FINALLY, PHILADELPHIA

February 2, 2018

After CAD-ing a Boston bar/restaurant design and rushing to Port Authority to board the 7:30 Greyhound to Philadelphia, I was appalled to see mobs of people still waiting to board the 4:30/5 PM bus/trains. Thus, 5 women, 1 man, and I from this cluster**** mob all decided to reroute ourselves and sneak into whatever bus/train and eventually made it to Philadelphia. The journey reminded me of the traumatizing airport mess with 10 flight adjustments and 4 gate changes I faced to get my ass to San Francisco. But, it was much more doable with all the new international friends I’d made who’d exchange their life stories with me. By about 11PM, I was dropped to my hotel by one of the Vietnamese women, who befriended me and taught me a lot about Vietnam / American immigration and her 6 attempts in artificial insemination.

 

As if that wasn’t exhausting enough, the clamorous tunes of my sleeping mother in our hotel room woke me up by 3AM. Out of desperation, I moved all my blankets and pillow to sleep in the tiny closet every night. O guaranteed that this was an invaluable place for ultimate peace and privacy, and it truly was.

I chugged caffeine down to help my mom with some of her retail work in the writing utensil industry, I had the opportunity to meet head chef / owner: Bastien who recently opened and is currently baking for and operating  J’taime French Bakery.  From 4:30 AM to 7 PM, Bastien wholeheartedly bakes and operates his cafe of French comfort and strives to perfect every flaky layer that goes into his quiches and croissants. Initially while studying culinary and pastry making, he’d rotate shifts 2 weeks between Paris and Philadelphia. The best part of the cafe besides the interior/phenomenal interior was this the too perfect mandarin tart buttered with sugar crystals.

 

When I wasn’t eating, sleeping in my mom’s closet, nor helping her exhibit her urushi pens carefully handcrafted in Kyoto, I spent my afternoons quickly walking to UPenn’s campus and Schuylkill River.

When walking through the west side of Upenn’s campus, a student highly recommended me to check out the School of Nanotechnology. Can you believe this sexy school of nanotechnology cost 92M to build?  Check out the sexy glass curtain wall that wraps around.

Don’t be fooled by Cleaver’s philly cheesesteak. It looks mean, but was worth every bite without being overly filling. Philly, I love you.