Hello again! :p
As promised, I'm back here today with a post about my Easter trip. As you all probably know or don't already know, I went to Chicago, Vegas, California (LA) and back to Chicago again before heading back to London during my Easter break. That was definitely a much needed break with the bf for almost two weeks to be precise..
Wouldn't deny that it was quite a long, worthy break that I've ever had throughout my semester breaks, before I had to head back to reality, where I had to deal with all the late night stay-ups to work on my dissertation again, amidst of the gruelling revision for finals that I had to cope with. Well, I'm just glad that I managed to go through that phase of my life then.
Looking back at such tight schedule and demanding workload that I had previously, I honestly have no idea how did I even deal with those pressure then; the pressure to produce a high quality dissertation report with the least/minimal scientific errors and facts, as well as to be able to perform equally well for my finals...
Again, what can I say? I personally am most amazed and surprised that I could pull through it all without even breaking down at all during that phase. I never thought I had such strong determination and motivation within me.. That drive, I often ponder, whether I could ever find it again; whether I could even pull through the same "stunt" if I ever have to undergo similar experience and phase again in life. Well who knows? Nobody knows what the future holds and what we are all bound to face in life.. Only time will tell :) For now, I'll continue to live in bliss each day and be thankful of the people I'm surrounded with and most importantly, who were always there to lend a helping hand to me, be supportive of me, and to always trust my capability even when I'm always doubtful of myself during that crucial period. Thank you :) Somehow, I would love to believe the idea that God has secretly planted his secret angels around me to constantly look after me and ensuring that I'm always at the right direction in life, even when I didn't have anyone to rely on then. These are the simplest thing that I'm always grateful of in life.
Alright, alright.. I guess it's time for me to head back to the main topic for this post today.
Day 1:
Chicago
Heh, yeap.. So, I took British Airways that was operated by American Airlines to Chicago, and the flight lasted for almost 8 hours. Yes. You can imagine how bored it was throughout my flight alone... The sacrifices that I had to make in order to reunite with the bf. I would like to think of it as a major effort that I've ever made in my relationship, especially when it was still an LDR previously. Also, this was just two days after my 22nd birthday (18/3/2015).. Which actually explained that I didn't get to celebrate my birthday for the first time ever with the bf. Haha, it doesn't really matter anyway, since after all, I have had such a great simple celebration with my girlfriends in Manchester and London <3
Also, since I left London to Chicago on the 20/3/2015 early in the morning, and plus Chicago was just 6 hours behind UK's timezone then, thus, I actually arrived on the same day itself in Chicago. So basically, I didn't waste any time because I was practically travelling back in time, living back the lost time I've had throughout my flight... (practically just lost about 2 hours only since flight lasted 8 hours :P) Anyway, as I arrived in Chicago O'Hare Airport, I waited for the bf to pick me up and send me off to the hotel that we were going to stay for the night. After our check-in and everything at the Sheraton Hotel, we then headed out to the city centre to check out the shopping areas before dinner. But one thing that I was quite taken aback by was the signage that I saw on the entrance of the hotel's door.
(Just look at the picture below and you'll understand)
☟
Yeap, the signage explaining that "No guns are allowed in the building of the hotel". I know I shouldn't be surprised because this is the states after all... Probably because I was still a young kid about 8-year-old back then since my last visit, so there were just too many things that I wouldn't know during my visit then.
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Well, we visited Eataly in Chicago the first night, because the other restaurant that we wanted to go initially, which is a highly-acclaimed place that serves only pork, and really good pork, was completely full with reservations until about 9pm.. So we decided to go for something light before heading back to the restaurant (The Purple Pig).
So, if you don't know this, Eataly in Chicago is actually like a large grocery store that serves all kinds of Italian groceries, ranging from dry cupboard to fresh food/ingredients.. Not only that, what amazes me is that it even have gelato, dessert sections, as well as a wide selection of dining areas in the store for you to choose from.. For example, there are areas for you to have solely pasta and pizza, tapas food, bar food and wine tasting too. & fyi, there are only two of this store in the states, one which is in Chicago, another one is in New York. So glad that I got to come to a place this.. Truly an eye-opener to me :p And if you think Whole Foods Market in London is something so amazing, it's actually just quite normal in the states itself, especially when you can find it almost everywhere in Chicago.
