Massachusetts: 6/19-25/2008
Hmmm, I should really finish this.
Boston, Massachusetts: June 19, Thursday
I transferred from BMI (Bloomington-Normal, IL) to O'Hare (Chicago, IL) to BOS (Boston, Massachusetts). My flight arrived about fifteen minutes early, which, of course, neither Michi nor I had expected. She then had timed to anticipate for my flight arriving on time and my having to go collect luggage, but I'd only had carry-ons, so there went that. In any case, we eventually met up and it was lovely. ♥ Michi is a lot more personable and comfortable than I'd expected-- I think I'd sort of been anticipating feeling intimidated or nervous. xD But nah, things were cool.
We went to Ihop for a midnight snack to talk and nibble. We each got a drink, and I got an appetizer sampler that we shared. It was tasty. Then we went home.
Boston, Massachusetts: June 20, Friday
In the morning, I met Michi's mom, who's very amusing. She's quick and witty, which isn't typical of the Asian mothers that I know. We had breakfast, then headed off for the New England Aquarium. The aquarium was wonderful-- the octopus was actively moving about its tank, Myrtle the turtle was huge, and the different types of fish were wicked. There were also amphibians and a few reptiles, but most of the everything was fish-based. We saw lots of jellyfish! So cool! As those who know me would probably know, I love jellyfish~ ♥ No, not to eat-- I think they're gorgeous and cool. *o*
And then...
And then the kids came. Hordes of beastly little worms, milling about shrieking and screeching and getting in the way. As those previously mentioned folks who know me would also probably know, I hate children. I wasn't the sort of brat who ran about screaming out of control, and neither was Michi-- we were both good little girls. She was the oldest of three, after all, and I was oversheltered. So I absolutely cannot stand out-of-control little monsters like them. If a kid is quiet and cute, or lively but within a reasonable degree for their age, then that's all right. Yes, children should be energetic and have fun. However, they should not be the little holy terrors that most incompetent breeders mis-socialize them to be.
(I really, really, really hate children.)
After the Aquarium, we went to a groshing sushi place, where Michi got a bento box and some sake maki, and I got some spicy tuna and... tempura udon, was it? In any case, it was delicious food. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a photo of the lovely food until we'd already eaten it. Alas.
Michi gave me a little personality-quiz that's really interesting, which I shall not be writing here so that I can play it with friends. In turn, I gave her one that she enjoyed, which I got from Kitsuko.
We returned home to prepare for going out again to a party that night... which turned out to be in Rhode Island. O_O Very spiffy, but what the eff? xD I can't imagine going out to Washington just for a few hours for a party! But then again, the East Coast states are much smaller, so I guess it's not really that strange. We met up with Michi's VIP, Mika, who looks like an adorable young J-rocker with his sweet new haircut from Tokyo.
Well, the party was at a mill with Turkish spires. The place was fascinating--the spiral staircase had (dull) spikes along the handrail, although the steps were narrow, steep and sloped, so I constantly felt like I was going to fall off in my 3"-heeled boots. Inside, we got quite lost, not knowing which room the party was taking place in. The rest of the building? Well, the floor was ominously dark, lit to varying degrees depending on where you were. For instance, outside of an art studio and in the short hall with the bathrooms, it was quite well-lit. However, there was one hall off to the side that was absolutely pitch-black, and a cargo lift that was rusty and creaky and noisy and very much like something straight out of Silent Hill. Aesthetically, the building was amazing; however, personally, it spooked me the hell out. ←:shot:--
And the party?
Oh, goodness gracious great balls of fire. The layout of the room was interesting, and the walls were very artsy-- splashes of paint, words scrawled across, four broken instruments aligned on display. The rooms were these little walled inlets tucked in two parts of the room to weave around, creating a sort of extra room at the back with the window facing out.
But the party?
What a pack of scruffy, tasteless, pretentious wrecks! They were smelly and dirty and practically homeless (quite so, seeing as how I think it was illegal for them to take up residence in that abandoned old mill). The place certainly wasn't meant for habitation-- there weren't even showers! And all of the other guests being the host's neighbours-- well. The place was just sketchy. The "punch" looked like vomit mixed with rainwater. I didn't look at the guacamole, but Michi said it was brown. The host looked ridiculous, being the only one in a sort of pseudo-costume, trying to be Apollo but looking like a disheveled mess instead.
