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Monday, July 05, 2010

Fireworks!

Hello

Having returned from a nice airconditioned house in DC to my hot as a cauldron on a fierce fire apartment in NYC... I must say I had a very good weekend. Far better than hanging out and melting from the heat in New York. I did miss an opportunity to see someone but... There are sacrifices I'm willing to make for airconditioning.

Sacrifices such as money to enjoy airconditioning at Starbucks or something. Sigh!

But the weekend in DC was awesome! Apart from the fact that I had to wake up early to catch the bus, and the extremely annoying woman in the bus, everything else went really well.

My first 4th of July in the US!~ ^_^

I saw the DC fireworks over the National Mall from someone's beautiful rooftop terrace!!! I am so getting a rooftop terrace, especially with an outdoor component and an air-conditioned component. Perfect for any season. =P On top of which, I enjoyed what everyone described as a traditional 4th of July feast. A+!!! Haha. There was fried chicken... Sweet potato fries... Ribs... Coleslaw... Corn salsa... Hot dogs... And so on. So good. xD

In other words, my imagination of what people traditionally eat for such gatherings hasn't been too far off. =D Hehe. I still remember when I did the Super Bowl dinner last year... I had a heck of time researching what Americans eat at home for such gatherings. And was rather disappointed to find out that it wasn't anything more exciting than chicken wings and ribs.

At least Thanksgiving is interesting - with turkey and cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with marshmallows (I still cannot understand that but...), etc.

But anyway, I thought the 4th of July weekend was great.=D It was nice to go to a real house and have homecooked food... and hang out with my aunt. But I guess the kid in me still loves fireworks and that was probably the highlight. ^_^ I really do love fireworks... even if its not very good, it'll be great! I wonder when I can next see them...

Now excuse me while I melt... And wait for it to get cooler outside before I go search for food.=P

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : 夏音 GLAY]
[mood : HOT. (T_T)]
[food : Terra Blues + Cherries!]

XW: I just drank a whole cup. Hahaha.

Labels: misc, Washington DC

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Away From Greenery

Hello,

Currently, I'm on the Bolt Bus, bolting back to New York City's Penn Station to catch a train home, returning from Washington DC. Well, we should have arrived by now had the traffic cooperated but Memorial Day weekend is such and we are still on the road.

Although I hadn't realized it as much when I was here, New York City is pretty much devoid of greenery. What exists does so in large quantities (re: Central Park or other smaller Parks like Riverside), but you can hardly say that you are surrounded by trees and other such green beings.

On the other hand, in DC, there were vast quantities of plant life everywhere and boy, did it feel good. =) Yep, I had forgotten the joy of being surrounded by trees and nature which is possible in Ann Arbor (hello, wilderness everywhere) and Singapore (trees lining every road to shelter you from the heat). Perhaps it is for this reason that NYC can get so bloody hot. X__x Horrors.

And so, with such a sad thought in mind, what conclusion did I come up with? Spend more time at parks! Go to seek out the wilderness more often! [OK, there's hardly any wilderness so to speak in NYC but I guess the equivalent would be the parks...?] And, get a fan to generate some longed-for breeze. The heat is killing me.

The weekend in DC was super chill and relaxed... We didn't achieve very much [didn't cover every single museum, or memorial, or... sight-seeing locale] but we did have a nice weekend with home-cooked food [hooray!], a play [very funny], and an art gallery [gorgeous - should have gone there earlier. REGRET.]. Not that you can't have nice weekends in NYC, I'm sure that's entirely possible... But the strength of DC is the free museums and free attractions =P It makes life a lot less stressful when you don't feel you need to make every penny of the admission ticket worth its weight in time.

I missed the home-cooked food the most though. Being able to cook for myself in Ann Arbor has spoiled me for sure... X__X It's back to take-out, and eating out. *gulps* And healthy meals, of course. Yogurt and fruit anyone?

Oh look, we're entering a tunnel to NYC, and it's crowded as hell! I think we'll be stuck here for a while so let me go back to snoozing. It's very soothing.

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Anima Mundi Rentrer en Soi]
[mood : dizzy from the bus ride X__X]
[food : vegetables!]

Labels: New York, thoughts, Washington DC

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Thanksgiving 2007 - A Weekend in DC

Hello all!

