"Breakfast"

I baked a cake with lots of blueberries in it, and I offered a slice to Jay.

"Unsa man ni?" (What is this?)

"Emancipation Breakfast Cake," I answered.

"Di ba brek-fast na pagka sulti?" (Isn't it pronounced as brek-fast?)

"Giunsa man diay pagsulti ang akoa?" (How did I say it?)

"Breyk-fast!"

So I checked and...

OMG! He's so right! 

I've been pronouncing it wrong all this time.

Breakfast is /ˈbrek.fəst/!

5/19/2026 at 8:22 a.m.

Our stay at the Hilton in Chicago didn't come with a free breakfast. However, it was served for the attendees of the seminar. I didn't really know the specific topic of the seminar, but it was related to AI. It was conducted by the partner of the company that Jay works for.

I thought of going down to look for a nearby café for my daily morning dose of java, but Jay came back up to our room and handed me a cup of piping hot regular coffee and a banana.

I'm perfectly fine with that.

Honestly, I hated eating alone in a café or at a restaurant. When the mister took me with him for a work trip in Holland last year, I always bought myself a meal but had it in my room. I usually work while eating or sometimes catch up on my K-dramas.

My online shops were all closed when we traveled, but I still worked remotely—doing draft listings for all of the marketplaces I sell for.

Room on the 22nd

We checked in at the Hilton Hotel in Downtown Chicago and will be staying for 2 days and 3 nights.

Our reservation was for a room with a king bed, but we got in so late that what was available was a room with a 2-queen-size bed on the 22nd floor.

And guess what? It has 2 bathrooms on opposite sides with bathtubs each.

Well, I guess we won't be sharing a bathroom for the entire duration of our stay at this hotel.

This building was built in 1927. I had to find that out the moment we entered the lobby and when we got in their elevator. It squeaked, and it smelled so old.

There's also an old USPS mailbox at the lobby. Its use is for aesthetic purposes only.

I don't know if most of these details are original, but most definitely they maintain the look of its interior details from the Roaring 20s era.

We also got a room with a view of the city. The opposite of that is the view of Lake Michigan, and getting a room facing it costs $27 more.

We're not planning to look at the lake from our window, though.

Kitty O'Sheas at 12:03 a.m.

Our kids were a bit worried that we would go to bed hungry on our very first night in Chicago.

We asked the front desk for a recommendation for any restaurants that were still open past midnight. He suggested Kitty O'Sheas. It's a bar at the hotel. It opens late until 2 a.m.

We ordered to share a bowl of potato leek soup (applewood smoked bacon, cheddar, green onions; $10) and their fish and chips (Smithwick's beer-battered cod, crispy potatoes, Old Bay tartar sauce, charred lemon; $27).

I think we were the last customers who ordered food at the bar. 

By the way, the lady waitress was very friendly. Her energy remained high despite the fact that it was already past midnight.

I loved their soup, and I didn't even mind that the popover didn't have its signature crisp. The fish and the potato were okay.

Our daughter asked what we ate the following morning, and I told her about the soup we had the previous night. I also added that I'll add it to my menu, and I am also thinking of serving it with popovers.