XCIX Portland Trip - City Exploring

 Welcome to Portland.  I was creeping on this Zayn look-a-like after gay clubbing walking along the food carts.  So... Portland.

We've been meaning to take a trip and Portland became the destination.  It was Szeto's birthday and along with a local cake that I bought him, he indulged in artsy overpriced things that Portland has to offer like a wooden plunger.

We ended up at a full frontal gay club where Joe bought him a lap dance from someone who went by the name Aladdin.  We watched as Szeto grabbed the balcony rail for his life while he was getting jackhammered by the straight go-go boy.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Though I think it was more entertaining for us than it was for him.

I stayed with Sandy and surprise! she lives in a really cute 2 bedroom.  She turned her extra bedroom into a craft room slash bike room.  Her pull out bed was really comfortable!

Joe was happy to try the food carts that Portland was known for.  Though we missed out on the pubs and biscuits... which made him pretty upset.  We should have invested in a car because we were pretty downtown'd out.

A little hike with Diana!!!

This Whiskey bar had an amazing library.  It was pretty bougie, but pretty awesome.

 Of course - the boutiques and long haired man with his long haired pet.

Szeto and I got haircuts!

Everyone is so cute here.

These aren't that great.

We ate a lot of terrible places which I coulllld recap... okay.. let me open up my apps.

Howthorne Hophouse - Bar
Swift Lounge - Bar
Bungalow Bar - Bar with Swings?
Lonesome's Pizza - Drunk pizza
Mother's Bistro & Bar - Not that good breakfast and mimosas were not strong enough
Blue Star Donuts - Runs out quickly
Powell's City of Books - A large collections
Scandals - Divey gay bar
Multnomah Whisk{e}y Library - MMM
Departure - Hotel rooftop bougie
Luc Lac Vietnamese Kitchen - Terrible.  Terrible
The Silverado - Gay Strip Club
Bishops Barbershop - got a haircut!
Irving Street Kitchen - Terrible and over priced
Frank's Noodle House - Asian fair
McMenamins Kennedy School - Second time here.
Teardrop Lounge - Expensive cocktails for yuppies
Ken's Artisan Bakery - Local bakery
Art in the Pearl - Art fair for old people

Sorry Joe.  Next time we're going to pubs and Pine State biscuits.  Promise.  But let's remember the trip for the nature trip we took!

XCIX - Portland Trip - Rooster Rock and Nature

Don't worry Chris and Szeto.  We're almost there!  Well not really.  We squeezed into a car and found ourselves in nature.

Portland has a lot of green that's worth seeing and we were lucky that we had a tour guide.  It was quite an adventure and the bottle(s) of wine definitely added to the fun.

I took a handful of amazing shots with lots of colors!

We got our tourist on at Multnomah falls.  But this was only the beginning of our adventure.    Our tour guide told us that we were going to get wet... I wasn't too sure how wet he meant.

We ended at a hike where we had to wade through chest level water.  It was cold, but manageable.  I risked dropping my phone to grab these pictures.

We made it!  It was refreshing and exciting and not that strenuous.  Bring water moccasins and waterproof all your gear.

Definitely worth a trip to Oneonta Falls!

Our next stop was calmer, but also very gorgeous:  Rooster Rock... which is also a gay beach... and by beach I mean sand island in the Columbia River.

The water was warm and the weather was perfect.  We had more wine and enjoyed the day.  It was spectacular.  Our tour guide flirted his way to getting on a speed boat with some new friends.

We took a walk to change scenes and found another part of the river that was extremely shallow.

You could walk across.  It was amazing.

On our way out during sun down.  Unforgettable colors!

Portland - 2014

Portland was our next stop during our Pacific Northwest adventure.  We decided that crossing the boarder to Vancouver would eat too much of our time so we headed south instead.  

We rented a car and spent some hours on the road.  The one thing our trip was missing was visiting nature.  There's this beautiful waterfall called Multnomah Falls that I wish I had time to see.

