C H I C A G O

July 30, 2018August 6, 2018 by blnadventures, posted in Uncategorized

Where to stay:

I like to stay on magnificent mile(north Michigan Avenue)

Favorite hotels:

Hyatt Centric Magnificent Mile
Intercontinental Magnificent Mile

Transportation :

When you get to the airport you can take the subway 🚊 there. It’s $20 for a 3 day pass and you’ll be able to go everywhere.. even on the bus

Things to do:

Sky Deck Chicago:

Enjoy the view of the city on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower. Then walk off the glass ledge to see the city below your feet!

360 Chicago:

360 view of Chicago while tilted over the city on the 94th floor of the John Hancock Building. Enjoy the adrenaline 😱

Science Museum:

Hands down my favorite museum! You could spend over 3 hours in here and probably won’t finish exploring the place.

Field Museum:

Filled with history and culture! Recommended!

Planetarium: I love the exterior of the place but inside wasn’t as amazing as i thought it would be? I guess because I experienced the Science Museum.

Lincoln Zoo:

An awesome zoo within Lincoln Park and guess what makes it even more amazing? ITS FREE!

Garfield Park Conservatory:

Beautiful Garden! Enjoy the smell of the flowers!

Millennium Park:

Home of The Bean(cloud gate) structure and the crown fountain. An artsy park you must check out!

Navy Pier:

The pier is a fun place to visit during the summer! Enjoy treats you would find at the carnivals

In the summer, go enjoy Lake Michigan! Unfortunately, I’ve been here a couple times in the winter and have not experienced it.

Restaurants to try:

Chinatown:

Joy Yee plus :boba, waffles, Shabu Shabu

Joy Yee noodles : Boba and Chinese food

Ming hin: dim sum
Dolo: dim sum
Mccb: schezuan. (Chili oil wonton, dan dan noodles, were my fav but people get some huge hot pot thing)

North Michigan Avenue:

Three dots and a dash: cool tiki bar
The Flamingo Rum Club: Instagram worthy rum bar!
Apogee: Lounge with frozen flowers in their cocktails
Leviathan: Beautifully crafted cocktails
Eataly: Italian store, stone grill pizza, fresh pasta, nutella bar

Purple pig: tapas
Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria: Chicago style pizza, must get garlic crust
25 degrees: boozy shakes
Wild berry pancakes: breakfast joint known for their pancakes

West Side:

Bodega– churros

Bombobar – best hot chocolate with donuts and other goodies dressed on top

Sawada– military latte is yummy

Aviary- A artsy and modern dining experience! Just get ready to spend some $$ though

Gallery cafe– A place to get a cool photo on your coffee

The Allis: Industrial mid-century Instagram worthy cafe with delicious pastries

Au Cheval– get a single cheeseburger add bacon and egg. For reference, a single burger is a double patty and a double is a triple patty. Their bacon is super think and well seasoned. We got the fries with the garlic aioli and the hash with duck fat… yum!

Carnivale: A fun dining experience with an amazing Latin inspired menu

The Girl and The Goat: This place is always book so still on the list for me!

Little Goat Diner: Great place for brunch but make sure to make a reservation!

B A N F F

June 16, 2018January 8, 2020 by blnadventures, posted in Uncategorized

Over 5 years ago, I came across a beautiful photo of a turquoise lake on Pinterest. I knew I had to visit this magical place one day, this place called BANFF

We flew into Calgary and drove an hour and 30 minutes into BANFF! We only had 3 full days here and it still was not enough to check mark everything on our list but we squeezed in as much as we could!

What you need to know:

You must pay to get into the city of Banff ($20 per day)and must display the pass on your dash. If not, you’re at risk of getting a ticket.
Best time to visit: June- August
Rent a car! Don’t really need an SUV but 4WD is needed if you’ll be there when it snows
Sunset is at 10 PM 🙌
To really enjoy Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, get there before 7:30 AM to get parking! Lake Moraine is 15 minutes from Lake Louise but if you get there too late, you would have to pay a shuttle to get you there and back ($25 CAD)
This trip could be pretty pricey if you want to do the tours/main attractions but I listed the prices below and if it’s worth it in my opinion.
Wildlife: some people advise you to not carry around food and to have a bear bell or spray

Lakes to Visit

The view of the lakes in Banff are breathtaking! The lakes are glacier fed and gives off a turquoise color due to the reflection off of the rock flour accumulated in the lake.

Lake Louise

We went to Lake Louise early in the morning (7 AM) when the sun was not as bright but when 9 AM came around, the water became a brighter turquoise.

