To the Smokies

This morning, left at about 10am to Pigeon Forge first before going to the Smoky Mountains at Gatlinburg. It was about 45 mins drive to Pigeon Forge. Went shopping at the outlet malls. It is a huge area with few hundred one-storey shops, selling things at a factory outlet price. So it is reasonable. Had lunch there at "The Chop House". CT and I ordered pork chops for lunch. I enjoyed it. There was actually an option to downsize the food..so I did. What I got was just one piece of pork chop and one Idaho baked potato. CT ordered more as his lunch is charged under the company since this is considered his business trip.

After lunch, we made our way to "The Smoky Mountains National Park". We went on another way which has less travel to the park, without passing through Gatlinburg town. It was a very scenic drive. I planned to spend 2 days touring this national park and for both days, to see the sunset at the mountains.

Today, I planned to drive round "Cades Cove"-a place in Smoky Mountains and then drive up straight to mountains and see sunset. In Cades Cove, it is a self-guided one way tour in the car, driving slowly and just looking out for wild animals. I managed to see 4-5 white-tailed deers at different places of Cades Cove. It was awesome. Below are pictures of the sceneries I took while driving in Cades Cove.




















In Cades Cove, there are a lot of churches and cabins along the way for people to see. It is like a monument site. Some places, you need to walk from the carpark to the place...about 1/4 mile, which is about 400m. Quite fun to walk in the forest to the place. This is one of the cabins seen in Cades Cove.

After going one loop of Cades Cove, 4 hours has passed so swiftly already and it was about 7pm. We stopped by the tourist information centre and asked how long it took to go to the mountains from Cades Cove and they said 2 hours. Thus,it was way too late to go up. (By the way, the sun sets at 845pm...very late)

So, we decided to go back after touring Cades Cove and come back tomorrow to see the sunset. On our way back, we stopped by a place with a river stream where I took out my shoes and walked in to soak my legs.

After that, we drove to another river place where people were swimming to take some photos. It was on the way back anyway.

While driving home, the sun was setting and I managed to catch the sunset on the roads where the sun appeared in front of me! I felt so so happy..Take a look!


The sky was orange-purple in colour. Very beautiful. The interesting thing is that the sun actually appeared in front of me as we drove on the road. It was as if God has made it put it in front of me to see His wonderful creation.

I was so happy as I love watching sunrise and sunsets esp when the sky has a nice colour.

When we reached back to Knoxville, it was 945pm already. We went to "Red Lobster" for dinner and even though they close at 10pm, they still let us in. That is the Southern hospitality for you.

By the time, we ate finish and left the place, it was 1030pm already...The waiter still gave us good service and with a smile. No one hurried us to leave though we were the last ones left.

Great trip!

This morning, left the hotel at 8pm after our complimentary breakfast. We were meeting CT's American colleague and his family at this certain location which he gave us the directions to. The meeting point is about 45 mins drive away. We meet at 9am and then we followed his car to a nearby Walmart to park our car so that we can just go together in his car.

He brought his wife,Sharon and his 10 year old son, Ty. CT's colleague is called Jerry, who has been CT's mentor during this training in Tennessee. They have 3 kids but Ty is the youngest and still stay with them, so he came along.

He drove us to Tellico Plains where we saw rivers,waterfalls and lots of beautiful trees. The first waterfall we saw was a huge one which CT and Jerry went to climb. They climbed all the way to the top and CT came down sweating so much while Jerry did not even break a sweat. Ha.
Jerry is very fit for his age. He is already 50 over years old.


After looking at the waterfalls, we drive along the river and saw people playing in the river on the mini waterfalls. They were actually riding on the waterfalls..seems fun.

Then, Jerry drove us up the mountains to see the view from a top. We were about 5000 ft above sea level, travelled across the Tennessee border to North Carolina. So I actually managed to cross over to another state by driving in the park area. The weather was sunny and scattered drizzles at some parts of the journey. This is the view from the top. Very nice.

You can see from the picture that there are some dark clouds. We were glad that we were not caught in any heavy rain. It was only drizzling when we were in the car and sunny when we stepped out of the car.

Jerry has purposely taken us to this place as no tourists would know of this wonderful place and thus, it is not so crowded and the sight is beautiful.

After driving up, we went back down and did some nature trails in the forest with big trees. The trees are really huge and tall. Very nice.

Here is one of the biggest trees that we saw during our trekking..

Our trekking was about 2 miles. That is about 3 km plus. Very tiring. One our way back, I was walking in front with CT while the rest were quite far behind as Sharon prefers to walk slowly. Suddenly, I heard some ruffling noises down the trees where I was walking and I was wondering who would be down there.. I realised it was a black bear when I saw black fur coated animal which is about 1 m long. It should be a bear cub. I pointed out to CT as I was so excited and the bear was running quite fast. After that, we walked with so much caution back because if there is a cub, there would be a mummy bear. So, we were quite afraid. Heard many stories here about bears killing people. The bear was running too fast for me to take a pic..so cannot show. Sorry

After so much walking, we drove down to a beach area. Initially, Jerry told us that he was taking us to the beach now, I was surprised as Tennessee is in the middle of states..how can there be a beach? So I realised that when he meant by beach is diff from what I expected. It is actually a river among the forest. Very nice. I loved it so much that I told CT that I wanted to come back to swim as I did not bring my swimming costume.

There were people swimming, playing by swinging on the rope to te river like tarzan and some brought their dogs in..so cool. And the other thing I like is that there is a shop selling food by the beach. SO, we had our lunch there by the beach. Ate hotdogs and burgers plus a cool lemonade. Yum!

Our last stop was at the beach. So we stayed and watched what people did before we went back. I had so much fun watching the dogs fetching the balls in the river and just walking in the river.

It is so scenic with big trees surrounding the river.

Jerry brought us back to our car and we went back. Had dinner at Thai Restaurant with Gek Teng as Kok Fong has been out for night shift (4pm to 12 midnight). So she came along to just 'waste' her time even though she has eaten already. The Thai food was nice and spicy. We ordered chicken wing with pork stuffing, tofu with veggies, pork with lemon grass and green curry beef. Very nice but filling as the dishes came out big portions. I was so full when I went back to hotel. Think I cannot sleep tonight..

CT is off from today..

