So Chicago food is amazing.  Heavy and greasy, it’s not for the healthy of heart. Here are some of the places that I made sure to hit up while I was in town for the Declare INDIE showcase. If you ever visit Chicago be sure to check em out, too!

1. Fish N’ Chips – The Duke of Perth

On Wednesdays and Fridays The Duke of Perth offers all-you-can-eat Fish N’ Chips. This was an amazing deal for $9.50 so me and my old college roommate Larry decided to go while I was in town. Add some peas and a few beers and you’ve got the perfect meal. We had to be rolled out of the pub.

2. Al’s Italian Beef

Right after the Declare INDIE show I took a few of the band members to Al’s Italian Beef. The sandwiches are really soggy and greasy and make for a great albeit heavy late night meal.

3. Giordano’s Pizza

It doesn’t matter if you go for Giordano’s or Lou Malnati’s, you must try Chicago pizza. Deep dish, or ‘cake’, as I like to call it, Chicago pizza piles on what seems like an infinite amount of cheese and takes almost an hour to make. Luckily, I was able to make some room for this dish before getting on the plane.

Other Chicago foods to experience:

The Chicago dog
Hecky’s BBQ
Portillo’s
Jimmy John’s (though I was never a big fan)
any steak house in town!

CHICAGO!!

I made this cover of the Black Eyed Peas’ song ‘Imma Be’ to let you know about
Declare INDIE this Friday!  Declare INDIE is the annual music showcase that I produce celebrating Asian American artists. I started this thing back in 2008 when I was still living in Chicago and now we’re in our THIRD year!  This time around I’m performing and bringing with me my FULL band from LA!  The line up also includes amazing artists IBU, Parts Per Million, and Raman Sachdev. DJ Huu T. Ly will be spinning with Lily Kim as host. RSVP on Facebook here: http://bit.ly/a1d6An

This show is gonna be incredibly special for me as it’ll be my first time in Chicago since moving to LA.  There are many cities I consider my home but Chicago just might be my favorite one.  Yes, it is cold and windy, but I cannot wait to come back!  But really, the important question is: Giordano’s or Lou Malnati’s?

This Friday April 9th is the opening reception for ImaginAsian, a collection of cultural artifacts intended to raise awareness and understanding of the contemporary Asian Pacific American community.

Organized by activist Kate Agathon, ImaginAsian will feature contributions from author Kip Fulbeck, writer Lac Su, director Michael Kang, hip hop group Far East Movement, just to name a few.  I also contributed to the exhibit a one page musical score selection of my song ‘Wake Up‘.

Be sure to check it out if you’re in the area! The exhibit runs until May 9th. I’ll also be performing along with spoken word artist Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai at Purdue next Tuesday, April 13th for “New Communities” – A Symposium on Contemporary Asian American Identity.

This week I received my first piece of fanmail! It has truly made my week and I wanted to take the time to express my gratitude. Shoutout to Sarah, for your kind words and for sharing the poem Psalm 5 by Ernesto Cardenal! For those of you who have never heard of him, go check it out. His poetry is inspiring.

To all my faithful listeners: Thank you so much for all your continued support. It’s been a blessed time since releasing the album back in September. All the shows, the tour, the Macy Gray taping; none of it would have been possible without the love and positive energy that I’ve felt from all of you. Being able to share with you guys the music is for me, the most gratifying part of it, and I feel so lucky to have you all in my life.

Don’t know what the rest of 2010 will bring but I hope you’ll be there when it all goes down.