Highlight One: Lifestyle

When you visit some different places, there's this culture gap.

Like language, currency, sides of driving and the reversed driver seat.

Also the lifestyle.

Even two cities from the same state,

Only 5 hours away from one another like New York and DC,

Share a quiet different lifestyle.

The City That Never Sleeps

The quote don't lie. New York never sleeps. Everyone's everywhere, everytime. The subway's 24/7, the Apple Store's 24/7, some other shops are 24/7, you won't ever feel so lonely walking down the streets and the avenues even by midnights. And speaking about roads, I couldn't stop praising how buildings are well structured in there.

Streets are named consecutively, after numbers. You can always easily measure the distance and how many blocks you should walk through, because you clearly know where to go. Oh the organized city, it's just a paradise for OCD weirdos like me. And! The simplicity can also be felt when it comes to cab riding. Damn it's so easy to navigate the driver and you won't, ever, get, lost.

And cabs. You don't always use cabs, unless you're in such terrible hurry. The main transportation is yet to be mentioned. It's the Metro. I'm sure the creator of NY subway will end up in heaven. Because it gives us effectiveness. Stations are everywhere, covering almost every corner of lower Manhattan, in which metropolitan life mostly runs. And it integrates with buses. You seriously don't have to own a car because pedestrians are treated like a king.

Yes, we're kings. The sidewalks are wide open, shaded under trees, guarded by curbside traffic lights, human and dog friendly anyway. And the walkers are sophisticated, well dressed and beautiful. Cute girls and good guys are wandering around with you. Street performers are in touch as well! It's like an entertainment a king would always ask -I even ran into Shakira's concert in one of those parks, what better thing could I ask??

And kings live in a castle, right? You know what castle is to me? Yes, an apartment. I visited like three different apartment my friends have and, oh Lord, I really want to have one like, REALLY DO. I'm sorry Dad I keep bringing this up but I have to live in an apartment at least once in my lifetime. Well if you don't want me to have one back home, how if I have one in NY? It's more like a hotel with lobbies and receptionists, and bigger spaces too you would extremely like it!

So.

In Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens or even Bronx,

Not just in Manhattan, I tell you, good stuff are on you.

View from Brooklyn Bridge and see how buildings rule the city.

The City That Sleeps, In Peace

When big, hectic city starts to piss you off, DC's the one to go. I don't know, it possesses this serenity with its simple brick-touched buildings, no modern skyscrapers in sight and plus, the windy and wet atmosphere. And I felt like the city's sacred. Oh. I know, maybe because all the historical tracks, monuments and memorials are there. Let's now talk about the historical sites.

To be honest, I never liked places of histories. I mean, why should I bother learning about other people's history? I'm not even familiar with mine. But things are different when it comes to big, gigantic buildings. And those memorials in DC are colossal, damn I liked it! Especially the Lincoln ones. Looks exactly like one of those Grecian temples I'm dying to pay a visit.

But my hat's off to Georgetown. You can actually feel the difference between NY and DC, when you walk around that area. I don't really have to tell you about how tranquil it is, it's like a village of old people, except the citizens are actually young! You remember my trip to Malaysia? Well the sensation's just the same when I compare KL with Penang -and the name of the area was George Town too, anyway.

It's not just in DC. A local friend invited me over his house in Virginia -so technically, I visited three different states in the US yeay!- and it has the same scene. Quiet, breezy on the outside and warm inside. Plus, his house was so cozy. American-wise cozy. Just matched too well with the atmosphere.

Buildings in Georgetown. See the one on the right? That might be the tallest there.

Seeing DC and NY, all I ever thought about was The Hunger Games.

Yea it's like The Capitol and District One, as I picture them in my mind.

You know DC's the central of American governmental stuff. The citizens live in welfare and peace, no pressure and fear, also secured because they're just on the same area where the government residents are. And their houses are placed so close one another. That's just what I imagined Capitol is.

And NY, well you can always find beautiful guys and girls in New York, just the same as in District One. New Yorkers live in luxury, just like District One citizens who produces luxury items. And they seem like enjoying their life, living so near to Capitol. That scene played when I see New Yorkers always seen to be in a rush, joyfully going to work or stuff, while by the end of the day their hard work will end up in the government's desk.

But the major similarity between DC-Capitol and NY-District One came when I saw their subway stations. DC's got the best. Futuristic architecture, clean, calm and empty, sophisticated as Capitol will always be. While the ones in NY, you know how matter fancy District One is, after all they are still a part of those districts. They're still one level beneath somehow, and you can see it when waiting on their dirty, moist, crowded and full-of-rats subway stations.

The left one is stations in Capitol, the right one belongs to District One.

Look how long this post has become, ladies and gentlemen.

I told you, I can't decide what to tell and what not to tell.

But to sum it all up, there's this one big thing I loved about US.

And once again, like what I always liked on my previous trips, is

The Local Side:
The places to visit, the people, the way they live.

There's no other way to place your trip at its best,

Unless you also feel how it is like to live the locals' life.

Or maybe I become a local, someday?