Missouri, USA: St. Louis Gateway Arch in Missouri

After two weeks in Illinois, we were finally crossing state borders to neighboring Missouri to visit an iconic landmark of St. Louis, the Gateway Arch at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. At 630 feet (192 meters), it is the tallest monument in the U.S.

We had some obstacles getting there since the usual riverfront roads to the arch were flooded as a result of the heavy rains that hit the region during the week. Flooding was all over the news the past week with towns along the Mississippi working to save their homes by building temporary levies with sandbags. Anyway, we finally got there and went around the museum under the arch.

From the base of the monument, you can take a tram to the observation deck at the top of the arch where, on a clear day, you can see as far as 48 kilometers. The tram ride costs US$10 per person. From the top, we could see the old courthouse and the baseball stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals were currently playing. I was toying around with the zoom of my camera and was able to take a shot of the batter on base and the pitcher!

You can also opt to take a riverboat ride for US$12 or a dinner cruise for US$40. But since the Gateway Arch Riverfront was flooded, that was out of the question.

After dinner at Union Station, a heritage structure adaptively-reused as a tourist mall (with restaurants, bars, shops and even a hotel), we drove back to Springfield, Illinois where we were to stay for the night.

Illinois, USA: Cahokia Mounds and prehistoric native American culture

The first thing I did when I found out I was flying to the U.S. was to find the nearest UNESCO World Heritage Site to Chicago. It was a good thing there was one in Illinois, the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. It excited me more when I found out that we were visiting it as part of our program itinerary since the only convenient way to get there was by renting a car.

According to UNESCO, Cahokia is the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico and was occupied primarily during the Mississippian period (800–1400), when it covered nearly 1,600 hectares and included some 120 mounds. The main mound in the complex is called Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthwork in the Americas, covering over 5 hectares and standing 30 meters high.

After watching a video at the Interpretative Center, we walked around the park and got to climb up Monks Mound where you can see nearby St. Louis, Illinois. If you don't want to rent a car, public transportation to the place is possible but a bit complicated. Directions are available in the Cahokia website. Take note that the Cahokia Mounds are in Collinsville, Illinois and not in the city of Cahokia.

Illinois, USA: Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition

As part of our program, we visited several not-for-profit organizations or NPOs in the Chicago area. Among these is the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, an NPO formed as a merger of two non-profit organizations — Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity) and the National Rainbow Coalition — founded by Jesse Jackson. The organizations pursue social justice, civil rights and political activism.

We were lucky to meet the Rev. Jesse Jackson himself, an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was closely associated with Dr. Martin Luther King. Before Barack Obama, there were four black candidates for president namely Shirley Chisholm, Senator Carol Moseley Braun, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton. Jackson was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988.

Illinois, USA: Philippine Independence Day celebrations in Chicago

We celebrated Philippine Independence Day by attending the reception hosted by Mayor Richard M. Daley and the City of Chicago on June 10. It is indeed an honor for the Philippines that a major American city has given significance to our celebration of freedom. In fact, Mayor Daley proclaimed June 12, 2008 as Philippine Independence Day in the City of Chicago. At the reception, Mayor Daley encouraged all Chicagoans to appreciate the contributions the Filipino-American community has made to Chicago

Earlier in the afternoon, we had made a courtesy call to Consul General Blesila C. Cabrera at the Philippine Consulate General along North Michigan Avenue.

During the reception, I was expecting Philippine cultural performances but there was none of that. Maybe next year, they can include that in the program since the current generation of Filipinos in the U.S. are no longer familiar with our culture having been born and raised there. It would be great if they can bring in cultural groups from the Philippines to perform or even better if young Filipinos in the U.S. can practice and perform our traditional songs and dances themselves.

What I noticed though was that there were so many ladies wearing crowns and sashes on the stage and even right below the stage. I know that traditional Philippine fiestas involve naming a queen and princess. But it's usually one for each. So we asked why there were so many ladies wearing crowns and sashes. The answer was each Filipino association had its own queen!

Then I realized, the Filipino-American community in the U.S. is an agglomeration of ethnic associations reflecting the regionalism that exists here in the Philippines. In general, we were told that Filipinos in the U.S. form associations based primarily on their place of origin in the Philippines rather than forming a single heterogeneous community based on their geographical location in America. We were told it partly explains why we don't have any "Filipinotowns" in the U.S. aside from the fact that we are good at adjusting to any culture to begin with.

Filipino-Americans are in the best position to set an example for our country by going beyond the regions, provinces and towns, transcending cultural barriers and moving as one. Filipinos here and around the globe must unite, strengthen Philippine national (and not just regional) identity and move our nation forward.

Illinois, USA: Millennium Park and Chicago City Hall

We visited Chicago City Hall yesterday as part of our immersion with American institutions. We got to meet Filipino-Americans holding important positions in the City Government of Chicago and got to tour City Hall as well. Mayor Richard Daley wasn't there but it was not a problem since we were meeting him in the evening anyway.

Lunch was at the James Thompson Center next door where we experienced more of America's food culture at the fast food center! For lunch, I had Bourbon chicken from New Orleans Chicken and a roast beef sandwich from Arby's. With the size of the servings, it's no wonder why we all put on weight when visiting the U.S.

After our afternoon and evening activities, and since the sun was still out at 8 p.m., we visited Millennium Park. Completed in 2004, the park was Chicago's answer to open space since it was built on top of an area previously occupied by the Illinois Central rail yards and parking lots. This makes it the world's largest roof top garden at 9.9 hectares!

It has several major artistic elements. One of these is the Crown Fountain, an interactive public fountain composed of a black granite reflecting pool in between two glass brick towers with high-tech LED video screens behind each block. It's a very creative concept really. The towers project the faces of Chicagoans reflecting the cultural diversity of the city. But what is catchy about the fountain is that water spouts from the towers from the lips of the projected faces making it look like the faces are spitting out water, playing on the historical theme of gargoyles with water coming out of their mouths in fountains.

Then there's the large "bean" called the Cloud Gate. Made of stainless steel, it was inspired by liquid mercury and is one of the most popular sculptures in the United States. Finally, there's the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, a band shell designed by controversial but award-winning architect Frank Gehry. It's a popular venue for outdoor concerts.

And Chicago knows how to raise funds since most of the features of the park are from corporate donations! That's something Metro Manila should try emulating. I'm sick and tired of the ugly, tasteless and kitsch infrastructure the MMDA has been churning out lately. Aren't you?

Illinois, USA: Chicago is a candidate city for the 2016 Olympics

There was so much buzz in Chicago when we arrived there since they had recently been named a candidate city for the 2016 Summer Olympics. They're up against Tokyo, Japan (which hopes to host the Olympics for the second time, it's the front-runner having scored the highest in the preliminary rankings), Madrid, Spain (one of the few major European capitals which has yet to host the Olympics, it was also a candidate city for the 2012 Olympics), and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (which hopes to bring the Olympic Games to South America for the first time). Michael Jordan is currently the unofficial spokesman for the Chicago 2016 bid.

Chicago was supposed to host the 1904 Summer Olympics but it was moved to St. Louis to coincide with the 1904 World's Fair. They also bid for the games in 1952 and 1956 but with no success. Will they be lucky this time around?

Illinois, USA: Chicago skyline from the Adler Planetarium

The area around the Adler Planetarium by Lake Michigan is where one can enjoy one of the best, if not the best views of the Chicago skyline. You could see most of the major skyscrapers from there including the Sears Tower, Aon Center, John Hancock Center, AT&T Corporate Center and Two Prudential Plaza among many others. It's a great place to chill, and I sure did enjoy the view.

Illinois, USA: Chicago's culturally-diverse neighborhoods

If there's one thing I enjoyed about Chicago, it was the cultural-diversity which manifested itself in the wide array of food choices. And yesterday was the day I sampled food from Chicago's ethnically-diverse neighborhoods.

First stop for the day was Devon Avenue, a former Jewish community which now plays host to Chicago's Indian & Pakistani communities. Available there are various cuisines from all over India and Pakistan, and even Afghanistan! I still saw some Jewish establishments but not as much as Indian and Pakistani restaurants.

