Easter Weekend in NYC and Brooklyn
Easter Weekend, I decided to get away from it all and have fun. I met up with my friends in Brooklyn and NYC and had a blast. Lihan was the hostest with the mostest. She is creative with small spaces (I was thoroughly impressed). We met in Krakow, Poland while both of us were backpacking. Since then, we have kept in touch and she came and visited over the New Year.
DAY 1 (THU) -I took the Chinatown Shuttle (now relocated to Boston's South Station Bus Terminal--no more battling in long lines outside on the street) to New York for only $30 round trip on LUCKY STAR. I took the 7am and got in with ease by 11am. From there I took the "Q" train to Brooklyn "7th Avenue" stop. Lihan met up with me and we meandered the picturesque streets of Park Slope area. This being my first time, I enjoyed walking 7th Avenue and 5th Avenues where there were many businesses, restaurants and little shops. The flowering trees lining up on the wide boulevards of brownstones (some artificially painted and others not). We grabbed lunch at "MOUTARD" on 5th Avenue (the place Lihan wanted to take me to was closed).
I noshed on ham and cheese crepe and she had a very fluffy omelette. The restuarant was very cute and even the bathroom had a rustic decorations.
Then we relaxed a bit (it was in the 70's and a bit humid) plus the pollen was killing me. We decide to hit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (entrance fee $5). Too bad the Cherry Blossoms are not in full bloom. The Japanese Garden area and the green house area (had some very interesting blooms from all over the world) were lovely to stroll through. We did catch a bit of rain which only lasted for a few moments. From there we decide to check out BEET, a very stylish but inexpensive Thai Restaurant on 7th Avenue around 8th Street.
At BEET, we were served fried beets in lieu of bread or nothing. This small restuarant uses alot of shades of purple from the dinner napkin to the decor. A small bar is installed in the back and the whole space is lined with as many tables the space can hold. We order something described as "massaman chicken curry with avocado with roti" called a burrito caught my eye. Then we ordered a stir fry noodle dish and basil tofu and eggplant stirfry. Everything was good, the portions were great. I enjoyed the wonderful fresh stir fried basil in the noodle dish and eggplant dish. Plus with tax and tip it was under $15 a person (granted no dessert or drinks on our tab).
DAY 2 (FRI) -the day starts out with some sun and partly cloudy but later on it rains. I head into town taking the "F" train with Lihan. From there, I part ways with her and scramble to the COOPER HEWITT museum in upper East Side on 91st Street on 5th Avenue. Currently it is in between exhibits so the usual $12 fee is now reduced to $8. I am lucky, I have my BOSTON MFA ID and I do not have to pay at all. I ended up going through the existing exhibits very quickly within 20 minutes. I enjoyed the interesting furniture pieces by an Israeli artist . I decided to step into the Cleo-Patek Paris store and ended up buying a purse at over 70% off retail. I usually am not this impulsive but I couldn't resist this bag. But I liked the fact it is not common all over and that twenty people I know will be having the same bag. The two fave elements I love of this hand bag is that it has my two fave colors--red and black.
Off to downtown to meet up with Seaver and Lauren (my old roomie and his girlfriend). We had a nice lunch in Chinatown in this hole in the wall with some much needed noodle soup as it was a cold cloudy lunch time. From there, I went to MOMA. I haven't been there since its grand reopening after major renovations over a year ago. It was PACKED solid with many people. I did enjoy the Edward Munch exhibit (I wonder if it is the same one I missed when I was in London late last year). It was cool seeing "scream" up close! My old roomie Kako used to have a plastic toy of the "scream". In terms of the design of the place, I was not particularly wowed. I did however enjoy the exhibit on the new architectural projects all over Spain. Some pretty cool stuff I have to say I saw.
Then off to the FIT galleries, turns out they have been remodeled since I was last there. I got to see some great clothing pieces from late 1800's to the 1950's. The classic Coco Chanel pieces were exquisite. Just the tailoring, fabrics and colors of many of the outfits were classic and gorgeous.
Then I walked a good 15 blocks to Greenwich Village (in the now pouring rain) to meet up my good friend Dave at GOBO. I did grab a pumpkin maple latte while I waited for him. I got to catch up on some reading. GOBO is a chic and small vegan restaurant. We did have a 15 -30 minute wait as it was a Friday night. Our waiter was attentive and we enjoyed our dinner. (Thanks for the bday dinner !!!!) We had some noodles, pineapple fried rice and nice appetizer that now escapes my memory. From there, we meandered around and decided to catch a flick at the IFC Center. Suffice to say not my fave and the title was more titillating and I thought it would be more interesting than what it actually was for a mockumentary.
SAT-Get into town a bit late and do some window shopping (day is gorgeous 70's and sunny) at 57th and Lex at H&M (great deals), BR and love looking through the Spanish fashions at Zara. I decide to hoof it to PAYARD. I made afternoon tea reservations and I must say it is a cozy space and David joined me again. We had the decadent $26 tea that offered a glass of bubbly, cavier over a blini, assortment of sandwiches (very different from the usual cucumber) and assortment of mouth watering french pastries as well as a pot of tea. I must say a bargain if you want the same at the Ritz or even Four Seasons (even in Boston) you have to pay $30 plus and you do not get cavier either. We dished, enjoyed our surroundings and savored the tasty treats we had. I did not have lunch so I was ravenous. Then we walked off the calories doing 30 blocks within Central Park. A first for me to spend more than a few blocks within Central Park's confines. I went to Jackie O's pond and then to the English Gardens and French Gardens around 105th Street.
I head back to Brooklyn to 5th avenue within Park Slope area to grab dinner with my hostess with the mostest. We go to Aunt Suzies a great Brooklyn Italian restaurant institution. I adore the prices there! For both of us with wine, tax, tip and appetizer, dessert and entree we did not even break $30 a person. The flavors were awesome, the desserts great, wine reasonably priced and after this wonderful decadent meal we had to walk it off. We headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge to cap off a wonderful day. I must say the nice night breeze was very enjoyable and I enjoyed the lovely view from Brooklyn to New York.
SUN-My last day in NY for this trip. After reconfiguring all my stuff, my hostess and I hit Greenwich village for a good burger at Corner Bistro. For under $10 I had a nice cold beer and a bacon cheese burger with no extra frills. We sat next to a table of French tourists. The place reeks of college hangout with the graffiti laden tables and cozy feel. After wards, we walk around and hoof it to Washington Park and down to SOHO. I got some stuff at UNIGLOBE which had these which look like regular pique cotton polo shirts (But actually Japanese technology added UV protection and will whisks away sweat as good as any athletic high tech gear) for only $12.99. I couldn't resist and got my favorite red color. There was a time I wore only POLO shirts but I got over that phase. Then we walked around and tried to get into Balthazar's but it was packed. Instead we found a cute cafe near Chinatown. After our small break, I caught the 4:30 LUCKY STAR shuttle back into Boston. Due to the holiday traffic we did not get into the South Station terminal until 9:45pm.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wicked --a great musical!
Wicked --a great musical!
Wow my friends who love the Tony Best Musical in 2004 smash "WICKED" were not kidding! My road to seeing this musical is interesting. Back in February I secured tickets at $85 a pop to see it during Easter weekend. Then I remembered I was supposed to do a road trip to DC with my friend. I then ebayed the tickets at retail value and actually got a small profit (thanks sis).
Turns out a few days before Easter weekend, I am informed of the DC trip being canceled. EEKS out of "Wicked" tickets and what to do. I alleviated the need to get out of town by heading to NYC and Brooklyn (another blog entry). But the need to watch "Wicked" did not abate. I found out from my friend that despite this run in Boston April til May 14 is sold out, there is a special lottery held 2 1/2 hours before each show to get a chance to win 20 tickets at $25 a pop (extreme side seats).
So I set out this past Tuesday to try my luck. I made sure I had my free scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (coffee buzz buzz buzz) after waiting half and hour for the treat I headed over to the theater district in Boston. I put my name in around 5:12 and I was told that the drawing was being held at 5:30 and winners drawn had to be in attendance with a valid ID. I stood in the foyer with a gal who had been trying for tickets a few times and she was listening to the soundtrack on her IPod. I must say I do not own one nor have I heard the soundtrack or read the book.
Once the clock hit 5:30 a good number of people were crowded around the organizers of the lottery at least a good 40-60 people. In my head, I was thinking there is NO WAY I am going to win. I will probably have to come back on Thursday to try my luck again at this lottery. As these thoughts flitted across my mind, my name was called out. A second of shock, surprise and then happiness came over me before I took the two pins stating "I won the Wicked Lottery" were handed to me. I got the best seats out of the lottery for having my name drawn first.
I immediately called my friend Minh. This is an early bday present for him. He and I both have been DYING to see "WICKED". I felt on top of the world and just excited!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Synopsis from the official WICKED website: http://www.wickedthemusical.com/synopsis.htm
Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years.
==============================================
From the exquisite costumes, singing, songs and acting I thoroughly was entranced by the show. I can see why many want to see this show again! Trust me, I did not feel this way after seeing RENT and I had many friends who felt RENT was to die for. Maybe it was the fact I had never heard the soundtrack before or the fact I could barely make out the words sung over the loud rock music could have hampered my listening enjoyment. The only complaint was the fact you could not see the back of the stage (as we were extremely on the left hand of the stage or actors stage right). But this did not hamper our enjoyment and enthusiasm for the show
Wow my friends who love the Tony Best Musical in 2004 smash "WICKED" were not kidding! My road to seeing this musical is interesting. Back in February I secured tickets at $85 a pop to see it during Easter weekend. Then I remembered I was supposed to do a road trip to DC with my friend. I then ebayed the tickets at retail value and actually got a small profit (thanks sis).
Turns out a few days before Easter weekend, I am informed of the DC trip being canceled. EEKS out of "Wicked" tickets and what to do. I alleviated the need to get out of town by heading to NYC and Brooklyn (another blog entry). But the need to watch "Wicked" did not abate. I found out from my friend that despite this run in Boston April til May 14 is sold out, there is a special lottery held 2 1/2 hours before each show to get a chance to win 20 tickets at $25 a pop (extreme side seats).
So I set out this past Tuesday to try my luck. I made sure I had my free scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (coffee buzz buzz buzz) after waiting half and hour for the treat I headed over to the theater district in Boston. I put my name in around 5:12 and I was told that the drawing was being held at 5:30 and winners drawn had to be in attendance with a valid ID. I stood in the foyer with a gal who had been trying for tickets a few times and she was listening to the soundtrack on her IPod. I must say I do not own one nor have I heard the soundtrack or read the book.
Once the clock hit 5:30 a good number of people were crowded around the organizers of the lottery at least a good 40-60 people. In my head, I was thinking there is NO WAY I am going to win. I will probably have to come back on Thursday to try my luck again at this lottery. As these thoughts flitted across my mind, my name was called out. A second of shock, surprise and then happiness came over me before I took the two pins stating "I won the Wicked Lottery" were handed to me. I got the best seats out of the lottery for having my name drawn first.
I immediately called my friend Minh. This is an early bday present for him. He and I both have been DYING to see "WICKED". I felt on top of the world and just excited!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Synopsis from the official WICKED website: http://www.wickedthemusical.com/synopsis.htm
Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years.
==============================================
From the exquisite costumes, singing, songs and acting I thoroughly was entranced by the show. I can see why many want to see this show again! Trust me, I did not feel this way after seeing RENT and I had many friends who felt RENT was to die for. Maybe it was the fact I had never heard the soundtrack before or the fact I could barely make out the words sung over the loud rock music could have hampered my listening enjoyment. The only complaint was the fact you could not see the back of the stage (as we were extremely on the left hand of the stage or actors stage right). But this did not hamper our enjoyment and enthusiasm for the show
Blarney Stone -brunch place in Dorchester MA
Recently I had brunch with the gals in Dorchester. I must admit, when I got to FIELDS CORNER I hit the Vietnamese places other than going there for brunch. I LOVE Zaftigs (in Coolidge Corner) for their great matzo balls in chicken noodle soup, banana stuffed french toast with rum butter, stupendous corned beef hash (the best I ever tasted) etc etc.
But I have to admit it is nice to pay under $10 for brunch especially when other places charge more.
Blarney Stone 1509 Dorchester St., Dorchester. 617-436-8223
We all got some reasonably priced food with nothing topping $9 and prices starting at $5 for brunch dishes. I got the Corned Beef Hash with two eggs (soft cooked) for $5 and my friends got the Pancakes with berries (blue berry and strawberry) $6 and my other friend got the Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. The portions were good, the wait staff was attentive and friendly. We had an enjoyable time and spent $10 a piece (no coffee or juice was ordered) .
T directions (RED LINE-ASHMONT bound train)
If you are taking the T get off at the "FIELDS CORNER STOP" get off and walk towards the right side (exit) will get you to Dorchester Avenue get to the turnstiles and street level turn right and walk less than two blocks down on your right--you will see the BLARNEY STONE.
But I have to admit it is nice to pay under $10 for brunch especially when other places charge more.
Blarney Stone 1509 Dorchester St., Dorchester. 617-436-8223
We all got some reasonably priced food with nothing topping $9 and prices starting at $5 for brunch dishes. I got the Corned Beef Hash with two eggs (soft cooked) for $5 and my friends got the Pancakes with berries (blue berry and strawberry) $6 and my other friend got the Apple Cinnamon Pancakes. The portions were good, the wait staff was attentive and friendly. We had an enjoyable time and spent $10 a piece (no coffee or juice was ordered) .
T directions (RED LINE-ASHMONT bound train)
If you are taking the T get off at the "FIELDS CORNER STOP" get off and walk towards the right side (exit) will get you to Dorchester Avenue get to the turnstiles and street level turn right and walk less than two blocks down on your right--you will see the BLARNEY STONE.
Sorelina-Great Back Bay (BOSTON) Italian Restuarant
Recently I met up with two Smithie classmates whom I had not seen in a LONG LONG time. Both were roomies while we were at LAMONT HOUSE. It was a mini reunion and we celebrated (one is an ADA at Smith and the other a happily married wife in California. We headed out for an early dinner at the latest Italian restaurant in the BACK BAY to take the town by storm (after reading many positive reviews!).
Sorelina-one Huntington Avenue Boston MA 02116/ Phone (617) 412-460
Arancini --Crispy Jonah Crab riso ($15) This dish was great. The three lightly fried pieces were delectable on top of a tomato sauce. YUM! Plus the dish tasted surprisingly light and the service was attentive and wonderful. Our server was great and he gave wonderful advice. Verdure --green beans, sun choke, artichokes and black olive vinigrette ($13) My friend enjoyed this dish and it was very simple and refreshing. Insalata -market greens, bacon and creamy gargonzola ($12) the biggest starter of the three dishes and it was smothered in the smoky gargonzola dressing but still good with the crispy bacon giving the greens a nice kick of flavor.
Macheroncelli (half portion $14) two American Kobe beef meat balls, barolo sauce and percorino tuscano Both myself and Priya got this one. The portion was just right and the noodles were homemade and big, the sauce was wonderful (I used my bread to sop up the sauce). The two meatballs were delicious and decent sized. You could tell the meat had a nice flavor. Capellini (half portion $12) --baccala (salted cod fish), tomatoes, olive oil and sea salt This dish was surprising as there was a nice spicy kick to it. I thought it lovely.
Amarene Cherry -Chocolate Torta and Chocolate Marsala Zabaglione ($10) and Limincello-Citrus Tiramisu ($10) and Pineapple "today's special dessert" baked in a phyllo pastry $10
All the desserts were good. The Chocolate torte was not too dense or overly sweet. The pineapple dessert was a good balance of sweet and my dessert I would not call necessarily a tiramisu. I liked the flavors alot but sometimes after a few bites seemed a bit sweet though the lemony tartness saved it.
