BY SUNNY COWELL

In print | October 11, 2007

What do college students do on a Saturday night in the city of Philadelphia? As most of us know, Philly has many hotspots, but my main challenge was to find the night scene for young adults including those under 21. I decided to focus on South Street and its surrounding area. At first, the demographic in the area on the streets of Philly was mainly comprised of a middle-aged and slightly older crowd. But once it hit 9 p.m., a different crowd of young professionals, college students and young adults emerged.

First, my friends and I enjoyed eating delicious Malaysian food at Penang, a fabulous Malaysian restaurant at the heart of Chinatown, about 15 minutes away from South Street on foot. The restaurant had a wide selection of both vegetarian and meat dishes as well as an array of tropical juices and desserts. I ordered mango chicken, which consisted of mango strips, smothered with sweet and sour sauce in mango shells accompanied by coconut rice. My friends ordered curry chicken and curry tofu with peanut sauce as well as brown rice and coconut rice. We were ecstatic about eating non-Sharples food and getting off campus. We tried some interesting yet savory concoctions called chendol consisting of green pea flour strips and sweet red beans topped with shaved ice and coconut milk, and something called the ABC, comprised of shaved ice with red bean, corn, plum seeds, jelly, red rose syrup and milk. We amused ourselves even more by taking pictures of the colorful and tasty dishes.

If you are out for a night on the town, South Street is the hip place to be. After eating at the restaurant, we explored the area of South Street, which was bustling with college students, blasting hip-hop from passing cars, and lined with stores. Ariane Vartanian ’10 said, I am surprised at how accessible the city is. We went from one place to another in just a few blocks. We even passed some big screen outdoor movies playing in a park between Chinatown and South Street. Some of the big names and hotspots on South Street are Johnny Rockets, Adidas and BareFeet Shoes. South Street mainly houses cheaper nameless boutiques with hidden treasures and urban fashion designs. I spent most of my time perusing BareFeet Shoes and the infamous Condom Kingdom. Surprisingly, there was an interesting mix of people in Condom Kingdom, ranging from young children to middle-aged couples. For the rest of the time, we enjoyed walking the street and browsing in some of the boutiques. I was delighted to run into many Swatties on our venture from Chinatown to South Street. We saw Swarthmore students on almost every corner! It was really nice to see familiar faces while also experiencing the nightlife off campus.

The only disappointment I had about Philly was the fact that the Gallery, a large shopping mall on Market East, closed at 7 p.m., obscenely early for a Saturday. There were several other places that we could not go, such as the Halloween party at Shampoo nightclub and other venues exclusively for people 21 and over. Despite missing out on the Gallery and other places we were too young to enjoy, we found plenty of shopping venues on South Street, and we managed to occupy ourselves with unique and delicious food. May Maani ’10 described our trip to Philly as the perfect pre-midterm week excursion.

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