Try entering a supermarket and the distinct smell of spices fill the air. Mangoes are a popular fruit in the area, mostly Indian. But they sell "Manila" mangoes which are ironically grown in Mexico and elsewhere. I wonder when we could export our luscious Guimaras mangoes to the U.S. because the "Manila" mangoes are a far-cry from what we have here in the Philippines.

From there we proceeded to New Saigon, a small Vietnamese area to sample the bahn mi sandwiches at the Ba Le Bakery. We also walked to the local Asian supermarket to get some dried jackfruit chips but we also saw some Philippine products as well. Another tasty surprise was the crunchy dried durian which was really good!

Shortly before lunch, we proceeded to Lincoln Square, the former German community, to sample the tiramisu cakes which is a specialty of Cafe Selmarie.

We made a quick drive around Andersonville (Swedish) and Greek Town (if we had more time, I would have wanted to sample the Greek food), before proceeding to Little Village, the Mexican community for a late lunch at Taqueria El Milagro. The grilled beef and tortillas was a filling treat! We proceeded to the New Maxwell Street Sunday Market to get more Mexican tortillas were they are freshly-made right in front of you.

We made a quick drive around Chinatown proceeding to the Adler Planetarium area by Lake Michigan where one can find the best views of the Chicago skyline. More from Chinatown and Chicago's other neighborhoods in the next posts. Thanks to Ron Salazar and Padma Siap for taking me around and back to DeKalb!

Illinois, USA: More from Chicago

Before taking that elevator ride up to the Skydeck, the bus stopped over for a few minutes at the United Center so that we could take some photos. The United Center is the home of the Chicago Bulls.

Outside is a statue of "His Airness" Michael Jordan, the team's legendary guard who lead the Bulls to six NBA championships. By acclamation, he is said to be the greatest basketball player of all time! It was a surprise though seeing the statue there when Michael Jordan is very much alive and kicking.

After Sears Tower, we also dropped by Navy Pier for lunch. This is another heritage structure that was adaptively reused and converted into a shopping and entertainment complex. If you plan to hop on the Architecture Cruise or cruises to Lake Michigan, Navy Pier is where you can find them.

We also dropped by the Bahá'í House of Worship in nearby Wilmette, one of the lakefront suburbs of Chicago. It's the temple of the Bahá'í Faith, a religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia. Plans to construct this temple began in 1903. Construction commenced in 1921 and was finally completed in 1953.

For the evening, we had a picnic in Grant Park while enjoying the 25th Annual Chicago Blues Festival. But I didn't stay long since I had to meet up with my family who were on vacation in Chicago as well. So I took a Metra (the transportation system from Chicago to its suburbs) to Lisle where my family was staying.

It was a coincidence that my mom had a mini-reunion with her US-based high school classmates in Chicago, and an even bigger coincidence that the dates matched with my Chicago trip. So at least I got to meet up with them even just for a few hours since they were leaving the next day.

Illinois, USA: Sears Tower and the view from the Skydeck

Sears Tower in Chicago was the tallest skyscraper in the world from 1973 to 1998. It's still the tallest building in Chicago and a visit to the Skydeck on the 103rd floor which is 1,353 feet (412 m) above ground, is definitely worth the visit.

It was our first real day in Chicago since we went straight to DeKalb as soon as we arrived at O'Hare. And we had a list of places to visit today, one of them being the famous Sears Tower.

They say that up there, you can see up to fifty miles on all sides. It was a great experience looking down at Chicago's magnificent skyscrapers. The city is known far and wide for its architecture which covers more than a century of history.

Contemporary structures are properly blended with old historic buildings, standing side-by-side in a harmonious mix of past, present and future. We'll see that in detail when we take the Architecture Cruise later in the month.

What looks like the beach and a sea is actually a large freshwater lake called Lake Michigan. Although I've swam in lakes, I've never experienced a freshwater urban beach before (meaning the usual beaches we all know about, the same fun without the saltwater).

In fact, the water was so blue, if I did not know it was a lake, I would have mistaken Lake Michigan for a sea. Even the river that runs through the city is very much clean and that was evident from where I stood.

It costs $12.95 to get up to the Skydeck and you can stay there for as long as you want during visiting hours.