My Travel Diaries

Hi everyone, I hope you all are doing well! For all the UIC students, it’s finally spring break!! I am so ready for break, and I hope you guys are ready for this blog… it's another long one. I just wanted to post something that will get us into the spirit of rest and exploring new places, in case anyone is traveling or just using this break to recuperate and relax. I hope this blog can give you all some energy and strength to get through the rest of the semester (or anything else you guys are going through, whether you're students or not). This week, I’m going to be reminiscing about some of my favorite travel spots! For some reason, most of these trips have ended up being like 1-2 day affairs, and my family and I squeeze so much into these 24-48 hours that I’m surprised each time. I love traveling and experiencing life in new places; it's both resting and energizing for me! So, this blog is also a way for me to revisit these places, and I hope I can go back soon! 

A picture I took at Niagara Falls!

Toronto 

In September 2023, my family and I went to Toronto for a family wedding. We were staying in the suburbs near our relatives for about four days, and we dedicated one day to the city! On that day, and I think this is extremely important for everyone to know, we had the hotel breakfast, and I got their waffles. One thing about me, I love hotel waffles. After that, we drove into the city to visit the CN Tower, a really popular sightseeing monument with different observation decks at different levels (CN stands for “Canadian National”). We got to see really nice views of the Toronto skyline, and the weather was absolutely amazing! Clear skies and a bright shining sun!

A little later in the day, we met up with one of my cousins who lives in the city, and she took us around Kensington Market! It was so cute and so much bigger than I thought. Everywhere you turned, there were new stalls and storefronts. After this, we went to the most (in my humble opinion) amazing Korean barbecue and hot pot restaurant in North America. It was called Mix2 Grill & Hotpot! Oh my god, I can’t tell you guys how insanely delicious it was. It might’ve been the best part about this trip… After this, we sadly had to part ways with our cousin and make our way to another historical landmark, Casa Loma. I’m not sure why we decided to go here, but it looked really pretty in the pictures online, and thankfully, it was just as pretty in person too! If you guys are in Toronto, though, feel free to skip this. Later that night, we had another wedding event and ended our day going to a dessert cafe called d-spot! This place is also incredibly delicious. I’m not someone with a very big sweet tooth, but their chocolate-pistachio croffle with vanilla ice cream is to die for. 

Pictures I took in Toronto!

(1) Hotel waffles, (2-3) CN Tower views and exhibits, (4-5) Kensington Market, (6-7) Casa Loma, (8) d-spot cafe.

New York City 

In the summer of 2024, my family and I were visiting my sister in Maryland. A small offset of this trip (for approximately 48 hours) was us going to New York. On the first day, we drove about 3-4 hours to Manhattan to the Richard Gilder Center, which, on Google, is called the Gilder Center of Science, Education, and Innovation. This was a really nice museum! All of their exhibits were so pretty, and we were actually there for quite some time. Later that day, after taking some rest at our hotel, we made our way to the Roosevelt Island Tramway Plaza. We took the tram to Roosevelt Island, and it was so beautiful! You get such a pretty view of the New York skyline, and the sun was about to set, and it was slightly raining. Even if you don’t end up exploring Roosevelt Island, just taking the tram there and back is enough. We stayed on the island for a bit, though, walking around, sitting on some benches near the water, and taking pictures. After we got back to the mainland, we ended our night with a delicious dinner at the Ali Baba Mediterranean restaurant! Another hit and a recommended place for you all. Their pita… chefs kiss!

On our second day in New York, we took the ferry down to Brooklyn! We stopped by a popular cafe called Arabica and visited some spots with great views of the Brooklyn Bridge! After that, we took another ferry, which landed us near the Financial District, and then took a bus up to East Village for some chai. We went to a place called Kolkata Chai Co, and while my parents rested there, my sister and I walked around the neighborhood and did some window shopping! We had lunch afterward and then went to Summit One Vanderbilt, a famous sightseeing spot in New York. We still had some downtime before our scheduled time slots, though, so we explored around the area. Fun fact, this place is connected to the Grand Central Station, so we went there for a bit, then my sister and I went to get some coffee from Blank Street. We had heard good things about it, and the drinks we got (ice vanilla lattes) were pretty good, but I feel like there's so much better out there… Next time I’m able to go to New York, I will scope out and find those better spots!! 

Not too long after, we finally went to Summit One, and it was so pretty! There were a lot of different rooms and observation decks we went to, and the skyline was a little different in each one. This spot was pretty pricey and was definitely just a one-time thing, though. Our last stop before heading back to Maryland was Koreatown! My sister and I went to a few shops and to a cafe, where we got some sweet treats called hottoek with some ice cream. It was so good! It was a really nice send-off to our time in the city. I didn’t mention this earlier, but we took the subway that day, too, from East Village to Midtown, where Summit One was. This is really random, but I love public transportation and using it in different cities, and I tried my best to include as many modes as I could in our short time on this trip (the ferry, bus, and subway). There were so many more things I wanted to do and places I wanted to visit, but New York is just so big. I wanted to see Astoria, Queens, Flushing, and more of Brooklyn, to name a few. The number of museums, cafes, and restaurants I had saved on my phone was insane. I hope one day I’m able to do them all!

Pictures I took in New York!

(1-2) Richard Gilder Center, (3-4) Roosevelt Island Tramway, (5) views from Roosevelt Island, (6) Arabica, (7) views of the Brooklyn Bridge, (8) Kolkata Chai Co., (9-10) views from Summit One Vanderbilt, (11-12) here and there of NY.

