BBQ Chicken

 

BBQ Chicken specializes in Korean style fried chicken.  It offers 10+ flavors and can choose between regular, boneless, and chicken wings.  Each order comes with 8 pieces of chicken and can choose 1 flavor for every 8 pieces of chicken.  Compared to Buffalo Wild Wings, BBQ Chicken did not offer customers to choose multiple flavors per fried chicken order.  BBQ Chicken also offer Korean Fusion food such as Kimchi Pasta, Kimchi Fried Rice, and other soup dishes.

We got to BBQ Chicken around noon and there was literally no one in the restaurant.  The restaurant was quite large but lacks customers around this time.  We ordered an 8 pieces Golden Original chicken wings, a Kimchi Fried Rice, and a Odeng Kimchi Soup.

While we were waiting for our food, there was actually a lot of take out orders.  Most people ordered take out instead of dine in.

Our food took a more than 15 minutes to be ready.  Not sure if it was due to large amount of take out orders.  The Golde Original fried chicken is just like the classic fried chicken.  It was quite hot and fresh with a lot of juice.  However, we would say Jolibee offers better fried chicken than this at a cheap price.  The Kimchi Fried Rice came with an egg on the top.  We actually enjoyed the fried rice.  It had a lot of kimchi flavor but not so spicy at the same time.  We had mixed feedback on the Odeng Kimchi Soup.  It had great flavor that was both spicy and sweet.  We like the flavor of the soup.  However, there was a lot of mixed veggies and fish cakes in the soup.  The mixed veggies in the soup seemed random and did not taste good at all.

Overall, the experience at BBQ Chicken did not meet our expectation.  We had Korean Fried Chicken at other places and it was good.  But the recommended Golden Original Fried Chicken was just like the fried chicken at other places and not as good as Jolibee.  We would not recommend getting Golden Original Fried Chicken here but can try other flavors.

Good Catch Cafe

 

Good Catch Cafe is a restaurant specialized in Cantonese cafe food.  This includes dishes that mixed Western and Chinese cultural food together.  Good Catch Cafe has multiple locations and had outstanding reviews from people who have dined there.  While we were visiting Toronto this holiday season, we wanted to give this a try.

We went to the Good Catch Cafe restaurant at Fairview Mall.  The mall has definitely changed a lot with a lot more people than 5 years ago.  Good Catch Cafe is located right across from T&T supermarket.  We got there around 4:30PM before the dinner rush hour and got a table immediately.  There was a QR code on the table and we could scan it and order directly from the web page.

We ordered a baked chicken steak with spaghetti and it comes from Cantonese milk tea included.  The food came really quickly within 10 minutes and it looks delicious.  The chicken steak was precut into smaller strips and knife was not required.  The baked tomato sauce was very aromatic and had a faint sweet taste to it.  We really enjoyed this meal that mixed Western and Chinese cuisines together.

This meal cost $17 Canadian plus tax.  It was a great value considering that it included a large milk tea drink.  There were several other dishes we would like to try and thus we would definitely come a revisit again in the future.

GEN Korean BBQ House

 

GEN Korean BBQ House is a restaurant that specializes in Korean Style BBQ.  It offers all you can eat menu throughout the day with 3 different tiers.  The 3 tiers include lunch menu, dinner menu, and dinner premium menu.  Other than the price difference between the 3 tiers, the lunch menu only offers 32 items and dinner menu offers 64 items to choose from.  The dinner premium menu offers additional premium selections such as wagyu beef.  GEN Korean BBQ House opened its first Oregon location in Washington Square mall few years ago and we have not had the time to give it a try.  Since we had a day off right before Thanksgiving, we decided to try it out.

We got to GEN Korean BBQ House around 12PM and the restaurant was about half full.  The waiter led us to a table near the kitchen.  The grill was already prepared on the table for BBQ.  When we sat down, we could hear the fan blowing and it was quite loud.  In addition, due to the fan blowing at every table, it actually felt a bit chilly at the restaurant.

The lunch tier was $20.99 and it was the tier we chose since we wanted to give it a try first.  There were items for grill and items for appetizers.  We were only allowed to choose up to 4 grill items and 2 appetizers each round.  The waitress said this was to avoid people wasting food.  Once we finish all the food, we could order more.  We ordered the recommended items on the menu and also the Korean fried chicken and cheese corn as the appetizers.

