Day 11. Washington DC: National Air and Space Museum. National Museum of Natural History. Chinatown Express. Church Hall. El Centro D.F. [HI Washington DC]
The craving of visiting Smithsonian museums is so great, I managed to get up at 9 am. By 10 am, I have finished breakfast and made a new friend, Raj. We exchanged numbers and texted sparsely throughout the day.
Space Dream
Being quite obsessed with space when I was a kid, National Air and Space Museum was naturally one of the Smithsonian museums I wanted to visit the most, so it was my first stop. I took the bus from the hostel ($2.00) as I wanted to reach the museum faster to make the most of my day.
Arriving at 10:30 am, I went through a quick security screening and found myself facing numerous giant spacecrafts and equipments that were either the real thing, backups, or replicas. And that was just the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall. Throughout the museum, there were multiple exhibits with incredible displays, including the exact plane the Wright brothers flew in 1903, USSR (Russian) and NASA (USA) developments during Cold War, WWII planes, and many more.
The same plane the Wright brothers flew in 1903. 
A plane with historical background I cannot recall. 
Missiles. 
The Apollo Lunar Module.
Even though I spent a good 4 hours strolling through Air & Space, I still didn’t think I spent enough time to fully understand everything. There were also IMAX and VR tickets to purchase, and I guess the films were good, but I didn’t really have the time to do so.
The Air & Space experience was very exciting as I had never seen so many planes and spacecrafts that I have only ever heard of before. Even people who aren’t space or plane fanatics will definitely enjoy the visit, just maybe not for 4 hours.
Humans & Rocks
It was about 3 pm when I arrived at National Museum of Natural History. Since I wasn’t particularly interested in the mammal section (I could never figure out if they were all specimens and specimens make me feel uncomfortable), I spent most of my 2.5 hours (the museum closes at 5:30 pm) in human history and geology sections.
It was amazing to see how many different relatives there were of Homo sapiens, and with some reconstructed figures from discovered skulls, it was probably the first time I have ever seen archaic humans so life-like. On display were also countless skulls of different Homo species, and a lot of other facts, etc.
Homo floresiensis. 
Homo neanderthalensis.
For someone who tried to double major in geology (I was only 30% into minoring), gems and rocks were the most intriguing in the museum, though I probably spent more time in the rock section in museum shops than the actual exhibit. It was reassuring to see that I hadn’t forgotten about how to recognise minerals and rocks, and going through the exhibit felt like walking in a live textbook.
One of the most famous gem in the museum is the Hope Diamond. People were taking pictures of the 45.52-carat diamond when a little girl suddenly said, ‘It doesn’t look that amazing. Why does everyone want to see it?’ Children are always so honest.
Smithsonian museums are mostly free, with a suggested donation of $5.00 per museum. I confess I didn’t pay for admission, but I did try to shop at museum stores. I guess that counts as some contribution.
Last Supper
After being ushered out of the museum upon its closing time, I was in need of food. I only had Twix bars and some cookies from the hostel after breakfast. Since my New Year’s Eve plan was to join other travellers from HI Washington DC for a pub crawl, I really had to eat something to avoid getting drunk or sick too fast.
Though I hoped to get some ramen at a Japanese restaurant, many people also hoped the same, and even for a table of one, the wait time was more than half an hour. I would be late for pub crawl if I insisted on having ramen. When I saw a traditional Chinese restaurant as I kept on walking, I thought why not give it a try? It wasn’t a bad idea to end 2018 with a Chinese meal.
Apart from fast food Panda Express and my favourite DinTaiFung (鼎泰豐), I cannot recall having Chinese food in the States. Chinatown Express seemed like a good place to start, as it was recommended by The Washington Post. I ordered steamed pork buns (小籠包; $5.95 excluding taxes & tips) and roast pork fried noodles (叉燒炒麵; $7.95 excluding taxes & tips). There were also complimentary tea and water. I missed tea.
The steamed pork buns were as good as most Chinese eateries back home (of course they were not even close to DinTaiFung), and the roast pork fried noodles were flavourful, too. I think the noodles were hand-stretched and oh how I missed food with nice stir-fried garlic. Though I found the noodles too oily when I was close to finishing, I still think Chinatown Express is pretty decent. Maybe I will come back in the next few days
Steamed pork buns. 
