Lady M

 

Lady M is a bakery store that specializes in Crepe Cake.  The Crepe Cake is a type of cake that is stacked with multiple layers of crepe with flavored creme filled between each layer of crepe.  Lady M originated from New York and has expanded across the entire country of US with many stores.  It has became one of the most popular cake store among the people.

Lady M has opened a stored a Bellevue Square and it was our first time visiting a Lady M store.  The store is very classy and has a dine in area as well.  The store is basically painted with only white colour with classy decoration along the walls.  The seat, the table, the plates and everything are all pure white.  Lady M has made its store a very high-end dining place.

Lady M offered variety of flavours for its crepe cake.  We ordered a tiramisu, matcha, and a purple yam flavour.  The 3 cakes were carefully placed in a purple Lady M box and we were given plastic silver utensils.  The cake was expensive however.  Each piece of cake was over $10, which was extremely pricy.

We sat down at a table at the food court to try out the cake.  The matcha crepe cake had strong matcha flavour as expected, but it was not very different from other matcha flavoured cake.  Similarly, the tiramisu cake was good but not very different from other tiramisu cake.  The purple yam cake was extraordinary.  Its flavour was out of this world.  It had a super strong yam taste similar to taro taste.  Among the 3 cake, we liked the purple yam crepe cake the most.

Overall, Lady M makes amazing crepe cake like no others.  The purple yam cake was the best cake we have had.  The only downside was that the cake was extremely pricy and we probably won't try this often.

Monga Cafe

 

Monga Cafe is a restaurant specializing in Taiwanese Cuisine.  The restaurant is located in a plaza in Bellevue.  The plaza is one of several available restaurants in the plaza.  Compared to a well known Taiwanese Restaurant Facing East, Monga Cafe is not as crowded and thus also more accessible to people to have lunch or dinner here.

We got to the plaza where Monga Cafe is located around 1PM.  The parking at this plaza was a nightmare.  There were just so many cars circling around looking for an available parking space.  We have not had to wait for a parking space for a long time.  After 15 minutes of circling around the parking lot, we finally found an available parking space beside the dumpster.

We got into Monga Cafe and the interior decoration of the restaurant was quite simplistic and clean.  We told the owner that we wanted to order take out and the owner was quite enthusiastic and came to help us right away.

We ordered a Sauteed Green Cabbage, Pork Trotters Lunch Box, Black Bean Paste Noodle, and an Appetizer Trio.  The order was ready within 15 minutes.  The Sauteed Green Cabbage was okay and fresh.  Pork Trotters Lunch Box was the best dish we ordered.  It came within a huge circular bowl container.  There were 2 trotters in there and cooked very thoroughly.  It also came with pickled cabbage and sauteed cabbage.  We loved it quite a lot.  The Black Bean Paste was amazing too.  The sauce was sweet and salty at the same time.  The Appetizer Trio was ordered with braised egg, bean curd, and seaweed.

We were very satisfied with the food from Monga Cafe.  The taste of the food has surpassed our expectation and the price was very reasonable as well.  The only issue we had was the plaza was way too busy and difficult to find parking space.  We probably have to find a time that is less crowded to come here next time.

Rainier Fremont Fire Lookout

 

Fremont Fire Lookout trail is one of the most popular trails within Mount Rainier National Park.  The trail is located North of Mount Rainier and it starts at Sunrise Visitor Center.  The trail is about 6 miles in roundtrip distance and goes through the meadows of Mount Rainier.  At the end of the trail, there is a fire lookout cabin that overlooks the beautiful forest down below.  Mount Rainier can also be seen very clearly from the overlook.

We got to Sunrise Visitor Center around 7AM in the morning and the parking lot was half full.  The sun has just rose above the mountain and the weather was getting warmer.  From the parking lot, we could see the beautiful Mount Rainier right above us.

The trail first took us to hike across a small ridge where we could see the meadows down below.  Then we got to Frozen Lake, which is the water source for Sunrise.  The Frozen Lake has shrunk significantly compared to the size that was shown on the map.

As we got to the intersection point where the trail breaks off into 5 different directions, we took the Northern trail to go to Fremont Fire Lookout.  The path to Fremont Fire Lookout took us onto another ridge and the trail was extremely rocky.  Although it was rocky, the trail was not difficult with little elevation gain.  After about 30 minutes, we got to Fremont Fire Lookout.