Today, CT had work from 8am to 4pm. So, when he came back, he was all smiles as he would be off for 6 days consecutive. When he came back, we went to the gym to run on the threadmill for a while before we went back to bathe and then went out for dinner. We called JS to join us as he is also free for dinner as his work starts at 12 midnight.

So, we went to this Korean Restaurant which Kok Fong recommended. The place was full of Japs and Koreans as we saw a whole group of students there. The girl students were dresses very skimpily and very ah-lian..CT ordered a seafood pancake and a claypot rice dish with beef, egg and veggies. I ordered a bulgogi beef hotplate with rice. We had lots of food as JS also ordered an appetiser and in Korean restaurants, they give a lot of appetisers for free already...all small dishes of food.

Take a look at what the picture I took. Our whole table was full of food and yet, JS had 3 bowls of rice-one after another! haha.. It was delicious I must say.

After a filling dinner, we went back and just watched TV. In America, it is not safe to be out at night and moreover, in the South, there is not many places to go and walk around. City life and farm life is very different. It is very relaxing here as there is not much to do.

Tomorrow, it will be a full day as CT's American plant coordinator in Tennesseewhich he is attached under, will be taking us out to places where tourists would not go to. Cannot wait!

Went out for lunch

Today, I went out lunch with Kok Fong, wife and Jaimie. It is still their off days as they have 6 straight off days. So, they asked me if I would like to go out lunch with them. At first, I did not want to because I had food left over from last night to eat for lunch today. But after thinking a while, I wanted to just get out of the hotel and after lunch, they will be going Walmart. I wanted to go Walmart to just walk walk and see. So, I went lunch with them.

We had lunch at this Chinese Restaurant which one of the colleague recommended after going there. The name of the restaurant is PF Chang. And boy, it is a big restaurant with nice ambience and modern decor. There were so many people and we had to wait for a table. We ordered Cantonese Roast Duck, Fried Fish, Mixed Veggies and Spare Ribs.
Each of us ordered one dish each. When it came, it looked so delicious.

The roast duck came in peking duck style with a wrap, spring onions slice, cucumber slice and 2 different sauces-the usual brown sweet sauce and the sour plum sauce. So yummy. All the dishes were yummy. I was amazed at how authentic it tasted.

After eating the meal, I commented, "Wow, this was good." Everyone agreed.

After lunch, we went Walmart. I bought strawberries and cough drops for CT as he has been coughing. Gek Teng needed to buy food as the next few days when Kok Fong goes back to work, she needs to cook for him.

After that, we went back hotel. When CT came home at 830pm, I told him that I went to PF Chang for chinese food. e was like,"Hey, never wait for me." haha..I purposely made that comment to make him jealous a little. I told him it was not my choice. The rest wanted to go eat. Anyway, I would def go back there again..It would just be more diff to eat with 2 of us only...must get more people to eat..4 would be a nice number to share.

Tonight, I cooked fried rice, minestrone soup and heated up last night's beef stew. CT enjoyed the fried rice as he misses it. After a full dinner, he still went to eat potato chips and ice cream. I said you got cough still eat all these..he sulked and went on eating. Oh well..

Stayed in again..

This morning, I woke up and went to the laundry room. The machines were all used up. So, I left my bags of dirty clothes and went down for breakfast first. Kok Fong and Gek Teng were not there. So, I had breakfast alone. I made for myself a waffle as the hotel has a waffle machine. After that, I went back up to put my clothes in washing machine. A guy was in the room transferring his clothes to dryer. He was talking to me. I left after I put my clothes in and washed.

After half an hour, I came back down to transfer the clothes to dryer. I met this lady and she was chatting with me for quite a while as she waited for her clothes to dry finish. She told me she went to Singapore before as she stayed in Australia for a while. The people here are very friendly so much so that when the guy's clothes finish drying, the lady took out his clothes for him and helped him fold them as he was not around. They do not know each other at all but the way they helped each other out is amazing.


Even the staff here in this hotel is very nice. When I have breakfast, they would greet you and ask how am I doing. Eve the cleaning lady for the room would chat with me and today, I asked her what is the difference between dish washing powder with bleach or without bleach. I discovered that there are 2 types of dish washing powder from another cleaning lady when I asked her for more packets for powder. I went back confused there were actually one with bleach as I thought it would only apply to clothes washing powder. The lady told me that the one with bleach kills more germs and they would usu use that when the occupant has checked out.

I remember telling my form class students on their first day of school that there are always things to learn from everybody and so we should treat everyone with respect. I gave an example of the toilet cleaning lady in school and the gardener..that they have some form of knowledge that we do not have and that we should learn and be respectful of every individual. So, from my talk with the cleaning lady of my room today, it reinforces my point.

Today, cooked beef stew and reheated my left over soup from last night. Added potatoes, carrots, beef and celery. I love cooking stew as it is simple and tasty. All in one dish is fun..as I just throw everything in.

Oh, forgot to mention that a few days ago when CT was at home. He sneezed very loud and someone outside our room just shouted in," Bless you". haha..me and CT started laughing so much cos it was really cute and as I said, the people here are really friendly.

Another hurricane coming up

This morning, CT left at 630am. His work is from 8am to 8pm. But he usually needs to reach there one hour earlier to take over the shift work. So actually, he is working 13 hours, rather than 12. I stayed 'home' today as I need to cook dinner for CT when he come back. So, if I go out with Kok Fong and the rest, I would not have time to prepare dinner.

I spent the whole day editing my photos which I took in Chicago and here in Tennessee, also watching TV and reading a book. Cooked chicken corn soup today-added mixed veggies, cream of corn, crab meat and diced chicken thigh. Another dish I cooked was potato with minced meat.

There has been news about another hurricane coming up, called Hurricane Emily. The names of the hurricane are in alphabetical order. It seems that hurricane Emily will just miss us and go west. The recent hurricane dennis also just missed us and slightly to the east of my area.

Heard that Hurricane Emily has killed one person already..it is traveling in South America area..

Makes me appreciate the security in Singapore even more... :)

CT came home at 815pm...had a good simple dinner and then watched TV together. We were watching "Into the West"-a drama serial directed by Steven Spielberg. It is a new series about red indians. The number of drama serials in US is amazing. There are always new ones coming up..as well as reality shows. They have so many reality shows that you cannot believe it..I like reality shows because you see the bad side of humans and it gives you a better understanding of people..and what they are like.

Went to Kentucky..no no..not KFC..

