Tour in Windy City

Trees and house

2005-03-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Last pic for now, it's my favourite in Madison. Taken at Lake Monona on our way to the asian food market.

Mr. Snowman, bring me a dream

2005-03-22T15:15:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Ain't he merry? :D

Mr. Snowman, bring me a dream
Make her the cutest that I've ever seen
Give her two lips like roses and clover
Then tell her that her lonesome nights are over

Snowman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beams
Mr. Snowman, bring me a dream

~Don't know if anyone still knows this lovely song, children of the 80s!!~

Zee Guzzlers

2005-03-22T15:14:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Left to right:

Yx
Gisselle
Glenda
Paul (Glenda's friend)

What came of it ..

2005-03-22T15:13:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Now tell me this ain't a feast!!

Food beauties

2005-03-22T15:12:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

3 ladies cooking for moi!! Gisselle did stuffed peppers and fried plaintans; Glenda was doing Spring Rice; yx was making bak kut teh.

The Apprentice

2005-03-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Yx starting to be most expert at grilling honeyed salmon! Look at the shine on that fish! It went with japanese sushi rice, cold chasoba and miso soup that night.

Diving anyone?!?

2005-03-22T15:10:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

It says, "No Diving - shallow rocks". The Onion carving, I suppose, meant that this was a contribution from The Onion? That's a spoof newspaper by the students that's rather alarming, since I thought it was a real paper and totally freaked out when the headlines went:

"Corpse of Real Michael Jackson Found"

I was like, "OMFG - How long have I been away for?!?"

Walking

2005-03-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

on lake Monona, it really was scary since the snow/ice made crunching noises when you step on it.

Lake Monona

2005-03-22T15:09:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The 2nd largest lake nearby, loads of pretty wild ducks waddling around!

Diving anyone?!?

2005-03-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Lake Mendota

2005-03-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The largest lake surrounding UW-Madison, there are 2 other large ones and a multitude of small ones. This was where I fell in and landed butt-deep in snow.

Memorial Union

2005-03-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The Student's Union area, it has lovely eats inside, with a nice german pub and eatery. Sad that I didn't take a pic of the pub, shall ask yx to do it. They have lovely wall boards with german and latin quotes! The coach to and fro Chicago also comes here, so I started and ended my stint in Wisconsin here.

The Red Gym

2005-03-22T15:03:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

One of my favourite buildings in Madison! The historical site overlooks lake Mendota.

UW-Madison

2005-03-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

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Throngs of students swarming the streets on their way to classes at about 10.30am

Houses

2005-03-22T15:01:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The type of houses you get in Wisconsin, while in Chicago they lived in apartments. They don't have fences, they're huge and really lovely.

State Street

2005-03-22T15:01:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The shopping district in Madison, Wisconsin! See the difference from Chicago ... but the shops are really really interesting, I actually came to this area about 4 times and still love it! "Quaint" was the description by yx.

Sunset

2005-03-22T14:58:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Magnificent sunset over Janesville, Wisconsin. Taken on our way from Chicago to Wis while on the coach, so pic quality is not superb.

Tiles

2005-03-22T14:58:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

One of the tile mosaics, extremely pretty in real life. This one shows a representation of "Government", huge muscular man with a sword. I like the "Liberty" one - a woman wearing laurels, guarding the ballot box.

Entrance to the Senate

2005-03-22T14:56:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Each of the 4 govt. rooms are placed in 4 wings, north south east and west. and the Wisconsin badger sits atop the entrance of each.

Marble galore

2005-03-22T14:51:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Top-down view, look at all the marbles!!!

Senate

2005-03-22T14:51:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

This is the senate room, we were allowed in but not supposed to use the seats. Anyway the pic has an alarming story.

It was transported to Madison from somewhere else, and they wanted to add the Wisconsin badger into the pic but there was no space. So, they washed out one of the sailors in the pic and added the badger.

At first it was fine, then through the years, the erased sailor gradually started getting more visible again. It's now known as the Ghost of the Pic or something.

Capitol

2005-03-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The dome of the capitol building, the centre is actually a very large mural.

2005-03-22T14:48:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Snow on branches, most alluring. Looks like the classical white xmas.

More snow

2005-03-22T14:48:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Just ouside the department store. I like the depth of the photo.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2005-03-22T14:28:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Taken from yx's window, after a fresh bout of snow last evening. We were thinking bout xmas songs while walking up the hill to slide down it, when this man walked past us singing the Let It Snow thingy.

Ice Scream

2005-03-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The humongous ice cream. It might not look very big in the pic, but notice how my fingers couldn't wrap round the thing. Anyway it's candycane flavoured! Lovely green and pink hues on a base of white. Yx ate an irish creme ice cream.

Greenhouse!

2005-03-22T14:25:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Passed by this greenhouse (or rather - chanced upon) on the way to buying ice cream from the university creamery. Nice plants in there! It's actually a holding place for experiments by various profs, so we got to see GM stuff and things like cranberries, strawberries, and tropical Brassica. Pretty sure we weren't allowed in, but yx just barged in anyway. Oh, and saw a nice lemon tree in there with 2 lemons! I look like a dumpling.

Wisconsin

2005-03-22T14:14:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

After a fresh shower of snow last night.

U. of Chicago

2005-03-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Final photo before turning in early. Still unused to the local time, SHIT. I fell asleep at 3pm this afternoon, woke at 7, and am now WIDE awake. More photos of Madison, Wisconsin tomorrow.

This shot is of Ida Noyes Hall in the University of Chicago, where we joined the Chicago Swing Society for a lesson and a night of social dancing. Really beautiful interiors add to the mood, and I felt transported 60 years back when black big-bands jammed in the Harlem dance hall in NY, while Frankie Manning, "Shortie" George Snowden, and other Swing dance greats came up with the Lindy Hop, which eventually evolved into Swing, Jive, Jitterbug and Rock n' Roll among others today.

Fire station

2005-03-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Right in front of the fire station, we went in actually and yx even dared to peek into this dark-looking, locked door. EWWWW.A gust of cold draft blew from the crack towards us; she subsequently screamed, turned white, stood trembly all over and did not respond to calling for 20 whole minutes, and me and the security guard had to half-hoist her into the guard room for recovery. After the episode, she REFUSED to tell me what she saw in there.

OK, I was talking rot. None of that happened.

