Chicago Day 2

Another beautiful day & night around the City. We were told that it snowed over the weekend, 3 days before we arrived. We had seen some snow accumulations along Pennsylvania but I had checked the weather forecast and temperatures were supposed to be getting milder. Boy! Am I glad it did because we left our winter coats at home. Pheew!

I am going on reverse for a change. On our second full day in Chicago, we had a nice reunion dinner at Tarascas, a Mexican Restaurant at Lincoln Park - a 10 minute walk from our Hostel. We had a fun night with Adrian's former classmates from SIU. Tarascas was so packed, we had to wait 40 minutes for our table. The place served a mean burrito dinner and fusion Mexican/Caribbean food and a "fish bowl" size Margarita. No kidding! There must had been like 4-5 shots in that big bowl. As you can see, our faces were a tad pink from the Margarita plus sun & wind burn from walking around the City. Hey, Chicago isn't called the Windy City for nothing.

Chad & Chris are the SIU boys. Anett and Hilary their respective significant others. Thanks for coming down to see us. We hope to see y'all in the East Coast some day ;) And, congratulations to the parents-to-be; Anett & Chad who are expecting their first baby in August.

The Magnificent Mile



A yellow sight-seeing boat - Chicago River. The river was murky green in color. I wonder if the green dye from St. Patrick's Day had something to do with it???

Look! It's Larry, Curly & Moe. Oh, no. It's the Robert Morris, George Washington & Hyam Salomon Memorial. Location: East Wacker Drive at North Wabash Avenue.

Crossing these roads and reading their names aloud made me feel like someone is about to be whacked or bashed anytime. A befitting reflection of the City's violent mob past???

Someone gave Adrian a photo of a unique round parking lot in the e-mail quite sometime ago. It's nice to see the real thing for myself.

We were heading back to our Red Line "L" and passed the ABC News studio at State Street. A steady crowd of people congregated outside the studio and we couldn't resist peeking into a live news broadcast.


Chinatown

Chicago's Chinatown is so small that we finished the entire area in less than 15 minutes. Hee...hee!

A notable 9 dragon wall read: "Welcome to Chicago's Chinatown".


River North neighborhood

We were walking towards Hard Rock to expand our t-shirt collection when we passed the Chicago Chop House. Yup! I did have morbid thoughts of all things dark & gruesome going on in there. Only if you've seen The Hostel or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I'm sure in reality it's a nice restaurant serving Chicago's best chops. Just not human or pet chops, I hope?!

Excalibur - Adrian's old party place. It's still a "happening" place. From Chicago Historical Society (c. 1892) to discotheque/club. How swell!

That's it for Day 2.

Chicago Day 1

A very beautiful day. Blue skies, sunny weather.

Sears Tower

Spring must be the best time to visit Chicago. Unlike the endless lines of Empire State Building, there were hardly any crowd at the Sears Tower. It was a pleasant surprise. We were "beamed up" to the Skydeck in 60 secs.

Here are 2 views of the lake front from the Skydeck.

To the left - Navy Pier, Millenium Park, Grant Park.

To the right - the Planetarium, Museum of Natural History, Aquarium and Soldier Field Stadium.

The architectural wonders of Chi-town.


Millenium Park

Cloud Gate or the Bean (local nickname for this unique looking structure). People go there and take pictures of their own reflection. Vanity wasn't in my cards that day, ha! ha!

Spring blooms at the park.

Pritzker Pavilion & Harris Theater plus a bit of the Great Lawn.

Saffron monks added some color to the park. They were admiring the Bean earlier on.

Instead of the usual straightforward bridge, BP came up with this "S" shape bridge for people like you and I to "ess" our way across the road.

Further down Columbus Drive, I had this preconceived image about Buckingham Fountain at Grant Park. Waters spouting and spraying out in grand fashion and all the works.

Like this, thanks to the internet research I did prior to my trip.

Instead, this was what we got. A bone-dry fountain with a big crack on the top portion *sigh*. No water! No spouting/spraying fountain! It was still under renovation. What a major disappointment :(

Field Museum of Natural History. The entrance facade (Roman columns) is similar to NY's Metropolitan Museum. Even the exhibits are alike. So we gave it a pass. Night at the Museum all over again?! Nah...

Adrian testing a komodo dragon's patience at the Shedd Aquarium.

A gigantic man & his equally big catch outside the Aquarium.

Here I am on top of the Shedd Aquarium grounds with the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan in the background.

We got ourselves a 3 day CTA pass for $12 per person. Cheap! So, after exploring this part of the City, we took the #29 Bus to ...

Navy Pier (since 1916)

The 3,000 ft long Pier by Lake Michigan.

One can always rent a double bike to paddle around the Pier. Cute!

McD's ferris wheel for the young at heart.

Carousel for the even younger ones or not so young ones :)

Shakespeare on the Pier (no pun intended).

The decommissioned third USS Chicago anchor outside the Grand Ballroom.

Blue vs. Blue - the blue waters of Lake Michigan meets the blue sky. My favorite photo!

This is for all you yacht lovers! Lots of luxury yachts at the Pier - for sightseeing & perhaps, a private function.

