Experiencing Portland

We are back from a 3D2N weekend trip to Portland!

This is part of a series of trips we will be making as Panda clears his leave to prepare for our return home. We are definitely maximizing the rest of our US stay.

Day 1- Experiencing Local

Portland is known for its public transport system. For this trip, we decided not to rent a car and to get around with TriMet. For five bucks a day, we can hop on to buses, light rail and streetcars for unlimited rides. We stayed at Hyatt (again!) at Cascade Station - an easy two-stop ride from the airport. Plenty of room for people to load their luggage.

First stop was the Portland Saturday Market. Alighted at Skidmore Fountain Station and there we were, at Bangkok's Chatuchak?! Music, street food, arts and clothing stalls. No kidding - it's like we have flown back to Asia.

Of course, the prices were nothing compared to Asia. We didn't buy anything at the weekend market, awesome though some of the clothes and accessories were. We still had a blast enjoying the laid back atmosphere, browsing shops and taking in the sweet aroma of street food.

A short distance away from the Saturday Market is the famous Voodoo Donuts. The line was so crazy that we had to pause and rethink whether we really want to try them that badly. Out of curiosity, I asked an elderly couple sitting under the purple umbrellas if the donuts were that fantastic. "It's... different," the old man said. Nah, not enough for us to queue under the hot sun.

Noticed I said 'a short distance' because it's almost a straight line's walk from the Saturday Market on SW Ankeny Street. But we could still get ourselves lost, because yours truly read NW 3rd Ave instead of SW 3rd Ave. Made a huge detour because of that.

Argh. I need new glasses. 

After stopping at a nearby cafe to refuel, we hopped back on to the MAX rail and stopped at downtown. Downtown Portland has plenty of light rail stops and is pretty walkable. There were also loads of cyclists sharing the road with other vehicles - it truly is a cyclists' heaven!

(Side note: I had wanted to do a beer tour on bicycle, but Panda wasn't interested in alcohol. How sadddd...)




What I loved about Downtown Portland was the ubiquitous food carts. Street food rocks because they form such a colorful part of any local culture. And they normally taste better than restaurant food, in my opinion.

There are carts and pods located all around selling a huge variety of food, but the biggest can be found between SW Alder St/SW Washington St and 9th Ave/10th Ave. It is supposed to be the largest concentration of street food in US. Yummers!

The only drawback is limited seating. Not all food carts come with customer seating. We bought food from a Thai food cart and had to sit on a weathered public beach bespattered with suspected bird poop. Tried not to think about it as we ate!

Our last stop for Day 1 was Powell's City of Books. There is no direct MAX rail and I gave up trying to follow the directions here and just walk six blocks down. Seriously, why ain't the light rail and street cars more integrated? 

Once inside the bookstore, all tiredness were forgotten. I love everything about this bookstore, from its chic modern facade to the endless floor-to-ceiling shelves lined with books. The fact that it sells (and buys) old books gives it a unique vibe. Like a non-pretentious, down-to-earth person who appreciates the value of a well-read worn out book. 

I had a whale of a time getting lost in the ginormous bookstore, weaving in and out of the different color coded rooms, spending some quiet moments at one of the language aisles. There are handwritten staff pick notes everywhere. Oh, that human touch.

Love it! 

Day 2- Experiencing Nature

We gave in to our tired, old feet's demand and rented a car for Day 2. I was eager to do the Columbia River Gorge and Mt Hood loop because both places are sufficiently near for a day trip. The Painted Hills and Crater Lake look lovely but at four hours away, they would be too far out a drive.

We reached Vista House at Crown Point after a 30-min drive from Portland. This observatory looks small on the exterior but it has a surprisingly spacious interior. Love the vaulted ceilings within the dome. The bottom floor of this structure houses a gift shop and the rest rooms, while the upper deck offers spectacular views of the gorge. 




A pity that we didn't stop by the Portland Women's Forum viewpoint along the Historic Columbia River Highway to capture this gorgeous little house against the river backdrop.

A small note: On our way to the Vista House, we saw lines of cars parked along the road. But on this late Sunday morning, we found a lot in the car park within minutes of reaching. I supposed traffic moves pretty fast for this observatory. It was a good thing we checked the car park before trying to park along the road.

We headed east to start our journey of the waterfalls. There are 27 waterfalls from Vista House to Hood River, where we planned to stop for a late lunch.

I had a hunch that we were probably overestimating our time management abilities, even if we wouldn't be visiting every waterfall. Nature is something on which I wouldn't want to do a touch-and-go!

