chicago : the update

***it has been kindly requested that i not plagiarize but give credit to the other photographers of this post (ok, mark i will)***

5:55am is when i arrived in chicago. an unreal hour for mark to pick me up AND an unreal hour for me to be awake considering it was 3:55am california time.

but we weren't about to waste a minute so we headed straight to the city to grab some breakfast at the tempo café. the chicago skyline was just beautiful as we drove in. the buildings were still hiding in the morning haze so all you could see was the silhouette of downtown. the tempo café had been recommended and it was pretty yummy even though we were both half asleep still...omelet and eggs benedict...how can you go wrong? can i just pause to say how much i love eggs benedict? so delicious...

this really set the tone for the trip which could only be summed up by the words: eating and other stuff.

first the eating in no particular order:
best coffee award goes to INTELLIGENTSIA COFFEE, even though we had to drive to two because the first one was closed at a ridiculously early time.

best pizza award goes to, LOU MALNATI'S, for having the first chicago-style pizza that i've liked in chicago.

biggest grill award goes to, WEBER GRILL RESTAURANT, really good pork chops and damn good pretzel bread.

photo taken by random guy

best deep-fried turkey prepared in a bathroom award goes to DAN KIM, yes it was prepped in the bathtub of mark's apt and yes it was delicious!

best lukewarm milk tea goes to JOY YEE'S NOODLES, for having milk tea available but for some strange reason not being able to make it hot but could only offer iced milk tea with no ice.

photo taken by mark

best hot dog place (two years in a row!) goes to HOT DOUG'S. however, this time i learned my lesson...it's best to get the regular dogs because the specialty dogs are just a novelty. mark you were so right. one brat and one corn dog for both of us next time.

best fish sandwich and moreover best french fries (two years in a row!) goes to JIM'S ORIGINAL. fries to DIE FOR!



the other stuff in no particular order:
witness to bakery fail at meijer (market)...what a sweet cornucopia? i'm sure nadia is laughing her head off at this picture.

witness to parking fail in the parking lot of meijer, way to go meijer! (yes that is how the car was parked. mark and i were walking behind the people who got out of the car...you guessed it - old people.)

photo taken by mark

we also went to shedd aquarium with our friend genuine and had a really great time. we didn't get to see the sea otters but we got to see a lot of other cool stuff. bodies of water house scary creatures of unusual size. i have second thoughts about swimming in the ocean.

oh, and i got accused of taking flash photography by a white lady when i told her 3 times that i wasn't using my flash. way to go white lady, you win the award for the person i'd most like to punch in the face.

photo taken by mark

we also enjoyed the city lights under a clear sky. really beautiful stuff. genuine told us about the history of the rebuilding of chicago and the stories behind some of the buildings themselves. really interesting stuff.

photo taken by mark

honorable mention:
thank you LAX for not being a complete migraine like you usually are. no, in fact you rose to the occasion and were rather pleasant indeed.

random guy and mark for providing some of the photos in this post. sheeshamunga.