Chicago: Day 22 - 25

Dear Diary,

Wow. Time really flies by! It's Day 25 of my trip now and I am somewhat near my one-third mark. It is officially the beginning of my fourth week here, and I must say, being here so far has been quite a ride.

In any case, I'm just going to do a quick recap of my past three days here, beginning with Friday (Day 22) until Sunday (Day 24).


Friday *Day 22*

Steph came home early today. He was gonna work late over the weekend so that would make up for the 40 hours. We decided to have ramen. According to Time Out Chicago, apparently one of the best places for ramen in the city was Noodles by Takashi , one of the food court offerings of State Street Macy's.

Shoyu Ramen and a half-set of potstickers (which were surprisingly good!!).

After lunch, we took a walk around Macy's. Steph wanted to get a new pair of casual shoes. We spotted one from Kenneth Cole Reaction. Thereafter, we headed down to Millenium Park. What better way to spend the afternoon than snoozing on the Great Lawn after a filling lunch?

Can you spot our feet?

We headed home thereafter, but not before grabbing a cup of Annette's Homemade Italian Ice! 

Pina Colada and Passionfruit Ice. One of the many ways to fight a scorching summer.

In the evening, we headed to Caribou Coffee for Steph to work on his resume and for me to send my signed and scanned contract back to LSC. It was my first time at Caribou and although I prefer Starbucks coffee better, Caribou had a much larger range of drinks and food :)  The ambience somehow seems cheerier too :P

Steph's Kenneth Cole's shoes. *phweet!*

The rebel who refused to smile ;P

The interior of Caribou Coffee

According to the tech expert, any place that allows him 10-minutes uninterrupted play of diablo has excellent wi-fi.  

Grilled Three Cheese sandwich. Yum.

I love the napkins! :P

I tried their Mint Condition coffee. It was a refreshing change;)

That pretty much summed up our Friday! :O

Saturday *Day 23*

Weekends are the best days for brunch! We wanted to find a french bistro so we googled one online. The nearest we could find was The Red Rooster, along 2100 N Halstead St. However, we had a hard time finding the eatery as it had been replaced by a new french restaurant - Chez Moi. It was serving up brunch anyway, so we decided to give it a shot.

I have to say, the deco of the place was really posh. The entrance had similar bearings of a posh pub, but the moment you walked into the main dining hall, the first thing that catches your eyes are the chandeliers and paintings on the wall. 

A really potent concoction of peppermint tea.  <3

Salmon crepe with sour cream, capers and hard boiled egg.

5 Oz steak with a sunny side up and fries drizzled in blue cheese.

I have to admit, after watching episodes of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, it's hard not to be critical now the moment you walk into a restaurant or cafe of some sorts. The grub here is excellent and reasonably priced for brunch, but the front of house service however could have been slightly better - our waiter had been genial but forgetful :P Nevertheless, I have to admit, we were impressed by the 5oz medium steak that Steph had with blue cheese fries and the salmon crepe I had. 

Apparently, Chef Dominique (who flashed us a smile as he walked by our table) is the drawing point and the engine for success behind this famed restaurant. We didn't even know how popular it was until Steph googled for reviews as we were waiting for our food! 

After lunch, we wanted to go somewhere to hide out from the heat. So we decided to head to Caribou Coffee again. Thereafter, we took a short swim in the lake by North Avenue Beach. It was evening time by then, so the weather was cooler and the water cold. The tide was coming in though and the waves were strong. It took us all but 15-20 minutes before deciding that it was time to head home! 

We went dancing later that night at Steph's school, Latin Rhythms. They have socials on most Saturday evenings for their students and guests. You just need to pay a cover charge of $10. There were kebabs being served that night and wines were on the house! I needed a bit of alcohol to overcome my nerves and get me going. Although the atmosphere was warm and lively, the standard of the dancers on the dance floor was pretty intimidating! (I had to keep asking Steph to dance with other women in case he got bored dancing with me. I wasn't up to form either that night.) Thankfully, I found some fellow "less intimidating" dancers too and had a ball of a time:) 

We had to leave earlier though as Steph had a deployment that night and we needed to be back before midnight. Coincidentally, it was pouring by the time we left. We got caught in the rain and were drenched on the way to the car. By the time we reached home, I was shivering. Steph put some ramen on the stove and told me to get a hot bath. By the time I was done, he had just finished cooking and there was a scrumptious piping hot bowl of ramen waiting for me on the coffee table. It was an extremely comforting way of soothing my nerves. I was really touched despite the horrible mood I was in. It was one of the tastiest bowls of instant noodles I'd ever eaten.

Sunday *Day 24*

Steph had dance rehearsal for his performance today, so we decided to eat at home. I warmed up my leftover crepe while Steph had some waffles and a mozzarella omelette (which I made! *grin*). After Steph left, I took a walk to the park. I wanted some time in the sun. Some time to just calm myself and my thoughts. The weather was lovely. As I sat there, I couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful everything was - the sky was like an awesome blue canvass on which God had drawn the clouds, the birds and the entire scenery. Every movement formed part of that art. It felt like I had an open canvass with an artist right at work before my eyes. 

And somehow, in that natural movement of life... I didn't feel entirely left alone anymore.

I walked back to the apartment soon after. I found a shortcut by chance. Steph had bought Portillo's hotdogs for the both of us. I thought he was just going to buy something home for himself. I was full (as I had had a frappucino just minutes ago) but I was really touched by his thoughtfulness. We shared both hotdogs in the end. And the fries. And the milkshake. We were stuffed full at the end. 

Thereafter, we took a nap, thanks to the heat and our overstuffed tummies. But not before booking two tickets for Shoreline's Architectural Cruise that night from Navy Pier.

As the cruise was at 8.30 p.m., we decided to head down earlier to just walk around the Pier. There were a lot of people and activities going on! The Dock Walk was lined with eateries and people just walking along the Pier. There were stalls selling carnival foods too, like candy floss, churros, fried dough and funnel cakes (yum). There was also a Family Pavillion with rides for kids, including a giant Ferris Wheel. One of the perks that caught my eye was the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Apparently, the production company is located here too!

The wind and the view along Navy Pier was just amazing. We took lots of pictures! Here are some shots of them:

The cruise itself was amazing. It took us down Lake Michigan through the city and each of the three waterways it splits into. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable. You could really sense his passion either for the architecture or the history of the city. Turns out that Chicago was a playground for many famed and budding architects after the Great Chicago Fire that raged over 3 days and razed the city to the ground. Interestingly, the Chicago Firefighter Training Academy is built on the very site where the fire first started. Here are some pictures from the cruise:

The beginning of cruise takes us towards the city centre along Lake Michigan.

The stunning Trump International Hotel and Tower, the second tallest building in USA.

A stunning array of modern and post-modern contemporary architectural designs as one cruises along the lake.

You can see the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), the tallest building in the USA, with it's two spires.

One of the attractions of a Night Architectural Cruise is the stunning reflections and lights of the buildings.

The Willis Tower and, just in front of it, 311 South Wacker.
At the far right hand corner is the Chicago Board of Trade Building, which has a statue of Ceres, the the roman goddess of grain and farming,  right at the crown.

The grand facade of Merchandise Mart

After a breathtaking view of the city, we were famished. The weather was good for dinner out on the patio so we decided to head back to Navy Pier for some seafood. We ventured into Bubba Gump Shrimp Co - a restaurant chain famed for (you guessed it) it's shrimps. Little did we know that it had links to the real Forrest Gump (which inspired the movie). Our waiter was really good and made a few recommendations for us to try - Bubba's Far Out Dip and Shrimp New Orleans (his personal favourite). We decide to go with the dip and some calamari for our appetizers, and "I'm Stuffed!" Shrimp for our entree. All three dishes were extremely delightful. Here are some pictures:

Bubba's Far Out Dip - tortilla chips with a dip made of Roasted Red Peppers, artichokes, Spinach and Monteray Jack Cheese. Amazingly tasty!

Calamari and dipping sauces 

"I'm Stuffed!" Shrimps - large shrimps with crab stuffing, baked in garlic butter and topped with Monteray Jack cheese. Served with jasmine rice. Absolutely delicious.

At Bubba Gump, every table has two signs - "Run Forrest Run" or "Stop Forrest Stop".
Guess what they're used for?

Halfway through our meal, our waiter stopped us in the midst of our chewing for a quiz! Apparently,  the rule of the game is, he would take away our food if we got the answer wrong :( It was a Bubba Gump tradition. 

"OK, here we go! What is the name of the girl whom Forrest Gump loves?" He asked. "Um. It's all over the menu!!!" He prompted further, after a few moments of awkward silence. 

Thankfully, Steph had requested to retain one menu! We quickly flipped open the menu (and with the waiter's assistance) came across the name on a specific page. "Jenny!" We chirped. "Right!" He said (with relief) "You may continue enjoying your meal!" 

Steph and I laughed. This was probably gonna be the only test where the examiner actually allowed us to cheat in front of him. After the meal, we got to bring our mugs back as the drinks we had ordered were specialty drinks. The alcohol content in our drinks though had been a little strong so we decided to take a walk by the Pier (to help Steph metabolise the alcohol and ease his slight tipsiness :P).

We had a lovely time overall. The weather was lovely and so were the sights and food. To quote Steph, "This feels like a vacation rather than a Sunday!" :) Agreed! :)