Philadelphia, Pt. 2

Onward, my friends. We are still in Philadelphia. I am still taking loads of self-portraits. (Because, seriously? Everyone knows the lady with the camera never makes it into the album.)

With BBJ...

With Siu Jeun...(this is the second day. He is the proud owner of the Old Stroller, while BBJ now owns the New Red Stroller.)

With Lo Gung.

Here's BBJ, heading up the steps that Rocky made famous. She seems to be lacking in speed, but she made it all the way to the top!!

Siu Jeun couldn't be left out of the fun...but his mode of transportation was a little different from his sister's! (We called him our Little Prince.)

(L-R) BBJ, Siu Jeun, MaMa, Lo Gung: the view from the top of the art museum steps. (ie - Rocky's steps)

BBJ frolicking at the art museum...

A self portrait, and a look at the ceilings on the art museum porch.

The LoLo Clan. (I know it LOOKS like Lo Gung is petting SukPoh4's head, but...I'm sure that's just a trick of the camera. Right, Lo Gung?)

Quick bit of trivia on SukPoh4 - because YehYeh is the oldest child in his family, it gets a little funny when we look at the ages of the aunts and uncles. Take, for example, SukPoh4. She celebrated her birthday on Sunday. I won't tell you how old she is...but I will tell you that she (YehYeh's sister in law) is just about 7 years older than Lo Gung (YehYeh's son). Heh. Apparently, there was some sort of conspiracy in the family when she was dating SukGung4. He had to go away for a while, and the family knew he liked this girl...so they dragged her EVERYWHERE with them. Usually, during Lo Gung's school holidays, you could find her out shopping or playing with Lo Gung and his sister. Apparently, it worked...SukPoh4 and SukGung4 have been happily married for nearly 20 years!

Now we come to one of my FAVORITE sights in all of Philadelphia. Don't get me wrong - I love the history, the sights, the oldness of all of our country's history. (Lo Gung, don't laugh - it's the oldest we've got! I know, in China, Philadelphia would be considered NEW and MODERN at this age.)

Someone suggested we take a look at Macy's. It's old, and supposed to be very pretty inside.

What we DIDN'T expect was this.

My friends, that is an organ. A full-sized pipe organ, playing lovely music twice a day. In my book, that beats Muzak any day!

I know you can't see it, but you can just barely see the organist up there, playing away. Turns out, we got really lucky - he only plays for a bit in the morning, and a bit in the evening. It was truly lovely, and a fantastic little treat.

And that, my friends, is it for Philly! (In the background, you can see the little trolley we rode around. It's a hop on/hop off trolley. For $2, you can ride it around. That's what we did the first day - rode it in a big circle to see all the sights. On the second day, we paid $8 a head for an all-day pass and hopped off at various sights where we wanted to take pictures, nurse, stretch, etc. If you're in Philly, that's a GREAT way to do it.

I didn't get any pictures of it, but there's also a GREAT market that we went to - Reading Terminal Market. There were stalls that sold everything imaginable - chocolate, pastries, ice cream, Philly Cheese Steaks, sausage, produce, flowers, Greek Food, Italian Food...and the best pastrami sandwich I've ever had.

Quick Philly recap:

Best DimSum in Philadelphia - Imperial Inn at 146 N. 10th Street, Philadelphia PA 19107

Amazing dim sum. Awesome cha siu bao (BBQ pork buns), lai wong bau (egg custard buns) and ha yuen (shrimp balls). Dinner was expensive, and the portions not very generous. Stick to dim sum.

Cheapest transportation: Hop On/Hop Off Trolley

You can catch the trolley outside of any of the major attractions, but Stop #1 on the loop is outside the building that houses the Liberty Bell. Small children are free, so are seniors (with proof of age, such as a driver's license). The whole round takes about half an hour. If you're going to get on and off, pick up the all-day pass. Hop off at the Please Touch Museum, Fine Art Museum and 24 other stops.

Best Philly Cheese Steak: Campo's at 214 Market Street

We didn't go there this time...which is unfortunate. We had cheese steaks in Reading Terminal Market, and were rather disappointed. If you want a great sandwich, head to Old Philly and find Campo's.

Best Pastrami/Corned Beef Sandwich: Reading Terminal Market

I couldn't leave without mentioning this place again. Their corned beef is seriously the best I've ever tasted, layered with lean beef and sweet (yes, sweet) saurkraut. So.... sweet n' saur kraut? Any German experts out there want to help me out with the name?

Come back tomorrow for our next adventure...in Washington, DC!