Birch Bay

Birch Bay is a little boring... but with our day trips into Canada, we spiced up the vacation.

Here's something I would recommend in Washington. A little oyster farm! Best ones I've had in a while!

Night Market - Can't wait to go to Asia!

One of these days, I'm going to go to Asia and enjoy the real stuff. All the food we had seemed pretty authentic. OR, it was just so amazingly creative.. that it won me over anyway. If you ever get a chance to go to a Night Market, you definitely should. If I had Canadian money on hand, I probably also would have done some shopping. I mean, if you need color contacts, iphone cases, cell phone charms, random electronics... We did skip out on the deep fried oreos and twinkies (thank god, gag).

At the very beginning..we started when it was still light outside.

"hurricane" potato w/ korean hot sauce (saw it before: http://www.thisiswhyyourefat.com/?p=1185)

it was 2/$5. of course we got two of them. the other one is white cheddar.

BBQ octopus and deep fried tofu

TAKOYAKI - they make this in japan.. I think. it's like a gooey fish-ball

a close-up shot. =)

SUMO BITES - rice burgers. yes, rice burgers.

see it?! rice patties. amaaaazing.

Seattle

As I've been telling whoever I've talked to so far.. all I've been doing is eating. There was no exception on our way to our timeshare in Washington. We stopped in Seattle for Pike's Market. It was definitely busy for a weekday and the seafood restaurant (Lowells) was overpriced/overrated, but we picked up some yummy food for dinner. I'll just let your imagination fill in the rest. Hard Rock Cafe. Cheesecake! Starbucks. Sashimiii.

One of the famous signs for the Public Market in Seattle

As Seen on the Food Network - on an episode of the Best Cheeses

Mexican Chocolate, Lemon, White Chocolate Raspberry, Quadruple Chocolate. DROOL.

Inside the very first STARBUCKS! ever.

We had to get some coffee, of course. <3

Pike's Place Fish Market (where they throw fish when you order)

The tempting display of crabs....

OUR DINNER. sooooo good. fresh salmon and albacore from the market.

Canadian Border

this post will be short and sweet.

day 1: everything was fine.. they checked our passports and we left the USA and came back w/o any problems.

day 2: we left the USA easily, but on the way back.. we got stuck in "commuter" traffic... why people would commute over the border... i have no idea. anyway... we were stuck in a line of cars for TWO HOURS. i took a really long nap. it was very unnecessary.. lol

day 3 (last night): again, entering Canada was just fine. on the way home (after eating at a Night Market in Richmond, BC - so fun), we got STOPPED at border control. we had to get out of our car while our van was inspected.... he made me turn off my itouch bc he told me there were no phones allowed... x_x AND they told us there were no bathrooms. lameeeeeee.

anyway, we'll see if there's a day 4. and hopefully we can look less suspicious.

VOODOO Donuts

I swear, I should just work for the Food Network. (this place was featured on Amazing Race.. and something else)

It was quite an experience heading down to downtown Portland for some donuts. It was located in an area that reminded me of the Tenderloin in SF and Berkeley. Mostly because of the theater showing hentai one end of the block and an oyster bar on the other. Strange location..

We waited in line for about 30 minutes and chatted with the friendly family behind us. When we finally got inside, we realized how small the bakery was. It was pretty much a counter with a ton of those pink boxes that remind me of Chinatown.

This was our collection of donuts that we ate.....

I think my favorite one was the Maple Bar with Bacon.. well, it's the most unique, anyway.

and this photo, was taken in the store only. SOMEONE failed to order it. it's a voodoo donut! the pretzel is for stabbing..good thing I'm not an angry, revenge-seeking person. I'm too lazy.

STILL FULL.

The non-stop eating has slowed down.. finally. I probably gained 5 pounds in less than a week. After waking up at 330am last Saturday, we headed straight up to Portland, OR.

For lunch, we stopped at this random hole-in-the-wall hamburger joint. Mostly, for our uncle and his banana milkshake. The hamburgers were alright.. but after seeing everyone leave with ice cream cones, I had to have one. Peppermint. =) They even offer 4 scoops on a cone, but I settled for less.. just two. 

Nona Emilia's for dinner. I almost died. They gave us portions equivalent of Bucca di Bepo only everything tasted 5x better! Check out the size of this meatball and pizza.. (that's my cousin, Keeley) Needless to say... we had a lot of leftovers. 

The next morning... I couldn't eat anything. just coffee (which i haven't managed to stay away from). not much for lunch either. but dinner was delicious! We stayed in for a HUGE dinner. prime rib, risotto, cheesy veggies, ribs, sushi. yummmmmm. and my favorite, the drinks! CHEEEEERS! i love being 21.

Canada

As usual, I'm looking forward to my vacation. Even though it's just Oregon, Washington and Canada.. (Eventually, I will make it around the world..) It will be nice to relax a little and be with nature..? I'm bringing eat, pray, love and dear john. might have to buy the girl who kicked the hornet nest.. bc the suspense is killing me.
I decided to do a little research before my trip (like 5 minutes) and i found a place i really want to go. The sad thing is, adult admission is $35. Maybe, I can convince my parents to let me go inside by myself and I can pretend I'm 17 and pay like $15. Anyway, it's Butchart Gardens.

I was on their website.. and they have 5 SEASONS. spring, summer, autumn, winter.... and CHRISTMAS. lolll at first, i wondered why they sell a season pass, but if i lived there. i think i would get one. for at least one year...

omg. they know why i want to go. "No matter the season, you'll find it filled with exciting colours and the sliding photo window allows you to take great, glare free images." LOL heaveeeeen. i hate glare.

WOWWWWW. if i don't go... somewhere BETTER take me to the botanical garden in berkeley. OR i'm dragging you to SF for the japanese tea garden.