Washington D.C. is steeped in history - in so much history that it is taking me a gazillion years to wrap my small minute brain around it all.
Hence, hence.
I shan't try to pretend to be knowledgeable and bring all of you on a historical tour around this city. (I was planning to read up on Washington D.C. and to provide all of you with a sort of 'historical tour' around the town. But homework beckons and my lack of interest in history just won't sustain this endeavor. Most of you SHOULD already know that I have a great aversion towards history - partly because most history is depressing and also because I'm lazy. )
Instead, I shall do my usual - vapid commentary accompanied with cries of hilarity at my pictures, together with copied-and-pasted information from the all trustworthy wikipedia.
:)
WASHINGTON D.C.
Washington, D.C. (pronounced /ˈwɒʃɪŋtən ˌdiːˈsiː/), formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790
1790! That's friggin old . :S
So now, presenting to you,
OUR JOURNEY ACROSS D.C.!Info: WE WALKED ALL AROUND D.C.
NO BUS
NO TAXI
NO TRISHAW
(there ARE trishaws around D.C. So funny hor!)
This is the view from the bus as we entered D.C.D.C. is an extrremely neat neat neat city. Everything seems to be perfect. Kinda scary though actually. hmmmmmm.
Oh, this is before we reached D.C. The bus went horribly close to the walls in the Holland Tunnel. I have no idea where it is so I'm gonna wiki it now:The Holland Tunnel is a highway tunnel under the Hudson River connecting the island of Manhattan in New York City with Jersey City, New Jersey at Interstate 78 on the mainland.
Alrighty, so now you learn something and I learn something as well.
This is called a
symbiotic relationship.
A whatever picture of an eating place.Got american flag.
We should suggest to the Kopitiams to put the Singaporean flag.
Kopitiams are SO SO SO SO SO unique to Singapore can.
We should patent it.
There's currently Obama fever in Wash D.C. So yea, this was the first store I came across with Obama paraphernalia.
The bus we took is called the 'Chinatown bus'.Ok the company wasn't called Chinatown bus. but this bus service plies the Chinatowns of the Cities of America.
Chinatown (N.Y.) to Chinatown (D.C.)
hence, the start point if you click on the picture above to open a larger version, is at Chinatown.
A Sunbathing Doggie.notice the cleanliness of the streets. So nice right. Feels like clean and green Singapore. hahaha.
Chinese food is cheap and sometimes good.This time round, I was lucky and the restaurant we went to was good.
Looks not bad right?!
This was hilarious because we didn't really know if there were many many nice buildings in Washington D.C., so we immediately began cam-whoring with the first 'grand' looking building that we came across. This is the museum of american art - on hindsight, the building looks kinda sad.haha.
Steph and Shufen doing their thang.Alright!
Now time for our first pit stop:
FORD'S THEATRE ( PIT STOP 1)Ford's Theatre is a historic theatre in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. After being shot, the fatally wounded President was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning at 7:22 am. The theatre and house are preserved together as Ford's Theatre National Historic Site.
( I think I'm beginning to look abit fat. But I have been hitting the gym 4 times a week so I shouldn't be getting fatter. Hmm)Too bad Ford's theatre was closed
:(
View of the Capitol from pennsylvania avenue.Breathtaking.
(at the intersection of the blue and orange lines in the map I have , looking South-east towards capitol)
OK, you MUST click on this to see the word.It's very funny because on all the federal buildings, there are inscriptions pertaining to the field that the building deals with. So this was like their IRAS.
and the quote was:
TAXES ARE WHAT WE PAY FOR A CIVILISED SOCIETY - OLIVER (SOMETHING)
so I'm thinking, the Singaporean governmental offices should do the samething!
Just that right, we probably won't have that many quotes from Singaporean people.
hmmmmm.
Someone should write these things down and propose to the garvment la.
Nice building right?But too bad I can't remember what it was.
hmm. I think its the environment building or something la.
