I was lucky to have the chance to attend a work conference in Philadelphia with the goal of learning how to harness the power of technology to help make the learning experience better for students. I think this was my fifth trip to Philly and I enjoy visiting every single time.

Day 1: I stayed at the lovely Notary Philadelphia, Autograph Collection hotel just a block away from the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Reading (pronounced redding) Terminal Market, and Trader Joe’s. After checking in around 6 p.m. and getting refreshed after a very long journey to Philly (see my previous post to find out about my canceled flight woes), I walked to Reading Terminal Market and found that they closed at 6 p.m. No problem. I bought a bottle of wine at the store next door and had a snack and drink at the lobby bar where the bartender opened my bottle for me since I forgot to pack my wine opener and enjoyed my first sleep in a bed in a while.

Day 2: The next morning, I visited Trader Joe’s to scope out the scene and got excited to buy some cheese, meats, and garlic dip later on that day. I got some breakfast at Reading Terminal Market from a Filipino restaurant and got some garlic fried rice and beef there. Instead of TJ snacks, I think I need to get some chicharron for my dinner tonight. Next stop–work. After a day of breakout sessions, I headed to Reading Terminal Market in a thunderstorm before they closed to get the chicharron but the restaurant had closed up early. I ended up being able to get in the Carmen Cheesesteak line and I was the last order of the day and got a Philly cheesesteak with Cheeze Wiz and pickled sweet peppers.

Day 3: The next day, on my lunch break, I visited my favorite hand-pulled noodle place Nan Zhou in Chinatown with a pal from Hilo. We went to Nan Zhou together and loved our soup and our dumplings. After my post-lunch sessions, I shopped at Reading Terminal Market to get the chicharron I was craving. I also got some pancit to go with it. Maybe I was thinking about it too much but it wasn’t all that I imagined. It was fine but I’ve enjoyed the pancit and lechon I get in Hilo much more.

Days 4 and 5: After another morning of learning, I rewarded myself with a sweet potato pie from Sweet T’s Bakery at the Reading Terminal Market and then a combo roast duck and roast pork bowl from Sang Kee Peking Duck House. Totally hit the spot. Breakfast the next day was from Beck’s Cajun Cafe in the Reading Terminal Market in the form of red beans and rice with an egg and melted cheese served with grilled cornbread. YUM! I met up with my friend at lunch and we tried Georgian food for the first time. I had a chicken skewer dish that was awesome and a neon green tarragon “lemonade.” I met up with my HawCC colleague for dinner. The three Hilo peeps celebrated a week of learning with some Mediterranean food at Barbuzzo. So good! This was what we thought was our last meal in Philly.

Day 6: We were wrong about Barbuzzo being our last meal in Philly. We found out the next morning that our flight was canceled. After spending the morning trying to get rebooked to Hilo and checking out of the Notary Hotel and checking in to the Le Meridien closer to Trader Joe’s, I headed to Seorabol, Chef Chris Cho’s Korean restaurant for kimchi pancake, mandoo, and banchan for dinner. I follow him on Instagram and my pal Janet reminded me that he is from Philadelphia!

Day 7: Since I now have time for more Philly activities, thanks to United Airlines, I signed up for a walking food tour. Our tour guide Adam took us on a tour that included a tomato pie from Joe’s Pizza, a soft pretzel from Philly Pretzel Factory, a Philly Cheesesteak from Zio’s, and a cookie from Fourth Street Cookie, and a donut from Beiler’s. Yum, yum, and yum. It is a good thing I skipped breakfast so I would have lots of room to eat on the food tour. Despite all that food, I still had room for dinner at Dim Sum Garden where I enjoyed xiao long bao, chive and pork dumplings, and a delicious eggplant in garlic sauce. I still had room for a mango with vanilla ice cream dessert at Mango Mango.

Day 8: I was happy to have had time to explore the Philadelphia Museum of Art and run up the Rocky Balboa steps. There were so many collections at the museum and I was overwhelmed with all the rooms and exhibits. My museum visit made me hungry for lunch and I decided to finally get my Wawa Italian hoagie. The most fun part was putting in the order on their touchscreen system. It was a good sandwich for less than $5! What a deal. That afternoon, I took a BYOB Historically Hilarious Trolley Tour with the hilarious tour guide Warren.

Day 9: This is my second try for the last day in Philadelphia. Checked in 24 hours prior to my flight and things look good so far. I haven’t seen any news articles about crazy weather or other issues. Headed to Reading Terminal Market to get some ribs from Glick’s. But upon getting there, found that they were closed so I got a lamb shawarma plate. And a cannoli. After brunch, I walked around the Rittenhouse Square area and even had time for a pedicure. While I was waiting for my toenails to dry I saw that a Phillies/Nationals baseball game was going to start in an hour so my pal and I got some cheap tickets and headed to the game. Be sure to bring a small bag. In the last-minute rush of getting ready for the game, I forgot and carried my normal cross-body tote. Luckily there was a locker rental truck where I stashed my bag for $10. I enjoyed the game with some lemon water ice and popcorn until the rain came. We caught the subway back to our hotel for only $2.50. Time to pack and get ready to go back to Hilo.

Day 10: Every flight ran smoothly! There were small delays but nothing that caused me to miss connections. I made it home to Hilo! Living Hilo Style in Philly.