Holidayyyyy =) (chicago and LA)

2 weeks in chicago and LA is a rather interesting trip to experience a different culture, lifestyle and standard of living.

although language is not a barrier for me. but the culture they have had quite an impact on me. i saw how other ppl live their way and how terrible some typical singaporean’s actions are. As a singaporean myself its not shame tat shock me thus, its the ignorance of some of us.

Nevertheless, its nth more than a enjoyable and PICTURES full trip.

the day of departure start with my alarm clocking ringing at 4am in the morning and after 4 hrs of flight me and zhishen(my cousin) was waiting for transit to LA in hong kong airport.

the quiet hong kong airport =)my bag was full of sweets and entertainment(mp3 and psp)
our boarding pass =)

and after the torturing-butt soring-neck straining near 13 hrs flight from HK to LA PLUS the
4 hrs of domestic flight!!! we finally set foot in CHICAGO. was welcome by lyn (my other cousin who sponsored our meals) and her colleague.

their company rent a car for them and it makes travelling ard so much easier =)

the hotel we are staying was juz 5 mins away from the airport.Lyn me and the xmas tree in the hotel =)
first dinner =) we were starving by then. haha erm we went to Chili’s a very famous resturant there which serves mexicon food.

Cheese fries… YUMMY =)
sorrie was too hungry to take pictures of other food =)

Its veri common to take away food that u cant finish it the States. but if we do this in s’pore we will be treated as kiasu.

the beautiful room we are staying =)had no problem sleeping tat nite. probably becoz i hardly get any on the plane.

the first day break in CHICAGO

went down for the hotel breakfast and almost have it everyday for the rest of the stay there haha.they have this cute fireplace at the lobby =)we got change and decided to go downtown by the subway(their mrt). and i find it good as they have this one day pass which is juz USD 5 dollars, entitles u to unlimited rides of their train and bus services.

the train was veri old. and definately not as comfortable as the one we have in s’pore.

but the scenery was definately nice =)he was alr sleeping halfway thru the ride as it was reallie an long long way to downtown.
the stations was reallie rundown and kinda creepy

and there were street performers performing for money in almost every train station they have

the trainand we were at chicago’s downtown. which is more or less like orchard.they have reallie nice buildings and which the trees its another feeling u wont get in orchard. North Michigan Ave was a shopping paradise =)

first stop! Macy’s. its a huge departmental store with lots of things to buy =) my evil shopping instinct have work up there hahait was reallie cold there as the wind are reallie chilling. juz look at his ears.
by the time we meet up with Lyn. we was alr hand full of buys. haha we sat at macdonald’s awhile to “defroze” ourselves.
the xmas lighting was all up when we were there =) its veri x’mas-y
=)

dinner was at FOODLIFE. it works like the “marche” we have in singapore =) many diff type of food they have there.
the buys we have by dinner time. haha
lyn and me =) who cant decide wat to eat.
erm i ordered tis curry crispy noodles with chicken. erm i dunno wat is crispy noodles in the first place. then i reallised its deep fried gou teow
we continued shopping after dinner and i poor zhishen have to wait for us with all our shopping things.

exhausted by the time we are goin back =)
the log kok train stt.
woke up early the 3rd day as we are driving down to the Factory outlet for some SHOPPING!!!!it was rather far. the trip down was abt 1hrs and 40 mins.

and here we are
okay factory outlet is a place where they have many brands selling either past season goods or their stuff in a veri low price. good bargains there =)
before we start. we had breakfast at their “food court”almost similar to ours
U.S pizzas are all in giant size haha

me! starving
zhi shen and lyn. they are siblings for ur info.
and shopping was nxt!!! got many great buys there =) and suddenly zhi shen dash in to tell us it is snowing so we hurry paid and dash out and it was reallie SNOWING!!! its still not veri obvious initially..

but it slowly got bigger

and bigger

and heavier

till the whole floor is covered by snow.so now u noe how big the snow was.
it was fun and we are like the only ppl there enjoying the snow haha the rest are all hiding indoor.

happy ppl in the snow =)
yeah!!! its reallie nice see the snowing falling =)
zhi shen always got the stunned look
Lyn was also like a kid when she saw the snow. and for ur info she is BERNICE mum =)

i left my foot print there
and in a while the whole place is covered by thick snow.
the ppl there will sprinkle a kind of salt to not let the floor becomes slippery.
a cup of hot chocolate is the best in that weather =)
and before we noe! its time for lunch =) erm had this reallie thick pizza.

