Another beautiful day in Sea.... err..... so we woke up about 5AM in the morning of Sept 4, 2014 because we had a rendezvous with destiny in Portland, Oregon. So that means.... ROAD TRIP! So from 6AM to 9:30AM, we had loads of pit stops, driver switches, and naps in between. Thank God we weren't really hungry so we stopped off first in Portland's International Rose Garden. Then again, Extended Stay America had free coffee and breakfast so that was good enough. I took enough Nutri-grain bars and muffins to satisfy me.The sad thing about the Rose Garden now is that you have to pay for parking, which used to be free when I was here back in 2010. I guess the city is losing money. I remember a lot of locals would come here to play, shoot archery and rifles, and walk their dogs. Lots of empty parking spaces because nobody wants to pay. Once again, photos for your viewing pleasure....
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| My sister. |
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| Family Pic. |
By the time we were done, it was about 11:00AM. So went to the city to go to the largest bookstore in the nation.
Sadly, I had nothing to buy this time, but it was nice to go in there again.
Finally, lunch!
Mines was the pastrami. Had to try it out. It was delicious but I think it was about $12. A little steep but one of Portland's best nonetheless.
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| Chinatown |
Portland's Chinatown is also in the city. Honestly, there is nothing to see here. Lots of homeless folks and this Chinatown pales in comparison to even Honolulu's one.
So we stopped by Trader Joes to buy some snacks for people back home. The sales cashier knew we were from Hawaii because we bought certain products only Hawaii people would buy. She was from California and she told me that many Californians move to Portland when they become of age. Cool. I got a little tired so I decided to see if I could check in at my Hotel:
The Red Lion Hotel on the River at Jantzen beach. This hotel is on the verge of Washington and Oregon. Really nice hotel and there is a local shopping mall by there too.There is also sign that thanks you for coming to Oregon. Neato!
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| My King suite... I wish. |
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| Something that Hawaii didn't have, freezes at Taco Bell! |
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| And I had to get it! |
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| The backside of the hotel |
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| More... | | | |
It was only 4PM and we needed to kill some time so my sister decided that we go to Sauvie farms to pick Pears! Sounds like fun, right?
Sadly, Sauvie farms was closed until the next day. They were closed for the past few days. My sister was really bummed, and had we shown up the next day, we could had got something. So we went back to our hotel. Traffic was pretty bad by then and we got home roughly 6PM. Still daylight here in Oregon. After doing some quick shopping at the Jantzen beach malls, my sister went to dinner reacquainting with an old Hawaii friend who now lives here in Portland. We ate
Bamboo Sushi, which I do believe, was in the Northwest district. Street parking is actually free but can be a pain in the butt to find. Thank Jesus that we found one pretty easy. Anyway here are some samples:
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| PDX Roll! |
Was good food. Nothing more I can say. I had to have dessert afterwards though I don't have a picture, but it was good ice cream nonetheless. If you ever come here, you got to have
Salt and Straw!
Here are pics with me and my aunt and uncle, who both reside in
Salem, Oregon which is about a 45min to 60 min drive from Portland. They came out to have dinner with us.
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| Yeah, I look fat. |
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Anyways, there went my fun-filled day in Portland. Portland doesn't seem to offer much imo, unless if you love to hike and pick fruits. Its a pretty laid back city and full of friendly people, so I give it a shot I were you. Thank the Lord it was a sunny day. Usually, Portland is raining and freezing like Seattle. Back to Seattle next day! Take care folks.
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