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Destination 8: The District of Columbia 2006-03-31 04/01/06 Aircraft: My second time flying TO-BA, my second time on a Bombardier 8100, and my second time throwing up on an airplane. What can I say, this is simply not the aircraft for me. Bmore: A friend from first year undergrad picked me up. We dropped off my suitcases at his house and he gave me a small tour of Bmore and Hops. Reed: The last time I stayed in Reed, I was on the dorm site, this time I went to visit the suite side. I thought it might not be as bad as the dorm side, but I was wrong. Sigh. It will be so difficult to move from my ex-hotel residence in TO to jail cell-like Reed. But it will have to be done. D.C.: Took a one-hour Greyhound ride from Maryland to D.C. Picked up by another friend from first year undergrad. Dropped off my suitcases at Hotel Washington next to the White House, and went out for 100-buck sushi dinner at Kaz Sushi Bistro. Delicious. Washington Monument: Much of my trip in D.C. involved miles and miles of walking. It started on the first night. We walked from my hotel to the White House, through the Ellipse, the big field to the Washington Monument, then through the constitution gardens to the Lincoln Memorial. In the middle of our walk, we stopped to rest in front of the Washington Monument. I was lying down and took a picture of the big needle. And as the picture turned out, the monument really just looked like a road surrounded by darkness, leading to the middle of nowhere. We wondered if that was a metaphor of sorts for something greater. Forrest and Jenny: At the Lincoln Memorial, I looked back at the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Memorial and was reminded of the scene in Forrest Gump when Jenny and Forrest met in the middle of the Pool. That was neat. :) 04/02/06 AACR: Two good things that come out of a huge conference like this: one is the opportunity to travel, two is the free stuff. Got so many free pens that I don't think I'll ever need to buy another pen for the rest of my life. Street Meat: People in T.O., treasure what you have there in terms of street meat, because you will never find it again anywhere else. Sakura Festival: This weekend was the Cherry Blossoms Festival in D.C., so we walked around the Tidal Basin to see the cherry trees and attend the festival. The interesting thing is, even though D.C. supposedly has one of the largest African American populations in the country, during the day light, in downtown D.C., they are nowhere to be seen. So we walked through all the monuments, Jefferson, Koreran War, WWII, Roosevelt, and got home just in time for dinner. Virginia: At night, we headed up to Virginia for some more sushi and Korean barbeque. The town I went to in Virginia reminded me a lot of just the usual suburbs, seemed nice and safe. 04/03/06 The Mall: The area between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Memorial is called The Mall, with numerous museums and government departments. Before I headed to D.C., I had grand plans to going through everything in the Mall. But when the time came for me to go, I realized that nothing much in D.C. interested me anymore. Although many of the buildings in D.C. were visually stimulating, none of them were picture-worthy. Stones and marbles all look the same, they are nice to look at, but there is nothing beyond that. Emotionless things don't make good pictures. The Capitol: When I was ten minutes walking distance away from the Capitol, the Supreme Court, and the Congress Library, I stopped and deliberated, and decided that I simply was not interested in seeing them. In travelling, you can learn a lot about yourself. Holocaust Museum: This is one of the museums in The Mall. I'd like to come back to visit this museum later. From the outside, it looked like D.C. put a lot of efforts into this museum. Which made me wonder. Would D.C. also put in the same amount of efforts into building a Hiroshima museum? Chinatown and the Metro: We went for lunch at Tony Chang's, something like the best Chinese restaurant in D.C.. If that is true, then I feel sorry for the D.C. people. Before I forget, the D.C. metro system is definitely worth mentioning. Not only is the whole ticketing system, the different train routes, and the scheduling extremely well done, the design of the underground metro stations are also the cleanest I have seen, and as grand as subway stations can go. Pentagon: My attempt to enter the Pentagon failed. But I did see a lot of officers in their marine uniforms and little interesting hats. And when I was flying out of Ronald Reagan, I got a nice aerial view of the pentagon. Arlington: Interestingly enough, my visit to the Arlington National Cemetery turned out to be the highlight of my trip. It was about 27 degrees, I left my hotel with a jacket and 2 sweaters, by the time I got to Arlington, I was in a tank top. Walking through this massive cemetery was so peaceful, and affected me much more than all the marvelous stones and marbles in downtown D.C.. I saw the Kennedys' grave, along with thousands and thousands of other people that died for this country. If I lived next to a cemetery, I wouldn't mind going there every morning for a walk and some solitude. Thoughts: Sometimes, downtown D.C., where the most powerful and influential people in the country work, seems like a bubble, an isolated rigid castle. How can congressmen make decisions on behalf of a people that they don't even relate to? Can they really advocate for the needs of the people in poverty that they don't even know exist? These are probably old questions that have been asked long ago. But have they been answered? The Melting Pot: To switch to a lighter note, my lab has an annual dinner every Monday of the AACR. This year, we went to The Melting Pot in Dupont Circle. We started with a cheese fondue course, moved on to an entree fondue dipping lobster and fish in soup, and ended with a chocolate fondue dessert which was delicious. Old Men: At the lab dinner, I had a strange experience with one of my boss's collaborators, a professor at Yale, who, according to my lab manager and friends, was "totally oogling" me, and gave me his card and asked me to visit him in Yale. While this totally disturbed me, my lab manager said I should use this to my advantage to advance my career. Geez! As if this was not enough, when we went out to the Old Ebbit for a drink after dinner, I was propositioned by another 50 year old man, who then proceeded to buy us a super taster from the best oyster and fresh seafood bar in D.C.. Free food and drinks is nice, but why am I attracting old men?? 04/04/06 Tapas: Believe it or not, this was my frist time having tapas. That was super yummy!! Then later D took me out for sushi bar which was again super yummy!! This trip was totally a nice break from Chestnut meal plan. Got ready to go home! 04/05/06 Ronald Reagan: You know what's funny? If you fly from T.O. to D.C. through Ronald Reagan, the security is super tight, and they open and check every single piece of luggage. But, when you are flying back from D.C. to T.O., they tell you through the announcement, "please put away your photo identification, we do not need to look at them." Because we do not care what kind of people are going to Canada, we only care about us!
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