She speaks. Or rather, she writes.

It’s a nice Sunday morning.. I’ve had my first real breakfast in
weeks.. "real" meaning appropriate timing and proper breakfast-y food..

So it’s time to start updating one month’s worth of silence..

Let’s start with the roadtrip to Chicago via St Louis..

Day 1

Arrive at St. Louis at 10 am, miss the early bird specials for cheaper
parking. Fork out 6 bucks instead.. Go up and oooh aaahhh at the St.
Louis Arch, better known as the Gateway to the West.. Up 648 ft in the
sky, we got a view of Missouri/ St. Louis on one side and Illinois on
the other. Paid 10 bucks for it, so I’m going to convince myself that
it was an amazing experience,, hahahaha.. It was. Really.. hahahahaha..
Then went to some festival, German I think.. Did a few things not worth
remembering, then headed back to the hotel.. Later in the evening was
the best part : SHOPPING in factory outlets.. hehehe.. on sale items
having more discounts!!!

me with the arch in the background

Day 2

Spend more time in Missouri, doing things I don’t remember. Then we
head of to Chicago!!! Excitement still grips me when I talk about that
trip. We arrived at about 9 in my uncle’s place where we were all gonna
stay. Have dinner, talk and get to know the uncle I never knew I had/
met. Call it a night.

picture taking just before saying goodbye

Day 3

Take the train and have our first real taste of Chicago!! First stop :
Sears tower! (Another 10 bucks, but this time I’m not faking it, it was
well worth the money!!!) I guess I’m a city gal in heart, and to see
the whole view of Chicago’s skyline was just spectacular. Then we
forked out another 6 bucks for a map just so that we could locate the
visitor’s centre (where ultimately we had more than just FREE maps). No
pain no gain huh.. Did the normal : walk down Michigan Avenue (all rich
hoitty toitty shops I will only afford ten years from now) Go to some
modern art musuem (which was free admission for that day..) and walked
down the beach! It was the Lake Michigan’s beach/ Bay, but the lake is
just SOOOO Huge that you can easily mistake it for the ocean. Another
truly spectacular moment for me..

view from the top of the sears tower

at millineum park

Day 4

All the daredevils are unleashed as we rock Six Flags Great America!!
The rollercoasters, the crazy rides.. Genting is puny in comparison to
the variety of rides they have here. 2 things I remember most : 1st, we
had to walk back to the car because I had left the camera.. And this
lady approaches us asking whether we need tickets.. she had special
ones that she got for 25 bucks.. And since the original tickets were 49
bucks ($39 if you brought along a can of coke) .. we jumped at the
amazing opportunity to save $$$$$.. 2nd thing: When were waiting in
line for the most fearsome ride (De Ja Vu) and were AT THE VERY FRONT
(in fact, we were already in our seats) when they ask us to GET OFF..
because there was a technical glitch.. hahah.. 2 hours of wait (and we
had front seats!!) was now a frustrating hope against hope that they
would not close the ride.. After 15 minutes or so, they say it’s fine,
and let us on again. Now the terror is doubled.. hehehe.. I was scared
senseless that something would go wrong again and I’ll fly out of my
chair.. hahahah..

the scary ride

the first ride.. baru nak warm- up.. hehehe

Day 5

Say our goodbyes.. and leave for Chicago one last time. Go to
Chinatown, and Harpo studios. Went to some area where we got to take
magnificent photos of Chicago’s skyline. Ate the ever famous Chicago’s
pizza (Giordano’s) Sedapulicious. About 6 pm we say our silent goodbyes
to the awesome land and head back to boring ol Springfield..

skyline

oprah’s palace

As a whole the trip was something I will treasure for a long time to
come. I regret not taking the boat tours, and learning about the
history of the buildings there. It was a shame we didn’t do many
things, mostly because we were conserving cash, and also because we
just did not have enough time. But hey, these factors only strenghten
my resolves, and gives me all the more reasons to come back here
sometime in the future.

one last crazy picture…