Chicago Fire Station

2005-03-22T09:03:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Historic site, the only remnant from the Great Chicago Fire. Back then this way the only building that stood in the whole area, and people found their charred homes by gauging the distance from the Fire Station.

Stories has it that one of the men stayed behind to help others and died in there, and there had been reports of apparitions appearing in the tower. Creepy ...

Meercat

2005-03-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

"Hello?!? WTF do you think you're doing?"

2 bald eagles

2005-03-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

I shall say no more.

P. terribilis

2005-03-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

One of those poison arrow frogs in the exhibits, P. terribilis produces one of the most potent poisons in the world, with an LD50 in the decimals.

Green river again

2005-03-22T08:43:00.001-08:00

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A more picturesque shot taken by yours truly.

More tulips

2005-03-22T08:43:00.000-08:00

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See the cheesy-looking windmill on the left?

T.usanoides

2005-03-22T08:40:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Another Tillandsia winning 1st prize - once again, nothing spectacular, the one I grow is almost this size too. But we have different varieties - mine is the fine-leaved version, this one has thicker leaves.

THE SHAME

2005-03-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

CRAP. I was looking forward to seeing carnivorous plants (CPs), I was told there was a CP competition and got all excited, and all I saw was an area of junk. And guess who won the 1st prize? A leggy-looking Nepenthes alata. Not to brag ... but any of my Neps would have won 1st. =\ Sigh ... and the Sarracenia on the top left is awul. I really expected better.

Chicago Bromeliad Society

2005-03-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

GOSH!!! I loved this booth!! Anyone spotted the gigantic Tillandsia xerographic near the fat man's belly?? I was SO tempted to buy several - at USD17 they are cheeeeaaaaap. Shit shit shit. Voted 2nd favourite booth for me - 1st goes to the bulbs store.

2005-03-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

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Booth selling succulents.

Bulbs galore

2005-03-22T08:35:00.001-08:00

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Where I bought all my bulbs from! Delicious. Should have bought more.

Aliens or whatever

2005-03-22T08:35:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Whatever these were, I went away from the Flower Show with lovely gardening ideas. These are scrap metal artwork allowed to rust, and honestly - they looked great.

Potbelly Sandwiches

2005-03-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Dinner at Potbelly's - omg!!! Everything in Chicago's so vintage. =D It reminds me of the lovely swing era in the 1920s-40s.

Giant mushrooms

2005-03-22T08:31:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

A water landscape featuring a pond, daffodils and ferns. Lovely! The shrooms are fake, by the way.

Tulips, anyone?

2005-03-22T08:30:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

A shot from one of the hundred + exhibits in the Chicago Flower and Garden Show. The tulips were amazing, and even I (no interest in tulips) was amazed.

SOS!

2005-03-22T08:29:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Save Our Seals!!

OK, I made that up. A row of mad people protesting against Canadian seal-killing, on St. Patric's week.

Downtown Sunset

2005-03-22T08:28:00.000-08:00

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Sunset over downtown Chicago, shot from the Shedd Aquarium.

Adler Planetarium

2005-03-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

View of the Adler Planetarium in the distance, it's the dome-shaped thingy. We didn't visit it - figured that there'd be no stars to see in the day?

Giant Geckos

2005-03-22T08:25:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Mr. Ye, beware. =D

The reptiles section of the Zoo... the day lizards get this large is the day I start to dislike them.

Lincoln Park Zoo

2005-03-22T08:24:00.000-08:00

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View of Lincoln Park Zoo. Poor trees ..

Terrarium

2005-03-22T08:23:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

one of my favourites, these terrariums are replicas of a south american forest with tonnes of Dendrobates frogs (poison arrow frogs) in them, these are gems!! And now - they are captive-bred and therefore are not poisonous anymore.

Japanese Spider Crabs

2005-03-22T08:22:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Gigantic crabs!!

Amazonian river

2005-03-22T08:21:00.001-08:00

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Yet another impressive exhibit - you get the idea by now. Filled with pacus (relatives of the piranha) and other amazonian fish like freshwater rays.

See the lizard?!?

2005-03-22T08:21:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

We got so excited over this exhibit - there was a gigantic caiman lizard resting on a branch, with loads of fish swimming below. Damn AVA and their no-lizards law. F*.

Cardinal Tetra Tank

2005-03-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

This tank was AMAZING. It's half a terrarium, and oh my. OH MY. No words can do this justice. Now just imagine hundreds of such exhibits in the Shedd Aquarium, each one as intricate as this. Yep. Worth the USD8 we paid to get in. In fact, consumer surplus would be about USD12. =D

Sun coral tank!!!

2005-03-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

OK, HypoC will love this to the bone. A whole tank of sun corals!! And loads of sea apples too. It was - forgive the usage - awesome.

Shedd Aquarium

2005-03-22T08:15:00.001-08:00

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Yummy!!!!!

Train building

2005-03-22T08:15:00.000-08:00

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OK, it actually has a name, it's an office building cum shopping complex, but we call it the Train building as we emerged from the Lake/Clark Station on the CTA to find ourselves in this magnificent building. This pic was taken from the inside, and it's 1 street away from the hotel.

Cadillac Palace

2005-03-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

The hotel Allegro I'm staying in is actually part of the refurbished Cadillac Palace Theatre, and currently they were playing "Sweet Charity". It's pretty cool to stay right next door in the same building as it.

Even more buildings!!

2005-03-22T08:10:00.000-08:00

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On our way to Magnificent Mile - yes, we walked 0.2 miles to get there.

Chicago Herald Building

2005-03-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

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Originally uploaded by chillamee1.

Amazing architecture, and nice photography by yx.

Chicago Theatre

2005-03-22T08:03:00.000-08:00

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Dream come true - I visited the infamous Chicago broadway theatre! =D Wished I had stayed for longer, then I'd have definitely watched a play in there. The interior is fabulous from pics I've seen.

2005-03-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

Knew I was always a balanced person. ;)

2005-03-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

Fell asleep at 7pm, and woke at 1am when yx called from San Fran. Still feeling lonely, although I've had some good chats with my family and showed them digital photos. Also took some time to plant some of the bulbs I bought at the Chicago Flower Show - these are what I bought:

Tuberous Begonia x 1 (planted)
Calla lily x 1 (in water tray for planting tomorrow)
Vodoo lily x 1 (in water tray for planting tomorrow)
Mini Gladiolus x 10 (planted out 1 of them)
Asiatic Lilies (!!!! yay !!!!) x 8 (planted out 4 of them)
Lily of the valley x 1 (planted)
Tuberose x 3 (planted) - should have bought more, the scent is heavenly
Daylily x 1 (planted)
and 10 bulbs of this blue, bushy-flowered plant, of which 4 were planted out already.