First stop was the Latourell Falls. We went up a short slope to get a view of this 249-ft tall cascade. Then we spotted a bridge near the base of the falls, and overheard some lady telling her kid that they could get inside the water.

We could? Really? Sped back to the car to change into slippers.

When we got down to the bridge, there were already one or two brave souls who had climbed down the muddy banks and were making their way to the base.

The climb was harder than I thought. Flip flops ain't invented for this kind of adventures and the water splashes got more powerful as we neared the base. I was soaked almost to my undergarments, even though I wasn't even THAT close to the base of the falls yet. 

Yes, that's a calm Panda with his quick dry gear, and a delirious me with my burberry scarf. I was in a roaring thunderstorm.

We had to wash off all the mud after that. In retrospect, it was a lucky thing we didn't slip and fall into the water or mud. The rocks were quite slimy and we could have broken an ankle. 

But would I do it ever again? Yes.

In comparison, our visit to the Bridal Veil Falls was less eventful. After a short hike from the car park with our still-damp butts, we reached this 118-ft cascade. I wished I had the courage to climb up the boulder and jumped into the water like what these two youngsters were doing.

But after experiencing the water temperature at the previous fall, and recalling that we are well into our 30s, we made the wise decision not to.

The fun belongs to the younger generations.

Further down the road, after a massive jam and parking into the muddiest roadside lot, we arrived at the picturesque Multnomah Falls. This is easily one of the most popular falls in the area, judging by the horde of tourists.

We would have to climb one mile up a steep slope to get to the top of the falls. By then, Panda was getting a little tired of looking at waterfalls. "They all look the same after a while," he sulked.

Nevertheless, he acceded to my request to at least go up the bridge. Yay!

The bridge is as narrow as it seems. It was hard taking selfies, because you could barely reach out your hand without blocking the path of other visitors. And you wouldn't want to be the one piling up traffic on this tiny bridge.

Still, it felt awesome to be standing there observing the cascading falls. We waved to the folks down below and did some silly poses in hope of photo bombing someone. We never learned to act like our age, huh?

At the base of the falls is the Multnomah Falls Lodge offering visitors some food and rest. There's a restaurant and a gift shop inside this quaint little building. We were pretty hungry by then, having survived mostly on tidbits and energy bars for most of our journey. But we were still thinking if we should soldier on to Hood River and Mt Hood.

It was already 3pm.

Poor Panda was tired, hungry, and nauseated from all the waterfalls.

Back in our car, we decided we should make the best out of our car rental and head to a premium outlet. Mt Hood has been passed up in favor of tax-free shopping!

There were so many bad yelp reviews on the nearby Columbia Gorge Premium Outlets that we decided to drive down to Woodburn. It took us almost an hour to reach but it was worth it. Panda and I agreed, unanimously and unequivocally, that Woodburn Premium Outlets is one of the best outlets that we have visited.

Clean toilets, a great variety of stores, sheltered walkways.

It's even better than Livermore.

We barely had two hours to shop because it was a Sunday and stores close at 7pm. We only hit two stores, North Face and Oakley, but we left happy as a bird.

Say yay to tax-free shopping!

Day 3- Experiencing Pearl District (or not)

We wound down on our last day with some light shopping at the Cascade Station Mall opposite our hotel.

Panda, the avid NBA fan, always visits basketball stadiums when we travel. So after checking out in the morning, we took the MAX rail to Rose Quarter/Moda Center, home of the Portland Trail Blazers.

I had hoped to visit the Pearl District before flying back in the evening. But again, I found myself getting lost. I kept trying to search online for the nearest MAX rail stop, without realizing only street cars go to Pearl District (duh!).

I had both the TriMet Tickets app and PDX Bus app on my phone. I should have followed this map, make a switch to street cars along Galleria/SW 10th St, then alight at NW Northrup St.

It was the second time I was stumped by Portland's public transport. On the first day, I had happily thought I could find return stations opposite from where I alight. Not true when you are at Downtown Portland. You have to go to the next block to find the returning station.

And if you want to switch to street cars, you have to walk a little. They don't use the same tracks as MAX rail.

So after getting off at the wrong stop and strolling around aimlessly, with me feeling apologetic for the lack of directions (I'm normally the one in charge of navigation), we decided to walk towards Powell's again.

It's part of Pearl District, yes?

Along the way, we check out locally designed shops. Panda got himself a 22-litre camo roll top bag from Poler Outdoor Stuff, a cool hipster shop for outdoor gear.

The happy boy used it immediately after purchase. The front buckle came with a built-in whistle, which he kept blowing as he walked. Boys will always be boys!

