some a bit of catch up...

So, now that im back at home and have a bit of time, i will finally post the rest of my pix. i figured pictures are always better...


This was my view during my run. This is a a view from both sides of the river. I did 3 runs. I've actually increased my mileage!!! wooo hooo!!! There are miles and miles of trails. Such a running and bike friendly city... I LOVE IT!!!


This is the grotto. It a lil' outdoor theater area that has services and stuff outside with the lil' carved out area as the backdrop. Pretty big wall of rock. Make u want to just... climb on.... climbing.


Here are a few shots of the waterfalls. Multnomah falls is probably the most notable. There are a series of waterfalls one right after another. The one on the bottom right is horsetail i think. I was too lazy to get out of the car... man i was hungry didn't really eat that much for breakfast.


After the waterfalls i just decide to keep on driving. I ended up at the Bonneville Dam. Pretty neat place. They also count the fish there. This is to make sure that the ecological cycle isn't effect by the dam. So, i drove along... crossed the bridge of the gods and ended up in Skamania. That was a bit funny too. I worked on a project back at my old days of Curry... Skamania Lodge. (Mikey, any comments about this project?)

found alot of trails and INTERESTING things...

So it's my final full day here in Portland. Today i spent all my time in downtown. I went for a run today. There are endless trails here. I ran for an hour... i probably could have gone more, but i knew that i'd be trekin' it by foot everywhere.

So, went to the Saturday Market to check that whole scene out. A friend recommended it, so i decided to grab something to eat, and look around. Interesting group of people down there. It's like a combination of a little granola-ish, hippyish, with random artists, and ecletic mix of food. I ended up buying a cool messenger bag, tshirt and a replication of this pencil illustration work of these little bunnies.

I also went to the Chinese Gardens, and walked around Pearl again. That place is awesome. Really didn't buy anything, but great things to look at down there. Tons of art; probably why W+K is right smack in the middle of it.

Anyways, now im just debating to watch the i guess biggest event in Portland, The Rose Festival Parade. It's not quite as fancy as our Pasadena Rose Parade. I saw a few of the floats out in the Pearl where they were setting up. Umm... all i can say that it was INTERESTING. Maybe i'll take some pix outside of my window so you can see. So, it's either that or going back to Powell's City of Books. Man that place is awesome. I could be in there for days. I wanted to buy some more books, but that means i've gotta lug it all home. Damn.

Anyways, i'll try and get some photos up maybe later tonight if im just chillin'

found some nice people too!

So besides the fact i'm loving it up here b/c of the nature deal, and huge creative vibe up here... THE PEOPLE are very cool. I feel like i dont have to deal with the snootyness of the LA vibe, but def. has the style of it. Actually today i just went to a bar/restaurant called Saucebox. Very tasty pan-asian fusion deal. AND i sat at the bar, started chatting with a fellow from New Hampshire that moved here about a year and a half ago. The dude paid for my dinner and drinks. How fucking awesom was that. He said it's the Portland hospitality. Diggin on that, for sure! Anyways, i would up load so pix, but i forgot my camera upstairs and a bit buzzed from the satistfying beverages they serve at Saucebox. So, i'll push up some pix later. So, there was more happenings today, but have to say... the longer i'm here, the more im diggin it!

found some rocks and trees and a few detours

So, i'm finally here! :D This morning was a bit rough,waking up at 3 is a bitch. Flight was pretty smooth. On the decent into PDX, i saw this beautiful snow-capped mt, which im assuming it was Mt Hood. (Can someone please confirm ig anyone knows, thx).

Anyways, this is really sad now... so on the decent, i saw these pattern in the ground, which made me think, REDESIGN. God, i though by being at least one whole state away i would forget about work, but obviously not! im such a retard.


So, after landing, i took the light rail (Portland's commuter trains). The light rail is really quite nice! There are 3 lines lines that all go through downtown. Blue one goes all the way out to Beaverton ( home of Nike), the yellow stays within downtown area, and the red is sort of in between the two. I caught the red line.


You pretty much can go to all the places you want to on it. Even to places, you dont really need to go to. I didn't get off at the right stop and ended up at the PGE Stations where the baseball team plays. Well, i guess i can cross that one off my list.



While i was waiting for the next train, i noticed they have this really cool bike hiding, lock sort of thing. Although i noticed that the bike that was covered had a flat tire. Maybe it's actually storage....

Anyways, went to grab lunch/breakfast at this joint called Mother's. It was recommended by the guy at the front desk. I sat at the counter and was chatting with the bartender, Brian i think his name was. I ordered the salmon hash with over easy eggs. Oh yummmmm. Nice fellow too. He gave me some advice on what to see, checked the weather for me on his phone, and gave me this tasty lemon bar on the house! This stuff never happens to me in LA. I might go back for breakfast one day... they have cornflake crusted french toast.... oh and they server up really tasty coffee... SUMPTOWN... YUM!

