Portland

This weekend was pretty fun. I relaxed a lot on Saturday and had lunch and dinner with some friends. I also tried Bolivian food for the first time and it was pretty good.

On Sunday, Marvin, Sebastian, Cory, and I took a road trip to Portland, Oregon! I've heard that Portland is really cool, so I was pretty excited. Though the day turned out to be a lot of fun, it really was a comedy of errors: We went to the Japanse Garden, and it rained. We went to what we thought was a rose garden, but turned out to be the sports stadium (whose name happens to be the Rose Garden). Then we almost ran out of gas driving up this really windy unpaved road to the this scenic viewpoint, which turned out to be closed due to snow. Then we drove some more to a lake with a cool view of Mt. Hood, but that too was closed due to snow. Finally, we gave up on all outdoor activities and decided to drive to the outlet mall - but when we got there, it had just closed too. haha

Writing it out like that probably makes it sound like an awful day, but it actually was a lot of fun in the kind of way that road trips almost always are. Good friends, good food, good stories, etc... And the Japanese garden and waterfall that we went to were really cool too. And I got to see snow in May! At the end of the night, we went back to downtown Portland and hung out an Irish Bar and had dinner and some drinks before heading home.

I think Portland is definately someplace worth visiting again. (though next time, I think I'll definately make sure everything is open first haha)

Great weekend!

This was a near perfect weekend!

It's been chilly and overcast most days since I've lived in Seattle, but all of a sudden, the sun came out on Thursday, and it's been warm and sunny all weekend! It's as if mother nature just all of a sudden decided that it was time for summer to start! (But in true Seattle fashion, the clouds and rain are back tomorrow haha)

Anyway, I really took advantage of the nice weather and spent a lot of time outside. I even got a little sunburned! I hung out with some friends, got to tour Boeing and Microsoft, went to a really cool street fair near UW, went to the Japanese Garden (sooo awesome), had a few drinks, and went to an international festival to see my friend perform today! I also ate a ton of KFC!! (mmm...finger lickin' good!) It was a busy weekend, but it was a really good one. The only bad part about the whole weekend is that it's over already!

Yay!

I am so excited: I just found out that there is a Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwich Shop francise here in Seattle less than a 15 minute walk from my apartment!!!!!! I am totally going there for dinner tomorrow!

Seattle just keeps getting better!

How you can help

The death toll from the earthquake in central China has already climbed abover 12,000 and there are awful pictures of destruction, make shift hospitals, and people trapped beneath tons of concrete debris such as in the photo above all over the news. As many of you know, the Chengdu area has a very special place in my heart, and this trajedy is one that has affected a large number of my friends and current and former students.

I know that quite a few people keep up with my blog, and I ask that if possible, you do something to help out with this situation. It is difficult to donate money to many of the major Chinese relief organizations such as the Red Cross Society of China because of currency and banking differences. However, Operation Blessing is an international relief agency that does really good work and is actively helping out both in the Chengdu area and in Mynamar. If you would like and are able to help, you can find out more information about OB and make a small donation by visiting the following link: https://secure.ob.org/site/Donation2?idb=180354110&df_id=1320&1320.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr007=yygkgnqcm1.app45b

Up Up Upside Down

Lately it seems that every time I on turn on CNN, there is some major crisis or disaster happening in the world. Strange illnesses killing children in Beijing, devistating cyclones in Myanmar, hundreds of homes destroyed by tornadoes and wild fires in the US, and now major earthquakes in central China: seriously, what is going on with the world lately?

With all the suckiness happening these days, there sure is an awfully lot of good that can be done in the world this week.

One week in...

It's Thursday night, which means that I have officially been living in Seattle for one week. AND IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER!

I know I'm still in the honeymoon phase of moving, and that before long, the newness will wear off and I'll start to miss the friendships and familiarity that I have left behind. But until that point comes, I truly am loving every minute here. I love Seattle. I love the weather. I love my apartment. And my neighborhood. And with each passing day, I love my new job more and more.

I just have this oddly strong feeling that this is the place I was meant to be. The job; the apartment; everything. It's as if everything that has happened thus far in my life has all led me here. And although I'm reluctant to say this out loud for fear of jinxing this uncharacterist run of good luck that I've been having, I can't help but have a similarly strong feeling that Seattle is the place where I am going to meet the person I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with.

I know this all sounds silly, and it's probably all just a load of crap. But hey, a feeling is a feeling right. And who knows, maybe I'm right. I guess we'll find out!

Sushi Maki = Sushi Heaven!

Seattle has tons (and I mean tons!) of sushi restaurants. And anyone that knows me, knows of me, or has ever read my blog knows that this makes me a very happy man! So, as part of exploring my new neighborhood, I decided today to try at least one new sushi joint each week to find out which restaurant is best.

I started off my quest today with a place called Sushi Maki, which is conveniently just a few blocks away. I read a lot of great reviews on the web about it, so I had pretty high expectations going in.

Well, not only did this place meet my expectations: it was by far the best sushi I have ever had. The place itself is a hole in the wall and couldn't be more than 8ft by 15ft big, including the kitchen area. But from this tiny kitchen sprung forth one hell of a meal! The sushi rolls are huge, and one roll is easily an entire meal. I ordered two rolls (a spicy dragon roll, a 2x4 roll, and a (very) spicy scallop roll appetizer. Normally, I can eat and eat and eat when it comes to sushi. But the portions were so big that I couldn't even finish one whole roll! And the scallop appetizer was easily one of the top 10 things I've ever eaten.

Not only was the food great, but the prices were very reasonable, and the presentation was nice, even for take out. Needless to say, the number for Sushi Maki is now stored in my phone and will be used very very often.