We only had an hour or so before we needed to return to the hotel to collect our luggage for departure. So we abandoned our plans to explore the Pearl District, and headed back downtown where the MAX lines are. 

Back at Downtown Portland, we continued checking out shops and eateries... 

... before finally deciding on this hole-in-a-wall cafe called Brunch Box. They have a pretty good yelp review on their food cart at SW 5th Ave and Stark St. Panda ordered a bootlegger, loaded fries (bacon and cheese) and a chocolate milkshake to share. Paid happy hour prices: $12.

I must say all the burgers in their menu look monstrously big and sinful to me. How do people finish eating them? Thank God when the bootlegger came, it was of a decent size and was quite yummy.

But I was still happiest with the milkshake.

Panda was saying he might want to fly to Portland for Thanksgiving to enjoy all the tax-free shopping. We have gone crazy in the last two Thanksgiving sale, going home only at 4am.

This will be the last Thanksgiving sale before we head home. Will we pull the craziest stunt ever - fly in, shop all night, fly out?

We shall see!

So long for now, Portland.

Arts and Craft: The Mountains are Calling

Saw this post sitting in my drafts and was wondering why it hasn't been posted. Then I remembered, I was clearing some back log on my travels to the Kootenay Rockies and Yellowstone.

Must have had an overdose of mountains and overlooked this trio here. Heh.

I hand felted this after my series of trips to the mountains. I adore snow-capped mountains and had a blast making these tiny weeny models, especially after I have seen the likes of the Grand Tetons and the Kootenay Rockies.

Like all first-time felters though, I pricked my finger a few times before learning my lesson: Keep your eyes on that long, thin evil NEEDLE!

It was really funny because Jo came over in the afternoon after our power walk, and I was excitedly demonstrating to her my new found skill.

"See, it's pretty easy! You just keep poking at it all over really fast like this... OOOUCH! S***!"

"OMG, Graaaace!"

I had punctured my finger again. One more bloody hole.

What do the Chinese say, about something being the work of blood and sweat? Yeah, The Mountains are Calling is pretty much it.

But would I felt again? Yes, definitely.

The end product is too nice to give up, just because of a few holey fingers!

Golden Gate Bridge at Twilight

Had my first 'lesson' on night time photography yesterday at Marin Headlands, thanks to Kevin! There was supposed to be a supermoon on 10 Aug 2014 and we wanted to catch it together with the Golden Gate Bridge.

We arrived at this jam-packed tourist spot after six, and already, there were a couple of people setting up their tripods. I was a little embarrassed with my flimsy HKD60 tripod and my tiny NEX5T (no zoom lens attached). Obviously an amateur. And while people were testing their remote controls and discussing which direction the moon would be rising, I was munching on my cold slice of Costco pizza. 

Tummy first, photos later. 

I hope they didn't think my tripod and I were a waste of space.

Alas, after a long wait with no sight of the moon, the most experienced one in the group said he had information that the supermoon has already risen behind the hill we were facing. Then he proceeded to pack his gear with a "Better luck next time!" Whut! But I guess if the pro said so, he must have solid information. 

Since we were already there, we decided to stay longer to take some shots of the Golden Gate Bridge.  The car was parked at the second highest point (there are four vista points along the slope), and we climbed some way up the road to get a better view. 

It was in fact a good idea not to use a zoom len. I was able to take the entire Golden Gate Bridge against city lights. 

Then, just as we were about to leave, we saw the moon emerging from behind the clouds. Not the supermoon that we were hoping for, but a full moon nonetheless.  

Happy to say that we completed our first 'project' after all!

Happy National Day, fellow Singaporeans!

Remember last National Day where I said I feel like writing an email to PM Lee after watching his National Day Message?

Well, I did!

And I received a 'thank you for your concern' reply from his staff. Haha..

Ok, it must have been one of the boldest things I did, but I really wanted to speak my mind. I hope what I said was constructive, no matter how small the extent of impact.

This year's National Day Message was better, and I love it that there's heart. Indeed, we hold our heads proud everywhere we go because we are Singaporeans!

We celebrated our national day, Singapore time zone, with fellow countrymen and women at the Foster City park concert.  Lennon played the national anthem from his speakers, and I nearly bounced up from the picnic mat to stand at attention. Seriously, what you were trained to do from young never leaves you.

Of course, Panda HAD to do his version of Munnaeru Vaalibaa. I never bothered to look up the lyrics of this tamil folk song until now. I learned it when I first moved to Singapore at the age of eight. Didn't know what on earth I was singing... but now I do!

