I was going to Ottawa to meet Senator Victor Oh for his retirement. OnRoute I witnessed the bird attack. At first there was just one bird, but after making a call to its friends, they headed over to my chocolate muffin. At that moment, ironically, I spotted a do not feed the birds sign. We drove away quickly and continued to Ottawa. The landscape was beautiful, at least half of the way I could see a forest and occasionally a few lakes. We arrived at the famed restaurant, Quan Ju De, popular for the Roast Peking Duck. There, the interior is creatively designed, with the mirrors covered with the red frame with symmetrical flowers. The waiters, dressed elegantly in black, awaited us and formally greeted us and led us to a room where the wallpaper is covered with Chinese calligraphy. The food is fancy, even with cut out carrots the shapes of ducks and maple leaves. The duck is exquisitely cut up and placed in the shape of a peony, another above candle, the flicker giving a mood and setting to the dining experience. Even the humbly prepared cucumbers give a sharp burst of flavor across my taste buds and the sea cucumber, though strong, gave a smooth feeling on my tongue. Some of my favorites were the duck pastries and the taro fish. The taro fish were creamy and osmanthus flower gave it a sweet tang, while the ducks looked ornate and incredibly cute, flavor matching the looks with the date paste. Then we respectfully and paid full attention to Senator OH, We visited to his personal office at Parliament Hill. What followed was a brief walk, we arrived at the Central Chambers, which after a history lesson, I learned that it used to be a train station back then and I became a place of politics. There were many realistic portraits of past senators and queens, statues, and artifacts. There was a stop where we all lined up to take a picture with Senator Oh under the Canada flag overlooking the balcony. The ceiling was filled with recurring geometric and beautiful shapes that took my breath away as I gazed to the far other side of the room. The ceiling was smooth like butter, as vast as the sky. In the chambers, we were told that normal people weren’t allowed to step past the bars because the chamber was only for the senators and royalty, but since we were special guests, we were invited to step in and sit in the spot senators were usually sitting. He then gave us a speech about how he changed the life of many young immigrants for their Canadian citizenship and he told us more about what and how he works as a senator and how the bills are passed. Senator Oh declares his feelings of pride because of the lives he changed of many immigrants and their children, touching us with all the good work he has done, we all giving him a big applause. We then took many pictures at his seat where he works and I was lucky enough to get a memorable autograph from him that I will treasure forever. After, showed us a beautiful ledge overlooking the people below, held up by pillars etched with a wave and square pattern. We headed out and we enjoyed taking many pictures
next to some statues and the scenery up on the bridge, until we arrived. Since
we were his special guests, he showed us his office on Parliament Hill. It was
a humble yet comfortable place with many awards and achievements made in his
life. I discovered that he made a hole in one once. |
