Chinatown to Chinatown and back again.

I raced out of work on Friday to head to Chinatown in NYC. I was catching the Fung - Wah bus to head to Boston. As you all know, I used to be a frequent visitor to Boston before the "row" with my friend in London. In some ways, it was really hard to go back, because I have so many memories of Boston that are specifically associated with my old best friend. I'm still very hurt by what happened, especially as there are new details that unsurfaced regarding our discord. But that all can wait for another blog.

I was really happy to be in Boston and to see my darling friend, who lives right next to the Prudential Center. It was the most perfect location ever. We could walk to essentially everything... and we did! South End, Newberry, the City Park, Downtown Crossing, Faneiul Hall, and North End --- all of which I will give a more detailed description of in my travel blog, On the Road with MBA Cutie, once it launches in a few weeks. On Friday night, we met up with two of her friends and headed over to the 33 Lounge (www.33restaurant.com) to do some dancing and have a few drinks. Tired from my 7 hour journey on the bus (yes, a WHOLE SEVEN HOURS. Parts of the Mass Turnpike were closed and the traffic was horrendous.), a zoned out MBA Cutie manages to forget her purse, complete with friend's camera, in the restroom. When I discovered I didn't have it, I rushed back to the bathroom, but the purse was gone. My friend tells me to start looking at every single girl trying to leave the place. I completely freaked out thinking that I had not only lost all my money, credit cards, debit cards, and ID, but also a digital camera. Suddenly, a girl comes up the stairs holding my purse in her hands! I run over to her and say, "That's my purse!!!! " She says, "Thank god ! I've lost mine before and when I saw it in the bathroom, I wanted to take it right up here to security." I am such a lucky girl. We had one last drink with my friend's friends, managed to refuse dancing offers from two guys that approached us (we were tired and just not that interested), and then walked a few blocks back home.

Saturday night was definitely the more interesting night. After a long day of shopping and sight seeing, we came back to my friend's place to get ready for that evening. The plan was to head out to Felt (www.feltboston.com) for another night of drinks and dancing. Once there, my friend hit it off with one of her friends and left me in a slightly awkward situation. I quickly remedied it by meeting a nice guy, Boston Boy, and dancing for a few hours. When everything ended at 2am, Boston Boy asked if he could hang out with me and my girlfriend and her friend for a while. We figured why not (and, luckily, he had a car so we wouldn't have to walk anymore that night!), and then went in search of an after hours place. We settled on grabbing some food at News (www.newsboston.com). When we got there the line was ridiculous! My girlfriend, the clever, sly girl that she is, just slips up to the front of the line, and slowly cuts in and tells the bouncer we are there and need a table for four. I slide in behind her, but we had the guys wait outside the line. Then, a couple walks up to the front of the line and announced that they are part of "Nick Lachey's" party. What??!! Nick Lachey was at News in Boston the same night we were there?

We were never able to confirm whether or not Nick was there. We were let in before that couple. Our food was good (pizza and french fries), but my friend ordered pancakes which were mistakenly served with soy sauce! Her guy's face just scrunched up when he tried some! We complained to the waitress, who replaced the order and took them off our bill. I bonded a little with Boston Boy during the walk back to his car, and he may be in New York City next weekend, so it would be fun to see him again. When we got home, my girlfriend and I discussed the events of the night and decided where we thought things were going with the new guys we had met. (No where for me, Boston Boy is a nice guy, but I could just tell it really didn't have that potential. Maybe somewhere for her. She's not quite sure how it will play out.)

And that was the last of the east coast Boston trips for me. Considering that this was the first time that I had the chance to see Boston from a non-student, non-Cambridge perspective, I think it was phenomenal. I like the city even more now that I know that there really is an active scene of young professionals and individuals that live in Boston and aren't necessarily there for a collegiate experience. Plus, life across the river is so different. I love the charm of Cambridge, but I think I like the reality of the main parts of Boston more. I promise to include Boston as an entry on my bluelist once my travel blog is up and running.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!