Lyrics:
Munnaeru vaalibaa munaeri endrum

Thoduvaan noakkuvaai

Kann theriyaatha Kaari rulil

Olirum vinmeenae

Thanimaiyaalae payantha naadugal

Irulil oli pera unnai naadum

Mael noakku vaaliba endrum munnaeri

Thoduvaan noakkuvaai thoduvaan noakkuvai

The lyrics in English are:

Forward o'youth forever advancing

Look to horizons far

Eyes do not grope in the depths of the night

That look on a shining star

Nations fearful in apartness

Need your sight to light their darkness

Look up o'youth forever advancing

Look to horizons far...

(from wikipedia)

Happy birthday, Singapore!

[P/S: The following day, a gathering at the park in the US time zone to mark National Day. We had fried bee hoon, chicken curry, spring rolls, chiffon cake and home-made gem biscuits! What a spread - and this explains why you don't see much food left on the table. Red and white was out; the Garden City theme was in!]

Last burst of preparation for Spanish 111 final exam

El período más memorable de mi vida

Noviembre 2011: en Monterey con mi esposo (¡quien es guapo y simpático!)

El 17 noviembre 2011, mi esposo y yo llegamos a Los Estados Unidos. Somos de Singapur y el trabajo de mi esposo es la razón que nosotros venimos aquí. En Singapur, hace calor siempre porque es verano todo el año. Cuando nosotros llegamos al aeropuerto de San Francisco, nosotros tenemos mucho frío porque es invierno en Los Estados Unidos.

Hay muchas cosas para hacer y preparar. Nosotros necesitamos un apartamento y un coche. Por gracia, nosotros conseguimos la ayuda de dos de nuestros amigos, quienes viven en California. Durante la primera semana de nuestra llegada, nosotros alquilamos un apartamento y compramos un coche.

La segunda semana, mi esposo empieza su trabajo. A mí, ¡yo comienzo mi vida viva! Yo salgo con mis amigas casi todos los días. Nosotros pasean al parque cerca de nuestros casas, vamos al café para conversar y a veces almorzamos en los restaurantes del centro. Además, una vez de la semana, yo asisto al Club de Francés. Cuando mi esposo vuelve en la casa por la noche, yo preparo la cena. Me gusta mucho cocinar y aprendo a hacer la comida diferente.

Cuando mi esposo tiene los ratos libres, nosotros vamos de vacaciones. Desde las ciudades como Nueva York a los parques nacionales como Yosemite, nosotros viajamos mucho. Me encanta viajar y explorar los lugares diferentes.

Mi vida en Los Estados Unidos va a terminar en el fin de este año... Pero no hay duda, estos dos años son el período más memorable de mi vida.

The quest to learn Spanish

One of the things on my to-do list in the US is to learn to speak Spanish! Why? Because I am crazy about learning languages. Being able to speak French now (at a more comfortable level) sort of gave me the confidence to learn another European language. And Spanish is widely used in California.

Does it make sense?

And well, I'm proud to say that after seven weeks of SPAN 111 at the College of San Mateo, under the instructions of la profesora Sarah and the awesomeness of los compañeros de clase, yo puedo hablar español!

It was funny because I actually signed up for the Summer semester on a whim. Classes have started a week ago, which meant I'd have missed the first two lessons. I also had to get my California residency verified at the student's admission office so that I could pay local rates for the course fees. I only had a few hours between calling the office to inquire and getting my butt to the college office - Jo was kind enough to send me there and stayed with me till the office closed. I was minutes away from the absolute deadline on registering as a late entry. And I made it!

It was only after the registration, on the way out of the glass doors, that it hit me - I was going back to the classroom! Omg... with college and high school kids who are more than a decade younger? Will I be able to cope? CSM is so much bigger than I thought. It was one of those uh-oh-what-have-I-gotten-myself-into-again moment. Quite typical of me.

Do first, think later.

But boy, I'm so glad I went ahead. The amount of homework was a killer (we cramped everything into a 7-week course!) but I learned so much in such a short period. It's amazing how I can now string together sentences, write an essay of 100-150 words on simple topics, and make simple conversations. From zero to this. In seven weeks. Incredible. Gracias to Ms Sarah!

Today, we had our last class before the final exams. We had to put together a cultural presentation on Spanish-speaking countries. I had so much fun working with Elyse and Ari on Mexico- we were the only group who dressed up and put flowers in our hair. (Being girls are so much more fun!) The presentation went really well. We remembered all our lines (phew!) and I think the class enjoyed it too.

Am really going to miss attending Spanish classes and seeing my classmates, some of whom I have gotten to know better, like Caroline who speaks French with me! I hope they will be able to visit Singapore some day.

¡Hasta luego, mis amigos!