Chicago, Illinois

"Come on! Feel the Illinois!"

Spring Break 2011

Chicaaaaaaago!

Perhaps my favorite city in the USofA. Why? Because its majestic and interesting with so much to do! And it is also the complete opposite of Hawaii. I found it fascinating. The most obvious difference was of course the weather. Now then, this was my spring break trip. So I'm talking about Chicago in march. Which was still wintertime (I'm only imprinting this detail for us Hawaii people who are unfamiliar with winters). And winter + Chicago means freezing and windy. Unbearably freezing and windy. And I didn't even experience the worse of a midwest winter.

So, as I was saying before: spring break. As a little background, my brother Daniel has lived in Chicago for about four years. He was visiting Hawaii this past march on his first week of spring break, but was planning to go back to Chicago for his second week. I shared the same spring break with him on his second week (except I only got one week, not two), and long story short, he invited me to Chicago! Two days before he left. But I was able to trade work days and buy some long-sleeves in time for the trip. We had a little bit of trouble leaving Hawaii (flying standby don't forget), which was discouraging, but then we were off. Oh yeah, and these are all taken with my Diana Mini, 800 iso fujifilm.

I was pretty excited to see snow down there.

It took a long time to fly to Chicago. It was nighttime by the time we arrived and I was immediately greeted with the cold embrace of Illinois air. My mom had insisted I take her winter coat with me, which I twice refused, but the minute I got there I was grateful. I know that I've been building up how cold it was there, and I did find it as cold as I am making it sound, but the actual temperature was only in the 30s. So there, call me weak. But even though I was cold, it was so new to me that I was ecstatic about it. The last time I had been on the mainland in the winter was when I was 10 years old. Chicago was foggy and windy and freezing, but I honestly liked it (well, the freezing part not as much). It was going to be another short, but memorable trip.

Daniel took me to get a Chicago-style hot dog once we arrived.

The next morning I went downtown with Daniel. He had to work so I was on my own for a little bit. However, we did make plans for me to meet up with his friends John and Andrea. The coolest people ever and most amazing tour guides. They took me shopping all around Chicago! And I went to Urban Outfitters for the first time in my life.

From around the city:

Theres a place in Chicago called Water Tower Place. This is where you go to shop. I went sort of crazy with shopping on this trip. Urban Outfitters, Free People, H&M all in one city. Plus more. Hawaii may have Waikiki and Ala Moana, but compared to Chicago (and probably every other city on the mainland), we're at a disadvantage. Andrea and John took me here the first day and then to a place called Wicker Park. Theres one word for Wicker Park: hipster. But theres really good shopping there. The gem of Wicker Park was a multistory used bookstore.

Wicker Park

And then of course cool coffee shops.

There was a Back to the Future car in the cafe window.

Back downtown. I got to attend mass in this beautiful church.

Trader Joe's

The next day, Daniel had the day off. And we were going to the beach!

Lake Michigan. I would like to surf a Great Lake someday.

John, Andrea, Me, Daniel

So. Cold.

The Drake across the street. This place is in several movies.

Daniel's campus.

Hancock Tower

More sightseeing:

A highlight of my third and last day was getting to explore Chicago on my own. Daniel had work again so I wandered around Water Tower Place, the beach, and everywhere surrounding. I sort of like wandering by myself.

Ducked into a Starbucks for a hot chai. Seriously, the fanciest Starbucks I have ever been to.

Around Town

Finally some sun.

When he finished we went to the Berghoff for lunch. Its the oldest restaurant in Chicago (since 1898) and has an amazing German menu and homemade root beer. The root beer has some historical significance. During the Prohibition, the restaurant began brewing root beer instead of beer. Once alcohol was was again legalized, they attained the first liquor license in Chicago.

Down the street was Millennium Park. If you are ever in Chicago, go there. And right next door is the Art Institute of Chicago. I didn't go to the museum on this trip, but I have before and it was amazing. As I said before, theres so much to do!

And thats the end.

Move, Eat, Learn

These are the things that inspire people to travel.

