Burgus Plus world tour

[aho]

Day 16 contd

Homeboy was killing it on the guitar

Say goodbye to Wicker Park!

And for any oldschool anime fans...

We headed downtown for some basic shopping and with the intentions to ride the water taxi down to chinatown (for only four dollars!)

We even got so far as to get on the boat only to find out that the last Chinatown taxi headed off 15 min. early and the only remaining rides were to Willis Tower....Damn tourists!

Close but no Water Taxi ride!

[aho]

Day 16 contd

After a few hours of shopping we took the train to Chinatown...So much for the water taxi! This is what a Chicago subway looks like underground...

Thought we might have to squeeze in Tokyo style but things cleared out thankfully

Chinatown Plaza (the newer side)!

Back to Chi Cafe, a staple restaurant visit for us but first time for a few of our guests...

Napkins, Chopsticks, etc. are conveniently stashed at your table

Now onto the food! BEST soup wontons in town right here...So crisp and bouncy! The shrimp/cilantro will blow your mind

The shreded chicken was alright....a bit disappointing but heck I didn't order it!

[aho]

Day 16 contd

More food...Freakin pepper steak ahhhh and those onions!

Tofu dish

Vegetables

Dried Scallop and egg white fried rice

Almost rivaling the greatness of the food was the check...

Note: if you are in Chinatown, Joy Yee's is your best bet for fruit smoothies...But if you're looking for tea, St. Alps (a chain in HK) is the place to go! Loganberry Rose flavor:

Chinatown at night

We then decided to take an extra stop later on the L and got off at Addison to show the guests Wrigleyville and the stadium...

When there is a game, this area becomes dooshbag central

And if you're in the area, you might want to check out Ian's pizza...

We didn't, however! Ended up going home and watching tv all night after doing some routine exercise....

Happy 4th to everyone from here in Chicago! My updates might be lacking tomorrow as I'll be working (I hate retail!) but everyone enjoy a beer or two for me...Good night from Chicago!

[not too tight]

Hey aho I never knew that Saint's Alp was a chain. There are of two of them here in nyc and I love all of their tea and snacks. I would love some almond milk tea and spicy pork on rice after reading through your tour updates. Keep it up!

[mholmeslinde]

Fantastic stuff, aho. +repped. Wish I had seen this tour when it was being organized, those jeans are my size and look great.

Let me know if you guys ever need a ringer, or a San Francisco tour member!

[aho]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Day 17

Wow 17th day already! Feel like I just got the jeans and I'm almost through my time....Hope everyone in the States had a good Independence Day...I spent my time working all day and got home to a Takoyaki party...Apologies for the sparse updates today! Trust that the jeans had a great view the whole time for fireworks and more!

It was actually a pretty cloudy day and even rained at one point...

My girlfriends and guests hit up Mitsuwa in the suburbs for ingredients...Takoyaki night (not exactly an American tradition...)!

The thing with takoyaki is that you need lots of oil and a very hot grill...

Not my batch

My batch

Topped off with Kewpie mayo and anything tastes good! I know a few people that eat shrimp chips with the stuff....

Some fresh sashimi from Joong Boo market...

Sides...

[aho]

Day 17 contd

The full meal

As soon as we started eating, everything around us started to sparkle and shimmer

Hard to get an idea but we could basically see everything, including the main fireworks at Navy Pier...great view!

We also decided to head upstairs to get an idea of the whole city view...It was a fireworks spectacular 360 degrees around as far as the eye can see...Pretty surreal, but I couldn't really capture any of it...

At the end of the night, the traffic was unyielding...

Just glad I didn't have to even stop outside of my Apartment building for the whole time!

A toast!

Happy 4th of July everyone and good night from Chicago...

[aho]

Day 18

Long, hot day here in Chicago...Looks like we couldn't avoid the heat long enough!

Woke up and ordered Giordanno's for my guests who wanted to try Chicago style deep dish for the first time...

Boom! Stuffed Special with mushrooms, pepper, onion sausage and more...

Giordanno's is tourist fare (but really, how many Chicago style deep dish places aren't?) but I actually really like it....Grew up on it as a kid whenever we would visit the city...

