my niece said they were planning on leaving around 8-9am, and i wanted to see them off. however when i woke up, they were still asleep. i had a feeling she was too ambitious with her start time. i stole some minutes to use the bathroom and take a quick shower. my taiwanese aunt was the first to wake up. she wears dentures, and forgot her denture paste. i told her we could get some from the supermarket, but she said my 2nd aunt has a bunch, and that my 2nd aunt was planning on walking over and delivering it. i told her not to bother, but instead biked to her to get the paste and bring it back.
i also got a chance to look over my 2nd aunt after he nasty fall last night. she had a round spot on her forehead where she hit the pavement. it wasn't bruised or swollen, just some light skin abrasion. she also managed to skin both her knees. she was wearing pants but they were fine. she said when she fell, she landed on her knees first, before toppling over, bracing herself with her hands so she didn't do a complete face plant. i asked her if she was dizzy or disoriented last night, she said no, just some localized pain (knees, forehead) from where she hit the sidewalk. for a woman her age, she seems to have pretty strong bones still. it's a blessing she wasn't more seriously hurt, miss out on her cruise next wednesday if she had to be admitted to the hospital.
i got back by 10:20am. my taiwanese aunt put in her dentures. my niece was planning on taking a shower, but they were running behind schedule, so she postponed her shower until tonight. instead she laid out an assortment of mini shampoos and conditioners and body wash, collected from previous hotel visits. they finally left by 10:35am. last night we were telling her how to take the subway into boston, but i watched as they got into an uber. their first stop was the daily catch in the north end for brunch.
after they left i went back and used the bathroom. i never have a good poop when there's other people in the house, so i finally had some time to get regular. i took another shower, then applied sunblock to my arms and head. i wasn't working at the cafe today, but instead heading into boston to catch the annual caribbean parade. it doesn't begin until 1pm, and even then that's not a guarantee, the parade is notorious for running late. i didn't leave until almost noontime.
i wore jeans and a navy polo shirt. in my messenger bag i packed my 55-250mm lens. i also brought my 18-200mm lens because i had that with me last time, but accidentally grabbed the wide angle lens instead. in the end i was fine with just the 55-250mm. for parades when you're not expecting to get in the trenches it's fine. i also brought my suite of extra cameras: the gopro, the insta360, and even my 3D camera. finally i packed a bottle car in one of the side pockets. and earplugs are essentials.
it took 36 minutes to get to my house to dorchester. i rode memorial drive along the charles river, crossed the BU bridge, got onto the jamaicaway, went underneath the bridge to get to mission hill, south huntington avenue (be careful of the trolley tracks) to heath street, columbus avenue to seaver street, where i then detoured onto walnut avenue and started making my way to warren street. i had to stop at one point to check the map because i got lost. i parked at the intersection of elm hill ave and howland street, right across the street from the grace church of all nations, the exact same spot i parked at last year.
i walked down warren street (north) towards the staging area on MLK jr boulevard. this year there's more flatbed speaker trucks, but the various soca dance troupes of yesteryears are still missing. that was a golden age of boston carnival parade, where people would come dressed in theme colors, like competing teams, and would have staged synchronized dancing at various intervals. hopefully maybe one day the carnival parade can regain that lost splendor. it's still worth coming though, even a few good photo opps is worth chasing. and nothing beats the spectacle of carnival here in boston, with maybe the pride parade its only competition.
i waited on warren street opposite MLK jr boulevard for the parade to get started. i stayed in the shade, but it kept becoming increasingly sunny to the point where i simply gave up and stationed myself on the island. the parade didn't start until 1:50pm. earlier i saw ayanna pressley, but mayor wu was there too, showing her obvious baby bump (i think she's due at the end of the year).
after that it was just a mix of flatbed trucks and parade marchers. those that were in costumes were few, most were simply wearing civilian clothes, or maybe a sponsoring t-shirt for groups more organized with some money. i watch the process in multiple passes as they travel slow. the first pass is just to see what's interesting. after that i walk up and down the hill, chasing after things to shoot.
i shot in manual mode, a technique i learned back at the puerto rican parade last month: aperture set to f/8 and shutter speed to 1/1600th second, with the only variable being the ISO. it combines the sharpest photos (f/8 is the lens' sweet spot) with lightning quick capture (high shutter speed). this can only be done during the daytime when it's already very bright. i didn't have one photo that was blurry. the biggest issue was just people walking in front of the lens. this manual shooting will be my goto from now on for parades.
they had a foam truck again, with participants onboard also shooting pedestrians with carnival mud from super soakers. i got hit with collateral spray, i hope that stuff washes off.
