China trip, Days 1-2

Day 1.

We arrived (meaning me and my dad) at the Beijing airport at 8:00 pm. From the air, the Beijing area doesn't look like much. First there are the mountains, brown and tan, then the little villages with blue and red roofs. Then there are blocks of tall apartment buildings and finally the airport. I think the airport is quite ugly, like an alligator hide but my dad said it was a technological marvel.

Beijing at that time was unbearably hot. 95 degrees in fact. I tried to imagine how that could even work, as Beijing is about as far north as New York City. My grandparents on my dad's side owned two apartments in a neighborhood called Wangjing Hua Yuan (literally Wangjing flower garden). The two apartments combined were probably a little over five hundred feet square but considering the fact that they are located in an excellent neighborhood in one of the largest cities in the world, they were pretty valuable (1 million RMB).

My grandfather had gone out and bought lamb before we arrived and had made a nice lamb soup for dinner. There was a large market near Wangjing Hua Yuan which would have given any health inspector a heart attack. However, I enjoyed multiple delicious cheap meals there with no adverse side effects.

Day 2.

My dad, my grandparents, and I went to Tiananmen Square. When we went there, it wasn't very crowded but there were still a ton of people. The place was full of flowers and flags and monuments. It was hemmed in by ancient structures and gigantic 1950's buildings. At the south border was the Qianmen complex (which was used in the dynastic days to trap marauding barbarians), at the east and west were huge monolithic complexes which were unremarkable except for their sheer size, and at the north was the one and only Tiananmen. My grandmother was insistent upon going up on Tiananmen itself; she remembered very clearly the day when Mao Zedong stood up there and gave his victory speech and she was repeating the opening line.

When we got up onto the gate, the view was breathtaking. The Square was laid out in front of us, as neat and orderly as could be. I remember thinking that there was no place in Washington DC, or maybe the entire US, that could compare. I also remember thinking that this would be a great place for President Snow (of the Hunger Games) to give a speech. The security was in the extreme levels. Plainclothes policemen were everywhere, except they didn't bother to pretend to act normal. It's almost as if they were saying, "Look how normal we are dressing. Any other tourist or sightseer could be another policeman."

We also went to Zhongshan Park, which was a small, and un-noteworthy park, filled with ancient trees and old pagodas.

Philly

I recently went to Philadelphia. Luckily, I stayed for only two days or then I would have been robbed or beaten up multiple times. Philadelphia is supposed to be the "City of Love" but no one cares about each other and everyone is rude. On every street corner and in every park, there are a dozen assorted goons, thugs, and homeless people. Steam constantly gushes out of the sidewalk and it smells bad because the steam is from the sewers. In the places with no steam, there are a bunch of smokers.

It was really hot when I went to Philly and there were people lounging around in the public fountains. It was no surprise that all the coins in the fountains had been picked up. However, there are some nice areas of Philly downtown. The historic section is rather pretty. It has gardens and old houses that are a great relief from the modern sections.

I went to the Philly art Museum, which was also pretty cool. It didn't only have art, it had weapons and suits of armor as well. I believe you had to pay to get in but I accidentally got in for free. The artifacts were pretty cool. They had a variety of different helmets and swords. There was also a medieval art section which was also pretty cool. It had stained glass and paintings with gold leaf and stuff. Besides art, it had reproductions of old houses, old artifacts, and glass ware.

Colorado

I spent the last week in Colorado, at three different locations. I went to Keystone Ski resort, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Boulder.

I went to Keystone because of the nice scenery. It was 9000 feet above sea level and there were some "small" mountains nearby. Keystone was a ski resort but since it was in the middle of summer, there was no snow. On the first day, I explored the nearby area, which had a small creek called Snake river. The second day, I hiked up Keystone mountain. It took me about 2 hours to hike 2000 feet. I did not take the path and went directly up the side of the mountain. The third day, I went boating on Lake Dillon and fished. I also visited Breckenridge, a small town that was pretty cool.

