X Marks The Spot: August 2009

...i'll be above the Pacific ocean, on the flight back to home.back to the embrace of her arms.i keep thinking,how will she react when she met me?is she gonna scream in delight?is she gonna squeal?is she just gonna smile and gimme a hug and a kiss?whatever that she want to do,however that she gonna reacts,i know what i want to do :)

last week my colleagues and i went to downtown on a Thursday afternoon (we all took half-day that day, and it makes me really really busy beforehand just to catch-up with the brought-forward deadlines) for a cruise along the rivers in Chicago, which highlights Chicago's world class architecture and presents us with informative and interesting details of over 40 buildings alont the Chicago river that are a testament to Chicago's reputation as the birthplace of modern American architecture.

me on the boat

we left the office that day around 12 in a big van where it fits *counts in my head* 15 of us, and mind you, not all of us are thin and petite :p but it's a fun road-trip, with Faina and Stella chattering away to some random stuff making people laugh (especially Stella, with her southern Missisippi accent (i'm not even sure i spelled Missisippi correctly or not.hehe). They're an interesting and wacky bunch of people, seasoned (or old, whichever you wanna call it), but fun nonetheless. it took us around an hour from Riverwoods to downtown Chicago due to the traffic, as there are some major roadworks along the highway.once we reached the Navy Pier, we all couldn't wait to get out of the van, plus we're all kinda late a bit and the boat is leaving in 10 minutes or so, so we rushed to the pier to catch the cruise just in time before it leaves the docks.

the weather that day was not so bad, not too much sun but it's not that cold either.our tour guide,a chubby old guy in floral shirt,shorts and a funny hat,was really interesting and chattery and really full to the brim with the knowledge of all the buildings in Chicago. amongst the famous buildings that we saw are the Trump International Hotel on Tower, Wrigley Building (owned by the chewing gum mogul, who is pure Chicagoian), Boeing World Headquarters, Chicago Board of Trade, Civic Opera Building, Central US Post Office, John Hancock Tower, and of course, the infamous Sears(now Willis) Tower. We even had a debate on which is the tallest building back then in 1997 when the Petronas Twin Towers was built, because he said that if the antennas on top of the Sears Tower was counted, then it'll become the tallest building in the world back then. But as far as I know, Petronas Twin Towers is still the tallest building in the world back then because the antenna on the Twin Towers are still counted as part of the structure of the building as people still can go at the antenna level, as the antenna on top of Sears is only radio antenna, so it really doesn't count.hehe.

Do you know that most of the scenes in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are shot around Chicago? Eggy told me last time, and it was reiterated by the tour guide,explaining where the locations and which buildings did they use.Sears Tower and Trump International Tower were used in the final showdown between Batman and Joker, Hotel 71 as Bruce Wayne's penthouse, Chicago Board of Trade as Wayne's Enterprise building and many other Chicago landmarks are used to shoot the scenes.

the old Post Office which has become the bank in the first scene in The Dark Knight

Willis (formerly Sears) Tower

the cruise ended an hour later, leaving us all hungry not having our lunch yet. once we reached the docks, we took off to an Italian restaurant on Navy Pier called Capi. I had a baked pasta with prawns, and it was really good! we all ate and chat and took a few group shots (i'll upload it another time,it was still in Nantha's camera),and after an hour or so we all decided to part our ways to just enjoy the evening at the Piew on our own accord. Bought a couple of souvenirs there, like some keychains and stuff because I don't know if I ever get another chance to go to the Pier again. after we got tired of walking along the Pier, we decided to just chillax on a bench beside the waters of Lake Michigan, enjoying the sunshine and looking at all kind of people there (there even a group of gay guys,i think almost 80 or more of them,boarding on a cruise with loud techno music,and tinted,dark windows as well,i wonder what they gonna do inside :p )

6pm arrives, and after another group photos of all of us, we left the Navy Pier back to Deerfield, but not Kelvin and Nik though, they have to go in the office since they're working at night until 12 :p

Friday passes by,nothing interesting here...

...and it's Saturday, finally, my first Warped Tour! :) woke up early in the morning to get ready, having trouble deciding what to wear that day, so I opted for my compulsary gig-uniform (my Vans t-shirt) and shorts and Onitsuka, which are really good decisions since I'm gonna be sweaty there, and I don't wanna wear jeans and nice t-shirts, and I'd rather get my Tiger dirty rather than my new SBs :p

it was a smooth journey to Tinley Park with no delay whatsoever, thanks to proper planning and maps that I've printed out the day before.we reaches there around 1 something, and the weather not really on our side that day as it was drizzling a bit here and there, but it wasn't too bad.once we reached the First Midwest Ampitheathre,I could hear The Maine playing from afar...shite,i missed one of the bands that i wanted to watch already!but once we see the band line-up and showtimes,i've noticed that i actually missed a couple of bands who played earlier in the day,such as Every Avenue(really looking forward to watching them live,i know how she like their songs) , Sing It Loud, and Forever The Sickest Kids.i guess the show must go on, and after i wrote the bands that i wanted to see and their showtime and stages on a pice of paper,we took off to wander around the venue to see what they have there.

the bands line up and showtimes

that's the guy from Madina Lake!!!

the whole venue are huuuuge, packed with all kind of people from punk kids to hardcore guys to girls clad in bikinis (no,they're not hot at all, she's miles ahead of them :) ). and there are rows of merch shops too, selling respective bands merchandise.the drizzling rains seems to come and go,but it didn't bother us much as we went to watch our first show of the day, You Me At Six.

