we've been going out a lot lately and I haven't updated my blog for quite some time already. now, I'm back with lots of stories and pictures from DC and New York!
July 4, 2007
nothing special, no fireworks even. since we went out on july 3 to watch Transformers, we all woke up late on the 4th of July. and after lunch, we just went to the mall to see what's on sale. i got some cute shirts from the disney store and it only costs $3 each! we all planned to watch fireworks that night somewhere in Leesburg but only the people from apt 103 saw it. why? we were on separate cars. they found the park and we got lost. first, we made the wrong turn. then, we drove and drove until it was too dark and the road was too narrow. it was so funny, we just watched silent hill in the apt a few days before that event. anyways, that's all i got for my first holiday here in the US.
July 7, 2007
our Washington, DC trip. we were supposed to leave early in the morning, but it was already past 9 when we left. we took the van and parked at the vienna station (metro) and took a train to DC. in 40 minutes, we were already on our stop in DC - federal triangle. we first went to the DC tourist information center (or something like that) and got our brochures, etc. then, we started our looonnngggg walk. first on our list was lunch. we found a food court and right after we ate, we went to the White House. it was too far.. and we keep on stopping to get pictures. from there, we went to see the washington monument, lincoln memorial, smithsonian castle (5 minutes), the capitol, museum of natural history (10 minutes with guards following us and guiding us to the exit) and everything in between. we weren't really paying attention as to what time it was that's why we weren't able to really go around and check out the museums - they close at 5:30, except for the museum of natural history which closes at 7:30. for me, DC = walking, no food, closing time. nice fun pictures though.
July 4, 2007
nothing special, no fireworks even. since we went out on july 3 to watch Transformers, we all woke up late on the 4th of July. and after lunch, we just went to the mall to see what's on sale. i got some cute shirts from the disney store and it only costs $3 each! we all planned to watch fireworks that night somewhere in Leesburg but only the people from apt 103 saw it. why? we were on separate cars. they found the park and we got lost. first, we made the wrong turn. then, we drove and drove until it was too dark and the road was too narrow. it was so funny, we just watched silent hill in the apt a few days before that event. anyways, that's all i got for my first holiday here in the US.
July 7, 2007
our Washington, DC trip. we were supposed to leave early in the morning, but it was already past 9 when we left. we took the van and parked at the vienna station (metro) and took a train to DC. in 40 minutes, we were already on our stop in DC - federal triangle. we first went to the DC tourist information center (or something like that) and got our brochures, etc. then, we started our looonnngggg walk. first on our list was lunch. we found a food court and right after we ate, we went to the White House. it was too far.. and we keep on stopping to get pictures. from there, we went to see the washington monument, lincoln memorial, smithsonian castle (5 minutes), the capitol, museum of natural history (10 minutes with guards following us and guiding us to the exit) and everything in between. we weren't really paying attention as to what time it was that's why we weren't able to really go around and check out the museums - they close at 5:30, except for the museum of natural history which closes at 7:30. for me, DC = walking, no food, closing time. nice fun pictures though.
inside the metro - on our way to DC from vienna station to federal triangle
our first stop, the white house
at the lincoln memorial - such a long walk from the white house!
world war II memorial
the washington monument
smithsonian castle
at the capitol
see, still early and no more food!
on our way back to viennaJuly 13-15, 2007
new york, new york. we left the office around 5:00 last friday and went back to the apt to get our stuffs for our weekend trip to NY. we left the place and headed to vienna again. our bus to NY will come from DC and since we already went to DC the week before, i would think that we are already experts in taking the metro! this time, our stop was gallery place - chinatown.
we reached the bus station around 7:00pm and we were supposed to leave around 7:50 but, we boarded the bus at 9:30pm and left for NY at 10:00. crappers. if it wasn't too expensive, i would have chosen to take train (amtrak). we reached downtown NY (this is where chinatown is) by 2:00am. my friend from college, edwin, picked me up. i'll be staying with him and he's in charge of my NY tour. we slept around 4 in the morning and woke up early to get breakfast at the hotel. after that, we got our all-loop-tours ticket from gray line (thanks, edwin!), took the downtown tour in a double decker bus and went down somewhere near the ferry terminal/station to see the statue of liberty and ellis island. we passed by 5th avenue, wall street, the empire state and a lot more. the double decker bus is soooo cool (and hot)! as we were approaching liberty island, i was so excited! then, i got the surprise of my life, lady liberty is green and not too big. oh well. seeing her still gave me a different kind of feeling. never did i imagine that i'd be in new york this year. edwin and i also saw edmar there! small world.
we went to ellis island afterwards.
around 3:00pm, we decided to eat. we walked from the chinatown bus stop and went to little italy. yummy. i bet dax won't enjoy much, he's not a pasta fan. after that, we went back to the bus stop to see the rockefeller center. we decided to go see NY at night at the top of the rock instead of going up on top of the empire state. my reason - i wan to see empire state. i'm sure it's still a different feeling when you're IN empire state, well i can do that when dax (and maybe gabriel!) is with me :) we heard mass first in st. patrick's cathedral (very beautiful church) then we spent hours at the top of the rock while we waited for the sun to set. but unfortunately, it was 845 and it still wasn't dark. we decided to go down and get the night loop tour - which we did not regret. manhattan at night is beautiful. we toured brooklyn and after going around downtown, we went back to midtown manhattan and stayed in times square until maybe 1:00am and went to see macy's (closed), empire state and madison square garden. we went back to the hotel after that. we were already too tired and sleepy.
we woke up later on the 15th but still were able to have the hotel breakfast. dax would be envious, i always get something like the big breakfast from mc donald's. oh yeah, no hash browns, he wouldn't like it very much then. our plan for today was to check ground zero and then get the uptown loop tour (and maybe get some gray's papaya's meal which was strongly recommended by dax - he hasn't tried it yet, don't know why he keeps on telling me to eat there). anyways, we took the subway (and got lost) to ground zero. it was under construction so you really won't see anything there. we decided to go to central park then and maybe have lunch.
we took the uptown tour and had lunch in a japanese resto somewhere in central park west. i was already running out of time so we went back to times square 'cus i wanted to go back to hershey's and mnmsworld. i also want to see the wax museum and ripley's. but like i said, i didn't have much time so i just got gabriel a really cute shirt from mnnmsworld and took a cab to the bus station in chinatown. our trip back to DC was more than 4 hours. when we reached DC, we got dinner in a chinese resto and took the last train to vienna. we reached the apartment around 1:00am.waking up for monday morning office was tooooo hard.
next, i'll be in florida! i'll go see universal studios and epcot (thanks to my ninang aida!). wipeeee! after florida, i think we'll go back to DC to check our the museums or maybe georgetown.
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we went to red hot & blue to fill our empty stomachs. before the game started around 7:05pm we were already seated. it lasted until a little after 10. the experience was nice but the game was -- boring. i mean, 1-15?! haha! by the way, it was washington nationals who played vs. detroit tigers. tigers won.
