17.5 miles hike on Overall Run and Heiskell Hollow Trails

Seven hikers and one dog enjoyed this unusual 50f sunny day and hiked Overall Run and Heiskell Hollow Trails for 17.5 miles with 4150 feet elevation gain.

Nova Labs Holiday/Christmas Makers Potluck

I attended Nova Labs Holiday/Christmas Makers Potluck this afternoon, and got some ideas for my next handy project.

15 miles winter hike

20 hikers hiked 15 miles (24kms) with 3800 feet (1160 meters) elevation gain in 30f (-0c) cold yet dry day along Pine Gap Hill, Cave Falls, Sam's Ridge, and Broad Hollow trails. There were several stream crossings, including an icy challenging one which I overcome via being pull over by two hikers. What an exciting experience! We finished early because it was too cold to stop for long, and got back to town when the sun were still out.

office holiday party at the Peking Gourmet Inn

I attended my office holiday party at the Peking Gourmet Inn tonight, and enjoyed the famous Peking roast ducks, spicy fried shrimps, beef, etc. "The walls of the 300-seat restaurant are filled with photos of successive presidents, ambassadors, members of Congress, movie stars and professional athletes."
I ordered a pina colada which happened to share the same clothes color. Lol I couldn’t continue the 2nd part of the festivities because I have to get up early for Saturday long hike.

First Stage Tysons play: Airness

I ushered tonight at First Stage Tysons for a play Airness which was a story about air guitar competition. I knew lip-synching, but not pretending to play an imaginary electric guitar as an art form, much less about Annual Air Guitar world championship. Not my cup of tea! So I bailed out after my intermission duty.

14-m Nicholson Hollow / Hannah Run / Hot Short Mtn trails

I enjoyed this sunny and cool winter hike with 9 other hikers along Nicholson Hollow / Hannah Run / Hot Short Mtn trails for 14 miles with 3100 feet elevation gain. Great views without all the leaves, very windy though.

hike 15-m on Appalachian Trail in hunting season

I hiked via this section of Appalachian Trail a few time before, but first time under a warning of hunting season posted on Meetup by a hunter. Most of us wore or put on bright color fabrics to avoid being shot, but we heard only one gunshot via the while 15 miles hike (3200 feet elevation gain).

New Exhibits in Freer and Sackler Galleries

Such a nice sunny afternoon to walk in DC mall and checked out the special/new exhibits in Freer and Sackler museums. The featured Japanese paintings by Hokusai 北斎 were impressive, the Tibetan prayer shrine was sacred, the Chinese bells room was technically animated, and the Peacock room was just switched to the blue set (occurred every 5 years!). I was so enchanted by the Buddhist exhibit (run until mid 2021), so I went back to Buddhist exhibit and ran into a special tour by the curator touring a group of scholars. So many nice surprises today. Please come to visit, my friends.

Winternational- 8th Annual Embassy Showcas and Congressional Receptions

I made my way into DC for Winternational- 8th Annual Embassy Showcase, after noticing but missing the prior 7 events. 50+ embassies participated this year.