You Me At Six

the crowd here not as packed as the other stages as they are playing at one of the smaller stage at the Warped.but still,once the band goes on stage the crowd starting to gather around,maybe all those people who walk past the stage got drawn into the infectious pop punk melody carried by the band,and who to blame them?she would've go crazy to see You Me At Six live,as the last time in the UK we didn't get to watch them live even though they're from the UK.but i recorded their songs for her,and they even did a cover of Lady Gaga's Pokerface, a bit weird but really fun to listen to and jump around. after Save It For The Bedroom, their show ended and we rushed to our next show, The White Tie Affair. They're already started their set when we reach their stage, and I recorded a couple of songs for her as well such as The Letdown and Candle(Sick and Tired).Oh and they covered Lady Gaga too as well(i don't know why the bands like to cover her songs so much), Just Dance. After The White Tie Affair we head back to the outdoor area where the main stage are to catch 3Oh!3 (i don't really fancy them,but to just kill the time while waiting for Valencia).apparently all the kids there love 3Oh!3,a lot of them are already at the main stage with their fancy neon accessories and skimpy clothes.but after a couple of songs by them,i guess they're not too bad after all,quite energetic on stage.we didn't bother to wait for them to finish as Valencia is coming on the SmartPunk stage soon,so we reach the stage on push our way to the front of the stage to get a better view of them.this is what i've been waiting for,to finally see Valencia performing live,and how i wish for her to enjoy them with me.

Shane rocking the stage

they kicked of their show with Better Be Prepared, and i'm really getting goosebumps that time,i really can't believe it that i'm standing right in front of them watching them on stage belting out all my favourite songs.there're even times when Shane (the vocalist) reaches out to the crowd and practically look me straight in the eye,and i really feel it,the emotions from his music really hit me in the heart.i was singing along to them,never one word missed as i knew it by heart,and even the mat salehs there were shocked that i knew all the lyrics from their song (got this one guy actually ask me,"are you a big fan of Valencia?",and i told him,"bigger than everyone else who're here") :p they ended their set with The Space Between,the first song from them that i've heard.the best performance at the Warped for me :)

Hit The Lights playing next on the SmartPunk stage, and what a performance they put, and people keep floating on top of us crowd-surfing to their music, and one guy actually dropped his glasses while jumping around making us arround him to stop moving for awhile to let him find his glasses.but too bad,by the time he found his glasses it's already broke,but he just laughed and gives us a thumbs up and we all continue jumping around like mad :p

hit the lights

we got a little bit tired after Hit The Lights, so we decided to rest for awhile at the seats in front of the stage (but it's a little bit further from the stage) and watch Meg & Dia performed from far. I would love to be in the crowd and join them sway around to their music, but i still need the energy for All Time Low, so i just chillax and record their performance from far.i've saw them up close before at Manchester with her last time anyways :)

Nik complained that he's hungry so we went to the food area but the lines are soooo freaking long,so we decided to buy this funnel cakes from a stall where the queue is not that long.but after we actually ate it,we know why the stall don't have that long of a queue,it's because their funnel cakes (it was char-koey kinda food) was too greasy,and we ended up not finishing them (Nik actually gave his funnel cake to a chick,which she gladly accepts).hehe.after we finish drinking our $5 coke (the food was way overpriced at the venue),we went to watch bands that are playing that time while waiting for All Time Low to come up on stage.TV/TV is one of them,playing at one of the smaller stage,and their music is quite catchy and i got hooked up by them immediately.love their song Indie Rock Girl,really makes my feet tap tap tap while listening to them.hehe.

All Time Low coming up soon,so we went to the main stage and The Devil Wears Prada are rocking it out on the stage,driving the crowd wild with their hardcore music,and we could see everyone was moshing like mad.it looks kinda fun,so i decided to join them for awhile :p

bish bush bash bush bish

i survive in the mosh pit only for only a song,then after that i went out of the pit to save the rest of my energy for All Time Low.we pushed our a way to the front of the stage,the closest that we could get until we couldn't move anymore; it was really,really packed and everyone keep pushing each other,all anticipating for All Time Low.we can't stand still at one spot,we all just basically follow wherever the wave of the crowd goes.if people are pushing from the left,we swayed to the right,and the other way around.she really couldn't survive in this sea of sweaty people,if she were there with me i would put her on my shoulders to keep her from being squashed in the crowd.

eagerly waiting for All Time Low

and finally,they came on stage and the crowd goes really wild,especially the girls :p Alex Gaskarth and co greets us with their new song from their new album, Weightless, and the crowd starting to jump around,moshing,dancing and crowd-surfing and basically just having the time of their live.it was impossible to take pictures in that kind of condition where there's not much you can do to keep you from standing still...and that's why all the pics that i took during All Time Low's performance are kinda blur.but i still manage some pretty good pics of them :p

they really rock out the crowd that night with their songs,old and new,and it was really an unbelievable performance.i even got my phone kicked by a crowd surfer while recording Six Feet Under The Stars,but luckily the guy who're in front of me catched it before it fell to the ground,before my phone was about to be smashed and stomped to pieces.dude,you rock! :) and i even continue recording the song after that incident,so funny and it can be seen on the video as well,how my phone flew out of my hands into the dude's hands :p

it was really the best time i've ever had during my whole time in Chicago,but it would be even better if she could be there with me by my side as we enjoy our favourite bands,hand in hand,arms in arms,having the time of our lives :)

well,i guess that's it for now,it's almost 3am here and i need to wake up really early tomorrow as the guys are planning to catch the 7.26am train to Aurora so that we could come back home earlier.

loves from Chicago.
x

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