We round ourselves Kennedy School which was converted into a hotel, bar, movie theater etc.  Each classroom was a guest room and the larger rooms and dining halls were converted to food and drink areas.  These bars were cleverly named: Detention.  Check out the site there are loads of pictures and stories about this unique venue.  The theater played old movies such as Princess Bride.Though the paintings hanging in the halls were a bit creepy and made the halls feel haunted.

The Boiler Room- very large and labyrinth-like using original radiators as decoration.
Detention Bar- whiskey bar and cigar smoking.
The Courtyard Restaurant -  looks like it was converted from the dining hall
Honors Room- another small bar
Cypress room- didn't get to check this out

We were hungry so we had dinner at Good Food Here food carts.  Mmm Norwegian food!  Though it was a bit too cold out and empty to enjoy.  It's like buying from a restaurant, but being forced to sit outside protested Jonnie.  This local was clearly over the food cart thing.  We quickly left for Powell Book store and a bar in downtown.

There is Sandy and Jonnie, our wonderful hosts, Charles making himself at home at the Ace Hotel and we snagged a corner table a Bailey's Taproom.  What next?  

We snuck onto Pittock Mansion to see the view at night.  Last time I explored this with Alysia was during the day.  The night hike was exhilarating.  You couldn't really see in front of you and I was worried about something jumping out at us.

Breathtaking view!

The next day we kept exploring.

Ern was in nerd heaven at The Hand Eye Supply store in Chinatown.

Portland's Voodoo donuts are like LA's Pink Hotdogs.  Only idiots go here to wait 2 hours for something they can buy at the grocery store.  I don't understand.

Sandy suggested that we check out a this Grand Marketplace vintage store with her which made for some fun pictures.  Really unique space and carefully selected and arranged items.

We ended our trip at Pok Pok.  This famous Thai restaurant.  The owner used to cook out of his garage and eventually it became popular enough to be turned into a restaurant.   Very delicious.  Expensive, but very yumz.

We had time to kill so we walked around Mississippi Avenue which reminded me of Silverlake but quickly losing charm with gentrification.  These new condos really stripped the neighborhood of personality.   The street was so much cuter when I visited with Alysia a few years back.

Portland is fun.  Slower paced and less crowded.  It's a quirky town that really takes its time.  

Portland - What a View

Man.  This whole truck accident fiasco has led me to be very behind in blogging!!  Grr!  But I intend to catch up soon.


August 23:
The last two days in Portland were spent searching for great views and stuffing our faces with more delicious Portland food.  The day started off with Tasty n Sons.  Please salivate to the pictures below.  The dish in the center was my favorite - "Polenta & Sausage Ragu"

We then headed to Scrap.  This amazing warehouse of secondhand art materials.  I bought various photo mat boards for 3 bucks when they would have cost me 25 bucks at an art store.  This place had everything!  Bottle caps, birthday cards, fabric, wires, folders, paper.  It was a arts and crafts heaven!

 

Portland City Grill offered an amazing view of the city.  The food was shit.

We kept stuffing our faces! We found this adorable fondue bar and just enjoyed the trendy venue without the LA congestion.

We found other views of the city from different rooftops and tourist spots.

August 24:

 We caught lunch with Diana.  She was able to step away from her preschool and eat Chicken Wings.  Next to the register were all the sauces and mini celery sticks for us to taste every flavor.  Alllllmost double dipped.  OOps.

Good bye Portland.  I'm going to miss your plentiful food carts, your multiple forms of transportation and your quirky attitude.  .. and maybe your strange laws like not letting people pump their own gas and all bars having to serve food while they serve alcohol.

One would say that Portland is full of hipsters, but I would say that folks in Portland aren't dressing or living a particular way to be cool (like they do in LA.) But being liberal, social/economically conscious, minimalistic and wearing flannel is just what they do... and when I saw these folks I wouldn't think, "fucking hipster" like I do when I cruise Silverlake, LA or when I look at myself in the mirror, but rather I think... you're kinda cool, just because you are... not because you're trying to be.

...oh and Diana and Sandy I miss you so much!  Thanks for letting us stay on your sunflower porch and your kitty nest bed room.  Please come home for Christmas.  PWEASE!