The Manrilla Blog | Life. Art. Religion. Culture.

During my stay here I have yet to get used to the rapid and often changes in the weather. Again, we awoke to cool, foggy skies. It looked as if it might rain. The wind was strong on this part of town and we were chilly as we walked in search of some good Japanese food. Unfortunately, the one restaurant that I had in mind, I couldn’t find. Since we were short on time we ate at one across from the hotel, Hana Zen. This was a mistake. I have had much better Japanese food in Madison, Wisconsin. I thought that we would have been able to find good Japanese food in any part of town. This has made the 1st unsatisfactory eating experienced followed by a mediocre one yesterday. Perhaps tonight will be better.

Tonight was definitely better. Rebeca made plans to meet her cousin, Roger, this evening so I was on my own with my cousins. Kelley made reservations for us at the Bubble Lounge, located on Montgomery Street. It was a pretty lavish lounge with tall ceilings, big over-sized chairs and live music. The places claim to fame of course if Champaign. We arrived around 6pm for a couple of drinks and dinner.

Dinner consisted of shrimp cocktail, a couple of different quesadillas as well as a
salad. The salad got sent back but the quesadillas and shrimp cocktail were great. For desert was had a plate of chocolate truffles that were just outstanding. The night was still young so we decided to move on, towards the Financial District. Next stop, the Shanghai.

The Shanghai is located along a neat row of trendy bars and restaurants. It offered a cigar bar, which we ignored much to my chagrin, and preceded to the bar. This place also offers a full-service restaurant. The bartender here was pretty funny. He concocted one of his own brews for us for the first round. While sipping away on our
Cotton Candies, Kelley, Lauren and myself discussed our families, life, what we were doing and the chance of me moving out here. I finished the second round with another
chocolate martini, this time a clear one.

As it got close to midnight, we wrapped things up and they dropped me off at he hotel. Another well spent night here. I have really enjoyed reconnecting with my family here. It has reminded me of how much I miss having a sense of family. If things were able to work out and I was able to move out here it would be great. We’ll just have to see how things go.