Chica's Chicago Campaign!

Hello there!

Recently I embarked on a campaign (fun word for trip) from Jacksonville, Florida to Chicago and back again. A journey of self discovery and scuba diving stress. Alright, I'll drop the fancy talk. Last month I flew to Chicago for a few days to hang out with my big sister; also to drive back down with her and her dog because she had an appointment to be scuba certified in Florida. Side note: "big sister" is not code for Kiddo (even though she is mine). Kiddo and I have another sister; the eldest, the ancient one, the one with "adventure" literally tattooed on her leg (insert facepalm), aka Dayjo. Dayjo flew the family coop and now roosts in the windy city. Okay, now that introductions are over, this is where the fun begins.

First Time Flying Solo Achievement!

I got my "first time flyer achievement" a few years ago (on a family trip to England and Ireland when I was 18), but this trip earned me a much scarier one: Flying Solo. Side note: there was a lot of firsts for me on the UK/Europe trip: flying, riding trains, being on water taxis, going overseas/to Europe/UK, and drinking/going to bars. Flying alone for the first time is anxiety hell. Honestly, I was so anxious that I repacked everything the morning of my flight, and our lovely father accompanied me to the gate.

Talking to a stranger is generally discouraged, but bless the stranger on that plane that talked to me! Faye was seated next to me. She must have noticed that I was uncomfortable navigating the plane and basically in introvert distress. As soon as she sat down, she just started talking to me like a friend and my nerves finally chilled out. Throughout the three hour flight, plus a good hour of weather delay, we talked about everything under the sun. Topics ranged from work, college, and dreams to families, traveling, and religion. We also encouraged each other to achieve our ambitions! So, that was a anxiously anticipated flight that turned out to be a wonderful experience. After all, connecting with people is the why of humanity (sorry - that was way too cheesy).

Chicago sights and eats

I went to Chicago for the first time about a year ago, so some of the "sights" include the famous Chicagoan architecture that I'd already fawned over. Like the nerds we are, we went on an architecture boat tour; my favorite buildings were the Corn Cobs (or Marina City). New sights for this short trip include exploring my sister's new neighborhood and Chicago's Chinatown. Chinatown was amazing! Definitely the highlight of the trip for me, other than seeing Dayjo of course. ;)

Dayjo was actually busy with work that day, so her bestfriend Alex gave me a "tour" of Chinatown. Being obsessed with Asian culture as I am, Chinatown was a treat! We went into a grocery store selling wonderfully questionable items, an Asian restaurant supplies store where Alex bought bamboo butter knives (lol), and so many cool shops with fun little knickknacks and, best of all, anime merch. Controlling myself, I only bought some treats from a Chinese bakery. Which brings us to the part we've all been waiting for: the food!

On the first day, Dayjo took me to one of her favorite places to eat breakfast or lunch (or brunch): "Tweet", an art-filled, cash-only American eatery that is also the Big Chicks Bar at night. Their pumpkin pancakes are divine! For dinner, we took a recommendation from one of Dayjo's billiards' teammates, and went to "Oiistar", a modern Japanese restaurant. She and I ordered a bunch of amazing things to share: bao buns, sambal chicken, ramen, and bao donuts. If you love Asian food like me, just go to Chicago for Oiistar. You won't regret it!

Day two: Chinatown. I've already mentioned the sights of Chinatown but the eats! Alex and I went to "MMCB" for lunch and devoured some delicious chow mein and spring rolls. Then, we checked out "Chiu Quon Bakery and Dim Sum" and I checked off an item of my foodie bucket list: mooncakes! Not only are their baby mooncakes absolutely yummy (both the lotus paste and red bean paste ones), but they served many other mouthwatering treats: peanut mochi cakes & sesame balls for example.

Dinner on day two: Filipino cuisine. Dayjo and I went to dinner with a few of her friends, and had a fun experience fit with laughably inappropriate conversation topics and good food. "Kubo" is a somewhat pricey place to get traditional Filipino cooking with a jazzy terrace.

Side note: since we were leaving early on the third day, we just grabbed some KFC on the way out, lol.

Daring to Drive - first road trip for a driving loather

I. loathe. driving! As an already constantly anxious and somewhat paranoid introvert, driving really stressing me out. Add that factoid to my first ever road trip where I'm the one driving, and Chicago Traffic does not help this equation. Granted, Dayjo and I mostly split the drive. It is like 16 hours non-stop, with no traffic. Yet we did have a ridiculous amount of traffic the whole way though, and stopped at a hotel in Nashville for a night.

Mini Mountain Meltdowns are expected for an anxious driver from a flat state. Driving through even the tiniest amount of "mountain" roads nearly killed me. If that didn't, Dayjo was close to finishing the job herself. Nevertheless, I made it! Yay! Yatta!

The real saving grace were audiobooks. Audiobooks are anxiety angels! For almost half the drive, I listened to the audiobook for "Akata Witch" by Nnedi Okorafor (review coming). I actually started reading it for the Sanderson Sister Summer session of the Hocus Pocus Readathon (which I utterly failed lol). I didn't know if I would like it, but it was really funny, dark (which I love), entertaining, and intriguing. I had made it about a third of the way through the book when Dayjo needed help with her scuba crisis.

Surviving Scuba Diving Certifying is exhausting when you procrastinate! In her defense, Dayjo has a full-time job, is in our family book club, and is a member of a softball team, a flag football team, and (not one but) two billiards teams. Also, the scuba guy giving the certification course said that it would only take 4-6 hours. She thought, "I'll have plenty of time on the drive". She didn't. Turns out, the course took almost 16-18 hours to complete.

So, a lot of the trip home was Dayjo driving while I helped her make her way through the course: reading the chapters to her, watching the videos, helping her grasp and remember concepts for the quizzes... it was ridiculous. She ended up finishing the exam at the end of the course, only hours after we got home, at three in the morning. To drive down to Gainesville for the in-person part of the certification course, she and our dad had to leave the house that very morning at 5am! Needless to say, sleep didn't exist.

All told however, this was a short, fun (anxiety filled) trip that allowed me a much needed intermission from my comfort zone. In the future, I expect my introvert walls to further evolve into shutters that, maybe, open to the sun more often. Thanks for reading about my Chicago Campaign.

For more by Kiddo and Chica, check out our previous posts including a list of "5 Amazing Book-to-Movie Adaptations" and a review of the drama flick "Collateral Beauty". Also, come back next Friday for a book review of "Akata Witch" by Nnedi Okorafor!

Quote of the day: "Not all those who wander are lost." - Bilbo Baggins, The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Thoughts on the quote: Not all those who wander are lost, but maps are appreciated!

- Chica