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Don't Wanna Go Home by Jason Derulo

11th Jan, 2012

Today was by far one of my favorite day in Chicago, IL.

Day started off with one of the most famous hot dogs in Chicago at Portillo's Hot Dogs. Proceeded to John Hancock's Observatory at noon after lunch. Spend a whole two hours at the observatory due to the captivating view of Lake Michigan and the paranomic view of the entire city of Chicago. Fell so deeply in love with the view of Navy Pier from up there as well as the beaches. View of the skyscrapers are equally unique as well and that was what makes the observatory so worth the visit!

After that, we made our way to the neighborhood around Gold Coast area. Oh how exquisite were the houses built in the 19th century. This is the site of Chicago's richest and ritziest neighborhood as the houses are expensive and exclusive. We strolled down a few streets of these houses and even saw the mansion that used to house Hugh Hefner and his bunnies in silk pyjamas gowns, the Playboy Mansion.

Lincoln Park was next. Saw Abraham Lincoln's statue :)

North Avenue Beach was more satisfying than I thought it would be. Great scenery! The sand was so soft it reminds me a lot of the sandy beaches in Sabah, Malaysia. Strolled along there while waiting for the sun to set. Finally came to this perfect location along Lakeshore Dr. where we can view the city and the lake. That was definitely the flawless spot to camp out.

So we sat there, an hour before the sun set, eating my biscuit, drinking sweet tea I bought from Walgreens, browsing pictures taken, taking pictures, camwhoring as well as chit-chatting. Soon, it was becoming colder and I started shivering. My fingers were so frozen they started to hurt. Then, I decided that I have to move to get the blood flowing so I started running on the same spot, dancing, exercising and did all sorts of weird body movements. After quite some time, Amanda was starting to feel cold as well and decided to join me. That was when I came out with the idea of playing music over my phone.

You know we know that we are people who adore dancing and wouldn't mind doing it anywhere even in public. Seems like we have fulfilled one of Imani's most important New Year's Resolution: to be able to do silly things in public because in the end, nobody will care. We were actually dancing our shoes off in the public, couldn't care less about passersby. True enough, none of them actually took time off to stare at us any longer as they all hustled or jogged by quickly.

Today was also one of my worst nightmares. Hahahaha. Half way through waiting for the sunset, I felt the need to go to the restroom yet there is none at where we were. We had to take at least a mile walk down the long esplanade before I can find one. The sunset was one heck of a delay. It was torturous till the extent of hurting. I felt the immense pressure building up inside and I felt like I was going to explode anytime. What a great relief when I finally went for it. All weak after that (exaggeration) :D

Walked to the Water Tower Place and dined in the food court over there. Well, is it just me or the food court there doesn't even feel like a food court? It was so beautiful and had such formal setting and even great service. It was a people-serve and self-service thing yet they charged 7.5% service charge for our bill. It was rather ridiculous to be honest but brilliant business technique. Had a bowl of Classic Fried Rice from Big Bowl and a bottomless Soup Bowl :) Yum!

Dropped by a few stores and Four Seasons Hotel on the way back. Somehow nice hotels in Chicago is nothing like those in Malaysia where they have beautiful and big lobby to welcome visitors, whoever. Not fun. Went to Hard Rock Hotel as well and it was the same. Small lobby consist of the reception counter and the elevator to take residents up to their hotel rooms. That was it. Not cool.

Today was great overall. Took a lot of pictures and enjoyed the places and amazing scenery I saw. Can't wait to go to Millenium Park and the Field Museum of Natural History tomorrow. Not to leave out the delights of cheesecake from The CheeseCake Factory :D

Toodleloo~

PeiNing