Sorelina-one Huntington Avenue Boston MA 02116/ Phone (617) 412-460
Arancini --Crispy Jonah Crab riso ($15) This dish was great. The three lightly fried pieces were delectable on top of a tomato sauce. YUM! Plus the dish tasted surprisingly light and the service was attentive and wonderful. Our server was great and he gave wonderful advice. Verdure --green beans, sun choke, artichokes and black olive vinigrette ($13) My friend enjoyed this dish and it was very simple and refreshing. Insalata -market greens, bacon and creamy gargonzola ($12) the biggest starter of the three dishes and it was smothered in the smoky gargonzola dressing but still good with the crispy bacon giving the greens a nice kick of flavor.
Macheroncelli (half portion $14) two American Kobe beef meat balls, barolo sauce and percorino tuscano Both myself and Priya got this one. The portion was just right and the noodles were homemade and big, the sauce was wonderful (I used my bread to sop up the sauce). The two meatballs were delicious and decent sized. You could tell the meat had a nice flavor. Capellini (half portion $12) --baccala (salted cod fish), tomatoes, olive oil and sea salt This dish was surprising as there was a nice spicy kick to it. I thought it lovely.
Amarene Cherry -Chocolate Torta and Chocolate Marsala Zabaglione ($10) and Limincello-Citrus Tiramisu ($10) and Pineapple "today's special dessert" baked in a phyllo pastry $10
All the desserts were good. The Chocolate torte was not too dense or overly sweet. The pineapple dessert was a good balance of sweet and my dessert I would not call necessarily a tiramisu. I liked the flavors alot but sometimes after a few bites seemed a bit sweet though the lemony tartness saved it.
WICKED a great MUSICAL
Wow my friends who love the Tony Best Musical in 2004 smash "WICKED" were not kidding! My road to seeing this musical is interesting. Back in February I secured tickets at $85 a pop to see it during Easter weekend. Then I remembered I was supposed to do a road trip to DC with my friend. I then ebayed the tickets at retail value and actually got a small profit (thanks sis).
Turns out a few days before Easter weekend, I am informed of the DC trip being canceled. EEKS out of "Wicked" tickets and what to do. I alleviated the need to get out of town by heading to NYC and Brooklyn (another blog entry). But the need to watch "Wicked" did not abate. I found out from my friend that despite this run in Boston April til May 14 is sold out, there is a special lottery held 2 1/2 hours before each show to get a chance to win 20 tickets at $25 a pop (extreme side seats).
So I set out this past Tuesday to try my luck. I made sure I had my free scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (coffee buzz buzz buzz) after waiting half and hour for the treat I headed over to the theater district in Boston. I put my name in around 5:12 and I was told that the drawing was being held at 5:30 and winners drawn had to be in attendance with a valid ID. I stood in the foyer with a gal who had been trying for tickets a few times and she was listening to the soundtrack on her IPod. I must say I do not own one nor have I heard the soundtrack or read the book.
Once the clock hit 5:30 a good number of people were crowded around the organizers of the lottery at least a good 40-60 people. In my head, I was thinking there is NO WAY I am going to win. I will probably have to come back on Thursday to try my luck again at this lottery. As these thoughts flitted across my mind, my name was called out. A second of shock, surprise and then happiness came over me before I took the two pins stating "I won the Wicked Lottery" were handed to me. I got the best seats out of the lottery for having my name drawn first.
I immediately called my friend Minh. This is an early bday present for him. He and I both have been DYING to see "WICKED". I felt on top of the world and just excited!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Synopsis from the official WICKED website: http://www.wickedthemusical.com/synopsis.htm
Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years.
==============================================
From the exquisite costumes, singing, songs and acting I thoroughly was entranced by the show. I can see why many want to see this show again! Trust me, I did not feel this way after seeing RENT and I had many friends who felt RENT was to die for. Maybe it was the fact I had never heard the soundtrack before or the fact I could barely make out the words sung over the loud rock music could have hampered my listening enjoyment. The only complaint was the fact you could not see the back of the stage (as we were extremely on the left hand of the stage or actors stage right). But this did not hamper our enjoyment and enthusiasm for the show
Turns out a few days before Easter weekend, I am informed of the DC trip being canceled. EEKS out of "Wicked" tickets and what to do. I alleviated the need to get out of town by heading to NYC and Brooklyn (another blog entry). But the need to watch "Wicked" did not abate. I found out from my friend that despite this run in Boston April til May 14 is sold out, there is a special lottery held 2 1/2 hours before each show to get a chance to win 20 tickets at $25 a pop (extreme side seats).
So I set out this past Tuesday to try my luck. I made sure I had my free scoop of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (coffee buzz buzz buzz) after waiting half and hour for the treat I headed over to the theater district in Boston. I put my name in around 5:12 and I was told that the drawing was being held at 5:30 and winners drawn had to be in attendance with a valid ID. I stood in the foyer with a gal who had been trying for tickets a few times and she was listening to the soundtrack on her IPod. I must say I do not own one nor have I heard the soundtrack or read the book.
Once the clock hit 5:30 a good number of people were crowded around the organizers of the lottery at least a good 40-60 people. In my head, I was thinking there is NO WAY I am going to win. I will probably have to come back on Thursday to try my luck again at this lottery. As these thoughts flitted across my mind, my name was called out. A second of shock, surprise and then happiness came over me before I took the two pins stating "I won the Wicked Lottery" were handed to me. I got the best seats out of the lottery for having my name drawn first.
I immediately called my friend Minh. This is an early bday present for him. He and I both have been DYING to see "WICKED". I felt on top of the world and just excited!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Synopsis from the official WICKED website: http://www.wickedthemusical.com/synopsis.htm
Long before Dorothy dropped in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two unlikely friends end up as the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch makes for the most spellbinding new musical in years.
==============================================
From the exquisite costumes, singing, songs and acting I thoroughly was entranced by the show. I can see why many want to see this show again! Trust me, I did not feel this way after seeing RENT and I had many friends who felt RENT was to die for. Maybe it was the fact I had never heard the soundtrack before or the fact I could barely make out the words sung over the loud rock music could have hampered my listening enjoyment. The only complaint was the fact you could not see the back of the stage (as we were extremely on the left hand of the stage or actors stage right). But this did not hamper our enjoyment and enthusiasm for the show
weekend in NYC and BROOKLYN
Easter Weekend, I decided to get away from it all and have fun. I met up with my friends in Brooklyn and NYC and had a blast. Lihan was the hostest with the mostest. She is creative with small spaces (I was thoroughly impressed). We met in Krakow, Poland while both of us were backpacking. Since then, we have kept in touch and she came and visited over the New Year.
DAY 1 (THU) -I took the Chinatown Shuttle (now relocated to Boston's South Station Bus Terminal--no more battling in long lines outside on the street) to New York for only $30 round trip on LUCKY STAR. I took the 7am and got in with ease by 11am. From there I took the "Q" train to Brooklyn "7th Avenue" stop. Lihan met up with me and we meandered the picturesque streets of Park Slope area. This being my first time, I enjoyed walking 7th Avenue and 5th Avenues where there were many businesses, restaurants and little shops. The flowering trees lining up on the wide boulevards of brownstones (some artificially painted and others not). We grabbed lunch at "MOUTARD" on 5th Avenue (the place Lihan wanted to take me to was closed).
I noshed on ham and cheese crepe and she had a very fluffy omelette. The restuarant was very cute and even the bathroom had a rustic decorations.
Then we relaxed a bit (it was in the 70's and a bit humid) plus the pollen was killing me. We decide to hit the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens (entrance fee $5). Too bad the Cherry Blossoms are not in full bloom. The Japanese Garden area and the green house area (had some very interesting blooms from all over the world) were lovely to stroll through. We did catch a bit of rain which only lasted for a few moments. From there we decide to check out BEET, a very stylish but inexpensive Thai Restaurant on 7th Avenue around 8th Street.
At BEET, we were served fried beets in lieu of bread or nothing. This small restuarant uses alot of shades of purple from the dinner napkin to the decor. A small bar is installed in the back and the whole space is lined with as many tables the space can hold. We order something described as "massaman chicken curry with avocado with roti" called a burrito caught my eye. Then we ordered a stir fry noodle dish and basil tofu and eggplant stirfry. Everything was good, the portions were great. I enjoyed the wonderful fresh stir fried basil in the noodle dish and eggplant dish. Plus with tax and tip it was under $15 a person (granted no dessert or drinks on our tab).
DAY 2 (FRI) -the day starts out with some sun and partly cloudy but later on it rains. I head into town taking the "F" train with Lihan. From there, I part ways with her and scramble to the Cooper Hewitt museum in upper East Side on 91st Street on 5th Avenue. Currently it is in between exhibits so the usual $12 fee is now reduced to $8. I am lucky, I have my BOSTON MFA ID and I do not have to pay at all. I ended up going through the existing exhibits very quickly within 20 minutes. I enjoyed the interesting furniture pieces by an Israeli artist . I decided to step into the Cleo-Patek Paris store and ended up buying a purse at over 70% off retail. I usually am not this impulsive but I couldn't resist this bag. But I liked the fact it is not common all over and that twenty people I know will be having the same bag. The two fave elements I love of this hand bag is that it has my two fave colors--red and black.
Off to downtown to meet up with Seaver and Lauren (my old roomie and his girlfriend). We had a nice lunch in Chinatown in this hole in the wall with some much needed noodle soup as it was a cold cloudy lunch time. From there, I went to MOMA. I haven't been there since its grand reopening after major renovations over a year ago. It was PACKED solid with many people. I did enjoy the Edward Munch exhibit (I wonder if it is the same one I missed when I was in London late last year). It was cool seeing "scream" up close! My old roomie Kako used to have a plastic toy of the "scream". In terms of the design of the place, I was not particularly wowed. I did however enjoy the exhibit on the new architectural projects all over Spain. Some pretty cool stuff I have to say I saw.
Then off to the FIT galleries, turns out they have been remodeled since I was last there. I got to see some great clothing pieces from late 1800's to the 1950's. The classic Coco Chanel pieces were exquisite. Just the tailoring, fabrics and colors of many of the outfits were classic and gorgeous.
Then I walked a good 15 blocks to Greenwich Village (in the now pouring rain) to meet up my good friend Dave at GOBO. I did grab a pumpkin maple latte while I waited for him. I got to catch up on some reading. GOBO is a chic and small vegan restaurant. We did have a 15 -30 minute wait as it was a Friday night. Our waiter was attentive and we enjoyed our dinner. (Thanks for the bday dinner !!!!) We had some noodles, pineapple fried rice and nice appetizer that now escapes my memory. From there, we meandered around and decided to catch a flick at the IFC Center. Suffice to say not my fave and the title was more titillating and I thought it would be more interesting than what it actually was for a mockumentary.
SAT-Get into town a bit late and do some window shopping (day is gorgeous 70's and sunny) at 57th and Lex at H&M (great deals), BR and love looking through the Spanish fashions at Zara. I decide to hoof it to PAYARD. I made afternoon tea reservations and I must say it is a cozy space and David joined me again. We had the decadent $26 tea that offered a glass of bubbly, cavier over a blini, assortment of sandwiches (very different from the usual cucumber) and assortment of mouth watering french pastries as well as a pot of tea. I must say a bargain if you want the same at the Ritz or even Four Seasons (even in Boston) you have to pay $30 plus and you do not get cavier either. We dished, enjoyed our surroundings and savored the tasty treats we had. I did not have lunch so I was ravenous. Then we walked off the calories doing 30 blocks within Central Park. A first for me to spend more than a few blocks within Central Park's confines. I went to Jackie O's pond and then to the English Gardens and French Gardens around 105th Street.
I head back to Brooklyn to 5th avenue within Park Slope area to grab dinner with my hostess with the mostest. We go to Aunt Suzies a great Brooklyn Italian restaurant institution. I adore the prices there! For both of us with wine, tax, tip and appetizer, dessert and entree we did not even break $30 a person. The flavors were awesome, the desserts great, wine reasonably priced and after this wonderful decadent meal we had to walk it off. We headed over to the Brooklyn Bridge to cap off a wonderful day. I must say the nice night breeze was very enjoyable and I enjoyed the lovely view from Brooklyn to New York.
SUN-My last day in NY for this trip. After reconfiguring all my stuff, my hostess and I hit Greenwich village for a good burger at Corner Bistro. For under $10 I had a nice cold beer and a bacon cheese burger with no extra frills. We sat next to a table of French tourists. The place reeks of college hangout with the graffiti laden tables and cozy feel. After wards, we walk around and hoof it to Washington Park and down to SOHO. I got some stuff at UNIGLOBE which had these which look like regular pique cotton polo shirts (But actually Japanese technology added UV protection and will whisks away sweat as good as any athletic high tech gear) for only $12.99. I couldn't resist and got my favorite red color. There was a time I wore only POLO shirts but I got over that phase. Then we walked around and tried to get into Balthazar's but it was packed. Instead we found a cute cafe near Chinatown. After our small break, I caught the 4:30 LUCKY STAR shuttle back into Boston. Due to the holiday traffic we did not get into the South Station terminal until 9:45pm.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Second Annual A Spoonful of Ginger
This past Wednesday, I volunteered at a great event. It was the second annual "A Spoonful of Ginger" at the State Room in downtown Boston on the 33rd floor. There were gorgeous views of downtown and the big dig but also wonderful people and chefs gathered to promote a wonderful cause for the renowned Joslin Diabetes Center AADI (Asian American Diabetes Initiative) lead by Dr. George King and Dr. William Hsu. Event chair Leverett Wing once again organized a wonderful event with lots of help from a great team of volunteers to make it a resounding success. Wonderful food was to be sampled for attendees from offerings ranging from nigiri, chapchae, peking duck, wheat dumplings, ginger cream puffs dipped in chocolate to name a few. There were a number of wonderful items up for bid at the silent auction ranging from a photo from the original negative of JFK and Jackie Kennedy in Hyannisport, Sox tickets, Pats tickets in CLUB 2, Spa night and much more. Local celebrity chefs and restaurants lent their time and names to this wonderful even from Jasper White (looking great of Summer Shack), Ming Tsai (Blue Ginger) and Joanne Chang (Flour Bakery) along with other restaurants from Fugakyu, Oga, Clio, Radius, Changso to name a few. Janet Wu of channel 7 news was on hand to lend her support as emcee for this wonderful event.
I am glad I was able to be on hand to support this cause and thanks to my friends and their friends for coming out to assist as well. The energy was great and there were many people on hand from the community and spotted in attendance were Veronica Chao (editor of the Improper Bostonian) and Shirley Chan ( the Asian Task force Against Domestic Violence).
One of the big sponsors was Sunstar Products and in addition a special guest chef flew in from Osaka, Japan to prepare some two special low calorie dishes that were wonderful. There was some lovely wine tastings supplied by Wine Botega (North End) chosen for their delightful compatibility to Asian cuisine flavors.
I am glad I was able to be on hand to support this cause and thanks to my friends and their friends for coming out to assist as well. The energy was great and there were many people on hand from the community and spotted in attendance were Veronica Chao (editor of the Improper Bostonian) and Shirley Chan ( the Asian Task force Against Domestic Violence).
One of the big sponsors was Sunstar Products and in addition a special guest chef flew in from Osaka, Japan to prepare some two special low calorie dishes that were wonderful. There was some lovely wine tastings supplied by Wine Botega (North End) chosen for their delightful compatibility to Asian cuisine flavors.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Pacif Northwest #3
Pacific Northwest (Part Three)
Seaside was fine after waltzing around the small downtown. Coming from Cape Cod and having visited other places by the water and being quaint small towns, it was cute but small. There is something about ice cream and this Oregon road trip, I have to have the cold stuff every day at least once!!!!! What is wrong with me? It is not as if the weather is very warm (50's and cloudy with some spouts of sun peaking through the clouds). We decided to call it an early night. After getting potential projections to drive at least 10 hours each day for the next two days (we decide it is better to try to wake up earlier) and avoid driving at night. A good call I might add, the roads are not well lit and with the weather being unpredictable too we decide it is the best course of action.
