Fall has officially arrived in DC- cue the streets lined with fallen leaves, an abundance of pumpkin-spice-everything in all the stores, and the words “crisp”, “autumn”, and “cozy” being liberally tossed into all text and marketing. This is also my favorite season for exploring DC, because it’s cool enough to walk around without sweating, but warm enough so you aren’t constantly shivering.

In order to take advantage of the fall foliage, a few ISH residents bundled into an Uber XL to make our way to the National Arboretum. We arrived first at the very extensive bonsai collection, which was divided into regions of origins of the plants. My favorites were the whimsical show ones- there was a tree that had been trained into the shape of a trumpet. A couple of people also enjoyed listening to a guide explaining about the history of one of the trees.

After whittling half of the afternoon away amidst the bonsai collection, we saw the National Capitol Columns. An interesting fun fact- the National Capitol Columns are so named because they were part of the former United States Capitol, and were only moved to the National Arboretum in the 1980s. It was the perfect spot to take photos; there were several other professional photoshoots going on besides our very casual ones. Finally, we attempted to see the lake in the Arboretum, past the Chinese Gardens. “Attempted” because we got distracted along the way and ended up sitting by the roadside and enjoying the setting sun.

The other highlight of my month has been trying out different kinds of cuisine. This began one weeknight when, having forgotten to order late dinner, I sat down with my microwaved siew mai (a kind of dumpling) and was soon joined by fellow residents Kaori (from Japan) and Meong (from the Philippines). After a very involved conversation on different food cultures, we made plans to go to a place called Purple Patch to try Filipino food.

So one bright weekend morning, the three of us, joined by our friend Stefan, walked half an hour north to Purple Patch, which turned out to be a very trendy kind of restaurant serving classic Filipino dishes and American comfort food. After Meong explained all the dishes, I ended up having the Sizzling Sisig. The dish included pork belly that was indeed sizzling, served on a hot plate, with a side of garlic fried rice and a very sweet vinegar. Meong also ordered a side of lumpia for us to try. I think Filipino food in general is pretty much in the same ballpark as Singaporean food, being from the same region, so the flavors weren’t completely alien to me. But the combination of everything was very novel (especially the vinegar, which I loved), and I would definitely go back for more if I could.

Our food explorations continued this week, as we headed to Sakana for some Japanese food. Located on P Street, Sakana is just a stone throw away from ISH, and has some good reasonably priced Japanese food. I chose the Sukiyaki, which consisted of beef and vegetables stewed in a clear, sweet broth, on yet another hot place, with a side of white rice. I would also recommend it to anyone looking to try some Japanese food that isn’t sushi.

As a diverse and international city, DC is a great place to try new cuisines, especially if you do some research on where to go. (But sporadically of course, because DC prices aren’t very student friendly and besides, ISH has a great dining hall of its own.) We’ve already picked out the next food exploration: Ramen, which we all happen to love. It will be perfect for transitioning into Winter, which I can already feel is coming.

Also this month at the House, some residents put together a Diwali celebration, which saw the lobby and entrance way bedecked in glittering fairy lights. With snacks set up on either side and a projection screen playing Bollywood dance clips and music videos, residents had fun learning more about the Festival of Lights.

All in all, I’m giving thanks for another season of discovery at ISH.

So one bright weekend morning, the three of us, joined by our friend Stefan, walked half an hour north to Purple Patch, which turned out to be a very trendy kind of restaurant serving classic Filipino dishes and American comfort food. After Meong explained all the dishes, I ended up having the Sizzling Sisig. The dish included pork belly that was indeed sizzling, served on a hot plate, with a side of garlic fried rice and a very sweet vinegar. Meong also ordered a side of lumpia for us to try. I think Filipino food in general is pretty much in the same ballpark as Singaporean food, being from the same region, so the flavors weren’t completely alien to me. But the combination of everything was very novel (especially the vinegar, which I loved), and I would definitely go back for more if I could.

Our food explorations continued this week, as we headed to Sakana for some Japanese food. Located on P Street, Sakana is just a stone throw away from ISH, and has some good reasonably priced Japanese food. I chose the Sukiyaki, which consisted of beef and vegetables stewed in a clear, sweet broth, on yet another hot place, with a side of white rice. I would also recommend it to anyone looking to try some Japanese food that isn’t sushi.

As a diverse and international city, DC is a great place to try new cuisines, especially if you do some research on where to go. (But sporadically of course, because DC prices aren’t very student friendly and besides, ISH has a great dining hall of its own.) We’ve already picked out the next food exploration: Ramen, which we all happen to love. It will be perfect for transitioning into Winter, which I can already feel is coming.