Of course you can't have this type of pizza every day (as opposed to New York style, etc.)...But once every few months doesn't hurt! Look at that cheese stretch baby...Others may prefer Gino's (particularly if you care more about sauce) but Giordanno's is my childhood favorite

Afterwards we headed downtown for shopping...

TWO TOURS COMBINEEEE (hit up Levi's to check new products and also remaining 75% off...Left with a basic tshirt)

Since I only had pizza for breakfast I was hitting a energy block and needed something to pick me back up...Jamba Juice to save the day

[aho]

Day 18 contd

Guests needed to buy some gifts at the Disney store...Apparently Woody doesn't do selvage!

With construction of a new Hermes and Marc Jacobs store, Chicago is starting to gain in the retail sector...

We walked towards a place called Ra that always has a decent happy hour going on....Half off many food and drink items...This is the so called "Viagra Triangle"

Hitting up Ra

Sorry to all the Thai's out there...not a big fan of the beer!

Food....

[aho]

Day 18 contd

Food continued...Not the best but not exactly bad either!

A peek into my shopping bag...Decided to buy a St. James knockoff from American Apparel (the fit is a lot better on my frame, don't hate!)...and also the tee from Levi's

After heading home, what do you know, we ended up back at Paciugo!

Lines keep getting longer...

Went with Apple Pie, Crunchy Chocolate Swirl and Pistachio flavors

With all the heavy eating the past few days, we decided to give a night bike tour to our last remaining guest...

A familiar beach scene?

The water was cold but provided for a fun time

[aho]

Day 18 contd

The city at night

Damn I love Chicago

We ended up sitting along the water for about an hour just chatting...Summer nights in Chicago...

Bad news on the way back home though...Literally just across the street from our apartment, my friend got hit by a texting driver who didn't stop at a stop sign...Luckily, there were police cars nearby and they literally pulled up to us seconds after she got hit....She is ok for now, nothing broken (as far as we know) but her ankle is pretty knocked up and also cuts on her leg...

I had to run up stairs to get her ID...

The bike just got scratched up but the brakes are damaged..

[aho]

Day 18 contd

A bad way to end the day for our guest who is leaving tomorrow but we cooked up a midnight snack to help with the pain...

Sausage and eggs lol

That's all for tonight! Stay safe and regards from Chicago...

[PeterParker]

Day 18 contd

Bad news on the way back home though...Literally just across the street from our apartment, my friend got hit by a texting driver who didn't stop at a stop sign...Luckily, there were police cars nearby and they literally pulled up to us seconds after she got hit....She is ok for now, nothing broken (as far as we know) but her ankle is pretty knocked up and also cuts on her leg...

I hate retarded drivers who text and drive, or even talk on a cell phone for that matter. I hope that it's against the law in Illinois and that some justice is served. I know I would have teed off on the driver had I been there, especially if I knew the victim of the accident.

Anyway, must spread rep but this looks delicious:

Day 17

[edmond]

ayo aho i need some more pics of them girls hey ho!

[ranonranonarat]

great updates over the past few days aho, i realise we do have a lot in common with regards to choice of food. octopus balls, japanese food, pho, sausages and eggs and the likes. i am loving your choice of food bad! im glad nothing happened terrible happened to your friend but still, hope she gets well soon and you ride safe aho!

[aho]

Day 19

Almost 2/3 through my time with the jeans! Today we decided to get Indian Buffet on Devon on the further north side of town...

Not where we ate but a random shot

The town is apparently HYPED for this...posters everywhere!

We ended up at Tiffin (admittedly I have yet to really explore the area...) which was recommended to us by a few people on the street. The recs. were on point!

naaaaannn (Ironically, the best Naan I've ever had was in Japan)

Tandoori

More random posters/shots

Afterwards, our guest wanted to make one last pit stop to Chinatown for last second smoothies before she trained back home to Michigan. She is fairing well BTW, thanks for all the concerns etc....No broken ankle or anything, just the cuts and bruises!

Shiny buildings

[aho]

Day 19 contd

A different view of the city...

This all actually used to be train yards that stretched as far as the eye can see...

There are better old pictures of the area but offhand here is one (This area is now all parks...):

Other relics from Chicago's past....I've read that all of these water containers were built after the Chicago fire and Chicago apparently has (or had?) the highest concentration of these. Chances are that if you're watching a movie from the 40's or 50's and you see a lot of them, it was filmed in Chicago

Back in Chinatown again!

