lincoln - chicago day 1

summer kicked off with my trip to chicago and west lafayette...

since everytime we (12th INTIMA AUP committee) planned to meet up but always fail

so wan yi n i decided that we make a trip just the two of us to chicago...

and it was one heck of a priceless experience...

the $183 round trip air ticket to chicago was blown away by this awesome trip

started off with flight cancellation...

then went back to the airport the next day...

flight confirmed!

not much...my 2.04pm flight became 3.25pm...

after all the hassle, i was another step closer to chicago and to meet up with wan yi!

hallelujah

leaving lincoln!

and travelling by train from o'hare to jacksonville

memories flashback! KTM days from nilai-pudu!!! =D

the moment i stepped out from the station, i see HIGH RISE BUILDINGS!!!

ftw!!!

the fast paced city life =)

i took on a bet on turning left to get to the skydeck, with NO maps...

totally by feel and of course

wrong feel

fml!

since i went left and didnt get to the correct direction i walked back to the right from the train station and of course i made it there

=)

then wan yi managed to reach skydeck at 6pm!!!

the bits and pieces of us at skydeck /willis tower/ sears tower

and since it was only 8pm, we also decided to dash over to john hancock observatory by foot!

and of course another wrong choice made...

it was hell so farrrrrrrrrrr!!! and obviously didnt like it much since my backpack was a huge one!

=(

but we still made it there!

proud, no? =)

then we left at 10.30pm and get some dinner/supper for to go and catch the last train back to wan yi's uncle's place to put up a night

hi chicago!

we were so lucky that we actually managed to get the last train at 11.20pm, considering we left john hancock at 10.50pm, running across streets and streets for maybe a mile or two in HALF AN HOUR...

forgive the the tired faces then... :)

love this picture..!!!

my summer ...

has been awesome so far

i really enjoyed every moment of my summer and i really did not regret to stay back in US...

i thought it could be disastrous since lincoln is such a dead and boring town...

my initial plans for summer was wake up-work-tennis-rest-sleep, and the routine repeats

but obviously, i've a bunch of friends to thank for...

my "portuguese siblings" and i call them my siblings because christophe is at sis's age and ines is at bro's age... :) together we hang out with alexandre, the half french half american, sylvia, the korean born american, carter, sylvia's brother... all these people have been a great bunch of people to hang out with and i really spent 95% of my time with them throughout the summer

this summer i've experienced the best of the best throughout my 21 years of life...

since the day i turned 21 until now, i've been experiencing all kinds of new experience, travelling on a new route of journey...

may:-

experienced flight cancellation, flight delayed, traveled alone to a place i've never been to, traveled alone on train, explored chicago by foot with MAP, drove 2 hours+ to indiana (highest record was only an hour drive to omaha), car got towed for parking violation, camped at the airport, drove again to indiana for 3 hours+, sped at 90mph, got pulled aside by the cops for speeding over 18mph

was heck of a good experience

june:-

watched tonnes of soccer! world cup, world cup and more world cup...learned the way europeans take their meals...learned to eat a variety of cheese...

july:-

went on a business cum vacation trip with my professor and christophe... traveled from the flat lands to the rocky mountains and into the woods across 3 states...was one heck of a marvelous experience to travel with adults who are not your family members...travelling with adults is definitely different from travelling with your peers...it has pros and cons but i absolutely love the whole trip

submitted a paper as co-author but results from it didnt work well

will be submitting another paper for my project as first author soon... :)

submitting a paper as 1st author by an undergrad is really a big thing, i hope i make it through

states i've landed my feet during summer 2010:

illinois

indiana

iowa

colorado

utah

arizona

minnesota

nebraska!

how not to love summer?

one more good event before school starts...i'm going for a concert in council bluff next month (august)

i actually survived through my summer pretty much...

and school is back soon!

photos soon, i promise!

l.o.v.e

blehh

back to the flat land

pictures soon..

maybe in 3 weeks time?

or maybe in a month's time...

that's when i get the photos from the photographer..

duh! :p

i miss my room actually!

sky harbor international airport

yesss...i'm now at the international airport in phoenix, arizona!

spent a whole week travelling from flat lands to rocky mountains to the woods and now taking a flight back...

i'm so sad!!!!

only 15 mins after i parted from them, i felt even more sad!

yerrrrrrrrrrrr

i dont want to go back to lincoln...!!!!!!!!

i want to continue the journey to tuscon and more national parksssss

reality is always pain, no?

:(

going to screen my bags and wait at the departing gate now...

bye holidays!!!

it's coming to an end

the last night of my awesome-most holidays...

sobssssssssss

for some reasons, live feed shows that i'm now in the midwest where i'm no where close to midwest now!

epic FAILED!

in the woods

no internet, no tv, no distractions

pure relaxation

of red ...

rocks, sands and dust

:)

3rd stop...