Chicago
Weekend in the Windy City
Trippin'.
Chicago-- a city of architectural glories, home of the Cubs, although some may dispute, home of the White Sox (either or, I don't watch baseball, much)-- who knew that Chicago is also a mecca for unbelievably great food. As the years go by (scary that I can say years, as in plural), we have taken less and less pictures of us and more and more pictures of food. Chicago was a good testimony to this. We've come to terms that we travel first and foremost to eat if nothing else. This was a great unplanned trip since G had to go for work so I decided to tag along. We spent the first morning on an architectural boat tour of Chicago which was a nice change from the typical walking tours. It's great to have the opportunity to meet some of G's coworkers and be able to hang out with them. We had an wonderful dinner at the Hard Rock's China Grille. Dessert at the restaurant clearly did not suffice, not that it wasn't good, but that we had to have more. We managed to sneak away from the pack and capped our "sweet" evening at Hot Chocolate.
The ultimate, gastronomical dining splurge
A wallet busting, food lovers paradise resides here in Chicago-- Alinea! Often top 5 in the world.. choose between a 12 or 24 course dining experience including wine pairing with each course.. and 3 hours later = total gratification. Let's just say.. if you're asking, "How much?" than you probably can't afford it. A once in a lifetime experience was my excuse and it was completely worth every penny. We are foodies after all. It was a must. Here's just a sample of Alinea's 12- course menu that is constantly changing:
Alinea, 1723 North Halsted, tel: 312 867 0110
The W is by far one of my favorite hotels. Modern and posh, it's definitely our kind of hospitality.. with the exception of the early morning stranger in our room that scared the crap out of me. We figured it was room service staff setting up breakfast but got the wrong room. Who knows. I'd rather not dwell on it. Since G had to work a good portion of the next day, I had the opportunity to go to the Field museum by myself which was great! The in between parts of the weekend was filled with shopping and eating-- what we do best.
Sleeping: Love the W Hotel-- posh, hip and modern. Best lounge by far.
Eating: Minnies. A mini experience that is sure to satisfy your sandwich cravings.
Activity: Do not miss the BEAN! We did due to some less than perfect planning.
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Las Vegas
G's Birthday Weekend
Trippin.'
Alright.. so a birthday weekend in Vegas is very cliche but this is a friends getaway fanfare and we couldn't pass up our first Vegas doing it the "Vegas" way-- drinks, clubs, and pool-- where we can finally say, "What happens in Vegas.." and actually meant it. G and I did manage to break away from all the Vegas madness to squeeze in a lunch at Burger Bar, catching the KA show at MGM, followed by dinner at Fix.
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Skydive Monterey Bay
Skydive Monterey Bay
Trippin'.
Rather than relive the unbelievably horrific event that was G's birthday, I'm going to copy/ paste my review of this place from Yelp. We came for an experience of a lifetime with close friends, and while we got what we asked for eventually, I never imagined the frustration. I can only apologize to our friends for what they had to go through and wished the outcome was different. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience in more ways than one. G got his quarter- century jump and will surely be something to remember.
My Yelp Review
Never had we experienced such disorganized, unprofessional, and inconsiderate customer service in my life! The jump, great as it may be, does not make up for what you have to go through to get there. We had an 11am reservations and waited 8 hrs only to be handed "rainchecks" at the end of a ridiculously long and unnecessary day. We weren't the only ones as there was another group who had reservations as well that received rainchecks. I checked in every hour and everytime, the girl at the front desk told me 1 more hr. 1 became 2 and 2 became 3 and so on. Then we finally made it to "the board" which we thought was a good sign. Somehow, by late- afternoon, we were off the board. People with no reservations or those who came after us went before us. What gives?! We were livid!
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San Francisco
Anniversary in San Francisco
Trippin'.
Our city of choice for a quick getaway; San Francisco. Partly for proximity, but mostly, we never tire from all things that are synonymous with this city. There's always something to do, and dare I say, eat. We received a great gift from G's vendor through work-- a free nights' stay at Hotel Vitale right across the Ferry building. A perfect start to our anniversary. We had a typical San Francisco getaway-- Saturday morning stroll through the Farmer's market, a drive up to Coit Tower, followed by a romantic dinner at Gary Danko's. We capped our weekend by watching a Giant's game at AT&T Park. I thought I had G beat with the perfect anniversary gift; a scrapbook detailing the last 4 years that we've been together. He apparently had the same idea but a better vehicle to showcase it-- a video slide show of the last 4 years-- buggers! Another home run anniversary for the books (or slide show).
Sleeping: Hotel Vitale. The perfect location for a weekend along the Piers.
Eating: Hog's Island Oyster Company. The best grilled cheese sandwich ever!
Activity: Saturday's Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building.
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Santa Cruz
23 February : Chowing Down Chowder
Clam Chowder Festival in Santa Cruz
Trippin.'
So the weather could have been better, it poured at one point, but we didn't care. We were in chowder heaven. For a small fee, we were able to sample from a variety of contestants, from amateurs to popular restaurants and it was DE- licious! The winner ended up being some 11 year old boy.. HA! Our first food festival together-- I'm hooked! What's next? Garlic Festival in Gilroy? Chocolate Festival in San Francisco? We're there!
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Bangkok, Thailand
4 - 5 January : LadyBoys
Day Trip to Ayutthaya & Late Night Show
Trippin'.
Our 3rd and final tour on this trip is a day trip to Ayutthaya and while the views are out of this world and the landmarks are rich with history, we can't help but wish we were back in Bangkok shopping. Sad as that may sound, you have no idea. However, we were appreciative and enlightened.
Once back in Bangkok, we were beat but washed up and got in some shopping time. G was able to purchase some great dress pants and khakis along with a few ties-- wonder when those will get put to use. Dinner was on the Shangri- 
La premises.
The one in the white-- G was crushing on her (him) during the whole show.
Afterward, I was extremely exhausted so naturally, I squeezed in a quick power nap. Not wanting to turn in early on our last night in Thailand, we decided to skip out on the clubbing nightlife and instead see a cabaret show. But not just any cabaret.. Calypso-- Bangkok's best ladyboys show! You would have never guessed that the entire show cast were all ladyboys. No way.. no how. We were fooled.
Had we known what an amazing time we would have in Thailand, we would have planned to stay longer. Completely bummed that we couldn't go to Pattaya and Phuket. All the more reason to come back next time!
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