Hey Sports Fans!
Just flew back from Chicago, and boy are my arms tired! Olivia and I went to the Windy City (named that for the politicians, not the wind) over the Memorial Day weekend for my brother's wedding shower, and it was also a nice excuse to get away for the weekend and do some exploring and sightseeing around town.
Funny how the timing of everything on the trip seemed to work out, and we were able to do everything I had wanted to do. Sometimes we were running a little "late," but is there such a thing when you're on vacation? Not really.
Friday: Left around noon, got into Chicago around 7. We had stopped for some Culver's on the way, but were ready for some deep-dish pizza and calamari from Gino's East. We were lucky to get in before the kitchen closed and were one of the last people in the bar. I found some parking across the street and in front of Ed Debevic's, and the location was perfect because afterwards we headed to Natalie's birthday party at Buzz.
One of the funny things that happened there was before we got in while waiting in line - some white guy behind us was told by one bouncer that he wouldn't get in (Olivia said he was drunk). Another bouncer checked his ID and after it seemed like his ID was fine, the first bouncer unclicked the velvet rope to lead the poor guy outside back onto the sidewalk. I thought it was pretty funny that he had to show his ID for that.
So anyway, we had a great time at Buzz. I was wondering if any of the non-Asians there (I could probably count them on one hand) had any idea that the place would be packed with our kind. I saw someone who looked like Aaron Williams, but I'm not sure what he would be doing there and I'm not sure what I would say to him anyway, so I left him alone. Olivia was dancing up a storm and I tried to keep up with her, but I was glad to finally see Gerry and Val get there around 1am. Of course I was happy to see them, but I was also happy that Val was getting us free drinks. Score!
Saturday: We planned on getting breakfast in Wrigleyville before the Braves vs. Cubs game, but that didn't quite happen.
We ended up getting some Chicago Dogs at the ballpark, though, so that worked out just fine. It was a fun game, and we were able to move around the stadium to get a few different vantage points. The stadium patio on the upper deck was pretty fun - full of drunk people bragging about how they haven't been to their seat yet (this was probably about the sixth inning). Afterwards, we had time to get a beer at the Goose Island brewery, and walk around the area (mostly bars with open window entrances). In brewtrospect, I probably should have gotten a Conan the Red (brewed with Conan O'Brien's "help" when his show visited Chicago), but I was pretty focused on getting the Honkers Ale. Olivia bought me a Wrigley Field t-shirt which got me lots of attention later in the evening walking around the Magnificent Mile (no one kissed me, though, as the shirt commands on the back).
So it's almost 5pm, and the day is only half over! Got some bubble tea at a small corner cafe, checked out the Chicago Foods Korean grocery on Kimball, then finally made it downtown to the Magnificent Mile. We came away with yoga pants from Niketown and a corset shirt from H&M for Olivia. Got some beer and recharged at Pippin's Tavern, and even though we were hungry, we skipped the Chicago dogs at Downtown Dogs next door thinking that twice in a day might be too much. I'm hungry right now, though, thinking of them.
We walked to Navy Pier
for the fireworks show,
then made it to San Soo Gab San for some late-night Korean ribs and soondubu. The service wasn't as terrible as the reviews made it out to be (we did have a table by the door, and some guy was standing there waiting about 5 minutes before anyone asked him if he wanted to be seated, though), and it was a pretty fun experience.
Sunday: We had planned on Dim Sum at Phoenix, but weren't so hungry after our previous late-night dinner. We ended up getting a couple buns and sticky rice from one of the bakeries, and also some bubble tea from Joy Yee's Noodles.
After that, I took a quick leak in the street while no one was looking.
Walking around there and ducking into all the gift shops full of trinkets was a blast,
and we came out with some Chinese fingertraps, chopstick helpers, a couple wall scrolls, some hair extensions, candy and dried fish and fruits from Aji Ichiban, and a bunch of pictures.
We finally made it to Gerry and Val's wedding shower around 2:30, changed in the parking lot, and walked in to find that most people weren't even there yet. I thought we were on Korean time, but I guess the majority of the people there were Filipino.
People showed up, though (if you feed them, they will come), and we had fun looking at (and eating) the food, meeting Val's friends (again) and family, and watching and playing some of the wedding shower games. Apparently, Gerry has lots of experience getting the TP off the roll quickly, as you can see below:
We had to leave a little early for the drive home, but had a great time at the shower. Our whole weekend in Chicago was a blur of fun, and hopefully we'll be back again for another visit before too long.
