Guess who’s home! After a really fun and exhausting week on the West coast, I am back and [somewhat] fully rested (naps are good inventions). I come back to NYC with many stories and photos, some of which I am about to indulge and share in right now! I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. :)
So I left last Tuesday night (may 15th — for reference) to Queens so that I could leave the next day to JFK without worrying about rides and such from the city. Flo and Justin and I went to the park to swing (I haven’t done this last Summer). It was a lot of fun but it kinda made me feel sick after a while (especially the free-falling part after a large swing).
Here’s a really spectacular photo of Justin doing his thing on the swing
The next day was travel day, and Justin drove Flo and I to the airport. Before we got there though, Flo shared with Justin a secret that I had no knowledge of (this will be revealed a few photos down…keep reading). I just assumed it was an inside joke, so I left it at that. Just know that Justin was NOT happy to hear about this secret on the day of the trip.
Here are the ghetto jetBlue tickets Flo and I received from the agent. G.H.E.T.T.O. P.I.E.C.E. O.F. P.A.P.E.R.
So we board the plane and after putting my carry-on up in the overhead compartment, I go to sit down, only to see…
MELANIE!!!! “OMG!!!”, I said.
Haha, it was a super awesome supplies (surprise) that the two of them planned for over a month! Those sneaky punks.
And the three of us are off to P-Town!
I’ve never flown jetBlue before, but I’ll say this about the company: Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!
The in-flight entertainment console in the backseat in front of you alone is worth the trip. It had DirectTV and the flight actually had food and beverages. This is how flying should be (at least!). But what I loved most about the TV was the “flight info” channel that told you how fast the plane was going and at what altitude and location. I find that random stuff fun to watch.
First day in Oregon: Melanie, Flo and I meet up with Jannie and Denise from Eugene. Good times eating dimsum and getting “Chinese” foods in P-Town.
This is #1 of MANY MANY car photos the three of us took over the course of this week. I swear they’re all different though.
Jannie, Denise, and the three of us went to a mall to kill some time and do some shopping. Lots of malls in Portland. Lots. But like any other mall, it’s a good waste of time — especially when you’re with friends washing hands in a sink in Bath and Body Works.
Alas, Jannie and Denise had to go because they had school the next day (and a long travel back to Eugene). But not before taking a photo!
That night, we went to this place called Wunderland with David. It’s a 5-cent arcade with tons of games and activities. SOOO AWESOME because it was SOOOOO CHEAP!
One of the best games there was Panic Park. Melanie and I played this until our arms and hands hurt. It’s a physically exhausting game because you have to literally knock your opponent out (…kinda).
After Wunderland, David drove us to get ice cream and snacks since we were still awake and hungry.
BEST TASTING CHIP FLAVOR EVER. TASTES LIKE STEAK.
The next day David took us to this river in Portland called High Rocks where we met Andrew and Robbie, two really funny dudes with a knack for “the dip”. Really beautiful there. Great weather.
Melanie, Flo and I spent a part of every day at Albea Iris, the Chan furniture company.
Wal-Mart?
SPRAY PAINT IN WAL-MART IN PORTLAND WAS 96-CENTS! WTF!
Clearly, Melanie and I made Flo the designated driver for the week.
On another night, we went with David and his friends to Montage. It’s this restaurant that basically wraps your left-overs in clever tinfoil sculptures.
Their ghetto paper-menu didn’t fool me!
Flo and I shared this plate called “green eggs and spam”. It would have been real good if it weren’t so damned salty!!
Oyster shot. DO NOT WANT.
We got our food to go. This is how they made my “dinosaur”…
Yes, we did go to Voodoo Donuts. Wasn’t really that good. But who cares. It’s the experience of going that counts, right?
There was an IHOP down the street from Flo’s place. And being the suckers that we are for breakfast and breakfast time, we went and ate there.
I’m trying to remember what happened after that breakfast at IHOP. Something about shopping for shoes for Melanie, fooling around inside stores, and being totally dumb I think.
SIZE 18 SHOES!!!!
We then had lunch (or was it dinner?) with the rest of the Chan clan (plus Kim, the dairy heiress) to celebrate Flo and her mom’s birthday (it was an early celebration).
Melanie, Flo and I got tattoos and we showed them off as often as we could.
Saturday was Melanie’s last night in Portland because she had to go back to NYC to prepare for graduation. But before she left that night, Albert (Flo’s brother) took us to Wunderland again to play some more 5-cent games! YAY!
And then there were two… :(
On Sunday, Flo and I traveled to Seattle, WA to visit her aunt. It was raining that day so we didn’t get to do much in Seatle, but it was still fun.
When we go to Seatle, we tried to find a place to eat, but the fish were incredibly vicious towards out-of-towners. So we left.
We went to the country side of Seatle where we saw lots of fascinating oddities…
Small watermelons!
Asians!
Grey storms!
Hendrix coffee!
Condoms and pregnancy tests next to coffee bean dispensers in this supermarket. Worst placement ever.
Big sandals!
Goodbye Seattle! Another time, yeah?!
Look at this cloud cover! Neat!
This Dunkin Donuts was bought out and subsequently renamed…quite cleverly too.
Flo and I met Heather and David and his “girl friend” at Red Robin. The cheese burger I got was only so-so, but the fries and RAAANNNCCCHHH were yummy!
Afterwards, Flo and I drove (well, actually, she drove me) to Woodburn outlets.
On the way there, we passed by a long load — three trailers at once!
I tried these bad boys (Nike Air Mogan) on and they were SOOOO comfortable and cushy! I tried hard to get them but they were out of my size. Sometimes I wish I had size 18 feet so I could guarantee myself shoes. Haha. NOT.
I find myself torn between my love and hate for Wal-Mart. There’s no place like it. After this weekend’s Wal-Mart runs, I would totally be up for opening a Wal-Mart in Brooklyn. :O
It’s hard to see, but this huge case in Wal-Mart was for a single PSP unit. How sad. Not even the other electronics want to be near the PSP. OUTCAST! Hahaha!
LOOK WHAT I FOUND (and bought)!
Oregon-classy. Mmmm.
And before Flo and I knew it, it was almost time for us to go. On our last night, David drove us to Hot Cake House, a 24-hour joint that served some great late-night food. It reminded me a lot of Gray’s Papaya…if Gray’s Papaya sold hot cakes, waffles, and breakfast all day long.
On the flight back from Portland, jetBlue gave us these night-packs since it was a red-eye flight. Near the end of our flight, Flo whips out the Bliss lip balm and puts some on and tells me to do the same. I do and we end up laughing the rest of the descent down to NY because it made my lips SOOOO shiny and hers too. I didn’t need to go to the bathroom to put my contacts back on. I could have seriously just gazed at the reflection off of her lips and it would have been a good substitute for a mirror. Haha.
And here I am, back at home again! Portland, OR was so much fun! Having Melanie join in on the festivities as a surprise made it that much crazier and more fun (it sucks she had to go earlier). But man, I’d go back in a heartbeat…for Flo’s mom. JUST KIDDING. DO NOT WANT. What a wonderful week! :)
See the rest of the photos in the Portland, OR Flickr photoset. Or if you’re on Facebook check out the selects here and here.