Really hope they grow (was thinking while gardening, "Am I burying money in the ground?") and I really should have bought more, damn!! Especially that packet of 100 Gladiolus bulbs for $5, which was a STEAL. Of course, there are those 4 paperwhite bulbs (narcissus) that I planted in a bowl of water in yx's room back in Madison, which were already happily putting out good, strong roots by the time I left - hope they brighten up the room for her!

Oh ... will be helping Ken move house this Fri, and he asked me to be his best man at the wedding reception this May. I haven't really agreed yet, but I'm hoping he meant "best man" as the formal role, which is to bear witness to the signing of the documents and rings exchange, and not dual role as the M.C. and host a stag party or something. =\ Well, will talk to him this Fri and ask about it. Which also means I'd have to go and buy another suit - my old one really can't make the mark.

I know I should be sleeping now, but Popol (the sinfully delicious stuffed polar bear yx made for me) is staring at me from bed and I can't help but re-read this blog again and again and missing the holiday. Guess I really am enthralled by Madison, small as it may be.

2005-03-20T23:08:00.000-08:00

Really jetlagged now, decided to go home early today to finish unpacking and to get some rest. Yx called just before lunch, which was a nice turn to the day.

Anyway about the snowman, it was really hard work! I was in charge of gathering up all the snow while yx packed the snow into the body, and we really worked up a sweat on that one. We made it on the field which was visible from her window, used pinecones for eyes, a stout stick for the nose and a "V"-shaped branch for his mouth. Then I lent him the beanie and scarf my mom knitted for my Nepal trip and he ended up looking really merry indeed! This bunch of 5 guys came by and started admiring the snowman!

Ice-skating was fun! And my, yx really improved a lot and can skate really fast now. I suck at the snowplough stop though, it doesn't stop me, it only made me go faster. =\

2005-03-20T10:01:00.000-08:00

Back home, finally. And feeling absolutely lonely.

Let's talk about home first. Brownie went nuts over my coming back, apparently he got the idea I was coming back and started sitting at the gate looking out for me, the little dear! Yx, he ABSOLUTELY loved the peanut-butter cat-shaped cookie you chose for him! And the toy too ... in fact he's chewing on it right now. Unpacked most of my stuff, shoes looked really good on mom and xuan loved her presents too. Did the dumb radiology quiz and got 0/5 for it.

I miss Chicago, I miss Madison, I miss you. You're right about the drug analogy.

Time for some rest for me before going to TTSH at 8am tomorrow. Maybe give me a call at about 12noon Singapore time?

2005-03-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

One last blog entry - my last one in this place.

Went to State Street to do some shopping, then went ice-skating, then made a nice gigantic snowman at night today. More when I have time to blog in Singapore.

Anyway, gotta wake at 3.30am tomorrow morning, catch the 5am coach to O'Hare airport in Chicago, then take the 12noon flight. Will reach Singapore at 11.50pm (Singapore Time) on Sunday night.

Don't really want to leave this place, but yet looking forward to going home.

2005-03-18T06:38:00.000-08:00

Just got up, lovely white morning! All the cars are covered with snow though, was observing these unfortunate people trying to brush the snow off with their hands so they can drive. Anyway, about last night.

The sliding was fun, but once I got to the bottom of the slope I had to climb back up, WHICH I COULD NOT. For some reason yx could just walk right up the slope, but the moment I reach 3/4 the way up I'd slide downwards again, backwards! And it's not fun, cos I fell flat on my face in the snow, and slid backwards on my hands and legs. And tried to get up again, and the same damn thing happened again. In the end yx had to push me from behind while I tried to get up, and the same thing happened again!! OMG. It was pretty funny though =D

We made snow angels, and had a snow fight. It wasn't a snowball fight since the snow was so powdery it can't be made into balls - we just flung snow at each other. Anyway, it was snowing so hard! We left footprints as we walked, and by the time we finished playing the footprints were all covered up with a fresh coat of snow.

Wanted to go to Lucky's again last night, but it was St. Patric's and everyone's drinking (crazy Irish), so the pub was packed. And anyway I was sore and tired all over from repeatedly trying to climb that bloody slope, so I fell asleep without even finishing the blog.

Yx's going to school for 3 hours this morning, while I pack my luggages. Sigh .. time to go home. I will MELT in Singapore. Wish I had longer holidays instead of short ones ... yx's going to San Francisco next week =( That's where all the animals are. Going shopping for skates later, getting some last minute presents, then ice-skating tonight.

2005-03-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

Just back from sliding down snow! It was really, really fun ... we got up to this lovely hill, it was snowing like mad, with 2 aluminium food trays! The trays were too small, so I kinda squashed mine after the first slide.

gotta go and sleep. Will update later.

2005-03-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

It's snowing, it's snowing, it's snowing!! And a lot too! 3-4 inches by tonight, says the weather forecast. Anyway, it's now the fluffy kind, but just now while yx and I were playing in it, the snow was odd - kind of like tiny 2mm pieces of low-density ice. And it's so heavy it actually looks like it's raining down the street.

Anyway, we went to Babcock's Dairy Shop for ice cream today, and hmmm ... to me it was Ice Scream. The bloody thing was so huge, I'm estimating there's like half a litre of ice cream in that gigantic cone! Almost couldn't finish it. Can anyone imagine it? Me the pig, the glutton, the food-guzzler, not being able to finish a SINGLE CONE??

If all goes well tonight, well be going snow-sliding at the hill tonight. Apparently it's not really allowed, but then people just go to low hills covered in snow and use cafetaria trays to slide down on.

Oh yeah, and saw another side of yx today. She actually treked right across the mud, climbed a wall, jumped onto a table and risked breaking her neck - just to take a short-cut. Almost boy-ish behavior that was really rather shocking.

