Lost Lake Milkyway

 

Lost Lake is really an amazing place near Portland, Oregon.  The lake is calm with beautiful view of Mount Hood on the South side.  Last time when we were there, we were unable to capture the Milkyway due to the sudden appearance of aurora.  This time we have checked that there would be no aurora and the sky is dark and clear calm wind.

We left Portland around 6PM and got to Lost Lake around 8:30PM this time.  We left a bit early so that we could get there before sun set.  When we got there, we were surprised to see the amount of people there.  There were at least 30 people by the lake waiting to take photos of the Milkyway of Mount Hood.  There were also many campers with kids rowing paddle boards and boats on the lake.  We also saw a couple wearing beautiful dress and suit and padding the boat.  There was a drone above them taking photo of them on the lake.  It was a beautiful scene.

The only downside was that there were lots of bugs flying around!  It was buzzing like crazy around us.  Luckily as the sun goes down, the bugs seem to have gone back home to sleep.  We were so glad.

As the sun sets down and the night approaches 11:30PM, more and more people started to show up because this was when the Milkyway started to rise above over Mount Hood.  People were having a good time by the lake and playing soothing music as well.  Many other photographers have been here for the whole day taking photos for timelapse video.

As we enjoyed the night by the lake, we also saw an owl just resting by the tree beside us.  It was a small owl and its eyes were so round and big.  It was probably looking for a prey for dinner.

When 11:30PM came, everyone started taking lots of photos.  The lake water was so calm because there was no wind tonight.  The stars were perfectly reflecting off the lake water and we could see the reflection of the Milkyway as well.  It was simply amazing.

We left Lost Lake around 12:30PM and it was an amazing night.  It was our first time taking great Milkyway photo here and enjoyed having fun with the people around us.  We would definitely come again the future to take more photos.

Lost Lake 2024

 

Lost Lake is a very popular lake in Mount Hood National Forest.  It is located Hood River, just about 1.5 hours East of Portland.  Lost Lake is a privately owned area and thus there is a day time access fee required.  Lost Lake is usually full of people during the day time hours in the summer, but it is also a paradise for stargazing lovers at night.

We love to take Milkyway photos at Lost Lake at night since it is close by and have minimal light pollution.  We got there on Friday and arrived at Lost Lake around 9:30PM at night.  The sun has already set and we could barely see anything when driving on the road.

As we settle down and put up the camera and start taking photos, we noticed the sky had some unusual colours.  There were colours of pink and green in the sky.  Initially we thought this was caused by the smog in the air or there was a large concert near by.  We were also suspecting that maybe something was wrong with your camera lens or camera sensor.  Then after an hour, we started noticing rays of light coming down from the sky and that was when we started to realize this light was aurora.

The appearance of aurora was a shocking surprise to us.  We didn't read the news and we weren't aware of this happening.  This was an awesome surprise since we have never seen aurora before and it would be our first time taking the photos.  This would also mean that we wouldn't be able to take the photo of Milkyway because the sky was too bright.

Throughout the night, the aurora took form in many different shapes.  Sometimes it was in a form of light rays coming down, sometimes it was just in a form of coloured fog, and sometimes it was in a form of giant dough.  We were able to capture all these on the camera.  However, it was not as visible through our nakes eyes. We were only seeing grayish colour in the sky.

This year's visit to Lost Lake was truly amazing.  We highly recommend to visit Lost Lake a night during the summer to enjoy stargazing.  It will not disappoint.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm 2024

 

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is a popular flower farm with thousands of blooming tulip during the Spring time in Pacific Northwest.  It is located near Woodburn, which is about an hour South of Portland.  In every Spring, Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm holds annual tulip festival and open its farm to public with a ticket price of $20 per person.  The ticket must be purchased online prior to arrival.

We visited Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm quite late in the season this year.  In fact, we actually went on the last day of the festival.  The weather was an overcast with slight drizzle in the air, but this did not turn us back from visiting the tulip farm.

When we got there around 8AM, there were only few cars there.  We could see the tulips from the parking lot.  However, as we walked closer, there was not a lot of tulips that were still blooming. After all it was the last day of the season.

One good part about going this late in the season was that it was not crowded at all.  We barely see people walking around the farm.  We basically had the farm for about 10 minutes just by ourselves.

One of the downside with the overcast weather was that we could not see Mount Hood on the far side unfortunately.  If the weather was sunny, we would be able to see Mount Hood with rows of tulip blooming in front of it.  There was also no hot air balloon ride today either due to the weather.

As we completed a loop around the farm and headed towards the gift shop, it started raining from the sky.  We were lucky that it did not rain when we were out there in the farm taking photos.

It would be best to visit the farm during early or mid April when the tulips were at its full bloom.  In addition, it would be best to go there early in the morning to avoid the crowd and see the hot air balloons in the sky.

