Yep. It is the second day in Ann Arbor. Once again i rise early, made sure I have enough change in my pocket (for taking the bus back to Knightsbridge after dropping the bike off) and took off towards Nicholson's Powersports to get my bike serviced.
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I got there just in time to catch the guy pull open the shutters to the service department and i guessed i must have been way to enthusiastic because he gave me the "what the heck is someone doing here this early on a weekday" look. But turns out, he was a very very nice guy and put me at ease right away. So i told him that I wanted to get an oil change plus a full inspection so that i can be sure that i can make it back to Texas in one piece. I dropped off the keys and proceeded to the showroom to check out the latest & greatest in powersports.
Midway through trying not to get my slobbering drool all over the nice shiny 2010 models in the showroom, the service guy finally comes up to me to give me the update. It isn't good..... my front forks are leaking badly, and on top of that, there was a major recall on the frame of the K5 GSX-R1000 models that make it prone to snapping in half. He pointed out that now that this has been brought to their attention, he cannot, in good conscience, allow the bike to go out without being fixed. With the prospect of having my bike snap in half while tearing through the West Virginia mountains, i had to agree with him. Unfortunately they do not have the repair parts in stock and hence will not be able to get it done for at least another week or two.
If you want to read about the recall and the severity of the recall, you can read it here.
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=35357
Yeah... so here I am, having to wait out another week or two. Unfortunately, this is a week or two which i do not have. I had to get back to Houston and to the office at the end of next week and i didn't have the time to sit around and wait for repairs. So began the agonizing task with wrestling with the dreaded "Plan B", which is to sell the bike and fly back to houston instead.
I call up Tony to discuss things a bit and after a bit of waffling, I bit my lip and finally decided to sell it there and take a plane back to houston in order to get back to the office in time. So there and then, we made the transaction. They gave me the cash and i reluctantly handed over the keys... and so... my journey ends here.
Well, i guess this is it. The journey is over... for now. I fully enjoyed my time riding across the country and i'm sad for it to end, especially so since i don't know if my back will allow me to ride again, but even if i don't, i'm immensely grateful for the opportunity. A special thanks to all those folks who supported me and put me up in their homes, I'm so blessed to have such awesome friends. Thank you Lord for keeping me safe and for the lessons i've learned this trip. I guess its now time to sign off, maybe just maybe there'll be another long ride round in the future, but until then, ya'll keep on ridin'. Laus Deo!
I've waited 3 years to come back here. The cheesesteak hoagies here have gotten me through many a long study session when I was in college here. So after taking a quick ride through my old stomping grounds of the U of M North Campus, I swung down Broadway street from Plymouth Ave and made my way through the rows of old Victorian homes and arrived at an old unassuming little strip mall at the end of Broadway. My heart started beating fast with anticipation as soon as the store's frontage came into view.
If you were simply driving by, you would very easily miss this little store tucked away in a little strip mall, but ultimately, it is the food that keeps bringing faithful fans back.
The interior of the store was nice and comfy and equally unassuming. Decor was simple cafeteria tables & chairs accented with wood paneling walls.
Here's the menu... complete with all 10 menu items! The second surprise... they are actually 1/ 2 a cheesesteak store and the other 1/2 is a korean restaurant!
At long last, I order up myself a Cheese Steak Hoagie with Extra Mushrooms and tossed with Hot Peppers:
The thing was just overflowing with meat and stuff! In fact, one of my favorite things about this sandwich is that there is more stuffing than bread. Just have a look at this cross section:
The meat was nice and ooey gooey with cheese. The nicely caramelized onions gave a nice sweet note throughout the sandwich. As for the peppers, i like it personally, but it is not for everyone. It is basically mashed pickled red peppers (or some sort of chilli). The vinegar imparts a nice sour twang which really wakes up your taste buds in every bite. But if you are not quite into the sour note, then i'd leave out the hot peppers.
Most people find quite a disconnect with a korean restaurant being known for its cheesesteak hoagies, but WHY NOT? In fact, i find cheesesteaks to be the next logical progression from traditional korean food. For one, the Koreans have perfect the art form that is grilled seasoned sliced meat in the form of Bugolgi & Kalbi. The thinly sliced meat that is familiar to Korean food is perfect for cheese steak! So bravo for Korean cheese steak Hoagies!!!!
While i only had enough room in my stomach for a single cheese steak hoagie, but do feel free to try some of the other korean fare that is offered here. As a personal recommendation, definitely do try the Bi-Bim-Bop. A steamed rice dish served with grilled sliced beef, and a warm salad of crunchy mixed veggies, topped with a fried egg and tossed in lip smacking Go-Chu-Jang (korean red pepper sauce).
I get to snap a picture of the ever-smiling proprietor of the establishment.