The Korean fried chicken here was not very good.  It was very crispy and had good texture, but not much chicken in it.  Cheese corn was mediocre.  We thought it may be a tasty dish, but it was literally cheese placed on the corn.  We liked the thin slices pork and beef the most.  This is because they cooked very quickly and do not stick to the BBQ grill easily.  We did order bulgogi as well but it took much longer to cook and was quite salty.

After 2 rounds of food, we were already quite full.  $20.99 for an all you can eat BBQ was not a bad price especially when there are so many items to choose from.  We would definitely visit this place again but we would be carefully choosing the correct items for grill.

Tillamook Forest Center

 

Tillamook Forest Center is the visitor center of Tillamook State Forest in Oregon.  It is located about an hour West of Portland and also just about an hour off the Oregon pacific coast.  Tillamook Forest Center does not have many visitors usually, but it is a decently sized visitor center that provides a lot of history and experience in Tillamook Forest.

We drove to Tillamook Forest Center after having lunch at Tillamook Creamery.  When we got to the parking lot, there were only 3 other cars there.  As we got off the car, we could already see the high fire lookout at the front.  The staircase of the lookout was well maintained.  We were able to go all the way to the top and even visited the cabin and checking out the usual living items in there.  From the lookout, we could also see the entire Tillamook Forest Center from the top.  It was an amazing view.

As we entered Tillamook Forest Center, there were many interesting things there.  It had a lot of information about the tree specifies in this state forest and all the creatures living in this climate.  There were also replicas of tools, equipment, and tents used by the early explorers in the America.  There was even a small theatre going over the documentary of this place.

At the end of Tillamook Forest Center, the exit led to a long bridge that crossed the river.  During the summertime the river water is calm and clear.  People enjoyed having a swim in the water or even just dip their toes in there.  It was quite a soothing experience.

Tillamook Forest Center was a place that offered interesting experience for people to enjoy, especially for little kids after having ice cream at Tillamook Creamery.  We would definitely revisit again in the future when kids are older.

Crater Lake 2025

 

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States and the Crater Lake National Park is the only National Park is the only national park in the state of Oregon.  The national park itself surrounds Crater Lake and it is not a large national park compared to the other ones.  Crater Lake is located in South Central Oregon, about 4.5 hours away from Portland or 2 hours away from Eugene.  The Crater Lake Lodge is one of the only lodging options in the park and it gets full very quickly.  It is recommended to book the lodge a year in advance.

We were lucky to be able to boot 2 nights at Crater Lake Lodge this summer.  We went to Crater Lake on a Friday and when there was thunderstorm when we got to Crater Lake.  It was definitely an interesting scene.  There was a lot of people at the lodge this weekend, not just for people staying overnight.  We had to wait for 30 minutes even just to get our room ready.

In the evening when we head out, the thunderstorm has already gone by.  The air was very refreshing and the lake was very calm.  The sun light formed an orange colour on the cloud which was a magnificent scene to see.  It was quite amazing.  We could also still see lightning on the far side of Crater Lake.

Next day morning, we went to Watchman's Peak to wait for the sunrise.  We hiked up just before the dawn and wait for the sun to rise.  The sun rose above the cloud and showed up as a crescent initially.  Then the sun slowly rose above the cloud and the sun rays started to shine.  It was a serene experience.

After we got back down to the parking lot, we drove the Cleetwood Cove trail.  The parking lot was nearly full at 8AM in the morning.  Cleetwood Cove trail was the only trail that allowed people to head down to the lakeshore and it will be closed until 2028.  We hiked down quite easily and enjoyed our time along the shore.  The lake water was freezing but it felt good under a hot day.

At night after dinner, we were getting ready to do some stargazing.  We drove to Merriam Point since that's the best place to take milky way photo.  While we were there, there were 3 other stargazing enthusiasts with us.  We were all just waiting for the moon to set below the horizon around the midnight.  Once the moon has set, the milky way was so clear for us to see.  The milky way core was so bright and amazing.

Crater Lake has always been our favourite trip in Oregon as we felt it provides a very relaxed atmosphere when we are there.  We would definitely visit again even if we can't book the lodge since we could just sleep in the car next time.