When I visited Rocky Mountain National Park, I stayed at Grand Lake. Grand Lake was another small town. It was in between two lakes called Lake Granby and Grand Lake. I stayed at the Historic Rapids Lodge and Restaurant. It had three cabins and a larger building that had rooms in it. It also had a nice restaurant that was on the Tonahutu creek. The National Park was also pretty cool. There were a lot of different animals. I saw a coyote, a couple of elk, a couple of deer, two buffaloes, a Stellar's Jay, a lot of chipmunks, some marmots, and some pikas. I had never seen a coyote or marmots or pikas before. The animals were probably used to humans being around them so some would come up to you and just stay there. There was one road that went through the park but there were many "pull over" points where you could stop and see the wildlife. There were lots of small lakes such as Bear lake.

Boulder was a nice place that had a pretty downtown. The downtown had a small "park" and some sculptures and stuff. I also went to Denver. Denver was ok. Half of the roads were blocked up and all the people looked like they were homeless. The only cool thing about Denver was the big blue bear. It was outside the convention center and it was looking into it. There were lots of old pianos lying around on the streets

Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center

I went to the SFUH Center. It was a large building filled with aircraft. It had hot air balloons, airplanes, helicopters, and gliders. One of its sections is dedicated to space. It has the shuttle Discovery along with a whole bunch of satellites and rockets. One thing that I have not seen anywhere else is a floating platform built for the Army. It could hover in the air and support the weight on one soldier. I also saw this thing called the Double Eagle which was an air balloon that transported two people across the Atlantic. One thing that is cool about the SFUH Center is that it has airplanes that are hanging from the ceiling and that there is a catwalk that goes to that level so you can see the airplanes clearly. It's not my first time coming there but it does have new stuff. For example, it has the space shuttle and it has also opened a Restoration Hangar. That's where you can see old planes being assembled. Presently, there is a Japanese WWII fighter plane being assembled. In the space center, they have a lot of missiles that were used by the army and navy but they look like mini airplanes instead of rockets. One weird plane that I saw was a German jet plane that was super fat and had a propeller that was probably 2 inches long. The most impressive thing they had was the Blackbird spy plane.

Newseum

I recently went to a museum about the media and reporting industries known as the Newseum. It was very cool. It had a lot of technological and interactive exhibits that covered from topics from the Berlin Wall to the FBI. I enjoyed looking and reading about the history of the media. There was a 15th century woodcut about the "Horrific massacre of Hugenots in Ambroise". I enjoyed the diversity of the exhibits. There were eight wall sections from the Berlin Wall, the Unabomber's cabin, old manuscripts, and a recreation of Tim Russert's office. I enjoyed the FBI exhibit since it was new and I have never seen anything like it before. It showed major tragedies such as Waco, Oklahoma City, and 9/11. It also explained how the media was involved. For example, the media did not act appropriately in the Waco Siege because one reporter actually told a Davidian that the FBI were going to lay siege. That allowed the Davidians to prepare for the raid. There was a large controversy surrounding Waco since there were fires that killed over 30 children and over 60 adults. Lots of people thought that the FBI had done it and that's also what the media thought. However the FBI's bosses made them not talk about it so they couldn't give their side of the story. The FBI also did a Lott of good things such as catching bank robbers and mafia dons. Some of the most famous people they caught/killed are John Dillinger, Charles Floyd, and other gangsters. There was also a Berlin Wall exhibit. There were eight pieces of the Wall and a checkpoint Charlie guard tower. They also had a tank trap. I feel that the media's response to the Berlin Wall wasn't correct or appropriate. They could easily have caused WWIII. The Western media Had trucks with loudspeakers that broadcasted anti-Soviet slogan and propagandas across to the other side.

