Washington, D.C.

The last stop on this trip is a stop in D.C. to see Milinda, one my closest friends and one of the first few people I got to know in college. She has a new apartment just 10-15 minutes walk from the mall so I spent a few hours walking around there today. I'd been to D.C. several times already, but I never get tired of coming here. I love all of the monuments and memorials, buildings, the museums, the zoo, etc. And you know what the best part of it all is? That it's all free to visit!!! The mall area, monuments, and memorials all have a park like feeling too, so there are many great places to relax. Many people also run, blade, or bike around these areas. Also, there is no better city in the U.S., in my opinion, where you can learn so much about the country. Granted, culturally, there are differences across cities all over. Still, a lot about the U.S.'s history and politics can be learned here through the museums and the organizations that exist here.

With all the things to do in D.C., relatively good weather, friends, and abundance of jobs, this is the place I would have chosen to live had I not taken the Europe offer. Still, it is a place I would like to come back to and live in someday. It was a tough choice to make, to move overseas, but it is a great career move, and a great opportunity to experience more traveling. The Europe offer may not always be around, but I can always come back to D.C. later when I'm ready to move back to the U.S.

I forgot to bring my camera with me today, so sorry there are no pictures. There will be a next time though!

My Best Friend's Wedding

The day my best friend has been dreaming of has finally arrived for her today. She got married to her boyfriend who she met a year ago. I don't know how many times we talked and complained about the men in our lives but she has finally hit a good one. I absolutely approve :) They are perfect for each other. It's unbelievable how things have changed so much in such a short period, but I am so happy for her. In this day and age, futures of married couples are pretty uncertain, but I am putting my money on them lasting until death do them apart.

The groom is from Reston so they decided to hold the ceremony there. It was a private occasion performed in the home of a Justice of the Peace, with one other witness beside myself. They will hold a separate celebration later in New Jersey where the groom's family lives, and another in Hawaii with the bride's family.

The ceremony was followed by a lunch with the attendees. Later tonight, there will be another dinner with the couple's friends in the area, and a night of karaoke.

New York, NY

Getting There

I had to go to D.C. for the weekend, so I decided I would head out a few days early and swing up to NYC to see some friends from when I used to live there. It's a 6-7 hour drive from VB and soon as I came up to the Lincoln tunnel, I started reliving what I hated about NYC - the traffic. It was painful getting into the city, and just as painful getting to where I was staying. I was swearing up & down I was never coming back again. But seeing all my friends again in the end made it absolutely worth it.

Central Park

I really only had one full day in the city and I decided this would be a day in the Central Park. I've never actually seen the park in its entirety so I made it a mission; and it was an absolutely beautiful day for it. I walked around the park from bottom to top and back, while stopping at nearly all major points points of interest, in about 6 hours. There was so much to see
and I don't think I can do it any justice by trying to describe it all so I will just refer you to this website: http://www.centralpark.com/

The flowers were also in full bloom all around the park. The Shakespeare Garden and the Conservatory Garden probably were the most beautiful. Who needs to go to Holland to see flowers?



Distfin Reunion

I worked for a great team when I was in NY. We had a lot of good times together - tho most were in bars. My old team is pretty much dispersed now across different offices, but many of them came out for good ol' times sake. It was really great to see everybody.

Pictures from Kelly & Sylva's Party

Pictures from Kelly and Sylva's party are up.

Click on the photo below to see all of them.

Dead Easter Bunnies

This is a very sad story (and not for the faint of heart). My brother was mowing the lawn when he saw bunch of baby bunnies scatter. Turns out he mowed over a bunny nest :( One bunny was still left in the nest, bleeding from the nose. It died a few minutes later. Even my usually heartless brother felt really bad. But apparently not bad enough to stop mowing the lawn. My sister-in-law and I had to go search for all the other bunnies and put them in a safe place. We found five others, and a sixth one, who was also bleeding from the nose but alive. We didn't see any external injuries tho.... We should've called a vet or something, but we just moved it to a safe location. The breathing kept getting weaker and weaker. I think it's dead now. After my brother finished mowing, we recreated a nest (we ended up burying the other one with the dead bunny) and put the healthy bunnies there. I hope their mother comes back to feed them tonight.

For anyone who encounters a similar situation, here's some info on what to do.

I'll spare you the photos of the dead bunnies... happy Easter.

Boycott: H&R Block and TaxCut

I hate taxes. What I hate even more are tax programs that come with bad service. I used the H&R Block's online services provided by TaxCut. As if it wasn't bad enough that I have to pay taxes, I had to waste time trying to deal with the online tax program. I had a few problems while trying to do the taxes (e.g. unsupported forms, broken links) but I managed to somehow get it done. After I paid for the online services (for both federal and state taxes), I still had problems (e.g. could not review my return before submitting, could not e-file state return because of an error that I can't seem to correct) so I wanted to get a refund. I wasn't too confident in the accuracy of my filing so I figured it'd be prudent to take it into a professional tax advisor, too. I called 1-800-HRBLOCK only to wait 10 minutes before reaching customer service. Apparently the people I got through to were technical support so they transferred me to another number, where I waited another 5-10 minutes. After I got through here, it was still the wrong department so I got transferred again. So I am holding for the representative here, which was going to be about 10 minutes also. And then my cordless phone's battery dies. Undeterred, I pick up another phone and call back. More waiting and a few transfers later, I finally get a hold of someone who can put in the refund request. Supposedly I'll get a confirmation on Monday. I hope they don't make me waste anymore time.