Giselle's gone to Chicago and after that she'll be back to Rhode Island where she lives for her spring break. Although I've known her for only a few days, but it's still sad. It's like we won't meet again, and she's such a crazy friend to have!! Oh yah .. we let her try some pork floss just now, she initially thought it was mattress stuffing and took a tiny pinch, then wonder came into her eyes and she grabbed a bunch! =D I'm really enjoying the cultural exchange here.

Last night was yx's birthday, so we took a cab (both of us only) to J.T. Whitney's, a local pub where it happens also to be a swing dancing night every wed. Had really gooooood fun there! The Long Island Tea was crazy though. Sigh. It's a long story.

Before we started dancing, I ordered a Long Island Tea while yx got herself a Bloody Mary. Somehow, the L.I.T. was really, really strong, and I was so bushed out by it that it became so difficult to dance. Yx started laughing at me, saying how come I get knocked down by 1 single drink!

Then later, another Singaporean came by and we made friends, apparently she also danced and that idiot yx told her how I got knocked out by the L.I.T. Imagine my extreme relief when Jaqueline (the girl) said that it's extremely strong and it gets to her too!! Hahahahahahahaha .... we had quite a few dances last night, which was really, really fun! I mean, I can't imagine having a nice place in Singapore where there's proper jazz music and proper swing/lindy hop dancers. Perhaps the dance is just way too archaic? The youngsters nowadays go for hip hop and salsa and all that, and miss out (oh how I pity them, lol) on a dance so rich in history, culture and expression.

Anyway, after that, Giselle met up with us, and we proceeded to Lucky's Bar and Grille which is really right across the street (the street being as small as the one in front of my house). The bartender was GOOD! Giselle and I both had Miller Light beer, while yx took gin and tonic. The moment I finished my beer the man gave me a new bottle! And later, when he heard that it was yx's birthday, he actually fixed up a special shot of some milky-white-I-dunno-what for yx, on the house! =D How nice eh? Tally of the day - I only had a couple of beers, a 1800 shot (some sort of tequila), L.I.T. and a german beer both from J.T. Whitney's. Yx had around the same, but I think she was dead drunk? Giselle and I had to help the poor girl across the street (she almost ran right across), and while both G and I were still up and talking when we got back home, yx was trying to plop into bed with her jackets and contact lenses still on.

Needless to say, her drunk episode last night became a conversation topic for G and I today, much to yx's annoyance and surprise (OMG?!? Did I really do that last night?? I can't remember!!!)

Oooooh looking deliciously christmassy now! Branches and trees all covered in snow! =D

Oh, about Milwaukee - I scrapped the damn trip. It was expensive ($25 for a round way bus ticket), long (2 hr ride), and we're going to be so lost there since the bus service is very different. Not really worth it ... to go for 5 hours and come straight back. So we scrapped it.

Picked up even more pinecones today! I think we've collected from 5-6 different kinds of trees so far. And yx's starting to learn to recognise animal snow prints now =D

2005-03-16T17:51:00.000-08:00

BABY FERRETS!! Mom will absolutely freak over these little cuties ...

2005-03-16T17:46:00.000-08:00

Right, just a point of interest that got my giggling just after I blogged - I heard Giselle struggling with the stove outside and swearing, "I can't believe it, I can't turn on the fucking shit. It's a piece of shit man." It's the way she said it. =D

2005-03-16T17:39:00.000-08:00

OMG wafts of good-smelling stuff coming into the room while !! I'm typing this - CAN'T WAIT TO EAT!!!!!!! Giselle and Glenda (they come from Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico respectively) are cooking some of their native food ... plaintains, Spring Rice, stuffed peppers!! And yx's got her bak kut teh up and boiling. OMG. OMG. OMG

Anyway, we took a 1hr bus ride to the outskirts of town today to visit a gigantic pet shop! It's got halls devoted to different kinds of animals - like a whole section on fish, one on birds, one on reptiles and so on. WOW! Happy today. We saw things like snakes, lizards, frogs for sale, and their crickets and worms were actually in tissue-box looking containers which are really so convenient and so cool. THEN, just before we left, 3 baby ferrets came in!! Only the video can do them justice. They are somewhere between playful kittens and baby teddy bears, and were bouncing around in their enclosure! Yx refused to get away from them, and by the end of the trip, she was lamenting on how absolutely IDIOTIC AVA is to stop us from keeping things like these. Bought a stuffed bone for Brownie (real hollow long bone with glutinous doggie chow stuffed in it), a squeaky toy that emits at frequencies only dogs can hear, and a peanut-butter-flavoured cookie that is cat-shaped, chosen by yx.

Well actually we missed the stop that went to Animart - or so we thought, but in fact it was the right one! And on the way we actually passed a gigantic Wal-mart, and I distinctly saw a building called "PetsMart" there, which was 3 stops before Animart. So, after shopping, I asked the lady in Animart if PetsMart was anywhere near and asked for directions, half of which I didn't really understand. Yx and I decided to walk there anyway. We promptly got lost, walked back to the Animart busstop, missed the bus, and waited 40mins in the blasting cold for the next one. On the way back we passed a greenhouse but the things looked dead and we'd have to wait even longer for the next bus if we got down, so we gave it a pass.

Anyway, after that we went back to State Street for more shopping, I bought myself a nice dragon-shaped incense-holder and a really nice file with the U. Wis logo on it! And some really cute car decals! There's one that says, "I Brake for Tailgaters", and another one, "Save toilet paper - use both sides!" OK, this place is hilarious.

Right, I'm going out to check I really really think dinner should be ready by now. Going out at 9pm for some dancing with the U.Wis Swing Dance Society.

Capitol Building

2005-03-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

PICT0243
Originally uploaded by Hongyee.

Yep, pic of the Capitol building here in Madison. Nice eh? The insides are even better!!

2005-03-15T22:35:00.000-08:00

Just a short one before bed -

Went to West Towne Mall tonight with a really full bladder, and the bumpy bus ride really didn't help at all! By the time I reached the mall I could hardly walk, but had to hobble to the toilet anyway.

Well, no reptiles =( The shop's now selling these gigantic land hermits, they eat dried food like dogs and don't need water! Damn why is it that we can't keep animals like that in Singapore? It's not as if these hermit crabs will escape and eat someone up isn't it? Anyway, the shops are fun! Clothes are a tad expensive though, but very very nice. Wanted to buy ice skates, they are dirt cheap here (20% the price we get in Singapore, same brand!) but they didn't have my size left. Grrrr ....

Bought a lovely pair of bright red leather heels for mom, it was easy to buy stuff for her since yx's almost the same size. $12 only! And yx bought a pair of apple-green Lindy shoes for herself, the Mary Janes sort of shoes. Gisselle went crazy over those. We went into a raunchy shop that sold stuff like whips, talking fake moose heads, fake phalluses and all sorts of stuff.

The tom yam dinner was very good, and was an instant hit with the suitemates! Now the 3 of them are thinking of confiscating my passport so I can't go home and instead, stay here to cook for them. Anyway, Giselle will be doing some Dominican food tomorrow for us to try, and she's going to use plaintains, which apparently are some kind of banana that must be cooked and taste like potatoes or something.

About tomorrow - Will be lazing around till 9.30, then taking the bus to visit the gigantic pet shop just outside town. After that it's back to State Street for some shopping and visiting the interesting shops, then taking a bus to a 2nd-hand skate shop to see if we can nab anything from there. If not, we'll prolly go sliding! What you do is you get those cafetaria trays, sit on them and slide down one of the slopes. At night, we'll be celebrating yx's birthday, and then going dancing.

Time for bed!

2005-03-15T12:39:00.000-08:00

Just back from lessons - yes, LESSONS! Haha .. crashed yx's class, it's about neuro nano-technology. How implants are used for Parkinson's Disease and the possibilities of using brain-controlled prosthetic hands. Pretty interesting, but those animal experiments are really gross. I was explaining to yx that we do not treat Parkinson's using invasive techniques - L-Dopa has always been, and is still, the first-line treatment for Parkinson's since drug therapy is so much safer and does not run the risk of surgical morbidity and mortality. Anyway, the lesson was pretty interesting. Before that, she had a tutorial, so I proceeded to Lake Mendota on my own.

It's the largest lake around here, and so totally covered in snow that someone made a snow angel in there! I didn't realise the snow was so deep though, so I tried to step into it and promptly went Poof! Landed on my butt, waist-deep in snow. So embarrassing. There was a passer-by at that time so to save some face, I pretended I was actually sitting on the snow and taking pictures.

Visited the Red Gym and Memorial Union too (that's where I'll be taking my bus back to Chicago's O'Hare airport on Sat morning). And watched her ice-skating lesson in the morning ... I can't skate now cos of the lesson, but will be skating on Fri night! Waiting for yx to come back from lab in 1 hr's time, then we'll be going to West Towne Mall. Tom Yam soup tonight, then going to Lucky's Bar and Grille just across the street for supper drinks.

Weather's very fine today. No snow, little wind, people were walking around in t-shirts or shorts (notice I said "OR" - you can't wear T-shirt AND shorts even in this "fine" weather). The University's interesting though, you never get to see throngs of people walking around in NUS. Here, hundreds of students actually walk about in the streets and take buses to different buildings. And they have arcades, shops and pubs in their school buildings.

Which comes back to the point - NUS is NOT a University. Just some weird small place where there are non-active, no-initiative students, a bunch of poor lecturers and a group of incompetent administrators who spend more time claiming that NUS is a good university rather than improving on the school. Sad eh.

2005-03-15T07:08:00.000-08:00

Went to Lake Minona last evening! There was a small section that wasn't frozen over, and a lot of ducks were swimming in it. Wonder what happens if they fall sleep on the water and that part freezes over?

Anyway, there were some people walking on the lake, and this man was ice-fishing! It looked pretty safe, so we went on it too! I think basically you don't walk too close together, jump around, or go to the centre of the lake and you shouldn't fall in. And anyway the ice is pretty thick even though it's almost the end of winter.

After that we went to the Asian Food Market, where it got weird again. Is this Giant Land? Fat people, fat pigeons, huge servings - and now, giant dao gei (the size of my pinky finger), giant white onions (the size of a small turnip) and giant freshwater fish like carp. Anyway the market had practically everything, so I ended up cooking sushi rice with honeyed salmon and dill, cold chasoba and miso soup! We also bought lime leaves, lemon grass and chilli for tonight's tom yam soup. =D

The ice wine was really nice btw, and Giselle (the room-mate) also bought a 2004 Californian Pinot Noir that was really excellent.

For today, we'll be going to the mall to see a reptile and pet shop!! Yay!!! Lips getting slightly better. Think I should stay indoors as much as possible. The weather hates my lips, my lips hate the cold.

2005-03-14T13:35:00.000-08:00

About Dog Chow

OK, first off, a lot of the food here resembles doggie chow. Brownie would have mauled yx to death if he saw her eating those meatballs we had on Sunday for brunch. They looked (and tasted!!) like something straight out of brownie's can!

And today I had really cheap Mediterranean food ($5) for lunch, it's pilaf rice, caesar salad and sirloin whatever; basically just sirloin ground up and cooked with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh parsley and dried tarragon and rosemary. The whole thing tasted really good, but while eating the ground beef I kept thinking of doggie chow.

And, not to mention, the GIGANTIC portions of food. I couldn't finish my lunch.

Back from shopping at the shopping area, they have REALLY interesting shops there. And cheap alcohol, as usual. Bought a lime gin mix (24 ounces for $3??) and a bottle of ice wine. Absolut Vodka costs only $19 here, while it sells for $70-80 in Singapore. Also bought a nice scarf for mom, some interesting hot chocolate mix and a book for someone's birthday present. It's an interesting book, showing pictures of different ways of pointing the middle finger at people!! Hahaha ... Like rummaging in your pockets for a while after telling someone, "Oh, I've got something for you", then whip the middle finger out!! Most amusing.

They have weird shops selling things I'm sure I'm not allowed to bring into Singapore, plenty of clothes shops (cheap clothes!!! And shit, NOW I remember I forgot to buy a skirt I saw for mom, cripes ... ), loads of food places and interesting stuff like witchcraft supply shops.

Anyway, we visited the Capitol building here in Madison, and it was ... WHOA!! Magnificent! In fact, it's believed that this Capitol here in Madison is higher than the one in Washington, DC. The entire structure is made of marbles from all over the world, like Italy, Africa, Greece, France and some natural red granite from Wisconsin herself. Some of the marble actually came from the seabed, and there were fossils in some of the walls! The entire interior is leafed in gold, and we actually visited the Senate, Assembly and other rooms. Something was happening in the High Court though, so we didn't go in. All these are housed within the Capitol itself. There were also 4 glass mosaic murals on the 4 walls, with pictures of Liberty, Justice, Government and Legislation, each made of more than 10,000 glass pieces. And a very very nice ceiling painting of "The Produce of Wisconsin" was painted right at the top of the Capitol's dome. Will post pics as soon as I get them transferred to the com.

