Blessed

Last weekend, I headed up to the mountains of Poconos with a group of friends from Times Square Church to celebrate Mae's birthday. Mae organized the trip. It was a refreshing retreat away from the hustle and bustle of New York City, and into the peaceful realm of nature. The rental house that we stayed at was situated among the trees and beside a large lake.

We arrived at the rental house slightly after 10PM. The sky was illuminated by the silvery glow of the moon and a rich sprinkling of stars. As the chilly night breeze enveloped us, we sat around the bonfire that the guys had successfully created from the chunks of wood and branches on the ground. And for the first time in my life, I roasted marshmallows. It was so much fun! I kept thinking, "Oh, so this is what I've been missing." Glad I was finally able to put an end to that. 

One of my friends brought glow sticks! We had a miniature "rave" party around the fire.

SunYoung, Mae, Chloe, Adam, me, Joy, Sean, Helena and Kay

Sean and Kay brought out the guitar and we all started worshiping. There we were, in the middle of the woods, just singing praises to Him and thanking Him for His blessings. The best worship stems from the heart, out of earnest desire for His grace.

Jon's artwork was achieved by decreasing my camera's shutter speed.

When we returned to the house, we sang Mae "Happy Birthday" and brought out cake! But since it was way past midnight, no one was really in the mood for sugar so we packed the cake back into the refrigerator after the birthday song. Lol.

The next morning, we gathered around the balcony for breakfast and a nice time of fellowship. 

Adam, Jon and Kay

Despite the afternoon rain, we couldn't resist a good game of badminton.

Chloe's game face

Kay and Sean, the wonderful couple

Half of them were Koreans, so I actually got to learn a bit of Korean over the weekend :) My goal is to converse fluently in Korean at the end of the year. We'll see about that!

For lunch, my friends cooked up a feast! While Jon cooked curry in the kitchen, Joy and May roasted pork and shrimps on the grill.

And the rest of us busied ourselves with the preparations. My task was peeling potatoes and de-skinning shrimps. Lol.

While waiting for lunch to be ready, I snacked on some crackers and tortilla chips. I mean, they were right there and I was hungry. Haha. 

Finally, lunch was ready. We sat around the table in the balcony and enjoyed a delicious meal of rice and curry, roast pork, salad, hot dogs and spicy shrimps on sticks. My friends could really cook! 

The hearty lunch left us with swollen bellies. So we hopped on a boat and explored a bit of the lake.

Such a beautiful weekend with an awesome bunch of people. Celebrated Mae's birthday, took a boat ride on the lake, roasted marshmallows and captured a plethora of precious moments. Truly a blessing!

DC Day 1.5: Dandelions and The Mall

(continuation from the last DC post)

After the Botanical Gardens, Christina and I took a cab to Chinatown for an early dinner. It was called Chinatown but the area looked nothing like it. When I hear Chinatown, I think of little shops packed together on narrow streets. You know, like New York's and San Francisco's Chinatowns.

DC's Chinatown was small and situated in a clean part of the city, where the buildings looked brand new. No massive throngs of people causing traffic on the sidewalk. No smell of fish. No elderly Chinese men standing outside their shops hollering at passers-by to check out their products. If Christina hadn't said this was Chinatown, I would've assumed it was just another ordinary slice of the city. We had dinner at Teaism, a corner restaurant specialized in teas. (I didn't try the tea. I got mango juice instead)

I ordered the Thai Curry Chicken, which turned out a little too sour for my liking. Was it day old's curry? Christina sampled it and the look on her face was enough to tell me she didn't like it either. Food that looks and smells good doesn't necessarily taste good. 

We took some photos after dinner. It was a couple hours before sunset, which was perfect for photos because the sun cast a rich golden glow.

 Caption this.

The rest of our evening was spent at the National Mall. I hadn't looked up DC attractions, so I was pretty much clueless about the places Christina had planned for us to visit. She suggested the National Mall and I was like, "Cool. So we're gonna shop?"

And she just cracked up so hard and said, "No no, it's not a mall. It's just where the iconic monumental stuff are. Like the Lincoln Memorial, the White House and the Kennedy Center."

Oh! Yeah, I knew that. I totally wasn't thinking of a massive, extravagant shopping complex. No, definitely not.

But what a misleading name.

No biggie, just leaning against the Washington Monument like a boss. :)

We were obsessed with dandelions. We'd see these cute little dandelions sitting among lush green grass, their furry white heads a perfect sphere, and we'd pluck them and try to blow at them until the cottony substance drifted with the wind.

I liked to think that dandelions resembled little candles. Each time I picked one up, I'd make a wish and exhale, then watch the breeze sweep my wish into the air. 

I was rather successful with my dandelions. Christina, on the other hand, didn't have a lot of luck with them. For the most part, I'd give her the perfect ones and she'd huff and puff at the dandelions but the white stuff wouldn't leave the stems. It was hilarious, like watching someone try to blow out a fake candle.

She finally succeeded, and that look on her face? That's relief. Minutes of labored huffing and puffing finally paid off.

The sun began to set, and the sky erupted into a blaze of vibrant hues. God's work never fails to amaze me.

The rest of the evening moved by quickly. It was getting dark and the temperature dropped about 20' in a few hours. We made quick stops at the World War II Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.

 World War II Memorial

 The Lincoln Memorial

Several helicopters hovered above the city throughout the night. A black limousine pulled up at the traffic light while I crossed the road. Later on, I learned that a slew of celebrities and VIPs were in town for the White House Correspondents Dinner. 

The Washington Monument from a distance.

DC is a city richly rooted in history. No doubt, all politics are contained in this capital.