phillilký I: my guide to philadelphia

phillilký, or one hell of a collection's name

why phillilký? you may ask. phil lil ký is a playful combination of homophones in both vietnamese and english. it is inspired by the vietnamese phiêu lưu ký, which means records of adventures. this title takes inspiration from dế mèn phiêu lưu ký (adventures of a cricket) by tô hoài, who writes about the coming-of-age story of a cricket, and by that shows the lessons about friendship and bravery that the protagonist (who is, yes, a cricket), faces as he enters adulthood. as I'm in that phase of my life right now, nothing can be more befitting. in english, phil is taken directly from philadelphia and philly, and lil because it sounds like lưu, and also since this is really little. in total, this can be understood as my little diary of the days I've spent getting to know philadelphia, and eventually getting more comfortable and feeling a sense of home within it.

this was not a guide that was written in two or three days like my guide on sài gòn (hồ chí minh city) and central vietnam. it takes me quite a few weekends to put this together. so enjoy as I walk you through the memory lane.

chapter 0. septa

as the south eastern pennsylvania tranportation agency had it, septa is the philly way to go. as a person who don't own a car in a carcentric country like the united states, your life can be pretty tough and uninteresting until you figure out the witchcraft of public transport. in other words, it is not philly if it is without all the septa. septa to ardmore to do groceries, to william gray 30th street station for amtrak, to suburban to go to center city philadelphia, to jefferson for chinatown and fashion district, or even to the airport if you forgot to recheckin your baggage and have to fetch it back to school a few days later like me. septa to all the universities, upenn, drexel, temple, etc. as well, but I'll probably do a follow up for that.

so if you're definitely spending some time in philadelphia, make yourself a septa key to save your legs from walking when you don't feel like it.

chapter i. philadelphia city hall

mentioning this first for two reasons. one, it is probably the first big thing you'll see getting out of the septa on suburban station (besides the comcast center). two, the egoïste founding father william penn wouldn't leave me alone if I did not mention him first. william penn is, yes, the one who found this state and this city. the suffix sylvania in pennsylvania means forest, so the entire state means penn's woods. however, this is not william penn's woods, but his father's. william penn was going to have it called just sylvania, but the king insist to recognize his father, admiral sir william penn, hence pennsylvania.

philadelphia is a historical city. it was the site of the first and second continental congresses in 1774 and 1775, the latter of which produced the declaration of independence, sparking the american revolution in 1776. it is heaven for history lovers but also a pain if you try to go to all the historic places. there are so many museums and you simply can't do it all. however, this is a good place to start.

william penn stands on the top of the philadelphia city hall, which is the world's largest free-standing masonry building (built by stones and not really by much concrete). once upon a time, actually until 1987, no building is allowed to be taller than the city hall. then someone broke the deal, and sport teams like phillies and flyers tried to clothe him, and they both failed marvelously in their sport games.

it is only until someone put a tiny statue of william penn on the comcast center (the tallest building in philadelphia) that the cursed is resolved, and the phillies and the eagles win both the world series in 2008 and superbowl in 2017.

TL;DR don't mess with william penn

chapter ii. benjamin franklin institute 

after the city hall, this is probably be the second thing you'll see after stepping out of suburban station. philadelphia has a museum for pretty much anything, but this is going to be the museum dedicated to one man and his quirky interests in science and innovation. he is a diplomat, a scientist, a nerd, his face is on the $100 dollar bill, he is benjamin franklin.

you can find many cool things in here, such as but not limited to: the giant statue of benjamin franklin daddy, the giant heart that can you can fit in to roleplay a blood cell, the giant foucault pendulum at the basement, and the first macintosh with steve jobs' signature on it.

