A couple of days in Chicago

Chicago skyline from Lake Michigan

For our summer road trip this year, we decided to go to the Windy City, Chicago. Not windy at all :P Locals have told us that the name came from having politicians full of “hot air” especially in relation to the World Fair in the late 1800’s. There are still debates on its origin but it is definitely not a windy city in terms of weather. 

After almost a full day of travel, we arrived at our hotel at Magnificent Mile close to dinner time. We specifically chose this highly recommended location for shopping and relative distance to attractions. 

Some of the stores @ Magnificent Mile, Chicago

As the famed deep dish pizza places had a long line up (and apparently a minimum 45 minute wait time AFTER you are able to get in), we just grabbed a bite at the Foodlife/Foodease Market at the Water Tower place.

The Mag Mile is a full mile of shopping, dining, and entertainment amongst beautiful buildings!  Sadly, we had such a limited time that we were not able to go into each store. 

Chocolate after shopping @ Mag Mile, Chicago

Ghirardelli chocolates @ Mag Mile Chicago

 We did manage to drop by a few stores. Some, several times—such as the American Girl Place flagship store which was right on Mag Mile! This store was so amazing, it deserves a separate post (read it here!).

American Girl Place Flagship store, Chicago

 Over the next two of days, we took a couple of tours which were totally worth it—especially since we got a GO Chicago pass which allowed us access to selected attractions.

1. I highly suggest the Hop On Hop Off tour (Gray Line and Chicago Trolley were tours which seemed to be the most frequent) to go around the city. Apart from commentaries about the city, it will allow you stops at Navy Pier (which sadly we were not able to check out)
    

   

   Navy Pier @ Chicago

and the Museum Campus (where the Adler Planetarium, 

Adler Planetarium @ Chicago

  Shedd Aquarium 

Shedd Aquarium @ Chicago

and Field Museum are located). 

Field Museum @ Chicago

Among other stops, it also stops at the Mag Mile and of course, the former tallest building in North America—the (Sears) Willis Tower. At the Willis Tower, they have a Sky Deck wherein you can go on a glass ledge 1,300+ feet above ground!

Willis Tower, Chicago

 2. We also took the Architectural River Cruise (available at night as well) which was truly awesome. 

Many Architectural River Cruises are available off of Michigan Ave

Shoreline Architectural River Cruise, Chicago

You can also navigate Chicago via Water Taxi

I totally loved the architecture of the buildings of Chicago and am currently doing my darndest to convince DD#1 to become an architect! Hubby said that half the pictures I took from our trip were of buildings—that was how magnificent they were! 

Majestic buildings @ Downtown Chicago

The cruises departed from either Navy Pier or by Michigan Ave. The tour was 75 minutes long along the Chicago river and offered information on the buildings, architecture, and engineering that made Chicago famous as the birthplace of the skyscraper and home of modern American architecture.

Corn Cob Building, Chicago

We also checked out the Millenium park. Here, we marveled at the gigantic mirror-bean-like structure called the Cloud Gate as well as the Pavilion which had billowing steel ribbons overhead the stage. Too cool!

Cloud Gate @ Millenium park, Chicago

There was just too much to see, buy and eat but we did not have enough time. I have to say, though, that even in the short time we stayed, I declare this to be one of my most favourite cities in the US! I loved it!

Chicago on Dwellable

An evening back in time: Dinner and show at Medieval Times Toronto Castle

Medieval Times squires and knights

We’ve heard about the Medieval Times before but we were not really keen on watching “knights” joust as we had dinner. As my mom got tickets for us, we got a chance to check this dinner/show out.

We made our reservation during the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) which is held annually on the last weeks of August before Labour day. We thought it was only parking which was going to be an issue but we did not expect to see a huge crowd there. 

We arrived an hour before our 730pm dinner reservation to pick up our tickets at the box office and the place was packed! There was a huge line up all the way to the entrance. Not sure if the crowd was really usually like this or if it was because of the CNE.

Medieval Times Box Office

 Anyway, the wait wasn’t too bad and we were left with about 30minutes to spare before dinner started. We checked out the gift shops with many counters throughout the castle. They sold anything and everything to do with knights and ladies. They sold plastic, wooden and steel swords, daggers, shields. They also had floral headdresses for the ladies, the usual shirts and other trinkets. Prices were, of course, touristy. There was also an exhibit called the “dungeon” which, I believe, featured torture instruments, for an additional fee.

