university of virginia

on monday (october 27), we woke up early so we could drive over to charlottesville, virginia. lan is thinking of graduate school, so she wanted to visit the university of virginia (uva) campus. i wanted to go leaf-peeping during this visit, so i figured we could both get what we want. and, anyway, i also didn't mind seeing the campus.

though we started out early and it was only supposed to be 2 1/2 hours away, we actually didn't get to the campus until 11. (it took us 3-3 1/2 hours.) we joined a campus tour that was already under way.

uva is a beautiful campus. founded and designed by thomas jefferson, it embodies jefferson's concept of an "academical village" of residences and classrooms around a large lawn. it, together with jefferson's home, monticello, has been designated a unesco world heritage site.

uva is built on land that was once owned by jefferson's good friend, james monroe.


the lawn and the surrounding buildings was and continue to be the locus of campus. at the head of the lawn is the rotunda, which is patterned after the pantheon in rome. the rotunda used to house the library and was meant to be the focal point. this is unlike other universities of the time where the church or chapel were the centers of campus. here are three shots of the building: taken from the front (actually i'm not sure which side is the front, but this is the side that is not on the lawn side) with a statue of jefferson in front, from the side, and the pillars overlooking the lawn.



for some reason, i don't have a picture of the rotunda taken from the lawn. but here are pics taken from the rotunda, looking out at the lawn.



other views, including the chapel and the amphitheater, taken from other spots.





here are some library-related shots: the alderman library, the clemons library, and clark hall/brown science & engineering library.




uva is a great campus. i didn't realize that it's a top university--currently ranked #2 public university (second only to my alma mater, uc berkeley), though sometimes ranked #1. if only it wasn't in such an out-of-the-way location (meaning, not near a big city), i might consider going to school there. (but what am i saying? i went to school in newfoundland of all places!)

dragon-boating

meann, my friend in the philippines, does dragon-boating. her team often gets together (though she often doesn't go) on weekends at the god-awful hours of 6 or 7am to practice on manila bay. when i've visited the philippines, she's asked if i wanted to go and paddle. i've always said no because 1) it's too early, 2) it's too hot even at those hours, 3) the bay is dirty and sometimes smelly close to the shore, 4) i don't know how to swim, and 5) they don't wear vests.

when i was there earlier this year, though, there was a dragon boat race. meann's team wasn't competing, so we just went and watched. here are some pics from that morning.





anyway, when the dates became set for my trip to dc, lan sent me an e-vite to the arboretum paddle. lan had paddled once before, and she invited lots of people to this event. sponsored by national capital area women's paddling association (ncawpa), members, family, and friends were invited to paddle up the anacostia river, dock for a potluck lunch at the national arboretum, and paddle back.

though i love the water, i'm really quite wary of anything that involves going in the middle of a body water because of the fact that i don't know how to swim. and i'm not exactly one for exercise either. but i figured this would be a safe thing, so in honor of meann, i decided to try it.

the event was supposed to start at 9am on sunday (october 26), but after getting vests and paddles, signing waiver forms, getting quick lesson on what to do, and warm-ups, we actually didn't leave the anacostia boathouse until about 10:15.


it was hard! when i first started, i was splashing the guy behind me so much. (and that's not fun, especially since the anacostia is filthy!) and i have absolutely no upper body strength, so i kept stopping. even though it was a cool morning, i quickly got hot from the vest and the exertion.

there were many newbies in the two boats, so we actually rested a lot. so, what was supposed to be a 45-minute paddle actually took us 90 minutes. it was almost noon when we got to the arboretum--that was supposed to be our estimated time of return to the boathouse.

needless to say, we were starving and immediately zoomed in to the food. thank goodness for hand sanitizer because, after getting our hands wet in that river, we certainly wouldn't want to be touching finger foods.


we were supposed to start rowing back at 1:30, so i decided to go to the restroom. this girl and i went together, but then we decided to follow two other people ahead of us. what was supposed to be a 10-minute walk turned into a 30-minute walk, since we ended up at the visitor center. it was 1:30 when we got there, and we still had to walk back. i was not a happy camper. (and i'm sure the folks who had to wait for us weren't either.)

the paddle back was even harder. i changed sides, so it was like learning all over again. and i was behind someone who was new, so i kept getting splashed (karma or what?). we raced the last 250m with the other boat. it was 3pm by the time we got back to the boathouse.

however, by the time we were done, my butt was hurting. later that afternoon, my lower back was hurting. by the next day, my shoulders and arms and legs were hurting. i was saying "ow" all day.

that was definitely an experience. i think we'd have been better off if we were paddling at a slower pace--long, slow strokes instead of their normal pace--so that we wouldn't have been so tired out and we could have gotten down the technique better. but i don't think i would mind trying it again. but it would be useless if they do their normal pace because i wouldn't be able to build endurance or learn proper techniques.

