10/22/2004

Washington D.C

Hello folks! I’m back from Washington D.C! Yup! Before I start, my thanks go out to w’Note for standing in for me last week and for presenting the beautifully coloured Yoruki.

That’s right, it was the Fall Break over at UNC-CH last week, Su Li, Winston, Alwyn, Mat and I decided to use the few days to have fun in Washington D.C. Yeah, all five of us cramped into a room in a hotel known as Jury’s. The great thing about Jury’s is that it is not far from the Dupont Circle Metro Station.

Unlike Bangkok, it had been intolerably cold in Washington, the temperature there was at an average of 50 F or 10 Degree Celsius – in any sense it is just the complete opposite of what w’Note and Zen were experiencing in exotic Thailand. There’s nothing exotic about Washington – just pure majesty and beauty. We noticed that everyone we see on streets are very much richly and finely dressed! Everyone in Washington seems to be completely updated with the latest fashion trends! In Washington one finds one of the most beautiful buildings in America, shining in their Greek inspired beauty. As we walk along the streets we cannot help but to remind ourselves, that the greatest people had walked the very street which we are walking now…

The subway of Washington is simply amazing and one can practically get to anywhere in Washington via the subway, and it’s much cleaner compared to New York’s subway, at least according to Alwyn. Alwyn, had practically doubled up as our tour guide for this trip. He is simply so good at reading the street maps, that we learnt how to walk from one place to another in the capital without much of a hassle. Despite its “small” size, it still takes us a good hour to walk from George Town (the hippest shopping district) to our hotel! Amanda, a student from UNC, met up with us in Washington on our first night in Washington as she’s living in Maryland, and thanks to her, she helped reserved a place in the wildly popular Thai restaurant known as “Thaiphoon.” The food was great, but I was certain that it won’t be as authentic as the food in Bangkok!

We couldn’t finish viewing all the attractions in the short 4 days, thought we visited the essential memorials (Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War memorial, Union Station, etc), of the five museums located at the Smithsonian Institute I only visited 2! I was really glad however, that I manage to visit the Folger Shakespeare Library, one of biggest Shakespeare library in the world! If anything, all of us took pictures like crazy! All five of us had taken a total of 700 photos in 2 days. There is just so much to take, and so much to enjoy, just that everything was expensive though.

I thoroughly enjoyed the company I was with, it just happens that Winston, Alwyn and I shared the same kind of dry humour, and we simply enjoyed each another’s company. I admired Su li’s openness and willingness to sleep in the same hotel room with four guys! But we’re gentlemen anyway! Mat, the only French, took the most photos amongst us all! All thanks to his ultra-cool Nikon camera and gigantic memory card! I liked how he provided a French point of view to everything we had to offer. I must drag him to Singapore one day! Heh!

I miss Washington… but I prefer the people in North Carolina, they are so much friendlier and warm. There is a lot of truth behind the term Southern Hospitality. See ya next week for the conclusion to the fight!

 

Wataru

 

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