I have been looking forward for this for a very long time! Yes! I knew that it'll be very fun with the girls. We (well...by we I mean Alissa with the help from Laura) drove to Philly. (Thanks for driving!) I think Philly is a great place for a weekend getaway from New Haven. 
This is my 3rd visit to Philly, and I am still very excited. Since during my last visit here with RCSIII to meet up with Kate, we went to all the touristy spot, I feel like I can enjoy the city more this time and pretend I am a local here. There is so much stuff to do, to see and to eat here, so in order to not stress ourselves out, we decided to not make any plans (just relax) and somehow incorporate food to this trip (oh YEAH~~)!
 
 
Day1: left NH at 6:00PM --> Stopped at NJ resting area for dinner (my choice was popcorn shrimps form Popeyes!) --> Arrive at Kate's ~10:30PM --> ate Kate's super delicious blondies and talk talk talk --> fell asleep with TV on (ID channel!! ahaa!)
 

Day2: Woke up ~8:30AM and made coffee (Kate did) --> Breakfast at Bonte --> got some French Macarons & Cheese -->  shopping & walking --> late lunch at "Reading Terminal Market" --> took a break at Kate's and started to watch Gilmore girls --> Dinner at Smokin' Betty's --> Giant b-day cupcake time (Thanks girls!) --> fell asleep with IV on again, and ID channel again!!!
 

Day3: Woke up ~8:30AM and got Coffee from ODD --> Brunch at the "Green Eggs Cafe" --> back to Kate's and played Harry Potter Clue with more Blondies & cupcakes while watching more Gilmore girls --> left ~3:00PM --> Back to NH ~7:00PM
(see stores' info in the very end of this post. )
 
Since we arrived pretty late on Friday, we did not go anywhere but stayed at Kate's to catch up with some of Kate's sweets. (super delicious! Got the recipe from her!) We confirmed that there will be no plan tomorrow (that's right!) and then went to bed!
 
So, in the morning, after we were done watching all the "say yes to the dress Bridesmaids", we put on Gilmore Girls DVD(I've never watched it before!!!). After we got ready, Kate decided that we'll get waffle from Bonte.

Apparently Bonte got couple locations and Kate was surprised to find out that they do not have Nutella as one of the mix in options here (what!!!).The texture of the waffle was quite interesting.

Since I am Asian, I am also the photographer here! I know it's still early (really? ~10:30AM?), so it's okay to capture some accidental funny faces. Since this lady is not somebody's wife yet, I put on a pair of sunglass for her.

  
Oh!!! It's me and Taylor Swift (and someone else in the back)!!! YEAH~~~
 
There weren't that many people at the store, so we didn't have to wait for too long.  Basically they started with a waffle (plain $2.75) dough and add in your mix in choices ($0.75 for one mix in, $1.25 for two). Then, they put the dough on the waffle presser and make it right away. The whole process only took about 8 mins or so.
I was  expecting the Belgium style (dense cake-y) texture, but it's turned different. It was pretty chewy and really unexpected. It's not better or worse, but just interesting and different. I think we all went for some kind of chocolate and nuts for the mix ins. I had banana and dark chocolate mix ins(see picture above). You can see form the picture that the inside of the waffle doesn't look cake-y at all. I think it would be a cute spot to grab a sweet waffle on the go.  
 
After we were full, we decided to walked around, Laura tried on some TOMs and I bought more bowls from Anthropology. Soon enough, it's time for some snack. We stopped by Miel Patisserie, a French pastry shop that offers some French Macarons.

We were there a bit early, so the shelf wasn't full yet as they are still putting things in. And although it didn't look like I had a lot to choose from in the French macaron categories, they brought couple boxes and show me all the available flavors. I end up just picking up three since a lot of them are fruity flavors, which I knew I am not a bog fan of.

Each macaron is only $1.25!!! Pretty sweet when you compare the price to many of the places in NYC. 