Day three starts, we are ready and in the car at 6:30 am and gas costs from $2.43 to $2.57 a gallon for regular gas. Interested range of prices indeed. Also with this trip, we do not have any trip CDS/TAPES at all and we rely on the radio. We have heard some cool stuff and some of the radio stations we adore have a mix of music from the 80's, 90's and current stuff. At times, we will try to name that tune or name the artistic within a few notes of the opening of a song. I have to say my brother balances me in terms of my musical knowledge. The snack of our trip are the Nongshim brand Buljip Pizza snack. The songs we loved and sang along with on this trip were James Blunt's "Your Beautiful" , Cascada "Everytime We Touch", and Natasha Bedingfield "Unwritten".
In an hour, we head to Tillamook known for the their great cheese and dairy products (or so the ads for the local Creamery asserts). We get there a bit earlier than the 8am start time. We take the self guided tour and then sample some ice cream and cheese. Their sharp chedder and cheese curds are interesting. We were both enthralled with the chedder jack though. YUM. As for the ice cream at the Tillamook Creamery, we tried a variety of flavors. We concentrated on the blackberry, marion berry (only found in that region), huckleberry and black cherry. All were great and not too sweet! Granted not the healthiest of breakfasts but who cares???? This tourist attraction is right off Route 101 so not hard to find at all. Driving further along we try the scenic Three Capes Loop. After diving it for 40 minutes we weirdly enough made a wrong turn and return to Tillamook and not south the way we should have gone. Another notch of one hour we have to make up in our driving.
We head to Lincoln City another bigger town (you know with the tell tale Walmart, Safeway, Starbucks populated plazas after hitting many small homes dotting the scenery along the way). We are told to hit Depoe Bay (has the smallest harbor on the Oregon Coast). I do enjoy the areas that are along the coast (but the bulk of the time is some windy boring roads). When we do some scenery the majestic rocks, lush green trees, wild white foamed waves crashing on shore on the beaches have a nice appeal. Coupled with some light rain and people watching the waves, it can be fun. But I must say it is not a boring drive though. We aim to grab lunch in Newport and get there by 11:30am.
We choose Georgie's Beachside Grille (per the add beautiful views of the coast from the restuarant with great food). The food overall was good with great service. They are used to having tons of travelers stop in though as I can tell. We fasted on fresh bay shrimp side salad and a cup of clam chowder. The chowder yesterday at Silver Salmon was better. Not enough potatoes, the clams were good but the soup itself was not the correct consistency for me plus no offer for fresh cracked pepper was a bit of a let down. The salads was fresh leaves of green iceburg, romaine, cherry tomatoes, red onions and carrots topped with a healthy helping of sweet tiny pink bay shrimps served with a tiny thimble sized amount of thick ranch dressing. I was torn between two dishes and got the three cheese creamy sweet pepper pasta studded wtth salmon, scallops and shrimp topped off with two big pieces of garlic bread. My brother got the Halibut Oscar which he enjoyed . I think a hollandaise like sauce tinged with asparagus with a big piece of halibut with some crab. I liked my pasta a bit better. The decor was simple but typical waterfront establishment with an older crowd appeal. It was a busy and bustling place. The prices were very reasonable though.
After we head off, we are starting to face a period of rain in intervals while we head to Reedsport before heading on Rte 138 back inland to Roseburg (we want to head to Crater Lake National Park the next day). Within an hour we near Florence which has some nice vistas before you head over there after driving through a number of small seaside towns. We are recommended to check out the Sea Lion Caves but by the time we pass that area there is too heavy of a rain storm we bypass this local attraction. Making good time, we hit Reedsport and we get more gas. One of the good tips we got was to make sure you have a full tank of gas. There were truly many areas of this trip with virtually no one is around you and if you break down or have no gas (good luck) but surprisingly good radio signals to my disbelief. We gun it to Roseburg in good time in less than hour and half (than the two and half hours we thought we would need).
Once in Roseburg, we went to the local Roseburg Valley Mall, very small and I would not call it a mall. It is in the shape of a T with the big stores being Macys, Sears, Waldenbooks, Rite Aid and some smaller stores. Nearby you have a big Walmart and Safeway with tons of restaurants--Applebees, Pizza and other great American Chain restaurants. We decide to do another early night at the MOTEL 8 right off I5. We are told to double check if the Crater Lake National Park entrance is closed. Per our hotel receptionist's advice, we find out the entrance we want to use is closed until July.
We decide to take the Rte 138 scenic route to Diamond Lake and see some Falls and head back (I notice the map denotes plenty of waterfalls. Day Four--we grab some muffins which is part of the free breakfast. The morning starts out cold, black and rainy. The one time I do not open the map, we waste 20 minutes of driving going the wrong direction. After correcting this error (thanks bro for being patient) we head over to Rte 138 off of I5 exit 124. We decide to drive one hour in and then turn around since we are not heading to Diamond Lake. We are near the North Umpqua River and driving along it. We hit as high elevation as 3,500 feet. There was alot of snow and the snow drifts were pretty high. Alot of signs were alerting us to have chains and snow tires (both with which we did not have). Based on the local radio we were listening, on April 1 locals will have to discard their studded snow tires or get a $145 fine per offense. This area is considered beautiful and scenic. The majestic tall trees, windy roads and beautiful vistas are great. There are a number of waterfalls, but you must drive in and hike to seem them. My brother and I decide to turn back after an hour of driving and hit the Watson Falls (.4 to see it uphill ascend one way). Gosh I was huffing and puffing and at 3,500 FT and more maybe that is why I was feeling this way. Truth be told, I am not being honest with myself, I need a bit more cardio than what I have been having of late. At the next one we catch, we stop at Toketee Falls and there is another (.4 one way ascent). I almost slip twice on both hikes. EEKS I have to be careful at least I did not sprain my ankle. There is a cool write up on a free "hot springs" nearby but you need to hike a bit at 3.5 miles. You can take a free dip in it. My friend David (a nature aficionado) recommended it but my brother and I nixed it in favor of making back to Tacoma a decent time instead. My brother relinquished the car seat to moi to drive for an hour. The road was empty for the occasional car driving on the other side. I enjoyed the many turns and curves I had to endure before we hit I5 and I gave the driving wheel back to him. It was fun while it lasted.
From Roseburg to Eugene it took only an hour. The only place mentioned in the tourist info was the University of Oregon at Eugene was their art museum---Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. It had a great Asian art collection for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I was more amazed with the Korean and Chinese stuff. I go to see things I have never seen before (I have been to Beijing, Tokyo and other famous museums too). One was the formal gowns of the military, Daoist priests, the various learned literati and government officials badges, great examples of textiles and some ceramics. Very lovely indeed! The Korean exhibit I am used to seeing many celadon pieces but none was found here. I caught some great pieces of scenery paintings, screens that I enjoyed and never seen before. Small in size, alot of great art packed in a tiny place.
There is an adorable courtyard and admission is only $5. We ask for a recommendation for a quick bite. First we have to weather a surprise passing rain storm. We choose HODGEPODGE on 13th Street adjacent to the campus. We get the HodgePodge wrap with pork, chicken and cheese with two sauces lettuce served with a very dry bland slaw and two tiny pieces of banana bread. For $5.75 it was alot of food and we wanted to save our stomachs for a bigger and better cause. By this time, we head within an hour to Portland and hit crazy traffic. The local radio station is talking about road rage. I find it interesting being from the Northeast. The DJ's were grumbling about how people who drive BELOW the speed limit are on the left lane. Or too many people not sure where they should go are in the speed lane stalling the traffic up. We had a good chuckle over it. It is not unheard of with drivers driving speed limit on the speed lane. I try to find the American Advertising Museum to no avail and I call the number associated with it and it turns out to be a car dealership. I am figuring it is no more????
Luckily all is not lost. I did some research to check out Pix Pâtisserie a local institution (3402 SE Division Street -503-232-24407) where the owner trained under a skilled baker in France. Oh La La! The reviews I read were spot on the size of the pastries are astronomical in proportion to the small portions you get. I guess European portions with big American prices. But the quality was great and the pastries were delectable in appearance. I had to restrain myself from devouring everything and I tried the mini glass of the berry, curry and one more meringue cookies. Let's just say I dropped a pretty penny for my pastries obssession. Culled from the website: www.pixpatisserie.com ========================================================
Amélie ~ Winner of the Patis France Chocolate Competition! Orange vanilla crème brulée sits atop a glazed chocolate mousse with caramelized hazelnuts, praline crisp, and Cointreau genoise.
Pear Rosemary ~ Pix's new favorite! Cashew cream and roasted pears baked into a pâté sucrée and covered with a milk chocolate / rosemary (yes, I said ROSEMARY!) ganache! It would be a sad thing if you failed to experience this combination.
Goûtez! Tart Ménage á Trois ~ Almond cream, chocolate ganache, and orange vanilla bean crème brulée all pile into a buttery tart shell. Oooo-la-la!!
St. Honoré ~ One could find this gâteau in 1840 in France. 163 years later you can find it in Portland. Puff pastry, caramelized cream puffs, Grand Marnier pastry cream and vanilla bean crème chantilly...Oui! Oui!
Chocolate Drenched Drunken Cherries ~ The House specialty! These bad boys have been bathing in Kirsch since June! They then take a dip in fondant and finish with bittersweet chocolate. (I got two of these and they were divine!)
Pastry chef, Cheryl Wakerhauser (a.k.a. Pix), is known for her devotion to sweets and her distinctive style that magically intertwines tastes and textures. After a short-lived career studying to be an astronaut, she trained at the pâtisserie of MOF Philippe Urraca in France. Pix Pâtisserie brings European flare and innovative edible art to Portland with an assortment of elegant pastries and handmade chocolates.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The kind gal at the counter gave me great samples of the habenero chili and lavender ice creams. Both were great! The chili had a spice to it but the lavender did offset the spice. We ended our trip deciding to have a nice dinner. We started the trip with Korean food (I made some before he headed to Portland with some side dishes). We headed to Nob Hill in Portland which is a cute but more upscale area with tons of stores that include Kiehls, Levis with a variety of artsy and craftsy shops. There we ate at BeWon (more to come about this place later) and ended this road trip with a lovely Korean meal.
From there, we were stuck in traffic for half an hour trying to get out of Portland. Once past the border (now being 7pm) I guessed it would take us up until 9:30 or at the latest 10pm as it was a good 138 miles to Tacoma. At this point onwards, we had the worst weather yet we encountered (the weather I had feared about) on this road trip. The heavy rains with the big fat drops and backlash of puddles from the car in front of us with the lack of lighting on the highways did not help in matters. But fortunately we got back safe and sound in one piece.
I discovered alot between my brother and myself. We worked well as a team and we capitalized on our strengths, learned more about our tolerance levels and got along (first time since we both left home). Overall it strengthened our relationship and garnered a deeper respect we had for each other.
Seaside was fine after waltzing around the small downtown. Coming from Cape Cod and having visited other places by the water and being quaint small towns, it was cute but small. There is something about ice cream and this Oregon road trip, I have to have the cold stuff every day at least once!!!!! What is wrong with me? It is not as if the weather is very warm (50's and cloudy with some spouts of sun peaking through the clouds). We decided to call it an early night. After getting potential projections to drive at least 10 hours each day for the next two days (we decide it is better to try to wake up earlier) and avoid driving at night. A good call I might add, the roads are not well lit and with the weather being unpredictable too we decide it is the best course of action.
Day three starts, we are ready and in the car at 6:30 am and gas costs from $2.43 to $2.57 a gallon for regular gas. Interested range of prices indeed. Also with this trip, we do not have any trip CDS/TAPES at all and we rely on the radio. We have heard some cool stuff and some of the radio stations we adore have a mix of music from the 80's, 90's and current stuff. At times, we will try to name that tune or name the artistic within a few notes of the opening of a song. I have to say my brother balances me in terms of my musical knowledge. The snack of our trip are the Nongshim brand Buljip Pizza snack. The songs we loved and sang along with on this trip were James Blunt's "Your Beautiful" , Cascada "Everytime We Touch", and Natasha Bedingfield "Unwritten".
In an hour, we head to Tillamook known for the their great cheese and dairy products (or so the ads for the local Creamery asserts). We get there a bit earlier than the 8am start time. We take the self guided tour and then sample some ice cream and cheese. Their sharp chedder and cheese curds are interesting. We were both enthralled with the chedder jack though. YUM. As for the ice cream at the Tillamook Creamery, we tried a variety of flavors. We concentrated on the blackberry, marion berry (only found in that region), huckleberry and black cherry. All were great and not too sweet! Granted not the healthiest of breakfasts but who cares???? This tourist attraction is right off Route 101 so not hard to find at all. Driving further along we try the scenic Three Capes Loop. After diving it for 40 minutes we weirdly enough made a wrong turn and return to Tillamook and not south the way we should have gone. Another notch of one hour we have to make up in our driving.
We head to Lincoln City another bigger town (you know with the tell tale Walmart, Safeway, Starbucks populated plazas after hitting many small homes dotting the scenery along the way). We are told to hit Depoe Bay (has the smallest harbor on the Oregon Coast). I do enjoy the areas that are along the coast (but the bulk of the time is some windy boring roads). When we do some scenery the majestic rocks, lush green trees, wild white foamed waves crashing on shore on the beaches have a nice appeal. Coupled with some light rain and people watching the waves, it can be fun. But I must say it is not a boring drive though. We aim to grab lunch in Newport and get there by 11:30am.
We choose Georgie's Beachside Grille (per the add beautiful views of the coast from the restuarant with great food). The food overall was good with great service. They are used to having tons of travelers stop in though as I can tell. We fasted on fresh bay shrimp side salad and a cup of clam chowder. The chowder yesterday at Silver Salmon was better. Not enough potatoes, the clams were good but the soup itself was not the correct consistency for me plus no offer for fresh cracked pepper was a bit of a let down. The salads was fresh leaves of green iceburg, romaine, cherry tomatoes, red onions and carrots topped with a healthy helping of sweet tiny pink bay shrimps served with a tiny thimble sized amount of thick ranch dressing. I was torn between two dishes and got the three cheese creamy sweet pepper pasta studded wtth salmon, scallops and shrimp topped off with two big pieces of garlic bread. My brother got the Halibut Oscar which he enjoyed . I think a hollandaise like sauce tinged with asparagus with a big piece of halibut with some crab. I liked my pasta a bit better. The decor was simple but typical waterfront establishment with an older crowd appeal. It was a busy and bustling place. The prices were very reasonable though.
After we head off, we are starting to face a period of rain in intervals while we head to Reedsport before heading on Rte 138 back inland to Roseburg (we want to head to Crater Lake National Park the next day). Within an hour we near Florence which has some nice vistas before you head over there after driving through a number of small seaside towns. We are recommended to check out the Sea Lion Caves but by the time we pass that area there is too heavy of a rain storm we bypass this local attraction. Making good time, we hit Reedsport and we get more gas. One of the good tips we got was to make sure you have a full tank of gas. There were truly many areas of this trip with virtually no one is around you and if you break down or have no gas (good luck) but surprisingly good radio signals to my disbelief. We gun it to Roseburg in good time in less than hour and half (than the two and half hours we thought we would need).
Once in Roseburg, we went to the local Roseburg Valley Mall, very small and I would not call it a mall. It is in the shape of a T with the big stores being Macys, Sears, Waldenbooks, Rite Aid and some smaller stores. Nearby you have a big Walmart and Safeway with tons of restaurants--Applebees, Pizza and other great American Chain restaurants. We decide to do another early night at the MOTEL 8 right off I5. We are told to double check if the Crater Lake National Park entrance is closed. Per our hotel receptionist's advice, we find out the entrance we want to use is closed until July.