they said there was a larger police presence this year, after the shooting of last year during the morning j'ouvert parade. i didn't really notice any difference. even with more police, the number of spectators outnumber them by a very large amount. i saw people only flaunt illegal activities in front of the police, like public smoking (of the illicit variety) or loudly joyriding scooter bikes. on this day the police gave them all a pass. short of outright assault, you were free to do whatever you wanted.
i finally left by 3:15pm, since i needed to be at the cafe by 4pm, as my mother was leaving right after work to get a haircut. there was a traffic jam by the cambridge rotary off of the BU bridge, but i managed to snake my motorcycle between the cars and get onto memorial drive, where there was hardly any traffic.
as far as photo count, i got around 900 photos; about the same amount i shot last year. the 55-250mm worked well, though there were a few times when i couldn't get wide enough for a full view but that just made me focus on portraits or details. i really like the 55-250mm because it shoots fast, unlike the 18-200mm which is slower (not sure why that is) not to mention much heavier. i also like the 50mm worth of extra reach. if i want wide angle shots, i can always just pull out my phone, which i did a few times (or to shoot a quick video). i didn't use any of my special cameras. i got the insta360 specifically for parades like this, but never used it because i felt it'd attract too much attention, and prevent me from properly shooting. maybe next time i wear a backpack and strap the 360 camera inside so i can do both.
i made it to the cafe by 3:53pm. my parents and my 2nd aunt were already cleaning up. the square app showed it wasn't very busy today. maybe the nice weather combined with the final weekend of august had a lot of customers seeking one final vacation before september arrives. while my 2nd aunt went home and my parents left for my mother's haircut appointment in brookline with a russian hairdresser, i stayed behind to clean up a little bit. i finally left by 4:20pm. originally i was going to head back to my house, but i didn't really need anything, so i went to belmont instead.
my mother wanted to treat my taiwanese aunt and my niece to dinner tonight. when my mother brought up the idea last night, my niece seemed a little hesitant, as she'd already planned a whole day's itinerary with her grandmother, including spanish tapas dinner at toro in the south end. i told my mother we could have dinner tomorrow, and let my taiwanese aunt's granddaughter take her out instead. but they ended up changing their mind and now they were looking forward to having dinner with us. the venue of joyful garden in watertown. it's not the most authentic chinese in terms of a particular style (say, sichuan cuisine), but the dishes they make are good quality, as least it used to be (can be hit or miss depending on the chef). we scheduled to meet there at 6:30pm, my sister making a reservation for 7.
my sister showed up at the house with esmei. her dog obviously can't go to the restaurant, but she brought esmei to belmont so she can play in the backyard a little bit before my sister takes her back home. esmei was a street dog before she found her way into a shelter, so she has some street dog habits, like dig a hole and wallowing in it. that's what she ended up doing in the backyard, so we called her inside. i played tug with her, trying to pull out the chipmunk plushie in her jaw. it's one of the few things she likes to do with humans, while she seems aloof all other times. once i get a hold of the chipmunk i'll toss it, and then she'll fetch it to restart the tug-of-war. we did that for a while before she got bored and my sister took her home to get fed.
around 6:20pm i rode to joyful garden. both my sister and i arrived at the same time. even though the place was busy, there was enough empty tables that we didn't need a reservation. nearly all the customers were chinese, with a handful of adventurous westerners. my parents had to go pick up everyone (my taiwanese aunt and niece were already back at my place) so they didn't get to the restaurant until 20 minutes later. we got their set meal for 6 people, which includes a soup (west lake beef soup) and twin lobsters. my parents also added pineapple shrimp with walnut because that's one of my niece's favorites. the soup was excellent, very hot, i had two servings. the braised duck was okay, but i think i just like it because of the very salty dipping mix. the pineapple shrimp was very good, though i still prefer my shrimps deep fried in batter. the salt & pepper pork chop with calamari was leaning more towards the sweet side, though everything seemed to be fried to perfection. my 2nd aunt loved the salt and pepper white fish, preferring the crispy skin, until she managed to get a bone stuck in her throat. the lobster was prepared well but needed more salt. there was also a mushroom & bokchoi stirfry, but a little too slimy for my taste. so overall some hits and misses. the waiter gave us some complimentary warm tapioca pearl soup before we left by 8pm.
i went home first, while my parents took everyone to my 2nd aunt's place. my niece had never seen it, and wanted to compare it with the condo she's planning on buying, which is slightly larger in dimension. once i got back home, i took a quick shower. i was decompressing in front of the computer, catching up on some youtube videos, when everyone (minus my sister) arrived at my place. they stayed and chatted for a while before leaving around 9:30pm to let my taiwanese aunt and niece rest. they plan on going to the cafe tomorrow at 10am for some free food before my parents drop off my niece at alewife in the early afternoon to catch her flix bus back to new york city.