Chinatown, Seattle, and Portland

The Chinatown in Vancouver is world class. The food was some of the best that I have ever had - of course I haven't been to China. I almost was able to eat the whole lot which was probably either impressive or disgusting to my waitress who kept telling me I ordered a lot of food for one person. :-) After eating a ton of food I walked around Vancouver and had a wonderful experience. The Celebration of Lights just happened to be going on Saturday night and the fireworks from China were amazing. It was also Gay Pride weekend so I was able to see some interesting people. Brings a smile to my face just thinking about it now. I wanted to take a picture of the outfits I saw but was too afraid of getting my ass kicked. Stuff right out of the movies. Ha!

I really enjoyed my time in Seattle. Pike Place Market was fun and it is always neat to see fish go flying across the counters. The Space Needle is a must and offers great sights of the city and water. The wait time when I was there was 2 hours to get to the top, but it didn't actually take that long. The pic is a free one that they take before letting you see outside, which offers an amazing view of downtown, the water, and the mountains. The highlight of my time in Seattle was going to a Mariners game. The ticket was only $11. Can you believe it?? So cheap! They won but based on the reaction of the crowd it doesn't happen that often.

Portland is a nice town to visit. It really reminds me of Richmond, which is very surprising. I'm having a hard time trying to picture what 9 months of cloudy and rainy weather is like. Everyone is helpful, nice, and probably on some sort of drug. There are a ton of outdoor activities to attend, including free concerts during the week and a Saturday Market next to the river. I walked to the rose garden and I'm planning on going to the Japanese Garden in the next couple of days. Last night was the Portland Timbers game (MLS). I looked into getting a ticket but they were a hundred bucks to I opted out. I ended up at a sports bar, one of the only ones in town, and watched Portland beat LA which was very surprising since LA hadn't lost since May. It was still exciting to see Donovan and Beckham play. I'm beginning to think I'm good luck for the sports teams.