#WeekendWanderer: Downtown Chicago

inhale. exhale.

I saw this notebook right before
I left for LAX. I thought it was
a good omen.

I just got back to sunny LA and I'm still trying to catch my breath. Those astonishing views I saw this weekend - it's unreal. My heart is [still] pumping so fast from the strong breeze, the good food, and the great laughs I had.

We arrived in O'Hare around 5 in the morning. That's 3 am in LA so you can just imagine how thick my eye bags were. I also worked the whole day before that so I was literally dragging my ass from one station to the other. If you're thinking we went straight to our motel when we arrived, you're terribly mistaken. From the airport, we went to Al & Andy's to get breakfast and on to the day.

We've been awake for almost 24 hours at this point but when I saw the skyline of downtown Chicago,  it felt like I was just born. No kidding, Funkytown started playing in my head. There are only a few cities I love as much as LA but I think Chicago is now one of them.

Proud moment: I'm at the tallest structure in the world, bishes.
You'll see the view of DTC in the morning.

The whole weekend was crazy! There's definitely a lot of firsts - first travel to a new state with just friends, first genuine Chicago dog, first deep-dish pizza, first speeding ticket, first time being awake for 30 hours (at least after college), first time crying at a dolphin show, and did I mention I got my first speeding ticket? Yep. Chicago's the first on my record. I know you're curious about why I cried at the show but let me tell you first how I got my ticket.

This is at John Hancock Center, the fourth tallest tower in DTC.
You can see here the view at night.
SO. FREAKING. BEAUTIFUL.

As I've mentioned [a lot], I live in LA. I do live life in the fast lane, literally. For the miraculous moments that there's no heavy traffic, most people are driving around 80 mph on freeways. I forgot to take into account that Illinois has totally different rules, particularly speed limit. So I was driving around 50 mph on a 30 mph area. Oops. And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, my first speeding ticket. I think the funnier thing about this event was we were already running late for our cruise and Mr. Cop took his sweet time verifying my info. I guess the whole situation did not align - I have a California license, our rental car has a Florida plate (we don't know why this was such), and we were in Chicago. In his head probably I'm hiding from something or someone. I had to pay a few hundreds but at least now, I for sure have one shot when we play Never Have I Ever. *sniffs* As for the crying moment, it was very brief. I shed a couple of tears when they started petting the dog and the dolphins. I may have been a bit emotional because of the background music they were playing or because I was lacking sleep. Or both. Or I'm just a cry baby. You choose.

On to the adventures. I can't decide which one was my favorite part - taking a tour inside the Art Institute or going on the architectural cruise. But I guess since I announced the latter in my Instagram post, I should just go with it. It was a 75-minute long cruise along the Chicago River, we passed buildings of different facades influenced by the time they were established. A lot of them were built during the Great Depression and were easily shut down. Only a few made it to the present but were bought by private companies and/or the government. If you want to see a snap of the said cruise, do check out a short vid I made here.

I think the next best one was the Art Institute of Chicago. We almost rid of this on our schedule because there was so much to do in three days! And we thought there are plenty of museums worldwide so this can't be any different. But thank God we did not. There are tons of amazing paintings and sculptures starting from the Renaissance period through post-modernism. Every art lover would fall in love. For an hour we thought the whole museum was just the Impressionism and European sections. Little did we know that there was so much more - American Art, East Asian Art, Southeast Asian Art, Modern, et al. Unfortunate to say, we were not able to finish the whole huddle, but will definitely go back for this.

Me and my friends posing in front of
Art Institute of Chicago, facing
Michigan Avenue. Roar!

Another unforgettable place we went to was Willis Tower, formerly known as Sears Tower. It used to be the highest tower in the world until Burj Khalifa came along. I think just getting remotely close to a world record-breaking destination is already pretty grool but being at the topmost level and getting the perfect view of all of downtown, now that's next level grool. I think what makes the experience even more memorable was we were at the top floor for around one hour BUT we have queued for at least three hours. Mind you, this was after we got to Chicago at 5 am, walked about 2 miles around downtown, and maybe had a croissant and espresso for brunch. I thought my legs were going to be chopped off that day. But then again, to experience it is pretty awesome so #NoRagrets. Along the same line was Chicago360. It was in John Hancock Center, which stands to be the fourth tallest tower in Chi-chi-chi-chicago. We went there at night and oh my gosh, SO BEAUTIFUL. I'm tearing up a bit just reminiscing. We also tried their new attraction Tilt! which basically is a mini-ride that, well, tilts. So on the 94th floor, there's this glass panel that takes 8 passengers and tilts to 30 degrees and offers a downward facing view of downtown.

