saturday with sheri, pt. 2, or dc at dusk

though sheri and i had only planned on brunch and the newseum, we were still up for more activities. but we couldn't decide what to do. i mentioned that i'd never been to the lincoln memorial, so she said we should go. but first, we stopped at a stand so she could buy kitschy washingtoniana stuff for a friend's care package.

then we thought, we should probably eat dinner first. we didn't know where we should go. then we sat in front of the natural history museum (which was already closed), trying to figure out what to do. she had to call a friend to tell us where to go. lol. we ended up eating at teaism, where i got my usual chicken bento, along with mango juice.


then, we we went to walk along the national mall, just when it turned to dusk. it was pretty warm out, and there were lots of people about. it also happened to be a full moon. first photo stop: the world war ii memorial to the left and the reflecting pool and lincoln memorial to the right.



definitely, nice views. but the reflecting pool was full of mosquitoes, so we had to walk further out, along the trees. when we got to the lincoln memorial, i took this picture of the reflecting pool and the washington monument and the full moon.


and here's a picture of the lincoln's statue. i finally got to see it.


it was lovely evening for a walk. the full moon was a nice touch to seeing the monuments. we finally parted ways around 9:30pm. what a wonderful day and evening...

sharing saturday with sheri, pt. 1, or cuisine and culture

on saturday (august 16), i had plans to see my friend, sheri. as i've mentioned, i scheduled my trip during restaurant week, and i scheduled brunch for us at bistro bis. i had actually eaten there during restaurant week in january, and i wanted to go again.

for appetizer, i think i had the salad frisee with au lardons, while sheri had a melon appetizer. (i forgot to take pictures!). for the main entree, i had the quiche aux champignons (pictured below), and sheri had the french toast (not pictured). i actually had the french toast in january, and it was yummy. the quiche was good, too, but one of the salads--either the appetizer or the one that came with the quiche (can't remember which)--was too bitter for me.


for dessert, sheri had the cheesecake brulee (i think), and i had the chocolate toffee bread pudding. this bread pudding was basically the reason i wanted to eat here again. last year, i ate at 1789, and they had really delicious bread pudding. unfortunately, the dessert chef left so they don't have that on their menu anymore. so, i was excited to have some good bread pudding, though i have to say i wasn't as wowed with it the second time, as i was the first time. (along the bread pudding line, i enjoyed the one served at disneyland's storytellers cafe.)



after brunch, we walked from the restaurant to the newseum. i had never been there, so i was glad when sheri suggested it when we were making plans. it's rather expensive ($20 for adults), especially considering all the free museums in dc, but it's a great place.

before you even enter the museum, they have a display of the front pages of newspapers from each state and select countries. the display actually starts in the today's front pages gallery inside the museum, and those displayed outside are additional ones. it's cool to see something before one even goes inside the museum, though. and it's amazing because people have to cull through the papers everyday to select what goes on display.

among the exhibits, we saw: the bloomberg internet, tv and radio gallery, the pulitzer prize photographs gallery, the time warner world news gallery, and the journalists memorial (pictured below).


we also saw the berlin wall gallery (see pictures below), where a portion of the original wall is displayed. an east german guard tower is also included.




we also watched "i-witness: a 4-d travel time adventure." sheri and i agreed that that, in itself, was worth the price of admission.

we saved some time to browse in the shops, where we played with the toy microphones and pretended to be newscasters. below is a picture of the capitol taken from one of the shop windows.


we sure had fun eating and learning.

national harbor

on friday evening (august 15), we decided to go to the national harbor. they were still building it when i was in dc. sharon had never been there either. and there was live music on friday evenings during the summer. so, sharon, her friend (jessica), and i went on over in jessica's brand spanking new, salsa red, VW bug.

while there were shops and hotels and restaurants already, the area wasn't quite completely finished. still lots of construction to finish.

one of the things i had wanted to see at the national harbor was the sculpture, the awakening. i had wanted to see it before, but i never got to see it when it was still in hains point near the tidal basin. the sculpture is now at the harbor. here are some pics:





it's a cool sculpture. the kids certainly love it. i wish i could have taken a closer look. i wouldn't have minded playing with it, too.

we then proceeded to find dinner. sharon and i had previously decided that we wanted to eat at the national pastime sports bar & grill. but first, we had to find it. the restaurant is located in the gaylord national resort & convention center. it's this huge place with a cool (and immense) atrium.

the sports bar was fancy, too. sharon and jessica said it was the fanciest sports bar they'd ever been in. (i wouldn't really know since i don't usually frequent sports bars.) and the food was great! (here's the menu. check out the cute headings.)

we had the spinach & artichoke dip (not pictured) as an appetizer. for the main entree, i had the national's bbq ribs, with its yummy bourbon bbq sauce. sharon had (i think) the blackened chesapeake rockfish. not pictured was jessica's chicken tender basket.



afterwards, we went to go listen to the music. it was nice to see lots of folks there, many with their portable chairs. you can tell that many of them probably go there weekly to listen to the music. the music was too loud for us--they had the speakers way too loud--to really enjoy it, though. so we left.

that was a good evening.

travel day

travel day was a pain. i was travelling on a thursday, and i had to attend a last-minute meeting that morning. i had to come into work just for the meeting. i had to bring my suitcase on my vanpool and lug it across campus. a co-worker was kind enough to rush me to the airport as soon as the meeting was over.

then there was a two-hour delay during the layover. i felt bad for sharon, my former roommate. i was already coming in at night but, with the delay, i also came in 2 hours later, and she had to go to work early the next day.

it was so nice to be back in our old apartment again though--in my old room. it was peaceful and quiet and relaxing. i think i slept in and took a nap the next day!

dc in august

after 3 months in los angeles, i was ready to somewhere, anywhere. i really needed to be around friends, so i decided to go back to dc. i could only go for a few days, though, since i didn't have much vacation days (and i use up 2 days just for the travelling part).

i scheduled the trip during restaurant week, so i could go to a couple of restaurants and eat some good food. :)

another new blog

i'm starting a new blog. why, when i don't even write in the existing ones? i guess i keep trying to have themes in each blog, but don't really have time to write them.

i created the first blog, island dreamings, primarily because i wanted to document my trip to the philippines. i came back 5 1/2 months ago, and i still haven't finished writing about the trip, or even just posting pictures.

i created a second one, california dreamings, so new stuff won't get mixed in with the philippine trip. but, then, i think i was trying to make more of a professional/librarian blog, so that wasn't too exciting. plus, i really just didn't have any time--what with the new job and all.

this weekend, i'm going on a trip. so i've decided to create a new blog that's more about fun stuff--travelling and food, etc. hopefully, this will be more interesting--or at least better able to motivate me to post. here's hoping...