I don’t want you to think I’m another young woman obsessed with love and relationships. But I am. Let’s cut to the chase: many a Hollywood movie has exploited the theme that “no matter how cool your life may be, if ya ain’t sharing it with someone, it’s pointless.” Yeah, yeah. Friends and family help alleviate the empty feeling, but for anyone who has ever been in a romantic relationship knows, there isn’t anything quite as fulfilling as experiencing life with one you love.
I also adore first dates with strangers. A walk on the beach? No. A water taxi to Chinatown? Yes.
After two years of living in the Second City, I sold all of my cherished belongings – bed, sofa, even my massive Gone with the Wind poster – downsizing my life into two bags, and flew to Madrid for a new job, a new start and to achieve two of my life goals: fluency in Spanish and living abroad for an extended period of time. This fresh start would finally quench the conquistador’s blood that courses through my veins. Or, perhaps only fuel it more.
As I was about to officially leave Chicago, I came to the realization that while I had been living there, I hadn’t truly been ‘living’ there. Now, I had two weeks to check off the entirety of my Chicago Bucket List, which I had written when I first moved to Chicago in January 2011. Number 8 on my massive list of many was to take the Chicago Water Taxi to Chinatown. It almost sounds like it could double as an indie alternative band based out of Brooklyn, or more accurately, Bushwick, these days. The water taxi to Chinatown. I would probably buy their album.
While traveling alone is one of the most revealing and self-accepting adventures I have experienced, I’ve found that sharing a collective experience is always superior to being alone. My partner in crime for this waterway whisk away? Well, I ventured onto an online dating site and found a date. This wasn’t the first nor the last time I would use a dating site in a city, whether traveling or living, to make a new friend and flit about a city.
We rendezvoused at the water taxi station. Paid $10 for an all day ticket, hopped on the yellow boat, sat at the end of the back deck, and got to know each other as the Chicago River spray splashed us. In between flirtatious jokes and the obligatory first-date questions, we gazed upon the Chicago skyline, taking in the architectural wonders of Chicago’s downtown. The water taxi was the cheap version to see the buildings of Burnham, but number 4 on my Chicago Bucket List was to go the more expensive route and embark upon the Chicago Architectural River Tour. Worth every cent for the information and skyline views.
Eventually, my date and I made it to Chinatown. We hit the restaurant Lao Sze Chaun, and purchased very tasty and reasonably-priced Mai Thais. We scoured the 20 page menu, and made the mandatory rule that we could only order food that we had no clue as to what it was. This resulted in requesting Cuddle fish balls, Kidneys with Garlic Sauce, Baby Octopus, Boiled Pork Intestine in Spicy Szechuan Sauce, and many other unknown delicacies on their menu of 916 items.
Afterwards, we sauntered into Yin Wall City, a traditional herbal medicine store. Next, an all-Chinese bookstore with its front window proudly displaying 50 Shades of Grey. And, finally, we popped into a touristy shop where my one-time date bought me a one- dollar jade Buddah figurine to take to Spain for good luck. The East mixing with the West. Two weeks later, as I boarded the Virgin Atlantic jet to Madrid, I reached into my backpack and rubbed the jade Buddah’s belly.