We decide to take the Rte 138 scenic route to Diamond Lake and see some Falls and head back (I notice the map denotes plenty of waterfalls. Day Four--we grab some muffins which is part of the free breakfast. The morning starts out cold, black and rainy. The one time I do not open the map, we waste 20 minutes of driving going the wrong direction. After correcting this error (thanks bro for being patient) we head over to Rte 138 off of I5 exit 124. We decide to drive one hour in and then turn around since we are not heading to Diamond Lake. We are near the North Umpqua River and driving along it. We hit as high elevation as 3,500 feet. There was alot of snow and the snow drifts were pretty high. Alot of signs were alerting us to have chains and snow tires (both with which we did not have). Based on the local radio we were listening, on April 1 locals will have to discard their studded snow tires or get a $145 fine per offense. This area is considered beautiful and scenic. The majestic tall trees, windy roads and beautiful vistas are great. There are a number of waterfalls, but you must drive in and hike to seem them. My brother and I decide to turn back after an hour of driving and hit the Watson Falls (.4 to see it uphill ascend one way). Gosh I was huffing and puffing and at 3,500 FT and more maybe that is why I was feeling this way. Truth be told, I am not being honest with myself, I need a bit more cardio than what I have been having of late. At the next one we catch, we stop at Toketee Falls and there is another (.4 one way ascent). I almost slip twice on both hikes. EEKS I have to be careful at least I did not sprain my ankle. There is a cool write up on a free "hot springs" nearby but you need to hike a bit at 3.5 miles. You can take a free dip in it. My friend David (a nature aficionado) recommended it but my brother and I nixed it in favor of making back to Tacoma a decent time instead. My brother relinquished the car seat to moi to drive for an hour. The road was empty for the occasional car driving on the other side. I enjoyed the many turns and curves I had to endure before we hit I5 and I gave the driving wheel back to him. It was fun while it lasted.
From Roseburg to Eugene it took only an hour. The only place mentioned in the tourist info was the University of Oregon at Eugene was their art museum---Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. It had a great Asian art collection for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I was more amazed with the Korean and Chinese stuff. I go to see things I have never seen before (I have been to Beijing, Tokyo and other famous museums too). One was the formal gowns of the military, Daoist priests, the various learned literati and government officials badges, great examples of textiles and some ceramics. Very lovely indeed! The Korean exhibit I am used to seeing many celadon pieces but none was found here. I caught some great pieces of scenery paintings, screens that I enjoyed and never seen before. Small in size, alot of great art packed in a tiny place.
There is an adorable courtyard and admission is only $5. We ask for a recommendation for a quick bite. First we have to weather a surprise passing rain storm. We choose HODGEPODGE on 13th Street adjacent to the campus. We get the HodgePodge wrap with pork, chicken and cheese with two sauces lettuce served with a very dry bland slaw and two tiny pieces of banana bread. For $5.75 it was alot of food and we wanted to save our stomachs for a bigger and better cause. By this time, we head within an hour to Portland and hit crazy traffic. The local radio station is talking about road rage. I find it interesting being from the Northeast. The DJ's were grumbling about how people who drive BELOW the speed limit are on the left lane. Or too many people not sure where they should go are in the speed lane stalling the traffic up. We had a good chuckle over it. It is not unheard of with drivers driving speed limit on the speed lane. I try to find the American Advertising Museum to no avail and I call the number associated with it and it turns out to be a car dealership. I am figuring it is no more????
Luckily all is not lost. I did some research to check out Pix Pâtisserie a local institution (3402 SE Division Street -503-232-24407) where the owner trained under a skilled baker in France. Oh La La! The reviews I read were spot on the size of the pastries are astronomical in proportion to the small portions you get. I guess European portions with big American prices. But the quality was great and the pastries were delectable in appearance. I had to restrain myself from devouring everything and I tried the mini glass of the berry, curry and one more meringue cookies. Let's just say I dropped a pretty penny for my pastries obssession. Culled from the website: www.pixpatisserie.com ========================================================
Amélie ~ Winner of the Patis France Chocolate Competition! Orange vanilla crème brulée sits atop a glazed chocolate mousse with caramelized hazelnuts, praline crisp, and Cointreau genoise.
Pear Rosemary ~ Pix's new favorite! Cashew cream and roasted pears baked into a pâté sucrée and covered with a milk chocolate / rosemary (yes, I said ROSEMARY!) ganache! It would be a sad thing if you failed to experience this combination.
Goûtez! Tart Ménage á Trois ~ Almond cream, chocolate ganache, and orange vanilla bean crème brulée all pile into a buttery tart shell. Oooo-la-la!!
St. Honoré ~ One could find this gâteau in 1840 in France. 163 years later you can find it in Portland. Puff pastry, caramelized cream puffs, Grand Marnier pastry cream and vanilla bean crème chantilly...Oui! Oui!
Chocolate Drenched Drunken Cherries ~ The House specialty! These bad boys have been bathing in Kirsch since June! They then take a dip in fondant and finish with bittersweet chocolate. (I got two of these and they were divine!)
Pastry chef, Cheryl Wakerhauser (a.k.a. Pix), is known for her devotion to sweets and her distinctive style that magically intertwines tastes and textures. After a short-lived career studying to be an astronaut, she trained at the pâtisserie of MOF Philippe Urraca in France. Pix Pâtisserie brings European flare and innovative edible art to Portland with an assortment of elegant pastries and handmade chocolates.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The kind gal at the counter gave me great samples of the habenero chili and lavender ice creams. Both were great! The chili had a spice to it but the lavender did offset the spice. We ended our trip deciding to have a nice dinner. We started the trip with Korean food (I made some before he headed to Portland with some side dishes). We headed to Nob Hill in Portland which is a cute but more upscale area with tons of stores that include Kiehls, Levis with a variety of artsy and craftsy shops. There we ate at BeWon (more to come about this place later) and ended this road trip with a lovely Korean meal.
From there, we were stuck in traffic for half an hour trying to get out of Portland. Once past the border (now being 7pm) I guessed it would take us up until 9:30 or at the latest 10pm as it was a good 138 miles to Tacoma. At this point onwards, we had the worst weather yet we encountered (the weather I had feared about) on this road trip. The heavy rains with the big fat drops and backlash of puddles from the car in front of us with the lack of lighting on the highways did not help in matters. But fortunately we got back safe and sound in one piece.
I discovered alot between my brother and myself. We worked well as a team and we capitalized on our strengths, learned more about our tolerance levels and got along (first time since we both left home). Overall it strengthened our relationship and garnered a deeper respect we had for each other.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Pacific Northwest (Part two continued)
Pacific Northwest (Part two continued)
Continuing on hanging out in Seattle, I did the requisite visit to Pike's Market Place. I do now know why, but I have to visit that place. Maybe it is the flowers, plethora of local goods, crafts and abundance of seafood but I am happy when I walk through that place. I did venture to take a pic the original Starbucks that started it all (nearby).
Thanks to Felicia, she was a great fashion consultant. She had me try on alot of stuff but funny thing, I ended up buying the one thing as a fluke (given to me last minute). So I got something for all her GREAT efforts. Thanks babe!
Dinner was WILDFISH in Belltown with Nancy (a transplanted friend I met in Boston but hails originally from the left coast anyways). She kindly came out despite having tons of fun the night before (could not make it out due to a LONG day traveling to Vancouver and back). I always loved her energy. She has a great knack of making people feel at ease, great planner, model and knows ALOT of people. Plus she is a great athlete and has a big heart, but alas she is married to a lucky guy. It was good to reconnect and chat on how TIME has FLOWN. I recall when we worked on the NATIONAL convention for NAAAP in Boston a few years ago. Was it a few years ago? WOW! You are the hostest with the mostest and I appreciate your generosity dear and for meeting up with moi.
Wildfish Restaurant taste was good. But I admit the sushi rolls (especially the specialty stuff) feel apart though the fixings and ideas were great. The seaweed salad was ok nothing spectacular. The Spider Roll (soft shell crab) was decent. I must admit I ADORE the one made by Fugakyu (with the spicy mayo). The nigiri pieces we got were big and fresh--but at $2 a pop. Service was good (then again it was a Sunday night).
Per what my friend Felicia said, there are no "wow" places for food in Seattle. There alot of "ok" or rather you go in not expecting much. She says the baseline of the places in Boston is higher. I guess I am SPOILED and after eating out I can see that (granted at a limited places).
Then came research (further) for the Oregon Coast and Portland road trip. I am a bit nervous as it is the first time to do this with my brother. In the flip side, I think we can explore these places together, get our travel styles in check but also chat as we are different people who only grew up in the same house. But since graduation from school we have not had a chance to spend too much time together.
We made it to Portland in two hours from Tacoma. It is a nice day and we have a gelato from MIO GELATO in Pearl Town (area). It is good but not as GOOD as the ones I got in Italy. (Or is it only in my mind?)
We find our accommodations, I am fan of hostels if I can use them. We go to the Pacific Northwest on on NW Glisan near Portland's Nob HIll area. It is all right, utilitarian and has what we need. The private room was booked but we got a side room with bunk beds (no door but curtains) and lockers. Since we are not Youth Hostel members and needed linens it ran us both $47 for the night.
We headed to the small old town and Chinatown to the Chinese Garden there. It is based on the Suzhou style gardens and it is lovely. After having gone to the actual gardens in Shanghai (I did not have a chance to go to Suzhou) I enjoyed this bit of paradise. The entrance is $7 plus $2 if you want to use a head phone (approximately 50 minutes in length). I end up taking many photos and just enjoying the scenery from the waterfall, scholars garden, rocks and tea house to name a few.
From there, we head to Washington Park to the Japanese Garden (more northwest) and we get there in good time. The Japanese garden is $8 to get in and a bit of a hike up to the entrance (not long at all about 500 ft). There are 7 kinds of Japanese gardens within this compound with the zen stone gardens and other types. We really enjoyed the variety of styles and seeing the waterfalls, small pools of water and just absorbing the atmosphere. It is a definitely bigger garden than the one in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (though that one is more ornate, smaller and one style). Little tidbit, I found out recently that it was used in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" and that Felicia's brother was an extra in the movie! Isn't that cool?
Finally, we cap it off with a visit to the Portland Art Museum (fifth largest in the nation but premier one in the Northwest per the ads I read). It is comprised of two buildings and not far from downtown. Too bad the Artists of Brescia exhibit starts in April (I did take a photo with the sign) as I have visited Brescia and wanted to send it to my friend in Italy. There are two buildings for the art museum, one housing Native American Art, Asian Art while the later has African, Contemporary, Glass and Modern Art. There are some gems to be found at this museum.
Now it is about 5pm and we head over to a local institution JAKES for their happy hour. This place is known for their seafood and their walls are lined with framed photos and you can tell there is lots of history in this place. But to take advantage of the happy hour, we are relegated to the bar area which is packed. So we sit in SIBERIA facing the window away from the bar area. I read that their menu has great prices from $1.95, $2.95 and $3.95 appetizer choices until 6pm . I decide to have the raspberry margarita (yummy). My brother sticks with OJ as he is the designated drive. Our apps take forever (we are starving after I politely ask after 20 minutes about the food) and we finally get them. We nosh on the seared tuna Asian style roll---there are little pieces of seared tuna wrapped in tons of rice battered dipped and friend with wasabi, gari (pickled ginger) and soy sauce (taste factor --rice is too overpowering). Then we have the shrimp won tons with two types of dipping sauce (see crab rangoon with shrimp---though how in the heck this food is called crab rangoon when there is no actual crab in this food item). The salmon cakes were good and I enjoyed them alot. The shrimp etouffe seemed to be more of a fish etouffee with scoop of rice in the middle and a rich gravy and fish surrounding the scoop of rice. I am no expert on this dish, but it tasted more gravy heavy than anything.
It is getting late and since we do not want to head back to the hostel yet, we go to Oregon's biggest mall--Lloyd Center. It has its own skating rink (a la the mall in Houston or one in Tai Koo Shing in Hong Kong). But this mall is not up to these other malls standards. Oregon rocks in one thing--no TAX. I check out alot of cute shops not in Boston---Forever 21, Papaya and others. Ross and Marshalls garnered me some purchases as well as Ritz photo (for much needed film). My brother and I also got a much needed map of the Oregon Coast (with some insets of the smaller coastal towns too). We are good to go.
We start off for the Coast at 8am and depart Portland for Astoria. It takes us two hours. It is very cloudy and cool. By the time we get out of boring route 38, it is finally sunny at Astoria. We hit the famed site Astoria Column. Lewis and Clark ended their expedition in the Oregon Coast. There are many places that tell you about them and some other sites. I wanted to go to Fort Clapsop but I heard the log cabin had a fire earlier this year or last. So it was not somewhere we could see anything. We climbed the 188 or so steps to the top. We had a great view of the town and water and surrounding area.
After getting some advice, we decide to lunch at the Silver Salmon in town on 12th and Commercial Streets. After reading my stuff, I know seafood is what we should get. We order the crab cakes, clam chowder and some entrees. The crab cakes for $11.95 were a bargain for three lumpy crab cakes with minimal amounts of bread crumbs cooked to golden brown hue and YUMMY with a nice sauce. Clam chowder was not bad, not too creamy, had the option of fresh ground pepper but I adored the nice firm bits of clam and potato. I got the pan friend oysters with potato pancake (mashed potato sandwich if you will). My brother got the special, halibut stuffed with crab meat. The fish was a bit dry. (Why is it that fish is hit and miss at western restaurants???)
Onward to Seaside (only 8 miles away) and Cannon Beach another 7 miles from Seaside) further south on the Route 101. At Cannon Beach, we walk to the famous Haystack Rock is here I heard that my friend had seen some sea lions. I did not unfortunately. Lots of people were out biking on the beach, building sand castles and just enjoying themselves. The heavy waves are crashing so nobody is swimming at all. The small town is quaint. I am from the Cape (Cape Cod) so small seaside towns only take so much interest in my radar to be honest. I laughed passing by signs saying "New England style" this or that.
Then we head back North to Seaside, walk down the promenade we read about. It is not that big and the main area took us about 20 minutes tops. The sun has been making this day to be gorgeous (the original forecast was to be rain). The women at the Chamber of Commerce were sweet, informative and helpful in terms of figuring out what we wanted to do for the next two days of traveling in Oregon. We take a photo with a statue of Lewis and Clark (marking the end of their expedition). Then go to the outlet off of rte 101 with 25 shops. I decide to get something for my sister and I. I refrained from further purchases. Also, I gave in and had some ice cream. I think I have ice cream or some form of it each day on this road trip. Gotta have it!
Back at Seaside, we stay at the sister hostel for the one at Portland. This place we get a private room. Our receptionist Kimmie is very sweet and knowledgeable. The room is clean, got a desk, clock radio, towels, linens. Internet is the same here as in Portland 15 minutes costs a dollar. Both have kitchen privileges and the common rooms are cute.
According to the tour guides, the typical tourist goes to the Oregon coast and only sees the northern part---Astoria, Seaside and Cannon Beach. The most picturesque I heard is the southernmost party by California (we did not do it) but we did Northern to Central to Reedsport. In the summer, the two lanes route is backed up (I cannot imagine and it must be hellish, glad it is off season now!) See some people walking about, I forget it is spring break for some people.
We check out the tiny carousel mall which does house a carousel. There is an area with video games, bumper cars if that suits your fancy. Seaside actually advertises this downtown promenade area as Coney Island like. (Then again I have never been to Coney Island so I do not know if this reference is true).
Continuing on hanging out in Seattle, I did the requisite visit to Pike's Market Place. I do now know why, but I have to visit that place. Maybe it is the flowers, plethora of local goods, crafts and abundance of seafood but I am happy when I walk through that place. I did venture to take a pic the original Starbucks that started it all (nearby).
Thanks to Felicia, she was a great fashion consultant. She had me try on alot of stuff but funny thing, I ended up buying the one thing as a fluke (given to me last minute). So I got something for all her GREAT efforts. Thanks babe!