Today is CT's off day. So, we went together with Kok Fong, wife and Jaimie to Kentucky to see the Cumberland Falls, which is known to be the "Niagara of the South". We went altogether in CT's car cos it is bigger. The 3 ladies sat behind while the guys sat infront to drive and navigate.

It took us slightly longer to get there as it was raining. So, CT could not drive so fast. It is quite nice but somehow, the scenery that I see or nature that I see, I would always compare it to New Zealand as I truly enjoyed all the sights and nature that I see in NZ.

Kentucky is just above Tennessee..so it took us about 2 hours drive as the Cumberland Falls is near the border of Tennessee and Kentucky. The waterfall is quite nice. We only walked for about 30mins before we headed back as it was drizzling.

Cumberland Falls (Niagara of the South)

CT, me, Gek Teng and Kok Fong

We were searching for KFC after that but could not find as KFC did originate from the state of Kentucky. So, anyway, we settled in another fast food place for lunch before we headed back. We reached home at 4pm and we decided to go play bowling just before dinner. There is a bowling place 5mins from our hotel. So, we thought that this may be the only time we can spend time together as a group, so might as well play today.

So, we washed up, got changed and met at 530pm for bowling. The counter lady in the bowling place told us that is is half price after 6pm. So, of course, we waited and to make use of the time, we went to Walmart grocery shopping first before we went back to bowl.

We played two games each. All for the price of US$6 per person, including shoes. Quite reasonable. One game is US$2.

I did not play too well though I was quite consistent...because the rest got spares and strikes, even though there were not so consistent. So, in the end, the rest played better. :(

Ha..but it is ok. It was all for fun and I was glad to see everyone enjoying themselves.

CT's day off!

This morning, when CT came home from work, we had breakfast together and he slept right after that as usual. But this time round, he would be sleeping until 2 plus pm as he has 2 days off from work and he needs to readjust back to his usual timing because after his 2 days of off, he would go back to 8am-8pm working hours.

Kok Fong and the rest went to Smoky Mountains today while I did not go as CT would wake up earlier today and we are thinking of going out after that. So, I watched TV and played with my computer as I waited for him to wake up.

By the time he woke up and bathed, it was about 3 plus pm already. So, we decided to go somewhere very near, which is downtown Knoxville. We are putting up at the west of Knoxville. So, we went downtown to look around. We parked at this all-day parking for US$4-which is reasonably cheap. Then we walked and took the free trolley to drive us around the place. It is quite a dead town with not many people, but the enviroment is quite beautiful and well maintained. Here are some pictures of downtown Knoxville.. they have a lot of different parks (look below).

We walked for about 3 hours before we settled down to eat in a restaurant which is by the Tennessee River...with ducks and cruise boats passing by. Very nice.. We shared a full slab of BBQ ribs for dinner.

CT looking at the river cruise boat pass by while eating our dinner.. Can you spot the ducks?

Reached back our hotel at 830pm very tired as we did lots of walking in downtown. After that, we watched TV together before sleeping. CT was feeling very tired..what's new?

Went Chattanooga

Today, CT works from 12 mid - 8am. So, he came back at 8am after work, bathed, had breakfast and then, he would usu sleep till 5pm. But this time round, he can have a proper dinner outside before leaving for work.

So, when he came home this morning and rested, I went out with Kok Fong, Gek Teng (his wife) and Jaimie to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is their off days. They have about 6 off days consecutive-very long holiday. CT asked me to go out with them since he would only be sleeping and he cannot accompany me. So, I might as well go out sightseeing with them.

It was about an hour and a half drive, almost 2 hours because of jam. We da bao KFC up the Lookout Mountains to have lunch there.We went to Ruby Falls and Rock City at the Lookout Mountain. Ruby Falls is located in the limestone layer of the mountain. We have to enter this cave to see the water falls which is inside the cave. I saw many different types of formations found in the Ruby Falls cave. The most common are stalactites, stalagmites, columns, drapes, and flowstone. These formations are caused by water containing minerals, such as calcium carbonate, dripping down from the ceiling.

The truly amazing feature of the Lookout Mountain caves is not the many and varied formations which I saw, but rather in the large vertical shaft at the end of the main passage. A flowing underground stream falls from the very top of this shaft 145 feet into a pool on the floor of the cave. The tour guide led us inside to a very dark part of the cave and then, all of a sudden, the lights came on and we saw the waterfall in the cave. Awesome.


After looking at Ruby Falls (Ruby because it is named after the founder's wife), we went to Rock City which is also situated in lookout mountain-all within the same area but still have to drive higher up the mountain.

Rock City is a truemarvel of nature featuring massive ancient rockformations, gardens with over 400 native plant species,and breathtaking "See 7 States" panoramic views.

After walking about an hour plus in Rock City, we went home. Reached home at about 5 plus pm and CT was still sleeping. Ha.

Then, we went out for dinner with the rest of his colleagues to "Olive Garden"-an Italian Restaurant. The food is very yummy. I had a shrimp pasta with herbs. The pasta looks like wanton mee-very thin. SO, when my food came, everyone said, wow..wanton mee ah..I said, yeah..I wish..

A lot of people da bao the food as it was too much. We even had appetisers and soup/salad and free bread. So, even before we ate our main dish, we were all so full. I could not finish my prawn pasta even though it is very nice. So, CT had good food for his supper tonight at work.

CT left at 1040pm for work. He slept right after dinner before he left for about an hour plus. I am amazed at how he can still sleep.

Today, had a great day touring. However, it reminds me of my family as I was supposed to go Ruby Falls and Rock City with my parents when they came to visit me. It is just one of those things that trigger your memory and reminds you of it and makes your heart ache a little. I do miss my family and wish my dad will be off the ventilator completely...for good.

Different shift

This morning, me and Gek Teng waited for him to come back and bathe first before we went down for breakfast together. As usual, CT would talk about his work and what he did that night. He seems to be more busy than the rest during his shift.

There is not much update on Dennis already and I heard from my church friend in Mobile. She told me that Mobile just had like a thunderstorm and rain. Nothing much happened. Really thank God. No wonder He assured me to just have faith in Him and leave everything to Him.

Today, did not do much. As usual, when CT is sleeping after breakfast, I would turn the volume of my TV down and just do my own stuff. Played computer game today and read newspapers while he slept.

