream that feeds into the Middlesex canal.  My jaw dropped when I saw the amount of water that was flowing (just barely half a mile from Chelmsford center) around swathes of trees and giant boulders, like a scene from some storybook idyll that seems like it totally, definitely shouldn't be in Chelmsford.  But it is!

As of this writing the trail is barely a week old, so yeah, it's a little crowded, but that should dissipate with time.

For people not from around the Chelmsford area -- please note the High Street crossing and be VERY CAUTIOUS.  Local drivers go notoriously way too fast on High street, and while the bike path crossing there is well-marked, old habits die hard.  Experienced bikers might be tempted to pull a rolling stop at this intersection but I recommend vigilance at this crossing, especially since drivers are coming around a curve and a down a hill when they get to the intersection.

Pretty damn good. You might not think "awesome cuisine" next to the railroad tracks in Gloucester, but you should definitely give this place a try if you are looking for something different and perhaps a bit more classy than your usual lobster shack in Glaw-stah.

Came here with my seafood-lovin' parents and none of us were disappointed. The prices were wholly reasonable as well. Service was a tiny bit slow but it was a Sunday night so I will cut them some slack. Definitely will come back next time I'm in town.

Blehhhh. The cuts here were really mediocre -- I've noticed sushi in the UK is *not cheap* -- not in that I'm-a-Yank-and-the-dollar/pound-exchange-is-terrib le kind of not cheap, but rather, compared to what it SHOULD cost and what you're getting for what you're paying for, sushi is a bit pricey!

I don't mind shelling out for good sushi, mind you, but when the plates come 'round and the maki is all coming undone and wasn't really rolled well to begin with, and the sashimi is cut so poorly you wonder when last they sharpened their knives, you start to feel sad that this passes for decent sushi in such an amazing city like London.

Perhaps the other Kulu Kulu locations are better but this place does not impress.  Leave it for the tourists and go elsewhere.

Very, very happy with these guys.  You can pre-pay for a flat-fee rate -- including the tip! -- to Logan on credit card and the prices are very reasonable.

So when the taxi driver shows up at your pre-arranged time, they just hand you the receipt and you're on your way! And they have always been on time for me.

Right across from Charing Cross, this is a little stop for tea tourists.  Struck me as rather typical for a tea shop -- you have your standard black teas and your flavored black teas, and then a section for The New Fad Tea (probably rooibos), and then a section that has pseudo-Asian stylings to promote the green teas.

Marketing is neither here nor there but the quality of tea is what I'm here for.  Whittard on par with Twinings in my opinion -- better than your Lipton or P&G Tips, probably as good as you will get with reasonably-priced tea in a bag that doesn't promise the earth, moon and stars and come in a silk sachet.

For non-UK folks (I'm looking at you, fellow Yanks) Whittard teas are attractively priced and hard to find if not impossible to find in the States, so they make better tea-souvenirs/presents to friends back home than Twinings, which you can get at any American grocery store (and yes it's the same).

I was never a big fan of Rockwell, I'll admit -- his nostalgic Americana is of an age and class that my family was never part of, so I never really felt a connection of what I had seen of his work.

On a whim, my mother and I went to this museum and I came out of it just raving about how amazing it is.  I was terribly wrong about Rockwell.  He's best known for his small town Americana works, but he was also incredibly urbane and a frequent world traveler, and he used his position as the 'artistic spokesman for America' in the 60s as a platform to preach respect and tolerance.

I really had no idea about this side of Rockwell, and I apologize for my ignorance.  I thought he was all about pictures of beanpole kids playing baseball or let's go USA soda jerk diner car white gloved proper classy America-- an America my family never knew.  Yes, there is that part of him, but there is so much more, and his works are relevant to a much broader audience than that.

And a proper museum educates the public about the many facets of an artist -- in this and many other regards, this museum is fantastically successful in its mission. I can't thank them enough for giving me a much deeper appreciation of one of America's national treasures.

Quite good French fare to be found here.  To start, we had the warm brie with truffle (real truffle!) on toast.  A little light for two people but good nonetheless, and hell, it's truffle.

I had a blood orange duck and my mother had a wild mushroom ravioli.  Both were excellent and deserving of its Berkshire price tag (read: more expensive than similar fare in Boston, but you're not in Boston, so quicherbichin).

Service was very quick and very good, and overall the decor and ambience was... nice.  I was not a fan of the schmaltzy accordion music in the background, found it distracting and actually a disjointed choice for a place that does not really "look" like the typical French tourist trap -- nor is the food tourist-trap-y -- so the music put us off quite a bit.

Try the dark chocolate mousse. Ooh la la.