While I was in the US, I didn't have much time to update my blog. The week of training (and working) meant the remaining time was left for sleeping. The very little time in between the trip to NY was me trying to fix the spoilt keyboard. So rather than look at it as one miserable time in my first trip to North America, I thank God for the opportunity :)
Took CX for the KUL-HKG-ORD leg, enjoyed the variety of food served and inflight facilities. I had a good time flying them the first time I visited Hong Kong, so I chose CX over MH. Later turned out I couldn't claim mileage, so maybe I should have supported our national airline instead!
Brought Kitty along for the trip. My aim was to photograph Kitty in foreign places.
Transiting at the San Francisco airport, had to walk quite a bit. Some parts led out to the open air carpark, and the chilly crisp weather reminded me very much of when I first stepped into Narita. Think it's the four-season-country air!
Arrived at the O'Hare airport quite early, and was greeted with a colourful lineup of various country flags. Everyone looked so big here! I was getting quite excited I had finally arrived in a new country, with people who are almost double or triple my size and whose mannerisms I've observed mainly from TV.
Thank God for cousin MF who resides in nearby Schaumburg with her partner. They visited me at the training centre (we call it school), brought me to my first meal... Chinese!
I was curious as to how Chinese would the Chinese food here be. I'd safely say, it's good to try once, and only once! We ordered 3 dishes, and all had carrot, broccoli and celery - the chicken dish, the vege dish and the soup dish.
They even had fortune cookies at the end of the meal, how cute.
So this is the police car I've seen on TV.
Since I had "lost" my luggage, I had to go shopping. Not the pleasurable kind mind you, but to get basic necessities. Saw this interesting car plate while waiting for the bus to bring us back to the school.
Night view of the block where I stayed for the week. Even though it was the beginning of summer, it still felt quite chilly. I had the same jacket on for the whole week as the one I wore on the plane for the whole journey.
Day view of the same block. It's really nice here with the school used to be a country club of sorts, so there were plenty of greenery and well-tended lawns. I wish I could have spent longer here to enjoy the lovely weather!
Out of all the things that stuck with me was not the training (...shhh!), but the abundance of glorious food all.the.time! They feed you really well here, with 2 cafeterias serving main dishes, food stations near the classrooms and plenty of snacks all around. These cheese are so unique, so I savoured every bite.
They change the water every single day! This was the 3rd day, and it was filled with pineapple. Left a tinge of sweetness on the lips.
At one of the cafeterias, they even arrange for takeaway packs in case you'd like to eat in your rooms or elsewhere. There's always a good variety of delicious food, I couldn't resist stuffing myself with the sinfully delicious bacon for breakfast every morning! Too bad I only gained prolly 1-2 kg.
You can never get enough of the food, and you can take as much as you want. I kept the chips to bring home so that I could share with my cousin and family. It's like having edible souvenirs.
Spring/summer is really a great time because it's not too cold nor too hot. There's plenty of sun which makes for bright colours outside, and enough wind to balance the temperature. I would have loved to cycle around the school or indulge in some of the sports they were doing after classes.
My team members in the case study challenge. There were probably about 60 teams altogether, with fellow colleagues from all over the world. Most of them were Europeans, found them very matured and quite outspoken.
I found out later that the limo is quite an affordable means of transportation. Piled in together at the back, you can share costs quite reasonably. There would be a few of these waiting at the entrance for those who'd like to explore outside.
The water on the 4th day was melon-flavoured. I found this quite creative and visually enticing!
Snacks galore in the afternoon. Every time we had a break in between classes, we'd go out and bring more food back to the table. My then project supervisor did "warn" me about the food!
Sometimes they have pastries, sometimes bread, sometimes popcorn. Also, biscuits and fruits and cheeses.
During the networking evening, they turned the conference hall into a big dining hall complete with casino-style games. Some of them would later go on to the Cadillac Ranch for more drinks.
The water on the last day was mint-flavoured.
Cousin MF came to pick me up after the training ended. I brought her for a little tour of the school, which was also my first time walking around.
Hearing so much of Taco Bell on TV, I had to give it a try.
MF's partner was vegetarian, so we ordered a meatless pizza. Didn't know Subway do pizzas!
Saw a nice arts & crafts shop which was filled with all these pretty things. No wonder they're into scrapbook making! If not for the need to keep my $ for replenishing clothes, I might have indulged a little more in these. :)
Apparently Chipotle is also another favourite there. I followed them and ordered the burrito bowl. Quite huge servings. I love trying out new food and flavours, but I'd still prefer my food warm.
In a way I was glad I didn't stay too long there, I'm not sure if I was getting sick of too much fast food, or that I was missing warm spicy oily Malaysian food >.<
Quite an amusing ad, spotted at the airport.
2 comments:
Srsly? Kitty? Srsly?
classyadele : is your question on the name, or me bringing kitty along? :p
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