Thai Green Curry? or Green Tea Ice Cream?

Monuments at Night

Saurabh redeemed part of his birthday gift last night for a photography course teaching him how to take photographs of the monuments in the night. I went with him for the ride. I have always wanted to go to see the monuments in the night, and this was a good excuse. I took a book 'coz I figured I would get bored with all the million photos they'd take.

We met the instructor, David Luria, in front of the World War II Memorial. There was a class of 17 students that day. The first thing he taught them was how to make moving cars and people disappear from your photo. It is pretty darn cool what a tripod and increased shutter speeds can accomplish.

Making people disappear - If you look closely on the bottom right corner you can see the person's feet. The rest of him is gone! I picked a photo with feet showing up to prove the disappearing act! :)

After, they took photos of the Washington Monument, they moved on to the fountains in the WWII Memorial. At the WWII Memorial, I grabbed a seat and another lady who also had come along for the ride joined me. Reading was put to one side and Jill and I conversed for the remaining 3 hours of this class. She and her husband Pete had moved to DC from Cambridge about 9 months back for a total for 3ish years in the US.

The WWII Memorial looked absolutely gorgeous in the night, with the water and the lights. I LOVED it. (I am going to have a hard time picking a photo for the blog)

World War II Memorial with the Lincoln Memorial in the background

The class then moved onto a ramp in the WWII Memorial. Jill and I were busy talking, we checked on them one moment, and the next they were gone! Luckily Saurabh called me and we caught up with them at the Korean War Memorial. The Korean War Memorial is very interesting. The soldiers are captured as if in combat. They are all lit from below by a single source. David told them, that if they take photos in black and white the statues look like real people. However, in colour they look like statues.

World War II Memorial from the Ramp

Korean War Memorial

From there, the troop headed to the Lincoln Memorial to take photos of the memorial, the man himself and the reflecting pool. The reflection in the reflecting pool at night is simply gorgeous. Last night was also windless, thereby making the water still and creating perfect reflections.

Lincoln!!

When the evening started we saw no moon in the sky, however, by the time we got to the Lincoln Memorial the moon was rising and was an orangish-red ball. It looked stunning!!!

Red Moon!!!! + Washington Monument + Capitol + Reflecting Pool

Once they had their fill of photos at the Lincoln Memorial, we headed to the Vietnam Memorial. There, they took photos of the 3 soldiers. It was past 11 by then, so David left. A few students headed by themselves to the Einstein Memorial where the class was supposed to end. I had never actually been to this memorial before though I had passed by it many times on foot and in a car. It's an excellent memorial and I love how they have done Einstein's Celestial Map on the base of the memorial.

Vietnam War Memorial

Einstein Memorial + Me!!!!

We got done by around 11:20 and headed home then.

-photo credits go to Saurabh :)

Yes, More Pilates! :D

I got an email last evening letting us know that they moved things around and that the Pilates class will now be at 6:50AM instead of the usual 6:45AM! Yay!! A 5 minute change is no big deal! Weeee! :D :D :D :D

Whiteouts. Fire Hydrant. Windshield Wiper.

This morning in boot camps Edwin had has do these different work outs that I thought had interesting names.

Whiteout

This one was BAD. We had to get into a squat position and then for 10 seconds jump taking our legs in and out. Then, right after 10 seconds of holding a squat. Repeat! This we did fora minute straight. After a little break, we did it for 40 seconds!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Fire Hydrant

Basically, this is like getting into a dog pee-ing position, as the photos shows. It kills the glutes! We did it 10 times on each side and repeated that thrice.

After this basic one we had to rotate our legs. One at a time. First going forward. Doing 2 sets of 10 on eachside . Then going backwards. Again, doing 2 sets of 10 on each side.

Windshield Wiper

We had our legs up straight, not bent like in this photo

We lied down on our back with our legs lifted at a 90 degree angle to our torso. Then, we moved them to one side and then to ther other, so it looked like a windshield wiper working.

RIP Mr Joe (or Mr Theo Albrecht)!!

