East Coast Pandas

Philly Chinatown

Saturday September 23, 2006

This is the Archway into Philadelphia's Chinatown.

Okay, so it started to rain just as we were gathering for the Chinatown tour. Luckily, the tour people gave us these dorky ponchos!! Boy, do we look like tourists!! Well, they were lifesavers even if we looked stupid. lol.

The gang including our tour guides AL and JACQUIE!

This was AL, our OFFICIAL tour guide. Wasn't he just the cutest!!!!

Al was telling us all about this building and the "styles" of homes but all of us were more interested in the sign above him. It looks like an organization for Children Adopted from China. We'll have to check it out. The website on the sign reads www.chinesecc.com

This is Jacquie showing us chinese takeout...Salty or Sweet!!!

This is just before we went into the Buddist Temple

They have a "GREAT WALL" in Philly...here it is above.

You know you're in Chinatown when every street corner has this on it!!

Muralsin Chinatown.

Pandas @ Liberty Bell

Above: (left to right) Wanda, Kathy, Susan, Donna and Cheryl

What happens in Philly stays in Philly so I cannot put descriptions on the photos....just use your imagination!

Dinner on South Street

The whole gang (except for Stephe) I'll try and photoshop myself in!! ha. ha.

Sheryl and Mark! Mark was our Official South Philly Native!! Look at their little baby LIA!!! She's just beautiful!

Cheryl and Kim!

Wanda, Kathy and Lori!

Denice and Paul

Rumor Queen SUCCESSOR

We have OFFICIALLY found the Rumor Queen SUCCESSOR. Can you guess who the addict is???

Our winner is MELISSA!!!!

Dinner @ Stephe's

Dinner by candlelight was at my house(Stephe's) on Friday night!! What a blast, although my neighbors might boot me out! ha. ha. It's just amazing how perfectly we all got along! We wished that all of you could have been here to join us and we did many toasts in your honor!!!!

Above: (Left to right) Hope, Sheryl, Kathy, Lori, Cheryl, Donna, Wanda, Susan R (hiding), Stephe, Melissa and Kim!

Above: (Top left to right) Wanda, Kathy, Cheryl, Sheryl. Bottom: (Left to right) Stephe, Susan R, and Donna.

I think Reverend Sheryl presided over a Lesbian Wedding!! LOL. (kidding)

Here is the backyard setup for the dinner with their little Panda Welcome Bags from Stephe and Tiara's from Hope, Sheryl and Jenna!!!

Our Head (and only) Chef SUSAN!!! She cooked us a FANTASTIC DINNER!!! Baked Ziti and Meatballs and all the fixins'.

Here is Hope and her crazy box!! No, she didn't ship herself. Kim just made the box look huge with her photography skills! It was still big and fill with LOTS and lots of TIARAs! A girl after my own heart!!!!!!

Thanks Susan!

Thanks Susan for my "Pirate" micky!!! Too funny! In honor of your gift...I posted this photo! Hey, check out my cool pirate earings and necklace I found on South Street!!!

Hotel Pandas

A SIGN!!!

It was a sign!!! I've never seen an Asian Truck in my area. I (Stephe) had just picked up Cheryl from the Philly Airport and had Susan R and Donna with me when we found ourselves driving behind a **sign**!!!

Another Photo of Hope's Box

Stephe left a comment that the box Hope sent was big enought to send herself. Wel.....l in away she did. Boy we are in for a fun weekend. That's all I'm saying.

Look What Came In The Mail......

Hey East Coast Pandas look what Hope sent. I'm not sure what's in this box but it's gotta be good. I guess I'll have to wait until Friday.

