OIP Week 9 - Light the Skies

As we head further into our OIP and closer to our final weeks here in Redmond, three-quarters of Gang B207 decided we’d start the week right—with half-priced burgers at a local dive bar known Palmer’s. Friendly service plus delicious, decent-priced burgers (and oversized onion rings) made for a memorable lunch experience and nice balm to soothe the packed and challenging Week 9.

Everything's bigger in America.

The rest of the week was spent rushing up our assignments, in particular filming bits of our group project—a short film entitled A Haunted Pillow. If any Singaporean DigiPen BAGD freshmen or sophomores are reading this, DO NOT TAKE FLM151 IN REDMOND. Consider yourselves warned.

This weekend being the 4^th of July weekend (i.e. Independence Day; watch the historically-accurate, eponymous 1996 film for more information), we rushed most of the work we could for the week so we could free ourselves up on Saturday night, for an evening of fireworks and music.

Jieqi, Shaun and myself met up with Kok (from that Portland trip!) and took a lengthy bus ride to the Bellevue Transit Center. Since I’d promised Kok we’d have dinner, we walked around Bellevue trying to find somewhere to eat. We went past bustling Bellevue Square, past the wide stretch of green known as Bellevue’s Downtown Park, and finally decided to eat at Coco Ramen Curry Bar, a Korean-owned Japanese restaurant (I know, it’s confusing).

Classy.

At Coco, the waitress spilled water on us, forcing us to vacate our seats and move over to another table. She was cute, so we pressed no charges (just kidding; we’d have sued if we were rich enough to afford lawyers). Once the whole debacle had been settled, we ordered two plates of crisp, juicy gyoza to share. Kok and Shaun each ordered a large plate of curry rice and Jieqi got some avocado salmon salad. I bought a plate of cold dipping ramen.

That looks nothing like ramen.

Sadly, we received no compensation or phone numbers for the spilled water. Nonetheless, the food quality was good, so we left rubbing our bellies. We headed to the Downtown Park for the 4^th of July festivities. Several food stalls were setup carnival-style, with long lines that stretched from the stall to the edges of the park. Since we all loved carnivals, we took about an hour to explore and get ourselves some sweet treats. Kok and I shared a bowl of shaved ice while Jieqi queued an extravagantly long time for a plate of decadent funnel cake.

 Funfairs & carnivals are inherently awesome.

The sun eventually set and the lights around the park went out. Finally, it was the time for the main event. We found a semi-decent spot in the crowded park and huddled together as the sky was painted green, purple, red, blue and gold. Showers of light and flame lit up the night as the large throng of people watched, photographed, videotaped and cheered.

Ji-ba-boom!

The fireworks display lasted a full 20 minutes, against the backdrop of the breezy night and the enthralling music of the Bellevue Youth Symphony Orchestra. The final bursts of sparkling trails marked the end of the pyrotechnic show, and the crowd began to file out of the park. We bumped into some of the other BAGD folks and made our way back to the Bellevue Transit Center. An extremely-crowded B-Line bus—which made rush hour on Singapore's MRT feel like getting lost in an empty mall—brought us back to Redmond at around midnight, marking the literal close of the 4^th of July 2015.

Mass today was celebrated by a visiting, retired priest who told good jokes and had a great knack for saying seemingly-inappropriate things in an acceptable, funny way. Right after communion he attempted to sell an old boat he owned. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen during a mass.

After church, Moses and I went to BJ's Brewhouse & Restaurant for a very filling—and highly satisfying—meal. We made it just in time for the weekend brunch special, and I ate a whole plate of buttermilk pancakes, bacon, eggs (sunny side up) and toast. A mug of Irish root beer (root beer with Baileys and some other stuff) completed the meal, and the remainder of the weekend.

  

Photos courtesy of Moses Koh.

Three more weeks till the next and final chapter of our adventure here in the Land of the Free begins. Hope everyone’s enjoyed their weekend. Till next time!