Chicago

For the past few years, I had to visit Chicago quite often and I got to know the city pretty well.  It's such a vibrant, photogenic city with great cityscapes around every corner.  I've spent many nights just wandering the city to see where I could take great pictures.

The best thing about the city is all the great restaurants.  I have so many favorites that it's hard to choose where to eat.  

Pig's Ear with Crispy Kale, Pickled Cherry Peppers & Fried Egg @ The Purple Pig

Milk Braised Pork Shoulder with Mashed Potatoes @ The Purple Pig

Turkey Leg Confit, Crispy Lentils, Treviso, Endive, & Agrodolce @ The Purple Pig

Prosciutto Stuffed Squid @ The Purple Pig

Teatime for the Empress @ Slurping Turtle

Drinks @ Mercadito

Italian Beef @ Portillos

Deep Dish Pizza @ Lou Malnati's 

Day to Night in Washington D.C.

Last year, I took a quick weekend trip to Washington DC.  I visited as a child, but it was part of a road trip just passing through on the way to New York.  This time, I was determined to see all the tourist sights in one trip.  We managed to see most of the monuments and about half of the Smithsonians.  All in all, it was a great trip packed with lots of walking and sightseeing.

Eating around LA

I used to live in Orange County so I would go to LA pretty often.  With the great weather and beautiful beaches, it's always great to make a quick weekend trip there to relax.

Whenever I visit LA now, it's all about food.  I'm always so torn between going back to my favorite places or trying new places.  I could easily fill up a trip by just going back to all of my favorites.  This time, I'm glad I got to try a handful of new ones.

Omusubis

Office Burger

Smoked Eel

Sea Urchin Cream Udon and Beef Tataki

Galbi Poutine

da KFC

One of the best meals I've had was at Bestia.  A fantastic Italian restaurant that is in an old industrial building.  We ordered as much as we could and stuffed our faces.  If you ever find yourself in the LA area, I would highly recommend making a stop here.

Chicken Liver Crostino

Slow Roasted Lamb Neck

Pan-Roasted Chicken Gizzards

Roasted Marrow Bone

Mussels and Clams

Spaghetti Rustichella

Strozzapreti al Nero di Seppia

Tagliatelle alla Zafferano

Agnolotti alla Vaccinara

Cityscape Nights

Growing up in suburbs of Houston, I didn't come to downtown Houston much, so I never got the impression that Houston had the big city, New York or Chicago skyscraper feeling.  I have lately been getting more into cityscapes and now that I'm more familiar with the city, there are definitely some impressive views to be had.

New Delhi to Agra

I left Mumbai and I got to spend a day exploring the tourist spots in New Delhi.  One thing I have to say is that everything had a very grandiose and magnificent feeling to it.  There was lots of inlaid stone and marble with intricate carvings all wrapped up in large scale structures.  It was definitely very impressive to see the scale and magnitude, while also seeing the fine detail.

Qutub Minar

Lotus Temple

Humayun's Tomb

Khan Market

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib

The next morning, I woke up early to make the 2-3 hour drive to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.  It was so incredibly foggy I was really worried about how my pictures would come out. 

It wasn't the blue sky I was hoping for but there's no turning back now.  When I arrived, I was informed I only had 2 hours before they shut the whole thing down to kick everyone out due to a VIP coming.  I suspect it was Obama's team to come scope out the logistics of his planned visit to the Taj Mahal. 

After leaving the Taj Mahal, I had some extra time so I stopped by the Agra Fort before heading to the airport.