Just flew back from Chicago, and boy are my arms tired! Olivia and I went to the Windy City (named that for the politicians, not the wind) over the Memorial Day weekend for my brother's wedding shower, and it was also a nice excuse to get away for the weekend and do some exploring and sightseeing around town.Funny how the timing of everything on the trip seemed to work out, and we were able to do everything I had wanted to do. Sometimes we were running a little "late," but is there such a thing when you're on vacation? Not really.
Friday: Left around noon, got into Chicago around 7. We had stopped for some Culver's on the way, but were ready for some deep-dish pizza and calamari from Gino's East. We were lucky to get in before the kitchen closed and were one of the last people in the bar. I found some parking across the street and in front of Ed Debevic's, and the location was perfect because afterwards we headed to Natalie's birthday party at Buzz.
One of the funny things that happened there was before we got in while waiting in line - some white guy behind us was told by one bouncer that he wouldn't get in (Olivia said he was drunk). Another bouncer checked his ID and after it seemed like his ID was fine, the first bouncer unclicked the velvet rope to lead the poor guy outside back onto the sidewalk. I thought it was pretty funny that he had to show his ID for that.
So anyway, we had a great time at Buzz. I was wondering if any of the non-Asians there (I could probably count them on one hand) had any idea that the place would be packed with our kind. I saw someone who looked like Aaron Williams, but I'm not sure what he would be doing there and I'm not sure what I would say to him anyway, so I left him alone. Olivia was dancing up a storm and I tried to keep up with her, but I was glad to finally see Gerry and Val get there around 1am. Of course I was happy to see them, but I was also happy that Val was getting us free drinks. Score!
Saturday: We planned on getting breakfast in Wrigleyville before the Braves vs. Cubs game, but that didn't quite happen.
We ended up getting some Chicago Dogs at the ballpark, though, so that worked out just fine. It was a fun game, and we were able to move around the stadium to get a few different vantage points. The stadium patio on the upper deck was pretty fun - full of drunk people bragging about how they haven't been to their seat yet (this was probably about the sixth inning). Afterwards, we had time to get a beer at the Goose Island brewery, and walk around the area (mostly bars with open window entrances). In brewtrospect, I probably should have gotten a Conan the Red (brewed with Conan O'Brien's "help" when his show visited Chicago), but I was pretty focused on getting the Honkers Ale. Olivia bought me a Wrigley Field t-shirt which got me lots of attention later in the evening walking around the Magnificent Mile (no one kissed me, though, as the shirt commands on the back).
So it's almost 5pm, and the day is only half over! Got some bubble tea at a small corner cafe, checked out the Chicago Foods Korean grocery on Kimball, then finally made it downtown to the Magnificent Mile. We came away with yoga pants from Niketown and a corset shirt from H&M for Olivia. Got some beer and recharged at Pippin's Tavern, and even though we were hungry, we skipped the Chicago dogs at Downtown Dogs next door thinking that twice in a day might be too much. I'm hungry right now, though, thinking of them.
We walked to Navy Pier
for the fireworks show,
then made it to San Soo Gab San for some late-night Korean ribs and soondubu. The service wasn't as terrible as the reviews made it out to be (we did have a table by the door, and some guy was standing there waiting about 5 minutes before anyone asked him if he wanted to be seated, though), and it was a pretty fun experience.
Sunday: We had planned on Dim Sum at Phoenix, but weren't so hungry after our previous late-night dinner. We ended up getting a couple buns and sticky rice from one of the bakeries, and also some bubble tea from Joy Yee's Noodles.
After that, I took a quick leak in the street while no one was looking.
Walking around there and ducking into all the gift shops full of trinkets was a blast,
and we came out with some Chinese fingertraps, chopstick helpers, a couple wall scrolls, some hair extensions, candy and dried fish and fruits from Aji Ichiban, and a bunch of pictures.
We finally made it to Gerry and Val's wedding shower around 2:30, changed in the parking lot, and walked in to find that most people weren't even there yet. I thought we were on Korean time, but I guess the majority of the people there were Filipino.
People showed up, though (if you feed them, they will come), and we had fun looking at (and eating) the food, meeting Val's friends (again) and family, and watching and playing some of the wedding shower games. Apparently, Gerry has lots of experience getting the TP off the roll quickly, as you can see below:
We had to leave a little early for the drive home, but had a great time at the shower. Our whole weekend in Chicago was a blur of fun, and hopefully we'll be back again for another visit before too long.
posted by gregoryhong at 9:06 AM
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