Quick note: Soaked again. Second nasty Nor'Easter in 2 weeks *double sigh*.

On the road to Chicago

When we left New Jersey at 5 a.m. on Wednesday last week, parts of Bergen County were still submerged in flood waters. We were lucky that most of the major roads had dried up from Sunday's Nor'Easter onslaught. Bleary-eyed, we drove to I-80 West and made our way towards Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and finally, Chicago!

We made a long pit-stop at Elyria, Ohio to have our tires checked and managed to find a STEAK N SHAKE. It had been 3 years since we ate there and Adrian has always been biased towards that restaurant having interned there during his SIU days. I am a "married-convert" but the shakes and melts are indeed delicious. Btw, there's no Steak n Shake restaurants in the tri-State area. So, please pardon our gluttony for it. Haha! Johnny Rockets, who?!

Oh, how we missed you! Kate Hudson was apparently addicted to Steak n Shake when she was preggers.

Start drooling while you wait for your food...

More shakes to drool over! So many combinations to choose from.

I like mine simple...just strawberry. They forgot to with-hold the whipped cream. It's ok though. Whipped cream and cherry makes a picture perfect shake ;)

Adrian's all-time favorite - chili mac supreme.

My choice - turkey melt on sourdough bread and Frisco sauce. Hmm...

7 hours later...

Arlington International Hostel, Chicago!

Hallway towards Private Room # 131. We're really knackered at this point.

No frills bed. Hey, it's a hostel after all.

Our really, really small and confined half bath. I don't think Shaq would fit in here! At least we didn't have to walk to the male/female bathroom to pee or do an emergency poo at night. There's no shower (since it's a half bath) so we had to go to the female or male bathroom respectively.

After a miserable night (the room was too cold and the radiator only worked for 1 minute), we were up early and ready to take on Chicago! Here I am outside the hostel on a very picturesque street.

Chicago Day 1 coming up...

Quick note

We got back from the Windy City last Monday night. After a long, long drive, we needed a lot of zzzzz....I've yet to download & sort out the photos :( As usual, posts about Chicago is coming up soon :)

The biggest bummer was finding out via Sue's e-mail that the Singapore Day was held in NYC last weekend. I was still away! We missed out on a great opportunity to buy Bak Po (Sweet Meat/BBQ Meat). Aiya/Damn!!! Singapore's famous Bak Po company BEE CHENG HIANG was one of the sponsors. So, I am sure they brought their products in too. Boo...hoo!

Sushi for dinner

I had awesome sushi last night. I love salmon. Every Wednesday is "Salmon Day" at my favorite East Japanese Restaurant. This is where I get my weekly dose of omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, protein, niacin, vitamin Bs, etc. ...

Clockwise from top: salmon sashimi, double salmon roll, salmon tsutsumi and ocha
(pickled ginger to clean your palate in between)

I must say, the wasabi did wonders for my sinusitis. Woooo, I can breathe again!

It's hip to be ORANGE

I am wearing an orange top today. Click here if you love animals and want to help them.

Short talk: Having the spring sniffles. Argh...! How do you tell the difference? Flu or cold, allergies or sinus congestion? Help me doctor!

Road trip to Chicago


Over 3 years ago we spent a lovely Thanksgiving in Carbondale, Southern Illinois with Edie & John and went around Missouri - Cape Girardeau and ate at Lambert's Cafe "home of throwed rolls". This place is really something. I never caught so many rolls in one sitting. Remember how your Mom always tell you not to play with your food??? That rule doesn't apply here. Some landed on the roof of the booths, on your neighbor's table, etc. I love molasses on a freshly baked, soft Lambert roll *drool*.

We are going back to Illinois next week and I am saying "back" because that was Adrian's home for the first 6 years of his life in the U.S. This is my first trip to Chicago the Windy City, the Chi-town, so I'm understandably excited. It'll be a hectic schedule as we don't have much time until Adrian starts his new job in New York City. We have to be back in New Jersey pronto. Our goal is to maximize our 4 days there and meet up with Adrian's MBA classmates (Class of 2000). The initial plan was to visit during the May/June Memorial holiday weekend but Adrian's father is coming all the way from Malaysia to see us.

We will be staying "Al-Cheapo" at an International Hostel. The hostel provides sheets/linens, pillows, towels and amenities such as a full kitchen, self-service laundry facility, wireless internet hot spot in the main lobby, etc. Not bad. I hope we will have a nice experience there. So far, we've been to some pretty good ones around the U.S. and Canada. After all, we will be out the whole day so no point spending a fortune for a place to sleep.


This is my "where-to-go" list. It's ever-changing, expanding or shrinking. It all depends. Please feel free to comment and add to or subtract the list of places to visit.

Dear Diary: Last Friday, we attended Living Stations of the Cross at our local church. Instead of the usual somber reading, prayers and meditation; it came complete with a Passion play by the Church's Youth Group. A lot of the older folks had puzzled look on their faces. We thought it was refreshing. A pleasant surprise.

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The Triduum draws to a close.

Today is Easter Sunday. Hip, hop...bunny hop! Egg-hunts, spring dresses and colors that come alive. Maybe not the spring dresses yet...it's colder than usual this year.

Light snow on Easter Sunday afternoon :(