The Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohon Singh visited Washington, DC today and addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress. I was either too lazy to watch or too involved in reading the PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill to hear out what the PM said.

It's another very hot day in Washington, DC. We have a heat advisory for people to stay inside and stay out of the sun. The high temperature is around 93 fahrenheit with high humidity. In another word, it's bloody awful!

The worst part is, it's been like this since early June, and will continue to be this swampy for the foreseeable future.

In Southern California, we used to measure the livability of an area by how many days per year the temperature soars above 90 fahrenheit. Washington, DC would fail that test miserably. Boy do I miss LA!

Damn it to hell! The Dodgers lost again. 0-6 this time to those cheaters from San Francisco.

It has been a week since I interviewed with the Los Angeles Chamber. I'm fairly relaxed and I''m trying not to think about it too much. But I am very excited about returning to LA.

I'm a hobo. I can't stay in one city for too long or I would get bored. Since moving back to DC in 1998, I've had a good run. But I am bored at my job and the city. As the old saying on Capitol Hill goes, once you stop being excited about working on the Hill, it's time to go. I stop enjoying my work a few years ago. Right now I feel like how Brad Penny looks like in this picture.... mad all the time (and I'm not sure I know exactly why I'm mad). The rest of the time I just don't give a shit. I feel like my existence in DC is without purpose, without taste or real pleasure. It's like I'm braindead.

Moving to a "transitional neighborhood" also makes me want to move out of DC. Although Mt. Vernon Square is 100 percent better than Shaw, Jennifer and I still do not enjoy it. Both of us still face daily/weekly/monthly insults of a racial nature, and our cars are still getting broken into (twice in 18 months). Walking Jack and Missouri down the street is an exercise in frustration because of the amount of trash and chicken wing bones we have to manuver through. I know that's better than Shaw (5 times in one year for me and I believe 3 times in one year for Jennifer's car), but that is not saying much.

So on I go dreaming about moving back to Los Angeles. I busy myself trying to network and put myself in a position to get a decent job in LA. In the meantime, I hate being in DC.

On the other hand, I hate being a Dodgers fan from afar. I'm relegated to watching the games on the Internet, and checking the scores on the LA Times and Dodgers websites. So far, this season has been been a bust. At exactly the halfway mark of the season, my boys in blue are 7.5 games out of first in the NL West. They are showing no signs of catching up to the lowly Padres, who currently occupy first place in the conference. Against the hated Giants tonight, it's the top of the fifth and the Dodgers are already down 5-0. I can only hope that they turn the night and the season around soon. But looking at the photo of Brad Penny getting tossed from the game last night, I fear we're not going to make it.

23 hours in Los Angeles

I traveled to LA last Friday. Arriving at 11:40am on July 8 and leaving at 11:55am on July 9, I was on the ground for less than 24-hours. But it reminded me of how much I miss LA's food and weather. I still hate the traffic.

I stayed at the Standard Hotel in Downtown LA. At $99 per night, it was excellent value. The hotel was comfortable, fashionable, and affordable.

Los Angeles Public Library 

Advertisements in LA's subway platform

Waiting area at LA's Union Station 

It's nice to see public transportation in my hometown. In a town such as Los Angeles, where cars rule and only the poor take public transit, I'm hapy to see Angelenos actually using the subway and the light rails. Now only if the Metro system could be extended so that one can actually use the trains to commute to work or just run about town.

Downtown Los Angeles viewed from Pershing Square 

Taco shack in downtown Los Angeles 

Dog Day Afternoon

In contrast to last weekend, today was a typical Washington, DC summer day. The sun was out and the day was warm and humid. One could not walk outside for too long without doing combat with mosquitos. Nonetheless, today was very enjoyable. Nothing remarkable happened. But Jennifer and I enjoyed a slow day with a tasty Burmese meal at Mandalay, followed by riding La Chiquita to Georgetown to watch Batman Begins.

Jack and Missouri enjoyed the day too! We sat out in front of our building late in the afternoon and just let the dogs enjoy watching the passing foot and car traffic. The two dogs were very happy about that.

Riding through Northern Virginia

It was the nicest day we've had in the Washington, DC area for the past month. Taking advantage of the weather and the need to pick up Missouri's new leash and collar from Wylie Wag, I took a long meandering ride through Northern Virginia. After I picked up Missouri's presents in Middleburg, I rode aimlessly through Loundon and Faquier Counties. I saw some of the prettiest little villages Virginia has to offer, and rode past several wineries. If I was not on my bike, I would have stopped to sample some of their offerings.

La Chiquita in front of a stone house in Faquier County, Virginia 

This is downtown Middleburg. I bought an orange polka dot leash and matching collar for Missouri at the Wylie Wag, a dog boutique in Middleburg.  

I turned off Route 50 to explore the Chrysalis Winery. This abandoned house was the first thing I saw off the main road.

A narrow bridge leading to a winery 

A view of the Chrysalis Winery 

Toronto - May 30 - June 2, 2005

Jennifer and I took our Memorial Day break in Toronto. We were particularly excited about traveling to Toronto because we have heard so many good things about the city. Jennifer was keen on local Toronto fashion designers and I wanted to explore the neighborhoods and architecture of Toronto.

However, I got sick in Toronto and we did not find the city very appealing. We found the neighborhoods to be unattractive, and Jennifer found the shopping to be poor. While Toronto is a very walkable city with very workable subways and streetcars, we found ourselves walking through the city without finding very many things of interest.

However, Chinese food in Toronto is excellent. We had the best dim sum since our Vancouver trip in 2003. We also ate at an excellent Northern Chinese dumpling house and found a very good Taiwanese bakery. We were also pleased about how easy it was to get bubble tea in Toronto.

Toronto skyline