Mallika's Travels

Relaxing in Winnetka

Posted on May 22, 2011 by admin

So still taking it pretty easy over the last few days. Still seeing awesome wildlife (a hummingbird, more deer, chipmonks etc) and looking at what the neighbourhood rich people are doing with their houses. It’s kinda interesting, they are all really different, but still massive.

On friday I went to see a comedy show put on by the Second City training centre. It was very good, but I’m still gutted that I missed the international comedy festival in Wellington.

In other news, it’s a good thing I’m traveling on and not returning home, because after visiting a variety of shops and supermarkets here I am finding it hard to resist my urge to try and buy everything new and cute. I have been very good however, and instead am treating myself to skipping Montreal and joining Bride1 and Groom1 and Groom1’s friend on a trip to Belize. Which doesn’t blow my budget, but I’m probably going to have to keep a closer eye on it from now on.

Yesterday I got to be driven around in an E-type Jaguar. As requested by my dad, I took photos of the car and I should put them on facebook. Unfortunately for Dad, I’m in all the pics too. I was offered a turn of driving it, but I was too afraid of damaging it accidentally that I turned it down.

Today we drove to Lake Side in Michigan in the other Jag. It was a pleasant drive, although I miss NZ roads for being a different sort of dramatic and less potholes. The weather turned really warm and as we went to the beach I felt super overdressed in jeans and sneakers. It was really nice meeting C&C’s friends who owned a house there.

I’ve also read Jinx by Meg Cabot, and am now addicted to Plants and Zombies. Good times!

Update: added photos

Home alone house! I was too shy to get out of the car and do the face, but was tempted. There are actually no parking signs right outside the house. I guess they had too many tourists come and look at it.

Life’s a beach!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chicago, Michigan | 4 Comments

Chicago

Posted on May 20, 2011 by admin

So for the last few days I’ve been resting up, but also did the following:

– visited millennium park
– went up to the sky deck of Willis Tower (formally Sears tower). 103 floors up!
– shopped at the Winnetka thrift store. New belt for my turquoise kaftan!
– helped out at a house walk. The house was seriously flash. There was a basketball court and rock climbing wall in the basement. My job was to stand there and watch as a parade of suburban woman (and a few guys) walked through the upstairs bedrooms.
– saw another deer, some chipmunks and a hummingbird.
– walked around near the river in town and took in the awesome architecture.
– went to the launch of the American Batik Design Competition. It was kinda like attending one of the usual Thai event gatherings, but less stressful for me. There was food, drink, gamela music, exhibitions, dancing and a fashion show.

Update: more photos

Also, I was going to talk about the train tickets. The 10 trip tickets are very cool. They have colour changing patches on them so they can tell they aren’t counterfeit. If you touch it they turn white, but if they get cold again, then they go back to blue. It’s neat!

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Look who’s coming for dinner

Posted on May 17, 2011 by admin

My day in Chicago has been awesome. Spring is in the air and flowers are blossoming. There are heaps of interesting houses to look at in the area where I am staying and I am loving the wildlife.

Already today I have seen squirrels, numerous birds, a fox, a deer and a raccoon!

I also found out that this is the suburb where Home Alone was filmed! The house from Home Alone is actually on sale right now, but I didn’t go see it.

http://hookedonhouses.net/2011/05/08/the-real-home-alone-house-for-sale-in-winnetka-illinois/

(sorry, haven’t figured out how to add a link on the wordpress app yet).

So we had lunch at the building which was the pharmacy in the movie and walked through the park with gazebo too.

I also visited Lake Michigan.

Some of my new friends:

Oh yeah, I forgot to add, because I was distracted by cuteness, that I also watched the inauguration of the new Mayor on the tv live. It was interesting because the last mayor had been in office for 20 years. Lots of praying, singing and poetry reading going on. And speeches. I may have been paying more attention to Angry Birds Rio HD….

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Atlanta

Posted on May 16, 2011 by admin

Well, I’ve taken good advice and spent the last few days resting. I feel like I didn’t give Atlanta much of a chance because of this. There is a lot you could do there, but the last few days all I did was go print out my plane ticket at an Internet cafe, the world of coca-cola happiness factory, and see underground atlanta.

World of coca-cola is a bit surreal. It’s all about a brand. But it was interesting, it had a 4d movie and a tasting room where you could try sodas from around the world. I pretended I was in willy wonka’s and that was pretty fun.

Underground atlanta was a bit lame and trashy. I wouldn’t have gone there if it wasn’t close to the Internet place.

I spent the rest of my time reading The Otherside of The Story by Marion Keyes and doing my laundry in a bathtub.

Now I am in Chicago with my Dad’s friends C&C. Their house is beautiful!! I have my own bedroom… it’s kinda weird now to have my own room. It’s even minty green.

The flight over here was fun. I sat next to a military guy who had been traveling from Afghanistan and hadn’t had a drink for 10 months. I was happy because he had heard of Ricky Gervais (unlike other people) and we recommended comedians to each other. Also I beat him at Fruit Ninja. I love Fruit Ninja. He gave me these weird plastic pog token things that they use instead of coins as a souvenir.