Last minute smoothie from Joy's....I don't recommend the green jelly

Back to historical Chicago...If you visit the West and Southern areas of the city you can get a feel for Chicago's industrial past....I've read that the city at once produced a large percentage of everything made in the US (I want to say 90% + but not sure how accurate that is) so you can understand the need for all the trains...

Driving towards Union Station from Chinatown provides another view of the Willis Tower

Old memories of having to stand in this area....Designated stop for all Megabuses heading out of and into Chicago...So glad I live here now!

[aho]

Day 19 contd

Union Station

Another old shot...This is probably one of the more famous shots of old Union Station

Random driving shots of the city

Came home to realize that all further World Cup games will only lead to this victory:

My girlfriend who is a elementary school teacher, randomly thought that we needed to water color

Prepping

[aho]

Day 19 contd

It started raining in the afternoon and I started getting sleepy....Ended up napping for an hour or two...Lazy day!

The skies cleared up

Went to Whole Foods afterward to buy some groceries....Got home and heated up some soup that we made last week and put in the freezer

Ate Bison for the first time....We usually buy ground turkey

Sprinkle that meat!

Ended up making some pasta, salad (complete with avocado wow was it good), and leftover soup...Eating so healthy it hurts!

Thats all for today! A pretty relaxed day all around aside from the heat...Good night from Chicago!

[ThinFinn]

^now i'm hungry again ...

Came home to realize that all further World Cup games will only lead to this victory:

you're totally right mate ...

[aho]

^My condolences finn, we were both wrong...

[ThinFinn]

^sad but true ... spains victory was well deserved though!

[aho]

Day 20

Wow, apologize in advance for the slowing down of pictures on my end...Been either busy or lazy lately but still ate well...

Work up early and had to work today...

[/img]

By the time I got home, the game was well under way...Once again, my condolences!

Slept for about 2 hours and had to wake up to meet some visiting relatives in Chinatown for dinner...Always a pleasure to eat with family! On the way there was major traffic

A storm was brewing in the foreground

The downpour of course started as soon as we got into Chinatown

We ate at a place called "Go 4 Food", which despite the terrible name has some really good food, perfect for larger groups

Lotus soup

Princess chicken...How good is that garlic sauce?!?

[aho]

Day 20 contd

Chinese vegetables are probably my favorite in the world...Who said vegetables had to taste bad??

Fish fillet

Tapioca/Taro dessert

This is the "old" Chinatown which is separate from Chinatown plaza...More of the Mandarin type places are located here...

Unfortunately thats all I have for today...I'll try my best to do better updates for my last ten days...Can you believe it's almost been a whole month? Good night from Chicago...

[aho]

EDIT: Wow this is my 2000th post!

Day 21

Gonna keep it short for this update for various reasons....No worries though, I'll really pick it up starting tomorrow!

The color is a bit more blue in the pictures but just an idea of some damage so far

The crotch really won't make it by the 4th or 5th person!

All for now....More in the morning!

[ah_long]

maybe we should reinforce the crotch before it actually explodes

[aho]

Day 22 - The Calm Before the Storm...

Been slacking on the updates, I know, but just think of this as the calm before the storm...

The weather, beautiful as always...

Decided to hit up a few libraries with the girlfriend for "research" and what not on a few projects...Gelato happened to be along the way...

We ended up at the Harold Washington Library downtown...which ended up closing ten minutes after our arrival...There happens to be a big eye across the street

The "L"

Outside the library

Inside the library

[aho]

Day 22 contd

Afterwards, met up with a fellow sufu-head for some Thai food around the UIC campus...Taylor Street, an area I admittedly know little about...

Nice weather to eat outside...

Ordered the Pad Woonsen which is my measuring stick when comparing Thai restaurants...

Unfortunately thats all I have for today...I've REALLY been slacking lately and I apologize...But no worries, I have a few things up my sleeve yet!

[ranonranonarat]

nice simple post aho, biggest fanboy here speaking. haha we are reaching somewhere pretty close to the end of your run, cant wait till its my turn (although thats gonna be really far away and i have no idea where i would be then)!

[Medine]

i hope i fit in these!! this big ass midnight snack isnt gunna help either* damn.