Also this month at the House, some residents put together a Diwali celebration, which saw the lobby and entrance way bedecked in glittering fairy lights. With snacks set up on either side and a projection screen playing Bollywood dance clips and music videos, residents had fun learning more about the Festival of Lights.

All in all, I’m giving thanks for another season of discovery at ISH.

What an incredible couple months it has been! In October, some fellow ISH residents and I had the opportunity to explore the White House and the gorgeous architecture of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (commonly referred to as the EOB). When many people think of the White House, they do not think about the beauty of the EOB that is adjacent to the property the White House is on. However, it is within the halls of the EOB that one can feel the amount of history that has gone throughout the building as time has gone on.

The EOB houses the Secretary of War suite that was used by Henry Stimson during World War II. As I stood in this suite and observed the beautiful architecture held within the walls of the room, I wondered what it must have been like to have stood in this room during days such as the day Pearl Harbor was bombed or the invasion of Normandy. Following my time in the Secretary of War suite, I was able to visit the Indian Treaty Room which housed the first presidential press conference in 1955 when President Eisenhower was in office.

It is still a mystery as to why the room was named the “Indian Treaty Room” as no major treaties were signed in this space. One theory is that the room received this name because the war department used to house many documents in this room including treaties, however, that has yet to be confirmed. The final stop on our tour of the EOB was the Vice President’s Ceremonial Office which houses the desk used by President Theodore Roosevelt during his time as president. This desk houses one of the most exciting and well-kept secrets in the EOB. It is tradition on the vice president’s last day in office for them to sign their name into the desk. When opening the drawer to the desk you will see signatures of various vice presidents and presidents. Some of the individuals who have signed their name into the drawer include Vice Presidents Cheney, Gore, Quayle, Mondale, and Rockefeller; and Presidents Truman and Eisenhower.

I very much enjoyed my time touring the White House and I hope that I am able to return in the future to explore other areas of the property that I was unable to see this time around!

In the middle of November some fellow residents at ISH and I decided that we wanted to make another trip up to New York City to continue our search for excellent pizza while exploring the amazing art housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Exploring this incredible art museum was by far one of my most memorable New York City experiences! Inside there is a gallery which houses a reconstructed Egyptian temple where you can find ancient hieroglyphics dating back to 3000 B.C.

In front of the Met

Other famous works housed in this museum include the famous painting of George Washington crossing the Delaware River (the painting is ginormous) and beautiful works by two of my favorite artists, those being Claude Monet and Winslow Homer. Following our time exploring the beautiful works of art housed in The Met we decided to head over to Joe’s Pizza located in Greenwich Village for a slice of their world-famous pizza. Joe’s was established in 1975 and has been serving up incredible slices of pizza to crowds of people which stand outside for sometimes up to an hour to get a slice. Beware there are several shops that have opened which have tried to brand themselves as the original Joe’s Pizza (the owners of the original Joe’s will tell you all the time they’re suing them). So long story short – if you want to try the original, authentic, Joe’s Pizza you must go to the one in Greenwich village. Needless to say, it was incredible and some of the best I have had to date.  

Pizza at the original Joe’s Pizza in Greenwich Village

Hummus Cauliflower Salad at Kubeh’s in Greenwich Village

Following the completion of our pizza eating conquest, we decided to go shopping near Columbus Circle where there are several boutiques that would take days to go through if visiting them all. Following this shopping trip, we decided to dine at a lovely middle eastern restaurant called Kubeh in Greenwich Village. I ordered the cauliflower and hummus salad and it was absolutely incredible!

I look forward to keeping you updated on my travels with residents in the future and I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Washington Nationals won the World Series. In case this means nothing to you- it’s baseball, and it’s a big thing, and it’s all anyone has talked to me about for a fortnight. Sports are great for bringing people together, and if you’re a sports fan, ISH apparently has a football team [soccer], and people are always playing tennis, basketball, and other sports. But what if, like me, you have no hand-eye coordination whatsoever, and just have no interest in sports at all? This is where music comes in.

This came about when I was wondering what to write about for this month’s blog (because, really, besides the museum visits, random weeknight Target runs for Halloween costumes, weekly movie nights, sporadic dinner conversations, GLAD Dinner, etc., what else is there really?). When I voiced this at dinner one night, my friend Sibel pointed out: “Oh, you should write about the music group!”

The Author’s first “music group” experience at ISH! With fellow residents Anna and Filip.

