Warmed up Weekend

The temperature has finally started to rise to about 10 deg during the day. When the sun is out,it is really nice.

Side wall of Helix Photography Store

There is something about the saturation of the colour of the sky in Chicago, when the sun is up. It is not cyan like it is back home, but truly blue.

I finally went on a tourist jaunt on Saturday but I do not have the photos to prove it. I went to Oak Park to visit Frank Lloyd Wright's house and studio. There are also several houses in Oak Park that are designed by Wright. Wright apparently created the prairie style of house, which was longer than the normal architecture for houses then. He emphaised a breaking out of the box and used ornamentation inspired by nature. The first building that I have ever seen by Wright is the iconographic Guggenheim Museum in New York, a work of modern art. So his prairie houses were personal and human in scale. It was a real eye-opener for me to see such a different side of this architect's work. I may have to try another trip out there to take a walking tour of the houses before I go home.

Michigan Ave

On Sunday, I went to the Apple store in downtown Chicago and bought absolutely nothing. Although the temperature was rising in Chicago, the weather over the weekend was mainly overcast. So I spent a lot of time indoors window shopping. And then as I left the Apple store, the setting sun broke through the clouds and I had to take a walk amongst the tall buildings of Chicago.

What a lot of people, like me before coming to Chicago, may not realize that the tall buildings of Chicago are clustered in the city center. Most of Chicago is like a sprawling suburbia of buildings no taller than four stories. This is the Chicago that I had become accustomed to over my months stay here.

Michigan Ave

I am not really that much of a shopper that I would come back to the city center anytime soon. The parking for about 2 hours cost me US$25! There are much more extensive shopping areas on North Ave and Clybourne where you can find free parking spaces with some patience.

Michigan Ave

I will come back in May when there is achitectural tour along the river. The tall buildings are impressive, but without explanation, they are just tall buildings. It would be nice to understand the context of such pinnacles of achievement.


I read this comic while having breakfast at the Dodo. I really love it.