The buildings in the federal triangle are gorgeous, but they somehow look the same after a while to the architecturally untrained eye. hmmmm.
PIT STOP 2:
Smithsonian: Museum of American History!
The Smithsonian Institution (pronounced /smɪθsoʊnɪən/) is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazine. Most of its facilities are located in Washington, D.C., but its 19 museums, zoo, and 9 research centers include sites in New York City, Virginia, Panama, and elsewhere. It has over 136 million items in its collections,[1] publishes a monthly magazine named Smithsonian and employs the Smithsonian Police to protect visitors, staff and the property of the museums
I want to educate all of you about something.
There are MANY smithsonian museums.
Well because little 井底之蛙 me did not know anything about the Smithsonians, you could imagine how embarrased I was when it was revealed to the rest that I thought there was only ONE smithsonian - the Smithsonian Castle.
Urgh.
"the smithsonian is over there!" All the while next to one other Smithsonian.
I don't have many pictures in this museum becauseI DONT LIKE MUSEUMS.
THEY FREAK ME OUT.
ALL THOSE OLD STUFF!
Ok, so I HAD to take a picture of Dumbo.
Dumbo occupies a special place in my heart:
Dear family, do you not remember the time when we queued FOREVER to take the ONE AND ONLY RIDE in Disneyland - the DUMBO ride?
hmmmmmmm
PIT STOP 3,4,5 :
3. Washington Monument
4. World War 2 Memorial
5. Lincoln Memorial
The Washington Monument is a large, tall, sand-colored obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It is a United States Presidential Memorial constructed to commemorate the first U.S. president, George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and sandstone, is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk,[n 1] standing 555 feet 5⅛ inches (169.294 m) in height
I really like the washington monument.Because it is pretty.
Look!
So many ducks on the lawn of the monument!
Green Shit from Duck
Duck Droppings on the pavement
Duck footsteps on the soilI'm not exactly sure they're ducks though.
Video of the ducks and the monument, sorry bout the sound, but it was REALLY windy there. NICE.
Ok I'm not going to let the ducks take over my blog post, let's go back to the monument.
The lift door to go up the monument.
It was really breathtaking from the top of the monument.This is the shadow of the monument. See, it's the only tall structure in the whole of that area.
Pretty.
Ain't that cool!
It required some photography skills to get the settings so that we could have the view OUTSIDE and still have me in the picture, not all dark and yucky.
That's a replica of the tip of the monument, with inscriptions on it.
490 Feet! ho ho ho.
Following is a video of the viewing gallery.
You HAVE to watch this video as we were going down the lift of the monument.
There were like OLD carvings on the stones of the monuement. VERY cool, VERY pretty.
But the funny thing is , the window of the lift goes from Opaque to clear as we pass by stones with carvings, just like the LRT in Singapore. Yes, it's dramatic and awe inducing,
BUT RIGHT,
I wanna ask, why cant they just let the windows be clear all the time?
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
At the base of the monument at sunset.
It wasn't this bright actually.
This is a gorgeous group picture.:)
Sunset!well, we then proceeded to the world war 2 memorial and the lincoln memorial, but sadly my camera ran out of battery and all my photos are still on my friends' cameras. Oh well
Shall post them later!
Ok, so we next TREKKED to our hotel. Ok la, wasn't that far, but in the blistering cold, it seemed a million miles. heh.
Pitstop 6: STATE PLAZA HOTEL
Hotel was nice, but what's the point of posting hotel pics hor.So I just cam whored abit for your enlightenment.
Next Day Pitstop 7: IMF and World Bank
This is the one of the buildings of the IMF.It was really funny because as we left our hotel, we walked and walked and as we came to a building, I commented that it resembled a HDB building.
It turned out that the building was the IMF building! Well, I think IMF has a few buildings, but still! Rather unimpressive. hahaha. Oh well, nvm, must save money!