I'm taking time to post this mid-week update because I'm procrastinating on my homework and daydreaming about all the places I want to go to instead. My dad showed me these videos just this morning and I have been watching them over and over again, cause truthfully, nothing is more fascinating to me than foreign food, foreign people, and foreign places. Please watch these. They're short, but they're amazing. And I am incredibly jealous.

"3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage... all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food.... into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films..... = a trip of a lifetime."

Enjoy

Narita, Japan

A lot of people were unaware of my spur-of-the-moment mini vacation this week. It was without a doubt the shortest trip I have ever been on, but nevertheless memorable. My dad took me on one of his three day trips to Narita! This was my third visit to Japan, but the last time I went was in 2007. I was beginning to miss it. The purpose of the trip was just to go somewhere before the shackles of another semester imprisoned me to the life of textbooks...and also to eat divinely delicious Japanese food. I often try not to be a foodie while on vacation, but in this case being a foodie was my objective. However, I did have one other goal: to take a ton of pictures. So here they are! The rectangular pictures are from my Diana F+ camera taken with 35mm, 400 iso film and a 38mm wide-angle lens. The square pictures are from my Diana Mini camera taken with  35mm, Redscale XR film.

Day One.

Sushi

My Dad is seriously the best tour guide you can have in Narita.

As soon as we arrived he took me to a prime sushi spot.

 

Some green tea and the best sushi in the world.

Fresh Ahi

One hundred yen a plate. We ate 23 plates between the two of us.

Wana (Sea Urchin). It turns to liquid in your mouth. Very strange, but not bad.

 

We enjoy.

After an early dinner I got to check out a cool little supermarket.

With fresh produce.

We didn't do very much that first day besides eat sushi, see the market, and go to the mall. Note about the mall: no matter where you are in the world, the mall is a watering hole. Its also a haven for the populace on an August day in Japan. I cannot stress how incredibly hot and muggy Japan is during the summer months. That first day was 92 degrees fahrenheit with a weak breeze that blew more hot, humid air. The mall was definitely a haven for me. It was also a great place to get some cool souvenirs.

Day Two.

Bikes

Hawaii may be a day behind Japan, but jet-lagwise we're first. We were up obnoxiously early the next morning, but my dad had a pretty good idea of how to spend the rest of the day.

Bikes. We rented them from the hotel and headed towards town.

First on the itinerary: breakfast at my dad's favorite place.

I shall explain the process. You crack the egg (raw) open in a small bowl, add shoyu (soy sauce), green onions and natto. Stir and pour over rice. It is accompanied by miso soup and beef, which you can either add to the rice or have separately. Delish.

We then proceeded on our ride into the city.

The area surrounding the city is mostly countryside.

Where eggs are sold in vending machines.

Rice Paddy

Then we reached the temple.

Japanese can create some insanely beautiful gardens.

Koi Pond

For your convenience after a hike through the beautiful temple gardens.

They like vending machines. Anyone who has been to Japan will tell you the same.

Here we reach a gap in photographs. My photos of the city have been...lost. Meaning I took pictures of town, but they didn't show up on my roll of film. Sometimes that happens....

This little excursion was coming to a close. One meal left before we had to head back to the hotel and rest up before getting ready to go to the airport (told you it was a short trip). The debate between ramen and curry was an easy choice. Ramen makes you perspire. I couldn't imagine being any hotter than I felt that day so I went with curry. Also, curry is one of the most delectable dishes on the planet. Japanese curry especially. Along with soba, curry is my favorite Japanese dish. It was a must.

Now, in order to find a worthy restaurant for this last meal we biked the long way back to the hotel. That gave us a larger selection of places to eat than biking through the countryside did. Unfortunately it was 3/4 uphill. But we did it. Equipped with a torpedo sized bottle of water each. I thought I would die of a heat stroke. Then we reached it. A place that even my dad had never been to. A place whose curry trumped The Curry House by a thousand. And I forgot what it was called.

Before I went to Japan I was highly advised to eat tonkatsu. Best advise ever. Especially if served with curry over white rice. It was such a good way to end the trip.

Itadakimasu