Medieval Times castle hall

Medieval Times merchandise/gift shop

There was a bar where drinks can be purchased in regular or fancy cups/mugs such as a knight’s helm or shiny goblets. We did not get drinks or souvenirs but instead looked at the horses that were going to be in the show. 

Beautifully-braided Spanish horse @ Medieval Times

We also took some photos in thrones, beside shiny armours (the works), and before long it was time to head to the arena.

The girls were so excited. They had no clue where we were going for dinner so when it dawned on them that we were watching a show about knights with horses and swords, their eyes practically sparkled! They’ve seen this on TV!

The king and princess @ Medieval Times

 We sat on a reserved table (assigned at the box office) which was set up like a bar. The elongated slim tables did not allow for much conversation with your dinnermates but were great for watching. Apart from being assigned a table, your party is also assigned a banner colour which had a corresponding knight to cheer for. 

"Lord Chancellor" @ Medieval Times

I must say that our Green Knight was also the most handsome! Whooo! The girls agree :) heck, even hubby agrees! Haha!  We also had mini-flags for cheering on our knight in the tournament.

 

Green Knight @ Medieval Times

 Well, we lost ourselves in that world and totally had a blast. It was like watching a play with tons of audience interaction and a meal to boot! The king and princess were holding a feast (where our dinner comes into play) and for our entertainment, the knights went through various challenges in the tournament. 

There was a horse show featuring the majestic Spanish horses, 

Spanish horses @ Medieval Times

a falconry show 

Royal Falconer @ Medieval Times

and various medieval games of skill. The jousting tournament was authentic. The various banners cheered on their knights as they clashed swords. Sparks actually flew from the metal weapons that DD#2 was concerned they might catch fire. Screens were set up to protect the audience from the lances splintered in the jousts. 

Now, our bill of fare consisted of garlic bread, tomato soup, roasted chicken, spare rib, herb-roasted potato and a pastry for dessert. Non-alcoholic drinks and coffee/tea was also included. We were stuffed! 

"Dragon's blood" tomato soup @ Medieval Times

"Baby dragon" roasted chicken @ Medieval Times

Rib and potato @ Medieval Times

 They also did not make any changes for the children and the kids also got the same meal. As our “serving wench” brought the food out, the girls were quick to tell us there was just too much and that they would not be able to finish their meal at all. Our “wench” did bring us some to-go boxes so we didn’t feel too bad about so much left over by the kids. The food was tasty. Nothing spectacular and something you might find in the food-to-go section of your grocery store, but it was ample and hearty. No utensils were provided so we had to eat with our bare hands—a task which was made difficult only because it was hard to keep taking photos!

As with any good story, there was a conflict and a villain. The games’ winning knight defended the kingdom. Sad to say, but our cutie knight was not the one who defended the castle and saved the princess’ honor. Am sure they change up the winners every show.   

Parade of Knights @ Medieval Times

 It was definitely a lot of fun. The vibe was definitely electric in the arena and the acting was pretty good. The show lasted two hours and the girls did not want it to end. That, I would say, made this show a hit in our family. Definitely recommended especially with the kids.

Better in the dark: dinner at O’Noir

O Noir Toronto

 On a couples’ night out with friends, we decided to try O’Noir where we dined in complete darkness. Off of Church St., O’Noir is located at the basement of one of the buildings in the area. 

We arrived for the 5:45pm seating (there was a 2^nd seating at 815pm) and stayed at the lounge area as we perused the menu. We had a choice of starter, main and dessert and we gave our orders to one of the servers.

When we were ready to go inside the dining area, our server gave us some basic rules and asked us to completely turn off our cellphones and anything that would light up inside. While I dutifully turned off my phone, I forgot that my handgel holder was glow-in-the-dark! Our server frantically told me to hide it! I stuffed it down my bag and tried to cover it with anything and everything I could find. Then, it was time to cover the face of my watch! Suddenly, all the things we took for granted such as luminous items, came into focus. Oh well.

Each of us held on to the shoulder of the person in front of us as we were led by our server in single-file. Now, the website claimed the servers were all blind but ours was not. She did have on some dark shades, which may have well been night vision goggles. 

