Chicago Farmer's Market

While rushing to the CTA I managed to snap a few photos of  the farmer's market in downtown Chicago. I was told they have it every Saturday. I love farmer's markets! I just wanted to stop & buy some of the delicious looking snacks & beautiful flowers, but I was in a hurry to get somewhere. The aroma of flowers, fresh fruits & veggies, & delicious treats was enough to almost make me stop & miss my train. I love trying new delicacies that these places often have to offer!

Lou Malnati's

Before I went to Chicago everyone kept telling me I had to try this thanggg called Chicago style deep dish pizza. After having heard about it from about 3 jillion people I decided to see what it's all about! I had my first deep dish pizza at a restaurant called Lou Malnati's. My friend & I sat at a nice little table outside where we could watch the local downtown Chicago-ans passing by & on top of that it was such a lovely day out. Our waiter was a gorgeous all American blonde (wish I had taken her picture!) & very sweet, she cut the pizza before I could get all photowhorey tourist all over it. :-P The pizza was great, not what I had expected. There were layers of cheese & sausage on the inside & a very sweet tomato sauce spread on the top. Delicious! It aspired me to try as many deep dish pizzas as possible in the city! Afterwards we walked around down town where there was a row of luxury brand shops. It was funny because I pulled out some oil wipes & offered one to my friend who started cracking up because she claimed everything in my purse was either Hello Kitty or very quote "asian & cute." I had never really thought about this, but realized it's kind of true. But hey if you could buy plain oil wipes or Hello Kitty oil wipes for the same price which would you choose? Kawaii is a lifestyle. :-)

Old Town Pub

During the beginning of my trip I was staying at a friend's place in a rich, yuppie part of downtown Chicago. We bar hopped a lot & couldn't find an interesting place that suited us. Finally my friend suggested this pub she had heard of called Old Town, we google mapped it, & settled since we were tired of walking & it seemed lively enough. Although it was a bit too hipster for me, I enjoyed people watching while sipping on my Jameson & coke. The music & crowd were chill & it was an appropriate place for my first night out on the town. The interior was neat with all kinds of art portraits plastered all over the walls, soft music playing, a good selection of beers, & all around comfy environment. I was still jet lagged so it was a nice relaxing night out in a new scenery. I would not mind going to that pub again if I were back in Chi-town. :)

Workaholics Weekend

On my first night in Chicago I went to see the Workaholics Weekend show at Up Comedy Club in downtown. Basically it was a stand up show with two of the cast from the comedy central show Workaholics which I had only seen a couple of episodes of. Maribeth Monroe & Erik Griffin were the cast members that were performing that night. They were both very funny but I definitely enjoyed Erik Griffin's performance filled with vulgar vagina jokes. :P Actually I'm pretty sure Maribeth had quite a few of those as well. The Up Comedy Club openers were actually pretty funny too. I also had my first legal drink in the United States of America! It was called an LSD martini. A little too sweet for my taste but not a bad starter drink for my trip back to the USA.

First Look at Chicago

My first look at Chicago was from the car that picked me up from  the airport. I could see the formation of skyscrapers from a far, derelict looking buildings, as well as train tracks which were all very distantly nostalgic for me, having been on the islands for so long. Everything felt so foreign to me that I didn't feel like I was fully there yet.