ECG Panda Blogs

Stephe
http://www.giorgiadanette.blogspot.com/

Susan
http://www.chinaladybug.com/

Donna
http://www.waitingforlaurenelizabeth.blogspot.com/

Kim
http://onemoremakesfour.blogspot.com/

Sheryl
http://www.linktolia.blogspot.com/

Hope - http://www.babyizabella.blogspot.com/

Lori - none that I know of

Wanda http://www.waitingforlexi.blogspot.com/

Kathy (Just getting started) http://www.ourlittleemma.blogspot.com/

Melissa … http://www.lily.chinastork.com/

Paul & Denice- http://oliviawilson.blogspot.com/

BUDDY SYSTEM

PHILADELPHIA ITINERARY
Friday
“PANDA BUDDY SYSTEM”

Getting Excited???!!! Less than 5 weeks and we’ll all be in Philly! Yippee! I am so happy that so many of us are able to come and spend the weekend together. We’re going to learn a little about our little one’s heritage, shop, bond, eat, drink, be crafty, be madeover, be sparkly, be crazy (for sure) and take Philadelphia by Storm! It’s gonna be a blast.

HOTEL:
A BIG THANKS to Kim who organized the Hotel situation. Please make sure that if anyone has any questions, please contact Kim. The Hotel is ATTACHED to the AIRPORT so I don’t think that a shuttle will be necessary…although, I have no idea how many bags you packed!! Lol.

TRANSPORTATION:
Thanks to Sheryl, Kim for helping with the driving for the weekend.

WEATHER:

Sept 22 - Friday Averages SUNNY & IN THE 70's
Sept 23 - Saturday Averages SUNNY (partly cloudy) & IN THE 70's

BRING:
Just make sure that you bring YOURSELF. THAT’s most important. We are hoping to do one craft project such as creating a personalized onsie or t-shirt for our little one/or us. So, Susan offered to bring some fabric paint and I will go out and get some other stuff to help us create these things. If you would like to participate (and you don’t have too) please just bring a PRE-WASHED ONESIE or BABY SHIRT (or whatever) to decorate. We are also doing makeovers, so bring some makeup. Please address any make-up question to Kim! She’s the makeover guru! BIG THANKS TO KIM! Bring your best SPARKLIES or we’ll just have to buy you some bling on South Street! Dress is SPORTY and SPARKLY! Come casual and comfortable …ready for fun! (Oh, and if anyone is bringing food…it can go straight into my fridge.) Bring lots of PHOTOS and stuff to share. We want to get to know all of you!!!! Don’t forget your CELL PHONE CHARGERS!!

GATHERING AT STEPHE’S:
Arrangements are being made so that those arriving to PHL or BMI will have rides to my house before we meet up with Paul and Denice for the LATE NIGHT PARTY!!!! My townhouse is small but I will have tables set up out side as well. This will give us much more room. (Sometimes the lawn is a bit damp...just wear casual shoes)

FOOD:
A big thanks to all of you bringing a little bit of your hometown with you. Not necessary but really nice and cool. A Big THANKS to SUSAN R who is going to be cooking for us on FRIDAY!! Yummy Baked Ziti, Meatballs, Salad and Garlic Bread!!!

THE “BUDDY SYSTEM” ARRIVAL PLAN:
Okay girls (and guys) here is the plan. Susan and Donna are arriving on Thursday. I will go get them and they will stay at my place. Friday around noon, Cheryl is coming in. Susan, Donna and I will get her and bring her back to my house. We will hang out and get stuff ready for everyone to arrive. (crafts and casual dinner). Meanwhile, WANDA and KATHY will be coming in between 1-3.

WANDA and KATHY…you are BUDDIES.
See if the two of you can arrange to meet somewhere in the Airport (maybe the new Airport MALL or the Hotel. Wanda, you arrive second. So once you and Kathy have found each other and are heading to check into the Hotel, call Sheryl.

SHERYL & JENNA are BUDDIES:
Sheryl will be picking up her daughter from school and then swinging by to pick up Wanda and Kathy around 4 or 4:30, and you back to my house.

