Sightseeing with the President

Once upon a time, not so long ago, we took an Amtrak train from Clifton Forge, VA to Washington DC which is 100x times more comfortable than airplanesUpon arrival, I was immediately greeted by the President himselfHe took us to the Dupont Circle Stationwhich has the steepest and most frightening escalators I have ever seen!to ride DC's world-class underground subway called the Metro (which is 100 x times better than New York's rat-infested, saliva-laden equivalent)First, we went to the National Mall, where i discovered that all those months of tray-lifting had done wonderful things to my arms! we walked beside a beautiful lake, where we could see the Jefferson Memorial from a distance

then we went to the Washington Monument, but gasp! the sky was getting dark and scary.... so, we took shelter by going to the top of the monument, where we enjoyed the view of the Washington skyline from above...
the White House was visible from here, and the President suddenly remembered that he forgot to feed his dog before he left the house!so, off we went to the White House....we went down the elevator of the monument and walked...and walked...and walked...and walked....gosh, how far is it? It could not have been that far...it didn't look taattt far when we were at the top of Washington Monument!

oh wait...there it is. I almost couldn't recognized it because the President wanted to go in from the back... but there's some sort of demonstration from people with black sacks over their faces..the President can make such bad decisions sometimesand that's not all, the President forgot his keys!! I thought we were going to be locked out but luckily, his hungry dog came and fetched him the keys..so, tat night before I go to sleep, I gave him a big kiss on his doggie face :)The next day, we went to the National Museum of Natural History on the National Mall, well where else, in the Nation's Capital of coz...we saw a huge elephant at the entrance, and some dinosaurs... and a few ancient people drawing a fat-looking horse on the wall of the museum..Next, we went to the National Air and Space Museum and boy...was it crowded...but nobody recognized the President in his disguise of coz..
we looked at various types of aeroplanes hanging from the ceiling.. and witnessed astronauts doing their thing...
We stopped by the National Gallery of Art, where we walked through a really cool-looking ceiling..and the National Portrait Gallery, because the President wanted to check out a new portrait of him there..
Finally, when night time falls, we walked to the Lincoln Memorial and paid homage to the statue of the 16th President of the US...the Memorial was one of the grandest places I have ever been too...it's so amazing...and magical..


fuwah wah wahhh yawnnn......after a long day of sightseeing, it's time to call it a day! We went back to the White House and had a good night sleep..

The best is yet to come, they say....

Mana tau, the next day, the President had his hands full chasing wild squirrels away in his garden so he asked us to walk back to the train station ourselves...

What to do...so we walked lo..

And it was not so bad, because there's a lot to see in DC just by walking..

We walked by some statues (there's lotss of these here)

and some castle...nothing unusual..haha..and at last we reached Union Station, where we took a train back to good ol' Hot Springs
but not before taking a group picture of us 4 young travellers!That's all. Hope you enjoy the story of our amazing Washington trip! hehe :-)

Note: The story above is purely fictional. No harm is done to the President in the making of this blog post. Any similarities to real persons, trips or experiences are unintentional. But one thing is for sure, the pictures are real! :-)

Angels in DC

I found them through a website called the CouchSurfing project. We were going to DC for our Japan visa application and we needed a place to stay for at least 4 days, all 4 of us. They took us in.

She arrived on time to pick us up from the train station in her bright red car. Within 10 mins, we arrived at her home and were greeted by her husband and their 4 beautiful (and a little too excited) dogs.

Everything was prepared for us. Clean linens in the bathroom, freshly-made beds in the guestroom and home office. The big atlas book in their living room was turned to the page where Malaysia is.

The next morning, after a nice American breakfast, she drove us to the Japan Embassy. The application process was not as easy as we thought. All my friends gave up on the spot and changed their travel plans to HK. But I refused to give up without a fight. Not after all the things that I have done.

They let me use their printer and fax machine so that I can get the documents I need to apply again the next day.

The next morning, she cooked rice for us after learning on the internet that the typical Malaysian breakfast involves rice. It was delicious. She took pains not to have fruits or any fruits-related products on the dining room table because I don't eat fruits.

The rest of the week was like a dream.

They brought us to a Malaysian restaurant downtown called Malaysia Kopitiam and insisted that it was their treat. I saw for the first time what an open mic session looked like when they brought us to Busboys & Poets. We went to the Lincoln Memorial at night and I felt like I was inside a Hercules movie. I stood at the exact spot where Mathin Luther King Jr. made his "I Have A Dream" speech and where President Obama addressed all of USA and the world on his inauguration day.

It was truly magical, in every sense of the word.

They supplied us with maps, directions and a Lonely Planet book on Washington so that we can plan our trip. When it rained or when it was too cold at night to walk, all we have to do is make a phone call and they will be there to pick us up. It was the first time that I have ever felt so at home in the US.

Our train back to Hot Springs was on Friday morning. On that fateful day, we had a very wonderful breakfast. Probably because we spent too much time on breakfast, we were soon running late. She sped us to the train station and we arrived 3 minutes before the train was due to leave. After some quick hugs and kisses, we arrived at the gate just in time to see the train leaving the station.

We were devastated. We went to the nearby McDonalds and sit there for almost an hour, trying to figure out what to do. In our scared and confused minds then, the most comforting thing to do was to give them a call. That was what we did. She arrived promptly to pick us up after getting our voicemail. I was so happy and relieved to see her. They made dinner for us that night to comfort us. It was a nice candlelight dinner.

The next train was on Sunday. On that day, he made sure that we were ready to leave the house one hour before the train was due to leave even though their house were just a 5 mins drive from the station. We managed to get on the train this time.

It was not a happy occasion to be back. We knew that our bare "hotel-like" rooms could never conjure up the warm feelings that we felt while we were staying in their house. I even love the fact that my clothes still have dog furs all over them because they reminded me of Jessie, Cassie, Jaselle (is that how it's spelt?) and Mr. Maxi. I missed being woken up in the morning by Cassie or Maxi's big licks on my face. He told us that if we ever come back to Washington, we will always have a "place to stay". They were so so so nice.

I don't know how I could ever thank both of you enough, but I am going to say it anyway. Thank you very very much, Toni and Sam, for making our trip to DC one of the most memorable and wonderful trip of my life! :-)