Cherry Blossoms Festival In Washington DC
The Cherry Blossoms Festival in Washington DC was just PERFECT….it seemed like Spring Break Part Deux! Despite the fact that Ji Won (Korea) organized this trip and apparently I was the only one going...everything seemed to fall into place in the end. The weather, the company, the friends I made, the scenery, the monuments…mmm…it’s all good…
Anyway, we started off via chugging our luggage to State College Airport to rent our car. We rented a compact car for $16/day, but they ran out of it and gave us a free upgrade to a full sized, mean assed Nissan Altima…WHAT A DEAL! Since we expected the drive to be really short, so she decided that she’d drive throughout the trip and I’ll be her trusty navigator / F&B servant…
We left in perfect weather at Noon, reaching DC in less than 4 hours. We repeatedly played the CD “Classic Meets Cuba”, a mix of classical, jazz and Cuban music...
Upon reaching DC, we were stuck in gridlock traffic. My god…I swore I could have killed the traffic and urban planners of DC…they simply couldn’t keep it simple…at certain times you could not make a left / right turn, at certain times you could not park at certain places, various roundabouts…etc etc…it’s a crappy place to drive in…Yet the scenery was interesting…drove past all the monuments etc..but the urban decadence, the presence of slums within blocks from the white house…the dichotomy between the rich and poor really appalled me…well…as I always said, “welcome to America…”
We eventually landed ourselves at a neighbourhood which Ji Won’s ex Mexican room mate was staying. Ceci was a really bubbly 22 yr old student whom invited us to watch her older sister’s Opera recital…We took the train, and went to this Mansion / recital hall…and gosh…I was really shocked. It was a socialite event and everyone was dressed to the nines whereas scrumpy old Norman was dressed in an untucked long sleeved Van Heusen, with Levis and Business shoes…not to say that it was informal at all,....but when you’re in such an occasion…erm…you get the point…Ji Won was basically Mexican instead of Korean…she knew the entire extended family of Ceci! Wow…..ha…but anyway the concert was “interesting”…for the fact that for someone who appreciates jazz so much more, it’s hard to “convert”.
Anyway we went for dinner which Ceci’s parents hosted at a local diners…I was really uncomfortable…as there they were with all the family and friends and I was a yellow asian gentleman who appeared out of no where…I mean at least Ji Won stayed with them for 6 months at their mansion..But their kind hospitality eventually negated any form of discomfort..
We next headed out to the club…a Latin Club and did salsa, meringue etc…pricy…but I made so much friends! All related to Ceci and family…we then headed back to the mansion for the night at Potomac (which is the equivalent of the classy Beverly Hills in the West Coast USA). Slept at 5am….only to be woken up by Ceci’s parents at7.30 who came into our guest room which we were sleeping in and told us to get ready to go…otherwise we were really gonna miss the show and get caught in the traffic…Ji Won mumbled something and eventually still slept till 8.45am…really funny.
We left the mansion and drove straight to the festival area. We took 45 min to find parking….it’s that bad…We went straight to a bakery to grab some bread and soup before taking a wonderful sunny stroll to the festival area, “occasionally” stopping to take pictures (eventually we took more than 250 pictures in 2 days…fierce rite?) Walked past the World Bank…and eventually sat by the pavement to watch the festival go by.
This next part was the most memorable one in the trip, the picture of clear blue skies, warm weather, the grass covered with shades of green, white and pink, and the monuments lined with pink / white hued Sakura and cherry blossom trees…absolutely lovely…
We stopped by to take a rest and lunch on the ground…and again went trigger happy with the camera. After which, we took a slow stroll to see some monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Potomac River, Vietnam Was Memorial etc…One thing that irked me were the famous “American” quotes inscribed on the walls…they mention things about being the arsenal of democracy…liberation…etc etc…I feel it’s all so rhetorical, and that it took so long for them to build memorials like the WW II and Korean memorials….decades after the war passed…it says so much about them…But the memorials were solemn nonetheless…
We then went to meet her 26yr old friend Ozoda, from Tajakistan who had 2 kids already…We drove to a mall as I said I wanted to do some shopping and they wanted coffee and needed to do some catching up. I bought almost $80 worth of stuff…but none of it was for me…ha..I only had a simple Starbucks coffee… Bought a camisole from GAP for Alice, a polo T from Arepostle for Hannah and Ji Won respectively, chocolates for Ceci’s family and for the Singaporean gang, as well as for Ozoda who treated us to dinner….I was shocked to receive a gift from Ozoda too…she said that my girlfriend would like it…and it was a nightie from Victoria Secrets…man…it’s a season of giving…
Anyway we drove back to the Potomac Mansion and bought beer and Mango Malibu liquor for the family. We had a few drinks before retiring back to bed…
The next morning, I took an unguided tour of the place before leaving it…my gosh…it was huge…aesthetically pleasing yet for excessively flaunting the their richness. They had a lot of double glazed glass panels surrounding the home…and on the roofs so that gave a lot of natural lighting. They had basement with a full sized drum set / guitar, sofa, bar counter, guest rooms and toilet. They faced the backyard…which was lined with glass panels…and guess what…their backyard was a forest…with their own little river creek and canoe..The ground floor balcony had lined the house and opened up to the forest…boy…it was really peaceful to be out in the balcony…the fresh air, the penetrating glow of the rising sun, the birds chirping, and the soft and soothing flow of the stream was rejuvenating…
We eventually left the place before 8am and took less than four hours to reach back State College..The trip was absolutely beautiful…with perfect weather, company, gregarious hospitality etc…something that I’de remember for a while…until then…
Anyway, we started off via chugging our luggage to State College Airport to rent our car. We rented a compact car for $16/day, but they ran out of it and gave us a free upgrade to a full sized, mean assed Nissan Altima…WHAT A DEAL! Since we expected the drive to be really short, so she decided that she’d drive throughout the trip and I’ll be her trusty navigator / F&B servant…
We left in perfect weather at Noon, reaching DC in less than 4 hours. We repeatedly played the CD “Classic Meets Cuba”, a mix of classical, jazz and Cuban music...