One thing I noticed, and I hadn’t realised that it only started a few weeks ago, but military in uniform get priority boarding on planes! (also free drinks on board apparently).

UPDATE: happiness factory pics

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Buck and Atlanta

Posted on May 12, 2011 by admin

Aussie room mate also picked up a guy from Lake Tahoe to come road tripping with us. First stop on the trip was to Juro stables to go horse riding, since Aussie room mate is an avid rider and coach.

It was fun, and I’m really glad I decided to go along. Although my horse, Buck, was aptly named and a bit stroppy. It didn’t help matters that one of the guides told me to give him a kick to go faster, but after Buck getting upset at me, the other guide told me that he didn’t like to be kicked and just needed a little squeeze! Well, that and I can’t actually ride! So I managed to get my knees knocked on a lot of trees, and I think I will stick to riding elephants.

The road trip was great – good company, good conversation and the song ‘pumped up kicks’ by Foster the People. It was sad when it ended. Now I’m feeling a bit homesick to be honest!

So far, it feels like everyday of this trip has been 3 days long and I haven’t even been gone a whole month yet! It’s very strange.

I didn’t sleep well last night. This place isn’t as nice as the other places I have stayed. I saw a roach, and I was freezing cold with the air con. But other people staying here seem okay. I randomly bumped into one today so we caught the train back together.

The only thing I’ve done today is go to the Georgia Aquarium. Which is awesome!! I watched the dolphin show which is not like any other I have seen. There were lights, and kinda a musical, it was in a theatre. Even though it was aimed at kids, I found it really enjoyable.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Atlanta, Nashville | 1 Comment

A day in Nashville

Posted on May 12, 2011 by admin

Yesterday, I started the day with my Aussie roommate again. This time off to the Loveless cafe which is known for it’s biscuits (scones). It was okay, not sure it was worth the hype.

I decided that I would skip Memphis and join Aussie roommate on a road trip. I’ll have to arrange a flight for my next section, but I think it was worth it. So cancelled my Memphis accommodation and then met up with Lovely local to go down town and look around. We walked past coyote ugly, but decided not to go in as it was too early for the girls to dance. Instead we crossed the bridge and took photos.

The stadium and flooded river.

Then we walked around downtown, I got my WWE tickets and we had a drink in Tootsies. I was going to meet up with Aussie roommate and visit the Ryman theatre. But it was closed for setting up a benefit concert featuring Jars of Clay and starting with Hanson… Too bad I already had plans for that night :p

So instead we had a drink at The Stage (these are bars where famous country singers started out. Good live music in the middle of the day!) and looked at the tourist shops and cowboy boots until I had to leave for WWE.

I wasn’t feeling that well today, so didn’t make use of my buffet dinner. But it was worth it, because it meant I didn’t have to line up outside the venue, just eat my food then wander in.

I think I saw some NXT, Superstars and then Smackdown. I’m not really sure. They changed the lighting and sometimes there were fireworks, sometimes not.

It was fun! So many families and Dads with their kids, it really felt like a family show. I loved listening to the little kids chatting away a few seats next to me. Best line: “Who needs guns when you’ve got tanks!” referring to biceps.

I was 12 rows from the ring/mat(?) so got a good view when this 1 guy remembered to sit down.

They cheered for this guy.

This also happened.

Went back to the hostel after. Music city hostel is a really nice place. Everyone is really friendly, they had a good common area, and heaps of people playing music and singing. So it was great to sit in the warm night air, chatting away and watching the antics of a few less sober people.

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Indianapolis, a wedding and Nashville

Posted on May 10, 2011 by admin

So I’m kinda overdue a few posts. Here’s my catch up…

Next day in indianapolis we went to the area near the public library, war memorials and courthouse. An interesting looking area and around the place were BTB1 and her groom had gotten married originally.

Later that day we went to White River state park and looked at the canal and the Eiteljorg museum. It had native American and western art. A very good place with a nice cafe where we ate lunch.

We had Indian for dinner and then a quiet night as tomorrow was the big day! During the down time I helped out by painting the centre pieces with BTB1. Apparently I can’t be near a wedding without meddling.

The canal.

The museum. Would look cooler if fountain was filled and on!

The wedding day was pretty fun. BTB1 had actually baked the wedding cake herself!! It was frozen in GTB1’s friend’s house, so we all went over with the ingredients for icing. While the bride and her mother chopped berries and iced the cake, I played with a cat named Jack who is pretty cute. But no Toto and Maya!

Side note:BTB1 and GTB1 also have a set of very cool cats, but they don’t really let me pick them up for a cuddle. Rooster is probably the biggest cat I have seen in my life, and Shadow looks like he’s wearing mascara and has a cute pink nose! Will get pics next time I’m in town.

Back to the cake..

It was GTB1’s friend J’s and my job to drive it over…Do you see those layers?! Luckily it was split into 2 sections, but both those sections are still 3 layers tall. Unluckily we got lost because neither of us looked at a map, and we were just following BTB1’s car. Luckily J has a Blackberry,so we weren’t lost for long. It was a massive relief when we finally got to the venue. My arms we stiff from balancing the cake in the car.