Dinner was WILDFISH in Belltown with Nancy (a transplanted friend I met in Boston but hails originally from the left coast anyways). She kindly came out despite having tons of fun the night before (could not make it out due to a LONG day traveling to Vancouver and back). I always loved her energy. She has a great knack of making people feel at ease, great planner, model and knows ALOT of people. Plus she is a great athlete and has a big heart, but alas she is married to a lucky guy. It was good to reconnect and chat on how TIME has FLOWN. I recall when we worked on the NATIONAL convention for NAAAP in Boston a few years ago. Was it a few years ago? WOW! You are the hostest with the mostest and I appreciate your generosity dear and for meeting up with moi.
Wildfish Restaurant taste was good. But I admit the sushi rolls (especially the specialty stuff) feel apart though the fixings and ideas were great. The seaweed salad was ok nothing spectacular. The Spider Roll (soft shell crab) was decent. I must admit I ADORE the one made by Fugakyu (with the spicy mayo). The nigiri pieces we got were big and fresh--but at $2 a pop. Service was good (then again it was a Sunday night).
Per what my friend Felicia said, there are no "wow" places for food in Seattle. There alot of "ok" or rather you go in not expecting much. She says the baseline of the places in Boston is higher. I guess I am SPOILED and after eating out I can see that (granted at a limited places).
Then came research (further) for the Oregon Coast and Portland road trip. I am a bit nervous as it is the first time to do this with my brother. In the flip side, I think we can explore these places together, get our travel styles in check but also chat as we are different people who only grew up in the same house. But since graduation from school we have not had a chance to spend too much time together.
We made it to Portland in two hours from Tacoma. It is a nice day and we have a gelato from MIO GELATO in Pearl Town (area). It is good but not as GOOD as the ones I got in Italy. (Or is it only in my mind?)
We find our accommodations, I am fan of hostels if I can use them. We go to the Pacific Northwest on on NW Glisan near Portland's Nob HIll area. It is all right, utilitarian and has what we need. The private room was booked but we got a side room with bunk beds (no door but curtains) and lockers. Since we are not Youth Hostel members and needed linens it ran us both $47 for the night.
We headed to the small old town and Chinatown to the Chinese Garden there. It is based on the Suzhou style gardens and it is lovely. After having gone to the actual gardens in Shanghai (I did not have a chance to go to Suzhou) I enjoyed this bit of paradise. The entrance is $7 plus $2 if you want to use a head phone (approximately 50 minutes in length). I end up taking many photos and just enjoying the scenery from the waterfall, scholars garden, rocks and tea house to name a few.
From there, we head to Washington Park to the Japanese Garden (more northwest) and we get there in good time. The Japanese garden is $8 to get in and a bit of a hike up to the entrance (not long at all about 500 ft). There are 7 kinds of Japanese gardens within this compound with the zen stone gardens and other types. We really enjoyed the variety of styles and seeing the waterfalls, small pools of water and just absorbing the atmosphere. It is a definitely bigger garden than the one in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (though that one is more ornate, smaller and one style). Little tidbit, I found out recently that it was used in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" and that Felicia's brother was an extra in the movie! Isn't that cool?
Finally, we cap it off with a visit to the Portland Art Museum (fifth largest in the nation but premier one in the Northwest per the ads I read). It is comprised of two buildings and not far from downtown. Too bad the Artists of Brescia exhibit starts in April (I did take a photo with the sign) as I have visited Brescia and wanted to send it to my friend in Italy. There are two buildings for the art museum, one housing Native American Art, Asian Art while the later has African, Contemporary, Glass and Modern Art. There are some gems to be found at this museum.
Now it is about 5pm and we head over to a local institution JAKES for their happy hour. This place is known for their seafood and their walls are lined with framed photos and you can tell there is lots of history in this place. But to take advantage of the happy hour, we are relegated to the bar area which is packed. So we sit in SIBERIA facing the window away from the bar area. I read that their menu has great prices from $1.95, $2.95 and $3.95 appetizer choices until 6pm . I decide to have the raspberry margarita (yummy). My brother sticks with OJ as he is the designated drive. Our apps take forever (we are starving after I politely ask after 20 minutes about the food) and we finally get them. We nosh on the seared tuna Asian style roll---there are little pieces of seared tuna wrapped in tons of rice battered dipped and friend with wasabi, gari (pickled ginger) and soy sauce (taste factor --rice is too overpowering). Then we have the shrimp won tons with two types of dipping sauce (see crab rangoon with shrimp---though how in the heck this food is called crab rangoon when there is no actual crab in this food item). The salmon cakes were good and I enjoyed them alot. The shrimp etouffe seemed to be more of a fish etouffee with scoop of rice in the middle and a rich gravy and fish surrounding the scoop of rice. I am no expert on this dish, but it tasted more gravy heavy than anything.
It is getting late and since we do not want to head back to the hostel yet, we go to Oregon's biggest mall--Lloyd Center. It has its own skating rink (a la the mall in Houston or one in Tai Koo Shing in Hong Kong). But this mall is not up to these other malls standards. Oregon rocks in one thing--no TAX. I check out alot of cute shops not in Boston---Forever 21, Papaya and others. Ross and Marshalls garnered me some purchases as well as Ritz photo (for much needed film). My brother and I also got a much needed map of the Oregon Coast (with some insets of the smaller coastal towns too). We are good to go.
We start off for the Coast at 8am and depart Portland for Astoria. It takes us two hours. It is very cloudy and cool. By the time we get out of boring route 38, it is finally sunny at Astoria. We hit the famed site Astoria Column. Lewis and Clark ended their expedition in the Oregon Coast. There are many places that tell you about them and some other sites. I wanted to go to Fort Clapsop but I heard the log cabin had a fire earlier this year or last. So it was not somewhere we could see anything. We climbed the 188 or so steps to the top. We had a great view of the town and water and surrounding area.
After getting some advice, we decide to lunch at the Silver Salmon in town on 12th and Commercial Streets. After reading my stuff, I know seafood is what we should get. We order the crab cakes, clam chowder and some entrees. The crab cakes for $11.95 were a bargain for three lumpy crab cakes with minimal amounts of bread crumbs cooked to golden brown hue and YUMMY with a nice sauce. Clam chowder was not bad, not too creamy, had the option of fresh ground pepper but I adored the nice firm bits of clam and potato. I got the pan friend oysters with potato pancake (mashed potato sandwich if you will). My brother got the special, halibut stuffed with crab meat. The fish was a bit dry. (Why is it that fish is hit and miss at western restaurants???)
Onward to Seaside (only 8 miles away) and Cannon Beach another 7 miles from Seaside) further south on the Route 101. At Cannon Beach, we walk to the famous Haystack Rock is here I heard that my friend had seen some sea lions. I did not unfortunately. Lots of people were out biking on the beach, building sand castles and just enjoying themselves. The heavy waves are crashing so nobody is swimming at all. The small town is quaint. I am from the Cape (Cape Cod) so small seaside towns only take so much interest in my radar to be honest. I laughed passing by signs saying "New England style" this or that.
Then we head back North to Seaside, walk down the promenade we read about. It is not that big and the main area took us about 20 minutes tops. The sun has been making this day to be gorgeous (the original forecast was to be rain). The women at the Chamber of Commerce were sweet, informative and helpful in terms of figuring out what we wanted to do for the next two days of traveling in Oregon. We take a photo with a statue of Lewis and Clark (marking the end of their expedition). Then go to the outlet off of rte 101 with 25 shops. I decide to get something for my sister and I. I refrained from further purchases. Also, I gave in and had some ice cream. I think I have ice cream or some form of it each day on this road trip. Gotta have it!
Back at Seaside, we stay at the sister hostel for the one at Portland. This place we get a private room. Our receptionist Kimmie is very sweet and knowledgeable. The room is clean, got a desk, clock radio, towels, linens. Internet is the same here as in Portland 15 minutes costs a dollar. Both have kitchen privileges and the common rooms are cute.
According to the tour guides, the typical tourist goes to the Oregon coast and only sees the northern part---Astoria, Seaside and Cannon Beach. The most picturesque I heard is the southernmost party by California (we did not do it) but we did Northern to Central to Reedsport. In the summer, the two lanes route is backed up (I cannot imagine and it must be hellish, glad it is off season now!) See some people walking about, I forget it is spring break for some people.
We check out the tiny carousel mall which does house a carousel. There is an area with video games, bumper cars if that suits your fancy. Seaside actually advertises this downtown promenade area as Coney Island like. (Then again I have never been to Coney Island so I do not know if this reference is true).
Pacific Northwest --End of March /early April 2006
Currently I am in the Pacific Northwest visiting my dear brother who is living in Tacoma. I must admit actually in Parkland area (not far though from Tacoma proper about 10-15 minutes depending on Interstate5 traffic.
I adore the lush tall green trees that line the highway but I notice people do not really drive fast here. All drive the same speed for all lanes. You have to be careful which lane you are in as some exits the whole two lanes are split up (my brother and I found that out too late when behind a big truck).
Tacoma is a port city, save for the Tacoma Dome and two art museums--the Glass and the Art Museums, there is not much going on there (in comparison to nearby Seattle (a good 40-60 minutes away depending upon traffic). I found out from my brother there is a big Korean contingent in the area. There are some superb Korean supermarkets nearby (I wish we had in Boston).
As I went into the Korean market, I ogled the great rows of frozen thinly sliced up short ribs (kalbi), tons of prepared side dishes, Asian veggies and fruits, marinades, sauces and other snacks I was in heaven. Since we went there for a quick snack, we grabbed the pollack dipped into egg and bulgoki kim bop (yummy--mashiso). My brother and I enjoyed the pizza flavored snacks or the new "light" flavored BBQ flavor (a far cry American BBQ flavor--so subtle that I would not associate it with BBQ flavor at all.
Over the weekend I met up with my good friend Felicia. I had a great time bonding on many issues with her. It is great to have great conversations with her. She and her boyfriend Nien were great hosts.
First we stopped by Felicia's place of work CRANIUM. Very cool place. Dinner we grabbed in the University District at Thai Tom (4543 University Way Seattle-206-548-9548). This place is a small hole in the wall that seats 15 people. Those who are on the hot seat (bar like area in front of the cooks) two guys masterfully handling four pans on an oven creating culinary magic. Be careful on how spicy you want your stuff, medium is pretty hot (unlike Thai places in Boston). Their pad thai is AMBROSIA for the gods! At only $6 a steal and delight for the senses given a scoop of rice, the thin needles are riddled with flavor and I love the crispy bits found from the cooking pan. To die for and the sauteed chicken with Chinese egg plant was superb as well. On a Friday night, our wait was minimal for only 10 minutes (usually it is about 30-1 hour) but it is WORTH the wait. To be more efficient, they give you a menu (while you are waiting outside) and you order when outside before you are even seated.
Saturday,we did a day trip to Vancouver. (They usually go in the summer). We did the truck route at the border (to avoid the 25 minute wait). The wait was not too bad for a Saturday morning and the weather ended up sunny and nice (not bad as the forecast had included rain). All of use were told to talk to border patrol. We showed our passports, had to exit our car, be searched, asked about our relationship to each other, why we were going to Canada (for the dim sum in Richmond---which is SUPERIOR to Seattle's) and for how long. We saw another three car loads of Asians disembarking as well. Very interesting.
The whole process was quick not even 20 minutes and we were on our way. We started out in Richmond on the main drag--No 3 Road. This road is where all the many Hong Kong restaurants/shops and malls are located. Many more sprouted up since my last visit back in 2002 with my mom and brother. Based on some on line research I wanted to go to Shiang Garden. Seems like a ritzy chi chi place as we enter seeing many chandeliers and all the chairs are covered in fabric. No regular dim sum push carts are to be seen. We are told to write down our order on a scan sheet with pencil. For those who do not read/write Chinese, ordering is problematic. Luckily I can hold my own (the accompanying small menu has English translation---which would be good to have on the order sheet too--HINT HINT). After waiting 30 minutes and noticing others who came later were served before us. I asked the waiter where our food was as I was famished. One orange at 7am (that time being 1pm) did not help matters with my frustration. The waiter said the food takes time. Then after a few more moments I asked again. Turns out I my order did not get processed. I gave it to someone wearing a suit jacked. We decided to leave. Not impressed at all. The assistant general manager personally apologized, asked who took the form and wanted that person to apologize. Then he said he would make sure the kitchen would get our order. Since everything is cooked to order, it would take a long time. We just left. We had ordered a bowl of hot and sour soup (after the alleged ordering of dim sum) and that came and went. So we were told our soup was on them. They hoped we would come again.
I really wanted to try this place but the principle of the situation led me to leave and go to a fave---Sun Siu Wah Restaurant. Here we had to wait for 15 minutes, by this time it is the height of dim sum attendance. When we were finally seated, we got to eat reasonably well with the carts coming by. Occasionally we asked the waiter for help. I must admit, the variety was not as much or good as the location outside of Chinatown in Vancouver (from my memory of four years ago). The pan friend dumplings were excellent--my friends recommended it. The staples of siu mai, har gao, chang fun are good. Overall an enjoyable meal and much cheaper than Shiang Garden would have been.
Off to the nearby Buddhist Temple in Richmond, it is big compound. The outdoor area has a pond, tons of gleaming gold and red. I was impressed of the size of the temple.
Then off to Vancouver proper to Robson Street (the shopping street in Vancouver---a la Newbury Street in Boston). My friends had to go to Jacobs, Esprit and of course the Spanish store Zara (I adore their stuff too but the closest ones for me are in NYC and Philly). The line to try out stuff was very long.
Then we headed to Granville Island (not really an Island) and visited the "biggest North American Public Market" according to some of its advertisements. Lots of cool fruits/veggies, gourmet foods and crafts. Then surrounding the main market area are craft shops galore. Very cute place indeed to spend an hour or two. There are cute ferry buses you can take to go to the Aquarium or over to Vancouver city.
Then we head back over to the city to Chinatown to get a snack of baked goods. This one bakery (takes US dollars too) had good chicken bao (white steamed chicken buns) and a steamed sponge cake only set us back a little. It satisfied our small hunger pangs.
Off back to the USA, by this time it is 6:45 and before the border we are stuck waiting in line for an hour. But the sign before hitting the line did not say how long the wait was, it only listed "N/A" which now we surmise as "not available" as opposed to "not applicable".
At the end of a long day, we got back late. Grabbed some burritos to nosh on (must say not the best but boy were they big).
This morning, went to for brunch in Capitol Hill at Julias. Cute place decorated with posters of Moulin Rouge (later I am told that the posters change with different movies during different weeks.). My brother got the healthy egg whites with turkey sausage, black beans and honey wheat toast, I got the lemon poppy seed buckwheat pancakes (big stack--three huge plate size pieces) and a side of fruit. The side of fruit at $6.95 was not a bargain. Got 4 slivers of grape fruit and 2 of orange, some pieces of banana, tiny center bowl filled with 5 chunks of honeydew and pineapple chunks, four grapes not worth the price. The $2.95 small fresh squeezed orange juice was good.
The pancakes are not bad. My brothers eggs was ok and over all the food was not bad but not great. I adore the brunches in Boston more. Zaftigs (around the Coolidge Corner area on Harvard Street in Boston) can teach a thing or two at this place. Plus the menu had some interesting offerings (substitution of tofu for egg possible etc).
To walk off our big brunch meal (the portions were big, our server was nice but the taste was mediocre at best) we head to Jimmy Hendrix's statue. Though he had not lived in the Capitol Hill area.
Later on, we head to the downtown area again, I want to check out the pretty new dutch designed Central Public Library, Pikes Market Place and do some window shopping.