Kerry Park

 

Kerry Park is the most popular location to enjoy Seattle skyline.  Kerry Park is located North of downtown Seattle.  The park offers panoramic view of Seattle and can also see Mount Rainier on the far side.  Kerry Park is usually the busiest during sunset and can occasionally be busy during sunrise as well.

Driving to Kerry Park was pretty straight forward. We got there around 6AM in the morning and still had to wait for about an hour until sunrise.  We got here early because we could still enjoy the night view of downtown Seattle before the sun comes up.

As we parked our car and walked towards the viewing deck. we spotted a girl ran towards the back of our SUV and squat down behind our car.  We thought it was a homeless person trying to sabotage our car, thus we walked back to our car really fast to see what was going on.  As we walked closer, we realized that the girl was peeing behind our car.  Then we just pretended to grab a bottle of water from the car.  The girl felt really embarrassed and walked the other way instead of going back to her car.  She was probably holding it in for a very long time because there was no restroom at this park.

The view from Kerry Park was amazing.  As the sun comes up, we started to see Mount Ranier.  Unfortunately the weather was a bit cloudy and thus we couldn't see the entire Mount Rainier.  The sun was also covered by the cloud.

While we were there, there were 2 people using film camera shooting documentary video of Seattle.  They also took out a sport trophy and filming it along with the Seattle skyline.  There were several groups of people sitting on the bench and having breakfast while enjoying the view.

Kerry Park was definitely a great place to enjoy Seattle skyline.  We wish that the weather was a bit better so that we could see Mount Rainier as well.

Mee Sum Pastry

Mee Sum Pastry is a very popular Chinese pastry shop located right across from Pike Market.  It specializes in not only Chinese pastry and bread, but also sells amazing Dim Sum dishes.  Mee Sum Pastry opens at 8AM everyday and there was always a waiting line in front of the shop.

We have never tried Mee Sum Pastry before but wanted to give it a try this time because the waiting line was much shorter compared to before.  While we were waiting in line, we saw that most people ordered BBQ pork bread and BBQ chicken bread.

When it was our turn, we decided to get a Sesame Ball, an Almond Pastry Pie, and a Pineapple Bun.  The Sesame Ball was huge.  It was three times the size of the Sesame Ball served at other Dim Sum restaurants.  We took a bite and it was very flavourful.  The red bean paste filled the entire Sesame Ball.  There was no air pocket inside the Sesame Ball, it was very amazing.

The Almond Pastry Pie was great as well, although it was a mess when we were eating it because the pie breaks apart very easily.  The Almond Pastry Pie was sweet and crunchy.  The Pineapple Bun was one of the best we have ever had.  It was extremely fresh and the bun was so soft.

We highly recommend Mee Sum Pastry if people are visiting Pike Market.  Its pastries are fresh out of the oven and very flavourful.  However, make sure to eat the pastry as soon as possible after the purchase because it won't taste as good after few hours.
 

ChiHo Bistro

 

ChiHo Bistro is a restaurant specializing in Chinese cuisine.  Most notably it serves various kind of famous Xiao Long Bao in different colours.  ChiHo Bistro is located at downtown Seattle.  The restaurant is about 15 minutes walking distance from Pike Market.  So people can park at Pike Market garage, shop at Pike Market, and then head to ChiHo Bistro for food.

We went to have lunch at ChiHo Bistro on a Thursday after we finished up our errands at downtown Seattle.  ChiHo Bistro was not far, but it was sketchy for us to walk to there as there were many homeless people on the street.

We got to ChiHo Bistro right around noon and we were the second group of people there.  The restaurant was not big, but it was decorated nicely with Chinese culture element in it.  There were 2 menus.  The first menu was the regular menu and there was also a lunch special menu.  We were very interested in the special Xiao Long Bao offered here.  So we ordered a Black Truffle Xiao Long Bao, and a Spicy Xiao Long Bao.  In addition, we also got a Dan Dan Noodle, and a Braised Beef Brasket lunch special.

The Dan Dan Noodle was served first.  The noodle was thin and placed in a bowl of spicy and numbing sauce.  The sauce was full of Szechuan peppercorns.  This Dan Dan Noodle was not very spicy and most of its taste was about being numb.  We really liked this.  It was very flavourful.

The Braised Beef Brasket was not as good as we were expecting.  The beef brisket was a bit tough to chew and not soft enough.  The broccoli that came with the dish was seasoned well and the jasmine rice was well cooked and sweet.  The lunch special also came with hot and sour soup, which was a great addition.

Finally, the Black Truffle Xiao Long Bao and Spicy Xiao Long Bao were here.  The Black Truffle Xiao Long Bao were wrapped in black dough, which was pretty cool.  We sipped the juice inside the Xiao Long Bao and it was very flavourful.  The Spice Xiao Long Bao was in red colour.  It was not very spicy but we were able to taste the mix of spiciness in the Xiao Long Bao.  We liked innovation of both Xiao Long Bao very much.