After he woke up at about 5 plus pm, we met for dinner at 7pm with the rest. We went to "Outback Steakhouse" near our apartment. It is my second time there to the same restaurant. Ordered a 9 oz steak, while CT ordered fish. He was sick of steak already. Jaimie could not finish, so she da bao the food and gave to CT for his night shift. His shift is midnight to 8am (8 hours). So, it is much better. At least he can eat dinner at more decent hours.

Here are some pics of my hotel room..

THE SMALL KITCHEN

THE LIVING AREA

THE BED

CT's night shift

For the past 2 days- yesterday and today, CT's work is from 8pm to 8am. This kind of timing makes the whole body system topsy turvy. He has dinner at 530pm, and left at 630pm as he needs to be there an hour early to report. Then when he comes back atabout 830am, he has his buffet breakfast in hotel and sleeps right through till 5pm and again, he wakes up for dinner. I have to pack sandwiches for him when he goes to work. When he eats dinner at night, it is considered his breakfast. And when he comes home, it is considered his dinner. So, it is quite strange as I do not know whether I should stay up with him and be on night shift mode as well or not.

But anyway, I didnt but I do sleep later. I sleep at about 1 plus am. Actually, whenever I was tired. And I would wake up at 8am and wait for him to come back to have breakfast together. Yesterday and today, I have been cooking. The first day, it was just chicken stew with rice. While today, I cooked chicken ginseng soup, fried luncheon meat and lettuce with mushrooms.

I have to try to cook more soupy and gravy stuff as there is a smoke detector just in my kitchen and it went off before. So, I was afraid it would go off again as it comes off a sharp and irritating sound. And that time it went off, all I did was to open the dish washer which I have not used it. SO, there were no steam at all. I just opened it to check whether my utensils are inside. Then, immediately, when the sound went off, I got a phone call from the receptionist asking me if I was smoking. Ha.. I said no and I did not even do anything...not even cooking at that time. So, they sent a maintenance guy to check it out and I thought he would fiddle with the detector to check. But all he did was just talk to us and asked us what we did and he just left. Oh boy..

So now, quite afraid it would go off again. So, when I cook, I make sure my ventilator is turned up high and i blow the steam towards another direction. :)

Tonight, I watched this show on HBO. Quite funny. It is called, "The Anchorman-the legend of Roy Burgundy." Ok, I know the title does not sound nice but it is quite funny about this guy who is a sexist and he reports on stories. Then one day, the company brought in a lady to be a co-anchorman with him and his struggles that he faces.

So, when CT is off at work, I would watch TV and channel surf...till I am tired. In some way, I get to see him more as I will see him once I wake up but on the other hand, I can see him more but he cannot spend more time with me as he will be sleeping. However, his working hours are not the same for 3 weeks. He will do night shift for 2 nights only. Then, his time will change to 12 midnight-8am for another 2 nights. Then he will have 2 days of off days and then, day shift from 8am to 8pm..and somedays, 8am-4pm. Then he will also have 6 days of off week after next..and he ends off with more night shifts from 8am to 8pm.

So, his schedule changes and it is tough for him to switch here and there. It is like jetlag...time difference.

Hurricane Dennis

Recently, there has been a lot of news about Hurricane Dennis that has hit Cuba and will be moving up to Florida and Mobile already,which is where I stay. I stay just by the Gulf of Mexico, in the south. Most of us were worried as we still had a lot of things in our apartment and last year's hurricane Ivan hit the apartment and they had to rebuild it. So, it was bad. The news have been covering the storm 24 hours and it seems to be moving very fast and bigger than the last hurricane. So, most of us were thinking, "That's it..we will prob go back to no apartment." The hurricane seems to be moving like 200 over km/h...and has killed people in Cuba.

Last night, I was thinking of the souvenirs and the clothes I still have back home. And also my guitar. Just as I was worried, I did my quiet time and read my daily bread-this small book that gives you bible reading day by day. So yesterday's reading was on the book of Matthew 6:25-34. Here goes..

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you wil wear. Is not life more important that food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to this life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ' What shall we eat?' or ' What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things wil be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. "

Then in the daily bread, not only are there daily readings to do, they will have a short write up in relation to the passage. So, after reading the bible, I read the daily bread book and it says<" Do you worry about money? We are to be careful with money, but Jesus taught that we are not to be full of care about it. If you have put your faith in the Lord, you don't have to worry about life's neccessities. God Himself has assumed responsibility for your food and clothing-and all your needs."

When I was reading, at once, a sudden peace engulfed me and I just knew God was assuring me. If not, why so timely? Just as I was thinking about my clothes and my possessions back home, getting worried that it will be destroyed. Here, the daily bread reading was on this so appropriate passage. I shared it with CT and also told him not to worry as it is only earthly possessions and money.

CT's first day of work at the Tennessee plant

This morning, CT left at 7am for work. He will be meeting his colleagues and a manager for breakfast and he will have a day of orientation. After today, all of them will be on shift work, which means there will be some days he will work very late or at wee hours. I do not really like that idea of working at such strange hours because it upsets the whole body cycle. But I guess there are always things in life we do not want to do, but have to do or should do.

I stayed awake after CT left and waited for a good time to have breakfast with Gek Teng cos I know she would prob be still sleeping. So, I waited till 830am to call her and yup, she was still sleeping. After my call, she called Celine to ask her out for breakfast as well but she wanted her beauty sleep and would rather skip breakfast. So, anyway, me and Gek Teng met and had breakfast. It was a small buffet breakfast with scrambled eggs, beef patties, bread, DIY waffles.

After breakfast, we went to check out the swimming pool, gym and jacuzzi. Then, we also found the laundry room where we have to put coins in the washing machine and dryer. After that, I went to Gek Teng's room to take a look. Her room is much brighter as she has a big window beside her bed while my room does not have. So, my bed area is quite dark. I prefer windows as I like my rooms bright..as it makes a room more lively and cheerful.

After a while, went back to my room and did the usual stuff like email, watch TV etc.. CT came home very early at about 5pm. And he came home stinking cos his plant is very smelly...smells like chicken farm..He kept asking me to smell him..yucks..

We got ready and went out at 530pm for Walmart grocery shopping. I brought along my sauces and some dried food to cook as I did not want to spend my 3 weeks here eating out. Too unhealthy. After grocery shopping, we went to a fine restaurant called, "Connor's" . It is a steak and seafood place. A place with dim lights and ambience...but with all our dressing, I felt embarrased as we were wearing slippers and shorts. Ha..

