What happened in St. Louis/Chicago:
Landed in Lambert airport on saturday 19th. No snacks on the flight served. Only 2 rounds of drinks. A 4 hour flight. Grr. Why is the West Coast so far from everything else? Pretty airport, though. Though was surprised by the fact that the luggage belts were outside the restricted zone (so anyone can actually walk up to the belts and pick off bags). Was received by yk at the airport and then we took the metro back to his suite.
Later that afternoon, we went down to Galleria - a mall. Then later in the evening, we went to catch Harry Potter. Thought that this was one of the better HP movies. Was not particularly pleased with the beginning - distinctly felt that chunks of the movie were edited out from the final version, because the scenes felt very start-stop. But this is definitely a tear-jerking movie. Perhaps courtesy of the director, who by the way, i thought, did a good job. After the movie, where i was amazed by the american movie-going crowd: applauses all round after the movie, after advertisements, after trailers.. cheers, boos... what not, we went down the Applebee's for dinner. Ok, very late dinner. They had this new steak n shrimp combo. Looked yummy on TV/menu, but wasn't really that yummy. Then rushed home to catch Saturday Night Live, where Eva Longoria (of Desperate Housewives) was on. She was good.
Sunday 20th: in the morning, we went down to Downtown. Went up the Arch, great view from the top. Also went to the museum at the base of the arch. Lewis and Clark exploration of the west.. interesting. After that, we went to Union Station - another mall. Then it's back to school for the buffet dinner. All you can eat! Typical of college food. (sidenote: suspect i put on 5 pounds in the 2 months since i last weighed myself). Drats. And i usually put on more weight back home - so this is not looking good. Settled down to a good night of TV - DH and GA. DH was awful. GA was smashing. Enough said.
Monday 21st: Zipped off to chicago by train. Alas, the train had only 1 passenger carriage + engine. Coz the original train was 5 hours late. And they had to pull this replacement one. But the great thing was we had FREE FLOW of drinks, snacks and 1 quite posh sandwich. Usually these things are sold, not given. So, it was a really tiring 5.5 hours journey up to chicago, through illinois (pretty boring).
In Chicago, much breezier and colder than St Louis, i walked through downtown to the hotel. Took a shower and then started my tour of downtown. Loved the modern buildings and the elevated trains zipping in and out of the city buildings. Then went up Sears Tower. Had to do it - for the photos. Amazingly, i learnt that 85% of the visitors that day were from california. The view was not good, coz it was clouding over. So i couldn't get the sunset shots. But i loved the night shots, when the lights came on. So i think that's probably a good time to go up the tower.. around sunset. After that, i went to the Magnificent Mile, had a look around, zipped into a couple shops. Stopped in the Apple Store, tried out the machines. Checked my email and blah blah.
Tuesday 22nd: a much colder day. All day temps in the 30s. Went to Field Museum, they had a exhibition on Pompeii. Didn't really like that. But i thought the Botany displays in Field were smashing. Models of plant specimens were displayed. Yah, unlike animals which can be preserved, it's rather difficult to preserve plant specimens.. like fruits and bark and structure. Then walked along the Lake (Michigan), where the wind was FREAKY. So windy. Felt like temps were in the 10s. There was a body bag along the lake, police surrounded the bag. Someone probably dropped into the lake? Went along towards Art Institute of Chicago. Had lunch in Cosi's. Again, made the mistake of ordering mustard. This ham and sweet potato sandwich coated with mustard. TOO MUCH mustard. La4. I mean, i love honey mustard, but spreading it all over the bread is scary. Ok, the Art Institute, free tuesdays! So it was quite packed. Oh yah, Field was free also. It definitely makes sense to go to the museums on free days.
Went back to the train station where the queues were freaking long. ARGH. Lots of people going home. Another 5 hour journey. Arrived back in st louis, and we went to a chocolate bar for drinks and dessert. OH my, they had such lovely beers there. Ordered a apple-infused wheat beer. It was fantastic! Not too bitter. A tinge of apple in a light beer. Yum! I love wheat beers. Had three different desserts. All choco-based.
Wednesday 23rd: Today was spent in Forest Park, where we went to the Art Museum. Then some boating in the lake. Next, we went down to the Loop, where we had ice cream at Cold Stone. Yum. (OK, now i can see where the weight gain is coming from). Then we had dinner at a thai place. Followed by dessert at the Melting Pot, choc fondue. More drinks. Had a dessert wine, muscato. Sweet. Next, we watched 'Paradise Now' - a movie about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Motivations behind suicide bombers. Thought it would have been better placed on TV, than on the big screen. Anyway, it was my first arabic film.
Thursday 24th: Thanksgiving. Rotted at home, watched tons of TV. Tons. Then we cooked dinner (hotpot). Which was a success. Lots of food, though. More TV.
Friday 25th: Shopping day. Bagged something. Haha. I got a pair of Levi's for 19 USD. Now, how come it's so cheap, you wonder? Coz, i bought it from the Juniors' Dept. HAHA... i mean the juniors section stocked waist sizes up to 32inches. That's huge. So of course, it made sense to buy from there. So much cheaper than the adult dept. Exactly the same style what. So yah, cheap clothes! Yay.
No snow. A bit disappointed. Coz i ain't going to see any out here. Will post more photos soon.
Landed in Lambert airport on saturday 19th. No snacks on the flight served. Only 2 rounds of drinks. A 4 hour flight. Grr. Why is the West Coast so far from everything else? Pretty airport, though. Though was surprised by the fact that the luggage belts were outside the restricted zone (so anyone can actually walk up to the belts and pick off bags). Was received by yk at the airport and then we took the metro back to his suite.
Later that afternoon, we went down to Galleria - a mall. Then later in the evening, we went to catch Harry Potter. Thought that this was one of the better HP movies. Was not particularly pleased with the beginning - distinctly felt that chunks of the movie were edited out from the final version, because the scenes felt very start-stop. But this is definitely a tear-jerking movie. Perhaps courtesy of the director, who by the way, i thought, did a good job. After the movie, where i was amazed by the american movie-going crowd: applauses all round after the movie, after advertisements, after trailers.. cheers, boos... what not, we went down the Applebee's for dinner. Ok, very late dinner. They had this new steak n shrimp combo. Looked yummy on TV/menu, but wasn't really that yummy. Then rushed home to catch Saturday Night Live, where Eva Longoria (of Desperate Housewives) was on. She was good.
Sunday 20th: in the morning, we went down to Downtown. Went up the Arch, great view from the top. Also went to the museum at the base of the arch. Lewis and Clark exploration of the west.. interesting. After that, we went to Union Station - another mall. Then it's back to school for the buffet dinner. All you can eat! Typical of college food. (sidenote: suspect i put on 5 pounds in the 2 months since i last weighed myself). Drats. And i usually put on more weight back home - so this is not looking good. Settled down to a good night of TV - DH and GA. DH was awful. GA was smashing. Enough said.
Monday 21st: Zipped off to chicago by train. Alas, the train had only 1 passenger carriage + engine. Coz the original train was 5 hours late. And they had to pull this replacement one. But the great thing was we had FREE FLOW of drinks, snacks and 1 quite posh sandwich. Usually these things are sold, not given. So, it was a really tiring 5.5 hours journey up to chicago, through illinois (pretty boring).
In Chicago, much breezier and colder than St Louis, i walked through downtown to the hotel. Took a shower and then started my tour of downtown. Loved the modern buildings and the elevated trains zipping in and out of the city buildings. Then went up Sears Tower. Had to do it - for the photos. Amazingly, i learnt that 85% of the visitors that day were from california. The view was not good, coz it was clouding over. So i couldn't get the sunset shots. But i loved the night shots, when the lights came on. So i think that's probably a good time to go up the tower.. around sunset. After that, i went to the Magnificent Mile, had a look around, zipped into a couple shops. Stopped in the Apple Store, tried out the machines. Checked my email and blah blah.
Tuesday 22nd: a much colder day. All day temps in the 30s. Went to Field Museum, they had a exhibition on Pompeii. Didn't really like that. But i thought the Botany displays in Field were smashing. Models of plant specimens were displayed. Yah, unlike animals which can be preserved, it's rather difficult to preserve plant specimens.. like fruits and bark and structure. Then walked along the Lake (Michigan), where the wind was FREAKY. So windy. Felt like temps were in the 10s. There was a body bag along the lake, police surrounded the bag. Someone probably dropped into the lake? Went along towards Art Institute of Chicago. Had lunch in Cosi's. Again, made the mistake of ordering mustard. This ham and sweet potato sandwich coated with mustard. TOO MUCH mustard. La4. I mean, i love honey mustard, but spreading it all over the bread is scary. Ok, the Art Institute, free tuesdays! So it was quite packed. Oh yah, Field was free also. It definitely makes sense to go to the museums on free days.
Went back to the train station where the queues were freaking long. ARGH. Lots of people going home. Another 5 hour journey. Arrived back in st louis, and we went to a chocolate bar for drinks and dessert. OH my, they had such lovely beers there. Ordered a apple-infused wheat beer. It was fantastic! Not too bitter. A tinge of apple in a light beer. Yum! I love wheat beers. Had three different desserts. All choco-based.
Wednesday 23rd: Today was spent in Forest Park, where we went to the Art Museum. Then some boating in the lake. Next, we went down to the Loop, where we had ice cream at Cold Stone. Yum. (OK, now i can see where the weight gain is coming from). Then we had dinner at a thai place. Followed by dessert at the Melting Pot, choc fondue. More drinks. Had a dessert wine, muscato. Sweet. Next, we watched 'Paradise Now' - a movie about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Motivations behind suicide bombers. Thought it would have been better placed on TV, than on the big screen. Anyway, it was my first arabic film.
Thursday 24th: Thanksgiving. Rotted at home, watched tons of TV. Tons. Then we cooked dinner (hotpot). Which was a success. Lots of food, though. More TV.
Friday 25th: Shopping day. Bagged something. Haha. I got a pair of Levi's for 19 USD. Now, how come it's so cheap, you wonder? Coz, i bought it from the Juniors' Dept. HAHA... i mean the juniors section stocked waist sizes up to 32inches. That's huge. So of course, it made sense to buy from there. So much cheaper than the adult dept. Exactly the same style what. So yah, cheap clothes! Yay.
No snow. A bit disappointed. Coz i ain't going to see any out here. Will post more photos soon.
posted by Monty Elm at 8:58 am
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