Its been a while since i had time to blog. Although we had not been working much this week due to the fluctuating thunderstorm weather in Virginia, i am pretty much tired out by the time i come back to hostel. This week, most of us been going out pretty often since the we got sent home early due to the rainy weather. So, been doing much of groceries shopping in Ukrops. There isnt much to do within the hostel area coz at night, it is not really safe to venture out since Richmond is one of the top 5 highest crime rate town in the States. Guess this work it is hard to hit 50 hours which means lesser money !!

But finally, yesterday we had off day !! Most of us signed up for our second time to WASHINGTON DC organized by Paramount. Basically, we just got free transportation there. Bus came at 8am and we reached Washington around 10am because of the heavy traffic. Once we reached there, we were dissapointed to find out that msot of the museums were closed. We wanted to visit some of the musuems that we did not cover the first time we came. The first place we visited was the restroom coz i cant hold on any longer. We went to this Ripley's museum just to use their restroom.

Then, we head on to the HOLOCAUST Museum. Gosh, this was definitely one of the best museum i ever been. The entire museum was on the Holocaust in Germany. The museum was really packed with lots of information. It has 4 floors. Sadly, we are not allowed to take any pictures in the museum. Before we went in, we were checked stricly and even had to take a sip of water from our own water bottle. Anyway, the museum was a really eye opening experience. There were some films on how those Nazis killed and tortured the Jews at that point of time. It was so heartless and cruel. Janet and I spent like 2 hours in the museum while the rest waited for us for almost an hour. Gosh, we felt so bad to keep them waiting. Even 2 hours was not enough for this museum. We were practically breezing through the last 2 floors. Finally, we left the museum and head on to Chinatown. My legs were hurting as we were partially running and walking to Chinatown which was like a 30 minutes away.

                                                  Holocaust Museum

At Chinatown, first thing to do is of course to hunt for CHINESE FOOD ! Apparentlly, Washington DC's Chinatown is one of the most famous Chinatown in the States. It was so different from New York. Much nicer and cleaner. In New York, Chinatown was like so busy, sort of dirty and dusty and the shops dont look that posh.( kinda looks like PUDU bus station in KL ). We all LOVE DC's Chinatown. Well, we settle down in this Chinese Restaurant called Eat First which had like newspaper cuttings of John Travolta and other big shots eating there. All of us ordered their lunch set except me and Kee Jun coz we wanted to save money. So we brought our own lunch which was the same old sandwiches with ham and cheese. The rest had a very satisfying lunch for USD 6.00 per person.

wei jie and me in Chinatown

  me and Jacky Chen cafe in Chinatown

Then, we went to GEORGETOWN which is famous for Shopping ! Janet. Mei Yan, Zhi Qian, Xue Yiing and I took a bus while the rest walked there. We were just too tired. GEORGETOWN is lovely with all varieties of clothing brands lining the street. Its even nicer than New York and they definitely have more varieties. Its a great place to shop but too bad we had quite little time left. So, our main aim is to find LEVI's store coz apparently the LEVI's are freaking cheap. We found the LEVI's in the end and spent like more than an hour in that shop coz it is really CHEAP. 1 pair of LEVI's 593 can go as low as USD8.99. All of us probably tried at least 5 pairs each. Everyone bought something from Levi's. Sadly, i didnt get to find any jeans that looks nice on me. I just bought 1 pair of white jeans coz its cheap. It was only USD 12.00. Janet was really happy coz she bought 2 pairs for USD 24 and they were really really nice ! After that, we took a cab and rush back to the place we suppose to catch our bus.

We reached earlier than the rest coz we took cab. We are just too lazy! So we thought of looking for RESTROOM since we had time. That was a mistake. It took us 20 minutes to look for a nearby toilet and the nearby toilet was like 20 minutes walk away. The nearest ones are all portables and they were locked. In the end, we found a restroom in the RONALD REAGAN's building. It was quite embarassing coz we had to go through thorough checking of ID and scanner and we are the only people in the building apart from the security guards. After that, we left like 10 minutes to catch the bus. All of us ran and took huge steps coz its another 15 minutes walk to the bus. Finally, we managed to make it in time. We are the last people to board the bus and all of us collapsed with hurting calves and feets. Everyone just slept through the journey back hostel. We had COLDSTONE for desert. ( the best ice cream i ever tasted!) back in VCU.

Subway Station in Washington DC

Georgetown

Just got back from Ukrops not long ago. Groceries shopping here is like so fun. Like what Mei Yan said, its therapeutic. Its true, it makes you feel good after a hard day's work. After coming back, took a shower and cooked a pack of microwavable PASTA with own added frank. Gosh, it tasted real GOOD  !!  That was a good dinner but i was overly full. Not to mention had a pop tart for desert after janet was back.

Sigh, got sent home early today from work at 7pm when i suppose to do closing at 9pm.  Only clocked like 8 hours today. Thought i would have able to clock 10 hours to meet my goal of 50 hours per week. Hopefully wont be another time anymore that i get sent home early. Really need to make some money.

Working is so mundane, boring and extremely tiring. Initially before coming over to US, i was so excited with high expectations of what US gonna be like. But after like almost 2 months being here, honestly there wasnt anything great. Working here is definitely not as fun as compared to back home. Maybe the people are different and i guess the nature of the job is totally boring. Whoever thinks that working as a ride operator is cool, i must say he or she have to think twice.

I am couting down to my last day of work which is july 15th. I am beginning to miss home, family and friends so very much. Infact, there are a couple of times that i just wanna quit this programme and just go back home. Cant stand it any longer as the weather is getting so HOT and my skin is having rashes and its getting serious. There's like no one to ask since seeing a doctor here is like so inconvenient and not to mention EXPENSIVE. I cant just go into any clinics, it must be this particular clinic assigned by CIEE if i wanna claim back the medical fees. So not condusive. Not to mention the food here is expensive that i am like eating microwavable food every dinner, cereals wth milk every breakfast and sandwiches with ham or tuna every lunch. I am so not kidding when i said everyday. I guess that explains all the weight gain since i reached here. I miss home cooked food- CHINESE FOOD !! Am so deprived over here since we cant even cook in the hostel. Basically, we are like those foreign workers (in which we are) in our own country. Feel so poor.

Oh well, at least there is only 3 more weeks to go before my last day of work. Must hang on !!! Hopefully this coming 3 weeks will breeze through.