Man the people here are really nice... almost feels like im so Jaded with the So Cal attitude. Some guy actually told me to smile on the street. SAD. Well, ive got a few days to work on that... i'm trying!!!!

So, i had to adjust my plans a bit, since it wasn't raining. I figured, might as well take advantage while i have the chance. So, here what ended up for my first day in Portland:

I took the light rail up to Washington Park to check out the Japanese Gardens and Rose Gardens. I love this park... gosh it has tons of trails, and your amongst the trees... amazing. So, there were so many trails umm... i kind of got lost.


I finally was able to find my way by asking two nice older men where the Japanese garderns were. I wasn't too far off. :D.

After the Japanese Gardens, i also checked out some of the roses. I was facinated by the colors and shapes of the roses they had in the test gardens.


So, after the rose garden... i had to find my way back. I sort of got lost again, but had a pretty good idea where i was. So, i followed some railroad tracks... kind of like stand by me.

So back at the light rail station, had to head back to the city.


So I did some shopping and checked on a bit of the Pearl District. It's actually pretty hot up here, not what i expected. So, i had to buy a few items to accomodate for this warm humid weather. :D hee/hee

Anyways, i think that's enough for now, im tired. I love it up here, even though i get lost.

Itinerary, I think... arhhh I don't care

So, i've got about 12 more hours until i'm off with my solo trip. I think i've done a pretty good job on what my plan is for the next few days. I know some of you have expressed some concern about me going solo on this one, so i'll try and keep you guys in the loop, so you don't see some news flash about a lil' asian girl lost in the gorge or something. Ok that's not funny, i know.

So it's looks like i picked a good time to go to Portland. There is this big Rose Festival while i'm there. I guess it's a pretty big thing with tons of events, rides, parades, etc. So my plans involve some of things surrounding the festival.

Alright here is my plan. I've considered some variables like weather, the festival, and all the stuff i want to see.

WED (it's suppose to rain, so this is what i think i could do based on the weather)
arrive to PDX
take the train or subway to Downtown
go to Powells book store
Museum of Advertising
Portland Museum of Art

THURS
Running to check out the city
Gorge... two trails that i'm thinking about, but i'm going to go to the visitor center first and scope out the place.
The Grotto (it's in portland, so i'll hit that when i get back)
Japanese Gardens in Washington Park
Pearl District art walk at nite

FRI
Running to check out the city
Drive to the Coast to Cannon Beach, walk along the beach and check out the tide pools
Go to Tillamook Cheese Company... going to check out some CHEEEZZZZEEEEE
Cape look out point.
Rose Festival firework display

SAT
Go to the Sat Market
Chinese Gardens
Pearl District... SHOPPING!
Pittock Mansion
(possible enter a 5k at nite... we'll see)
Roam around at the Rose Festival at nite.

Sunday
Chill and do some shopping...
Fly back

So, it's not totally crazy, right? I know i'm probably not going to get to everything or maybe even half. Right now, I think i'm really into this idea of observing people, drinking a ton of coffee and eating. Although, I hope i meet some friendly people. I'm sure i'll get lonely, so this will force me to be nice and maybe smile. (i think i look like a bitch when i don't know people anyone).

So, I'll be taking a bunch of pix, so hopefully you will be visually engaged in this. I know... my words are boring.

Impulse decisions = #2 off on the to-do's

So, this is bit of some back tracking of loggin this in, but at least im getting it in...

So, for a few months now, I've been working with a old co-worker. Interesting lil' cat; extremely charismatic. He Cracks me up at every interaction, but make me think and ponders all at the same time. He usually has crazy ideas, and I'll somehow try and fill in the gaps to make it work. So, over the few months we've actually became really good friends. He kept on making these statements how I would love Portland, b/c we like a lot of the same stuff (minus the guns).

Then I was in the TDI kitchen with our office porter, Shelley. He just got back from Portland. He was talking about how beautiful it is up there, and people being so nice, etc. Then he went into just saying, you would love it up there.

So, I was going to go to Maui with my friend Caroline. She has a condo reserved out there for a week in mid June. But after doing some research and pricing, tickets were too expensive and no direct flights to Maui, so change of plans. I'm going to Portland. A bit of an impulse decision. One hour (literally) I was thinking about going to Hawaii, next I'm going to Portland.

Well, I'm seeing this as really sort of an experiment. Not a whole lot of expectations. But there is bit of a challenge to prove my friend either wrong or right. :D

Shit, I'm a designer. I'm all about solving problems, even if they were never intentional. It pushed me to take a vacation... Which was a problem. Check that one off the list. Thx SG.