Continuing on hanging out in Seattle, I did the requisite visit to Pike's Market Place. I do now know why, but I have to visit that place. Maybe it is the flowers, plethora of local goods, crafts and abundance of seafood but I am happy when I walk through that place. I did venture to take a pic the original Starbucks that started it all (nearby). Thanks to Felicia, she was a great fashion consultant. She had me try on alot of stuff but funny thing, I ended up buying the one thing as a fluke (given to me last minute). So I got something for all her GREAT efforts. Thanks babe! Dinner was WILDFISH in Belltown with Nancy (a transplanted friend I met in Boston but hails originally from the left coast anyways). She kindly came out despite having tons of fun the night before (could not make it out due to a LONG day traveling to Vancouver and back). I always loved her energy. She has a great knack of making people feel at ease, great planner, model and knows ALOT of people. Plus she is a great athlete and has a big heart, but alas she is married to a lucky guy. It was good to reconnect and chat on how TIME has FLOWN. I recall when we worked on the NATIONAL convention for NAAAP in Boston a few years ago. Was it a few years ago? WOW! You are the hostest with the mostest and I appreciate your generosity dear and for meeting up with moi. Wildfish Restaurant taste was good. But I admit the sushi rolls (especially the specialty stuff) feel apart though the fixings and ideas were great. The seaweed salad was ok nothing spectacular. The Spider Roll (soft shell crab) was decent. I must admit I ADORE the one made by Fugakyu (with the spicy mayo). The nigiri pieces we got were big and fresh--but at $2 a pop. Service was good (then again it was a Sunday night). Per what my friend Felicia said, there are no "wow" places for food in Seattle. There alot of "ok" or rather you go in not expecting much. She says the baseline of the places in Boston is higher. I guess I am SPOILED and after eating out I can see that (granted at a limited places).
Then came research (further) for the Oregon Coast and Portland road trip. I am a bit nervous as it is the first time to do this with my brother. In the flip side, I think we can explore these places together, get our travel styles in check but also chat as we are different people who only grew up in the same house. But since graduation from school we have not had a chance to spend too much time together. We made it to Portland in two hours from Tacoma. It is a nice day and we have a gelato from MIO GELATO in Pearl Town (area). It is good but not as GOOD as the ones I got in Italy. (Or is it only in my mind, I think so). The one unique flavor not to be had in Italy is walnut (very good actually). We find our accommodations, I am fan of hostels if I can use them. We go to the Pacific Northwest on on NW Glisan near Portland's Nob Hill area. It is all right, utilitarian and has what we need. The private room was booked but we got a side room with bunk beds (no door but curtains) and lockers. Since we are not Youth Hostel members and needed linens it ran us both $47 for the night. We headed to the small old town and Chinatown to the Chinese Garden there. It is based on the Suzhou style gardens and it is lovely. After having gone to the actual gardens in Shanghai (I did not have a chance to go to Suzhou) I enjoyed this bit of paradise. The entrance is $7 plus $2 if you want to use a head phone (approximately 50 minutes in length). I end up taking many photos and just enjoying the scenery from the waterfall, scholars garden, rocks and tea house to name a few. From there, we head to Washington Park to the Japanese Garden (more northwest) and we get there in good time. The Japanese garden is $8 to get in and a bit of a hike up to the entrance (not long at all about 500 ft). There are 7 kinds of Japanese gardens within this compound with the zen stone gardens and other types. We really enjoyed the variety of styles and seeing the waterfalls, small pools of water and just absorbing the atmosphere. It is a definitely bigger garden than the one in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (though that one is more ornate, smaller and one style). Little tidbit, I found out recently that it was used in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" and that Felicia's brother was an extra in the movie! Isn't that cool?
Finally, we cap it off with a visit to the Portland Art Museum (fifth largest in the nation but premier one in the Northwest per the ads I read). It is comprised of two buildings and not far from downtown. Too bad the Artists of Brescia exhibit starts in April (I did take a photo with the sign) as I have visited Brescia and wanted to send it to my friend in Italy. There are two buildings for the art museum, one housing Native American Art, Asian Art while the later has African, Contemporary, Glass and Modern Art. There are some gems to be found at this museum. Now it is about 5pm and we head over to a local institution JAKES for their happy hour. This place is known for their seafood and their walls are lined with framed photos and you can tell there is lots of history in this place. But to take advantage of the happy hour, we are relegated to the bar area which is packed. So we sit in SIBERIA facing the window away from the bar area. I read that their menu has great prices from $1.95, $2.95 and $3.95 appetizer choices until 6pm . I decide to have the raspberry margarita (yummy). My brother sticks with OJ as he is the designated drive. Our apps take forever (we are starving after I politely ask after 20 minutes about the food) and we finally get them. We nosh on the seared tuna Asian style roll---there are little pieces of seared tuna wrapped in tons of rice battered dipped and friend with wasabi, gari (pickled ginger) and soy sauce (taste factor --rice is too overpowering). Then we have the shrimp won tons with two types of dipping sauce (see crab rangoon with shrimp---though how in the heck this food is called crab rangoon when there is no actual crab in this food item). The salmon cakes were good and I enjoyed them alot. The shrimp etouffe seemed to be more of a fish etouffee with scoop of rice in the middle and a rich gravy and fish surrounding the scoop of rice. I am no expert on this dish, but it tasted more gravy heavy than anything.
It is getting late and since we do not want to head back to the hostel yet, we go to Oregon's biggest mall--Lloyd Center. It has its own skating rink (a la the mall in Houston or one in Tai Koo Shing in Hong Kong). But this mall is not up to these other malls standards. Oregon rocks in one thing--no TAX. I check out alot of cute shops not in Boston---Forever 21, Papaya and others. ROSS and Marshalls garnered me some purchases as well as Ritz Photo (for much needed film). My brother and I also got a much needed map of the Oregon Coast (with some insets of the smaller coastal towns too). We are good to go.
The next morning, we start off for the Coast at 8am and depart Portland for Astoria. It takes us two hours. It is very cloudy and cool. By the time we get out of boring route 38, it is finally sunny at Astoria. We hit the famed site Astoria Column. Lewis and Clark ended their expedition in the Oregon Coast. There are many places that tell you about them and some other sites. I wanted to go to Fort Clapsop but I heard the log cabin had a fire earlier this year or last. So it was not somewhere we could see anything. We climbed the 188 or so steps to the top. We had a great view of the town and water and surrounding area. After getting some advice, we decide to lunch at the Silver Salmon in town on 12th and Commercial Streets. After reading my stuff, I know seafood is what we should get. We order the crab cakes, clam chowder and some entrees. The crab cakes for $11.95 were a bargain for three lumpy crab cakes with minimal amounts of bread crumbs cooked to golden brown hue and YUMMY with a nice sauce. Clam chowder was not bad, not too creamy, had the option of fresh ground pepper but I adored the nice firm bits of clam and potato. I got the pan friend oysters with potato pancake (mashed potato sandwich if you will). My brother got the special, halibut stuffed with crab meat. The fish was a bit dry. (Why is it that fish is hit and miss at western restaurants???)
Onward to Seaside (only 8 miles away) and Cannon Beach another 7 miles from Seaside) further south on the Route 101. At Cannon Beach, we walk to the famous Haystack Rock is here I heard that my friend had seen some sea lions. I did not unfortunately. Lots of people were out biking on the beach, building sand castles and just enjoying themselves. The heavy waves are crashing so nobody is swimming at all. The small town is quaint.
I am from the Cape (Cape Cod) so small seaside towns only take so much interest in my radar to be honest. I laughed passing by signs saying "New England style" this or that. Then we head back North to Seaside, walk down the promenade we read about. It is not that big and the main area took us about 20 minutes tops. The sun has been making this day to be gorgeous (the original forecast was to be rain). The women at the Chamber of Commerce were sweet, informative and helpful in terms of figuring out what we wanted to do for the next two days of traveling in Oregon. We take a photo with a statue of Lewis and Clark (marking the end of their expedition). Then go to the outlet off of rte 101 with 25 shops. I decide to get something for my sister and I. I refrained from further purchases. Also, I gave in and had some ice cream. I think I have ice cream or some form of it each day on this road trip. Gotta have it!
Back at Seaside, we stay at the sister hostel for the one at Portland. This place we get a private room. Our receptionist Kimmie is very sweet and knowledgeable. The room is clean, got a desk, clock radio, towels, linens. Internet is the same here as in Portland 15 minutes costs a dollar. Both have kitchen privileges and the common rooms are cute. According to the tour guides, the typical tourist goes to the Oregon coast and only sees the northern part---Astoria, Seaside and Cannon Beach. The most picturesque I heard is the southernmost party by California (we did not do it) but we did Northern to Central to Reedsport. In the summer, the two lanes route is backed up (I cannot imagine and it must be hellish, glad it is off season now!) See some people walking about, I forget it is spring break for some people. We check out the tiny carousel mall which does house a carousel. There is an area with video games, bumper cars if that suits your fancy. Seaside actually advertises this downtown promenade area as Coney Island like. (Then again I have never been to Coney Island so I do not know if this reference is true).
Seaside was fine after waltzing around the small downtown. Coming from Cape Cod and having visited other places by the water and being quaint small towns, it was cute but small. There is something about ice cream and this Oregon road trip, I have to have the cold stuff every day at least once!!!!! What is wrong with me? It is not as if the weather is very warm (50's and cloudy with some spouts of sun peaking through the clouds). We decided to call it an early night.
After getting potential projections to drive at least 10 hours each day for the next two days (we decide it is better to try to wake up earlier) and avoid driving at night. A good call I might add, the roads are not well lit and with the weather being unpredictable too we decide it is the best course of action.
Day three starts, we are ready and in the car at 6:30 am and gas costs from $2.43 to $2.57 a gallon for regular gas. Interested range of prices indeed. Also with this trip, we do not have any trip CDS/TAPES at all and we rely on the radio. We have heard some cool stuff and some of the radio stations we adore have a mix of music from the 80's, 90's and current stuff. At times, we will try to name that tune or name the artistic within a few notes of the opening of a song. I have to say my brother balances me in terms of my musical knowledge. The snack of our trip are the Nongshim brand Buljip Pizza snack. The songs we loved and sang along with on this trip were James Blunt's "Your Beautiful" , Cascada "Everytime We Touch", and Natasha Bedingfield "Unwritten".
In an hour, we head to Tillamook known for the their great cheese and dairy products (or so the ads for the local Creamery asserts). We get there a bit earlier than the 8am start time. We take the self guided tour and then sample some ice cream and cheese. Their sharp chedder and cheese curds are interesting. We were both enthralled with the chedder jack though. YUM. As for the ice cream at the Tillamook Creamery, we tried a variety of flavors. We concentrated on the blackberry, marion berry (only found in that region), huckleberry and black cherry. All were great and not too sweet! Granted not the healthiest of breakfasts but who cares???? This tourist attraction is right off Route 101 so not hard to find at all.
Driving further along we try the scenic Three Capes Loop. After diving it for 40 minutes we weirdly enough made a wrong turn and return to Tillamook and not south the way we should have gone. Another notch of one hour we have to make up in our driving.
We head to Lincoln City another bigger town (you know with the tell tale Walmart, Safeway, Starbucks populated plazas after hitting many small homes dotting the scenery along the way). We are told to hit Depoe Bay (has the smallest harbor on the Oregon Coast). I do enjoy the areas that are along the coast (but the bulk of the time is some windy boring roads). When we do some scenery the majestic rocks, lush green trees, wild white foamed waves crashing on shore on the beaches have a nice appeal. Coupled with some light rain and people watching the waves, it can be fun. But I must say it is not a boring drive though.
We aim to grab lunch in Newport and get there by 11:30am. We choose Georgie's Beachside Grille (per the add beautiful views of the coast from the restuarant with great food). The food overall was good with great service. They are used to having tons of travelers stop in though as I can tell. We fasted on fresh bay shrimp side salad and a cup of clam chowder. The chowder yesterday at Silver Salmon was better. Not enough potatoes, the clams were good but the soup itself was not the correct consistency for me plus no offer for fresh cracked pepper was a bit of a let down. The salads was fresh leaves of green iceburg, romaine, cherry tomatoes, red onions and carrots topped with a healthy helping of sweet tiny pink bay shrimps served with a tiny thimble sized amount of thick ranch dressing. I was torn between two dishes and got the three cheese creamy sweet pepper pasta studded wtth salmon, scallops and shrimp topped off with two big pieces of garlic bread. My brother got the Halibut Oscar which he enjoyed . I think a hollandaise like sauce tinged with asparagus with a big piece of halibut with some crab. I liked my pasta a bit better. The decor was simple but typical waterfront establishment with an older crowd appeal. It was a busy and bustling place. The prices were very reasonable though.
After we head off, we are starting to face a period of rain in intervals while we head to Reedsport before heading on Rte 138 back inland to Roseburg (we want to head to Crater Lake National Park the next day). Within an hour we near Florence which has some nice vistas before you head over there after driving through a number of small seaside towns. We are recommended to check out the Sea Lion Caves but by the time we pass that area there is too heavy of a rain storm we bypass this local attraction.
Making good time, we hit Reedsport and we get more gas. One of the good tips we got was to make sure you have a full tank of gas. There were truly many areas of this trip with virtually no one is around you and if you break down or have no gas (good luck) but surprisingly good radio signals to my disbelief. We gun it to Roseburg in good time in less than hour and half (than the two and half hours we thought we would need).
Once in Roseburg, we went to the local Roseburg Valley Mall, very small and I would not call it a mall. It is in the shape of a T with the big stores being Macys, Sears, Waldenbooks, Rite Aid and some smaller stores. Nearby you have a big Walmart and Safeway with tons of restaurants--Applebees, Pizza and other great American Chain restaurants. We decide to do another early night at the MOTEL 8 right off I5.
We are told to double check if the Crater Lake National Park entrance is closed. Per our hotel receptionist's advice, we find out the entrance we want to use is closed until July. We decide to take the Rte 138 scenic route to Diamond Lake and see some Falls and head back (I notice the map denotes plenty of waterfalls.
Day Four--we grab some muffins which is part of the free breakfast. The morning starts out cold, black and rainy. The one time I do not open the map, we waste 20 minutes of driving going the wrong direction. After correcting this error (thanks bro for being patient) we head over to Rte 138 off of I5 exit 124. We decide to drive one hour in and then turn around since we are not heading to Diamond Lake. We are near the North Umpqua River and driving along it. We hit as high elevation as 3,500 feet. There was alot of snow and the snow drifts were pretty high. Alot of signs were alerting us to have chains and snow tires (both with which we did not have). Based on the local radio we were listening, on April 1 locals will have to discard their studded snow tires or get a $145 fine per offense.
This area is considered beautiful and scenic. The majestic tall trees, windy roads and beautiful vistas are great. There are a number of waterfalls, but you must drive in and hike to seem them. My brother and I decide to turn back after an hour of driving and hit the Watson Falls (.4 to see it uphill ascend one way). Gosh I was huffing and puffing and at 3,500 FT and more maybe that is why I was feeling this way. Truth be told, I am not being honest with myself, I need a bit more cardio than what I have been having of late. At the next one we catch, we stop at Toketee Falls and there is another (.4 one way ascent). I almost slip twice on both hikes. EEKS I have to be careful at least I did not sprain my ankle. There is a cool write up on a free "hot springs" nearby but you need to hike a bit at 3.5 miles. You can take a free dip in it. My friend David (a nature aficionado) recommended it but my brother and I nixed it in favor of making back to Tacoma a decent time instead.
My brother relinquished the car seat to moi to drive for an hour. The road was empty for the occasional car driving on the other side. I enjoyed the many turns and curves I had to endure before we hit I5 and I gave the driving wheel back to him. It was fun while it lasted. From Roseburg to Eugene it took only an hour. The only place mentioned in the tourist info was the University of Oregon at Eugene was their art museum---Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. It had a great Asian art collection for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I was more amazed with the Korean and Chinese stuff. I go to see things I have never seen before (I have been to Beijing, Tokyo and other famous museums too). One was the formal gowns of the military, Daoist priests, the various learned literati and government officials badges, great examples of textiles and some ceramics. Very lovely indeed! The Korean exhibit I am used to seeing many celadon pieces but none was found here. I caught some great pieces of scenery paintings, screens that I enjoyed and never seen before. Small in size, alot of great art packed in a tiny place. There is an adorable courtyard and admission is only $5.