Please do check out his website where he features traditional folk songs and also an impressive paper on proper Korean diction for non native Korean speakers. Check it out!!
http://keemanchang.com/index.html
I liked
- Awesomely done cheese steaks.
- Korean food like your korean grandma would make.
- Super friendly owner (see photo below).
I didn't quite like
- The far proximity from campus makes it hard for students without a car to reach.
Broadway Cafe (Korean Food & Cheese Steak Hoagies)
Address: 1139 Broadway St, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Phone: (734) 769-3524
Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/broadway-cafe-and-jumbo-steak-hoagie-ann-arbor
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I'm holed up on the couch in Tony, Paul & Kaiser's living room. For the first time this week, i get to sleep in and i CAN'T! I am wide awake at what i figured should be at least 11 am, but when i roll over to look at the clock... 7 am!!! Sadly i think i'm getting used to the grueling schedule from over the last week or so.
Ann Arbor is going to be my 1/2 way stop (with a remote chance that it my be the end of the journey) and i planned to have the steed serviced today. But its MONDAY!! I have yet to figure out why all powersports dealerships are closed on mondays. *sigh*. I figure its because all the bikers need a day to get over massive hangovers after a weekend at the track. But yeah.. .anyway. I'm here in Ann Arbor with a free day to go do stuff, so i take the steed for a ride around town.
It has been a couple of years since i have been here in AA and at least 6 years since i have lived here. Just riding and looking around. Things have changed massively, and not just because i'm am now looking at the city through a black tinted face shield. Some of my old hangouts are now gone, replaced by newer and shiny-er buildings. I have had a good 4 years here, possibly 4 of my most formative in terms of my identity and spiritual development. But time waits for no one, it has moved on. There's still a sense of nostalgia, and as much as I miss the great times, though the sights may be familiar, but my friends are mostly gone... I can no longer call this home. But i CAN however, go looking for some good food :)
I finally pull into Knightsbridge at about 4 or 5 pm. Tony helped me stagger my way off the bike and into the house. Oooohhhh... it felt real good to finally sit my butt on something substantial. It felt so good that it almost made me forget that i just about never made it there merely 5 min ago.
I was making my way along US -14 / 23 and, following directions, exited the highway at exit 4 (Barton Drive). What nobody told me was that after exiting "exit 4", you don't slowly cruise to a complete stop like most other proper exits. Instead you swing a wicked wicked 180 degree U-Turn to the right!!!!
I'm travelling along expecting to ease into the exit but as i leaned right to nudge the bike over, i suddenly see this sign AS I AM GOING INTO THE TURN!!! Not exactly the most comforting thing to see when you are barreling down at 65 mph and expecting a gentle rolling stop.
View Crazy U-Turn at Barton on US-14! in a larger map
I immediately shifted down and slowly eased into both front and rear breaks in order not lock up my wheels while at the same tie violently throwing my knee down overboard on the right side in order to keep from highsiding. Even with all that, i still drifted across the median line and across the oncoming lane till i scraped the gravel on the far side of the street. Thankfully there were no vehicles coming my way in the opposite direction otherwise it would really be having a bad bad day. So i recovered and made my way to the bottom of the hill... shaken but unscathed.
I sit for a bit and relax at tony's then it's off for dinner... Outback Steakhouse... yes... i broke the rule again... so i won't bother writing anything this time... but tomorrow... it's another matter... i'm on the prowl for cheesteak hoagies!!!
It was kinda rainy today. I wake up early and somehow manage to find a starbucks around the corner. The city is still abuzz from Lollapalooza and apparently still reeling from Lady Gaga's performance last night. I personally didn't care too much for lady gaga.. i was in desperate need of caffeine. Aaron's condo is right next to the subway tracks and every 30 min the train would come by, jolting me awake. I eventually managed to get to sleep, at what time? I don't know. But I do know i felt pretty sucky this morning. So yeah.... I load up on coffee and do a bit of blog updating.
Aaron arrives at about 10 ish. I load up my stuff into the Escalade and off we go to pick up the bikes. After a quick McDonald's breakfast, it was time to say goodbye. According to the weather, there was a very slow east moving system that seemed to be hovering over Chicago. If it take off now, i should be able to power though the rain and emerge at the other side of the system by the time i exit chicago. I got my rain gear on and off i go to beat the rainclouds. Looks like the plan worked. By the time i reached south Holland, the torrent had backed off to a trickle and by the time i reach Gary, it's dry. Taking Aaron's advice to NOT stop in Gary, i go on to Porter IN before i finally stop to get my raingear off and to finally gas up.