In any case, it was an experience. So, we drove home.
In the car, I fell asleep. However, Michi played the personality-quiz that I gave her with him, and it ended up disastrous results.
His results, which, in turn, would obviously be a giveaway as to the nature of the quiz, so you'd be best off not reading this if you'd like to play it yourself.
The setup question, followed by Mika's answer. You walk into a forest. How is the forest? Dense, lush, a healthy green forest. You come across a body of water. Describe it. Crystalline, ideal and beautiful, very large and in the shape of a man at rest. You come across a key. Describe it. I can't remember, actually-- something that was very lovely. Do you take it with you or leave it? Take it, definitely. You come across a container. What is it? A jar of fireflies. You come across a building. What is it? A house... made of HUMAN SKIN!
(Apparently, he was quite horrified himself at this unexpected turn of events.)
The skin was stretched and connected-- even the faces were stretched out hideously-- and the texture was as if the skin had dried, but was slightly moist. HOW HIDEOUS!
(This proceeded to spook us even now.)
Do you enter the house? Yes. Is there anything there? ... Piles of MORE HUMAN SKIN! ... Okay, do you leave the house? Running. You come across an obstacle. What is it? A rod. What do you do with it? Knock it out of the way. Whatev. What is beyond the obstacle? A perfect, peaceful pasture.
(I won't put what everything means in case somebody does want to play it, but don't think about the answers and what they're supposed to mean-- mmmkay? Just take the creepiness at face value.)
Well, we eventually returned home amidst much spookiness, the path including a long stretch of road surrounded on either side by towering, dark trees and no lights save for headlights from cars. Scaryyyy! Mika went home, I went to bed, and Michi stayed up to do homework and exhaust herself so that she wouldn't have nightmares of HUMAN SKIN!
Boston, Massachusetts: June 21, Saturday
We woke up several hours later than intended, as both Michi and I had neglected to set an alarm. I woke first, checked a clock, panicked upon realizing that it was 9:30 AM, and woke Michi, who sprang out of bed. We rushed around getting ready, then bolted out the door to the train station. Mika was late due to a delay with the T, so we missed the 11:30 Fung Wah bus and had to catch the noon bus.
We arrived in NYC four hours later (after passing an AMAZINGLY HUGE CEMETARY), where we got off at Chinatown and bustled about. Michi said that we'd see more little shops later on in our wanderings, so we didn't linger in Canal Street for souvenirs. We hurried on to other sights to see-- for example, having lunch (more sushi), getting lost trying to get to SoHo, eating at a tasty little sushi place that gave complimentary cotton candy for dessert (yes, even more sushi), getting lost on Broadway, glancing at Little Italy, and eventually hitting up Times Square.
The bustling about was all right-- I sort of just tagged along behind Michi and Mika, looking around and being confused. There were a few times when I wanted to linger back to look at something at a vendor stand, but by the time I paused, Michi and Mika would already have gone so far up ahead that I'd have to jog/speedwalk through the crowd to catch up. Suspiro. Oh, well.
The main problem was just that there were so many people dawdling/rushing along (depending on who it was), and we weren't ever sure of exactly where we were going. In addition, we were running short on time since we'd lost a few hours that morning, so we had to hurry everything we were doing. We never did make it back to Canal Street in time to pick up any souvenirs, though, quite unfortunately, since my cousin had specifically requested that I get her a little trinket from there...
Times Square, however, I loved! The lights, the full streets (for some reason, this sort of crowd didn't bother me-- maybe because it wasn't annoyingly varied paces, a bunch of old people and young children, darting about on crowded streets in the heat with a purpose?), the buildings, the sounds-- I loved it! And we were so short on time that I really, really wanted to just stay in Times Square that night and go to Chinatown in the morning. After all, we weren't going to Six Flags (which had been the original plan-- more on that later), so we had the day pretty open. Michi was also all for it, so I was so very hopeful.
But then, Mika vetoed it. Suspiro.