I didn't do museums right when I first do them. seeing kids with their family really triggers my homesickness and I don't really have anyone to discuss my ideas with. however, from this time onwards, I've been going to museums with friends, both international, domestic, and local. having different people to bounce my ideas off really help me recuperate from a week of hard work, and I learn a lot from talking to them, and I enjoy comfortable silences when we stand in amazement of our own body parts in mütter or the jesusness of the renaissance part in philadelphia museum of arts. I am eternally grateful.

the more I do museums, the more I realize it's not design to only preserve the past but to help us understand our present state of being a human. that consciousness of being alive a present? nothing else compares to.

however, travelling solo can be a great opportunity too. there usually are street musicians in the city hall. if you do have the time, stop by and talk to them, they'll teach you cool things about the city too!

chapter iii. independance hall and the liberty bell 

the broken bell is the symbol of philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. why is the bell broken? there are many conspiracy theories behind it, with the most dramatic one being they love their liberty a bit too much so they hit it until it breaks. in truth, it is broken because the makers did a shit job casting it, the uneven distribution of the metals causes it to be brittle and eventually flakes off. anyways, it remains the symbol of liberty, not only for a nation but for religious and racial freedom.

also, the independence hall is where both the constitution and decleration of independence were signed. pretty lit place, I'd say.

chapter iv. the 1975!

I know you're all bored with all this serious-sounding history stuff, so imma take you to a concert instead. not campus philly, this is actually the weekend that I fall in love with philly. this is my first time seeing a live show in the united states, and I was really insecure about navigating back and forth to the place by myself. I happen to know a few who were also coming to see the 1975 in the dining hall, and off we went together. I've been worried about the tickets starting from the summer presale, as they won't let me purchase any provided that they don't have a vietnamese country code for cell phone on seated. luckily, there were still seats when I buy the tickets a month or two before the actual day of the concert, and let me tell you, it was fucking lit.

ladies, gentlemen, and others, watch as I present you the 1975 still... at their very best.

beside the music, what I enjoy most about the 1975 shows is their stage and lighting design. the reason why their albums are so interconnected is partly because they have the good conceptual designers, who designed all the lights in the album ILIWYS, and also their ABIIOR and world tours. all hail david drake and tobias rylander.

when the curtains go down and the lights dim, the house reveals itself in front of us. I guess we go to their show not only for the music, but also for the invitation of coming home to somewhere we all belong to.

if you're interested in the 1975, you can check out my take on their discography here.

chapter v. mütter museum

after reading anatomy and immortality by dana schwartz, visiting mütter museum feels like entering the world of hazel rowley and jack black, only without the ressurection part. mütter museum was founded in 1863 thomas dent mütter. it is also known as the college of physicians of philadelphia, america's finest museum of medical history. whether you're a suffering bio major or a dark academia enthusiast, you can definitely go here to relive your love, passion, romance for biology, specifically anatomy. this museum still not help me heal from ib bio hl trauma but it is cool looking at a bunch of skulls and abnormal body parts. 

since photography is limited in this museum, and in some parts restricted. I had the most engagement in objects that were for my eyes only since I wasn't busy taking photos. mütter also has a collection dedicated to understanding homelessness, which I find very human.

they also have a tiny little garden. enjoy the beautiful flowers and leaves but remember that some of it can kill you (at least that's what they said in the sign).

chapter vi. barnes foundation

the barnes foundation is an art museum heavily centered around impressionism, post-impressionism, fauvism, modernism, expressionism, and naïve art, mostly featuring artworks by van gogh, renoir, cézanne, matisse, picasso, and gauguin. the barnes foundation was founded by albert c barnes, who is also the american inventor of the antiseptic argyrol. this antiseptic ends up bringging him $250,000 in profits (roughly $5.8 million today). this sum of money helps him set up the barnes foundation. he was also a strong supporter of progressive education and social justice, and he worked closely with Black communities in the belief that people—like art—should not be segregated.

some of the famous paintings that you can find in this museums are portrait of the postman joseph roulin by van gogh, houses and figure by van gogh, the ascetic by picasso, and many of his self-portraits. also the joy of life and the dance II (look onto the ceiling!) by matisse, woman walking in an exotic forest by rousseau.

chapter vii. chinatown and fashion district

most parts of philadelphia (let's say, museums) are about some important people that are no longer alive. that's why I like chinatown and fashion district in the sense that they allow us, the ones that are living, to make memories together. chinatown and fashion district are especially significant to me, because they were the last places that me and my family visited before they came back and I start my orientation week. this is also where I hung out with friends and had a getaway from campus food. basically speaking, a shit ton of memories together <3

speaking of this, I really hope philadelphia won't replace this sacred place with a stadium, as I probably wouldn't be able to graduate without their food.