when its time to go home. we realised tat the snow as become freezing rain and will will turn into ice
this is how scary 4 of us are. the boot was super full after the trip hahahathe whole windscreen and all the other windows have all been frozen with ice.
and so we have to break the ice so tat we can continue to drive.
hehe i was bored.
after tat we went to the oakbrook centre for dinner
we had dinner at this famous resturant in the states call ” The cheesecake factory”

can u see how thick is the cake!
lyn and me =)
i like it there.

he is enjoying his steak.
me and lyn shared this. erm i forgot the actual name. its some herbs and lemon chicken haha.now the veri important dish. CHEESECAKE!!! dun think its juz a normal cheesecake. its SUPERBLY nice!!
and after dinner we walk ard at oakbrook centre =)
its a white xmas =)

i love it too =)
shen and lyn
us.
we are trying to compromise with the tiny tree.
it was reallie cold
xmas decor will nv be nice =)
okay this is how much we bought after the 3rd day… remarkable huh.
i m proud hehe
my buys after day 3!
this are all bernice’s.

and we decided to go wash our clothes at the hotel’s laundry roomjuz put in a few coins and u can start washing =)

day 4. we decided to drive downtown to the navy pier( a tourist attraction) for sightseeing.it was a rainy morning.
had our first meal of the day at macdonald’s. they definately have better menu =) and nice environment too
ohh a familar language finally
SINGAPORE SHLD REALLIE HAVE THIS!
ITs gt this yummy chicken with bacon, cheese and fresh lettuce(which u will nv see in s’pore mac).
nuggets the only bad thing is tat they dun have chilli sauce and curry sauce.
went to the store of hard rock to get some gifts.
the buildings are all veri interesting.
all the buildings and architecture there are remarkable.
LAWRY’S its confirm plus chop nicer then singapore’s
and finally we saw the sign.
at the park.

expensive yacht
skyscraper one of it is covered by clouds.
them
its especially nice with the foggy weather.
the main entrance.
NAVY PIER
juz being dumb
haha its an interesting machine tat makes souvenirs
tat is it. the souvenir
the got veri creative kind of hot dogs.
=)
so nice when they light it up.
me =)
on the shuttle bus back to downtown.
walk over to millenium park
and we see this crazy ppl ice skating at such a cold weather. hmmmm
The bean. its a famous architecture of CHICAGO.
me and lyn
i m not short!!! its juz they are tall!!!
us with the city.
it was world aids day.
to get some warmth.
some interesting shop.
Day 5. drove our way downtown again to the John hancock observatory another tourist attraction.

trying to get use of left hand driving.
the traffic was quite bad and finally we see the city.
okay john hancock observatory is juz a tall building where u can see the city view. kinda waste money.






the mini xmas town. so cute!
the moving train.
and the reindeer’s hse.
and we walk over to a mall call the 900 shops. erm its like paragon lah. so nth much.
we went to buy this popcorn which was always queuing. ahha its nice!

and we drove to pick up lyn and we off to watch the NBA MATCH!!!
we got in too early so we see them doing some warm up and practice.
me and the huge stadium.ITs the chicago bulls vs the dallas mavericks.
we will waiting for the game to start.
the tix.
we got souvenirs too. and its free. its a miniture of loul deng

its reallie a nice stadium. nicer than our indoor stadium.

and the crowd started to come in. the opening.
the mascot.
and they are started.
this is on the offical website =)performance after each quarters.

oh the stadium is call the united center.
we saw this statue of michael jordon.

SUPPER!!!
KFC.
drove our way to a suburb mall call woodfield mall.



it was snowing again!
he is covered by snow haha

and after some walk we went to pick up lyn and her colleague at the hotel.
having fun with the snow.

and we are on our way back to woodfield. but before tat we went to a huge supermart.
but i was more excited with the snow.


they sell this cute mini coke.
=)
lyn and me.
snowing big!
all the cars are covered with thick snow.
went for dinner at the TODAI.
after all was exhausted after the day. so we ended the day early and head back to the hotel.
haha funny sight of the cars with snow


woke up in the morning and notice tat it was still snowing.
nice scenery of the woods.
and lyn came over at lunch time to pick us up for lunch

can u see how much snow was accumulated over the night.
lunch was at chipotle. a mexicon food outlet.
and after lunch we drove downtown as we plan to go to the SHEDD aquarium
i like it when all the hses u see are covered with pure white snow =)


they were amazed by the snow.
it covered almost everything.