When we got there, we saw a married couple take wedding photos.  They even got a portable dress room established trying on various dresses, it was pretty cool.  There were people sitting by Fremont Fire Lookout and enjoying the view.  We saw a couple using the gas tank and made instant cup noodles.  It really made us really hungry.

Overall, we really enjoyed the hike to Fremont Fire Lookout.  It was very different than the Skyline trail at the South of Rainier.  The trail on the North side had more meadows and was a lot more dry.  Next time we could come back here before the sunrise to get a more beautiful view.

Lost Lake 2023

 

Lost Lake is one of the most popular lake in Oregon.  It attracts hundred of people from Pacific Northwest every weekend.  The lake itself is quite large and the resort at Lost Lake offers boat rental for visitors to have fun at the lake.  Lost Lake also offers various overnight options for people such as camp site, cabins, and resort like hotel rooms.  However, since Lost Lake is privately owned, there is a $15 day use fee.

During this summer weekend, we decided to head over to Lost Lake to get a chance to spot Perseid Meteor Shower.  This weekend of August 12 is supposed to have Perseid Meteor Shower at its peak.

We headed over to Lost Lake right after work and got to Lost Lake around 8:30PM.  The sun has just gone below the horizon but it was still bright enough.  We brought our gears and lawn chairs to the lake side and settled down our stuff.  The weather was hot but the breeze coming across the lake felt amazing.

At 10PM, it was completely dark and we could even see the milky way with our naked eye.  As we were taking photos, we saw many satellites moving across the sky.  There were just so many of them and unfortunately these satellites did create undesired effects on the photos.  We also saw many shooting stars but not as many as we have hoped.

Lost Lake is a great spot for star gazing, but unfortunately the amount of satellites moving across the sky did ruin the fun a bit.  Hopefully the satellites will become less reflective at night in the future.

Tumalo Falls

 

Tumalo Falls is one of the most popular hiking trail near Bend, Oregon.  It is a very large waterfalls that people can see directly from the viewpoint.  Through out the trail, there are even more waterfalls to see.  The Tumalo Falls trail itself is about 4 miles long and goes all the way to Happy Valley.  Most people hike to the Double Falls, which is about 1 mile from the parking lot.

We got to Tumalo Falls around 8AM in the morning.  There were only 3 other cars there.  The trail requires permit which can be purchased with $5.  Northwest Forest pass is valid as well.  When we got off the car, it was actually snowing from the sky in June!  It was crazy!  After about 5 minutes, the snow stopped and we walked to the viewpoint to see the waterfall.  The viewpoint was at the top of the cliff, but the view was obstructed by the trees.  So we walked down and found a small trail that goes to the river side and we could see the waterfall from below.  It was a much better view here.

We then decided to do the Tumalo Falls hike to Happy Valley.  We first got to Double Falls.  This waterfall is not as tall as Tumalo Falls, but we had a great view of it from the top of the rock.  We then proceed further and got to Middle Tumalo Falls.

When we hiked further and crossed the wooden bridge, it started to snow again.  It was snowing so hard this time.  The snow fake was huge!  It did not feel very cold and the forest was beautiful with snow falling off the sky.

We continued on and got to see even more waterfalls.  When we got to the last waterfall at North Fork Tumalo Falls, the snow was just getting too heavy and we were getting wet.  We were about 0.5 miles away from Happy Valley but we decided to turn back.

When we got back to the parking lot, there was so many people.  It was so crowded.  Tumalo Falls was definitely an amazing place to visit and the hike did not disappoint.  Since it is a popular place, it is recommended to get there as early as possible.

Kanji Ramen Noodle & Izakaya

 

Kanji Ramen Noodle & Izakaya is a Japanese Ramen restaurant located in Bend.  The restaurant specializes in Tonkatsu Ramen, which includes pork bone broth soup.  It also offers variety of Japanese alcohol drink options.

After a long day of hike, we went to Kanji Ramen for a good lunch.  We got to the restaurant right around noon and we were the second table of customer.  There was only 1 server at the restaurant at that time.

We placed the order very quickly since we were very hungry.  We got a Tonkatsu Ramen and a Kanji Ramen, since it was the restaurant's signature dish.  As we were waiting for our food, there were 2 large group of people came in.  The total number of people among these 2 groups are almost 20 people, we were quite shocked.