We were told to feel for our utensils and bread plate then we each got some bread from the basket brought to us. I managed to spread some butter into my bread instead of my fingers. Hooray!

Our wine and water were always to be located on a certain side and we were all very aware of where they were. My friends and I committed to only wrist movements so we do not spill the drinks on each other!

We were then served the starters, main and later on the dessert. I had grilled calamari (you are not surprised, right?), Filet Mignon (which they cut up in bite size pieces) and for dessert, dark chocolate mousse. The grilled calamari was yummy--cooked just right with tomatoes and olive oil. The Filet Mignon was just ok, not great There was a side of potatoes and green beans as well. Dessert was divine, though. The mousse was so creamy and light, super chocolatey. When I had eaten all the mousse, I realized there was still the sponge cake. I convinced myself this was a deconstructed dessert :)

Dining in pitch black darkness forced us to maximize our sense of taste as our sense of sight was deprived. We savoured the flavours and had fun making sure we ate everything on our plate. While we had utensils, at some point, each of us had used our hands to feel for our food. One of our friends gave up and ate everything by hand—except the chocolate mousse, of course (I think...I hope). We couldn’t even tell if we still had some drinks but no one dared to dip their fingers into the goblet (but then again, there was totally no way to prove this) or tilt our head back to empty our glasses. Each attempt at groping our food was just hilarious—and yes, only the food was groped!

They had other selections for starters, main and dessert such as salad, pasta, vegetarian dishes. They even have surprise meals which would have been great if we were more adventurous. That would have really forced us to figure out what we were eating based on taste and feel alone! But alas, we wanted our squid and steak so we will save the surprises for another time.

The great thing about this was we were forced to focus on our food and our company. There were no cellphones to distract us, no taking of photos of our dishes, no taking of photos of each other (well, that was until we got outside). 
 

O Noir Toronto

We had such a great time and it was truly a unique experience.

Prices range from $32-40 with the lower price if you choose only a starter or a dessert and not the full three-course meal. They had a decent beverage and wine list as well. The food was ok but not excellent. However, the experience was tops! This one was really great in the dark!

Toronto on Dwellable

Summer Festival 2: The first annual Taste of Manila

The Taste of Manila festival was just on its first year this year. We went to Bathurst/Wilson area to check this new event out. They closed down half of Bathurst St. about a couple of blocks from Wilson, but that was pretty much it. 

Taste of Manila

It was probably a third of the size of Taste of the Danforth, but definitely not lacking in food! The mood was festive but the area did not have sufficient trash bins or activities for the kids.

One of the booths @ Taste of Manila

  There was a variety show, booths selling goods and lots of food booths. 

Taste of Manila

 It was lacking some popular Manila street food such as fish balls and green mangoes with shrimp paste, but they did sell other staples. Well, actually one booth sold fish balls but it was already prepared and kept in a steamer. Would have very much liked to have seen the traditional “tusok-tusok the fishballs”—wherein you skewer the fish balls directly from the frying pan and dip it in one of the sauce jars (sweet, spicy, and vinegar). 

Anyway, here are some things you might want to try at the Taste of Manila:

  Pork Bbq—marinated in sweet bbq sauce, try it dipped in vinegar  

  Pancit—noodles

  Lumpiang shanghai—spring rolls

  Sisig—chopped pork cheek marinated in vinegar and chili and grilled

Kapangpangan Sisig from Kabalen @ Taste of Manila

  Queck-queck—battered hard-boiled egg, try it dipped in sauce. This is traditionally quail eggs but regular chicken eggs were sold here.

Queck Queck @ Taste of Manila

   Okoy—shrimp pancakes

Okoy

   Isaw--barbecued pig or chicken intestines

Isaw @ Taste of Manila

 For drinks you might want to try buko pandan (coconut and pandan) or sago’t gulaman (tapioca and gelatin). Some booths also sold canned calamansi (Philippine lemon) or mango juice.

For dessert, you should definitely try these goodies

Turon—fried bananas wrapped in caramelized sugar-coated wrapper

Turon

  Various rice cakes:  biko, sapin-sapin, puto, pichi-pichi

 The area was packed. A co-worker checked it out at about 530pm (we were there around noon) and said that the line ups were so long.  Surely the organizers will have learned a thing or two after this first event. Food was great, though! We foresee it will be much bigger in the years to come.