The main dish costs about US$20-US$30. I ordered only a salad as I have to pay for my own meals. CT ordered more so that we can share. He ordered a lobster bisque soup and prime rib steak. The salad was fabulous. I have been enjoying eating salad here as the veggies are fresh and the feeling after eating salad is good, makes me feel very healthy. Hehe.. My salad has bacon, meshed egg and nuts with balsamic vinagarette. Very nice.

Off to Knoxville, Tennessee

This morning, woke up and made hotdogs for breakfast. After that, we set off for Tennessee at 9am. We met at a common spot for 2 other cars. Anthony and his girlfriend who just came will be sitting with us in our car. We went in 3 cars with 9 pple in total. Our first stop was a rest area at Greenville, Alabama. We stopped there for a toilet break. Drove about 2 hours to reach. Anthony then took over the wheel so that CT can rest.

Drove for another 2 and a half hours to a place for lunch at Alabama. Had mexican food which was very nice. I always thought mexican food all tastes the same..but CT ordered this hot plate dish that tasted nice. All meals by CT and his colleagues are being paid by company since this is considered a business trip. So, most of them ordered the most expensive dish on the menu.

After lunch, CT took over again and we drove to a visitor centre at Tennessee to get whatever brochures and maps we need, as well as to rest. It was also about 2 plus hours. Then the last leg was to the hotel already. So altogether, we took about 8 hours of driving to our destination. We are staying at the Residence Inn (Marriott). The room is smaller than I expected but it is ok as it is clean and has facilities. There is a very small kitchen in the room and a small dining table just enough for 2.

After settling down and unpacking our stuff, I bathed and waited for call from the colleagues as Anthony went to collect his rental car from the airport and will call us once he has collected it so that we can all go for dinner. We only managed to have our dinner at 9pm. I was starving. We had a fabulous dinner at a Japanese Restaurant. It was teppanyaki style and the chef was very skilled in juggling the knives right in front of us and doing all sorts of tricks with the food and knives. We were all so scared the knives would fly out and hit us. The food was quite yummy that I finished everything very quickly while the rest were still struggling to finish. :p

The boss of the restaurant is a Chinese from Malaysia and most of the chefs come from Indonesia or Malaysia. So, I felt like home esp when some of them spoke to the waitresses and chefs in Malay and spoke to the boss in Hokkien. CT ordered the most expensive one with lobster,fillet mignon,scallops,prawns,veggies,fried rice. Very tasty.

Oh, initially, the chef litted up the whole hot plate with oil and lit up the whole plate on fire..It was a performance. There were mini fireworks as well..

Check out the food we ate..yum yum..



In this picture, from right to left:
My empty plate and seat, CT, Gek Teng, Kok Fong(Gek Teng's husband), Jamie with a very full plate, Anthony, Celine (Anthony's gf)...etc.. (there are 2 more colleagues being blocked- JS and James).

The horrible part of this dinner was that I just bathed and I left the place stinking of the smoke and oil. Sigh...

Flight back to Mobile

Woke up this morning at 330am. Planned to leave at 4am as our flight is 530am. There will not be a jam early in the morning, so we could go there at least one hour before the flight. Hsiang Ling woke up to send us to the airport. Really sweet of her. We told her we could catch a cab but she said it is ok. So, we left the place at 4am and reached about 430am. We said our goodbyes again and it was strange to go back to the same airport again.

Anyway, when we went in, there was a very long queue. SO, we did the express check in but inserting the credit card and we are glad to see our names appear which means the flight is not cancelled. So, the computer printed our boarding passes for the entire trip. We will be going Atlanta first and then one houre transit back to New Orleans.

The flight was quite nice even though there was no satellite radio. The flight to Chicago, there was satellite radio on board the plane. I could just use my MP3 earphones and plug it in and can choose about 300 different channels. Real awesome. But this time round, there isnt..so I just spent the time reading and sleeping. Each flight, there will be snacks (only biscuits) and drinks.

We finally reached New Orleans at about 1030am. We boarded the AVIS shuttle bus back to our car and when we went onto the bus, someone called us. We got a shock, wondering who it was. It was Tee, CT's colleague. He just flew in from Washington. We were happy to have met him as we did not how to go from the car rental area back to the highway.

We finally reached back home at 1 pluspm. Went to pump gas and then went to "Purple Cafe" for lunch. It is cafe that is less than 5 mins away from my place. Just opposite my place but yet, we need to drive because there are no pedestrian crossings..so even though if we want to walk, it is highly dangerous. So that is why we are not used to walking and had problems during our first day in Chicago.

Purple cafe serves Lebanese, Greek food. Very nice. I had a sheesh kabob pita bread with salad...while CT had a beef with spices in pita bread and a soup. Each person is about US$6 plus tax. So, it is quite reasonable. Initially, the first few days in US, I would think that it is expensive..but we have gotten used to it. Less than US$10 is considered reasonable already.

After lunch, we found out that CT's work has been pushed back...so we could spend a night in Mobile first before driving off the next morning at 9am. We were very happy and thankful that our prayers has been answered-that everything has been taken care of and planned for us already. So, we went home and started packing for our Tennessee trip. We were tired and wanted to go sleep but cannot cos we have to wait till night.

We stayed home for dinner. Cooked maggi mee, added egg and ham. After dinner, we finished up our packing and went straight to bed. Tired..

What a rushed day!

This morning, we woke up at 8am and had our rice dumplings for breakfast. So filling but yummy as I have not eaten for so so long. After that, HL came home as she went to drop Joan off to work. Then, we took the train to the place where the cruise was. The cruise boat leaves at 10am and we were still in the train at about 945am. So, once we left the train, we ran to the boat area. The train station is many blocks away from the river..so we had to hurry.

Reached the boat at 955am. Ha..just in time. Thank God there were seats for us as well at a good place on top of the boat. It is an architectural cruise as the tour guide will tell us all about most of the buildings in chicago as the boat travels on the river , through the city. It was an interesting tour as Chicago has many beautiful buildings. The weather, though hot, was perfect for photography. Take a look at some interesting buildings.


















