I live I like I love

12.27.2011

Shedd Aquarium

Skydeck at Willis Tower

It was a cold and windy day, so we were hitting the indoors.

But before we get to enter, we had to queue up in the wind! Torturing.

I wonder how these two survive without windbreakers or winter coats. I guess living in Minnesota and Wisconsin is really something.

And you see this queue over here? It was still that long when we left the aquarium at (if not mistaken) 3pm. And the aquarium closes at 5pm.

See? Cold d lor. Until they need my pockets!

Caught this by accident.

Bong is always aware of any camera focusing on her

Desmond !

As soon as we entered, there was a huge circular aquarium right in the middle of the lobby. There were tonnes of fishes of different varies and colors, not forgetting other sea creatures. But they swam in such a lightning speed so I couldn't catch a still picture with my lousy photo shooting techniques. Sorry :(

Hi eel ! You look amazing. And it never moved.

Next, we went to see the Jellies!

They were sooo fascinating. And they looked somewhat delicious. LOL.

It's like white fungus in tong shui!

And then we explored around while waiting for our show.

The creature below, that is a seal. The pool, where it lives is like 4 times its size. And all it did the whole time was swim to one end and swim to another end, non-stop. Either it really likes swimming or it has OCD.

Meet Herbet the Happy and Hyperactive seal.

Here's an octopus.

If I'm not mistaken, these are beluga whales.

And this is... erm...

The emperor penguin is larger than my stupid dogs back at home!!!

Cute penguins enjoying their dip in the water!

They looked like they were in an operation or something. There was a "commander" outside the picture who was watching them in fact. So funny.

Show is starting! We are seated.

They really look so much alike.

Before the real show started, Shedd organized a hell lot of patternful pre-performances. They had a trio singing Christmas carols. Didn't bother to take a photo of them. Then the trio introduced someone, and I brought out my camera anxiously thinking that the dolphins are going to appear.

Manazai..

This thing came out.

Pattern.

Zzz.

The snowman started to interact with kids, (oh oklo if I was a kid maybe I would like him. Sadly for him I sudah 19 years old at that time pun) and giggled foolishly like any Disney mascot.

Then he presented his friend.

Mr. Santa Pattern Claus on a ~~sleigh~~, no.. ~~motorcar~~, no...

A FREAKING BOAT?!

Waddahell. Pattern.

Oh and the funnier part was he almost could not land.

Then the show was really about to start. These lights, as in, really beautiful and festive lights came out.

See? Snowflake lights projected on the landscape there were so nice! They kept moving slowly and transforming. So fantasy like.

Ooooooh here comes the Beluga whale!! They were damn intelligent! I wish Joey has at least half of their intelligence then I would be so grateful.

They were able to recognize their trainers. When they were released from the inner pool into the performance pool, they knew which trainer to go to by recognizing patterns like triangle, circle and stuff. They also memorized the sequence of their stunts, knowing clearly what should they perform first and what is next. DAMN SMART LAH!

Then there was this funny seal who was also very clever. I was very interested to touch its skin. Looks very smooth and slippery. Like a float.

The seal was trying to salute! Aaaaah damn chubeeee.

And finally, the dolphins!!!

Yes sorry I was a bad photographer.

BUT THE DOLPHINS WERE AWESOME!!!

Show ended. Got back to the aquariums.

Marlin or Nemo? I think it should be Marlin. It looked worried. Hahaha.

Introducing one of the world's most disgusting/gili-est living thing:
THE SEA SNAKE.

You should see how they moved and wiggled slowly with their lower half of their bodies remained in the sand. DAMN gili wtf. I think I have a video of that but I had to puke every time I try to play that video so let's just excuse it. (On a second thought I might dedicate that video to Eewei as her birthday present.)

EXTINCT!! YOU DISGUSTING CREATURES!!

Stingrays!

Shark!

The fish is interested in Ivon! Hahaha.

Blur seahorses.

Koi

I used to have a smaller version of this beluga whale plushie!! Miss my childhood friend! Until it got replaced by elephants.

After that we went to the Skydeck on Willis Tower, one of the tallest buildings in North America. Previously known as the Sears Tower, the building has a total of 110 floors, and the Skydeck is located on the 103rd floor, tall enough for you to get an expansive sight of Chicago's amazing city scenery.

We took the super fast elevator up onto Floor 103rd, undergone a series of security scanning (yes they do that a lot in important buildings like the WTC and this), went to the loo and finally,

here we go!

I look so short and thick with all these winter clothes around me. (Horrified)

Breathtaking beauty. I love Chicago.

Teng deng long!

Isn't that awesome?!

Besides that, one major attraction of the Skydeck is....the glass balconies!

Somewhere deeper in the observation deck were a row of retractable glass balconies extending from the 103rd floor. These glass balconies could bear five short tons of weight, allowing tourists to actually step onto the glass and look down on the ground, which is like, 103 floors below.

I think my heart stopped a beat or two.

But it was awesome! Everyone was literally squeezing into the glass boxes, not even worrying about accidental breaks or cracks. Honestly I did winced when I was on top of the glass boxes. I wasn't afraid of heights, but it is more relevant to say that catastrophic accidents make me nervous at times. Somehow, you just cannot predict what's happening next. You may say that I worry too much. The truth is, I watched enough disaster documentaries to turn myself into a cautious safety freak. I even rehearsed and pictured a slow-mo vision of myself and some unfortunate people falling down from the broken glass balcony and wailing. I must remind myself to fall gracefully and never land in awkward and ugly positions. No bone cracking or elbow snapping postures. Must die like how they die heroically in the movies. And I wondered what would be the last thoughts I have in mind before I hit the ground and die? Okay. Got carried away as usual. Sorry.

Still, it was awesome!!! Lalalala. High up in the air, 103 floors above the ground man. Super amazing.

And this guy here happen to have acrophobia. I think he just stepped into the glass box long enough for me to take a picture then he quickly jumped back to the solid firm ground ady. *shakes head*