i went for the IMF/OAS/World Bank tour this morning but it was rather disappointing cos we pretty much sat in the auditoriums of these places and listened to talks. I really admire and respect the many individuals who work to free the world of poverty. It's such an admirable task really. sometimes i dream of myself doing that eventually but right now i cannot imagine how that will come true for me. and while walking on the streets between the buildings, i just could not help getting fascinated by the pretty flowers along the streets. white florets on trees, cherry blossoms, bright tulips and daffodils (intentionally planted though) along the streets... it was just so pretty. not forgetting the magnolia trees in peak bloom last week and earlier this week... their petals are now all strewn on the ground but i can just imagine myself standing beneath these frees with petals falling all over me with the wind blowing..... haha ok. that will never happen cos i am not in some movie. and the cherry blossoms along the tidal basin have finally started to bloom... i will go there early Saturday morning hopefully to take pictures, just cos i know that the place would be totally overcrowded in the day wtih ppl flocking to DC for the Cherry Blossom Festival. there's a jap street festival this coming Saturday too! i will try very hard to work hard tomorrow so i can get to go for that on Saturday... i feel sad though for the trees, cos i read an article today on how the numerous visitors are causing soil compaction which in turn are causing some trees to die...

had a somewhat boring day at work today and am starting to get stressed cos the busiest period of my prog has finally set in... came home to discover a cute test sent to me by my friend. A slight distraction from what is ahead of me for the rest of the week/month. Click here for The Little Prince test! Are you a fox, a baobab etc etc or The Little Prince himself?
Bought my return air tics to Berkeley yest night and somehow i quite look forward to going back now... just that there are still a lot of things to do here before i'm done. We had a 'celebrity politician' Karl Rove come to the UC Washington Center today and so we all went down to listen to him... not that impressive though... =P

where lizards, octopuses and sharks get to roam in the sky.... 

Thrilled by the prospect of seeing tonnes of nice kites flying in the sky, I made my way down to the mall this afternoon for the annual Smithsonian Kite Festival despite having lots of work... just so i could soak in the atmosphere and take nice pics. unfortunately, i was a little disappointed cos there weren't as many kites as i expected. but was still impressed by kite enthusiasts and parents keen to hav fun with their kids trying to get their kites up on a cold and gloomy day... after observing ppl for some time, it suddenly struck me how everyone seemed to fly their kites somewhat low. i remb going to places like marina bay and pasir ris park when i was a kid and i always saw kites really really high up in the sky... whenever i flew them, i also liked to release all the kite string till the full length was used up... so i thought it odd why everyone seemed to 'cling on' so dearly to their kites... hmm perhaps cos the lawn still wasn't exactly conducive for kite flying, since it was technically in the middle of a city...
my mum is going to shanghai with some friends tomorrow! wished i were in her place... =P