Then it was back to the happy couple’s house to rest then get ready. I wore my blue kaftan, and a blue scarf I had given BTB1 from Thailand as a belt. The colours matched really well, and matched the brides shoes… So I also got to be unofficial bridesmaid in the pictures!

The wedding was fantastic. Very relaxed and sweet. Everyone was really nice to me, seems like GTB1 has a great bunch of friends, and was cool to meet the families too. The bride was beautiful!

I got some ‘interesting’ love advice which was to turn off my brain and keep my expectations low because I had to expect a guy to get better with each year. Reminded me about my mum’s advice which was “In a marriage you have to only know 1 word. Give.”

Did I mention I painted the centre pieces?

The day after the wedding I was super tired as I hadn’t slept well. I packed my bags and went to lunch with the BTB1’s family which was short but sweet.

The ride on the greyhound was fine. But way to many leggings as pants. I mean the girls had good legs, but VPL! Eh, who am I to judge really.

Getting to the hostel was easy at it was a 5 min taxi ride away. Went with my Australian roommate to Cocoa cafe last night and Pancake pantry for breakfast. Then was picked up by a local lady I had met in Hawaii.

We had a nice day with her cute grandkids and putting up a inflatable pool. Got a bit sunburnt. Looked at her nearby lake, which was pretty, but flooded.

That’s people fishing from the parking lot!

Speaking of floods. I’m tempted to skip Memphis, because I think my hotel might get flooded! Think I can still cancel tomorrow.

Anyway, I had a yummy home cooked meal… Then I got to ride this back to the hostel:

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Goodbye Hawaii. Hello Indianapolis

Posted on May 6, 2011 by admin

Spent my last morning in Hawaii catching up online and reading I Shall Wear Midnight. It was rainy on and off, but I walked around Waikiki a bit and took these two pictures:

I was a bit sad to go, there is a lot of fun things to do that I still hadn’t done, and I would love to go back again. It would be nice to visit the other islands too.

The flight to Chicago then Indianapolis was ok, but I didn’t get the sleep I needed, so when BTB1 (Bride to be 1) picked me up from the airport I was very excited to see her, but knew I wouldn’t be very good company. Never the less, she was taking her parents to see Nashville, Indiana and I decided to come along.

I kept falling asleep in the car! Embarrassing, but was kinda nice and cosy there! We also stopped at an outlet mall and I bought some liquid eyeliner for a good price.

This Nashville town was really cute! I think it is or used to be an artists colony, so there were some cool craft shops and galleries. I didn’t bring my camera though.

So great to catch up with BTB1 and meet her husband. Also it has been years since I saw here parents.

We all went out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner with one of GTB1’s friends. We had forgotten it was Cinco De Mayo so it was really packed, but yummy and fun.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Hawaii, Indy | 4 Comments

Kualoa Ranch and Luau

Posted on May 4, 2011 by admin

Yesterday was jammed packed. I thought about going to the beach, but instead went to Kualoa Ranch. It is a very old ranch that was bought by a missionary directly from the King. I went with a Canadian girl on the movies and ranch tour.

They took us around the Ranch on a open bus and we got some cool pics of movie locations. Here are the highlights:

Bunker from Lost and Pearl Harbor. It is a real bunker that was build after the attacks at Pearl Harbor.

Submarine from Lost.

Log from the scene of Jurassic park where they hide behind it and dinosaurs jump over.

Godzilla was here!

The little penguin gets run over in 50 first dates.

After the tour, due to bus malfunctions, I had to run from the bus to get to another hotel where I was meeting another Hosteler and being picked up to go to Germaine’s Luau.

The luau was very well organized and a lot of fun. Yummy food and drink, good entertainment and I got a gift bag with postcards because we booked online!

Funny thing though.. two of my post cards of people dressed in Maori costume, because the show was a display of the pacific islands dancing. I travelled how far to see this?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Hawaii | 1 Comment

Thunder and lightning

Posted on May 4, 2011 by admin

So the day before yesterday I headed to Ala Moana shopping centre. It’s three stories high but very wide, so that the bus stops on all four sides of it!

It’s a good thing that I didn’t want to spend anything and wasn’t coming back to New Zealand, because there are some very cool stores there. After walking about long enough to get sore feet and back, I went home.. I had only bought lunch! I was kinda looking for a dress to wear to a wedding, but didn’t see one I thought would suit a special occasion and travel.

When I got back I decided to go for a walk around Waikiki until I was hungry for dinner. Partway through we got a thunder and lightening storm and it poured with rain. Turns out there was even two water spouts out in the water… We could’t see them because the weather was so bad. I tried to wait it out in a hotel bar but ended up getting impatient and very damp going back to the hostel.

It was getting late and I wanted to eat.. So after wandering around for a bit longer I ended up eating at the Sanrio (Hello Kitty) restaurant buffet. Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera or iPad because I was worried about the rain. Might head out to take pics today.

Was petty tired after that so headed back and read some I Shall Wear Midnight on my iPad.

UPDATE: Picture of Waikiki beach on my wanderings before the storm.

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