Feel It All Around In Portland

It's been a full week since Billy and I celebrated our early two year anniversary in Portland, OR! After last year's Seattle trip, we were already so excited to head to the land of Portlandia for our next adventure. As the date neared, we hastily booked last minute flights, practiced our best Fred and Carrie impersonations, and prepped where to eat with an extensive excel spreadsheet. We were ready to be immersed in what we imagined Portland to be like after seeing plenty of our friends visit and watching all seven seasons of Portlandia.

Then we found out it was raining. Apparently it rains a lot there.

Most of our trip was spent exploring the quirky neighborhoods Portland has to offer and eating. Lots and lots of eating. We initially wanted to go hiking and see the waterfalls, but with the rain and lack of a car, we opted to keep it low key. We know we'll return again someday. Food and coffee is a recurring theme on our mini vacation, so brace yourself for my repeat offense of typical food photos. Besides documenting our trip, I wanted to provide a breakdown of where we went for anyone who's interested in traveling to Portland. I'll also rate the places with stars for your consideration!

Day 1:

We landed at PDX and took the MAX light rail to our Airbnb. If any of you plan on a low budget trip like us, we definitely recommend going this route since the pass is only $2.50 (for 2 hours) and also doubles as a bus pass. We also used Google Maps to figure out which line to take.

We stayed in the Hawthorne district after one of my good friends recommended it. It has sort of a Berkeley vibe but smaller and less lively without the college students around. We also chose to stay there because it was in the middle of everywhere else we wanted to go.

Our first dinner in Portland was at Bollywood Theater on Division (****). It was so delicious and the meal warmed us up for our after-dinner walk around the neighborhood. The standout was definitely the Kati roll, which comes in a hefty portion size perfect for sharing.

We ended our night at Fifty Licks, a small ice cream shop with unique flavors (*****). I got the Thai rice while Billy ordered Cuban affogato with chocolate ice cream. The coffee was absolute bliss. I never drink my coffee black, but the cuban coffee was brewed infused with sugar so the coffee had a delicious sweet taste that made any reservations about having caffeine at 10pm melt away.

Day 2:

We woke up bright and early to explore Hawthorne Ave and get breakfast at The Waffle Window (***). The restaurant is literally a stand on the side of the street, connected to a diner where it's sectioned off for indoor seating. Since we were still a little full from last night's dinner, we shared this Rise and Shine Waffle which had chicken apple sausage and a side of gravy.

After our quick breakfast, we kept walking 'til we reached the beginning of the Mt. Tabor neighborhood and grabbed ourselves a hot cup of mocha at The Albina Press (***).

The coffee shop was the first place that satisfied our expectations of Portland. The way it was decorated and the crowd it drew made me imagine Bon Iver playing in the background. While the ambiance was great, the hot mocha fell flat for me and I was ready to move on.

We called a Lyft and headed to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.

We forgot that it was also Spring Break, so there was a long line of parents with their kids bracing the cold winds in the name of science. There was also a Lego exhibit happening, which was our main reason for visiting OMSI. You never really get over Legos, no matter how old you are.

The museum was pretty large and reminded me of San Francisco's Exploratorium. It offered a lot of interactive exhibits, including a 3D printing room, mock chemistry labs, and a real submarine tour. We spent a good amount of time there going through every section and feeling like kids again.

After a long day of walking, we headed back to our Airbnb before grabbing dinner at Screen Door (*****). Billy still has not stopped raving about their fried chicken, while I'm over here drooling over the mac and cheese. We left happy with full bellies and were on the hunt for dessert. We made a quick stop at Staccato Gelato (****) before heading to Portland Cider House (****) for drinks.

The flight of cider was only $7! We were in disbelief. Throw in the fact that Oregon had no sales tax and we had to hop on that deal. I'd definitely recommend it for cider lovers since there's such an extensive menu. It also felt like a fun spot to try with friends on a weekend night.

Day 3:

Our last full day in Portland started in Downtown Portland. As our Lyft driver crossed the bridge, I felt a euphoria come over me. Finally, civilization again. While suburban life is nice, I'm a city girl who needs to be surrounded by bustling streets and tall buildings. Downtown Portland is by no means a San Francisco or New York City, but it was exactly what I needed at the moment. We got dropped off at Pine Street Market (****), a brand new food hall in the city.