"Circular" IBM Building Curves on Citibank Building Interesting glass building

After the cruise, we wet for lunch at UNO Pizzeria place for Chicago's deep dish pizza. We ordered an express lunch which includes an indiv portion of deep dish pizza and one soup or salad. Costs about US$5.50 per person..so very reasonable and it is quick serving. The lunch was very filling. Then, we arranged to meet Hsiang Ling at 1pm outside the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The museum is interesting but the shop in it is even more interesting. They have a lot of interesting things and books which just captivates you. There is this board which me and CT played for a while. It is actually chinese brush dipped into water and when you write, te paper gets wet but the words you write will slowly surface after a short while. Then. the words will disappear once the water dries up.



It is interesting and good for kids to practise writing with chinese brush and it saves you the hastle from cleaning up your hands when most of the time, the ink has made your hands dirty. In this case, it is just water. And also, you can keep on practising without wasting paper. Ha..However, the items sold in the shop are very expensive...so did not buy it.







Here is a picture which I took in the museum. Quite interesting as well. It is a bulb and filament tube.. The flower in the bulb is litted up..

It reminds me of the Beauty and the Beast story where the flower is kept in the glass..so pretty..

Another one which I thought it is interesting is how the artists use scraps like can,paper from the streets to make a sculpture.




After spending lots of time looking especially at the 2-storey shop which sells very interesting things, we headed back to train station and went back. Oh, in the shop, there is also this book that teaches you the safest thing to do. E.g they will tell you where is the safests level to stay in a hotel, where is the safest place to sit in an air plane etc..so many of the safest things in the book..so interesting.

They say the safest place to stay in hotel is between 4-7 storey. Why? Because if lower than 4,the robbers can easily go into your room and take your things as the lower floors have more people. Not safe to be higher than 7 because in case of a fire, the fireman ladder cannot reach higher than 7 storeys..as it is not long enough. Ha..Interesting right?

The book also says which location of hotel is the safest. They say hotels near airports are safest because most customers would be businessmen and so, the security and technology will be most up-to-date. And they also offer more explanations which I cannot remember.

Ok, when we went home, I quickly bathed as I will only reach back Mobile at 12 midnight. So, had to take a shower. Then, HL drove us to the airport. There was a jam along the highway which was quite bad. Our flight was 520pm and it was already 430pm. We were panicking a bit. Then, while we were reaching, HL told us to stretch our legs for the run. Ha.. She said that she is notorious for having her name called through the PA system. Goodness. She said that still, she always made it in time. So, when we reached, we did an express check in just by inserting credit card into the machine and they will detect your flights and print out your tickets. Usually, takes us only 5 mins to do that and there is no queue for that. However, they could not find our flights when we inserted the card. So we had to go to the counter to check and then, the gal at the counter told us that our flight from Atlanta to New Orleans had been cancelled due to heavy storm or maybe a hurricane. We can still fly to Atlanta but no use cos we have to pay for accomodation which the airlines refused to pay since it is weather-something the airline cannot control. So, we called HL and told her and she drove back to pick us up. So, we booked the earliest flight tomorrow to Atlanta and then to New Orleans.

What a day! So HL came back to pick us up and then we went to pick Joan up from work as it was 6pm already. It was a joke and all we could do was just laugh it off! We said we missed Chicago that we wanted to stay one more night.

We put our bags down and went out for dinner at an Indian restaurant. Joan brought his own wine to drink and celebrate our return. Ha. The food was very nice and there were a lot of rice! Enjoyed it very much. We had curry chicken, green curry fish which was amazingly good and fresh as well as curry vegs.

On our way back to our apartment, during the walk, we actually saw fire flies flying!! Me and CT got so excited as just recently we were talking about how we have not seen fire flies in our entire lives, but only on love shows on TV where the guy would take the girl out in the field to see fireflies and catch for her. So, we were jokingly saying that we are glad we stayed over for one more night. Ha..I kept fanning the flies to scare them as they would only lit up when they panic..I felt so bad but I really wanted them to light up! :)

We had to sleep right after dinner as our flight was 530am the next day. I spent my extra night here in Chicago washing our dirty clothes at the house since once we reach back New Orleans, we need to drive back to Mobile and we may need to go Tennessee on the same day for CT's work. So, we may not have time to wash. So, we made use of the extra night to wash and dry. It is easy cos there is dryer-something which I will miss when we go back Singapore. It is so useful as within one and a half hours, you can get your clothes all washed and dried. CT was busy making phone calls back to his colleagues and boss to let them know as initially, we were supposed to car pool and go to Tennessee together at 9am..but we would only reach Mobile at 1plus pm. So, our plan was to reach mobile and quickly pack and leave for Tennessee at 2pm and reach Knoxville Tennessee at about 10pm as it is about 8 hours drive.

CT was saying how tired he would be..one whole day of travelling and driving as since his flight is delayed, he would be the only one driving. Initially, Anthony was supposed to sit with us, then they can rotate drivers. So, before we slept, as usual, we prayed and ask God to give us strength and help us sort everything out and allow our flight tomorrow to be smooth.

Independence Day

Today is a public holiday because of Independence Day. Woke up at 8plus am, had cereals. Joan and HL was not awake yet. So, me and CT were like wondering what to do. CT went to read a book at the living room, while I went to check on the computer to find out whether the museums were opened today or not. The Museum of Contemporary Art was closed. That was the museum we wanted to go because we had the museum pass which HL borrowed from the library.

The museums in Chicago have to pay but it can be free if you are able to borrow the museum pass from the library..and the pass allows 4 people to enter free. So, HL usually borrows them and so, museums in Chicago can be considered free. Was reading the newspapers and playing Joan's guitar till about 950am. By that time, they were awake already and so, we left about that time to go to John Hancock Tower to pick up a friend, Woonwah. She is from Hong Kong but has been in Chicago for 13 years alr, working. After picking her up, we went to Chinatown. It is very huge as there are a lot of Asians here in Chicago. We went to a restaurant called Phoenix which serves very good Tim Sum. The place is crowded with many pple waiting for the turn to sit. And the pple waiting are Asians..so it must be good.

We had to wait half an hour for our seat and so, we decided to go walk around first while Woonwah waited for the seats. So,we walked along the older part of chinatown and there were so many interesting shops. Went to a bakery to buy rice dumplings, lo mai kai and egg tarts. Spoke to the person in Cantonese..felt like home..haha..

