Monday, February 25, 2008

Back from Seattle



We had a fabulous time in Seattle this weekend!!!!! I have so much to share, but will probably spread it out the next few days since there is so much for me to talk about. It was romantic and fun and tiring! Last night our train broke down and we were supposed to get into Portland at 9 pm and didn't get here until midnight! I was so tired and sore (It was very cramped and we had walked well over 30 miles this weekend, 90 percent of it was in high heels, but thats how I roll!) that I slept most of the day away today! Kind of embarrased about it since Bunny had to work and all, but this week is going to be exciting! I have almost 200 dollars worth of stuff from Daiso to play with! I will post pics soon of most of my scores, but I have to talk a little bit about the Daiso!. I think I may have left my brain inside the Daiso. I completely lost my mind with excitement. In fact we went there twice! This Daiso is smaller than a lot of other locations, and when we got there it took me about 20 minutes to just get through the front of the store. Bunny cruise the store and came to me and told me that there was no bento stuff!!!!!!!
I felt really defeated, but told myself not to be immature and just enjoy everything else they had to offer, but I was still annoyed. I had seen so many cute bento things from Daiso on flicker, blogs, ebay and was overly excited to buy my own bento staples. But seeing as I already had an over-flowing basket full of other things, it was not at all a wasted trip. So, about 45 minutes later I had made my way to the back of the store and I see a lady holding a bento box I had seen many times on the internet! My eyes focused in on sushi grass, cupcake liners and I realized that THIS was the bento aisle! Bunny had missed it! I almost fainted with delight!!!!!!!!! I instantly started grabbing bento boxes, crazy style, and even got a few raised eyebrows from other customers. But I didn't care, these people have Daiso whenever they want! I had finally reached the mothership! In retrospect, the drama of thinking that there was no bento stuff made buying the bento stuff even more exciting.
Here are some pics that Bunny snuck in at the Daiso:
He has an ear cleaning obsession, so he was overjoyed at the many different Q-tips they have to offer. They even have ones soaked in olive oil!
I pretty much bought everything shown in this bento aisle photo!!!!!!!
I am so excited to start creating kawaii bentos for us. This week I will be practicing making cute lunches!
We ate sushi every night for dinner and it was the best I have ever had. The reason behind this is that Seattle is right smack on the Pacific Ocean coast and has access to very fresh fish. Portland is about 2 hours away from the coast, so fresh fish is not as availble, and the coastal towns of Oregon have not added any sushi joints.
I loved our hotel, the Ace Hotel. It was super mod and sleek and the staff was very friendly. It reminded us of when we stayed at the Hotel Des Arts in San Fran a few years ago. It was right on the waterfront and the whole time we were in Seattle the weather was stunning, the waterfront was sparkling and the skyscrapers blinded you with the reflections.
As much fun that I had in Seattle, I am very happy to live in Portland. There are a few things that Seattle does not have, one being that besides all of the Japanese places we went to, most coffee shops and diners were ultra rude and not very tasty. I don't go out to eat very often, so it is a treat when I do. I don't believe that I have crazy expectations with food or service, I just expect to be treated with manners, the place to be clean, and the food to be prepared properly(no soggy scrambled eggs or dirty plates) So about 3 meals were disgusting and expensive. But the rest of it (which I will talk about later) was mind blowing and lovely. Bunny made me feel really good when he told me "I like going out to eat, but I like eating at home with you better!" That compliment made me jump up and hug him.
I missed the dogs (I know, it was only 3 days!) but I have to say, it was nice to have some private time. Being away from them makes me realize how much I spoil them!!!!!!!! I am excited to post this week more about our trip. It will be nice to have it like a saved travel journal for Bunny and I to reminisce. I know our trip was just a little weekend trip, but it was very special to us and we don't treat ourselves to things like this very often!!!!!!
Here is the train station in Portland

a blurry shot of us on the train to Seattle, we are very excited!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you guys had fun!! You both really deserved a nice trip and I'm glad everything went well. That store looks like so much fun, I'd probably be spending lots of money in there too! I totally know what you mean about expecting decent service in restaurants. I think it's from working in so many. I guess it's that if I was able to provide great service on what I was paid, someone else should have no reason not to do the same. It's a hard job but I could do it, and do it well - someone else should be able to also. Luckily all the restaurants I worked in were super clean and always passed inspections with flying colors. I can't imagine trying to work somewhere that was always gross. Anyways...Can you explain a bento box? Are there certain foods that go into them? Is it traditional? Is it more about making the food look appealing and pretty? I just don't quite understand them. Yours always look so cute and tasty! I know it's kind of an art form.

Anonymous said...

Wow that comment looks long. I didn't realize I wrote so much! :-)

average rai said...

This sounds like such a fabulous time. I am looking forward to seeing your bentos!

I love that photo of your train station. I love old train stations in general. Very romantic.

I know exactly what you mean about service in restaurants. I'm to the point lately that I don't even like to go out to eat. I'd rather have friends over to our place. They can bring the wine! Where did you go to eat? I'm so impatient. I can't wait to hear about it all!

Oiyi said...

Oh, I love all the Bento making supplies. I got egg molds last year and made cute hard boiled eggs in cute shapes.