Wrapping up 2009 travels and activities

Aside from 2007, I can say that 2009 was also a year that had lots of memories to keep. There were bad but I tend to just dwell on the good times. So, in this entry, I'm wrapping up all the activities and travels that we had for the year 2009. I know this is kind of late - posting this 3 months after the close of the year. But as I went down memory lane, I couldn't help but smile on the pictures that I had with my husband and our friends for the past year. I can say that there were really lots of good times that happened last year that I wouldn't want to forget any part of it. So, I tried creating collages for each trip/activity that we had. This was very tiresome since I had to browse and select among thousands and thousands of pictures for each travel. I usually take more or less 2,000 photos for each trip - so putting all these pictures together took me almost 3 days to complete (3 weeks in reality since I only have my weekends to work on this). Most of the pictures included were not post-processed due to lack of time.

I can say that these travels were really budget-friendly. I would recommend travelling with friends so that you can split the costs and save some money. Also, if you have friends from other states/countries - I recommend asking (but not obliging) them if they could spare an extra room (or extra space in the couch or air bed, hehe) for you. Of course, this depends on your closeness with the other person... (I can't imagine myself asking for a favor from someone I just met or someone I was not even close to in the previous years). And also, be sure that you really have the intention to visit your friend and not just to use him/her for you to save money. As for myself, I actually appreciate friends asking for a night or two in our small apartment (I know that not all may have the same feeling about this. I'm just maybe weird). And lastly, of course, don't be hurt if they say no. :) This is the time to resort to your miles and hotel points, hehe. So since travelling is part of my professional job, I usually just use my hotel points and airlines miles in our travels - really a big help!

One thing I appreciate in the US is that you can travel to different states just by car. I think for most of these travels, we just drove with friends. Not only that most of the time, it's cheaper... You can also talk about anything while inside the car...or for some, satisfy their never-ending crave for sleep! :)

So, here are the travels we had outside Illinois (or even outside US for one) in no particular order:

1. Nassau, Bahamas (July 2009) - Thanks to our Bahamas friends - Pussy cat, Lyds, Uditha & Dennis and... to Olan also who introduced us to these fabulous friends!


2. Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts (January 2009 to current) - Although I've been staying in this state every week since January, there were times that I had to tour some of my friends visiting Boston.


3. Nevada/Arizona (December 2009)


4. Luray, Virginia (September 2009) (..although we stayed at Falls Church, VA in Angiela's apartment. Thanks, Angiela!)


5. Las Vegas, NV for the New Year! (December 2009/January 2010)


6. Pennsylvania / Niagara Falls, NY (September 2009)


7. New York City/Brooklyn, New York (May 2009) - my birthday celebration


8. San Francisco/Oakland/Santa Cruz/Daly City/Napa, CALIFORNIA (December 2009) - Thanks to Ate Shierra and Kuya Jess for lending us their apartment during our stay.


9. South Bend, IN - White Water Rafting (August 2009)


10. South Dakota (October 2009)


11. Washington, DC (September 2009)

...And these are some of the trips we had within the Chicagoland!

12. Glencoe Beach - Glencoe, IL (July 2009)


13. Paramore/No Doubt Concert - Tinley Park, IL (July 2009)


14. Six Flags - Gurnee, IL (August 2009)


15. Taste of Chicago 2009/with Counting Crows performance - Chicago, IL (June 2009) - We also watched the Gay Pride Parade the day after! :)

Thanks to all our friends who joined us in all these trips..especially thank you for all our combined efforts in preparing itineraries! With all these, I am now closing the book of Year 2009.... while at the same time opening the book of 2010 - More travels to come (I hope!) :)

Architecture Cruise

Yesterday, finally, Randy and I were able to meet with Arbour Dubai officemate, Edward. He has been here in US for 1 month already but we haven't met ever since he came here. We were just 10 days apart of departure from Dubai in October. I came here last October 7 and I think he arrived here last October 17. He was assigned in Indiana which is 3 hours away from Chicago.

So yesterday, after so many research on how he can reach Chicago by train, he finally was able to come to Chicago! Our first stop? NAVY PIER! This is also our first time to go to Navy Pier. By the time we got there, it was already full-packed with sooo many people. So, we tried the number 1 activity that Chicago is boasting about...the Shoreline Architecture Cruise. Actually, this is Edward's idea since he only had 1 day to spend in Chicago. Sobrang layo ng travel nya from Indiana to Chicago. Supposedly, he will be joining us in our place, however, he parked his car in the train station in Indiana na hindi pwedeng overnight parking. So he had to come back at that day also.

This cruise showcases Chicago's architectural heritage. The guided Architecture Cruise departs from Navy Pier and travels for one-hour on the historic Chicago River. We were able to see more than 40 of the world's most celebrated buildings in Chicago. During the cruise, what made us proud is, the tour guide mentioned the BURJ DUBAI Tower and another building soon to be built in Abu Dhabi!

And another funny thing is (shift to t-a-g-a-l-o-g) naglipana na naman ang mga bola-bola na mga Pana (yung may pulang marka sa noo nila!) sa cruise! At syempre nagpapakaepal pa rin at pilit na isinisigaw ang bansa nila...bwahahaha! We were laughing so hard!

The cruise was great since we were able to learn so many things about the architecture in Chicago...which is also needed by Randy since he will soon start to find jobs here. Actually, he started already but he can't start to work until he receive his EAD (work permit). For now, houseband muna sya...and I can assure you that that is only for now...hehehe! (Minsan, naaawa din kasi ako sa kanya na nasa house lang sya eh...)

After the cruise, we ate at Navy Pier and headed to Millenium Park...dropped by to some souvenir shops and did some shopping.

Next Friday, Edward will be heading back to Dubai and will just come back here on 1st December.

I will post some of our pictures soon!