Thank you for all the wonderful foods your brought into my life. They brought me much happyness!!

Mr Albrecht passed away on July 24th, 2010. He was a German businessman who brought the Trader Joe's grocery chain to the United States. He and his brother, Karl, made their fortune after taking over their parents' grocery store. They turned it into the international Aldi chain.

No More Pilates :(

This morning after class Erin informed us that there was going to be a change in the timings for the pilates class to 9:00/9:30 in the morning. It is impossible for me to make class at that time, so I am going to be limited to pilates only on Sundays. I had this going so well for 2 months! Boo! :(. I kinda did see it coming since I was often the only person in the class. siiiigh! I will miss you immensely, pilates!

Cuban Corner

This afternoon Houda, Chris B. and I went to Cuban Corner to buy lunch. The restaurant is decorated interestingly. The ceiling is painted as the sky with clouds and the tops of palm trees. Some of the walls is covered with paintings of Cuban historic events. Most of the walls are covered with name plates of prominent Cubans and their designations. Some were:

Gustavo Villageliu
Member, Board of Immigration Apeals

Rene Echevarria
Producer, Script Writer, Star Trek

Eduardo Aguirre
Vice Chairman and First Vice President, Export-Import Bank of the United States

The menu looked SO appetizing. I had the hardest time deciding what I wanted to order. I eventually decided on getting the Rope Vieja or 'Old Rags' (This savory shredded flank stew gets that way because it is cooked until the meat falls apart, earning the Cuban name ''old rags''. Cooked with tomato sauce, wine and spices) and Yuca Frita on the side. Houda ordered an appetizer of Tostones Rellenas (Stuffed Fried Green Plantain--Choice of steak, ground beef, Cuban style, Combo, Shrimp in, assorted) with shrimp. I tried some of it.

The Ropa Vieja was nice. Not something I would crave or necessarily want to get again. But, I do want to go back to place to try some other stuff. The restaurant is expensive though. The tostones was really good. The shrimp was a little fishy, but I would like to try it with the ground beef.

Tostones Rellenas with shrimp

Ropa Vieja and Yuca Frita - Does this not look like an Indian home meal - dal, chawal, sabzi, meat? heh heh

What the...?

This morning, I took the stairs down and as I was walking out on the ground (or American first) floor, I saw a man by the elevator. I was about to wish him good morning when he said "Jesus thinks you are beautiful. Jesus loves you." WHAT THE...??? I just kept looking at him, feeling stunned. He then wished me a good day and I reciprocated that. Then, as I was leaving the building I heard him in the background clapping and chanting something. !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, I know people like this are present. I have encountered them walking on the road. But IN the Chancery?? I was completely stunned!

Ah well..Good Morning to me!

Don't like McDonalds, but they do seem to have an Amazing Marketing/Creative Department

Wind, Debris, Storm and Shelter

After lunch, Sapna dropped us off near the National Air and Space Museum. We were waiting for a bus when we noticed the storm clouds heading our way. Then, this insane gust of wind and debris began and we had to stand backing it as it all came hurtling towards us. After that calmed down a bit, the rain came, slowly at first so we took shelter right outside the museum. Soon, the guards from inside summoned everyone in and once in we heard an announcement saying the building was now a shelter for the storm coming and everyone should move away from glass walls. It was mighty crowded inside. It felt kinda cool to be in a shelter. Hehe!

The silly storm made us miss our movie! We were going to go for Despicable Me. Oh well...!

Apparently, because of this storm there were power cuts all across the DC area leaving 28,000 people without power!!!!

There was debris all over DC!!

Sheltering at the Air and Space Museum

The crowd in was insane! A lot due to DC being filled with Scouts this weekend, I think

Wet Roads

Satay Sarinah

For lunch this afternoon we went to Satay Sarinah with Saurabh's collegue, Sapna and two of her friends, Jesse and Julia. Satay Sarinah is in Alexandria, VA. We got the Ikan rica-rica (deep fried catch of the day with chilly ginger - we got the Tilapia) and the Udang balado (Jumbo shrimp sautéed in red chilli sauce). Both dishes were excellent, but I especially LOVED the shrimp. So well prepared!!! I would definitely want to go back to this place just for the shrimp.

For dessert we got the green tea ice cream which was really good. What I really like about green tea ice cream is its light taste. It provides the perfecting ending to a meal. I think it is easily climbing up to be one of my favourite ice cream flavours.

Ikan rica-rica

Udang balado

Green Tea Ice Cream

Rishita in DC!!!! FINALLY!!!!!

Last week Rishita got in touch with me telling me she is going to be in DC this week. She came in on Tuesday but was working until Friday. She picked me up Friday evening after the mani and pedi and we drove back to my apartment. After cooling off from the soaring temperatures a bit we headed to get some coffee. We came home, relaxed a bit, got ready and headed out to Oyamel for dinner. Oyamel serves mexican food. Antojitos (or small plates) is what they have to offer. One thing they advertise a lot is the guacamole. They make it fresh at your table! The guacamole was pretty darn good. To drink, we ordered a pitcher of the Oyamel's Ponche (white wine, Simebra Azul, Patron Citronge, agave nectar and a blend of tropical fruits). It was absolutely delicious! I could have easily shared another pitcher full! To eat, we ordered the guacamole, Cóctel de camarón y jaiba (Shrimp & crab ceviche with tomato sauce, avocado, red onions and tortilla chips), Camarones al Mojo de Ajo Negro (Shrimp sautéed with shallots, arbol chile, poblano chile, lime and sweet aged black garlic), Arrachera con salsa molcajete y nopales escabeche (Grilled skirt steak in a sauce of grilled tomatoes, tomatillos, green onions, cilantro and green chile, garnished with pickled cactus paddle), Flautas de pato con mole miahauteco (Pan fried tortillas filled with duck confit, served with pickled cabbage, onions, queso fresco and a traditional Miahauteco mole of chiles, almonds and Mexican chocolate), (Saurabh ordered) Carnitas con salsa de tomatillo (Confit of baby pig with green tomatillo sauce, pork rinds, onions and cilantro) and a special for the day was a squash blossom dish whose name I can't recall, but this is what it was: squash blossoms stuffed with Westfield Farm goat cheese, poblano chile and epazote. The duck was my least favourite. I just had a couple of bites and couldn't eat any more. The interesting thing about it was that the chocolate was not sweet. Everything else was absolutely delicious! Of special note was the sautéed shrimp! I think I am going to have dreams about it! SO GOOD! After dinner, which ended at midnight, we stepped out into the 89F sweltering heat. After much difficulty in finding a cab, then losing it fruitlessly (silly Ping Pong closed at 12!!!), and then finally finding another cab, we went to ChiCha lounge on U Street. We shared the peach/orange hookah and sat enjoying the music and being very entertained by a bachelorette party comprising extremely energetic girls.

The table with the ingredients for the fresh guacamole Our waiter sets about making the guacamole He is now mixing all the ingredients make a delicious blend! mmmm....guacamole!!!

On Saturday, we woke up late, decided to brave the insane heat and headed to Adams Morgan. There we went to Slaviya for brunch. There we both had the Mango Juilus which is mango juice with milk, sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla ice cream. Both of us asked for it without the ice cream. It was nice, but nothing great. We shared an order of the calamari and then I got the Eggs Norwegian (two poached eggs with spinach and smoked salmon on English muffin with hollandaise sauce, roasted potatoes). The entire dish was delicious, but of special note were the potatoes. Some of the tastiest potatoes I have ever had! yummmm!!! Slaviya was previously Left Bank. When it was Left Bank we had gone there for brunch on New Year's Day.

Eggs Norwegian + DELISH potatoes!

After brunch, we went to Something Sweet, came home, Rish picked her stuff up and headed to leave for the airport. It was so wonderful meeting her after so many years and catching up!! :) I have been asking her to come to DC since foreverrrr! I am glad she finally made it and spent the extra day with me! :)

DC is melting!!!!