Upon reaching DC, we were stuck in gridlock traffic. My god…I swore I could have killed the traffic and urban planners of DC…they simply couldn’t keep it simple…at certain times you could not make a left / right turn, at certain times you could not park at certain places, various roundabouts…etc etc…it’s a crappy place to drive in…Yet the scenery was interesting…drove past all the monuments etc..but the urban decadence, the presence of slums within blocks from the white house…the dichotomy between the rich and poor really appalled me…well…as I always said, “welcome to America…”
We eventually landed ourselves at a neighbourhood which Ji Won’s ex Mexican room mate was staying. Ceci was a really bubbly 22 yr old student whom invited us to watch her older sister’s Opera recital…We took the train, and went to this Mansion / recital hall…and gosh…I was really shocked. It was a socialite event and everyone was dressed to the nines whereas scrumpy old Norman was dressed in an untucked long sleeved Van Heusen, with Levis and Business shoes…not to say that it was informal at all,....but when you’re in such an occasion…erm…you get the point…Ji Won was basically Mexican instead of Korean…she knew the entire extended family of Ceci! Wow…..ha…but anyway the concert was “interesting”…for the fact that for someone who appreciates jazz so much more, it’s hard to “convert”.
Anyway we went for dinner which Ceci’s parents hosted at a local diners…I was really uncomfortable…as there they were with all the family and friends and I was a yellow asian gentleman who appeared out of no where…I mean at least Ji Won stayed with them for 6 months at their mansion..But their kind hospitality eventually negated any form of discomfort..
We next headed out to the club…a Latin Club and did salsa, meringue etc…pricy…but I made so much friends! All related to Ceci and family…we then headed back to the mansion for the night at Potomac (which is the equivalent of the classy Beverly Hills in the West Coast USA). Slept at 5am….only to be woken up by Ceci’s parents at7.30 who came into our guest room which we were sleeping in and told us to get ready to go…otherwise we were really gonna miss the show and get caught in the traffic…Ji Won mumbled something and eventually still slept till 8.45am…really funny.
We left the mansion and drove straight to the festival area. We took 45 min to find parking….it’s that bad…We went straight to a bakery to grab some bread and soup before taking a wonderful sunny stroll to the festival area, “occasionally” stopping to take pictures (eventually we took more than 250 pictures in 2 days…fierce rite?) Walked past the World Bank…and eventually sat by the pavement to watch the festival go by.
This next part was the most memorable one in the trip, the picture of clear blue skies, warm weather, the grass covered with shades of green, white and pink, and the monuments lined with pink / white hued Sakura and cherry blossom trees…absolutely lovely…
We stopped by to take a rest and lunch on the ground…and again went trigger happy with the camera. After which, we took a slow stroll to see some monuments such as the Lincoln Memorial, the Potomac River, Vietnam Was Memorial etc…One thing that irked me were the famous “American” quotes inscribed on the walls…they mention things about being the arsenal of democracy…liberation…etc etc…I feel it’s all so rhetorical, and that it took so long for them to build memorials like the WW II and Korean memorials….decades after the war passed…it says so much about them…But the memorials were solemn nonetheless…
We then went to meet her 26yr old friend Ozoda, from Tajakistan who had 2 kids already…We drove to a mall as I said I wanted to do some shopping and they wanted coffee and needed to do some catching up. I bought almost $80 worth of stuff…but none of it was for me…ha..I only had a simple Starbucks coffee… Bought a camisole from GAP for Alice, a polo T from Arepostle for Hannah and Ji Won respectively, chocolates for Ceci’s family and for the Singaporean gang, as well as for Ozoda who treated us to dinner….I was shocked to receive a gift from Ozoda too…she said that my girlfriend would like it…and it was a nightie from Victoria Secrets…man…it’s a season of giving…
Anyway we drove back to the Potomac Mansion and bought beer and Mango Malibu liquor for the family. We had a few drinks before retiring back to bed…
The next morning, I took an unguided tour of the place before leaving it…my gosh…it was huge…aesthetically pleasing yet for excessively flaunting the their richness. They had a lot of double glazed glass panels surrounding the home…and on the roofs so that gave a lot of natural lighting. They had basement with a full sized drum set / guitar, sofa, bar counter, guest rooms and toilet. They faced the backyard…which was lined with glass panels…and guess what…their backyard was a forest…with their own little river creek and canoe..The ground floor balcony had lined the house and opened up to the forest…boy…it was really peaceful to be out in the balcony…the fresh air, the penetrating glow of the rising sun, the birds chirping, and the soft and soothing flow of the stream was rejuvenating…
We eventually left the place before 8am and took less than four hours to reach back State College..The trip was absolutely beautiful…with perfect weather, company, gregarious hospitality etc…something that I’de remember for a while…until then…
posted by Norman Ng at 2:14 AM
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