July Garden Update

It has only been a month (see 6/22/08 post), my backyard looks like a forest!! Now I can see having no planning in gardening can make things look kind of chaotic. But then, nothing grew in my backyard before. So, I guess this period is a trial period to see what can actually grow and survive. When the fall comes around and all the blooming is over, I will dig them up and shuffle them around. There are definitely some plants I want to keep and some I'd rather not. Overall, I have too many Dahlias.


The Schu's Forest...late July

The Dahlias are starting to bloom. Several more kinds started to show up (with a few more not blooming flowers yet). Some look so-so, but some looks huge and beautiful!!






The Three different Dahlias that sprang up...

One flower that I love the most is the sunflower. However, I have never gotten any success growing them. This time, instead of starting off from seeds, I got a cutting from a local flower shop. This sunflower is quite unusal, it is blood red!! This plant is huge and is even taller than me!!


My Favorite - The Sunflower

Another Project Completion: Michael Mina's Clock Bar

The Clock Bar is a little project I was involved with. Small as it may be, but there was a lot of work and fairly complicated. The Clock Bar is located in San Francisco's Westin Saint Francis Hotel. It is one of Michael Mina's Restaurants.


West View of the Clock Bar (courtesy of Silverman & Light, Inc.)

While I was away to DC, I missed out on the private party to celebrate Clock Bar's grand opening. Since one of my tennis idols, Andre Agassi is a co-owner, he probably was there. It's a bummer that I had to miss the event.


East View of the Clock Bar (courtesy of Silverman & Light, Inc.)

One for the Road...leaving DC

Our flight leaves at 5:15pm, so we had several hours to kill. Thus, we went to the National Air and Space Museum (Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center) near Dulles Airport, an extention of the Smithsonian museum that is in the heart of DC (National Mall Building).





This museum is far more impressive, in terms of artifacts, than the one in the National Mall Building. A full size Space Shuttle Enterprise and the actual Elona Gay is housed here.


Space Shuttle Enterprise

The Elona Gay

There really isn't a whole lot to say, as this museum is mainly a showroom. There really isn't too many exhibit or interactive shows like the National Mall Building.

When we left the museum, we went off to Quiznos to get a sandwich to get on the plane, since food service is an extra charge. We asked the person at Quiznos to put our sauce/spread on the side. As we left, we realized that we probably could not get these sauce past security. Surely enough, the security guard at the airport checkpoint made us throw them away.

BTW, I flew Virgin America....and this airline is the best among domestic flights!!

Washington DC - the Second Visit

First Stop: Pentagon

Through Howard's cousin working in the Pentagon, we got to have a personal tour within the building. Security is tight, but the process was smooth. Civilian employees were in business attire and the rest are in military uniforms (army, airforce, and navy).

The interior of the building is very 60's...with some parts of the building having the modern look, especially the portion where the airplane crashed into during 911. There was even a seating plan showing the path of the plane and names of those who died.

The morning of our visit, there was a welcoming appreciation time for wounded soldiers who have just returned from Iraq. It was hard to watch as I saw young men in the early twenties (some late teens) with amputated legs and arms. However, I can see the appreciation in their eyes as people shook their hands and thanking them for their courage and sacrifice.

We then had lunch at the center courtyard of the pentagon shaped building. The courtyard was 5 acres large and is the largest exterior place where military personnel do not need to salute each other.

No photographs were allowed as soon as we got out of the subway station. So, all I got was this as I was leaving:



Second Stop: Newseum

The Newseum just opened this past April and is a very fascinating place. Thanks to my ICOM membership, I was able to get in for free!!! The exhibits were informative about some of the greatest news in history.


Neweum Exterior

Newseum Interior Lobby with a full size news chopper

Something that is very personal to me is the 911 gallery. They had the actual antenna tower from one of the Twin Towers in NYC that collapsed. They also featured a memorial of a photographer, Bill Biggart, who died when the tower collapsed over him on the street, but his digital camera was retrieved. The chronological images that he obtained was very moving...


Antenna of the Twin Tower with Front Page Headline on 9/12 from all over the world...

We only had a limited time before closing, but I think I could have spent all day here...


Top of Newseum overlooking toward the Capitol

Sunset before leaving Pennsylvania...

There really isn't a whole lot of things to do in Pennsylvania. One of my favorite place is on this mountain top at High Rock, where I can overlook the valley and view the sunset. One of the other spectator said that during the Civil War, one can see the ground troops marching from one end to the other...


My legs were shakey because I was so high above...

The sunset was simply gorgeous...and all these folks below thinks so also...


Someone on the lower right hand corner had a hard time climbing the rock...I wonder why...

History comes to life in Gettysburg

I loved my High School History teacher, Ms. Gissler. She is the best. I wish my interest in historical wars existed back then. The Civil War was one of the central part of US History. I did pay some attention in class as I do recall that Abraham Lincoln's election to his presendency was one of the catalyst to starting the war...however, I must have slept in class as I was oblivious that there were actually two nations in America during the Civil War...United States of Ameria and Confederate States of America...and each with their own president!!!



The Gettysburg Museum and Visitor Center really made my learnings in US history come alive. Not only were there rooms of artifacts with uniforms and guns, but there were video presentation that clearly illustrated all the movements of troops from both sides during the entire Civil War period. Understanding that the battle at Gettysburg was one of the turning point of the war for the North (as they were losing), could have changed America forever, reminded me of....STAR TREK and its alternate universe!!! Strange as it may seems, that is what came to mind....how one pivotal point could have change the entire course of history...

BTW, in Hagerstown, I did see a house with a Confederate flag...

July 4th in Hagerstown

FINALLY!!! My first 2008 Extended Vacation!!!!

Howard and I arrived in Dulles Airport in DC this morning...went to Thrifty rent-a-car...drove 2 hours and arrived in a small community near Waynesboro, PA called Greencastle, to visit Howard's folks. Withn minutes of our arrival, we all headed to "town" (Hagerstown, MD) for their annual July 4th parade extravaganza.


These men with their hats...they look like those archeologiests who gets killed by the Mummy

Wow!!! I have only seen this in the movies...small town parades. There were dairy queens and fair queens, town police and firemen, etc. The parade was short, but the folks in Hagerstown were very enthusiastic and was very interesting to see.

One thing I have noticed is that I hardly saw any other ethnic people. I don't think I saw another Asian and definitely did not see any African American. Very white indeed... yet they did not look at me funny.


It is not a parade unless there are cheerleaders...