Breakfast at Aladdin’s was a simple affair. In its tiny guest pantry,
the hotel provided a variety of breads that you could eat with butter and jams,
along with bananas, coffee, tea and hot cocoa. Once we were done with breakfast
we loitered in the parking lot for a bit, waiting for the others to checkout
and figure out how we’d be getting to the next destination. Meanwhile, some of
the guys who had never driven before decided to take some driving lessons in
the big open parking lot. I must say I regret a little that I didn’t get behind
the wheel, but better safe than lying in hospital bed trying to figure out if
insurance covers surgery, is what I always say. (And judging from my
psychomotor skills, the latter is most certain to happen.)
Once more, Farris drove our party down the highway, and we eventually
ended up in Rose City. At first, we tried to locate a popular donut shop called
Voodoo Donuts. When we go there, however, we saw just how popular it really
was. So popular, in fact, that we decided—due to lack of time—that we should
just give the amazing rings of dough a miss.
'The Magic's in the Hole.'
We walked for a bit and found ourselves at the Portland Saturday
Market, a carnival-like outdoor market with an intriguing variety of street
food and artisan goods. Kok and I decided to break off from the rest of the
group and explore on our own. After spending quite a bit of time trying to
solve a Turkish puzzle ring, we bought and shared an elephant’s ear, a delicious
snack made from real elephant fried dough, cinnamon and sugar. The ear
we bought was a menu special, topped with maple and bacon. The result was a crisp,
fluffy, sweet-savoury discus of sheer awesome.
Kinda looks like an elephant's tongue, if you ask me.
After walking off the ear and reuniting with two more party members
(Othniel and Jonathan), we decided we could still eat. We had seen a stall
selling philly steak sandwiches earlier, but the storeowner was not yet ready.
Since he seemed like such a nice guy, we went back, and he actually remembered
us. He asked about where we’re from (he thought Singapore was in Japan/China, but
hey, he makes awesome steak sandwiches) while we waited for the fresh beef to
be cooked. Just a minute or so later, he served us up two hulking sandwiches
that looked amazing and tasted even greater.
Hello, Philly.
As we grappled with our sandwiches, we stopped by a small fountain to
watch a street performer play on his violin. The guy had mad skills and Kok was
in awe. We watched till we were done with the philly’s, then made our way to Pioneer
Place to look for the others. On our way there we chanced upon a second-hand
bookstore that looked and smelled as old as some of the books on its shelves.
We also shopped around in Ross and other warehouse stores.
He was not Vuk, but he had skills.
At Pioneer Place we got separated again after using the bathroom and
bumming about in GameStop, so we decided to just do our own thing and regroup
at some later time. While the others went shopping for stuff, Kok, Othniel,
Jonathan and I scoured the city for a café called Case Study, which based on
recommendations had the best latte in the city. The other three grown-ups got
their coffee fix, but I being the immature man-child that I am, ordered a hot
chocolate instead. It was good hot chocolate, though!
Western milo.
Leaving the café, our party of four spotted an entire field surrounded
by street food vendors. Temptation seized us like tortilla wraps smothering chunks
of hot meat (whut). Jonathan bought himself a grilled cheese BLT, while Kok got
some shwarma. The shwarma was the size of Thor’s deltoids, and it took all four
of us to finish that beast.
We need the Avengers for this.
After some browsing at A&F, we sat at a huge open space facing the
Pioneer Courthouse to just chill out and enjoy the weather. The air was cool,
despite the bright sunny day. A perfect day for sitting out in the open and
taking life slow. If only we had a beer, or some sweet apple cider.
Why's that dude holding an umbrella?
We regrouped once again at A&F and headed back to Pioneer Place.
Kok and I discovered a toy shop and made a beeline for it. Unfortunately, the
stuff I wanted wasn’t on sale, so we left the place with broken hearts and sad
faces. It was cool though, because we found out that Pioneer Place had another
building where there were H&M tees for sale. I bought a couple for myself
and Brian and we made our way back to the others.
It was nearly time for us to head back to Redmond. After another long
drive, we stopped by Target, where Jieqi and I bought a lamp for our
dark-as-heck apartment. We had dinner at Applebee’s, an American bar-and-grill
similar to Chili’s in portions, variety and pricing. Jieqi and I shared a
combo, which included two entrées and a side of fried mozzarella sticks. For my
entrée I ordered mac-and-cheese with honey-chicken strips. I had to unbutton my
jeans after that dinner.
That phallic thing isn't a fish cake.
And with that, our miniature road trip was over. Farris drove us back
to our apartments, music blasting and passengers singing gaily all the way.
Back at home I assembled our new lamp with much help from the rest of my
apartment mates, and we called it a day.
Four weeks down, seven more to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment