From the Financial Hub to the Administration Heart - Washington D.C

After a 4 hour bus ride (in which Manchester United won and lost their title in minutes), we went from the Capital of the World to the actual capital of the United States of America - Washington D.C. Known for being the administrative backbone of USA, Washington DC plays home to the famous Mall where millions of tourists flock in to view the various memorials (Jefferson Memorial, Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, etc), Smithsonian musuem series (American History Museum, Air Space Museum, Natural History Musuem, etc) and the famous administration buildings (White House, Capitol Hill, etc). We had two days to cover these places (and more) and I believed we did a fairly good job in that.

Day 0 (Settle in day)

Having reached DC during midday, we didn't have much of a choice as to where to go. All the museums were going to be closed in a few hours and we needed to wait till our group was complete before going to the key sites. So, we took the advice of our friendly house host (we stayed at a AirBnB-advertised apartment - lovely place) and went to the "city center" where we were told all the action will be - Dupont Circle.

Little did we know, this "city center" was also the one of the capitals of the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community. It was a very lively area, with music and dance around, and everyone looked like they were having fun. So it turned out to be quite a cool surprise.

Dance and Music at Dupont Circle

Oh, I forgot to mention that just before we left our apartment, we did a little bit of research on the food available in DC. Our source - MAN VS FOOD. If you don't know what it is, here's the trailer.

To check out what we had from Man Vs Food, read on...

First off, this trailer wasn't for DC and second, we didn't try any of the actual Man Vs Food finale dishes. Rather, we used the DC episode to determine what's good here with the host's recommendation before he partakes in the challenges. One of these place was Horace & Dickies.

Small little hut called Horace & Dickies 

It was a small little place that was meant for take-out only (no tables and chairs for dine-in). The staff was very friendly and offered advice on portioning (which was always a challenge in USA). They had  benefitted from the show's advertising as when we first stepped in, they went "Man vs Food?" and we nodded furiously, starting a friendly conversation thereafter.

What you see is what you get

How's the food? Lovely! It was definite not your high-end best quality fish, but the fish was fried perfectly and put it together with the tomato and mayonnaise sauce, it was a delight to the senses. The portions were both accurate and generous - they even added a few pieces extras as we weren't sure if the small box is going to be able to feed all of us. Wonderful place! 7.5/10

Delightful Fishes

Check them out at 809 12th st. NE, Washington D.C. 20002 or visit their website here

Well, after lunch was Dupont Circle and then thereafter was dinner at Chinatown (we had a hankering for Asian food). We had our dinner at China Express after our first choice (China Boy) was closed. It was a disappointing meal which fails in both taste and service. Therefore, I wouldn't waste anyone's time and review it here. So lets move on.

Day 1


Day 1 started by welcoming our latest addition - our dear friend Dina! After helping her settling in, we headed out for breakfast at (you guessed it!) another Man Vs Food recommendation - Ben's Chilli Bowl.

Ben's Chilli Bowl

Well, this place is indeed famous. Why do I say so? Even the president comes visiting (I mean he does work nearby, doesn't he?). Check this picture out.

Look at the smiles

So we are actually eating the presidential choice. So how does it taste like? Well, its definitely way better than any Chili we can find in the Wendy's back home (can't say for ALL the chili in Singapore). Also known as Chili Con Carne, Ben's Chili bowl offers a not-so-spicy chili (most chills aren't even a fraction of what we Asian know as spicy) mixed with meat and beans. It was a lovely stew when put together and you won't get sick of it even till the bottom of the bowl. Nicely done!

Chili Bowl with crackers

The other dishes we ordered included the Chili Dog and the Chili fries. Well, these are mainly to fill your stomachs. The hotdogs here are actually quite good (it becomes awesome with the chili), with it being a little charred on the top but juicy on the insides. Good stuff! An overall 7/10.

The place itself is your typical old-school American restaurant with the jukebox and the typical seats you see on TV. The old-fashioned settings goes to show how far this place has went - with its founder Ben Ali setting up shop back in 1958. Oh did I mention - Bill Cosby and and Chris Tucker loves this place, there's even a sign "Only Bill Cosby Eats Free Here".

Hungry Customers

Old School

Check them out at 1213 U Street. N.W., Washington, DC 20009 or their website here

Next up, its the tour. Like any other first timers in DC, we had two choices - The museums or the buildings. We chose to start with the museums, considering we had book ourselves for the tours later in the afternoon.