It's been a BEAUTIFUL day in Ann Arbor! ^_^ Granted it was rather cold and the wind was rather strong but the sun was beaming down on us and that's always a good thing! In fact the blue skies now have me in a fabulous mood and I'm all ready to tell everyone about our Thanksgiving trip to Washington, DC. Oh sunny blue skies! How I wish you could beam down on us all the time!

Warning!
This post will be FILLED with food photos because I love food. And full of scenery and stuff because I love that too. Please don't give me grief about it.

We flew off on Wednesday afternoon and arrived in DC in the evening. Just in time for a spot of Singapore tea! ^_^

We started off on a VERY positive note with fabulous ondeh-ondeh [a Nonya kueh made from a pandan glutinous rice skin filled with molten gula melakah (a kind of rich brown sugar that is amazing) and then coated with freshly grated coconut]!!!

The gorgeous gula melakah oozing out. SO GOOD. xD xD xD I never really liked gula melakah on its own and neither do I like coconut much, but in ondeh-ondeh, gula melakah and coconut take on whole different meanings...

Then of course, we had to stop stuffing ourselves with ondeh-ondeh in order to make space for dinner!

VEGETABLES!!! Such a happy sight!

Ayam Tempra! ^_^ It was slightly spicy but so so delicious with rice.

A yummy bowl of Cantonese soup always makes me happy!!! ^_^ Here we have lotus root and pork rib soup. YUM.

And here we have steamed rockfish. FISH!!! STEAMED PROPERLY!!! I couldn't be more pleased.=) The fish they have in the dorm is absolutely awful.

The next day when Christl had arrived to join us, we headed for the zoo to take advantage of the fabulous weather! It was Thanksgiving and it was HOT!!! xP The sun was blazing down and there was a light breeze in the air. Perfect!

Near my aunt's house, the fall colours were showing themselves in their full glory!

The cutest little kid EVER in the National Zoo at the Asia Trail if I'm not wrong..

The National Zoo!

KYAA!!! SO CUTE!!! xD xD xD Sleeping Pandas = Cutest things ever!

Of course, there were other animals too but I'm totally biased so..^_^ Pandas it shall be!

So huggable!

A gorgeous green colour that Christl squealed over.=P

After going to the zoo, we went back to my aunt's house for a yummy Thanksgiving lunch! ^_^ And no.. We were not planning to follow the American tradition of eating a GIANT Thanksgiving meal in the afternoon.

NOODLES! It's my dad's favourite Noodle King noodles.=)

And lo and behold! xD WANTON!!! =D =D =D I shall prod Guo Lu into making jiao zi for me.xD xD xD

And of course, we have gorgeously green blanched vegetables lightly dressed in a oyster sauce/soy sauce based dressing. Yummy!

And what else do you have with wanton noodles but char siew? =D =D =D YUMMY. I love the char siew at my aunt's house. It's amazing stuff.

After lunch, my aunt took us around the sights by car and then dropped us off at the National Cathedral.=) The winds were picking up and was soon gusting along very strongly..

The Cathedral in the afternoon glow.

The winds were creating havoc when we tried to take photos. Urgh! When I checked the weather report, the winds were supposedly gusting at up to 60-70km/h!!! FAINTS!

I'd been to the National Cathedral before but never the inside so this was a wonderful experience! I love visiting beautiful churches and cathedrals... ^_^ And there's such an aura of calm.

They have absolutely beautiful stained glass windows.=D

One part of the seating area and the main altar.

The sun was shining through the stained glass windows and creating a beautiful colour-play on the walls of the cathedral. Oohhh. PRETTYY.xD

Can you imagine getting married in this place? *_*!

In the crypt of the Cathedral, there are a couple more chapels for prayer.

The view of the cool fall colours from the top of the Cathedral.^_^

The sunset over DC... So gorgeous.=)

You can see the Blue Ridge Mountains from the top of the Cathedral! I didn't take a photo because it wasn't very clear.. But I did take a photo of the sights in Washington DC! ^_^ The Washington Monument and the Jefferson memorial [I THINK] stand proudly.

And an awesome cloud hangs silently in the air...

One of the towers of the cathedral.=)

Outside the entrance to the Cathedral Gardens. The wind was so strong, you had to fight against it to walk..xP

The gorgeous sunset in Washington DC with the flag in the background and the peace cross in the fore. I thought it was the celtic cross though? =S

After looking around the gardens, we returned to the house for our Thanksgiving Dinner!!!