LORI & MELISSA…you are BUDDIES:
You are both arriving in Philly around the same time. See if the two of you can arrange to meet somewhere in the Airport (maybe the new Airport MALL or the Hotel). Go check in to your room.

KIM & HOPE are BUDDIES:
You both are arriving from Baltimore around 6:00. Once Kim and Hope are checked in, Kim has offered to Drive all 4 (KIM, HOPE, LORI, MELISSA) of you to my house for crafts and dinner.

PAUL & DENICE you are BUDDIES:

We’ll meet you back at the hotel. Call us once you get to the hotel at the above numbers and we’ll meet you in the lounge in about 30 minutes or so!

WARNING:
LADIES and GENTLEMAN, you are now on your own! (For the night at least) We only have to worry about Susan, Cheryl, Donna and myself getting back to Delaware and I will be the Designated Driver…so be kind to the sober girl!!!

(**Yeah, I’m a Dork)

UPDATE

Okay...looks like we have a plan. Just need to know when the others have booked the tour. (Still need Cheryl, Donna, Sheryl, Mark, Kim, Hope, Wanda, and Kathy) Post to me on the DTC group or privately if you have any questions or concerns! Thanks.

Can't wait to meet everyone...it won't be long now!!! Stephe

ITINERARY THOUGHTS

I’M THINKING OUT LOUD

SATURDAY
Meet at Airport Hotel at 8:00am and be in route at 8:15am for center city.

Here is the ideal scenario…
The best and cheapest way to get all over Philly is the PHLASH and it’s cheap…just $4 for an all day pass. But it only runs from 10-6. If we think this is a good idea….

Easiest way is to collect money for the PHLASH is before jumping in the cars and heading into Philly.

We will caravan to 6th and Market where I can jump out and buy everyone’s PHLASH pass then we all head to AutoPark at Independence Mall, 5th & Market Sts. “Present your PHLASH pass to receive a discount on parking.” (yeah) Then to the Tour which departs from Philadelphia Trolley Works ticket trolley located at 5th and Market Streets.

The tour begins promptly at 9:30 and is supposed to last approximately 3 hours.

After that…it’s a free-for-all!
I don’t want to make you all crazy with lots of itineray.
I know some of you are very, very familiar with Philly and that’s great because I am not. I know, I should be!!! Anyway, I would love for all of you to post comments on things that you might want to see or do so that I can help structure a bit the rest of the day.

Taking ideas for the Friday night gathering, Saturday, and Sunday Morning.

My thoughts (again)

Friday night near the airport or we could play by me with some taxfree Friday night shopping and food, (suggestions please)

Saturday run around Chinatown, South Street, and Penn’s Landing and do a ferry ride on the Delaware River, and/or Reading Market. Totally open to options. We can do one nice meal and eat “on the street” for others or we can just graze all day. (I swear I couldn’t think of a better word. Ha. Ha.) (suggestions please)

Food options, Meal in Chinatown, Meal in Little Italy, Center City @ Melting Pot, Philly Cheese Steaks at Geno’s or Pats. again…what ever you want. Please put in your 2 cents. I want everyone to have a GREAT TIME!!!

Sunday,
Still waiting to see who all is leaving and when. Hotel Checkout is at 12:00. I was thinking maybe we could do a little shopping in Philly on Sunday Morning.
This is just a crazy suggestion but we could meet at the new IKEA at 9:30 for breakfast and shop a short time, we can run a few back to the airport that have earlier flights then come back, there are a bunch of stores right in that area, the others can shop until the second batch needs to be at the airport.

Alright…your turn!

Hotel FACT SHEET

Hotel Fact Sheet

Click on the above Fact Sheet and it will take you to it! Note that the Hotel is actually connected to the Philly Airport so those of you flying in, you'll be able to just walk over the skyway to the hotel. More information to follow!

OFFICIAL WEEKEND

The Official Weekend for the East Coast Pandas Philly Adventure is...

(See Jan2006DTC Group for weekend)