[Carnage_Black2]

Can we please get off of this black bit?

[Smiles]

I will be there!

location to be arranged... hmmm... well. smoogles. how is this being arranged? where in china town... er can we meet up at union station? or um...something? heheh I am not getting lost!!!!! Been there done that ....not fun. gotta have a plan. I don't wanna pass up everyone 80 times like in jan of 05. I will not permit that to happen again!*cries* Although I've had better luck with the later meetups I have never been to china town and I don't wannna miss out.*huggles*

[tsukareta_lua]

Smiles said:

location to be arranged... hmmm... well. smoogles. how is this being arranged?  where in china town... er can we meet up at union station? or um...something? heheh I am not getting lost!!!!! Been there done that ....not fun.  gotta have a plan. I don't wanna pass up everyone 80 times like in jan of 05. I will not permit that to happen again!*cries* Although I've had better luck with the later meetups I have never been to china town and I don't wannna miss out.*huggles*

I'll figure a location before the day. I can't make everyone happy, but what would be easiest for you? So you don't get lost. Actually, you should probably just make a list of options that you could work with, as in where you want people to meet you or directions, etc.

[excel excel]

Well, Im pretty familiar with Chinatown so wherever the location its not a problem for me. Plus Its not that far its only like 45 mins for me. No big deal.

[Kyuu]

By the way - if it rains or snows - I'll be a chicken-wuss. :sweatdrop

As for a rendezvous point - I'll recommend in front of the Fire Station.

[aerialist]

For those who will read this, I too am a cosplayer, an acen goer, and am Chinese. I will be in the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown marching. Now knowing that all of you will be coming just shocked me a little xD. But yea...cheer me on chances are most of you won't recognize me, but I will be in it. So whoever you may think I may be, cheer him on =D If your all gonna meet up somewhere after the parade, plz post to this and I'll see what I can do after the parade. So we can all meetup and etc..

[aerialist]

Oh and just so everyone will know....I am a chinatown asian xP i grew up in chinatown my entire life. So if you need any information, waiting spots, possible parking, restaurant scores/prices, and mapping, I can help with majority of it. So IM, PM or reply to this and i'll get back to you asap =D

[Femme Fatale]

Kyuu said:

By the way - if it rains or snows - I'll be a chicken-wuss. :sweatdrop  

As for a rendezvous point - I'll recommend in front of the Fire Station.

I'm that way too Kyuu. Even though we haven't had any major rain or snow storms lately, anything can happen. Plus, we also didn't experience below freezing temps. If its nice for the parade, you can expect my presence.

[excel excel]

aerialist said:

For those who will read this, I too am a cosplayer, an acen goer, and am Chinese. I will be in the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown marching. Now knowing that all of you will be coming just shocked me a little xD. But yea...cheer me on chances are most of you won't recognize me, but I will be in it. So whoever you may think I may be, cheer him on =D   If your all gonna meet up somewhere after the parade, plz post to this and I'll see what I can do after the parade. So we can all meetup and etc..

Oh, ill be sure to look for you! What do you look like so ill cheer you on:D

[tsukareta_lua]

aerialist said:

Oh and just so everyone will know....I am a chinatown asian xP  i grew up in chinatown my entire life. So if you need any information, waiting spots, possible parking, restaurant scores/prices, and mapping, I can help with majority of it. So IM, PM  or reply to this and i'll get back to you asap =D

Well, I'm more or less organizing this meetup, so any general information would be nice!
But I do have a few questions:
1. How busy/crowded does it get?
2. Should all of us get something to eat before or after the parade?
3. What is a good area to have a meetup before and after the parade without being in anybody's way?
4. And I guess since we're not all rich, I suppose a list of affordable restaurants would be nice too. XD Yes, this is a question too.

Hopefully you'll check back to this thread, otherwise I'll just pm you.

Is it that surprising that a bunch of Otakus would want to attend Asian event? XD For me, personally, I just want to see the parade and shop XD

P.S. I'll be sad if Kyuu or Heather don't go ;____; But I understand v_v

[aerialist]

tsukareta_lua said:

Well, I'm more or less organizing this meetup, so any general information would be nice!
But I do have a few questions:
1.  How busy/crowded does it get?
2.  Should all of us get something to eat before or after the parade?
3.  What is a good area to have a meetup before and after the parade without being in anybody's way?
4.  And I guess since we're not all rich, I suppose a list of affordable restaurants would be nice too.  XD Yes, this is a question too.

Hopefully you'll check back to this thread, otherwise I'll just pm you.

