Day Two of the Best Weekend Ever

We started the day with a trip into DC. Stephanie wanted to show me an exhibit on the Buddha that she went to months ago and immediately texted to tell me about. And can I just say that I love that what I did this weekend with her was visit bookstores and go to a buddhist exhibit. The weather was going to be hot again, so we decided staying indoors might be a better idea today anyway. So we got up, got dressed, and headed on out! 

It took about an hour to get there; half an hour drive and then half an hour on the metro. I love the metro in DC. It's so much easier to use than the horrible subway in NYC. It's horrible. But everything in DC is so clearly marked and user-friendly.

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, we're almost there!! 

So this was in the room before the Buddha exhibit; I took a picture of it because it's a drinking cup. Can you imagine drinking out this? Seems rather inconvenient. 

Stephanie says there's a place in Baltimore you can drink margaritas out of a hubcap. Sounds like it might be on our to-do list when I come back to visit. 

We did it!! (This was a running joke all weekend. Every time we accomplished a task, one of us would say, "We did it!!" like it was something worth celebrating. But hey. It's important to have a cheerleader, even if that person is yourself.)

Signed the guest book after this sweet girl, and got myself a free bookmark. SCORE!

Okay, I HATED the chanting in this room, but Stephanie didn't seem to mind. I thought the baseline sounded like "demon music" (yes, that is the word I used) and she thought it sounded soothing. 

It's kind of amazing the difference between Buddhist temples in Thailand, Japan, and Afghanistan. 

These are arhats, who spread the word and "defend" the dharma when there are no buddhas around. Like disciples, I guess. 

Stephanie learns how to make the symbol for gift giving.

Stupas, made for carrying buddhist relics. The more rungs, or umbrellas at the top, the more important the artifact. 

I liked this one because he looks more Indian. You can really see the Greek influence here, too, with that long, straight, Roman nose. Mostly the Buddha is depicted as being really eat asian looking, but he was actually Indian, so this may have been closer to what he actually looked like. 

So this was a really fun sculpture in the museum that hung down through several stories. It's the word "monkey" in all kind of a different languages to make little hanging monkeys. Remember that game? Monkeys in a barrel, I think it's called. Well they made one! A big one! 

It was hard to get a full picture of, but here are some of the hanging monkeys. 

And the original story. 

Hey! What cute girls! 

Wandering. Just wandering. 

So some of you may know this, but probably not because my love of octopuses frequently overshadows my love of dragonflies, but I love dragonflies. I love them. Whenever I see one, I think, it's a sign! I don't know what kind of a sign, but it's definitely a sign. 

Here I am in the dragonfly garden, inspecting the beautiful lotus in the middle. 

I don't think I've ever seen a lotus in real life before. 

They're indicator species, did you know this? Scientists look for them to know how well an ecosystem is doing. Just further proof of how wonderful they are. 

Soooo .... we got back on the metro to go to Momofuku. Stephanie had been there one time and it was our understanding that they had delicious Vietnamese buns. They did not have delicious Vietnamese buns. They had redone their menu a year ago. However, they did have some poor girl dressed up as a shark for an undeclared reason in the 98 degree heat. We sat at the bar facing the kitchen, so we were treated to this entertaining sight. The zipper was, infortuitously, broken, so the woman in black is safety pinning it in place.

Even though they didn't have buns, they did have other yummy treats, like fry bread and avocado and tomato sandwiches. 

I had a bowl of bap, including sticky rice, pickled shiitake, wakame, gochujang, and a poached egg, which was really lovely. It was sweet and spicy hot at the same time, which is a wonderfully strange combination, should you ever have the chance to try it. 

One of the reasons this place was so high on our list was because it's connected to a little ice cream place that has cereal milk ice cream. Yes, you read that right. And it does taste exactly like cereal milk. It's very strange. Stephanie got their twist, and I don't know what the other flavor was called, but it promptly melted so rapidly that she couldn't eat it fast enough and threw a fit. "I can't do this!" she yelled as she ran toward the garbage can. Haha, no she didn't yell, but she did say that and she did get frustrated and throw it out. It was pretty hilarious to me. 

Gratefully, I got mine in milkshake form. Honestly though, it was not amazing. The crunchy cereal on the top and the bottom was by far the best part. I got tired of it pretty quickly, and as you can see, I got the tiniest size possible. 

Look at this fun street! A woman came up to us and asked, "Do y'all know where the Gucci is??" and when we said no, Stephanie remarked that she loved that we looked like the kind of people who would know where Gucci was. I can assure you, I was wearing Old Navy and have never stepped foot in a Gucci in my life, nor do I intend to. 

So every Sunday evening Stephanie has a "family dinner," which consists of a small group of friends who get together and make a meal, though are not, actually, family. It's really sweet. We went to her friends Katie and Dan's house for burgers and salads. This is their beautiful deck, and their dock out onto the Chesapeake Bay. As Stephanie put it, "I don't usually ever get house envy, but I definitely got house envy when I saw their house." It was so calm and peaceful, and a perfect way to end the weekend. 

Tomorrow I am off to Virginia! I'll be alone most of the day, which I am happy about. And I will just be stopping as much as I want, which I am also happy about. I've got some good recommendations for stuff to do in Charlottesville and am looking forward to the drive!