 
(green) Pistachio; (bottom left) Walnut Pomegranate, (bottom right) Rose

From top to bottom:
Rose Water: NO NO NO!!!Not good (Kate agreed)! The outer shell was too dry and too crunchy and the inside was too chewy. The rose water was very very light. It is no comparison to the $2.75 Rose Buttercream from Laudree.
Walnut Pomegranate: A much better one in terms of texture and flavor. Although the flavor was still not very strong, but the texture was more right!
Pistachio: Also better at texture, full of fillings. (Kate likes this one!)

Overall, they are okay! But for the price, I think I'll come back for it if it's not too much trouble. I think the Rose Water may be just a bit too old. I would like to try their croissant though.

We also spent quite a while in Di Bruno Bros to sample cheeses!!! OMG! Some were just too good! We all got some cheese or pepperoni from here! We even tried a Gouda cheese with Tyrosine crystals in it. It was yummy and interesting! Those little tyrosine crystals just tasted salty, which makes a great addition to the Gouda.

Soon enough we were hungry and so we made a stop at the famous reading terminal market, which is my must-visit place every time I visit Philly. After walking around and sample more cheeses, we came to Dinic's, where is the only place we planned to come during this trip to try their roast pork sandwich.

The line was long, I mean very long, but it moved fast. I ordered the roast pork sandwich with broccoli rabe and provolone cheese and Laura ordered the same thing except she had peppers (mix of sweet and hot peppers) instead of broccoli rabe. We both asked for additional au ju.    

DELICIOUS!!!! I love the meatiness of it! Laura loves the sharp provolone additional, but I wish the cheese was melted just like the Philly cheese steak experience. Well,apparently these are two completely different sandwiches. I think I like it a lot and would like to be back here to try more from their menu. This place was also featured on Man vs. Food (and what I ordered was exactly what Adam had on the show)!!!

After a nice meal, we decided to go back and relax a bit and watch more Gilmore girls with cheese and cracker. Kate and I were searching online for a nice dinner spot and we found Smokin' Betty's. Apparently it's a BBQ place, but also has some crazy burgers like this Betty's burger (picture below) and the "Tur-Duck-En Burger" that was featured on Food network's outrageous food. 

What we all (except Alissa) ended up ordering was the "Betty Burger"!!! It's got 1/2 lb of sirloin, confit pork belly, avocado, cheddar, tomato, lettuce, garlic aioli and a runny sunny side up egg!!!

I loved it! I saw some people online said that this burger is heavy, some said that this was a bit too salty but come on...it's suppose to be that way and maybe I'm too well trained and prepared! The beef patty was just right to my liking, pink in the middle and with avocado and egg, I don't know what else I can ask for! Really delicious and the price was great for dinner!But thanks to the girls, I get to eat it for free! Happy birthday to me! YEAH~ I will definitely want to come back! (Also, you can substitute your fries with sweet potato fries! Isn't that sweet!)

After stuffed, we went back for more TV (Gilmore Girls, of course) and my giant birthday cupcakes from Di Bruno Bros.

What an awesome day!!!

Next morning, we got up and went to this "Green Eggs Cafe" with 2 other Kate's friend and this place wasreally good and definitely deserve a post on its own.But all I wanted to say is I like this place a lot!!!

We went back to rest and to digest with more TV and HP Clue. Then we said our good-buy and left for NH.

The weather was really good whole weekend, it was very nice to see Kate and the traffic wasn't bad both ways! I will miss you girls a lot!!! I know it'll be hard to do things like this again, but I hope we still can in the future!

Restaurants' Information:

Bonte

Address: 130 S 17th St, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Neighborhoods: Rittenhouse Square, Penn Center
Website:http://www.bontewaffle.com

Miel Patisserie

Address: 204 South 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 (another location in NJ)
Website: http://www.mielpatisserie.com/Miel_Patisserie/Home.html

Di Bruno Bros

Address: 1730 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Website: http://www.dibruno.com/gourmet-grocery

Dinic's

Address: Reading Terminal Market, PA
Website: http://www.readingterminalmarket.org/merchants/view/56

Smokin' Betty's

Address: 116 South 11th Street  Philadelphia, PA 19107
Website: http://www.smokinbettys.com

Green Eggs Cafe

Address: 212 S. 13th St (@ Locust), Philadelphia, PA ( has 2 other locations)
Website: http://greeneggscafe.com/

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