Well today was our last full day in Portland, wah wah.
We woke up to a gorgeous morning.
It has been a little misty in the mornings the past few days and turns to sunshine usually by noon.
Today is starting out sunny!
My Honey had booked us a food cart tour for noon today - we were both looking forward to it.
We went for breakfast first at a nearby place called Elmers.
I ordered the crepes filled with cottage cheese and topped with fresh strawberries.
I got them to add cream cheese sauce to the top just because.
It also came with eggs & bacon which was perfect because I got a little bit of everything.
It was pretty good - would have been better if the strawberries were really fresh - I think they might have been frozen.
My Honey ordered an omelet with hash browns - it was lots of food.
I think I caught him deep in thought.
We left there and headed in to the city for the food tour.
The drive to the city took a bit longer than expected so we cut it close, in fact we were late.
My Honey grabbed a spot in a parking garage as soon as we got downtown.
It ended up being quite the walk to the meeting point so we ended up being about 6 minutes late.
I thought we would see a whole tour group and we could catch up with them but apparently we were the only two on the tour today.
Thank goodness My Honey recognized the host of our food tour from seeing him on Eat St. because we met him walking away from the meeting point.
Otherwise we would have missed out.
He took us to a Syrian food cart first - SAJ.
We tried a wrap - the bread is cooked on a rounded oven - it was filled with veggies and creamy cheese.
Called Labne & Zaatar.
It was light and tasty - a good way to start the tour.
Next he took us over to a spot that makes bao buns.
We had them in Vancouver and just loved them.
This cart fills them with a spicy meat mixture and shapes them kind of like little balls but with a top.
The cart owner was very friendly.
Told us about how he met his wife when he was teaching over in her country (Vietnam maybe?).
They moved to Portland then her mom suggested the food cart idea.
They went back to her country and worked in restaurants learning how to make the bao buns then came back here and opened the food cart.
Our tour guide (Brett) said that he really enjoys talking to the food cart owners and learning their stories, makes it more meaningful and he is totally right about that.
Next we had soup from Savor.
I wasn't expecting much but it was delicious.
Brett told us lots of information about how the food cart scene got started in Portland. He's lived here all of his life and was very knowledgeable.
Our next stop was at the Bing Li truck where I had wanted to go the other day but it was closed so that was fortunate.
We'd tried them on our last food tour but we just kept that to ourselves.
The owner of this food truck was travelling in Asia and had a really long layover so she went out into the street to take in some of the sights and sounds of the country and to check out the street food.
She tried these little sandwiches and decided that since no one else was doing them in Portland, she would.
It's the only thing they sell in the food cart and it is always lined up.
It is a crepe with egg mixed in with a spicy sauce wrapped around a crispy wafer cracker.
They are super good.
It was spicy hot so I had to eat it slowly but I enjoyed every bite.
That was pretty much it for the tour.
I grabbed a picture of My Honey & Brett then we parted ways.
Since we were downtown, I really wanted to get a Gibassier so we found Pearl Street bakery.
I got one to have now and another for later.
I also got a cream cheese Danish - it was tasty but the Gibassier was my favorite.
I loved it just as much this time as I did last time.
My Honey ordered himself a little treat too.
Being Silly.
Then we made our way back to Nong's Khao Man Ghai.
We wanted to try the chicken & rice.
It is a super popular food cart there in Portland, they also make only the one dish.
We walked around to find a place to sit down and eat and that took a little bit of walking.
That is the only thing I don't really like about street food - some of it is easy to eat standing but other dishes really require a table.
Anyway, we did find a spot and were excited to try the dish.
Basically it was white rice with chicken sliced up on top.
It came with a little dish of sauce and a bowl of chicken broth meant for sipping.
The chicken was tender and juicy, not dry at all but I am not sure I understand what all the fuss about it is?
I really dug the bag it came in.
We made our way back to the car after that - thank goodness I had the foresight to take a picture of the address where we'd parked or else we may have just spent the day looking for the car.
