some kind of a lengthy post about DC (and who the heck knows when the next one is coming...)

There hasn't really been much story about my experiences in DC. At least none that I have blogged about. Of course, I've already had some fun (and HORRIBLE) experiences. I wouldn't mind going into the fun ones but just not the horrible. Anyway, pretty much a lot of the people who could be reading this already know the HORRIBLE experiences. (Long Island still tastes good, though.) Actually, because the horrible experiences were HORRIBLE, they're pretty much what I can remember. Wait, I can now remember the fun ones and... I'd actually rather not get into them.

So yes, no kwento at all except the previous post, which also only my Filipino friends could understand.

Actually, I'm once again lazy to type even if I want to blog. Sooner or later, I'll be having a longer post. So far, the only thing I could easily say is that, while I'm here, I'd want to be able to do a couple of things:

1. Watch a play or a musical and
2. Watch a football game in RFK Stadium. (But damn it, I can't get tickets for the DC United game against CD Olimpia, a Honduran team, about 2 weeks from now. Well, duh, I should've gotten tickets much, much earlier.)

Now it seems my long post is coming.

Food talk: I have been craving for some good Chinese food. The only one I've been to is the one right around the corner of the apartment. And it wasn't good. It was quite expensive... and it wasn't good. Our professor recommended one in Chinatown and I think I will visit that this Friday, my day off. (No work. =( ) Please, some good fooood. I was able to try a seafood resto also in Chinatown when I went there couple of weeks ago. The food wasn't bad but it was a sandwich. And for cryin' out loud, I've been having sandwiches. RICE! That's the Filipino staple food. RICE! Add to that the fact that for like 2 days now, I've been eating chicken. I had chicken tenders for lunch last Thursday, chicken tenders again from Popeye's last Friday, a chicken something sandwich from Cosi yesterday, chicken nuggets last night for midnight snack while I was being a nerd, and chicken cheese steak sandwich today. My life is starting to revolve around chicken. I am surviving through chicken! It's a good thing there's no such thing as a chicken alcohol, demmit! Also, I am still trying to look for a GOOD seafood restaurant. If I remember it right, there's also one in Chinatown. If I find both restos there, God bless Chinatown. Heck, I. MISS. GOOD. FOOD. (of course, so far, this has been the longest part of my post, the food part. What did you expect?)

Vanity talk: I love the long overcoat, which I got last Friday for 160. It was on sale from 400. That's 60 off baby. And it's Claiborne. Albert gave me a dilemma though. On the left sleeve, near the wrist, there are 2 tags sewn. One for the brand and one that says "fabric woven in Italy." Yeah, yeah. I didn't wanna remove them and when he saw it, he was like, you are supposed to remove them. Er, am I? It might sound stupid for all but... it didn't look bad for me. Or wasn't I just paying attention that it looked stupid? My uncle's sending me more clothes. Good one. At least I can cut down on my spending. I have been spending a lot. (It's an injustice alcohol costs a lot in the US). And it's not gonna help that I have my Fridays off.

Speaking of Fridays, I actually don't know how I will be spending my Fridays. Do school work would be fine. And wake up late. (Reverse order). Perhaps that could work out. OR. Explore DC. That couldn't be bad, could it? Although at the moment, only the Holocaust Museum and the Natural Museum are the only ones I want to see.

Crap, I still haven't gotten a camera! When will I ever get one! I was advised to buy from the net but it's scary. I was told about the safe ones but... I still kinda don't trust them. Well, I better get one REALLY soon.

And my eyes are starting to close. Last night was perhaps my unwanted first step towards the stressful sem ahead of me. I went to bed at 530 (yes, AM!) and woke up at 730AM(!). 2 hours baby. And I didn't even have an exam today. An omen of what's to come? I seriously, seriously hope not. Or I'm shite dead.

Some random thoughts:
1. I must start reading the papers soon.
2. There are really great guys in the group.
3. The speaker for our class tonight was good. He was the editor of the Almanac of American Politics and he sorta made me a tad more interested in politics. Only God knows when (or IF) I'll ever get engaged in a political conversation of the people around me.
4. While I was having lunch at the caf at work, all of a sudden I thought I was having issues again about all sorts of stuff. Not very serious shite, though.
5. My eyes are really closing now. Must go to bed friggin soon.

I'm off. Work's in less than 9 hours' time. Ilkin was probably right when he said people's comments about work are extremes because apparently, mine's an extreme, too. And it rarely happens.

ayoko sana magsalita...