Last week, 7/24/12 to 7/30/12, I stayed at Camp Powhatan. Camp Powhatan is in southwest Virginia. There is a creek that runs through it called the Big Mack and also a lake in it, called Lake Powhatan. It was a Scout camp that offered merit badge courses and stuff. We had a campsite right on the creek, it was called Big Max, and it had outrigger tents with cots. The cots had no mattresses so we had to use a sleeping pad to make ourselves comfortable. Underneath the cots, we could store the stuff that we brought along. The outrigger tents are the ones seen in a picture like this. Camp Powhatan was a huge step up from Camp Raven Knob. It actually had real bathrooms and showers. Our real schedule began on Monday because we drove there and got an orientation on Sunday. On Monday, we all got up and ate breakfast. Breakfast and dinner are both meals where you have to line up in front of the dining hall with your troop and then file in like civilized people. Lunch is "free range" so there's always a mad rush of about 700 something Scouts trying to eat first. I had Canoeing first thing after breakfast and all we did in that class was do the swimming test. The swimming test is where you have to swim for 75 yards on your stomach, 25 yards breaststroke, and then float for a couple of seconds. After that, I was all wet and stuff but I didn't have enough time to change into dry clothes. My next class was Geology where we talked about rocks and minerals. Next was Medicine where we played a sort of name game and then relaxed for the rest of the time. After Medicine was lunch. During lunch period, which was about 45 minutes long (although no one took that long to eat), I went back to the campsite and changed into dry clothes. My next class was camping where everyone was tired and lethargic. We reviewed first aid stuff in that class. Then, my last class was Nature. We took a hike and played a name game. At the Nature lodge, where I have Geology and Nature, they have an ape, a goat, and a horse. After dinner, we all went back to the campsite where we played poker and relaxed. Then, we went to a campfire thing in the Amphitheater. The staff did some lame skits and tried to get the bonfire bigger with a leaf blower. Here is my schedule for the week.

Tuesday
Canoeing= Not much, just some basic strokes but we actually got to get into the canoes. That lake is nasty, it is probably 10 ft deep but with 9 ft of it covered by leaves.
Geology= Our instructor told us about more rocks.
Medicine= We learned about the different types of doctors. I thought Medicine would be about drugs and stuff but it wasn't.
Camping= We planned a fake camp out.
Nature= Took yet another hike, however, this one failed because it started to rain heavily.

Wednesday
Canoeing= We had to overturn our boats in that filthy water and swim it to shore. Then, we had to do a solo paddle.
Geology= Our instructor was sick so we did some random stuff with a map. I learned that Hiwassee town has a big pigment factory.
Medicine= Talked about more doctors.
Camping= Talked about different types of tents.
Nature= Took another hike.
* Today, the Norovirus started to spread in the Cherokee campsite, luckily it was far away from ours.
* A bear was heard from across the Big Mack creek so we were not allowed to go into it anymore.

Thursday
Canoeing= We had to do a T- rescue. That's where we buddy up with another canoe, one person flips and then the other person drags one end of the flipped canoe onto their canoe. We did it fine except just as I got it onto our un-flipped canoe, my steersman decides to stand up and at the same time, the flipped canoe's crew lets go of their canoe and it slides off our canoe and then we flip. So we got two flipped canoes in the water. Another group graciously helped us and then we helped our partners.
Geology= We panned for gold because our instructor was sick, again.
Medicine= We learned how to take blood pressure.
Camping= We talked about camping stuff and purified water from the Big Mack with iodine.
Nature= We took a hike.
* Bear was seen sitting on trash container during breakfast. Apparently the electric wire surrounding it didn't work.
* I had to take a Frog Walk to listen to frogs.
*Norovirus infected folks taken home.


Friday
Canoeing= Random "Battle Boats", which was a bunch of canoes, and kayaks and rowboats running into each other. The kayaking instructor went berserk and rammed and flipped all the canoes.
Geology= I was absent because I had to take a shower. I was in that nasty lake for about an hour since no one would help us.
Medicine= We took our Scoutmaster's blood pressure.
Camping= We did our conservation project, which involved us kicking rocks.
Nature= We fooled around in the creek.
*Bear was seen down in the Big Max/ Little Max campsites.
*For breakfast, our troop did the flag ceremony. I had to shout out the orders, "Color guard advance...", Victor and Stephen/Steven raised the Powhatan flag, Luke, Griffin, and Thomas raised the American flag, and Nalin and Knox raised the Virginia flag.
*Later, during the campfire, there was a severe storm which might have become a tornado. We ran from the Amphitheater to the Dining Hall. One of my Scouts was just walking along since he kept on tripping over random people.


