The Big Onion - Chicago
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Do not mind the title, it could very easily be misinformation. Supposedly before the wicked white man took over Chicago, it was a fertile land used for growing onions by the Indians (the Red kind). Chicago is a indian name for onion or something. I for once couldnt be bothered about looking it up, so if you care, you are more than welcome.
Alright, with that tidbit out of the way lets begin the story of my mini-vacation out of West Lafayette. An important thing to remember throughout is that I'm recollecting here, aand as far as my recollecting skills go, they can be compared with that of an amoeba. The four protagonists,Ali, Shiraz, Payal & Vivek
We left Wednesday morning, and this is how the outside of my apartment looked. I was thinking, "Wow!", but it melted soon and there not much chance in the next few days. We were supposed to leave by 11am but that didnt happen, we're Indians (the South-Asian kind). Left by 1 pm, reached outskirts of chicago by 2.30 and spent the next 2.5 hours stuck in a traffic jam. Not so much since three out of four people were contacted by Mother nature to perform their fluidly duties urgently. However sacred location to perform the ritual wasn't in sight.
Reached Hot Wok, an Indo Chinese restaurant in Shaumberg (Chicago suburb) by 5 pm (chicago time which is one hour behind lafayette). Found out the place doesnt open until 6, yippeee. Not to mention the unbearable cold and the wind to go along with it. Decided we should go to the near by cinema and get tickets for a movie show later around 7.30 when we will be done eating. Payal wanted to watch Garam Masala, Vivek had to, being her boyfriend, me and Shiraz opted for a safer and less boring Harry Potter. Got them tickets and came back to the restaurant. Had a meal which induced almost orgasmic moans from the four stuffed mouths. Seriously, living in lafayette has made me almost drool at the mention of food which does not involving burgers or pizzas, but not to take away from the delicious stuff at Hot Wok. Its to die for...
Packed leftover food and headed for the cinema. Watched movie. Got amazed by the fact that a hindi movie got over before the english movie. Somebody has to explain to me how that managed to happen with Garam Masala and Harry Potter. Got out at 10.30 pm and headed over to downtown to watch a improv comedy show. Show was okay, not improv per se, since the two comedians didnt take any suggestions from the audience but they performed a mildly amusing piece. Couldnt complain about it since we paid only 5 bucks a ticket.
Now started the fun business of looking up a budget hotel no place else but downtown. It was geting pretty late anyway. After asking many posh hotels their rates (Hilton, Grand Hyatt..dont ask why we did it..some people dont need alcohol to lose all logic) we crashed at Best Western which did very well actually. There was a plan to wake up and watch the parade on State St. at 8 am but that didnt happen (no shit!). Payal had already left at 5.30am since she had to pick her brother in law from the airport and drive with him to somewhere in Wisconsin. So that left the three guys.
Dragged ourselves out by 12 noon (because that was the checkout time), roamed around downtown, went to Devon St., which is like a Desi-town (like there are china towns) only that it isnt a town but just a street. Ate some delicious south indian stuff (dosa and sambhar wada) at a restaurant and right now I cant remember its name.
After that we headed for Navy Pier, hung around a bit took some pictures but it was way too cold to be out for any long periods of time. We debated whether to stay back another day, Black Friday (a day constituing huge sale being put up in many stores including electronics) being the reason, or go back to the dull Purdue campus. Purdue won. Im back and here I am writing this....
Some others:
Forgive my typos, I type with my left toe.
at 22:31
Isn't Navy Pier kinda boring? It's sorta like the Corniche in Sharjah, only with a lot more lights and a lot less Arab kids riding their bikes at mad speeds.
Chi·cago·an n.
Word History: People from Chicago ought to like onions. The name Chicago is first recorded in 1688 in a French document, where it appears as Chigagou, an Algonquian word meaning “onion field.” In explanation of this name, the document states there that wild onion or garlic grew profusely in the area. The name of the field or meadow was first transferred to the river and then was given to the city in 1830.
Got that from the dictionary in Firefox.