Sunday, May 06, 2007

trip down south.

portland was just a typical american city. it's oregon's answer to seattle. it has a rather quiet downtown. it has quirky neighbourhoods. it has mountains all over. just like seattle. so we didn't really see anything new or out of this world.

but i still love my portland trip. i had great company. 6 of us singaporeans - shian chi, yinyin, suhui, jieying, alvin the only guy and me. we had a room to ourselves at hostelling international. it was fun. there were great things to do too.

the damien rice concert was amazing. i'm biased because i like him. but objectively speaking he overused his alternative distortion microphone wayyy too much. i don't know why he liked it so much because it made his voice lose all its essence and warmth. so the best parts of the concert were the songs with just him, and him playing the piano or guitar, with the warm sounds of the cello. ahhhh. and those familiar songs from O. i'm surprised he only did 2 songs from his new album 9. the ever popular 9 crimes, and me, my yoke and i. banter was less than the singapore concert. but i now know the stories behind several songs of his. and me having a general admission ticket means i had to stand in front with all the tall caucasians. so shian chi and i managed to squeeze rather front so we got a pretty good view.

i love great concerts. sometimes i wished i lived in US just because the concerts are so frequent and cheaper too.

there was tons of shopping done in portland too. i love it when oregon state is tax free. why isn't washington state tax free too? 8.8% is really too much. shian chi and i shopped a lot downtown, buying stuff for ourselves and gifts for friends back home.

and the other highlight of the trip was our roadtrip to mt. st. helens. that legendary volcano in our geography textbooks that blew its top in 1980. it was AMAZING. the drive up was amazing. just 2.5 hours of mountain ranges and valleys and meandering streams and rivers and a crater lake. it's good that we rented a big Ford Expedition SUV to fit all 6 of us. so we could stop anywhere along the road shoulder to take pictures. and roadtrips are always fun 'cos you get to sing songs and snack and eat. and the rest slept a lot in the car but i couldn't 'cos i was the navigator and the one that keeps alvin the driver from speeding or dozing off or veering into the wrong lane. we made 2 stops at 2 visitors' centers but we couldn't get to the one closest to the volcano 'cos it was still closed for winter. darn. we were just a few days away.

then we decided to hit the factory outlets! we knew from friends who have been to portland that the outlets are not accessible by public transport. so since we have the car, why not right? and all of us were shopaholics. hurhur. including alvin. with no tax and a huggee factory outlet with many many shops, it was irresistable. but i already spent a LOT at downtown portland. so shian chi and i bought very little. haaa. and on the way home to portland we got detoured off I-5 by the police and almost lost our way. but we kept our cool in the dark dark roads and highways and found the way home. had nice chinese food for dinner at chinatown too. =)

then on the last day we were supposed to return the car with a full tank. so we drove around town looking for a gas station for like 30 minutes. and we were late for returning the car. lots of drama that morning. haha. but we managed to talk our way through to prevent them from charging us another day. muaaahahaaaa.

love the portland trip. =)

now i'm at gerri's house. long story. will blog another day. my sisters are here! and i love gerri's kids. =) the sweetest ones i've seen.

Labels: portland, travels

This girl posted at 12:42 PM