#I was alone in dc bc I flew there and stayed the night (in a hotel that ended being across from a massive lockheed martin building wtf)

[k2ulhu]

I was able to stop in dc on vacation about a month and a half ago and man I wish I could've spent more time there. it was 90° and I was wearing 3 layers of clothes I couldn't change out of for 4 and a half hours. but it was awesome

I'm trying to plan a longer trip with my friends for my birthday in december when it'll be colder

(I do have a vague worry I looked a bit too suspicious walking around the fbi building for an hour in the middle of the summer wearing 2 jackets, sunglasses, and a baseball cap, taking about 40 pictures from every angle I could get, but hopefully they know I just like the x files way too much)

I can't believe they made the building from the x files into a real thing wow. wow

[my-mind-musings]

INTO THE LAND OF THE FREE

Go ahead. Explore your world, do something crazy and overwhelming. Learn.

And I did. I’m in my youthful years, trying and looking for things to satisfy my passion, my love for adventure, and my need to do something worthwhile once every year since I turned 18. 

I think I did it crazier than I ever imagined. And a lot farther from home.

Into the Land of the Free. Two months and 18 days in the US.

All those mini quizzes, orientations, (a hella lot of) fees, and papers signed and passed, at long last, I had set foot on this land. A dream come true for many, including me. I have been dreaming this big since I think I have learned a about planes. ‘Sometime soon, I will get to travel in a plane, alone, into a far away place from home. I will explore and have fun.’ I was a kid then but my dream remained the same even though I grow older. I only imagined myself having my own money from salary, a decent job and a plane ticket off to somewhere breathtaking. Who would’ve thought I’d be given this opportunity of a lifetime, sooner than expected?

May 25, 2017; MNL, PHL - I got my whole fam + 1 with me while waiting for my boarding time. We made jokes about me being so forgetful and all. I didn’t know I’d cry hard when I hugged my sister. Aside from missing my family and my boyf, I think I’d miss my sister the most. I left her alone in our room, with all her stories waiting to be told. I left the country with two of my upperclass psych majors as well by midnight. 

May 26, 2017; ICN, SK - Annyeong haseyo! 1st lay over was in Incheon, South Korea. We reached by dawn and had our brunch. I gotta say, airport food is so damn expensive. My bowl of tonkatsu was KW 7000 but the serving was big so it’s worth it. By 10 AM (KST), we were ready to board and leave the country.

May 25, 2017; NY, USA - The fourteen-hour travel was delayed by more than an hour due to bad weather. The plane was just circling above the airport, waiting for the signal. New York welcomed us with dark clouds, and a rainy and cold afternoon. I felt a splash of relief from my father’s worried voice. I explained the situation. There was no net so I wasn’t able to update my boyf tracking my flight as well so he called me and assured him. We tried to locate our terminal for domestic flights, and were disappointed to find out it was cancelled. So we had to re-book it. We had to stay over in NY for a night, and thankfully, my travel buddy’s dad and stepmom is around the area. 

May 26, 2017 - We cannot get a flight with us all in a plane so one of us had to sacrifice to take a different flight. I flew from NY to Washington DC then to Norfolk by 8:30 pm. It was amazing to see that the sun sets at around past 8 pm here. Something new and different. From Norfolk, we took a cab to Longhill Rd, Williamsburg, VA for more than 1 hr. I felt so shy and embarrassed because the driver couldn’t understand my “accent” when I said the housing address (so far, I am being understood so I think my strong accent is becoming softer). By Sunday, we went off to shop for our food. All of us from my university instantly became close, leaving the other two behind bcs 1) they don’t socialize much with us 2) they’re always at work.

May 29, 2017 - Orientation at the workplace. We had some Jamaicans for company and we immediately became close with them. s/o to Falola for being so sweet and interactive with us. We were introduced to our section head and we got our uniform fitting. The next day we went to work at 7 am and worked until 4PM with Deanna, half Filipina. Damn, deep cleaning for our 1st day, whew! This is my 3rd week at work and i’m in the afternoon shift and I am not liking my office hours, 3-11:30 PM shit.

So far, I have just traveled alone to premium Outlets but I am definitely going to nearby places to explore the history and the place itself. But right now I’m still saving up the dollars so that I can go visit the places.