Today is the second day with soaring mercury! At midnight last night it was 89F!!! Today, my ice cream started melting so fast the moment I stepped out that I had to gobble it down. Five minutes later I had forgotten that I had eaten an ice cream.

Walking outside, it felt like I was in Muscat with almost NO ONE on the roads. DC is just going through insane weather this year! 5 months back we had 2 blizzards and now we have record breaking temps for the area

Fishies Nibbled on my Feet!!

Houda and I went to Yvonne's Day Spa to redeem the specialicious coupon that Houda had bought for me and herself. It was for a fish pedicure and a manicure.

The spa we went to today was different from the one I had gone to last time with Mamta. This one on South Glebe, Arlington is their newest branch and they have individual massage chairs with a tub in which the put the water and the fish for you. As opposed to the other place where it was one tank that was separate and each person immersed their feet in a separated part of the tank.

I didn't giggle at all this time as the fish began to nibble on my feet. I was surprised by that, since I was uncontrollable the last time. Most time as the fish nibble on your dead skin it feels like gentle pinching, sometimes the pinches get a little strong. Nothing that hurts, thought. After 20 minutes with the fish, they give us a pedicure. We upgraded from the regular pedicure to a spa pedicure. It was nice being pampered after a long time.

After that we got a manicure and then I waited for Rishita to come and pick me up. :)

Happy Feet!

Pretty in Pink

Ray's Hell Burger

Today Houda and I went to Ray's Hell Burger for lunch. I had read about it in the Express a couple of weeks back when they had a feature on non fastfood burger joints. Obama has been here a couple of times, once treating Russian president Dmitry Medvedev here.

It is a small restaurant and extremely crowded. They only take cash. When you enter, someone hands you a menu, you stand in line, place your order, get a number, find a table, settle down and a waiter will bring you your food. I got "make your own burger" with the Grilled (seasoned with their secret steak blend) burger, Vermont White Cheddar, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, cognac and sherry sautéed mushrooms and roasted garlic. I got the Ray's Heck sauce as well as the Fiery Piranha sauce on the side. I really liked the Fiery Piranha sauce, which tastes a little like green chutney but with a stronger jalapeno flavour and a light cilantro flavour. I didn't care too much for the Ray's Heck sauce.

The burger was just completely delicious and possibly one of the best I have ever had. mmmmmmmmmmmm. This place lives up to the hype I heard.

The restaurant from outside

The inside. Crowded and for good reason!

The ordering window

My burger served!!!! At this point I had no idea of the deliciousness that awaited me

Littul littul birdie...

This morning as I was walking to class I noticed the litttttle yellow and black bird. It had the most curious movement in the air. It looked like it was was jumping and leaping while in the air. I loved it. Then, again, as I left work, I saw another one go from my side of the pavement on to a tree in its curious jump-leap motion. Today was the first time I noticed this bird, and then I see it twice in 2 different locations! I didn't know the bird, so I had to come home and look it up. It is an American Goldfinch. And, according to this website, "Goldfinches fly with a bouncy, undulating pattern and often call in flight, drawing attention to themselves." :). It definitely drew my attention to it, twice today!

It was pink outside! :-o

After a 10 minute insane downpour this evening, I looked out the window and it was PINK outside!!! :-o

BBC's New Look

Sometime last week, BBC brought out a new look to its website. I strongly despise it. It looks like cheap news websites that try to distract readers from the terrible content they have with large fonts, colours and a flashy look. Ick! The font looks so casual...blaaaah!

BBC has good news, still. Why did they adopt such a trashy look?? :(

What the old bbc looked like. I miss it! :(

Flag in the Bushes

We were walking down Mass Ave, when I noticed these bushes! They look like the Nigerian flag! :)

Beachy Saturday

We went to Rehoboth beach yesterday for the day. It was a hot hot day...but it was nice to get out, feel the sand (even though it was piping hot) in our toes, have the cold salty water lapping our legs and splashing our clothes in the 90 degree heat and just lay on the beach reading. Yay for summer!