(i couldn't take pictures while we were paddling since my stuff were in the dry bag. one of lan's friends did, though, so hopefully i'll be able to get hold of a couple of the pics and post them here.)

fish pedicure

i took the red eye on friday night (october 24) and arrived in dc around 8:30 am. my friend, lan, picked me up from the airport. the two of us, along with two of lan's friends, had a 10:15 fish pedicure appointment at yvonne hair and nails in suburban alexandria. but i was hungry, so we first had to stop for breakfast. we were supposed to eat on the way to the salon, but we took the wrong exit, so we had breakfast at steam cafe in dupont circle. the food was so-so.

lan, her friend, chang-i, and i headed off to alexandria. we were running very late and lan's other friend, anh, was already waiting for us. anh is actually the one who discovered this place. she'd seen it on tv, so she tried it. this was her third time here.

this salon is supposedly the only one in the country that has this service. the salon and this particular service have gotten a lot of press. you can search online for articles and videos.

according to chang-i, this service is popular in south korea. it's also popular in other asian countries. basically, you put your feet in a tank full of small, flesh-eating carp. they nibble or suck off the dead skin off your feet.



it's a very weird feeling. you'd think it might be ticklish but it actually isn't like that. but it is very strange. there were a lot of customers, including a few girls. they screamed and giggled when they first felt it. we were sort of giggling, too, actually.


after 15 minutes of the fish nibbling, then you can have your actual pedicure. two of us had a regular pedicure, and two of us had the ocean spa pedicure. the spa pedicure basically included a bunch of treatments, leg massage, hot towel wrap, etc. so here are the final products. i have the purple sparkly nail polish.



though i think the actual pedicure left something to be desired (i still like the normal pedicures i've gotten), the fish and the spa parts were an experience. the whole thing was pricey, but it's certainly worth doing once (or more times).

dc in october

i had planned on visiting dc in october so that i could go leaf-peeping, but circumstances changed, and i had to forgo of those plans. fortunately, something came up, & i used that as a reason to go to dc after all.

unfortunately, my good friends, sharon and sheri, were out of town the time i was there, so i didn't get to hang out with them at all. but i still got to do some very interesting things.

last day

i didn't have any grand plans on the last day of my trip. i went over to the library of congress and had lunch with my friend, julius. then i talked to some of former colleagues in the humanities and social sciences division. it was good to see them again.

i actually also did something work-related and met with one of the southeast asian librarians in the asian division. they happened to have a visitor from the philippines that day, so i got to see some the philippine and filipino-american materials that they had put up for display.

that evening, sharon and i had tapas at la tasca in old town alexandria. alas, i forgot to take pictures (that hunger again).

the following morning, i was off to la.

sunday dinner at willow

as part of restaurant week, the other restaurant for which i had made a reservation was willow restaurant in arlington. i had been wanting to eat there since last year, but circumstances never allowed it. so, i finally got to go, and i went with sharon, sam, and erin. (unfortunately, since this was months ago, i can't quite remember the names of what we ate, but i'll try anyway.)

for appetizers, we had the heirloom tomato salad, gazpacho, gnocchi with prawns (?), and crispy crabcake.




for our main entrees, we had: a fish dish (?), sausage-wrapped rack of pork, and pepper crusted fillet mignon medallions.




i actually don't remember what these desserts are. i think we had a lava cake of sorts (?), something with peach, hazelnut chocolate cake (?), and lemon tart.





even though i can't quite remember the names of the food, i do remember that we liked the place and we enjoyed the food. this is the second restaurant week that all four of us had gone to a restaurant together, and both occasions have been successes. looking forward to the next time...

sunday in the park

since i wanted to do something nature-related during this visit, sharon, jessica, and i took a sunday morning walk around theodore roosevelt island. people had mentioned this island to me before, and i'd never been there, so we decided to go. it was a great decision.


from the parking lot, we had to cross a bridge to get to the island. from this bridge, one can see across to dc, and specifically georgetown. on this sunday morning, there were lots of kayakers on the potomac river.


once we got on one of the trails, we quickly encountered this seeming obstacle course.



towards the center of the island, the trail becomes a wooden walkway (though there were runners, along with the walkers and dogs). it's very interesting the juxtaposition of the man-made walkway and the wild surroundings, as well as the natural preserve and the metropolitan.



here are some pics of the flora and fauna: a butterfly flitting among the flowers, a dead log, and a fuzzy caterpillar.




in this city of monuments, there is, of course, a monument on this island--one dedicated to its namesake. there is a statue of roosevelt, surrounded by trees, water elements, and excerpts of his writings sculpted on big concrete plaques.








on the way out, took these pictures of dc, the river, and some ducks.




we had a great walk around the park. we topped it off by having sunday brunch at mancini's in alexandria. they have great, big breakfasts. (i forgot to take pictures. i guess i was too hungry.) what a lovely way to spend a sunday morning!