Overall, CHiHo Bistro had a lot of innovative dishes.  There were different flavours of Xiao Long Bao and each had its own unique colour.  We were thinking that it was best to not order lunch menu item next time and just go for the special dishes that ChiHo Bistro offers.

Dough Zone

 

Dough Zone is a popular Chinese restaurant that specializes in dumplings, baozi, and other dough related Chinese dishes.  It is a successful chain restaurant brand that has locations in many different states.  Dough Zone established its first Oregon location at Portland Downtown near the water front and has since then being very popular among the locals.  Year later, it has opened its second Oregon location at Beaverton.

We have never tried Dough Zone before and it was our first time dining at this place.  Our expectation was high and was going to compare it with what Din Tai Fung offers.

We got to Dough Zone around 12:30PM and it wasn't very busy.  The restaurant was about half full.  The restaurant had large windows at all sides and the natural sun light made the customers feel more comfortable sitting in there.  As we sat down, we were offered mashed ginger and hot sauce.

There was an order sheet but there wasn't a physical menu.  There was a QR code for customers to scan to see the menu on the phone.  We ordered Beef Pancake Roll, Jianbing Guo Zi, Pot Stickers, Pork Wonton with Hot Sauce, Shrimp Dumpling, Vegetable Dumpling, and Pork Dumpling.

Beef Pancake Roll was delivered to our table first.  It was cut into 2 pieces.  We felt that the beef was a bit dry and not enough sauce.  It was not as good as what we were expecting.  The Pork Wonton with Hot Sauce had 6 pieces of Wonton in the bowl.  This was less than what Din Tai Fung offered.  The taste of the sauce was not very strong and not spicy enough.

We then got the Pork Dumpling.  This dumpling dish was boiled not steamed.  There were also 6 pieces in a serving.  The pork inside the dumpling was good but the dumpling skin was quite thick.  The Shrimp Dumpling was interesting as it has a large piece of shrimp in there and the tail was actually outside of the dumpling.  The taste was good but again the dumpling skin was thick.  The Vegetable Dumpling was quite different than what Din Tai Fung had.  The Vegetable Dumpling had tofu, carrot and other stuff in it.  We liked the taste quite a lot.

The pot sticker was not bad in our opinion, just not presented very well in the dish.  The best dish was Jianbing Guo Zi.  It was cut into 4 large pieces.  It was crunching and had a lot of taste in it.  The egg was wrapped around the pancake.  This was the dish we enjoyed the most.

Overall, Dough Zone was a lot cheaper than what Din Tai Fung charges, but also gave smaller portions per dish.  In terms of taste, some dishes were decent but some were below our expectation, such as the dumplings.  We would probably visit it again but may not order dumplings next time.

Texas Roadhouse

 

Texas Roadhouse is a famous steakhouse specializing in various steaks.  The restaurant always has a display of all the types of steaks that it offers for the day near the entrance of the restaurant.  Texas Roadhouse is also famous for its unlimited bread that it provides to every table.  The only Texas Roadhouse location in Oregon is located in Eugene, right by the Valley River Center Mall.  It is about 2 hours South of Portland.

We left Portland around 11AM in the morning and it was a raining day.  The traffic was not bad other than occasional heavy shower, but we got to Texas Roadhouse around 1PM.  When we got there, the parking lot by the restaurant was full of cars and there was a lot of people at the waiting area.  However, we did not have to wait for long to get a table.  We were asked to stand under "Step 1", and soon a hostess took us to our table at the back of the restaurant.

We ordered a Cactus Blossom as the appetizer and for entree we got an 8oz Sirloin and a 12oz Prime Rib.  Before our food arrived, we enjoyed the bread a lot.  It was fresh and warm.  The bread has a faint cinnamon taste and sweet.  It also came with cinnamon flavored butter.

The Cactus Blossom arrived shortly.  Cactus Blossom is a fried onion as a whole and opened up like a lotus.  There was a dipping sauce in the centre that was kind of sweet and spicy.  We did not enjoy the Cactus Blossom however.  The onion was sliced too thin and we could barely taste it and it was also a bit salty.

After about 10 minutes, the streaks arrived.  First, the 8oz Sirloin looked tiny and seemed to be a 6oz instead.  It was also over cooked and seemed to be burnt.  It looked pitiful.  We were disappointed at this.  The Prime Rib was good.  It was juicy and tasty with horse radish.

Overall, the service at Texas Roadhouse was great and the bread was amazing.  Other than that we were mostly disappointed with the Sirloin steak we got.  We may give it another chance in the future but it did not live up to our expectation.