Day 3: Washington DC

Practicing to be President... :)

Washington Monument

Smithsonian...

Capitol

Early morning wake up call. Still jetlag as the body clock is still adjusting to the new time zone. While waiting for the bus and the others, went up to the 2nd floor to get some coffee. Trying to be an American but with a Malaysian body, it just couldnt take it. I felt nauseating for most of the day till lunch as my stomach was empty and had nothing to eat for breakfast and coffee is not really for me unless its Starbucks Latte! :)

Today we'll be meeting Ms Linda Lindberg General Registrar of Arlington County Office of Voter Registration. As her designation state, yes she is person in charge in Arlington County for voter registration. She is the SPR version in Malaysia.

It is very interesting as in America, the police does not get involve with their SPR. They are only there if there is a tip of a trouble making like someone wants to smash the voting machine etc.

Walking towards the Arlington County building

Vote here America! :)


with Ms Linda Lindberg

Under the Help America Vote Act, first time voters will be required to provide ID in the form of Photo ID or Current Utility Bill or bank Statement or Paycheque. And guess what? Your voting paper will be mailed to you and you will need to bring it along to the polling station where you will be voting. How cool is that? You get to fill in the forms etc and go to the polling station and vote.

After Arlington we're off to DC again. Next stop is at Bryan Cave for Elements of a Successful Campaign: Fundraising by Mr. Michael Toner, Mr. James McCray and Ms Amy Cenicola.

Mr. Michael Toner, Jim McCray and Amy Cenicola

Fundraising. The most exciting part for any politicians. Yeap. The dollar sign. Money. And from the 3 distinguished speakers, I had a lot of insightful information on fundraising in political campaign. Ms Amy spoke first. She is a fundraiser consultant for Democrates and part of her successful campaign is for Congressman Ted Strickland who became Governor of Ohio. She spoke on Internet Fundraising and GOTV (Get Out The Vote). Mr. James or Jim McCray a Republican, is also a fundraiser consultant. He is also an attorney. He said this year there will be 37 races out of 100. I did managed to ask him on being a consultant how much are they being paid. He said that they are paid monthly retainer fee. But there is always a percentage if they have agreed in the beginning. And the percentage, i wont talk about it in here. :p

Mr Michael Toner, spoke like a Hollywood actor Russel Crowe. I think he might look a bit like him. He spoke about Hard money. The money that comes from Personal money non corporate and labour union. Also In Virginia there is no limit to donation. It is the Cayman Island for politician in US.

After every meeting, its photo time... Behind us is the Flag of USS Missouri from WWII 1945

Ms Amy Cenicola

James McCray

Mr Michael Toner

After the meeting, we had 45 minutes to shop at Felene Mall. I chose not to shop but to drop off birthday cards. It was like 5 blocks away.

Was a bit lost. Saw the Old Post Office above. Went inside and realised that its a museum. Luckily the new Post Office across the street below.



Went to Post Office and back to meeting point took me JIT. 45 minutes on the dot.


After the rest shops, we went for lunch at Chef Geoff's.


Our Lady Boss Kristin

The Menu

Had Saffron Risotto...

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and left the bags there to go to Smithsonian.

Metro at Ferragut West

Waiting for the tube...

Arrived at the Smithsonian Station

The Capitol


Washington Monument


This way to the Smithsonian

The entrance to the Smithsonian

Writings on the Marble Wall

With the Filipinos Delegates Daisy, Me, Benedicto, Aura and Ivy


The Star Spangled Banner... Behind this wall is the famous big flag that gave name to the American National Anthem...

Testing out what its like to be Abraham Lincoln

The hat which the President Lincoln wore before he was assasinated

The last bust of Lincoln

The famous Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit In

Later in the evening, me and CW walked around DC and got ourselves some happy hour grubs at M&S Grill. We took the cab back to hotel and costs us aroung USD6.