Rent a canoe (~$119 CAD for 1 HR)

Go on a hike to Lake Agnes Teahouse (1.5 hour steep incline hike)

You’ll encounter steep hills and beautiful boulders like this:

When you reach Mirror lake, you’re almost there(15-20 mins)

And then you reach Lake Agnes!

Go celebrate with some tea and food at the teahouse . The workers hike the ingredients up daily

Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake is 15 minutes from Lake Louise. It has the view of the 10 peaks. To get the best view the spontaneous way, walk on the wood and climb up the boulders! Or you can take the stairs up and get a spectacular view as well.

Other beautiful lakes we did not have time to visit:

Peyto Lake
Bow Lake
Lake Minnewanka
Emerald Lake
Lake O’Hara
Berg Lake

Must do attractions/tours

Glacier Tour:

(~$80 CAD )includes glacier sky walk and tour of Athabaska glaciers

Athabaska Glaciers:

Ride this monster!

Drink the glacier water:

Glacier Sky walk:

BANFF Gondola to Sulfur Mountains (~$65 CAD)

Keep walking and climb those steps for a beautiful view!

Johnston Canyon(free):

Don’t forget when you go towards the upper falls there’s a trail to a secret cave! I was so amazed how beautiful everything was… 😭 we totally missed it!

Food:

Park Distillery Restaurant

Ramen Arashi

Cows ice cream:

Not a great photo but there’s so many wonderful flavors! Highly recommend!

Other restaurants that were recommended but we did not try:

Block kitchen
Fairmount hotel restaurants
The Bison Restaurant
Saltlik Banff
The Maple Leaf

P O R T L A N D

January 12, 2018January 8, 2020 by blnadventures, posted in Uncategorized

This post will be completed soon! Please come back later!

Portland, such a hip and cool city!

Transportation:

I recommend renting a car so you could drive to the west coast and catch waterfalls in the east!

Hotel parking in downtown is pretty pricey(ours was $45/night) so we parked in the streets/other parking lots)

Things to do:

Pioneer Courthouse Square: check out this area!

Go along the coast:

Rowena Crest:

Chase these waterfalls:

Bridal Veil Falls:

O U R S T O R Y

Featured by blnadventures, posted in Uncategorized

Hello World,

My name is Linda Nguyen, and #BLNADVENTURES is a hashtag I started years ago to track the milestones and adventure photos with my husband, Billy Nguyen.

You see, we have this dream of traveling the world together and to share our experiences and stories with the world. Then it came to me, what if I started a blog?

Granted there are so many blogs today but that’s the beauty of it! Everyone has their own stories, their own way of experiencing it, and here is OURS!

I hope this blog will help your travel plans or inspires you!

Also, check us out on Instagram: l.n.daa

ENJOY!

K Y O T O

March 27, 2017December 20, 2018 by blnadventures, posted in Uncategorized

Kyoto, a beautiful city you must visit in Japan! I would say 3 days at most here would be a good amount of time!

Tips:

if you’re coming from Tokyo and you would like to hit up other cities, I recommend purchasing the JR Rail Pass ($300 USD). We used this for our 1.5 weeks in Japan.
The JR Pass will allow you to go on almost all of the trains. Be sure to read because there’s some train lines where you’ll need to purchase a separate ticket.
AIRBNB was difficult when contacting the host because of the language barrier so i recommend staying in a hotel

Things to do:

Visit the Monkey Park: its quite a hike up there but it’ll be worth it- I promise

While you’re up there, enjoy the view!

Go to the famous Fushimi Inari-taisha: lots of stairs so be prepared

Stroll through the Bamboo Forest/Arashiyama Bamboo Grove:

Eikando Temple: we didn’t have time to visit but it looks beautiful!
Take a trip to Nara
Nishiki Market: more fresh seafood

Eat, Drink, Repeat:

Fire Ramen at Men Baka Ichidai

Elk: A cafe that offered 3D designs on you coffee and the fluffiest pancakes

AWOMB: sushi
Onikunoo Sushi
Ohayo Biscuit: sweets
Yo-jiya Cafe
Yugen: Matcha Latte
Cafe Cherish: Cute Cafe

O S A K A

March 23, 2017January 8, 2020 by blnadventures, posted in Uncategorized

MY FAVORITE CITY IN JAPAN!!! Only because there’s literally AMAZING food EVERYWHERE so make sure you come to this city with an empty stomach.

Tips:

if you’re coming from Tokyo and you would like to hit up other cities, I recommend purchasing the JR Rail Pass ($300 USD). We used this for our 1.5 weeks in Japan.
The JR Pass will allow you to go on almost all of the trains. Be sure to read because there’s some train lines where you’ll need to purchase a separate ticket.
AIRBNB was difficult when contacting the host because of the language barrier so i recommend staying in a hotel