Pig-out Sunday!

Sundays are always the most relaxing day of the week for me... Things I do on Sundays are like:

1) Sleep in late up till 12pm

2) Do nothing at all and watch movies/ shows online
3) Do nothing at all (like seriously, sit and stone)

4) Have a cup of coffee at Starbucks and people-watch

5) Read a book and snuggle against my pillows (ahhhhhh, that would be nice if it's raining outside too!)

But the most sinful Sunday I've ever had is today! PIG-OUT MAKAN MAKAN NOOB for 4hrs straight, interspersed with lots of random conversations.

Drum roll please as I introduce my makan makan partners!

Mr Lim Siang Ee

Ms Robyn Choo

First up, it was Dim Sum at Chinatown... best Chinese food ever in Philly! Heh, I think I really miss Chinese food a lot, and this is the closest thing I can get in Philadelphia... Lo Mai Gai, Ji Ma dessert, Zhu Chang Fen, Ha Gao, Porridge, Vegetarian Dumpling, Siu Mai, Ca Siu Bao etc etc. WA!!!! There's so much to choose from and we're always spoilt with choices =p

Anyhow, it's really nice catching up with fellow Malaysians in a foreign land. It feels so different talking to someone whom I can connect easily with. Siang Ee said that I can hold effective conversations with people, coz I will keep talking. MUAHAHAHA!!! I was on cloud nine when he said that! Normally when I'm with American friends, they always say I'm a shy, quiet girl. I guess you can say I act differently in front of different group of friends eh??

So back to pig-out session! After Dim Sum, we went to Naked Chocolate for some amazing, delicious Choc Fondue for dessert. IT'S AMAZING PEOPLE! the chocolate melts in the mouth..... yesh... imagine that feeling now. Needless to say, it's absolutely worth every penny of our money.

Chocolate Fondue... The girls sitting next to our table couldn't stop staring at our Fondue. Please la.... if u want to eat, go buy it yourself. Don't just stare at ours! bleh.

Strawberry dipped in chocolate. Look at the dripping chocolate.

Me taking my first dip of fruit chocolate fondue and Robyn smiling at the camera :)

Next up was Ice cream at Capogiro. They have a myriad of ice cream flavours for us to choose from. In the end, we decided upon lemon and strawberry, rasberry and mango and mango and kiwi.

And that's me taking my first ice cream bite ever at Capogiro.

Isn't it amazing to have so many firsts at such awesome places :) Thanks Siang Ee and Robyn for the best introduction to cafes around downtown!

~The end of pig-out makan makan noob~

Quintessential Chicago

Next up would be Chicago, the windy city!

There are lots of things for you to do in Chicago. I was really psyched for this trip, especially since I haven't seen Hui Qing for close to a year! She hasn't changed a lot. She's still as cute as ever!

So the things we did while at Chicago are:

Shopping! haha. so typical of girls right?

Do stupid stuff like this...

Take silly pictures like this.... long-legged Hui Qing.

Now, it's short-legged Hui Qing! And of course, we didn't miss taking rides at the Navy Pier. The 150-foot ferris wheel was really nice! But only crazy people like me and Hui Qing would join the line under the overcast sky.

Needless to say, while in line for the ferris wheel, it started to drizzle. Yet, we still went ahead. Typical view from the ferris wheel looks like this :)

And then we got really hungry and I decided to buy a San Franscisco hotdog from American Dog.

This is me looking really happy when I saw my yummylicious dog...

I was getting excited to take my first bite.
But then it got really messy afterwards...

I don't like my hotdog anymore :(

So we went on to Bubba Gump Restaurant to try some real food. SEAFOOD. yeay! Bubba Gump is an interesting restaurant. It has signs like these for us to ask for assistance.

Run forrest run!! that means: go away you waiter, i don't need you!

Do you see the link between the signs and the name of the restaurant? yeap! Bubba GUMP - it's really obvious that forrest gump is involved.

Even the menu is so intriguing. Ping Pong menu.

While waiting for forrest to come along, we got bored and camera-whored ourselves again!

HQ acting cool.

That's me playing with the straw. bleh

Finally, our food came! Looks good eh?? of course la, we paid a high price ok??

So seafood was not the only delicious-looking thing we ate for the entire weekend. Thai food and Italian food was on our list as well!

Green Curry. Yummy!

Pad Thai

Square Noodles with Clams. Now you know where all my fats come from. haha.

So enough talk about food. Well, the most famous building in Chicago would be the Sears Tower, now known as the tallest building in America.