On Saturday, we went home.

Luray caverns

I visited Luray caverns in Luray, Virginia. I felt that it was going to be okay but it actually turned out to be pretty cool. The caves were fantastic and there was even an underground lake. Even though it was 160 or something feet underground, I didn't feel a lot of pressure. As we walked down some steps to the real cavern, the large stalactites and stalagmites came into view. I was wondering why there was a German cross thing until I realized that it was supposed to represent that X marks the spot, the spot where the caves were found. There was a large stalagmite, that's the one that comes from the ground, right?, that they called Washington. I guess it was because it looked really strong and Washington was really strong. My most favorite place was the Dream Lake. It was a large lake underground that reflected the ceiling better than the most perfect mirror could. I think it is because it has lain still for decades and all the sediments have fallen to the bottom, if there are any sediments. Even though it had a large surface, it was only 18 inches deep at it's deepest. I bet the Luray people were real tempted to bottle it as mineral water until they found out that it was only 1 and a half feet deep. Overall, I think that it was a pretty cool place.

Virginia Creeper Biking

I went to the southwest corner of Virginia, near Damascus, to go biking. Why? There is a path known as the Virginia Creeper. It used to be a railroad but the ties and stuff were taken out and replaced with gravel. It was a slightly downhill ride and it was cool. There were a couple of stops along the way and a big stop and rest area in the middle. The trail itself is 50 miles long but I only biked 17 miles of it. There were some places where it was bumpy and there were others where there would be a big rock sticking out and I would hit it and my head would snap back. The foliage was nice but not colorful and the bridges were also nice. There was the occasional pedestrian but it was mainly a bike trail. In the beginning, the gravel was very soft so I slipped for some time but didn't fall. For some time, the Creeper followed a small stream and then it would go past a deep valley full of trees. It was a very nice sight to relax and exercise. I stopped in Damascus.

Aladdin's Eatery

Yesterday night I went to a charming restaurant inside the Brier Creek shopping plaza. It was called Aladdin's Eatery. When I went inside, the lamps and the walls gave a quaint but modern picture of a Middle Eastern location. The food was great. I never had Lebanese food before and the hostess was very nice. I ordered a 'Kibbie Platter'. I was skeptical at first from the waiter's description. "They're just like mini footballs stuffed with beef and rice, you'll like them", she said. I ordered it, as I had never tried it before. The food preparation time was reasonable and I surveyed the surroundings. It was nice and clean, a bit spartan here and there but the tan walls and lamps reminded me of a place in Morocco. The restrooms were nice and the food, the food was wonderful. The Kibbie platter was great. The Kibbies themselves were awesome. When you put it into your mouth, the full flavor of the beef and rice make a bold statement that stands out. The pita and hummus was great as well. I would recommend that they put a bit more meat in and take out some of the vegetable in the platter. Overall, I would give this place a 4.9 out of 5 stars. All that was flawed was the price. It was a bit pricey. Slice of 3 bucks from each meal and it would be a 5 out of 5. My favorite dishes were the lamb and the kibbies.

Overall View.

Great food, clean atmosphere, but a bit over priced.

Indianapolis

We stopped in Indianapolis for a short time. We saw a monument getting built. It was a memorial with a winged person on top. It was a nice and mild city, not too hot or cold, and it was pretty much empty. We went to the capitol building there. We couldn't get in. There were random statues and busts of people outside. There was George Washington and Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus was donated by the Italian Society. There was also a monument to Abe Lincoln whose body passed by there.

All in all, it was a pretty nice place.