Pitstop 8: White House
Another smithsonian around the white house area:
DEDICATED TO ART! we didn't go in though. Not enough time!
Some random protestor outside the white house.His placard read something like
"Christians left the Jews in a desert land, bring them to rich France, Italy, America" or something.
Dunno what he's trying to accomplish la.
This was a tour group on segways. OMG. I was SO SO SO envious.SO SO SO ENVIOUS
Wash D.C. is the perfect place to have a Segway, with all it's level streets and smooth pavements, I can imagine travelling around the whole of d.c. on a segway.
Steph doing her thang.
White house visitor's centre
These people share the same birthmonth as me !I don't know who they are!
But they're all presidents and First ladies!
Whatever!
The following is interesting:
Federal representation and taxation
Citizens of the District of Columbia have no voting representation in Congress. They are represented in the House of Representatives by a non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes NortonD.C. At-Large), who may sit on committees, participate in debate, and introduce legislation, but cannot vote on the House floor. D.C. has no representation in the United States Senate. Unlike U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico or Guam, which also have non-voting delegates, citizens of the District of Columbia are subject to all U.S. federal taxes.[153] In the financial year 2007, D.C. residents and businesses paid $20.4 billion in federal taxes; more than the taxes collected from 19 states and the highest federal taxes per capita.[154]
The sign alternates between the amount of taxes they have paid and the unofficial slogan "Taxation Without Representation"Do we also have 'Taxation without Representation"?
hehehehehe.
But Nevermind la!
Walkover then walkover lor. haha.
So fierce!Pitstop 9: National Archieves
The national Archives has to be the nicest building in the whole of D.C.
Getting lazy to comment already.
Pitstop 10: The Capitol
The United States Capitol serves as the seat of government for the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It is located in Washington, D.C., on top of Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Although not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the quadrants of the district are divided. Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts." Historically, however, the east front was initially the side of the building intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries.
The United States Capitol serves as the seat of government for the United States Congress, the legislative branch of the U.S. federal government. It is located in Washington, D.C., on top of Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Although not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the quadrants of the district are divided. Officially, both the east and west sides of the Capitol are referred to as "fronts." Historically, however, the east front was initially the side of the building intended for the arrival of visitors and dignitaries.
This has nothing to do with the capitol. But when we first arrived in D.C, I was wondering howcome there were so many sea gulls - they were everywhere!
Well, when we reached the Capitol, my question was answered.
There's this huge pond outside of the capitol and there were so many gulls in it.I'm very sure that pond single handedly supports the entire gull population can.
Gull on ice.
GullSSSSSS on ice.
The pit of Obama's Inaugeration!Partly dismantled but still there though.
Pitstop 11: Aerospace Museum
Steph really wanted to go to this museum, so we went there.Fun and interesting place.
Pitstop 12: Middle of the Mall
Ok so this wasn't exactly a 'pitstop'
Just that, we were VERY lucky that as we were walking back towards Chinatown to catch our bus, the sun was setting and it afforded us a very breathtaking and beautiful view.
Watch the 2 videos! They're from different angles, the second one is prettier though:
You MUST watch the second one, LOOK AT THE COLOURS!
And the sun sets RIGHT BEHIND THE MONUMENT.
GORGEOUS.
On the trip back.
I thoroughly enjoy long bus rides. I can never fall asleep for a long time in a bus and so, much of the time is spent gazing out at the scenes that pass by. All the snow and forest and brightly lit trucks!
I will always remember the first long bus ride I had in the states - during the Destination Imagination trip we had to Tennessee back in 2000. (Dedrick, if you're reading this, I'm sure you remember it!) I remember feeling the coldness of the window on my hand and hearing the incessant humming of the engine.
How fast time flies.
Oh well , time and tide wait for no men !
Hence, hence.
Ciao people, hope all of you are taking good care of yourselves
- always remember to stay healthy and be happy !
:)
0 comments:
Post a Comment