the temperature outside this morning was in the 30's so i already knew from yesterday that i wouldn't be running. instead i had a calm AM, making some scrambled egg whites and kielbasa sausage for lunch.
after lunch i went to star market to get some pineapples ($1.47) and mandarins ($2.97) on sale. i then biked to market basket to get some green mountain coffee for my mother and some bean sprouts for the cafe. they had two boxes left of my mother's favorite flavor, caramel vanilla.
originally i thought about doing some boston drone flying and i even got the flight authorization. but there simply wasn't enough time, especially since today was the shortest day of the year (start of winter). besides, it was kind of windy, not ideal for light drone flying.
i left for boston by 1:15pm. even though i still had 3 hours of daylight left, i still took my bike lights just in case. with my thick winter jacket and gloves, it wasn't that cold, and i even unzipped by the time i reached the longfellow bridge, beginning to sweat and overheat underneath the jacket. the sun was very low on the horizon, either casting long shadows, or shining directly into my eyes.
first stop was the chase bank on kneeland street. my 2nd aunt had already tried getting a calendar weeks ago: they told her they didn't have any left because of budget cuts. but i didn't believe that explanation. nevertheless i didn't know what to expect when i asked the bank employee if they had anymore chinese new year calendar. she told me to wait while she disappeared in the back room for a few minutes. i asked if i could have another one. she disappeared again and came out with two. score!
i took a quick detour across the street to the alleyway known as knapp street. i visited the potluck cafe, where my 2nd aunt said they sold cheap meat buns. when i got there, their display was virtually emptied, seemed like they were pretty much sold out for the day. when i left i noticed a shady massage place right next door with two rough looking ladies standing outside smoking cigarettes.
next i went to the chase bank on washington street, between c-mart and ming's market. there we a group of people sitting in a windowed booth office. i thought they were customers at first until one of them spoke to me. "sorry for the lack of customers. we're having a slow day," he told me. i asked if they had another chinese new year calendar. "of course!" he said, and got one of the lady employees to go get one. 
having learned my lesson earlier, i asked if i could get two. "sure," he said. then we chatted about banking for a bit. i played along, figured it was the least i could do after they gave me two free calendars. he said chase bank was very diversity oriented, and even showed me their back room where it was decked in all sorts of national flags and holiday decorations, a far cry from their outdoor display, 
where it was just a non-denominational plastic christmas tree and an unlit menorah. i told him i came here often, to shop at the two asian supermarkets. that's when he gave me some local gossip, that the nearby c-mart was slated for demolition as the landlord wouldn't renew their lease, in order to sell the land to condo developers. that's when the security guard chimed in as well, as this seemed to be a topic dear to his heart. he said all the rich people were moving in even though it was a bad neighborhood, driving out all the small businesses.
after saying good bye to my new bank friends, i went to ming's market (1:50pm) to get some groceries: chinese cooking wine, bean threads, baby bokchoi, garlic chives. 
i left chinatown by 2:20pm, returned home via the appleton footbridge then across the longfellow. originally i planned on heading directly to the cafe via cambridge street, but decided to go home first as i still had some stuff from star market and market basket i needed to bring to the cafe.
i got home by 2:50pm, used the bathroom, then left by 3pm. my 2nd aunt was at the cafe. she bought some portuguese egg tarts that she got from chinatown yesterday. instead of eating that though, they wanted to try the two containers of leftover clam chowder i brought from home. before they could do that though, yoyo ma came to the store. yes, that yoyo ma, the famous cellist, who actually lives nearby. he used to come fairly frequently, but my parents haven't seen him in a while, not since the start of the pandemic. he ordered a chicken bento and some dumplings.
after yoyo ma left, my parents and 2nd aunt tried the chowder. i didn't have any (the large bowl of chowder from last night still fresh on taste buds) but i did buy a new package of oyster crackers as the ones i had back at home were stale. my sister was also here briefly but when my mother asked if she also wanted chowder, she remembered she left esmei at home alone out of her dog playpen, and raced back home to make sure she didn't tear the house apartment. everyone seemed to love the chowder.
as for the chase new year calendar, i kept one for myself, gave one to my mother, one to my 2nd aunt, and the last one to my sister. i also helped my father flash his quansheng firmware (i just so happened to have the programming cable with me).
a few orders came in and i ended up staying for a bit to help. i told my mother i basically work at the cafe everyday. i ended up leaving after an hour, with the officially winter sun about to set.
it was cold inside the house since my daytime thermostat is only set to 60 degrees. so i was relieved when 6pm rolled around when my scheduled heating kicked in. i thought i'd take a break from chowder for the night but ended up having it anyway, though i didn't heat it up until 9pm. with no celtics game tonight, i watched a few other games: magic vs.bucks and lakers vs. timberwolves.