I got the galbi short rib bibimbap at Kim Jong Smokehouse and Billy got the tonkotsu red at Marukin Ramen. Both exceeded our expectations. My short rib was so flavorful and despite being served in a compost to-go bowl, the bibimbap still had remnants of overcooked rice crust from a stone pot. I loved that unexpected element of authenticity despite the modern environment. And Billy's tonkotsu red? Probably in the top 3 of best ramen we've ever had. We've had our fair share of ramen, so take it from us. It's that good.

Salt & Straw is my favorite ice cream spot in LA, but it actually originated from Portland. Since I've had Salt & Straw plenty of times, I wasn't planning on getting it in Portland. But then I spotted Wiz Bang Bar at Pine Street Market. And I was like, hell yeah.

Wiz Bang Bar is the soft serve brain child of Salt & Straw. Since my favorite flavor is Stumptown Coffee at Salt & Straw, I knew I had to try the Coava Coldbrew Coffee soft serve at Wiz Bang Bar, hand-dipped in Cocanu's "Grey Chocolate" Sesame Shell. I know, it just sounds good already but it tastes just as good as it sounds too. It's supposed to be dipped on a cone, but fun fact: ya girl does not like eating ice cream cones, so I made the unusual request to have it dipped in a cup.

Of course, we couldn't go to Portland without stopping by the famous Voodoo Doughnut (***). Billy having tried it before warned me that like all things hyped, it's not as good as everyone makes it out to be. He was right. It had the fluffy consistency of mom and pop doughnut shops but just dressed up in fancy toppings. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't mind blowing. If you've never tried Blue Star (which also is now in Los Angeles), I'd say they're the clear winner in Portland's doughnut battle.

Also, if you're wondering how I, the queen of doughnuts, could've not gotten a photo of my doughnuts, it's because I got them to-go. We were too full to eat them right away, and by the time we were ready to eat them, they were squished in my bag from our long day in the city and me trying to protect them from the rain. Whoops.

But yes, that's how we spent our last full day in Portland. We walked all around downtown at least twice, browsed gift shops, enjoyed tax-free spending, and made a quick stop at Case Study Coffee Roasters (****) for another hot cup of mocha.

After we were spent, we grabbed our last dinner at Saucebox (****) and rushed to Powell's City of Books before closing. It was probably the highlight of our trip. It was huge and felt more like a library than a bookstore. We browsed as much as we could before leaving with our souvenirs: four books for our future bedside reading.

Day 4:

We packed our bags and headed out bright and early to Pine State Biscuits (*****) in Alberta Arts. Everyone we knew told us to try it and everyone there seemed to have gotten the same memo that was the spot to go for breakfast. Be prepared for a line if you go on weekends. Luckily for us, we were there on a weekday before the rush.

After our brunch, we were off and just like that another year of #TeamBelly came to an early close.

While I thought I'd walk away from the trip with a lot more photos, the rain and my total lack of upper body strength made carrying a measly two pound camera an unexpected chore. I was also really self-conscious to bring it out because there weren't many tourists and every single local already looked at us as if we had "outsider" stamped on our foreheads thanks to our California sun-kissed skin and, oh yeah, us being Asian and all. Being the shy introvert that I am, I tried not to draw attention whenever I could, so that meant tucking away my newly revived camera for a not-so-rainy day.

Portland was great, but it wasn't what we expected it to be. We think the rain was a big part of it, but also we didn't get to explore the more nature-y side to Portland. If I had to sum up the trip in one word, it'd be relaxed. If that's what everyday life in Portland was like, I'm not surprised as to why everyone is suddenly flocking to live there (and also driving up their rent prices fyi; they're not happy about that). The pace was a little too slow for me, but I'd love to revisit someday with a group of friends.

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Portland was a test run with my new lens and I'm really liking it so far! I'm excited to embrace my "fauxtographer" status and capture more moments for blog posts. Expect a new short and sweet beauty post coming very soon!