*HEALTH WARNING*
*Looooooong series of consolidated posts (3 posts in total).*
*Do not read if you do not have 36 hours to spare, or are a law student/lawyer, who has already been sufficiently tortured by all the font 6 textbooks which run into thousands of pages, or the innumerable badly written convoluted judgments.*
*For the rest of you… enjoy!*
We spent a total of 4 nights in Washington DC, which was the 3rd part of our honeymoon. We thoroughly enjoyed Miami and the Caribbean Cruise (and its ports of call), so it was with a lot of excitement that we arrived in DC because we were expecting it to be just as great if not better.
I am glad to say that DC did not disappoint.
Day 1
We arrived in DC from Miami on 20 June 2008, and checked into Hotel Harrington.
Hotel Harrington is an old hotel, so it was pretty much no-frills, but yet clean and very affordable. The great thing about the hotel is that it is extremely conveniently located. It is a stone’s throw away from the subway, and many of the sights in DC.
We could (and did) walk from the hotel to all the museums at the Mall (more on that later), to the White House, and even to some of the monuments (although the monuments were slightly farther away).
[Day 1: Hotel Harrington]
After we checked in, the Wife and I went food hunting as it was approaching dinner time. As we were just several streets away from DC’s Chinatown, we decided to check the place out and assuage our Chinese food craving (we had, afterall, been away and deprived of Chinese food for almost 2 weeks by then).
Chinatown in DC is fairly small. It covers only a couple of streets, but is marked at its entrance by this huge Chinese Archway.
[Day 1: Chinatown]
There are numerous eateries along Chinatown, and I am glad to report that we had the good fortune of fortuitously picking an extremely good one, and that was our dinner place for 3 nights out of the 4 that we stayed in DC – Yes… we love and missed our Chinese food that much, and the food there was really THAT GOOD. : )
After dinner, we took a leisurely stroll back towards our hotel and that took us along Pennsylvania Avenue, where we took this nice shot of the US Capitol.
After dinner, we took a leisurely stroll back towards our hotel and that took us along Pennsylvania Avenue, where we took this nice shot of the US Capitol.
[Day 1: Night Shot along Penn Ave of US Capitol ]
Really could not have asked for more for our first day/night in DC. Hugely satisfying dinner, leisurely stroll, and a nice night view… we were in Heaven.
Day 2
I was responsible for planning the DC leg of the honeymoon, and in accordance with my character, decided to pack our days with numerous places of interest to visit (which the Wife found out to her horror meant loads and loads of walking on end from sight to sight and point to point - sorry darling, I will plan less walking in future… heh).
Our first stop was the National Museum of Natural History.
I was responsible for planning the DC leg of the honeymoon, and in accordance with my character, decided to pack our days with numerous places of interest to visit (which the Wife found out to her horror meant loads and loads of walking on end from sight to sight and point to point - sorry darling, I will plan less walking in future… heh).
Our first stop was the National Museum of Natural History.
[Day 2: Museum of Natural History ]
[Day 2: Inside the Musuem Lobby]
The Museum is huge and has many different exhibition halls/rooms showing various different displays of natural history, including the dinosaurs, natural gemstones, mammals, African history & evolution etc.
We spent several hours at the Museum, caught an IMAX film on dinosaurs, and we loved the time we spent there.
The dinosaurs section was fun and exciting and obviously a crowd favourite. From the exhibits, I learnt that there are three broad eras in the evolution, namely the Paleozoic Era (570 to 230 million years ago); Mesozoic Era (230 to 65 million years ago); and Cenozoic (the past 65 million years up to now).
[Day 2: T-Rex Attack]
Also, did you know that apparently modern man assumed his distinctive form at least 35,000 years ago?
[Day 2: Shot of Skull of a Homosapien - 35,000 years old]
The gemstones section was interesting (they had on display the world’s largest blue diamond (which as the myth goes, is cursed – see, told you girls that diamonds are EVIL! : ); unfortunately, the Wife was not too convinced though, sigh).
[Day 2: World’s largest Blue Diamond – but its cursed ]
The African history one was highly educational (and I wished we had more time to linger on), but we had to rush off to catch a film at the National Museum of American Indians and didn’t have more time to spend there.
So, off we went to the National Museum of American Indians…
So, off we went to the National Museum of American Indians…
[Day 2: Wall Motif in the National Musuem of American Indians ]
[Day 2: Us with a sculpture in the Musuem of American Indians ]
The best part of the visit to the Indians’ Museum was the short film - “A Thousand Roads” that we caught. It’s a 40-minute film on the contemporary living of some Indian descendants in the modern world.
They featured 4 different individuals from different parts of the Americas and how they had such different lives, but yet were rooted in their origin and calling for their own people, their own land etc. They were, afterall, the native people living in the Americas before the immigrants/colonial conquerors/explorers found and settled in America.
It was inspiring and moving.
Both the Wife and I agreed that it was a fantastic film. Glad we caught it.
The rest of the exhibits were slightly depressing, as they showed how the Indians were being marginalized by the new settlers, and by the immigrants, and forced out of their lands and their natural and traditional way of living.
Many of the tribes were forced to resettle after losing the battle for their homeland and traditional way of living. Yet… they resolutely seek to hold on to their roots and some of their traditions, so that they and their children will always know from whence they came and who they truly are.
It’s a timely reminder for the Wife and I that we need to always remember our roots, culture, and tradition. No matter how progressive we have become, its important that we always remember from whence we came, who we truly are, and hold on to our roots.
Next stop – and still on day 2 (told you I packed our days… grin…) – was the Museum of Space and Air.
