6/20/10

Dissed by Duane Wade!

Yes, you read the title correctly! The cousins and I went to Portillo's for lunch last week on 100 W. Ontario in Chicago and bumped into Duane Wade and his group. I remember we walked in right behind them and I already had an inkling that someone in this group had to be a professional athlete. As we waited in line to make the orders, Duane Wade's party went to the upstairs seating area...By this time, Monique and Lisa already made eye contact with the basketball star and Cau was anxious to meet him/shake his hand/take a picture. So that's what we attempted to do after lunch (we wanted to be polite and wait until he was done eating, then bombard him!). However, our efforts failed cause one of his friends did the paparazzi "heck no" wave. AUGH!

We did get a picture of his back though...He is the one in the white hat
Duane Wade leaving Portillo's! We all ate there too!

Despite the rejection...We brushed our shoulders off and continued to introduce the city of Chicago to Monique. It was her first time truly exploring the city. We tried our best to follow the top ten things to do in Chicago: food, monuments, buildings, deep dish pizza, picture perfect tourist shots, and a baseball game. However tickets for the baseball game were hard to find due to it being Father's day weekend. No worries though, we opted to go watch Cirque Shanghai at the Navy Pier. It did not disappoint and I highly, highly recommend anyone visiting Chicago to see it! Prices were cheap too-- $13.50 for an adult!

All four of us after the Cirque show

A must-see show! The cast are all from China and they will be performing until Sep. 9, 2010. In the words of Lisa, all the performers are "true ninjas!"

Check out more from their homepage
Cirque Shanghai!

Cloud gate, a.k.a The Bean
side of the bean

Because the Blackhawks beat the Flyers, the lions in front of the Chicago Art Institute are wearing the helmets of the champions! This hardly ever happens so I'm so glad we were able to get a picture of it.
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View of the gorgeous buildings from the Navy Pier
Skyline pics from the Navy pier

Look at this cheesy goodness from Giordano's! Deep dish pizza!
Look at the deep dish pizza!

Lisa won a radio contest for knowing her pop culture. She got a free t-shirt.

Photo shoot at the Pier next to the Ferris Wheel
Ferris Wheel photoshoot

After the walking tour of Chicago via the Magnificent Mile, we ended the day at the John Hancock sipping on some cocktails on the 96th floor. I was able to show Mo the view of the Chicago skyline at night from the women's bathroom. Best view of the city!

**Many thanks to Cau and Christine for housing us! And of course Lisa for being our sugar mama and organizer. ;)**

6/6/10

4 states in 1 day

After Lam and Anita's busy party, Richard and I went to four states the following day--Something that can only be achieved on the east coast, obviously. We left from Delaware and headed to Philadelphia, NJ, and then NYC. Just so you know, this was not planned at all. It was actually just a spontaneous idea since some of my cousins from CA wanted to stay on the east coast one day longer. They had never been to NYC so my brother decided to take them on a field trip in the middle of the night so they could enjoy some yakitori, walk Times Square, and then eat at the famous Halal truck.

By the end of the trip, we all had to rush back to Delaware to pick up luggage only to have to drive back north again to the Philadelphia Airport to catch our AM flight. Yikes! I was absolutely brain dead by the time the plane landed in Orange County.

In a rush to complete everything on my agenda within 24 hours, I was able to...

1. Show Richard around Philly

2. Wait in line and grab a cheesesteak from Jim's Steaks (Pat's is overrated according to my brother)
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3. Visit my favorite friends in Manayunk
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4. Hang out with my Dad briefly in NJ and hear Richard sing in Vietnamese. HAHA!

5. End the day with the family in NYC.
** Thank you Lam, Richard, and Anita for driving all morning until night!


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