Oregon - Day 2

free tram rides

crossing tram tracks

We woke up bright and early and all set to tackle Portland's transit system. We stayed in downtown which meant that taking the tram within the vicinity was ... FREE. (Tax-free shopping?? Free transit?? What more could you ask for??). Our destination was the areas of food carts. Ahh yes, it's always about food. You'd think, well, Vancouver has food carts too. What's the difference? Well, they don't just have a couple japadog stands here and there and maybe a Mr. Tubesteak on your way to shopping Robson St.. They have food carts all lined up in a row on four different sides of the block. And food carts of many different ethnicities. Not only were the menus eye-catching, but so were the designs of their carts. For more info, click here.

Unfortunately, we picked the wrong day of the week to check them out. They were mostly closed. Oh well. We still have Monday. So, we chose something a little more close to home to start off our day... Starbucks. I guess Portland doesn't have the green tea lattes, so I settled for their vanilla rooibos latte instead. The sun was out but the air was still crisp. Alice whipped out the map to circle all the places to go (she did all the navigating of the trip), while Gurm surfed his iphone (which he did whenever there was free wi-fi), and me... I stared out the window and people watched (as I always do at a coffee shop). I spotted a lady outside wearing the bright blue Vancouver 2010 fleece vest. I noticed Nordstrom the department store had taken out one of their large window displays and turned that window into a mini espresso bar/stand.

Afterwards, we took the tram to our plan B for food. To an area close to their Chinatown. We ate at a cozy breakfast restaurant called Bijou. We sat at the bar with me sitting in the middle separating the two lovebirds. I always crave mushrooms when I see mushrooms on the menu, so I got the mushroom omelette. Gurm had sausages, potatoes and eggs with his morning ceasar. Alice had a tofu scramble. All soooo yum. Great recommendation by... wherever Alice found the recommendation!

iron cast work in the area near Chinatown

Bijou's window

Gurm's morning caesar

Allie's tofu scramble

yummy brioche french toast

sitting infront of a bar with a mirror


Our stomachs were too full for the Voodoo Doughnuts just around the corner. So, we'll save that for later. We walked around the Chinatown and noticed their bummy areas aren't so bummy. And their homeless were mainly dirty but not doped up, high or even drunk. We walked by their well known haunted pizzeria (visited by Rachel Ray) and decided to come back for dinner. Someone dining at the pizzeria left their dog outside and I just had to take a picture. The owner ran out thinking his dog was bothering us... but we were just lovin' the doggie! Soon after, it began to rain. Good timing. We had a whole morning of cool breeze walking, and now time to pick up the car to drive out to Nob Hill.

Nob Hill is a street of mini shops and cafes. Reminds me a little of our Yaletown or Main St. We whipped out our umbrellas and took a stroll in and out of stores. I think the rain was making me a bit groggy so I didn't see much that was interesting... until... I walked into Paper Source. Inside, I felt like a kid at a candy store. Me and my paper and stamps and colours... sigh.
We drove out to check out a few more food carts but they were also closed. So, what else is there to do in Portland on a rainy day? Woodburn Outlets! By the time we got to the outlets, we only had two hours to shop. None of us really had anything in mind to get. But with the first store we walked into, Gurm picked up something within 5 minutes. Then, the next store, Alice picked up something within another 5 minutes. Soon, we were on a mission to do it all in the 2 hours that we had. Now that was what I called power shopping! In the end, we all came out with our own loots. Happy we were!

Then, we drove back to the haunted pizzeria... called Old Town. Read their story here. Of all the tables in a rather empty restaurant that night, Alice chose to sit around the corner from the kitchen at the very end right next to the elevator shaft. The restaurant was dark and dimly lit by candles. And the mirror on the wall next to our table was broken. Nice... Gurm walked off to order our food at the counter, while Alice walked to the elevator shaft to check out the crime scene... I sat there waiting for the chills to hit my spine. (It never did).

Honestly, the pizzas were just okay. I've definitely had much better pizzas at home. Nothing to rave about. Their spinach salad (one of Rachel Ray's favorite) was also one of our favorites though. It was good! Don't know what it was. The dressing? The cranberries? The sugared peacans? The bacon bits? The feta? Probably all of the above.

We made sure to leave a little room because we made our way back to Voodoo Doughnuts. The lineup was an hour long before and after breakfast food that morning... luckily, at night, the lineup wasn't as long. But, there was still a lineup at 10pm. Nuts. We picked up four specialty doughnuts. I just wanted them for a photo op. Who knew that some of them actually tasted surprisingly good... (because they look digusting).

one hour line-up infront of Voodoo Doughnuts all day long

Back at the hotel, we stopped by the lounge and had a drink before we retired back upstairs. I did my whole photo op thing with the donuts and my nightstand light while Gurm droned himself to sleep with the TV and Alice researched some more on things to do the next day (see the pattern?).  We all took a bite out of each doughnut and I gotta say my favorite was the Oreo and peanut butter one. Mmmmm...  The two laughed at my improvising with using a cup to cut the doughnuts because we had no knife. "Just use your hands and rip it apart!". Well, better dirtying the cups than my hands.

hotel lounge

fruit loops and sugar doughnut

the voodoo doughnut

mango jelly with orange icing doughnut

oreo and peanut butter doughtnut (my fave out of all of them)

By 2am, I had almost finished the book that I started the night before. Now that's what I call a good trip. When I get the time to finish a book in one weekend.