Aug 21 - Musiq Soulchild

I swear I like Philly more and more each day. We did a lot of walking today, starting with a walk back to Reading Terminal Market for breakfast. Then we walked all the way to old town (and by "all the way" I mean like 15 minutes cause I swear this town isn't all that big. At least not the touristy party of it) for a free walking tour of old town sites, which was great. Then we walked all over the American Jewish Museum, which was also great and a highlight of the day. We got there just in time for a docent's tour (I learned today that a docent is apparently just a fancy word for a volunteer), and we ended up with this lovely, and extremely energetic, old lady named Natalie as our guide. She was fantastic, but the museum itself was also fantastic. It was basically the history of American Jewry, which is really interesting because I've learned so much about global Jewry, but not about American Jewry. Nothing except modern history I guess, but this went all the way back to the 17th century. As it turns out, the first "big" (23 people...) settlement came from Recife, Brazil. Before that, it was just a few people here and there, but no big groups. And it seems there were other settlements of Jews in Latin America back then. I knew there were tons of Jews in Latin America, I just didn't realize it went back that far. But I guess it makes sense since we were all kicked out of Spain and Portugal during the Inquisition in the late 1400s. Anyway, if you're in Philly, go to this museum. Take a docent tour. Hope for Natalie.

Also worth mentioning are the dinners we had last night and tonight. I'd been recommended a place called Abe Fisher's by a friend, which is a restaurant serving modern takes on traditional Jewish food. It was fantastic. And the guy who owns it is (obviously) Jewish and has a few restaurants. One of them is called Zahav and is apparently one of the best restaurants in the city. I couldn't get us a reservation online, but my dad had a little chat with the Israeli manager of Abe Fisher, and he got us at able at Zahav tonight. And boy was it good. Maybe the best meal I've had in America. It's fancy Israeli food, and everything we had was just perfect. And we had a nice Jewish girl as our waitress (there are a lot of them here. I really should be in America...), and then we met the chef/owner. After a short chat he even invited me to come and hang out in the kitchen. It may have only been because I had mentioned I live in Shanghai so he knows I never will, but still, it was nice of him.

As for music, we're going way back today. Like high school days. Whenever I travel I tend to not be as up on new music, hence the throwback. But also because I'm in Philadelphia I thought I should do something related. The obvious choice is The Roots (also a very good choice). But I'm going with Musiq Soulchild, who I love. And with his first single, Just Friends (Sonny), which is still one of his best.