After that, we went back to the restaurant and I was surprised as Woonwah invited her friends as well..about 4 more. They are either from China or Taiwan and were working in Chicago as well. The tim sum food was fabulous. I must say the char siew bao is very nice and fluffy...just like back home. I also ordered my fav chicken feet. The chef must be from HK..enjoyed the brunch.. :) After eating till about 1pm plus, Joan dropped Woonwah back to her office as she needed to work while he dropped us at Tourist Info Centre for our sightseeing and arranged to meet back home at 7pm for our last dinner before we go back tomorrow.

We first went into the Tourist Info Centre for more brochures and map of the area. Then, we walked to Millenium Park. It is a very nice architectural park with modern designs. Love the park. Then in an area of the park, there is a place to dip your legs and cool down. So, that was what I did as the weather was a bit hot today.

After that, we walked along Michigan Ave, which the most happening road like Orchard Road, to the river cruise tour booth to buy tickets for cruise tomorrow morning. It was drizzling while we were walking which def made the surroundings cooler. After buying tickets for cruise tomorrow at 10am, we walked to this building called, "The American Girl's Place". We went to this place because HsiangLing(HL) said we have to go to this place to see it for ourselves. This place will make your jaw drop and give you more insight to what America is like.

Ok, basically, this place has 3 storeys and it is actually a doll shop. What is so special about this shop is not only one doll costs more than 100 over bucks US, but you can has a whole range of clothes for you to mix n match clothes for your doll..not only that, you can wear what your doll wears too! So, they have clothes for humans to match the same clothes as your doll. How crazy is that? Not only that, there is a saloon in the shop for your doll. You bring your doll to the saloon to get her hair fix. So, the hairdresser will sit your doll on this cute little doll barber chair and start doing a hairstyle for your doll according to what you like. So, what me and CT actually saw is this hairdresser tying up the doll's hair nicely...I like the cute little chairs for the doll to sit and relax. It is also amazing to see how not only the excitement of the girls in the shop but also their parents!

The place was crowded..There is also a cafe inside where they have special doll seat for your doll...haha..Check out the website to learn more. http://www.americangirl.com/

They have different storeys for different time-present dolls and the past dolls. The picture on top is about the past where the dressing is all old fashioned dressing and of red indians..very interesting. It was an eye opener..seriously.

After walking there, we went to Borders to take shelter and just sit down somewhere with books to read since it was still drizzling. So after reading a while, we went opposite which was Hershey's building. The shop sells all types of hershey chocolate. Very interesting. I bought some chocolate for friends.After that, we made our way to Navy Pier which was quite far away. But I was quite used to walking already,unlike the first day when I arrived.

Navy Pier is a very nice place where is situated along the Lake..one whole stretch. It has the children's museum and lots of other amusement games like ferris wheel, carousel etc.. Me and CT sat the ferris wheel for US$2.50 each as we made use of a coupon we had-half price. It will take you very high up to see the skyline. It is a slow moving wheel just to admire the scenery.

After that, we just walked along the whole stretch of the pier. Then, took the free trolley (bus) to train station so that we can take train back home. When we reached back, Joan and HL was not back yet, so we decided to walk around their house to see the shops. After walking one round, we thought that if they not back yet, we would call them..then just as we were reaching back, I turned around and saw them walking behind us. They did not even know they were walking behind us. ha.

We reached home, bathed and got changed to go to a Spanish Restaurant near by. When HL says it is nearby, it is a different kind of nearby as to her, walking one km is near. Ha..But yeah, have been trained these few days here in Chicago already. Moreover, the weather was nice and cooling as the rain had stopped. The Spanish food at Cafe Babareeba was fabulous. We had paella which we all shared, Sangria wine drink and tapas. Tapas is like Spanish tim sum. They will come in small servings. We ordered 5 tapas which was all different kind. It was very nice.

After a full meal, we had a nice walk back to our apartment. While we were walking back, we heard sounds of fireworks. It seems that there is another round of fireworks today. So, we hurried back to see if we can view from the apartment roof top. So, we went and could see a bit of fireworks from there. Then, it started drizzling and we all went in but HL was still so excited to see that she stayed. Then. we said, scarly you sick ah..then she said, "sick lah..also no work what." haha...cos she is also like me, accompanying her husband here..so she was nonchalent about what will happen to her cos she does not need to take leave and has lots of time to rest and recuperate. However, the way she said it was so funny cos it sounded real shiok...no worries...bo chup kind of attitude.

Had a fruitful day of sightseeing today before we fly back tomorrow.

Another day of walking!

This morning, woke up at 745am and went church at 830am to help the people to inflate helium into the balloons for the Independence Day concert in church today at 4pm. Went to Hsiang Ling's church (The Moody Church). After helping till 930am, we went to the sanctuary to wait for the service to start. The service started at 950am. We were sitted early and there was this African-American guy who came up to talk to us and was very very friendly. He was asking us where we come from and whether it is our first time in this church. He was all smiles and encouraging us. Very cute. He is about 70 over years old but with such energy coming out from him, you would think he is 50 years old. Hsiang Ling and Joan was involved in the choir, so they did not sit with us.

After service, me and CT went for sightseeing. We walked to Lincoln Park and went in the park, there is a farm zoo. Very interesting with farm animals and educational as well as they will explain the process of farming etc. The pigs in the farm were very big and fat. Take a look!

Anyway, after that, was starving.So,we went nearby for lunch first as I was starving. I had a Chicago hot dog. It is basically a hot dog with lots of pickles..quite colourful. CT had a burger. After filling my stomach, we went to the Lincoln Park main zoo. Why?Because it is free!! haha.. Hsiang Ling told us that it is good. So, we went and yup, it is big and has funny animals. Funny in the sense that it looks wierd. Some never see before. After walking so much, went to a conservatory greenhouse to see plants and flowers. They have so many diff species and wierd looking plants. Very interesting. There was also an orchid house with lots of interesting species of orchids. Outside the observatory, someone was having a wedding. So, it was quite a sight.



After walking so long, I told CT that I did not want to go back into the zoo as I was getting tired. So, though we have not walked the whole zoo, we went to our next destination which was the beach. So we crossed over the bridge to the beach and boy, there were like millions of ants!! (oops..i meant, humans). The whole beach was crowded with people and they were all exercising or suntanning. Very interesting mix of people in chicago. There were some BBQ-ing as well.