Up till now i never really knew how many MPG i was getting out of my steed. I figure now that i am in familiar territory and that gas stations seem to be pretty regular along the route, that this would be the best time to get an actual number for MPG. So i gas up to a full tank, and off i go. The miles tick by and by the time i reach battle creek, the little yellow light with the gas pump starts flashing. I look at my trip meter and it reads just about 150 miles. I pull into the next gas station and fill up. The pump tells me that i just added 3.473 gal to my tank. So....
150 miles / 3.473 gal = 43.19 MPG!!! (Hah! Take that Yukon Denali!!!)
But yeah.... I call Tony to reassure him i am still alive and am on my way, and i'm off on my final leg of this trip towards Ann Arbor Michigan.
It feels great to be back in the midwest not just because the everything feels, smells and tastes different and strangely nostalgic, but because it feels great to be back in the company of great friends whom I have left behind when I moved down south.
I've known Aaron for a good part of 6 or 7 years now. It's kinda strange because we would have been the most unlikely of friends. During that time I was just graduating college and and he was in high school. 6-7 years on and we're still good friends. Strange how things turn out.
But yeah, it's good to see Aaron again, we've been talking about motorcycles for years now and now finally we have the opportunity to go for a ride together. After the wonderful Korean dinner we had in the evening and despite his persistent headache and the risk of being neutered via girlfriend, combined with my old aching body, we still managed to put in a short ride up and down Lakeshore drive. Despite some choppy riding from my friend, i still managed to keep up without running into his behind. T'was short but good. Although it's the first ride, but from the way my back is holding up, it's probably also going to be the last one for a while.
I have ridden through a lot of curves in my life, sometimes I wipe out, sometimes I make it to breathe another day, but often the journey is exhilarating and breathtaking. The very nature of curves mean that you sometimes can't see around the corner, so every corner holds surprises at every turn. Sometimes they are astounding, sometimes disappointing, sometimes its a dead end and requires some backtracking. As i get older, it is often the lessons learned on the winding roads that remind me that sometimes the best place to be is on the straight and narrow. While i gracefully bow out, I hope Aaron will keep on riding out strong but more importantly keep riding on straight.
Aaron (the korean) took me on a short ride through downtown Chicago to go drop my stuff off at the condo. After we got the gear squared away, we go pick up a couple of friends (more koreans) and we go eat.... (surprise surpirse).... Korean Food! I have lived in S. Korea in 2005 / 2006 and had the privilege of experiencing one of the most unique food traditions in the world. I have had Korean food almost everywhere that i have lived, but i have fond memories of the Korean Cuisine in Chicago.
So yeah... We pack into the Escalade and hop onto Lakeshore Drive North, then exited into a maze of Chicago streets and eventually ended up here....
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The humble little corner shop would have easily been missed if you were driving by but don't let that full you. This little establishment is quite well known by the local Korean community for putting out some great Korean BBQ.
As it turns out, one of our dining companions knew the owner's daughter, and in typical Korean hospitality, the owner loaded us up with more food than we can hope to swallow. Queued up on the dinner service were pork belly and tripe (cooked to perfection by the owner's wife herself in the stone pot right at the table), two types of buckwheat noodle (naeng myun), refreshing veggie soup, fried rice and a whole table full of little korean side dishes. This is what our table looked like....
The intoxicating sent of meat being seared with whole cloves of garlic wafting from the stone pot was simply mesmerizing.... i wish you could smell this....
As if hotstone grilled meat wasn't enough, next on the menu was buckwheat noodles. We ordered two kinds, couple of us got buckwheat noodle in broth....
The rest of us (me) got buckwheat noodle with hot pepper sauce....
By the time i was 1/4 of the way through the noodles, the owner's wife comes back and eaches across the table to grab all the little bits of of leftover side dishes which we didn't finish and empty everything into the the stone pot in the middle. I just figured she was cleaning up and our meal was done, but then i realize that he is holding a huge pot of white steamed rice which she empties into the cooking pot and starts stirring everything in.... INSTANT FRIED RICE!!
We eventually stumble out of the restaurant full, contented and ready for naptime. This place may be a little out of the way, but lemme tell you. It is well worth it. If you are ever in Chicagoland and want to try some good ethnic food that is off the beaten path, check out Cho Sun Ok.
I liked,
- The traditional Korean atmosphere & decoration of the establishment.
- Great traditional BBQ which is as close to what they eat in Korea as we can get here in the US.
- Great variety of dishes.
- Friendly staff
I didn't quite Like,
- NO ALCOHOL FOR SALE. So apparently they don't have a liquor license, so it's BYOB. Before arriving, head down about half a block to the grocery store and pick up a carton of brewskies before heading over for some good food.
Cho Sun Ok (Korean Barbeque)
Address: 4200 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago IL 60618
Phone: 773-549-5555
Website: http://chosunokrestaurant.com/
Map:
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