...kasi baka karmahin ako.

Simpleng bagay lang naman. Medyo may kinakainisan na ko dito.

At baka karmahin ako kasi baka mamya, habang naiinis ako e naiinis pala sakin ang buong mundo.

Yun lang naman.

At halata naman kung bakit ako nagtatagalog.

I'm Lovin' It.

NO, this is not to promote the unhealthy McDonald's. It's about my internship in the Rayburn House Office Building.

It's only my second day of work but I. Am. Loving. It. If only I could work the whole day, the whole week. For some strange reason, I am completely enjoying it. Strange because I never thought of working for a congressman. But here I am doing it! The other 2 interns with me (they started earlier) as well as the people there are great. The Staff Assistant's also very nice, she brightens up your day every time. It's also interesting to know a couple of things about her: she's an alumna of Capital Semester and she's the daughter of another Virginia congressman. Cool eh?

I wasn't actually expecting to be placed under such an internship (somehow I thought of it to be too political; well, duh...) but no regrets. Completely no regrets. It was just my second day today so probably I'm too quick to judge. Tomorrow, I should be able to tell better.

The things I did today are relatively more contributive than yesterday but I don't feel too good about them. Not because the work wasn't good or anything but because I didn't do them PERFECTLY. Writing failures again. Haha. Knowing how high the standards I set for myself are, this is going to be a challenge, especially that it seems I will be reading and writing a lot.

One (and probably the only) bad (which isn't really bad bad but bad, aww-sad-bad) thing about it though is: I don't get to work on Fridays. (But I love going to work =( ) There are 4 or 5 interns, I think, for Cong. Davis but all of us go at different times. Like in my case, I'd only be working Mon-Thu. One works Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The other one probably the whole week since he's been an intern for more than 4 months (first step towards becoming a politico?). The other 2, I'm not sure.

Well, well. One thing I realized yesterday was, (yes, after my first day), I wish I could do just the internship. :D

Anyway, I'm quite sure that the next 3 months would be even better.

Trying to take things into perspective

I am being my quiet self again especially around the people here. I'm not sure if it's because I'm probably the LEAST politically-inclined among all or I'm just really quiet. I think it's both.

Let's call it warming up to people. And yeah, I need some booze for me to (almost) fully operate. Just like last night. I knew I already had some drinks because I started to talk quite a lot. I'm not the most people-person in the world... so good luck.

Long live introverts!

So it wasn't the best night out...

The idea was to have fun, get drunk, and get sleepy (or pass out)...

Not... take the metro to get to a point and then be taken by some girls to some far-flung area (taking the metro again) and get a bottle of beer.

At least I wasn't alone in feeling we didn't have the best night.

Lesson: TFAS people only. Or better girls.

DC Here I Come!!!

One of my friends expected me to blog the moment I get here in the US. Even I thought of the same thing. Both of us thought I'd be THAT excited that blogging would become the top priority activity. Apparently, this is my FIRST time to do so after a week or so of being here so... whatever that means.

It's been good so far here in DC. Prolly except for the killer cold weather the past couple of days. It didn't even feel this cold in Chicago and it's supposed to be colder there. Wrong timing, I guess. As I've told some people, snow was the first thing I looked for when I landed in Chicago. But there was none. Heck, I don't mind. The weather's more than fine for me. Winter's not gonna be complete though without snow. I heard it's going to snow HERE so I'll be waiting for it. I hope my friend didn't give me false hopes. Yes, you don't get people's hopes up. According to WashingtonPost, snow's gonna accumulate today and this afternoon then (little.. LITTLE????) snow falls...TONIGHT. Bring out your winter clothes kid! (And I still don't have a camera!!! Darn it!)

(It seems I'd finish writing this entry first before I could even finish the sandwich I got from Starbucks an hour ago. This is what I've been eating for breakfast the past couple of days. Thank God Starbucks is right beside our apartment. I haven't gotten coffee though. Yes, that's me tryin' to save up some money.)

Classes started Monday (it was Martin Luther King Day!!!) and I surely did miss writing down notes. And shopping for books. And school supplies. The geek in me is slowly waking up after 8 months or so of hibernation. Heck, he better do so! There's quite a loooot of work waiting up for me. 8-10 books, 4-5 papers, and major exams. Woohoo. So much for a non-PolSci major. Way to kill yourself baby! (And yes, I'm starting whine about SCHOOL again, also after 8 months or so.)