Actually, music at ISH is nothing new. There has already been another blog post by a previous resident detailing the many musical opportunities provided by ISH. (Take a look at “This house is full of music!” by Dorothée Stieber- although I would note that of the two guitars only one remains). But I suppose this is why writing about this is a good idea – because, like sports, music is a mainstay and has become almost a tradition at ISH. In fact, at some point over the summer, my friend Neil, a really gifted pianist, actually unearthed an old program from a music recital that some residents had put on years ago. He put it in one of the plastic stands and displayed it on top of the grand piano. It remains actual, physical evidence of this longstanding tradition.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that probably about 65% of the friends I make at ISH I made because of playing music. All the way back in January when I was a mere newbie, I can recall sitting in the hall tinkering with the strings on the guitar when someone asked me what I was doing. That someone was Filip, and he became key to my first introduction to music in the house. Somewhere in the course of our almost nightly jam sessions Anna joined in, with her perfect voice and harmonies. We also met Taka, who was basically a concert pianist, and Yukiko, who could play almost any song on the piano after having just heard it. Like sports, you don’t need to really know someone to join in, and so many residents have drifted in and out of all kinds of jam sessions- musical theatre, improvised lyrics, weepy ballad nights and song battles.

Music continues to bring residents together. This fall, ingenious residents in ISH actually started a WhatsApp group for “ISH Music Performers”! I unfortunately missed the inaugural meeting. But from the growing shared Spotify list that was shared on the group afterwards, it looks like it was a fruitful one. I’ve also joined in one or two impromptu sessions this season, and they’ve all been amazing. Maybe there will once again be a music recital at ISH in the future?

Just like sports, music brings with it a real camaraderie that really transcends cultures. Because you don’t really need to know a song to play the chords in it, and you can always learn. The variations in residents’ music taste has also been enlightening for me. I can proudly say that my initial repertoire of largely Taylor Swift songs has now grown to encompass a much wider variety of interesting and eclectic artistes (Radiohead, Elliot Smith, H.E.R, Amy Winehouse, Daniel Caesar- and those are all still on the mainstream side).

When the initial call for people to join the new music group came out, one of the most common responses was: “I play ____. But I didn’t bring my instrument.” So to all the prospective ISH residents who are music lovers our there, please bring your instruments when you move in!

Dupont Circle to me, is slipping and tripping in deep snow as we picked our way to the nearby Subway for lunch on a day when the cold winter had shut down the entire city. Sometimes when we were feeling more indulgent: braving the cold for a brownie from Firehook Bakery, to be brought back to ISH and shared with friends.
Or carefree weekend afternoons, spent browsing through the collection of books at Kramers. Alternatively, whiled away when we had the money and time to spare at Art Jamz Dupont Studio, where you can paint whatever you want with their extensive supplies, or challenging teamwork and friendships at the Great Escape Rooms. (Because as J.K. Rowling notes, there are some things in life you can’t experience together without ending up as friends, and I firmly believe trying to escape a locked room together is one of them.) I am also reminded of that one time, out of sheer boredom, I spent an hour browsing through the wonderful and cozy yarn collection at Looped, and went away with a newfound interest in knitting. But also makes me think of that time a group of us sat at the outside seating area of Mission eating nachos for an entire afternoon.

Which also reminds me of Sunday mornings, browsing through the Farmer’s Market that occurs, rain or shine by the Dupont Circle Metro North entrance. The ISH dining hall makes shopping for groceries quite redundant, but you can still indulge in the best creamline milk from Clear Spring Creamery’s stall (which is really just non-homogenized milk, that I swear tastes far better than normal milk) or the freshest, sweetest honeycrisp apples from the many fruit vendors there. An alternative haunt for meeting friends for me is also Teaism, which, besides a ridiculously wide array of tea, is also a very quaint spot for fusion food and long conversations. Also, I believe everyone needs a thinking-outside-of-the-house café, a place to go when you need to concentrate and escape or just be, and on many weekend mornings, Teaism was mine.

But Dupont also brings to mind late-night escapes to Dolcezza for their excellent Gelato, whenever one or many of us had an unbearable night of work ahead. That one time we had cheesecake at Kramer’s Café (yes, there is a café in the bookstore) and very real conversation. When time permitted, heading in big groups over to The Board Room, a bar where you can rent board games for $2 a game (and, if you’re like me and can’t handle alcohol, you don’t have to drink, but you can.) And, let’s face it, you can play board games at ISH too, but you can never replicate the buzzing atmosphere of the Board Room. (At least, that is the justification my friend gave me when he went there with his friend to play chess, of all games.) And when, at 1am in the morning, you’re starving after your night out, walk just across the circle to Halal Guys for the most satisfying gyros, or down to DC Café on P Street.

Which really also reminds me of watching social dance happenings around the actual Dupont Circle on sunny summer evenings. But this also makes me think of the one time, when it was still cold, and we went down to Café Citron for a friend’s farewell drinks and had an impromptu and free Bachata class.

 Safe to say, one of my favorite parts of living at ISH is the fact that we get to live more or less in the heart of Dupont Circle. With this new semester, there are also many new residents; and I’m sure that they will be writing their own Dupont Circle love affairs.