Sunday, July 6, 2008

Texas and Bhutan in DC

On Friday, Mom and I had a picnic at Lafayette Park, a park adjacent to the White House (photo). We sat on the grass as we marveled at the number of tourists flocking to take photos at the gates of the White House. Indeed, July is a busy, touristy month in DC. It was a nice, breezy afternoon, so we decided to walk around the city. We took photos at the Washington Monument, explored fossils at the Museum of Natural History, fought our way through the crowd visiting the Smithsonian Castle, and joined the festivities at the Smithsonian's Folk Life Festival featuring Texas and Bhutan at the DC Mall.

At the Texas tent (it was huge), a band played country music while the dance floor filled up easily with couples. Of course, we just tapped our feet to the music. Soon, the enticing aroma of good ol' Texas barbecue saturated the air. The smell was heavenly, and tempting as it maybe to eat again, we decided to visit the Bhutanese tent instead. The Bhutanese showcase was impressive; it was filled with paintings and different works of art from Bhutan including a colorful sand mandala. There were monks demonstrating clay sculpture (photo), the process of color and paint preparation from natural/organic materials, and cooking Bhutanese recipes. Unfortunately, I found their taste too spicy.

Overall, it was a fun weekend, as Mom and I shopped at the Amish owned Lancaster County Dutch Market on Saturday, and haggled prices at the Bethesda flea market earlier today. After going through a disheartening experience six months ago, this is the first time I feel happy again.

8 comments:

  1. Kayni, I am so glad that you feel happy again.

    Here's to many more happy moments :)

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  2. Clay sculpture is interesting. How was July 4 there?

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  3. oh i hope you found good buys at the flea market. glad you are feeling happy, sorry to hear that you've had some bad experience/phase in your life - but that's all part of life, sad to say :( cheers to the many happy moments coming your way.

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  4. I visited DC 11 years ago and, come to think of it, we were there in July. I remember walking around visiting the sights you mentioned. My favorite would be the Lincoln Memorial, I still have to get my photos there scanned to preserve it for posterity :-)

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  5. hi kayni,

    a nice walk around the city, good buys at the flea market, music you can tap your feet to, being with your mom, Bhutanese sculptures and mandalas - what a great way to spend the day. best of all was what you said last.

    :)

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  6. daphne, yes, it just hit me suddenly that i have so many good things to look forward to =). cheers to more happy moments.

    witsandnuts, july 4th was a blast. the fireworks reminded me more of new year, but they were beautiful up in the air.

    toni, i sure found good buys at the flea market. i found a really nice bag =). thanks. i know good things will come.

    bill, you really should preserve your photos =). wow, 11 years ago, i was still living in hawaii.

    angeli, thank you. it was a wonderful revelation and it was out-of-the-blue. i'm glad i'm seeing things in a different "good" way these day.

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  7. Hi, Kayni, It was great visiting your corner. I found it interesting and well written about my country though. All the best ahead !

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  8. Hello my friend from Bhutan. I'm glad to see you here. Please visit often.

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