Chicago is one of my favorite cities, you may know that from my last trip to this amazing city about a year ago. That is also one of the reasons I was really happy, when about two weeks ago I received email from WGN with the invitation to participate in their Halloween morning show. WGN is one of the main morning television stations in Chicago with the audience well over 5 million people.

For me, it was easy decision to go, because during my last appearance on the morning show, I have met many great people working in the station and made many new friends.

It was Thursday, day before my flight to Chicago, I started packing and I realized, that it's going to be really really cold there, hehe. I found few warm sweaters and jackets in back of my closet. You know, here in California, we have one winter jacket for lifetime, maybe even generations hehe :).

My flight went really smooth, first time, I flew from the Long Beach airport. I didn't even know, there is an airport. It's really small, so different from LAX. But flight was on time, I have a friend waiting in Chicago for me to help me with my luggage and take me to my hotel.

I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but one of the new sports I really like is the MMA fights. MMA stands for "Mixed Martial Arts". It is when two crazy guys meet inside ring, actually they call it a cage and they beat each other up until one can't stand up. Wow, I know, sounds brutal, but that's basically what it is.

The sport it self has been around for quite some time with no rules at all, but in the past couple of years, they added some basic rules, like no beating in the head and no kicking in the crotch, and they invited few celebrities, made a reality show and now it is totally main stream sport. hehe. The main fights you can watch only on Pay Per View channels.

Last Saturday, in Chicago was one of the main MMA events, the UFC 90.

I was invited by friend of mine, he got tickets really close to the cage, I have never been to a live fights, so I was really looking forward to it. At the fight night, it was really great atmosphere, there were cheers and also tears. But that is with all sports, there are winners and there are loser. For us who are watching? It's all about the show. It is really an adrenalin rush, being that close to those guys and seeing and actually feeling all the punches and kicks. I was little sad, that the main event ended up, when Cote totally dislocated his knee. It happened really suddenly and the fight was over. Silva, his opponent didn't look really happy about his victory. I guess they like to knock out someone, that is a really victory for them. So this is my fight night. :)

Sunday, I spend walking around Chicago's beautiful downtown. There were many people walking on the streets and enjoying Sunday as I was. Yes, it was little chilly, but it didn't bother me at all. It was just a beautiful day to be out.

I went to bed early, because by 6 in the morning, I was supposed to be already in the WGN studio.

I remember last time, I was little nervous, but this time I was totally calm and excited to meet everyone in the studio. When I got there, Skip Parker, one of the morning news anchorman, was waiting for me along with Jeff, the producer of the show. These guys are so amazing, I know that I'm talking about it all the time, but they made my Chicago trip what it was. They're just so fun, so normal and so professional, it is really hard to explain, but they made me feel very comfortable. Being around them you can never have a bad day, it's just not possible. The atmosphere in the studio is reflected of everyone's mood. It's great!!! Everyone has so much fun, you don't even think about things like...hey....5 million people are waiting. HELLO!!! hehe.

I was also on a Firefighters gameshow the same day.

This week I will also post really nice snapshots from this trip. Well, after being on the show, it was my time to catch my flight and fly back to warm Los Angeles.