Day 1: Pho Xe Tang (Tank) 7/3/11

After checking in, my family decided to go to the older chinatown we call Vietnam Town. There are dozens of Vietnam restaurants there, but one of them was especially good. It is located on the corner of N. Broadway and it is always crowded. Every time I go there we have to wait and share tables with other customers, but it is worth it. It is not as good as Taste of Vietnam in Central Jersey, but it is pretty close.


My mom, dad, and I ordered the well-known phở. It consists of vermicelli noodles with beef tendons, beef strips, beef balls, bean sprouts, onions, green onions, and a beef soup base. The beef strips are put in raw so when the soup is put it, it will cook the beef strips. This is so the beef isn't too chewy.

Phở

My brother ordered one of his favorites: Pork cutlet on rice with ground beef and egg cake with fish sauce (which is widely used in Vietnamese dishes). 

Beef Cutlet with Rice

For drinks, I ordered young coconut water. I expected a cup of coconut water, but when they came out with it, it was the whole coconut. I was surprised that one coconut had so much water. I could even eat the coconut meat after I finished drinking.

Young Coconut water

My brother got a jack fruit shake. A jack fruit is a native fruit that grows in hot places. The fruit is generally sweet. They blend it in with milk and a little sugar and most places offer them with tapioca. 

Jack fruit Drink

Pros: Amazing food, good service, not too expensive, very traditional, servers are Vietnamese, good turnover

Cons: It's really busy all the time, share tables, small restaurant

Advice: Go ahead and share tables if you don't mind or else it will take forever to find an empty table

Overall: 5 of 5

Day 1: Hotel- Hyatt Regency Chicago

Main Floor

The Hyatt Regency Chicago is located in Downtown Chicago; walking distance to parks and attractions. It is a 4 star hotel with suites, single bed, and double bed bedrooms. With Priceline and other hotel price bidders, it is on avg. $50 per night. Hyatt Daily rates would range from about $200-$500 per night.

Main Floor at night (water)

Hotel in General: I got to see the city of Chicago just in our hotel: busy and diverse. People from all over came in and out at all times. It felt more like an airport with the escalators, restaurants, multiple levels, check-in/check-out counters, ect.  

Main Floor: With couches and places to rest, it seemed like a comfortable atmosphere. The breakfast buffet is located towards the back of the level surrounded by a stream of water. Next to the breakfast buffet, is one of the ballrooms where I saw a Pakistani wedding for the first time. At night, the lights are almost turned off all the way. The colored florescent lights take the place of the sunlight during the day. The stream changes color every minute and the breakfast bar has a couple lights turned on. Otherwise it is dark.

BAR at 151

Second Floor: The second floor contained counters for check-in and check-outs. Like an airport, the lines were winding around. There were more couches and sofas for family members to sit and wait. On the right side of the counters, there is a bar stacked with empty colored bottles against the wall of the bar. I found out it's name (BAR at 151) after I got back because it never opened when I saw it.

Bronze Level: The lower floor (bronze level) had multiple meeting rooms, restaurants, and more ballrooms for weddings and parties. Even though I haven't been there, there is a fitness center.

Gold Level Consists of the parking garage. For $50/day, they have valet parking (where they park the car for you). When you need the car you ask them to bring it around for you and you can go in an out whenever you want.

Advice: bring $1 bills to tip the drivers

Rooms: There are a total of 36 floors of rooms with an ice machine on each floor.

• They include everything hotels include TV's (flat screen), hair dryers, shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, safe, mini refrigerator (I will talk about this later on), hangers, ect. 
• Daily room service is available. Many of the cleaners are multilingual. My family was lucky enough to meet a couple of Cantonese speakers who gave us tips on traveling the city. 
• The view of the room I stayed in looked over the city streets and buildings. The best views of the lake cost more.
• Bathroom was really clean for a hotel
• The space was ok.The hotel I stayed in Vancouver had more space for one more person. The space was filled with furniture. The one wall by the bathroom was extended out so when someone tries to come in, they would have to go around the wall (or run into it like I did).

WARNING: If you want to use the mini fridge, you have to pay. Putting things in, moving items around, and taking them out costs $25 each time you do it. How do they know? They have motion sensors and cameras installed in the fridge. Apparently we were charged for moving a can of soda for more than 2 seconds. Luckily, the cleaning lady checked it and took the charge off. The tricky part is that they send you the bill AFTER you leave the hotel, so you can't argue with them. If you do, they have proof: the pictures on the camera. SO DO NOT USE THE MINI FRIDGE.

Hotel Overall...

Pros: In the heart of Chicago, walking distance to almost anywhere, huge, great for parties, weddings, and meetings, multilingual, nicely decorated, good service, 6 elevators, quiet

Cons: The refrigerator, expensive parking, cold rooms, long waits to get car from garage, guests who park there don't know where the staff parks their car

Advice: Don't use the fridge, park at the $6 garages (they only charge when you park during the day. Afterwards no charge and you can leave and comeback anytime), if staying for more than one night get a room on a higher floor

Overall: 4 of 5       

For more info: Hyatt Regency Chicago

Day 1: Taste of Chicago 7/3/2011

Buckingham Fountain

I went on the last day for the Taste of Chicago, but it was extremely crowed and hot. For people who haven't been there: It happens every summer over the 4th of July weekend at Grant Park. You buy tickets in sets of twelve and as you move along the streets full of local vendors, you pay for your food in tickets.

Pros: Very close to the hotels in downtown Chicago, most of the food was good, walk while you eat so you don't feel fat sitting, local Chicago food, wide variety from soul food to cultural foods to desserts, a mist sprinkler to keep cool, free samples from drink companies like Sierra Mist and Crush, wine for adults, places for you to stop and eat, closed roads and patrols for pedestrians, family friendly, if you need more tickets there are multiple ticket booths along the way to buy more, leftovers are given to charity

Cons: Hot and crowded, many of the foods cost 6-12 tickets (expensive), some food was not the best (in my opinion), they check your bags before you go in

Advice: Open your bags before they tell you to keep lines going faster, walk around to see what you want before buying tickets, stop on the side of the vendors to eat to avoid being run over by crowds, stop by the huge water fountain, bring water if you fear the heat, wear sunscreen or hat

Overall: 3.5 of 5