Virginia

Washington DC

According to Wikipedia, Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, “the District”, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. As permitted by the U.S. Constitution, the District is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Congress and is therefore not a part of any U.S. state.

I gather you already know that. Silly me. 😀

I was in Virginia visiting my relatives when my cousin Vilmor suggested that we should go to Washington DC over the weekend. Seeing the famous White House and exploring the capital of the United States pumped me up to the highest level!

Ready for cool snapshots? See below:

Museum

long lost twin sister!	cave-like wall with interesting artwork
pleased to meet you.. 🙂	elephant in the museum ?!?

United States Department of the Treasury

US Treasury Department - WashingtonDC-US 2012 - 071

The White House
(Click here to read what happened as we were driving around the White House -> “bullet holes”)

Random Photos

“The voice of reason is more to be regarded than the bent of any present inclination.”	U.S. Capitol (?)
Washington Monument

The trip to Washington DC was unexpectedly enjoyable and memorable. I certainly hope that I’ll be able to have a quick tour of the White House someday… Maybe on another visit? 🙂

Ta ta for now! 😀

Virginia Getaway

As promised, here’s the continuation of my Virginia getaway…
(Lost? Click here to read the related blog entry – Oh Virginia!)

Ever heard of a landfill site (a.k.a. waste/ garbage dump) being reused and converted into a park? That’s Mount Trashmore Park in Virginia! Can you believe that? Hmmm…. I wonder if that can be adapted in the Philippines… Transforming Smokey Mountain into a park or some sort of tourist attraction… Knock knock PNoy… Watcha think? 😉

Moving on, let’s have a quick tour on some of the tourist spots in Virginia :

Mount Trashmore Park
*** Whoever thought of converting this landfill site into a park was a genius!

Virginia Beach Christmas Lights
*** I had a grand time looking at the Christmas lights. It made me feel right at home… if you didn’t know, Filipinos have a thing for Christmas lights.

it would be great if I have a car like this. 😀
it looked like a sinking ship…

Nauticus
*** It’s an excellent place to de-stress and chillax… So peaceful…




awkwardly copying the mermaid’s pose….

I was extremely delighted to visit these wonderful places. Hmmm…. Where to next? 😉

P.S.
To my relatives (Ate Pat & family, Auntie Sion, Kuya Freddie, Vilmor, Raymond, and Reichelle) in Virginia, thank you so much for the warm hospitality!

Oh Virginia!

Did you know that one of Virginia’s nicknames is “Mother of Presidents”? It’s after the eight United States of America (U.S.A.) presidents who were born there, namely: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, and Woodrow Wilson. 😉 Thanks Wikipedia! Click this link for more interesting facts about Virginia.

In my opinion, that’s what makes Virginia one of the most special among the 50 states. It’s absolutely impressive! I was fortunate to spend Christmas with my relatives in Virginia and visit some magnificent tourist spots. You bet! Thanks to air miles for the free airfare. Woot!

Check out our sweet photos below:

Vilmor’s (my other cousin) New House
*** He was in the process of closing his house purchase when I was there for a visit.

Buffet Time!
*** Raiding Uptown Buffet and Hibachi Grill… I may be tiny but I eat like a monster… >=D

Christmas 2012
*** I lost interest in celebrating Christmas ever since my Mom passed away when I was 13 years old. After migrating to this side of the world and spending my first Christmas here alone, I started to long for a Filipino Christmas… my holiday in Virginia filled that void and rekindled my excitement for Christmas!

Ate Pat’s lovely house

Ate Pat & TheCuriousMe

Oh Virginia… Stay put, I will surely be back sometime. 🙂 More captivating pictures coming up!

P.S.
Meeting Ate Pat was one of the highlights of my U.S.A. trip, she’s the only cousin on my father’s side that I have never met… or maybe I was just too young to remember. I’m glad that I was able to spend some quality time with her and strengthen our relationship as cousins. It’s both heartwarming and overwhelming. 😀

New York!

After the road trip to Washington DC (click this link to read related article -> “bullet holes”), my cousins (Vilmor and Freddie) and I decided to embark on another adventure… this time to New York!

misc-StatueofLiberty--3US 2012 - 598 — Statue of Liberty from afar

Who wouldn’t want to go to New York? Come on! The Statue of Liberty and “the Big Apple” with sky high buildings are such a “wow” for a naive small town girl like me. :p

You betcha! With our backpack in tow, we all boarded a bus from Virginia (Va) to New York (NY). The 6-hour travel was a breeze because it was utilized for snoozing. Zzzzzzz…

Kuya Romeo, one of our relatives who lives in Manhattan, kindly picked us up from the bus drop-off point near Chinatown. He drove us to Manhattan and bought us a fancy breakfast before doing “touristy” things. 🙂

breaky!	with Kuya Romeo
my turn! 😦
NYC cab	NYPD
Seaport	balls! (near Wall Street)
	Japanese Buffet
with Gladys

So… what else did we do in New York? Check it out on my next post (New York Tour! (1 of 2))!

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P.S. TheCuriousMe would like to thank the following for making this trip possible:

Vilmor and Freddie for covering my return ticket (Va to NY and NY to Va) and some foodies
Ate Cel for coordinating with Kuya Romeo and Gladys
Gladys (and Rhyan!)for the accommodation
Kuya Romeo for patiently driving us around, buying our breakfast and supper, and for providing us a tour guide

Thank you so much for your valuable time and for making the trip to New York memorable as well as free of charge! I’m one lucky girl! 😀 XOXO
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submarine

I’m back… (…again)! 🙂

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Before I get carried away blabbering about why I disappeared, I would like to thank Jellybean and Sothi for the enlightenment about the transformation of thecuriousme’s logo. Most of all, my heartfelt gratitude to Chihhang for helping J and @TheSoulfulVixen tweak the new look of the logo (click here to read the blog entry,”renovation”). Maraming salamat (Thank you very much)! 😀
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Sooo… I had gone on hiatus for a couple of months (right… almost a year!!!)… Kinda like a submarine… You know… submarines float and then dive under the water… then resurface… then disappear again… -_-

Let’s just say, I was trying to live my life to the fullest and not waste time hiding in my cave. Yeah… I used to lock up in my nerd cave, living in a virtual world. I’ve realized that there’s more to life outside the four corners of my rock shelter! Life is indeed colorful and too short.

Expect to see fascinating new blog entries soon! 😉 FYI. Posts will be in no particular order.

To give you a birds eye view on some of the upcoming posts, here are some photos: