I went there with Kenny,Gloria, Tang Wei and her BF.
My senior drove 8 hours from Houghton, MI > Iron Mountain, MI > Milwaukee, WI > Chicago, IL. The journey wasn't too bad. But weather was not the best when we were at Wisconsin. On our way back, weather was quite bad at the last 2 hours.
We stayed in Hilton Garden Inn near the Midway international airport. The room was reasonably price because Gloria bid the hotel on priceline.com. It's like a ebay for travelling in US. We had a room with double beds. It was a pretty spacious room. Sorry, this time I forgotten to take photo of the room.
We reached about 3pm in the afternoon. We rested and headed to Chinatown for dinner. We went to a restaurant called PENANG and yeah, it's a Malaysian restaurant. I went there cause a bunch of my Malaysian friends were there. Kai Jie, Chin Cheun, Jonathan Lam, Yu Tzer, Michelle, Caroline, Lynda and Rachel were in Chicago too. They were there for 8 days.
The photo looks a lil weird cause my camera lens had some distortions. In layman's term "fish eye" effect.
Kai Jie and Me. To those who don't know, Kai Jie's my neighbor. He lives on the same street as me in Malaysia.
Now, time for the food that I had in PENANG.
Fish Curry ~$12.00
Chicken Rendang $10.00
Stir Fried Petai with Belacan $8.00
Cendol $3.00
All the food had its Malaysian taste, but of course, it's nothing compared to my Mom's cooking. The cendol deserves some praise though, cause the green cendol, I think it's homemade, it's not super smooth like the one you find in Malaysia, but the pandan taste in it was pretty strong. The most fragrant cendol I ever had was in Malacca.
After dinner, I parted from my friends and went to Museum Campus drive to take some photos of Chicago at night.
The next morning we went to Millennium Park to snap photos at the Cloud Gate or "The Big Bean"
After that, me, Kenny and Gloria went to the Adler Planetarium. To be honest, it wasn't my cup of tea. :-p
Next, we wanted to go to Shedd Aquairum, but the line was way too long.
Just look at the line!
Then we wanted to go to the Field Museum. And guess what... It closes at 2pm but we were there at 1pm! Not worth it for 1 hour. In the end, we went to Michigan Avenue to walk around.
For dinner I met up with Kai Jie and Chin Cheun for dinner at a "fancy" restaurant. The Grand Luz Cafe
Kai Jie and Chin Cheun
That's me with my Prime Top Sirloin, Sautéed Wild Mushrooms and a glass of Berry Fizz.
Prime Top Sirloin
Sautéed Wild Mushrooms
Sautéed Wild Mushrooms
My meal was excellent, my steak was really flavorful and cooked just right. I savoured every bite of that steak. The mushrooms were just right to go along with the steak. Nothing special about the fries. Didn't finish the fries. The drink was refreshing and you can taste all the berries.
Kai Jie had to book the place in advance and we had to wait for awhile before we were seated.
Kai Jie had to book the place in advance and we had to wait for awhile before we were seated.
You guys must be wondering now, how much did that meal cost? Well, the steak was $29, mushrooms was $5 and the drink was $6. It was pretty reasonable for a great meal and a nice setting and in Chicago!
After dinner, the three of us went around to take some photos. It was snowing pretty bad, so we head to Navy Pier to meet up with my other Malaysian friends again. The city new years eve celebration is at Navy Pier. We were done with dinner at around 9pm. Took a "Trolley" to the navy pier. Looks something like this
We lingered around the pier till the countdown.
After the countdown we had to get in line at the front of the pier to get a ride from the buses to the subway station. The line was really long, we waited almost 30mins for ours. It was pretty cold at that time of the day. When we reached the subway, it was already 1.40am. The subway line to the Midway Airport Station closes at 1.30am. I had to take a bus from another subway station to get to the Midway Airport. Waited almost an hour in the freezing cold weather at the bus station for my bus. I thought I wouldn't be able to go back cause a few buses stopped but it wasn't the one I am supposed to take. When I reached the airport it was already 3.45am. Then I had to call the free shuttle service to pick me up from the airport to bring me back to my hotel. It was almost 4am when I got back. But I am sure glad I managed to get home. Otherwise I'd to take a cab or call Kenny to pick me up. What an experience...first New Years in USA.
The next morning, went to Premium Outlets in Aurora, IL about 45mins away from Chicago to do some "branded" shopping. Bought 2 jeans from CK (it was going for 2 for $55), 2 jackets from Nautica and a pair of Oakley sunglasses. My first Oakleys.
I got the Gascan with Polarized lens
Happy New Year!
3 comments:
wow fun fun fun dear!! why jon lam look so... changed?? cut hair too expensive eh i presume. glad to know u had fun!!
Hehe, It's not that bad. He looks ok. I think he out on a lil weight.
The trip will be more fun if "she" did not join with us but my pretty girl friend
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