Detour - NYC Part II

You won't believe where we went next.

Yep. We got to see the Yankees v Mets, day game, not the one listed on the sign. It was a great game, tons of HR, the Yankees' All-Star calibre team, the fact that we got to see Yankee Stadium.

Yankee stadium side. See how the subway train drives right by the gap?


Hideki Matsui at bat. I think Derek Jeter is by far their most popular player though, and he was insanely good this game.

We even got to see a rain delay!

Yanks won 11-8. Their closer almost messed up as badly as the Padres' closer does.

Detour - NYC Part I

Over the weekend, I took the Chinatown bus to NYC...

It took five hours. I can tell you, there's nothing to see in Delaware, its famous bridge serves as a gate to New Jersey. And there's nothing to see in New Jersey, because its tunnel serves as a gate to New York. First thing I did was go buy some jeans at Uniqlo's US flagship store. I bought the exact duplicate of the pair I got in Tokyo, because it's the only good thing that Uniqlo sells.

I played tourist the next day....Times Square again.


This M/M shop isn't quite as good as the one in Vegas, but it's definitely NY themed.

Funny video...

Last night I went out went out w/some coworkers. (GOOD).

Nice lounge, no cover. (GOOD).

It was a work-organized social event with another public interest group. (Uhh...).

Reviews say it's a gay hot spot. (Uhh...)

People broke out a hookah and everyone shared the same pipe with other strangers. (Uhh..)

Mixed drinks cost $10-12. (BAD).

Half the group had never seen or heard of edamame. (BAD)

It starts pouring as in "I've never seen it rain this hard" and "oh it'll stop in an hour" and it doesn't and that's how I went home. (BAD)

Images like the one below are plastered all over my workplace. It's from a set of prints they did called observing surveillance. I don't think it's that funny, but what is funny is how much everyone at work loves these pictures.

Today's been blehhhh......I had a meeting from 9-10. Another one from 1130-2. And one more at 3.30. I can already see myself working overtime this week. And it's supposed to rain =(

Today I went to the Nat'l Postal Museum (no pix). Nobody was there so I took the time to read all the exhibits. I think they have all the stamps in the world. They also have the Unabomber's handcuffs, and the wrapper that encased the Hope Diamond, which I saw in the Natural History Museum.

Tired today, don't want to go to work next week...

Pentagon Mall + Alexandria

** This series of posts starts @ Arlington 1. Start there and read up **

Next I went to Clarendon (metro stop in Arlington) for lunch at the Hard Times Cafe. They serve 4 types of chili and let you sample all four before you pick. Unfortunately, it's not my style - it's almost all meat and by almost I mean all. Also, I went alone, and even though the restaurant was completely empty, they tried to kick me out as soon as I put down my fork. Oh and other reasons why I hate them now: their food costs $1 more than on the online menu; they only offered me west coast draft beer; they charged me $3 for ice tea; their spicy chili is tame.

Then I went to the Pentagon City mall. It's so rich and fancy they had to attach a Ritz-Carlton to it. You can buy Ritz-Carlton gear at the hotel store. I went around looking for the cheapest price on soda. The winner....Asian family selling Cajun food.

Next I visited Alexandria. And by visited I mean, exited the train (not the train station) and took pictures from the platform. Someone told me Old Town is accessibly only by car or bus, and this seemed true. It's about a mile from Reagan airport that's why there's so many hotels. Here's one side of the platform:


On the other side there's the George Washington Mason Monument. I didn't go in, but I looked at it for a long time because the trains were on a 30min delay, and have been all week.

Finally I came back to Union Station.

Arlington Cemetary 3

So after walking for a GOD AWFUL LONG TIME IN NINETY DEGREE WEATHER, walking past a freeway entrance, I can finally see the memorial emerging before me. And you know what, it was totally worth the walk. Here's a size comparison for you:

The actual memorial. I uploaded these pictures in actual size so you can see all the details. We have a lot of room for more wars. And notice...the lack of crowds. The cemetary tour bus doesn't go here.

And the detail of the sculpture:

Arlington Cemetary 2

So then, still lost, I hiked all the way up to the little house on the hill. The sign tells me it's Arlington House and or the Robert E. Lee House. I think there's a slavery museum inside but the man wouldn't let me in. But you do get a view of the DC skyline.

See that little domed building on the right? That's the Jefferson Memorial. This is the best show I'll ever get, because it's not metro accessible. Although if you were really crazy, you could get a closer better shot from the Yellow line as it crosses the Potomac. To give you an idea of how far I've come, I live near the Capital building way way back there.

Looking down you can also see the Lincoln Memorial. If you were bat crazy, you could have walked here. About halfway down that road is the subway station.

Then I had two choices. Follow the crowds of overweight neon colored people to the tomb of the unknown soldier, and watch the changing of the guard, or go see the Iwo Jima Memorial. I picked the second. I couldn't do both, because they're about two miles away from each other and I think it's mile from the hill down to the metro. In simple terms: too much walking.

The Iwo Jima Memorial is so far that it's not actually on the tourist map. You need to physically leave the cemetary, and the walk some MORE. So after leaving the cemetary and walking a lot, I saw this "bell tower." The Netherlands gave it to us as a symbol of friendship. The writing says "from the people of the Netherlands to the People of the United States."