When we walked along the beach, I was telling CT how diff Chicago is compared to Mobile,Alabama. In Chicago, everyone seems to be so active and working out, with much better bodies than in the South. Ha.. In Mobile, there are so many overweight people as the buffet is so cheap. In Chicago, I did not see any buffet places and so many people are exercising in the beach. Our beach in Mobile, though the sand is so white and the water is clearer, the people there are only sunbathing...and swimming. That's all. Ha..slack.

After the long walk along the beach, we walked back to church for the Indep Day celebration. Joan and HsiangLing has been in church whole day as they will be singing in the celebration. Went back to church early to get a seat. The celebration was being broadcast in satellite. There was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing as well and there were singing and video presentations..I truly enjoyed the celebration esp one part of the concert where during the song, when the video shows the company you were from, you must stand up. So, they will show army, marines, etc on the projector and when they show where you were from, you stand up proudly and everyone will clap. I feel very touched because of how proud they are of their country and after the celebration, you just feel that America is really blessed.

After the celebration, there was an ice cream party held in church...for free. So, we had lots of ice cream scoops. CT was busy trying all the flavours and eating. Ha..

After eating, HsiangLing took the balloons to distribute to the kids but there were too many. So Hsiang Ling was so tempted to take all the balloons and let it go as she said she has always been wishing to let go balloons to the sky..So, she was pretty excited while she collected all the balloons together.

So, finally, we all counted down for the balloons to be let go to the sky. And finally when the balloons flown, everyone was clapping.Ha.. I could see how happy Hsiang Ling is..

After church service, we went back to change out. We decided to eat pizza on rooftop of their apartment and just enjoy the time together. So, Joan and HsiangLing went to get pizza.

The pizza was not as good as we all expected but the time spent with our friends is more important that the food. We had a good time talking and just enjoying the breeze.

You can see the picture taken at the rooftop on the right.

After eating,we rushed to the train station to go and see the fireworks. The fireworks is being displayed at Lake Michigan and the train station was so crowded. The fireworks was played according to the Symphony Orchestra Band. There were so many kinds of fireworks..even those that is multi coloured and some that came out American Flag colours..very interesting. Some fireworks were like raining down to us.

It was a 20 mins show and the Orchestra played many songs and each time when the song was about to finish, it was like a finale of spectacular fireworks.

After the show, we walked back to the station and while we were walking, there were people playing with fireworks as well. There are fireworks shops in US where you can buy them off the stall. So, it is easily available.

When we reached the train station, there were so many pple squeezing and lining up that we had to walk to another station to take the train. It was a long ride back as the train stopped because it was simply too crowded at one station that there was a jam. Goodness.

Went home aching terribly on my legs that I had to keep massaging them. Haha..

Off to Chicago, Illinois

Today, woke up at 230am to drive to New Orleans Intl Airport for thr flight to Chicago. Left home at 245am and made our way there. It was about 2 and a half hour drive to the airport. Taking the flight from there is much cheaper than my own regional airport-about 100 US cheaper..so we'd rather drive all the way there to take the flight. Drove to the Avis car rental area and had to take a shuttle bus to the airport. Reached the place at about 5 plus am. It was way too early.


Went to the gate, sat down and ate sandwiches which I made for breakfast. Our flight was 7am. So, after eating, I rested a while,putting my head on CT's shoulders. Then, someone walked beside us and talked to us. It was Anthony-CT's colleague. He was also taking the same flight to Atlanta and transit to Las Vegas. We are also transitting at Atlanta. So, it was rather coincidental to have met him. We reached Atlanta at 8plus am, which was 9plus am (Atlanta time). We explored the area and I saw people queuing up for food at this stall and I saw fried chicken wings. So, I got tempted and bought 5 wings. Yum.

Air Tran plane we took-check out the sign!

Our next flight to Chicago was 1plus pm. So, we had 4 hours to "stone". So, we sat down, started reading, slept and then woke up and had lunch. Bought food from Burger King. I had a grilled chicken salad while CT got a double cheeseburger. After eating, read a while and slept again. Ha.. It was like a cycle.. Finally, we boarded the plane to Chicago!


Reached Chicago at 220pm and saw HsiangLing running towards us. Gave her a big hug and then we went on their car. It was a very cool car-Infiniti SUV with GPRS system in the car which tells you where you are on the map and how to get to your destination by a guided voice. Even when the car reverses, it shows the view of the back on the screen where you are heading so that you will not knock anything at the back of car. So, if you are not sure how to get to a place, you just need to tell the computer and they will guide you. Awesome...and if you happen to miss the turning, they will guide you in another way to your destination.Very useful. That is why HsiangLing drove the car to Toronto as well. The GPRS has the map of Canada roads as well. How cool can that be??


We went to their place to drop our bags, and then, Joan (HsiangLing's husband) & HsiangLing drove us around Chicago downtown. After that, we parked the car and walked along the Lake Michigan near the Shedd Aquarium. The Lake is huge!! It is like a sea as you cannot see what is on the other side.

Lake Michigan with downtown Chicago

We did lots of walking...never walked so much during my whole stay in Mobile, Alabama added up.We walked to Grant Park where they are having the "Taste of Chicago" event going on. In the park, there is also a big ferris wheel and water slides. They have about 500 booths set up by restaurants in Chicago displaying their food and we buy coupons and purchase to try. . They have taste portions as well for 3 coupons($1.50)..so me and CT bought a lot of the taste portion so that we can make our money's worth by trying a lot of different food and stalls. They have all sorts of cuisine..but it is super crowded!! So, we were squashed! Something which I do not like as I prefer peace and quiet! hehe..

Taste of Chicago Event

After eating, we went to see Santana performing at the Grant park. It was def very crowded also, but because of the big screen, we managed to see Santana from it. People were dancing and having picnic while listening. After watching, we went back to the stalls to use up our coupons. We finally had a deep dish pizza which is famous in Chicago. It is super thick pizza with thick layer of cheese..very yummy. After that, we squeezed out of the crowd and took a train back as Joan and HsiangLing parked the car back home already since the parking in Chicago is madness. It is difficult to find parking and if you do, it is very expensive..about 5US$ for half and hour! It is very convenient to take the train as their apartment is near the train station. But me and CT were not used to walking so much because in Mobile, we drive everywhere. The roads and streets is not pedestrian friendly. So, we were aching a lot while we went back to the apartment.

Santana performing at Grant Park