Sea Change Okinawa: USA

Autumn colours in Urbana-Champaign

When I was on my work trip to the US a few weeks ago (was it that long ago??), I spent a very short day/night at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. When I used to work at the University of Melbourne, we sent a lot of students here on exchange, and I always wondered what the appeal was (it's in the middle of nowhere), but after visiting, I get it. It is a really lovely university town, with a huge and beautiful campus.

I was in love with all the autumn colours, and spent a good amount of time chasing squirrels around the Union building. I was actually there for the night of the last presidential debate, and I was really cool to see all the students crowded into a room in the Union building watching it on TV.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a lovely old campus, with a fantastic university community feel

Autumn leaves <3

Illini Union building

Chased these guys around for ages!

The Illini Union Hotel in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, is lovely, and classic, right in the Union Building. A great choice if you are visiting family on campus or attending an event at the university

Loved this room in the union hotel

Fall <3

17:17
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One day in Miami

Travel

So just over a week ago I went to the USA for work. This was my second trip to the US, and I visited Chicago, rural Illinois and Miami, Florida. Miami was my last stop on the trip, and I was lucky enough to have a whole day at the end before my (looooong) night flight back to Japan. Because I only had one day I decided to spend it in South Beach, as it promised to be a combination of the beach, shopping and art deco heaven.

The Albion hotel in South Beach, Miami, is lovely on the outside, awesome lobby, but rooms with paper-thin walls.

The Albion Hotel - Where I stayed in Miami

Let me tell you, Miami really didn't disappoint. I couldn't stop taking photos of all the amazing art deco buildings, and the skies were so incredibly blue. I can see why people flock here for some warm weather holiday. I also loved the fact that basically EVERYONE was speaking Spanish. I honestly barely heard anyone speaking English at all while I was there. It was like being in another country.

Oh.....and I saw a hipster riding a bike with his pet lemur on his shoulders.....

I spent my one day wandering around the art deco district, taking way too many photos, shopping on Lincold Rd Mall, and finally getting to eat Shake Shack, which was super delicious! I have no idea what they put in those burgers (MSG?) but they are good!

My only regret was that I didn't make it to the Saturday brunch at Palace (seriously, how amazing does this place look?), which promised non-stop drag shows and all you can drink margaritas. I felt a bit weird going on my own, and also thought that margaritas weren't really a good idea on the day I was flying out..... US airport TSA is no joke guys! Pretty sure they wouldn't look kindly on a drunk passenger.

Because I was on the work budget, my hotel budget was limited, so I chose to stay at the Albion Hotel, which, location-wise, is fantastic and it was also art deco, which was another tick for me. The one (kind of major) downfall for me was the fact that the walls were paper thin. I could hear everything (and I mean everything) going on in the rooms around me! You win some, you lose some, right?

If you ever find yourself with limited time in Miami, I definitely recommend heading straight to South Beach. Sure, it's full of tourists, but it is gorgeous, lively and has great shopping!

South Beach, MIami has long and wide sand beach, with different colour areas for different hotels. It makes for some great photos.

South Beach, Miami is an Art Deco heaven

South Beach, Miami is covered with gorgeous beach settings in different colours for different hotels.

Amazing light

Lincoln Road Mall

This tree <3

Finally tried Shake Shack - It was delicious!

Pastel <3

Senot Frogs in South Beach, MIami is everything wonderful

Senor Frogs

South Beach, Miami is extremely gay friendly

Rainbow flag near The Palace

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17:22
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One day in Chicago!

Travel

Michigan Ave Chicago is full or beautiful tall buildings on one side, and the park on the other.

I just arrived back to Okinawa yesterday after a week-long very busy work trip! If you follow my Facebook page or my Instagram you would have seen some photos already, but today i'm back to start blogging about this epic trip!

After my last work trip to the US over a year ago, I was absolutely floored by the jetlag when I arrived, and basically went straight to work the next day. It was horrible and I was really dreading it this time. Because of this, I made an executive decision to arrive a day earlier to give myself an extra night to (try to) get some sleep before I had to work. It also gave me a day to actually explore Chicago, where my trip began.

For some reason (I'm thinking multiple big sports games), there was basically no hotel rooms available in the city for the Saturday night I arrived under $600USD, so I stayed out near the airport for the first night and headed in to the city the next day for the night.

Ever since I was 14 years old and started watching ER when it first aired, I have wanted to go to Chicago. Maybe it was the idea of running to Julianna Margulies or George Clooney on the street, I don't know. Anyway, i've always wanted to visit and I was so happy to finally have the chance!

When I finally got into the city, I dropped my bags at my hotel and headed straight out to explore. I was staying right on Michigan Avenue near the Art Institute of Chicago, so the location was excellent. I walked to Millennium Park, and took an awkward photo with Cloud Gate, affectionately called the Bean, enjoyed checking out the autumn leaves changing colour. I kept wandering all the way up to the street to the DuSable Bridge, because I wanted to see all the gorgeous buildings on the river. It really is a beautiful city full of lovely architecture.

The second half of the day I headed out to Lincoln Park, because I wanted to check out the suburbs, to see another side of the city. Because this post already has a lot of photos, i'll be separating it into a few posts :)