After about 5 minutes, our food is here.  The Tonkatsu Ramen was the classic with pork, bamboo shoot, green onion, soft boiled egg and corn on top of the noodle.  We liked the soup broth since it was fresh and not too salty.  The soft boiled egg seemed to be marinated with soy sauce and had good taste to it.

The Kanji Ramen did not come with pork but came with Japanese Fry Chicken.  There were 4 pieces of fry chicken nuggets served on a separate plate.  The chicken was ok but a bit on the dry side.  We would prefer to have the pork instead.

Overall, Kanji Ramen was ok but the price of Ramen was on the high side.  The cheapest bowl of ramen cost $17.  We would probably look for other options in the future.

Victorian Cafe

 

Victorian Cafe is a very popular brunch location in Bend, Oregon.  It is located not far from Old Town Bend and it is located right at the corner of a roundabout.  The parking space at Victorian Cafe is limited but there is street parking available around the restaurant.  Other than just offering brunch menu, it also offers a wide variety of alcohol drinks from its bar, which many people enjoy.

We got to Victorian Cafe around 11:30 in the morning and there was already a lot of people waiting outside.  We walked into the restaurant to put our name down on the wait list and we were told that the wait time is 1.5 hours.  We were quite shocked because we didn't see that many people outside.  We put our name down anyway since we really wanted to try this restaurant.  While waiting, we walked around the neighbourhood to explore other surrounding restaurants.

We came back and sat on the porch to wait for our table to be ready.  While waiting, we noticed that Victorian Cafe was slow at clearing tables and thus the wait time was longer than what we expected.  After about an hour and 10 minutes, our table was ready and we got a porch seat.

After we sat down, it took the server a while to come by to give us glasses of water and take our order.  We ordered a Strawberry Lemonade, Sandra Marie Omelet, and Caramel Apple French Toast.

The Strawberry Lemonade had a strong strawberry taste and was quite refreshing. We did really enjoy the drink.  The Sandra Marie Omelet comes with a scone.  The scone was extremely fresh and had a strong cinnamon taste to it.  We really like the scone!

The Sandra Marie Omelet used a lot of fresh ingredients such as mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, and squash.  It was so fresh that we thought we were eating salad.  On top of the omelet, it was covered with pesto sauce.  The Caramel Apple Fresh Toast was the best of the meal.  The fresh toast on the plate was a smaller size toast, but it was cooked perfectly.  The apple was served as thin slices placed in between the toast.  The fresh toast was probaby the best we have ever had.

We really enjoyed the food at Victorian Cafe.  It was definitely a great experience with its unique taste.  The biggest down side was the wait time at the restaurant.  Hopefully it will improve over time.

King Mountain

 

King Mountain is a very popular trail near Portland metro area.  It is known for its steepness and difficulty of the trail.  The trail is about 2.3 miles long with elevation gain of about 2500 feet, which is quite significant.  The King Mountain trail is also often associated with Elk Mountain trail due to the fact that these mountain trails are linked.  People can choose to do both King Mountain and Elk Mountain at the same time if time allows.

We got to King Mountain trail head around 7:30 AM in the morning.  There were only 2 other cars in the parking lot.  The parking space can hold around 15-20 cars in total.  The weather is a bit chilly in the morning but it gets hot when the sun comes out.

The trail is mostly covered under foliage with lot of ferns on the ground.  The trail started with some incline and we were making very good pace in the beginning.  The first half of the trail was not difficult at all and just with some elevation gain.  After 1 mile in, the trail started to climb steeply.

The steep climb of the trail was still not bad and we could handle.  However, after about 1.5 miles in, there was a lot of large rocks on the steep trail.  This really made the climb difficult and exhausting since we had to make large strides.  When we ere almost at the top of the summit there was a lot of lose gravels on the trail which made the hike a bit slippery.

After about 1.5 hours, we finally made it to the top of the King Mountain Summit.  The view was amazing and we could see the entire Tillamook forest below us.  At the summit, there was a tube in the box that contains a booklet where people signed their names after making to the top of the summit.  We signed our names of course!

Overall, it was a great work out for hiking King Mountain.  Going up to the summit was hard, but coming down was not easy either.  We had to make sure we don't slip due to the steepness of the trail.  We did not use any hiking poles but hiking poles are recommended if you have them.