It was a fine, sunny spring morning on Monday when the engine of that huge GreyHound bus revved away, breaking the silence of that sleepy downtown in Des Moines. The next thing we knew, we were sleeping away like dead logs, despite the uncomfortable seats, as the bus hit the hilly road and rocked up and down, as if it were a basinet. We had an unpleasant 8 hour journey with a stop or two before arriving at Chicago. What a relief! It usually take one 6 hours at most to reach Chicago from Iowa, but the bus had to make stops at some station to pick up customers or otherwise. Thus, the lengthened journey.
We alighted the bus and spread our arms, taking deep breathes as the chilly wind bathed on our smiley faces. It was dusk, almost pitch-black when we gathered our carry-on baggage, took out our cameras and started flashing away. If it weren’t our modern apparel and sophisticated gadgets, passerby would think that we just came out from a cave or somewhere so deserted and isolated from the modernized world that it’s as though we have never in our life seen a bus station.
Look at us, people from a land so far away, traveling alone in an alien soil for the very first time, absolutely unaware of what we were about to experience.
Night fell upon us by the time we planned out a treasure map of our own, only that this map will lead us to our hotel rather than a locked antique chest filled with gold bars. We took an anticipated 20 minutes brisk walk along that quiet side streets of Chicago, occasionally stopping in the middle of no where, taking pictures of the mesmerizing Chicago night scene.
It’s common to get lost in unfamiliar places like Chicago, especially during a time where darkness veiled the entire city and rendered those street signs out of sight without the presence of street lights. As we searched frantically for the right route that would lead us to our hotel, we sought help from people who shared the same fate as us, people who didn’t own a car, only that they were more familiar with the streets than we did ourselves. You would be surprised to see people jogging by the roadside at this hour of the day.
Even though it’s rather frustrating to get lost, I was starting to fell in love with the city. She had such immaculate sidewalks and clear river water that it’s as if I belonged there, it felt like I was home again. We walked for more than the expected time, 20 minutes, before arriving at the front doors of Travelodge, the hotel for our 3 nights in Chicago.
It’s good to get some rest after such an exhausting journey, but we soon found ourselves walking by the sidewalks of Harrison street, in seek of good food to satiate our hunger. There were a whole lot of fast food restaurants around the hotel, but we told ourselves we didn’t come this far to experience something we already have back in Des Moines, that pathetic small town that are filled with overflowing serenity. So our ultimate decision was to have a taste of some Thai food from that Thai restaurant located just beside our hotel. Thai Spoon is the name of the restaurant.
Boy, was that restaurant crowded with couples and business people! It was awkward the moment we entered the restaurant, a restaurant packed with mature adults and us going in. Picture that for a moment, oh and don’t forget those stares, that does your parents even know you are here kind of stare. We were being seated at one dark corner in front of a table of rather senior women. We ordered our respective preferred meal and soon we were taking pictures of them and devouring and savoring them like baboons that were on hunger strike for months. I had Green Curry Rice. It was orgasmic at first but I got really sick of it when it was almost done because of the thick Santan and all. Overall, it’s a thumbs up.
We walked in a hungry man and shuffled our way out with a filled stomach and a satisfied smile. There goes our first night in Chicago!
Till then,
Sean
