My cousin Marianne invited us to her wedding so we took this opportunity to extend our stay in MA to tour Boston.
Met up with Lintag fambam at Cookie Monstah waterfront
Dinner of kare-kare by Tito Boy, lobster and pansit palabok at Balandan residence.
And finally Uber back to hotel because it is still raining!!!
Museum of Science tour. Closed later than expected.
We took an Uber to Franklin Park Zoo and arrived around noon had usual limited fast food lunch options: burger, fries, chicken nuggets. Lily was hangry
Accommodations: Staying in Downtown Boston is very pricey. Even the tours that we went to described the cost of houses/apartments/parking there as such. We stayed at the cheapest one we found at that time which is Revere (probably pronounced as in Paul Revere) Hotel Boston Common ($160/night). I think this is the first time I stayed in a boutique hotel so I'm not sure if the amenities or lack of it is usual in these type of places. Likes: Environment friendly because they don't change towels and sheets daily unless requested and toiletries (shampoos, conditioners, body wash/shower gel, lotion, facial wash, hand wash) are "locked" in regular sized instead of travel sized containers. Historical themed decor. Custom pillow menu (though we didn't try it as the default ones are comfy enough as it is). Dislikes: No breakfast included, no fridge, no microwave which means not family friendly and healthy nutrition-wise. We had brunch outside (usually near or in the attraction where we were going) all throughout our stay, had to order dinner enough to eat for just 1 meal and can't pack lunch (unlike other bigger families/groups I observed so we were stuck to eating usual fast food options in the attractions: burgers, fries). Note to self if we have more kids.
Transportation: Initially, I thought we could ride the subway but it turns out their subway stations are not that near to attractions so riding it did not save time and would just add to the probability of us getting lost. I even downloaded the MBTA transit app for reference but it worked the same as Google Maps so we never got to apply the information it provided. Renting a car is not an option considering the price of parking and their maze of streets. Another option which we could have but didn't explore was bike rental (included in our pass) but I'm not that confident in my bike riding skills plus the attractions that we went to were mostly indoors. We primarily just walked or took an Uber. On the plus side, we always achieved our daily steps and active minutes. Comfy shoes and a stroller are a must. Being active is really a thing in Boston. No wonder the marathon is held here.
Itinerary: I listed some places from the Children's Boston portion of DK Eyewitness Travel Boston book I borrowed from the library. We bought Boston Go 3-Day Passes and I prioritized our itinerary from there.
Day 0 (Friday): Arrival at Boston Logan Airport
Arrived around 830 pm. Took an Uber to the hotel.
Dinner of noodle soup at Dumpling Cafe.
Day 1 (Saturday): Boston Common and You Wedding/Reception
Lily making tampisaw at Tadpole Playground triggered trip to the potty
Rode carousel at Frog Pond.
Brunch of lobster roll and crab sandwich at Luke's Lobster which tasted authentic but was not as cheap as expected (and fruit/hardboiled egg/spinach from nearby Walgreen's for Lily as she is not fond of sandwiches)
(Passed by Payless shoe store and bought a pair that looked better with my wedding guest dress :p)
Back at the hotel to prepare for wedding
Took Uber to St Theresa Catholic Church for You wedding (we were late. It was farther than I expected!)
Car pool to Balandan residence while the wedding party were having their pictures taken.
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| You-Lintag wedding |
Topeng drove Ate Mayeth's car to the wedding reception at Cruiseport Gloucester. Partay!
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| Silly second cousins at the wedding reception |
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| Lintag fambam at the wedding reception |
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| Lily doing Brooklyn's hair |
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| Familia ... teleserye version |
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| Team Veridiano |
Day 2 (Sunday): Boston Children's Museum, Boston Public Garden
Anticipating the family reunion later in the day, we postponed using the pass until the next day and went to one of the "cheaper" attractions.
Brunch of Lobster Roll from McDonalds (Topeng's review: bland) and chinese/cajun food from <name of train station near Children's Museum)
Boston Children's Museum: biggest children's museum we've ever been in, has giant bubble play, theatrical shows, wall climbing, japanese house
Met up with Lintag fambam at Cookie Monstah waterfront
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| cookie monstah! |
Walked along Quincy Market
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| Busy sa pagkain ng ice cream ung isa |
Towards Boston Common then Acorn Street (most instagrammed street) then Boston Public Garden
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| Lily with her Tita Angie @ Boston Common |
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| Lintag fambam in front of Massachusetts State House |
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| Lintag fambam @ Acorn Street |
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| Mrs Mallard, Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Oack, Pack, Quack |
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| Boston Public Garden with the girls |
Day 3 (Monday): New England Aquarium, CityView Hop-On Hop-Off, Quincy Market
Day 1 of pass. Rainy day so initial plan of going to the duck tour from the aquarium foiled.
Headed to the aquarium where there a lot of people
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| Parang meme lang |
Had quick lunch of chicken tenders and fries to catch up the "Green Sea Turtle" show on IMAX @1pm
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| Our attempt to make a duck face |
Afterwards Lily fell asleep so we took the Hop-On Hop-Off to maximize pass but unfortunately the rain made the trip hard to picture. Since we still had some time, we decided to go back to the aquarium.
Dinner of lobster mac n' cheese and clam chowder from Boston Chowda Co and chinese food, fruit (for Senyorita Lily) @ Quincy Market
And finally Uber back to hotel because it is still raining!!!
Day 4 (Tuesday): Boston Duck Tour, Museum of Science
Uber to Museum of Science. (Our uber driver recommended a lot of places which we hopefully can go to next time we visit Boston)
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| T-rex claw |
10 am duck tour from Museum of +Science. Thank God for better weather!
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| Quack quack! |
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| Inside the duck |
Museum of Science tour. Closed later than expected.
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| seryoso, kala mo naintindihan |
Afraid to get rained on and didn't have enough time to get there before the attractions closed so didn't push through with original plan of going on Harvard tour and other places on the Cambridge side.
Dinner of gyoza, takoyaki, pork ramen, curry seafood ramen @ ??? and Mein
Day 5 (Wednesday): Franklin Park Zoo, Skywalk Observatory
Day 5 (Wednesday): Franklin Park Zoo, Skywalk Observatory
We took an Uber to Franklin Park Zoo and arrived around noon had usual limited fast food lunch options: burger, fries, chicken nuggets. Lily was hangry
Topeng found the zoo small but for me it was just enough for us to see everything in a day.
Not enough time to visit Mapparium so Uber to Prudential Center where the Skywalk Observatory is.
Lily was intent on listening to all the stops on the audio, just like me...though she had a hard time letting go of the listening device when we were leaving.
Dinner of Korean BBQ and hotpot soup at Hotpot Buffet in China Town. (Supposed to be with Ate Mayeth but she cancelled) Lamon galore, inaawat na kami ni Lily!
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| Daming gutom |
Day 6 (Thursday): Bye, Boston
For next time To Do List:
- More bonding time with 2nd cousins for Lily
- Try more places to eat: Legal Seafoods, Penang
- More places to see/do: Cape Cod/beaches, Old Sturbridge Village, Cambridge (Harvard/MIT), Mapparium, other museums and cruises
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