Can I Get a Metric?

Amen brother.

I tell you, I have been trying my darndest to put up with it, but I tell you I can takes it no more! I spend half my time in the supermarket trying to work out how many pounds 300g is equivalent to, then I need to figure out how many ounces are in a pound.
1 pound = 16 ounces, 1 stone = 14 pound ...
What the?!
(and don't get me started on inches, feet and yards)
For the love of God people, just suck it in & make the move to metric. Trust me, once you start you'll love it. Just by moving a decimal place I've converted grams to kilograms and centimetre to metres. It's like a magic trick.
<end rant>

Oprah Can You Hear Me?

So Jerry Springer stays at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, so what? The Ritz Carlton Hotel is part of the Water Tower Place building - Oprah Winfrey owns the two top floors!!

Well, good for her I guess. I just wish she'd answer the phone.
I spent the last 2 days with the phone glued to my ear, dialling her audience reservation number ... only to hear time & time again "We're sorry, all operators are busy. Please try again later". Yesterday it finally rings & my heart skips a beat. Then I hear "There are no more audience vacancies for the month of October. Please try calling again later for the November schedule."

AAAUUURRRGGHHHH!!!!!

Celeb Sighting!!!

So Chi-Hoong and I are going for a stroll down the Magnificent Mile, as one does in Chicago. Then we turn down a side street where our car (Helga) is parked. For a side street, it's a very nice side street. Why? It's where you'll find the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
As we're walking past the front entrance, who should walk straight past us - none other than the king of violent talkback shows, Jerry Springer!
The white hair, the glasses. Classic.

The Boonies

Aaaah ... I'm just so good at finding these lil' Americanisms!! Well actually, I'm not sure if this is from America or from Canada.
Apparently "The Boonies" is the US/Canadian equivalent to the Aussie "Woop Woop".

American : "It takes Chad 1 hour to get to the city, he lives in the Boonies."
Aussie : "It takes Barry 1 hour to get to the city, he lives in Woop Woop."

Haha .. Boonies. It cracks me up! It just reminds me of that 80s movie "The Goonies". Did anyone else see that? Classic stuff.

A little background history thanks to Justin : apparently "Boonies" is the shortened version of "boondocks" & you can find more info here.

Feeling Flustered?

Did anyone in Chicago feel a litle flustered last week? Well no need to panic because my mate PK was in town!
For those of you that know PK you will know that flustered is his middlename! I too had a few moments of sheer flusteredness under the influence of PK.

You know you've given PK a good run for his money when :
(a) the first night he falls asleep on the Lovesac, just a metre away from his mattress
(b) the second night he falls asleep wearing the clothes he went clubbing in
(c) all of the above
Hats off buddy, hats off.

Here are the many faces of PK ...
(1) Cool PK, cruisin' the Chicago River

CPK 

(2) Running amok @ Funky Buddha Bar. From bottom : Barry, Tyrone & Laquisha

BLT 

My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard ...

So what happens when you take an innocent PK, perhaps somewhat tipsy from several Black Russians, take him to Wiener Circle and ask him to order the 'chocolate milkshake'? Let's just say that when you order a hot dog & a chocolate milkshake (think the Kelis song), you don't get change from your $20.

Wiener Circle is seriously the funniest place you can go to on a late nite out (sorry guys, Pancake Kitchen pales in comparison!). It's this tiny hot dog joint with these huge black women serving it up. And when I say serving it up, they are mostly serving up profanities. Some example follow ...

• 'Move the line muther f**ers'


• 'Whachoo want'


• (customer)'Where's my fries be-atch'


• 'NEEEEEEEEXXT'

Fantastic.

Milkshake 

Weird Food Combinations

You know when you hear of some bizarre food combination and think *blurgh*!! but then it turns out to be unbelievable?? Well I have now had this twice & it is amazing (or should I say "aaawe-some") : Bacon Wrapped Dates.
Sure, I know there are some of you saying 'well bacon makes everything taste good' & it is pretty much true (tho I hate hate hate American bacon!).
Bacon wrapped dates are apparently a common Spanish tapas dish and somehow the saltiness of the bacon combined with the caramelised dates just mashes together damn well.

Another fave food : Avacado Bubble Tea Freeze.
It's not exactly a combination, but I guess most people wouldn't normally consider drinking an avacado. But PK, I hope you'll back me up here - this is an awesome drink! It's hideously rich, thick & is a meal in itself. A good way to instantly increase your cholesterol.

And the classic : peanut butter & honey on toast.
This isn't really weird, it's more like common sense. It's the perfect breakfast & the perfect midnite munchies snack (thanks Benny). Tho I have had debates over this one : some prefer to use sugar insteaed of honey (for the crunch) & others like condensed milk. How can you go wrong?