Arrived in Dulles International Airport subuh buta... the sun was not out yet and it was cold!
Took a cab to Farisa's house. Cuak jugak since it was so early in the morning and I don't really remember the way. Manalah tahu... a girl can never be too careful. But alhamdulillah, sampai her place in one piece :) albeit ngantuk yang amat. Didn't really sleep on the plane.
Pressed the bell but no answer. Hmm... I did get the house right and I did speak to her just under an hour ago. Rupanya Farisa was out getting some groceries. It was so nice to see Farisa again. She hasn't changed a bit... must ask her rahsia kecantikan ;)
Was so glad to be indoors, out of the cold. Her house is magnificent! I've loved it since my very first visit and now it's even better. The ever amazing hostess, she made me a wonderful breakfast after seeing Salman and Seth off. Sophie pun dah bangun. Seth has grown so much since I last saw him 2 years ago... and he's such a charming boy :) Very friendly and genial. I've never met Sophie before but she's equally pretty and lovely, with the cutest curly hair :) Farisa is so blessed to have two wonderful children. Salman too doesn't seem to have aged.
Over a filling breakfast of sausages, eggs, homemade hash brown and waffles (she really fed me well :D) we chatted about the going-ons in our lives these past few years. Soon it was time for Sophie's nap... so I took advantage to freshen up. Since my last visit, they've renovated their home... the guest room is now in the basement, on the same level as the entertainment room and library. Gosh... does she have lots of books!! Her great taste in decor was evident all throughout the house. Sangat cantek!! I wish my house is like that...
We continued to chat while I took out the stuff that her mom pesan from my suitcase. I showed her my bounty from Houston... and she highlighted that I still have some space for more shopping, hehe... girls would be girls.
It was actually a short stop at Farisa's place because I was spending the next two nights at the FDIC student residence... am tumpang-ing NSY in her room. Also have to go to the MAS office somewhere on K Street. So I re-packed my small bag dengan barang keperluan and we left for the Springfield Metro station, but not before a short stop at Macy's ;) I had informed Farisa that despite all the shopping, I've not found a gift for my mom. And so, off we went.
Managed to find a platter for my mom... itu je lah the best thing that I could get for her since her instructions were quite clear "something for the house". Susah betul nak shop for my mom. Nice *something for the house* are usually besar and berat, and given my already dire baggage situation, I had a tough time finding something for her.
After studying the Metro map, I took the train into the city... destination: Ferragut West. Nasib baik lah no need to change trains. It was quite jauh... terlelap juga lah dalam train tu ;) Bila sampai, terus cari map to get my directions. It was really cold outside and I don't want to salah arah... especially while I'm lugging a bag. Fortunately it wasn't very hard to find the building (although I did tersilap and went to building 1776 instead of building 1667, hehe).
Unlike the lady at the LA MAS counter, the ladies at the Washington MAS office were really nice. Just had to wait for 5 minutes to have my ticket reissued. Sambil tu sempat tanya directions for the venue of my meeting esok harinya.
It was really cold... colder than I had expected it to be. Tak boleh jadi ni... the clothes that I had brought untuk the meeting tu not tebal enough. So singgah kejap kat DressBarn which was just around the corner in search of a sweater. Got myself a light blue sweater which was on 50% discount.
I still had slightly over an hour before NSY habis her meeting. Should I jalan in the city or head straight for Arlington? In her sms when giving directions to go to the FDIC residence centre, NSY kata there's a Starbucks next to the Virginia Square station. Hmm... menarik tu. Have some coffee to warm me up and can make use of their free internet. So off I went...
I've never been so happy to be sitting in a Starbuck. Armed with a tall latte and choc banana cake, I started to check emails. And it was warm! :)
Around 5.40pm, NSY sms to inform that her meeting dah habis. We had earlier agreed to meet at 6pm... masa tu I wasn't sure about how long it would take me to do my ticket etc. Again... the theme untuk hari ini ialah silap bangunan. Although her instructions were quite clear, it didn't stop me from tersilap and pergi entrance yang salah. The cold must be affecting the capacity of my brain to process information...
NSY was already waiting for me at the lobby because the place ada security check and memerlukan the guest untuk membawa orang lain masuk bangunan. That's the leceh thing about federal buildings in the US... semua pun ada security guard. The room was besar... siap dengan a complete kitchenette.
"What are your plans for tonight?" I asked NSY. "Jom pergi shopping?" she replied. Haha... this is really turning into a shopping trip for me. "Let's..." and soon we were out the door.
We headed towards Pentagon City. Although this was my 4th visit to Washington DC, I've never been to Pentagon City sebab selalunya Farisa would send me to Potomac Mills. I wasn't planning to buy anything other than perhaps cari another gift for my mom and sweat pants for my sister. Tapi I ended buying a blouse and long johns (because I don't want to be frozen to death tomorrow when I walk from the Metro station to the meeting venue). Macy's had 20% extra discount on all items and they had racks and racks of sale items. Sangat teruja! Ralph Lauren blouses were only about $10 dan bermacam2 benda lain lagi. I tried on several things but none looked good on me. And in the end, my eye caught this nice blouse, which unfortunately wasn't on sale. Tak try pun.. just ambik and beli. Sebab kat US if you don't like it boleh return ;) NSY got some baju and around 10pm we headed back to Arlington.
So much for reading up and preparing for the meeting the next day, I mentelaah kat shopping complex... hehe
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It was wonderful to see you again, Uji. :-) The next time around, though, I'm going to insist that I have you all to myself for one whole day to do with you what I will. (Hmm, that doesn't sound quite right, does it!). As much as I can appreciate the importance of doing the Potomac Mills Mall tawaf, next time we'll hit Old Town Alexandria which is on the other side of the Potomac River from DC where we'll spend the day strolling through the bustling little town where quaint shops, charming cafes and great restaurants are within walking distance. You will enjoy it , I know. Many thanks for your kind words...mi casa es su casa, always...but let's face it, with two kids under the age of 6, "magnificent" doesn't usually come to mind. "Sty"..."implosion"..."wreck"... ...I'm more familiar with. Seth just adores his Aunty Uji and was asking when you would be coming back. Don't wait too long, ok.
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