UIC MBA Blog of Jay Lin Past, present, and future plans in the life of an entrepreneur and Chicago UIC MBA student.

Bam!  I finally compiled my list of favorite places to eat under $15.  As a student, it’s difficult to justify paying high prices for a gourmet meal.  Sometimes, the best meals are often the ones that cost the least.   I also decided to stay within Chicago to limit the choices since most of my readers are around UIC area. (Pictures are not mine!  They were taken from other websites)  In no particular order:

-Sultan’s Market - 2057 W North Ave and 2521 N Clark St

Amazing falafel sandwichs and Chicken Shawarma.  Hefty portions!

- Giordano’s Pizza - Multiple Locations - 815 W Van Buren St (Closest to UIC)

What trip to Chicago could be complete without Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza?

-Cho Sun Ok - 4200 N Lincoln Ave

This might cost a little more than $15 but it’s amazing.  You only go for one item there, cha dol bae gi (unmarinated thin sliced beef).  Afterwards, they take all the side dishes and make you a fried rice.

Ba Le -5018 N Broadway   and Tank Noodle 4953 N Broadway (across the street)

My, oh my.  The pho at tank is out of this world.  Finish it off with a #1 Ba Le special sandwich right across the street. (Probably not a good idea to eat both in one sitting)

-Meli’s Cafe - 301 S Halsted St

Perhaps my favorite breakfast place in the city and I’ve been to them all.  Homemade jam and butter with fresh squeezed orange juice.  (Warning - it gets very busy on the weekends)

-Hot Doug’s - 3324 N California Ave

This place needs no introduction.  On Anthony Bourdain’s list of top ten places to eat before you die.  Lines do get ridiculous at over a hour wait.  Try duck fat french fries on the weekend.

-Maxwell’s and Jim Polish - 1250 S Union Ave

This is a perfect midnight snack if you’ve been out drinking.  Open all night and under $3.  Try the Polish or Pork Chop sandwich.

-Oparts Thai - Multiple Locations - 1906 S State St (Closest to UIC)

When I’m craving Thai food, there’s nothing more authentic.

Opart

-Great Seas -3254 W Lawrence Ave

Again, one specialty, cheap insanely delicious chicken wings.  If you’re up to the challenge, there’s a wall of people who have eaten the most wings in one sitting.  I think it was up to 90 last time I saw.

-Cafecito -26 East Congress Pkwy

Pulled pork, ham and cheese in one sandwich, only in your dreams!  And here it is: (voted best Cubano in Chicago):

-Portillo’s - Multiple Locations - 100 W Ontario St

Great mix of all types of food.  Try the Italian Beef or Hot Dog.

-Ed’s Potsticker House -3139 S Halsted St

One of the few places in Chicago to get Shou Long Bao (steamed soup dumplings)

Well, that rounds up my list.  I could have added higher priced restaurants but I wanted to keep things simple.  Enjoy the list and you’ll probably bump into me at one of these places!

Posted under Chicago Cheap Eat

Thanks to Adam for the link:

Posted under Entrepreneur

The woodstock of capitalism.. how I loved thee the first time I went.  Second time around, not so much fun.  Every year, the attendance record is broken.  I believe this year, the crowd was over 35,000 people.  Last year when I went, it was a new experience.  I met best selling author Tim Ferriss, had Bill Gates walk right by me, and got a ton of free candy (they gave out all the candy you could grab because of their share in Mars and Wrigley last year).  This year, the 7.5 hour drive to and from Omaha, Nebraska just didn’t seem as fun anymore.  Here are some of the notes I remembered from the trip:

• “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bushes” -Buffet loved using this quote.  Don’t be greedy.  The money in your hand can be used to reinvest instead of trying to think of ways to make double that.
• When asked about about MBA education, Buffet responded that the two essentials courses to take would be how to value a company and a class on efficient markets.
• When Wells Fargo was down around $9/share, Buffet told a visiting MBA class that if he were to invest all his net worth into one stock, that would be it.  Today, it’s around $23.
• Buffet had very high praise for the Jamie Dimon’s letter to shareholders.  I have included a link for the lazy:  http://investor.shareholder.com/jpmorganchase/annual.cfm
• When asked whether Warren Buffet himself was Berkshire’s competitive advantage, he responded that the culture and management he has instilled is the advantage.  No company will be able to duplicate.

2009 Berkshire Meeting

Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger

2009 Berkshire Convention

Posted under Berkshire Hathaway

This semester, I’ve been lucky enough to attend a cross-cultural class with one of my favorite professors.  Get this (for all the readers of this blog),  the professor I highly recommended from the Depaul MBA program, Christopher Barlow, is now teaching at UIC!  Random luck and fate heading in the right direction by attending UIC.  

Anyways, back to the story.  Barlow teaches a class in which he integrates evening MBA students with Chinese students from UIC’s one year concentrated MBA program, CMBA.  It’s certainly an interesting class since there are different ideas, cultures and prospectives.  During one of the in-class group projects, I was lucky enough to placed in a group with Ed (fellow MBA) and Gavin from the CMBA program.  Gavin enjoyed our group and asked for our numbers.  He said we should definitely hang out sometimes.  I thought nothing of it since it has become a common courtesy in our society to exchange pleasantries.  Fast forward to a week later, I was at home making dinner when my cell phone rang.  I answered the phone and was surprised to see that Gavin and followed through with his suggestion.  He suggested that we eat at the buffet that he had presented in class a few weeks back.  Since I had already started making dinner, I declined the offer and went back to cooking.  As I was stirring my curry, I thought about the offer some more.  Wow, this guy had actually followed through.  It wasn’t just out of courtesy that he asked for my contact information and he seemed genuinely interesting.   Lesson #1:  Don’t ask if you’re not genuinely interested and don’t do something just because it’s the social norm or it’s courteous.  When would I get a similar chance like this again?  I called Gavin back a couple minutes later and accepted his offer.  

As we were enjoying the buffet, I asked Gavin what he did this past weekend.  Gavin responded that since they only have a year here in the states, they try to do as much as possible and enjoy as much of Chicago as they can.  At first, I didn’t think much about this statement.  I finished an enjoyable dinner and left a few pounds heavier.  When I got home, I thought about Gavin’s statement even more.  These CMBA students has one year to try and enjoy as much of Chicago as then can.  I tried to imagine myself in a similar situation and at first, I felt sad for them.  As I thought about it more, I realized that most of these students probably explored more of Chicago than I have in 20 years.  Not only that, they lived their lives knowing they might only have a year here and took some chance and risks.  I realized that I shouldn’t feel sorrow for them.  Instead, I was envious of what they accomplished in such a short amount of time and how much they seem to enjoy it.  Lesson #2:  Live your life to the fullest.

There is a lot to be learned from people with different cultures and backgrounds.  They brought different ideas to the table and seemed to do it with more enthusiasm.  Sometimes, the most important lessons you learn are outside of the classroom.  That, my friend, is what make this program so special.  

Posted under UIC MBA Liautaud

I recently became a UIC ambassador for the MBA program.  Here are some of my duties:

• Classroom visits: hosting prospects in classes I attend
• Providing assistance at special LGSB events
• Serving on the student panel at informational sessions
• Interviewing new applicants

Posted under UIC MBA Liautaud