Time For Some Updates!!! (last days in Chicago)

Hello ChanFam fans. Michelle and I have been quite busy over the past few months and we neglected to keep this blog up-to-date. For that, we apologize. However, we do not apologize for all the fun/adventures/moves/life changes/etc. that we have made that caused us not to blog. :-)

Anyways, since there has been so much going on, I'll split up all the updates into several smaller posts to avoid one huge one.

Michelle finished with her 2nd year of law school towards the end of May, while I still had about another month before my school year ended and graduation. In that in-between time that Michelle took off for her summer internship at a law firm, I still had some time to squeeze in some fun with my b-school friends before it was all over. OK, you got me. I admit, it was ALL fun time. Studying? What was that?

One of the highlights was that me and a couple of friends were able to do a kayak trip along the Chicago river that runs between the city of Chicago. It was really amazing to see the city from this perspective and it truly made me appreciate Chicago even more. If you are ever in Chicago and get a chance to kayak down the river on a nice day, I would highly recommend it! Here are some photo highlights from the journey:

The two other guys who went with me: Ravi and Dan (can you guess who's who?)

Finally on the river

Chicago Tribune building -- this door was built for boats to load paper off the river, but it wasn't built correctly so it was never used!

One of the many bridges in Chicago:

Some more shots from the trip:

I also got a chance to visit the Indiana Dunes region where we did a hike and then ended the day at the Three Floyd's brewery (mmmm). Notice the interesting juxtaposition of the smoke stack and nature:

Jen & Josh

These two have been together for over 10 years. Jen was my first friend in college, and has been the truest and most loyal of friends.

Guess what this building use to be?? The Real World Philly house! Can you tell?

Instead of placecards, they used old school pictures they had of each of the guests. It was a hit.

It was great to see them make it official (finally!)

last days in Chicago

Wow I'm not sure if anyone even reads this blog anymore, but since I've been relegated to the futon with a strained back, might as well upload some pictures. Highlights of our last few months in Chicago...

Chinese family portrait with THE Dan Tan from Singapore!

Good times reminiscing about Dan's infamous (or should I say notoriously) messy dorm room, the crash of the financial markets, politics, old college friends, and pinpointing Dan's home in singapore on google maps.

Terah and his friends practicing for their Rock Band tournament. Yes, they work hard in b-school.

Chans, meet Hot Doug's. Hot Doug's, meet the Chans.

I gave Terah a hard time about the 2+ HOUR long wait for these hot dogs, but have since reversed my position. SO GOOD.

Spring in Chicago is great. Everyone is out & about after the long brutal winter. Classic Chicago - Wrigley Park. Or you could watch the game on the rooftop of a neighboring building...

Our road trip warriors came to visit Chicago - these kiddos drove all the way from Seattle to California to Arizona to Illinois back to Philly...

I heart Kristen!

Resilience

Terah's been away at a competition for the past week, and while I'd always rather him be here, there are a few perks to living the high life - I can stretch out in bed, eat my way thru the random food we have in our fridge and pantry, and be entertained by my own thoughts!

Some of my thoughts recently... there's been a lot of doom & gloom lately in the news, with people we know, and personally... and that feeling of heaviness is almost palpable in the air. I've been thinking a lot about what kind of person I'd like to be during these times. The word that came to mind: resilience. So here's to fighting for what is good in this world.

Speaking of good things, although we haven't managed to keep up with the instant replay of photos that is Facebook, here's some long overdue pictures from our trip to Hong Kong with the Chan clan.

I have titled it: FOOD. Because really, that is the best way to remember Hong Kong.



Big fat noodles with peanut sauce



mango pudding



fish



pig - notice the head



I'm told this is some kind of shrimp, but it tasted like lobster



duck



buns



sesame balls! I have great childhood memories of going to this chinese buffet in Texas and eating these.



the most fabulous nice big juicy dumpling I've ever had





starbucks was everywhere



dessert



Okay check this out - they have duck wing in a WRAPPER now. what will they think of next??



salty black eggs aka "chinese thousand-year-old eggs"



Ok besides eating we did do some sightseeing. Here's an old fishing village we visited. Their version of Venice....






New years in Hong Kong is really neat - they shoot off simultaneous fireworks from landmark buildings all across the bay. Here's the city lights by night...





God's creation at its finest