Recapping 2008

Every year I tell myself that I need to go somewhere I have never been before. I haven't traveled internationally since my trip to China (which was back in 2003), and going down to Rosarito and Ensenada in Mexico does not count for me.

Last year, I went to Philadelphia, Gettysburg, Delaware, Chicago, Orlando, and southern Utah. I visited three different National Parks: Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce. I also went snowboarding at Brian Head, again southern Utah. I consider that a fairly successful year of traveling.

Of all the places I visited last year, Chicago was hands down the best. Orlando, courtesy of Song and Masa, was a very cool place (and I did not go to Disneyworld). Philadelphia was nice too, but my poor choice of visiting museums on Mondays (museums there are closed) prevented me from exploring more of the cultural aspects of the City.

This entry was prompted by the fact that my best friend is about to finish Law School, and she wants me to go with her down to South America. I have been a little hesitant on making travel plans mostly because I have no income. I say, screw it. If I don't go through with the plan, I will always regret never going somewhere I have wanted to go for a long time. I don't have time for regret.

Land of the stinking onion

Chicago, home to... the tallest skyscraper in the United States, and soon to be home to the tallest building in the world. What does the title of the have to do with Chicago? Well, that's what Chicago means, courtesy of The Josh and wikipedia.

Anyway, I took a direct, non-stop flight to Chicago and landed in O'Hare. The flight to Chi-town only took 3hours and 19minutes. Catching the wind is always a beneficial thing. Of course I was greeted by snow but luckily for me it wasn't too bad. As I headed over to my friend Josh's place (which he so graciously housed me), the cabbie knew immediately I wasn't from the area. Yes, I keep telling myself I will purchase a real coat one day. He outed me because of my jacket. Since going to Philadelphia and now Chicago, I have come to realize the importance of coats covering your butt. Unfortunately this little Californian native does not spend enough time in the snow-cold winters to warrant said coat... yet.

The night I landed in Chicago I quickly walked out to the shore of Lake Michigan. It was cold to say the least. This was after I had dinner. Josh lives in a really nice neighborhood, and when I mean nice, I mean surrounded by lots of great places to go grab a bite to it and close to transit. Something we Angelenos seem to be lacking all the time.

The next day, Friday, I went to the Field Museum of Natural History. I have never been to a museum that had so much to do and see. The only downside to this visit was that there were a ton of kids, and parents, and school kids. Hello, don't people know that I am THE most important guest. Haha. Later that Friday night Josh and his friends (they're so awesome) took me out to a comedy sketch called Bye-bye Liver. It was good. Then we headed off to Russian Rush and Division, a stretch that I guess is known for bars and such. I have photos on my facebook account on what happened that night. Lots of singing. And randomness. And awesomeness.

I'll get back to Saturday and Sunday on a later post.

Chicago

Not a whole lot to say right now, but enjoy the photos.

Spontaneity

Chicago. The "Windy City", home to the origination of "sky-scrapers" and "deep-dish pizza" and the above ground metro-transit system. This is what I gather from the old, yet so reliable, tele.

I have never been to Chicago. Well truth be told, I really haven't been anywhere, at least, not as I was growing up. When I was younger I would spend prolonged periods of time in China, Hong Kong, and Canada with family members. When I mean young, I mean, 4-8 years old, a month at a time. Did I appreciate it? Not really. To say I have fond memories of those visits would be a vile and apprehensible lie. Malaria in China, shipped off to HK for medical treatments because of said disease, dealing with an older male cousin in Canada that I absolutely abhorred seeing (we rotated, sometimes my cousins from the 51st state would visit us in California). It's okay, we're adults now so we handle things in a more civil manner, yes (I am referring to my relationship with my relatives as I see it in my mind)? Just nod your head in agreement, thank-you-very-much. And yes, I am still a wee bit bitter.

What does this have to do with Chicago? I know that all those bad things that happened to me when I was younger won't happen while I visit Chicago! Why? Because first, I'm really excited about Chicago. Second, the Josh is there. Third, hello Chase Auditorium, Museum of Natural History and... LAKE MICHIGAN. Oh and... Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and Sears Tower. Maybe I won't be able to see and do all I want, but who cares.

Don't worry Josh! I'm not crazy. Oh and, I'll be there from March 27-31, and with my luck, I'll get to see snow in Chicago (thus far my trips away from California have consisted of freezing temperatures).

By the way, I'm buying my plane ticket tonight, after much procrastination.

Fiasco

Yesterday I ran into a few complications at the Philadelphia airport: my connecting flight in Chicago was canceled. Now, my friend Kim (who so kindly housed me during my trip) told me that Philadelphia was notoriously known for bad customer service. I must admit that this is true, and was perhaps the only thing that I disliked regarding the city's people.

Anyway, I actually received decent help from the woman at the counter of Southwest airlines. She wanted to try to find me a "direct" flight from Philly to Los Angeles, with one stop either at Phoenix or Las Vegas. But due to inclement weather (and the few direct flights from Philly to LA), all the flights were either booked full or had to go through Chicago. See the problem was that a snow/ice storm came through the mid-west, delaying or canceling all the flights in and out of Chicago. Fine, there's nothing I can do to control the weather. After about five minutes of the woman trying to help me, I started stressing out a lot. I honestly didn't care about having two connecting flights because I wanted to get out of Philly as soon as possible, especially when the weather reports stated that there would be possible snow fall later in the day (and having more flights delayed). Yet the woman at the check-in counter kept trying to insist that I have a direct out of Philly at 2:00 pm. I politely declined. First, I know that Southwest is notorious for being late. Second, I was not going to stay an additional five and a half hours to get a direct flight home. Third, seeing how the flight was leaving at 2:00 in the afternoon, I did not want to end up with the possibility of being stuck in Philly. So finally after twenty minutes, she found a flight for me to go into Houston, and from Houston to Los Angeles. Of course, with my luck so far yesterday, Houston was experiencing delays as well due to Thunderstorms. Just my luck right? Right.

Here was the list of my alternative flights:
Philadelphia to Orlando, Orlando to Los Angeles.
Philadelphia to Nashville, Nashville to Kansas City, Kansas City to Los Angeles
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh to Las Vegas, Las Vegas to Los Angeles

The departure times ranged everywhere and anywhere between 9:30 am to 2:00 pm. It just didn't matter at that point because I was just going to have to face the awful weather sweeping the midwest and southwest and even the gulf coast states. And I didn't want to "arrive" in Los Angeles at 7:00 p.m. (this is if there were no delays what-so-ever). In the end I opted to fly into Texas because my "arrival time" was at 4:00 pm. I figured that I could give myself about 2.5 - 3 hours worth of delay time, and still be back in the City of Angels for a decent dinner hour.

And so my trip to Philly ended up stressful the very last day, but I am alive and well, albeit a bit tired.