- Stayed at the W for the weekend. Pretty swanky place. I didn’t think I was at a hotel when I saw the lobby. It looked more like a bar/lounge place. Turns out it really was a lounge on the bottom floor, but the check-in was there as well. Drinks were a bit pricey, but the place was pretty impressive. The bar on the top floor was so-so.
- Met some family at a family reunion on Friday. Lots I’ve never even met before. Being in a room full of Asians I didn’t know was a bit unsettling.
- Had a night out with some of the cousins I just met. They are pretty awesome. Gotta hang out with them more. We partied at Red Ivy. Some of them knew the manager type guy (I forget) so we got the hook up with some free drinks (and two of us were under-aged but got in).
- I went shopping at the Nordstrom and Macy’s here. I am so jealous. They’re much bigger and have more awesome stuff than the ones in Annapolis. Spent a good chunk of my money on some new clothes, but I’m really happy with ‘em!
- I’m now staying at my cousin’s apartment. She’s got a cool place. Nice location.
- Went out for a walk with my other cousins (I’ve known these guys all my life). At one point, my little cute nephew was running around and this group of people with cameras started taking pictures of him. And he started posing! He totally loved the attention. hehehe. He is totally a chick magnet. lol
- Yesterday I walked over to the Shedd Aquarium. Not as big as the one we have in Baltimore, but they certainly had a larger variety of animals there. My favorites: Glass Lizard, Komodo Dragon, Giant Japanese Spider Crab, and Tasmanian King Crab. Just the sheer size of those animals impressed me. Aquariums are awesome.
- Today I went to the Field Museum. There was LOTS and LOTS of stuff. It’s been forever since I’ve been in a museum though. My favorite exhibit has to be the animals display. There were just so many that I’ve never even heard of before. And although they’re stuffed, they are so life-like. You get to see them all up close… I swear I almost felt like they would just jump out at me. My favorites are the tiger, Andean Cock-of-the-rock, and Aye-aye (soooooo creepy!).

At first I was all like “Damn! Why the hell did I leave warm and sunny Florida for this cold and windy place?!” But I grew to like it here. Chicago has such a different feel than NYC… like less hectic? I can’t really describe it now.

I’m still here for a couple more days. There’s still lots more to see.

So, on Friday, I went into work, and pretty much it was a say your goodbyes and you can leave deal. So I hung around for a little bit, but I only said goodbye to like 4-5 people that I really knew and then left around early noon. From there I headed out to Baltimore. My first stop was the Maryland Science Center to see my buddy, Geoff, who works there. I actually went in and paid for a ticket, which I sort of regret. What a damn waste of money. lol. I mean, it totally wouldn’t be if I was like, 10 years old again. That place would be so awesome if I was a kid. But going in as an adult, I felt so old… and maybe a little creeped out, like I thought I probably looked like a stalker or something. hahaha. I finally got to find Geoff, and he gave me a brief tour of the Planetarium. Lots of old equipment, but I’m impressed that it still works. Seems like a cool place to check out on a date, I guess.

From there, I grabbed some lunch in the inner harbor. After I ate a burger and a quarter of my fries (the rest which I threw away), I just had the notion to go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. Now that place is awesome. Well worth the 20 bucks to get in. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been there last, and they had a lot of new stuff in. But the classic stuff that I always love seeing were still there, namely the sharks and turtles. I took a lot of pics for your perusal. My favorites animals that I saw? Well I tried to take a lot of pics of all the different turtle species, cuz turtles are just cool like that. The sharks were awesome as usual. Some had those really scary predator looks in their faces. The dolphins had to be the most elegant of all the exhibits though. They were in probably one of the largest and brightest tanks, so they had plenty of room to swim around. And I don’t know about you, but I think dolphins are probably the sexiest mammals of the waters out there, hehehehe.

I probably spent a good 2-3 hours at the aquarium before I left and went home. I took a couple hours to rest up and then shower for the evening plans. Initially, I had wanted to do some drinking in Annapolis with some friends, but some were flaking out on me, so I just decided, “Fuck it,” and went to D.C. with my brother. I ran a little late getting there, but eventually I picked up my brother and we went to meet a couple of his friends in an apartment in Adams Morgan. From there we took a cab to where else? Play. Woo hoo! Probably one of my most favorite hang outs in D.C. And I totally didn’t have to spend that much either that night since our group ended up getting a table. I didn’t have to pay cover nor for the bottles of alcohol that were consumed (I did buy myself a couple shots and drinks of Crown and Coke though). Had a blast that night… and looking at the instant messages I was sending on my phone then… god, I think I was REALLY drunk. Horrible misspellings and things I really don’t remember typing. lol.

So, that was my last day of work and I actually had a really awesome time. I thought it would have been a little bit depressing, but really, I think it was a big relief. Not having a job hasn’t really hit me yet. I just feel… indifferent to the whole thing.