chapter viii. philadelphia museum of arts

when I ask people about what to do with my time in philly, their answers are mostly the museums. during thanksgiving, I asked my uncle the same thing, he also said museums, while emphasizing how "americans just put all the best stuff around the world into their museums." I've visited mütter and barnes, but it is not until philadelphia museum of arts that this realization really hits me. everything here is big, huge, giant, humongus, even the lifts. so big that you wouldn't even have to worry about social anxiety because you'd be safely quarantined from people even if the lift is full. and no risk being overload because it can load up to 10,000 pounds, or 4,500 kilograms. why? because before the elevators were used to carry people, they were used to carry pieces of temples and buildings that were dismembered to be reassembled in the museum. so yeah, all the temples that you see in there were physically removed from italy, france, japan, china, nepal, and india to be placed in this museum, in front of your eyes.

however, I do wish that there would be more native american and also african arts, as the majority of things in this museum is largely very white.

I came to philly museum of arts with my fwend and calc comrade lily from philly. since she's a local, we get to use her parents' museum membership pass to get into it. I roleplayed william and keep in mind that in case they wouldn't let me in, I'd just say that I'm trans. they let us in without a doubt, and we spent a solid day discovering different areas of the museum.

I finally got to see the fountain by duchamp in real life and no longer from a tok textbook. as you can tell, my life as a dada enthusiast is now complete. other paintings that you can find here are van gogh's sunflowers, monet's japanese bridge, and piet mondrian's composition.

chapter ix. philly magic gardens + gayborhood

is a beautiful little garden made of debris from different materials like ceramics, bottles, bicycle wheels in the heart of philly. academically speaking, this is an art environment by mosaic artist isaiah zagar. since this is outdoors, your visit will be best when the weather cooperates with you (not overcast or raining). we arrived when the clouds just lifted and the sun came through. needless to say, this whole thing looks beautiful and enchanting. it is a 30 minutes walk from the suburban station, where you may encounter philly's gayborhood ("yes it is officially called gaybordhood on maps" - lily) on your way there.

chapter x. appendix

in this parts, I'll be talking about extra places that you can and should pay a visit, as well as tips and etiquettes for visiting museums.

although I tried to be as comprehensive as possible, I still haven't visited a ton of places in philly such as the national constitution center, betsy ross house (where they sewed the first american flag), museum of the american revolution, rodin and penn museum, university city (upenn, drexel, temple, etc.) and wawa, especially wawa, the most philadelphia thing ever. I'll probably do a follow up to this... some time later.

travel tips

1. if you want free septa and free admissions to all museums, sign up for campus philly and stay on the watch for the date.

2. if you go anywhere, check (1) opening times and (2) the weather. most museums are open from 10am to 5pm on the weekends. buy ticket in advance and go early to avoid rush hours. the weather doesn't affect your experience of most museums, but for outdoor places like the magic gardens you want it to be sunny.

3. if you're a college student, your ID is your discount. you always get a discount wherever you go (the barnes foundation is $25 for an adult, but $5 for a student). this lowkey inspires me to keep my ID card after graduation so I can buy tickets for a lesser price. even if you buy ticket online, you still need your ID for admission.

4. rodin museum and philadelphia museum of arts offer 2 day tickets for admission to both museums for $30. it's $45 for adults for 2 tickets to both museum if you visited them once. so if you want to visit them in unlimited time I recommend buying this.

5. if you're going to take photos, keep an eye on signs saying whether the museum allows photography and if so, which area. if you do take photos, DO NOT use flash since that deteriorates the paint pigments of the paintings (that's why all the lights are so dim and they have curtains like year round).

6. if you bring a backpack for whatever reason (for me I store water and my camera), wear it in front of you so you won't tip over a $$$ artifact by mistake. if not, check in your everything at the coat check and enjoy the museum.

7. go with someone, it's fun, and you may even get free admission to museums if they have membership cards.

8. don't try to do everything. it takes away the fun of it, enjoy them little by little!

that's it for now, chads, I'll come up with phillilký II some time in the future. thank you so much for reading and to my friends for hanging out with me over the weekend and making all this possible.