Is it that surprising that a bunch of Otakus would want to attend Asian event? XD  For me, personally, I just want to see the parade and shop XD

P.S. I'll be sad if Kyuu or Heather don't go ;____;  But I understand v_v

since I am really bored right now, I shall respond to any questions xD. No I'm not that surprised, I was just amazed that a setup for the event would be in a forum. put here's answers to the questions

1.Yes it gets really crowded...literally O_O Because the parade is such a well known event [throughout IL], people gather early and in groups.

2.Chances are that you'll be waiting in line at restaurants for a long time in the morning, and since it is a sunday [tourists days] it's gonna be crowded either way. But my best suggestion would be to eat after the parade when the crowds die down a little. If you want to get something to eat in the morning before the parade, I would suggest go to like a bakery and grab a bao to settle ur stomach until then.

3. Because the parade will block out 1 1/2 streets [wentworth & cermak], good meeting points that are close to the parade are blocked out. But if I must say, I guess anywhere near the cermak& wentworth intersection. Like the Firestation, Chinatown gate, Moon Palace, etc...


4. Since I know people will want food, here's a list of places where I recommend.
1)Seven Treasures - inexpensive prices and great varieties of food
2)Gourmet Rest. - not the best looking place but serves great and inexpensive rice plates
3)Pho - managable *spelling* prices. Not exactly ramen, but it'll do =D
4)Joy Yee - very popular, despite somewhat high prices, food'll do you wonders
5) Moon Palace - not as pricey as Joy Yee [estimated], but a good place to eat at gatherings of some sorts.


if there's anymore questions or comments, fire away...

[Carnage_Black2]

Is that Pho "The Noodle'? The prices aren't that bad. I ate there quite a few times. So has Excel. She should know that too, if it's the right place.

[aerialist]

yes Pho "the noodle" and here's the funny thing, because there isn't anything in front of the O to make it a long O sound. it's actually a short o sound which makes it sound weird. xP

*not sure how it's actually pronounced but me and my friend just thought of that.

[tsukareta_lua]

Thanks for answering my questions :D

And I meant to say this before, but yes, we'll have another meeting point after the parade, in case you wanna join us ^_^

But this does help me and gives me a better idea on what to do.

[ChibiSamuraiX]

Can't suggest where to meet before, but after the parade. Outside the squre there're statues of the Chinese Zodiac, it's a wide space there, I'm sure everyone can meet there. And I think small groups of people should enter the shops since they're so small and easily get crowded.

aerialist: You should tell us what part of the parade you are in, and what you're wearing, even though I'm sure there'll be more people wearing the same thing as you. We'll can cheer you on like that!

[aerialist]

ChibiSamuraiX said:

aerialist: You should tell us what part of the parade you are in, and what you're wearing, even though I'm sure there'll be more people wearing the same thing as you. We'll can cheer you on like that!

Yes I would tell you what I'm wearing, but our band director hasn't decided what we will be wearing, but chances are it'll be green =D. And actually....Yes I just remembered that chinatown square had that giant open lot(props to the samurai) ^ [shows my knowledge of chinatown xP]. But yea.... we can always meet up at the chinatown square open open lot/field place. I won't be around for the before parade meet up cuz i'll be getting ready for the parade =P but if we can hang out afterwards, that'll be great.

more to write later,
Jason "Aerialist" Wong

[Akki Enzeru]

!

I'll see if I can go.
*Must clean out schedule!*

[ChibiSamuraiX]

aerialist said:

Yes I would tell you what I'm wearing, but our band director hasn't decided what we will be wearing, but chances are it'll be green =D. And actually....Yes I just remembered that chinatown square  had that giant open lot(props to the samurai) ^ [shows my knowledge of chinatown xP]. But yea.... we can always meet up at the chinatown square open open lot/field place. I won't be around for the before parade meet up cuz i'll be getting ready for the parade =P but if we can hang out afterwards, that'll be great.

                                                      more to write later,  
                                                           Jason "Aerialist" Wong

Well I do go to Chinatown quite a few times a month ^^

[Kasumisty]

I'm most likely going to the parade but I don't know yet if I can go to the meetup because I might have my dog with me...(so I couldn't go into the stores/restaurants) but I have some info that might be helpful.

First of all it gets REALLY crowded. I would recommend meeting up earlier if you want to watch the parade, because if you get to the parade area when it's about to start or even 1/2 hour + ahead of time you will probably not be able to see anything due to the streets being completely lined with crowds of people... That's what happened to us last year. Here was what my view WOULD have been like last year if I was about 6 1/2 feet tall:
Chinese Dragons
(this view was me stretching my arms up over my head and snapping a photo.)


