backwards, forwards

Rang in the new year with a group of my oldest friends (some that I have known for upwards of 18 years), sharing reminisces over a game of telephone pictionary. There are some things that never change, and for that I am so very grateful.

2012 was a year of growing pains but also much learning and exploration.

Travel highlights:

Numerous trips to NYC (half of my time spent wandering aimlessly around central park), a return to San Francisco/Napa Valley, so many incredible places in China and never enough time (Chengdu I will be back!), Puerto Rico and Montreal with my endlessly entertaining and adventurous group of coworkers, and various flavors of summer/fall in New England via Provincetown and Newport, RI; Portland, ME; and the Berkshires.

And because food is (in-arguably) the most important component of any travel, or of just hanging around Boston, here are the year’s food highlights, in no particular order (rating for overall impression):

South End Buttery (Boston) 3/5
MET Back Bay (Boston) 3/5
Estragon (Boston) 4/5
Suishaya (Boston) 3/5 - Standard Korean Fare
Zero Zero (San Francisco) 5/5
Lala Rohk (Boston) 2/5
Metropolis Cafe (Boston) 3/5
Sibling Rivalry (Boston) 3/5
Gaslight (Boston) 3/5
Eastern Standard (Boston) 4/5
Oleana (Boston) 5/5**Amazing
Allium (Great Barrington, MA) 4/5
Public (NYC) 4/5
Cookshop (NYC) 5/5
Salt House (San Francisco) 5/5
The Girl and the Fig (Napa Valley) 5/5
Estelles (Boston) 4/5
Ma Peche (NYC) 5/5
Seagrass Bistro (Yarmouth, ME) 5/5
Verses (Montreal) 5/5
Jose Enrique (San Juan, PR) 5/5**

Here’s to many more adventures in 2013 to places far and near, and (finally) applying to medical school! I’m looking forward to more books read, more miles run, and more amazing food and drink consumed in the company of people who inspire me to be better everyday.

cheers,