We ask for a recommendation for a quick bite. First we have to weather a surprise passing rain storm. We choose HODGEPODGE on 13th Street adjacent to the campus. We get the HodgePodge wrap with pork, chicken and cheese with two sauces lettuce served with a very dry bland slaw and two tiny pieces of banana bread. For $5.75 it was alot of food and we wanted to save our stomachs for a bigger and better cause.
By this time, we head within an hour to Portland and hit crazy traffic. The local radio station is talking about road rage. I find it interesting being from the Northeast. The DJ's were grumbling about how people who drive BELOW the speed limit are on the left lane. Or too many people not sure where they should go are in the speed lane stalling the traffic up. We had a good chuckle over it. It is not unheard of with drivers driving speed limit on the speed lane.
I try to find the American Advertising Museum to no avail and I call the number associated with it and it turns out to be a car dealership. I am figuring it is no more???? Luckily all is not lost. I did some research to check out Pix Pâtisserie a local institution (3402 SE Division Street -503-232-24407) where the owner trained under a skilled baker in France. Oh La La! The reviews I read were spot on the size of the pastries are astronomical in proportion to the small portions you get. I guess European portions with big American prices. But the quality was great and the pastries were delectable in appearance. I had to restrain myself from devouring everything and I tried the mini glass of the berry, curry and one more meringue cookies. Let's just say I dropped a pretty penny for my pastries obssession.
Culled from the website: www.pixpatisserie.com
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Amélie ~ Winner of the Patis France Chocolate Competition! Orange vanilla crème brulée sits atop a glazed chocolate mousse with caramelized hazelnuts, praline crisp, and Cointreau genoise.
Pear Rosemary ~ Pix's new favorite! Cashew cream and roasted pears baked into a pâté sucrée and covered with a milk chocolate / rosemary (yes, I said ROSEMARY!) ganache! It would be a sad thing if you failed to experience this combination. Goûtez!
Tart Ménage á Trois ~ Almond cream, chocolate ganache, and orange vanilla bean crème brulée all pile into a buttery tart shell. Oooo-la-la!!
St. Honoré ~ One could find this gâteau in 1840 in France. 163 years later you can find it in Portland. Puff pastry, caramelized cream puffs, Grand Marnier pastry cream and vanilla bean crème chantilly...Oui! Oui!
Chocolate Drenched Drunken Cherries ~ The House specialty! These bad boys have been bathing in Kirsch since June! They then take a dip in fondant and finish with bittersweet chocolate. (I got two of these and they were divine!)
Pastry chef, Cheryl Wakerhauser (a.k.a. Pix), is known for her devotion to sweets and her distinctive style that magically intertwines tastes and textures. After a short-lived career studying to be an astronaut, she trained at the pâtisserie of MOF Philippe Urraca in France. Pix Pâtisserie brings European flare and innovative edible art to Portland with an assortment of elegant pastries and handmade chocolates.
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The kind gal at the counter gave me great samples of the habenero chili and lavender ice creams. Both were great! The chili had a spice to it but the lavender did offset the spice.
We ended our trip deciding to have a nice dinner. We started the trip with Korean food (I made some before he headed to Portland with some side dishes). We headed to Nob Hill in Portland which is a cute but more upscale area with tons of stores that include Kiehls, Levis with a variety of artsy and craftsy shops. There we ate at BeWon (more to come about this place later) and ended this road trip with a lovely Korean meal.
From there, we were stuck in traffic for half an hour trying to get out of Portland. Once past the border (now being 7pm) I guessed it would take us up until 9:30 or at the latest 10pm as it was a good 138 miles to Tacoma. At this point onwards, we had the worst weather yet we encountered (the weather I had feared about) on this road trip. The heavy rains with the big fat drops and backlash of puddles from the car in front of us with the lack of lighting on the highways did not help in matters. But fortunately we got back safe and sound in one piece.
I discovered alot between my brother and myself. We worked well as a team and we capitalized on our strengths, learned more about our tolerance levels and got along (first time since we both left home). Overall it strengthened our relationship and garnered a deeper respect we had for each other.
I adore the lush tall green trees that line the highway but I notice people do not really drive fast here. All drive the same speed for all lanes. You have to be careful which lane you are in as some exits the whole two lanes are split up (my brother and I found that out too late when behind a big truck).
Tacoma is a port city, save for the Tacoma Dome and two art museums--the Glass and the Art Museums, there is not much going on there (in comparison to nearby Seattle (a good 40-60 minutes away depending upon traffic). I found out from my brother there is a big Korean contingent in the area. There are some superb Korean supermarkets nearby (I wish we had in Boston).
As I went into the Korean market, I ogled the great rows of frozen thinly sliced up short ribs (kalbi), tons of prepared side dishes, Asian veggies and fruits, marinades, sauces and other snacks I was in heaven. Since we went there for a quick snack, we grabbed the pollack dipped into egg and bulgoki kim bop (yummy--mashiso). My brother and I enjoyed the pizza flavored snacks or the new "light" flavored BBQ flavor (a far cry American BBQ flavor--so subtle that I would not associate it with BBQ flavor at all.
Over the weekend I met up with my good friend Felicia. I had a great time bonding on many issues with her. It is great to have great conversations with her. She and her boyfriend Nien were great hosts.
First we stopped by Felicia's place of work CRANIUM. Very cool place. Dinner we grabbed in the University District at Thai Tom (4543 University Way Seattle-206-548-9548). This place is a small hole in the wall that seats 15 people. Those who are on the hot seat (bar like area in front of the cooks) two guys masterfully handling four pans on an oven creating culinary magic. Be careful on how spicy you want your stuff, medium is pretty hot (unlike Thai places in Boston). Their pad thai is AMBROSIA for the gods! At only $6 a steal and delight for the senses given a scoop of rice, the thin needles are riddled with flavor and I love the crispy bits found from the cooking pan. To die for and the sauteed chicken with Chinese egg plant was superb as well. On a Friday night, our wait was minimal for only 10 minutes (usually it is about 30-1 hour) but it is WORTH the wait. To be more efficient, they give you a menu (while you are waiting outside) and you order when outside before you are even seated.
Saturday,we did a day trip to Vancouver. (They usually go in the summer). We did the truck route at the border (to avoid the 25 minute wait). The wait was not too bad for a Saturday morning and the weather ended up sunny and nice (not bad as the forecast had included rain). All of use were told to talk to border patrol. We showed our passports, had to exit our car, be searched, asked about our relationship to each other, why we were going to Canada (for the dim sum in Richmond---which is SUPERIOR to Seattle's) and for how long. We saw another three car loads of Asians disembarking as well. Very interesting.
The whole process was quick not even 20 minutes and we were on our way. We started out in Richmond on the main drag--No 3 Road. This road is where all the many Hong Kong restaurants/shops and malls are located. Many more sprouted up since my last visit back in 2002 with my mom and brother. Based on some on line research I wanted to go to Shiang Garden. Seems like a ritzy chi chi place as we enter seeing many chandeliers and all the chairs are covered in fabric. No regular dim sum push carts are to be seen. We are told to write down our order on a scan sheet with pencil. For those who do not read/write Chinese, ordering is problematic. Luckily I can hold my own (the accompanying small menu has English translation---which would be good to have on the order sheet too--HINT HINT). After waiting 30 minutes and noticing others who came later were served before us. I asked the waiter where our food was as I was famished. One orange at 7am (that time being 1pm) did not help matters with my frustration. The waiter said the food takes time. Then after a few more moments I asked again. Turns out I my order did not get processed. I gave it to someone wearing a suit jacked. We decided to leave. Not impressed at all. The assistant general manager personally apologized, asked who took the form and wanted that person to apologize. Then he said he would make sure the kitchen would get our order. Since everything is cooked to order, it would take a long time. We just left. We had ordered a bowl of hot and sour soup (after the alleged ordering of dim sum) and that came and went. So we were told our soup was on them. They hoped we would come again.
I really wanted to try this place but the principle of the situation led me to leave and go to a fave---Sun Siu Wah Restaurant. Here we had to wait for 15 minutes, by this time it is the height of dim sum attendance. When we were finally seated, we got to eat reasonably well with the carts coming by. Occasionally we asked the waiter for help. I must admit, the variety was not as much or good as the location outside of Chinatown in Vancouver (from my memory of four years ago). The pan friend dumplings were excellent--my friends recommended it. The staples of siu mai, har gao, chang fun are good. Overall an enjoyable meal and much cheaper than Shiang Garden would have been.
Off to the nearby Buddhist Temple in Richmond, it is big compound. The outdoor area has a pond, tons of gleaming gold and red. I was impressed of the size of the temple.
Then off to Vancouver proper to Robson Street (the shopping street in Vancouver---a la Newbury Street in Boston). My friends had to go to Jacobs, Esprit and of course the Spanish store Zara (I adore their stuff too but the closest ones for me are in NYC and Philly). The line to try out stuff was very long.
Then we headed to Granville Island (not really an Island) and visited the "biggest North American Public Market" according to some of its advertisements. Lots of cool fruits/veggies, gourmet foods and crafts. Then surrounding the main market area are craft shops galore. Very cute place indeed to spend an hour or two. There are cute ferry buses you can take to go to the Aquarium or over to Vancouver city.
Then we head back over to the city to Chinatown to get a snack of baked goods. This one bakery (takes US dollars too) had good chicken bao (white steamed chicken buns) and a steamed sponge cake only set us back a little. It satisfied our small hunger pangs.
Off back to the USA, by this time it is 6:45 and before the border we are stuck waiting in line for an hour. But the sign before hitting the line did not say how long the wait was, it only listed "N/A" which now we surmise as "not available" as opposed to "not applicable".
At the end of a long day, we got back late. Grabbed some burritos to nosh on (must say not the best but boy were they big).
This morning, went to for brunch in Capitol Hill at Julias. Cute place decorated with posters of Moulin Rouge (later I am told that the posters change with different movies during different weeks.). My brother got the healthy egg whites with turkey sausage, black beans and honey wheat toast, I got the lemon poppy seed buckwheat pancakes (big stack--three huge plate size pieces) and a side of fruit. The side of fruit at $6.95 was not a bargain. Got 4 slivers of grape fruit and 2 of orange, some pieces of banana, tiny center bowl filled with 5 chunks of honeydew and pineapple chunks, four grapes not worth the price. The $2.95 small fresh squeezed orange juice was good.
The pancakes are not bad. My brothers eggs was ok and over all the food was not bad but not great. I adore the brunches in Boston more. Zaftigs (around the Coolidge Corner area on Harvard Street in Boston) can teach a thing or two at this place. Plus the menu had some interesting offerings (substitution of tofu for egg possible etc).
To walk off our big brunch meal (the portions were big, our server was nice but the taste was mediocre at best) we head to Jimmy Hendrix's statue. Though he had not lived in the Capitol Hill area.
Later on, we head to the downtown area again, I want to check out the pretty new dutch designed Central Public Library, Pikes Market Place and do some window shopping.
Continuing on hanging out in Seattle, I did the requisite visit to Pike's Market Place. I do now know why, but I have to visit that place. Maybe it is the flowers, plethora of local goods, crafts and abundance of seafood but I am happy when I walk through that place. I did venture to take a pic the original Starbucks that started it all (nearby). Thanks to Felicia, she was a great fashion consultant. She had me try on alot of stuff but funny thing, I ended up buying the one thing as a fluke (given to me last minute). So I got something for all her GREAT efforts. Thanks babe! Dinner was WILDFISH in Belltown with Nancy (a transplanted friend I met in Boston but hails originally from the left coast anyways). She kindly came out despite having tons of fun the night before (could not make it out due to a LONG day traveling to Vancouver and back). I always loved her energy. She has a great knack of making people feel at ease, great planner, model and knows ALOT of people. Plus she is a great athlete and has a big heart, but alas she is married to a lucky guy. It was good to reconnect and chat on how TIME has FLOWN. I recall when we worked on the NATIONAL convention for NAAAP in Boston a few years ago. Was it a few years ago? WOW! You are the hostest with the mostest and I appreciate your generosity dear and for meeting up with moi. Wildfish Restaurant taste was good. But I admit the sushi rolls (especially the specialty stuff) feel apart though the fixings and ideas were great. The seaweed salad was ok nothing spectacular. The Spider Roll (soft shell crab) was decent. I must admit I ADORE the one made by Fugakyu (with the spicy mayo). The nigiri pieces we got were big and fresh--but at $2 a pop. Service was good (then again it was a Sunday night). Per what my friend Felicia said, there are no "wow" places for food in Seattle. There alot of "ok" or rather you go in not expecting much. She says the baseline of the places in Boston is higher. I guess I am SPOILED and after eating out I can see that (granted at a limited places).
Then came research (further) for the Oregon Coast and Portland road trip. I am a bit nervous as it is the first time to do this with my brother. In the flip side, I think we can explore these places together, get our travel styles in check but also chat as we are different people who only grew up in the same house. But since graduation from school we have not had a chance to spend too much time together. We made it to Portland in two hours from Tacoma. It is a nice day and we have a gelato from MIO GELATO in Pearl Town (area). It is good but not as GOOD as the ones I got in Italy. (Or is it only in my mind, I think so). The one unique flavor not to be had in Italy is walnut (very good actually). We find our accommodations, I am fan of hostels if I can use them. We go to the Pacific Northwest on on NW Glisan near Portland's Nob Hill area. It is all right, utilitarian and has what we need. The private room was booked but we got a side room with bunk beds (no door but curtains) and lockers. Since we are not Youth Hostel members and needed linens it ran us both $47 for the night. We headed to the small old town and Chinatown to the Chinese Garden there. It is based on the Suzhou style gardens and it is lovely. After having gone to the actual gardens in Shanghai (I did not have a chance to go to Suzhou) I enjoyed this bit of paradise. The entrance is $7 plus $2 if you want to use a head phone (approximately 50 minutes in length). I end up taking many photos and just enjoying the scenery from the waterfall, scholars garden, rocks and tea house to name a few. From there, we head to Washington Park to the Japanese Garden (more northwest) and we get there in good time. The Japanese garden is $8 to get in and a bit of a hike up to the entrance (not long at all about 500 ft). There are 7 kinds of Japanese gardens within this compound with the zen stone gardens and other types. We really enjoyed the variety of styles and seeing the waterfalls, small pools of water and just absorbing the atmosphere. It is a definitely bigger garden than the one in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park (though that one is more ornate, smaller and one style). Little tidbit, I found out recently that it was used in the movie "Memoirs of a Geisha" and that Felicia's brother was an extra in the movie! Isn't that cool?
Finally, we cap it off with a visit to the Portland Art Museum (fifth largest in the nation but premier one in the Northwest per the ads I read). It is comprised of two buildings and not far from downtown. Too bad the Artists of Brescia exhibit starts in April (I did take a photo with the sign) as I have visited Brescia and wanted to send it to my friend in Italy. There are two buildings for the art museum, one housing Native American Art, Asian Art while the later has African, Contemporary, Glass and Modern Art. There are some gems to be found at this museum. Now it is about 5pm and we head over to a local institution JAKES for their happy hour. This place is known for their seafood and their walls are lined with framed photos and you can tell there is lots of history in this place. But to take advantage of the happy hour, we are relegated to the bar area which is packed. So we sit in SIBERIA facing the window away from the bar area. I read that their menu has great prices from $1.95, $2.95 and $3.95 appetizer choices until 6pm . I decide to have the raspberry margarita (yummy). My brother sticks with OJ as he is the designated drive. Our apps take forever (we are starving after I politely ask after 20 minutes about the food) and we finally get them. We nosh on the seared tuna Asian style roll---there are little pieces of seared tuna wrapped in tons of rice battered dipped and friend with wasabi, gari (pickled ginger) and soy sauce (taste factor --rice is too overpowering). Then we have the shrimp won tons with two types of dipping sauce (see crab rangoon with shrimp---though how in the heck this food is called crab rangoon when there is no actual crab in this food item). The salmon cakes were good and I enjoyed them alot. The shrimp etouffe seemed to be more of a fish etouffee with scoop of rice in the middle and a rich gravy and fish surrounding the scoop of rice. I am no expert on this dish, but it tasted more gravy heavy than anything.