Also if you're looking for a place to meet I would suggest Chinatown Square (2100 S. Wentworth). It's impossible to miss it because there are statues of all the Chinese Zodiac with a big empty space in the middle. There's enough room for even a large crowd, you won't spill over into the street or block any sidewalks or store entrances if there are a lot of people in the group, and plus it's not too far from the parade route or the train station. When I had an anime meetup (not Acen) there before I had everyone meet by a specific statue but not the one for the current year because I figured people would be more likely to be trying to take photos of that one and I didn't want to get in their way .

Oh yeah one more thing... It may be very crowded before the parade if you want to eat in the area, but it tends to be less crowded afterward in my experience, especially if you walk a ways away from the street that has the parade. I never had a problem finding a place to eat afterward.

And just because I feel like it, here's a photo representing the year we are leaving (also it shows the dog statue in Chinatown Square):
The Year of the Dog

Oh, if you see that dog at the parade (the red one, not the stone one) come and say hello.

[tsukareta_lua]

Kasumisty said:

First of all it gets REALLY crowded. I would recommend meeting up earlier if you want to watch the parade, because if you get to the parade area when it's about to start or even 1/2 hour + ahead of time you will probably not be able to see anything due to the streets being completely lined with crowds of people... That's what happened to us last year. Here was what my view WOULD have been like last year if I was about 6 1/2 feet tall:
Chinese Dragons
(this view was me stretching my arms up over my head and snapping a photo.)


Also if you're looking for a place to meet I would suggest Chinatown Square (2100 S. Wentworth). It's impossible to miss it because there are statues of all the Chinese Zodiac with a big empty space in the middle. There's enough room for even a large crowd, you won't spill over into the street or block any sidewalks or store entrances if there are a lot of people in the group, and plus it's not too far from the parade route or the train station. When I had an anime meetup (not Acen) there before I had everyone meet by a specific statue but not the one for the current year because I figured people would be more likely to be trying to take photos of that one and I didn't want to get in their way .

Oh yeah one more thing... It may be very crowded before the parade if you want to eat in the area, but it tends to be less crowded afterward in my experience, especially if you walk a ways away from the street that has the parade. I never had a problem finding a place to eat afterward.

And just because I feel like it, here's a photo representing the year we are leaving (also it shows the dog statue in Chinatown Square):
The Year of the Dog

Oh, if you see that dog at the parade (the red one, not the stone one) come and say hello.

Thanks for the advice I'll keep them in mind. I hope you can go, but if you can't, that's cool too. We can still run into each other and say hi, at the very least! And I love your Year of the Dog picture <3

[Matt]

Yeah, thanks for the info, Kasumisty ! I just checked my map, and it looks like Chinatown Square is right off of the Red Line stop. Cool :cool: !

[yoru]

Carnage_Black2 said:

Is that Pho "The Noodle'? The prices aren't that bad. I ate there quite a few times. So has Excel. She should know that too, if it's the right place.

hello every one!
*glomps carnage*

[Millions_Knives]

i came up with a idea that may help use find each other
i think we should ware some kind of bander
like around our arms or on our backs
with Acen in big bold letters
if you all like the idea maybe i can make a tall banner everyone could see

[aerialist]

Millions_Knives said:

i came up with a idea that may help use find each other
i think we should ware some kind of bander
like around our arms or on our backs  
with Acen in big bold letters
if you all like the idea maybe i can make a tall banner everyone could see

yea!!! and if anyone asks what does Acen stand for....give them something random like Asian Collaborated Entertainment Network! hahas jk jk Anime Central'll do.. =D

[Carnage_Black2]

Well, I do have my Acen Otaku Headband. That'll be my ID. Or, I might put ACPD on the back on my jacket like I did last year at ACen.

[firegirl26]

thanks for the info me and a friend will be there !!!!!

[Carnage_Black2]

Hope to see all of you there.

[Climarathorn]

is anyone here coming from the southern suburbs that would be willing to meet with me at lasalle street metra station???? I'm sorry i just dont like riding the subway by muhself, creeps me out :sweatdrop but if we can get that detail out of the way ill be sure ill try to go, maybe even bring my irlfriend up with me.

[Millions_Knives]

is it better for me to go to chinatown
by car or by train?
ill have to park really far away
but i also would need to change trains and they will vary crouded

[Carnage_Black2]

I'll have to look, but I think I might be able to meet you at the lasalle station.