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my father, sis and i went to wespoint military academy in westpoint, new york yesterday. took us about an hour's drive to get there.

0910H: left the house.

1020H: arrived at westpoint. we entered the visitor's center and purchased 3 tickets for the guided bus tour within the academy. each ticket costs $7.00. for security reasons,they require each guest to present an ID.
helps them keep track of the people entering westpoint just in case anything happens. i presented my passport.

1030H: went inside the westpoint museum nearby and viewed the nation's military history and various wars they fought.

1050H: fell in line for the tour bus. three uniformed military men checked each person's ID. one of them was a woman, actually.

1100H: the lady who wore her shades the whole time was our tour guide, and she briefed us about the "no still photography inside the academy" rule, also for security reasons.

as the bus went inside, she explained the history or significance of each building we passed by. we even stopped by the cemetery inside and she explained how they deciphered a tuscan writing in the epitaph of a pyramid-shaped mausoleum of some prominent guy (you can tell i'm only half-listening, haha) which basically meant "BEAT NAVY."

we also stopped by the area near a great view of the hudson river. miss tour guide explains that it was called "west point" because it's located in the western shore of the hudson river. it was known as the "key to america." it was famous for the time it was blocked with giant chain links to ward off the enemies.

despite her warnings, the chinese tourists who were with us kept taking pictures. well, we did too, but discreetly, that is, only while the group is walking to another area. hehe.

the tour guide also narrated some anecdotes about certain famous westpoint alumni, like that painter whistler who unfortunately didn't graduate from the academy due to a chemistry subject. she also mentioned how fidel ramos, a westpoint alumnus, went on to become philippine president.

1125H: guided tour was over. the bus dropped us off the visitor's center where i bought a westpoint fridge magnet and took some more pictures.

here are a few shots from our celfones:


the westpoint museum


view of the majestic hudson river


silhouette of a monument inside westpoint academy. dramatic shot, isn't it? hehe.


my sis and me (with scarf) at an army tank. the white writing on the side reads "thunderbolt".

after westpoint, my sis asked to drop by woodbury common outlet center to see if she can find any interesting buys. it was a sunday hence the place was packed with shoppers of all tongues and colors. we found out that their "sale items" were still too expensive compared to their counterpart shops in our local mall.
another downside: new york taxes clothing purchases, unlike in NJ. NY IS indeed EXPENSIVE.

0 vandalized my wall:

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