My first mini adventure

September 16, 2008

This is my first time travelling alone and being somewhere without family. I was excited to say the least. So that’s why I consider this my first mini adventure. I have travelled myself to Australia before but I was picked up by family and stayed with them. This time was different. I stayed by myself for a night in a hotel room, even after hearing all those horror stories. I’m pretty proud of myself. =D

My journey started with the earliest flight out of Kuching to KL at 6am. An hour and 45 minutes later, I arrived in KLIA and had less than an hour to get to my gate for Newark International Airport (EWR) which is in New Jersey, about an hour from New York. I called my parents and Rob, who was really excited for my arrival.

Fast forward 24 hours later (with a stop in Stokholm, Sweden), I arrived to this…

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If you look hard enough, you can see the Statue of Liberty in the middle of the River. It is indeed quite a site. I waited for my cousin to pick me up to go to dinner. After dinner, I checked in my free room (which I am still very proud of) at Howard Johnson. I wasn’t expecting much for it was a free room but imagine my surprised when I saw my room.

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It was HUGE (for the price they were asking), with a king size bed and a full bathroom. I was really impressed. My flight the next morning was 8 so I woke up around 5.30am to get ready and take the free shuttle to the airport.

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Me all glammed up *giggle*

I arrived at the airport a lot earlier then I expected. Then my flight to Chicago was delayed around an hour or so after everybody boarded the plane due to traffic congestion. When the plane took off the excitement I felt was more intense because I was just that much closer to seeing Rob.

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I thought the little clouds looked cute

But all was well when I arrive at O’hare International Airport just before 11am. It was my first time arriving at O’hare so I’m sure I looked like a lost puppy to people there. I kept walking and walking, and in my mind I had wanted to go check myself out (as vain as that may sound) in the bathroom to make sure my face was okay etc etc before I see Rob for the first time in over a year. The first bathroom I past by had a line forming so I figured I would go to the next one I see. Unfortunately the next bathroom was closed for maintenance and that was the last bathroom along my way.

Before I knew it, I could see red and white balloons in the air…

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IT WAS ROB!!!

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Excuse the bad picture. I was laughing while taking the picture.

He set up his little own station to welcome me to Chicago. I was so excited to see him and at the same time laughing because of what he did. After I snapped a picture, I ran towards him and we embraced for a minute. In his hand was a little teddybear holding a heart which said “I love you”. He gave it to me and “Here, have a bear with a PINK hat” while smirking.

He had made the signs a few days before I arrived but the night before something happened to the signs and he had to make new ones all over again. Here is a closer shot…

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It’s pretty obvious what the first sign says. Now the second one says “Hi Honey Bwoo!” and other little pet names. Let me explain what “Bwoo!” means to us. One night while Rob was telling me some good news, I wanted to said “Woohoo!” but what came out of my mouth was “Bwoo!”. So from then on, “Bwoo!” has been the official substitute of “Woohoo!”.

The other four words in there are Shinnie, Ice cream girl, Pandagirl and the last one (blocked by my watermark) says “Summer Chai”. Now the origin of “Summer Chai” can be found here. Its just a little insided joke with my friends. I told Rob about it before and the smartass in him decided to include that in the sign.

We got my luggage and headed a lonnnnnnnng track to the parking lot. When we got to the car, he surprised me again with a single pink rose. I was touched.

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Off we went to IHOP for brunch. I have been planning this first day for months. I ordered my all time favourite; the Breakfast Sampler which consists of everything I love from IHOP, french toast, pancakes, sausages, scrambled eggs and bacon and a side of HASH BROWNS!!!! Rob ordered Strawberry pancakes which were heavenly as well.

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After eating, we checked in the motel we would be staying in for the next 4 days before going on the roadtrip. Rob went in to check-in because they charge extra for 2 occupants in a room. The cheapskate me wanted to save like USD10 per day. That’s USD30 ok! Which means we saved over RM100.

As I stayed in the car and looked around the surroundings, I was relieved. It felt good to be there. It’s hard to describe the feelings. I felt complete being with my soulmate once again. It felt right. It felt as if everything in my life was coming into place. Suddenly reality hit me and I realized that I would be leaving in 5 weeks. I was extremely happy to be there but at the same time sad because it meant that eventually I had to leave. A minute later, I saw Rob walking towards the car and I smiled. The feeling of sadness disappeared.

We unloaded the car that had my luggage and other essentials which Rob had prepared e.g. toiletries, extra pillows, snacks etc. After some snuggling and cuddling, we took a dip in the pool for an hour and then headed to Woodfield Mall for Baskin Robbins ice cream! We walked around the mall a bit and surprisingly I didn’t buy anything at all. I was probably saving up for the Mall of America. HEHEHEHE

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Oh-so-happy with my Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream

Before going to dinner, we stopped by Rob’s house to say hi to his parents and for me to reunite with Naomi the Samoyed. She instantly remembered me and was following me all over the place. I now call Naomi “Princess” and I think she loves it. I miss her.

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Isn’t she just SO adorable?

Dinner was at one of my favourite places, Chili’s. I have been craving for Molten Cake for over a year. We ate light for our meal, sharing an appetizer of buffalo wings, chicken nuggets of sorts and egg rolls.

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Rob had told me about the new Molten Cake at Chili’s called White Chocolate Molten Cake months ago. Instantly I knew I MUST try it no matter what! So we order one of those and the classic Molten Cake.

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Chocolate cake with drizzles of chocolate syrup and caramel, topped with vanila ice cream and more chocolate!

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Moist vanilla cake with melted white chocolate and strawberry sauce, topped with vanilla ice cream and chunks of white chocolate chips!

MMMmmmmmMMMMMmmmmmmmmMMMmmmMMMM

Both were DELICIOUS!!!! I can’t pick a favourite. The classic Molten cake was fantastic as always and the White Chocolate one was equally as good. I gobbled the White Chocolate Molten Cake

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This is what was left of the Molten cakes. =D

That’s it for my first day in Chicago. Stay tune for the roadtrip post!

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