Chicago

I'm back! Man, Chicago is hella fun. plus it was hella cheap since we were cordially hosted by our sweet and generous friends-cum-tour guides. so yeah, good company + one great city + minimal expenses = fun! but connecting two flights from Chicago to Providence, the distance people normally travel on one flight, is not fun lah. but what can I say? We did enjoy ourselves cooking mind-blowing Thai delicacy, joking around the whole time we were awake (that's meant to be taken literally), and basically dragging our tired legs around the Windy City, which fortunately happened to be not so windy. Six days had flown into thin air before we knew it. And here I am, back in Providence, reminiscing and recalling what was left of my memories in Chicago.

I have so much to say about Chicago although I obviously don't know the city well enough to make a judgment at all (wow what an american-style self-conscious disclaimer-type thing to say). On the one hand, it is remarkably different from New England, the american living experience I have grown accustomed to and that thereby became my point of reference. On the other, it's almost impossible for me to single out where this "difference" stems from. Of course, I heard strands of accents, tried local specialties (the Deep Dish pizza), and most importantly, gave myself a little incomplete tour of this American home of modernist architecture. But there are so many things that I think still are elusive to me about trying to get a hold of this city's sensibilities. Maybe it's in the way the people dress? the choice of eateries & supermarkets? etc etc. so, quick&dirty conclusion? Every city has its own mind. and, for better or worse, I don't have to try to sum up, categorize, or make sense of everything that is obviously peculiar to itself.

It's now 5:00AM although my phone still blinks 4:00AM. I plan to write more on this in my next entry which will be hopefully devoted to things I did and saw in Chicago. And, as a manner of ritual, I like to leave this entry with a picture I took on the John Hancock tower. pretty sweet, isn't it.