South Sister Summit 2025

 

South Sister Summit hike is one of the most popular hiking trail in central Oregon.  It is one of the mountain with summit above 10000 feet and easily accessible for amateur hikers.  South Sister is located South West of Bend, just about 30 minutes away.  Hiking on South Sister summit trail now requires a $1 permit per person.  The permit is on sale 10 days before the hiking date and around 100 is available.  There is also a parking fee of $5 at the trail head.  There is also a payment station that accepts credit card.

We got to the trail head around 10PM on Friday.  The parking lot was half full.  We got prepared and got ready to start the hike.  When we walked to the trail head, the original trail was closed for restoration.  The trail head got moved to the left side of the vaulted toilet.  This surprised us and the new trail was a little big longer.

After about an hour of hike, we got past the tree line and started to feel the wind blowing really hard.  It almost felt like freezing point temperature and we had to put layers of clothing on us.  Along the trail, there was also more snow patches than what we expected.  We sometimes had to walk across the snow patch and find ourselves the trail again.

As we got to the glacier, the wind was blowing really hard.  We had checked the weather before we left, it was 40mph wind.  It was a horrible feeling with the wind and sand blowing towards our faces.  Thus we decided to ascend without any rest so that we can hide in the crater at the top.  It took us about 1.5 hours to get to the top due to the furious wind that was slowing us down.  The wind felt like 50mph at the summit.  It was insane.

However, all the effort to get to the top was worth it.  There were clouds surrounding the North and Middle Sisters and the cloud was beautiful under the sun rise.  We loved it and enjoyed our time at the summit.

We would definitely do this again but maybe decide based on the wind speed.  40mph wind is really not a fun experience.

Henry Hagg Lake

 

Henry Hagg Lake is a popular lake located in the Washington County of Oregon.  Due to its close proximity to the metropolitan area of Portland, Henry Hagg Lake is a popular weekend getaway location for people.  The lake is less than an hour away from the city and offers variety of water activity options and picnic for people along the lake shore.

We got to Henry Hagg Lake around 1PM in the afternoon.  The parking fee is $7 and can be paid at the entrance of the park.  If you missed it, you can also pay at the main parking lot.  Since Henry Hagg Lake is quite a large lake, there are several recreation areas for people to access.  We went to recreation area C because it has the largest parking space.

When we got there, the parking lot was only half full.  There was already a lot of people having picnic by the lake shore.  We also saw many students from nearby college having a lot of fun there.  Some picnic table also offered BBQ grill stand for people to use on a first come first serve basis.

As we walked along the lake shore, we also saw the hut that was offering paddle board rental.  Several people rented paddle board and kayak from there.  There was also a food truck selling Hawaiin shaved ice and was having a great business since it was a very hot day.

As we left the lake around 5PM in the afternoon, the parking lot was completely full.  It seemed that most people come to the lake later in the afternoon.  We would definitely come here again to enjoy a relaxing day but we would bring a canopy with us next time to stay under the shade.

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar

 

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is a popular sushi restaurant located in Beaverton Town Center.  It originated from Osaka, Japan, and have established its presence in United States since 2009.  The Beaverton Town Center location is its first location in Oregon.  Kura is known for its revolving sushi concept and all the automation that has been deployed in the restaurant.  The Beaverton Town Center location of Kura has gained popularity among the local people and often has a wait line during the weekend busy hour.

We had the Friday of Memorial Weekend off and thus it was the perfect time to try the sushi at Kura.  We got there around 12PM and there was no wait line since it was not during the weekend.  We got a table in the middle and the waiter gave us an overview on how the restaurant works.  We can grab the plate from the conveyor belt, or we can order any food or drink from the touch screen.

We first ordered our drinks and the drinks were delivered by the yellow robot.  It was quite cool!  These robots runs around the floor and they seemed quite busy!  We then ordered about 14 plates of food from the touch pad and the food was delivered by the other conveyor belt at the top.  The touch pad notified us when the ordered food was arriving.  It was very convenient.

In terms of the quality, the taste of the food was decent.  However, we felt that the sushi was not well made.  The meat of the sushi did not stick with the rice and often fell off.  The hand roll was quite good in term of the taste, we enjoyed it a lot.

When checking out, we inserted all the white places into the slot and the system automatically calculated the cost of the meal.  We could pay through the app or call the waiter over.

Overall, it was an interesting experience dining at Kura.  We enjoyed it and would visit again in the future.  There were some special meal as well but we did not order this time.  We would definitely try the special meal when we visit next time.