Washington D.C, Friday and Saturday

I mentioned that I should do at least one entry each week, so as not to flood readers and myself with so many details, but I didn't blog last week, even though two weekends back we went on what should be among our biggest road trips here: Washington D.C. But its okay to blog this week, because last weekend we did not go out anywhere. We all needed a rest after the Washington D.C. trip, and before we all head off for Spring Break this week.

Right now, however, I need to churn this out, or I will be flying off tomorrow for Spring Break!

Right two weekends ago, we set off to Washington D.C. After a series of relatively non eventful weekends [Richmond was a little of a 'meh'], we were wondering where to go that weekend. Someone mentioned D.C, and off we went.


The girls couldn't join us, so its seven guys in one MPV, or as they call it here, minivan.


We set off on Friday evening, and we reached after a five hour drive.


It was not late enough for us to sleep yet, so we drove to nearby Chinatown to hunt for food. Interestingly but not surprisingly, most shops here come with Chinese names.


Oops too bright. But one can easily guess what those circles are.








Reminded me of Malaysia's Chinatown.


Unfortunately there wasn't much to do at Chinatown at night, so we drove around a little. The Capitol at night.

At the Capitol we were first approached by a policeman on night patrol, because we stopped by the roadside to take photos like the one above. Luckily he was friendly and simply came to check if our car was in trouble. Or so he said.

Unfortunately our encounter with the Police did not end there. After we got on the car, our friend forgot to turn on the headlights, and after a minute out of the Capitol premises we were stopped by a police car. It caused a little commotion because our friends went out of the car when we were supposed to stay in it. Luckily we were let off with a warning for the headlights.

Saturday morning we were up and about in the morning.


View outside our hotel. Maybe it was a little pricey, but it was last minute planning and we were all swarmed with work just before we came to D.C.


We were at the Capitol again!


Just opposite the Capitol: the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial.


A little pool in front of it.


Same spot, in the day.


Nearing the Capitol.


Not surprisingly, police on patrol.


National Mall. A stretch of open-area park that spans from the Capitol to the Washington Monument.


National Museum of the American Indian, which we did not go.


We went this instead: National Air and Space Museum.


Upon entrance, we were greeted by many of these special aircraft, mostly those that had achieved a 'first' before, like first supersonic aircraft for instance.


Lockheed U-2, a high attitude reconnaissance aircraft used during the height of the Cold War and played an important role during the Cuban Missile Crisis.


The Apollo Lunar Module that carried the first men to the Moon.


Space Shuttle Columbia.


Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. First U.S-Soviet space flight.


Assortment of missiles and rockets on display.


Wright Flyer, the first aircraft flown.


Mars Exploration Rover.


I was there when an ang moh role played this scene with his friend,  "Oh I know you are handling some extremely dangerous equipment, but I'm going to light up my weed beside you anyway."


Mustang! Probably the only WW2 fighter aircraft that I know of haha.


Predator UAV.


Mock up of the USS Enterprise. I think.

We didn't have much time to spend in the Air and Space Museum, so within an hour and a half we were already out. Was hoping I could stay longer.


We continued walking down the National Mall. Washington Monument in the distance.


Smithsonian Institution Building, or the Castle. Smithsonian Institution is in charge of nineteen museums and the Smithsonian Zoo around Washington D.C, and the best part is they are all free!


Finally we were reaching the Washington Monument, built to commemorate George Washington, the first president of the United States.

Unfortunately, due to the 2011 Virginia Earthquake, the Monument was closed to visitors. Hairline cracks were visible.


After that we began our walk back to the Capitol where we had parked our car. This is the National Museum of Natural History. Looked very popular, but we had no time for it,


A random horse cart.


Very nice limousine.

After that we drove to Chinatown for lunch.


Dunkin' Donuts in Chinese.


Tired and hungry, we were greeted to a very sumptuous meal of Chinese food. It had been almost two months since I last ate with chopsticks, and the food there was heavenly. The waitress, a Malaysian, instantly recognised us as Singaporeans.

After lunch we were on the move again.


Subway in Chinese.


Random photo of random construction cranes.


Next stop: National Geographic Museum.

We were not allowed to take photos inside, but we paid US$6 to enter the museum. The highlight exhibition was the Staffordshire Hoard from England, one of the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silverware ever found.


At night we went to Georgetown, an university town much like Chapel Hill. It was bustling with people on a Saturday night. Walked and had dinner there.

At night before retreating back to our hotel, we had a short stopover at the White House area for some night shots.


This is not the White House. Haha. This is the Treasury.


This is the White House. This is a zoomed-in shot; the closest we could get to was the fence.

Our Saturday night thus ended; it was very rushed, but very eye opening. Sunday's event there to come next, after my dinner.