Our light meal before our second round. Started with some fresh oysters.
Fresh squids cooked with extra virgin olive oil.
And finally, with some fresh raw white fish seasoned with black pepper and olive oil before we head for our second round.
The Purple Pig. As you can see, they have a wide selection of dishes from their menu.. This is definitely a non-halal place. So, if you're not a fan of pork or one who can't eat pork at all, this is definitely not a place for you. But please bear in mind that this place is constantly filled with people from 7pm onwards right up to midnight from Sunday-Thursday, and 2am on Friday & Saturday. So please be patient for table if you're really keen on visiting this place during dinner hours!
Our pork liver pate. Surprisingly good. This place was stumbled by my bf, and he claims that this has always been his place to go to whenever he comes to Chicago.
Pork marrow with toasted brioche bread. So yummy~ I can't even differentiate them from beef's or pork's.
The highly recommended milk braised pork shoulder with mashed potato.. Tasted not bad :)
And if i'm not wrong, this is a pork flat iron steak.. Definitely a very big portion one. Towards the end of our meal, I was extremely full.. Couldn't imagine myself eating so much as soon as I touch down Chicago. After our meal, we then headed back to the hotel and got our things packed in preparation for our check-out the next day as we are heading to the airport again for a flight to Las Vegas in the morning!
Day 2:
Las Vegas
Took the morning flight and it required about 4 hours to arrive Vegas. Since Vegas was about 2 hours faster compared to Chicago's timezone, we basically wasted quite a lot of time in total. However, it was all worth the travel :) In fact, I visited Vegas before when I was 8, so this was practically my second time to Vegas. However, since it was a long time ago as you know, the memories that I've had before was basically almost a blur now. So we arrived at Vegas around 11am.. As soon as we touched down, we took a cab and headed straight to the hotel, which was Wynn Encore, that we'll be residing at for the next 4 days and 3 nights.
The never-ending poker table... I never understood anything about casino's, not even until now.
Look at the number of people at the gambling section on Wynn, so different compared to the casino areas around Wynn Encore where it was empty during the day (picture before this).
Upgraded to suite :) A really huge room just for two!
The beautiful manmade waterfall outside of our hotel :)
Couldn't resist our cravings for some asian food, thus, we went for dimsum at Wynn's even though the food was just alright.
Some bubble tea for me :D
Dim sum...
Xiao Long Bao.
Singapore's style fried vermicelli.
Roast duck. Clearly it wasn't that nice :(
Went for some window shopping right after lunch. Hehe..
Gonna fast forward our first day in Vegas straight to our dinner meal :) So, there was this little gem in Chinatown that serves really great Japanese cuisine, named Aburiya Raku.. Even my bf couldn't believe me when I told him that this place requires a reservation in advance and it's apparently one of the bests in town. Thankfully, the reviews and name of this restaurant from what I've been reading online didn't disappoint at all. The only thing that was a bit upsetting was their service because of they are lacking of staffs. Never mind, at least their food was more than enough to make our complaints rest in mind :D Also, I would definitely say that the standard of Japanese cuisine served from this restaurant has surpassed all of the Japanese restaurants that I've ever tried in the UK. Not even Kiku, Ikeda or Kikuchi in London could compete to this small restaurant in Vegas' Chinatown! Another plus point was that the price of the food was certainly not as expensive as we would have expected. If I ever come back for another visit in future, I would definitely come back again.
A very sleepy-looking me.
Another shot in the restaurant while we were waiting for our table.
Fresh yellow tail carpaccio with different types of topping.
Fresh daily selection of sashimi's.
DELICIOUS. One of my favourite from the restaurant was this poached egg with sea urchin and salmon roe.
Grilled scallops.
Steamed foie gras egg custard.
In short, we were both amazed by the standard and quality of food served at Aburiya Raku. If service is out of the picture in this case, I would definitely rate this place 9 out of 10. Haha, I may be exaggerating, but do give this place a try if you ever have the chance to visit Vegas in the coming days :)
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:)
The night view of the waterfall.
Such a pretty deco at Wynn's hotel.
That's all for today's post. Still working on the remaining posts.. Hopefully this post of mine will help those of you in narrowing down your choices of cuisines if you are ever planning a visit to Chicago or Vegas in future :)
✗
KrystalH
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