Saturday, October 14, 2006

day 2 (part 1)
we arrived in portland the night before. the hostel (bed+shared bathroom facilities) turned out to be better than expected:) the place was pretty clean and the rate was quite reasonable as well - USD$45 for 2 nights accomodation. sulynn and i were lucky to have our own 'room' partitioned from the rest of the other girls!

our residence for the 2 nights in portland - HI northwest portland international hostel and guesthouse!

sulynn and i in our 'room'. i slept on the top bunk! it was really freezing at night - this was despite the fact that i wore my thick jacket, long pants and socks to sleep - and was under 2 blankets! madness!

in the morning, sulynn and i awoke earlier coz we wanted to attend church. all thanks to me and my lousy direction sense, we lost our way and missed the service at 9am! we did find our way there in the end - but we were too late so we had to wait for the next service at 11am! in the meantime, we just explored the area!

the quaint sidewalks in portland's residential area

can you see the sign "alphabet district" above "nw davis st"? in portland, shops are lined up according to alphabetical order - e.g. apple shop, banana cafe.. etc. how interesting and organized! this would probably make it easier to locate a particular shop i guess?

chancing upon a law office in the middle of nowhere?!

the saint mary's cathedral of immaculate conception - the church that sulynn and i went to. sulynn managed to find a catholic church nearby our hostel so i just accompanied her (i am a christian btw;). it was very nostalgic to attend mass again - it reminded me of ij days where masses were held in school at every celebratory occasion! the architecture of the church was really beautiful, adorned with pretty stainglasses and intricate details all around.

after church, we went to explore downtown portland!

one of the best things about portland is that there is free public transport within the downtown area (see- fareless square) - yayy! and they do not have sales tax!!

the weather was really bad though. it was raining and very windy. even though i was wearing a thick jacket, all buttoned up and covered, i was still freezing:( bah.

we had a very good lunch at this greek restaurant! they have the BEST pitas!! pita is something like highclass roti prata - with fillings like chicken, beef or sausage? we shared calamari and i tried the gyros classic pita with chicken+ greek salad. sorry no pix of the food coz we were too famished! eat first, anything else later. haha.

our next stop was the famous portland sunday market. apparently, it is the nation's largest weekly open air arts and crafts market! there were rows and rows of stalls selling handcrafted artwork and homemade food (think - fudge and jam!! yummy).

creativity galore!! a pair of spectacles can be made out of spoons and forks?!?

the pride/treasure of portland - its people! isnt it the same in singapore as well (or so they say)?

the pseudo-tram-bus-train public transport in portland!

jon and me taking refuge in a cafe - with hot cuppa - coz it was v cold! i felt so much better after the hot drink!

shopping time! at pioneer place - saks 5th ave. this is quite an upmarket shopping district, lined with tiffany's, LV, gucci..haha this wasnt quite the place for us to shop - prob in a couple of years' time i guess? heh. for now, we just gotta to settle for the malls;) haha

here are some interesting signs on the wall along the streets!