Almost got locked out of the room! YX had to go for lessons while I shopped, and forgot to give me the apartment keys. Thank goodness her roommates were in!! Waiting for her to get back in about 1 hr, then we'll be off shopping for groceries for tonight's dinner and later at night we'll be off ice-skating.

Oh, and it snowed today! The snow's very different from that in Chicago. The Chicago's snow was hard and icy, while Madison's snow is actually nice and fluffy and floats down like little marshmallows or little wisps of cotton. Nice!

OK, more later tonight I guess. Time to read book and drink my gin. =D

2005-03-14T06:21:00.000-08:00

Update: Added a weather chart to the right side of this page for Madison, Wisconsin. It's dreadfully cold outside now, just went for a short walk and collected a pinecone! That yx has been blind .. lived here for 3 months, and when I asked her if she picked up any pinecones she was like, "where"? When the whole of her front yard was practically littered with the stuff! haha ...

Anyway, she'll be back in an hour's time, then we're going out till 1pm when she has lessons again. Will be visiting places on my own today, but that's fine! Going ice-skating somewhere this week. Will also be visiting Capitol Building (tomorrow I think), hospital on Wed, and Milwaukee on Thurs. Still trying to figure the map out. How I miss Chicago! Hah ... everything's in miniature here compared to Chicago! Buildings are usually no more than 3 storeys in height, and even the chairs are small. People aren't as fat either. =) And very, very, very few blacks. Streets are extremely safe at night, as long as you don't fool around in the middle of a road and get knocked down.

Yx's room is TINY!! About half my room's size with 2 beds and 2 tables and 1 chest of drawers and a large wardrobe stuffed into this tiny room.

Ok, going to brave the cold and take a walk round to the 7-11 lookalike now. Going to buy something to eat and something hot to drink.

2005-03-13T21:31:00.000-08:00

Update: There's A LOT of tipping in this city. They call it "gratuity charge", and is usually 15-18%. If you take a taxi, you tip. When you get to restaurant, you tip. When the bell-boy keeps your luggage for you, you tip. Ouch. Anyway, we checked out at noon, deposited luggage at the hotel's bellman, and happily went without any burden to Magnificent Mile. Shops are really posh there, so didn't buy much except a really lovely belt for mom. Yx bought herself 2 tops too, at $10 each it's quite a steal. We had 10 mins left for shopping, and that was when we passed by the Chicago Water Tower (historical site .. more on that later with pictures and ghost stories!) and saw these 10 pony-drawn carriages!! It was $35 for a half-hour ride around Magnificent Mile, and I really wanted to go for it but there wasn't any time. Took a bus back to hotel, collected stuff (tipped bellman), concierge helped us get a taxi to the AmTrek Station (tipped concierge and taxi driver ....) and we waited for the bus to get to Wisconsin.

Oh, by the way, for some odd reason all the pigeons came out to play today. Think it's slightly warmer, that's why. They are FAT!!! Almost double the size of what we have in Singapore! Hahaha ... very very fat, jolly and round birds. And not at all scared of humans!

Slept through most of the bus trip, but managed to wake to see a magnificent sunset (yx got a pic of that, upload it tomorrow). I'm now safe and sound in yx's room in Madison, Wisconsin. The fun begins tomorrow. Her roommates are a nice bunch!!

It's colder here than in Chicago, but very much more bearable cos there isn't so much wind. Phew ...

Time for bed!

Stained Glass

2005-03-13T21:29:00.000-08:00

PICT0191
Originally uploaded by Hongyee.

At Navy Pier when we went for the Flower Festival, we had to pass through the Stained Glass Museum in order to get the tickets, and wow .. it's nice!! Took many many photos with different stained glass, and it's not the lousy stuff you get in Singapore churches that are crudely-made. These are actually life-like portraits and painstakingly-made with hundreds and thousands of shards of glass.

ok, that's all for tonight.

Polluted river ...

2005-03-13T21:28:00.000-08:00

PICT0199
Originally uploaded by Hongyee.

No no it's the green Chicago River I was yammering about in the old blog posts. Today, 1 day after the parade, it's still green!! Scary eh?

REALLY old water cooler

2005-03-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

PICT0178
Originally uploaded by Hongyee.

Just thought mom would like to see this (yx thought I was mad to take a photo). It's a really nice, rustic-looking water cooler in Ida Noyes Hall at the University of Chicago. Antique-looking eh? Mom would have ripped it out of the wall and lugged it back, I think.

Anyway, something almost-disastrous happened. The cooler is operated by this turn-tap thing on the right-hand side near the bottom, which is visible in the photo. I didn't know that the more you turn, the higher the jet of water becomes. Now, there was this couple sitting right next to it, and the first time I used the water cooler, I very happily twisted the tap and shoooop ... the water flew to the height of yx's head in the photo. Any higher and it'd have landed right on top of the couple!

Lion on the loose!

2005-03-13T21:20:00.000-08:00

pict0161
Originally uploaded by Hongyee.

Ever been this close to a lion?!?

The thing actually really looks like Brownie!! The paws, the hair - everything! Just that when yx went to pose beside him the beast actually started roaring. It's a little frightening, with only a piece of glass in-between the lion and its food (me). But anyway ..this was taken at the Licoln Park Zoo. It's a free zoo but I donated $1 to support its conservation programs. I thought in winter all the animals would be sleeping, but thankfully quite a lot of them are actually up and about.

Oh yeah .. btw, that lion's alive.

Flower Show

2005-03-13T21:17:00.000-08:00

PICT0197
Originally uploaded by Hongyee.

Things we bought from the Chicago Flower Show (ok this is just 20% of what I bought, actually). The left is a mini african violet that yx bought for her room, it's only the size of a tiny cup! The other 3 are airplants. Hoping it'll get through the airport, think I'll claim they are dried plants or something.

Magnificent Mile

2005-03-13T21:16:00.000-08:00

PICT0203
Originally uploaded by Hongyee.