We rushed there to try to catch another IMAX show – “3D Sun”. It’s a documentary about how the astronomers, astrophysicists, and space people came up with a way to take shots of the Sun in 3D, and how it is important in developing a more sophisticated way of monitoring the sun and the space storms which are caused by the Sun, which have a significant impact on the Earth and all the planets around.
It was a highly technical film, and somewhat boring (albeit highly informative and educational). The Wife didn’t like it at all – science is not her thing, but I quite enjoyed the information that the film provided. It was not the best of the 3 films, but certainly no less informative than the rest nevertheless.
The coolest part of the visit to the Space Museum, however, was the shopping at the gift shop – grin.
We bought freezed-dried ice-cream that were designed for spacemen to eat in space. So Isabella, Charlotte, Rachel, Rebecca, Ryan, Regan & Rowena, look forward to some cool spacemen ice-cream. We got one for each of you!
We bought some glow-in-the-dark stars & planets for Rachel & Rebecca (cos we remembered Rachel & Rebecca wanted them a lot).
We bought glow-in-the-dark t-shirts for Ryan & Regan, and many other cool stuff : ).
They featured 4 different individuals from different parts of the Americas and how they had such different lives, but yet were rooted in their origin and calling for their own people, their own land etc. They were, afterall, the native people living in the Americas before the immigrants/colonial conquerors/explorers found and settled in America.
It was inspiring and moving.
Both the Wife and I agreed that it was a fantastic film. Glad we caught it.
The rest of the exhibits were slightly depressing, as they showed how the Indians were being marginalized by the new settlers, and by the immigrants, and forced out of their lands and their natural and traditional way of living.
Many of the tribes were forced to resettle after losing the battle for their homeland and traditional way of living. Yet… they resolutely seek to hold on to their roots and some of their traditions, so that they and their children will always know from whence they came and who they truly are.
It’s a timely reminder for the Wife and I that we need to always remember our roots, culture, and tradition. No matter how progressive we have become, its important that we always remember from whence we came, who we truly are, and hold on to our roots.
Next stop – and still on day 2 (told you I packed our days… grin…) – was the Museum of Space and Air.
We rushed there to try to catch another IMAX show – “3D Sun”. It’s a documentary about how the astronomers, astrophysicists, and space people came up with a way to take shots of the Sun in 3D, and how it is important in developing a more sophisticated way of monitoring the sun and the space storms which are caused by the Sun, which have a significant impact on the Earth and all the planets around.
It was a highly technical film, and somewhat boring (albeit highly informative and educational). The Wife didn’t like it at all – science is not her thing, but I quite enjoyed the information that the film provided. It was not the best of the 3 films, but certainly no less informative than the rest nevertheless.
The coolest part of the visit to the Space Museum, however, was the shopping at the gift shop – grin.
We bought freezed-dried ice-cream that were designed for spacemen to eat in space. So Isabella, Charlotte, Rachel, Rebecca, Ryan, Regan & Rowena, look forward to some cool spacemen ice-cream. We got one for each of you!
We bought some glow-in-the-dark stars & planets for Rachel & Rebecca (cos we remembered Rachel & Rebecca wanted them a lot).
We bought glow-in-the-dark t-shirts for Ryan & Regan, and many other cool stuff : ).
[Day 2: Museum of Space & Air]
After we were done with the museums… we took a long long walk (and the Wife will gladly confirm that it was a LONG LONG LONG walk) back towards our hotel, with the objective of stopping by the White House enroute.
It was a nice walk for me… I love walking leisurely while on holiday, but it was a little too much for the Wife, who would have preferred a taxi ride any day, particularly since there were no shops and stuff along the way to distract her from the monotony and exertions. To be fair, it was several kilometers, it was midday in the middle of summer (so it was fairly warm), and not many Singaporeans will be accustomed to walking such distances to begin with. I therefore really appreciate the Wife for putting up with it and not complaining (well – not too much anyways) about walking all the way with me.
Love you darling, and thanks for being a sport!
Along the way, we walked past the US Treasury Department Building, and the Wife (after several kilometers of walking), had a stroke of inspiration. She whipped out a dollar note for a photo at the Treasury Building.
It’s a cute shot, no?
It was a nice walk for me… I love walking leisurely while on holiday, but it was a little too much for the Wife, who would have preferred a taxi ride any day, particularly since there were no shops and stuff along the way to distract her from the monotony and exertions. To be fair, it was several kilometers, it was midday in the middle of summer (so it was fairly warm), and not many Singaporeans will be accustomed to walking such distances to begin with. I therefore really appreciate the Wife for putting up with it and not complaining (well – not too much anyways) about walking all the way with me.
Love you darling, and thanks for being a sport!
Along the way, we walked past the US Treasury Department Building, and the Wife (after several kilometers of walking), had a stroke of inspiration. She whipped out a dollar note for a photo at the Treasury Building.
It’s a cute shot, no?
[Day 2: US Treasury Dept Building & The Wife with an American dollar bill]
After the photo, and a few more blocks later, we finally arrived at the White House.
I must say it actually looks really ordinary in real life.
Had it not been for the police patrol cars, innumerous photo-snapping tourists, and US flag, it could so easily have been passed off as some normal run-of-the-mill rich guy’s private residence.
In any case, we took a picture of the White House. I mean, after all, we are tourists, and we should be doing all the touristy things since we were there…don’t you agree? Heh heh.
I must say it actually looks really ordinary in real life.
Had it not been for the police patrol cars, innumerous photo-snapping tourists, and US flag, it could so easily have been passed off as some normal run-of-the-mill rich guy’s private residence.
In any case, we took a picture of the White House. I mean, after all, we are tourists, and we should be doing all the touristy things since we were there…don’t you agree? Heh heh.
[Day 2: The White House ]
And so… that capped the end of a packed itinerary of sightseeing for our 2nd day in DC.
- WWCS
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