We passed this cool statue on the way and couldn't miss the photo op!
We thought an ice cream cone at Salt & Straw would be a nice treat so we headed over there.
I am still in awe of all the flowers in bloom here - it is so beautiful.
I could have just driven around all day and looked at them.
We got our ice creams and they were delicious.
I got these two interesting flavors.
My Honey opted for these.
The White Petal & Osmanthus had big chunks of peach in it, it was really good.
This was a round-about in town and the center of it was just loaded with rhododendrons.
After ice creams we weren't sure what to do next then I remembered the Lan Su Chinese Garden.
So we headed back downtown to check it out.
We had a great view of Mount Hood as we were heading over there.
It could almost be mistaken for clouds.
The garden was beautiful.
A little slice of paradise right in the midst of the city.
As soon as we walked in we saw this strange sculpture.
I love this kind of Asian/Oriental architecture.
There were a few buildings with the curved roofs.
The bark on this tree was unusual.
I've never seen a leaf like this before.
These little stairs didn't lead anywhere.
You can see the buildings of the city just outside the garden.
This looked like a giant version of a bonsai tree.
There were lily pads on the pond.
It was full of little fishies too.
There were some bigger fish in there as well.
There was a tea house in the back.
This is looking back at the entrance.
Love the tree.
I liked the design in the pane.
A gazebo like this one would look awesome in my backyard.
Of course we had to go to the tea house for a tea.
My Honey had a pot of black tea.
I had the gunpowder mint tea served with ice.
It was a tasty treat.
It was a really peaceful, serene setting too.
Enjoying our tea in the tea house.
I liked how they had the pathways made with these stones all so carefully placed.
It looks like a ton of work but worth the effort in the end.
There were lots of blooms to be found in here as well.
I had him pose like this on purpose,
I call it
"The Pondering Gentleman"
He's such a good sport about all the pictures I make him take with me.
It would be an awesome place to bring a book, find a little corner and just sit and read the day away.
Chilling in the garden.
There were all these great little areas that you could go sit and just enjoy the beauty of the space.
Would be a really nice place to just sit and meditate.
More handplaced stones just in a different pattern.
The way these shaped holes are strategically placed and mimic the pattern of the stones on the path. The sun shines through and creates a shadow on the path is neat.
It highlights the cool shape and the interesting rock pattern on the pathways.
After the garden, we searched for a Target.
My Honey had picked up a pair of shoes there the other day and liked them so wanted to get a second pair.
We didn't find any but we did do a bit more shopping (our luggage is going to be so overweight)!
We went to Old Navy again and I got another shirt.
We also shopped around a few other spots we don't have at home like Trader Joe's and Fred Meyers.
We looked around for a second piece of luggage to buy but decided against it in the end.
We thought we'd be able to manage with what we had.
Then we were ready for some super.
We came across a German place so gave it a shot.
Bargarte - Cedar Hills.
It was such a lovely evening that we requested to sit out on the patio so we could enjoy it.
We had the fondue to start.
It was cheese sauce with sausage and bread.
My first time having fondue - it was good.
I ordered a schnitzel.
It was pretty good.
My Honey had the pastrami on rye which he really liked.
We skipped dessert because I wanted to hit up Bannings again.
When we got there, the hotel clerk we'd met our first night checking in was there having a meal.
I went with the Strawberry pie again because it was so good.
My Honey got the banana cream and it was also delicious.
We ordered a slice of key lime to go too because we just had to try it.
We had the waitress we had last night and she was happy to see us again.
Then our last day had come to an end.
We headed back to the hotel and packed up.
I couldn't fit as much in my computer bag as I hoped.
Our luggage was over but we were resigned to just go with it and pay any extra they may deem necessary to charge at the airport.
We were in bed by about 10 pm.
Our flight was at 5:30 am and we had to return the rental so we would only be getting a few short hours of sleep.
We set our alarms for 2:30 and called it a night.
BOOM!!!
That is all for today, until next time, be happy!
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