(My sandwich is almost finish. A couple more paragraphs and I will be done.)

Perhaps this is the best way to blog about DC experience so far:

WHAT'S TO LOVE:
The people. Flatmates or not, everyone's just been amazing. I've been hanging out with several people and all have been just great. Surely as early as now, I can already feel that what I paid for this is worth it. You meet different people, from different backgrounds and nationalities, with different personalities. DIVERSITY. Germany, Hong Kong, Poland, Uzbekistan, Romania, Slovakia, Korea et al. Yesterday was prolly the first time I hanged out with a couple of people from the other apartment. It'd be cool to spend more time with the others.

Georgetown. Ahhhhhh... the beautiful, old, buildings are just so hard not to admire. (DIGICAM!!!! And sandwich done!!!) Yesterday I spent some time in the library and it was like going back to Ateneo once again. (Ateneo, Ateneo, I miss thee!) There are a couple of bad-looking buildings but they're alright. Probably not as nasty (and old) as those in UP? =P And the bookstore's good too. I'm very tempted to buy one of their stuff. Shirt, sweaters, sweater BLANKETS etc. (I guess I wouldn't even bother worrying about my luggage weight come end of April. No, I shouldn't.) Plus Georgetown ID which is strangely called GOCard and my own @georgetown.edu email. Now how's that?

Washington DC. Capitol Hill. Rayburn House Office Building. The White House. Penn Avenue. Vietnam War Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial. Washington Monument. Need I say more?

Weather. You never get a weather like this in the Philippines. Well, duh. But you know what I mean.

WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE:

Hurting Feet after walking for close to 3 hours. And it started hurting on the second day after moving in to the apartment. So don't ask when you see me limping at times because earlier it was just the feet. Now the pain has crept up to my (left) knee as well. So, shit. I might need to get a pain reliever cream or something.

Expenses. Not worth talking about it.

Weather. When it gets so cold, i.e., the past couple of days and everyone's just freezin' to death.

Sandwiches becoming a staple meal. Let's just say, 80% of the time, sandwich is all I eat. I. MISS. RICE. AND. GOOD. CHINESE. FOOD.

Waiting. For MetroBus and for results of interview (and TOEFL and Master's application). I had my interview for the internship the other day and I still don't know whether I'm in or not. I realllly hope to find out soon so I could be more productive. TOEFL... crap them. It's been a month and the results were supposed to come out 15 working days after the test. Talk about inefficiency. Without the scores, I wouldn't also know the result of my application for my Master's. (Fingers still TIGHTLY crossed.)

--------------------------------------

I'm still sleepy but I'm not sure if it's a good idea to go back to sleep. It's cold (a good reason to sleep), but I haven't read yet for my class tonight (who has anyway? Oh I know one) because she forgot to return the books (another reason to go back to sleep?). Nah, I think I better stay up. I'd become too much of a bum if I did. (My eyes are starting to close. Dammit!) It's only 1120 right now and the class is not until 630. Crapness.

I'll figure out a way to spend my way. But it could never be shopping. I've just spent so much already.

PS All of a sudden, I already have Facebook, the Friendster of everybody else here. I've spent some couple of hours working on my profile and account. Yeah, that's what happens when you got so much time on your hands. But it ain't gonna be like that pretty soon.

PPS I think our professors are quite good (well, they gotta be). I like the Econ Prof best though. I prefer his style of teaching and... the subject itself.

PPPS I haven't written anything for Sportingo.com for quite some time. With all the work comin' up, I'm not sure if I can still do so. What happens to my sportswriting hobby-to-be-a-career?

Overdue Philippine Idol Entry

It's been almost a month since the first Philippine Idol ended, with undeniably the deserving winner. Back then, while it was still going on, it would be very easy to come up with a lengthy post, criticizing every sucky performance of every other sucky performer and giving praises to every magnificent rendition of every other magnificent finalist. One of the best performances, if not already the best, would be this, the final song of the last finalist for the night- Mau Marcelo, the winner. She simply brought the house down.

For comparioson's sake, I am also embedding here the original version of the song- Whitney's Try It On My Own. It was definitely a very good song choice by the producers.

Whitney's:


And Mau's:


This is what the judges had to say:


Her performance just gave me (and it still does) goosebumps.

PS This is what I have to say about the judges: Pilita and FM are a bunch of nonsense craps. Cayabyab would've been more magnificent by himself, with no one (or two!) to give out trash comments.