he is veri happie with it
nice combination of peaceful parks and…
beautiful city.


i tell u its super COLD!

see how thick is the snow
he cant stop haha.
the train station nicely decorated by snow.


sun shone in to brighten up the day
SHEDD AQUARIUM.
its reallie nice having it as a background.
this cute fluffy dog wasnt even afraid abt the weather.
Fishes fishes

turtle =)
the dolphin’s habitat
the are so cute and agile
cute lil penguins
lil feets and big body ahha
he remind me of the penguin in the movie “Happy feet”
GREAT SWIMMERS

little ones
the dolphin show
they are so good

corals
interesting shapes and colours.

the view outside.


its the skyscraper tat makes it so special.

i wonder if his butt got frozen.
and lyn came to join us not long after. and the crazy 2 decided to ice skate.
i cant skate and i m so cold so i decided to stay behind
see i told u they are crazy.
they are snow fighting alr.
hmmm. tats a huge pile of snow.
getting rather to attack.
they are older than me and they behave like little kids.
=)
the nxt day was at the planet musuem.


=)
lousy traffic
snow city.
dinner at a famous hotdog outlet.
the quite environment.

waiting impatiently for his hot dogs. we have more to go hehe
okay his is making fun of me as i always insist of taking photos with my left side of my face. argh
we went over to a park near our hotel to have some FUN!
sigh poor me always kana attack
its very very x-masy with the lights trees and the snow.
lyn and me
lyn was really cold
haha they enjoy getting physical with the snow
we are all having fun =)
lyn. shen and me
okay shen was actually trying to break the ice tat had covered the lake and lyn was afraid he might juz fall in so….
we heard tat juz lying on the snow and spreading ur hands back and forth can create an angel so we tried.

and it really looks like one!!!

it was a lake but its all frozen.

sliding down from the slope =)

the xmas lights brings another warmth feeling.

okay packing for LA haha its all berby’s stuff.

supper supper =)

Woke up at ard 6 and get ready to the airport. and after 4 hrs of domestic flight we are in LA.

we rented a car in LA so tat we can travel ard easier.
tats our ride! rav 4.trying to navigate themselves hehe.
Chicago and LA are in the same country but they have totally diff scenery and feel.
the housing.
the expressway
everything its so different from chicago.
the hotel we are staying. its abit wu lu but lucky nth happen haha
all three of us were starving so we went to the near by thai resturant.
tom yam soup!!! its super yummy.
angel wings. its juz chicken wing with stuffed chicken
other dishes. they are all veri veri nice!!
and then after re-charging. we are on our way to factory outlet =)
LA is a veri flat city. so u hardly see any skyscraper and stuff.
the nice canyon or watever its called.

the factory outlet =)
and after shopping we went over to DISNEY LAND. okay juz for some souvenir hunting and watching of fire works.
the place where i was stuck veri long.
okay i look terrible. i m not having much makeup.
the fireworks =)




the nxt day. we drove up to santa monica beach.

this area is whereby they memorial soldiers that was killed in the iraq war. each cross stands for each killed. there ard 3000 plus there. war is evil.

the wonderful beach

although there were no bikini babes walking ard (coz i think its too cold) but its still veri nice.
me with the beach.

and we walk over to a street near the beach. its a shopping street =)
lyn and me =)

and after much sight seeing. we make our way up again to the BEVERLY HILLS.
its a whole street of branded stuff and designer boutique haha. nice~

Nxt stop! HOLLYWOOD

alot of street performers
i didnt noe tat superman and batman were friends.

hollywood!
and we happen to see the event for ps i love u.
its by hilary swank and gerald butler.

waiting for the thing to start.
too bored.
sorry their lights stronger than mine.
and we went to….

a huge hard rock cafe there.
sorry only this few pics. others are all blurry .
and i m on my way back!
after another 16 hrs of flight we finally made it back to singapore!!! haha

the things i bought. this doesnt include the presents for my family. souvenirs =)
gifts for dearest.
bangle for myself.
dresses i bought. hmmm i am saving one for new yr. any suggestions?
i m a fetish for bags.
bottoms (2 jeans, i skirt and a shorts.)
3 tops. =)
3 polo tee
other tops i got.
lots of make up =)
my favourite buy!
yes yes my new wallet from coach.
although its nth great but i love the MULTICOMPARTMENTS hehe