Washington DC – Day 12 (June 4, 2005): Arundel Mills

Today Salman and I drove to Baltimore (or close to it). We met with Salman’s friend, Feysal, and several of his friends, for lunch and stuff. We all met up at Jillian’s, at the Arundel Mills. Jillian is a combination of restaurant, bowling, billiards, bar, arcade, and some other stuff. It’s very much like Dave & Buster, which Salman and I also visited the night before for a birthday invitation, but twice or thrice larger. So the familiarity with the scene was still lingering.

There were eventually six of us that afternoon, and after finishing lunch, we all headed to the pool room. The six of us split into two tables, playing a simple 3×3 (where you claim your number range and try shooting the other two people’s balls). The last time I played pool before was with Christa in late February, when I was visiting Bloomington. I didn’t play pool often, and I’m not good anyway. I’m just barely average. So yeah, I lost, coming in the 3rd and 2nd for the second table.

Then, we hang around Arundel Mills, a large shopping center complex much like St. Louis Mills. You can only find structures like these in the States due to its vast empty lands and extensive highway systems.

Later that night, Feysal invited us to have dinner with his wife. After dinner, the four of us played Spades. This was my first time playing this game. It wasn’t hard, but the rule was confusing at first. It involves bidding and coordination with your partner. There’re multiple strategies you can use, of course, but trying to get used to the game kinda slowed me down in that department. I lost again, for the second time that day. But it was fun, and the second time I played it again later that month, I won it!