Nice photo taken by yx (i can't upload my photos yet - no connection wire) of the road sign. It's not its official name - the street is N.Michigan Ave, but the whole length of it is called Magnificent Mile. Visited loads of shops there today, including the Disney Shop (Where we discovered we really were much too old for our own good), Banana Republic and some shopping malls where I bought even more presents. Got a nice belt for mom to go for her dance exam with! =D

An introduction to Chicago

2005-03-13T03:01:00.000-08:00

OK, since I'm so bored this morning, I shall just summarise what I've gathered so far about this beautiful city.

Chicago, also known as The Windy City, is one of the four cities that border the gigantic Lake Michigan (I think the lake's the size of Singapore. I can't see the other shore, and people actually drive power boats on it in summer). It has 2 airports located at the suburbs, O'Hare where I landed, and the other is Midway airport. Where I live is called Downtown Chicago, which is the heart of the city where all the magnificent skyscrapers are.

Public transportation is pretty good actually! The CTA (Chicago Tranport Authority) manages a train system with 4 lines that all converge in Downtown, and is very cheap. $1.75 per ride regardless of distance, but trains are a shame compared to the MRT. The same applies for the bus service - it's easy to take, and also $1.75 regardless of distance. The buses are usually very frequent, they come within 5 minutes each except for certain ones (the bloody Bus 126 to Shedd Aquarium took a whole 25 minutes on Friday ...) What amazed me was how handicap-friendly the buses were. There are 2 rows of seats allocated for the handicaps, and people actually DO NOT sit on them, unlike in Singapore! And for the wheelchair-bound, the buses actually have a motorised ramp so that the wheelchairs can be rolled up into the bus, and there are clamps around the bottom of the seats so that the wheelchairs don't roll around. Cabs are everywhere! I think there are more than 6 separate companies running the service, and are pretty expensive actually. $1.90 flagging charge, $0.50 per extra person, and $1.60 per mile. What I do is a lot of walking actually, since I'm only 8 blocks away from Magnificent Mile and a few blocks away from most other pubs and stores like pharmacies, convenience stores and bookstores.

As with most American cities, the buildings here are grouped in "blocks", which are bordered by 4 roads. The roads here are actually funny - they run in a grid-like pattern throuout the city, making it very easy to navigate around. There are 3 main districts here - the business district, the theatre district, and the shopping district. I'm staying in the theatre district, where famous broadway theatres like the Chicago Theatre and Oriental Theatre are. The shopping district is at North Michigan Avenue, an absolutely long road, but fondly called "Magnificent Mile" by the locals. It's a little like orchard road with a lot more interesting sights. People busking on the streets, outdoor cafe's everywhere and a lot of shops. Many are stuff we get in Singapore like Tiffany, Burberry and the Body Shop, but then you get real American stuff like GAP and Banana Republic too! Oh .. point of interest. Giordano is NOT a cheap clothing shop here. It's actually a reknowned chain of pizza restaurants who were the first inventors of the stuffed pizza.

It's scary - they have 18 universities in this tiny place!! I've visited University of Chicago, and there's also Northwestern U, DePaul U, Columbia U at Chicago and a lot more. In winter the school buildings are pretty scary at night. Shadows of bare trees on the walls, and scary stone gargoyles on the gates. But the architechture inside is amazing and really warm. Intricate carvings, beautiful paintings and has this almost-vintage feel to it.

The main tourist attractions in Chicago:

Shedd Aquarium - the largest indoor aquarium in the world
Licoln Park Zoo - a free zoo with tonnes of animals!
Adler Planetarium - I dunno what it is, but supposedly you see stars from here?
Navy Pier - somewhat like Sentosa and has a famous gigantic Ferris wheel there
A LOT of museums and art institutes! I have no interest in these, hence no visit.
Sears Tower and Hancock Observatory - 2 of the tallest buildings here, popular for taking spectacular sunset shots of Chicago.
Buckingham Foutain - at Grant Park
Lake Michigan - gigantic lake!!
Of course, there are also the famous Chicago Bulls and Chicago Bears (the football team) here when it's sports season. There's a basketball meet taking place in the city this weekend, so there are loads of banners about the Chicago bulls everywhere.

And of course there are all the fantastic nightspots - there's at least one every 2 blocks! Good live music, friendly crowds (no horrid drunk people like in Singapore pubs and no ridiculous rave/disco dance) and good food too. We actually bought 4 Buffalo Wings at a pub for just $3! Buffalo Wings are roasted chicken wings with a tomato and vinegar sauce, with a blue cheese dip. Yes, real big pieces of blue cheese inside! =D

Streets are usually quite safe at night, although I try to avoid blacks loitering around and I think they ask for money. They aren't pushy though - as long as you ignore them and walk right past them, they don't come walking after you asking for money as I imagined. Some of them busk, but honestly ... the music is terrible. There's this old black gentleman just 5 blocks down who plays the saxaphone so horribly I think people donate to him just to shut him up.

About theatres - many good broadway masterpieces actually pass here for tours. Les Miserables is actually showing 2 days after I leave Chicago (DAMN!), and they have others like Sweet Charity, Wicked and The Little Shop of Horrors.

2005-03-13T02:44:00.000-08:00

Hah, yx's getting bothered by my nocturnal habits. I sleep at 1am, and wake by 6am. In fact, it's 4am now. How can anyone sleep that much? OK, maybe later I'll try to get some sleep. Probably just hungry, that's all. Thinking of walking 4 blocks down to get to the convenience store for a sandwich or something, but the wind's probably brutal, so forget about that. Had a jolly good time packing the luggage last night, it'll be nice and cleared after I reach Wisconsin, since the stupid food items actually take up 1 of the small luggages. Had some fun shopping for presents too!

Anyway, hotel reception was funny last night. I requested for a morning call for 10am this morning, apparently the poor man didn't quite catch me, so he called back.

Man: "Sorry sir, this is Reception calling. Did you want your morning call to be 10am or 10pm?"

Stunned silence ...

Me: "Oh, it's 10am"

Man (in an embarrassed voice, if that's possible): "Right. Of course!"

OK, that was weird, haha! Damn ... last day in Chicago. Will miss this place, it's really lovely, minus the wind. It gets even worse near Lake Michigan. If you walk at Navy Pier (one of those full-of-rot tourist attractions) or by Lakeshore street, there are actually icicles forming from roofs and there's still quite a bit of snow. And it's really, really windy there. Clothing is actually more than enough, I can manage with a single t-shirt plus a regular sweater (the one I wear to school), and it's really cosy like this already. The trouble is the face. My nose and ears get soooo nipped by the wind!