Typical view from the skydeck. Thank goodness it wasnt raining when i went up or I would have demanded to have my money back! bleh.
Isn't this a queer-looking garage. The cars are packed so dangerously close to the edge, but I'm sure there are barricades around the edge...

If you ask me what's there to see in Chicago, I would tell u: Downtown Chicago. Most of the attractions in Chicago are situated there, so there's no need to rent a car to drive around. Really. Public transportation in Chicago is really convenient! (Well, as compared to South Bend, my stop before visiting Chicago, DUH).

So let's see, there are also some pretty neat structures and sights that are worth visiting :)

Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower. Ahh... wrigley building.... sounds familiar right? I asked Hui Qing if it is the chewing gum building, and all she did was to give me this expression o_0

Cute-looking structure at Millenium Park. You could supposedly see the city buildings by standing in front of it...

Buckingham Fountain. It's a musical fountain with lightings at night! Just like Sentosa island musical fountain lor... haha.

And needless to say, Chicago has some beautiful parks and gardens. Ahh.. I like this one just because I look nice in the picture. HAHA. I'm so vain.

That's it from me about Chicago, folks!!

The End.

When they say South Bend, it's all about University of Notre Dame

Actually, what is there to see in South Bend?

Quote Christopher Lim: "Nothing much really, just my University". Haha, hence the phrase: when they say South Bend, it's all about University of Notre Dame.

True enough, South Bend is really a small city. There's not even a single bus that brings me from the airport to University of Notre Dame. Closest public transportation that I can get is a taxi...

And the library at University of Notre Dame is the tallest building in South Bend.

There are lots of statues and funny looking trees like this in Chris' U.

Even buses in his school are super tiny. This has got to be the tiniest mini bus I've ever seen!

See what I meant by tiny?? There are only 4 windows to the bus. God knows who and what they transport in it...

Ok, so guess what I saw in their Science building....weird-looking creatures!! Do you know what they are?

Tada! You wouldnt have guessed they're bacteria right? It's hilarious! They looked more like owls to me -_-

Given the limited sights and stuff to see at Notre Dame, we've decided to hone our DDR skills in Chris' room. Needless to say, with perfect hand and legs coordination, I've managed to perfect my scores until I got an A!

Yeay!

Haha. of course it's for the beginner's level la. I where got so good? heh.

okok. so seriously, actually there's a lot of nice buildings at University Notre Dame. It has the most cool-looking buildings for a college campus, like this Golden Dome. I wonder if the roof is made of real gold eh??

And of course, the Basilica Church is so neat as well. The interior of the church is definitely more posh-looking than the chapel in my school :)

And there's also the Grotto of our Lady of Lourdes. It's one of the main attractions in South Bend. Don't play play hor... People around the region would flock here to pray ok?

Of course, the gorgeous-looking garden and school compound is really pretty! The moment I walked through the garden, I've decided that I like University of Notre Dame :)

Flight to South Bend

So friends, if you're well-informed about my recent travellings, my latest stop was University of Notre Dame at South Bend and Chicago.

This was supposed to be my ORIGINAL itenary for 18June2008.
This is my REAL itenary:

Flight from Philadelphia was delayed by 1.5 hrs. So I missed my flight from Detroit by a grand total of 4 minutes. Most people on my flight missed their connecting flight, some by a few seconds. I guess I did not experience the worst. So I shouldn't be complaining.

But but but.... I was fuming mad when they couldnt give me another flight for the same day, and they ended up giving me this:

flight for the NEXT DAY!! 19June2008.

No compensation was made or whatsoever. So I stayed in the airport for the whole night. Detroit Airport was empty as hell, and I felt a little lonely actually. It's so weird as Detroit is supposed to be one the main transit points in America...

Empty airport...

But surprisingly, NWA upgraded me for my returning flight from Chicago to Detroit. I think they ran out of seats, or else they wouldn't have given the first class ticket.

Since when I became a premium member?!?! and since when I bought first class ticket! lol. heck. i just took the ticket and went on to enjoy my first class 40-min flight.

Difference between first class and economy class for a 40-min flight:

1) Economy passengers don't get anything before the plane departs. First class passengers get drinks even the plane moves!

2) Economy passengers only get orange juice or water. First class passengers get any drinks they want.

3) Economy passengers don't get any snacks. First class passengers can even choose from a variety of snacks and have as many as they want.

4) Needless to say, first class passengers leave the plane first.

How awesome is that?!?! haha, but I guess I deserved it since I had to stay in the airport for one whole night :P