Roast pork fried noodles.
Along with my bill came a fortune cookie. How American.
Drink, Drank, Drunk
Now that I was stuffed because the portion was way larger than I had anticipated, I was ready for some booze.
We met up at the lobby at 7 pm and took a bus to Georgetown ($1.00). Church Hall was empty then, and I guess 8 pm was just too early. Since most of their beers are ale, and I prefer lager, I ordered Crown Royal whiskey ($9.00 excluding taxes & tips). I tried ordering Scotch but they mysteriously didn’t have the one I wanted. The whiskey was a bit too sweet, and I didn’t really enjoyed it, but I did have fun playing enormous UNO cards and chatting with fellow hostel members. Everybody was extremely nice, and it was great meeting all sorts of people from all over the world. There was also some food provided, and I put together a delicious taco.
After staying at Church Hall for way long, we went to El Centro D.F. when it was close to 11 pm. El Centro D.F. is a Mexican night club, with loud music of mostly Spanish songs and colourful strobe lights. The bartender recommended me something I believed to be margarita ($11.00 excluding taxes & tips) and so I ordered. I accidentally finished it too quickly yet did not feel the alcohol kick in.
People were dancing and drinking everywhere, and it was also quite dark so I couldn’t see much of anything. I felt somewhat out of place, but it seemed to be fun.
After waiting for a while to make sure I was still okay, I ordered my third drink of the night: Corona ($6.00 excluding taxes & tips). As I had discovered in 2018APS/URSI, people drink Corona with fresh lemon in it. At El Centro D.F., my Corona also came with lemon. It was pretty good, even though I have never tried Corona with lemon before.
Dance & Shout
I pretty much ran out of drink before midnight, and we had all been dancing for while already. So when it was finally time for countdown, it was an explosion of energy throughout the crowd. Barely able to hear anything else other than the blaring music, we all shouted along with the DJ, ’10, 9, 8, …, 3, 2, 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR!’
Then there were a lot of hugging going on. The first person who hugged my was a girl whose name I don’t even know. I pretty much ran my nose into her cheek as I forgot how people hug and do the cheek-to-cheek thing. After that awkward mishap, I quickly learned. I believe I went on to hug a Saudi Arabian guy, German guy Hans, Raj, and 2 others I couldn’t remember. There were also some handshakes, grips, and daps. Some other people were sort of hooking up and it was like watching movies or books realise in front of my eyes.
We went on to dance for another 1.5 hours in El Centro D.F., and I had never done any party dances before. I felt tired yet elated. For some reason I never felt drunk, and I was pretty sure most of my new friends were tipsy. Some people came to talk. Well, yell, and I still couldn’t really comprehend what anyone was saying. The music was that loud. Some other customers fought, and the securities (mostly bartenders at El Centro D.F.) stopped them. Though not a house party but a nightclub, it was pretty much what I had imagined. And to my surprise, I had fun!
Healthy Walk
When the Argentine guy Nico asked me if I wanted to leave with him and some other hostel people around 1:30 am, I did. We planned to call for Uber or lyft but then decided against it. Maybe it was too expensive. Someone suggested that we walk the 43-minute distance from El Centro D.F. back to HI Washington DC, and we didn’t really object. I was sure the Argentine guy wanted to take a ride though.
Since I was probably the most sober one, I made sure everyone in our group of 6 (Nico, Hans, Saudi Arabian Beso*, Raj, Brazilian Patricia, and me) was on the right route. We chatted along the way, occasionally doing some weird things like crossing the road when there was no crossway. I mean, when a bunch of drunk people walk together, no one could predict what others would do. [* the actual spelling is unknown]
After 50 minutes, we reached the hostel around 2:30 am.
Summary
This was my first countdown outside of Taiwan, and I believe I did the most American thing possible at El Centro D.F. Though I am not sure if I would do it again with a bunch of people I only met for 4 hours before celebrating the new year together, I’d like to have my friends with me to drink and dance at nightclubs for NYE sometime. It was a rather unbelievable experience!