Yx walked around looking like Ali Baba's wife; she had an Indian scarf around her neck, a woollen scarf covering her mouth and nose, and her hood drawn up. Looks like she's wearing a funky sort of tudung. And yet there are CRAZY people on the streets. Let me describe. It's like -4C here *without* the wind, and late at night the wind is really unforgiving. Yet you see women wearing mini-skirts and stockings strolling around - no, they are not pattering and scampering for the nearest shelter - they were STROLLING. With some silkly-looking low-cut dress and just a powersuit. That's all!! Are they fat or what?

Oh, but a lot of people here are REALLY FAT. And I mean REALLY fat. I'm guessing a butt diameter twice my chest size? They sit at restaurants and literally overflow the seats. THe black women here are usually the hugest, but you get quite a lot of whites who look like they can naturally float in a freshwater bath tub too. And the way they eat ... remember I was struggling with my gigantic breakfast on Fri morning? Well, the elderly couple (I'm guessing in their 70s) apparently had no difficulty with theirs, which was if anything even more than what I was eating. They must be cows ... 4 stomachs.

2005-03-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Yep, we decided not to go for the St. Patric's Day parade tomorrow, cos it's really really too far south. Almost 4 miles away from the hotel! And what's more, we'll be carrying out luggage since we'd have checked out by then. Tentative plan for tomorrow is that we'll check out at noon, go for shopping at Magnificent Mile (last min shopping at Border's to buy book for xiaoting) then take the 4.30pm (6.30am Singapore time) Van Galder coach to Wisconsin. We'll reach Wisconsin at around 8.30 pm (10.30am Singapore time).

2005-03-12T18:30:00.000-08:00

Picture of dyeing of the Chicago River!! It's a frightful, neon green colour right now, and many many of the city's fountains are also green. They have a wonderful culture here, quite laxed and forgiving about certain things especially when they mean a lot to certain communities of people. I can't imagine what'd happen if we dyed the Singapore River red for Chinese New Year?

Anyway, the conical, scaly building near the right side of the picture? Well, the Red Fish pub is just across that river bridge, and the building is really interesting. Chicago's filled with a lot of amazing architecture, and in fact the bottom half of this scaly building is actually a parking lot! It's a little scary to see the cars parked halfway up a spiraling path. And the upper half's some residence units.

Of course, other nice buildings here include the "Bean", the inside of the Chicago Theatre, Seah Building, the Planetarium... and even the Shedd Aquarium's building is nice! Will post pics of nice buildings here later.

2005-03-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

Right-o, got a connection here in the hotel! This travel blog is going to be on this website for now, it might end up on the main blog later. Just maybe.

10 March, Thurs

Plane ride was pretty gross, really not looking forward to the return flight. One thing for sure - if I ever get to do this again, I'll never ever transit in HK again. Those Hong Kees are one of the worst-mannered people around. The couple behind me were shouting their conversation to each other, for the whole plane to hear. And yes ... 20+ hours in plane, horridly dreary. And the weather was pretty bad, so we ended up circling Wisconsin 2 times before decending into Chicago, where it looked like we were flying in milk. Totally white and foggy outside. On the journey the sight was awesome though!! First, the stars - oh. my. goodness. They were so 3D, scattered all over the place. And later on when flew over Seattle, there were dozens upon dozens of mountain ranges - nice! Geography can be really appreciated from up there.

It was snowing heavily when I got off, met yx without a glitch, and we checked into the hotel. Hotel staff were extremely friendly! Happy with the room - nice and cozy, with all sorts of amenities. Good value for money, definitely. Not to mention that it's a street away from the CTA train station, and a few minutes' bus ride to Magnificent Mile, the shopping district. The hotel's really in the theatre district, and the rooms themselves are actually refurbished from the old Cadillac Palace Theatre. The infamous Chicago theatre's just 2 blocks away.

Spent the first night walking around and came to a pub, The Red Fish. It just so happened that it was karaoke night, and wow .. all the people can sing! And it was fascinating - people were just dancing spontaneously, and it's not the rot we have in Singapore. It's real swing dancing. The spirit of swing and blues is still alive in this city! Halfway through I think a guy tried to hit on me though, but I'd rather not talk about it right now. Pretty creepy.

11 March, Fri

Had breakfast at 312 Chicago, the restaurant right beside the hotel. Not very cheap (USD15 for a set) but really .. the portions. I got an Egg Benedict with sausage and Hollandaise while yx got herself a smoked salmon bagel, and we really couldn't finish it. Just breakfast!!! It was excellent though, very well-done food. Then we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo, it's free and it was amazing. The reptiles section!!! Will post photos later. And after that, to the Shedd Aquarium.

Later at night, we went to Ida Noyes Hall at University of Chicago for Lindy Hop! Cab fare was sick - $20 before tip! We later took a bus back, which was just $1.75 each. The session was great!! I met this girl who came from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who dances the same styling of Lindy Hop as I do! Needless to say, we had a good time social dancing.

We were beat by the time we reached the hotel, so no pubbing tonight. Ended up buying super-cheap beer ($6 a dozen!!) with loads of food, and watched the Stars on Ice which was so totally amazing! And bought a nice lavender bath salt too. Total indulgence.

12 March, Sat

I woke up really early and really late today. Woke at 6am (it was already bright - like 10am in Singapore?), had my papers, milo and breakfast of last night's Potbelly sandwich, then fell asleep again till 11. Took a bus to Navy Pier for the Chicago Flower Show, and bought loads and loads and loads of bulbs. Praying that they will pass customs. =
No dinner tonight. Too tired, not hungry. May end up going to a pub alter!~

OH YES. St. Patric's Day is next Thurs, and there's actually a large Irish community here in CHicago, and my .. are they a mad bunch!!!! We woke today to green foutains all over the city (I'm guessing someone sabotaged all the water sources), and the entire Chicago River was dyed a lurid, bright green! And masses of people on the streets wearing green top hats, shamrock halos (yx actually wore one of these for fun today) and everything green. Fun!! We may go and watch the main Parade tomorrow, if our luggage isn't too heavy.

That's all for now!