Miami 

In the fall of 2024, my family and I went to Florida for another family wedding! We were there for a weekend and only had like half a day to go to Miami. We had brunch and then stopped for some coffee on our way to the city at a place called Haute Coffee. It was actually a coffee truck, which I thought was pretty cool, and the drinks were really good! Our first stop in the city was a museum called Superblue Miami! This museum was gorgeous!! The exhibits were so cool and interactive, and I’m not sure my camera did them justice. After that, we headed to the Bayside Marketplace. We somehow walked across the entire outdoor market before we knew it, and then stumbled upon a Ferris wheel at the end. We decided to go on and ended up getting some really beautiful views of the Miami skyline and the bay! We had a dinner party that night, so we headed back early, but before that, we stopped at this amazingly delicious boba and poke place called Sovereign. Oh my god, it was so good!! The poke was so fresh, and it had been a while since I had a really good one like that, especially since the poke scene in Chicago isn’t that great.

Pictures I took in Miami!

(1) Haute Coffee, (2-5) Superblue Miami, (6) Bayside Marketplace, (7-8) Ferris wheel and Miami skyline.

Boston 

Last spring, my sister was graduating from her master's program in Boston, so my family and I packed our bags and headed there for the weekend (I’m not sure why the trend is for us to go to these metropolitan cities for only like 2 days). We set aside a day of adventure (our last day there) before we had to go to the airport, and we started with a visit to Boston Commons, the city's park. We walked around for a bit and then made our way to a small neighborhood called Beacon Hills. This place was so cute! We stopped at a bookstore and got some coffee on the way too. After that, my sisters and I walked to Boston's Chinatown, which surprisingly wasn’t that far. Their Chinatown wasn’t that big either, and it was interesting to see because I had learned about their Chinatown in one of my GLAS classes before! Well, it was actually about Chicago's Chinatown, but we talked about other Chinatowns and Asian towns across the country, like how they came to be, migration patterns, and how they changed over time!

After some light exploring, we had some lunch and made our way to the Boston Public Library! It was so pretty inside! I wish I could apologize to the students and workers who were in there, though. This library was just filled with tourists. Our last stop before leaving was Newbury Street, a road lined with shops, restaurants, and historic buildings. This street was stunning! I love the architecture in Boston, and this street was just filled with beautiful buildings. My family and I walked around here for a while doing some window shopping, and my sisters and I actually came across a photo booth studio, so we got something really nice to commemorate this trip! The very last thing we did before heading to the airport was stopping at a boba place called Ten One Teahouse which was also really good, and I highly recommend! 

Pictures from Boston!

(1-2) Beacon Hills, (3) Boston Chinatown, (4-5) Boston Public Library, (6-8) Newbury Street, photo booth studio, and Ten One Teahouse.

Seattle

A little while after, in the following summer, my sister and I went to Seattle to visit our cousin! Unlike the previous trips, this one was a few days long, and we had plenty of time to relax, explore, and adventure to our heart's content! On our first day in Seattle, we went to the Seattle Aquarium and the Ocean Pavilion! We had been there before, but they recently renovated one area, so we went to check it out. There was this huge new tank filled with all kinds of animals, including sharks and stingrays! We also stayed for one of their presentations, where they explained how they care for all their aquatic life and strive to improve our connections and the state of our global oceans. After that, we walked down the pier and got some ice cream at Molly Moons! I can’t remember what flavors we got, but I do remember that it was delicious! After going home for a bit, we went to a place called Chicha San Chen, where I had the best boba I have ever had. They recently opened up a storefront here in Chicago in Chinatown, and it’s just as good! If you're in Chicago and haven't tried this place before, please go!

Another day I want to highlight on this trip was a few days later, when my sister and I went to Bainbridge Island! We had to take a ferry from Seattle, and it was so nice and calming. I think it was about a 30-minute ride, and the views on the way out of the city were so pretty! The island itself was so cute, and we were able to walk everywhere pretty easily. We stumbled across a farmers' market and stopped by a stall called “Purdy Good Pickles.” I’m not sure why we only went there, but we did try some delicious pickle samples and ended up buying a jar for home! After that, we walked to one of the cutest and coziest coffee shops called Pegasus Coffee. Their drinks were so good, and they had a seasonal Earl Grey-flavored scone, which was amazing. Then, we walked around the town for a bit, went into some crazy antique stores, and then got ourselves an early dinner. There was a poke place called Hi Life near the ferry terminal that we had stopped at, and I don’t think I even have to say it. The poke was 100/10. The poke scene in Seattle is actually unmatched. And now I have to take this opportunity to talk about how Seattle's boba, seafood, and coffee are among the best in the country. I already talked about some boba and poke places, but their coffee? I can’t even fully express in words how good it is there. There's a coffee chain called Woods Coffee, and I think every time we go to Seattle, we start most mornings there. Not good for our wallets or our health, but I need you guys to try it and tell me you wouldn’t do the same.

Pictures from Seattle!

(1-3) Seattle Aquarium and Ocean Pavilion, (4) walking along the pier, (5) Chicha San Chen, (6) ferry to Bainbridge Island, (7) Purdy Good Pickles, (8-9) Pegasus Coffee, (10) antique shops, (11) ferry back to Seattle, (12) Woods Coffee.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you! I know a lot of the places we visited were popular tourist spots, but we still had a lot of fun! If I’m ever able to visit these places again, it's going to be even crazier with more jam-packed itineraries. And if you guys haven’t traveled to these places yet, I hope you’re all able to one day, and maybe you can try out some of these spots. Or if you do something different, let me know so I can add it to my lists! Thank you again for reading this week's blog. I may or may not see you guys over break, so stay tuned! Make sure you’re following @/kahani.mag on Instagram to stay updated! 

- Juveriah