On the way back, we passed the Orthodox Greek Chruch and they were putting up Christmas decorations. The smell of fresh pine trees is.. absolutely amazing. *_*! It's so fresh and sweet and.. Now I know why they have the phrase "pine fresh scent". Haha.

DINNER!

Green beans sauteed with sambal!

In place of turkey, we had braised duck!!! YUMM!!! =D =D =D

And giant prawns! Not those horrible things they call shrimp.

And of course, we had to have SOUP! Glorious soup! This time, it was chicken and watercress.=D

We ended off with pie!

Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie from Whole Foods. A yummy end to a great Thanksgiving meal! ^_^ I actually like pecan pie now.=D

The day after Thanksgiving, we trailed after my aunt, visiting various Washington homes to see how all these functions happen.=) The first one was in this seriously rich old lady's home and involved "political Washington" so to speak while the next one was in Georgetown and had a more artsy crowd.^_^ A real eye-opener to say the very least. I am so inspired to get rich. Ahaha.

The day after that, we went to visit Rebecca [who came to our home before] and her family and had lunch with them. Then we went to do the museums!

It was a beautiful day so we got a great shot in front of the Capitol.

The Washington Monument was also gleaming in the sunlight, against the clear blue sky.^_^

Our first stop! The National Gallery!! =D

The National Gallery is filled with art from all over the world and my favourite part is always the Impressionist paintings. This time though, we came to see a special exhibition!

Turner is a prominent British artist from the 1700s-1800s or something. I can't quite remember. But he is AMAZING at drawing light, like sunlight, moonlight, etc. So absolutely gorgeous. I love his watercolours.. He can really manipulate the colours well. xD xD xD No photography was allowed though... Most unfortunate. But you really cannot capture his work in a photo. Just like all other artists because well.. It's not just a 2D painting.

After being chased out by the guards, we went over to the Natural History Museum which was open late that day.=) Of course, we went to the gemology exhibition before I spotted this Nature Photography exhibition. I'm glad we went in because it was really good!!! ^_^ Here are my top picks!

The winner in the Animal Antics competition. =D So cute!

Adorable.=) Polar bears!

This is the most AMAZING photograph of landscape I've seen.. It doesn't even look real!!! O___O! It was shot in Arizona or Nevada, I can't remember which.

And this is the cutest little baby fox ever!

After the museums, we headed for Georgetown for a spot of shopping and then a great Vietnamese dinner! ^_^

Mmm! Fresh spring rolls, Cha Gio, Roast Quail [so good!] and vegetables!!!

My entree: Grilled Pork Bun! =D Yummy!

The next day, we went for brunch before sending Christl to the train station.^_^

Brunch was at Peacock Cafe! It's located in Georgetown on one of the roads just off the main shopping belt.

Jiamin would be so proud of me! I had a banana-strawberry-honey-skim milk smoothie. YUM! =D =D =D Were I to make it on my own though, I would omit the milk and add more strawberries. Hehe! But maybe milk in it is good for calcium.. Hmm..

I had an omelette with mushrooms, onions, peppers and cheese! Yummy! But I stole some of my aunt's French Toast and it was DAMN GOOD. Omg. I'm totally ordering French Toast if I should ever go back!!! The strawberry maple syrup sauce is an amazing complement!

When we got back to the house, I couldn't resist and ran outside to take photos of the Red Maple.=D =D =D It's so pretty!

It makes pretty scattered leaves too.^_^

My brother and I went part of the way to the train station with Christl, then went to Dupont Circle to the Krispy Kreme!!! ^_^

Somehow, tons of people like Krispy Kreme and I have yet to figure out why. Don't you think apple donuts from Apple Farms taste SO much better?

These Krispy Kremes are freshly glazed, glistening in all their sugary glory.

And these were too cute to resist!!! My friends made short work of these.=)

I treated myself to an Apple Cinnamon Krispy Kreme for the road.

^_^ Washington DC was great fun! I'd love to see the museums again and I've already made plans with Guo Lu to see the museums here in Ann Arbor! ^_^

The term is drawing to a close and Thanksgiving gave me an opportunity to think about what I have to be thankful for. It is, after all, a time to show your appreciation for what you have right? =)

This was a really long post and I think I shall stop now. Haha.

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Kingyo Hanabi Otsuka Ai + Daybreak's Bell L'arc~en~Ciel]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : GRANOLA!]

Labels: Ann Arbor, edibles, flora, misc, photo journey, Washington DC

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