Pennsylvania

The trip to Harrisburg in Pennsylvania was also during the Memorial Day weekend (May, 2011). We went off to meet my husband's university buddy and his wife, a couple full of fun and life. Unfortunately for us, both me and hubby fell a bit sick while in Pennsylvania. So our outing was a bit toned down. The highlight of this trip for me was the butterfly garden in Hersey Park. I waited and waited quietly for a butterfly to come and sit on me. But just one came and sat on my finger for a second and immediately flew away. My husband on the other hand had to shoo them away to continue walking. I hope this is not synonymous to those "white dangly" things in "Avatar" movie that sit on only good people. boohoo...Here are some pictures:

Pennsylvania State Capitol building at Harrisburg

A lot of these green colored parts of some old buildings are made of copper which are allowed to then rust to give a green shade! 

We are all kids at heart! The Hershey Gardens

These kids seem to fit in with the background really well

I was trying out the focus some - defocus the rest technique here...:)

Beautiful pathways

and then the butterflies

Notice how the rose alone has a tinge of red

Hershey Chocolate World - absolutely kiddish but is free and worth the sample choclate :D

These three cows sang and explained to us how chocolates are made! :) 

I have visited 4 chocolate factories yet I think. One in Cologne - Germany, one in Bruges - Belgium, one here and one in Antwerp - Belgium. And all of these after I turned 25. :). Yup! Chocoholic of sorts. I love the dark chocolate varieties more though. After some strong doses of cacao, we were actually feeling better by the end of the day. 

Steve Jobs dies

Steve Jobs (photo link)

God, what a man! It makes me really sad that he is no more. An iconic visionary of our times who has touched a lot of our lives in so many ways. I cannot even begin to comprehend what his driving force was  while he was battling a pancreatic cancer for more than half a decade. His life in itself seems to be some kind of a fantastic/crazy movie. He would be one person whom I would have loved to meet in my lifetime. :-(

I will end up buying his biography. It will be my first. Watch this inspirational speech he made at Stanford's  Commencement ceremony in 2005.

Washington DC

This one was a wonderful trip with my cousins whom I was meeting after a loooooong time in Virginia (around the Memorial Day long weekend in May 2011). We spoke until the wee hours of the morning, reminiscing and sharing some of our new stories. The next day we headed to the capital of the USA, Washington DC. DC was super crowded --> good weather (bordering giving heat strokes to some people) + long weekend craze, but by downing ourselves with icy versions of all sorts of drinks, we made it through.

Taking a train ride from Virginia as we approached DC, the whole place seemed to be engulfed with regal looking buildings. The highlight of the day though was a picnic lunch we had at a random park gobbling up home made food. Here are some photos:

The US Capitol Building far far ahead

The White House: Can you spot the president? 

The Washington Monument: the pyramid like top has Egyptian architecture's influence apparently

National World War II Memorial 

Paying special tribute to the soldiers

Yeaaaaah!!! Go Feminism! 

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

And there we met some of our favorite ancestors :) 

Fatigued by all the heat, we wondered how we had actually spent majority of our lives in a tropical country. We headed back home after watching (dozing off to) the "Born to be Wild" 3D movie in the IMAX theater at the museum narrated oh! so soothingly by Morgan Freeman. 

P.S.1 - Does cold coffee mean dumping lot of ice cubes into black coffee?? I paid $3.50 for that crap in the museum. Isn't it supposed to be this blended, creamy, sugary delight? 

P.S.2 - If you are still staring at the White House picture searching for someone, I was seriously kidding. :)