Chilly in Chicago!!!

I reached Chicago, met kiddo and guess what - I FROZEEE!!! There was snow everywhere.... Kiddo told me winters are depressing in Chicago and so people needed some cheering up... Which is why there were Christmas lights wherever I went... Beautiful it looked :)

I went to kiddo's apartment and the first thing I did - turn on heat to level 5... This dude was like Sharmili, in my stay here for 3 months - I have never required so much heating :))) Anyway, some more jokes on my (Mumbaikars - later on generalized) cold withstanding abilities... Anyway, we spoke through the nite, saw some of our snaps (you know - its so silly - the concept of seeing the snaps you were a part of... But trust me - it just got back the whole experience and happy feeling back to us...) Then we called it a nite and I told kiddo to NOT wake me up early...

Next day I got up at 12:30 - wooooow!! what a feeling - I had almost forgotten it... And then kiddo started fussing... Get ready!! We are late!! etc... Everything fell in place, we got "Metra" to Michigan avenue - one of the coolest places in Chicago... My sense of USA traffic was completely distorted after coming here... Cars very close.... Cars honking... Cars not letting pedestrains go first... Everything was anti was I had seen in other places... Anyway, we went to Hancock towers - sat in the fastest lift in North America (I would have said world - but kiddo insists on these technicalities), got a mind-blowing view of Chicago outline....

Next we went to Millenium park... Well snowing had dampened the main attraction there, Cloud Gate - which reflects the entire skyline of Chicago... We still took pics coz the structure was magnificient in itself... Btw, the bags you see in our hands here, are the awesome deals we got on Disney soft toys (the big red bag), Guess watches (cant be seen) and Disney doll stuff (Pink bag - which kiddo bought NOT ME)

Then was the MOST exciting part of the trip... So, people who know me - KNOW that adventure, sports etc things excite me the most... So, while I did enjoy all the sight seeing, ice-skating was the BEST!!! And it was difficult too... I fell down 5 times, got hurt at places I cannot mention here but finally, I managed it - took 2 rounds of the entire ring without holding anything and fast and without stopping... I do agree that I was still very clumsy as opposed to 5 yr old kids who managed to be better than me.... But I was VERY VERY HAPPY!!! Would have stayed there longer but we were tired and we still had to see another place... We went to Navy Pier which was closed due to winters or some reason so while I could strike it off the list of things to see, I dint really get to experience it...

Then came the second highlight of the trip... We cooked... We dint have an elaborate kitchen like my mom did but we still managed to get our act together :)))) Woooow!!! Having garam garam Indian food (awesome food made by kiddo primarily) and watch friends with friends and heater on (last detail is important for me :) is an awesome feeling... Its like eating garam garam pakoda and chai on a rainy day with your family.... Get the picture!! We were too tired to do anything else after the entire day of sight seeing... Slept off to get up LATE again :))))


Next day started with seeing GSB Chicago (now renamed as Booth school of business) , eating the famous deep crust pizza (which we could not finish - the smallest size) and running to get a shuttle to the airport.. Oh btw, it was interesting that I spoke to Gau that day, spoke to Rekha after hajar years (I am still surprised she remembered me) and guess what, my trip back to San Francisco was going to be meeting her.... I was so glad that whole thing worked out...

I took flight out of Chicago (Goodbyes are sad - even if you know you are going to meet the person in the next 2 days) and landed in San Fran where I met Rekha and Guru (her husband)... Man!! It was so awesome... I dint have any camera to take a pic with them (sadly so) but it was good fun... Rekha made Pav Bhaji (so Indian food on 2 days... Yeee!), we spoke through the night... Their house is just awesome (they bought a new one) and immediately I told Guru that he should talk to my sister who can help him decorate it... Anyway, after lot of talk (some of it involved around how I just assume things will fall in place when I am travelling and how I havent really planned a lot) we went off to sleep... The next morning I took MRT (Mass Rapid Transit - a sort of metro) from a place close to their place (Fremont) to airport.... Flight was on time, I checked in to get down at Singapore - the last place I was visiting in the trip.. Oh, in order to avoid jet lag issues, I saw 8 movies in a row on the flight and yet, I was not sleepy when I landed... Like Sudha said - it beat the purpose of not being jet lagged :)))

I met Sudha at the airport and went to her new apt.... Next day - went to Mustafa's (the only place I had not visited in SGP), set up her room, met Vikrant and Ashwath (after a long time) and boarded the flight to India....

Back at home... Phew!!! Queues, Indian faces and delays... I was at home... In those 2 weeks,
1. I saw 6 cities,
2. Visited 12 airports,
3. Saw the best sides of people who I met after a long time,
4. Actually bonded with the Stanford students which is THE POINT of the exchange program (My status message for a couple of days was I dont want to leave Stanford people)
5. Did sight seeing, went on rides and walks and
6. Had tons of memorable experiences which are not restricted only to this blog but there for life....

Easily one of the best things that I did while at IIM Bangalore - Enroll for the Stanford Exchange Program...