Hirshhorn Museum
Walking around DC in September can be such a challenge when the weather gets in the way of everything you want to do. You first need to know that the Washington DC area gets all four seasons as well as its extremes. At the close of Summer, August and September, Summer usually makes one last come back in the form of high heat and uncomfortable humidity. Bring sunblock and an extra T-shirt if you decide to walk around DC like I did.
The afternoon started with lunch with a friend at a ramen house called Daikaya. Not bad, but in hindsight, judgement might have been impeded by the sweltering heat. Will have to retry it whenever I’m back for the winter, where it’ll feel even colder than Hokkaido.
Daikaya
705 6th St NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 589-1600
Verdict: Meh. I’m a ramen snob. I’ll admit that.
Next it was off to the mall, the area between the Washington Monument and the Capitol. A large stretch of grass where typically you’ll find tourists mixed in with locals relaxing or playing on the grass. Today’s heat however, has sent everyone clamoring for cover under the trees or into AC cooled buildings of the Smithsonian museums. This made the mall feel like a massive football field that you’d tread through getting hit by relentless linebackers of heat. By the time I made it from the Museum of Natural History to the Hirshhorn, I was pretty soaked. Granted this wasn’t Southeast Asian heat, it’s still oppressive enough to make you think twice about seeing more museums. Wish I had better pictures to show you, but the haze actually takes away from the landscape. So you’ll have to be happy with the indoor photos.
Hirshhorn Museum
700 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20560
(202) 633-4674
I love art museums and this one will be added to the list.
In the evening it was off to Virginia to the local Vietnamese area denoted by the Eden Center. A place where you can find all types of shops from restaurants, to jewelry stores, to little coffee houses. I remember way back when this center catered to the older generation, but now you’ll find lively places serving out happy hour specials to little boba shops enticing the younger generation to kick back and chill out and read some manga. Wait a sec, that sounded Japanese. Still doesn’t mean it wasn’t a great idea. Smuji was its name. What it meant, I have no clue. But you can find this little place in the back of Eden Center was a gem. Free wifi, street fighter, and a full selection of smoothies to keep you taste buds happy and your back dry.
Great to see how some things change but still remain the same.
Okay, so in this Vietnamese dessert drink you’ll find Lychee, longan, red tapioca, jackfruit, palm seed, pandan jelly, jello, and finally young coconut mixed in with some crushed ice. Makes for a fantastic remedy to September’s hot and humid weather. $4.25USD
Sweet and sour soup with shrimp was the comfort food I needed to make my Vietnamese experience complete. It was good to be back in Maryland to see all these restaurants still alive and strong. $13.95/USD
Nothing goes together better than sweet and sour soup with some braised fish. In this style of braising, the fish was cooked in a clay pot with a combination of soy sauce, sugar, and, most crucial, fish sauce. It all comes together in a savory sweetness that’s so unique in Vietnamese cuisine. Love this stuff and this place makes it just right. $10.95USD
Don’t imagine this as your typical smoothie. This was the Vietnamese kind. The kind that’s more smooth than icy. The kind you can mix in boba or jelly to add that kick without ruining the drink. And no, I didn’t choose boba. I chose yummy goodness to compliment the mango. $3.10USD
Here’s another staple food. One that no matter how much you’ve told me it’s gone down in quality, I’ll still have to have a bowl. I grew up on this taste. This one restaurant alone for pho. Hard to explain. California may have the best. Vietnam may make it the most authentic. But this place makes it just the way I had it growing up, with a lot of cilantro and a good amount of green onions. Sure it’s not over the top, but they are somehow different from the other places outside of the DC area. Maybe I’m used to the locally grown produce. Who knows. I just have to have this. $7.25USD
If I had more time I would have loved to stop by. In fact, I’d stop by more of the Smithsonian museums.
Colorful downstairs area. Not sure if this was permanent, but definitely visual candy as you walk around and make sense of the wording.
Probably my favorite display here at the museum. The space for this was pretty large spanning a corner of more than five hundred square feet. That lets you stand back and take in all the colors against the lightly lit area.
I wasn’t able to get the name of the artist who put this one together. Neat, but I think it does a better job being photographed given the neat angles it gives to a two dimensional picture. In person, you’re not fully engulfed in the space. Can imagine the feeling if they extended this one to a whole room.
Good looking bowl with something you don’t see often, bean sprouts! Whether it’s there for texture, color, or flavor, it makes this bowl different form the other bowls of ramen I’ve had. The eggs were done well and the broth was rich. Everything you’d expect from your typical ramen house, though nothing more than ordinary. If you want to play it safe, come by here. $12.75USD