It is getting late and since we do not want to head back to the hostel yet, we go to Oregon's biggest mall--Lloyd Center. It has its own skating rink (a la the mall in Houston or one in Tai Koo Shing in Hong Kong). But this mall is not up to these other malls standards. Oregon rocks in one thing--no TAX. I check out alot of cute shops not in Boston---Forever 21, Papaya and others. ROSS and Marshalls garnered me some purchases as well as Ritz Photo (for much needed film). My brother and I also got a much needed map of the Oregon Coast (with some insets of the smaller coastal towns too). We are good to go.
The next morning, we start off for the Coast at 8am and depart Portland for Astoria. It takes us two hours. It is very cloudy and cool. By the time we get out of boring route 38, it is finally sunny at Astoria. We hit the famed site Astoria Column. Lewis and Clark ended their expedition in the Oregon Coast. There are many places that tell you about them and some other sites. I wanted to go to Fort Clapsop but I heard the log cabin had a fire earlier this year or last. So it was not somewhere we could see anything. We climbed the 188 or so steps to the top. We had a great view of the town and water and surrounding area. After getting some advice, we decide to lunch at the Silver Salmon in town on 12th and Commercial Streets. After reading my stuff, I know seafood is what we should get. We order the crab cakes, clam chowder and some entrees. The crab cakes for $11.95 were a bargain for three lumpy crab cakes with minimal amounts of bread crumbs cooked to golden brown hue and YUMMY with a nice sauce. Clam chowder was not bad, not too creamy, had the option of fresh ground pepper but I adored the nice firm bits of clam and potato. I got the pan friend oysters with potato pancake (mashed potato sandwich if you will). My brother got the special, halibut stuffed with crab meat. The fish was a bit dry. (Why is it that fish is hit and miss at western restaurants???)
Onward to Seaside (only 8 miles away) and Cannon Beach another 7 miles from Seaside) further south on the Route 101. At Cannon Beach, we walk to the famous Haystack Rock is here I heard that my friend had seen some sea lions. I did not unfortunately. Lots of people were out biking on the beach, building sand castles and just enjoying themselves. The heavy waves are crashing so nobody is swimming at all. The small town is quaint.
I am from the Cape (Cape Cod) so small seaside towns only take so much interest in my radar to be honest. I laughed passing by signs saying "New England style" this or that. Then we head back North to Seaside, walk down the promenade we read about. It is not that big and the main area took us about 20 minutes tops. The sun has been making this day to be gorgeous (the original forecast was to be rain). The women at the Chamber of Commerce were sweet, informative and helpful in terms of figuring out what we wanted to do for the next two days of traveling in Oregon. We take a photo with a statue of Lewis and Clark (marking the end of their expedition). Then go to the outlet off of rte 101 with 25 shops. I decide to get something for my sister and I. I refrained from further purchases. Also, I gave in and had some ice cream. I think I have ice cream or some form of it each day on this road trip. Gotta have it!
Back at Seaside, we stay at the sister hostel for the one at Portland. This place we get a private room. Our receptionist Kimmie is very sweet and knowledgeable. The room is clean, got a desk, clock radio, towels, linens. Internet is the same here as in Portland 15 minutes costs a dollar. Both have kitchen privileges and the common rooms are cute. According to the tour guides, the typical tourist goes to the Oregon coast and only sees the northern part---Astoria, Seaside and Cannon Beach. The most picturesque I heard is the southernmost party by California (we did not do it) but we did Northern to Central to Reedsport. In the summer, the two lanes route is backed up (I cannot imagine and it must be hellish, glad it is off season now!) See some people walking about, I forget it is spring break for some people. We check out the tiny carousel mall which does house a carousel. There is an area with video games, bumper cars if that suits your fancy. Seaside actually advertises this downtown promenade area as Coney Island like. (Then again I have never been to Coney Island so I do not know if this reference is true).
Seaside was fine after waltzing around the small downtown. Coming from Cape Cod and having visited other places by the water and being quaint small towns, it was cute but small. There is something about ice cream and this Oregon road trip, I have to have the cold stuff every day at least once!!!!! What is wrong with me? It is not as if the weather is very warm (50's and cloudy with some spouts of sun peaking through the clouds). We decided to call it an early night.
After getting potential projections to drive at least 10 hours each day for the next two days (we decide it is better to try to wake up earlier) and avoid driving at night. A good call I might add, the roads are not well lit and with the weather being unpredictable too we decide it is the best course of action.
Day three starts, we are ready and in the car at 6:30 am and gas costs from $2.43 to $2.57 a gallon for regular gas. Interested range of prices indeed. Also with this trip, we do not have any trip CDS/TAPES at all and we rely on the radio. We have heard some cool stuff and some of the radio stations we adore have a mix of music from the 80's, 90's and current stuff. At times, we will try to name that tune or name the artistic within a few notes of the opening of a song. I have to say my brother balances me in terms of my musical knowledge. The snack of our trip are the Nongshim brand Buljip Pizza snack. The songs we loved and sang along with on this trip were James Blunt's "Your Beautiful" , Cascada "Everytime We Touch", and Natasha Bedingfield "Unwritten".
In an hour, we head to Tillamook known for the their great cheese and dairy products (or so the ads for the local Creamery asserts). We get there a bit earlier than the 8am start time. We take the self guided tour and then sample some ice cream and cheese. Their sharp chedder and cheese curds are interesting. We were both enthralled with the chedder jack though. YUM. As for the ice cream at the Tillamook Creamery, we tried a variety of flavors. We concentrated on the blackberry, marion berry (only found in that region), huckleberry and black cherry. All were great and not too sweet! Granted not the healthiest of breakfasts but who cares???? This tourist attraction is right off Route 101 so not hard to find at all.
Driving further along we try the scenic Three Capes Loop. After diving it for 40 minutes we weirdly enough made a wrong turn and return to Tillamook and not south the way we should have gone. Another notch of one hour we have to make up in our driving.
We head to Lincoln City another bigger town (you know with the tell tale Walmart, Safeway, Starbucks populated plazas after hitting many small homes dotting the scenery along the way). We are told to hit Depoe Bay (has the smallest harbor on the Oregon Coast). I do enjoy the areas that are along the coast (but the bulk of the time is some windy boring roads). When we do some scenery the majestic rocks, lush green trees, wild white foamed waves crashing on shore on the beaches have a nice appeal. Coupled with some light rain and people watching the waves, it can be fun. But I must say it is not a boring drive though.
We aim to grab lunch in Newport and get there by 11:30am. We choose Georgie's Beachside Grille (per the add beautiful views of the coast from the restuarant with great food). The food overall was good with great service. They are used to having tons of travelers stop in though as I can tell. We fasted on fresh bay shrimp side salad and a cup of clam chowder. The chowder yesterday at Silver Salmon was better. Not enough potatoes, the clams were good but the soup itself was not the correct consistency for me plus no offer for fresh cracked pepper was a bit of a let down. The salads was fresh leaves of green iceburg, romaine, cherry tomatoes, red onions and carrots topped with a healthy helping of sweet tiny pink bay shrimps served with a tiny thimble sized amount of thick ranch dressing. I was torn between two dishes and got the three cheese creamy sweet pepper pasta studded wtth salmon, scallops and shrimp topped off with two big pieces of garlic bread. My brother got the Halibut Oscar which he enjoyed . I think a hollandaise like sauce tinged with asparagus with a big piece of halibut with some crab. I liked my pasta a bit better. The decor was simple but typical waterfront establishment with an older crowd appeal. It was a busy and bustling place. The prices were very reasonable though.
After we head off, we are starting to face a period of rain in intervals while we head to Reedsport before heading on Rte 138 back inland to Roseburg (we want to head to Crater Lake National Park the next day). Within an hour we near Florence which has some nice vistas before you head over there after driving through a number of small seaside towns. We are recommended to check out the Sea Lion Caves but by the time we pass that area there is too heavy of a rain storm we bypass this local attraction.
Making good time, we hit Reedsport and we get more gas. One of the good tips we got was to make sure you have a full tank of gas. There were truly many areas of this trip with virtually no one is around you and if you break down or have no gas (good luck) but surprisingly good radio signals to my disbelief. We gun it to Roseburg in good time in less than hour and half (than the two and half hours we thought we would need).
Once in Roseburg, we went to the local Roseburg Valley Mall, very small and I would not call it a mall. It is in the shape of a T with the big stores being Macys, Sears, Waldenbooks, Rite Aid and some smaller stores. Nearby you have a big Walmart and Safeway with tons of restaurants--Applebees, Pizza and other great American Chain restaurants. We decide to do another early night at the MOTEL 8 right off I5.
We are told to double check if the Crater Lake National Park entrance is closed. Per our hotel receptionist's advice, we find out the entrance we want to use is closed until July. We decide to take the Rte 138 scenic route to Diamond Lake and see some Falls and head back (I notice the map denotes plenty of waterfalls.
Day Four--we grab some muffins which is part of the free breakfast. The morning starts out cold, black and rainy. The one time I do not open the map, we waste 20 minutes of driving going the wrong direction. After correcting this error (thanks bro for being patient) we head over to Rte 138 off of I5 exit 124. We decide to drive one hour in and then turn around since we are not heading to Diamond Lake. We are near the North Umpqua River and driving along it. We hit as high elevation as 3,500 feet. There was alot of snow and the snow drifts were pretty high. Alot of signs were alerting us to have chains and snow tires (both with which we did not have). Based on the local radio we were listening, on April 1 locals will have to discard their studded snow tires or get a $145 fine per offense.
This area is considered beautiful and scenic. The majestic tall trees, windy roads and beautiful vistas are great. There are a number of waterfalls, but you must drive in and hike to seem them. My brother and I decide to turn back after an hour of driving and hit the Watson Falls (.4 to see it uphill ascend one way). Gosh I was huffing and puffing and at 3,500 FT and more maybe that is why I was feeling this way. Truth be told, I am not being honest with myself, I need a bit more cardio than what I have been having of late. At the next one we catch, we stop at Toketee Falls and there is another (.4 one way ascent). I almost slip twice on both hikes. EEKS I have to be careful at least I did not sprain my ankle. There is a cool write up on a free "hot springs" nearby but you need to hike a bit at 3.5 miles. You can take a free dip in it. My friend David (a nature aficionado) recommended it but my brother and I nixed it in favor of making back to Tacoma a decent time instead.
My brother relinquished the car seat to moi to drive for an hour. The road was empty for the occasional car driving on the other side. I enjoyed the many turns and curves I had to endure before we hit I5 and I gave the driving wheel back to him. It was fun while it lasted. From Roseburg to Eugene it took only an hour. The only place mentioned in the tourist info was the University of Oregon at Eugene was their art museum---Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. It had a great Asian art collection for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I was more amazed with the Korean and Chinese stuff. I go to see things I have never seen before (I have been to Beijing, Tokyo and other famous museums too). One was the formal gowns of the military, Daoist priests, the various learned literati and government officials badges, great examples of textiles and some ceramics. Very lovely indeed! The Korean exhibit I am used to seeing many celadon pieces but none was found here. I caught some great pieces of scenery paintings, screens that I enjoyed and never seen before. Small in size, alot of great art packed in a tiny place. There is an adorable courtyard and admission is only $5.
We ask for a recommendation for a quick bite. First we have to weather a surprise passing rain storm. We choose HODGEPODGE on 13th Street adjacent to the campus. We get the HodgePodge wrap with pork, chicken and cheese with two sauces lettuce served with a very dry bland slaw and two tiny pieces of banana bread. For $5.75 it was alot of food and we wanted to save our stomachs for a bigger and better cause.
By this time, we head within an hour to Portland and hit crazy traffic. The local radio station is talking about road rage. I find it interesting being from the Northeast. The DJ's were grumbling about how people who drive BELOW the speed limit are on the left lane. Or too many people not sure where they should go are in the speed lane stalling the traffic up. We had a good chuckle over it. It is not unheard of with drivers driving speed limit on the speed lane.
I try to find the American Advertising Museum to no avail and I call the number associated with it and it turns out to be a car dealership. I am figuring it is no more???? Luckily all is not lost. I did some research to check out Pix Pâtisserie a local institution (3402 SE Division Street -503-232-24407) where the owner trained under a skilled baker in France. Oh La La! The reviews I read were spot on the size of the pastries are astronomical in proportion to the small portions you get. I guess European portions with big American prices. But the quality was great and the pastries were delectable in appearance. I had to restrain myself from devouring everything and I tried the mini glass of the berry, curry and one more meringue cookies. Let's just say I dropped a pretty penny for my pastries obssession.
Culled from the website: www.pixpatisserie.com
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Amélie ~ Winner of the Patis France Chocolate Competition! Orange vanilla crème brulée sits atop a glazed chocolate mousse with caramelized hazelnuts, praline crisp, and Cointreau genoise.
Pear Rosemary ~ Pix's new favorite! Cashew cream and roasted pears baked into a pâté sucrée and covered with a milk chocolate / rosemary (yes, I said ROSEMARY!) ganache! It would be a sad thing if you failed to experience this combination. Goûtez!
Tart Ménage á Trois ~ Almond cream, chocolate ganache, and orange vanilla bean crème brulée all pile into a buttery tart shell. Oooo-la-la!!
St. Honoré ~ One could find this gâteau in 1840 in France. 163 years later you can find it in Portland. Puff pastry, caramelized cream puffs, Grand Marnier pastry cream and vanilla bean crème chantilly...Oui! Oui!
Chocolate Drenched Drunken Cherries ~ The House specialty! These bad boys have been bathing in Kirsch since June! They then take a dip in fondant and finish with bittersweet chocolate. (I got two of these and they were divine!)
Pastry chef, Cheryl Wakerhauser (a.k.a. Pix), is known for her devotion to sweets and her distinctive style that magically intertwines tastes and textures. After a short-lived career studying to be an astronaut, she trained at the pâtisserie of MOF Philippe Urraca in France. Pix Pâtisserie brings European flare and innovative edible art to Portland with an assortment of elegant pastries and handmade chocolates.
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The kind gal at the counter gave me great samples of the habenero chili and lavender ice creams. Both were great! The chili had a spice to it but the lavender did offset the spice.
We ended our trip deciding to have a nice dinner. We started the trip with Korean food (I made some before he headed to Portland with some side dishes). We headed to Nob Hill in Portland which is a cute but more upscale area with tons of stores that include Kiehls, Levis with a variety of artsy and craftsy shops. There we ate at BeWon (more to come about this place later) and ended this road trip with a lovely Korean meal.
From there, we were stuck in traffic for half an hour trying to get out of Portland. Once past the border (now being 7pm) I guessed it would take us up until 9:30 or at the latest 10pm as it was a good 138 miles to Tacoma. At this point onwards, we had the worst weather yet we encountered (the weather I had feared about) on this road trip. The heavy rains with the big fat drops and backlash of puddles from the car in front of us with the lack of lighting on the highways did not help in matters. But fortunately we got back safe and sound in one piece.
I discovered alot between my brother and myself. We worked well as a team and we capitalized on our strengths, learned more about our tolerance levels and got along (first time since we both left home). Overall it strengthened our relationship and garnered a deeper respect we had for each other.
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