Air Space Museum

First up was the famous and the largest museum - the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. We took the in-house tour, which took nearly 2-hours and mentally "killed" most of us. It was a little too intense with too much information being passed around. I admit I almost zoned out and had to press on in hope that something interesting will turn up in the end. Overall, I did learn something though most of it is gone by now.

First Prototypical Plane

Unfortunately, our first was also our last. By time we were done with the museum, it was time to go for dinner in order to make it for our 5 p.m tour. Dinner was at a famous Mediterranean restaurant Zaytinya recommended by Dina.

Zaytinya

 First impression of the restaurant - its pretty high end. The design of the place was neat and tidy, and with the clean look of their bars and tables, it looked pretty much like any high-end place. Take a look for yourself.

Lovely settings

The high-end settings is duly accompanied by high-end service. A dedicated waitress came to our table and duly explained the menu to us. It was pretty much family-styled with many tapas (small dishes) for us to choose from. As we were spoiled for choice, we had to rely on our waitress for the recommendations before making up our minds.

I like their philosophy

So basically, we decided on having a balanced meal with a selection of vegetable, carbohydrates, seafood and meat. Here are my top choices from the array of dishes.

Pita Bread

with Hummus

The starters, Pita Bread & Hummus was absolutely fantastic. The bread itself was very unique as it came in a fluffy pillow shaped (rather than your typical flatbread). This affected the taste as it was lighter and blended better with the hummus dish. I could simply have only this for a meal.

Seared Scallops

My favorite of favorites - Seared Scallops. This dish here didn't disappoint at all. Sear Scallops with Yogurt sauce was the perfect combination of sauce and texture. The yogurt sauce gave it a light creamy back taste for the scallop to nicely blend in. The scallop itself was nicely seared, making a great dish into a perfect dish.

Seasonal Mushrooms

Another perfect dish - Sauntered Mushrooms with Almonds. In here, we have the mushroom nicely cooked with a lovely seasoning and almonds bits. All I can say is that there is nothing that anyone can hate about it. Simply lovely.

 Don't get me wrong, these dishes are my top 3 choices but that doesn't mean any of the others were not good. They finished closely behind (its probably the first time a mean dish didn't make it to my choices) and would be able to stand its own ground. This is definitely a fantastic place and I would definitely come back here if I have the chance.

Check them out at 701 9th Street NW, Washington DC 20001 or at their website here

After our meal, we took the free walking tour (we met at the Washington Monument) which took us through The Mall, starting from the Washington Monument and ended (3 - 4 hours later) at the Lincoln Memorial.

Here are some of the highlights:

The White House

Actually this was taken before the tour. The tour itself only allowed you to see both The White House The Jefferson Memorial from afar (right in front of the Washington Monument). 

The Washington Monument

The first stop of the day was the Washington Monument. Built from 1948 to 1984 (yes, it took 36 years), this obelisk was erected to commemorate the first president of USA, George Washington. Now, it serves not only as a monument but as one of the best vantage point (to see the entire mall) in Washington DC. Its currently under renovations, but once its done, it'll see flocks of tourists queuing to see Washington from the Bird's eye view.

Jefferson Memorial from afar

As I said, from the front of the Washington Monument, you could basically see the Jefferson Memorial from afar. It was pretty much out of the way so the guide had to share the story of the memorial here instead of near the memorial. 

The next stop was a closeup of the World War II Memorial. Sadly the reflecting pool was closed for maintenance as "there were too many dead ducks" in it.

Each star for every soldier

Favorite tourist spot

Here's a little tidbit: When the WWII memorial was built, the architects wanted to make this place a little bit more personal for the soldiers and added something extra which wasn't obvious to the public eye. Try looking for it. Here's what it would look like:

Finding Kilroy

Click here to find out more about Kilroy.

The tour then took us into the park which was where the various Vietnam War Memorial (there are actually 3 of them). It was dark and rainy by the time we got there and the lightings there was really poor. So photographs weren't a success for those areas.

We ended the tour at the Lincoln Memorial with guide giving us a full lowdown on the assassination. 

Roman Style Memorial

Abe himself

I'll end of this entry with the last tidbit of the day: The memorial itself is rumored to have something extra integrated into the back of Abe's head. Apparently, Lincoln always had a great amount of respect for the South's Robert E. Lee. This respect is reflected from the extra "face" at the back of Lincoln's head, with many claiming its actually Robert E Lee's face. Obviously, the National Parks have brushed aside these claims as "urban legends". Take a look and be your own judge.

Noticed anything?