Chinatown

It was the first night in Chicago and already being hit by new culture in Chicago. We went to Chinatown! We didn’t have a ton of time for exploration throughout Chinatown, but rather grabbing a bite to eat and maybe stopping in some tourist gift shop traps. After a block in we decided the safe bet for a restaurant would be choosing the one with the biggest sign. That restaurant was called Won Koh. Once getting our table the environment was very oriental and almost everyone that worked in the building was Asian as well. Then entire area was predominantly Asian and that was to be expected, since it is a tourist attraction and there are deep Asian roots in the area. This area was selected for Asians to settle in Chicago, during the time much of the city was being divided by ethnicity. I personally have not been really treated to Asian cuisine in my lifetime and only have and want one thing. General Tso’s chicken is my favorite and I was not going to budge when my classmates were trying to convince me to get the family meal plan. I didn’t think I could still get the only Asian food I liked and went and ordered a single meal while everyone received a family meal plan. Once the food came out they placed all the family meal plan meals on this rotating huge plate in the middle. It could be rotated to get a taste of all the different foods. I was amazed by this creation of a rotating middle section, but since I was lost in communication I did not receive the family meal plan with General Tso’s Chicken. Luckily the Asian waitress was a good sport and felt bad for me due to my stupidity and allowed me to share or basically other people’s meals. This is just another point towards the importance of communication in life and when working with others. After everyone seemed done with the meal there was a huge amount of leftovers. It was to the point that I thought we might be eating Chinese Food the rest of the week. About 5 or 7 boxes full of leftovers! Once officially done with the meal we had limited time to explore the area and so we went our separate ways. Personally I love the sucker gift shops. I went in and got a Shiny Buddha and an authentic bamboo hat. How do I know it’s authentic? Because it was made in China the sticker tells me so. After the quick round of shopping and exploring we all met back up outside the Chinatown archways entrance and headed back to Hyde Park for the night.