She speaks. Or rather, she writes.

August 20- Sept 3

These past 3 weeks have been an emotional roller coaster for me. SO many things happened, most of it so fast. We had to say goodbyes to all the friends, mentors.. people that had been the centre of our lives for the past 3 months and that guided us through the good and bad times. We had to pack and leave the apartment and the community where we have grown our roots, made a difference. Leave behind the hazy lazy days and get into the real world.

We fly into DC and meet up with more interns, both from India and USA. More friendships develop, more fun encountered. More business symposioms, more knowledge gained. Too bad we didn’t have more time to get to know each other. The Malaysians we invited to the Malaysian embassy to do a presentation on what we had been doing for the past 3 months. That was an awesome experience, not only because I met and talked to the Malaysian ambassador himself, but more so because I met and made really good friends there. Friends that have been there and done sooo much for me and icky. They have gone out of their way to welcome us and host us and feed us, and been the solutions to soo many of the problems that we had been facing. Their kindness is something I can only hope I will someday repay.

Okies.. No more emotional drama.. Time to talk about sight seeing. Starting with DC. We done a lot, but there is so much more I wish I did. Went to Capitol Hill, the war memorials, the Lincoln memorial, the national monument. Went to the Natural History musuem, the National American History musuem, the Holocaust museum, Smithsonian Castle and the area surrounding it. Owh how can I forget White House. Then we take a leap of faith and go the NYC.. to stay with a friend we just got to know…

Smitsonian Castle in DC

.. and it was Awesome (running dangerously low on vocabs here.. I’ve done amazing, wonderful, need to save breathtaking for the nature related experiences, what else??) hahahaha.. Well, tclss, NY was more than I had ever imagine it would be. The feel and exhiliration of being part of such a huge city is something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. The city just never sleeps! Everyything works for 24 hours, and you see so many diverse culture/ religion/ ethnicity that you feel right at home! Time square filled me with awe (I literally was standing there and just gaping at the whole sight before me).

Went into MTV, Toys R Us, Hard Rock, Trump TOwer, Ground Zero, Winter Park, Rockefeller Centre, Central Park, everyhting lah! CNN, David Letterman, scenes from Sex and the City.. name it and I probably did it. We did the tourist stuff too.. Musuems (MoMA) when they were free, Ferry ride to Staten Island to pass the Lady Liberty, Empire State Building (didn’t go up as we were staying in a high rise apartment that gave us a better view), fifth Ave, Chinatown, Little Italy. Went to Brooklyn to some park to get a beautiful skyline of the lower Manhattan skyline. Went to a theather that cracked me up laughing, went to a musical. (thanks to our host Mary).

lower manhattan skyline taken from brooklyn

Ground zero.. and every person i met here, i asked about their experience during 9/11..

ambik gambar jerrr.. no money to go up there ponnn.. (yES.. ThATS the real story..not because we have a better view from somewhere else.. hahaha)

you’re fired! (i know.. cliche.. but tak tau nak tulis aper lagii..)

Nways

Then came the even better part: My roadtrip to Niagara Falls!! hehehe.. one word : Breathtakinglymagnificent. (YEs, that is one word). I remember back in high school I asked  my Geography teacher whether it was possible to  go under the Fall.  She said no, people die when they do that. Siap kene gelak lagi woooo.. Hehehehe.. I’m not bitter or anything, but I felt such an overpowering sense of fulfillment to be on the boat just a few feet away from the gushing falls. And to sit and stare at the falls.. man, I’ll never tire of it. I said I was a city gal, but I’m also very into nature. And Niagara Falls is about nature as you can get..

Pictures will be in a separate blog :)

Now in LA, can’t wait for the adventure to begin!!!!