hAPpy NEw yEAr tO EveRYonE

Good for me, I went to LeClub to work out today. It's been a long while since the last time I went exercising. Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long, I've been a little bit lazy these days, trying to take rest as much as I can, sleep through the last days of winter vacation. The reason? Because I might not be so carefree and casual all the time like I am now.

Talking about the trip I had few days ago in Chicago, it turned out that the hotel did not have Internet to serf. 5 dollars more expensive than the last one I stayed, I realized that, yep, I'm in a big city indeed, everything's more expensive here. The car that was rented for this trip was, hum, not as expected.

The car rented for this trip.

It cost 211 USD for three days including full insurance. It was the smallest and cheapest car they could offer. It had auto lights and cruise control, by which you can set up the speed you want and it would keep the speed all the time as you wanted unless you step on the break or switch off the cruise function. Pretty neat, huh? I don't think we have this function in Taiwan. It's a small island, plus we don't have roads or highways that were totally straight for 70 or 80 miles like the States. It's really boring to drive on such straight and plain roads. People can easily fall asleep and drive stray away into the fields, kept on driving until they hit something or until they wake up and realize that they are strayed from the road they should be staying on. I think I should think of something refreshing to do on the car while I'm driving to keep myself awake. So far I can only chew mint gums, and the effect that comes after it doesn't last really long.

The first stop of the first day, which was on Friday Dec. 30, was Purdue University at West Lafayette in Indiana. It was freezing that day there, and all the buildings were shut down during winter break, so there were no way to walk into the buildings and visit. Therefore, after some walk, it's considered to be enough time to visit this fairly nice, beautiful and famous university.

Fazoli's pasta was for lunch. They are famous for their pasta and spaghetti. Well, honestly, I'm not quite sure if they are really famous or specialized in making pasta and spaghetti, that were what they have on their menus. It was too late to take a picture because the digital camera was forgotten and left on the car. No one wanted to go outside and pick it up, of course, due to great hunger after walk. In total, the main dish was great in quantity, extra points for the unlimited refilling drinks and delicious bread, and among all, the Cesar salad was unforgettably fresh. By the way, I found out that we also have one Fazoli's in Terre Haute when I got back from the trip. Pretty nice to know.

After lunch, the next stop would be Chicago Premium Outlet. It's a pretty big outlet, but unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures there. It was raining before arrival, but it started to snow when I was doing my shopping. I think I focused too much upon shopping that I just didn't remember to take pictures there. I think it's OK, I'll go there some other day in the future. It's worth going. Everything's guaranteed to be cheaper than other shops or malls, of course, because it's an outlet. I spent some money at Calvin Klein, I also bought a T-shirt that was on sale and a mini skirt. Don't really like the American style of clothes. Instead, I'm more used to Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese designed clothes and shoes. And that's good, because it's hard to find Asian things whatever it is. As a result, I get to save my money for other more important things. Dinner was bought in the food court in the outlet. Nothing special, just regular Chinese food.

Shopping continued until the time that the outlet was going to close, the hotel I booked online was the destination for the first day. Finally I could say "let's call it a day".

The second day was the most important day of this trip. It was New Year's Eve, and that was what this trip was planned for in the first place. Sight-seeing and shopping would be focused during the daytime, and the 2006 New Year's countdown would be the only thing planned for at the end of this day, which was also the end of the splendid year of 2005.

Waking up around noon, it was time to have dinner. It took about 30 minutes to drive to central Chicago. Navy Pier would be the place for the New Year countdown, so it was the first place to go. The car was parked at Navy Pier, and it cost 22 dollars each time for parking. Lunch was decided to be easily and might not be so finely settled down at Navy Pier. Mainly because dinner supposed to be more important, since there might be hours to wait until the countdown. Having lunch at Navy Pier, the food court was so crowded that a seat for having lunch could barely be found. But it was nice that Navy Pier offers toll-free rides to downtown.

The main street of Chicago, Michigan Avenue.

People were skating with their own skater at Millennium Park Ice Rink. I didn't have one of my own, so I didn't do it.

This reminds me of the 7-11 we have in Taiwan. I really missed it. No 7-11s at Terra Haute or Indianapolis. What a crisis!

The Marshall Field's State Street.

Going to the highest skyscraper in the States, Sears Tower Skydeck, was definitely one of the attractions you must stop by. It has 102 floors, which I'm not quite sure if it beat Taipei 101. If you put emphasis on the number of storeys they have, Sears Tower would win over Taipei 101. But, Taipei 101 was built after Sears Tower and it was claimed to be the highest building in the world, at least two years ago. And it makes Taipei 101 higher than Sears Tower. Anyway, no matter which is higher, the scenery of Chicago's downtown at night was beautiful. Well, it has to be, because I paid 11.95 USD including tax to go up to the top of the tower.

Look what I've found on the way for dinner. Where's the rest of the bike?

Dinner was chosen to be dined in at a Thai restaurant, Star of Siam, which was voted to be "the No.1 Thai restaurant my Chicago food critics for several consecutive years". The food was pretty much the same as we had in Taiwan, and the workers in the restaurant all spoke in Thai. Gosh I missed Thai food. Each dish cost 6.5 USD on average.

A classical Thai dish--Thai Fried Rice Noodle.

Green Curry Beef with not-necessary-green beans in it.

I give the dinner a two-thumbs up. Gotta go and try other dishes next time I visit Chicago. Such a nice dinner prepared me for the energy I needed for waiting the coming of 2006. The fireworks for the New Year lasted 15 minutes. It was really worthwhile for the long and freezing cold anticipation.

Obviously not the nice timing for the shot.

This should be more suitable to be my background.

Countdown and watching the firework were the last things for that day, also the first thing I did to start a whole new year.

For the third day, I had food and drink and went to places that made me miss Taiwan. A big Japanese Market was the first place to go that day for lunch. There were so many nice choices like Japanese food, Chinese food and Korean food. I had O Nigiri Sushi and Fried Shrimp on top of a small bowl of Ramen. After lunch, it was time to shop at the Japanese market. They had all kinds of Japanese stuffs and food there, but they were all pretty expensive. 5 little bottles of Yakult in a pack cost 2.99!! What a great fortune. However, due to the long desire of Yakult and the impossibility of having it in Terre Haute, the money must be spent.

The next place to go was IKEA. It was near the Japanese market and it looked exactly like the ones we have in Taiwan. When I was shopping in IKEA, I had this illusion that I'm back in Taiwan. What a nice place!

Well, the journey ended up at IHOP in Terre Haute at 10 in the evening, it was for dinner. Nice to be back here. I was completely worn out because of the trip.