|| Mid summer afternoon in Maymont

I haven't been to this place for at least five years ... wanted to come back two years ago, but was in a melancholy mood and didn't come after all.

Today we came here from the Hampton entrance, the parking lots were limited but we were able to find a place. The Italian garden is the closest, and there are people preparing for a white wedding. We also went back to the Japanese garden, which has a genuine understated beauty of some sort with only subtle asian flavors here and there. The trees are all old but healthy and giant. I still remember an old neighbor when lived my opposite door when I was in the Gables. A weekend afternoon, with a book and a cool drink by the river in Maymont, is the best summer, that's probably true. But the heat was a bit overwhelming today.

|| I survived the Chinatown bus

This is 2009 summer. I thought of going back to New York city again, for no particular reason. I drove my car to the Regean airport, then rode DC metro and coming out of the metro underground, I found myself already inside the Chinatown. Actually my first visit here, I couldn't afford much time looking at the streets and shops, but I was just looking for the Chinese bus companies. For many years, people were talking about the $35 Chinatown bus between DC and NYC, sounds like an awfully cheap roadtrip, and with wi-fi. However, there were nowhere to be seen at first sight, after walking a block or two, there were the crowd of people with backpacks and carryon bags. The scene was total chaos, people were not sure where the bus was going, the bus driver didn't know where he was supposed to go, and there were far more people than "the next bus" could ever carry. There were two very plain looking middle-aged women talking a strange language very very loud. They were from the bus company but instead of maintaining orders, they were making decisions on destinations of the buses based on the number of travellers. There is basically no schedule of any sort, it's all about luck of the day. This is not a good experience, but I was ok fighting the crowd and secured seats for myself and my mother. The bus stopped at Phillie, saw the Chinatown over there, never knew that Phillie had such a presence in the east coast in terms of population and old time prosperity. The city skyline is still much of the industrial era reminecent, steel plants and shipyard. The majority of the people got off the bus at Phillie, what is there exactly?

However, I enjoyed this new adventure to NYC. We lived in Flushing, a familar place from so many years ago. It was a family motel operated by an old Chinese couple. The place is clean, but not fancy. There was only one thing that feels odd, that there was no smile on the old woman's face, nor on her husband's.

Central Park - this is the place that gave me the most surprising and joy, looks like an ordinary park from the outside, but just walk in 5min and you find many musical groups, jazz and contemporary cello and saxophone, and these music certainly provide an extra relief of stress and fatigue. In the middle of the crowds, there is an understated serenity and wisdom floating around. For its very unique position in Manhattan, you get peaks of high rise buildings among the bushes, tree leaves and the blue sky. The Bethesda fountain is simply gorgeous, as if built for a lord of honor, this seems only the opening of a grand and lofty mansion.




Brooklyn Bridge - it was my mother who reminded me, that we were in the Hudson river cruise about six years ago, together with my father. We saw three bridges, Brooklyn, Manhattan and another. The were just beautifully and quietly situated across this busy harbor and busy city. We walked onto the bridge, it was very old, paint coming off of the steel cables, and the bridge was built from wood. The air was fresh, we walked slowly, and passing us by were automobiles down in the tunnel. We were visitors, taking vacation, but this city is just so fast and dynamic.



911 World Trade Center - I came to this place time and again, but WTC is forever gone. I was on the top of it back in 2000, everything else was looking so small and trivial, but even the invincible can be destroyed. However, the rebuild progress was very very slow, constructions had hardly come out of the ground zero. But we visited here again, in the memory of my father, it is four years since he left us, and I thank him for giving us strength and security.


St. Patrick Cathedral - Same as last year, I went in and lighted candle for my father. The building remains to be my favorite religious congregation place, so grand, those details, yet everything was built in the busy street of the 5th Ave.


Lincoln Center - we watched the Ballet Performance of Sylvia. I'm only happy and thank god that we were able to see the performance, it was such an experience. We were only sitting at the very back, but the music was like heaven and really love the performers, understanding their quest of art of culture and of perfection.