He didn't want to stay, and since Michi was his ride home, we had to go back. So I was only in NYC for like, six or seven hours (the commute took longer than our stay-- we were on the bus four hours going there, four hours coming back), and we spent a good chunk of it being lost. But it was TOTALLY worth it. Now I know a few places where I want to go, so if I get another chance to go to New York in the future, I can plan. I definitely want to see Times Square at night again.
Initially, I'd been a little disappointed in NYC. Sure, Chinatown was all right, and I liked the artsy little shops and such that were along St. Mark's Place. We ate sushi at Kenka, which is where we got the cotton candy. But aside from that, it just seemed like a regular city-- Portland, or Boston, or whatever. But something about Times Square was just wonderful-- maybe because it brought the classic, classy NYC image to life.
After the ride home, Michi dropped Mika off and we went to Ihop again. I had a crêpe craving, and she wanted eggs, so we had food and talked some more before returning home. (It turned out Michi's mom had been worrying about us not being home yet-- oh, crap-- so she kinda got in trouble for not calling. ~_~ But if she had called, she would have woken her mom, and that would have been another lecture! Gah. Parents.)
Boston, Massachusetts: June 22, Sunday
Michi realized that here I was, in Massachusetts, and I was yet to visit the site of the Salem Witch Trials. So we drove out to Salem, parked in front of a playground, and went to a few places. We went to a wax museum first, which was all right. It gave specific little anecdotes that were really interesting. Part of that trip, however, was entry into a guided tour on the history of witches, which explained things like why we have the image of witches with green skin riding broomsticks and collecting strange herbs and chanting at Samhain. That tour was lovely, and Nikki-- our guide-- was quick and clever and entertaining as well.
After the wax museum and witch tour, we went to Count Orlok's Nightmare Gallery on Derby Street, which was a wax museum of monsters from horror movies-- everything from generic nameless zombies to psychic Carrie to Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal and Béla Lugosi's Dracula. The atmosphere was lovely there, and the owner was fascinating-- he moved quickly and quietly, so we'd turn around and he would be gone, slipped into shadows. We had to push aside a gate thing to enter the gallery, where everything was dark and only the monsters were lit. (I tripped over a coffin that was laid out in front of Hannibal. -.- Suspiro.) At one point, the owner spoke from behind us when we hadn't even realized he was there-- neither of us heard him approach-- so that was startling. Wonderful, though.
After that, we drove home from Salem to eat tasty-tasty dumplings, then go to a ghost tour with Michi's friend. Who seemed decent enough, but very overwhelming-- she had a very strong, very direct personality. Basically, she's someone I wouldn't necessarily dislike, but wouldn't have the energy and self-restraint to be around for very long. Anyway. The ghost tour.
Our tour was led by a woman named Amanda. We learned things like how the famous Boston Commons is basically a huge graveyard for unmarked dead from some plague way back when. We learned anecdotes of specific alleged hauntings and some grisly murders and the like. We managed to get access (this was not originally part of the tour, but as luck would have it, it worked out) into the Omni Parker House, an extremely elaborate hotel that was frequented by some famous celebrities. I would recount more of the stories, but I can't remember the names of the people involved, so I'll do that in my own journal at a later date. Maybe.
The interesting thing is, I don't believe in ghosts. ^_^; Or spirits or magic or psychic powers or any of that. I'm agnostic-- I believe in the possibility, but until then, I myself don't really believe in the paranormal. Except to get spooked by the idea of it. Creepyyyy.
Other creepy things a book bound in skin, a pseudo-philanthropist's chest within a chest, and being pursued by a demon.
Book of Skin
Once upon a time, there was a bandit who was the best of the best. One day, however, he tried to rob the wrong person-- a governor of some sort, who was able to thwart him and throw him into jail. The bandit then had much respect for this governor for managing to defeat him.
As was the fashion those days, he spent his lifetime sentence in jail writing an autobiography. He asked that upon his death, this book be given to that governor. However, prior to the gifting, he asked that it be bound.
In his own skin.
So from skin off the back of his corpse, his book was bound in his skin and given to the governor. It is now available on display with an appointment.
Chest in a Chest
Once upon a time, there was a man who would generously lend money to others-- but less generously expect an immediate turnaround. With interest. His name was George Francis Parkman Jr.
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