That's us! ^

Food. Of course, food. If we did not get deep-dish pizza or Chicago-style hotdogs, then we might as well not have gone at all. Due to a series of unfortunate events, we were not able to explore the best deep-dish on our own. Luckily, we were blessed with Chicago-born friends that recommended the, according to them, best chains - Lou Malnatti's and Gino's. We bought a box of Lou's while catching our flight back to LA. (I know we're pretty bad at this scheduling thing.) We did not realize that it will take 30 minutes for one pizza and we only accounted about 10 so we can return our rental car on time. It was such a rush. Regardless, I was able to taste the famous dish and yep, it did not disappoint. All that running was worth it.

Look at that happy kid! Showing off
Margie's caramel sundae. Bye, vegan diet.

Another note-worthy place we tried was Margie's Candies. No, it's not just candies; they have sandwiches and breakfast entrees. They were okay. What stuck with me was their humongous ice cream menu. We got their Caramel Sundae and Banana Split and oh my dear lord, DELICIOUS. Their serving was also very big (as you can see in the photo on the left). One order is good for 4 people, but if you have the same appetite as me, then it's good for one.

Another good place to try for anyone who's planning to visit DTC is Grand Lux Cafe. (Thanks to my good friend, Morgan, for the recommendation.) To my LA peeps, the vibe is similar to The Cheesecake Factory. Even the menu is pretty similar but much smaller. Our OG plan was to get breakfast there on our last day but time constraints blah blah, we just went one afternoon for dessert. DID. NOT. FREAKING. DISAPPOINT. We had their creme brûlée, shortcake, and cheesecake. We now know what heaven on earth feels like. Yes, I have mentioned in my last post that I am vegan. I still claim to be. But I had to try it once. I'll never know when I'd be back so I just had to do it. [Also, there's two in Vegas, so... just sayin'.] Edit: Mochi told me that GLC is owned by The Cheesecake Factory, so that makes much more sense.

Eataly, an Italian marketplace, is another fave spot I will always miss. Apparently there's one in Culver City but I've yet to see. I may have not mentioned it yet but if there's one cuisine I can eat forever, it would be Italian. Pasta + pizza 4 lyfe. So it happened, they have this gigantic forum that has everything Italian - pizza, pasta, gelato, name it, it's there! I have never been to anything like one before so you can just imagine how happy I was. Dream come true.

The beautiful silhouette of
DTC's skyline.
Swoon.

I know it's been two minutes and I still have not mentioned anything about our Chicago dogs adventure. Here it is: we did not get Chicago-style hotdogs. *gasp* Actually...we might have? We went to Downtown Dogs, tried to catch them before they closed, but was not sure if that was it? If it was, what's the fuss about? I might get a lot of hate on this but I was not impressed. As my friend have said, "the 7-eleven one is better". Sorry. Or we might have gone to a not-so-popular chain so I'll try again next time.


Ahhhh... such rousing times. It's been a few days after I got back from the trip and I still can't get enough of its beautiful skyline. It does not matter whether it's morning, noon, or night; it always looks amazing. Whether you're walking down Lakefront Trail, hanging out next to the lake, or driving down Lakeshore avenue (wow, that's a lot of lakes in one sentence), you will get a perfect view of the skyscrapers that the city boasts.

Now here I am, at my work desk but I still feel the excitement I had when I was in the windy city. Will I go back? Even for just five minutes I will. Even if I would just sit by the lake I will. Even if I have to pay $30 again for parking I will. It's such a beautiful city and I think everyone should have the liberty to experience it.

Three days is never enough time to explore a new city. I still have long list of spots to see when I go back. But for now, I have to relax, unpack, and enjoy my kale salad; cause LA, bishes. But maybe in the future 'cuz Chicago?' We'll see.

Cuz it's not a trip to Chicago without a photo by The Bean?!?

Check out this vid I made of our trip. I will create a full one. Watch out! ;)